Bloomberg Technology is reporting live from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York and Ed Ludlow in San Francisco. The market is currently being "whipsawed" between anxiety over the Federal Reserve’s potential decision on interest rates in December and the escalating debate over an "A.I. bubble" in valuations. Caroline Hyde noted that the NASDAQ is currently flat, but "at the moment we are seeing this questioning valuations, questioning of the sustainability of CapEx from the big A.I. players". Ed Ludlow added that the "mood music has changed in the technology" sector, suggesting the volatility may be due to "both" the Federal Reserve and an A.I. bubble in valuations.
The anxiety extends to key market events, with Ed Ludlow calling the upcoming NVIDIA earnings report the "Super Bowl event". Market apprehension is evident in the options market, where Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow discussed the significant activity of call options on the V.I.X. (Volatility Index) set to expire right before the earnings come out. Caroline Hyde noted that the narrative about "how we assess assets and the deterioration of them when it comes to chips" was sparked by this discussion.
Despite the market uncertainty, Bloomberg Technology highlights the massive, unrelenting private sector funding wave. Caroline Hyde reported that a very young company that helps fine-tune A.I. systems is in talks to raise funding at a potential $50 billion valuation. The growth trajectory for this company, which has been around less than a year, is described as "pretty tremendous". Separately, Ed Ludlow covered the A.I. coding startup Cursor, which has seen its valuation roughly triple and is raising $2.3 billion in funding. The CEO of Cursor, Michael Truell, told Ed Ludlow that the capital is being raised to invest in research and product-specific models, reporting that customers who shifted to their product are getting "40% more done" in terms of productivity. Caroline Hyde asked if the A.I. coding play is now more of an enterprise focus, and Truell confirmed they serve "professional development teams" and count six of the "Magnificent 7" among their customers.
The economic signals contributing to this whipsawing environment are mixed, revealing a K-shaped economy. Caroline Hyde noted the disparity where business investment, driven by A.I. valuations, sees R&D spending up 15% in Q2, the "highest since the dotcom era," while companies like Verizon are "laying off tens of thousands of people". Caroline Hyde questioned why enterprise offerings thus far don't fit the purpose for smaller enterprises. An "Acropolitan" mentioned that this underscores the urgency of bringing "frontier A.I." to the industries that are the "backbone of American economy," such as HVAC, plumbing, and electric work. Ed Ludlow noted that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang suggested that A.I. will displace jobs in menial task areas, but these skilled trades "are not to be replaced for the next 100 years".
Bloomberg Technology is also covering how Agentic A.I. is changing retail. Google is leveraging its Gemini platform to incorporate Agentic A.I. for the shopping experience, specifically tackling the "tedious parts of shopping". Ed Ludlow noted that this is interesting because Google is marrying "the domain of Agentic A.I." with search in the context of retail. The technology is being used for price tracking, auto-buying, and checking product stock at nearby businesses. Caroline Hyde asked about navigating the ecosystem where some consumers might not want others to make the purchase, and Google noted they are giving users control and focusing on real user needs.
Finally, Bloomberg Technology is closely watching the media sector. Ed Ludlow and Caroline Hyde discussed the deadline for bids on Warner Brothers Discovery next Monday, November 20th. Ed Ludlow explained the mechanics of the company changing its CEO compensation package to secure his pay in the event of a sale. Caroline Hyde noted the difference in intent among bidders: Paramount Sky Dance wants the "whole continuing" company, including cable networks, while Netflix has "no interest in the cable networks" and only wants the studio business, library, and HBO. The consensus, as noted by Ed Ludlow, is that major transactions are required for companies like Comcast to achieve the necessary scale to compete with industry leaders like Netflix and Amazon in the future.
