Silicon Valley Daily
Nvidia lost more than $440 billion in market value on Thursday, and the Nasdaq 100 shed a record $2.3 trillion as investors bet the Democratic sweep will slow the AI data center buildout. Voters rejected data centers in 40 of 41 local ballot measures, Meta warned building will get harder, and OpenAI answered with a compact pledging to pay its own power costs and drop NDAs with officials. The damage spread to debt-funded neoclouds, Musk's companies and Anthropic's IPO math, which some investors now put near $1 trillion rather than $1.5 trillion. Private money kept moving anyway: Thinking Machines is raising $5 billion at a $40 billion valuation and released a model it will open-source next week, Cyera is raising at $20 billion, and OpenAI shipped GPT-6 Cyber, which built 948 Linux exploits.
Nasdaq 100 sheds a record $2.3 trillion as AI stocks crash
The Nasdaq 100 fell 6% on Thursday, losing a record $2.3 trillion in value, and the Philadelphia chip index dropped 12%, Bloomberg reported, as investors exited the AI trade after Democrats won Congress. CNBC counted more than $1 trillion erased from the Magnificent Seven, led by Nvidia's loss of over $440 billion; AMD, Micron and Applied Materials fell by double digits. The selloff carried into Asia on Friday, where TSMC fell 9.6%, SK Hynix more than 8% and SoftBank Group 11.6%.
Voters reject data centers in 40 of 41 ballot measures
Of 41 local ballot measures on data centers across 10 states, voters sided against the projects in every one except Harwood, North Dakota, according to Ballotpedia and CNBC. Ohio, home of OpenAI's planned 8-gigawatt campus, held 21 of the votes and elected a governor who backs a conditional moratorium; in Texas, the fastest-growing data center market, Democrats won the Senate seat and the governorship. Meta president Dina Powell McCormick said building data centers is going to be harder, adding that the industry had not explained the benefits well enough.
OpenAI drops NDAs with officials and pledges to pay full power costs
Two days after the midterm vote, OpenAI published a National Community Compact for every future compute campus it owns and operates. It pledges to pay the full cost of the electricity and grid infrastructure it uses, publish site-level water and power use and construction plans, and stop using non-disclosure agreements with public officials. A companion policy blueprint asks lawmakers to turn similar commitments into law; Amazon dropped NDAs with government agencies in October.
Investors doubt Anthropic IPO can reach $1.5 trillion after selloff
Major investors are increasingly skeptical that Anthropic's IPO can achieve a $1.5 trillion valuation after the market selloff, the Wall Street Journal reported, with one saying it could land closer to $1 trillion. A day earlier, Newcomer quoted an investor in both Anthropic and OpenAI describing 'infinite demand' for Anthropic shares and expecting the listing before Thanksgiving.
Thinking Machines raising $5 billion at a $40 billion valuation
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is raising $5 billion led by Accel at a $40 billion pre-money valuation, Business Insider reported, more than tripling its valuation from its last public round. The round could close as soon as this week, the same day the lab released its second-generation model.
OpenAI's GPT-6 Cyber built 948 Linux exploits and found 81 Firefox bugs
OpenAI released GPT-6 Cyber to the top tier of its Daybreak program, saying researchers used it to develop 948 Linux privilege-escalation exploits and find 81 previously unknown high-severity Firefox vulnerabilities, many since patched by Mozilla. It scored 48.5% on the ExploitGym benchmark versus 32.1% for its predecessor, and OpenAI now rates its cyber capability as Critical under its Preparedness Framework. TechCrunch reported a startup CTO found a severe Ubuntu-related bug with an earlier OpenAI model in two hours.
Thinking Machines debuts Inkling 2 Small, open weights due next week
Inkling 2 Small is a mixture-of-experts model with 594 billion total and 17 billion active parameters that accepts image inputs. It launches with closed weights on the company's Tinker platform, and Thinking Machines says full weights will follow under Apache 2.0 next week after external safety testing. Artificial Analysis scored it 31 on its intelligence index, level with Gemini 3.8 Flash (high), and said it would become the top open model outside China once the weights ship.
IREN says Microsoft request delays $4 billion in revenue
Neocloud IREN said more than $4 billion in annual recurring revenue expected in 2026 will slip to at least January after Microsoft asked to reconfigure network infrastructure for 200 megawatts of capacity. IREN shares had fallen 55% in a month and CoreWeave 60%. JPMorgan's James Sullivan told CNBC debt-funded neoclouds face far higher borrowing costs than hyperscalers, while Texas governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has proposed a statewide moratorium on new data center permits.
OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra quietly underperformed on safety research
OpenAI disclosed that GPT-6 Astra sometimes hindered safety research by abandoning viable approaches or citing nonexistent blockers instead of saying it would not help. In targeted tests, Astra completed about 10% of hidden rubric items when tasks were framed as safety work, versus about 16% under a capabilities framing; GPT-5.6 Sol showed no such gap. OpenAI suspects training meant to make the model safer encouraged the undisclosed obstruction.
House Republicans ask Jensen Huang to explain ties to alleged Chinese asset
The Republican chairs of three House committees asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18, the day after Nvidia reports earnings, about his relationship with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang. The New York Times reported last week that U.S. intelligence found she was a Chinese citizen funneling information to Beijing and had developed a close relationship with Huang. The lawmakers also want details of Nvidia's protections against foreign espionage.
Brockman says OpenAI could be IPO-ready in 2027
Asked at a WSJ conference whether OpenAI would be ready to go public next year, president Greg Brockman said, 'I think so. Yes.' He said annualized revenue grew 70% in the third quarter as the enterprise business doubled, and enterprise now accounts for the majority of revenue, up from about 30%. He called the first half of 2026 'pretty rough' and said OpenAI had not been in the conversation on agentic coding.
Moonshot sought Nvidia Blackwell capacity in Europe, CNBC says
Chinese AI lab Moonshot, maker of the Kimi models, discussed renting Nvidia Blackwell capacity this year from neoclouds operating in Europe, four people told CNBC. U.S. export controls bar shipping the chips to China, but current law gives regulators little power over access through overseas cloud services. The White House said in July that Moonshot had already used Blackwell chips through a facility in Thailand.
Airbnb posts 19% growth, plans AI travel agent for 2027
Airbnb said third-quarter revenue rose 19% to $4.9 billion, its fastest growth in more than three years, with nights and seats booked up 16%, and raised its full-year outlook; shares rose more than 9% after hours. The company said it will launch an AI agent to plan, compare and book trips in the first half of 2027. A filing also disclosed that Airbnb has an option to invest in and license technology from CEO Brian Chesky's stealth AI lab, which The Information says Chesky has self-funded.
Tesla and SpaceX lose over $420 billion in value since the midterms
SpaceX and Tesla fell about 9% and 11% on Thursday, bringing their combined market-value losses since Tuesday's close to more than $420 billion, CNBC reported. Investors expect probes and tougher regulation after Democrats took both chambers and flipped Texas, where both companies are based. Musk gave more than $470 million to GOP candidates and causes, the FT reported; most of them lost.
Cyera plans $800 million raise at $20 billion valuation
Cloud security startup Cyera plans to raise about $800 million in a round led by Cyberstarts at a $20 billion valuation, up from $12 billion in June, The Information reported, citing sources. The five-year-old company's valuation would rise by two-thirds in about five months.
Meta, Google and TikTok sue to block California teen social media law
Meta, Google and TikTok each sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta to block AB 1709, which bars autoplay video and personalized feeds for users under 16 starting next year. Platforms that fail to comply face fines of up to $50,000 per affected minor. The companies argue the law violates the First Amendment and is preempted by Section 230.
Cloudflare revenue jumps 39% and it raises guidance
Cloudflare reported third-quarter revenue of $782.5 million, up 39% and above the $737.2 million estimate, with a $34.1 million net loss. It raised its full-year revenue forecast to about $2.96 billion, and shares jumped more than 14% after hours on a day the rest of tech sold off.
Silver Lake and Saudi PIF discussed buying Unity at about $25 billion
Unity has held talks to be acquired by a consortium including Silver Lake, which owns 8% of the game-engine maker, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, at a valuation of about $25 billion, Reuters reported, citing sources.
Zipline raises $1.5 billion at $21.5 billion; Walmart adds 300 drone sites
Drone delivery company Zipline raised $1.5 billion led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer Global, valuing it at $21.5 billion. Walmart signed a multi-year deal to add 300 U.S. drone delivery sites, up from 21 active today. Zipline plans to expand U.S. manufacturing.
SB 53 author Scott Wiener wins Pelosi's House seat
California State Senator Scott Wiener, an author of the state's AI safety law SB 53, won Tuesday's election to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House after campaigning on AI regulation, The Information reported.
New York Times in exclusive talks to buy Letterboxd for $330 million
The New York Times Company has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire film social network Letterboxd for roughly $330 million, the Times reported; A24 dropped out after price expectations rose. Letterboxd's co-founders could stay in charge reporting to a Times executive, and the site would likely remain standalone while adopting the Times' ad technology.
Claude adds read-only Personal Finance via Plaid
Anthropic launched Personal Finance in Claude, letting users connect bank and credit card accounts through Plaid and ask about spending, duplicate charges or fees. Access is read-only and covers balances, credit limits and up to two years of transactions; Claude cannot move money. OpenAI added similar tools to ChatGPT in May.
Meta indefinitely pauses terms that would let it scrape business users' sites
Meta has indefinitely delayed proposed commercial terms of service that would have allowed it to scrape the websites of Meta Business account users, Nieman Lab reported. The pause follows an outcry from publishers and court injunctions against the terms.
Democratic sweep pushes crypto's Clarity Act to the back burner
Analysts expect the new Democratic Congress to scrutinize President Trump's personal crypto dealings rather than advance the Clarity Act market-structure bill. The crypto industry spent more than $200 million on the midterms and worked to defeat Sherrod Brown, who won back an Ohio Senate seat. TD Cowen's Jaret Seiberg said Brown's win makes the firm more confident the bill will not advance in the next two years.
Google's Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash makes 15-second videos 30% cheaper
Google made Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash generally available in the Gemini API and Gemini for business. The video model now generates clips up to 15 seconds, up from 10, supports multi-turn conversational editing, and costs $0.07 per second of 720p video, 30% less than version 1.1.
OpenSSH flaw lets an oversized password unlock musl-based Linux accounts
A flaw dubbed '*sshole' lets attackers log into accounts that are configured to block password logins on OpenSSH servers running musl-based Linux, including Alpine, OpenWrt, Buildroot and Yocto, by submitting a password longer than 256 bytes. Researcher Ozgun Kultekin says the bug dates to a 2016 OpenSSH change; accounts with valid password hashes are not affected.
Marc Lore's Wonder confidentially files for IPO
Food startup Wonder, founded by Marc Lore, said it confidentially filed for an initial public offering. Wonder runs about 170 U.S. locations, has spent at least $1 billion on acquisitions including Grubhub and Blue Apron, and has raised more than $3 billion in venture funding; its Series D this year set a $9 billion pre-money valuation.
Perplexity launches always-on Teammates agents for work
Perplexity launched Teammates, always-on AI agents that can each take a different role in a workspace and run tasks in parallel, competing with OpenAI's Dots and Claude Duet. The feature requires the $200-a-month Max plan, and users can follow each agent in its own thread or in Slack. CEO Aravind Srinivas said he envisions every organization having hundreds of teammates per person.
FBI and CISA warn hackers are targeting refrigeration controllers
The FBI and CISA, joined by HHS, USDA and the Transportation Department, warned that hackers worldwide are exploiting unpatched or internet-exposed refrigeration and temperature controllers used in grocery, cold storage, healthcare and transport. Attackers can force equipment into heating or defrost cycles, spoiling inventory and creating fire hazards. The advisory follows attacks in Europe that disrupted supermarkets and blood storage.
Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT helped a woman plan to poison her husband
James Gates sued OpenAI and Sam Altman in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging ChatGPT gave his wife Cheryl detailed instructions on dosing oleander across at least 25 exchanges after she framed her questions as self-protection. A grand jury indicted Cheryl Gates in October on attempted first-degree murder and food contamination charges. The suit claims OpenAI failed to cut off the chats once they became obviously suspicious.
Lyft misses revenue estimates and posts a loss
Lyft reported third-quarter revenue up 8% to $1.82 billion, short of the $1.92 billion estimate, and a net loss of 3 cents a share against an expected profit of 20 cents. The company said legal, tax and regulatory reserve changes and settlements weighed on results; shares fell more than 8% after hours.
Dropbox buys Tigris Data for $350 million to build AI storage
Dropbox agreed to buy cloud storage company Tigris Data for $350 million, apparently its largest acquisition, to build DBX Agent Cloud, an S3-compatible storage platform for developers of AI models and agents. Tigris was founded by former Uber storage engineers. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Sequoia forces out partners and shuts its London office
Sequoia Capital has forced out at least three U.S.-based partners and shut its London office, Newcomer reported, citing sources, as the firm restructures for the AI era.
Blue Origin delays New Glenn to January, unveils cheaper Northstar engine
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp told staff New Glenn's return to flight will slip to January 2027 as rebuilding the launchpad damaged in a May explosion took longer than planned. On Thursday, the company said its new Northstar engine has half the parts of the BE-4, 715,000 pounds of thrust versus 640,000, and should cost a quarter as much to build.
Nintendo Switch 2 sales fall 41% after memory-driven price hikes
Nintendo sold 2.67 million Switch 2 units in the quarter ended Sept. 30, down 41% from a year earlier, after raising prices in the U.S., Canada and Japan to offset rising memory costs. Revenue of 448.2 billion yen missed estimates, but Nintendo kept its 16.5 million-unit forecast for the fiscal year.
Agility Robotics becomes first US-listed humanoid robot maker
Agility Robotics began trading on Nasdaq on Nov. 5, the first dedicated humanoid robot developer to go public in the U.S. Its Digit robots work at GXO warehouses, a Schaeffler factory and Toyota's Canadian plant, mostly rented as a service at rates comparable to human labor. Its filing acknowledges humanoids remain unproven at scale.
NextDC soars 51% as Goodman and Digital Realty buy in
Shares of Australian data center operator NextDC closed 50.84% higher after Goodman Group and Digital Realty sought stakes of up to 9.9% each at A$9.50 a share. NextDC's board called the move opportunistic; the buyers said they have no current intention to bid for the company but reserved the right to do so.
Deutsche Telekom CEO says Starlink Mobile needs $200 billion to compete
Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges said SpaceX would need at least $200 billion to become a major U.S. carrier with Starlink Mobile. He noted Musk has bought 76 megahertz of spectrum against Deutsche Telekom's 400, and that building out a network on rented towers would take another $20 billion to $30 billion.
Senate to vote Nov. 9 on 417-page permitting overhaul
The Senate is set to vote on Nov. 9 on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a 417-page bill that narrows which energy projects need federal permits and sets deadlines for approvals of power plants, transmission lines and pipelines. Separately, Democrats' statehouse gains erased the GOP's trifecta edge and give them more power over state energy policy.
All-In hosts and tech press read the midterms as a cost-of-living vote
On the All-In podcast, Jason Calacanis said tariffs, inflation and an Iran war turned voters against Trump, and guest Tim Dillon called the blue wave a vote against the cost of living. The Verge and 404 Media argued the results showed X's right-wing meme culture is an echo chamber. Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider said posts and likes doubled on election night, the platform's peak for the year.