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Jan 28
Anthropic targets OpenAI with bigger revenue goals—compute costs stand in the way
Anthropic is aiming to narrow the gap with rival OpenAI as it boosts its revenue forecasts for the coming years. According to The Information, the company has raised its internal projections, with sales expected to nearly quadruple this year to as much as US$18 billion and climb to about US$55 billion in 2027—a roughly 20% increase in its forecast for 2026 compared with earlier estimates.
Meta is outlining an AI monetization roadmap that extends beyond advertising, signaling plans to layer subscriptions, business tools, and commerce features on top of its core platforms as new models are deployed, while maintaining ads as the primary growth engine in the near term.
Meta is sharpening its AI device strategy, redirecting investment toward smart glasses and wearables as management signals urgency in shaping the next consumer computing platform, with implications for hardware ecosystems, AI deployment, and the long-term role of virtual and augmented reality.

As artificial intelligence (AI) development accelerates, power consumption across computing platforms is climbing sharply. Competition among data and computing centers is no longer limited to server specifications or the efficiency of individual power supply units. Instead, it is moving toward rack-level integration of power distribution, cooling, energy storage, and monitoring, with implications extending into broader infrastructure design.

Meta is preparing for a steep increase in capital spending in 2026 as it scales AI infrastructure to support "personal superintelligence," signaling a longer-term roadmap centered on silicon, energy and compute efficiency that could reshape its cost structure and competitive positioning.

Celestica, a global supplier of data center infrastructure and advanced technology manufacturing, reported sharply higher revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter of 2025, a performance that reflects the accelerating demand for artificial intelligence–driven computing systems and the company's growing role in the global AI supply chain.

Microsoft's earnings conference call for the fiscal second quarter of 2026 underscored a company accelerating into an AI-first era—while also confronting investor scrutiny over the scale of its infrastructure spending.

Following the signing of the Taiwan-US investment cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU), the next step is to finalize the agreement on reciprocal trade (ART) between the two countries. As Taiwanese supply chains pursue strategies of making collective moves in the US, some companies express willingness to follow the lead of TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker who is investing enormous sums in building wafer fabs in the US. However, upstream players admit that with high production costs in the US, investments may not be profitable unless their gross margins exceed 50%.
China's optical industry is confronting significant challenges as several lens module manufacturers reportedly plan layoffs early in 2026, prompted by sluggish smartphone sales and intense price competition. Industry sources indicate that the sector's difficulties are unlikely to abate in the coming year due to persistent market and macroeconomic pressures.
Microsoft's latest financial results point to accelerating demand for AI and cloud infrastructure, with Intelligent Cloud growth approaching 30% year on year. The figures underline mounting pressure on data center capacity and capital spending, signaling continued tightness across the AI infrastructure supply chain.
Tesla's latest earnings showed softer vehicle demand but improving margins, while management and analysts focused on the company's accelerating investments in custom chips, AI compute, and robotics as key to sustaining growth across its automotive, autonomy, and energy businesses.
Meta Platforms' latest results point to a sustained escalation in AI infrastructure investment, with capex set to rise sharply in 2026. The outlook suggests growing implications for data center capacity, chip demand, and the broader AI supply chain, even as investors weigh rising costs against resilient earnings.