Tobias

Alphabet (GOOGL) shares jumped 8% after hours following the antitrust ruling remedies. While the court affirmed Google’s dominance in search, it rejected demands to divest Chrome or Android. Google must share some search data, but retains control over its ad data. The ruling permits Google to continue payments to partners like Apple (AAPL), whose shares also rose. The DOJ’s scrutiny will extend to Google’s GenAI products. Investors perceive the imposed measures as less severe than initially feared, benefiting both Google and Apple financially.

Waymo is expanding its robotaxi service, partnering with Uber in Atlanta and Austin, while starting test drives in Denver and Seattle with safety drivers. These new locations complement Waymo’s existing commercial operations in major US cities. In some cities, Waymo can be hailed via Uber; elsewhere, the Waymo One app is required. The test fleet includes electric vehicles like the Jaguar I-Pace and Geely Zeekr AV. Waymo faces competition from Apollo Go and Tesla in the autonomous vehicle market.

Sinopec announced its controlling shareholder, China National Petroleum Corporation, plans to transfer 0.3% of its A-shares to China Mobile Communications Group at zero cost. This state-owned equity transfer aims to deepen strategic cooperation, optimize equity structure, and achieve complementary advantages between the energy and telecom giants. The deal, part of a broader strategic cooperation agreement signed in January 2024, requires SASAC approval and won’t change Sinopec’s control or materially impact operations.

A U.S. judge ruled that Google can continue paying Apple billions annually to remain the default search engine on iPhones. Apple shares surged after-hours following the decision. While stemming from a broader antitrust trial against Google, the ruling significantly impacts Apple’s revenue. The judge prohibited Google from exclusive contracts but stopped short of a complete payment ban, allowing potential renegotiation. Google can’t bundle Android services with Search. The DOJ antitrust suit alleged Google used exclusionary practices. Google intends to appeal, potentially leading to further trials and appeals.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff revealed that the company has reduced its customer support staff by approximately 4,000 positions due to the increased efficiencies of AI, specifically its “Agentforce” suite. Benioff stated AI now handles a significant workload. While Salesforce cites increased efficiency, analysts like Ed Zitron suggest AI is being used as a scapegoat for past over-hiring, prioritizing growth over employee well-being. HR consultant Laurie Ruettimann urges workers to acquire new skills in response to AI’s widespread impact.

Salesforce’s stock has significantly underperformed compared to Oracle, reversing their pandemic-era market cap crossover. Investors await Salesforce’s quarterly results amid slowing growth in its core CRM market. AI presents both a challenge and an opportunity, with Salesforce launching Agentforce, an AI-powered customer support system. Analysts are watching improvements in remaining performance obligations and the impact of the Informatica acquisition. Activist investors remain engaged, seeking further improvements in profitability. Oracle, meanwhile, benefits from cloud infrastructure commitments related to AI.

Amazon is discontinuing its Prime Invitee Program on October 1, 2025, ending the ability for Prime members to share free shipping with individuals outside their household. This move aims to encourage separate Prime memberships for those benefiting from the perks. Amazon suggests using Amazon Family, which requires shared residency, as an alternative. The company says Prime membership continues to grow, despite concerns of slowing growth.

Anthropic, an AI company founded by ex-OpenAI researchers, secured $13 billion in Series F funding, boosting its valuation to $183 billion. Led by Iconiq, Fidelity, and Lightspeed, the round signifies strong investor confidence. Fueled by its AI assistant, Claude, Anthropic’s revenue run rate exceeded $5 billion in August with over 300,000 business customers. Capital will support safety research, enterprise demand, and global expansion, intensifying its rivalry with OpenAI, valued potentially at $500 billion.

OpenAI is acquiring Statsig, a product development startup, for $1.1 billion to enhance its capabilities in feature testing and data optimization. Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji will become OpenAI’s technology chief within the applications unit, reporting to Fidji Simo. Statsig will operate independently, serving existing customers. This acquisition follows OpenAI’s purchase of Jony Ive’s AI devices startup, IO, and analytics database company Rockset, demonstrating its aggressive expansion strategy. A previous attempt to acquire AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf was unsuccessful.

In a benchmark test simulating social dynamics, seven LLMs played the game Werewolf. GPT-5 significantly outperformed the others with a 96.7% win rate, demonstrating superior strategic thinking and manipulation skills. Other models, including Qwen3 and Kimi-K2, showed respectable performance. Analysis revealed distinct personality traits in each model; for example, Kimi-K2 exhibited aggressive tactics. The experiment highlights the importance of social skills for AI agents operating within human teams, alongside traditional benchmarks.