Amazon's shares tumbled after the company announced a significant increase in spending on artificial intelligence (AI) projects, while the price of Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in 15 months, despite former US President Donald Trump's support for cryptocurrency. These developments, along with other tech and financial news, marked a busy day in the market, according to reports from BBC News.
Amazon revealed its plans to spend $200 billion this year on building out its business, with a large portion dedicated to AI, a substantial increase from the $125 billion spent last year. However, investors did not appear to welcome the announcement, as Amazon's shares fell by more than 11% in after-hours trading, according to BBC Business. The company's spending plans are now the most aggressive among major tech companies, including Meta, Google, and Microsoft, which collectively expect to spend around $650 billion on AI and related projects.
Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin dropped to $66,000, its lowest level since October 2024, representing a 24% decrease since the beginning of the year, as reported by BBC Business. This decline occurred despite Trump's public support for cryptocurrencies and promises to ease legislation on the industry. The drop followed months of surging Bitcoin prices, which saw the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $122,200 in October.
In other tech news, Pinterest faced controversy as it was revealed that the company had sacked two engineers for tracking which workers lost their jobs in a recent round of layoffs, according to BBC Technology. The company had announced job cuts, impacting approximately 15% of its workforce, or roughly 700 roles. The engineers improperly accessed confidential company information to identify the dismissed employees, according to an employee who posted some of the memo on LinkedIn.
Also in the tech sector, the CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI was criticized for his online response to a rival chatbot firm's Super Bowl ad, as reported by BBC Technology. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman launched a lengthy attack on Anthropic, calling the firm "dishonest" and "deceptive." Commenters on social media likened his post to "the digital equivalent of a toddler throwing a tantrum."
In financial news, the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged but hinted at potential rate cuts in the future, according to BBC Business. However, the bank cautioned that mortgage rates are unlikely to return to the lows seen in 2020. The Bank's goal is to bring inflation to its 2% target and expects it to fall to that level soon.
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