Category: 3. Business

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Waymo is close to finalising a $16bn funding round that will more than double the value of Google’s self-driving car business to $110bn, bringing in several new investors as it prepares to expand globally and fend off competition from Elon Musk.

Google’s parent company Alphabet, which incubated the start-up in its X labs, will contribute more than three-quarters of the amount raised, according to four people familiar with the process.

New participants include Silicon Valley venture capital firm Dragoneer and Sequoia Capital, as well as Yuri Milner’s DST Global, the people said. Existing investor Andreessen Horowitz will put in more money and another existing investor, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund Mubadala, will contribute hundreds of millions more.

Waymo’s annual recurring revenue — a measure of expected revenue from subscriptions commonly used by start-ups — has grown to more than $350mn and the funding round was three times oversubscribed, the people added.

“While we don’t comment on private financial matters, our trajectory is clear: with over 20mn trips completed, we are focused on the safety-led operational excellence and technological leadership required to meet the vast demand for autonomous mobility,” Waymo said.

Andreessen, Dragoneer, DST, Mubadala and Sequoia declined to comment.

Waymo has established itself as the leader in the robotaxi market, having recorded more than 125mn fully autonomous miles on US roads with few related safety incidents. Waymo says it expects to host 1mn rides per week this year in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami.

While the main way to hail a ride is through its own app, it has also partnered with Uber in secondary markets such as Austin and Atlanta.

Alphabet is raising more cash to help fund its rollout across the US, including New York, and last year started testing in foreign cities such as London and Tokyo amid growing competition from Musk’s Tesla and China’s Baidu.

Waymo’s vehicles — which use a combination of cameras, laser-based Lidar sensors and detailed street maps — are classed as level four autonomous and require no driver or active supervision. It is preparing to expand from Jaguar I-Pace SUVs to Hyundai Ioniq 5 models and a larger van made by China’s Zeekr to cut costs.

Its main rival is Tesla, which last year started offering a “robotaxi” service in Austin, Texas, with the eventual aim of allowing the millions of vehicles it has sold to be rented out to the service when not in use. It is also developing a dedicated two-seat Cybercab without a steering wheel that it says will enter production this year.

However, Tesla vehicles rely only on cameras without Lidar, which has led to persistent questions about safety. The company lost a lawsuit in Florida and was ordered to pay $243mn in damages after a fatal accident involving its autopilot software.

Tesla’s “full self-driving” technology is only classed as level two autonomy — which requires the driver to pay attention at all times — and its robotaxi service in Austin still requires a safety observer in the car or a trailing vehicle.

The autonomous driving company started as a “moonshot” experiment in Google’s X lab in 2009, and was spun out in 2016.

Waymo last raised $5.6bn in a funding round in October 2024 that valued it at more than $45bn. Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T Rowe Price were among the largest investors.

SpaceX filed a request with the FCC on Friday seeking approval to put a constellation of 1 million data center satellites into orbit. While the FCC is unlikely to approve a network that expansive, SpaceX’s strategy has been to request approval for unrealistically large numbers of satellites as a starting point for negotiations.

The filing proposes establishing a network of solar-powered data centers in low Earth orbit that communicate with one another via lasers. The filling speaks of the constellation in ambitious sci-fi terms, calling it a “first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization — one that can harness the Sun’s full power.”

Even if just a small fraction of those 1 million satellites wind up in orbit, it would mark a significant increase in the number of man-made objects in space. The European Space Agency estimates there are around 15,000 satellites orbiting the Earth at the moment, and the majority are Starlink. (Over 9,600 of them, according to Johnathan’s Space Report.)

When experts are already concerned about the abundance of space junk and potential for orbital collisions, such an explosion of objects in orbit would seem ill-advised. But SpaceX argues that the orbital data centers would be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to land-based centers that form the backbone of the growing AI industry. Instead of syphoning water from communities, polluting groundwater, and driving up electricity bills, orbital data centers would be able to radiate heat into the vacuum of space and rely almost exclusively on real-time solar power and limited batteries.

The backlash against data centers has been growing, and communities are increasingly winning their battles to block their construction. So it’s no surprise that the biggest names in AI are turning their attention to one of the few places where there isn’t a community to upset.

Correction January 31st: An earlier version of this article stated that there were over 11,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. That number was the total launched, including satellites that had been decommissioned. This has been corrected to reflect how many Starlink satellites are currently active in orbit.

On Thursday, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Taiwan that surging AI demand is rapidly increasing the need for advanced memory.

Huang said the future of artificial intelligence will be shaped as much by memory as by computing power, reported UDN, one of the leading media platforms in Taiwan.

He noted that modern AI models need to think, respond and reason at extremely high speeds, driving a sharp rise in memory capacity requirements across the industry.

Don’t Miss:

The Nvidia CEO also highlighted that the company collaborates with every major high-bandwidth memory supplier, including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU).

He said Nvidia relies heavily on these partners to meet soaring demand this year.

Huang rejected concerns that the U.S. has shifted about 40% of Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity stateside.

Instead, he said global chip production should be viewed as expanding, with new capacity being added in the U.S., Europe and Japan while Taiwan remains a key manufacturing hub.

Trending: Blue-chip art has historically outpaced the S&P 500 since 1995, and fractional investing is now opening this institutional asset class to everyday investors.

Huang praised Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM) as the world’s best foundry partner, citing its technology leadership, execution and flexibility.

He said TSMC will need to significantly scale capacity over the next decade, with most production staying in Taiwan alongside overseas expansion.

Huang dismissed rumors circulating in mainland China that Nvidia’s H200 AI chips have received regulatory approval, saying no orders have been placed and final clearance is still pending.

If approval comes, he said, Nvidia is prepared to move quickly with partners to deliver products.

Previously, it was reported that the clearance was granted during Huang’s visit to China, where he’s kicking off the company’s annual events ahead of the Lunar New Year in mid-February.

See Also: Private-Market Real Estate Without the Crowdfunding Risk—Direct Access to Institutional-Grade Deals Managed by a $12B+ Real Estate Firm

Nvidia’s H200 AI chip has become a flashpoint in U.S.-China tech tensions. While Washington has approved shipments, Beijing has yet to fully clear imports.

Make better investment decisions with Simply Wall St’s easy, visual tools that give you a competitive edge.

• Reports suggest Nvidia and Apple are exploring using Intel’s foundry and advanced packaging capacity for future chips from around 2028.

• The discussions center on Intel’s 18A and 14A process nodes as part of its push to grow external foundry services.

• Any formal agreements could influence the balance of global chip manufacturing capacity and U.S. supply chain planning.

Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC) is best known for its PC and data center processors. Management has been repositioning the company as a contract manufacturer for other chip designers. Interest from Nvidia and Apple would place Intel more directly in competition with established foundries that handle much of the world’s advanced chip output. For investors, this development relates to whether Intel’s manufacturing roadmap is attracting large, technically demanding customers.

The potential partnerships are still at the discussion stage and any production would be years away. As a result, this is more about future capacity and customer mix than near-term earnings. If even part of this foundry work materializes, it could broaden Intel’s revenue sources and give the company stronger ties across the U.S. chip supply chain. The key question for you is how much weight to put on these early signals when assessing Intel’s longer-term role in global manufacturing.

Stay updated on the most important news stories for Intel by adding it to your watchlist or portfolio. Alternatively, explore our Community to discover new perspectives on Intel.

How Intel stacks up against its biggest competitors

For Intel, having Nvidia and Apple explore using its foundry and advanced packaging capacity from around 2028 points to early customer interest in its push to manufacture chips for others, an area where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung are key competitors. Given Intel’s recent Q4 2025 net loss of US$591 million and guidance for a Q1 2026 loss per share, investors may see these talks as relevant to whether the foundry segment can eventually become a meaningful contributor alongside the existing PC and data center businesses.

The reports fit closely with the existing Intel narrative that focuses on an AI centric product roadmap and building trust in its foundry services with large, technically demanding customers. Interest from Nvidia and Apple lines up with the idea that Intel’s manufacturing roadmap and advanced packaging could support external clients, which is one of the ways analysts have framed a possible improvement in revenue mix and use of Intel’s manufacturing assets over time.

• Potential validation of Intel’s 18A and 14A manufacturing processes if talks eventually convert into concrete foundry or packaging contracts.

• Possible progress toward the turnaround story that links AI workloads, foundry customers and better use of existing fabs, especially after recent cost cuts and job reductions.

• The discussions are early and any production is years away, while Intel is currently loss making and guiding to another quarterly loss, so the financial impact is uncertain.

• Execution risk remains high as Intel still faces internal supply constraints and tough competition from TSMC, AMD and Nvidia in key product categories.

From here, the key things to track are whether Intel, Nvidia or Apple confirm any binding agreements, how Intel’s foundry segment losses evolve, and whether upcoming guidance gives more clarity on capacity, yields and capital spending. If you want to see how this potential foundry work fits with different long term viewpoints on Intel, check community narratives and fair value debates through the community narratives for Intel on Simply Wall St.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include INTC.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

The stock markets have been on an amazing run in recent years, with the S&P 500 more than doubling since the beginning of the decade and the Dow rising by nearly 75%.

What does the future hold for the stock markets? We asked leading AI chatbots ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini that question. Here’s what they had to say — along with what it could mean for your wallet.

ChatGPT and Grok are on the same page regarding how the stock market will perform over the next couple of years, with both forecasting moderate growth that will likely not match the stellar gains of 2025.

Here’s what ChatGPT expects during the next one to three years:

The U.S. stock market should continue rising through 2026, though gains “may be more moderate” than the strong run of recent years. Expect high-single-digit to low-double-digit returns, supported by corporate earnings and economic resilience.

Here’s Grok’s near-term call:

“Solid but more moderate performance” compared to the “exceptional” gains of the early 2020s, driven primarily by AI-related productivity and earnings growth, while facing headwinds from elevated valuations and potential economic uncertainties.

Gemini takes a slightly more bullish view, projecting an average S&P 500 return of 9% to 12% in 2026, with upside as high as 15%. That’s roughly in line with Goldman Sachs’ forecast of a 12% gain for the S&P 500 in 2026.

Here are some other near-term forecasts from Gemini:

While tech has led the way in recent years, 2027 and 2028 are expected to see healthcare, Industrials and small-caps “catch up” as interest rates stabilize.

Read More: Self-Made Millionaires Suggest 5 Stocks You Should Never Sell

Find Out: 9 Low-Effort Ways To Make Passive Income (You Can Start This Week)

Forecasts beyond the next three to five years are more uncertain, as unforeseen events can significantly impact markets. According to ChatGPT, many forecast models “suggest lower average annual returns” of 4% to 7% compared with recent decades, due to higher valuations and structural shifts. Grok cites a similar range based on average long-term forecasts.

These are some other long-term market forecasts from AI:

• Grok: Optimistic scenarios see “much higher returns” if AI truly transforms the economy, but baseline views assume more gradual adoption and potential volatility if earnings disappoint.

• Gemini: Major institutions like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan generally expect the S&P 500 to grow at a slower, more “normalized” pace as high valuations and aging demographics act as a drag, partially offset by an “AI productivity boom.”

Story Continues

French Connection is back on the trail of global expansion with the aid of its cheeky initials-based slogan that made it so popular in the late 1990s.

The label once known for clothes bearing FCUK is seeking to reinvent itself again under the ownership of a group of British entrepreneurs based in the north of England who rescued it in 2021.

This week, the former high street darling signed a licensing agreement to develop and distribute men’s and women’s apparel and accessories across North America, which is understood to include plans to revive the FCUK branding.

It is the latest chapter in a rollercoaster story of success and setback. French Connection was founded in 1972 by Stephen Marks, who named it after the film starring Gene Hackman released the previous year.

The entrepreneur hired the French designer Nicole Farhi to head his design studio in the 1970s and she later launched her own label under the company’s umbrella. Together they made French Connection a hit, with a London stock market float in 1983 helping make Marks the UK’s 15th richest man for a time.

The pair also became partners romantically and had a daughter together before separating at about the end of the decade. By that point the brand had fallen out of favour, prompting Marks to retake directorial control in 1991.

It recaptured the public’s imagination thanks to the swear-adjacent slogan coined by the ad man Trevor Beattie in 1997 after he noticed the initials used in French Connection internal memos. It was emblazoned on T-shirts in phrases such as “FCUK Fashion” and “Hot as FCUK”.

For several years over this period Marks’s wife, Alisa, had a key design role, but they split in late 2003 after a decade of marriage and their expensive divorce forced Marks to sell shares in the business, relinquishing majority control.

By the mid-noughties, shoppers had tired of the FCUK joke and it was dropped in 2005. The company, which still owns the Great Plains brand and once owned the YMC and Toast labels as well as Nicole Farhi, struggled to find a new identity and was also hit by bad debts partly related to the collapse of House of Fraser, where it had concessions.

A return to the bawdy branding in 2016 failed to revive the company in the face of heavy competition from cheaper rivals such as Asos, Zara and H&M.

Marks ran the business until he sold up in 2021, eventually relinquishing control after years of losses and mounting pressure from investors as the value of the firm dived from half a billion pounds in its heyday to less than £50m.

Its new owners no longer use FCUK in the chain’s handful of British stores, although the brand has been sold for short periods in the UK via retailers such as Urban Outfitters as a retro label that appeals to 1990s nostalgia.

It has, however, become a hit in India, where local licensee Myntra describes the clothing as having “distinct laid-back attitude for when you don’t want to look like you are trying hard to look good” accompanied by “powerful, provocative slogans”.

Apinder Singh Ghura, a Newcastle-based businessman, oversaw the £29m rescue takeover in 2021 of the brand that took it off the London Stock Exchange. The current owners also include his Manchester-based business partner, Amarjit Singh Grewal, and KJR Brothers, which is led by Rafiq Patel, a textile businessman.

The group’s new North American licensing deal with G-III Apparel Group, which controls brands including Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld and DKNY, forms part of the road to reinvention. G-III will take over French Connection’s existing team in the US and oversees distribution via more than 700 boutiques and department stores.

Ghura, who spent years in the clothing industry before shifting to other investments including property and care homes and the Bench streetwear brand, which he has now sold, said French Connection was targeting the 25-plus market with good-quality garments at an affordable price.

“I see French Connection as a great brand with great equity and recognition, everything a blue-chip brand should have we have got,” he said.

Ghura said the UK government “hadn’t done the business community any favours” with its decisions on tax and pay, but the label could compete against cut-price competitors such as Shein as “every brand has its place and we appeal to our customers because of the DNA we possess”.

The brand, which at one time had more than 140 stores in the UK and hundreds of franchise outlets elsewhere, now has just 10 French Connection stores in the UK and 15 discount outlets but sells through 60 concessions, including every John Lewis.

It is also distributed on the websites of Marks & Spencer, Asos and Next in the UK and Otto in Germany and Austria, and is planning a small number of new high-street outlets.

In 2024, the brand’s sales fell 10% to £108m, but pre-tax profits shot up to £1.6m from just £0.3m a year before according to the latest accounts filed at Companies House.

Sales at established stores are now rising by more than 10% after the group improved quality, ditched poor-performing branches and brought in a new head of design – Helen Gallagher – from fashion brand Mint Velvet.

The performance stands out among the UK’s mid-market fashion brands, which have been hit by lacklustre spending as younger shoppers have less spare cash amid rising energy and phone bills and other costs such as Netflix subscriptions, gym memberships and music festivals.

The revival comes as fellow 90s stalwart Topshop attempts to win its way back into wardrobes via a new online stores and outlets in John Lewis, while River Island battles for survival with a rescue restructure.

Ghura said French Connection would be focusing on “capital light” expansion via licensees, with hopes to find partners in south-east Asia and China and to widen its footwear and accessories ranges, rather than opening dozens of expensive UK outlets.

Simon Donoghue, the managing director of French Connection’s retail and online business, said the company had “zero tolerance of loss-making stores” and was now in its third season of strong underlying growth as it got the “value for money equation really sorted”.

“Prices are now similar to four years ago, but it is better quality and that resonates,” he said. “It comes back to design and product. Getting that right gives confidence to invest more in inventory.”