Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast: "Nvidia Invests $2 Billion More in CoreWeave, Offers New Chip"

Date: January 26, 2026
Hosts: Scarlet Fu, Paul Sweeney
Guests: Anurag Rana (Bloomberg Intelligence Technology Analyst), Sam Fazelli (Bloomberg Intelligence Healthcare Analyst), David Wu (Author and Strategist)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the latest developments in the technology and healthcare sectors, focusing on:

• Nvidia’s additional $2 billion investment in CoreWeave and the implications for the AI cloud computing landscape.
• The race among hyperscale cloud providers to develop in-house AI chips and reduce reliance on Nvidia.
• Preview of the upcoming earnings season, with special attention to AI adoption and its impact on big tech.
• An analysis of M&A trends in the pharmaceutical sector.
• A discussion on the end of the globalization era with author David Wu.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nvidia’s $2 Billion Investment in CoreWeave

Segment Start: 02:18

• Context: Nvidia invests another $2B into CoreWeave, its key customer and a cloud computing firm, to boost over 5GW of AI computing capacity by 2030.
  • This is seen as a "circular financing deal," strengthening Nvidia's ecosystem.
• Guest: Anurag Rana, Technology Analyst

Highlights:

• Anurag Rana contextualizes Nvidia’s strategy:

  • “Nvidia is creating the chips and CoreWeave is helping them sell the computing using those chips to different public that’s out there now.” (Anurag Rana, 02:50)
  • CoreWeave needs capital to meet its “massive backlog of orders” and convert those into functional data centers.
  • Nvidia’s investment signals market confidence, enabling CoreWeave to further raise funds externally.

• On CoreWeave’s Financials:

  • Paul Sweeney: “CoreWeave has $50 billion in remaining performance obligations. What does that mean?” (03:37)
  • Anurag Rana: “This is kind of the contracted revenue they have on hand … you realize that $50 billion into revenue over the next several years.” (03:47)

• Bottlenecks:

  • Gating factors for CoreWeave are capital, land, power, and the construction of data centers.
  • CoreWeave's cost of capital has dropped from >10% to ~8% after going public, but it still heavily relies on private credit and lending.

2. The AI Chip Race: Microsoft’s New Chip vs. Nvidia

Segment Start: 05:10

• Microsoft, following peers Google and Amazon, is rolling out its own AI chip to reduce reliance on Nvidia.

  • First-gen chip had limited market traction; new chips are hoped to cut operational costs.
  • “For training they'll still use the more powerful Nvidia chips, but for…running let’s say a copilot, they could get around and use less powerful chips…if they do that, they actually save a lot of money.” (Anurag Rana, 05:20)

• Microsoft projected to spend $140B this year, with over $50B allocated to chips alone.

3. Big Tech Earnings: What to Watch

Segment Start: 06:08

• Main focus this earnings season: where and how AI is being adopted, beyond language model (LLM) customers.

  • “The biggest thing we want to know is where are the use cases, what kind of AI adoption we are seeing across different sectors.” (Anurag Rana, 06:19)

• Infrastructure investment is high, now attention shifts to real-world demand for AI applications.

• Best Positioned Big Tech for 2026:

  • Microsoft, Google, and Amazon—due to their dual “emerging infrastructure” and legacy cloud businesses.
  • “If you are building an application…and you’re hosting it in one of these cloud providers…and improvement in growth rates for Microsoft and Google…this year we see that improvement coming for Amazon as well.” (Anurag Rana, 07:05)

4. Pharmaceutical M&A and Sector Outlook (Healthcare Segment)

Segment Start: 10:43

• Guest: Sam Fazelli, Healthcare Analyst

Earnings Season Themes:

• Investors focus on:

  • Fallout from “MFN stuff” (likely referencing US drug pricing reforms)
  • Patent expiry impacts and new product pipelines
  • Pharma’s M&A activity as a solution for patent risks

• M&A Example:

  • Rumored Merck/ Revolution Medicines merger—didn’t proceed due to pricing valuation.
  • “At about a $30 billion value for Revolution Medicines…the only way it would have worked is if you had the largest number that we might be out there already with in terms of sales going out to 2035…something in the region of 60, 70, 80% cash conversion…doesn't usually work in a standard pharma company.” (Sam Fazelli, 12:28)
  • Revolution Medicines has a strong pipeline, notably in pancreatic cancer.

• Outlook for 2026:

  • Expect another robust year for biotech/pharma M&A.
  • IPO window is opening: “Maybe we get 20 to 25 IPOs in 2026.” (Sam Fazelli, 13:37)

5. The End of Globalization?

Segment Start: 17:10

• Guest: David Wu, author of “Merry Go Round Broke Down”

• Wu’s View:

  • “Globalization is as dead as a dodo actually.” (David Wu, 17:54)
  • Book aims to bring the globalization debate to a broader audience, beyond policymakers.
  • “I want to basically make accessible the story of globalization to every person in the street, regardless their background…” (David Wu, 17:54)

• US Withdrawal from the Rule-Based Global Order:

  • “The US has also been…the biggest beneficiary [of the rule-based global order]…The question is why all of a sudden…the US wants to walk away… It's become very clear that this is no longer the case [of US dominance].” (David Wu, 19:04)
  • Recent actions, like the US response in Venezuela, are about resource control (oil), not democracy.

• Financialization & the “Trump Trade”:

  • Wu’s favorite book character: the hedge fund manager—“It’s very sad. This is what we have, a K shaped economy right now.” (David Wu, 21:11)
  • “People, the world could be going to pear shape, but somebody's going to make some money basically on the way down.” (David Wu, 21:11)
  • “Everybody and their grandmother's overweight stocks, everybody and their grandmother's overweight gold. So basically buying stocks and buying gold has become the Trump traits of basically a second term...” (David Wu, 22:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Nvidia’s Strategy:

  • “It’s a little bit more like spreading the Nvidia ecosystem is what’s happening right now.”
    —Anurag Rana (02:50)

• On CoreWeave’s Challenge:

  • “For that you need land, you need power. The chip side is okay at this point because Nvidia is there, but then also you need capital…”
    —Anurag Rana (04:27)

• On Big Tech Readiness:

  • “The three companies that are probably most…better positioned than the others are really Microsoft, Google and Amazon…”
    —Anurag Rana (07:05)

• On Pharma M&A Pricing:

  • “At about a $30 billion value…the only way it would have worked is if you had…massive cash generation…doesn’t usually work in a standard pharma company.”
    —Sam Fazelli (12:28)

• On Globalization’s End:

  • “Globalization is as dead as a dodo actually…I want to basically make accessible the story of globalization to every person in the street…”
    —David Wu (17:54)

• On Financialization:

  • “It’s very sad. This is what we have, a K shaped economy right now. You know, people, the world could be going to pear shape, but somebody’s going to make some money…That’s what it is.”
    —David Wu (21:11)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Nvidia’s $2B CoreWeave Investment: 02:18 – 07:40
• Healthcare Earnings & Pharma M&A: 10:43 – 14:08
• David Wu on the End of Globalization: 17:10 – 22:35

Conclusion

This episode offered an in-depth look at the intersection of AI investment, cloud infrastructure, pharma M&A trends, and the evolving global economic order. Listeners gain valuable insight into both the technical bottlenecks and strategic maneuvering shaping tech and health sectors, as well as a broader perspective on how macroeconomic and political shifts could impact both markets and ordinary individuals.