Bloomberg Tech Podcast Summary

Episode: CoreWeave’s $14 Billion Meta Deal, Spotify’s Ek to Leave CEO Role
Date: September 30, 2025
Host(s): Carolina Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)
Guests: Brody Ford, Ryan Vlastelica, Mike Krieger (Anthropic), Ashu Rege (DoorDash), Andrew Feldman (Cerebras), Ashley Kahman (Spotify), Josh Saul, Leo Nicoletti

Main Theme

This episode offers a rapid-fire look at the day’s top technology stories, with a focus on major infrastructure deals in AI computing, leadership shifts at Spotify, innovation in AI models, the real-world impact of the data center boom, and new developments in autonomous delivery robots. The tone is analytical yet energetic, with in-depth industry commentary from field reporters, corporate leaders, and subject-matter experts.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. CoreWeave’s $14.2 Billion Meta Deal

[01:35–04:24]

• Deal Overview: CoreWeave secures a landmark $14.2B contract with Meta to supply computing infrastructure, extending to 2032.
• Market Impact: CoreWeave stock up 15%, tripling since IPO. Expanding client base now includes Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI.
• Business Significance:
  • Brody Ford: "It means that CoreWeave isn't just a colonial state of Microsoft. That was the concern for so long... But you start getting companies like Meta and OpenAI... that may have [more] sustained place in this infrastructure buildout." [03:01]
  • Debt financing: The company is leveraging itself heavily with plans for more debt for expansion.
• Skepticism:
  • Ed Ludlow: "There is skepticism here because there are many unknowns. Does CoreWeave actually have a data center somewhere that they can assign Meta’s workloads to?" [03:32]
  • Brody Ford: CoreWeave claims to have power and datacenter capacity pre-arranged before signing contracts.

2. Investment Flows into Semiconductor Equipment & AI Infrastructure

[04:24–06:34]

• AI Boom's Second-Order Trades: Investors now target suppliers to chip-makers like Lam Research, Applied Materials, KLA, citing higher future demand due to AI’s growth.
  • Ryan Vlastelica: “These are getting sort of a second derivative move given the... sheer buildout. We’re seeing all the chips that are required for AI.” [04:53]
• Valuation Caution:
  • Rising stock prices, but not a bubble. “They certainly have not sort of a nosebleed, real sort of bubble kind of valuation.” [05:41]
• Special Focus: Lam Research called out as key partner to Micron for high-bandwidth memory chips.

3. Global Semiconductor and Geopolitical Updates

[06:34–06:59]

• US-Taiwan Trade Talks: Nearing completion, covering US investment and tariffs. Global chip supply chain politics remain front and center.

4. Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 AI Model

[10:08–18:59]

• New Model Capabilities:
  • Codes autonomously for up to 30 hours with improved memory/context handling.
  • Mike Krieger: "The model... writes down what it's doing, keeps track of its state and then... keeps going." [10:38]
  • Reduced hallucination and jailbreak susceptibility—safest and most coherent Anthropic model to date.
• Product Focus & Mission:
  • Predominantly targeting enterprise and ‘power users’, automating not only coding but document creation (Word, Powerpoint, Excel).
  • Krieger: "We're focused... much more on the productivity use case." [12:54]
• Enterprise Adoption & Productivity:
  • Krieger: “If you know, it gets brought into the workplace without the right either tools around it or enablement, what you end up with is... disillusionment... And so we have a lot of emphasis on... make sure the work is actually good.” [13:31]
  • Anthropic strives for AI to complement, not fully replace, human roles: “There’s a lot of still relationship building... that really comes on the human side.” [14:18]
• Adoption & Infrastructure:
  • Massive first-day adoption: “By 1pm yesterday, we already had more usage... than all of our other models combined.” [15:09]
  • Partnering with Google, Amazon (AWS Bedrock), and leveraging Amazon’s Trainium chips globally, especially in Europe and APAC.
• Talent War & Company Culture:
  • Krieger notes a surprisingly low impact from talent poaching compared to peers, thanks to mission alignment.

5. DoorDash Unveils 'Dot' Autonomous Delivery Robot

[20:19–24:55]

• Pilot & Design:
  • Tested in Greater Phoenix area, targeting 1.5M customers.
  • Three design priorities: payload (30 lbs, multi-purpose), multi-terrain navigation (bike lanes, sidewalks), and close proximity to merchants for pickup/drop-off.
  • Ashu Rege: "It needed to be able to go on bike lanes, on roads, on sidewalks... go as close as possible to the merchant... right next to the doorstep." [20:57]
• Strategic Outlook: DoorDash embraces a “multimodal” future with human dashers, drones, and robots.
• Domestic Manufacturing: Robot technology developed in US, future manufacturing location under discussion.

6. Cerebras Closes $1.1B Round at $8.1B Valuation

[28:51–34:43]

• Growth & Competition:
  • CEO Andrew Feldman touts performance: “Every third party benchmark has shown that we are order 20 times faster than Nvidia GPUs at inference work.” [29:32]
  • Funding to double manufacturing/data center capacity; all US-based.
• Supply Chain & Data Center Constraints:
  • Renting (not building) data centers and filling them with Cerebras systems.
  • Data center access, not hardware, is main constraint for scaling.
• Investor Dynamics:
  • Recent round led by public market investors (Fidelity, Tiger Global, etc.)
  • Ongoing partnership with prior strategic investor G42 (Middle East).
  • CFIUS review cleared; IPO on the horizon.

7. Data Center Boom Driving Up Electricity Bills

[34:43–38:59]

• Consumer Impact:
  • Data centers’ power needs pushing up electricity costs for consumers, particularly near data center clusters.
  • Josh Saul: “Everyone’s really upset and having a hard time paying their power bills because of this effect.” [35:32]
• Data Analysis:
  • Leo Nicoletti: "Areas located closer to data center activity are much more likely to experience price increases..." [36:10]
  • Baltimore serves as an example, with bills rising up to 267% more in high-impact areas since 2020.
• Broader Consequences: Public and regulatory pushback could slow AI/data center expansion.

8. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to Step Aside

[39:00–42:39]

• Leadership Change:
  • Daniel Ek, after 20 years, will transition to chair, ceding day-to-day to Gustav Soderstrom and Alex Norstrom.
  • Stock dropped >5% on the news.
  • Ashley Kahman: “He’s still going to be very hands on... That’s what they’re telling everybody.” [40:12]
• Big Challenges Ahead:
  • Navigating AI-generated music, expanded forays into audiobooks, and competition with YouTube.
  • Maintaining dominance as world’s top music streaming service, aiming to refocus on profitable growth after heavy podcast investment.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Brody Ford on CoreWeave’s Diversification:
  “It means that CoreWeave isn't just a colonial state of Microsoft.” [03:01]

• Mike Krieger, Anthropic, on AI Memory:
  “The model... writes down what it's doing, keeps track of its state and then... keeps going.” [10:38]

• Mike Krieger on Enterprise Productivity:
  “We have a lot of emphasis on let's make sure the work is actually good... we're trying to produce the anti slop work.” [13:31]

• Andrew Feldman, Cerebras CEO, on Performance:
  "Every third party benchmark has shown that we are order 20 times faster than Nvidia GPUs at inference work." [29:32]

• Josh Saul on Data Center Power Impact:
  “Everyone’s really upset and having a hard time paying their power bills because of this effect.” [35:32]

• Ashley Kahman, Spotify Reporter, on CEO Transition:
  "They're portraying this as a huge opportunity, right? AI music, huge new frontier expanding to new markets..." [40:49]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:35] – CoreWeave/Meta Deal & Market Impact
• [04:53] – Semiconductor Equipment Investment Trend
• [10:08] – Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.5: Features & Vision
• [20:19] – DoorDash 'Dot' Robot Unveiling
• [28:51] – Cerebras Funding, Scaling, and Competition
• [34:43] – Data Centers Driving Electricity Prices
• [39:00] – Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Steps Down

Conclusion

This Bloomberg Tech episode zeroes in on the massive, fast-paced changes shaping the technology landscape in 2025: critical infrastructure deals powering the AI boom, the democratization and pitfalls of new AI tools, tangible side effects of the data center buildout, and seismic shifts in leadership at an industry-defining music platform. The show delivers sharp analysis and firsthand insight into both the promise and costs underlying the next era of digital transformation.