Loading summary
Transcript132 lines
- [00:00]
Adobe Marketing Representative
Adobe is turning AI promise into marketing reality, a reality where personalization feels more human, automation feels authentic, and customers feel more connected to your brand. From AI frenzy to roi. It starts with Adobe, so there's a
- [00:18]
IBM Representative
lot of noise about AI. But time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now a global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94% of common questions, not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business.
- [00:47]
Chase for Business Representative
IBM Being a small business owner isn't just a career, it's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. Manage all your business finances, from banking to payments to credit cards, all in one place with Chase's digital tools. Plus access online resources designed to help your business thrive. Learn more@chase.com business chase for business Make More of what's yours the Chase Mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply JPMorgan Chase Bank NA Member FDIC Copyright 2026 JPMorgan Chase Co. Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News.
- [01:35]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Bloomberg Tech is live from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York
- [01:41]
Adobe Marketing Representative
and Ed Ludlow in San Francisco.
- [01:46]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
This is Bloomberg Tech. Coming up, a possible de escalation in the Middle east ripples through markets as President Trump outlines talks to potentially end the war in Iran.
- [01:56]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Plus, we'll take a look at Musk's grand plan to manufacture his own chips for robotics, analytics, AI and space data centers.
- [02:03]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
And N Scale becomes one of Europe's most valuable startups with a $14.6 billion valuation. And add Sheryl Sandberg to its board. We'll discuss.
- [02:12]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Let's check on these markets first and foremost though, because you called it rippling through the markets and there is talk of a de escalation. There is sights being set on the straight of Hormuz and that is another record move for Brent. Contract off by 10%. At one point it fell below $96. This of course fuels some risk on sentiment. We see the NASDAQ 100 day since the start of February at one point its best day since November. And this really as we see President Trump send shockwaves through the market with what seems to be an apparent discussion at a high level and maybe some movement towards the Strait of Hormuz. Just take a listen to what he said to reporters earlier that would be
- [02:49]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
opened very soon if this works, be
- [02:52]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
jointly controlled by who?
- [02:55]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Maybe me. Maybe me.
- [02:58]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
Me and the ayatollah, whoever the ayatollah is.
- [03:02]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
President Trump speaking to reporters earlier day let's get to Bloomberg's Kailey Leinz, co host of Balance of Power, for the latest. And what is the latest? You know, all morning long, so many headlines on the terminal about the state of talks between the United States and Iran.
- [03:16]
Carmen Reineke (Bloomberg Tech Equity Reporter)
Yeah.
- [03:17]
Kailey Leinz (Bloomberg Balance of Power Co-host)
And we have seen a major about face from President Trump here, from threatening within 48 hours to attack Iranian power and energy infrastructure if they did not agree to open the Strait of Hormuz, to now saying he's asked for a delay of such action for five days due to progress in talks that he said took place Sunday between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and their Iranian counterparts in which he said according to those discussions, Iran agreed not to restart its nuclear program and to relinquish nuclear material that is still in the country. He says Iran is the one who was looking to make a deal here, though he would like to make a deal as well. But there are a few outstanding questions, one being who is it exactly that the US Is negotiating with? As President Trump said, it is not the Ayatollah Mujtaba Hamani, of course, the son of the late supreme leader. And the US has repeatedly heralded, as well as Israel taking out much of Iran's top brass, from the national security chief to the defense chief to the head of the Iranian revolution visionary guard car. It's not exactly clear who this person may be, though. Axios is reporting that Witkoff is speaking with the leader of the Iranian parliament. So that may be the case that we have not confirmed that here at Bloomberg. And beyond that, it is not clear that Iran is actually as eager to make a deal as the president suggests as Iranian state media have said that the president's statements is just psychological warfare, an effort to get energy prices down and that no talks are happening between Tehran and Washington. There's also the third party in this conflict to consider, Israel. Israeli officials have told Bloomberg that they do not see an imminent end to the war and they will continue strikes, though not looking at energy infrastructure. And so that does remain an open question even if the US And Israel are not going after the energy infrastructure as the president threatened. That is not to say that military strikes and operations against other assets will not continue in the region. All the same, clearly with the president's more optimistic tone on a potential diplomatic off ramp to this conflict is rippling its way through financial markets today, which may in part have been his intent.
- [05:04]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Kelly, a very thorough state of affairs. Where do we look to next?
- [05:09]
Kailey Leinz (Bloomberg Balance of Power Co-host)
Well, it's going to be a question of, as President Trump says, that talks will continue by phone between the US And Iran today. If we get any further readout from those, or if Iranian state media starts to signal that perhaps there is more effort toward a deal, not just on the US Side, but on the Iranian side as well. And if we hear any further developments for Israel as to whether or not they are willing to accept the terms that President Trump is outlining here, certainly a, a degree of skepticism may be warranted until anything is more ironed out. Keeping in mind as well that we are coming off the deployment of more assets and personnel, including thousands of Marines, to the Middle east and a request by the Pentagon to the tune of some $200 billion to Congress for additional funding for this conflict and of course, to backfill stockpiles that we have deployed thus far in the Middle East. So it doesn't appear necessarily that the US at this time is fully willing to walk away from military operations, even as a diplomatic off ramp may be pursued here. I would also note that President Trump is scheduled to speak in Memphis at 1pm it's something more domestically focused on crime, but he could, as he speaks with officials there and with reporters gathered, give even more signal as to what exactly he sees happening next when it comes to Iran.
- [06:15]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Kelly Lyons from Washington, thank you very much indeed. Look, let's bring you the market reaction to all of this. Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschitz joins us now. We always have a tech focus on this show, but total whiplash in terms of the turnaround in the markets.
- [06:26]
Bailey Lipschitz (Bloomberg Market Reporter)
Yeah, no. And Bloomberg reporting just a few minutes ago that the president's decision was aimed in part at calming markets. So we did see that reaction. As you mentioned. We saw The S&P 500 absolutely rip when Trump talked down de escalation or talked about de escalation. There's so much uncertainty around what the path forward looks like. The main thing to keep in mind, The S&P 500 is really back to where it was on Wednesday. It's where essentially it was at the end of Friday, a week and a half ago. So as much volatility as there has been on the headline levels, you're not really seeing an actual move in either direction. Yes, The S&P 500 blow broke below its 200, 100 day moving averages back above that but for all intents and purposes, you're still in essentially a banded region for the last few weeks.
- [07:08]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Remember that we ended Friday with the NASDAQ 100 having its fourth straight week of declines. And the thing about the war in Iran is that headlines change direction all the time. There's been big outperformance performance in chips as well. And I had to double take. But the Philadelphia Semiconductor index is up 12% so far this year while the Nasdaq 100 and an S&P 500 are both down 3%. How much of this is energy, Bailey? How much of this is still people trying to assess supply chains and how that might impact different sectors.
- [07:36]
Bailey Lipschitz (Bloomberg Market Reporter)
It's a lot about the supply chain. It's a lot of uncertainty around what the ultimate knock on effects are. How long does this war conflict last, what the ultimate damage is to the infrastructure in Iran on some of these oil fields and some of the oil refining projects. The big thing to keep in mind though, Ed, is that markets are tied. So we have been seeing pretty much the market move in lockstep to the downside of whatever oil is doing. So if oil is down 12%, logically you can expect the market to rally and vice versa. So again, it is still only Monday morning. We still have a lot of time. Even though Trump talked about a five day kind of pause for, for attacking some of these energy projects. But the big thing to keep in mind is that we are seeing these moves play out in real time across assets.
- [08:21]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz with the market some. Thank you very much. Coming up, Elon Musk Inc. Is proposing to put the entire chip industry under one roof. Up next, the Tesla Space X Terraform master plan. This is Bloomberg Tech.
- [08:46]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Tesla and Space X will jointly run an advanced chip manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. That's according to Elon Musk, the CEO of both companies. Now Musk says the semiconductor industry is moving too slowly to meet his robotics, his AI and his space ambitions. Let's get more on the plans of Bloomberg's Lauren Grusch. So this is extraordinarily large. Was there any actual significant data? We know that this will help the speed things up for his companies.
- [09:11]
Lauren Grusch (Bloomberg Reporter on Tesla/SpaceX)
Well, I think a lot of, you know, just like with Elon Musk and how he usually does things, there were a lot of promises, right. One thing that I took particular note of was, you know, how much this was going to benefit his data center and space project that they've been touting for some time now. And what we know is ultimately Driving the planned IPO for SpaceX that may or may not occur later this year, we did get a rendering of what one of those data center satellites would look like. And so what, from what I understand, you know, these chips will be a big factor in making those data center satellites a reality.
- [09:50]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Ed to you because of course you're also Space X Tesla reporter as well as being on TV with me, luckily. And talk to me about how you put it in the very top headline. This is trying to do everything all under one roof. We've never really seen this before in the chip industry.
- [10:06]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Yeah. So having logic, which is GPU CPU, the GPUs going to the Orbital Data center that Lauren outlined. Memory and packaging. The industry doesn't work like that and for good reason. They're done by specialists essentially as separate industries because the raw materials are completely different and the processes are completely different. So it's not just the scale that's unprecedented, it's the approach. To give you an idea of that, Elon Musk is saying the facility will start at about 10000 wafers a month. A lead edge FAB right now probably does 30 to 10000. And then they want to scale up to 1 million a month. So that's about 70% of TSMC Global output. The footprint is kind of insane. So there's a lot of questions on how they'll fund it. And they basically said, we don't know yet, but it's going to cost a lot of money. Lauren, the other thing as well is like 80% I think was the figure. I mean, you had the honor of staying up over the weekend and watching the full presentation. But like we're showing on the screen now, the bigger picture, which is the design for the Orbital Data center satellite form factor carried by starship. But what Musk was saying was that the vast majority of activity will be to serve GPUs in space.
- [11:15]
Lauren Grusch (Bloomberg Reporter on Tesla/SpaceX)
Yeah, absolutely. It's actually a full circle moment for me here in Austin because he made this announcement here and there had actually been a bunch of lights coming from the Sea Home power plant, which a lot of Austinites were curious about. And then we learned Saturday night that yes, this was about this announcement. But yeah, as you can see on the screen there, one of the big aspects of the Orbital Data centers are these massive solar panels that they're going to need in order to gather enough power to, to run these satellites. And that satellite is supposedly a mini satellite and it's only capable of having a capacity, I think of a 100 kilowatts is what he said. But you know that they plan on launching a bunch of these satellites. You know, recently Space X filed with the FCC to launch up to 1 million data center satellites. So this is by no means a small project for them.
- [12:06]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
It's an expensive project and in many ways it's why we anticipate Space X is going to have to go to the public markets. Lauren, just how much more cost effective is it? Do we get any comparison versus doing it here on Earth?
- [12:18]
Lauren Grusch (Bloomberg Reporter on Tesla/SpaceX)
You know, Elon has laid out the pros and cons of going to space. One of the big ones is that, you know, space is big and there's a lot more room to move to lay all of these satellites out. Right. Also, the sun is a big aspect of it. So here we have a lot of limits when it comes to getting enough power in order to run these data centers. But the idea is to put these satellites into a specific orbit that would harness the sun's energy, practically 24 7. So those are the reasons that are being laid out for going into space. Whether or not it's cost effective I think is a big question mark that we're all waiting to see.
- [12:58]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
It's always sunny in space. Bloomberg's Lauren Grosch, thank you very much. Let's stick with it and get the investor perspective. We're joined by Karen Fransky, global head of private equity investments at Fidelity. Her team's invested in private companies for over 15 years, currently has over $50 billion deployed across 150 private companies, counting Space X as one of them. The idea that Space X is undertaking tariff AB with Tesla at unprecedented scale to secure compute here on Earth and in orbit. Your reaction to that, Karen?
- [13:33]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
Well, my reaction is they've actually been thinking about this for a long time. So Lauren just talked about the FCC application for a million sats in space. But if you rewind back to 2022, they had filed a patent around getting computing resources to sats in space as well. So I think this is something that Elon and his team have been thinking about for a long time, frankly, at least since the post ship chat GPT moment. I also think conceptually it makes a lot of sense. So you just talked about. Lauren just talked about harnessing power in sun synchronous orbit. But the other constraints on AI datacenters here on Earth are not just power. It's land, it's permitting, it's getting contractors like electricians to put these boxes together. And those constraints don't exist in space. And so I think conceptually it makes a ton of sense to be thinking about in the longer term data centers in space. The question, of course, becomes what you were just talking about, is it economical? And frankly, what we've been watching for as investors is starship. And Starship Flight 12 should happen in April. They're going to be launching their Gen 3 of the ship, Starship, which will carry up to 100 tons of payload. And as a reminder, the plan is for Starship to be fully reusable in the future. And if it's fully reusable, ultimately the cost of launching it could come down very, very meaningfully, which would mean launching the AI data centers into space. Those payloads could make that whole concept very economical.
- [15:18]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Taryn, you and your team, team at Fidelity, what research and modeling have you done for the factors and the point at which orbital Data center becomes profitable? A lot of people, when I said you were coming on the program, wanted to know if you've been showing any evidence by Space X about the viability of an orbital data center this decade. But many people measure it in the dollar per kg equation when it comes to starship.
- [15:44]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Absolutely.
- [15:45]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
We do measure it in dollar per kilogram. And again, as I mentioned, it really comes down to how quickly Starship can be up and fully reusable. So As a reminder, Falcon 9, they just reused the booster, the first stage, and Starship will be both the booster and the ship. They've now successfully caught the booster of Starship three times at the tower catch. People have probably seen that and they've had successful atmosphere reentry of the ship as well, but have not yet caught that. The other thing that they haven't done as of yet is they actually haven't dispensed of any actual payloads into space as of yet. They've tested out the PEZ door which, which opens up to let the payloads out, but, but actual payloads have not been put out into space. So those are the, the milestones that we're really following. But you can bet there is an Excel spreadsheet at Fidelity that measures the cost per kilowatt. And when we, we believe this will become economical.
- [16:45]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Oh, there's going to be people who really want to see that Excel spreadsheet, Karen, in particular, those who look more cynical on the outlook of the economy and the economic pros and cons of this. For example, Jim Chanos, well known for perhaps betting against certain key themes, but he asks in a post in particular, how much 1 gigawatt data centered space would save in terms of power costs versus 1 GW terrestrial data center. Can you push out where you think it could go at least?
- [17:14]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
Yeah, I mean, listen, I think again, we're talking not this year, not next year, we are talking about several years out. But it could, it could move down the cost pretty meaningfully. I won't give you an exact dollar amount, but, but we, we do believe
- [17:29]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
it could be pretty material in the here and now. What we're all looking for materially is up to a $1.25 trillion valuation if space X does indeed go public. How realistic do you think that is at the moment? What momentum do we need to see? Because at the moment we're all sort of at the behest of the markets.
- [17:45]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
We are at the behest of the market. Obviously the markets are feeling quite good this morning as well. But I think it's important to remember that Space X has a lot going for it right now. You know, when we first invested at fidelity back in 2015 in Space X, they had done 13 Falcon 9 launches to date. Today they launch every other day. They're putting up somewhere between 80 to 90% of the world's payload. One company, they, when we first invested, they didn't have a single Starlink satellite, nor Starlink sub. Today they have 10 million subscribers across the globe. Obviously there are ambitions to do more on the wireless carrier front. So Space X has a lot going for it. And of course, you know, the cherry on top would be the future of orbital data centers.
- [18:39]
IBM Representative
Right.
- [18:40]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Incredible capital efficiency. Right. $12 billion raised in its lifetime. And you think about what it's done with that. The next thing is, what's a scenario where Space X merges with Tesla? And why? Because that's the reaction that people have had since terrafab was announced over the weekend.
- [19:00]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
Yeah, I mean, obviously people have been talking about that possibility for a little while and Space X acquiring XI certainly catalyzed those conversations even further. And I think Elon is, you know, kind of putting his cards on the table, if you will, as it relates to, to his ambitions to vertically integrate the ability to be a chip manufacturer, as difficult as it may be, but also in putting in aggregate data centers, remember, he's done it here on Earth. Colossus 1 and Colossus 2. He done, he did in record time. Colossus 1 specifically, and very large GPU clusters. And so from an engineering perspective, I think he knows how to do, do it. I'm not trying to be flippant. About how difficult some of these things are, but he is an expert at vertically integrating companies and of thinking beyond
- [19:54]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
all others in many ways. Karin Frosty I wish we could have done the whole show with you and gone so much more into some of the investments. Global head of Private Equity investments at Fidelity thank you. Now coming up, Tim Cook Succession plans remain a major mystery, but details emerge on the air apparent. That's next. This is Bloomberg Tech.
- [20:16]
Adobe Marketing Representative
Effective marketing is smarter, not louder. Cutting edge technology alone won't deliver better experiences or outcomes. Adobe helps marketers use data and AI to drive smarter engagement, reduce noise and use AI effectively and responsibly. The brands winning in the AI era aren't the ones chasing every trend. They're the ones with the right systems and strategy. It's time to lead with insight, agility and innovation. It starts with Adobe.
- [20:47]
IBM Representative
The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across hr, it's and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slashed repetitive tasks and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business.
- [21:16]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
IBM Support for the show comes from Public Lately it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth on public. You can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts? Yep. High yield cash? Yes again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools and customer support that actually helps go to public.com market and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com market ad paid for by Public Holdings Brokerage Services by Public Investing Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors SEC Registered Advisor Crypto Services by ZeroHash all investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures@public.com Disclosures.
- [22:23]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Apple CEO Tim Kirk is now 60 and has been tight lipped about his retirement and succession plans. But a leading candidate is beginning to emerge. John Turner, Apple Senior VP of Hardware Engineering, has taken on a growing role overseeing the company's products and marketing. For more, let's get to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman who leads our coverage on all things Apple and consumer technology. And this is an important piece of writing, right. This is what people have been asking about for quite some time. What do we need to know yet?
- [22:53]
Mark Gurman (Bloomberg Apple Reporter)
You know, Tim Cook is not ready to talk about retirement. He says that he can't live without Apple and can't imagine a time where he's not at Apple. And the good news for him and for shareholders is we probably don't have to imagine time with Tim Cook not at Apple for at least another 10, 10 years or so. Right. Because when he steps down as CEO, he will stay involved at the company in some sort of capacity, probably executive chairman. But the wheels are in motion for Tim Cook to step down in the next half decade at the, at the very latest and be replaced by John Ternus, the senior vice president of hardware engineering. He's responsible for the development of all of Apple's products. Obviously those generate 80% or so of Apple's revenue. He's worked at Apple for about half his life, just under 25 years. He understands the culture. Culture. This is someone who would be more product focused than Tim Cook but in many ways operates like Cook and would surprisingly be a continuity choice.
- [23:55]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Mark, what steered you to really feel that he is the heir apparent? What's been happening underneath the hood of Apple that makes you think this is the guy?
- [24:04]
Mark Gurman (Bloomberg Apple Reporter)
There's a lot going on internally. There's been a very steady expansion of his responsibilities. He's received oversight a couple of years ago of Apple's Vision Products group which is responsible for the in development Smart glasses which are a big upcoming product launch for Apple. He's taken over the robotics teams. At the end of last year he took oversight of Apple's design team. So software design and hardware design, that's a very critical role in the company. That's something that only, you know, people like Tim Cook, Johnny, I've, Steve Jobs, people of that illustration have overseen in the past. He's 15 years younger than Cook. He's about 10 years younger than any other option for Apple's next CEO on the company's executive team. Apple has been putting him front and center in product announcements. He introduced the MacBook Neo earlier this month which is obviously a big business lever for Apple. For the Mac specifically, the day after the introduction of that computer, he was the one who went on Good Morning America America to talk about it. These are traditionally things that the CEO Tim Cook has done for years for major new products. But now it's turn is doing it.
- [25:11]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Mark, very, very quickly, where does Apple's strategy with AI, generative AI and voice based AI fit in with this story.
- [25:19]
Mark Gurman (Bloomberg Apple Reporter)
You know, the big question is if Apple is going to try to evolve into an AI company or a software and services company. If that's the case, Turnus is probably not the right pick. But I do believe they are to going going to be a hardware company at heart for the foreseeable future. Which makes Turnus front and center of the action remains.
- [25:36]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Mark Gurman as always with one of the most highly read pieces. We so appreciate you joining on it. Thank you. Coming up, Elliot. Well, it's said to take a big stake in synopsis pressing for changes amid air pressure. That's up next. This is Bloomberg tech.
- [25:58]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Welcome back to Bloomberg tech. The status of the war in Iran is a big driver of markets, particularly for technology. Look at the NASDAQ 100 pushing higher outperformance in the Philadelphia Semiconductor index. The president easing off on threats with Iran and talking up the talks that are taking place. There's been outperformance for chips all year long and one reason being that the region is a principal producer of both helium and sulfur, critical elements in chip production coming out of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the uae. And so supply is tight. Was impacted by the Strait of Hormuz but its oil Brent the global benchmark now below $100 a barrel. Again, a really sharp turn of events overnight, Caroline, but continuing to try and link this to the tech sector because while it seems like talks might yield an end of the war in Iran, there is not yet an end to the war in Iran.
- [26:46]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Good context. Let's talk a little bit more with Bloomberg's tech equity reporter Carmen Reineke. And look at the moment I'm looking on the NASDAQ 100, only 12 stocks are in the red. Nvidia leads the charge Tesla up in terms of points perspective. But where do people go in this period of volatility?
- [27:00]
Carmen Reineke (Bloomberg Tech Equity Reporter)
Yeah. So I think when we see things kind of go more risk on there's so many flows back to big tech because those are the names, you know, they have a lot of excitement. They have these solid balance sheets, you know, overarchingly they're they're what works. So there's what have worked at least in the past for investors and something that we've actually seen recently is that a correlation with between the equal weight index and the magnus of Magnificent seven has become less tethered. And while that maybe sounds like it's not a good thing, it actually could mean that there's some outperformance coming for Tech. So the last time this happened was in 2023, right before we saw these huge gains from the release of chat GPT and all of the AI frenzy that's come into the market. So with things especially looking better with potentially with the war in Iran, we're seeing maybe some more risk on coming back. Valuations have been been really washed out from the Magic 7 and this really could be a good moment for investors to buy and start feeling better about that sector.
- [27:53]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Come and you make a technical analysis and look at the correlation, as you said. But you also speak to the Street. And one of the conclusions you reach in the piece is that analysts do see Big Tech, Megacap Tech Mag 7 Reclaiming Leadership in the market. What are the reasons why?
- [28:10]
Carmen Reineke (Bloomberg Tech Equity Reporter)
Well, one of the reasons that we're really seeing seeing is that there had been some large flows from big tech into international equities sort of around some of the fears, sort of that the gains, the momentum in this trade, it started to peter out. That's something we've seen over the last few months. But now with the macro sort of sort of shifting back, we could really start to see some inflows coming back into big Tech, back into those US equities and into some of the areas of the market that have previously worked, that have sort of been on hiatus maybe in terms of gains over the last few months.
- [28:41]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
One of the biggest players in the market you say was blackrock, just across all benchmarks, all indices. Look, Larry Fink has done one of his really important notes to his investor base and he's worried about AI and the inequality that's bringing particularly about access to some of the equity markets. How do you think that could be playing through?
- [29:00]
Carmen Reineke (Bloomberg Tech Equity Reporter)
You know, I think this is such a good point and it's something that I always try to remember is were speaking about markets that they're just real people on the other end, right? Like this is so important for anyone investing in a 401k or 4 or 3b. What he is saying is basically because gains have been so strong in some of these big companies, it could make the disparity of inequality larger in the market if you're not participating. So it's, it's just speaks to the fact that you know, if you can be engaged in the market, if you can be invested, you want to be taking advantage of, of these gains in technology and in AI. And so he was looking at some ways to potentially, you know, level the playing field.
- [29:36]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
The most common. Ronicky, thank you very much, Elliott. Investment management is Said to have taken a multibillion dollar investment in Synopsis. That's according to sources. The activist investor is pushing for changes at the chip design software maker as broad concerns loom from AI's impact. Let's bring in Bloomberg's Liana Baker, who leads our coverage in the US of deals. I have to say, Leon, you know, Cara and I just had a conversation with the CEO, I think it was last week. Carrie can correct me if I'm wrong. That's what we talked about. How threat is your business from AI that basically, you know, either renders it redundant or less valuable. What's Elliott's play here with Synopsis?
- [30:15]
Liana Baker (Bloomberg US Deals Reporter)
So Synopsis plays in a really interesting space, the EDA space, Electronic Design Automation Software. It's a duopoly with a company called Cadence. They're kind of the Coke and Pepsi of the industry and you can't make a chip without them. So Elliott is trying to see, you know, what are these stocks that could benefit long term from AI and the growth of AI and within video, you know, being an investor in Synopsis, they kind of view this one as a long term winner. But the stock has underperformed and there's a lot of things the company could do to raise margins. Maybe they raise prices because they're in this really lucrative duopoly. They have a lot of levers to pull to maybe, you know, boost the top line.
- [30:56]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Carol hit me on the IP, it was March 11, that, that the CEO is on the show. Could you explain the activist investor part of the story? I guess the mechanics of how it works. So Elliot takes a stake and then what happens?
- [31:09]
Liana Baker (Bloomberg US Deals Reporter)
So Elliott is one of the world's biggest activist investors and they've been in a lot of tech names over the years, Western Digital, they're in Pinterest right now. And what they do is they work behind the scenes. They sort of indicated in the statement, if you read that Jesse Cohen, the head of activism at Elliott, said that, you know, things are sort of constructive with the company. So they're trying to help Synopsis, you know, get these things in order and make a few changes at the company that long term will benefit both Elliott and Synopsis and all the shareholders.
- [31:42]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Yes, Synopsis response so far. LIANA because of course, its shares have been under pressure leading into this.
- [31:49]
Liana Baker (Bloomberg US Deals Reporter)
LIANA oh, the response, Sorry, you're showing it on the screen. So that's Jesse Cohen's response, who's the Elliott partner. But the company Synopsis has sort of said they take all shareholders into account and they're clearly engaged engaging here with Elliott and they haven't put out any statement that makes it sound like things could get ugly or in a fight. Because that's the flip side. When you bring an activist into your stock, things could go the other way. In this case, it seems like things are friendly and it won't go to a proxy fight or anything like that. But that is a risk when you have an activist in your shares.
- [32:27]
Karen Fransky (Fidelity Global Head of Private Equity)
Yes.
- [32:27]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
And also saying in an email send statement that it doesn't comment on specific conversations with individual shareholders, but the board of directors and management team regularly engage with shareholders on a range of issues. The Anna Baker with all the news on the latest activist engagement. Meanwhile, let's talk about the bond market. JP Morgan has kicked off that sale of $8 billion in junk debt to fund the record leverage buyout of Electronic Arts. That's according to source now. JP Morgan earlier amended the EA buyout debt package, increasing the size of a US dollar loan offering by $1 billion while trimming back the bond sale by the same amount. And what we got.
- [33:02]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Okay, coming up, we're going to speak with Cater Network CEO Shlomo Kramer about their latest innovations in cybersecurity amid growing geopolitical threats. There's a lot to do with Iran and in cyberspace. This is Bloomberg Tech.
- [33:18]
IBM Representative
So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now a global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94% of common questions, not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business.
- [33:47]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
IBM support for the show comes from Public. Lately it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth on public. You can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts. Yep. High yield cash. Yes again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools and customer support that actually helps go to public.com market and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com market ad paid for by Public Holdings Brokerage Services by Public Investing Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services By Public Advisors SEC Registered Advisor Crypto Services By ZeroHash all investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures@public.com being a small business
- [34:48]
Chase for Business Representative
owner isn't just a career, it's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make business growth their priority. The Chase team takes the time to understand your mission, where you are now and where you want to go. Their broad range of solutions is designed with you in mind so you can bring your ideas to life. From banking to payment acceptance to credit cards, you can conveniently manage all your business finances all all in one place with their digital tools looking for tips and advice. Their online resources are always available to give you the solutions you need to help your business thrive. See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more@chase.com business chase for business Make More of what's Yours the Chase Mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply JP Morgan Chase Bank Naomi Member FDIC Copyright 2026 JP Morgan Chase Co.
- [35:52]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
The RSA conference kicks off this week right here in San Francisco, bringing together thousands of cybersecurity leaders and policymakers amid rising global tensions and digital threats. Cato Networks is among the companies attending and CEO Shloma Kramer joins us now in frankly and I think obviously what is happening with the war in Iran will be discussed by you and your colleagues. You know Iran poses at a nation state, state level a cyber threat to this country, the United States. What are you seeing, what are you hearing and what are you talking about with colleagues this week?
- [36:26]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
So obviously the cyber threat from Iran and other adversaries is serious. But imagine a room full of Iranian cyber warriors and then transformed that to an army, to an agentic army of a agents.
- [36:45]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
You're saying that Iran has competence in that. In that.
- [36:48]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
Saying that the future delivers a much more radically dangerous threat landscape shape than what the presence has through the air transformation.
- [37:04]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
I think about what Cato does and I'm trying to summarize it for everyday people that might not know. Instead of having a box on your premises in terms of networks and your own firewall and your own vpn, you just offer a cloud based solution for all of it. Exactly.
- [37:19]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
It's a cloud based solution. Think of Blockbusters moving to Netflix.
- [37:23]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
If a a an enterprise or company of any size in this country does face a threat from Iran or any other threat actor, what's the benefit of Going through that technology, you don't need
- [37:34]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
to be technologists, you just connect to the net, to the cloud network, very simple, through an agent or a small box and you are protected wherever you are, wherever your applications are, wherever your critical assets are. In minutes.
- [37:50]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Of course you're Israeli based company and we hope that colleagues are safe at Cato Networks. But I'm interested as to what Shlomo is happening at the moment when you mention agent now before the Iran war erupted and we focused on that conflict, of course from a humanitarian perspective, we also were thinking about the market impact before this of software being disrupted by generative AI, of the latest plug in suddenly sending cybersecurity stocks lower. How have you you seen and digested that move in the market?
- [38:18]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
This is very good question. Thank you for asking it. I, like any other technology revolution, and this is perhaps the biggest in my life, has beneath it a set of technologies and capabilities that are required, that are enablers to this technology. Like in the case of AI, compute, energy and cyber. Cyber is essential for the enterprise to consume AI because without security, enterprises will not consume above that layer of technology. There are the winners, there are the neutrals and there are the roadkills of this new AI, AI technology. And obviously this is exactly where investors do not know how the card will reshuffle itself and are very hesitant in terms of investing. I will call them all, I will call it almost a freeze.
- [39:23]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Yeah.
- [39:24]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
But in that sense cyber is absolutely a winner. And that goes back to my previous comment about the the warriors of cyber versus an army of agentic attackers. The threat landscape based on AI is going to change dramatically and for the worse. So cyber is key in addressing that threat and is going to be unfortunately a huge beneficiary from that transformation.
- [39:58]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Unfortunately or fortunately, if you happen to have a CEO of Cato Networks and it's currently privately funded, you might be looking at the public markets. At what point shloime would you think you will to beef up the business, continue to grow, will need to turn to broader investment areas.
- [40:12]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
So we are as a growth company, continue to invest heavily in our growth and we will, you know, consider all options, both private and public funding in order to continue to drive this. We are in the very early in the cycle of this category of network security. It's called sase, I didn't invent the name. And, and you know, a decade from now this is going to make Cato the largest leader in modern network security.
- [40:48]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Sassy Secure access service, Edge, which basically again I'm trying to make it digestible but you combine firewall, threat protection, secure gateways, everything into one single cloud based platform. Can I ask you this? This week in rsa, let's put geopolitics to one side and threat level what's the threat within industry on who's innovating and using competence in artificial intelligence to add value to their products like who is it that you look at and go wow, they're doing really good things.
- [41:20]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
So the key to answer this question is who is using AI in order to fight AI? Who is implementing AI capabilities Because that is the only way to fend off
- [41:33]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
this army gentle defense against Agentix, War,
- [41:37]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
Zig and companies such as Cato. But many other companies are already have been using AI for many years and are doubling down on that and there are companies that not and that is going to determine the winners from the losers.
- [41:54]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Shloime Kramer, Cato Network CEO here with us in San Francisco in town for RSA this week. Carrie, plenty more headlines about there is.
- [42:01]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
And it's time now for talking tech. And first up, a comeback concert by K pop group BTS drew a smaller crowd than expected. Now that led the shares of the agency that represents them, Hybe, to their largest decline since 2022. The group's return after a four year hiatus has high stakes for Hybe, which despite acquisitions of labels from Hollywood to Latin America, has had sluggish profit growth due to BTS time on the sidelines. Plus Sony, while it's nearing a $1 billion deal to sell a majority stake in its home entertainment business to Chinese rival tcl. That's according to sources that the company's announced an agreement in January for a home entertainment joint venture that includes Sony's Bravia television brand and startup can do AI has raised $225 million from investors including Maverick, Silicon, SoftBank and Synopsis. Now the company's CEO, that's Sri. Jen Ninga is former Goldman Sachs managing director. He has pivoted the startup towards infrastructure since taking over last year,
- [43:00]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
sticking with chips. Tune in to the close tomorrow afternoon for a conversation with Rene Haas, ARM CEO. That's at 3:30pm in New York, 12:30pm Pacific Time. All right, coming up, I'm going to speak with Mitchell Green of Lead Edge Capital after the closing of its Fund 7 with $3.5 billion in commits. What's next? This is Bloomberg Tech. Lead Edge Capital has announced the closing of its Fund 7 with $3.5 billion in commitments, bringing its total capital raise since inception to $9 billion here to discuss is Lead Edge Capital founder and managing partner Mitchell Green. And it's great to have you back on the show. Let's just start with the basics. $3.5 billion for Fund 7. What the intention is, the strategy, the thesis in how you deploy out of this fund.
- [44:00]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
Sure. Well, thanks so much for having me on. Thesis continues to be, is the same, it's been, you know, in funds 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. This will, this will just be a continuation of, you know, what we're already doing and we have a very specific framework, framework which we call the lead edge eight, you know, which is certain financial criteria are 10 million plus in revenue or you're growing 25% plus a year. We'll continue to do that across the, across the life cycle of different types of, you know, literally we can lead a primary round, put money in the balance sheet of a company. We can buy out early investors or early employees. We can fund a continuation vehicle from an investor that needs to get out. We can buy an entire company in a buyout. It's really like the full lifecycle. And then actually we also invest in some companies when they're public as well.
- [44:50]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
The rules based approach is very interesting, whether you call it venture capital or private growth equity, because I'm curious how it works in practice. So if you're saying, okay, we only invest in companies that reach these criteria, do you find them or did they find you?
- [45:09]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
It's a great question. So the way we've always sourced and it's the way the three of us who run the firms, our backgrounds are best for venture partners and insight. So we have a team of about 18, 22 to 24 year olds that pick up the phone and call companies all day long. You know, some, you know, gone are kind of the days of cold calling company or actually leaving voicemails. But you know, our team of, you know, 18, 22 to 24 year olds think of these people as a lot of like former college athletes, people that were debaters, people that were entrepreneurs. We want people that are really persistent because the great company doesn't call you back right away. You sometimes call that CEO half dozen times before they call you back.
- [45:48]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Right.
- [45:50]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
But again, we'll speak to about 9,000 companies a year. And if I said you had to meet all eight criteria, it only be about 90 or 1%. But we say that if you meet at least five, it's about a 10% yield. So to 9,000 companies, 900 meet five or more criteria. Due diligence on 150 to do five to seven deals a year.
- [46:12]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Mitchell, I help but feel that those ex college athletes and those 22 to 24 year olds are going to be very well helped or maybe disrupted by Agenda Ki and I want to hear your play on the whole software investment thesis because this is what caught my attention.
- [46:32]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
Yeah. So what I would, what I would say is, is again somebody asks as long as the person that works at lead edge of 22 to 24 is on the other end of a phone talking to another human being like a CEO or CFO of a company, human to human interaction is still really, really important. However, where, where I can be really helpful now is and where I did this, you know, the three of us who run the firm all started our careers doing this 15, 20 plus years ago. And you know, today an analyst or an associate cold calling companies can be a lot, can use AI to be a lot more educated when talking to an entrepreneur. You know, they can have done a bunch of research that would have taken a couple hours before they can do it in five minutes. Or Claude, you know they can look up all the competitors, they can get the value prop, they can ask like what do you think the right questions to ask are? So actually I can help you find more. If you say hey, I just spoke to ABC company like toast in the restaurant point of sale system, give me me all the competitors so I can then call them as well. So it actually makes the analyst associates even more powerful.
- [47:48]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
And Mitchell, how many therefore of the calls do you think will still be going to software companies that have been beaten up that you think still look attractive? Because that has been the narrative that agenda KI is coming to eat their lunch and therefore they're going to see significant pressure on their eyes and their future growth.
- [48:03]
Mitchell Green (Lead Edge Capital Founder)
For us it's always been about. Software is a very broad word. Right. There's lots of different types of software companies. Just like if you say I'm going to Europe, there's lots of places in Europe you could be like, oh, in Europe it rains. No, some places in Europe it doesn't rain. So for us like software, so we're looking for companies and we always look for companies that have like very high gross dollar retention. Now again you might say well is going to change all that. Well then you're looking for software companies that have a mode, that have that own the data, that are systems of record that tend to sell the large enterprises. You know, you could have most, you know if you have people on here from most banks, most banks don't Even allow their employees to access, you know, access AI from their systems. These big enterprises, when they buy software, want security. You know, look, you've been able to buy open source software for decades, yet companies like Elastic and Grafana and Databricks and Red Hat exist because they provide an enterprise level on top of what was already free software. And I think you're going to continue again, we invest outside of software as well. We invest in consumer Internet, we invest in marketplaces, we invest in financial exchanges, we invest in payments companies like Transferwise. But yeah, we will continue to definitely invest in software.
- [49:27]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Mitchell Green need Edge Capital. Come back as you deploy that seventh fund. Congratulations on the fundraise. And talking about the use of AI for that you need infrastructure. We talk about that now. N Scale, a UK developer for AI datacenters, is now one of Europe's most valuable startups after raising $2 billion in a recent round, which now values the company at a cool $14.6 billion. Now the hyperscalers are also looking to this particular company because they want to be looking for more compute. But also they've got some significant leaders coming in, directors including former British politician Nick Clegg, Sheryl Sandberg as well, longtime chief operating officer at Facebook and its parent Matter. And I'm very pleased to say we can welcome the leadership now. Nscale CEO Josh Payne along with Sheryl Sandberg. It is a joy to have you both on the show. And Josh, some huge ambitions from N Scale and just the computing power that you can bring online, the revenues you're going to be generating in the next few years. Just talk to us about how you achieve that, that necessary infrastructure. Josh.
- [50:26]
Josh Payne (N Scale CEO)
Well, thank you, Caroline. It's great to be here. You know, firstly, what I'll say is this is the fourth industrial revolution. This market is moving so fast and we're still at the beginning. We're talking about a technology that is going to lead to, you know, automized automated drug discovery, the extension of human life, truly autonomous agents. And the only thing that prevents that future is access to the scarce resource which is the compute. And so N Scale is solves this problem. We buy and build and deploy all of that infrastructure to allow for these products to be built and operated. And so not only is there just huge demand for the sector, but we're
- [51:01]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
capturing it and there's huge demand for your expertise, Cheryl, and to join boards. Why? Why did you choose Josh? Why did you back N Scale? Why on the board?
- [51:12]
Sheryl Sandberg (N Scale Board Member and Advisor)
Well, the funny part of the story starts with his part which is
- [51:18]
Josh Payne (N Scale CEO)
so thinking about how I, how I build the next great AI platform. What was most important to me is speaking to executives that have built great platforms before of global scale, and so certainly none better than Sheryl Sandberg. And so I tried for some time to get an introduction to Sheryl and upon finally doing so, we, we scheduled a 30 minute call and the first thing that she said to me was, I don't do boards and I don't do these calls.
- [51:43]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Right.
- [51:43]
Sheryl Sandberg (N Scale Board Member and Advisor)
So it was an inauspicious beginning, but I didn't do boards and I didn't do these calls. But what I saw in Josh, 90 minutes into our 30 minute phone call was what I considered real visionary leadership. Over the next few weeks, as he was trying to get me to consider joining the board, he went away and he wrote a letter to his management team. And the only person I'd ever seen right like that was Mark Zuckerberg. This combination of a relentless, relentless desire for great, relentless desire for execution. You know, from my point of view, I joined Google when it was at 250 people left, at 20,000. I joined Facebook when it was 550 people left, you know, almost 100,000. So the opportunity to work with a founder I believe, believe in. I joined right as the company was about 300, 400 people. So that same spot and try to take some of the lessons we've learned and help a company I believe in this much scale really matters. I also really believe in the power of AI. I think we're at the very beginning I started my career in global health. AI is going to mean that anyone in a remote village, anywhere in the world could get skin cancer diagnosed at the same efficacy rate as someone in the Mayo Clinic. But that is going to take a build out and a build out of infrastructure and compute. And I really believe in Josh and nscale's ability to do that. So I'm happy to be here.
- [53:08]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Josh. The term NEO cloud has actually also become quite broad. When I talk to people about N Scale, they say, well, N scale is modular. How do you set yourselves apart from the other NEO clouds out there? Many, many of whom come on this program and make quite similar pitches.
- [53:26]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
Yeah, yeah.
- [53:27]
Josh Payne (N Scale CEO)
So I think the key distinction with N Scale is we are fully vertically integrated. Again, if you think about the challenge for the sector, it's actually landing the infrastructure on the ground and getting it plugged in. And the true scarcity, given the demand in the sector is the land, the power and then, and then the chips. And so by and large, the neocloud sector is not really vertically integrated in that they don't own their own land and power. Nscale does. We own the land and power, we own the chips and we own the software delivering an end to end service to the counterparty. In addition, we recently acquired a company called American Intelligence Corporation in West Virginia, which adds an even further segment to that, which is the ownership of the power. This is a behind the meter site, which means that we're effectively taking natural gas and producing our own energy, which means it's not connected to the local grid and therefore subject to any kind of price increases for consumers.
- [54:22]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Cheryl, it's great to have you back on Bloomberg Television and on Bloomberg Tech you said I don't do boards historically with this, with this role with N Scale. I think a lot of people are really interested if you go back to being an operator, you know, with time, if you would join the executive ranks at N Scale and whether you do or don't, kind of operationally how you think you can help the company grow.
- [54:46]
Sheryl Sandberg (N Scale Board Member and Advisor)
So I've joined as both a board member, as an advisor. I'm spending real time with Josh and his team. I have no plans to go on board full time. They have an incredible exec team and my goal is to help them scale, help figure out how we structure, how we do corporate governance. I've helped recruit some other great board members. Nick Clegg you mentioned joined the board with me, Sue Decker, who has decades of experience chairing audit committees and in the financial world and work with them to really scale their company. What I see in Josh is two things is real ambition, like real ambition to make a difference in how the AI build out happens, make it sustainable, make it clean. Commitment to local jobs as we scale and build, but also a commitment to excellence, to hiring the best people, to getting people into the right jobs, to structuring so that we can really execute. And it's, it's been, it already has been a great pleasure to work this closely with someone I believe in. And also Caroline, I know you always care about this. A really strong team of senior women, head of AI infrastructure, cfo, head of security. Josh before me hired what he considers, who he considers the best people. A lot of great women in those jobs.
- [56:05]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
I love that because it is something I'm passionate about. Something that you spent your career advocating for, Cheryl, is diversity within the ranks of talent. But also you're advocating as well for clean energy. And I notice you got one other board seat with Terror Dot and that is about carbon neutrality. So, Josh, I ask you, what about carbon neutrality for West Virginia? Because that's about natural gas. How do you think about that in the longer term?
- [56:28]
Josh Payne (N Scale CEO)
Yeah, sure. So broadly, the company thesis is to take sustainable energy and convert it into intelligence. So we first do this in the north of Norway. So we operate in the north of Norway using only hydropower. The north of Norway has such a large oversupply of energy due to basically the seasons. Effectively, during the winter, all of the glaciers melt over, and then in the summer, they all melt and create enormous waterfalls. And the Norwegian government has built large hydropower dams to capture that energy. But the challenge is it can't be exported and so it's got to be consumed in region. So N Scale is building some of the largest infrastructure projects on the European continent in the north of Norway, taking otherwise stranded energy and converting it to intelligence. The same goes for our projects in Texas, as an example. In Texas, you've got a similar oversupply of renewables and other energy, but it's in remote location. So we're building some of the largest infrastructure projects in North America in this location in order to convert that to intelligence. Now in West Virginia, we're doing the same thing, but slightly different. In West Virginia, we're producing our own energy. One of the challenges with the North American grid is constrained. And so we felt that producing our own energy with natural gas generators, operators, that is behind the meter, was the best way to scale sustainably but also not impact local prices and the grid.
- [57:54]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
Cheryl, you're very used to being inside companies that are just truly global, right? Listening to what Josh is saying, nscale gets a lot of credit because it's, it's a kind of a leader in Europe, it is footprint in the United Kingdom. But we've just been talking about America. How much do you want Josh, I know he's sitting next to you, to shift gears a little bit and move this company and himself to the US do you want him to focus on the Middle east, where there is the capital, there is the will, there is energy supply, for example?
- [58:27]
Sheryl Sandberg (N Scale Board Member and Advisor)
Well, I'll let him answer that, but certainly this is global, right? This is a global company started in London and continuing to expand all over the world.
- [58:39]
Josh Payne (N Scale CEO)
Yes. I mean, today we're operating in five countries. We have plans for 15. Naturally, North America is the center of the universe for artificial intelligence, both with startups, with larger customers, with, with access to capital. And so naturally, I spend a lot of my time here. But as Cheryl said, this is a global market and I'm spending most of my time on a plane as a result.
- [59:03]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
That's a very familiar tale that your peers have told us on this program to N SCALE CEO Josh Payne and SCALE Board member and advisor Sheryl Sandberg. It's great to have you both on the program. That does it for this edition of Bloomberg Tech. Tune in tomorrow for a special edition of the show live from the Hill and Valley Forum in Washington, dc. We'll sit down with some of the biggest names in government, industry and technology.
- [59:26]
Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Host)
Carrie, don't forget to to check out the podcast. You can find it on the terminal as well as online on Apple, Spotify and Iheart. This is Bloomberg Tech
- [59:35]
Adobe Marketing Representative
if you follow markets, you know the value of long term thinking. You plan, you diversify, you prepare for volatility. But in life, even the best strategies can't prevent every bad day a fire, a loss, a disruption that demands immediate attention. When that happens, what matters isn't just what you planned. It's who shows up. That's where Cincinnati Insurance comes in. For more than 75 years, they've helped individuals and businesses navigate life's toughest moments with care, expertise and personal attention. Together with independent agents, Cincinnati Insurance focuses on relationships, not transactions. Their approach is grounded in experience, follow through and trust built over time. Bad days happen, and when they do, you deserve an insurance partner who understands risk, respects what you've built and is ready to help you move forward. The Cincinnati insurance companies Let them make your bad day better. Find an independent agent@cin fin.com these days
- [60:36]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function.
- [60:41]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
But without identity, you can't trust they'll
- [60:43]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
serve your business instead of jeopardizing it.
- [60:46]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right
- [60:48]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a
- [60:53]
Shlomo Kramer (Cato Networks CEO)
single standard of trust.
- [60:55]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
So whether an AI agent supports a
- [60:57]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent Secure any agent Okta secures AI this podcast is brought to you by Wise, the smarter way to manage your money internationally if you're getting a headache from juggling different currencies and different bank accounts in different countries, there's a better way to receive money in the currency you need without the slow transfer times or hidden fees. Meet Wise the Savvy way to handle your money internationally. Hold balances in up to 40 currencies with the mid market exchange rate on every conversion, whether you're receiving payments from tenants abroad. Earning as a digital nomad or converting
- [61:34]
Caroline Hyde / Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech Hosts)
dividends from your international investments. The Wise Multi Currency account is for you.
- [61:38]
IBM Representative (Sponsor Message)
Be smart, Get Wise Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com Terms and Conditions apply.