Bloomberg Tech Podcast Summary

Episode: Nvidia Puts Another $2B Into CoreWeave, Offers New Chips
Air Date: January 26, 2026
Hosts: Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)

Main Theme / Episode Overview

This episode focuses on Nvidia's $2 billion investment into CoreWeave, the implications for the AI and semiconductor sectors, and broader conversations about circular financing in tech. It also covers IonQ's acquisition of SkyWater Technology, Microsoft’s AI chip developments, defense stock surges due to geopolitical tension, grid resilience amid winter storms, and a deep dive into the growing AI inference startup, Base10 Labs. The episode blends breaking tech business news with analysis and perspectives from industry leaders, Bloomberg reporters, and special guests.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nvidia’s $2 Billion Investment in CoreWeave

[02:27–05:46]

• Details of the Deal: Nvidia to buy CoreWeave’s common stock at $87.20/share, accelerating AI infrastructure buildout.
• Strategic Rationale: CoreWeave as an early adopter and “reference platform” for Nvidia; expands AI compute capacity to meet swelling demand.
• Circular Financing Concerns: Debate over whether Nvidia investing back into a customer is “circular financing.”
  • Jensen Huang’s Stance: “This is just a small proportion...showing faith...the market will sort this out.” (Paraphrased by To Him Srivastava, [03:59])
  • CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator: Views the investment as “a drop in the ocean” compared to their infrastructure spend ([04:23]).

Notable Quote:
“It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of infrastructure spend that we’re having to do.”
— Michael Intrator, CoreWeave CEO ([04:23], via Caroline Hyde)

2. Nvidia's Standalone Vera CPU & Industry Impact

[05:18–06:10]

• Product Focus: Nvidia’s Vera CPU highlighted as a competitive, standalone product—now a rival to AMD and Intel.
• Market Reactions: AMD and Intel stocks under pressure; Nvidia’s position as a dominant supplier reinforced.

Notable Quote:
“He [Jensen Huang] really wanted to deliver a message that this is a standalone product as well as being part of the infrastructure.”
— To Him Srivastava ([05:18])

3. Microsoft’s Second-Generation AI Chip Rollout

[06:10–07:39]

• Why It Matters: Microsoft, late to custom silicon compared to Amazon and Google, is accelerating in-house chips to cut costs and reduce Nvidia dependence.
• Current Status: Live in Iowa and soon in Phoenix, but unclear timeline for global rollout or wide-scale customer access.
• Industry Reality: Microsoft, like other “hyperscalers,” still heavily relies on Nvidia’s hardware for AI workloads.

Notable Quote:
“Nvidia is the workhorse that powers, you know, the vast, vast majority of the AI workloads in Microsoft’s data centers.”
— Bloomberg’s Matt Day ([06:42])

4. “Circular Financing” in Focus

[07:39–09:20]

• Expert Analysis (Kim Forrest, Boca Capital Partners):
  • Acknowledges the circularity (“Of course it’s circular financing” ([08:09]))
  • Sees Nvidia’s $2B as minimal compared to its scale, but raises nuanced concerns about reference relationships.
  • Predicts overbuilding risk: explosive compute demand now, likely overcapacity later in market cycles.

Notable Quote:
“This is a very symbiotic world...customers and providers and competitors all kind of working in the same pool. It’s messy and it’s like real life because it is.”
— Kim Forrest ([09:46])

5. Earnings & Market Sentiments

[12:07–13:34]

• Looking Forward: Analysts increasingly focus on future projections (e.g., six-month outlooks for Apple, Microsoft)
• Consumer vs. Enterprise: Apple’s success hinges on consumer interest; Microsoft’s on business cloud subscriptions.

6. IonQ Acquisition of Skywater Technology: Accelerating US Quantum Computing

[16:17–23:58]

• Deal Details: IonQ acquires SkyWater for $1.8B (cash and stock), its biggest acquisition, aiming to speed up domestic chip and quantum R&D.
• Strategic Significance:
  • Accelerates IonQ’s quantum chip roadmap.
  • Expands IonQ’s “merchant supplier” role in the US quantum supply chain.
  • Enhances their work with the US Government, classified programs, and allies.
  • Assures secure, domestic semiconductor manufacturing for critical sectors.
  • SkyWater will continue supplying IonQ competitors, reflecting a collaborative ecosystem.
• Global Outlook and Geopolitics:
  • US and allies lead the quantum “space race” versus China.
  • IonQ aims to be the “Nvidia and Cisco” of quantum security, networking, and computing.

Notable Quotes:
“This is a big spread bet on the US semiconductor manufacturing...tailwind.”
— Nicola Demarci, IonQ CEO ([16:44])
“With Skywater we can make quantum computing a mass market reality.”
— Nicola Demarci ([23:07])

7. EU Investigation into X (formerly Twitter) Over Grok AI Bot

[23:58–25:47]

• Concerns: EU probes X over Grok chatbot’s generation of deepfake images with potential child abuse material, per Digital Services Act (DSA).
• Free speech tensions: US and EU governments at odds over regulation of content and tech platforms.
• Consequences: EU can fine up to 6% of global revenue for DSA violations.

Quote:
“They can find as much as 6% of global annual revenue if it’s found to be in violation of the DSA.”
— Caroline Hyde ([26:08])

8. Defense Stocks & Geopolitical Tension Impact

[27:01–30:24]

• Surging Defense Sector: Defense and aerospace stocks (+42% in the past year) rally on increased global military spending.
• Tech Influence: Companies investing in drones, AI, advanced sensors.
• Political Risks: Stocks in the “political crosshairs,” compensation and government contracts scrutinized.
• Investors’ View: Momentum based on the tech pivot within the defense industry.

Quote:
“There’s more reliance on drones, on AI, on advanced sensors, software, missile defense systems.”
— Carmen Reineke ([29:42])

9. Power Grid Strain During Winter Weather & Data Centers

[31:02–32:54]

• Price Spikes: Power prices reached $1,000+/MWh in Virginia (heavy data center presence) and up to $2,000/MWh in Texas during an extended cold snap.
• Grid Mitigation: DOE authorized running power plants flat out, backup generator use at data centers to prevent blackouts.
• Consumer Costs: Ultimately passed on to end-users via utility rates.

10. Base10 Labs: AI Inference Startup’s $300M Funding

[36:23–44:34]

• Market Focus: Inference (running models) is “the largest market that will ever exist,” per CEO To Him Srivastava ([37:06]).
• Growth: Valuation more than doubled to $5B in six months.
• Investor Perspective (Sarah Gua, Conviction):
  • “$5 billion is a very small number compared to the opportunity ahead.” ([37:55])
  • Sees enormous market for making inference accessible, convenient, and efficient for startups and enterprises.
• Business Model: Tiered from pay-as-you-go to enterprise, aligning revenue with customer use/value ([41:05]).
• Stickiness of Inference: Described as “the stickiest characteristics of any business I’ve ever seen” ([41:56]).
• Partnership Approach: Emphasis on symbiotic partnerships, including with Nvidia and within investor portfolios.

Notable Quotes:
“Inference is probably the largest market that will ever exist.”
— To Him Srivastava ([37:06])
“Inference has the stickiest characteristics of any business I’ve ever seen.”
— Sarah Gua ([41:56])

11. Broader Reflections: Are We in an AI Bubble?

[45:48–49:46]

• Industry Scale: Massive investments from Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet in anticipation of future AI returns.
• Skepticism & Risk: Questions raised about “circular deals” (money moving in loops among big tech players) and whether profitability is proven.
• AI as a Shift: Compared in scale to past revolutions—electricity, internet ([46:34]).
• Market Bubbles: San Francisco buzzes with debate: is this an AI bubble, and if so, how big/bad could the bust be?
• Recent History: Nvidia’s rebound after last year’s $600B selloff suggests resilience and expanding opportunity set.
• Key Metric to Watch: Capital expenditures (capex) and ROI will be the main market focus as Big Tech reports earnings in the weeks ahead.

Notable Quotes:
“So is this the dawn of a new age of AI-powered growth or the biggest bubble ever?”
— Carmen Reineke/To Him Srivastava ([46:53–47:03])
“We want to know that all of this money is going to something that’s going to help the bottom line.”
— Carmen Reineke ([49:12])

Timestamps of Major Segments

• Nvidia-CoreWeave deal & circular financing: [03:10–09:20]
• Nvidia Vera CPU & AMD/Intel competition: [05:18–06:10; 10:35–12:07]
• Microsoft AI chip efforts: [06:10–07:39]
• Market/earnings context (tech stocks): [12:07–13:34]; [27:01–27:43]
• IonQ acquisition of Skywater: [16:17–23:58]
• EU probe of X’s Grok AI: [23:58–25:56]
• Defense stocks/geopolitics: [27:43–31:02]
• Winter weather, grid and data centers: [31:02–32:54]
• Base10 Labs funding/interview: [36:23–44:34]
• AI/circular deals/bubble worry: [45:48–49:46]

Notable Quotes Recap

• On CoreWeave Investment:
  “It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of infrastructure spend...”
  — Michael Intrator, CoreWeave CEO ([04:23])

• On Circular Financing:
  “Of course it’s circular financing. ... If Nvidia is investing in its customers, by definition it’s circular financing.”
  — Kim Forrest, Boca Capital ([08:09])

• On Nvidia’s CPU Ambitions:
  “He really wanted to deliver a message that this is a standalone product.”
  — To Him Srivastava ([05:18])

• On Microsoft’s AI Chips:
  “Nvidia is the workhorse that powers...the vast majority of the AI workloads in Microsoft’s data centers.”
  — Matt Day ([06:42])

• On IonQ’s Skywater Acquisition:
  “With Skywater we can make quantum computing a mass market reality.”
  — Nicola Demarci, IonQ CEO ([23:07])

• On AI Market Bubble:
  “So is this the dawn of a new age of AI-powered growth or the biggest bubble ever?”
  — (Multiple: Carmen Reineke/To Him Srivastava [46:53–47:03])

• On the Inference Market:
  “Inference is probably the largest market that will ever exist.”
  — To Him Srivastava, Base10 CEO ([37:06])
  “Inference has the stickiest characteristics of any business I’ve ever seen.”
  — Sarah Gua, Conviction ([41:56])

Episode Tone

• Analytical, high-paced, and occasionally skeptical, balancing excitement about tech with awareness of risks around market bubbles and symbiotic/circular industry relationships.

For listeners who missed the episode, this summary delivers the critical news, insightful analysis, memorable commentary, and key context shaping the intersection of AI, chips, cloud, defense, and the evolving contours of the tech industry in 2026.