US Government’s Intel Stake Worth $14B After Nvidia Deal

Summary

Bloomberg Tech

Episode: US Government’s Intel Stake Worth $14B After Nvidia Deal
Date: September 18, 2025
Hosts: Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)

Overview

This episode explores Nvidia’s landmark $5 billion investment in Intel, examining the implications for the chip sector, the US government's strategic stake in Intel, and broader market reactions. The hosts also cover breaking news about Disney pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after controversial remarks, Meta’s unveiling of AI-powered wearables, and Via and Waymo’s partnership for autonomous transit. Industry experts and company executives provide rich analysis on these emerging tech stories.

---

Key Discussion Points

1. Nvidia’s $5 Billion Investment in Intel: Industry and Political Significance

[01:18–05:48, 25:48–30:47]

• Deal Structure and Impact:

  • Nvidia is investing $5B in Intel and co-developing chips for PCs and data centers.
  • Intel stock soared 25%, adding $30 billion in market cap, spurred by both the Nvidia announcement and political support.
  • The US government’s 10% stake in Intel is now worth $14 billion, a $4.9 billion gain from the deal’s announcement.

• Intel’s Position and Benefits:

  • Bloomberg chip expert Ian King: "What intel is getting here is basically a stronger PC product. It's going to get access to graphics chips…that will make it stronger in the market for laptops and desktops…on the flip side, it's getting some access…to Nvidia's runaway business in the data center." [02:39]
  • Access to Nvidia’s accelerators could help Intel regain ground in data center AI, a market where it lags.

• Nvidia’s Motives:

  • Ian King: “They want to be able to go to the datacenter market, to that customers and say, hey, look, choice is everything. If you don't want our in house CPUs, go with Intel.” [03:25]
  • Political tailwinds: With the US government’s direct interest and financial support, the partnership aligns with “re-shoring” and national tech priorities.

• Limits and Manufacturing:

  • The partnership is more about co-development than massive new manufacturing—Intel isn’t immediately getting orders to fabricate Nvidia chips.
  • Ian King: “Intel needs customers for those factories…Its business on its own isn't enough to sustain development.” [04:18]

2. Shareholder and Market Reactions: Winners and Losers

[06:42–12:10, 29:53–30:59]

• Pressure on AMD and ARM:

  • Jordan Klein (Mizuho Americas): “This is bad for AMD. This is putting pressure on ARM because now Intel’s x86 is working with Nvidia.” [06:42]
  • Investors care most about data center chips; AMD has been winning here, but the Intel-Nvidia deal makes Intel more credible.

• ARM and SoftBank Strategy:

  • SoftBank, which heavily backs ARM, is “spreading bets”—owning a stake in Intel enhances their industry position.
  • “This definitely strengthens the domestic leading logic supplier which is intel…over time helps Nvidia broaden their bets as well within the data center." [08:22] —Jordan Klein

• Architecture Competition and Flexibility:

  • Nvidia now able to offer x86 CPU server processors (not just ARM-based), giving customers flexibility and intensifying competition.
  • “As much as intel has struggled, they still have the largest market share of server chips in the data center. It's just they're losing a lot of that.” [09:41] —Klein

• Investor Sentiment:

  • Many funds underweighted Intel—now must decide whether to buy at a big premium. “If you don't own it and it's up 30%, how long do you want to wait? If it doesn't come back you may have to just start buying it.” [11:22]

• Broader Semi Rally:

  • The whole sector (except AMD and ARM) rallies, including memory and chip equipment makers, due to AI model demand.
  • Klein: “This is because inferencing demand…is increasing, that's putting added pressure on capacity…need more memory, more compute, more tools.”

3. Geopolitical Context and US Tech Strategy

[25:48–29:21]

• Political Signaling:

  • The timing of the Nvidia/Intel announcement coincides with President Donald Trump’s tech forum in London, signaling US intentions to support domestic chipmaking.
  • “This is a shot in the arm not only for Intel, the company, but also for President Donald Trump’s vision when it comes to AI...” [25:48] —Mike Shepherd

• China and AI Competition:

  • US restrictions limit Nvidia’s expansion in China, while Huawei announces a competitive cluster chip strategy to challenge Nvidia’s global dominance.
  • “When you put [Huawei’s chips] together in large clusters, that’s where they gain ground…This is how China will compete with the United States for supremacy in artificial intelligence.” [27:52] —Shepherd

4. Breaking News: Disney Pulls Jimmy Kimmel After FCC Pushback

[15:03–19:38]

• Event Timeline:

  • Jimmy Kimmel suspended indefinitely after controversial remarks on the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk.
  • Rapid escalation after FCC Chair Brendan Carr publicly criticized Kimmel, and major station owner Nexstar pre-empted the show.
  • Lucas Shaw (Bloomberg): "It was really after Carr's comments and then Next Star's pressure that Disney acted.” [15:36]

• Legal and Political Fallout:

  • Disney has not announced if Kimmel’s show is cancelled permanently.
  • FCC unlikely to revoke broadcasting licenses, though “this administration has been very aggressive in going after the media…” [17:01]
  • The episode highlights media politicization and the increasing difficulty for media companies to navigate political threats from both sides.

5. Meta’s New AI Wearables

[32:12–39:43]

• Product Launch:

  • Mark Zuckerberg unveils Meta Ray-Ban displays, $800 smart glasses with AI features, messaging (killer use-case), and neural EMG wristband for gesture control.
  • Chris Cox (Meta CPO): “We’re starting with something that’s really, really nice…messaging, I’d say, is going to be the most useful [feature] to start.” [35:09]

• Consumer Market Reactions:

  • Analysts are split—some see it as “early for mass adoption”; others, as a “must-have”.
  • The device can be fitted with prescription lenses and will support WhatsApp and Instagram Reels.

• AI-Driven Features:

  • Live translation, conversation focus (filter noise in crowded spaces), creative tools for content.
  • “AI is going to make it a lot easier [for users] to create content…and view the content we create for each other.” [39:05] —Cox

• Supply Chain Transparency:

  • Some manufacturing in China, but Meta aims for broad assembly sources.

6. Via and Waymo: Autonomous Public Transit Partnership

[41:24–45:57]

• Partnership Details:

  • Via partners with Waymo to launch autonomous rides for public transit in Chandler, AZ, aiming to enhance efficiency and accessibility for underserved groups.
  • Daniel Ramon (Via CEO): “We can leverage the autonomous vehicles of Waymo…to support service during peak hours…” [41:58]

• Market Impact:

  • Waymo expands its rider base, including low-income, seniors, and people with disabilities, at lower public pricing.
  • “This is a great opportunity, I think, to expand autonomous vehicles and provide…advanced technology to folks who typically may not have access…” [42:25]

• Broader Adoption:

  • Arizona leads in robo-taxi deployment; Via’s model positions AV tech for hundreds of public transit systems.
  • Emphasis on helping cities “do more with less” amidst budget pressures.

---

Memorable Quotes

"The reason Silicon Valley is called Silicon Valley is because of Intel. But nowadays a quarterly revenue number from Nvidia basically equals a yearly revenue number from Intel."
— Caroline Hyde [04:47]

"Choice is everything…That allows them [Nvidia] to present a more ‘we are the world’ approach to a market where they are extremely dominant."
— Ian King [03:25]

"If you don't own [Intel] and it's up 30%, how long do you want to wait? If it doesn't come back you may have to just start buying it."
— Jordan Klein [11:22]

"This is a shot in the arm not only for Intel, the company, but also for President Donald Trump’s vision when it comes to AI and also the government’s own investment in Intel."
— Mike Shepherd [25:48]

“We’re starting with something that’s really, really nice…messaging, I’d say, is going to be the most useful [feature] to start.”
— Chris Cox (Meta) [35:09]

"It seems unlikely, but you never really know with this administration. They've been very aggressive in going after the media, often in cases that most legal scholars think don't have a lot of foundation."
— Lucas Shaw [17:01]

---

Important Timestamps

• Nvidia & Intel deal summary & impact: [01:18–05:48]
• Jordan Klein (Mizuho) on winners/losers: [06:42–12:10]
• Political/geopolitical context (US, China, AI chips): [25:48–29:21]
• Disney pulls Jimmy Kimmel after FCC pressure: [15:03–19:38]
• Meta Wearables: product and strategy: [32:12–39:43]
• Via & Waymo – autonomous transit partnership: [41:24–45:57]

---

Flow & Tone

The episode maintains Bloomberg’s signature brisk, data-driven, and insightful tone, blending expert interviews with market context and live industry updates. Speakers are candid, frequently offering both analytical and practical perspectives, and there’s a focus on the interplay between technology, policy, and business.

---

Takeaways for Non-Listeners

If you missed the episode:

• Nvidia’s $5B investment is a lifeline for Intel, adds pressure on AMD/ARM, and boosts the US government’s stake.
• The move reflects market, tech, and geopolitical strategies, with shifting alliances and intensified competition.
• Disney’s rapid action against Jimmy Kimmel spotlights the volatile, politicized media landscape.
• Meta pushes consumer AI wearables forward, betting on messaging and translation as killer features.
• Via and Waymo’s partnership aims to democratize AV access for public transit users, especially underserved communities.

This is a must-listen episode for anyone following tech industry power plays, the evolving chip war, and the next wave of AI-driven products and regulation.

Transcript

[A]

Data threats don't knock. They sneak in quietly, make themselves right at home. But when you partner with Veeam, you can spot threats before they're a threat to your business. Whatever the world throws at your data, it's all good. Get data [e-mail] that's ve. Com.

[B]

Your next product launch is coming fast. Don't let billing slow you down. Legacy systems can't handle usage based billing. That means your team is stuck gluing.

[C]

Code together, piecing through spreadsheets and running.

[B]

Ad hoc queries queries just to figure out what to bill. With Metronome you can roll out new pricing in minutes instead of months, whether it's usage based, seat based or a hybrid model. Visit metronome.com to see how companies like OpenAI and Anthropic launch billing as fast as they launch products. That's metronome.com how can you grow your.

[A]

Business from idea to industry leader? Bring your vision to life with smart business buying tools and technology from Amazon Business.

[B]

From fast free shipping to in depth.

[A]

Buying insights and automated purchase approvals, they deliver everything you need to achieve your goals. It's not easy to stand out from the crowd. Simplify how you stock up to get ahead.

[B]

Go to amazonbusiness.com for support.

[A]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News Bloomberg Tech is live from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York and Ed Ludlow in San Francisco. This is Bloomberg Tech. Coming up intel stock soars as Nvidia says it will invest $5 billion and co develop chips for PCs and data centers. Plus Disney takes Jimmy Kimmel live off the air indefinitely in a backlash to remarks the late night host made about the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk. And we talked to matters chief product officer about the company's new smart glasses and its a push but first we check in on these market which are a new record highs. The Nasdaq is up about a percentage point as we see NASDAQ 100 and a new record and we're being driven yes by macro sentiment, yes by a fed rate cut but by news in the chip sector Nvidia investing $5 billion in intel and you see the marked move 25% higher $30 billion added in market cap for Intel. Another lifeline coming from Nvidia but what actually will they co create? Let's go to Bloomberg's chip sector expert in King in we're trying to read the tea leaves. This is a lot of signal to the administration but what does it say about actual innovation here?

[D]

Yeah I mean, what intel is getting here is a basically a stronger PC product. It's going to get access to graphics chips which can combine with its own and that will make it stronger in the market for laptops and desktops. On the flip side, it's getting some access and we don't know how much to Nvidia's runaway business in the data center whereby its datacenter CPUs will be combined into datacenter products. And obviously, obviously Nvidia's accelerators are by far dominate the market there. So in theory it should help intel have access to areas it currently doesn't.

[A]

So expand the potential addressable market for intel, which has certainly lagged in the world of AI for Nvidia. What do they get?

[D]

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think based on the conversations that we had with people over there, what they're looking at is they want to be able to go to the datacenter market, to that customers and say, hey, look, choice is everything. If you don't want our in house CPUs, go with Intel. It's great. It's all here, it's all there for you. So that allows them to present a sort of a more kind of, hey, we are the world approach to a market where they are extremely dominant. So that's not a bad thing. And that is probably the biggest thing that they're getting out of this.

[A]

And also some political tailwinds. I'm sure Jensen Huang can read the room. He understands that the government just took a 10% stake in Intel. That 10% stake is markedly more valuable on the back of Nvidia's support. But it's not as though we're suddenly going to see manufacturing and the fabs making Nvidia's chips. Right?

[D]

Yeah, I mean that's, that's, that's the heart of the matter is more than some money, more than a technology partnership. Intel needs customers for those factories. Its business on its own isn't enough to sustain the development and the investment that's required to keep those and get those things back to being state of the art. It's just not enough. The ideal scenario for intel would have been for Nvidia to give it a huge amount of orders for, for those factories. And that has not happened.

[A]

I think what you do so brilliantly in the story is remind us of the context. The reason Silicon Valley is called Silicon Valley is because of Intel. But nowadays a quarterly revenue number from Nvidia basically equals a yearly revenue number from Intel. They've just been so left behind. Is this what's more needed? Nvidia supports the softbank support, let alone the US Government's.

[D]

Yeah. I mean all of this financial support is helpful. Right? That Intel's balance sheet according to its CFO isn't where it should be. Anything which redresses that and gets it closer to being back in profit is good. But fundamentally what drove intel in the past was this tight manufacturing capability linked with design capabilities. And that was an engine which just powered it forward. Doesn't have that now, doesn't have world leading products, doesn't have the best manufacturing needs at least one of those. And it needs the volume to be able to sustain that investment going forward. And that's still a work in progress in King.

[A]

We thank you for all that analysis. Some quick breaking news for you now before we discuss further Nvidia and Intel, the FTC is suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster, they say for engaging in, quote, illegal ticket resale tactics and deceiving artists, analysts and consumers about price and ticket limits. Of course, this is something that we were discussing with a StubHub CEO just yesterday amid its IPO. But the agency is alleging Ticketmaster used deceptive pricing tactics and hundreds of millions selling tickets acquired illegally by brokers, costing consumers billions of dollars in inflated prices and additional fees. We'll go more on that story a little bit later. But let's go back to Nvidia and Intel right now. Jordan Klein, I'm pleased to say, joins us. Managing director over Mizuho Americas. Your note, always a must read every morning and for me the takeaway was clear who are the winners but also who are the losers? And I'll go to the losers now because you say this is bad for amd. This is putting pressure on aam. How so?

[E]

Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, immediately it's going to add competitive pressure I guess with AMD facing Intel now within video and the technology they bring for the PC desktop market. So that's one area. But basically a lot of investors don't care so much about what happens in the PC market. They care much more in the data center. And that's where AMD has been gaining a lot of market share and server processors from intel as they've been lagging on the technology side. So I think this makes them, you know, Intel a more credible player. It's going to be a, you know, guess as to when these products may come out. And then for aam, you know, ARM is the biggest license licensing company for a lot of these non x86 server processors and, and chips and so they have a very good relationship with Nvidia as well as others. And I think it just adds a little bit of uncertainty as to, you know, market share and in the data center market. You know, now that intel and is going to have x86 working with Nvidia.

[A]

We'Re looking at the share price reactions. In fact Almond AMD are basically the only chip stocks in the red today. The rest of the stocks, the semiconductor index is well into the green, up more than three and a half percent. Jordan. But as you say, Nvidia and ARM have a very close relationship and I think if you go and ask on they'd say we know Nvidia is very committed to us. And also Masayoshi Son invested in intel some $2 billion. He must think that all boats can rise here because he of course has a key stake in on.

[E]

Yeah, I think it was mentioned earlier that this is providing valuable diversification across the industry and I think that's the way Softbank would probably look at it as they're spreading bets across a lot of these different companies, not necessarily betting on one horse to win the race. Now they do own like over 80% of the arm, so clearly that's their key horse in this race. But yes, they invested in intel probably more for manufacturing capabilities down the road but I think overall this is just kind of a positive shot in the ARM for the broader semiconductor sector. I mean it definitely strengthens the domestic leading logic supplier which is intel, makes them a bit stronger and I think it, you know, over time helps Nvidia broaden their bets as well within the data center.

[A]

Yet talk to us about how the underlying architectures are currently competing or indeed winning out because I think for many they're trying to understand how Nvidia at the moment just seems to dominate because they not only own the hardware stack but their software is so important as well. When you add intel into that situation, what is x86 really mean for Nvidia's long term domination?

[E]

Well, I think, you know, obviously before the deal Nvidia was happy to just offer their Grace CPU which is ARM based and so they would offer that in conjunction with the high processing speed GPUs. So it was Grace Blackwell as a solution. I think now they're going to be able to offer a x86 based server processor which is what intel does and what AMD does. So it enables customers, as Ian was saying before me, to run these workloads in any sort of environment. They don't have to just go with Nvidia. They have flexibility and let's be honest, as struck as much as intel has struggled, they still have the largest market share of server chips in the data center. It's just they're losing a lot of that. I think the challenge here is that it's going to put more pressure on an AMD because AMD is not only facing pressure from Nvidia on the GPU side, but they're facing a lot of pressure in these custom ASIC chips like from Broadcom right. And Marvell and others and they don't do a custom asic. So again that's something ARM says they want to do. They want to provide technology to do their own customers chip. We'll see what happens there. But again the space is constantly evolving and moving and that's what keeps all of us on our toes, namely investors.

[A]

I mean certainly it's a game of frenemies and Jordan. That's why your notes so integral is you sort of sentiment check what long only investment sentiment is like and where people are overallocated under allocated. Should people be buying into intel as it rips this high?

[E]

Well that I think is the key question is like will this pop in the stock on excitement about this investment sustain and pull in real mutual fund buyers? I think momentum and quantitative strategies probably chase the stock. I want to see if real mutual funds come in kind of like they they they did with Oracle a week ago when it rallied. A lot of people were not overweight Oracle and they had to chase it. Intel is in these benchmarks that a lot of these relative managers or mutual funds try to keep up with and this is a big move and no one really owns it that I speak to. So that's going to be the question. If you don't own it and it's up 30% how long do you want to wait? If it doesn't come back you may have to just start buying it.

[A]

And what about elsewhere? What's been so interesting is the whole semiconductor index bar AMD and AAM RIP tire and even the chip equipment makers ASML over in Europe for example. How much broader can this winning streak get?

[E]

That's the question I keep asking myself is this has been an epic run for the semiconductors not, not just this whole year but as of late I think a lot of people were expecting this group to pause and money to broaden out into other areas of both tech and equities and it really hasn't. So that's forced people to try to keep up the memory stocks like Micron, Sandisk and the disk drives Western and Seagate have recently just taken charge. And this is because if inferencing demand like an open air and anthropic and these AI models is increasing, that's putting added pressure on capacity. And these companies need more memory, they need more compute and ultimately they'll need the tools and equipment to manufacture more of these chips. So I think for now it all looks great. The question is going to be when the companies report in October largely will the results and the guidance be enough to keep this rally going and and we'll find out.

[A]

Jordan Klein always so appreciate you leaping on the news. Mizuho Americas we love the notes. Meanwhile, coming up, Disney it pulls Jimmy Kimmel live off the air indefinitely after a backlash to remarks made by the host. Details next. This is Bloomberg Tech. Cybercriminals count on chaos. Count on Veeam to stop them fast. Partner with them and get 24. 7 ransomware support from the first red flag to full recovery. Whatever the world throws at your data, it's all good. Learn [e-mail] that's V E-E-A-M.com you can.

[B]

Get the news whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

[A]

I'm Amy Morris.

[B]

And I'm Karen Moscow here to tell.

[A]

You about our new On Demand News report delivered right to your podcast feed.

[B]

Bloomberg News now is a short 5.

[A]

Minute audio report on the day's top stories.

[F]

Episodes are published throughout the day with.

[A]

The latest information and data to keep you informed.

[B]

Yes, there are other products like this from a variety of news organizations, but they usually rerun their radio newscasts throughout the day.

[A]

That's not what we do. We create customized episodes that can only.

[B]

Be heard on Bloomberg News now.

[A]

And we don't wait an hour to publish breaking news.

[B]

When news breaks, we'll have an episode.

[A]

Up in your podcast feed within minutes. So you're always getting the latest stories and developments.

[B]

Get the reporting and the context from Bloomberg's 3,000 journalists and analysts. We're all over the world. Listen to the latest from Bloomberg News now on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen.

[G]

We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.

[A]

That was the line that cost Jimmy Kimmel his show, prompting Disney's ABC network to take Jimmy Kimmel live off the air indefinitely amid a backlash to those remarks made about the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk. Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, author of Screen Time newsletter, joins us now. Lucas, the pace at which this happened is remarkable. Just take us through the timeline.

[G]

Yeah, well, look, Jimmy's comments or Kimmel's comments were on his show Monday. We go through Tuesday without anything happening. There is some online outrage, of course, but. But no comments from Disney or stations or anything like that. But then Wednesday, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, went on Benny Johnson podcast. Carr has been kind of has openly antagonized a lot of media companies, said that they're all, you know, part of the left wing mafia basically and said that he saw reason to potentially go after or punish abc. And Disney, which owns ABC and urged local stations to take action. Later that day, nexstar, one of the largest owners of local TV stations in the country, said that it would be preempting Kimmel at the. Probably important to note that nextar is in the process of trying to acquire techno which requires FCC approval. And then just moments after that, Disney issued a statement saying that it was taking Kimmel off the air. And our reporting indicates that it was really after Carr's comments and then Next Star's pressure that Disney acted prior to that, they had no plans to punish Kimmel or do anything.

[A]

Brennan Khan, the FCC chair, as you say, has been on other networks today saying that really Jimmy Kimmel and through his comments appeared to mislead the public about a significant fact. Will the FCC do anything further after this? Given that he's already asked?

[G]

Yeah, well, he hasn't been asked. It's important to note that it is possible that the show is, is over forever. Disney has not made that determination. They certainly haven't announced it. So while I don't know, I don't know what odds I put on it, but, but Disney's current attitude is that Kimmel will be back on the air at some point. In terms of what Carr can do, most legal experts I know seem to think that this would not be a case where the FCC is going to pull a broadcast license. Right. First of all, Kimmel's comments have been somewhat misconstrued. He was not actually commenting on the political affiliation of the person who is alleged to have killed Charlie Kirk, but more so on the kind of right wing's effort to attack the left wing and make clear that this killer was not one of them or alleged killer. But also people say things on television all the time that are not quite right. Right. Whether it's on Fox News or MSNBC or cnn, not to malign any of those in particular. It's just sort of part of the game. So it seems unlikely, but you never really know with this administration. They've been very aggressive in going after the media, often in cases that most legal scholars think don't have a lot of foundation.

[A]

Lucas, you bring us such nuance, particularly to exactly where Jimmy Kimmel stands. And the future of his show is also seeing the review and the view coming from the Democratic leaders who are calling for the FCC chair's own resignation for a corrupt abuse of power. Just the politicization of the media at the moment. Remind us the context of that.

[G]

I mean, look, there is ever, I was about to say ever since Trump took office for a second time, but it really predates that, right. We just, we live in a moment where the two sides of the political aisle can't seem to agree on anything. And anytime there's any type of controversy, they use it to further their ends. Right. So the right wing has used Kimmel as yet another example of how the mainstream media is a bunch of liberals. And the liberals are saying that this is cancel culture. And look at the right wing hypocrisy, which they'd been complaining about cancel culture and trying to turn Kimmel into sort of a celebrity of free speech. And it's really tough for these media companies, Right. If you remember, Disney settled a lawsuit that Trump brought previously over some comments that George Stephanopoulos made. We just went through the kind of David Ellison getting his deal for Paramount approved and that only happened after CBS settled the lawsuit regarding from Trump regarding a Kamala Harris interview. So you're sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't if you're a media company right now. And I think a lot of them are just not sure how to respond and interact with the current administration and their viewers right now.

[A]

Something you're going to be writing about, you're going to be talking about, you can be interviewing about Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw. We thank you so much because of course, don't forget, soon enough we have Bloomberg screen time back live from Los Angeles October 8th and 9th. Check out the website for more information. Bloomberg live.com/screen time. It's Lucas's show and we cannot wait to be that. Of course, this is the year of agent. OK. And Zoom, the latest company out with a Companion 3.0 enhancing agentic AI across the Zoom platform with, of course, many a product being unfolded. Chief Product Officer Smit Hashim joins us From Zoom Utopia 2025 where all of this is being announced. And I'm really interested by what analysts they are out there liking this news. They are raising price targets. And Oppenheimer really saying that you continue to lean into your AI first strategy. What does that look like with your current event today?

[F]

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you first of all for having me here. It is a pleasure. With Companion 3.4 Caroline we have really moved into Agentic fully. So when we talk about AI Companion 3 do, our goal is for AI to be your collaboration partner that is there for you to help you actually get things done. And it does so by having advanced skills like reasoning memory, so companion and orchestration and task actions. So it helps you really get things done. That's what AI Companion 3 Dotto announcement was about. And we demonstrated a host of practical skills which will really help millions of users. So users for example, getting context from a note taker skill which can join multiple meetings including from Google and Microsoft. We talked about how it can free up your time, how it can help you prospect customers better with agentic prospecting skills which will come to our product which is for sales of our customer customer support products. So we announced a lot of these including a new Surface as well as how it will help you really do advanced writing which updates as you go through meetings and discussions. So that was the slew of announcements of lots of great user benefits.

[A]

Yes.

[F]

And then along lots of great user benefits and base for customers to do more through paying for premium offerings. Which you know, I can elaborate on if you want.

[A]

Well, so let's talk a little bit about how yesterday at Zoom Topia, with all of these announcements come growth opportunities which the analysts really point out the fact that you can grow wallet share. Who does it put you up against? Because your own story Smita is one of having worked at Microsoft and Google, it feels as though you're pitting yourself against some of their offerings.

[F]

We look at it is actually Zoom very much coexist assist with Microsoft with Google because all customers use one of these two companies alongside Zoom. But if you look at the number of applications that customers use, they use many, many, many applications, not just Google and Microsoft. And the number of applications they use has increased a lot. So what we are doing at Zoom is we are providing them great experiences on really core capabilities like meetings, like phone, like contact center, like sales, sales product. So we are providing that and they use that alongside these these companies and we actually go out of our way to integrate them and make it a seamless experience. For our users and customers. And I think that's what our customers and users love.

[A]

So your competitor is it Salesforce.

[F]

So when we think about where we stand is that our competitors are, I mean, you know, so there are many, many companies in every space. I think where we are seeing customers come to us is they are using us to actually consolidate more of their services onto Zoom. So they may be using an average enterprise uses, I think 200, 300 applications. So they're bringing more of them to us, of course, meetings, but also phone. Also they are bringing in products like whiteboard or they are thinking about the next version of their contact center. So the spectrum is wide, but it's really about companies who want to modernize, experience and use fewer platforms as well as a platform that truly is open and integrates so they can continue to make the transitions in the way they want.

[A]

And talk about how you price some of this, particularly for the SMB sector, which really seems be to be an area that you're growing in briefly.

[F]

Yeah, so, absolutely. So, you know, so core companion capabilities, we include that, no additional charge because we want every customer to benefit from it. But beyond that, you can pay for extra capabilities. You can pay for capabilities like a customer companion add on which lets you connect to the specific applications you use or datasets you have. And that one is priced at $12 per user for one. We also have our paid products also include our customer support product, our sales products and you know, and also our webinar and and marketing product which is webinar in events.

[A]

Smith has been great talking to you off the back of Zoom Topia yesterday. Chief Product Officer Smita Hashim, thank you very much indeed. Welcome back to Bloomberg Tech. We're checking on the markets which are at record highs. If you're looking at the NASDAQ 100 macro tailwinds of a fed rate cut, but a deal, at least a $5 billion injection into intel coming from Nvidia and it powers the semiconductor industry higher. Apart from a couple of names which we'll dig into about 3.4% for Nvidia. Important when it's a $4 trillion juggernaut. We had a record move for intel, up 27%. You're adding about $30 billion in market valuation. This on a sign of support coming from Nvidia. We want to dig into perhaps how much of this is a political statement as much as it is a real innovation statement. We go to our tech editor, Mike shepherd to do that out in Washington. This is so interesting once again, Jensen Huang reading the Political room here, understanding that the government has a 10% stake in intel, they want to see it flourish and succeed and seemingly it looks like it can do that if they innovate together.

[C]

And Carol, the timing of this really is uncanny. President Donald Trump is in London as we speak and the announcement came just as the President was about to take part in a tech leaders forum with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Jensen Huang in the audience. And for this to emerge right at that moment really signaled that this is a shot in the arm not only for intel, the company, but also for President Donald Trump's vision when it comes to AI and also the government's own investment in Intel. Now, remember, the government took that 10% stake and we've already seen it rise in value by $4.9 billion today to $14 billion. But just as importantly, we're seeing the two companies agree to co develop products chips together. We don't have too many details on them, but just the fact that they're going to be working together signals perhaps more than just a financial path forward, but perhaps a tech path forward too, that would allow intel to find some more customers, which it desperately needs.

[A]

Mike, I love that you bring up the timing of all of this because I think we can go now to. Well, a statement that President Trump was making over in the United Kingdom alongside Prime Minister Starmer about the dominance of Nvidia at the moment. Just take a listen.

[C]

So we're taking the next logical step.

[A]

With a historic agreement on science and technology partnerships. And this will create new government, academic and private sector cooperation in areas such.

[C]

As AI, which is taking over the world. That's, I mean, I'm looking at you guys. You're taking over the world.

[A]

Jensen, I don't know what you're doing here.

[C]

I hope you're right. All I can say is we both hope you're right. But it's pretty amazing Nvidia wants to.

[A]

Take over the world a little bit more in certain areas. It can't. Like China, of course, is limited in access there, largely because the Chinese government is pushing back on it. Talk about, about what we learned from Huawei just overnight and what this sort of competitive threat looks like for Jensen.

[C]

Well, it's a great question, Carol, because as you say, timing is everything. And while Wei earlier today outlined its vision for what's coming next, when it comes to their product line, they unveiled new versions of its Ascend chip that will be released next year and in subsequent years that will feature more high bandwidth memory that's critical. Critical of course to powering the inference learning of artificial intelligence. More importantly though, they also talked about a vision for how to string all those chips together. You see Carol, those individual Huawei chips, when you match chip for chip against the likes of Nvidia, the Chinese products aren't measuring up. And yet when you put them all together in large clusters, that's where they gain ground. And this was what they the what Huawei executives outlined. And it's important also because Huawei is sending a message to the world. This is how we are going to compete with Nvidia and for China, this is how China will compete with the United States for supremacy in artificial intelligence and really challenge Donald Trump in saying that we are dominating the world in AI. The Chinese have an answer of their own. And of course Carol, tomorrow at 9:00am Eastern Time, President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are going to have that crucial call that we've been waiting all week for to hear how the leaders will sort all of these tech issues. Not just TikTok, but of course the fate of India and its desire to get back into the Chinese market.

[A]

Mike Shepherd Perfect wrap up. We thank you. Let's get the analysis on what this means for intel and Nvidia from their own fund Fundamental growth. Now Kunjan Sobhan is with our semiconductor analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. He's written a Note already saying $5 billion equity investment into intel and co development. The 86 CPUs marks a strategic development and a win for both. And I'm interested as to what the win is from Intel's perspective because they're not going to be manufacturing yet Nvidia's chips, they're just going to be innovating together.

[B]

Yes, I mean those the biggest beneficiary of this deal. So in the data center AI server market, especially the high end server market, this is a much needed lifeline as intel has had almost negligible AI server revenue. So this puts them on the ground floor where now Nvidia servers would be able to ship with an x86 CPU, which is what the majority of the server CPUs are based on. So significantly expands their revenue, could expand their revenue base for AI server revenues. For Nvidia it's more of a strategy hedge on this side. And coming to the AI PCs now again remember Nvidia has a stronghold in the discrete GPU market in gaming and crypto. But now this Nvidia can leverage the scale when it comes to AI PCs with Intel. And intel now gets access to the world's best in class GPU that it can put in its chip and compete better with amd.

[A]

Briefly, this is not good for amd.

[B]

It feels like no this this definitely is a lot of competitive pressure for AMD and to some extent could be potentially also not good for aam.

[A]

Conscience about keeping it short for us. We've got to go and read more of your note from Bloomberg Intelligence. We so appreciate it. Now coming up, going to be talking to Matters Chief Product Officer about the company's new wearables and it's a push that's next. This is Bloomberg Tech.

[B]

Bloomberg Screen Time is where creators and capital connect with entertainment experts from Netflix, Twitch and Meta. Step behind the screen to shape the strategies, stories and innovations that power what the world watches next. Join Managing Editor of Media and Entertainment Lucas Shaw live in Los Angeles October 8th and 9th. Get your tickets now at bloomberglive.com screentime that's bloomberglive.com Screentime Take superintelligence seriously. This is going to be the most important technology in our lifetimes. AI should serve people, not just be something that sits in a data center automating large parts of society. So we design our glasses to be able to empower people with new capabilities as soon as they become possible.

[A]

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg there at Meta Connect last night unveiling a host of new AI powered wearables and features for its Metaverse platform, including glasses. Market reaction While we're up at about a percentage point on the day, we're about to hear from Metta's Chris Cox in a moment. But first I want to bring in Bloomberg's Riley Griffin and the market reaction is bank of America saying look, this is still at $800 glasses still early for mass adoption. But then you got Citi saying these are a must have and a clear extension of the superintelligence buy. Riley, how do you assess it? Caroline It's a great question and I'm eager to hear from Chris Cox about how he views the market reaction as well. This is a first of its kind glass for Metta. This is an AI powered display on the glasses devices that should bring a lot of the functionality of your phone, but importantly it still requires the phone itself and a neural wristband. So whether or not this becomes a mass consumer product we'll still have to see. But it as an innovation is certainly a big unveiling by the company. Let's get to the company. Bloomberg's Riley Griffin, thank you so much for that analysis. We've Got to get out to Metis headquarters in Menlo park now, where our own Ed Ludlow Low is standing by.

[H]

Yeah, thanks, Car. A year ago today almost, I was sat here having spent six hours with the engineering team that were working on Orion, a fully augmented glasses that was being dog fooded internally.

[B]

Right.

[H]

This was about testing. Fast forward to today and we have a halfway the Meta Ray Ban display. Smart glasses with a display in the lens. And the reaction has been this is a consumer technology innovation worth talking about. So delighted to do so with Chris Cox, Meta's Chief Product Officer. I think that context is really important, right. The evolution from Orion to this halfway point. But my question to start is, who is this targeted at? Right. You have generations of prior, prior generation Meta Ray Ban wearers. Or is this a new entry, people starting from scratch?

[B]

I think it'll probably be some combination of both. So just because we're talking about it here, these are the Meta Ray Ban displays. You can see we've worked with Ray Ban to get them into the form factor that people are comfortable wearing. This is the most worn design for a pair of sunglasses or glasses. And so we're starting with something we didn't want to put something onto the market that was clunky. We're starting with something that's really, really nice. And I'll also just mention there's a wave guide in here.

[H]

Okay. Which is a wave guide being.

[B]

Basically, it's light that's being projected through a series of mirrors into a small display that appears just below your right eye. And you can actually change where that is.

[H]

It's $800, right?

[B]

That's right.

[H]

But the emphasis over and over again is like, this is a consumer product.

[B]

Yes.

[H]

It's not for engineers.

[B]

That's right.

[H]

What is the one killer feature in it then that you think is going to appeal?

[B]

Messaging.

[H]

Just messaging.

[B]

Mark Zuckerberg was talking about.

[H]

That's how he uses it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Messaging, I'd say, is going to be the most useful. To start. It comes with this wristband, which is an EMG wristband. You wear it around your wrist. It detects very subtle muscular and nervous system sort of activity. So that you can just use a tiny gesture with your fingertips to control, essentially a cursor that controls the display. So we've worked to get into something that means that you can use a display in glasses without needing to wave your hands around in the world or carry around a mouse or something.

[H]

And this is why evolution is important. The neural band is directly from the Orion Project. I Remember experimenting with the technology one year ago.

[B]

So the R and D here is you have the North Star, which you've seen, which is Orion, like you said. And then you're also working forwards from what we know people are comfortable wearing, which is the Ray Bans. I think we're going to see early adopters pick it up to your question. Yes, I think we're going to see enthusiasts like you were mentioning to me before. You wear the meta Ray Bans a.

[H]

Fair amount, but I wear them when I'm driving.

[B]

Well, that's a thing because the display.

[H]

In the Ray Ban display, obviously, if you're driving. Not the best use case.

[B]

Yeah. Not intended for driving.

[H]

Last night you did live demos. Some of them didn't go very well. But you're getting a lot of of credit for doing live demos just very simply and for transparency. What did go wrong in those demos?

[B]

I haven't looked into them. I believe it was the WI fi. But we're trying to have these events where we're not canning them. We know people don't want something that's canned, so we're erring on the side of trying to do it live.

[H]

I've got a question from our audience.

[F]

Yeah.

[H]

Ray Ban display, will it be available for prescription lenses?

[B]

Yes.

[H]

And why was that important? Important? This is a question that's come up a lot with Ray Bans.

[B]

Well, just we know around 1 to 2 billion people on earth wear glasses. A bunch of them are wearing them as sunglasses and then a whole bunch of folks are wearing them with prescriptions.

[H]

Chris, where are these going to be manufactured?

[B]

I'm not 100% sure.

[H]

Your chief product officer and you don't know?

[B]

Yeah, I think it's in a handful of places. The parts are assembled in a bunch of different places.

[H]

Not China or is there a sensitivity around supply chain hardware were in China?

[B]

I believe there's some work being done in China, but I'm not 100% sure.

[H]

What I'm always trying to understand with matter is where the company stands today at times and presently. I think about the family of apps you ran, Facebook. Those people that are religious users of Facebook or WhatsApp. What is their relationship to this new generation of hardware?

[B]

So you'll be able to use WhatsApp on the device. We're trying to make sure that we're starting with communication, which is where the company comes from, making sure those products work well on the device. You're also able to view Instagram reels, which we know people love. We're trying to just get a handful of first party experiences. Right. And then eventually we'll be able to open that up.

[H]

Mark was talking about this as the vehicle for super intelligence, but you also have a background in software. So this is the interface, this is how I interact with it. But what other AI features can we expect to come through this mechanism? And the family of apps as well?

[B]

We mentioned yesterday translation, Live translation, yes. Including the ability to caption somebody you're speaking to in a different language. We also mentioned the ability to focus a conversation. We're calling it conversation focus. So if you're in a crowded room, if you're at a party, if you're at a concert, you're able to focus in on the person who's speaking to you and get a clear, get a clearer audio of that. And so all of those things involve applications of AI to bring these things to life in ways that are practical.

[H]

I got a lot of questions from, from meta users in the audience about what, what the developer community needs to know, but also your role in AI at matter. What is it that you are focused on right now? Because we've reported a lot on the team changes, the superintelligence team, from a product perspective, I think people really want to understand, like what is your focus and where are you going to bring more functionality to that?

[B]

Well, so there's the wearables, but there's also creative tools. So the ways that people are creating video, creating content, making that really, really easy. AI is going to make it a lot easier for folks to do that. And a huge part of what Facebook and Instagram are is just viewing the content that we create for each other. So that's where we're expecting to land a lot of the newest technology.

[H]

Okay, so September 30th, it's very close and you will soon be able to, if you, you wish to carry, get meta ray ban displays. But the market 1% gain, I think you said. The reaction is that this is a genuine innovation in consumer technology and so it'll be interesting to see out the gate who goes for it. Back to you in New York.

[A]

Fascinating conversation with Chris Cox. We appreciate it, Ed. Meanwhile, we've had some breaking news and we understand that President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. supreme Court to let him oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa to cook. While the legal fight over her firing proceeds is really pulling the justices into the battle over the central bank's independence at the moment, the Justice Department asked the court on Thursday to at least temporarily pause a federal judge's ruling that has allowed Cook to remain in her position for now. Of course, she was there in the decision room on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Fed. And it was a divided federal appeals court that on Monday night ruled that could could keep her job in the interim, turning aside an appeal by the Trump administration that sought to fire ahead of that central bank meeting. Now coming up via and Waymo, they launch autonomous rides for public transit in Arizona. We'll discuss with the VSE that's next is Bloomberg Tech. We've discussed how us automatically safety regulators are probing whether Tesla door handles are defective following Bloomberg reporting into the issue. Now, Tesla chief designer Franz Van Holzenson spoke with Bloomberg's Matt Miller and Hannah Elliott the Hot Pursuit podcast. Here's what he had to say.

[B]

We actually have a mechanical release that's you know, basically right at the electronic one too. And we're combining the two. So you know, in the moment that you're in a panic situation and the muscle memory to go to, you know, what you know is right there so you just pull a little bit further on the lever and you have the mechanical release. So that's something that we're working on. Yeah.

[A]

And it's in the car line change is coming. Let's shift gears a little bit on the pun. Via transportation. And it's entered a strategic partnership with Waymo to launch autonomous rise for public transit starting in Chandler, Arizona this fall. Operating hours and pricing for the way my ride will be the same as human driven rides under the city of Chandler's on demand paid transportation program which charges just $2 for a single ride. Daniel Ramon is with us, co founder and CEO of. You are all about city mobility. You're all about the pricing being right for everyone in modern transit. How does Waymo change the game for Chandler?

[I]

Thanks for having me back. The idea is to use the most advanced technology. This is part of our mission and bring it to local governments and make their systems, especially transit systems, more efficient. In this case, we can leverage the autonomous vehicles of Waymo already has to support service during peak hours where we may have more demand than we are able to serve with our existing vans. And we can refer some of that demand to the autonomous vehicles.

[A]

What does Waymo get out of it? Because in many ways they're having to stomach a much lower price point.

[I]

I think for Waymo it's an opportunity to expand their reach, you know, to serve some of riders, those who have real needs. Who are the riders that use the Chandler Flex service, the service that we operate, low income Folks, seniors, students, sometimes people with disabilities. So this is a great opportunity, I think, to expand autonomous vehicles and provide some of this advanced technology to folks who typically may not have access to it.

[A]

Let's talk about that expansion, because Arizona has been leading from the front in terms of adoption of robo taxis. Where do you see this going in terms of the other areas that you serve with mobility?

[I]

I think there's enormous opportunity to use autonomous vehicles as one of these advanced technologies to reduce the cost of public transportation, make it more efficient, make it available to more people. And I think this reinforces the role that Via has to play, this key role that we play in bringing all these technologies together and making them available to these local governments and municipalities.

[A]

Yeah, let's remind ourselves. I mean, investors just got a good reminder because you went public just last week, but the underlying technology you provide. Because originally I could get into a vehicle. Car, but now that went. And really, you're about servicing cities, about states in mobility.

[I]

That's right. We're about partnering with cities, with states, with transit agencies, these government organizations, typically very local, and giving them access to the most advanced algorithms to AI, to autonomous vehicles, things that typically they may be way behind in adopting. And we're really trying to make it possible for them to. To adopt them very quickly and in return, you know, get much better service out to their residents, to folks who otherwise are dependent on very antiquated services that they may wait for for an hour. We're trying to change that in a really meaningful way.

[A]

Change it when states and cities are cash strapped. So how are you trying to serve them on the idea that this saves money as well as helps their residents?

[I]

That's a really good point, Caroline, because I think they're exactly. They're pressured for budget. You know, we haven't seen these budgets necessarily drop, but there is a feeling that there may be budget pressure and the ability to use software to run their services more efficiently. Even if the budgets come down, they're able to provide equivalent service, maybe even greater service than they were before at these lower budgets. So I think it's just getting more and more important for our governments to get more efficient.

[A]

What's interesting is yesterday it was unveiled that Lyft is partnering with Waymo. These relationships keep on building. Frenemies keep on making themselves more clear as Waymo aligns with Uber as well. Your shares haven't popped in the way that, say, Lyft did on the day of the announcement. What do you think you need to convince investors that Robotaxis AVS is an area that Veer should be pushing towards.

[I]

I think this is part of our story. It's really about driving durable growth here, building out, partnering with more and more cities over time and giving them access to autonomous vehicles as well, one way in which we can help them expand the service. And I think this will grow over time. I expect that, you know, this may be partnerships we can have in hundreds of cities around the world together with Waymo and other autonomous providers.

[A]

This is about education of consumers as well, though, because we can all see first and doctors rushing out to want to get in a Waymo. But if you're from an underserved community that perhaps hasn't had the money to be able to order an Uber and a Lyft whenever you want, certainly in it Robo Taxi Galaxy version, how are you thinking about marketing it to that new consumer?

[I]

I think that would be really interesting to see how that evolves, you know, because we have writers who are students who are probably going to be jumping all over this and then we have writers who are seniors who may feel, I don't know, maybe, maybe that's something quite new. So it'll be interesting to see how we can communicate these innovations to them, make them feel comfortable about adopting them and hopefully if these systems are as reported, safer than other systems that can just help drive safety. Safety and public transportation also very important.

[A]

So your conversations with Tesla. Anyone else?

[I]

We're in several conversations. I'll probably keep it there.

[A]

Okay, come on and tell us when there's more than just a conversation. Daniel Ramon is with us, co founder and CEO of the that does it. For this edition of Bloomberg Tech, check out the podcast but check out the market moves of the key story Today it is about Nvidia and Intel is about Nvidia putting $5 billion in Intel. A commitment to innovate for PCs for data centers. The market move is significant. This is Bloomberg Tech.

[B]

Join Bloomberg in Los Angeles or via livestream on October 7th for the Future Investor Finding the Opportunities. This 2025 event series will examine how companies are investing in their businesses to create efficiencies, innovating their products and services and improving the customer experience. This series is Presented by Invesco. Q. Q. Q. [e-mail] FutureInvestorLA that's Bloomberglive.com FutureInvestorLA.