WSJ What’s News – “Meta’s AI Spending Pays Off”

Date: January 29, 2026
Host: Luke Vargas
Guest: Altaf Kassam (European head of investment strategy and research, State Street Investment Management)
Episode Theme:
This episode examines the intersection of technology investment and financial results, focusing on Meta’s successful monetization of AI spending compared to mixed results elsewhere in big tech, a continued surge in metals markets (especially gold), and crucial updates in business, health, and politics.

Main Highlights & Key Segments

1. Metals Market Rally: Gold and Beyond

[00:52–02:46]

• Gold Hits Record High: Gold prices soar past $5,500, marking the first time at this level since its strongest annual performance since 1979.

• Drivers of Demand:

  • Global central banks are diversifying reserves away from the US dollar.
  • The availability of gold ETFs makes investing in gold broadly accessible.
  • A crypto crossover as Tether (a major stablecoin) becomes a large gold buyer to underwrite a gold-backed stablecoin.

• Expert Insight:

  • Quentin Webb (Deputy Finance Editor):

    "In many cases, [central banks] would like to reduce their dollar dependence and put more of their reserves into another alternative asset." [01:40]
    "People are increasingly buying gold ETFs, or alternatives such as buying shares in gold miners, but that's a less pure exposure to the gold price." [02:01] "Tether has emerged as a significant buyer of gold... that extra buying in the past month is probably another reason that's helping sustain the gold price." [02:23]

• Other Metals Climb: Silver, copper, and palladium all see notable upward momentum.

2. Meta and Microsoft Earnings: AI Spending in Focus

[02:46–05:27]

• Earnings Overview: Both Meta and Microsoft post earnings beating expectations, but only Meta's stock rallies. Microsoft faces a more muted reaction as its cloud growth slows.

• Key Difference:

  • Meta: Shows clear, immediate monetization of AI investments through digital ad revenue.
  • Microsoft: AI and cloud spending are seen as less immediately profitable.

• Altaf Kassam Explains:

  "One company was able to show that it was monetizing the huge spend in CapEx on data centers... and the other was actually showing slowing growth in cloud computing, which is one of its core capabilities." [03:41]

  "Advertising is one of the easiest and quickest ways to monetize [AI], whereas with enterprise applications, it feels like it's still tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow and the market is becoming impatient." [04:16]

• AI-Driven Ad Acceptance: Consumers remain receptive to personalized AI-generated ads; US consumer spending stays strong.

  "I think that's the marketing dream, right? It's that everyone gets their own targeted, personal ad and it's becoming a reality through AI. I don't think consumers are pushing back. The results certainly don't show this." [05:07]

3. Tesla’s Shift from Cars to Robots

[05:27–06:50]

• Tesla Update: CEO Elon Musk announces discontinuation of Model S and Model X electric vehicles to reprioritize toward the "Optimus" robot project.

  "Slightly sad, but it is time to bring the ESSEX programs to an end and shift, really. It's part of our overall shift to an autonomous future." — Elon Musk [05:41]

• Market Reaction: Increased skepticism on timelines and profitability for long-horizon AI and robotics projects.

  • Kassam on AI investment stages (from LLMs to "agentic" to "physical/robotic" AI) and market impatience:

  "It's going to have to be about monetization and showing that it can justify the spending that's been put into it. So it is another long horizon story. And again, the market tends to be a bit more short sighted these days..." [06:15]

4. Semiconductor Demand and AI’s Ripple Effect

[06:50–07:45]

• Blockbuster Chip Results: SK Hynix, ASML, and Samsung all post strong results thanks to heavy AI infrastructure spending.

• Sustainability Questions: Investors prefer when tech giants finance capital expenditures (capex) via cash flows rather than debt or circular financing.

  "What the market has been comfortable with so far is that a lot of this investment has been self financing... Where the market gets less comfortable is when we have leverage..." [07:10]

5. Political Update: Georgia Election Investigation

[08:39–09:34]

• FBI Investigation: Agents search Fulton County’s election office as former President Trump intensifies efforts to challenge 2020 results.
• Local Response:
  • Robb Pitts (Fulton County Board of Commissioners):

    "I still cannot understand the fascination about the 2020 elections, which occurred six years ago... In every case, every instance, we get a clean bill of health." [09:16]

6. Health Update: US Life Expectancy & Weight Loss Drugs

[09:34–11:30]

a) Life Expectancy Rises:

• Data: Record high in 2024, interpreted as a bounce back from pandemic losses, credited in part to a sharp decline in drug overdose deaths.

b) GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs:

• Surging Usage: Nearly 1 in 5 Americans have tried drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

• Research & Expert View: Upon discontinuing, most people regain weight rapidly; obesity experts stress these are essentially lifelong medicines.

  "A recent study found that when people stop taking a GLP1 drug, they're regaining all the weight they lost back within about 1.5 years... Any sort of improvements in cholesterol and blood pressure, those are completely reversed when you stop..." — Sumathi Reddy, WSJ Health Columnist [10:40]

Memorable Quotes

• On AI monetization:

  "Advertising is one of the easiest and quickest ways to monetize [AI], whereas with enterprise applications, it feels like it's still tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow and the market is becoming impatient." — Altaf Kassam [04:16]

• On Tesla’s focus shift:

  "Slightly sad, but it is time to bring the ESSEX programs to an end and shift, really. It's part of our overall shift to an autonomous future." — Elon Musk [05:41]

• On gold’s enduring appeal:

  "People are increasingly buying gold ETFs, or alternatives such as buying shares in gold miners, but that's a less pure exposure to the gold price." — Quentin Webb [02:01]

Key Timestamps

• Metals Rally – [00:52–02:46]
• Meta & Microsoft AI Spending – [02:46–05:27]
• Tesla’s Pivot to Robots – [05:27–06:50]
• Semiconductor Demand – [06:50–07:45]
• Georgia Election Office Searched – [08:39–09:34]
• US Life Expectancy & GLP-1 Drugs – [09:34–11:30]

Tone and Takeaways

• Analytical & Inquisitive: The episode features financial market analysis with a cautious outlook, emphasizing investor impatience for AI returns.
• Cautiously Optimistic: While some sectors (digital advertising, chips, precious metals) are surging, skepticism lingers around long-horizon tech bets and political controversies.
• Fact-Driven: Frequent expert voices provide context-backed opinions with a data-driven approach.

Summary:
"Meta’s AI Spending Pays Off" presents a comprehensive look at how big tech’s massive investments in AI are playing out in financial markets, with Meta reaping near-term rewards while others are pressured to prove future profitability. It also connects finance to the wider world—from surging metal prices and new health trends to major political investigations—offering a brisk snapshot of the day’s essential business stories.