Latest news with #techGiants
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Europe's AI Gigafactory Push Attracts 76 Bids, EU Tech Chief Says
Seventy-six companies have bid to develop Europe's artificial intelligence gigafactories, the EU's tech chief said on Monday, hailing a bigger than expected response to the bloc's push to catch up with the US and China in this key technology. The European Commission made the announcement four months after it allocated 20 billion euros ($23 billion) in EU funding for the construction of four AI gigafactories across the bloc. Such facilities, in essence large-scale AI computing and data storage hubs, will be equipped with about 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, Reuters reported. "We got 76 submissions proposing to set up AI gigafactories in 16 member states and across 60 different sites," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told a press conference. "And this exceeds far beyond our expectations and this showcases Europe's growing momentum and enthusiasm for innovating in AI in Europe," she said, declining to name the companies because of business confidentiality information. The EU executive said applicants included EU and non-EU companies, among them tech giants, data centre operators, telecoms providers, power suppliers and financial investors. "Together they have now indicated plans to acquire at least 3 million latest generation of AI processors (GPUs) in total," Virkkunen said. The Commission will launch an official call for setting up the AI gigafactories at the end of the year.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
AI Agents And Hype: 40% Of AI Agent Projects Will Be Canceled By 2027
AI Agents: Fact vs Fiction The future of work is increasingly being defined by autonomy, not just for employees, but for the software systems that support them. Agentic AI, a class of intelligent systems capable of making decisions and taking action without constant human oversight, has captured the imagination of corporations, startup founders, and tech giants alike. But beneath the surface of this technological frontier lies a sobering truth: according to Gartner, more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027. The reasons range from surging costs to vague business outcomes and immature risk management frameworks. So while the allure of intelligent agents, agentic AI, and AI agents is strong, so is the risk of overreach. Hype, Haste, and the Harsh Reality The term 'agentic AI' has quickly become one of the most talked-about concepts in 2025 in enterprise tech. These are not just chatbots or static automation tools—they are systems designed to act independently, initiate tasks, and adapt over time. Yet according to Anushree Verma, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, the enthusiasm is frequently misaligned with execution: 'Most agentic AI projects right now are early-stage experiments or proofs of concept that are mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied.' In a January 2025 Gartner survey of over 3,400 professionals, only 19% reported significant investment in agentic AI. Another 42% were investing conservatively, while a notable 31% remained on the fence or undecided. Despite its potential, most companies are proceeding with caution—if they're proceeding at all. As vendors rush to ride the wave, many are simply rebranding existing technology such as RPA, AI assistants, or simple chatbots—as 'agentic AI' without making substantive changes. Gartner estimates that out of thousands of so-called agentic AI providers, only around 130 offer solutions that meet the true definition of autonomous agency. This dynamic is creating confusion in the marketplace and inflating expectations among enterprise buyers. Additionally, the financial side of agentic AI is proving more challenging than anticipated. Beyond development and integration, organizations must contend with the high costs of compliance, infrastructure, workforce training, and workflow redesign. In many cases, legacy systems can't easily accommodate these autonomous agents without substantial reengineering. Without clear ROI metrics, projects lose momentum. As Verma notes, 'Many use cases positioned as agentic today don't require agentic implementations. The technology's not yet mature enough to deliver the business value companies expect.' The result? Projects stall in pilot stages. Teams lose faith. Budgets are reallocated. And the promise of transformation fades into a post-hype hangover. When Agentic AI Makes Sense Despite the grim outlook for many early projects, Gartner's long-term vision for agentic AI does remain optimistic. By 2028, the firm predicts that 15% of routine business decisions will be made autonomously by AI agents—up from virtually zero in 2024. Furthermore, a third of all enterprise software applications will feature embedded agentic AI by that time and the key for organizations will be to focus on high-impact areas such as: Furthermore, success stories will only emerge from firms willing to rethink workflows from the ground up. This might mean redesigning customer service journeys to allow agents to triage and resolve requests autonomously—or creating new internal operations models that pair human oversight with AI-driven decision-making and these shifts aren't minor—they require cultural, structural, and technical buy-in. Conclusion: Why 40% Will Fail and What the Other 60% Must Do Now Agentic AI is not a passing trend—it's a defining shift in how software interacts with the enterprise. But it's also a high-risk investment, vulnerable to exaggerated promises and weak execution as it stands. The projected 40% failure rate however is not a condemnation of the technology, but a reflection of how quickly hype can outpace operational readiness. To succeed, leaders must cut through the noise, build around clear business outcomes, and adopt an enterprise-first mindset. It's not about deploying agents for the sake of innovation—it's about using them to solve hard problems with measurable returns. The bottom line? Agentic AI isn't for the timid or the trend-chasers. It's for the disciplined, the strategic, and the visionary. Because in this next phase of AI, it's not about who starts first—it's about who finishes strong.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
54% of Nvidia's Q1 Revenue Came From 4 Mystery Customers -- Who Could They Be?
Nvidia supplies the most sought-after data center chips in the world for artificial intelligence (AI) development. The majority of Nvidia's revenue now comes from its data center business, but its future success rests on just a handful of key customers. Nvidia's highly concentrated revenue base could pose a risk for investors in the future, but AI data center spending still has room to grow. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Most artificial intelligence (AI) models are trained and then deployed in data centers, which are filled with thousands of specialized chips called graphics processing units (GPUs). Most AI developers don't have the financial resources to build that infrastructure themselves, but they can rent it from a handful of technology giants that operate hundreds of centralized data centers all over the world. Those tech giants typically buy most of their GPUs from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), which supplies the best AI hardware in the industry. The chipmaker continues to experience more demand than it can fill, which is driving a surge in its revenue and earnings. In fact, Nvidia has added a staggering $3 trillion to its market capitalization since the beginning of 2023, and it's now the second most valuable company in the world. However, the fact that only a handful of companies can afford to build the best AI infrastructure isn't a good thing for Nvidia. During the fiscal 2026 first quarter (ended April 27), more than half of the company's total revenue came from just four unnamed customers, which means a pullback in AI infrastructure spending from any one of them could threaten the chip giant's incredible run of growth. Let's take a look at who those top customers might be, so we can assess the sustainability of Nvidia's data center business. Nvidia generated $44.1 billion in total revenue during the fiscal 2026 first quarter. The data center segment was responsible for $39.1 billion of that figure, so AI GPUs are now the company's most important product by far. While Nvidia doesn't disclose who its customers are, it does report some data on the concentration of its revenue base. During the first quarter, just four mystery customers alone accounted for 54% of the company's $44.1 billion in sales: Customer Proportion of Nvidia's Q1 Revenue Customer A 16% Customer B 14% Customer C 13% Customer D 11% Data source: Nvidia. That means Customer A spent around $7 billion with Nvidia during the first quarter, and there are only a handful of companies in the world with enough financial resources to keep that up. As I mentioned earlier, this creates a risk for Nvidia because if Customer A were to reduce its capital expenditures, it would be very hard for the chipmaker to replace that revenue. It's impossible to identify Nvidia's top customers with certainty, but we can make some pretty reasonable assumptions based on public forecasts issued by some of the world's biggest tech companies: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) said it will spend around $105 billion on AI data center infrastructure this calendar year. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said it is on track to spend over $80 billion on AI infrastructure during its fiscal year 2025 (which ends on June 30). Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) plans to spend $75 billion on AI infrastructure this calendar year. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) says it will spend up to $72 billion to fuel its AI ambitions this year (a figure it recently increased from $65 billion). Several other AI companies have smaller -- but not insignificant -- capital investments in the pipeline. Oracle, for example, recently told investors it will increase its data center spending to over $25 billion during its fiscal year 2026 (which just began on June 1). Then there are top AI start-ups like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI, which also have very deep pockets. While all of the above companies are developing AI for their own purposes, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet are also three of the world's largest providers of cloud services. In other words, they build the centralized data centers I mentioned earlier, which they rent to AI developers for a profit. Despite the exorbitant amount of AI infrastructure spending on the table this year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks this is just the beginning. He predicts capital expenditures could top $1 trillion per year by 2028, because every new generation of AI models requires more computing capacity than the last. For example, Huang says some of the newest "reasoning" models consume up to 1,000 times more computing capacity than their predecessors. These models spend time "thinking" in the background before rendering responses, ensuring they produce more accurate information than traditional large language models (LLMs), which generate fast, one-shot responses. Nvidia's Blackwell and Blackwell Ultra GPU architectures were designed to meet the growing demand for inference capacity from reasoning models, which is why chips like the GB200 and GB300 are the most sought-after in the world. If Huang is right about the trajectory of AI infrastructure spending, then the risks associated with Nvidia's highly concentrated revenue probably won't materialize for at least a few more years. Since Nvidia stock is trading at a relatively attractive valuation right now, those potential risks probably shouldn't keep investors from buying it right now. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,702!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $870,207!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 988% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 54% of Nvidia's Q1 Revenue Came From 4 Mystery Customers -- Who Could They Be? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Globe and Mail
17-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
54% of Nvidia's Q1 Revenue Came From 4 Mystery Customers -- Who Could They Be?
Most artificial intelligence (AI) models are trained and then deployed in data centers, which are filled with thousands of specialized chips called graphics processing units (GPUs). Most AI developers don't have the financial resources to build that infrastructure themselves, but they can rent it from a handful of technology giants that operate hundreds of centralized data centers all over the world. Those tech giants typically buy most of their GPUs from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), which supplies the best AI hardware in the industry. The chipmaker continues to experience more demand than it can fill, which is driving a surge in its revenue and earnings. In fact, Nvidia has added a staggering $3 trillion to its market capitalization since the beginning of 2023, and it's now the second most valuable company in the world. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » However, the fact that only a handful of companies can afford to build the best AI infrastructure isn't a good thing for Nvidia. During the fiscal 2026 first quarter (ended April 27), more than half of the company's total revenue came from just four unnamed customers, which means a pullback in AI infrastructure spending from any one of them could threaten the chip giant's incredible run of growth. Let's take a look at who those top customers might be, so we can assess the sustainability of Nvidia's data center business. Nvidia's revenue is highly concentrated Nvidia generated $44.1 billion in total revenue during the fiscal 2026 first quarter. The data center segment was responsible for $39.1 billion of that figure, so AI GPUs are now the company's most important product by far. While Nvidia doesn't disclose who its customers are, it does report some data on the concentration of its revenue base. During the first quarter, just four mystery customers alone accounted for 54% of the company's $44.1 billion in sales: Customer Proportion of Nvidia's Q1 Revenue Customer A 16% Customer B 14% Customer C 13% Customer D 11% Data source: Nvidia. That means Customer A spent around $7 billion with Nvidia during the first quarter, and there are only a handful of companies in the world with enough financial resources to keep that up. As I mentioned earlier, this creates a risk for Nvidia because if Customer A were to reduce its capital expenditures, it would be very hard for the chipmaker to replace that revenue. Who are Nvidia's mystery customers? It's impossible to identify Nvidia's top customers with certainty, but we can make some pretty reasonable assumptions based on public forecasts issued by some of the world's biggest tech companies: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) said it will spend around $105 billion on AI data center infrastructure this calendar year. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said it is on track to spend over $80 billion on AI infrastructure during its fiscal year 2025 (which ends on June 30). Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) plans to spend $75 billion on AI infrastructure this calendar year. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) says it will spend up to $72 billion to fuel its AI ambitions this year (a figure it recently increased from $65 billion). Several other AI companies have smaller -- but not insignificant -- capital investments in the pipeline. Oracle, for example, recently told investors it will increase its data center spending to over $25 billion during its fiscal year 2026 (which just began on June 1). Then there are top AI start-ups like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI, which also have very deep pockets. While all of the above companies are developing AI for their own purposes, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet are also three of the world's largest providers of cloud services. In other words, they build the centralized data centers I mentioned earlier, which they rent to AI developers for a profit. A potential $1 trillion annual opportunity Despite the exorbitant amount of AI infrastructure spending on the table this year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks this is just the beginning. He predicts capital expenditures could top $1 trillion per year by 2028, because every new generation of AI models requires more computing capacity than the last. For example, Huang says some of the newest "reasoning" models consume up to 1,000 times more computing capacity than their predecessors. These models spend time "thinking" in the background before rendering responses, ensuring they produce more accurate information than traditional large language models (LLMs), which generate fast, one-shot responses. Nvidia's Blackwell and Blackwell Ultra GPU architectures were designed to meet the growing demand for inference capacity from reasoning models, which is why chips like the GB200 and GB300 are the most sought-after in the world. If Huang is right about the trajectory of AI infrastructure spending, then the risks associated with Nvidia's highly concentrated revenue probably won't materialize for at least a few more years. Since Nvidia stock is trading at a relatively attractive valuation right now, those potential risks probably shouldn't keep investors from buying it right now. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,702!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $870,207!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is988% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Apple risks fresh EU charge over app store rules
Apple is edging toward another charge sheet from European Union antitrust watchdogs unless it quickly fixes alleged violations of a new digital law that led to a €500 million ($579 million) fine earlier this year. With the clock running down on a deadline that elapses on June 26th, officials are prepared to hand the iPhone maker an ultimatum to allow developers to inform customers of cheaper deals away from the App Store, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. If unheeded, that step would then pave the way for new fines under the bloc's Digital Markets Act, which can be as high as 5 per cent of average daily worldwide revenue per day of noncompliance. The people added that Apple could still evade a future escalation if it manages to appease the commission's fears with an imminent proposal that is enough to fix the alleged violations. Apple was fined on April 23 – the same day Meta Platforms was slapped with a €200 million penalty for its 'pay or consent' ad-free service on Instagram and Facebook. Both US tech giants were judged to have breached strict DMA rules that lay out a series of dos and don'ts for the world's largest technology firms. READ MORE A spokesperson for Apple said that EU regulators keep changing the goalposts for what DMA compliance is, making it impossible to comply with their steering decision. The firm added that it is spending hundreds of thousands of hours working to comply with the bloc's ever-changing regulation. A European Commission spokesperson said it wouldn't speculate on the next steps while Apple still has time to submit a proposal. It added that regulators have ample regulatory powers at their disposal if Apple continues to be in breach of its obligations under the DMA. On the heels of Apple's April fine, the Cupertino, California-based firm responded fiercely, accusing the bloc's regulators of discriminating against the company and forcing it to give away its technology for free. Just last year, the company was hit with a €1.8 billion EU fine for shutting out music-streaming rivals on the iPhone. Over recent years the EU has made costly penalties against firms, including more than $8 billion in fines against Alphabet's Google and a separate order for Apple to pay Ireland back taxes of €13 billion. Under its abuse-of-dominance rules, it has also forced changes out of Amazon's marketplace platform and Apple's tap-and-go chip, while also investigating Microsoft video conference software, Teams. – Bloomberg
