WSJ Tech News Briefing How Recycling Could Upend the Rare Earth Metals Market
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Jan 30, 2026 Ed Ballard, WSJ energy and mining columnist, outlines efforts to recycle rare earths from electronic waste. Dan Gallagher, WSJ market columnist, breaks down why Meta and Microsoft’s AI spending produced different stock reactions. They discuss recycling methods versus mining, supply implications, and contrasting corporate AI strategies in short, punchy segments.
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Simplicity Helps AI Pay Off Faster
- Meta's AI spending shows early payoff because its ad business is simple and benefits directly from AI-driven engagement and targeting.
- Microsoft faces a tougher path since its diverse business must allocate constrained AI capacity across many products, slowing visible benefits.
Capacity Constraints Shape AI Returns
- Microsoft's diverse product mix forces trade-offs in where to deploy limited AI computing capacity, which can slow cloud growth investors watch closely.
- That capacity constraint and internal allocation explain why Microsoft's stock reacted poorly despite beating expectations.
Narrative + Tech Wins Propel Google
- Alphabet benefited from legal wins and a strong new Gemini model, creating a favorable narrative that boosted its stock.
- Technical prowess and high benchmark scores gave Google an edge in investor sentiment over peers.