TechCheck

The state of Amazon speaks to the state of big tech right now: keeping up with AI competition while keeping costs in check. We break down the tightrope that CEO Andy Jassy has to walk, from investing in startups while building models, to M&A while keeping an eye on regulators.  

Adam Neumann, former CEO of WeWork, sits down with CNBC’s Deidre Bosa to discuss the launch of his new Florida-based real estate startup, Flow, his bid to buy back WeWork, and more.

A new leg of the cloud wars has begun - one where access to the best AI models and tools is key. On the consumer side, Google’s strategy remains uncertain. But on the enterprise side, Google can afford to go on the offensive, and that’s happening in the cloud. CNBC's Deirdre Bosa sat down exclusively with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian on competition, monetization, the partnership with Anthropic, and more.

There's a new fund that now allows retail investors to get in on the hottest tech startups, including Stripe, OpenAI and SpaceX. But it comes with some risk. The Destiny Tech100 fund has soared more than 500% since its launch two weeks ago but is tanking 40% today. We break down the risks and the rewards. Plus, Intel and Google both announced new and more powerful chips. Intel is introducing its Gaudi 3, which they say is better at inferencing and power efficiency than Nvidia’s H100 chip -- the main choice among companies building AI system. And Google’s Axion is the megacap’s latest expansion into custom chips, which the company says is capable of a range of tasks from powering Google’s search engine to AI-related work.  

After a two-year slump, the health care funding market could finally be picking up as AI gets leveraged in the sector. We speak with Amir Dan Rubin, managing partner and CEO of the VC firm Healthier Capital and former CEO of Amazon-acquired primary care provider One Medical on the state of health care startups and funding. Plus, some of the most advanced chips in the world will now be made in America, but by a foreign firm. Taiwan Semi is the largest chip manufacturer in the world and has secured $6.6 billion in subsidies from the CHIPS Act in addition to $5 billion in low-cost government loans. But how does that impact American chipmakers like Intel?

Samsung is said to be the latest company to make a big investment in chip manufacturing in the United States. The company reportedly planning to double its total semiconductor investment in Texas to $44 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Plus, Move over AI.. robots are emerging as the next big battleground for Big Tech. Apple – is said to be the latest mover.. joining Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia and Google

Trae Stephens is a partner at the prestigious VC firm Founders Fund, co-founder of the defense startup Anduril, and an early Palantir employee. He joins us for a rare interview on investing in defense technology, the thawing IPO market, whether an AI bubble is brewing, and more. Plus, Google’s dominance was built on free products - Gmail, Drive, Maps, Search. But now, in what would be a huge change from that model, the tech giant is reportedly considering charging for AI search features, adding them to its premium subscription services. One could argue it signals some desperation as it struggles to play catchup in the AI race, and a lack of commitment to disrupt its cash cow, Search.  

Despite talks of a bubble brewing around AI, Steve Cohen, Point72 Chairman and CEO and owner of the New York Mets, thinks we have a lot more room to run. He says the markets might actually be discounting what AI’s going to be able to do for companies, and that there’s even more upside as a result of AI. We break down what that might mean for labor and productivity, and how to find the AI winners in startups. 

There’s so much demand for the $53 billion CHIPS Act, the Biden administration has announced it will scrap funding originally allocated to semiconductor R&D facilities, and instead fund manufacturing hubs like Intel’s. But the funding amount is more like a drop in the bucket in Intel’s longer-term vision for its foundry business. Plus, Salesforce’s AI Chief Clara Shih joins us to talk about a new gen-AI co-pilot tool Einstein and how it’s driving productivity for customers. 

Apple is coming off a tough quarter. It was one of the worst-performing megacap tech stocks this year, down nearly 12% in the last three months. The negative sentiment from Wall Street continued today, with Loop Capital cutting its 12-month price target on the stock to $170 from $185. But there could be some positive catalysts ahead, including its annual developers conference, WWDC and a new iPhone cycle in September.