Silicon Valley: Tech Innovations, Market Trends, and Leadership Changes

Muddy Waters Capital's Carson Block believes inflows into MAG seven stocks will support the US market amid strong labor conditions.

### Current Trends in Technology, Markets, and Leadership Changes
* 🌍 Bloomberg Technology, hosted by Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow, explores the **intersection of hardware, innovation, and finance** from London and San Francisco.
* 📈 The show highlights significant market movements, noting a **slight downturn in crypto** and **over $2 billion inflow into Bitcoin ETFs**, as investors prepare for an **important earnings week**.
* 🎬 Disney announces James Gorman as the **new chair of the board** and plans to reveal a **new CEO by early 2026**, amidst discussions on the company's leadership transitions.
* 💻 Muddy Waters Capital's Carson Block offers bullish insights on the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, emphasizing that "**as long as the labor market is reasonably strong in the US, inflows will continue**."
* 🇹🇼 An interview with Taiwan's Premier discusses the country's semiconductor industry and its strategic partnerships, emphasizing the need for Taiwan to **diversify beyond high-tech sectors**.
* 🔒 The ongoing hacking campaign by Russia targeting Georgia is detailed, highlighting the **severity of the attacks** that could potentially **sabotage critical infrastructure**.
* 🛠 The segment also features a discussion on the competitive landscape of AI tools, particularly Microsoft’s new offerings aimed at **enhancing business productivity**.
* 📊 As the earnings season begins, the importance of tech sector performance is underscored, with **expectations high for companies like Nvidia and Microsoft**.

Omaha, Neb. Hardware, innovation, money, and power collide in Silicon Valley and beyond. This is Bloomberg Technology with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow. Live from London and San Francisco. This is Bloomberg Technology coming up. Close your eyes and buy why Muddy Waters found a Carson block is bullish on big tech. Plus, the future of Disney's kingdom. Details on the company's new leadership moves and CEO succession plans. Plus, we'll hear from the Taiwanese premier on the country's thriving chip business. But first, quick check on these markets, which are perhaps taking a slight pause ahead of some big weeks. I focus in on crypto ed, we're down by more than 2% there. We've actually seen more than 2 billion flow into ETFs, of course, that buy spot Bitcoin, for example, we were near $70,000. We're just pulling back slightly as risk sentiment changes ahead of an important

earnings week, all important election in the next coming two weeks. But we focus in on crypto just to show us what risk sentiments are really showing us today. But you're looking at the micros. Yeah, there's a few tech stocks that we're following. Throughout the show. Disney has named former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman as its new chair of the board and promising to name a new CEO early 2026. We'll bring you the details. Microsoft has some new agents it's taking on Salesforce. We go to our correspondent on that and look at the US listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor actually continuing to gain momentum. We have a very important interview with Taiwan's Premier. Will we talk about the golden jewel of that industry but also some of their energy needs, the broader context of what's happening in semiconductors for that nation? You don't want to miss it halfway through the program, Carrie. We don't.

Meanwhile, we return to the macro picture because earlier today, Muddy Waters Capital found a cost and block join Bloomberg Television. And he offered this pretty bullish advice on the Magnificent Seven. There's a debate as to what really drives when you talk about the US market, especially the S&P 500 or the MAG seven. I'm in the camp that although I haven't, I don't have the facility with math to really try to prove this out. But I'm in the camp that believes that what drives that index are flows. And so at the end of every month, US workers, you know, a lot of them, their paychecks go into their 401ks, which are retirement funds. And there is a robo bid for these stocks. And what happens is you reduce the effective supply of stock because you're taking out the active owners of stocks that will decide, hey, at this price, I'm a seller at a lower price, I'm a

buyer. In your replacing that with a holder that will never sell unless and until it has outflows because people are drawing down the retirement accounts. So. According to that view, as long as the labor market is reasonably strong in the US, which it is, you're not going to see outflows, you're just going to continue to see inflows, especially in those in the most heavily weighted names in the S&P 500. So. I have in the past few years, I have looked back on my career as an activist short seller and, you know, kind of done the math and felt like, well, you know. I probably could have just been levered long. The S&P 500 deferred my taxes and gone through a lot less BS and been more or less the same position financially. So yeah, I mean, that does make the market more fragile. But there's a Fed point. There's always a Fed point, you know, is there does there come a point in time

when the system breaks and the Fed can't fix it? Theoretically, yes. In our lifetimes. I don't know. So I think for now, it probably just pays not to think too much. Just close your eyes and buy, you know, probably Mag seven. Muddy Waters Capital found a car and block there. Let's bring in another take, Sima Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. Many that you're talking to feeling, you should just close your eyes and buy Mach seven. Still here. Well hi comment. I think there is that continued demand certainly for Mach seven and I agree with a lot on what was just certain that the environment is. It's almost a sweet spot for U.S. equities. You've got the fact you've got a generally a strong economy. There's a couple of risks out there, but there's more near-term risk, something that we wouldn't necessarily expect to

be have a sustained impact in the market. So from that perspective, yes, the US dollar looks really attractive and the MAX seven, rather than just being a short-term play, I think a lot of people, including ourselves, are looking at that. Max seven is something which is going to deliver not just for this year, but it's more of a strategic asset allocation play that we want to continue to have exposure to those. Having said that, in a positive environment for US equities, with rates coming down and growth still fairly solid, you should see a broadening out. I think that the opportunities in other parts of the market, which maybe are not as expensive, I haven't really seen even some of that catch-up trade post-COVID. So I think there's opportunities everywhere. But certainly Mike seven does deserve to continue to have that not placed in a portfolio. See, Nicholson's core idea is that the market, particularly those MAG seven

stocks will be supported because retirement money is kind of on autopilot, right? It just comes in and that supports the index level. How does that impact your job if you're really genuinely interested in the technology sector as an investor? So, I think he's right in that there is always going to be that play that continued to stream into the Mike seven. Remember also that the Mike seven, because of that cash levels, because they're considered a bit of a safety defensive play almost on the US income in the US market, that it's almost like a continuous stream of where some are considered. It's going to be fairly consistent throughout. And to his point, until it isn't, it will continue to attract flows. So, I think that that does come into the thesis, and we have seen that play out over the last couple of years. When things get a little bit tough, Mike seven almost becomes a safety trade. So, I think that still holds.

It's just that there's probably going to be other opportunities that also retired investors should probably be considering outside of just that. Mike seven. This week starts earnings season in earnest for technology. How important is this quarter of all quarters, especially given that we have now seen the Fed move in reducing rates? So I think every quarter is going to be more important than the last in terms of whether it's going to maintain the rally going forward. So for Tchaikovsky, Evan, is, you know, the eyes on the tech sector appear to be increasing with each earnings season because the expectations are in consideration of the fact that valuations are quite frothy, that there's always a is always going to say, oh, they're going to continue to deliver come they deliver on those very lofty expectations that investors have. So we do need to see that continued delivery. But actually I still think that like let's say we work to get a disappointing

quarter where you see a slight pullback in that performance relative to expectations. It doesn't necessarily sound the death knell. It's just probably a bit of a kind of a recalibration of expectations back to something which is a little bit more realistic. But then as we look out over a couple of quarters in years, I think investors will still believe that Mark seven, particularly with the narrative, have still got something to deliver. I want to go exactly there, Sema, and we turn to our great control room to bring up what's happening within video with the like of Palo Alto Networks as well. But more broadly in video, of course, the trade up to a new record is seeing, though, other key cybersecurity names like Palo Alto Networks. Also on the high side today in a new record high, too. How important is the NVIDIA, the chip sector, the trade to keep on leading these sorts of gains? They are important. I do think they're reducing in

importance, though, because of, you know, the fairly strong constructive economic backdrop that we have. But we do feel some continued enthusiasm about policy, about immediate, about air generally and other sectors, other companies that can continue to benefit from it. I mean, you just have to look at chips and just look at the ones which are related to the ones which are not related. And you can see there's quantification coming through the market. So there's a clear favorite with regard to that narrative. And investors are focusing on where can I play a really strong part as a first, I guess the first generation like in video, but what are the other next companies that could stand to benefit from this, this new theme that is playing out in market? SIMON We love talking to you because you can go across asset, too. And David Kostin and the team over at Goldman Sachs go across asset again today for us as well, because on the

flip side of what Carson BLOCK is saying. They're saying actually, look, the S&P 500 cannot keep up the rate of returns that we used to. In fact, we're only getting an annualized 3% return in the future, for example, because they can go to bonds, we can go to other assets. Are you seeing investors wanting to go? They're out of equities. So certainly from an asset allocation perspective, we do think that this is also the time to have exposure to fixed income. You know, if you want to go safety, then you should be long duration. But to get that pick-up in terms of yield income kind of player play over the US, the strength of the U.S. economy, then credit is your place to be said. I think there's a lot of opportunities out there specifically with regards to the 3% return going forward. I think that it is true that you're not likely to see the same kind of returns.

that we've enjoyed for the last ten or 15 years. A lot of that narrative was driven by the fact that the Fed and other central banks around the world had kept rates really, really low, which were not anticipating going forward. We see rate cuts, but nothing returning to that incredibly easy monetary policy of zero balance sheet expansion. So it does mean that the math is a little bit more onerous for equities, but it's still a compelling proposition. It's just that in this environment, there are opportunities across, I think across all of risk assets. And it makes sense for investors to have that diversification because it actually continues to deliver at this point. Sima Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. Thank you very much. Back here on Bloomberg Technology now, coming up, some changes on Disney's board and a pledge that we will get a new CEO in early 2026. More on that shake up next. This is Bloomberg Technology.

A new chairman of Disney's board. Today, the company announced James Gorman will take on the role of chairman in 2025, while also announcing that a new CEO will be revealed in early 2026. Bloomberg's Felix Gillette joins us in Look. James Gorman, former Morgan Stanley CEO, has been leading the succession chase since August. But why is he now taking on the additional responsibility of being chairman of Disney's board overall? Well, I think Disney's been telegraphing this for a while, and Gorman's the new face of the board. He's got a strong track record in terms of success. And succession is the number one issue in Disney's future. Who's going to replace Bob Iger? He doesn't have the same baggage that his predecessor did in terms of, you know, what went wrong in the previous Disney succession plans. So I think this makes a lot of sense in terms of just elevating him and giving him a formal role in terms of making

this next choice. Mark Parker retires. James Gorman to the helm from a board level. Take us back to the CEO. And who are the names in the running here internally and maybe even externally? Yeah, I mean, I think at this point it's, you know, the four direct reports to Iger, the head of Parks, the head of TV, the head of movies, and the head of ESPN. And, you know, everyone, the Kremlinology is that Disney, everyone's very eagerly watching all of the speculation about, you know, who's up, who's down. I think the company has done a pretty good job at this point of keeping its cards close to the vest. If there is a leading candidate at this point, it really hasn't gotten out. And so I don't think this move changes that at all. We can have to wait a few weeks until Disney has earnings. But based on post-Netflix, how is Disney

doing right now? I mean, Disney's had a good last year. When you think about the recent Emmys, probably the strongest Emmy performance in the company's history on the TV front. You know, winning the show gotten the bear inside out to deliver hugely for the company after a bunch of stumbles on the film side. You know, the parks have been a little bit more mixed. And in terms of ESPN's future, still dealing with the transition to direct to consumer. There's a lot of open questions still about the company's future. But you have to say it's been a little bit better, especially in the entertainment side. The nice feeling still out in New York City. Thank you so much, Kara. Where you looking at? I'm looking at Microsoft. It's actually down today, but it's ramping up its rollout and launching a new set of guess what, A.I. tools designed to send emails, manage records, other business-related tasks.

For more, we bring in Bloomberg's Brodie Ford, who must be getting a little bit sick of agents, autonomous agents, agent calls. It is competitive. Everybody wants to have an agent now. You know, it seems like for a year and a half everybody was building a co-pilot, even if they didn't call it that, right. Every software company had a little box on the side that I could, you know, ask, Hey, could you draft me this email? Or, you know, What's the six biggest cities in Germany? But I think what a lot of software companies have found is that, you know, users, sometimes it's not natural to go ahead and think about, Oh, what should I ask this and ask this co-pilot? And so now a lot of companies are leaning into this agent idea, which is we're going to have, you know, ten tasks that are pretty easily replaceable by A.I.

and we're just going to have it run largely by itself and do that in the background. This puts Microsoft in competition with Salesforce. And if you're on X, you will have seen Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff talk a lot recently about Microsoft's AI tools. Just explain how they're in competition. Brady. Yes. So this is the segment of Microsoft, which competes with Salesforce and some other SaaS companies. You know, it's all about CRM, supply chain management, things like that. And they both want to have the hat of we are leading A.I. in the SAS field, right? Because most SaaS companies have somewhat struggled to really have a good, coherent A.I. strategy that is currently making money. And so each of them want to kind of lead it forward. Benioff has always, you know, done a good job getting press by, you know, throwing shots at competitors.

And this is certainly in that tradition. The index. Brady Ford on all things Microsoft. Agent, thank you very much. Now, coming up here on Bloomberg Technology, details on Russia's major hack on the nation of Georgia ahead of that country's upcoming elections in Poland. Reporting coming up next. This is Bloomberg Technology. Okay, it's time for talking tech. And first up, Prosser says its e-commerce divisions expected to surge more than 950% this fiscal year. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes will be $400 million in the 12 months ending in March. The company's new CEO, Fabrizio Blasi, made the announcement earlier today and will join Bloomberg's London Tech summit tomorrow. Plus, Lumen Technologies and Matta have announced a partnership in support of Metters AI ambitions. The agreement will provide dedicated interconnection for Metz's infrastructure that the company says will be crucial for future development.

And Russia has been operating a multi-year hacking campaign targeting the nation of Georgia. That's according to documents and technical reports seen by Bloomberg News. The comprehensive espionage attack focused on Georgia's Foreign Ministry, finance ministry, central bank, and key energy and telecommunications providers and carriers. Let's get a lot more on that story. Such a significant report. We go to Bloomberg's Alberto Nardelli, who really was leading the charge here, along with colleagues. Alberto, just how is Russia managing to hack on such a significant degree? Well, I think the thing to understand about Russia in terms of countries like Georgia is that it targets them with disinformation, and then it puts great efforts into these hacks and looking for vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure, looking for vulnerabilities within government ministries, and spends a lot of time doing that. And that allows them eventually to enter these systems undetected and for years to gather information and very

seriously on worryingly here, put them in a position also to commit potential acts of sabotage. The headline is severe, right? Russia targeting a nation-state with these hacks. But how serious were they, Alberto? And what was their impact? I think the key point is the severity of these hacks because we're not talking about things like, you know, the levels of service that take a website down for a couple of hours. There were two main aspects to this operation. The first was gathering intelligence. So they were able to gather information such as the emails of government officials, the emails of employees working in key companies, but also they were able to put themselves in a position that had they wanted to and had the need arisen, let's say they would have been able to sabotage key bits of the country's critical infrastructure, such as parts of the energy grid, telecommunications or railways, oil terminals and things like that.

So very, very severe. In your reporting, did you get a sense of what Russia's goal was here, what its motivation in doing this was? So on the one hand, it's gathering information. So, for example, if you look specifically at the hack of the foreign ministry, they were targeting and gathering information about key Georgian embassies in places like the European Union, countries in the Baltics. So countries that and areas that Russia has an interest in and is and is looking at. And the second strategic objective, let's call it, is to put itself in a position that if politics in the country, if Georgia goes in a direction that Russia does not like, it then has the ability to take things a step further and commit these acts of sabotage, such as targeting electricity grids or telecommunications systems. And it's a precedent. For example, we've seen elsewhere,

they've done similar in the past in Ukraine. But this was deep reporting, right? This was investigation through documents. But to Russia, through any official channels, have anything to say. Any comment about the reports? Usually what happens is we ask for comment and they never reply. Then after a while, you will see in a press conference or in a statement the Minister of Foreign Affairs or some other government department will refer to stories in Western media. And so that's where we might expect there to be a reaction in the coming days. And equally, this is contemporaneous, right, the elections in Georgia this week, I believe. So we talked about the severity and the impact. But will this nation be able to proceed with its democratic process, kind of free of any interference in that sense? I think the elections obviously will take place. What tends to happen, if you look, for example, of the election that took place this weekend in nearby in Moldova, there

were reports of Russia paying people to vote in a certain way, intense campaigns of disinformation. And so you will have a similar environment in which these elections take place. And then depending on the results of the votes, you'll see what happens next. This was a reporting you did with our colleague Ryan Gallagher without giving it away. What happens next? Where does your reporting take you? We report a lot. We keep reporting on what Russia does in the world in terms of these so-called hybrid campaigns or their use of disinformation and hacking on non-military methods to try and achieve its goals. And, you know, in the case of Ukraine, obviously military methods. And so we're staying on this beat because obviously Georgia is not the only country that Russia is targeting. Alberto Nardelli, We thank you. Extraordinary reporting. Go read it. Meanwhile, coming up, we talk to Taiwan's premier on the future of the country's semiconductor business.

So what should be digging into this Bloomberg Technology? Welcome back to Bloomberg Technology. I'm Caroline Hyde in London. I'm Ed Ludlow in San Francisco. Bring us the markets, Kara. Yeah, because they're under pressure from a macro perspective, but there are some names you want to shine a light on that are doing rather well, but are off by some 6/10 of a percent on the Nasdaq 100 actually coming two session lows. At the moment, we are worried about big earnings on deck. We've got Tesla, for example, later this week. We're also anticipating a very close election in the United States. What does that mean for the future of big tech antitrust and crypto? Move on to have a look at some of the individual names as the market kind of waits and watches Disney under pressure, even as they announced look, new chairman of the board, not completely unsurprisingly, James Gorman comes to

the helm starting in 2025 and promises a new CEO will be delivered by the start of or at least early on in 2026, Palo Alto Networks and a new record high only. Just look, we're clinging on to gains, but it is at a record Nvidia to 1.7% higher. Interesting that the week after this we get most of its customers giving us earnings the alphabet think Microsoft think better. What will that say for the ongoing demand for its chipset. Okay. Sticking with semiconductors, Taiwan's economy has seen massive growth thanks in part to chip manufacturing. Still, Premier Cho Jong Tai says the country can't just solely rely on its high-tech industries. He sat down with Bloomberg editor in chief emeritus Matt Winkler. Check this out. I don't think say Taiwan's economic resiliency comes from the partnership we have with friendly countries. Domestically, we have a strong,

vertically integrated supply chain. This is why we believe Taiwan can play a crucial role in the democratic supply chain. We are heavily reliant on high-tech industries, especially in the rapidly developing semiconductor sector. However, for Taiwan's economy to achieve comprehensive growth, we cannot rely solely on high-tech industries. That's why we've proposed a dual access transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises. We aim to help our traditional industries and small to medium-sized enterprises enter the ERA. We will use government resources to assist them in adopting AI applications and integrating with this industry, allowing Taiwan's economy to grow comprehensively. So, Mr. Premier, the U.S. is going to have an election, a presidential election that's just weeks away. Former President Trump previously said that Taiwan took cheap business from the U.S. and asked Taiwan to pay protection fees. Do you think Taiwan should continue to allow semiconductor manufacturers to

like TSMC to build factories overseas? Simple. On budget. Taiwan also needs to rely on advanced countries for new technologies in materials and equipment. I often say that the government has a responsibility to Taiwan's industries, and Taiwan has a responsibility to the world. Mr. Trump also said Taiwan should increase military spending to 10% of gross domestic product, and I wonder if that's possible, in your view, Taiwan. Here you go. The Taiwan has a very large neighbor with significant ambitions toward it. So Taiwan must take responsibility for safeguarding our sovereignty and national security in next year's central government budget. We have allocated more than 640 billion Taiwan dollars for defense. This will bring our defense spending to approximately 2.4 to 2.6% of GDP, while we can also allocate 10% of GDP to defense in one go. We have increased the budget compared to the past. We also hope that through Taiwan's

efforts, the world will recognize Taiwan's determination and provide greater support. What we're maintaining is not only Taiwan's security, but also the peace and stability of the entire Indo-Pacific region. You mentioned artificial intelligence earlier in this discussion. And given the importance of AI and how fast it is expanding, there is a debate about electricity supply. And I'm just wondering, do you think. Sort of new nuclear power technology is something an option, say, for Taiwan that you could consider. Woman said that inside she thought, Google, those are two of us. And we know that many other countries are actively developing various forms of nuclear energy. Currently, we expect that Taiwan will have no issues with power supply for industries before 2030. Our nuclear power plants are being decommissioned and operations are stopping. This is because we need to prepare for future nuclear technology developments and to respond to any potential legal changes in Taiwan.

When we take the next step forward and reconsider the existing nuclear power plants, we will need sufficient manpower. So even though our plants are being decommissioned, the personnel must not be dispersed. They must remain to address new technologies or solve current issues. That was Taiwan Premier Choe Jun Tai. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Governor Josh SHAPIRO expressed concern over Elon Musk's plan to give money to voters suggesting law enforcement reviews. This follows Musk's announcement to donate $1 million daily to a random registered voter supporting his super PAC's petition on free speech and gun rights. Just take a listen to this from NBC's Meet the Press. I think it's something that law enforcement can take a look at. I'm not the attorney general anymore. Pennsylvania, I'm the governor. But it does raise some serious questions. Bloomberg's cut. Wagner joins us now, who covers all things Elon, but covers all things ex as

well. And just how does this dovetail into what you're seeing on his social media platform right now? Yeah, I mean, he's using the X as a very pro-Trump megaphone right now. I actually opened the app just yesterday and on my for new feed. Right. Which is the feed that's supposed to be tailored recommendations for you. 11 of the first 15 posts that I saw were from Elon himself and all of them were, you know, supporting Trump, pushing Trump's Republican or conservative agenda. I mean, he's very much taken this social network and feels to me like he's using it to really hammer home his own personal politics in this fight to help Trump win the election in a couple of weeks. The activity is notable. Also pointing out Vice President Harris has two accounts on her official vice presidential account. And then I guess we would call it person or campaign account. And she also posts daily and regularly, and that appears in my timeline.

Maybe not as much as Musk's posts appear, but I guess the point that we would make is that it's the content and the commentary. It's very similar to what one might find on True Social. I kind of jokingly called Extra Social 2.0 a few weeks ago in a newsletter that I wrote, because it feels very much like you are seeing President Trump's message hammered home repeatedly, you know, either through Elon, through Trump himself, through other supporters. You're right, Ed, I also have seen a lot of posts from Kamala Harris and others that feels like my feed is almost 100% U.S. politics focused right now. It's interesting because back in, you know, Twitter 1.0 days, they used to say, well, this is obviously an important news cycle. It's an important thing for the service, but it's not the only thing. Right.

You would still see basketball, baseball, sports, you would see culture, music, things like that. It feels to me like they dial up the algorithm to really make the election front and center for every news hour. And I'm certainly noticing it every time I open the app these days. Does that matter long term for Grok? For example, it's a chatbot and indeed more broadly, what we end up wanting our social media platforms for. Yeah, It's been interesting to see X's approach here to the election compared to, say, media and what they're doing with Instagram and Facebook. Right. So on the better side, they're basically saying, hey, we're trying to we're leaning away from the election. If you're talking about the election, we're not going to recommend that post to people outside of your network, whereas X is doing the exact opposite and she's going to be interesting to see long term.

You know, does this burn people out, or is this what people want? Do they want to go and see election 24/7 information, in which case maybe X is making the right choice, or is better, right, as Mark Zuckerberg, right? Right. That people don't want this stuff thrown in their face 24/7, 365. So we'll kind of see. I think, you know, for me personally, it feels a little overkill. It feels a little bit like burnout to me over on X. But you know, that's the decision Iran has made, and again, interesting comparison this election cycle to have a meta and Mark Zuckerberg going in a very different direction in terms of how much they want to prioritize election content. Particularly after the election, to cut Wagner. We thank you so much on that key story. Meanwhile, coming up, Talking Voices, co-founder of All the Party, joins us next in our busy spotlight as the focus

business raises money. This is Bloomberg Technology. Okay. High-powered procurement software startup ZIP is changing the way companies obtain the supplies they need to operate and recently announced its latest round $190 million series D in funding. Here with more ZIP co-founder and CEO Roger Support. Welcome to the program. Actually, the backstory is really interesting and it's worth getting right to it. You used to work at Airbnb and you had a specific job and you were basically like, This isn't working. So you went with some friends and colleagues and designed something better and were like, You know what? Let's just start a company that does this. That's pretty fair, right? No, that's absolutely fair. So my co-founder, Lou, and I were both engineering and product leaders at Airbnb, and we had to go through this confusing procurement process of if we need to buy something in the business, what are all the approvals that are required, right, between budget and

legal and I.T. and security and all the different teams? And that's what we solved. We started to solve for it by providing one front door for any employee in the business to request a purchase. I'm really interested that your AI powered. What form is this generative AI? ML broad A.I. because you're serving open A.I., for example. So you built upon that large language model. How does that all go? What are you building that they can't internally for their own process? Procurement. Yeah, that's a great question. It's absolutely generative A.I. And if you think about the procurement process as a whole, right, we have access to so much relatively unstructured data, right? When employees at organizations are buying things, there are millions of contracts, invoices, order forms, so much data that's available, and we can take A.I. and actually apply it in a really,

really practical way, which is what we do for our enterprise customers today, to do everything from helping pass invoices to reading messages and contracts for risks and the like. Your with the money hiring, engineering, talent, R&D talent, you're setting up an AI lab and I go back to really what is underlying all of this. Are you building your own large language models to be able to do this? You're looking to develop that more with these tools that you want to build in the lab. That's a great question. So we absolutely are using these funds to invest and create in the iLab and really double click on if, you know, like I sort of said, like the data that we have access to as part of procurement and really thinking about how do we best apply it in a practical way. And so there's more that we'll have to share there in the coming months.

And so, which allow me to use, and so we today largely use the open models. I broke my own rule, which is I always start on what's new, is from fresh. But I wanted the back story because it was 52 years ago that you and I first met. So, in that time, you've raised a lot of money. You have a decent valuation, more than 2 billion. But have you built a business in that time? Have you managed to take this product and technology and actually sell it to other businesses and enterprises who, in turn, are using it themselves? Yeah, of course. We've been really privileged to work with some of the largest enterprises in the world, companies like Discover Financial, Snowflake, Prudential, Coinbase, and many others. And even as an example, Discover Financial has saved over 3000 different business approvals that they've realized they don't need anymore, or Snowflake has over $305 million of zip-supported

savings logged. What we find is that procurement is actually the second largest area of spend for any business in the world after payroll. Right. It's trillions of dollars in the world that, you know, employees of companies are buying, you know, for office supplies, software and the like. And so there's so much opportunity. And for you yourselves building on top of open AI. What's that been like? You know, in the news cycle, it's pretty chaotic when it comes open. I but as a customer, a partner, what was it like for you? I'd have to say it's been it's been great. And the feedback that we've we've received from customers has been really positive. As an example, Coinbase has saved thousands and thousands of hours with zip processing, you know, hundreds of thousands of invoices in a much more automated way. So co-founder and CEO of Joules Body, thanks for coming on here.

Congrats on the round. Meanwhile, coming up, details on another one in VC perplexities. Major new funding round is taking shape and plans to take on Google. This is Bloomberg Technology. Perplexity, the company trying to build a search product that rivals Google, is in early talks to raise funding from investors at a valuation of roughly $9 billion. That's according to a Bloomberg source. Bloomberg Shery Ahn Ghaffari broke the news and joins us with the latest. So what do we know about the round? This is a name that's coming up a lot at the moment, Shery. That's right. I think it, you know, is a reflection of how much there is interest in continuing to invest in this. I wave this bubble. Right. We've seen opening. I recently closed a mega round, and now I think there seems to be continued interest in getting in on that. Perplexity is very popular with people who are looking to use air for search. Let's just talk about the moat that it's

built or if there is indeed a moat, because many have felt that this is a clear competitive threat to Google, but Google can equally perhaps take it on itself. That's right. I mean, Perplexity really had the head start in using the most cutting-edge AI to kind of make a standalone app where you can, instead of Googling something, you can search for it and get all your research and all your answers right there in kind of one neat product. So I think they had a head start with that. I think, of course, Google is also increasingly integrating A.I. into their answers. But I've talked to a lot of folks who are starting to even stop using Google and use Perplexity. So I will say it's very popular with a certain kind of early adopters, I would say. And I think that's reflected in this investor interest. So perplexed. You want to raise $500 million,

according to our reporting. But the valuation is a pretty big jump from where it last raised money. Do we know who wants to get in on this? You know, I have in the back of my mind, the open air doesn't want its investors looking elsewhere. Right. I think we're still reporting that out. But one thing I will say is that perplexity has been increasingly trying to get into sort of enterprise search, things like financial search, you know, searching through customer data. So I think that's going to be an increasing focus and potentially something that investors are looking at. Rebecca Shery Ahn Ghaffari, another great piece of reporting. Thanks so much, Kyra. What you got? I want to turn our attention to Apple now because its new iPad that's designed specifically with AI in mind is being broken down by Mark Gurman, who has more. It was power on this weekend. Very well read throughout.

Just tell us what's new when it comes to the iPad. Earlier last week, Apple announced a new iPad mini. It's the first update to that product in about three years. And this company doesn't have a lot of new functionality, but they did is they upped the memory and upped the processor to match last year's iPhone. Why is that important? Because that allows it to support Apple intelligence. Now, as we talked about a few times now, Apple intelligence, at least the first few iterations. Not that impressive, right? You're missing some of the more whiz bang features like generative A.I. created emojis. But you do get things like notification summaries. Now, this is launching next week. I don't find the features that impressive, but Apple does have a secret advantage. Once the A.I. starts working well, once they either build or acquire or pay their way into successful A.I.

features. This new iPad mini shows the company's ability to rapidly add support for new features across its ecosystem in a way that really isn't matched by Google, Samsung, or any other provider. So while it's a small update, it's indicative of the larger overall ability of the company to bring features down the line very quickly. And it makes the iPad mini's price point interesting because, you know, from a processor standpoint, it's the same as this iPhone 15 Pro. They both have a 17, and they're kind of double-dipping a little bit. I mean, you just talked about that secret strategy or secret advantage. Go a little bit further on that, Mark. Yeah, well, this processor is the same processor as last year. It's a chip they no longer make other than for this product. Right. And so they had a lot of leftover components from production of the iPhone 15 Pro. There's a process called binning, which essentially means processors that lose

some of their components during the production process. Right. So the 15 pro version of the A17 chip has six CPU cores. So they're the main processing cores in the chip. The ones in this new iPad mini have five processing cores, which essentially means these have been or they've lost a core during production. So I'm not saying that these are the bad ones that they threw away, but what I am saying, it's about a little bit of a stripped-down version of last year's processor. Yes. Something that's been recycled here from an operational standpoint, it's a big win for Apple, especially for margins. So on a new iPad mini, am I going to be able to design my latest Nike's briefly? Mark, you've been writing about Tim Cook's other key role right now. Well, the new iPad Mini does support the new Apple Pencil Pro, I should add that. Right. But the previous ones support older

Apple pencils, and you certainly could draw your Nikes there. I thought this story was interesting because I think a lot of people don't realize that Tim Cook has a bit of a side gig, and that's being the lead independent director of Nike. Nike has been going through a tumultuous period, and obviously, as a board member, Tim Cook has been helping out. He helped bring on their new CEO, Elliot Hill. That hire has all the hallmarks of a Tim Cook hire. And so, we'll see what happens tonight over the next six months with the new leadership. Mark Gurman, you're busy. As always, we appreciate it. That does it for this edition of Bloomberg Technology. An absolutely jam-packed recap on the pod. You know where to find the pod online on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, and of course, on the Bloomberg platforms from London and San Francisco. This is Bloomberg Technology.

Block's Bullish Nature, Disney's Succession Plans

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Bloomberg Technology

Tech and Market Insights: Bloomberg Technology Update

Muddy Waters Capital's Carson Block is bullish on big tech, attributing the S&P 500's momentum to consistent inflows from 401k contributions.

Disney has appointed James Gorman as its new board chair and plans to name a new CEO by early 2026.

Taiwan Semiconductor's US-listed shares are gaining momentum, and the Taiwanese premier will discuss the country's thriving chip business and energy needs in an upcoming interview.

The Impact of Retirement Money and Technology Earnings on the Market

Retirement money is on autopilot, providing consistent support to the stock market, particularly the "Mike seven" sector.

The upcoming technology earnings season is crucial for maintaining market rally, with investors closely watching for companies to deliver on lofty expectations.

There is a growing trend of investors considering fixed income and other assets for diversification, as future equity returns are expected to be lower than in the past.

James Gorman Appointed Chairman of Disney's Board

James Gorman, former Morgan Stanley CEO, will become chairman of Disney's board in 2025, while a new CEO will be announced in early 2026.

Gorman's appointment is part of Disney's succession plan, aiming to address the leadership transition following Bob Iger.

The company's recent performance has improved, particularly in TV, but there are still open questions about its future direction.

Russia's Hacking Campaign Targeting Georgia

Russia has been conducting a multi-year hacking campaign against Georgia, focusing on key government ministries and critical infrastructure.

The operation has involved gathering intelligence and positioning itself to potentially sabotage essential services.

Russia's goals include gathering information on Georgian embassies and having the capability to disrupt the country's infrastructure if needed.

Taiwan's Economic Growth and Strategic Challenges

Taiwan's economy has experienced significant growth due to chip manufacturing, but Premier Cho Jong Tai emphasizes the need for diversification beyond high-tech industries.

The government is implementing a dual access transformation to support traditional industries and small to medium-sized enterprises in adopting AI applications.

Taiwan is also increasing its defense budget in response to regional threats and is considering the future of nuclear power technology for energy supply.

The content on social media, particularly X, has become heavily focused on U.

politics, with posts from figures like Trump and Kamala Harris dominating the feed.

X's algorithm appears to be prioritizing election-related content, in contrast to platforms like Instagram and Facebook, which are leaning away from it.

The long-term effects of this approach on user engagement and burnout remain uncertain.

Investing in AI and Transforming Procurement

The company is using funds to establish an AI lab and develop large language models for practical applications in procurement.

They have successfully partnered with major enterprises, helping them save millions and streamline business approvals.

Perplexity, a company aiming to rival Google with its AI-driven search product, is in talks for a $500 million funding round, reflecting strong investor interest.

Apple has announced its first update to the iPad Mini in three years, increasing memory and processor power to support Apple Intelligence.

The new iPad Mini's processor is a stripped-down version of last year's iPhone 15 Pro chip, allowing Apple to quickly add new features across its ecosystem.

Tim Cook's role as the lead independent director of Nike has also been significant, helping to bring on the new CEO during a tumultuous period for the company.