Big Tech's Big Four Beat Q1 Earnings Expectations

The first-quarter revenue and net profit for major Big Tech companies Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta surpassed market expectations. The core cloud segment saw significant growth, with Google specifically recording over $20 billion in cloud revenue, boosted by AI demand. However, Meta faced headwinds from slowing user growth and an upward revision to its annual capital expenditure outlook for expanded AI infrastructure investment. Microsoft's capital expenditure was significantly below Wall Street's projections, and while Amazon achieved its highest growth rate in three years, its capital expenditure exceeded forecasts, increasing cost burdens.

Pershing Square, led by Bill Ackman, raised $5 billion in new capital through its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The newly launched Pershing Square USA will focus on investing in large publicly traded stocks such as Amazon, Uber, and Brookfield. Although it fell short of its $10 billion target, the listing has strengthened its financial foundation.

Elon Musk is demanding $150 billion in damages, alleging that OpenAI has betrayed its founding principles and deceived him and the public. Musk claims Microsoft's $10 billion investment was a decisive turning point that undermined OpenAI's public benefit purpose. The core of this lawsuit hinges on whether OpenAI abandoned its initial nonprofit, public-interest mission for a for-profit structure, which Musk argues constitutes a betrayal of its founding principles and a deception of him and the public. This legal battle has broadened into a debate about the line between public benefit and profitability for AI companies.

Central banks worldwide net purchased 244 tons of gold in the first quarter.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary stated that some European airlines could go bankrupt if jet fuel prices remain around $150 per barrel. The International Energy Agency warned that European jet fuel inventories could be depleted within six weeks.

Dozens of Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis experienced a collective shutdown in China. Following this incident, the Chinese government has suspended the issuance of new autonomous vehicle licenses, and Baidu's robotaxi malfunction in Wuhan has put a halt to its business expansion.