Qualcomm shares surged on its first quarter earnings report based on potential data center and AI inference momentum.

In the you can't make this up department, OpenAI outlined how GPT-5.1 and later models became fascinated with goblins, gremlins and other creatures. The short version is that OpenAI created a "nerdy" persona that ran with the goblin and gremlin theme.

PayPal is reorganizing into a checkout division led by PayPal, a consumer financial services unit led by Venmo and a payment services and crypto division that'll include Braintree.

The new approach, laid out by new CEO Enrique Lores, is notable since it may signal a Venmo spinoff in the future. There were a bunch of executive moves too.

Meta released its first quarter results and overall they were strong with revenue up 33% from a year ago. As usual, Meta said it will spend more money on AI infrastructure. The company said 2026 capital expenditures will be between $125 billion to $145 billion, up from the $115 billion to $135 billion forecast last quarter.

Here's the problem. Unlike Google, Amazon and Microsoft, Meta has to monetize AI through advertising. It doesn't have a cloud business where it can sell capacity to enterprises.

Some initial takeaways on cloud earnings all hitting at the same time.

Google Cloud is thriving as an AI layer and TPU sales are strong. The integrated AI stack pitch is working well. Things are going so well that I don’t sweat the company raising its capex outlook again. Alphabet is getting returns. Annual revenue run rate for Google Cloud now $80 billion.

• Google Cloud revenue growth hits 63% in Q1 to $20 billion

AWS has a big base and accelerating growth. You can quibble about 28% growth missing whisper numbers, but hey it’s a $150 billion annual revenue run rate.

• AWS growth accelerates 28% in Q1

Microsoft Cloud is consistent, growing and almost boring. That’s not a bad thing. Microsoft Azure revenue was up 40% in the fiscal third quarter.

• Microsoft Azure revenue up 40% in fiscal Q3

Most of the MAG 7 reports tonight as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft all report earnings. I'll be focused on the cloud hyperscalers.

• Alphabet is expected to report non-GAAP first quarter earnings of $2.63 a share on revenue of $107.03 billion.
• Amazon is expected to report first quarter earnings of $1.64 a share on revenue of $177.17 billion.
• Microsoft is expected to report fiscal third quarter non-GAAP earnings of $4.06 a share on revenue of $81.43 billion.

For all three companies, capital expenditures will be closely scrutinized as will revenue growth in cloud units. All three companies have shares that have delivered strong gains in the last month. For instance, Amazon and Alphabet are up 30% and 27% in the last month, respectively. Microsoft has surged 17% in the last month.

Those gains mean there's little margin for error and a high likelihood of sell the news.

• AWS launches Amazon Quick, Connect family of business apps, OpenAI managed agents
• Microsoft adds slew of AI agents in Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Sales, Customer Insights
• OpenAI goes multi-cloud in amended deal with Microsoft
• Google Cloud Next 2026: A look at the big themes

Nvidia delivered the latest addition to its Nemotron model family. The company launched Nvidia Nemotron 3 Nano Omni, an open multimodel model designed for AI agents using video, audio, image and text. Nvidia said a host of software companies including Palantir, DocuSign, Infosys and Oracle are evaluating the model.

• Nvidia Nemotron: Much needed open-source model champion in US
• Nvidia launches Nemotron 3 open models to enable multi-agent systems
• Nvidia GTC 2026: We're a software company too
• Why enterprise AI leaders need to bank on open-source LLMs

Seagate's third quarter results were a blowout as revenue of $3.11 billion was up 44% from a year ago. Net income of $934 billion was up 129% from a year ago.

This slide says it all. AI means storage...lots of it.

Otter.ai launched the Conversational Knowledge Engine in a move that aims to expand beyond being an AI notetaker. The company also launched an expanded model context protocol server, AI Chat and Otter for Desktop. According to Otter.ai, the Conversational Knowledge Engine is designed to bring together decisions, context and intent embedded in conversational data. The company said:

"There has never been a system of record for what people actually say during meetings, which has driven Otter.ai's strategic evolution into a new category. The Conversational Knowledge Engine will be as fundamental as CRM in capturing customer data, HRIS for employee data, and ERP for financial data."

That's a heady idea, but Otter.ai can fill in a lot of context gaps. I'm a longtime Otter.ai customer and can attest that the upgraded AI Chat is way better than before. Otter.ai's Conversational Knowledge Engine is aimed at sales, marketing, recruiting and product management.

We'll loop back on Otter.ai's plans when we get a more fleshed out briefing.

SAS held its Innovate conference and outlined a series of updates. Here’s the roundup of announcements.

• SAS AI Navigator to bring order to AI chaos
• SAS expands SAS Viya with governed AI assistants and agentic AI capabilities
• SAS aims AI agents at industry’s toughest challenges
• SAS survey: Industry leaders on the quantum AI cusp
• Liverpool FC and SAS will deliver more personalized, real-time digital fan experiences with AI
• SAS at 50 years: Built on trust, shaping the future of AI
• SAS advances its AI-ready data management foundation for industry agents and automation, with governance built-in
• Expanded agentic AI capabilities coming to SAS Customer Intelligence 360

Oracle said in a post on X that "we’re seeing firsthand how quickly adoption of their technology is accelerating, driven by the strength of their latest models. Judging by the comments, Oracle's post went over like a lead balloon. Oracle was responding to a WSJ story saying OpenAI is missing internal expectations. OpenAI reportedly called the story clickbait, according to Bloomberg.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made a video appearance at an AWS event. He said: "I wish I could be there with you in person today. My schedule got taken away from me today."

General Motors reported strong first quarter results and said that its digital services efforts are starting to pay off. The company said OnStar ended the first quarter with recognized revenue topping $750 million, up 20% from a year ago. Super Cruise is tracking to deliver revenue of about $400 million in 2026.

We've chronicled GM's digital efforts as well as what Ford has been doing with AI. Rivian too.

• GM to integrate Google Gemini, delivered unified software defined vehicle architecture
• Ford launches Ford Pro AI
• Rivian’s AI strategy: Four takeaways