Elon Musk is emerging as a new wild card for big tech in Trump’s second administration. His empire of companies and ventures compete with megacaps on numerous levels, particularly Google, whose Waymo, Gemini and YouTube frequently go up against Musk’s Tesla, xAI and X.

Shares of Alphabet moved higher today despite reports that the Justice Department is planning to force a sale of the Google Chrome browser. It’s part of the government’s efforts to limit Google’s monopoly in search, but could it end up hindering the big tech firm’s position in the AI race too?

A federal framework for regulating self-driving technology instead of state-by-state ones is more likely to benefit the current and arguably underappreciated leader in self-driving cars, Waymo, which has clocked 25 million rider-only miles and is completing more than 150,000 paid rides a week.

One year ago this week we saw the dramatic ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and reinstatement just days later. Back at the helm, he has reshaped the company in culture, staff and even mission.

Shares of Amazon have seen a boost since Donald Trump was elected, but the e-commerce giant has had a tense relationship with the President-elect. Will it fare better during his second time in the White House?

Tech giants and AI startups have all been working to get their hands on Nvidia’s upcoming Blackwell chips – but it’s the Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank that is set to receive them first. For Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, it’s a way for Nvidia to diversify away from its large U.S. customers to new opportunities in Japan.

Box CEO Aaron Levie joins CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa to discuss why software stocks have been performing so well, how a new Trump term will impact tech regulations, and more.

Traffic to ChatGPT is booming, now ranked the 8th most-visited website worldwide, according to Similarweb. But its incredible rise comes right as concerns in Silicon Valley grow over whether the advancement of AI models is slowing down due to the data wall.

The next phase of AI development involves inference, the stage in which the models that have been trained are applied and generate responses. There, specialized chips developed Amazon and Google are designed to be more cost-effective and efficient than GPUs – and could be an opening for big tech firms to break into Nvidia’s stronghold.

The incoming Trump administration and Elon Musk’s role in it could be a new catalyst in the equation of how robotaxis will impact ridesharing. Lyft and Uber over the last few months have been on a dealmaking frenzy, most of them centered around autonomous driving. But now that Elon Musk’s influence is growing, that push could become more urgent – and tie-ups could go from partnerships to all-out consolidation.

The impact of a second Trump administration on the AI trade: less regulation, potentially more volatility, and the China threat could all mean faster, unfettered development of the industry -- plus how Elon Musk's influence on AI policy could boost xAI against startup rivals.

The focus for big tech this earnings season has been finding ways to monetize AI – and one use that’s emerged is the military. Shares of Palantir surged after the company cited a boom in demand for its AI software from the U.S. government. And it’s not alone as other AI giants including Meta and OpenAI also look to expand their work with defense agencies.

As users search for election and voting information in new ways, generative AI startups may have the solution -- proving nimbler with less to lose than big tech firms. The startup Perplexity just unveiled a new dedicated election hub, promising answers to questions ranging from polling locations to election results, while for big tech names like Meta and Google, the lessons from 2016 may still be fresh.

AI is the next catalyst for growth for the hyperscalers Amazon, Microsoft and Google – but whether it can offset spending is still unsettled. Alphabet’s quarter shows GCP is gaining on the other two, growing at a blowout 35% and changing the cloud landscape.

The market still hasn’t seen any examples of huge success in AI monetization for consumer-facing products, but Apple is differentiated in that its AI is free with a new Iphone or recent product. We dive into whether or not that will work out. Plus, OpenAI is rolling out a search function for ChatGPT, able to provide realtime access to things like sports, weather, and stock data, in a major challenge to Google and startup Perplexity.

Come Election Day, the future of big tech won’t be decided by either presidential candidate. Instead, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman has emerged as one of the most powerful people shaping AI policy. He’s put on a masterclass in wooing Washington, learning from Mark Zuckerberg and social media’s missteps on the Hill. And he’s turned OpenAI into a lobbying powerhouse, bringing on staff with deep ties to DC like its head of Global Affairs Chris Lehane. But just like when social media was...

Shares of Alphabet jumped after reporting a big Q3 beat, reporting strong growth in cloud, search and YouTube. But one number you might not have seen yet: over 25% of all new code at Google is generated by AI. We dive into what that could mean for big tech earnings ahead and their push to be more efficient.

A big check on AI demand and spending is coming after the bell when Alphabet and AMD both report third-quarter results. Investors are looking to AMD’s print to see how it’s faring in its uphill climb to compete against Nvidia. Alphabet’s capex spending could also be a bellwether for how the rest of big tech earnings will shape up

As power-hungry tech companies work to fuel AI data centers, the race for nuclear energy is on. Amazon led a $500 million investment into X-Energy, which develops small modular reactors. We spoke with CEO Clay Sell on what’s behind the nuclear craze. Plus, AI startup Sierra just raised a new $175 million in capital, quadrupling its valuation from January to $4.5 billion. We sit down with co-founder Bret Taylor on the age of the AI agents.

Alphabet -owned Waymo just announcing a new $5.6B funding round led by its parent company with participation from investors including Fidelity, a16z, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. The robotaxi service has seen daily rides grow ten-fold in the past year, to more than 100,000 weekly paid trips.

As AI becomes more mainstream, the debate on how to regulate it is starting to take center stage. Recently OpenAI hired Chris Lehane as its head of global affairs with the goal of having a say in how these policies and regulations are formed. He sat down with Deirdre Bosa for a wide ranging interview about the company’s goals and why we need to think big and act fast.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China for the second time this year, meeting with officials and pledging increased investment as the iPhone-maker faces growing competition and pressure in the world’s largest smartphone market. Local rival Huawei front ran the latest iPhone announcement and is again ahead of the release of Apple Intelligence by releasing upgrades to its Harmony OS system.

Would you give AI permission to take over your computer? The startup Anthropic hopes so, unveiling a new "Computer Use" tool that would let its Claude chatbot analyze your computer screen and even act on your behalf, getting control over the cursor, keyboard, browser, calendar and more. It’s the latest move in an escalating battle between megacaps and startups over AI-powered agents, which can help automate tasks.

Google shares fell on news of an AI reorganization, announcing it’s moving the Gemini Apps team under DeepMind and shifting a search and ads executive to a Chief Technologist role. But investors might be missing the bigger picture – instead of viewing it as an example that Google is increasingly willing to sacrifice some of its search advantages for an edge in AI.