AI Business & Industry

Today's Stories

1. 1

   Lam Research breaks ground on AI chip lab in Oregon

   Lam Research has started construction on an R&D center in Tualatin, Oregon, as part of a $3 billion, five-year investment in its global lab network for advanced AI chips. The 120,000-square-foot facility will boost cleanroom space by over 50% and create more than 400 jobs, raising Lam's Oregon workforce to over 11,000 and its annual economic contribution to over $1.8 billion.

   The lab is expected to open in 2028 and will support process development for customers including Intel and Micron Technology, with a separate $1.7 billion investment commitment in Tualatin through 2041.

2. 2

   GE Vernova vs. Bloom Energy: Which AI-Power Bet Has More Upside Ahead?

   GE Vernova raised its 2026 revenue guidance to between $45.5 billion and $46.5 billion from a prior range of $44.5 billion to $45.5 billion. Its power division saw orders jump 134% year over year in Q2 2026, and its electrification division's orders more than doubled to $6.3 billion from $3.3 billion. Bloom Energy hit a milestone with quarterly revenue above $1 billion in Q2 2026 and reported net profits of $70.6 million and $196.2 million in the first two quarters, versus a $42.6 million net loss a year earlier. GE Vernova, however, has a much larger scale—$38.1 billion in 2025 revenue and a $176 billion backlog—and a joint venture with Hitachi developing small modular reactors (SMRs).

   GE Vernova's forward price-to-earnings ratio has cooled to 33.3 from a high of 59.8, and analysts' median one-year price target is $1,259, a 35.8% gain from the August 25 close. However, its wind business saw a 40% organic decline in orders to $1.2 billion in Q2 2026, a weak spot to monitor.

3. 3

   Nvidia pauses revenue-sharing deals with AI cloud firms

   Nvidia has paused revenue-sharing deals with AI cloud companies, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters. Such deals typically involve Nvidia providing hardware in exchange for a share of revenue, so the pause could signal a shift in how Nvidia partners with cloud providers.

   Whether the pause becomes permanent and how it affects AI cloud companies' access to Nvidia hardware remains unclear.

4. 4

   Nurses in Austin protest Palantir's role in healthcare

   Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday outside 8VC, a venture capital firm in Austin, to protest Palantir's AI technology in healthcare. The protest was part of a nationwide action organized by the National Nurses Union, held in cities including Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Monica Gonzalez, a National Nurses Union member, said Palantir's AI is used by HCA Healthcare through Timpani, a scheduling app, which sometimes short-staffs nurses. Protesters argue staffing decisions should be made by humans, not AI. Palantir responded that its software helps hospitals reduce sepsis deaths and places patients in beds more quickly.

   U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, joined the protest, urging the crowd to block an "AI oligarchy from Palantir." Jake Medwell, a co-founder of 8VC, said the firm has nothing to do with Palantir except that one of his partners co-founded it.

5. 5

   Visa expands AI cybersecurity tools to fix threats faster

   Visa announced enhancements to its cybersecurity portfolio, including the next evolution of its open-source Visa Vulnerability Agentic Harness (VVAH). The new release moves from discovery to remediation, with some resolutions shrinking from weeks to hours. Visa also expanded its Visa Consulting & Analytics Cybersecurity Advisory Practice with three new services. These help organizations assess risk, prioritize fixes, and strengthen resilience, addressing the challenge of deciding which vulnerabilities matter most before attackers exploit them.

   VVAH now supports Anthropic and OpenAI models alongside any other AI model through configuration. Since its open-source release in June 2026, it has been downloaded by tens of thousands of developers worldwide.

6. 6

   Tech giants urge defensive surge against AI-driven hacks

   OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and over 100 other companies issued a joint letter Thursday calling for a society-wide defensive surge against an impending wave of AI-enabled cyberattacks. The letter warns that in the coming months these attacks will become far more widespread as models grow more capable. The companies urge governments and industry leaders to bring full weight of technology, resources, and expertise to bolster cyber defense. They also call for expediting trusted access programs that give certain companies early access to powerful models, and for all organizations to make cyber defense an immediate leadership priority. This comes as fears of AI supercharging hacking campaigns are being realized, with rogue elements increasingly using large language models to break into organizations.

   The U.S. cyber defense agency CISA and the White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment, and CISA staffing fell by about a third last year. Additionally, in June, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance issued a rare joint statement warning that the AI revolution was poised to fundamentally transform cybersecurity.