Consumers Choose Claude

Consumers Choose Claude 

On Friday, US President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to halt use of “radical-left” Anthropic’s artificial intelligence (AI) tool Claude. Anthropic said it had not been able to agree to a deal with the Department of Defense (DoD) over concerns around surveillance and autonomous weapons. Hours later, OpenAI secured a deal to deploy models in classified DoD settings. However, this prompted a consumer backlash, TechCrunch reported, with Claude topping the app download charts, surpassing ChatGPT for the first time. 

S&P Downgrades SoftBank’s Outlook to ‘Negative’

“The company’s investments in AI, including OpenAI, mostly involve fledgling startups and private companies that we believe are exposed to significant AI innovation risk and fierce competition,” the ratings agency said. “We see OpenAI as one of its investments with the weakest credit quality.” S&P kept SoftBank’s [SFTBY] ‘BB+’ rating, noting the company can mitigate risks by selling assets. Last year, SoftBank sold stakes in T-Mobile US [TMUS] and Nvidia [NVDA] to fund founder Masayoshi Son’s AI bets, Bloomberg reported.

Shopping with AI

Meta [META] is testing a shopping research feature within its Meta AI chatbot, positioning it against similar tools from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s [GOOGL] Gemini, Bloomberg reported. The feature, rolling out to select US users, delivers product carousels with pricing and tailored recommendations based on location and inferred gender, though purchases occur via external merchant links.

The Hidden Reason You Exit Winners Early 

The average investor’s tendency to sell winning positions early consistently leads to underperformance compared to the S&P 500 over the long term. Success in volatile markets depends more on controlling fear and building immunity to short-term losses than on technical analysis or market timing. On Foresight, OPTO unpacks how investors can learn to manage their emotional responses rather than giving in to fear of short-term market pullbacks.

Archer Earnings: Watermark Quarter 

The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) leader [ACHR] reported Q4 earnings earlier this week. CEO Adam Goldstein said the firm is building a next-generation aerospace platform spanning civil and defense, alongside partners including Anduril Industries, SpaceX and Nvidia. Its Midnight model has begun piloted eVTOL testing, with deployment planned in the US and UAE. The company ended Q4 with roughly $2bn in liquidity, the “highest watermark” in its history.

Amazon in the Firing Line

Amazon’s [AMZN] Amazon Web Services said drone strikes hit two data centers in the UAE and caused damage near a facility in Bahrain following US and Israeli action against Iran. The attacks resulted in structural damage, power disruptions and fire suppression-related water damage, the BBC reported, exposing the vulnerability of critical cloud infrastructure to escalating regional conflict.

Telecoms in Focus

Amid increased scrutiny of the ongoing AI boom, investors want confirmation that data center expansion, the shift from copper to optical networking, and federal broadband programs in the US are still supporting growth. Upcoming earnings from telecom and AI infrastructure companies will test whether recent sector tailwinds are still strong. OPTO examines the prospects and potential risks for Dycom Industries [DY], Ciena [CIEN] and Broadcom [AVGO].