What’s New in the AI Big Leagues?

73% Revenue Growth? Light Work for NVDA 

Notwithstanding investor jitters around an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble, Nvidia [NVDA] reported record annual revenue of $215.9bn. Q4 revenue rose 73% year-over-year to $68.1bn, beating forecasts, with data center sales of $62.3bn driven by Blackwell chips. “Computing demand is growing exponentially,” said CEO Jensen Huang. “Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute — the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth.”

Judge Nixes xAI Lawsuit

xAI has suffered a setback in its legal fight with OpenAI after Judge Rita F. Lin ruled that xAI failed to show OpenAI induced employees to steal or use confidential information. While two former employees admitted to improperly downloading material, the court found no plausible case that OpenAI orchestrated or benefited from any misappropriation, calling xAI’s broader allegations weak and unsupported. OpenAI has alleged Musk is waging a “harassment campaign” against them, Ars Technica reported.

Amazon Leadership Reshuffle: AI Lab Chief Exits 

Amazon’s [AMZN] AI reshuffle continues after David Luan, head of one of its key AI labs, said he will leave this week. Luan, who oversaw the agentic AI product Nova Act, previously led engineering at OpenAI. Luan wrote in a LinkedIn post that, “with AGI [artificial general intelligence] so close, I decided to spend 100% of my time on teaching AI systems’ brand new capabilities”. His exit, the Financial Times reported, follows wider leadership changes as Amazon tries to close the gap with AI rivals.

The New Space Race: AST SpaceMobile vs Rocket Lab

Once the purview of government agencies and large legacy companies, the space sector has seen an influx of smaller, more dynamic players in recent years, offering everything from rockets for launches to vast satellite networks for telecommunications. 2026 is looking to be a formative year for space firms both large and small. Ahead of upcoming earnings, OPTO takes a look at two of the more promising newcomers: AST SpaceMobile [ASTS] and Rocket Lab [RKLB].

Can Meta Establish Itself as an AI Leader?

Meta [META] has struck a multi-billion-dollar AI chip deal with Advanced Micro Devices [AMD], agreeing to buy customized processors delivering 6GW of compute and receiving performance-linked warrants that could lift its stake to 10%. The shares-for-chips structure mirrors AMD’s earlier “circular” deal with OpenAI. “From a financial standpoint, each gigawatt of compute is worth double-digit billions”, said AMD CEO Lisa Su.

Salesforce: This Isn’t Our First SaaSpocalypse 

“You’ve heard about the SaaSpocalypse? And it isn’t our first. We’ve had a few of them,” said Salesforce [CRM] CEO Marc Benioff on the firm’s earnings call earlier this week, referring to fears that AI will make software-as-a-service stocks redundant. Indeed, the firm posted a solid Q4, with revenue of $10.7bn, up 13% year-over-year, and full-year revenue of $41.5bn. Net income reached $7.46bn and management guided to $45.8bn–46.2bn in FY 2027 revenue.

Can Garmin Capture the AI-powered Wearables Buzz?

It’s shaking out to be a big year for wearables. Above all, the integration of AI is unlocking a lot of potential. If there’s one stock well-positioned to leverage this growing buzz, it’s Garmin [GRMN]. Known for rugged, reliable devices, Garmin has grown into a global leader in connected wearables, smartwatches and GPS solutions across multiple industries. The firm reported earnings on February 18. OPTO unpacks why it could merit a place on tech investors’ watchlists.