Artificial Intelligence 5 March 2026 - 2 May 2026

Coinbase Layoffs: 700 Jobs Cut as Brian Armstrong Bets on AI in Crypto Slowdown
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Coinbase Layoffs: 700 Jobs Cut as Brian Armstrong Bets on AI in Crypto Slowdown

Coinbase Global will cut about 700 jobs, or 14% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs and adapting to artificial intelligence. The company expects $50–$60 million in charges, mostly for severance, with the plan largely done by the end of Q2. Shares rose 0.5% after the announcement. CEO Brian Armstrong cited slower trading and increased AI use as key factors.
May 5, 2026
Why Lloyds Banking Group plc’s New AI Agent Push Matters Now
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Why Lloyds Banking Group plc’s New AI Agent Push Matters Now

Lloyds Banking Group has launched Envoy, an internal AI agent platform built with Google Cloud, aiming to boost productivity across its operations. In Q1, Lloyds reported net income of £4.8 billion, up 9%, and statutory profit after tax of £1.6 billion, up 37%. The bank booked a £151 million charge related to the Iran war’s impact on global growth. Lloyds raised its net interest income outlook to over £14.9 billion for 2026.
May 2, 2026
Amazon’s AI Cloud Bet Just Got a Big Win — But the $44 Billion Question Won’t Go Away
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Amazon’s AI Cloud Bet Just Got a Big Win — But the $44 Billion Question Won’t Go Away

Amazon posted first-quarter net sales of $181.5 billion, beating estimates, as AWS revenue jumped 28% to $37.6 billion. Net income reached $30.3 billion, including $16.8 billion in pre-tax gains from its Anthropic investment. Capital spending hit $44.2 billion, while free cash flow dropped to $1.2 billion. AWS operating income rose to $14.2 billion, with margins at 37.7%.
April 29, 2026
Microsoft’s Azure Beats, But AI Spending Fears Hit Stock After Q3 Earnings
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Microsoft’s Azure Beats, But AI Spending Fears Hit Stock After Q3 Earnings

Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $82.9 billion, up 18%, and net income of $31.8 billion, up 23%, as Azure cloud revenue jumped 40%. Its AI business reached a $37 billion annual revenue run rate. Shares fell nearly 2% in after-hours trading as investors questioned returns on AI spending. Alphabet and Amazon also reported strong cloud results, intensifying competition.
April 29, 2026
Oracle Stock Falls as OpenAI Growth Worries Put $300 Billion AI Cloud Bet Under Scrutiny
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Oracle Stock Falls as OpenAI Growth Worries Put $300 Billion AI Cloud Bet Under Scrutiny

Oracle shares dropped 7.7% in premarket trading Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal report said OpenAI missed recent user and revenue targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund large AI contracts. CoreWeave fell 7.4%, and SoftBank closed nearly 10% lower in Tokyo. OpenAI reportedly generated $13 billion in 2025 revenue but operated at a loss with over $600 billion in future cloud commitments.
April 28, 2026
Telstra Group Limited’s AI Bet Has a New Number: 30% of Customer Queries
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Telstra Group Limited’s AI Bet Has a New Number: 30% of Customer Queries

Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said AI now handles 30% of customer queries on the company’s website and app, following the rollout of a generative AI assistant last November. Brady told Microsoft’s AI Tour in Sydney that 75% of Telstra teams use AI tools weekly, with a target of 85% this year. Microsoft separately announced a A$25 billion Australian investment in AI infrastructure and cloud services by 2029.
April 25, 2026
ANZ Group Holdings Hires First AI Chief From HSBC as Australia’s Bank Tech Race Tightens
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ANZ Group Holdings Hires First AI Chief From HSBC as Australia’s Bank Tech Race Tightens

ANZ Group has appointed Kai Yang, formerly HSBC’s chief data and analytics officer for Asia and the Middle East, as its first chief data and AI officer. Yang will start in Sydney in July, reporting to group CIO Donald Patra. The move comes days before ANZ’s half-year results and follows CEO Nuno Matos’ efforts to overhaul technology and risk management. HSBC confirmed Yang’s departure was for family reasons.
April 25, 2026
AI Was Supposed To Kill Apps. Now Apple’s App Store Is Suddenly Surging Again
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AI Was Supposed To Kill Apps. Now Apple’s App Store Is Suddenly Surging Again

New app releases on Apple’s App Store and Google Play rose 60% year over year in the first quarter, with iOS releases up 80%, according to Appfigures data cited by TechCrunch. April releases so far climbed 104% across both stores. Games led new launches, but productivity, utilities, lifestyle, and health apps also saw gains. Apple has blocked or removed some AI-assisted apps, including Anything and Replit, citing concerns.
April 19, 2026
OpenAI Codex Update Turns the Mac App Into a Desktop AI Agent With Browser, Memory and More
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OpenAI Codex Update Turns the Mac App Into a Desktop AI Agent With Browser, Memory and More

OpenAI on Thursday released a major Codex update allowing its desktop app to control Mac software with its own cursor, add an in-app browser, generate images, and automate tasks. The rollout begins today for Codex desktop users signed in with ChatGPT. Over 3 million developers use Codex weekly, according to OpenAI. Some features remain unavailable in the EU and UK at launch.
April 16, 2026
Sandisk Stock Pulls Back After Nasdaq-100 Boost as Evercore Sees $1,200 on AI Storage Demand
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Sandisk Stock Pulls Back After Nasdaq-100 Boost as Evercore Sees $1,200 on AI Storage Demand

Sandisk shares fell 2.2% to $932.01 Tuesday after a record 11.8% jump Monday, ahead of its addition to the Nasdaq-100 on April 20. Evercore ISI set a $1,200 price target, citing AI-driven NAND demand, while Citi raised its target to $980. Sandisk and China’s YMTC each held 11.8% of the global NAND market last year. The company reports fiscal Q3 results on April 30.
April 14, 2026
Google Expands Intel AI Chip Deal, Backs Xeon 6 for Data Centers as Intel Shares Rise
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Google Expands Intel AI Chip Deal, Backs Xeon 6 for Data Centers as Intel Shares Rise

Google will expand its use of Intel Xeon processors, including the new Xeon 6, across its cloud infrastructure and deepen collaboration on custom chips, both companies said Thursday. Intel shares rose 2.3% to $60.33 in morning trading. Google Cloud already uses Xeon chips in C4 and N4 instances and has committed to future generations. The agreement comes as demand for CPUs rises amid shifts in AI deployment.
April 9, 2026
HSBC Holdings Plc CEO says 100-plus AI use cases are live as overhaul deepens
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HSBC Holdings Plc CEO says 100-plus AI use cases are live as overhaul deepens

HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery said over 100 generative AI applications are in use, with half already live and 170,000 staff using new productivity tools. David Rice became HSBC’s first chief AI officer on April 1. The bank aims for a 17%+ return on tangible equity by 2026–2028, despite pretax profit for 2025 falling to $29.9 billion after one-off charges. HSBC is also reviewing potential job cuts and selling its Singapore life insurance unit.
April 2, 2026
Next-Gen Smartphones Push Toward 256GB as On-Device AI Demands More Space
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Next-Gen Smartphones Push Toward 256GB as On-Device AI Demands More Space

Smartphone makers will boost built-in storage in 2026 despite rising flash-memory costs, with average handset capacity up 4.8%, according to TrendForce. Apple’s iPhone 17 starts at 256GB, while Samsung raised U.S. prices on its Galaxy S26 lineup. DRAM contract prices are set to jump up to 95% this quarter. Gartner forecasts smartphone prices could rise 13% by year-end as memory costs surge.
March 23, 2026
AI Could Lift Europe’s Productivity by More Than 4% in 10 Years, ECB Says
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AI Could Lift Europe’s Productivity by More Than 4% in 10 Years, ECB Says

ECB chief economist Philip Lane said artificial intelligence could boost euro-zone productivity by over 4 percentage points in the next decade if adoption spreads quickly, but warned a prolonged energy shock could limit gains. ECB staff last week cut the 2026 growth forecast to 0.9% and raised the inflation outlook as energy costs rose. Only 3% of euro-area patents relate to AI, compared to 9% in the U.S.
March 23, 2026
Amazon’s Secret ‘Transformer’ Smartphone Aims to Reinvent Mobile With AI as AMZN Stock Climbs
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Amazon’s Secret ‘Transformer’ Smartphone Aims to Reinvent Mobile With AI as AMZN Stock Climbs

Amazon shares climbed 3.2% to $211.85 Monday after reports it is developing an AI-focused smartphone codenamed “Transformer.” The device, led by former Microsoft executive J Allard’s ZeroOne group, could sync with Alexa and expand Amazon’s services but may still be shelved. Amazon declined to comment. The move comes as the company defends a $200 billion AI infrastructure plan and faces a shrinking smartphone market.
March 23, 2026
AI Agents Could Disrupt Mobile App Economy as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu Roll Out Tools, Report Warns
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AI Agents Could Disrupt Mobile App Economy as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu Roll Out Tools, Report Warns

Frost & Sullivan warned Monday that AI agents acting across multiple services could cut utility app commercial value by up to 39% if they reach 25% user penetration. Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu have launched new agent tools in recent days. Sensor Tower reported global in-app spending reached $167 billion in 2025, with non-game revenue surpassing games for the first time. Frost said app development costs could rise 16% as agents gain ground.
March 23, 2026
Mastercard Incorporated launches AI ‘Virtual CFO’ for small businesses in new push beyond payments
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Mastercard Incorporated launches AI ‘Virtual CFO’ for small businesses in new push beyond payments

Mastercard on Tuesday launched Virtual C-Suite, an AI product for small businesses starting with a Virtual CFO, to be distributed this year through banks and software providers. The company said the tool will use data from 175 billion transactions processed in 2025 to analyze performance and recommend actions. Mastercard shares fell 0.6% in afternoon New York trading; Visa dropped 0.3%.
March 10, 2026
Bank of America says AI, Erica and Zelle drove 30 billion client interactions in 2025
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Bank of America says AI, Erica and Zelle drove 30 billion client interactions in 2025

Bank of America reported 30 billion digital client interactions in 2025, a 14% increase from the previous year, driven by use of its Erica assistant and Zelle payments. Shares rose 0.6% in midmorning trading. Erica handled nearly 700 million client uses, while Zelle saw 1.8 billion payments worth $556 billion. Mobile approvals on CashPro reached a record $1.2 trillion.
March 10, 2026
Meta Platforms opens WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots in Europe — but charges a fee
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Meta Platforms opens WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots in Europe — but charges a fee

Meta will allow third-party AI chatbots to access WhatsApp’s Business API in Europe for 12 months, charging fees between €0.0490 and €0.1323 per message. EU antitrust regulators are considering interim measures over access restrictions. Rival developers say the pricing still blocks competition. Meta faces similar regulatory action in Italy and Brazil.
March 5, 2026
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