AI Daily: Amazon reports results, Core Scientific terminates CoreWeave merger

Catch up on the top artificial intelligence news and commentary by Wall Street analysts on publicly traded companies in the space with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

RESULTS: Amazon (AMZN) reported Q3 EPS of $1.95, with consensus at $1.56, and Q3 revenue $180.2B, which was better than the expected $177.76B. Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon, said, “We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business. AWS is growing at a pace we haven’t seen since 2022, re-accelerating to 20.2% YoY. We continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we’ve been focused on accelerating capacity – adding more than 3.8 gigawatts in the past 12 months. In Stores, we continue to realize the benefits of innovating in our fulfillment network, and we’re on track to deliver to Prime members at the fastest speeds ever again this year, expand same-day delivery of perishable groceries to over 2,300 communities by end of year, and double the number of rural communities with access to Amazon’s Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery.”

Amazon sees Q4 revenue between $206B-$213B, versus consensus of $208.13B, and Q4 net sales between $206.0B and $213.0B, or to grow between 10% and 13% compared with fourth quarter 2024. “This guidance anticipates a favorable impact of approximately 190 basis points from foreign exchange rates. Operating income is expected to be between $21.0B and $26.0B, compared with $21.2B in fourth quarter 2024. This guidance assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded,” the company added.

POOLSIDE: Nvidia (NVDA) plans to invest as much as $1B in the artificial intelligence company Poolside as part of a deal that would quadruple the valuation of the AI startup, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg’s Kate Clark and Yazhou Sun. Poolside is in discussions to raise $2B at a $12B valuation and Nvidia’s investment in the round, which has not been previously reported, would start at $500M with the potential to reach $1B if the startup meets its fundraising targets, according to the report. Poolside’s new valuation would be a sharp jump from the $3B investors said it was worth in a funding round last year, the report noted.

AI FACTORIES: Hyundai Motor Group (HYMTF) and Nvidia announced they are deepening their collaboration to accelerate innovation in autonomous vehicles, smart factories and robotics with a new AI factory, powered by Nvidia Blackwell AI infrastructure. Building on their previous work together, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia are now entering a new phase of collaboration, shifting from strategic adoption of advanced software platforms and infrastructure to joint innovation of core physical AI technologies. Together, they will co-develop AI capabilities for mobility solutions, next-generation smart factories, and on-device semiconductor advancements to strengthen Hyundai Motor Group’s future capabilities. As part of this endeavor, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia aim to enable integrated AI model training, validation and deployment using 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs. In addition, in support of the Korean government’s initiative to build a national physical AI cluster, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia will work closely with government stakeholders to accelerate ecosystem development. This will result in an approximately $3B investment to advance the physical AI landscape in Korea. Key efforts include the establishment of Hyundai Motor Group’s Physical AI Application Center, Nvidia AI Technology Center, and physical AI data centers in the region.

Nvidia announced that it is working with SK Group to build an AI factory to advance semiconductor research, development and production, as well as cloud infrastructure to support digital twin and AI agent development. SK Group is building an AI factory featuring more than 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs, with the first phase planned for completion by late 2027. Once complete, the system is expected to be one of Korea’s largest AI factories. The new factory will serve SK subsidiaries as well as external organizations through a GPU-as-a-service model. Further expanding the Nvidia and SK Group partnership, the companies are collaborating on the development of SK hynix high-bandwidth memory and next-generation advanced memory solutions for Nvidia GPUs, semiconductor manufacturing and telecommunications infrastructure.

Nvidia announced plans with Samsung Electronics to build a new AI factory. The AI factory will combine Samsung’s semiconductor technologies with Nvidia platforms to establish the foundation of next-generation, AI-driven production. Powered by more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs, Samsung’s semiconductor AI factory will integrate accelerated computing directly into full-fledged advanced chip manufacturing. Through this collaboration, Samsung and Nvidia are setting a global benchmark for AI-driven semiconductor manufacturing at scale, integrating data from physical equipment and production workflows to achieve predictive maintenance, process improvements and increased operational efficiency in autonomous fab environments.

Nvidia announced it is deepening its collaboration with Hyundai Motor to accelerate innovation in autonomous vehicles, smart factories and robotics with a new Nvidia Blackwell-powered AI factory. Building on their strategic collaboration, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia are now entering a new phase of collaboration, shifting from strategic adoption of advanced software platforms and infrastructure to joint innovation of core physical AI technologies. Together, they will codevelop AI capabilities for mobility solutions, a next-generation smart factory and on-device semiconductor advancements. As part of this endeavor, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia aim to enable integrated AI model training, validation and deployment using 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs. In addition, in support of the Korean government’s initiative to build a national physical AI cluster, Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia will work closely with government stakeholders to accelerate ecosystem development. This will result in an approximately $3B investment to advance the physical AI landscape in Korea. Key efforts include the establishment of an Nvidia AI Technology Center, Hyundai Motor Group’s Physical AI Application Center and regional data centers.

MERGER TERMINATION: Core Scientific (CORZ) announced that at a special meeting of Core Scientific stockholders, the company did not receive the votes necessary to approve the previously announced merger agreement with CoreWeave (CRWV). On October 30, pursuant to and in accordance with the merger agreement, Core Scientific terminated the merger agreement with CoreWeave, effective immediately. Core Scientific will remain a publicly traded company, and the company’s common stock will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CORZ.

From its side, CoreWeave commented on the outcome of Core Scientific’s special meeting, noting that based on preliminary results, the proposal did not receive the necessary approval from Core Scientific stockholders. As a result, the agreement has been terminated. “CoreWeave and Core Scientific will continue to execute on their respective growth strategies and collaborate on shared opportunities that leverage their complementary strengths,” the company stated. Michael Intrator, Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of CoreWeave, added: “We respect the views of Core Scientific stockholders and look forward to continuing our commercial partnership. CoreWeave’s strategy remains unchanged. We will continue to execute with discipline against our roadmap to create long-term shareholder value, including through opportunistic and strategic M&A.”