Meta Invests $14.3B for 49% Stake in Scale AI to Boost Superintelligence and Expand Its Global AI Initiatives

$100 M

Meta is increasing its AI investments and approaching several AI companies and closed a deal for $14.3 billion, a 49% stake in Scale AI to boost its superintelligence initiatives. The company is also offering signing bonuses of up to $100 million to attract top AI talent. Meta is also investing in venture fund NFDG and hiring top talent to strengthen its Llama models. These moves could soon reshape marketing, enabling real-time personalization, faster content creation, and smarter ad targeting across Meta platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

$10 B

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has raised $10 billion, of which $5 billion goes to equity and $5 billion in debt to develop its Grok chatbot. With 200,000 GPUs already installed at its Colossus supercomputer and plans for a 1 million GPU facility, xAI aims to rival OpenAI and Anthropic. The company’s valuation rose from $50 billion in 2023 to $80 billion following its acquisition of X (formerly Twitter). The funding positions xAI to compete in an increasingly crowded AI space, as OpenAI and Anthropic secured valuations of $300 billion and $61.5 billion, respectively.

10%

Nike’s revenue dropped 10% to $46.3 billion, while Q4 revenue fell 12% to $11.1 billion. Net income plunged 86% to $211 million, with Nike Direct down 14% and wholesale down 9%. CEO Elliott Hill announced a team realignment by sport, aiming to reignite growth and better compete. Despite product cuts (e.g., classic footwear down 20%) and digital sales declines, Nike is expanding distribution (including Amazon) and expects a $1 billion tariff impact, which it plans to offset through sourcing shifts and price adjustments.

26%

Shein and Temu saw U.S. consumer spending drop over 10% and 20% respectively, in the week ending May 11, following new tariffs and de minimis rule changes. These policy shifts disrupted their China-based, low-cost shipping models, forcing temporary price hikes. In contrast, Amazon’s women’s clothing category grew over 26% in the past six months, with 92% of products coming from third-party sellers, many of them China-based, benefiting from the shift in consumer behavior.

22.1%

According to a PwC survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. parents, 37% plan to shop only during sales, 37% will shop earlier, and 34% will reuse items to manage back-to-school budgets. Shoppers are cutting spending on tech (44%) and clothing (40%), while 20% plan to use AI tools to find discounts. Nearly 74% expect to spend the same or more this fall, with over one-third spending more than last year. Back-to-school shopping started early for 22.1% of consumers in June, twice the 2024 rate—amid concerns about an economic slowdown and tariff-related price hikes.

$1.22 B

U.S. financial media network ad spend is projected to reach $1.22 billion in 2026, up from $640 million in 2025—reflecting a 66.8% CAGR, according to a May 2025 forecast. This surge highlights growing demand for first-party data-driven advertising, with financial services emulating retail media giants like Amazon and Walmart. Though smaller in scale, financial media networks are among the fastest-growing digital ad channels. Marketers are encouraged to invest early while inventory remains more affordable.

90

Former President Donald Trump has granted ByteDance an additional 90 days to finalize the sale of TikTok, setting the new deadline for September 17, 2025. The move allows the app—used by 170 million Americans—to continue operating in the U.S. as the administration seeks a secure, American-based buyer. Previous extensions failed to produce a deal, despite interest from Amazon, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and others. The U.S. law still mandates that ByteDance must sell TikTok, or face a ban upheld by the Supreme Court.