Elon Musk Ordered Last Week’s Starlink Slowdown

The episode begins with exclusive reporting from The Wall Street Journal that Elon Musk ordered a slowdown of Starlink internet speeds used by Ukraine. Last week, this cap on speeds rendered some Ukrainian drones ineffective in their offensive operations. Ukrainian President Zelensky publicly criticized the slowdown, leading to confusion over who authorized it. Musk claimed via tweet that the decision was up to Trump, who denied involvement. Some US officials suggest Musk acted unilaterally after consulting with multiple senior officials, including Trump. SpaceX did not comment on the matter. Despite this controversy, SpaceX announced that its revenue more than doubled in the third quarter to $14.6 billion, driven primarily by its AI division, and that it posted its first profit of over $4 billion as a public company.

Next, the episode discusses recent earnings reports. Netflix experienced its slowest revenue growth in years and has laid off about a thousand employees, including key content executives, signaling struggles with programming. However, its revenue increased by 12% to $12.9 billion, and net income surged by 44% to $3.7 billion. General Motors reported higher profits and revenues, and its board approved a $20 billion stock buyback to boost the stock price. GM CEO Mary Barra indicated a challenging outlook due to rising costs but expressed optimism for 2027, assuming demand remains strong and costs moderate, though shares fell nearly 7%. Additionally, Anthropic disclosed a draft IPO prospectus revealing a sharp revenue increase to around $16 billion in the first half of 2023, alongside an enormous $80.7 billion loss, raising concerns about revenue stability and customer commitment.

The episode covers the details from Anthropic's draft IPO filings, highlighting rapid revenue growth but also significant risks. Anissa Gardizy explains that many of Anthropic's large customers lack long-term contracts, making their revenue potentially unstable if clients decide to develop their own models or switch providers like OpenAI or Google. The company is committed to paying approximately $450 billion over the next seven to ten years for cloud computing agreements, which poses a financial question given the uncertain customer commitments. Gardizy notes this mismatch — with ongoing costs but uncertain future revenue — which the company will likely need to address as it moves forward publicly.

Attention shifts to a bipartisan group of former US officials urging Congress to pass a sweeping energy permitting bill to accelerate infrastructure development, including pipelines and renewable projects like wind farms. The bill aims to counter China’s rapid build-out of energy systems supporting industries like AI, which current US efforts lag behind. The officials, from both Republican and Democratic backgrounds, argue that China has built high voltage transmission lines at a pace the US has only achieved in its entire history. Critics of the bill, including environmental justice groups, argue that it poses environmental risks and mainly benefits wealthy AI and data center industries, while some Democrats prefer to delay passage until after the midterms. The debate reflects concerns over America’s competitiveness in technological and industrial capacity amid political uncertainties.

The episode reports that U.S. diplomats advised Gulf allies to focus on regional partnerships and self-reliance, signaling a retreat from reliance on American military protection. Meanwhile, the US is also providing $8 billion in direct payments to farmers facing high costs, as part of ongoing support following previous trade war impacts. In Europe, France is dealing with the aftermath of recent riots, with over 2,500 arrests. French authorities are categorizing the detainees into highly organized groups and opportunists, and are cautious about how the government’s response may influence upcoming presidential elections. The government admits past mistakes but promises to change their approach moving forward, while opposition and far-right factions capitalize on the unrest.