Highlights of the week: Burry vs. Big Tech, OpenAI improves ChatGPT, cuts at Meta

Michael Burry continues to criticize Big Tech, now for hidden costs and diluting shareholder capital. Samsung has shown technology leadership by releasing an experimental TriFold before the debut of the foldable iPhone, and OpenAI has introduced a "code red" mode to urgently improve ChatGPT. Meta, meanwhile, is preparing for major layoffs. The main events from December 1 to December 5 are in our review.

The core PCE index in the US rose by 2.8% in September - slightly below the forecasted 2.9%. The data have not been published since late summer due to the 43-day US government shutdown, which paralyzed the work of most federal agencies for several months.

A weaker core consumer spending indicator strengthens the case for further Fed rate cuts. The Fed plans to consider this issue at its meeting on Wednesday, December 10. Market participants estimate the probability of interest rate cut by 25 basis points at 87.2%, shows the FedWatch Tool from CME Group.

Earlier, data from ADP, which processes payroll statistics and publishes employment reports, showed that U.S. private employers unexpectedly cut 32,000 jobs in November, the largest decline since early 2023. Economists had expected an increase of 10,000, so the figures added to fears of a weakening labor market after October's 42,000 increase in employment. But the data did little to change confidence that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue easing, Bloomberg wrote.

Investor Michael Burry has sharply criticized a popular practice among companies to reimburse part of their employee expenses not in cash but in their own shares. He accused large technology companies of understating real personnel costs: by paying employees in shares, companies do not reflect them as full-fledged expenses. Incentive programs and related share dilution turn buybacks into an empty formality: repurchased securities compensate for the new issue without creating benefits for shareholders, Burry said.

As an example, he cited Nvidia, which, in his estimation, has seen its shareholder payout value reach $112.5 billion since 2018, with the number of shares outstanding unchanged. That is, this whole process has become a banal redistribution of the money earned by the company from its owners (i.e. shareholders) to its salaried employees, the investor summarizes. He makes similar claims to Tesla, Palantir and Amazon.

Burry suggests that annual dilution rates should be factored into company valuation models, noting that even a 1% issue reduces the fair value of a business. Nvidia responded by saying that it spent $91 billion on buybacks, and that including taxes in that amount, as Burry does, is incorrect. The company claims it is acting within industry practice, but Burry considers the attempt to separate employee motivation from buybacks "hypocrisy."

What else is there to read about it?

- After a long break, Michael Burry gave an interview to Michael Lewis, the author of the book "The Big Short Game", in which the investor appears as one of the main characters. The most interesting from Burry's interview is in the material by journalist Anna Krasnova "The market is in for a few difficult years": the main thing from Burry's interview with the author of The Big Short".

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z TriFold, its first triple-folding smartphone that turns into a 10-inch tablet when unfolded and lets you run separate apps on each screen segment. The model will go on sale on December 12 for a price of around $2450.

The new product was revealed a few months before Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone. Among the competitors is also Huawei with its Mate XT/XTs series.

Analysts see the TriFold as a "trial balloon" before the arrival of the foldable iPhone: it's important for Samsung to show technological leadership, but sales of the device are likely to be limited. The TriFold format remains structurally complex and less mature than the Fold lineup, which has gone through seven generations. Counterpoint estimates that foldable smartphones have less than 2% of the market, and manufacturers' shares fluctuate wildly - Samsung controlled 64% of the segment in the third quarter, up sharply with the release of new models.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced a code red mode, putting side projects on hold and focusing the team on urgent improvements to ChatGPT - its personalization, speed, reliability and breadth of responses. This was reported independently by The Information and The Wall Street Journal, citing an internal company memo.

OpenAI is strengthening quality control through daily meetings and temporary staff transitions to key teams. The decision reflects an effort to correct problems that have arisen since the release of GPT-5, which was criticized for its "cold tone" and errors in basic tasks, and to prepare a new version of the model, which OpenAI promises to release next week.

The emergency mode is related to growing competition: Google has sharply strengthened its position after the release of Gemini 3, which surpassed ChatGPT in tests and increased the number of active users to 650 million. In the corporate segment, Anthropic is increasing pressure. Despite 800 million users per week, OpenAI remains unprofitable and dependent on raising capital, making it vulnerable next to giants that fund development from their own revenues. Altman assures that the upcoming version of ChatGPT will once again lead the race.

What else is there to read about it?

- OpenAI studied the possibility of creating a competitor to SpaceX, wrote the Wall Street Journal, citing sources. Why Sam Alman abandoned this idea - in the article "WSJ: The head of OpenAI wanted to create a competitor to SpaceX. Why did he give up?".

Revolut has notified customers residing in France that it is no longer possible to deposit from cards in more than 50 countries - from Monaco and Israel to states in the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and a number of African jurisdictions. Popular relocation countries for Russians, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Serbia, have also fallen into the new "high risk" category. Neobank explained the restrictions by the need to comply with sanctions regimes and updated requirements of international payment systems, which it cannot influence.

What else is there to read about it?

- The European Commission has added Russia to the list of high-risk countries for money laundering, which effectively means a "black mark" for any financial transactions related to Russia. What this decision means for banks, companies and private clients in Europe - in Oninvest's article "Russia has been added to the EU blacklist on money laundering. This will affect not only Russians.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is preparing major cuts in meta-universe projects, which he recently called the future of Meta, Bloomberg wrote, citing sources. During budget planning for 2026, the management of the Horizon Worlds and Quest division was proposed to cut costs by up to 30%, which is significantly deeper than the usual 10% cuts in other departments. This could lead to layoffs as early as January 2026. The market reaction was immediate - Meta's shares rose nearly 6% in early trading on Thursday, December 4.

The reason for the strategy revision is the lack of expected competition and poor returns on multi-billion dollar investments: Reality Labs, the department that handles long-term projects like VR headsets and AR glasses, has accumulated more than $70 billion in losses since 2021, and the meta universe itself remains a target of criticism from investors and regulators. Zuckerberg has increasingly rarely mentioned it publicly, shifting his attention to AI models (Llama, Meta AI) and devices like Ray-Ban smart glasses. Analysts have long called for the shutdown of unprofitable meta-universe projects, and Meta's current turnaround shows the company is leaning that way.

What else is there to read about Meta?

- Meta has poached one of Apple's chief designers - head of user interfaces Alan Dye. What this means for both companies - in the article "Seismic shift: Apple's chief interface designer leaves for Meta. What it means."

Netflix will acquire the television and movie studios of Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as the company's streaming division for $72 billion. This deal will transfer control of one of Hollywood's most valuable and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer who has turned the entire media industry upside down, Reuters wrote.

After the deal was announced on Dec. 5, Netflix shares fell 2.9 percent; Warner Bros. securities, on the other hand, rose 6.2 percent.

The deal ended a multi-week "price race": in the end, Netflix prevailed, offering about $28 per share - noticeably higher than Paramount's Skydance offer, which valued the securities at about $24.

What else is there to read about it?

- Netflix is accelerating its expansion in the entertainment industry: it is opening its own parks, increasing investments in games and sports. Journalist Roman Mighty examined whether this strategy will bring the streamer closer to its goal of $1 trillion in capitalization in the article "Luna Park, Games and Bloggers: How Netflix is Expanding its Business Beyond the Online Movie Theater.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor