Top Stories This Morning: Anthropic Is Preparing for $750 Billion in Expenses; Musk Plans a Merger Between SpaceX and Tesla

Anthropic could spend up to $750 billion on additional computing power in the coming years. Elon Musk confirmed talks about a possible merger between SpaceX and Tesla, calling it a “good idea.” OpenAI has discovered instances where its AI agents weakened or disabled safety monitoring systems and acknowledged that it cannot yet explain their behavior. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of October 21.

Elon Musk called a merger between SpaceX and Tesla a “good idea” and confirmed the creation of special committees to discuss the deal, according to Reuters. He said the merger would accelerate the development of AI, chips, and robotics, though a final decision has not yet been made. SpaceX shares rose 9% in after-hours trading following the announcement, while Tesla shares rose 1.7%. Musk also forecasts SpaceX’s annual recurring revenue to range from $500 billion to $1 trillion by the end of 2027.

SpaceX's revenue in the third quarter rose 161% to $14.58 billion, driven by nearly a tenfold increase in its AI business, which reached $7.56 billion. The company posted its first net profit since its IPO, at $4.4 billion, compared with a loss of $1.1 billion a year earlier. Capital expenditures nearly tripled, reaching $19.6 billion. The number of Starlink subscribers rose to 13.6 million, exceeding analysts’ forecasts.

Netflix exceeded analysts' expectations for the third quarter but issued a weak outlook for the end of the year, according to Business Insider. Revenue rose to $12.87 billion, and earnings per share came in at $0.87, compared with the expected $0.82. Revenue growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter. The company’s stock fell 6% in after-hours trading.

In the fourth quarter, Netflix expects earnings per share of $0.67, compared with analysts’ forecast of $0.73, and revenue of $13.44 billion instead of $13.51 billion. The company also lowered its full-year advertising revenue forecast from $3 billion to $2.7 billion due to a slower rollout of advertising products.

Anthropic could spend up to $750 billion on additional computing capacity in the coming years, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing a draft IPO prospectus. The company’s net loss in the first half of 2026 reached $80.7 billion, compared with $13 billion a year earlier, with $72 billion attributable to accounting revaluations of financial instruments. Spending on computing infrastructure rose from $2.3 billion to nearly $9 billion.

According to the prospectus, Anthropic’s commitments under computing capacity contracts total approximately $450 billion over the next 7–10 years, including $111 billion for Google Cloud, $110 billion for AWS, and $31 billion for Microsoft. Despite these massive expenses, the company achieved positive free cash flow in the third quarter and an adjusted operating margin above 11%. Anthropic plans to begin its IPO roadshow on November 9 and go public by the end of the year.

OpenAI has identified instances in which its AI agents weakened or disabled alerts from an internal monitoring system designed to detect undesirable behavior in models, according to Bloomberg. The incidents occurred while the agents were performing two internal programming tasks. The company is investigating whether these incidents indicate a broader tendency for AI to evade oversight.

OpenAI acknowledged that it cannot yet explain the agents’ behavior and promised to strengthen its security measures. The incidents occurred amid growing concerns about uncontrolled AI behavior: OpenAI and Anthropic had previously reported cases where models went beyond the boundaries of test environments and carried out cyberattacks on their own.

Shares of Australian data center operator NextDC fell 39.5% after the company sharply lowered its forecast for fiscal year 2027 due to delays in securing power for its Melbourne facility, according to CNBC. The company lowered its revenue forecast from 615–640 million to 475–500 million Australian dollars, and its EBITDA forecast from 385–410 million to 245–265 million Australian dollars.

The reason was the suspension of power grid upgrades due to protests by local residents and the lack of permits from the authorities. Work may not resume until February 2027 at the earliest. Citi analysts warned that the delays could affect NextDC’s profits even after 2027. Against this backdrop, Australian authorities are developing national standards for investments in data centers and AI infrastructure.

OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a startup that develops AI agents to manage the drug discovery process, according to Axios. The company will integrate the startup’s team and technologies into the Rosalind platform, which is designed for scientific research. Orchestra’s AI agents enable the tracking of research progress and drug development timelines, as well as the identification of potential delays. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition intensifies OpenAI’s competition with Anthropic in the biotechnology sector, the publication notes. In April, Anthropic acquired the startup Coefficient Bio for approximately $400 million, and in June, it launched the research platform Claude Science. OpenAI previously unveiled a specialized model, GPT-Rosalind, and formed partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Moderna. Both companies hope to accelerate drug development, a process that typically takes 10 to 15 years, Axios reports.

Investment firms Blackstone and Warburg Pincus are exploring the possibility of selling fintech company IntraFi, which is valued at more than $10 billion, Reuters reports, citing sources. Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Securities have been brought in to facilitate the deal. Negotiations are in the early stages, and no final decision has been made yet.

IntraFi operates the largest network of cross-bank deposit placement in the U.S., which allows deposits exceeding $250,000 to be insured and funds to be redistributed among banks. The company’s annual EBITDA is approximately $630 million. Blackstone acquired IntraFi in 2019, and Warburg Pincus invested in it in 2022. A potential sale is being discussed amid a recovery in M&A activity.

Asian stock markets rose on the back of strong earnings reports from technology companies, which eased investors’ concerns about the AI sector, according to Bloomberg. South Korea’s Kospi gained 2.8%, Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.2%, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1%. SpaceX shares rose 9% in after-hours trading, Super Micro Computer shares rose 17%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%. Brent crude rose above $110 per barrel due to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The rally followed a massive sell-off in AI stocks: last week, the Nasdaq 100 lost 5.5%, marking its worst performance since April 2025. Investors continue to question the return on multibillion-dollar investments in AI infrastructure. Billionaires Ken Griffin and Ray Dalio have warned of signs of a market bubble. The next test for the tech sector will be the quarterly earnings reports from Meta and Tesla.

— Japan's broad-based Topix index rose 1%, while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index fell 0.6%.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI index rose 2.8%, and the KOSDAQ index rose 1.1%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 remained virtually unchanged.

— Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.1%.

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