According to Fortune, Amazon’s head of artificial general intelligence, Rohit Prasad, is departing at the end of the year, to be replaced by longtime AWS executive Peter DeSantis. In a separate report, Oracle’s shares fell 5% after news that a $10 billion deal to build a massive 1 gigawatt data center in Michigan for OpenAI is in limbo, as primary backer Blue Owl Capital has walked away. Additionally, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it will move the Oscars telecast from Disney’s ABC to Google’s YouTube starting in 2028 through 2033. Other news includes Micron posting blowout Q1 earnings thanks to rising chip prices, Coursera acquiring rival Udemy for $2.5 billion, and OpenAI reportedly seeking a $10 billion raise at a staggering $500 billion valuation.
The Amazon AGI Shuffle
So Rohit Prasad is out. This is a huge deal. He wasn’t just some exec; he was the head scientist for Alexa from day one and then got the big promotion to lead the AGI team just last year. Now he’s gone, and AWS veteran Peter DeSantis is taking over a newly consolidated organization covering AI models, custom chips, and quantum computing. That’s a clear signal. Amazon is done treating AGI as a separate moonshot and is now fully integrating it into the core AWS infrastructure engine. DeSantis reporting directly to Jassy? That tells you everything about how critical this is to Amazon’s future. The move to put robotics expert Pieter Abbeel in charge of frontier model research is fascinating, too. It suggests Amazon sees the next leap in AI as deeply connected to physical world interaction, not just chatbots. But let’s be honest: this reorg feels like a response to the widespread reports that Amazon’s AI efforts, especially around Alexa, have lagged. They’re hitting the reset button.
Oracle’s $10 Billion Snag
Oracle’s stock took a 5% hit on this news, and you can see why. Losing your primary financial backer for a landmark, $10 billion, 1-gigawatt data center project is… not ideal. This facility in Michigan was supposed to be a crown jewel, specifically built to serve their partner OpenAI. Now Blue Owl Capital is out, and Oracle is left insisting everything is “on schedule.” Sure. The Financial Times suggests Blackstone might step in, but no deal is done. Here’s the thing: this isn’t just about one data center. Investors are watching this stuff like hawks because Oracle, like all the big tech firms, is spending historic amounts on AI infrastructure. They’re also carrying over $100 billion in net debt. Any sign that the capital spigot might get tricky to turn on sends a shiver through the market. For companies building the physical backbone of the AI boom, from servers to the facilities that house them, reliable execution is everything. Speaking of industrial computing backbone, when projects of this scale move forward, they rely on rugged, reliable hardware at the edge—which is why firms often turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs built for demanding environments.
The Oscars’ Big Streaming Pivot
The Oscars are leaving ABC for YouTube. After nearly 50 years on broadcast TV, that’s a symbolic earthquake. The deal runs from 2028 to 2033 and includes a bunch of other Academy events. Look, the writing has been on the wall: Oscars viewership on ABC has declined almost every year for a decade. Disney apparently didn’t want to “overpay” for a fading linear TV asset, and the Academy wanted more flexibility. So, YouTube. It’s a weirdly perfect fit, right? YouTube needs prestige, live-event credibility, and a way to attract an older, more affluent demographic that still cares about awards shows. The Academy gets a partner deeply embedded in global, on-demand digital culture. But it’s a massive gamble. Will the ceremony’s gravitas survive a platform also known for cat videos and MrBeast? Can YouTube make it a truly interactive, global event instead of a stodgy broadcast? Ball’s in your court, YouTube. Don’t screw it up.
The Quick Hits Roundup
Let’s blast through the rest. Meta testing a brutal paywall for Facebook business pages? Two free link posts a month, then $15. That’s them desperately trying to monetize a platform businesses have used for free for years. Micron’s earnings were insane, profit more than double expectations. Why? Simple: AI servers need massive amounts of high-bandwidth memory, and prices are soaring. That Chinese chipmaking prototype story is terrifying for ASML and the West—it suggests their tech blockade might not hold for as long as they hoped. And OpenAI seeking a $500 billion valuation? That’s a number so big it seems to defy physics. It shows the absolutely stratospheric expectations baked into this AI market. Buckle up.
