Huang\u2019s remarks, which included estimates about how many jobs AI has created, were seemingly meant to push back on critical comments<\/a> made by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei last year predicting an AI-driven bloodbath for white-collar jobs.<\/p>\n Make no mistake: Amid this AI arms race, the battle for mindshare among AI CEOs is as interesting as the battle for actual business. OpenAI chief Sam Altman adopted a bluntly patriotic stance. Google DeepMind\u2019s Demis Hassabis pushed back<\/a> on widespread AI-driven job loss. Anthropic\u2019s Amodei predicted the loss of half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years; Microsoft\u2019s Mustafa Suleyman gave it 18 months<\/a>. And xAI\u2019s Elon Musk, ever subtle, predicted the end of all human jobs and called for \u201cuniversal high income.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n My 2c? If any of them are right, it\u2019ll be by sheer luck. But if we must \u201cground ourselves to talking about the facts,\u201d per Huang, there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s certain: All have a vested financial interest in the growth of artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today\u2019s tech news below. \u2014Andrew Nusca<\/p>\n Want to send thoughts or suggestions to\u00a0Fortune Tech?\u00a0Drop a line\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n GameStop makes an unsolicited $56 billion offer for eBay If you had this one on your bingo card, please tell me who\u2019s going to win the next Super Bowl, would you?<\/p>\n GameStop, the popular video games retailer, is proposing to buy eBay for about $56 billion in cash and stock.<\/p>\n GameStop, it must be said, is worth about $12 billion on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, eBay is worth about $46 billion on the Nasdaq.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huh?<\/p>\n GameStop has a roughly 5% stake in eBay already. It also has about $9 billion in cash. The retailer says it secured $20 billion of debt financing from TD Bank to assist in the deal.<\/p>\n \u201ceBay should be worth\u2014and will be worth\u2014a lot more money,\u201d GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n If Cohen\u2019s name sounds familiar, it should be<\/a>. The 40-year-old cofounded Chewy, the Amazon-for-pets site, in 2011. (He stepped down as its CEO in 2018.)<\/p>\n Cohen told the paper that he\u2019s ready for a proxy fight and has no qualms about taking the offer to shareholders. He\u2019s certainly motivated: Per his current compensation package, he\u2019ll earn options on more than 171 million shares if he manages to elevate GameStop\u2019s market cap to $100 billion\u2026or about double the value of Ford Motor Co. \u2014AN<\/p>\n Anthropic wants to sell AI tools to PE-backed companies<\/p>\n Anthropic is reportedly finalizing a deal to create a new joint venture with a handful of top Wall Street firms.<\/p>\n In the mix, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>: Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. General Atlantic and others are also reportedly involved.<\/p>\n The goal of the $1.5 billion venture, it seems, is to sell AI tools to PE-backed companies. The JV will act \u201cas a consulting arm for Anthropic,\u201d per the Journal, and \u201cteach businesses how to incorporate AI across their operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthropic\u2019s bitter rival, OpenAI, is also said to be looking at a similar arrangement with PE firms.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hardly an unprecedented move. Professional services have long been a natural extension for tech providers. Look no further than stalwart IBM, which earned $21 billion in revenue last year for its consulting arm and expects continued growth thanks to the AI boom; Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Google Cloud offer similar in-house services.<\/p>\n What is unprecedented: How quickly Anthropic and its rival are entering the category. It took IBM 80 years to launch a consulting interest; Anthropic is on track to do it in five. \u2014AN<\/p>\n Maryland bans \u2018surveillance pricing\u2019 in grocery stores<\/p>\n Is it fair to change the price of a product for sale based on a person\u2019s location, demographics, or even search history?<\/p>\n No, according to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. His state has become the first in the U.S. to ban the practice, which is also called \u201cdynamic pricing,\u201d in supermarkets and grocery stores.<\/p>\n \u201cAt a time when technology can predict what we need, when we need it, when we\u2019ll pay for it, and also when we\u2019ll pay more for it, and at a time when we\u2019re watching how big companies are then using those analytics against us to make record profits\u2026we are going to protect our people,\u201d Moore said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Protection from Predatory Pricing Act (HB 895), which takes effect Oct. 1, isn\u2019t ironclad. Grocery focus aside, it also includes exemptions for loyalty programs and promotional offers. And it doesn\u2019t stop a grocer from raising prices to everyone, then offering individualized discounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s the first piece of legislation in what will likely be a wave in the coming months in the U.S. The states of Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and New Jersey are considering restrictions on the practice in some form.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t expect it to stop at groceries, either. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has previously<\/a> documented<\/a> examples of surveillance pricing at apparel, beauty, home goods, and hardware stores. \u2014AN<\/p>\n More tech<\/p>\n \u2014RIP Ask.com<\/a>. The IAC-owned search engine once known as Ask Jeeves launched in 1997.<\/p>\n \u2014SoftBank\u2019s battery plans<\/a>: Lithium- and cobalt-free versions for data centers as Japan works to reduce its reliance on Chinese metals.<\/p>\n \u2014Amadeus will acquire Idemia for \u20ac1.2B<\/a>. The former is the world’s largest travel booking system, based in Spain; the latter is a French biometrics company.<\/p>\n \u2014Linkerbot reportedly fundraises at a $3 billion valuation.<\/a> The Chinese company is estimated to control about 80% of the global dexterous robotic hands market.<\/p>\n \u201490% of Nvidia\u2019s production costs<\/a> are attached to Asian suppliers, according to a new analysis, up from 65% last year. Why? The move to \u201cphysical AI.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2236407708.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>Photo: Klaudia Radecka\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n