Good morning. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban had quite a lot to say at last night’s Fortune Brainstorm dinner in Las Vegas, and four-letter words were just the warmup. (Really.)
We spent some time talking about health care, given his Cost Plus Drugs venture that’s trying to drive down drug prices: “We as consumers and we as companies have more control over the insurance companies than we realize…people think insurance companies have all the power––they don’t.”
We spent some time talking about politics, given the national conversation in the wake of the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO: “I really think Congress is going to step up and do something about denials, preauthorizations, and all that. It’s just too political.”
But I couldn’t let the Shark Tank star investor off the hook without talking about AI, right? Here’s what Cuban told a room full of supersmart executives about the topic we can’t get enough of:
“There’s not anything AI won’t touch. I’ve been in tech way too long. I remember when PCs first came out, and then I had a company where all we did was connect PCs. And back then, I was like, ‘Oh, this is changing everything.’ And it did. Remember the early days when spreadsheets first came out? I do. And then we went to the Internet, and I started a company that was the first streaming company, and it was like, ‘Wow, this is going to change a lot of things.’ None of those things compare to AI.”
Miss it? You can watch our entire conversation right here.
Today’s news below. —Andrew Nusca
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Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says AI agents are ‘a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity’
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang used his CES 2025 keynote to unveil the company’s next generation of GPUs and declare the rise of “Agentic AI”—a shift he says will create a multi-trillion-dollar industry and redefine how people work.
“The age of AI Agentics is here,” Huang told the crowd, describing a shift from generative AI to agentic AI—a future driven by intelligent AI agents capable of assisting with tasks across industries.
Huang called this emerging sector “a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity,” positioning Nvidia at the forefront of the movement.
Huang’s keynote came with significant hardware announcements as well. Nvidia introduced the RTX Blackwell family of GPUs, delivering what Huang described as groundbreaking performance improvements at lower prices.
The highlight was the GeForce RTX 5070, which Huang said matches the performance of the previous generation’s RTX 4090 but costs just $549—far less than the 4090’s $1,599 launch price.
“This is impossible without artificial intelligence,” Huang said, attributing the price-performance breakthrough to AI-driven efficiencies. —Brooke Seipel
Meta elects a controversial new board director
Meta has elected three new directors to its board, and one of them is already raising eyebrows.
The first: Agnelli heir John Elkann, who is CEO of the Exor holding company that controls iconic automaker Ferrari, Italian football side Juventus, and The Economist Group.
The second: Charlie Songhurst, the former Microsoft strategy executive and angel investor turned Meta AI advisor.
But it’s UFC CEO Dana White, the influential entertainment executive who stumped for Donald Trump during his most recent campaign, that’s got people chattering.
It’s certainly no surprise that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would choose the executive of a professional fighting organization, given his passion for the sport.
But the choice of an ardent Trump supporter shortly before the President-elect returns to office adds to the case that Zuckerberg is purposefully positioning Meta to better accommodate an administration that heavily criticized his company last time it was in power.
Last week, Meta appointed prominent Republican policy executive Joel Kaplan as its global affairs chief; last month, Meta contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
The new directors join a board that includes Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, among others. —AN
Amazon, SpaceX set satellite sights on Europe
U.S. satellite internet companies continue to make inroads into Europe.
Per a regulatory filing, Amazon’s Project Kuiper division will try to secure radio spectrum in the U.K. within the next couple years.
According to the Guardian, it will first offer users terminals that would relay signals to their devices, before potentially letting smartphones connect directly to its satellites.
Meanwhile, the Italian government has confirmed that it’s in talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX about using the company’s Starlink constellation for “encrypted communications,” with potential users reportedly including the Italian government, military and emergency services.
Given that Musk is currently trying to interfere in European politics by promoting fascist individuals and parties in multiple countries (Italy is currently run by the “post-fascist” Brothers of Italy party), the idea of SpaceX becoming so integral to an EU country’s essential services and sensitive communications is sure to cause consternation. —David Meyer
More data
—AMD debuts new mobile chips. For gamers, for businesses, for the cost-conscious.
—Germany’s EV sales slump. Economic woes and withdrawn subsidies to blame.
—Apple to update its Intelligence features. The BBC complained about inaccurate summaries.
—Jack Dorsey’s Block to employees: Cash or stock compensation—your choice.
—Disney’s Hulu + Live TV will merge with Fubo. A new joint venture to sidestep a lawsuit.
—Google will bring Gemini to TV sets. Its generative AI chatbot will let viewers interact with their sets without a “Hey Google” prompt.
—Tencent, CATL added to U.S. list of Chinese firms allegedly serving Beijing's military.
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