News Classic

Dell Technologies Inc DELL has reached a major milestone by becoming the first company to deliver a new generation of super-powerful computer systems designed specifically for artificial intelligence.

What Happened: Michael Dell, the company’s CEO, announced on social media platform X that Dell is shipping its first liquid-cooled PowerEdge XE9712 systems to CoreWeave, a company that provides computing power for AI applications.

“The AI rocket just got a massive boost!” Michael Dell in his announcement, highlighted the significance of this achievement.

These new systems, developed in partnership with tech giant NVIDIA Corp NVDA, are unlike traditional computers. They use special cooling technology that helps them handle the intense processing needed for advanced AI tasks. Think of it as the difference between a regular car engine and a Formula 1 racing engine – both are engines, but one is designed for much more powerful performance.

A prominent Wall Street analyst has reported a milestone for Tesla Inc.’s TSLA Full Self-Driving technology, completing an unassisted journey from Manhattan to Connecticut, marking a notable advancement in the company’s autonomous driving capabilities.

What Happened: Pierre Ferragu, an analyst at New Street Research, shared his experience on X, formerly Twitter, stating, “Last night FSD got me out of deep into Manhattan and drove me back home to Connecticut. Got through a number of challenging and confusing situations with mastery. Not a single intervention. Robotaxi never felt that close ever before.”

For context, the drive from Manhattan to Connecticut spans approximately 94.7 miles and typically takes up to 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The successful navigation of complex urban environments represents a significant step forward for Tesla’s autonomous driving technology, particularly in challenging city conditions where self-driving systems typically face their greatest tests.

This development comes as Tesla continues to enhance its FSD technology amid growing competition in the autonomous vehicle sector from companies like Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG-backed Waymo, Baidu BIDU and Mobileye Global MBLY.

See Also: Nvidia’s Blackwell Chips Are Extra Toasty, Server Overheating Issues Impact Meta, Microsoft And Elon Musk’s xAI

Why It Matters: The achievement is particularly notable given New York City’s demanding driving environment, known for its dense traffic, complex intersections, and unpredictable pedestrian movements.

Tesla’s autonomous driving progress comes at a crucial time as reports suggest a potential easing of federal regulations for self-driving vehicles, which could accelerate the company’s robotaxi ambitions.

The stock has shown significant volatility over the past year, trading between $138.80 and $358.64, as investors weigh the company’s autonomous driving progress against market challenges, including changes to the federal EV tax credit structure.

Price Action: Tesla stock closed at $320.72 on Friday, gaining 3.07% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock edged up 0.0062%. Year to date, Tesla’s stock has risen by 29.10%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Read Next:

Image Via Shutterstock

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed a further decline in the overall market sentiment, with the index moving to the “Neutral” zone on Friday.

U.S. stocks settled lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones falling more than 300 points during the session. The S&P 500 recorded a weekly loss of 2.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell around 3.2%. The 30-stock Dow lost 1.2% during the week.

Major tech stocks recorded losses, with Nvidia Corp. NVDA shares falling over 3% on Friday, and Microsoft Corp. MSFT stock losing around 2.8% during the session. However, shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA gained around 3% on Friday.

Shares of vaccine companies settled lower on Friday after President-elect Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the HHS. Moderna Inc. MRNA shares dipped over 7%, while Amgen Inc. AMGN shares declined more than 4% during the session. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF dipped over 5%, recording its worst week since 2020.

On the economic data front, U.S. export prices increased by 0.8% in October, while import prices rose by 0.3% month-over-month in October. U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% month-over-month in October compared to a revised 0.8% increase in September, topping market estimates of 0.3%

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with information technology, communication services, and healthcare stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday. However, utilities and financials stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

The Dow Jones closed lower by around 306 points to 43,444.99 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 1.32% to 5,870.62, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.24% at 18,680.12 during Friday’s session.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Trip.com Group Limited TCOM, Brady Corporation BRC, and AECOM ACM today.

What is CNN Business Fear & Greed Index?

At a current reading of 50.9, the index moved to the “Neutral” zone on Friday, versus a prior reading of 58.2.

The Fear & Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment. It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices, while higher greed has the opposite effect. The index is calculated based on seven equal-weighted indicators. The index ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness.

Read Next:

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

Nuclear energy stocks and ETFs have come to the fore as ARK Invest’s founder Cathie Wood reshared the firm’s study on how regulatory hurdles and anti-nuclear sentiment have caused cost overruns and rendered nuclear energy less cost-competitive than natural gas today.

This comes as Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is all set to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy. As the task force promises to dismantle bureaucracy, reduce regulations, and cut wasteful expenditures, ARKinvest tried to redirect DOGE’s official page on X (formerly Twitter) to focus on the regulatory hurdles that nuclear energy as a sector has faced in the last 20 years.

What Happened: “The International Energy Agency has identified nuclear energy as vital to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, yet nuclear power in the United States has stagnated at ~20% of the energy mix since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986,” said an ARKInvest note based on data from IEA as of October 2023.

In addition to its cost-effectiveness, nuclear power provides a reliable, continuous, and carbon-free supply of energy. These are important now since an explosion in demand for artificial intelligence is taxing the electricity consumption of data centers.

Also read: Trump’s DOGE With Musk At The Helm ‘Riddled With Conflicts Of Interest’ Says, Clinton-Era Official Robert Reich

Daniel Maguire, research associate at ARKInvest stated in his report dated April 2024 that stringent regulatory changes and anti-nuclear sentiment have stunted the build-out of nuclear capacity and caused cost overruns in developing US nuclear plants.

Regulatory changes in the mid-to-late seventies, including the establishment of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration, introduced stricter licensing measures, increasing costs significantly. Without such stringent regulations, ARKInvest’s research suggests that lower cost trajectories could have saved the US about $345 billion, or ~72% of the total.

Why It Matters: With the introduction of the U.S. Advanced Reactor Demonstration Project and other emerging government support programs, nuclear cost overruns should reverse course as countries look for robust clean energy solutions to meet their net carbon emissions reduction commitments.

Maguire’s tweet shared by Wood, tagged the Department of Government Efficiency, to bring this to light. The department is scheduled to complete its work by July 4, 2026, coinciding with America’s 250th independence anniversary. Focus on this area could help spur activity in the nuclear energy sector by developing clean, carbon-free energy production avenues at lower costs.

Also read: Tesla CEO And DOGE Co-Lead Elon Musk Says ‘Excess Government Spending’ Causes Inflation: Here’s What Experts Say

Price Action: Despite long-running regulatory hurdles and higher costs, nuclear energy stocks have performed well on a year-to-date basis. Oklo Inc OKLO, Cameco Corp CCJ, Centrus Energy Corp LEU, NuScale Power Corp (SMR) and VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF NLR have all outperformed NYSE composite on a year-to-date basis, which only rose by 16.65%.

The five-year charts as per Benzinga Pro, show that Centrus Energy Corp shares have been volatile, whereas NuScale Power Corp has achieved consistent returns.

Read next: Activist Hedge Fund ValueAct Boosts Meta Stake With $121M Bet, But CEO Morfit Supports Mark Zuckerberg’s AI Vision: Here’s What Investors Should Know

Image Via Shutterstock