AI One-Upsmanship

Summary

Quantum computing stocks surged after the US announced $2B in grants with equity stakes. Spotify jumped 13% on 2030 guidance targeting $100B in revenue. Anthropic expects $10.9B in Q2 revenue and its first-ever operating profit, while Trump pulled back an AI executive order after calls with Musk and Zuckerberg. Shares of quantum computing companies surged…

Key takeaways

• Anthropic is projecting its first-ever operating profit of $559M in Q2 2026 with annualized revenue nearing $45B, while OpenAI leads Q1 revenue at $5.7B but operates at a -122% adjusted operating income margin.
• Quantum computing stocks surged 25–33% after the U.S. government announced $2B in CHIPS Act grants to nine firms, with IBM receiving $1B to build America's first purpose-built quantum foundry via a new subsidiary called Andiron.
• Workday's agentic AI revenue is approaching $500M annually with over 4,000 clients using at least one AI agent, suggesting SaaS incumbents may successfully pivot to agentic AI rather than be displaced by it.

Why this matters

The simultaneous surge in quantum computing investment, Anthropic's surprise profitability milestone, and Workday's agentic AI traction signal that enterprise AI is rapidly shifting from experimental to revenue-generating infrastructure with serious geopolitical and competitive implications.

Entities

Show notes

Quantum computing stocks surged after the US announced $2B in grants with equity stakes. Spotify jumped 13% on 2030 guidance targeting $100B in revenue. Anthropic expects $10.9B in Q2 revenue and its first-ever operating profit, while Trump pulled back an AI executive order after calls with Musk and Zuckerberg. Shares of quantum computing companies surged Thursday after the US government announced grants with equity stakes: D-Wave closed up 33%, Rigetti 30%, IBM 12% (CNBC) Spotify closed up 13%

Themes

• anthropic