CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos reports on the winners and losers from the latest megacap tech earnings.

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

Amazon's third-quarter results highlighted strong investor confidence in the company's AI-focused strategy, resulting in an almost 11% surge in its share price. CEO Andy Jassy emphasized Amazon's goal to dominate the compute infrastructure powering future AI companies, with AWS growing over 20%—its fastest pace in three years—and a robust pipeline of new deals.

The company is investing heavily in custom chips and infrastructure, aiming for a record $200 billion in quarterly revenue. Amazon's rapid buildout of AI-specific infrastructure, such as Project Rainier, and its ability to quickly monetize new capacity have set it apart from competitors like Microsoft and Meta, whose similar investments have not yielded the same market response.

Investors buy Amazon's vision for AI

For a roundup of winners and losers, let's kick things off with Mackenzie Segalos and today's Tech Check. Hi there, Mac. Hey, Contessa. So the Q3 print was all about Amazon selling the street on its AI vision, and investors bought it, sending those shares surging by almost 11 percent. Now, CEO Andy Jassy, he pitched Amazon's strategy as simple. Own the compute backbone, powering the next generation of AI companies. AWS grew just over 20 percent, its fastest pace in three years, with Jassy saying that demand is so strong that momentum like this should continue for a while. And its future deal pipeline is bullish, too, with October alone bringing in more unannounced deals than all of Q3. Now, as you mentioned, the big four hyperscalers are looking at nearly 400 billion dollars in combined capex this year. But Wall Street's made its call and only two companies were rewarded, Alphabet and Amazon, both hitting fresh all time highs this week. Amazon is plowing one hundred and twenty five billion dollars into custom chips and new infrastructure built for AI giants like Anthropic. Now that is helping Amazon push to two hundred billion dollars in Q4. That would be a first both for Amazon, but would also make it the first company to hit that revenue in a quarter. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Meta stumbling when they upped their compute commitment, in part because shareholders don't get the meta hyperscale narrative given it doesn't have a cloud service like the others. So the new playbook here, it's not just about building the most data centers. It is about turning that spend into ROI. And Contessa Jassy said exactly that. As fast as they are adding capacity, Amazon is making money off of it. OK, so when they say they're going to lift their capex this December quarter by another five billion dollars, I mean, that's pretty impressive spending. And they say they can turn it around really quickly. Did they have an estimate, a time estimate on when you get a return on that investment? It's a great question. So in terms of what their new spend commitment is, it's actually a run rate now going forward of one hundred and thirty seven billion. So it's neck and neck with Microsoft, which is around one hundred and forty billion. And really, it's about showing up in the print in terms of that revenue number. So the fact that it's targeting a two hundred and ten billion dollar quarter for Q4, its profit engine is very much as AWS sales. And so when they had that Q4 guide being so bullish, that's part of why the street was favorable on their upped capex guidance. And that's part of why Microsoft didn't see the same upside. I'm just curious on the call whether any of the analysts had questions about the AWS outage, the triple that triple trickle down effects of that, and what what the prediction is for how to keep that from happening in the future. I'd say, you know, it's exactly what I was wondering. And a lot of the conversation actually was on this new project, Rainier Buildout, which is basically their brand name for all the A.I. hyperscaler compute that they are putting online. And so so much of what the CEO, Andy Jassy, was indexing toward was talking about fresh infrastructure coming online. And that outage that happened last week, 15 hours, it took place at their East Coast hub. And this is really legacy infrastructure that was built for a different type of cloud customer. And so what they're bringing online now is something that is built specifically for a customer like Anthropic. And what's really interesting about that buildout is the fact that they're doing it in record time. So a lot of these commitments that we're seeing, it's taking longer for these names to, you know, for these other hyperscaler rivals to bring that kind of compute online because they are not in the in the warehouse business like Amazon is. I mean, think about their extensive prime infrastructure and they know how to build warehouses. They have real relationships with states and local municipalities, which has made this a lot easier for them.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced an operation that apparently "thwarted a potential terrorist attack" during Halloween weekend in Michigan. CBS News' Scott MacFarlane has more.

Dearborn

Patel says FBI stopped a potential "terror attack" in Michigan

Washington and Beijing are "in agreement on many things," U.S. President Donald Trump said after the face-to-face meeting that lasted nearly two hours, the first between both leaders in six years.

Busan

Global Tariffs

Trump announces deal with China after talks with Xi in South Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons tests for the first time since 1992. A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered super torpedo.

Washington

Trump orders nuke tests after Russia tests nuclear-powered torpedo

Sudan and the UAE clash at the UN Security Council—Khartoum accuses Abu Dhabi of funding the RSF amid reports of atrocities.

New York

UN Security Council meeting: Sudan and UAE trade heated accusations

U.S.-China tensions cast a shadow over the APEC summit in South Korea — Leaders debate trade, diplomacy, and the bloc’s mission of free trade.

Gyeongju-si

APEC summit: U.S.-China rivalry looms over trade and diplomacy

Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet recently reported their quarterly earnings and one thing is certain: the jaw-dropping investments in artificial intelligence are only just getting started. This all comes just days after Nvidia became the world's first-ever $5 trillion company.

California

Meta stock falls over 10% after commitment to raise AI spending

CBS News has confirmed that the Pentagon ordered all state National Guards to form what they're calling "quick reaction forces" available for rapid deployments to address potential civil unrest.

Pentagon orders state National Guards to form rapid response units

Taylor Taranto has been sentenced to time served plus 36 months of supervised release after being convicted of threatening former President Barack Obama. He was also pardoned on Jan. 6 Capitol rioting charges by President Trump earlier this year.

Taylor Taranto sentenced to time served for Obama threat

Authorities have charged five people in connection with the overdose deaths of three 19-year-olds, including Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, the grandson of actor Robert De Niro.

Five arrested over overdose death of Robert De Niro’s grandson

Prince Andrew is being stripped of his royal titles and must move out of his mansion, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday. Andrew has come under intense scrutiny over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

London

Prince Andrew stripped of royal titles over Jeffrey Epstein ties

French police have now detained seven people over the robbery at France's landmark museum on 19 October.

Paris

Louvre heist: Five new suspects arrested as search for jewels continues

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that China has approved a TikTok transfer deal. CBS News White House reporter Willie James Inman has more.

Treasury Secretary Bessent says China approved TikTok transfer deal

As Hurricane Melissa continues its trail of death and devastation through the Caribbean, Jamaica is taking stock. With over 75% of the country without power and $22 billion in damage, experts estimate recovery could take a decade.

Kingston

Jamaica reels as Hurricane Melissa leaves behind devastation

House lawmakers have been told their paychecks will be delayed until Congress passes a new funding bill. CBS News congressional reporter Taurean Small has the latest on the government shutdown.

House lawmakers' paychecks delayed until government reopens

Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas in eastern Gaza on Thursday (October 30), Palestinian residents and witnesses said, a day after Israel said it remained committed to a U.S.-backed ceasefire despite launching more lethal bombardments in the territory.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Israel strikes Gaza after asserting commitment to ceasefire

In the Netherlands, the centrist D66 party looks on course to beat the far right in the national election. Exit polls have predicted Rob Jetten's party will claim victory, which could lead him to become the country's youngest ever prime minister.

Amsterdam

Dutch centrist party wins big in election as far right loses support

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military on Thursday (October 30) to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after a gap of 33 years, minutes before beginning a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump tells Pentagon to resume testing U.S. nuclear weapons

President Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is their first face-to-face since Mr. Trump returned to the White House. Jessi Mitchell anchors this Special Report.

Trump, Xi Jinping meet face-to-face in South Korea over trade

The Bank of Canada made a 25-basis-point cut to its key interest rate while governor Tiff Macklem suggested rates will hold where they are as long as inflation stays in the target range of two per cent.

Ottawa

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate to 2.25%

After leaving Jamaica with widespread power outages and flooding, Melissa caused fatal flooding in Haiti that has killed 25 people and hit Cuba with a storm surge.

Port-au-Prince

Hurricane Melissa causes floods in Haiti, killing at least 25

Fentanyl production tops the agenda as the U.S. and China discuss curbing exports tied to the deadly opioid crisis.

Fentanyl crackdown central in U.S.-China talks

APEC members face economic uncertainty amid rising US-China rivalry—South Korea prepares for potential fallout from high-stakes talks.

U.S.-China trade tensions leave South Korea navigating APEC fallout

President Putin announced that the Poseidon super torpedo was successfully tested and cannot be intercepted, marking a new stage in Russia’s naval capabilities.

Moscow

Russia says its successfully tested nuclear-capable underwater drone

The Justice Department has put D.C. prosecutors on leave after they submitted a court memo describing those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 as "rioters." The filing was in a case involving Taylor Taranto, who was part of the Capitol riot and is currently facing unrelated weapons charges.

DOJ sidelines prosecutors over Jan. 6 'rioters' court filing

Sean Grayson, the former Illinois sheriff's deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home in 2024, was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Illinois

Ex-officer found guilty of murder in Sonya Massey shooting

President Donald Trump is sending America's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean to help stop small boats he says are transporting drugs to the U.S. Trump says the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with Venezuelan drug cartels.

U.S. masses more naval forces off coast of Venezuela

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will lower its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points in its second straight cut.

Fed lowers interest rates by 0.25 percentage points

The police operation was one of the most violent in Brazil’s recent history, with human rights organizations calling for investigations into the deaths.

Rio de Janeiro

Raid on Rio drug trafficking gang leaves at least 64 dead

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba on Wednesday after ripping through Jamaica. CBS News' Jarred Hill has more details.

Havana

Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Cuba after slamming Jamaica

U.S. President Donald Trump landed in South Korea on Wednesday (October 29) for the final leg of his Asia trip, optimistic about striking a trade war truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping after summit talks with South Korea's Lee Jae Myung.

Investors buy Amazon's vision for AI

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Rise of AI