Enrique Abeyta:

AI Spending Spree Hits $600B As Oracle Fires 21,000 Employees To Fund Boom

The artificial intelligence race is turning into one of the most expensive and turbulent corporate competitions in history. Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are expected to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure during 2026.

One company that took one of the industry's biggest bets is Oracle. The software giant became a primary provider of AI computing power after signing a massive $300 billion contract with OpenAI. However, constructing the data centers required to fulfill the agreement caused a severe cash squeeze.

To fund the rapid expansion, Oracle took aggressive efficiency measures and enacted a sweeping wave of layoffs. By the end of fiscal year 2026, the company's workforce was slashed by about 21,000 employees, a decline of roughly 13%, from 162,000 to 141,000 workers.

As a result, Oracle suffered a credit downgrade that has put one of its flagship projects in jeopardy. The company is involved in planning a massive, nearly one-gigawatt data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin, meant to supply computing power for the OpenAI contract.

Oracle now faces steep financial collateral requirements, which are designed to ensure that private electricity consumers are not forced to absorb costs in the event of the facility's failure or closure. Will regulators sink Oracle's ambitions?

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Ray Blanco:

FDA Panel Votes To Add Peptides to Permitted Compounding List Despite Opposition From Agency Scientists

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) committee on compounded drugs broke with agency scientists and voted in favor of adding peptides to the list of substances compounding pharmacies can make.

The FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee (PCAC) heard public comments and saw presentations by agency staffers concerning the peptides BPC-157, KPV, TB-500 and MOTS-c. These peptides are purported to help with ulcerative colitis, wound healing, obesity and osteoporosis.

PCAC was tasked with recommending whether to add these peptides to the 503A bulks list, the substances that 503A compounding pharmacies can make and sell to consumers.

While opponents to adding these peptides to the list argued there wasn't enough data to prove safety and efficacy, supporters essentially argued there was not enough to disprove these claims either.

Supporters also argued that adding the peptides to the list would direct consumers away from the gray market, where many eager shoppers source supposed "research-grade" peptides from online vendors overseas.

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Chris Campbell:

U.S. Backs Argonne's Smart Science Projects for Nuclear, Weather and Electric Grids

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) funding to lead a broad portfolio of research projects meant to speed up scientific discovery across energy, weather forecasting, quantum technologies and cybersecurity.

The initiatives are part of the DOE's new Genesis Mission, a national effort aimed at building what the agency describes as the world's most powerful integrated science discovery platform. The program was announced in November 2025.

Launched by the federal government, the Genesis Mission links supercomputing, quantum systems, advanced scientific instruments, and other digital technologies. Its goal is to accelerate scientific research through artificial intelligence (AI).

Argonne will lead or support projects to speed nuclear energy deployment, grid reliability, weather forecasting, and scientific infrastructure.

"The Genesis Mission represents an important step toward a new era of AI-integrated scientific discovery," said Paul Kearns, ANL director.

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