Tech Report: Trump–Musk feud rattles markets, Microsoft hits record, AI drives emissions

(LILAMAX)-The public fallout between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is shaking up Wall Street. Tesla shares plummeted 14% in Thursday trading, wiping out a staggering $150 billion in market value. The sharp decline follows Musk’s criticism of Trump’s proposed “big beautiful” budget bill. In response, the President hinted at possible retaliation, suggesting the federal government could reconsider its contracts with Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.

Microsoft is heading in the opposite direction. Shares of the tech giant closed at a record high Thursday — the first time since July 2024 — after CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the company’s growing partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Microsoft has invested nearly $14 billion into OpenAI to date. The company’s stock is now up 11% year-to-date, reflecting continued investor confidence in its AI strategy.

While AI is boosting tech profits, it’s also raising environmental concerns. A United Nations-backed report, cited by Reuters, reveals that indirect carbon emissions tied to AI usage by major tech firms — Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (Facebook) — have surged. Between 2020 and 2023, emissions from data center operations rose an average of 150%, with Amazon leading the pack at 182% growth in operational carbon output.

According to The Information, Amazon is testing robot couriers at one of its facilities. It’s also reportedly building an obstacle course to simulate real-world delivery conditions for the bots. Amazon currently has hundreds of robotics-related job openings both in the U.S. and internationally, signaling serious investment in the future of automated delivery.