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# The Capex Arms Race, Apple's Multi-Front Week, Wheels Without Drivers
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-08-06-am/
- Published: 2026-08-06T10:06:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-06T10:06:06.000Z
- Description: Earnings season keeps confirming the same story: everyone with a balance sheet big enough is pouring it into AI infrastructure, and the market is starting to squint at the bill.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

Earnings season keeps confirming the same story: everyone with a balance sheet big enough is pouring it into AI infrastructure, and the market is starting to squint at the bill. SpaceX's first quarterly report as a public company is the loudest version of that today — huge growth, huger spend, and a stock that dropped anyway. Apple's legal and App Store headaches multiply, and the robotaxi land-grab keeps expanding.

> **7x** — SpaceX's capex jumped nearly sevenfold year-over-year, to $18.4B, as it poured $15.8B into its AI segment alone. *(NYT / WSJ)*

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### Connected World

#### [SpaceX, in First Earnings After IPO, Reports Soaring AI Spending](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/technology/spacex-earnings-elon-musk.html?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Revenue's up across the board, but investors fixated on the spending line — SPCX dropped 7%+ after hours despite the growth. *(NYT)*

#### [Google Earnings, The Frontier Case, Amazon Earnings](https://stratechery.com/2026/google-earnings-the-frontier-case-amazon-earnings/?ref=adjacent.media)

Ben Thompson reads Google's quarter as confirmation of the "Anthropic hedge," with Andy Jassy doing the talking for why Amazon's capex math works too. *(Stratechery)*

#### [Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft vs. Meta, The Efficiency Payoff](https://stratechery.com/2026/microsoft-earnings-microsoft-vs-meta-the-efficiency-payoff/?ref=adjacent.media)

Microsoft's pitch this quarter was strategy and discipline over brute-force spend — a contrast in a season otherwise defined by capex bragging rights. *(Stratechery)*

#### [AMD's results spotlight risks of putting all your AI eggs in too few baskets](https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/05/amds-results-spotlight-risks-of-putting-all-your-ai-eggs-in-too-few-baskets/5283142?ref=adjacent.media)

New Helios racks and Venice Epycs look like a real dent in Nvidia's dominance — assuming the bubble doesn't deflate first. *(The Register)*

#### [Nvidia doesn't mess around: A week after open AI industry group formed, it's already showing progress](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/nvidia-doesnt-mess-around-a-week-after-open-ai-industry-group-formed-its-already-showing-progress/?ref=adjacent.media)

120+ companies deep into the Open Secure AI Alliance already, with proposals out on defending against AI attacks — fast for an industry group. *(TechCrunch)*

### Connected World

#### [OpenAI Responds to Apple's Lawsuit and Motion for Preliminary Injunction: 'Apple Is Getting This Wrong'](https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/openai%5Fapple%5Fis%5Fgetting%5Fthis%5Fwrong?ref=adjacent.media)

A public blog post instead of a court filing — an unusual way to fight an injunction, and a sign this dispute is as much PR as legal strategy. *(Daring Fireball)*

#### [Telegram CEO Says Extortionist Manipulated Apple Into App Store Removal](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/04/telegram-extortionist-app-store-removal/?ref=adjacent.media)

Durov's claim — that someone planted CSAM specifically to trigger an Apple takedown — is a nasty new twist on weaponizing platform trust-and-safety systems. *(MacRumors)*

#### [Everything Apple Is Expected to Announce in September](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/04/apple-september-2026-announcements/?ref=adjacent.media)

Five new devices on deck, business as usual — a reminder that the hardware event lands right in the middle of all this legal noise. *(MacRumors)*

> “Durov says the extortionist planted 'illegal porn in a public chat' to manipulate Apple into 'overreacting.'” — *The Verge*

### Connected World

#### [Uber and Wayve say Wayve received London private hire vehicle licenses for supervised robotaxis](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-05/uber-and-wayve-win-licenses-for-supervised-robotaxis-in-london?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

London becomes the next robotaxi battleground, with Waymo also eyeing a 2026 entry — the global rollout race is no longer just a US story. *(Bloomberg)*

#### [Waymo opens up robotaxi service in Dallas to everyone](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/waymo-opens-up-robotaxi-service-in-dallas-to-everyone/?ref=adjacent.media)

No more waitlist — another city where Waymo's scaling from pilot to product. *(TechCrunch)*