AI and Tech News, 29 Oct 2026: Alphabet, Microsoft, Gemini 4 Carbon

Here are the twenty biggest technology and AI stories of the day, from Alphabet's and Microsoft's earnings and Google's Gemini 4 Carbon to a Fed rate hold and a run of cybersecurity news.

1. Alphabet's Cloud Revenue Doubles to $30.7B, but Its Shares Fall About 10% After Hours

Total revenue rose 25% to $127.6B and the Gemini app passed one billion users, but profit missed estimates and Alphabet said capital spending will rise significantly in 2027.

2. Microsoft's Azure Revenue Grows 48%, Beating Its Own Forecast

Quarterly revenue rose 19% to $92.3B, commercial remaining performance obligations jumped 73% to $677B, and Microsoft shares rose about 4% in after-hours trading.

3. Google Unveils Gemini 4 Carbon, Starting With Cyber Defenders Before a Wider Release

Google says its new frontier model ranks first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index with a score of 59, at an introductory price of $2 per million input tokens.

4. Marvell Is Reportedly Nearing a Deal to Buy Optics Maker Lumentum

Bloomberg says a deal for Lumentum, which has a market value of about $83B, could be announced as soon as next week. Neither company has confirmed the talks.

5. Oracle Targets At Least $225B in Revenue by Fiscal 2030 and Caps New Funding at $20B

At its investor day, Oracle said it expects positive free cash flow in the second half of fiscal 2028, and its shares closed up about 11%.

6. The Fed Holds Rates at 3.75% to 4% in a 10-2 Vote

Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack wanted a rate hike instead. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each closed about 0.3% higher ahead of Big Tech earnings.

7. Apple Launches Its First Touchscreen MacBook Pro, With an OLED Display

The 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399, both with M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, and the new laptops ship on November 6.

8. Fortinet Shares Plunge About 26% After Hours Despite a Quarterly Beat

Revenue rose 20% to $2.08B and Fortinet raised its full-year revenue forecast, but it cut its service revenue outlook, and other cybersecurity stocks fell in sympathy.

9. ServiceNow Shares Drop About 17% After Hours Even as It Raises Its Outlook

Subscription revenue grew 21% to $3.99B and ServiceNow raised its full-year subscription revenue forecast, yet the stock fell sharply in extended trading after the report.

10. The Justice Department Is Examining Nvidia's $12.9B Hugging Face Deal

Reuters reports that antitrust officials are asking whether the deal would give Nvidia control of a key channel for distributing AI models. Nvidia expects it to close in the first half of 2027.

11. New York Bans Risky AI Chatbot Features for Minors

Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that bars chatbots from features such as encouraging self-harm or emotional dependency for under-18s, with fines of up to $25,000 per violation.

12. OpenAI Sets Up an Election 'War Room' Ahead of the US Midterms

OpenAI told Politico the operations center will bring together hundreds of employees to watch for misuse of its tools, such as ChatGPT, until votes are counted.

13. Vertiv's Sales Jump 61% as Organic Orders More Than Double

The data center power and cooling supplier raised its 2026 sales forecast to between $14.45B and $14.85B, and its shares jumped in Wednesday trading.

14. Coinbase Says an Analytics Vendor Exposed Some Customers' Contact Details

The leak came from a security incident at Amplitude, not Coinbase's own systems, the exchange said. Customer funds were not affected, but exposed contact data can be used for phishing.

15. Cloud Security Startup Upwind Raises $400M at a $3.8B Valuation

Bessemer Venture Partners led the Series C, which grew from an earlier reported $300M, and Upwind's revenue has roughly quadrupled so far this year, according to SiliconANGLE.

16. Chrome's Gemini-Powered Autofill Can Now Pull Details From Gmail

It suggests details such as order numbers, tracking information and flight bookings when you fill in forms, and is rolling out in the US on desktop, Android and iOS.

17. Nvidia Releases Nemotron 3.5 Transcribe, a Free Open-Weight Speech Model

The 30-billion-parameter model transcribes up to 40 languages, translates 31 languages to and from English and handles recordings up to an hour long, though not livestreams.

18. Reddit Adds a 'For You' Feed Alongside 'Following'

The new feed mixes posts from joined communities with personalized recommendations, while Following shows only joined communities. It reaches all users globally over the next few weeks.

19. eBay's Gross Merchandise Volume Rises 15% to $23.2B, Above Its Own Forecast

Revenue grew 14% to $3.2B, ahead of analysts' estimates, and eBay shares rose about 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

20. Meta Brings Its Muse AI Agent to Singapore

Muse connects to Gmail, Google Calendar and Instagram and works with local partners such as Grab, Shopee and Singapore Airlines, with some actions needing the user's approval first.