McDonald's plans to 'double down' on AI investment by 2027, senior exec says

Mistral AI, a French AI startup founded in 2023 by Meta and Google veterans, is in talks to raise up to $1 billion at a potential $10 billion valuation. Key investors include Abu Dhabi's MGX fund and French state-owned Bpifrance. Having already raised $1.19 billion to date, Mistral plans to expand its AI cloud service powered by Nvidia chips. The company has established itself as Europe's leading alternative to American and Chinese AI platforms through its Le Chat product and open-source large language models. This potential funding round highlights Europe's growing prominence in the AI sector traditionally dominated by US and Chinese companies.

Meta plans to sell $2 billion in assets to help fund its massive AI infrastructure investments. The company is significantly increasing its 2025 capital expenditures to $66-72 billion, primarily for data centers and advanced chips. Meta's five-part AI monetization strategy includes AI-powered advertising, enhanced user experiences, business messaging tools, personal assistants, and AI-integrated devices like Ray-Ban smart glasses. This expansion has raised environmental concerns, particularly regarding water usage at data centers. Despite strong revenue, Meta acknowledges meaningful returns on these investments will take time.

Delta Air Lines is expanding its AI-driven ticket pricing system, which creates personalized fares for individual travelers rather than offering the same price to all passengers. Currently used on 3% of domestic flights, Delta plans to increase this to 20% by year-end. U.S. Senators have expressed concerns about potential "surveillance pricing" that could use personal data like browsing history and location to maximize airline profits at consumers' expense. Delta has responded by assuring lawmakers it won't use sensitive personal information such as age or income for fare personalization, though consumer advocates remain skeptical about price fairness and transparency as the airline industry increasingly embraces AI technology for revenue management.

Delta Air Lines has confirmed it will not implement fully personalized AI ticket pricing in 2025. The airline is expanding its use of AI-driven dynamic pricing from 3% to 20% of domestic flights this year, but prices will be based on market conditions and demand rather than individual customer profiles. This approach has raised concerns from senators about privacy and fairness, though Delta maintains that prices remain the same for all customers at any given time and personal data is not used to generate individualized fares. Travelers will continue to see price fluctuations based on traditional factors like seasonal demand and market competition, not their personal browsing history or data.