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Hi there,

Loryn here! 👋 Just wanted to let you know that this is our very first sponsored newsletter. My passion for technology drives me to stay updated on all the latest happenings, which is what inspired me to create Dark Mode Digest in the first place.

Writing this newsletter, along with producing video content for our YouTube and Instagram, is a labor of love ❤️. However, it does require a significant amount of time and effort. That's why sponsorships are so important—they help cover the costs of running this venture and allow us to keep bringing you the content you enjoy.

We truly hope you understand and don’t mind seeing some sponsorships in our newsletters 🥺. Rest assured, they won’t appear in every issue! We’re committed to maintaining the same format you love, filled with deep insights and the latest tech news. Thank you for your support on this journey!

Today’s sponsor is GrowthSchool, a new platform to learn today’s most in-demand tech skills like AI and data science. Learn more about them below this week’s insight.

That said, let’s get into today’s issue. We’ll look at Nvidia’s Q2 FY25 earnings. Plus the top tech news you need to know from this week. 

Let’s go 👇

This week’s insight

Context

Nvidia reported its Q2 earnings for fiscal year 2025 this week and it beat Wall Street’s expectations by almost $2B… and yet, investors aren’t impressed… its shares dipped as much as 5% in after-hours trading following the report.

Here’s a quick snapshot of Nvidia’s earnings (Click here to view its full report):

• Total revenue: $30B (+15% QoQ, +122% YoY)

• Operating expenses: $3.9B (+12% QoQ, +48% YoY)

• Net income: $16.59B (+12% QoQ, +168% YoY)

• Next quarter guidance: $32.5B revenue

Nvidia’s growth so far

Nvidia’s peerless AI processors have helped accelerate growth in AI technologies across the technology industry, as well as the AI craze on Wall Street.

Its shares are up a whopping 154% this year and close to 3000% over the past 5 years 🤯. Its market value is now over $3T… one of only 3 US companies to ever achieve this insane milestone (Apple and Microsoft are the other 2).

Looming concerns

There are big questions on how sustainable the AI hype cycle can be… this is in large part because of the uncertainty about whether — and how soon — the technology will contribute to tech giants like Google and Meta’s bottom lines.

There’s only so long any company (like Nvidia) can continue to grow at such a fast pace. While Nvidia did beat Wall Street’s expectations for the top and bottom lines, investors are disappointed that it didn’t beat it by more…

Rumors about potential delays in the company’s latest AI chips, called Blackwell, had contributed to worries leading into its earnings report. However, Nvidia’s executives said that they still expect Blackwell to generate revenue this fiscal year.

Future outlook

Despite all these investor concerns, Nvidia’s business doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Its data center business continues to be the leading driver of its success which suggests the demand for AI infrastructure isn’t slowing down either. It brought in over $26B in data center sales, which was 87% of its total revenue this quarter.

Its CEO, Jensen Huang, defended Nvidia’s growth potential, emphasizing that its chips don’t just power AI chatbots but also ad-targeting systems, search engines, robotics, and recommendation algorithms.

Closing thoughts

Nvidia's stock has skyrocketed nearly 3,000% over the past five years, solidifying its position at the forefront of the tech industry. However, this success has raised expectations to unprecedented levels.

Nvidia can’t simply beat Wall Street’s expectations with its earnings (which is already a really tough feat to accomplish), it must consistently shatter them. 

Jensen Huang and Nvidia find themselves in a challenging position. To keep investors satisfied, the company must maintain its growth trajectory. However, as it expands, the expectations for even greater growth continue to escalate, creating a relentless cycle of pressure.

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Top news

• OpenAI plans to launch a new AI as part of a chatbot codenamed Strawberry this fall. It’ll be able to solve problems and tasks that are beyond the capabilities of current AI models.

• Zuck said he regrets bowing to what he claims was pressure from the US government to censor posts about Covid on Facebook and Instagram during the pandemic.

• Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, was detained last weekend in France and was charged over alleged criminal activity on the app.

Other news

• The US SEC threatens to sue OpenSea, the NFT marketplace because they believe NFTs on the platform are securities.

• Elon Musk’s Cellular Starlink will offer free emergency service to all phones.

• Shopify has hired a new Chief Technology Officer, Mikhail Parakhin, who has worked on key AI efforts at Microsoft. 

• Instagram adds new creative text tools like new fonts, animations, and effects to help creators be more expressive with their content.

• Uber is hit with a $324M EU fine for improper data transfer.

• Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri will step down at the end of the year after a decade in the role. He’ll be succeeded by Kevan Parekh, the VP of Financial Planning and Analysis.

• Elon Musk supports a proposed California legislation to regulate AI, becoming one of the few tech CEOs to publicly back the bill.

• Apple is working on a next-gen humanlike AI ‘personality that’s not Siri.

Deal flow

• Attio raises $33M in funding to build the next gratin CRM platform. 

• OpenAI is raising billions of dollars in a new funding round that values it north of $100B with Thrive Capital leading the investments.

• Cribl, a data infrastructure startup raises a $319M Series E round at a $3.5B valuation. It has now raised a total of $600M to date.

• Thera, a NYC-based payroll and payments platform, raised a $4M Seed round. Backers included Y Combinator, 10x Founders, Amino Capital, and more.

• Supio emerges from stealth with a $25M Series A investment to empower personal injury and mass tort plaintiff law firms with AI.

• Planera, a construction CPM scheduling and planning solution, raised a $13.5M Series A round led by Sierra Ventures.

• Event management platform, Events.com will go public on the NYSE through a SPAC with Concord Acquisition Corp. II in a ~$400M deal.

• G Squared, a Chicago-based VC firm, raises $1.1B to invest in secondary shares.

• Butlr, a physical AI startup, raises a $38M Series B round to meet the growing demand for its sensors and anonymous data on human interactions.

• Slingshot AI, an AI mental health startup, raises a $30M Seed round led by a16z.

• HomeLight, a real estate technology platform empowering innovative transactions for top agents, lenders, and their clients, raised $20M in Series D extension funding.

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That’s it for this week. I hope it was insightful. As always, let me know what you think and if you have any questions. Cheers!

🌜 Loryn and Nicole from Dark Mode Digest