{"id":59040,"date":"2026-02-24T11:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/amd-surges-on-60b-meta-chip-deal-anthropic-challenges-microsoft-in-office-ai-battle\/59040\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T11:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:08:20","slug":"amd-surges-on-60b-meta-chip-deal-anthropic-challenges-microsoft-in-office-ai-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/amd-surges-on-60b-meta-chip-deal-anthropic-challenges-microsoft-in-office-ai-battle\/59040\/","title":{"rendered":"AMD Surges on $60B Meta Chip Deal; Anthropic Challenges Microsoft in Office AI Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>AMD (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMD\">AMD<\/a>) shares jumped 6.5%<\/strong> following news of a massive <strong>$60 billion AI chip supply agreement<\/strong> with Meta (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Anthropic<\/strong> escalated the AI software war by integrating <strong>Claude into Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint<\/strong>, directly challenging Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>) and OpenAI.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bank of England (BoE)<\/strong> officials warned that the <strong>disinflation process may be stalling<\/strong>, suggesting a more cautious approach to future interest rate cuts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Novo Nordisk (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVO\">NVO<\/a>)<\/strong> announced plans to <strong>cut U.S. list prices for Ozempic and Wegovy by up to 50%<\/strong>, causing Eli Lilly (<a href=\"\/stock\/LLY\">LLY<\/a>) shares to slide 1.2%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Federal Reserve Governor Cook<\/strong> stated that AI represents the <strong>&quot;most significant reorganization of work in generations,&quot;<\/strong> which could temporarily raise the neutral rate of interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>AI Hardware and Big Tech Expansion<\/h2>\n<p>Advanced Micro Devices (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMD\">AMD<\/a>) saw its stock price climb <strong>6.5%<\/strong> in early trading after confirming a landmark deal to sell up to <strong>$60 billion worth of AI chips<\/strong> to Meta (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>). This partnership underscores Meta&#39;s aggressive infrastructure build-out as it prepares for a major <strong>stablecoin comeback<\/strong> slated for the second half of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>In the software space, Anthropic announced a significant expansion of its <strong>Claude AI<\/strong> platform, introducing five new plugins that allow the assistant to work directly across <strong>Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint<\/strong>. This move is a direct challenge to Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>), which has integrated its own Copilot technology across the Office suite. Anthropic also unveiled <strong>10 specialized plugins<\/strong> for industries including investment banking, HR, and design.<\/p>\n<h2>Central Bank Caution on Inflation and AI<\/h2>\n<p>The Bank of England delivered a hawkish tone today as several officials suggested that the <strong>UK&#39;s disinflation process might be stalling<\/strong>. BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill noted that <strong>underlying inflation remains between 2.5% and 3%<\/strong>, adding that &quot;more work&quot; is needed to reach targets. Governor Andrew Bailey echoed this sentiment, stating that <strong>services inflation has not eased<\/strong> as much as the bank had hoped.<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook highlighted the structural shifts caused by artificial intelligence, noting that <strong>productivity gains could keep growth strong<\/strong> even if unemployment rises during the transition. Meanwhile, Fed Governor Christopher Waller took a more optimistic view, stating he is <strong>not a &quot;doom and gloomer&quot;<\/strong> regarding AI. Waller argued that the technology is a tool that will likely <strong>augment rather than displace<\/strong> white-collar work.<\/p>\n<h2>Healthcare and Global Market Disruptions<\/h2>\n<p>The pharmaceutical sector faced volatility after reports surfaced that Novo Nordisk (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVO\">NVO<\/a>) will slash the list prices of its blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, <strong>Ozempic and Wegovy, by 50%<\/strong>. The move put immediate pressure on competitor Eli Lilly (<a href=\"\/stock\/LLY\">LLY<\/a>), whose shares <strong>fell 1.2%<\/strong> on the news. Analysts suggest this price war could significantly alter the margin profiles of the weight-loss drug market.<\/p>\n<p>On the industrial front, Honda (<a href=\"\/stock\/HMC\">HMC<\/a>) was forced to <strong>suspend operations at its Mexican plant<\/strong> in Guadalajara following a violent &quot;cartel rampage&quot; linked to the killing of a drug lord. In geopolitics, <strong>G7 leaders reaffirmed their &quot;unwavering support&quot; for Ukraine<\/strong>, while acknowledging that a lasting peace agreement will ultimately require good-faith negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.<\/p>\n<h2>Market Open Summary<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. indices opened the session with marginal losses as investors weighed the mixed signals from central bankers against the massive AI hardware deal. The <strong>Nasdaq<\/strong> edged down <strong>0.01% to 22,625.65<\/strong>, while the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/markets\/sp500\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a><\/strong> slipped <strong>0.08% to 6,832.29<\/strong>. The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/markets\/dowjones\/today.aspx\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average<\/strong> saw a minor decline of <strong>10.24 points<\/strong> to trade at <strong>48,793.82<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways AMD (AMD) shares jumped 6.5% following news of a massive $60 billion AI chip supply agreement with Meta [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[33,326,3741,4383,4945],"class_list":["post-59040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-msft","tag-amd","tag-meta","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-monetary-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}