Big Tech just turned AI infrastructure spending into a competition sport, Apple's finally admitting Siri needs Google's help, and PepsiCo's new logo has everyone asking "why?" So, what happened when billion-dollar bets met billion-dollar confusion? Let’s discuss now! 🚀
Industry moves
Microsoft drops $9.7B on AI cloud capacity with IREN
Microsoft signed a five-year, $9.7 billion contract with Australia's IREN to secure AI cloud capacity. The deal gives Microsoft access to compute infrastructure built with Nvidia's GB300 GPUs, deploying through 2026 at IREN's Childress, Texas facility with 750 megawatts of planned capacity. IREN's separately buying $5.8 billion in GPUs and equipment from Dell.
The context: This follows Microsoft's October launch of its first production cluster with Nvidia's GB300 NVL72 systems for Azure, plus another deal with Nscale for 200,000 GB300 GPUs across three European data centers and one in the U.S.
What this signals: Microsoft is betting AI will keep growing exponentially. $9.7 billion in compute capacity is insurance against being the cloud provider that can't deliver when customers need scale. Amazon and Google are watching closely.
Kyrylo Lazariev, CEO at Lazarev.agency: "Infrastructure investments at this scale tell you two things: demand is real, and margins are high enough to justify it. For product teams, this means AI capabilities will keep getting cheaper and more accessible. The bottleneck shifts from 'can we afford AI' to 'can we design experiences worth using AI for.'"
AWS and OpenAI announce multi-year strategic partnership
AWS and OpenAI formalized a multi-year partnership enabling OpenAI to run advanced AI workloads on AWS infrastructure immediately. It's a major win for AWS, which has been trailing Microsoft and Google in high-profile AI partnerships.
Why it matters: OpenAI's been tightly coupled with Microsoft through a $13 billion investment. This AWS deal signals OpenAI's diversifying infrastructure dependencies. For AWS, it's validation that they're competitive in the AI infrastructure race. For OpenAI, it's risk mitigation, never rely on one vendor when you're burning compute at this scale.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Cloud partnerships are invisible to users until they're not. If OpenAI's infrastructure goes down because they're single-vendor dependent, ChatGPT stops working. Diversification is a UX reliability strategy."
Meta, Google, and Microsoft triple down on AI spending: bubble or growth?
Three tech giants reported record profits and record AI infrastructure spending last Wednesday, fueling bubble speculation. Meta's capital expenditure will hit $70-72 billion this year, up from their previous $66-72 billion forecast. CFO Susan Li said spending would be "notably larger" next year. Meta pulled in $51.24 billion last quarter, up 26% year-over-year.
The bigger picture: Microsoft, Meta, and Google are all telling investors the same thing — AI spending is accelerating. Either they're all right and we're at the start of a multi-decade transformation, or they're all wrong and this is 1999 all over again.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "When companies spend this much on infrastructure, they need to generate returns. That means AI features in every product, whether users want them or not. The challenge for designers is making AI feel valuable instead of forced. If users don't see ROI on these investments, the bubble narrative starts looking real."
Nvidia could hit $8.5 trillion market cap
Loop Capital Markets raised its Nvidia price target to a Street-high $350, up from $250, representing 70% upside from Nvidia's $202.49 close. That implies a market cap over $8.5 trillion. Nvidia recently became the first company to breach $5 trillion.
Reality check: Nvidia's riding the "golden wave" of AI infrastructure demand. Every AI model needs GPUs. Every cloud provider is buying them. As long as that demand holds, Nvidia prints money. But if AI spending slows or alternatives emerge (AMD, custom chips from Google/Amazon), the ride ends fast.
Apple's new Siri will 'lean' on custom Gemini model
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports the upcoming Siri refresh will use a customized Gemini version that Apple partnered with Google to deliver. If accurate, Apple Intelligence might soon support additional third-party AI models alongside the updated Siri experience from WWDC 2024.
What this means: Apple's admitting its own AI models aren't good enough. Partnering with Google for Gemini is pragmatic, but it signals Apple's playing catch-up in AI. For years, Apple bragged about on-device processing and privacy. Now they're outsourcing core intelligence to Google.
Kyrylo Lazariev, CEO at Lazarev.agency: "Partnering with Google is smart, but it complicates Apple's privacy narrative. When Siri uses Gemini, is your data leaving the device? Apple needs to clarify this or risk eroding the trust they've built around privacy-first design."
Product reality check
Canva launches Foundation Model and creative OS updates
Canva dropped a new AI model trained on its own design elements. Unlike diffusion models that generate flat images, Canva's Foundation Model creates designs with editable layers and objects. It works across formats: social media posts, presentations, whiteboards, websites.
What's new:
- Foundation Model: Generates layered, editable designs instead of flat images
- Canva AI updates: Chat-based assistant now integrated throughout the design window, accessible via Elements tab and collaborative comments
- 3D object creation: AI can generate 3D objects or replicate artistic styles
- Spreadsheet integration: Users can create visualization widgets from spreadsheet data
Why it matters: Most AI design tools give you a static output. Canva lets you edit the AI-generated result layer by layer. That's the difference between a toy and a tool. Designers want drafts they can refine.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Editable layers solve the biggest problem with generative design tools, they give you control back. If the AI gets 80% right, you can fix the last 20% yourself. That's when AI becomes a collaborator instead of a black box."
Instagram adds competitive insights for professional accounts
Instagram rolled out "Competitive Insights" in the Professional Dashboard. Business and creator accounts can now compare performance against up to 10 competitors, with side-by-side data on follower growth and posting frequency across Reels, feed posts, and ads.
The catch: You need a business or creator account to access it. And the data is limited, follower growth and post frequency tell you what competitors are doing.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Competitive insights are useful if they lead to actionable changes. Seeing that a competitor posts more Reels doesn't help unless you understand why their Reels perform better. Instagram's giving you the 'what,' but not the 'why.' That's where most analytics tools fail."
Elon Musk outlines AI-powered future X developments
Elon Musk discussed coming X updates in interviews with Joe Rogan and The All-In Podcast. X is adding more AI-powered features, expanding chat tools, and moving toward his "everything app" vision.
The reality: X keeps announcing features without shipping them consistently. The "everything app" has been Musk's vision since the Twitter acquisition, but execution's been messy. Users want stability and features that work.
Kyrylo Lazariev, CEO at Lazarev.agency: "Vision without execution is just noise. X has been 'becoming the everything app' for years. Until they ship stable, useful features that users actually adopt. The gap between what Musk promises and what X delivers keeps widening."
Bluesky hits 40M users: should brands care?
Bluesky reached 40 million users, up from 38 million in August. Growth is steady but slow compared to Threads (400 million monthly actives) and X (steady based on reported figures). Bluesky's similarities to Twitter once positioned it as the best alternative, but Threads used Instagram to catapult past it.
Should brands be on Bluesky? Only if your audience is there. 40 million users is meaningful, but if they're not your customers, it's just noise. Most brands should focus on where the volume is, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, unless Bluesky's community aligns with their niche.
Pinterest launches AI assistant for product matching
Pinterest's new "Pinterest Assistant" lets you search for products using conversational + visual queries. Select Pin images, speak your search query directly, and Pinterest finds matching products. Example: "Show me shoes that go with these pants."
Why it works: Visual + conversational search is how people actually think. Pinterest has always been about discovery, and this makes discovery faster. It's AI solving a real user need instead of being AI for AI's sake.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "This is how you integrate AI without making it feel forced. Pinterest users were already searching visually. Adding conversational queries just removes friction."
Design wins
Lazarev.agency transforms Tratta from frustrated users to streamlined debt settlement
Tratta launched Collect, an innovative product for individual debt settlement. Users hit constant frustration from complex design and navigation. Complaints piled up, revenue dropped.
What we did: Full revamp of the customer portal, created a brand-new platform for collectors and payment organizations, designed a marketing website, and established Tratta's brand identity. Our focus: ease of use, customization, and productivity to unlock new revenue opportunities.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Debt settlement is stressful enough without fighting your interface. We simplified navigation, clarified workflows, and made the product feel trustworthy. When users understand what's happening at every step, they stick around."
PepsiCo launches a confusing new logo after 25 years
PepsiCo unveiled its first new corporate logo in 25 years, marking the 60th anniversary of the Pepsi-Lay's merger. The new identity centers around "Food. Drinks. Smiles." with a lowercase "P" symbolizing consumer-centricity, sustainability, and taste. The color palette, inspired by nature, aims to convey "a brand for people and the planet."
The reaction: Designers and consumers dismissed it as "complicated and bland." After 25 years, PepsiCo delivered a rebrand that failed to make an impression.
What went wrong: The logo tries to do too much: sustainability, friendliness, smiles, nature. When a logo needs a paragraph to explain its symbolism, it's not working. Good logos communicate instantly.
Kyrylo Lazariev, CEO at Lazarev.agency: "Rebrands fail when they prioritize corporate values over visual clarity. PepsiCo wanted to signal transformation, but they delivered confusion. A logo is a recognition tool. This one doesn't pass the clarity test."
Figma rival Affinity rebrands under Canva
Canva relaunched its Affinity creative suite after acquiring Serif last year. The new Affinity app combines photo editing, vector illustration, and page layout in one tool. Previously, Designer, Photo, and Publisher each cost $70. Now Affinity emphasizes it's "forever free."
What's new:
- Unified file format for better compatibility
- Direct export to Canva accounts
- AI-powered editing tools for Canva Premium subscribers (image creation, photo organization, instant copy)
The concern: Affinity's strength was perpetual licensing vs Adobe's subscription model. Since Canva's acquisition, there's been fear Affinity would go under subscription. Canva emphasizes "free," but AI features are tied to Canva Premium, which is a subscription.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Free with a Premium tier is still a subscription model, just softer. Creators are worried Canva's turning Affinity into another subscription trap. If the free version stays powerful, Canva wins trust. If it gets feature-gated, users will revolt."
Evernote unveils refined logo for 2025
Evernote revealed a modernized logo focusing on minimalism. The iconic elephant remains, but the trunk is streamlined, ears and eyes refined, angular parts smoothed into curves and straight lines. The green is brighter and more vivid, symbolizing memory and growth.
Why it matters: Evernote's facing competition from Notion, Obsidian, and Apple Notes. A cleaner, more modern logo signals they're evolving. Paired with AI features and UX improvements, it's part of a broader brand transformation.
This week's reality check
How to write, sell, and keep your product vision alive as you scale
Your product vision isn't big enough. Until it gives customers a reason to care, staff a reason to stay, and the market a reason to notice, your growth will stall.
Case study: Ninja Delivery nailed ultra-fast q-commerce with a 10-minute-or-less promise and raised $2.8 million before its first dark store opened. A razor-sharp product vision did the selling before any roadmap or feature doc existed.
Key takeaways:
- Product vision ≠ mission, roadmap, or backlog. It's the north-star promise investors and teams can recite in one breath.
- Follow the arc: Problem → Insight → Future State → Value.
- Vision must evolve at every stage (MVP, traction, pivot, scale) yet stay recognizable.
- Tie vision to rituals to keep PMs, product owners, and dev teams aligned and customer-focused.
Kyrylo Lazariev, CEO at Lazarev.agency: "Most product visions are vague aspirations. 'Revolutionize X' is a wish. Ninja Delivery's '10 minutes or less' is a vision. It's specific, testable, and gives everyone a clear success metric. That's how you build alignment."
Who can truly power your mission online? 22 best nonprofit website design companies
After Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross learned that a weak digital presence can cripple even the strongest mission. Their old website couldn't handle surging donations or volunteer sign-ups when people needed them most. A redesign changed everything, giving became straightforward, information easier to find, and the organization broke donation records.
Why it matters for nonprofits:
- Web design is mission-critical. Donors expect the same experience from nonprofits as corporations. Slow, confusing, or inaccessible sites cost you funding.
- Digital-first is the standard. 63% of donors give online, 57% of traffic is mobile. Nonprofits must prioritize responsive, accessible platforms.
- The right agency amplifies impact. Strategic partners like Lazarev turn web presence into measurable growth.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Nonprofits often treat their website like a brochure. Yet, it is where funding flows, volunteers engage, and stories spread. If your donation form has friction, people abandon it. If your impact stories load slowly, trust drops. Design directly impacts your mission outcomes.”
What's coming next week
More infrastructure spending, more AI partnerships, and probably another corporate rebrand that misses the mark. We'll be here to separate billion-dollar bets from billion-dollar mistakes, clarity from confusion, and real innovation from repackaged features.
🔥Stay sharp. Stay with Lazarev.agency.
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