Davos 2026: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei 1/22/26

0:00Never bet against American grit or American energy. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy.

0:30This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information-packed daily market preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash marketupdatepodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts. Bring in show music, please. Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod. Nearly four months to election day, and Donald Trump is floating ideas for possible cabinet members, dialing Jamie Dimon and weighing the risks of dismissing Fed Chair Jay Powell before the end of his term.

1:20One of Powell's former co-workers, Eric Rosengren, who ran the Boston Fed, joins us. That action wouldn't be all that supportive of what either president would probably want in order to achieve a soft landing for the economy. And Trump is collecting endorsements from Silicon Valley. The information founder Jessica Lesson explains a curious shift to the right among West Coast leaders. Andreessen, Teal, Musk, they're sort of libertarian in many ways, but they're ignoring social issues where they may not agree with President Trump. Plus, President Biden considering a Supreme Court overhaul. And bags?

1:57Check. Spirit Airlines is under pressure even with all those extra fees. So I would never check a bag. Well, what if you have some type of liquid? I have hair products. It's Wednesday, July 17th. Squawk Pod begins right now.

2:13Andrew Ross Sorkin:Stand Becky by in three, two, one. Cue it, please. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernan and Andrew Ross Sorkin. And here we go. The chip stocks are dragging down the Nasdaq after the Biden administration floated using stronger trade restrictions to crack down on the chip sector in China. Separately, former President Trump said that Taiwan should pay the United States for defense. And we're going to have more of that interview in just a moment. Today's move, though, comes after the Dow soared by 743 points in yesterday's session.

2:52That was a gain of over 1.8 percent. The S &P was up by about six tenths of a percent. And then the Nasdaq was up by two tenths of a percent. The biggest driver for the Dow is a gain of more than six percent for shares of UnitedHealth. After upbeat earnings and guidance for that stock, you can check it out, week to date, up by 7.5%, a big part of that jump coming yesterday. And this has been a really interesting move, too, watching small cap stocks. The Russell 2000 small cap index was actually up 3.5 % yesterday. That brings its one-week gains to more than 10%. It's been trading at its highest level since January of 2022.

3:30It's still 8 % from its all-time high, but this all started last week, this major move after you got inflation numbers that looked better than anticipated. It's been a big swing from some of the mega cap stocks into the small caps, and they've seriously outperformed over the last week. Serious Goldilocks after the good retail sales, and everybody still says it's going to be September, so no one's taking the cutoff. And it's the rotation, the long-awaited rotation. And if it goes to where Tom Lee said it's going to go, he said 40 % yesterday, so we've got three and a half yesterday, so we've got another 36 and a half to go in what he said was a matter of months.

4:05Yes. Yeah. So we'll see. He's been right on a lot of things so far. SpaceX and ex-owner Elon Musk says he's moving the headquarters of both companies from California to Texas. He vowed to make the moves in response to a new law in California that was signed by Governor Newsom this week that bars school districts from requiring parents to be notified of a child's gender identification change. Musk posted on X, this is the final straw because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies. SpaceX will now move its headquarters from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.

4:47Musk recently endorsed former President Trump, plans to contribute$45 million a month to a pro-Trump super PAC. And Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz say that they plan to make significant donations to political action committees supporting Donald Trump's campaign for president. They outlined their reasoning for backing Trump in a video podcast episode that was posted yesterday that runs more than 90 minutes. Here's one of the highlights. The first topic is the blockchain and crypto, which is probably the area where we've had the most interaction with the government. This has been a brutal assault in a nation industry that I've just, I've never experienced before.

5:27I'm in total shock that it's happened. It's been intensely frustrating that it's been impossible to make progress in this with the white house. And it's just like, it's, it's a totally intolerable situation. Our old friend, Reed Hoffman kind of wrote a defense of the Biden administration. He said, you know, you should, uh, business people should, uh, endorse Joe Biden because, you know, the most important thing to business is rule of law. And I thought, wow, that's so ironic because they've basically subverted the rule of law to attack the crypto industry. I mean, like we're dealing with that right now.

6:00And yeah, this is probably the most emotional topic. Their support comes as other big names in the tech world have also thrown their support behind former President Trump, including Elon Musk.

6:13Andrew Ross Sorkin:And a big part of that interview, by the way, though, I think it wasn't just the regulation or lack of regulation for crypto, but was also around the idea of realized or unrealized gains, not as a wealth tax, but the way the White House has pitched effectively taxing what would turn out to be founders and private equity firms or venture capital firms. And so they've sort of, that was a, they went on a long, I don't know if you guys watched it, but that played a, that was a major component of the piece. Crypto was part of it, but the taxes and their own taxes and taxing startups and how that would work was something that was very frustrating.

6:50Andrew Ross Sorkin:Pick your poison. You want to list the things that normal business people wouldn't. But I'm not going to go into it. My horoscope today, you need to accept that there are some battles in life that can never be won. And one such battle is right there in front of you. Yeah. Now. Okay. In front of you now, except that it's not worth fighting over a lost cause. So, yeah, I think there's plenty of reasons. Jamie Dimon going to be Treasury Secretary? No. So many disappointments for you, though. He's not going to be Treasury Secretary. Okay, that's good. Thank God. Meantime, former President Trump speaking to Bloomberg Businessweek, where he even floated the idea that he liked Jamie Dimon enough to make him the Treasury Secretary.

7:33Andrew Ross Sorkin:It's unclear whether Jamie Dimon likes him enough to become the Treasury Secretary. But the piece talks about what his economic policies would look like if he wins in the November election. He said he would allow Fed Chair Jay Powell to serve out his term, which runs through May of 2026. But he said the Fed should not cut rates before the November election and give the economy and President Biden a boost. He said he wants to bring the corporate tax rate to as low as 15 percent, and he no longer plans to ban TikTok. He also said he wants to bring down inflation by opening up the U.S. to more oil and gas drilling.

8:07Andrew Ross Sorkin:He said he would consider J.P. Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon to serve as Treasury Secretary, in part because he liked the comments that Dimon had made back in Davos in January. I think people should be a little more respectful of our fellow citizens. And when you guys have people up here, you should always ask the why. Not like it's a binary thing. You support Trump, you're not supporting Trump. Why are you supporting Trump? It's hard to hate 75 million of your fellow Americans. I agree. And, you know, the Democrats have done a pretty good job with the deplorables, hugging onto their Bibles and their beer and their guns.

8:40I mean, really, can we just stop that stuff and actually grow up and treat other people with respect and listen to a little bit?

8:47Andrew Ross Sorkin:Meantime, I think the most interesting component of the conversation that he had around Jay Powell was the idea that he thought that he could fire Jay Powell. It's actually unclear legally whether he could fire Jay Powell. But the implication, if you really read the sentence and how he said it wasn't just I'm going to it was I'm going to let him. But it was I'm going to let him stay in this role as if he had a choice about letting him still stay in this role. That that role, at least as far as, you know, a whole bunch of scholars and lawyers and constitutionalists and others around the Federal Reserve and that and the Federal Reserve's independence is supposed to be.

9:25Andrew Ross Sorkin:That's more interesting. That's more interesting to you than he's saying cutting corporate rates of 15 percent. When we had the individual yesterday who says he's basically putting together the plan for the Trump economy and the new neoliberalism or whatever the hell that is. Growth has gotten slower and slower. Wages have stagnated. And so, yes, people, conservatives, anyone who's paying attention is recognizing it's time to go a different direction. Neopopulism is what he called it. J.D. Vance being on the ticket means that that's going to be put forward. Then I saw Kevin Hassett yesterday said there's no way, shape, form you're ever going to have Donald Trump recommending an increase in the corporate.

10:10The most interesting thing to me isn't that Trump is clueless about what he can do with Powell. The most interesting thing is that he's saying 15%, not 20 now, saying 21 down to 15%. And actually in the journal, interesting lead piece, describing both the good and bad things about the Trump economy, what the tariffs took away from American consumers, but what some of the corporate tax rate cut, what that did do for business investment, which had started going down in the final two years of the Biden administration, about real wages going up, a lot of positive things there that came from cutting corporates.

10:47Why would you raise corporate rates now? To deal with the deficit. The answer that would come back. It's piddling. But you're asking. Corporate rates are 7 % total now. No, it's the implication of fairness and the pushback you get from. Why is it fair to tax corporations? Don't yell at me like this is mine. You're asking why. I'm not yelling at you. I'm not talking about Teddy Roosevelt or anything. I'm not yelling. The National Parks of Teddy Roosevelt, yes. Very near and dear to my heart.

11:18Andrew Ross Sorkin:I saw. Did you see the Project 2025 two-bracket tax system? That's not going to happen, Project 2025. If you believe it's not going to happen. I believe it's not going to happen. Trump said that's not going to happen. Certain parts of it are not going to happen, but when it comes to the tax piece of it, what was so interesting was that they were going to go to a two-bracket system, a 15 and 30 percent system and effectively on individuals. And what I thought was so fascinating about that actually was that if you made$100 ,000, your taxes went up remarkably. But if you were making a lot more than that, your taxes went down remarkably.

11:56Andrew Ross Sorkin:And so I don't know how you feel about folks who are paying, you know, who are making$100 ,000 or$200 ,000 and their taxes going up significantly. But people who are making$3 ,000,$4 ,000,$5 million, their taxes going down remarkably. We can have another conversation about whether Trump's going to put himself on the Federal Reserve. I don't, you know, why do we discuss things that, they already said, he already said, I'm not doing the Project 2025, so why talk about what, do you believe that he's really not going to do all of these things? Yeah, I really believe, I don't know which ones he's, I have no idea, especially with J.D.

12:27Vance as vice president. That's why we're talking about all these different, but that's. I have no idea, but he already said it's not, maybe he's lying, so he doesn't worry people, you know, at this point. I don't know.

12:40Andrew Ross Sorkin:Shares of Spirit Airlines, they are sharply lower this morning. Take a look at what's going on here, off about 6 percent more than that now. Company warning that it would post a bigger loss than expected in the prior quarter, and that's because revenue fell short. Spirit saying non-ticket revenue, which accounts for the fees that it tax on to its low-priced fares, they came in several dollars lower than anticipated. That's per passenger. Now, the airline recently revamped the way it sells its tickets, bundling its fares with add-on fees for things like seat assignments and carry-on bags that it used to sell a la carte.

13:12Andrew Ross Sorkin:The company says over time it will be able to improve its total revenue per passenger using this new strategy. Everybody always felt like they were being nickel and dimed for the extras. Now they feel they're being nickel and dimed for the entire fee. I wish they would just charge everybody to bring a bag if you're going to check it or if you're going to. If you're going to charge us for checking bags, charge people for bringing them on the plane too because it slows down the loading process, makes everything complicated. And people are fanatic. But that's what spirit does. But United doesn't.

13:47Oh, I see what you're saying. But if you've been to Newark, there's a reason that under no circumstances would you ever want to check anything. Because sometimes it's as long as the flight, waiting for the bag. But I mean, I've just resigned to it. I just have to. I've got to check it. So I watch these people. I have zippers in my suit. I have my charger. The things I need I have in these little zippered pockets on my suit. You don't have a single backpack. I don't have a single thing when I go through.

14:15Andrew Ross Sorkin:I don't carry anything. It would be so much faster. So I would never check a bag. That's what I mean. But all I do, I always have golf clubs or something. I have to. You never check the bag. I have to check a bag. But then that frees me up. Well, what if you have some type of liquid? I have hair products. I see. and those are liquids which you can't I get those little bottles you get the little bottles I use a lot this is my issue too it's the makeup stuff and hair just so you know we don't have these problems in Cheetahborough folks you don't, you're right but the people that are just obsessed with the carry-on stuff they drive me nuts because they hit you they're going by they're jamming it up they drive me nuts They wouldn't check a bag if their life depended on it.

15:04It takes so much longer to board the plane.

15:06Andrew Ross Sorkin:I know. Okay, we got to go. High-end thing to do, by the way, send all the stuff in advance. Shipsticks is a way to send clubs. Clubs, you can send skis. I've done that before. Next on Squawk Pod, Mark Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, the biggest tech names to endorse Donald Trump. The information founder Jessica Lesson explains the political shift in Silicon Valley. We surveyed information subscribers yesterday to get a slice of the tech community, and 59 % said they plan to support Biden, 27 % Trump. She says it's movement toward Republican nominee President Trump, but they're only voting on a couple of key issues.

15:46More on those issues and why EV maker Musk is endorsing EV skeptics right after this. Never bet against American grit or American energy. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy.

16:25My mom inspired me to dream big and work hard.

16:31What would you like the power to do? Bank of America, proud to be the official bank of U.S. soccer and FIFA World Cup 2026. Bank of America N.A. Member FDSP. This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information-packed daily market preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash market update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

17:11This is Squawk Pod.

17:13Andrew Ross Sorkin:Up in Andrew, Q. You're watching Squawk Box right here on CNBC. I'm Andrew Austin, working along with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick. Mark Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, co-founders of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. They are reportedly now planning significant donations to political action committees supporting the Trump campaign, adding to the list of Silicon Valley tech leaders who are pledging money to the former president. Joining us right now to talk about what is going on in the Valley, Jessica Lesin, the information editor-in-chief. Good morning to you. We've been talking all morning about the video that those two gentlemen put out on YouTube, but of course, also David Sachs speaking now at the Republican National Convention this week.

17:51Andrew Ross Sorkin:And it appears calls by Elon Musk to Donald Trump that may have even led to J.D. Vance's selection as VP. Speak to what seems like a major shift or at least a visible one in the valley. Absolutely, Andrew. There has been a sea change. We've gone from loud voices in the community speaking out on behalf of Biden to now those voices being quiet. And we're seeing all the people you named. The information broke yesterday. The news about Ben and Mark, who had been very critical of Trump at Andreessen Horowitz, openly endorsing him. I think these tech leaders say they're being moved by policy. They're being moved by Trump support for crypto, for AI.

18:39But, you know, there really is not perfect alignment between Trump and the tech community. The community is at odds on immigration, even EVs, which I think is a big question for Elon Musk, who's come out in front of Trump. So we've seen a sea change, but there are many, many open questions right now.

18:55Andrew Ross Sorkin:Well, so that was the question. How much of this is a sea change and how many of these people do you think either were Republicans, closet Republicans or other things before? You talked about folks who are not speaking out now. Is that because they are still planning to back Biden? Are they shifting to Trump? When you think about some of the big companies, and I'm talking about the Googles and the Apples and the Microsofts, has the management of those firms shifted, or are we talking about sort of individual pockets? I don't think there's signs that the management of the big firms have shifted.

19:33But I think a lot of people, like people across the country, are maybe hoping that President Biden does step aside. And so they're not out there openly endorsing him. I think the big companies are really quite conflicted. You know, they are facing regulatory pressures from both sides. They have concerns about both sides. And we're not seeing those CEOs speak out, except, of course, for Elon Musk, who also controls the platform of the X. You know, we surveyed information subscribers yesterday to get a slice of the tech community. And 59 percent said they plan to support Biden. 27 percent Trump will keep doing those numbers to compare.

20:14That strikes me as as some movement towards Trump, for sure, but still the majority for Biden. Jessica, can you can you explain sort of the disparity between Silicon Valley executives and maybe more mainstream Chamber of Commerce executives just in general with democrats versus uh republicans and you know i understand tds and understand donald trump has it got some policies that that don't fit into the normal business uh regimen that that you would think of but silicon valley doesn't matter who the democrat is i mean they didn't back romney really all along they always are on the side of of a party that some would view as less business friendly than than why is it like that?

21:01And that's why this is a sea change. And not only is it a Republican, but it's Trump. You know, I think the politics, Joe, are complicated in the Valley. If you go back, I mean, way back there, there was actually very Republican support in the origin of Silicon Valley. But there's no doubt in what I think of as the Google, Obama, Eric Schmidt, Clinton era. There were Sheryl Sandberg and so forth. You know, You had a lot of strong Dem leaders around the valley. And I think what's happening now is you see these folks like Andreessen, Teal, Musk, they're sort of libertarian in many ways. But they're ignoring social issues where they may not agree with President Trump.