Squawk Pod: Affirm’s Q4 & big tech in court: Meta & Anthropic rulings - 08/28/26 | Audio Only

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  August 28, 2026 at 17:40  |  34:29  |  CNBC
Speakers
Max Levchin — CEO, Affirm
Julia Boorstin — Senior Media & Tech Correspondent
Jessica Lessin — CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Information
Andrew Ross Sorkin — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box

Summary

The episode covers major developments in the tech and fintech sectors, highlighting Affirm's strong Q4 results and its resilience across economic cycles. It also delves into the legal and regulatory challenges facing big tech, including Meta's child safety settlement and Anthropic's legal victory against the Pentagon. Additionally, the discussion explores the highly anticipated upcoming IPOs for AI leaders Anthropic and OpenAI.

  • Affirm CEO Max Levchin discusses the company's consistent 30+% growth and profitability.
  • Meta reaches a massive settlement over child safety, raising concerns about teen user retention.
  • A federal judge rules in favor of Anthropic, finding the Pentagon illegally labeled it a supply chain risk.
  • Anthropic is reportedly preparing for an October IPO with strong revenue growth momentum.
  • OpenAI faces a more complex path to going public due to regulatory and consumer retention challenges.
  • Take-Two Interactive shares rise following a major gameplay reveal for Grand Theft Auto 6.
Ideas
Max Levchin CEO, Affirm 11:43
Affirm delivers sustained growth across all economies.
Affirm is positioned to perform well in any economic environment, benefiting from consumers budgeting during inflation and spending more during growth periods. The company maintains strong credit performance by underwriting every transaction individually and has achieved sustained, profitable growth of over 30% for 11 consecutive quarters.
AFRM HIGH
Julia Boorstin Senior Media & Tech Correspondent 23:16
Child safety compliance risks Meta's long-term valuation.
Meta's recent child safety settlement requires complex age verification and algorithmic changes that could frustrate users and drive teens to rival platforms, potentially impairing Meta's ability to lock in young users and hurting its long-term valuation.
META MED
Jessica Lessin CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Information 27:27
Sustained revenue growth points to strong IPO.
Anthropic is preparing for a highly anticipated IPO, likely filing its prospectus in September for an October offering. The company is experiencing unabated revenue growth despite open-source competition, pointing to a very strong public debut that may include early liquidity for employees.
ANTHROPIC HIGH
Jessica Lessin CEO and Editor-in-Chief, The Information 29:10
OpenAI faces complex hurdles before its IPO.
While OpenAI is targeting a public offering next year, it faces a more complex path than Anthropic due to a thicket of investor relationships, regulatory scrutiny, unclear revenue growth metrics, and challenges in consumer retention against competitors like Google.
OPENAI MED
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This CNBC video, published August 28, 2026, features Max Levchin, Julia Boorstin, Jessica Lessin discussing AFRM, META, ANTHROPIC, OPENAI. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Max Levchin, Julia Boorstin, Jessica Lessin  · Tickers: AFRM, META, ANTHROPIC, OPENAI