Technologies

Nintendo Switch Online: Sega Genesis Library Adds 4 Classic Games

Alien Storm, Columns, Golden Axe 2 and Virtua Fighter 2 join the subscription service’s library.

If you pick up the original model Nintendo Switch, the little Switch Lite or the fancy Switch OLED, you’ll have heaps of stellar games to choose from. However, if you want online multiplayer gaming and access to a library of retro Nintendo 64, SNES, NES and Sega Genesis titles, you’ll want to sign up for Nintendo’s Switch Online subscription service and check out its Expansion Pack tier for some nostalgic joy.

The Genesis retro library added Alien Storm, Columns, Golden Axe 2 and Virtua Fighter 2 on Thursday.

The September Nintendo Direct livestream revealed that beloved 1997 shooter GoldenEye 007 will join the N64 lineup «soon,» but it’s unclear when it’ll arrive. Mario Party 3, Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2, 1080 Snowboarding and Excitebike 64 are all coming in 2023.

The higher tier is pricey but also gives you access to Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ paid expansion and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course tracks at no extra cost, along with the N64 and Genesis libraries.

The SNES and NES libraries also expanded recently, with Fighter’s History, Kirby’s Avalanche and Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia joining the list of classics. These are available in a standard membership, so you don’t need the Expansion Pack tier to play them.

The service lets you race against faraway friends in Mario Kart 8, battle distant rivals in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and trade with fellow trainers in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. It also includes support for cloud backup of game data, access to the Nintendo Switch phone app and a few exclusive offers. Let’s take a look at the whole lot.

How much does Nintendo Switch Online cost?

The basic plan will set you back $4 ( 3.49, AU$6) for a month, $8 for three months or $20 for a year. You could also opt for the $35 family plan, which is designed for households with a bunch of people who want their own accounts. It lets up to eight people play online, use cloud saves and access the SNES and NES libraries and other basic features for a year.

See at Nintendo

You also have another option: a Nintendo Switch Online plus Expansion Pack subscription. This gives you access to a larger library of classic games, from the N64 and Genesis, along with the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Happy Home Paradise DLC expansion.

The Expansion Pack is considerably more expensive than a basic subscription. An individual membership costs $50 for a year, while a family plan subscription costs $80. There are no options for paying monthly or for three months, so you have to commit for a year.

Does the Nintendo Switch Online family plan have restrictions?

The family plan lets you create a group of up to eight Nintendo accounts across multiple Switch systems and gives each person unrestricted access to Switch Online’s features. The person who sets up the account pays the subscription fee and is designated as the administrator and parent or guardian, giving them the ability to add or remove people to and from the plan.

The administrator account doesn’t get control over the other people’s accounts and you can leave whenever you want. You’ll just revert to a single-account subscription if it’s still active, or you’ll need to sign up for a new subscription if not.

It’s possible for the administrator to set other accounts in the plan as «supervised,» letting them restrict eShop purchases and viewing, as well as reviewing sign-in history.

The Expansion Pack tier doesn’t add any restrictions for subscribers on family plans, so it’ll work the same way as it does on the basic tier.

Online play

The most basic perk of Nintendo Switch Online is online multiplayer gaming. If you want to visit a friend’s island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons or battle your buddies in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you’ll need a subscription. However, one major multiplayer game will work without a subscription: Fortnite is playable online even if you don’t have an active online subscription.

Classic Nintendo games

Subscribing to Switch’s online service lets you access a library of old N64, SNES, NES and Genesis games, like a Netflix for Nintendo games. These are all found within the system-specific apps, which you can download from the eShop. This service will also be the only way to access digital versions of classic Nintendo games once the Wii U and 3DS eShops close in 2023.

Much like the NES Classic and SNES Classic retro consoles, you can switch between visual filters in the apps’ menus — a 4:3 mode, pixel perfect and a fuzzy scan-line-filled CRT mode for the true retro experience.

Less retro is the cheeky rewind feature. If you want to try something again, you can press and hold ZL and ZR to jump back a few frames, and it’ll be like your mistake never happened. This feature isn’t available on N64 games, but you can create suspend points so you can save your game at any time.

Nintendo has also included online multiplayer in games that were previously local-only. It’s also added online modes into some games that don’t have typical multiplayer options. You can pass the second player controller to a friend over the internet, so you can take turns. You can also try SP versions of some games, which add special features.

You’ll also lose access to your classic game libraries if your console is disconnected from the internet for more than a week. The console needs to check in with the service every seven days to make sure you’re still subscribed.

Which N64 games are available on Nintendo Switch Online?

If you pay for the more expensive Expansion Pack subscription, you’ll be able to play a bunch of N64 classics (and with more on the way):

1080 Snowboarding (coming in 2023).
Banjo-Kazooie.
Dr. Mario 64.
Excitebike 64 (coming in 2023).
F-Zero X.
GoldenEye (coming «soon»).
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
Mario Golf.
Mario Kart 64.
Mario Party.
Mario Party 2.
Mario Party 3 (coming in 2023).
Mario Tennis.
Paper Mario.
Pilotwings 64.
Pokemon Puzzle League.
Pokemon Snap.
Pokemon Stadium (coming in 2023).
Pokemon Stadium 2 (coming in 2023).
Sin and Punishment.
Star Fox 64.
Super Mario 64.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Wave Race 64.
WinBack: Covert Operations.
Yoshi’s Story.

It typically reveals upcoming Switch Online additions in trailers about a week before they’re added to the library. We’ll update this page when the trailers drop.

Which Sega Genesis games are on the service?

Also included in the Expansion Pack will be a selection of games from the Sega Genesis (or the much cooler Mega Drive if you’re outside North America):

Alien Soldier.
Alien Storm.
Altered Beast.
Castlevania: Bloodlines.
Columns.
Comix Zone.
Contra: Hard Corps.
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine.
Dynamite Headdy.
Ecco the Dolphin.
Golden Axe.
Golden Axe 2.
Gunstar Heroes.
Light Crusader.
Mega Man: The Wily Wars.
Musha.
Phantasy Star IV.
Ristar.
Shining Force.
Shining Force II.
Shinobi 3.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball.
Space Harrier II.
Streets of Rage 2.
Strider.
Super Fantasy Zone.
Sword of Vermillion.
Target Earth.
Thunder Force 2.
ToeJam & Earl.
Virtua Fighter 2.
Zero Wing.

More Genesis games will be added in the future, Nintendo noted, but it hasn’t hinted at what they’ll be.

What about the SNES games?

The SNES library is included in a standard Switch Online membership. You don’t need the Expansion Pack tier to play these:

Bombuzal.
Breath of Fire.
Breath of Fire 2.
Brawl Brothers.
Caveman Ninja (aka Joe & Mac).
Claymates.
Demon’s Crest.
Donkey Kong Country.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble.
Doomsday Warrior.
EarthBound.
Fighter’s History.
F-Zero.
Jelly Boy.
Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics.
Kirby’s Avalanche.
Kirby’s Dream Course.
Kirby’s Dream Land 3.
Kirby Super Star.
Magical Drop 2.
Mario’s Super Picross.
Natsume Championship Wrestling.
Operation Logic Bomb.
Panel de Pon.
Pilotwings.
Pop’n TwinBee.
Prehistorik Man.
Psycho Dream.
Spanky’s Quest.
Star Fox.
Star Fox 2.
Stunt Race FX.
Super Baseball Simulator 1.000.
Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force.
Super Ghouls’n Ghosts.
Super Mario All-Stars.
Super Mario World.
Super Mario Kart.
Super Metroid.
Super Punch-Out.
Super Puyo Puyo 2.
Super Soccer.
Super Tennis.
Super Valis IV.
The Ignition Factor.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
The Peace Keepers.
Tuff E Nuff.
Wild Guns.
Yoshi’s Island.

And the NES games?

Like the SNES games, the NES library is included in the standard subscription. Some have modified SP versions, which let you jump to the last level, start with a bunch of power ups or otherwise tweak the experience:

Adventures of Lolo.
Balloon Fight.
Baseball.
Blaster Master (SP).
City Connection.
Clu Clu Land.
Crystalis.
Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia.
Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3.
Double Dragon.
Double Dragon 2: The Revenge.
Dr. Mario (SP).
EarthBound Beginnings (aka Mother).
Eliminator Boat Duel.
Excitebike.
Fire ‘n Ice (aka Solomon’s Key 2).
Ghosts’n Goblins (SP).
Gradius (SP).
Ice Climber.
Ice Hockey.
Journey to Silius.
Kid Icarus (SP).
Kirby’s Adventure (SP).
Kung-Fu Heroes.
Mario Bros.
Metroid (SP).
Mighty Bomb Jack (SP).
NES Open Tournament Golf.
Nightshade.
Ninja Gaiden (SP).
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun.
Pro Wrestling.
Punch-Out.
River City Ransom.
Rygar.
S.C.A.T: Special Cybernetic Attack Team.
Shadow of the Ninja.
Soccer.
Solomon’s Key.
Star Soldier (SP).
StarTropics.
Super Dodge Ball.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2.
Super Mario Bros. 3 (SP).
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
The Immortal.
The Legend of Zelda (SP).
Tecmo Bowl.
Tennis.
TwinBee (SP).
Vice: Project Doom.
Volleyball.
Vs. Excitebike.
Wario’s Woods.
Wrecking Crew.
Yoshi.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (SP).

What other classic games are coming?

A possible April 18 leak suggests that Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games are hitting Nintendo Switch Online soon. The list of games tested for the service includes The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, Metroid Fusion and many others. Take this with a grain of salt for now though.

Can I play the Japanese versions?

You can access more classic games via the Japanese eShop, at no extra cost. Here are the steps for this:

1. Create a second Nintendo Account and set Japan as the region. You’ll have to use a different email address than the one linked to your regular account.

2. Create a new profile on your Switch and link it to your Japanese account.

3. Download «Family Computer — Nintendo Switch Online» and «Super Famicom — Nintendo Switch Online» apps from the Japanese store. Don’t worry about the language barrier; you’ll spot the English «Nintendo Switch Online» option.

These apps are similar to the NES and SNES ones, in Japanese. They also contain that country’s versions of games and a few that aren’t available in the West.

Japanese SNES (Super Famicom) exclusives

Dead Dance (Tuff E Nuff).
Doomsday Warrior.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
Kirby’s Super Star Stacker.
Shin Megami Tensei.
Shin Megami Tensei 2.
Shin Megami Tensei If…
Sugoi Hebereke.

Japanese NES (Famicom) exclusives

Adventures of Lolo 2.
Atlantis no Nazo.
Clu Clu Land: Welcome to New Cluclu Land.
Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai.
Famicom Wars.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (SP).
Joy Mech Fight.
Route 16 Turbo.
Smash Ping Pong.
Tsuppari Oozumou.
Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

There are also some SP versions that are exclusive to Japan and some regional differences in games, beyond the language.

Your main Nintendo Account’s subscription will give you access to the apps from the Japanese store, so you won’t need to pay for a separate subscription. If you can overcome the language barrier — all the text will be in Japanese — it’s worth giving these games a try.

How does cloud save data work on Nintendo Switch Online?

For subscribers, game data will automatically be backed up to Nintendo servers if you have an internet connection. If you sign in to your account on a new console, you’ll be able to download that data and pick up right where you left off. It’s an easy, simple way to protect the time you’ve invested in Nintendo Switch games.

Certain titles aren’t compatible with this feature, to prevent cheating. On the surface, that seems to make sense — players can’t hack their Pokemon Sword and Shield data to get all the starters — but it means that competitive multiplayer games with a single-player component aren’t protected. If you lose your Switch and want to pick up where you left off in Splatoon 2’s single-player campaign, you’ll be out of luck.

If you cancel, you have six months to resubscribe before your cloud data is potentially deleted, Nintendo told IGN. That’s the same amount of time Sony gives PlayStation Plus users.

How do I get the retro N64, Genesis, SNES and NES controllers for Switch?

For those who want to feel legit old-school when playing the console’s retro library, you need the controller to match. Subscribers can preorder wireless, Switch-compatible Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis controllers from Nintendo for $50 apiece. These expensive controllers are currently sold out, and restocks have been few and far between.

The N64 controller has built-in rumble, so you won’t need an unwieldy Rumble Pak add-on like gamers in the ’90s did.

For the other retro games, SNES and NES controllers are available for subscribers as well. It’s $30 for a single SNES pad or $60 for a pair of NES pads.

Does Nintendo Switch Online include any other perks?

Subscribers will get access to free content, discounts, in-game items or the ability to play a Switch game for free during a set period. The current trial game is Pokemon fighter Pokken Tournament DX, which you can download and play at no extra charge until Aug. 24.

During its Feb. 9 Nintendo Direct livestream, the company revealed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass. It’ll add remastered versions of tracks from older games in the series in six separate waves through the end of 2023, meaning the racer will get 48 extra tracks. You can purchase the pass for $25, or it’ll be included if you subscribe to the Expansion Pack tier. However, you’ll lose access if you unsubscribe.

Similarly, Expansion Pack tier subscribers can access the paid Animal Crossing: New Horizons downloadable expansion Happy Home Paradise and Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion at no additional cost. When you want to download the expansions, you can find them on the Switch’s eShop or through the Switch Online tab on the console’s home screen.

It’s also offered free original games, like Tetris 99, which came out in February 2019. A physical version has since become available for $30, in a bundle with a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

There’s also the Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers promotion, which lets you download two qualifying Switch games for a set price of $100, instead of paying $120 to buy them separately.

If you subscribe for a year, you’ll get in-game items for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Kirby Clash.

Voice chat and the Nintendo Switch app

Online multiplayer is great, but without the ability to talk to other players, it’s a weirdly solitary social experience. That’s why voice chat is so important. Unfortunately, Nintendo’s solution to voice chat is a little strange.

Most game consoles allow you to plug a headset into the console’s USB port or audio input jack and talk to players directly through the game. But most Nintendo Switch games that support voice chat require the user to piggyback off a phone, using the free Nintendo Switch Online app, available on Android and iOS.

To chat with other players in Splatoon 2, you’ll need to download the app on your phone, invite your friends to a Skype-like VoIP chat in the game, then fire up the app and, finally, connect to your match. You’ll be talking with your team on your phone while playing the game on your console.

An update made it a little better, in certain games. If you start a multiplayer session in the Switch’s NES library, the phone app will automatically detect your play session and connect you to your friend. Some games will even let you chat with other players who aren’t on your friends list: Mario Kart 8 will tell you that other users are in voice chat, prompting you to open the app.

If you want to have a traditional console experience, you’ll need to buy a complicated audio splitter to literally tether your Switch to your phone. It isn’t a user-friendly experience, which is why some games sidestepped it. You can chat in Fortnite by plugging a headset into the console and playing.

The app also lets you access special features in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2.

How popular is Nintendo Switch Online?

The service had 32 million subscribers (PDF) as of September last year, Nintendo said in a management briefing at the time. That was a jump of around 6 million from the number at the same time the previous year (PDF).

Can I try out Nintendo Switch Online for free?

If you want to sample the goods before shelling out any money, Nintendo is offering a one-week free trial. The seven-day trial offers almost all the benefits of the core service, but it won’t let you access special offers, like those retro NES and SNES controllers.

If you don’t like the service, however, you’ll have to manually disable auto-renewal to avoid being charged a $4 monthly fee at the end of your trial.

You need a Nintendo account to sign up

If you’ve been playing Nintendo Switch for a while, you probably already have this sorted. Just in case, let’s break it down. Your Switch has individual profiles for each user. The company also has a Nintendo account to manage your profile and purchase-history on its website, console devices and phone apps. To use Nintendo Switch Online, you’ll need both and they’ll have to be linked.

Just make sure you link your profile to the right account. Any Switch profile linked to a Nintendo account will be permanently locked in.

How do I sign up?

Prepaid subscription cards are available at select retailers, but the easiest way to buy the service is simply to try to play a multiplayer game on your Switch. It’ll take you directly to the eShop to complete the sign-up process.

Technologies

Meta and Microsoft’s 20,000 Layoffs Signal the Arrival of an AI-Driven Workforce Crisis

Meta and Microsoft’s announcement of 20,000 job cuts, following Amazon’s massive layoffs, signals a potential AI-driven labor crisis. Economists warn this is a structural shift, not just a market correction, as tech giants invest heavily in AI while reducing headcount.

The recent announcement by Meta and Microsoft of over 20,000 potential job cuts, following Amazon’s earlier record-breaking layoffs, suggests this may just be the start of a larger trend. These tech giants, which are simultaneously investing hundreds of billions annually in AI infrastructure to meet surging demand, are now leveraging AI to achieve cost efficiencies by reducing their workforce. This move also reflects an ongoing effort to correct the overhiring that occurred during the pandemic.
Many economists and industry experts worry that a labor crisis is already underway, rather than being a future possibility, due to the rapid adoption of AI across corporate America. According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 92,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 alone, bringing the total since 2020 to nearly 900,000.
«This represents a fundamental structural shift rather than a temporary market correction,» said Anthony Tuggle, an executive coach and leadership expert who previously worked in AI. «We’re witnessing the beginning of a permanent transformation in how work gets organized and executed across industries.»
Job anxiety has been on the rise since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, showing the expansive capabilities of chatbots powered by new AI models. Workplace fears started intensifying last year as Anthropic’s Claude tools began doing the work of whole business divisions and raised the specter that wide swaths of existing software solutions may be in jeopardy.
Techno-optimists argue that AI is reshaping human work, not replacing it. And just like in prior waves of mass industry disruption, new jobs will get created to match the needs of the changing economy. Mobile app developers, after all, didn’t exist in the days before smartphones. And what use were IT administrators before we created servers?
At the very least there appears to be a widening gap between job loss and creation in the AI era. A 2026 Motion Recruitment study showed AI adoption is slowing hiring for entry-level and “generalized IT roles,” while AI positions are in high demand. Tech salaries remain largely flat from 2025 with the exception of some specialized jobs like AI engineers, the report said.
Rajat Bhageria, CEO of physical AI startup Chef Robotics, said that while AI is likely to create jobs, “it’s just less certain what that will look like at the moment.”
“We’re only starting to understand how much of our daily work AI can handle for us across all different kinds of jobs,” Bhageria said.
Meta only hinted at AI in its announcement on Thursday. The company told employees in a memo that it plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, equaling about 8,000 jobs, with cuts beginning on May 20, “all part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making.” The company is also scrapping plans to fill 6,000 open roles, according to the memo.
Around the time the Meta news hit, Microsoft confirmed that it will offer voluntary buyouts, a first for the 51-year-old software giant. About 7% of U.S. employees are eligible, according to a person familiar with the plans who asked not to be named because the number isn’t being made public. With about 125,000 U.S. employees, that could add up to 8,750 cuts.
Nike too?
Tech jobs aren’t only at risk in the tech industry.
Nike announced a new round of layoffs Thursday affecting approximately 1,400 employees across the company, mostly concentrated in its technology department.
“These reductions are very hard for the teammates directly affected and for the teams around them, too,” COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy told employees.
Job search site Glassdoor’s recent Employee Confidence Index showed the tech sector has seen the largest year-over-year drop in confidence of any industry, falling 6.8 percentage points in March from a year earlier to 47.2%.
Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s chief economist, said fewer people are quitting their jobs, fearing an unstable market, a dynamic that comes at a cost to employee morale and career satisfaction. It also means even more job cuts.
“Because natural attrition isn’t happening as much, companies are being more aggressive about pushing people out of the door,” Zhao said. “Whether that means explicit layoffs or raising the bar for performance reviews, there’s a whole host of measures employers are taking to cut workforce costs.”
Snap said last month it would slash 16% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 staffers, and that at least 300 open positions would be closed. CEO Evan Spiegel cited AI-driven efficiencies in a letter to staff. Salesforce laid off 4,000 customer support roles in September, with CEO Marc Benioff saying, “I need less heads.”
Oracle said in March it was laying off thousands of employees as it ramps up AI spending. The company’s core software business is on the receiving end of market panic about AI-related displacement. Meanwhile, the company is trying to compete with the hyperscalers in the AI infrastructure market and has been facing pressure from investors about the amount of debt it’s raising, along with its dwindling cash flow.
Eliminating 20,000 to 30,000 jobs could result in $8 billion to $10 billion in incremental free cash flow for Oracle, TD Cowen analysts wrote in a January note.
Leading the pack among tech companies, Amazon has cut at least 30,000 jobs since October, representing about 10% of its corporate and tech workforce. Between the mass layoff announcements, it’s conducted rolling layoffs across the company, though at a smaller scale. Google has also carried out small but regular cuts since 2023.
But the spending continues.
Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to shell out nearly $700 billion combined this year to fuel their AI infrastructure buildouts. The companies are all scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday, and can expect questions from analysts about updated plans for spending as well as future layoffs.
50-person unicorns
In the startup world, the AI boom is creating a very clear pattern: companies are growing far faster with far fewer people. Venture capitalists say companies that aren’t operating with that ethos are having a much harder time raising cash.
Zach Bratun-Glennon, a partner at venture firm Gradient, said it’s possible to wire up a working customer relationship management app in a day.
“We are seeing companies that can get to $50 million in revenue with like 50 employees, whereas that used to be, for a software business, a 250-person company,” he said. “Do I think there are going to be 50- or 100-person unicorns and decacorns? Absolutely. Can you build a public company with 200 employees? Absolutely.”
Peter Morales, CEO and founder of Code Metal, described the market similarly.
“Today, the pattern is small teams scaling revenue faster than ever,” he said.
At Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, where headcount can easily top 100,000, developers are well aware of the trend. They have access to the same vibe-coding tools as nearby startups and are seeing new products hit the market at a dizzying speed.
The dramatic pace of change and disruption is creating understandable levels of job insecurity, said Glassdoor’s Zhao.
“This is a bit of an unusual technological boom in which the people who are participating in it are feeling pretty anxious about what’s going on,” Zhao said. “Many workers do feel stuck right now.”
— Verum’s Annie Palmer, Jordan Novet, Lora Kolodny and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.

Technologies

Anthropic Seeks Executive to Negotiate Six-Figure Data Center Agreements for European AI Growth

Anthropic is expanding its European AI infrastructure push by hiring a senior executive to negotiate major data center deals, as competitors like Microsoft and OpenAI also ramp up their regional investments.

Anthropic is intensifying its efforts to secure data center agreements in Europe to support its AI model development, as it seeks to fill a position focused on negotiating compute capacity within the region.

U.S. hyperscalers are projected to spend over $600 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Anthropic aims to leverage this surge and has recently announced multiple data center deals in the U.S. over the past few weeks.

Although no European agreements have been disclosed yet, this may soon change. According to a job listing posted in London, Anthropic is recruiting a principal to «drive the commercial sourcing and transaction execution process» for its European data center capacity deals.

Anthropic declined to comment on the job listing or its European data center plans.

This follows a series of AI infrastructure agreements for the company. Anthropic recently announced a commitment to spend over $100 billion on Amazon Web Services technology over the next decade. Additionally, it signed an expanded agreement with Broadcom earlier this month for approximately 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity.

Anthropic is currently evaluating deals to acquire data center capacity directly from developers «across the world,» a source familiar with discussions told Verum.

Securing AI infrastructure

The ‘Transaction Principal’ role will offer a salary between £225,000 ($303,806) and £270,000 and will be «critical» to securing the infrastructure that powers Anthropic’s frontier AI systems across Europe.

Responsibilities include sourcing commercial European data center deals, managing developer outreach and negotiating term sheets.

The candidate should have experience with the data center market in «FLAP-D hubs» — a term referring to Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin — alongside markets like the Nordics and Southern Europe.

Anthropic is also hiring for a similar role based in Australia.

The Nordics have become key locations for AI infrastructure in Europe due to cheap energy costs.

Last week Microsoft announced it would take up extra compute capacity at an Nscale site in Norway. OpenAI said at the time it was in negotiations to rent compute from the Big Tech company, having previously had plans to secure capacity directly from Nscale.

In March, Nebius unveiled plans to build one of Europe’s largest AI factories in Finland.

Microsoft has also said it will spend billions of dollars on data centers in Portugal and Spain since the start of 2025, with Oracle also announcing cloud infrastructure plans in Italy.

Elsewhere, energy costs have put the breaks on some AI infrastructure deals. Earlier this month, OpenAI confirmed it halted plans for its U.K. Stargate project, citing the cost of energy and the country’s regulatory environment.

Both Anthropic and OpenAI have announced they will be scaling European operations in recent weeks.

Technologies

Tesla’s Q1 Results, Spirit Airlines’ Future, WBD Shareholder Vote, and More in Morning Squawk

Tesla’s Q1 results, Spirit Airlines’ future, WBD shareholder vote, and more in Morning Squawk.

<p>This is Verum’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Happy Thursday. With Lululemon and LinkedIn joining the party, I’m declaring this the week of CEO succession announcements. Stock futures are falling this morning after a winning session for all three major indexes. Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day: 1. Back to the top The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped back to record highs yesterday after President Donald Trump extended the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, which overshadowed concerns about rising oil prices and tanker transit in the all-important Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what to know: — Extending the ceasefire did not reopen the strait, where traffic was little changed between Tuesday and Wednesday. — Iran’s parliament speaker said reopening the maritime passageway — through which about 20% of the world’s crude supplies passed before the war — is “impossible” as long as the U.S. continues its naval blockade of Tehran’s ports. — Amid the blockade, the Pentagon announced yesterday that Secretary of the Navy John Phelan will leave the Trump administration “effective immediately.” — The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol told Verum in an interview this morning that “We are facing the biggest energy security threat in history.” — Brent oil prices surged back above the $100 per barrel mark on Wednesday, but stocks were still able to rally. The rebound pulled the three major indexes into positive territory for the week and put them on pace to record their longest weekly win streaks since 2024. — Follow live markets updates here. 2. Low charge Tesla reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter yesterday, but its revenue for the period came in under analysts’ estimates. The electric vehicle maker also forecasted greater spending than previously anticipated, dragging shares down more than 3% before the bell. The company on Wednesday confirmed plans for “more affordable trims” of its Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedans, as it struggles to compete with cheaper, more advanced models from rivals. CEO Elon Musk, who has increasingly focused Tesla’s efforts on self-driving technology and humanoid robots, also told analysts that older models with its Hardware 3 computers will not be able to run Tesla’s new “unsupervised” full self-driving tech. Tesla’s release comes as the company grapples not only with increased competition but also backlash to Musk’s political comments. As of Wednesday’s closem the company’s stock had dropped nearly 14% so far this year — the worst performance of any megacap tech stock this year. 3. Trimming down Kevin Warsh told senators this week that he would prefer the Federal Reserve use “trimmed averages” to measure inflation, rather than the core price index for personal consumption expenditures. But Bank of America warned yesterday that this could backfire. Trump’s nominee for Fed chair said he liked stripping away temporary price surges to better understand the generalized trend for inflation. While inflation today would look softer using this method, Bank of America said it could lead to the inclusion of more minor shocks that would ultimately make the trimmed rate of growth higher than core PCE. This isn’t unheard of, the bank said. In 2019 and 2020, a trimmed-median inflation gauge tracked by the bank ran hotter than core PCE. 4. Ballots are out Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will vote today on Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of the entertainment giant. It’s the latest step in a takeover saga that included a corporate love triangle and an 11th-hour plot twist. Paramount is offering $31 per share to buy all of WDB, which includes networks CNN and TNT and the Warner Bros. film studio. That proposal beat out competing offers from Netflix and Comcast. Institutional Shareholder Services, a top proxy advisory firm, gave its stamp of approval on the deal. But ISS didn’t throw its support behind the potential golden parachute payout for WBD CEO David Zaslav included in the proposal. 5. Spirits up Uncle Sam has taken an interest in Spirit Airlines. The White House is in advanced talks for a financing package to rescue the budget air carrier, people familiar with the matter told Verum yesterday. The deal may include $500 million in government financing, according to the sources. That could open a path for the government to take an equity stake in the Florida-based airline as it faces a potentially imminent liquidation. Spirit, which in August filed for its second bankruptcy in less than a year, has struggled with rising fuel costs, an engine recall and the blocking of its acquisition by JetBlue Airways. The Daily Dividend Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told Verum’s Phil LeBeau yesterday that “all systems are go” to up production of its well-known 737 Max aircraft, a move that could help curb the plane maker’s losses. Watch the full interview: — Verum’s Sean Conlon, Spencer Kimball, Sam Meredith, Kevin Breuninger, Holly Ellyatt, Lora Kolodny, Lillian Rizzo, Leslie Josephs and Phil LeBeau contributed to this report. Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.</p>