- Down on Friday after providing soft FQ4 sales guidance and an FY16 subscription/billings guidance cut to go with an FQ3 beat, Autodesk (ADSK +3.9%) has more than recovered its losses today.
- A weekend report from The Information may or may not be playing a role: The site states Autodesk CEO Carl Bass recently talked with Larry Page about becoming the head of Google parent Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) robotics unit. The talks are said to have fallen through "for a mix of reasons," including the amount of control Bass would have over the unit.
- Sources talking with The Information argue rejections such as Bass' point to an "inherent weakness" in Alphabet's structure: The company still isn't providing its non-Google operating units (they include Nest Labs, Calico, Google Ventures, Google Capital, and A.I. unit DeepMind) the kind of autonomy sought by many entrepreneurs.
- Andy Rubin, the former head of Google/Alphabet's robotics unit and before that its Android chief, left last year. The WSJ reported at the time Rubin was "facing constraints on his activities at Google." Google/Alphabet has made a string of robotics acquisitions in recent years.