The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever in 2023. Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence

An OpenAI Founder Discusses Anthropic Merger Talks, Internal Beefs in Deposition

By Rocket Drew · Oct 31, 2025 6:47pm PDT

Anthropic initially expressed “excitement” about a possible merger with OpenAI two years ago, after OpenAI’s board fired CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever told attorneys in a deposition made public this week. Such a deal would have potentially placed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the helm of OpenAI. He... Anthropic initially expressed “excitement” about a possible merger with OpenAI two years ago,...

Art by Clark Miller; images via YouTube

Benchmark’s AI Pressure Test: High Prices, Smaller Stakes—and a Poached Star

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Oct 31, 2025 9:49am PDT · 1 comment

Last year, Benchmark, the storied venture capital firm, embarked on a lavish courtship of Brendan Foody, founder and CEO of Mercor, a startup that fills a lucrative niche in AI by hiring workers to train AI programs. First, General Partner Victor Lazarte chatted with Foody over Zoom. Then Peter Fenton, the firm’s longest-tenured active GP, took... Last year, Benchmark, the storied venture capital firm, embarked on a lavish courtship of Brendan...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Stock Market’s Crypto Rally Boosts Private Companies

By Yueqi Yang · Oct 31, 2025 6:00am PDT

Stock market investors fell in love with crypto this year, setting off a big rally in public markets. Now the buying frenzy has rebounded back to privately held companies like crypto exchange Kraken and payments firm Ripple, whose valuations have soared. Kraken, one of the oldest crypto exchanges, is raising money at a $20 billion valuation,... Stock market investors fell in love with crypto this year, setting off a big rally in public...

Ilan Twig, co-founder and chief technology officer of Navan, center left, and Ariel Cohen, co-founder and chief executive officer of Navan, center right, during the company’s initial public offering in New York.

Lightspeed, Zeev Win Billions From Navan IPO

By Katie Roof · Oct 30, 2025 7:44pm PDT

Ilan Twig, co-founder and chief technology officer of Navan, center left, and Ariel Cohen, co-founder and chief executive officer of Navan, center right, during the company’s initial public offering in New York.

Lightspeed, Zeev Win Billions From Navan IPO

By Katie Roof · Oct 30, 2025 7:44pm PDT

Travel software firm Navan, which weathered a pandemic, name change and government shutdown on its path to an initial public offering, had a disappointing start as a public company. Shares fell 20% on the first day. Its earliest investors still made big gains on paper though. Investor Oren Zeev and his affiliated funds, which invested $150... Travel software firm Navan, which weathered a pandemic, name change and government shutdown on...

Andy Jassy. Getty Images

Amazon’s Cloud Lifts

By Martin Peers · Oct 30, 2025 5:10pm PDT

The cloud over Amazon is lifting. The e-commerce and cloud giant reported Thursday that its cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, accelerated revenue growth by nearly 3 percentage points to 20% in the third quarter, its fastest rate of expansion since the end of 2022. That means AWS, by far the biggest of the major cloud firms, has joined its nearest... The cloud over Amazon is lifting. The e-commerce and cloud giant reported Thursday that its cloud...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Photo by Getty.

Why OpenAI Is Likely to Tap Private Investors Again

By Sri Muppidi · Oct 30, 2025 4:55pm PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long before rumblings about an initial public offering followed. There are plenty of reasons why an IPO listing may not happen until 2027 at the earliest, according to a person who has been involved in the discussion. Among them: It’s likely to be one of... OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long...

Asha Sharma, Jenny Koehler, Jessica Lessin, Sandra Oh Lin, Lucy Guo. Photo by Erin Beach for The Information.

WTF: Women in Tech, Media and Finance

OpenAI’s Potential IPO, AI Ending 9-9-6: WTF Highlights

By The Information Staff · Oct 30, 2025 12:05pm PDT

It’s hard to find a leader in tech and finance who isn’t feverishly figuring out how to implement artificial intelligence in their company. At The Information’s Women in Tech, Media and Finance conference, executives said their use of AI had gone well beyond experimentation, changing the kind and number of employees they hire, how they reach new... It’s hard to find a leader in tech and finance who isn’t feverishly figuring out how to implement...

Survey: Half of Readers Traded Crypto in the Past Three Months

By Shane Burke · Oct 30, 2025 11:53am PDT

Subscriber Survey

Survey: Half of Readers Traded Crypto in the Past Three Months

By Shane Burke · Oct 30, 2025 11:53am PDT

About half of subscribers to The Information who responded to our latest survey said they bought or sold cryptocurrency, crypto exchange-traded funds or crypto treasury stocks in the past three months. Notably, more of our readers are buying than selling: 47% of all respondents said they bought crypto or something related in the past three... About half of subscribers to The Information who responded to our latest survey said they bought...

Amy Hood. Photo by Getty Images

How Microsoft Escaped the AI Margin Squeeze; An FDE Boom

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 30, 2025 10:33am PDT

Microsoft shared some good and bad news with investors during its quarterly earnings call Wednesday: More customers have been using Microsoft’s suite of AI copilots, but many of them aren’t paying for it. Microsoft said more people are using Copilot Chat, which provides ChatGPT-like features to Office 365 subscribers for free (more advanced... Microsoft shared some good and bad news with investors during its quarterly earnings call...

Asha Sharma, president of product development for Microsoft’s Core AI division. Photo by Erin Beach.

AI Leaders Get Practical; Gemini’s Ascent

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 30, 2025 7:00am PDT

At our Women in Tech, Media and Finance conference Wednesday, AI leaders from Microsoft, PagerDuty and Index Ventures got into the nitty gritty of what it’s like to invest in, develop, buy and use AI products. Our top takeaways.1. Not everyone’s a fan of vibe coding. Lucy Guo, the CEO of creator startup Passes and a cofounder of data labeling... At our Women in Tech, Media and Finance conference Wednesday, AI leaders from Microsoft, ...

Photo by Getty Images

Tesla’s Scaled Back Robotaxi Timeline Still Faces Obstacles

By Theo Wayt · Oct 30, 2025 6:00am PDT

Elon Musk has already dampened expectations for when Tesla will widely roll out its robotaxi service, which the CEO says is critical to the automaker’s future. But it’s questionable whether Tesla will even be able to hit the lowball expansion figures Musk disclosed to Tesla shareholders last week. Tesla has yet to complete all the paperwork... Elon Musk has already dampened expectations for when Tesla will widely roll out its robotaxi...

Mitra Chem's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. Photo: Courtesy Mitra Chem

The Electric: In a $350 Million Strategic Shift, Trump Backs an Iron-Based Battery Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 30, 2025 4:30am PDT

Mitra Chem's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. Photo: Courtesy Mitra Chem

The Electric: In a $350 Million Strategic Shift, Trump Backs an Iron-Based Battery Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 30, 2025 4:30am PDT

In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries, the Trump administration and Japan said they will invest about $350 million in a small U.S. startup that’s developing the main component in such batteries. In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries,...

The Information Founder Jessica Lessin (L) and YouTube Chief Business Officer Mary Ellen Coe (R). Photo by Erin Beach.

WTF: Women in Tech, Media and Finance

YouTube Exec: Subscription Strength Prompted Reorg

By Erin Woo · Oct 29, 2025 6:16pm PDT · 1 comment

A major staff reorganization at YouTube on Wednesday in part reflects the growing importance of subscriptions to the streaming service’s business, a top executive from the video juggernaut said on Wednesday. Subscriptions are “a major monetization driver, so that deserves the attention of a senior leader reporting into [YouTube CEO] Neal... A major staff reorganization at YouTube on Wednesday in part reflects the growing importance of...

Getty Images

What Google, Meta and Microsoft Numbers Revealed

By Martin Peers · Oct 29, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg is doubling down on AI—again. And the cost is mounting. Meta Platforms reported Wednesday that its increased investment in AI, both for hiring star AI researchers and for investing billions in data centers, hurt its operating profit margins and squeezed its free cash flow by one-third in the third quarter. Since the end of last... Mark Zuckerberg is doubling down on AI—again. And the cost is mounting. Meta Platforms reported...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI Moves Up the Stack: Why Every Software Incumbent is Now a Target

By The Information Staff · Oct 29, 2025 1:24pm PDT

OpenAI is moving beyond its role as a technology partner, transforming its model lead into a multi-front assault on established software giants. This pivot positions the company not just as a supplier, but as a formidable application competitor, aiming to own the entire user workflow in markets like productivity, consulting, and e-commerce. This... OpenAI is moving beyond its role as a technology partner, transforming its model lead into a...

Getty Images

China Fast-Tracks Tech IPOs to Counter US AI Rivalry

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Oct 29, 2025 8:00am PDT

Getty Images

China Fast-Tracks Tech IPOs to Counter US AI Rivalry

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Oct 29, 2025 8:00am PDT

The tech rivalry with the U.S. has made China take an unusual step: It is accelerating the pace at which startups go public in hopes of increasing investment in the tech sector. In recent months, securities regulators in China approved the public listings of two chip designers, MetaX and Moore Threads, in less than three months. Chinese... The tech rivalry with the U.S. has made China take an unusual step: It is accelerating the pace...

OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki and CEO Sam Altman.

How Realistic is OpenAI’s 2028 Timeline For Automating AI Research Itself?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 29, 2025 7:00am PDT

OpenAI flooded the zone yesterday with a long-awaited announcement regarding its revised agreement with Microsoft and corporate restructuring, and an hour-long livestream in which CEO Sam Altman and Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki answered questions from the public. (For more on the restructuring, check out this story from my colleagues.)On the... OpenAI flooded the zone yesterday with a long-awaited announcement regarding its revised...

Paris Hilton at WTF. Photo by Erin Beach.

WTF: Women in Tech, Media and Finance

Paris Hilton Has Been Training Her AI for Years

By Catherine Perloff and Erin Woo · Oct 29, 2025 6:19am PDT

Paris Hilton said she has spent years training an artificial intelligence chatbot based on her interviews, writing and songs that knows her “sometimes even better than I know myself.” “It’s studied every single thing I’ve done, everywhere I’ve been, every interview I’ve done,” she said onstage at The Information’s Women in Tech, Media and... Paris Hilton said she has spent years training an artificial intelligence chatbot based on her...

How Shopify’s Leadership Shake-Up Affects Its Push for Growth

By Ann Gehan · Oct 29, 2025 6:00am PDT

Things have never been better for Shopify. The e-commerce firm’s stock is trading near all-time highs. And a recent deal with OpenAI has put Shopify in a position to capitalize on AI-fueled shopping by easily allowing its merchants to sell products through ChatGPT. And yet Shopify is seeing the kind of executive turnover normally associated with... Things have never been better for Shopify. The e-commerce firm’s stock is trading near all-time...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images

Nvidia and OpenAI Flood the Zone With AI News

By Martin Peers · Oct 28, 2025 5:00pm PDT

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images

Nvidia and OpenAI Flood the Zone With AI News

By Martin Peers · Oct 28, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Where’s an AI agent when you need one? We got a flood of AI-related news today, including OpenAI’s revelation that it had completed its long-gestating restructuring into a near-normal company, one that can go public one day. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also was busy making news at the company’s GTC event in Washington, revealing the volume of orders... Where’s an AI agent when you need one? We got a flood of AI-related news today, including OpenAI’...