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

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Mark Zuckerberg. Getty Images.

Meta’s Louisiana Purchase

By Martin Peers · Jul 13, 2026 5:01pm PDT

You have to admire Meta Platforms’ public relations savvy. Its Monday announcement that it was putting an additional $40 billion into its giant Louisiana data center—making its total investment in the facility $50 billion—was perfectly designed to win over what has become a critical constituency in the data center market: local communities. “... You have to admire Meta Platforms’ public relations savvy. Its Monday announcement that it was...

Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked outside Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold Keller

Exclusive: The Time Trevor Milton Made a Low-Ball Offer to Windrose Technology

By Steve LeVine · Jul 13, 2026 9:00am PDT

Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked near Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold KellerIn 2023, when Jason Roycht, then a senior executive with Nikola, first spoke with Wen Han, the founder of a new Chinese electric long-haul truck startup called Windrose Technology, his eyes widened. At the time, Nikola was struggling to commercialize... Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked near Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold KellerIn...

Thomas Kurian, left, and Jensen Huang. Photos via Getty; art by Mike Sullivan

AI Infrastructure

Exclusive: Behind Google’s TPU Ground War to Lure Nvidia’s Most Loyal Customers

By Amir Efrati, Catherine Perloff and Phoebe Liu · Jul 13, 2026 8:00am PDT

Google is kicking off a ground war with Nvidia.While Google is one of the biggest buyers of Nvidia AI server chips, it has also been developing its own competing AI chip business that represents a threat to Nvidia’s dominant market share. Before this year, Google’s tensor processing units were housed almost entirely in Google facilities and... Google is kicking off a ground war with Nvidia.While Google is one of the biggest buyers of...

Art by Clark Miller.

From CLOs to ATMs, Wall Street Finds More Ways to Fund AI

By The Information Staff · Jul 13, 2026 7:38am PDT

Art by Clark Miller.

From CLOs to ATMs, Wall Street Finds More Ways to Fund AI

By The Information Staff · Jul 13, 2026 7:38am PDT

For the past two years, funding the artificial intelligence boom has often felt like a race where the main constraint was the size of the checkbook. But as the industry moves from theoretical planning to the reality of building gigawatt-scale data centers, the financing is getting more complicated. To keep the money flowing, developers and their... For the past two years, funding the artificial intelligence boom has often felt like a race where...

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Palazzolo.

The Hottest Research Papers From the International Conference on Machine Learning

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 13, 2026 7:06am PDT

I’m only slightly jet-lagged after coming back from last week’s International Conference on Machine Learning in Seoul, where AI researchers from around the world shared new ways to run and train models more efficiently. Oh, and they also discussed the looming possibility of AI automating away their jobs. (Check out my newsletter on that subject... I’m only slightly jet-lagged after coming back from last week’s International Conference on...

Photo via Getty Images; Art by Mike Sullivan.

Wall Street’s Biggest Move to Blockchain Begins—With Limits

By Yueqi Yang · Jul 13, 2026 6:01am PDT

One promise of the blockchain is that it could simplify the behind-the-scenes work of stock trades on Wall Street. That vision is due for its first real-world test in the coming days, when market infrastructure giant the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. plans to demonstrate live trades of stocks and other assets on the blockchain. Still, the... One promise of the blockchain is that it could simplify the behind-the-scenes work of stock...

Getty Images.

Netflix’s Q2 Earnings This Week Spotlights Growth Concerns

By Martin Peers · Jul 12, 2026 3:00pm PDT

Guess what—tech earnings season is back. Yes, you know you missed it. Netflix, as usual, will kick off the quarterly parade of earnings updates, releasing its second-quarter numbers on Thursday. The video-streaming giant’s quarterly updates have become humdrum affairs lately, but this one might be different, given that the company’s stock has... Guess what—tech earnings season is back. Yes, you know you missed it. Netflix, as usual, will...

Windrose employees working on an electric truck assembly line. Photo via Getty Image

Electric Truck Startup Windrose Has Stiffed a Slew of People

By Steve LeVine · Jul 12, 2026 11:00am PDT · 3 comments

Windrose employees working on an electric truck assembly line. Photo via Getty Image

Electric Truck Startup Windrose Has Stiffed a Slew of People

By Steve LeVine · Jul 12, 2026 11:00am PDT · 3 comments

Since its launch in 2022, Belgium-based electric long-haul truck startup Windrose Technology has raised some $400 million from Chinese banks and other investors, according to CEO Wen Han, who also says he plans to take the company public in the U.S. and Europe this year at a $2 billion valuation. Windrose has also sponsored a professional... Since its launch in 2022, Belgium-based electric long-haul truck startup Windrose Technology has...

Getty Images.

Sunday Insights

The Hot Equity Trade Spreading Through the AI Boom

By Yueqi Yang and Valida Pau · Jul 12, 2026 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

It’s shaping up to be a big year for equity capital markets bankers, between SpaceX’s record-breaking debut and already public companies issuing stock at a rapid clip. One often overlooked part of the market is also active, fueled in part by the capital demands of the AI boom. At-the-market offerings, a type of share sale by public companies... It’s shaping up to be a big year for equity capital markets bankers, between SpaceX’s...

Art: Clark Miller

AI Researchers Are Having an Identity Crisis

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 11, 2026 8:01am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Welcome to the era of the eggmaxxer • Style and Shopping: A buyer’s guide to mogul casual, Sun Valley edition• Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Signal Hill,” “The Sixth Nik” and “X-Men ’97”As AI rapidly improves in areas such as coding and mathematics, AI... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Welcome to the era of the eggmaxxer ...

Art: Clark Miller (photos: Getty Images)

Style and Shopping

Naveen Rao’s Cowboy Hat, Karlie Kloss’ Statement Dress: A Tech Mogul’s Guide to Summer Fashion

By Esther Achara · Jul 11, 2026 7:00am PDT

When the world’s most powerful people jet off to the annual summit hosted by Allen & Co. in Sun Valley, Idaho, to brainstorm and talk deals, they adopt a sartorial style we might call mogul casual. The latest confab, which has become popularly known as the Billionaire Summer Camp as it has garnered increasing media attention in recent years,... When the world’s most powerful people jet off to the annual summit hosted by Allen & Co. in...

Art by Clark Miller

Before Apple Lawsuit, a Growing Unease at iPhone Maker Over OpenAI

By Aaron Tilley · Jul 10, 2026 1:34pm PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Before Apple Lawsuit, a Growing Unease at iPhone Maker Over OpenAI

By Aaron Tilley · Jul 10, 2026 1:34pm PDT · 3 comments

In the months ahead of Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday, the iPhone maker’s concerns about OpenAI’s plans to compete in consumer hardware have mounted steadily. For starters, there was the seemingly never-ending stream of Apple employees jumping ship to join the AI startup. As those departures began to reach into the hundreds, Apple... In the months ahead of Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday, the iPhone maker’s concerns...

Art: Clark Miller (photos: Getty Images)

How ‘Eggmaxxing’ Became the Latest Fertility Quest

By Amy Dockser Marcus · Jul 10, 2026 7:32am PDT

Among the many private group chats circulating through Silicon Valley these days, one of the more unusual ones is a thread called “To Make an Omelette.” The chat, which was started last year, numbers more than 80 women, including tech founders and other white-collar professionals. (It was originally assembled by Aella, a figure within the Bay... Among the many private group chats circulating through Silicon Valley these days, one of the more...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Susquehanna, an Early Backer of ByteDance, Is Stepping Back From China Venture Deals

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Jul 10, 2026 6:00am PDT

U.S. investment firm Susquehanna International Group, one of ByteDance’s biggest shareholders, is winding down its China-based venture investment team, another sign of the challenges facing U.S. venture investors operating in China. SIG China’s managing director, Tim Gong, who ran the team, is expected to leave the firm, according to four people... U.S. investment firm Susquehanna International Group, one of ByteDance’s biggest shareholders, is...

Partner Content

How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis with Google Gemini

By The Information Partnerships · Jul 10, 2026 5:20am PDT

Decisions about when, where, and how to expand a business are always fraught with uncertainty. The prospect of growing the business and reaching new customers with novel offerings is enticing, but a false step can be extremely costly. A well-researched competitive analysis can reduce this risk by surfacing potential stumbling blocks at the very... Decisions about when, where, and how to expand a business are always fraught with uncertainty....

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images.

Meta Finds a New Way to Spend a Fortune on AI

By Martin Peers · Jul 9, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images.

Meta Finds a New Way to Spend a Fortune on AI

By Martin Peers · Jul 9, 2026 5:01pm PDT

The AI laggards are going on the offensive! Meta Platforms on Thursday unveiled its latest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, a day after SpaceX’s AI unit introduced a new model of its own. Like SpaceX, Meta claimed its new model delivers performance comparable to that of established models from AI labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. We’ll have to... The AI laggards are going on the offensive! Meta Platforms on Thursday unveiled its latest AI...

Agility Robotics' Digit robot. Photo Courtesy of Citi.

Memory Startup ScaleFlux Plots IPO; Robots Descend on Citi HQ

By Valida Pau · Jul 9, 2026 3:21pm PDT

A $26 billion U.S. stock offering by South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix looks likely to benefit from colossal investor interest in the hardware companies powering the AI boom. At least one smaller tech manufacturer is angling to take advantage of the investor frenzy. ScaleFlux, a 12-year-old startup that designs memory controllers and... A $26 billion U.S. stock offering by South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix looks likely to...

Michael McNamara, CEO of Lancium. Photo by Jeenah Moon/ Getty Images

Power Developer Behind OpenAI’s Stargate Data Center Is In Talks to Sell Stake

By Valida Pau and Ann Davis Vaughan · Jul 9, 2026 3:00pm PDT

Lancium, a power infrastructure developer behind OpenAI and Oracle’s data center campus in Texas, is in talks with major tech companies to sell a minority stake, according to people familiar with the matter. Blackstone-backed Lancium’s portfolio of gigawatt-scale Texas campuses has drawn interest from several tech companies, including Nvidia,... Lancium, a power infrastructure developer behind OpenAI and Oracle’s data center campus in Texas,...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Cursor Is Developing an AI Agent to Compete With Claude Cowork

By Grace Kay · Jul 9, 2026 12:57pm PDT

Cursor is developing a general-purpose AI agent meant to compete with popular tools like Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, two people familiar with the project said, part of a broader push by the company to diversify beyond coding-focused tools. Work on the new agent began after Cursor started leasing compute capacity in April from SpaceX’s AI unit,... Cursor is developing a general-purpose AI agent meant to compete with popular tools like...

Image via Shutterstock

Traditional SaaS Loses in Corporate Budget Shift

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · Jul 9, 2026 10:39am PDT

Image via Shutterstock

Traditional SaaS Loses in Corporate Budget Shift

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · Jul 9, 2026 10:39am PDT

As businesses spend more on AI from Anthropic and other new providers, traditional enterprise apps and IT services providers are sometimes fighting for a smaller piece of the pie.In one example, French biopharmaceutical giant Sanofi told me it’s using its own in-house AI agent developed with Claude Code and software from an AI startup,... As businesses spend more on AI from Anthropic and other new providers, traditional enterprise...