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

Art by Clark Miller

Let’s Spend $10 Trillion on AI That Improves the Real World, Not Just Ads

By John Hanke · Feb 16, 2026 6:00am PST · 8 comments

Four years ago, right around the time the concept of the metaverse became fashionable, I wrote a post calling it a “dystopian nightmare.” I argued that instead of diving into virtual worlds, we should all do more to connect with the real world around us. Time will tell if the metaverse will eventually come to fruition, but with global business... Four years ago, right around the time the concept of the metaverse became fashionable, I wrote a...

A driverless excavator at work near Austin, Texas. Photo: Courtesy Bedrock Robotics

The Electric: These Driverless Construction Vehicles Could Speed the Data Center Boom

By Steve LeVine · Feb 16, 2026 4:30am PST

Trey Taparauskas’ construction company is flooded with new business from a sizzling boom in the aerospace and data center industries in and around Austin, Texas. A stark shortage of skilled equipment operators, though, has made it hard to meet all the demand. Trey Taparauskas’ construction company is flooded with new business from a sizzling boom in the...

Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI in Advanced Talks to Hire OpenClaw Founder, Others Connected to Agent Project

By Jessica E. Lessin, Rocket Drew and Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 15, 2026 12:01pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI is in advanced discussions to hire OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger and a handful of other people helping to maintain the red hot open-source software for powering personal agents, according to two people directly involved in the discussions. If those efforts are successful, Steinberger and his team will likely work on personal agents... OpenAI is in advanced discussions to hire OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger and a handful of...

Art by Clark Miller; Image courtesy of SpaceX

SpaceX IPO Could Tap Hordes of Individual Investors

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 15, 2026 8:20am PST

Art by Clark Miller; Image courtesy of SpaceX

Sunday Insights

SpaceX IPO Could Tap Hordes of Individual Investors

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 15, 2026 8:20am PST

A potential record-setting SpaceX initial public offering has sent Wall Street into overdrive. Main Street wants a cut of the action. Bankers and institutional investors who talk to SpaceX executives have been debating how much the company should set aside for individual investors to buy at the IPO price—through brokerages including... A potential record-setting SpaceX initial public offering has sent Wall Street into overdrive....

Art by Clark Miller

AI Industry’s Big Flaw: No One Speaks Normie

By Abram Brown · Feb 14, 2026 8:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet the billionaire financier who has become AI’s debt whiz • Artificial Intelligence: CEOs find new management ethos from AI tools• Wearables: Techies find a surprise alternative use for Oura rings • The Top 5: An emergency guide for salvaging ski season• Plus, Recommendations—... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet the billionaire financier who has...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

Silicon Valley CEOs Find New Ethos From AI Tools: I’ll Do It Myself

By Abram Brown · Feb 14, 2026 6:00am PST · 7 comments

When the tech elite begin tossing around words like “paradise,” “superpower” and “nuclear bomb,” it’s a pretty good indication that Silicon Valley is going through another vibe shift. Just such a moment is happening now—with the industry’s machers obsessively pouring themselves into using the latest AI tools, including Claude Code, Google’... When the tech elite begin tossing around words like “paradise,” “superpower” and “nuclear bomb,”...

Art by Clark Miller

In Sickness and in Health: Wellness-Obsessed Techies Adopt Oura Rings as Wedding Bands

By Jemima McEvoy · Feb 14, 2026 5:23am PST

When AI researcher Sebastian Raschka got married in November 2023, he and his now-wife, Liza, went nontraditional. They wedded in Las Vegas at an Elvis-themed chapel, then celebrated by attending a U2 concert at the Sphere, the futuristic orb-shaped theater on the Strip. The Raschkas also bucked tradition in their selection of wedding rings,... When AI researcher Sebastian Raschka got married in November 2023, he and his now-wife, Liza,...

Art by Clark Miller

An Emergency Guide for Salvaging Ski Season

By Todd Plummer · Feb 14, 2026 5:22am PST · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

An Emergency Guide for Salvaging Ski Season

By Todd Plummer · Feb 14, 2026 5:22am PST · 3 comments

Here’s a cold dose of reality: This year’s ski season in the American West has been pretty bleak. Many of the reliable powder stashes of Utah, Colorado and California have struggled with record-low snowfalls, and the limited amount of terrain resorts have managed to keep open is covered in lackluster artificial snow. Vail Resorts, for instance,... Here’s a cold dose of reality: This year’s ski season in the American West has been pretty bleak....

Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, looks on during the UFC 324 event on January 24 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Getty Images)

Anduril Discusses New Funding at $60 Billion-Plus Valuation

By Katie Roof, Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 13, 2026 4:40pm PST · 1 comment

Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise billions in new funding at a valuation of at least $60 billion including the new investment, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. The valuation would be roughly double the figure from its last private funding round in June. The funding would give the company more leeway to fund its... Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise billions in new funding at a valuation of at...

Grafana Labs CEO Raj Dutt. Screenshot via YouTube

Grafana Labs in Talk to Raise at $9 Billion Valuation

By Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · Feb 13, 2026 1:22pm PST

Grafana Labs, a software startup that helps companies monitor cloud and AI activity and spending, is finalizing a new funding round that would value it at about $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said. That’s up from $6.6 billion in a 2024 funding round. The funding talks follow Grafana’s growth in annual recurring revenue, which hit... Grafana Labs, a software startup that helps companies monitor cloud and AI activity and spending,...

Arif Janmohamed. Screenshot via YouTube/The Fabric.

Lightspeed Partner Behind Navan, Netskope to Launch New Firm

By Katie Roof · Feb 13, 2026 10:49am PST

Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Arif Janmohamed, one of the firm’s leading enterprise software investors, is reducing his involvement to launch a new early stage investment firm later this year, he said. Janmohamed joined Lightspeed in 2008 as one of its first employees and became a partner four years later. He is the latest in a wave of veteran VC... Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Arif Janmohamed, one of the firm’s leading enterprise software...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t reached Marc Lipschultz. He is co-CEO of Blue Owl Capital, a publicly traded investment firm that has struck a series of huge AI data center deals. And he’s gearing up for far more of them. Right now, he says Blue Owl is working on more than $100 billion... If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t...

Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank. Photo by Akio Kon/ Getty Images

How SoftBank’s OpenAI Bet Could Benefit CEO Son

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2026 5:00pm PST

The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed some personal financial risk in the company’s big OpenAI investment.A little-noticed disclosure in SoftBank’s earnings report released Thursday said that Son no longer was on the hook for the roughly $1 billion personal guarantee he had pledged so a... The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed...

Jonathan Ross, CEO of Groq. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/ Getty Images

Groq Shareholders Get a $7.6 Billion Payout

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 12, 2026 3:22pm PST

It’s been more than a month since Nvidia entered an agreement, made public on Christmas Eve, to license the technology of chip startup Groq and hire its top executives including CEO Jonathan Ross. Now the terms of the deal are coming into focus. Groq told shareholders last month it expected to receive $17 billion in cash from Nvidia... It’s been more than a month since Nvidia entered an agreement, made public on Christmas Eve, to...

Artwork by Clark Miller

Who Can Afford the AI Buildout? Follow the Balance Sheets

By The Information Staff · Feb 12, 2026 12:39pm PST · 1 comment

The soaring cost and operational risk of building AI infrastructure—especially as companies race to deploy next-generation Nvidia chips—are driving a clear split in how the industry finances growth. Tech incumbents like Microsoft and Google are leaning on scale, credit strength and partnerships to spread risk, while challengers such... The soaring cost and operational risk of building AI infrastructure—especially as companies...

Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

The Looming Battle Over Agent Management Software

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Feb 12, 2026 11:05am PST

Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

The Looming Battle Over Agent Management Software

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Feb 12, 2026 11:05am PST

The next big AI battleground will be centered on software for managing agents, helping businesses handle the growing suite of AI agents they’re using from different providers, as we reported today. On that front, the older enterprise software firms feel they have advantages over OpenAI and Anthropic.That advantage boils down to software firms’... The next big AI battleground will be centered on software for managing agents, helping businesses...

Thomas Lee, chairman of BitMine and CIO of Fundstrat, speaks on stage during the Consensus Hong Kong at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on February 11, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty

Reporter's Notebook

Downbeat Crypto Sector Looks to AI for Rescue

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 12, 2026 8:17am PST · 1 comment

Crypto’s market crash has prompted much soul-searching within the industry, I learned at this week’s annual crypto Consensus conference in Hong Kong. The answer: To stay relevant, the industry must tie its fate with the AI boom. I find the crypto industry’s hopes for an AI rescue somewhat ironic, given that AI has siphoned capital and talent... Crypto’s market crash has prompted much soul-searching within the industry, I learned at this...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Problem With World Models

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like worlds where users are playing as a dog on a sunny beach, a vial of poison in the play Hamlet or a pack of cigarettes on the floor of Penn Station. These videos, generated with Google’s Genie 3 model, highlight the promise of so-called world... If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like...

Art via Mike Sullivan

A New AI Superagent Race Is Pitting OpenAI and Anthropic Against Microsoft and Salesforce

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 12, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Even as Anthropic and OpenAI unnerve stock market investors with business-focused AI products that could undermine existing enterprise software firms, the software incumbents are trying to catch up. Companies ranging from Microsoft to ServiceNow and Snowflake have come out with products designed to help customers develop AI agents, sometimes... Even as Anthropic and OpenAI unnerve stock market investors with business-focused AI products...

Ukraine's Vampire kamikaze drone. Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu/Gett

Exclusive From The Electric: These U.S. Startups Are Developing Superbatteries for Long-Range Combat Drones

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2026 4:30am PST

Ukraine's Vampire kamikaze drone. Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu/Gett

Exclusive From The Electric: These U.S. Startups Are Developing Superbatteries for Long-Range Combat Drones

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2026 4:30am PST

The Department of Energy is developing superbatteries that would substantially extend the range of combat drones such as those used by Ukraine. The greater range would allow the drones to conduct surveillance or drop munitions much further behind enemy lines than is currently possible. The Department of Energy is developing superbatteries that would substantially extend the range...