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

Ranking AI Startups’ Valuations, From Anthropic to Perplexity

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 24, 2025 12:21pm PST · 3 comments

You don’t have to look far to find examples of artificial intelligence startups fetching wild valuations, as some in-the-works deals for robotics and startups founded by OpenAI alumni have shown. But such examples obscure changes in how investors are valuing AI startups. The biggest developers of foundation models, such as OpenAI and Anthropic,... You don’t have to look far to find examples of artificial intelligence startups fetching wild...

Aidan Gomez. Photo by Getty

Cohere Boosts Revenue Pace to $70 Million on Overseas Growth

By Jon Victor, Natasha Mascarenhas and Sri Muppidi · Feb 24, 2025 7:00am PST

Cohere, one of the earliest venture-backed developers of artificial intelligence models, has faced plenty of headwinds in the last two years. The company has been under threat from better-funded competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic and faces competition from cheap, open-source alternatives like DeepSeek.In spite of all that, the company is... Cohere, one of the earliest venture-backed developers of artificial intelligence models, has...

Brex CEO Pedro Franceschi. Photo via Brex.

Brex, a Year After Turmoil, has Profits in Sight

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 24, 2025 6:00am PST

Just over a year ago, Brex had the makings of the latest Silicon Valley trainwreck. The corporate credit card startup was blowing through the billions in venture capital it had raised. Growth had slowed, competition increased and its valuation had tumbled. Brex named its 28-year-old cofounder Pedro Franceschi as sole CEO. He launched a... Just over a year ago, Brex had the makings of the latest Silicon Valley trainwreck. The corporate...

BTR New Material's graphite anode factory in Indonesia at its launch in August 2024. Photo: by Xu Qin/Xinhua/Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: In Its Last Days, the Biden Administration Blacklisted China's Largest Battery Anode Maker

By Steve LeVine · Feb 24, 2025 4:30am PST

BTR New Material's graphite anode factory in Indonesia at its launch in August 2024. Photo: by Xu Qin/Xinhua/Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: In Its Last Days, the Biden Administration Blacklisted China's Largest Battery Anode Maker

By Steve LeVine · Feb 24, 2025 4:30am PST

On its final workday in power, Joe Biden’s administration informed major carmakers of a new ruling making it significantly harder for their electric vehicles to qualify for the $7,500 consumer tax credit after 2026, according to three former Biden-era officials. On its final workday in power, Joe Biden’s administration informed major carmakers of a new...

Art by Clark Miller

Altman Gets the New York Treatment

By Abram Brown · Feb 22, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Apple and Qualcomm share tech’s rockiest marriage • Policy and Safety: New push for safety laws could lift parents fatigued by tech worries• The Top 5: Silicon Valley’s favorite snow toys • Shopping: Tech’s winter it item? The humble woolen ski sweater• Plus, our... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Apple and Qualcomm share tech’s...

Art by Clark Miller

Tech’s Winter It Item: The Humble Woolen Ski Sweater

By Brigid Mander · Feb 22, 2025 5:00am PST · 8 comments

For decades, skiers and snowboarders have seen the techiest, most highly engineered synthetic fabrics as the pinnacle of alpine function and fashion—a sentiment held with particular vehemence by the hordes of snowsports enthusiasts who stream out of the Bay Area each weekend for places like Palisades Tahoe and Heavenly. These days, though,... For decades, skiers and snowboarders have seen the techiest, most highly engineered synthetic...

Art by Clark Miller

Parents Are So Over Policing Kids’ Tech Use. A New Push for Laws Could Help

By Paris Martineau · Feb 22, 2025 5:00am PST · 1 comment

Clint and Pam Legaspi tried to take a balanced approach when introducing their now-12-year-old daughter to technology. Her first device was an educational LeapPad tablet, not an iPad. Later, they ignored her requests for an iPhone and instead gave her an iPod Touch, but only after carefully curating its apps: giving her access to Pinterest,... Clint and Pam Legaspi tried to take a balanced approach when introducing their now-12-year-old...

Art by Clark Miller

The New Snow Toys That Tech Moguls Love

By Annie Goldsmith · Feb 22, 2025 5:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller

The New Snow Toys That Tech Moguls Love

By Annie Goldsmith · Feb 22, 2025 5:00am PST · 1 comment

In between the Crypto Finance Conference and the World Economic Forum last month, a group of investors and founders enjoyed a busy few days in St. Moritz. They networked, and they enjoyed a fireside chat with venture capitalists Bill Tai and Daniel Gutenberg. For play, rather than ski, snowboard or shvitz in a sauna, they snow kited. Snow kiting... In between the Crypto Finance Conference and the World Economic Forum last month, a group of...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo via Getty.

SEC ’s Coinbase Move Signals Regulatory Vacuum for Crypto

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 21, 2025 3:00pm PST · 1 comment

Welcome to the official start of crypto’s regulatory vacuum. That’s the state we’re in now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to drop its long-running lawsuit against Coinbase (according to Coinbase, at least—we’ll have to wait until the SEC confirms the news after a commission vote).It seems the top financial cop is... Welcome to the official start of crypto’s regulatory vacuum. That’s the state we’re in now that...

OpenAI Forecast Shows Shift From Microsoft to SoftBank

By Cory Weinberg, Jon Victor and Anissa Gardizy · Feb 21, 2025 8:30am PST

New forecasts from OpenAI show the beginning of a dramatic shift in its alliances from Microsoft, its biggest shareholder, to SoftBank, its newest benefactor. The company has told investors in recent weeks that it expects Stargate, the fledgling data center expansion project to be heavily financed by SoftBank, to support three-quarters of the... New forecasts from OpenAI show the beginning of a dramatic shift in its alliances from Microsoft,...

Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman. Photo via Flickr/Fortune.

Pro Weekly: Investors Eye AI Chip Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 21, 2025 8:00am PST

Our AI Chip Startup Database is expanding quickly. Positron AI, which has raised $23.5 million from investors including Flume Ventures and Valor Equity Partners, is the latest Nvidia challenger we’ve added to our database. Positron is testing its chip, which it claims will be cheaper and more energy-efficient than Nvidia’s, with customers.... Our AI Chip Startup Database is expanding quickly. Positron AI, which has raised $23.5 million...

Art by Clark Miller. Tim Cook photo via Getty

Apple Versus Qualcomm: A Split Looms for Tech’s Rockiest Marriage

By Wayne Ma · Feb 21, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller. Tim Cook photo via Getty

Apple Versus Qualcomm: A Split Looms for Tech’s Rockiest Marriage

By Wayne Ma · Feb 21, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

There are companies that dislike each other. And then there’s Apple and Qualcomm. The world’s most powerful consumer electronics and wireless chip companies have long maintained one of the unhappiest marriages in tech. Over the past 15 years, the vast majority of iPhones have contained a Qualcomm modem chip that allowed those devices to connect... There are companies that dislike each other. And then there’s Apple and Qualcomm. The world’s...

Photo via Getty

Walmart’s Slower Growth Projection Highlights Unease About 2025

By Theo Wayt · Feb 20, 2025 5:00pm PST

Uncertainty about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies is dampening expectations for how consumer spending will hold up this year. Just look at Walmart, which today projected that its revenue growth this fiscal year would slow to between 3% and 4%, compared with 5% for the year that ended Jan. 31, 2025. Executives used... Uncertainty about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies is dampening...

Figure AI's Figure 02 robot. Photo via Figure AI.

SPVs Are Circling Robotics Startup's $40 Billion-Valuation Funding Round

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 20, 2025 4:51pm PST

Special purpose vehicles are now a mainstay in venture capital, showing up in some of the biggest deals in artificial intelligence, from OpenAI to Anthropic, as a flexible way to raise cash from a larger pool of investors.Now fund managers are considering using SPVs to fund a huge new round for Figure AI, a three-year-old startup that builds... Special purpose vehicles are now a mainstay in venture capital, showing up in some of the biggest...

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Facebook Tries to Get Creators’ Attention

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 20, 2025 2:02pm PST

Facebook wants to be cool again—and it plans to revamp itself in large part by leveraging creators, as my colleague Sylvia and I detailed in a story on Thursday. Facebook staffers have been talking to the teams of prominent YouTubers including MrBeast and former NASA engineer Mark Rober to get their feedback on how to make the app better... Facebook wants to be cool again—and it plans to revamp itself in large part by leveraging...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo via Getty

Airbnb, HSBC Offer an AI Reality Check

By Jon Victor and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 20, 2025 10:00am PST

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo via Getty

Airbnb, HSBC Offer an AI Reality Check

By Jon Victor and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 20, 2025 10:00am PST

It’s now common to hear CEOs talk about how they’re using artificial intelligence to cut costs. But here and there some are poking holes in their peers’ rosy statements. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, for instance, said on the company’s earnings call that AI-powered coding assistants haven’t led to a “fundamental step change in productivity yet.”... It’s now common to hear CEOs talk about how they’re using artificial intelligence to cut costs....

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photos via Getty.

Salesforce in Talks With Microsoft, Oracle and Google About Cloud Deal to Handle AI

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 20, 2025 7:31am PST

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has long been a vocal critic of Microsoft. A couple of years ago, he accused the company of violating antitrust laws in how it sells software bundles. More recently, he has slammed its artificial intelligence chatbot for giving inaccurate responses and being difficult to use. But that history hasn’t stopped Salesforce... Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has long been a vocal critic of Microsoft. A couple of years ago, he...

Clara Shih. Photo by Getty

Meta’s Open-Source AI Prepares to Go to Market

By Kalley Huang · Feb 20, 2025 7:00am PST

As Meta Platforms tries to make its large language model Llama the industry standard for artificial intelligence, it is not only courting big businesses but also taking steps to work with one of the largest customers in the world: the U.S. government. In November, the company poached Clara Shih from Salesforce, where she was CEO of ... As Meta Platforms tries to make its large language model Llama the industry standard for...

Mark Zuckerberg introducing Facebook Connect in 2010. Photo via AP.

Meta Woos Creators in Bid to Make Facebook Cool Again

By Kaya Yurieff and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Feb 20, 2025 6:00am PST

To make Facebook cool again, Meta Platforms is asking some of the most popular creators on YouTube for advice, ranging from MrBeast to Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer who explains scientific concepts. The creators aren’t holding back. Facebook has a “big hill to climb,” said Rober, who has 64 million followers on YouTube and 5.3 million on... To make Facebook cool again, Meta Platforms is asking some of the most popular creators on...

In South 8's San Diego laboratory. Photo: Courtesy South 8

The Electric: South 8 Finds One Escape From the Valley of Death—Profit

By Steve LeVine · Feb 20, 2025 4:30am PST

In South 8's San Diego laboratory. Photo: Courtesy South 8

The Electric: South 8 Finds One Escape From the Valley of Death—Profit

By Steve LeVine · Feb 20, 2025 4:30am PST

South 8 Technologies has raised about $9 million in a funding round that it expects to close next month toward manufacturing its innovative gas electrolyte. But CEO Tom Stepien said it took roughly six months to raise the money, with a lot of nos along the way. “I had one investor say, ‘If I bring a battery deal to my partners, they will fire... South 8 Technologies has raised about $9 million in a funding round that it expects to close next...