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

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Google Conference Shows Customers Want Help Making AI Work

By Erin Woo · Apr 23, 2026 10:32am PDT

Last year at Google Cloud's Next conference, executives touted the power of the company’s AI models for businesses. This year the theme is how to help companies use the models.And with good reason: In interviews at the conference, customers and Google Cloud resellers told me that companies racing to adopt AI are hitting roadblocks. Some are... Last year at Google Cloud's Next conference, executives touted the power of the company’s AI...

Art via Getty Images

New Security Breaches at Anthropic and OpenAI Proved Mark Zuckerberg Right

By Aaron Holmes and Rocket Drew · Apr 23, 2026 7:00am PDT

Hours after Anthropic said it was investigating a report that users had gained unauthorized access to its ballyhooed Mythos model, OpenAI accidentally made a slate of its own unreleased models available on its Codex app. The breaches are a reminder that Anthropic and OpenAI have plenty of their own cybersecurity issues even as they help... Hours after Anthropic said it was investigating a report that users had gained unauthorized...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Berkshire Hathaway, Chubb Win Approval to Drop AI Insurance Coverage

By Laura Bratton · Apr 23, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Major insurers including Berkshire Hathaway and Chubb are taking steps to cut AI-related damages from corporate insurance policies, and U.S. state regulators are giving them the green light. Insurers are trying to get ahead of risks from companies that use generative artificial intelligence to automate tasks, stoked by the fast pace of... Major insurers including Berkshire Hathaway and Chubb are taking steps to cut...

Elon Musk. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

Elon Musk Strikes Unusually Cautious Tone on Tesla Call

By Theo Wayt · Apr 22, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

Elon Musk Strikes Unusually Cautious Tone on Tesla Call

By Theo Wayt · Apr 22, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Tesla’s earnings calls are usually freewheeling affairs, with pulsating electronic music and wildly optimistic projections from CEO Elon Musk, who often likes to crack crude jokes and giggle. Today was different. Instead of the typical sci-fi rhapsodies about self-driving vehicles taking over the world and robots solving poverty, Musk spent much... Tesla’s earnings calls are usually freewheeling affairs, with pulsating electronic music and...

Art by Clark Miller.

How Tech M&A Is Filling AI Gaps

By The Information Staff · Apr 22, 2026 12:25pm PDT

AI upgrades are a hot spot in technology dealmaking. An analysis by The Information’s Deep Research shows tech companies are leaning on M&A to bolster industry-specific capabilities—and turn AI into products people can actually use. That pattern is playing out across deals of all sizes. SpaceX’s potential $60 billion acquisition of... AI upgrades are a hot spot in technology dealmaking. An analysis by The Information’s Deep...

Michael Intrator, co-founder and chief executive officer of CoreWeave Inc. Photo by Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images

The Information Finance

How CoreWeave Seduced the Bond Market

By Ken Brown · Apr 22, 2026 8:01am PDT

CoreWeave’s shares are up 55% this month, but that rally tells just part of the story about the AI cloud provider. The company has tapped a range of sources for much-needed capital, giving it a commanding role in the AI build-out. CoreWeave’s big fundraising haul—totaling nearly $16 billion—also signals that both stock and debt investors... CoreWeave’s shares are up 55% this month, but that rally tells just part of the story about the...

Art by Getty Images

Are OpenAI and Anthropic Moving Away From Reasoning Tech?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 22, 2026 7:05am PDT

Elon Musk rocked the business world again by announcing Tuesday that his rocket-satellite-social media firm SpaceX has signed a deal agreeing to buy AI coding app Cursor for $60 billion at an undisclosed later date or else SpaceX would pay a $10 billion breakup fee.It’s one of the biggest acquisitions of a venture backed startup ever, though it’... Elon Musk rocked the business world again by announcing Tuesday that his rocket-satellite-social...

OpenClaw Struggles to Grow Up After Overnight Success

By Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Apr 22, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Artificial Intelligence

OpenClaw Struggles to Grow Up After Overnight Success

By Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Apr 22, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

OpenClaw, the AI agent software that took the tech world by storm, is reckoning with a difficult choice: whether to transition from an experimental hacker project to a sustainable tool companies can reliably use. One of the fastest-growing open-source software projects ever, OpenClaw is still managed by a group of volunteers who are trying to... OpenClaw, the AI agent software that took the tech world by storm, is reckoning with a difficult...

Art via Shutterstock

Tencent, Alibaba in Talks to Invest in DeepSeek at $20 Billion-Plus Valuation

By The Information Staff · Apr 22, 2026 4:17am PDT

Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are in talks to invest in DeepSeek, the AI upstart that recently started fundraising for the first time, according to four people with knowledge of the conversations. DeepSeek, owned by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer Capital Management, is now seeking to raise funding at a valuation of more... Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are in talks to invest in DeepSeek, the AI...

SpaceX's South Texas production facility. Photo by Reginald Mathalone/Getty Images.

What SpaceX’s Cursor Deal Says About xAI

By Martin Peers · Apr 21, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Elon Musk’s marketing pitch for the SpaceX IPO just got a bit more complicated. SpaceX’s revelation Tuesday afternoon that it was working closely with Cursor, the once-dominant coding firm, and might buy it for $60 billion, raises new questions about the health of xAI, Musk’s AI startup that SpaceX acquired for $250 billion in stock in early... Elon Musk’s marketing pitch for the SpaceX IPO just got a bit more complicated. SpaceX’s ...

Morgan Stanley's Michael Grimes, left, and Goldman Sachs' Kim Posnett. Images via Getty; YouTube

The Bankers Behind SpaceX’s “Project Apex” IPO

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Apr 21, 2026 4:32pm PDT · 1 comment

The weeks leading up to SpaceX’s initial public offering will test big ideas about the space industry and the future of artificial intelligence. It will also answer a more basic question: how well Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs can work together.The Wall Street rivals’ top bankers have been holed up at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters... The weeks leading up to SpaceX’s initial public offering will test big ideas about the space...

Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

SpaceX Debt Jumped to $23 Billion Last Year

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 11:50am PDT

Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

SpaceX Debt Jumped to $23 Billion Last Year

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 11:50am PDT

SpaceX increased its debt load by nearly two-thirds last year, to about $23 billion at the end of 2025 from $14 billion the year prior. That surge illustrated how much its acquisition of xAI added new financial obligations to the company, according to a confidential initial public offering prospectus reviewed by The Information. Much of the debt... SpaceX increased its debt load by nearly two-thirds last year, to about $23 billion at the end of...

Anil Chakravarthy, President, Customer Experience Orchestration Business. Screenshot via YouTube

Adobe Says It Will Start Charging For AI Agents Only When They Work

By Laura Bratton · Apr 21, 2026 10:57am PDT

A wave of AI pricing changes is keeping customers on their toes. Anthropic, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday have shifted to charging for AI based on how much customers use, rather than a flat subscription fee, for instance.Now Adobe is taking steps to join AI startup Sierra and other firms that want to go a step further, charging customers... A wave of AI pricing changes is keeping customers on their toes. Anthropic, Salesforce,...

Art by Getty Images/Mike Sullivan

Anthropic’s ID Verification Imperils Chinese Founders

By Juro Osawa · Apr 21, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and startups—circumventing Anthropic’s official restrictions on usage. That may soon change.Anthropic last week started requiring some customers to provide a government-issued photo ID and an image of themselves taken from their phone or webcam. It’s the... Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and...

A Mercado Libre facility in Sāo Paulo State, Brazil. Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Mercado Libre Is Growing 30%-Plus a Year: Its Stock Is Too Cheap

By Anita Ramaswamy · Apr 21, 2026 6:04am PDT · 1 comment

Latin America’s largest tech firm, e-commerce and fintech juggernaut Mercado Libre, is on sale. The company’s share price has dropped 9% over the past 12 months even as its business has continued to rocket along at a 30%-plus revenue growth rate. Investors are skittish about growing competition posed by Singapore’s Sea Ltd. in Mercado Libre’s... Latin America’s largest tech firm, e-commerce and fintech juggernaut Mercado Libre, is on sale....

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

SpaceX Gives Musk Incentive to Hit $6.6 Trillion in Market Cap

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 12:21am PDT

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

SpaceX Gives Musk Incentive to Hit $6.6 Trillion in Market Cap

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 12:21am PDT

Elon Musk increased his stake in SpaceX last year by purchasing $1.4 billion of stock from current and former employees, part of a series of moves leading up to the company’s initial public offering that increased his sway over the company. The large secondary stock purchase was made through the mega-billonaire’s trust. It was disclosed in a... Elon Musk increased his stake in SpaceX last year by purchasing $1.4 billion of stock from...

Apple's Tim Cook and John Ternus. Getty Images.

Apple’s CEO Switch; Amazon’s AI Hedge

By Martin Peers · Apr 20, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Happy talk. That’s what you get when CEOs pass the baton, and so it was with Apple’s long-anticipated announcement that Tim Cook would give up the top job, effective in September. “I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in the announcement (he’s sticking around as executive chair). “I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in... Happy talk. That’s what you get when CEOs pass the baton, and so it was with Apple’s...

Phononic founder, Tony Atti. Screenshot via YouTube/NYSE.

AI Data Center Startup Phononic Discusses Multi-Billion Dollar Valuation in Possible Sale

By Valida Pau and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 20, 2026 4:25pm PDT

The unrelenting demand for AI data centers is spilling over into lesser-known companies that supply components for essential tasks such as cooling chip servers. Phononic, a 17-year-old company whose semiconductor components prevent overheating in AI data centers, is hoping to cash in on that demand. The Durham, N.C., company is talking to... The unrelenting demand for AI data centers is spilling over into lesser-known companies that...

John Ternus, left, and Tim Cook. Photos by Getty Images

Three Big Questions for Apple’s Next CEO, John Ternus

By Aaron Tilley and Nick Wingfield · Apr 20, 2026 4:04pm PDT

The most anticipated CEO transition in Silicon Valley is finally official. Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will pass the CEO baton to John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. The changeover will happen September 1, when Cook will become executive chair, continuing his responsibilities for Apple’s... The most anticipated CEO transition in Silicon Valley is finally official. Apple on Monday...

Andrey Rudkov / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Startup Trying to Tame Accounting Chaos Behind AI Data Centers

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 20, 2026 10:08am PDT

Andrey Rudkov / Bloomberg via Getty Images

AI Infrastructure

The Startup Trying to Tame Accounting Chaos Behind AI Data Centers

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 20, 2026 10:08am PDT

The rush to build and finance AI data centers has created a new kind of stress for CFOs at companies developing them. Some executives at these firms tell me they are struggling to keep their books accurate and move money from their lenders to their suppliers on time, raising the risk of costly delays or even huge overpayments.That risk is... The rush to build and finance AI data centers has created a new kind of stress for CFOs at...