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

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A Competitor to OpenClaw Emerges

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 18, 2026 7:00am PDT

After the success of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent software that took the tech world by storm earlier this year, it’s no surprise that copycats are popping up. And some of these copycats are catching up to OpenClaw, by some measures.Hermes, an agent tool from Nous Research, recently eclipsed OpenClaw in terms of new GitHub contributors in... After the success of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent software that took the tech world by storm...

Yichao "Peak" Ji, co-founder and Chief Scientist at Manus AI. Photo via YouTube

Manus’ Revenue Soars as Original Investors Move to Reverse Meta Deal

By Jing Yang, Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Jun 18, 2026 6:00am PDT

The early Chinese backers of AI firm Manus are planning to buy the firm back from Meta Platforms at the $2 billion price Meta paid, in response to a Chinese government order that the deal be reversed, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. While the government’s order has sparked alarm among Chinese startup founders,... The early Chinese backers of AI firm Manus are planning to buy the firm back from Meta Platforms...

Noam Shazeer. Photo by Getty

Star Google AI Researcher Shazeer Joins OpenAI

By Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Jun 17, 2026 5:09pm PDT · 4 comments

Noam Shazeer, the Google DeepMind researcher whose work underpinned the generative AI boom, is joining OpenAI, the AI firm told staff on Wednesday. Shazeer left Google in 2021 to co-found a chatbot startup Character.AI, but rejoined Google’s AI team DeepMind in 2024 as part of a $2.7 billion deal with his AI startup. He then became a tech lead... Noam Shazeer, the Google DeepMind researcher whose work underpinned the generative AI boom, is...

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images.

Software Slump Resumes; Snap’s Spectacle

By Martin Peers · Jun 17, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images.

Software Slump Resumes; Snap’s Spectacle

By Martin Peers · Jun 17, 2026 5:00pm PDT

This was what you call an ugly day in the markets. Tech stocks sold off across the board, thanks to rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. SpaceX stock fell nearly 5%, dragging it back below Amazon in market capitalization. But SpaceX, at least, is coming off a big rally. Software stocks such as Microsoft,... This was what you call an ugly day in the markets. Tech stocks sold off across the board, thanks...

Photo via Castelion

Missile Startup Founded by SpaceX Alumni Targets $12 Billion Valuation

By Leo Schwartz and Julia Hornstein · Jun 17, 2026 2:52pm PDT

Castelion, a nearly four-year-old startup that makes hypersonic missiles, is aiming to raise a new funding round at a valuation of $12 billion or more, including the money raised, according to two people with knowledge of the fundraising efforts. The company’s target would be at least four times the valuation of its last funding round in... Castelion, a nearly four-year-old startup that makes hypersonic missiles, is aiming to raise a...

From left: Phoebe Liu, Leo Schwartz, Dakin Campbell and Grace Kay. Photos courtesy of the subjects.

The Information Hires Reporters to Expand Coverage of Nvidia, Musk, Finance, Washington

By The Information · Jun 17, 2026 8:00am PDT · 4 comments

The Information is pleased to announce four new hires to continue our newsroom’s award-winning reporting. They will focus on Nvidia, finance, Elon Musk’s companies and tech policy. Dakin Campbell, Finance Dakin brings deep knowledge and a wealth of sources in finance. He has already started to help break news for The Information, reporting... The Information is pleased to announce four new hires to continue our newsroom’s award-winning...

Martin Fichtner, managing director of Temasek. Photo by Edwin Koo/ Getty Images

The Information Finance

Temasek’s $75 Billion AI Bet

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 17, 2026 8:00am PDT

The prescient investor who appears to hold a crystal ball or have a healthy stomach for risk is always a compelling character to write about. These are the Josh Kushners, Peter Thiels and Masayoshi Sons of the world. Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re interesting. At this point of the AI cycle, though, the more important investors to watch might... The prescient investor who appears to hold a crystal ball or have a healthy stomach for risk is...

Photo via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon’s Lower Cost AI Chip Offerings Hold Appeal for Businesses

By Catherine Perloff · Jun 17, 2026 7:00am PDT

Photo via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon’s Lower Cost AI Chip Offerings Hold Appeal for Businesses

By Catherine Perloff · Jun 17, 2026 7:00am PDT

For companies debating which AI server chips to use in their data centers, Amazon appears to have one advantage over Nvidia: price. The cost of using Amazon’s Inferentia2 and Trainium’s second generation chips to run existing AI models, known as inference, can be 80% lower than Nvidia’s H100 chips, for comparable workloads, according to ... For companies debating which AI server chips to use in their data centers, Amazon appears to have...

Left: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Right: Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s Chief Revenue Officer. Getty Images/Shutterstock.

OpenAI and Anthropic Tap Salesforce Talent

By Kevin McLaughlin and Laura Bratton · Jun 17, 2026 6:01am PDT

As OpenAI and Anthropic build up their teams of enterprise salespeople, they’ve both been hiring from one of the deepest pools of enterprise software talent anywhere: Salesforce. More than 45 Salesforce employees have joined Anthropic since the start of this year, and close to 40 have joined OpenAI, largely in sales and marketing roles,... As OpenAI and Anthropic build up their teams of enterprise salespeople, they’ve both been hiring...

Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images.

AI’s New Risk: Unpredictable Government Policies

By Martin Peers · Jun 16, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Investing in AI really is not for the faint of heart. Leaving aside all the worries about risks of huge investments in data centers and the uncertainties about demand, there’s also the unpredictable government moves that can upend things. Case in point: the Trump administration’s warnings to Anthropic over the weekend that no foreigners,... Investing in AI really is not for the faint of heart. Leaving aside all the worries about risks...

Images by Getty Images.

OpenAI Burned $3.7 Billion in First Three Months of 2026

By Erin Woo · Jun 16, 2026 4:26pm PDT · 7 comments

OpenAI burned through $3.7 billion in the first quarter, more than half its $5.7 billion in revenue, according to documents the company shared with shareholders. Both cash burn and revenue tripled from the same period the previous year, signaling how even with strong AI demand, making money from AI continues to be challenging. The company ended... OpenAI burned through $3.7 billion in the first quarter, more than half its $5.7 billion in...

From left, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Howard Lutnick. Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Ban Stirs Concerns at OpenAI and Beyond of Crackdown on Foreign AI Talent

By Leo Schwartz, Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Jun 16, 2026 2:07pm PDT · 1 comment

From left, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Howard Lutnick. Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Ban Stirs Concerns at OpenAI and Beyond of Crackdown on Foreign AI Talent

By Leo Schwartz, Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Jun 16, 2026 2:07pm PDT · 1 comment

The U.S. government’s latest battle with Anthropic has revived long-simmering concerns throughout the AI industry that the White House has placed a bullseye on their reliance on foreign AI talent. The Trump administration appears to have targeted only Anthropic so far, warning the company on Friday in a letter from Commerce Secretary Howard... The U.S. government’s latest battle with Anthropic has revived long-simmering concerns throughout...

Lior Simon. Photo via Cyberstarts.

Cyberstarts Notches Cyera Win, Plots New Fund

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 16, 2026 1:29pm PDT

The $12 billion valuation that Cyera snagged in a $600 million fundraise announced last week shows how hungry investors were for the cybersecurity startup’s AI-focused pitch. The five-year-old startup sells software that can protect companies’ data from hackers equipped with increasingly powerful AI tools—a threat highlighted by Anthropic’s... The $12 billion valuation that Cyera snagged in a $600 million fundraise announced last week...

Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

AT&T Throttles Some Employees’ AI Usage as ‘Tokenminimizing’ Arrives

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · Jun 16, 2026 12:13pm PDT · 1 comment

As AI spending has eaten into corporate budgets, generating concern over rising costs at Fortune 500 firms from Uber to ServiceNow and Snowflake, some companies are beginning to throttle employees’ usage. The latest is AT&T, which has begun limiting some employees’ access to Microsoft’s Github Copilot, according to a person at the... As AI spending has eaten into corporate budgets, generating concern over rising costs at Fortune...

Donald Trump, left, and Dario Amodei. Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Is Anthropic Losing Goodwill With AI Researchers?; AGI House Alums Raise $25 Million For New Fund

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 16, 2026 7:01am PDT

Remember the last time Anthropic tussled with the Trump administration, all the way back in February, when a coterie of competing AI researchers and CEOs (even Sam Altman!) quickly came to Anthropic’s defense?That doesn’t seem to be happening this time. In the wake of Trump officials’ Friday night move to effectively ban Anthropic’s most... Remember the last time Anthropic tussled with the Trump administration, all the way back in...

Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket. Photo by Michael Nagle/ Getty Images.

Polymarket, Kalshi Take Steps to Block Fraud Rings

By Michael Roddan · Jun 16, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket. Photo by Michael Nagle/ Getty Images.

Polymarket, Kalshi Take Steps to Block Fraud Rings

By Michael Roddan · Jun 16, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Polymarket and Kalshi are racing to turn more major events into opportunities to place bets, including everything from daily temperature highs during a New York City heat wave to the latest contestant to be eliminated from “Love Island,” the reality TV hit. That’s helped the young markets become high-profile sentiment gauges and generate... Polymarket and Kalshi are racing to turn more major events into opportunities to place bets,...

Photo by Samuel Boivin/Getty Images.

DeepSeek Closes Record $7 Billion-Plus Funding with Unusual Deal Structure

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Jun 15, 2026 9:55pm PDT · 3 comments

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has closed its first funding round that raised more than 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) under an unusual deal structure, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The funding round, which values the large-language model developer at more than $50 billion, requires investors to put their capital... Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has closed its first funding round that raised more than 50 billion yuan...

Roku founder and CEO, Anthony Wood. Brenton Ho/Variety via Getty Images.

Roku’s Timely Exit; Salesforce’s Dealmaking Is Revving Up

By Martin Peers · Jun 15, 2026 5:01pm PDT

There’s a lot going on all of a sudden. We’re all still trying to come to grips with the latest Anthropic-Trump administration standoff. SpaceX’s market performance so far has been like a rocket ship: The stock rose 20% on Monday, finishing with a market capitalization of $2.5 trillion. And back on Earth, we got some notable acquisitions on... There’s a lot going on all of a sudden. We’re all still trying to come to grips with the latest...

Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent. Photographer by Zak Bennett/ Getty Images

Qualcomm in Talks to Buy Tenstorrent to Expand AI Chip Capabilities

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Valida Pau · Jun 15, 2026 1:39pm PDT · 1 comment

Qualcomm has been in talks to buy Tenstorrent, a startup that designs chips for AI, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The two companies have discussed a price between at least $8 billion and $10 billion, the person said, which would be a significant premium to Tenstorrent’s last valuation. It’s not clear if the price would... Qualcomm has been in talks to buy Tenstorrent, a startup that designs chips for AI, according to...

A BYD car carrier offloads vehicles in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

Chinese EV Makers Are Profiting From the Iran War

By Steve LeVine · Jun 15, 2026 9:01am PDT

A BYD car carrier offloads vehicles in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

Chinese EV Makers Are Profiting From the Iran War

By Steve LeVine · Jun 15, 2026 9:01am PDT

Australians have a reputation for favoring big, tough-guy combustion pickups and SUVs. Not recently, though. In May, for the first time, Australia’s top-selling car was an electric vehicle—the Tesla Model Y, whose sales grew 57% year on year, soaring past ordinarily favored combustion vehicles. Australians have a reputation for favoring big, tough-guy combustion pickups and SUVs. Not...