The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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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How the Tariffs Will Roil Venture Capital

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Sri Muppidi · Apr 3, 2025 3:22pm PDT

President Donald Trump’s decision to impose big tariffs on imported goods may feel like an issue for supply chain managers or chip developers. But the stock market’s decline today shows that all markets are interconnected. For venture capital, the impact may be more indirect. Asked if the tariffs would affect venture investors, Tomasz... President Donald Trump’s decision to impose big tariffs on imported goods may feel like an issue...

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Creator Economy

White House’s TikTok Proposal Raises Big Questions

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 3, 2025 1:03pm PDT

What a wild 24 hours it’s been! Everyone and their mother, including Amazon, AppLovin and the founder of OnlyFans, threw their hat in the ring at the last minute to try to acquire TikTok’s U.S. assets.And as we first scooped on Wednesday, the White House is finalizing its proposal for a deal aimed at keeping TikTok alive in the U.S. On Thursday... What a wild 24 hours it’s been! Everyone and their mother, including Amazon, AppLovin and the...

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Intel, TSMC Recently Discussed Agreement to Form Chipmaking Joint Venture

By Qianer Liu · Apr 3, 2025 11:48am PDT · 3 comments

Intel’s financial crisis may be over—with support from its biggest rival. Executives from Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recently discussed a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s chipmaking facilities, with TSMC taking a 20% stake in the new company, according to two people involved in some of... Intel’s financial crisis may be over—with support from its biggest rival. Executives from...

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Why Customers Let Workday Train AI on Their Data

By Jon Victor · Apr 3, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Photo via Shutterstock

Why Customers Let Workday Train AI on Their Data

By Jon Victor · Apr 3, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Workday, a human resources software provider, is the latest example of a large public company using information from customers to improve its artificial intelligence.To develop AI that lets customers generate and analyze legal contracts, Workday has been using its customers’ own contracts as part of the training data, Chief Technology Officer... Workday, a human resources software provider, is the latest example of a large public company...

Rodney Brooks. Photo by Getty

Roomba Creator Says Humanoid Robots Are Overhyped

By Rocket Drew · Apr 3, 2025 7:46am PDT · 3 comments

It’s not every day you hear a robotics founder trying to cool the hype surrounding their industry, but Rodney Brooks has seen it all before. Speaking at a conference Tuesday hosted by Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, Brooks, a founder of multiple robotics companies including the one behind Roomba vacuums, showed attendees a slide... It’s not every day you hear a robotics founder trying to cool the hype surrounding their...

Left to right: Jeremi Gorman, Anoushka Vaswani, Everett Randle, Delian Asparouhov and Dan Levine.

Catching Up With The Next GPs: Backing Brex Alumni, Rollups and AI Apps

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 3, 2025 6:00am PDT

Last March, our inaugural list of The Next GPs highlighted investors that could be calling the shots at major venture capital firms in the coming years. Today, as we unveil a new list of up-and-comers, we’re also checking in on our 2024 cohort. Some of their investments have already paid off handsomely. Stripe bought Bridge, a stablecoin startup... Last March, our inaugural list of The Next GPs highlighted investors that could be calling the...

Announcing The Information’s 2025 List of Next General Partners

By Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Apr 3, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Amid a prolonged slump in initial public offerings, venture capital firms are shrinking planned funds and abandoning once-promising strategies. That’s heightened competition for the premier positions at venture firms—the general partners who make investment decisions and get a share of the firm’s gains. But some people are navigating the... Amid a prolonged slump in initial public offerings, venture capital firms are shrinking planned...

Byd founder Wang Chuanfu. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Battery Hands Are Skeptical of Byd’s Claim of Five-Minute Charging

By Steve LeVine · Apr 3, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Byd founder Wang Chuanfu. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Battery Hands Are Skeptical of Byd’s Claim of Five-Minute Charging

By Steve LeVine · Apr 3, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Last month, China’s Byd said it would soon release two electric vehicles capable of charging in five minutes—not much longer than the time it takes to fill a gas tank. The assertion caught rivals uncomfortably off guard, especially companies in the West, where the fastest competing EVs charge to 80% of capacity in roughly 20 minutes. Last month, China’s Byd said it would soon release two electric vehicles capable of charging in...

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Musk Heading Home

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 2, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Is Elon Musk’s run as a government cost cutter coming to an end? According to a new Politico report, President Donald Trump has been telling members of his inner circle that Musk will step back in the coming weeks and return to his businesses, most notably his struggling electric vehicle maker, Tesla. The White House has downplayed the... Is Elon Musk’s run as a government cost cutter coming to an end? According to a new Politico...

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Now Hiring: Seasoned Creator Economy Staffers

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 2, 2025 2:28pm PDT

Keep your eyes peeled on Wednesday for an announcement from President Trump about his plan to keep TikTok alive in the U.S. As I scooped earlier today, Trump plans to announce a proposal for a new company expected to be called TikTok America, which would be roughly 50% owned by new U.S. investors and license TikTok’s algorithm from its Chinese... Keep your eyes peeled on Wednesday for an announcement from President Trump about his plan to...

Google campus photo by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Google in Advanced Talks to Rent Nvidia AI Servers From CoreWeave

By Aaron Holmes, Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 2, 2025 12:32pm PDT · 1 comment

Google is in advanced talks to rent state-of-the-art Nvidia Blackwell chips for running artificial intelligence from CoreWeave, an upstart cloud provider, according to two people briefed about the situation. The potential deal shows how major Nvidia customers like Google are struggling to get enough of its chips to meet rising demand from... Google is in advanced talks to rent state-of-the-art Nvidia Blackwell chips for running...

Photo by Getty

Trump to Outline TikTok Deal Proposal, With ByteDance Retaining Stake

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 2, 2025 12:12pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Getty

Trump to Outline TikTok Deal Proposal, With ByteDance Retaining Stake

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 2, 2025 12:12pm PDT · 1 comment

President Donald Trump plans to announce later on Wednesday his plan for a new company called TikTok America, part of his efforts to broker a deal to keep TikTok alive in the U.S., according to a person close to the discussions. It’s unclear whether the Trump administration has approval for the proposed structure from the Chinese... President Donald Trump plans to announce later on Wednesday his plan for a new company called...

Paul Kotas, senior vice president of Amazon Ads, in 2024. Photo via Getty

Why Amazon’s Biggest Ad Business Could Be Maxing Out

By Catherine Perloff and Theo Wayt · Apr 2, 2025 11:43am PDT · 1 comment

Over the last several years, advertisements have seemingly begun creeping into nearly every crevice on Amazon. They populate carousels of products promising to show shoppers what other “customers frequently viewed” on search results. They also appear on pages where shoppers can find deals on Amazon. And they pop up on the checkout page when a... Over the last several years, advertisements have seemingly begun creeping into nearly every...

Mercor co-founders Adarsh Hiremath, Brendan Foody, and Surya Midha. Photo courtesy of ULY

The Valuation Puzzle of Post-Training AI Startups

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 2, 2025 7:00am PDT

We’re starting to see more generative artificial intelligence-related startups announce they’ve crossed $100 million in annualized revenue. According to our Generative AI Database, at least 15 such startups have reached that threshold.The latest is Mercor, which helps OpenAI and other AI developers find contractors to help train new models.... We’re starting to see more generative artificial intelligence-related startups announce they’ve...

The Nvidia booth at a tech show in Hangzhou, China in 2024. Photo via Getty.

Nvidia Faces Dilemma After Chinese Firms Rush to Order $16 Billion in New AI Chips

By Qianer Liu · Apr 2, 2025 6:00am PDT

Chinese companies including ByteDance, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have placed at least $16 billion in orders for Nvidia’s H20 server chips for running artificial intelligence in the first three months of the year, ahead of a potential U.S. ban on sales of the chip in China, according to two people with direct knowledge of the... Chinese companies including ByteDance, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have placed at least...

Getty Images

Roblox’s Revenue Grab

By Abram Brown · Apr 1, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Getty Images

Roblox’s Revenue Grab

By Abram Brown · Apr 1, 2025 5:00pm PDT

You know what kids love? Videogames. And you know what they don’t really love—at least if the small children in my life are any barometer? Advertisements. Yet Roblox, the eponymous company behind one of the most popular videogame platforms for kids, is pinning at least a portion of its hopes for more revenue growth on…advertisements. You know what kids love? Videogames. And you know what they don’t really love—at least if the...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

A ‘Biblical’ Test of AI Investor Faith

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 1, 2025 2:50pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the awe-inspiring usage of ChatGPT’s new image generation tool a few days ago as “biblical.” His use of religious terminology fits the moment. The money that Altman, Elon Musk and tech giants require to finance chips, data centers and power is a test of faith for Wall Street. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the awe-inspiring usage of ChatGPT’s new image generation tool a...

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Why Trump Could Punt on TikTok—Again

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 1, 2025 2:00pm PDT

Deal or no deal? President Trump’s Saturday deadline for TikTok to sell its U.S. assets is fast approaching. But Trump has given mixed messages on whether a resolution will be reached by then. On Sunday night, he told reporters on Air Force One that a deal would happen before the deadline. He’s also previously said that he’d be willing to... Deal or no deal? President Trump’s Saturday deadline for TikTok to sell its U.S. assets is fast...

Art by Mike Sullivan

ChatGPT’s New Image Tool Is Big for Businesses

By Jon Victor · Apr 1, 2025 10:11am PDT

OpenAI’s latest image update to ChatGPT isn’t just a boon for Studio Ghibli fans. It’s also a gift to businesses of all sizes looking to generate visuals—from marketing photography, advertisements and more—on the cheap.Take Sola Wood Flowers, a Utah-based e-commerce company that sells replica flowers mostly used in weddings. The business... OpenAI’s latest image update to ChatGPT isn’t just a boon for Studio Ghibli fans. It’s also a...

Greg Brockman. Photo by Getty

ChatGPT Revenue Surges 30%—in Just Three Months

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Apr 1, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Greg Brockman. Photo by Getty

ChatGPT Revenue Surges 30%—in Just Three Months

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Apr 1, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Before today’s main column about the AI attention war between OpenAI and Google, there’s OpenAI news from my colleague Natasha: ChatGPT has hit 20 million paid subscribers, according to a spokesperson. That’s up from 15.5 million at the end of last year, as we previously reported.It turns out a lot of people are willing to pay for a chatbot... Before today’s main column about the AI attention war between OpenAI and Google, there’s OpenAI...