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

Art by Mike Sullivan.

AI Search Is New Arms Race for Retailers

By Ann Gehan and Catherine Perloff · Apr 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Earlier this year, employees at online diaper seller Coterie noticed customers arriving from an intriguing new source—ChatGPT. Coterie, like most brands, asks its customers how they heard about the company after they make a purchase. The typical answer is word of mouth. But in recent months, some shoppers started crediting their purchase... Earlier this year, employees at online diaper seller Coterie noticed customers arriving from an...

Getty Images

AI's Trump Stress Test?

By Abram Brown · Mar 31, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Phewww. That was a close one. Tech stocks narrowly avoided another large, painful sell-off on Monday as investors continued to look at the uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s trade agenda. The Nasdaq ended the day down 0.1%, but at different points in the day, trading seemed much grimmer, and the index was down more than 2% at... Phewww. That was a close one. Tech stocks narrowly avoided another large, painful...

From second left: co-founders of World Liberty Financial Chase Herro, Zach Witkoff, Zach Folkman and Donald Trump Jr. (on screen). Photo by Getty

Trump’s Stablecoin Push Set to Collide With Banks

By Yueqi Yang · Mar 31, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

New crypto legislation that could make stablecoins a far bigger part of the financial system is moving rapidly through Congress, putting banks on the defensive even before President Donald Trump jumped into the fray. Trump said he wanted stablecoin rules to be the first crypto legislation of his administration. The banks, caught off guard,... New crypto legislation that could make stablecoins a far bigger part of the financial system is...

Agility Robotics' Digit folds laundry at Web Summit 2024. Photo via Getty

Humanoid Robotics Startup Agility is Raising $400 Million

By Rocket Drew · Mar 31, 2025 9:04am PDT · 1 comment

Agility Robotics' Digit folds laundry at Web Summit 2024. Photo via Getty

Humanoid Robotics Startup Agility is Raising $400 Million

By Rocket Drew · Mar 31, 2025 9:04am PDT · 1 comment

Agility Robotics, a humanoid robot maker led by former Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson, is raising $400 million at a pre-investment valuation of $1.75 billion, according to a person who has seen the term sheet. The financing demonstrates how advances in artificial intelligence have sparked intensifying interest in the sector from... Agility Robotics, a humanoid robot maker led by former Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson, is...

Photo by Getty

XAI Makes Anthropic Look Cheap

By Amir Efrati · Mar 31, 2025 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

The main question after Elon Musk (somewhat predictably) merged xAI with X, which he announced late Friday, is how xAI will build a business the way OpenAI and Anthropic have.Musk says xAI is worth $80 billion. Fine. But Anthropic is privately worth $60 billion and is generating about $120 million a month in revenue. XAI’s revenue is probably a... The main question after Elon Musk (somewhat predictably) merged xAI with X, which he announced...

Art by Clark Miller

Some Musk Government Recruits Quietly Return to His Companies

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 31, 2025 6:00am PDT

When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, employees from SpaceX, Tesla and his other companies followed him there temporarily to help shake up the operations of the social media company. It wouldn’t be surprising, then, to see Musk employees who have decamped to Washington to assist his Department of Government Efficiency eventually go back to... When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, employees from SpaceX, Tesla and his other companies...

Photo: Getty

The Electric: Why Trump’s Directives Will Likely Hurt EVs

By Steve LeVine · Mar 31, 2025 5:53am PDT

In a pair of sweeping directives involving the auto industry the past two weeks, President Donald Trump did not attack electric vehicles, as he has in the past. But the moves nonetheless seem likely to hobble Western-made EVs. Already priced higher than most buyers are willing to pay, they likely will become far more expensive. In a pair of sweeping directives involving the auto industry the past two weeks, President Donald...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Some Large Cloud Customers Slow Down AI Spending as Prices Drop

By Aaron Holmes · Mar 29, 2025 9:13am PDT · 5 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

Some Large Cloud Customers Slow Down AI Spending as Prices Drop

By Aaron Holmes · Mar 29, 2025 9:13am PDT · 5 comments

Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks last year started adding artificial intelligence chatbots to its products to help customers get answers about their network security. The tools originally relied on state-of-the-art models from OpenAI and other firms. But Palo Alto Networks recently found that open-source models from DeepSeek, a Chinese... Cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks last year started adding artificial intelligence chatbots...

Art by ChatGPT (and Clark Miller)

OpenAI Goes Ghibli, Tech’s Secret Chats

By Abram Brown · Mar 29, 2025 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How the startup behind Cursor became the hottest, vibiest thing in AI• The Top 5: The lobbyists Silicon Valley loves to hire • Plus, our Recommendations: The indentured servants who excel at scams; an Anxious Generation villain; and the existential link between Mel Brooks and Leonard... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How the startup behind Cursor became the...

Art by Clark Miller

The Lobbyists Silicon Valley Loves to Hire

By Julia Black · Mar 29, 2025 6:00am PDT

In the second Donald Trump era, the separation between tech and politics appears vanishingly small. “Eight years ago, you’d never see a Tim Cook or Elon Musk in Mar-a-Lago. Now, you see them all the time,” said Brian Ballard, founder of Ballard Partners and one of the top lobbyists recommended to us by industry insiders. Federal lobbying... In the second Donald Trump era, the separation between tech and politics appears vanishingly...

Art via Clark Miller

Andreessen, Sequoia Recently Discussed Funding Voice AI Startup Sesame

By Sri Muppidi, Jon Victor and Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 28, 2025 6:26pm PDT

Sesame, a startup developing artificial intelligence voice assistants and wearable devices, is in talks to raise a new funding round, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Northstar.vc, a four-year-old investment firm that has backed messaging app Discord, recently discussed investing in... Sesame, a startup developing artificial intelligence voice assistants and wearable devices, is in...

Photo via Getty

By Martin Peers · Mar 28, 2025 3:38pm PDT · 2 comments

Photo via Getty

Musk Solves X

By Martin Peers · Mar 28, 2025 3:38pm PDT · 2 comments

We have one less company called X to worry about. Elon Musk took a break from cutting costs in the federal government to reveal late Friday that he had merged his X social media platform into his xAI startup. It was a surprising but not completely unexpected move, one that removes any impediments to the two firms sharing resources—and should... We have one less company called X to worry about. Elon Musk took a break from cutting costs in...

The Signal Scandal and DOGE Drama w/Ben Smith and Nicholas Carlson!

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 28, 2025 2:01pm PDT · 1 comment

On this week’s More or Less: Special guests Ben Smith and Nicholas Carlson help Brit and Jess break down the Signal scandal and fresh DOGE drama. Apple Spotify On this week’s More or Less: Special guests Ben Smith and Nicholas Carlson help Brit and Jess...

The Winners in CoreWeave’s IPO, and Why VCs Missed Out

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 28, 2025 9:25am PDT · 6 comments

CoreWeave’s initial public offering, which started trading today, had a rocky path to the market but delivered a windfall to Magnetar Capital. The investor bet big on the AI data center startup but presciently protected itself from the risk of big losses. Magnetar invested in CoreWeave when others wouldn’t touch it, and that helped it get the... CoreWeave’s initial public offering, which started trading today, had a rocky path to the market...

Photo via Getty

Pro Weekly: EToro Leads Crypto IPO Comeback

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 28, 2025 8:10am PDT

When it rains, it pours. March has been one of the busiest months in a while for tech companies filing to go public, so we’ve overhauled our IPO Tracker to help you keep track of the sudden burst of activity. Cloud provider CoreWeave priced its initial public offering on Thursday night, though with a smaller offering at a lower price than... When it rains, it pours. March has been one of the busiest months in a while for tech companies...

Art by Clark Miller

Move Over, OpenAI: How the Startup Behind Cursor Became the Hottest, Vibiest Thing in AI

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 28, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Move Over, OpenAI: How the Startup Behind Cursor Became the Hottest, Vibiest Thing in AI

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 28, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Every so often, a flashy startup hurtles to the white-hot center of the Silicon Valley zeitgeist, presenting an extraordinary encapsulation of a moment in time. For the past few years, it has been OpenAI. Now, arguably, it’s Anysphere, an AI startup run by four founders, all under age 30, that remained little known until quite recently. In quick... Every so often, a flashy startup hurtles to the white-hot center of the Silicon Valley zeitgeist,...

CoreWeave co-founder and CEO Michael Intrator. Photo via Getty

CoreWeave’s Shaky IPO Signal

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 27, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

CoreWeave is the first company trying to test Wall Street’s appetite for a new, tasty artificial intelligence offering. And investors don’t seem to like what they’re being served.The company priced its initial public offering tonight at $40 a share, putting a roughly $23 billion valuation on CoreWeave, according to CNBC. That’s way down from the... CoreWeave is the first company trying to test Wall Street’s appetite for a new, tasty artificial...

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Why a 30-Year-Old Magazine Is Embracing Creators

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 27, 2025 2:07pm PDT

Traditional media outlets are dealing with the rise of AI summaries on sites like Google and the popularity of chatbots, which threaten to siphon away traffic coming from search. At the same time, young people are increasingly getting their news from creators and social media. With these factors in mind, 30-year-old Fast Company launched a... Traditional media outlets are dealing with the rise of AI summaries on sites like Google and the...

Photo via Getty

Chinese Startup Behind Manus AI Agent Seeks $500 Million Valuation

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Mar 27, 2025 11:16am PDT

The Chinese startup that operates Manus, the artificial intelligence agent that became a viral hit in the U.S. earlier this month, is in talks with potential investors including U.S. venture capital firms to raise a new funding round at a valuation of at least $500 million, up around fivefold from its previous valuation, according to three... The Chinese startup that operates Manus, the artificial intelligence agent that became a viral...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Some AI Buyers Might Need to Hire More Engineers, Not Fewer

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2025 10:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Some AI Buyers Might Need to Hire More Engineers, Not Fewer

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2025 10:00am PDT

Many companies shelling out cash for artificial intelligence may be counting on the technology to reduce the number of software engineers they need. That’s not the case at Vanta, which sells compliance software to enterprises.As the $2.5 billion–valuation startup uses more AI to aid its 300-person sales organization, it’s hiring more engineers... Many companies shelling out cash for artificial intelligence may be counting on the technology to...