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

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg via Getty

Meta Discusses AI Data Center Project That Could Cost $200 Billion

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 25, 2025 4:46pm PST · 4 comments

Meta Platforms is in talks to build a new data center campus for its artificial intelligence endeavors that would dwarf anything the company has done to date and would be among the biggest of its kind, according to two people who have spoken to Meta executives about it. Based on the number of chips and the amount of power the company is... Meta Platforms is in talks to build a new data center campus for its artificial intelligence...

The New York Stock Exchange floor earlier this year. Photo via Getty.

What’s at Stake for Upcoming ‘Jumbo’ IPOs

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 25, 2025 4:30pm PST

I’m overcaffeinated from a string of meetings in San Francisco this week. I’m asking people how long the venture capital industry can keep pouring money into startups without getting much cash back from initial public offerings or mergers. One manager compared this dynamic to a traffic jam. We’ll soon know whether this backlog will... I’m overcaffeinated from a string of meetings in San Francisco this week. I’m asking people how...

Cohesity CEO Sanjay Poonen. Photo via Getty

Cohesity Plans Employee Share Sale, Deferring IPO

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 25, 2025 3:31pm PST

One of enterprise software’s bitter rivalries—between data security firms Rubrik and Cohesity—came to a head last year when Rubrik went public in an offering with a nearly $7 billion valuation. Now Cohesity, which is still private, is pitching investors on the notion that it’s the better deal. The Santa Clara, Calif.–based... One of enterprise software’s bitter rivalries—between data security firms Rubrik and...

Dorsey founder Meg Strachan. Photos via Dorsey.

Can Substack Be the New Instagram?

By Ann Gehan · Feb 25, 2025 2:00pm PST

Dorsey founder Meg Strachan. Photos via Dorsey.

Creator Economy

Can Substack Be the New Instagram?

By Ann Gehan · Feb 25, 2025 2:00pm PST

Meg Strachan, founder of lab-grown jewelry line Dorsey, knows firsthand the power of creator marketing. But these days, she’s not as interested in yet another partnership with an Instagram or TikTok creator to promote the brand: Instead, Strachan is branching out by teaming up with creators on newer platforms including Substack. Meg Strachan, founder of lab-grown jewelry line Dorsey, knows firsthand the power of creator...

Photo by Shutterstock

Ozempic Maker Says AI Is Finally Reliable Enough to Produce Sensitive Documents

By Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · Feb 25, 2025 10:00am PST

Multinational companies in regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and insurance have been somewhat reluctant to adopt generative artificial intelligence to handle legally sensitive documents due to the risk of AI-generated mistakes.That seems to be changing. Take Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind Ozempic. The company for years has... Multinational companies in regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and insurance have been...

Photo by Shutterstock

Why xAI and Anthropic’s New Products Matter

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 25, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

If you’ve been on X at all in the last few days, you’ve probably come across posts in which people described jailbreaking xAI’s new Grok 3 model. For instance, one person asked the chatbot how to make chemical weapons, while another revealed instructions xAI gave the model to stop it from saying that Elon Musk is the top spreader of... If you’ve been on X at all in the last few days, you’ve probably come across posts in which...

Lady Gaga at the Launch of Haus Labs by Lady Gaga at Sephora in 2022. Photo by Getty

Investors Sour on Celebrity Brands After Spree of Launches

By Ann Gehan · Feb 25, 2025 6:02am PST

These days, it seems like every celebrity wants to start their own brand. Just look at Robert Downey Jr., who raised venture money last year for a coffee company he co-founded, or the gamers-slash-boxers-slash-influencers launching their own energy drinks, men’s body wash and more. But investors say they’re overwhelmed by pitches for... These days, it seems like every celebrity wants to start their own brand. Just look at Robert...

Photo via Getty

How Apple Turned Regular Business Spending Into a $500 Billion ‘Expansion’

By Martin Peers · Feb 24, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

How Apple Turned Regular Business Spending Into a $500 Billion ‘Expansion’

By Martin Peers · Feb 24, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

This is what passes for news nowadays? On Monday, Apple grabbed plenty of headlines with its claim that it will “spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. in the next four years.” That sounds like a big deal—until you read further down in the announcement and realize it’s simply describing the money Apple spends in the normal course of... This is what passes for news nowadays? On Monday, Apple grabbed plenty of headlines with its...

ByBit CEO Ben Zhou. Photo via Getty.

Bybit Takes Loans From Rivals After Record Crypto Hack

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 24, 2025 1:52pm PST

Rival crypto exchanges are stepping in to shore up the finances of the world’s third biggest exchange, Bybit, after hackers stole $1.4 billion from the firm last week. In doing so, the crypto industry is hoping to calm investor worries that the hack could lead to another FTX-like implosion. Several exchanges, including Bitget and MEXC, have made... Rival crypto exchanges are stepping in to shore up the finances of the world’s third biggest...

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

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

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

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

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

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...