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

Matthias Balk/Getty Images.

Microsoft’s Homegrown AI Chip Effort Shows Signs of Life After Slow Start

By Aaron Holmes and Qianer Liu · Aug 10, 2026 6:00am PDT

Microsoft is planning to significantly increase production of its internally designed next-generation AI chips next year in hopes of persuading big cloud customers like Anthropic to use them, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plans. That’s despite slow uptake of the current generation of Microsoft-designed chips, known as the... Microsoft is planning to significantly increase production of its internally designed...

Tobias Lutke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

AI’s Software Winners and Losers Are Becoming Clearer

By Martin Peers · Aug 9, 2026 3:00pm PDT

After last week’s earnings onslaught, things will likely quiet down this week. Aside from neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius, no major tech earnings announcements are scheduled, which gives us a chance to assess what we learned in the past week. One big takeaway is that the enterprise software sector has bifurcated between those firms that are... After last week’s earnings onslaught, things will likely quiet down this week. Aside from...

Microsoft EVP and CFO, Amy Hood. Getty Images.

AI Infrastructure

The Risks of Microsoft’s Relatively Restrained Capex

By Anita Ramaswamy · Aug 9, 2026 11:00am PDT

Microsoft came out of this summer’s earnings season looking like a prudent spender. Unlike rival cloud computing firms Amazon and Alphabet, which both burned cash thanks to their heavy AI investments, Microsoft not only generated $19.6 billion in free cash flow in the June quarter but forecast it will continue to generate cash for at least the... Microsoft came out of this summer’s earnings season looking like a prudent spender. Unlike rival...

Data Center Bans Top 500 as New York, Texas Join Pushback

By Shane Burke · Aug 9, 2026 8:00am PDT

Sunday Insights

Data Center Bans Top 500 as New York, Texas Join Pushback

By Shane Burke · Aug 9, 2026 8:00am PDT

Local government resistance to data center development accelerated this summer, a warning sign for big AI companies such as Anthropic, Google and OpenAI that are pinning their compute ambitions on data center expansion. In July alone, more than 150 towns and counties passed temporary or permanent bans on data centers, many adopted in emergency... Local government resistance to data center development accelerated this summer, a warning sign...

Art by Clark Miller

What the Anthropic IPO Could Mean for Shrimp Welfare and Other Obscure Causes

By Erin Woo · Aug 8, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

The coming initial public offerings of AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI could spell a windfall for San Francisco real estate agents, private jet companies—and wild animals. As AI employees with fast-appreciating stock look to start cashing out, philanthropies are talking to potential donors and preparing for a possible influx of cash. And... The coming initial public offerings of AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI could spell a windfall for...

Anthropic's Dario Amodei (left) and physicist Leo Szilard. Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Visiting Anthropic’s Favorite Atomic Author

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 8, 2026 8:01am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Sequoia’s new leaders go all out on AI. • Why U.S. robotics startups are stuffing parts from China in their luggage.• Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “What to Carry, What to Burn,” “The Secret Dinner” and “Arco”The West Seattle hillside home of Richard Rhodes, with... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Sequoia’s new leaders go all out on...

The Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Tex.. Photo by Getty.

Nvidia to Invest Up to $3 Billion in Blackstone-Backed Power Firm Behind Stargate

By Ann Davis Vaughan, Valida Pau and Phoebe Liu · Aug 7, 2026 6:23pm PDT

Nvidia has agreed to invest $2 billion into Lancium, the power infrastructure developer behind the OpenAI and Oracle AI campus in Texas, and has agreed to commit another $1 billion as the developer secures additional planned power, three people familiar with the transaction said. The deal values Lancium and its portfolio of land and power... Nvidia has agreed to invest $2 billion into Lancium, the power infrastructure developer behind...

Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cursor Maps Out Branding, Other Changes as SpaceX Acquisition Nears

By Grace Kay · Aug 7, 2026 12:17pm PDT · 1 comment

Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cursor Maps Out Branding, Other Changes as SpaceX Acquisition Nears

By Grace Kay · Aug 7, 2026 12:17pm PDT · 1 comment

Cursor told staff at an all-hands meeting on Thursday that SpaceX could complete its $60 billion acquisition of the coding startup as soon as the end of next week, and flagged that the Cursor brand name will likely be phased out for new products in the coming months, people familiar with the matter said. For instance, Cursor’s upcoming... Cursor told staff at an all-hands meeting on Thursday that SpaceX could complete its $60 billion...

Harvey CEO and co-founder Winston Weinberg. Getty Images.

Harvey in Talks to Raise Funding at $15.5 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Julia Hornstein · Aug 7, 2026 9:54am PDT

Legal AI startup Harvey is in talks to raise at least $500 million at a $15.5 billion valuation including the investment, a 40% premium to its last valuation five months ago. The fundraising follows a revenue surge at the legal AI startup, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraise. Four-year-old Harvey is currently generating more... Legal AI startup Harvey is in talks to raise at least $500 million at a $15.5 billion valuation...

Art by Clark Miller

Why U.S. Robotics Startups Are Stuffing Parts From China in Luggage

By Qianer Liu, Steve LeVine, Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Aug 7, 2026 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

On a muggy morning in April, a venture capitalist from San Francisco arrived in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen with a long shopping list. His friends at U.S. robotic startups had asked him to bring back humanoids and various robotic components from China. He headed to Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei district, the world’s biggest electronics... On a muggy morning in April, a venture capitalist from San Francisco arrived in China’s southern...

AWS CEO Matt Garman. Getty Images.

AWS Tells Engineers to Cut CPU Waste Amid Crunch

By Catherine Perloff · Aug 7, 2026 6:00am PDT

Amazon Web Services leaders met with engineers in May and delivered a sobering message: To ensure AWS has enough capacity for all its customers at its popular EC2 cloud server business in the future, engineers should save capacity however they can, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. That includes capacity on servers that run on... Amazon Web Services leaders met with engineers in May and delivered a sobering message: To ensure...

Photo by YouTube

Missile Interceptor Startup Furientis Attracts Blue-Chip Investors

By Leo Schwartz and Julia Hornstein · Aug 6, 2026 5:38pm PDT

Photo by YouTube

Missile Interceptor Startup Furientis Attracts Blue-Chip Investors

By Leo Schwartz and Julia Hornstein · Aug 6, 2026 5:38pm PDT

Over the last year, we’ve seen more generalist venture capital firms make forays into defense tech, a niche once relegated to specialized investors comfortable with revenue based on uneven government contracts and who weren’t restricted from investing in weapons makers by their limited partners. Furientis, a startup founded last year that... Over the last year, we’ve seen more generalist venture capital firms make forays into defense...

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

SoftBank’s OpenAI-Backed Loan Highlights Risks in Financing Strategy

By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

If you’re one of those executives at Alphabet, Meta Platforms or Amazon who deals with investors, here’s an idea: Put a large photo of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on the wall of your office. Next time a visiting investor complains about your AI spending, point to the photo. That should end the discussion.As much as big tech firms are spending on... If you’re one of those executives at Alphabet, Meta Platforms or Amazon who deals with investors,...

Art by Clark Miller

Figma, Canva Showing Growing Pains of AI Pivot

By Laura Bratton · Aug 6, 2026 3:05pm PDT

Welcome back!Software companies have been at pains to flaunt the success of their AI products, as they seek to dispel investor fears that AI apps are threatening their existence. Two reports this week show that developing popular AI products is only half the challenge. Canva, the design software company popular among students and business... Welcome back!Software companies have been at pains to flaunt the success of their AI products, as...

Canva CEO Melanie Perkins. Photo by Nina Franova/Getty Images

Canva Hits AI Speedbump on Costs, ChatGPT Competition

By Cory Weinberg and Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 6, 2026 1:26pm PDT · 2 comments

Executives at Canva, the design software app with more than 200 million users, had high hopes for a rollout of AI tools that marked the biggest product launch in the startup’s 13-year history. Instead, the privately held company has dealt with a series of stumbles related to AI. First, the unexpected popularity of new AI features drove up the... Executives at Canva, the design software app with more than 200 million users, had high hopes for...

Panthalassa Ocean-2, a prototype data center node off the coast of Washington state. YouTube.

Ocean-Powered Data Center Startup Set to Double Valuation to $2 Billion

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 6, 2026 11:06am PDT

Panthalassa Ocean-2, a prototype data center node off the coast of Washington state. YouTube.

Ocean-Powered Data Center Startup Set to Double Valuation to $2 Billion

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 6, 2026 11:06am PDT

AI data centers need boatloads of power, a need that’s set off a flood of investment into startups harnessing nuclear or solar energy to run the servers. Now one startup is raising money to power AI from a different source: the ocean. Panthalassa, a 10-year old startup making technology that aims to generate electricity from the movement of... AI data centers need boatloads of power, a need that’s set off a flood of investment into...

Art by Clark Miller.

Nvidia Weighs Radical Idea: Less Rubin Ultra Chip Memory

By Qianer Liu and Phoebe Liu · Aug 6, 2026 9:16am PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia is weighing a radical step to deal with a shortage of advanced high-bandwidth memory chips: using less of it than planned in its next-generation graphics processing unit, the Rubin Ultra. Over the past few weeks, Nvidia has been testing at least three versions of the Rubin Ultra GPU, some of which have less memory than what the company... Nvidia is weighing a radical step to deal with a shortage of advanced high-bandwidth memory...

In Harbinger Motors' Garden Grove, Calif. assembly factory. Photo: Courtesy Harbinger.

Amid the EV Wreckage, Harbinger Motors Says Unsexy Van Chassis Pay Off

By Steve LeVine · Aug 6, 2026 9:01am PDT

Amid the electric vehicle frenzy at the beginning of the decade, U.S. and European carmakers rushed into EV development programs costing tens of billions of dollars each, while EV startups raised additional billions from investors expecting a bonanza in returns. Amid the electric vehicle frenzy at the beginning of the decade, U.S. and European carmakers...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Rain AI CEO Jack Kendall. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

OpenAI Acquired Patents from Altman-Backed AI Chip Startup Following Failed Acquisition

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 6, 2026 7:06am PDT · 1 comment

There’s no question that some of the companies OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in—like chipmaker Cerebras and nuclear fusion firm Helion Energy—have benefitted from doing business with the firm Altman leads. However, just because Altman is an investor in a startup doesn’t mean that OpenAI will be that helpful.Take AI chip startup Rain AI,... There’s no question that some of the companies OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in—like...

Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

How Dario Amodei Spread Anthropic’s Religion and Stirred Up Silicon Valley

By Cory Weinberg, Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Aug 6, 2026 6:00am PDT · 9 comments

Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

How Dario Amodei Spread Anthropic’s Religion and Stirred Up Silicon Valley

By Cory Weinberg, Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Aug 6, 2026 6:00am PDT · 9 comments

An Anthropic meeting with investors and advisers earlier this year landed amid a historic run of corporate success. But public perception of AI was abysmal. One director suggested Anthropic use its new clout to go on a charm offensive like those Microsoft, Facebook and other tech giants engaged in during their boom years, to emphasize AI’s... An Anthropic meeting with investors and advisers earlier this year landed amid a historic run of...