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 AI's booth at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo via Getty.

Meta’s AI May Not Be as Good for Ad Growth as Investors Think

By Anita Ramaswamy · Feb 13, 2025 6:00am PST

Meta Platforms has been this year’s artificial intelligence darling. The Facebook and Instagram parent’s shares are up roughly 24% so far in 2025, despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s declaration last month that the company would lift capital expenditures 60%, mostly to pay for AI development. The rally in Meta’s stock contrasts sharply with the anemic... Meta Platforms has been this year’s artificial intelligence darling. The Facebook and Instagram...

The Archer Midnight at the Dubai Air Show, November 2023. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Amid an Industry Bloodbath, Electric Aviation Startups Have Raised $2 Billion

By Steve LeVine · Feb 13, 2025 4:30am PST

Many electric vehicle and battery startups are in danger of running out of money before they can generate profits. By contrast, electric aviation startups are enjoying fundraising success that resembles the industry’s party days of 2020 and 2021, when investors were throwing money at EV and battery startups. Many electric vehicle and battery startups are in danger of running out of money before they can...

Photo via Getty

Reddit and AppLovin, the Young Turks of Digital Advertising

By Martin Peers · Feb 12, 2025 5:00pm PST

Oh, to be young again. That must be what folks at Google and Meta Platforms think when they look at the two digital-ad rocket ships of the past 12 months, AppLovin and Reddit. (Sure, Reddit is 20 years old, but it’s relatively new to the ad market.) That youth is demonstrated by how much their businesses, and their stocks, exploded last year.We... Oh, to be young again. That must be what folks at Google and Meta Platforms think when they look...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty

Anthropic Projects Soaring Growth to $34.5 Billion in 2027 Revenue

By Jon Victor and Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2025 4:07pm PST

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty

Anthropic Projects Soaring Growth to $34.5 Billion in 2027 Revenue

By Jon Victor and Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2025 4:07pm PST

After burning $5.6 billion in cash last year, Anthropic said it would reduce that amount by nearly half in 2025 and projected up to $3.7 billion in revenue for the year as it gains on OpenAI, according to two people who have viewed the company’s figures. Anthropic is also projecting that its revenue could grow to as high as $34.5 billion in... After burning $5.6 billion in cash last year, Anthropic said it would reduce that amount by...

Still from Poppi's 2025 Super Bowl commercial. Screenshot via YouTube.

Creator Economy

Why Poppi’s Super Bowl Creator Campaign Backfired

By Ann Gehan · Feb 12, 2025 2:45pm PST

Since its launch in 2020, soda startup Poppi has used social media and viral trends to spread the word about its low calorie sodas. It’s also made attention-grabbing partnerships with creators a big piece of its strategy. The brand hosted influencer Alix Earle in a Poppi-themed house at Coachella last year to promote the launch of its lemon lime... Since its launch in 2020, soda startup Poppi has used social media and viral trends to spread the...

Image via Shutterstock.

How Meme Coins Could Go Mainstream: Event Recap

By Rocket Drew · Feb 12, 2025 1:03pm PST

Crypto has been in the spotlight since the election of President Donald Trump, who has promised to ease regulations and make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world. What the crypto industry probably didn’t anticipate, however, is that Trump himself would also be at the center of a new mania—meme coins—that’s stoking trading... Crypto has been in the spotlight since the election of President Donald Trump, who has promised...

Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner.

OpenAI Investor Kushner Tells Startup’s Staff: Leaving Is a Bad Idea

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Feb 12, 2025 11:57am PST

How fierce is the fight for talent at OpenAI and its rivals?One sign came Tuesday when Josh Kushner, founder of major OpenAI investor Thrive Capital, gave a presentation to some of OpenAI’s staff. As part of his talk about why Thrive had committed over $1 billion to the ChatGPT maker, Kushner drove home this message: Leaving would be a bad... How fierce is the fight for talent at OpenAI and its rivals?One sign came Tuesday when Josh...

Masayoshi Son, left, and Vikas Parekh. Photos via Getty; Softbank

Masayoshi Son’s New Loyal Soldier on AI Megadeals

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2025 10:00am PST

Masayoshi Son, left, and Vikas Parekh. Photos via Getty; Softbank

Masayoshi Son’s New Loyal Soldier on AI Megadeals

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2025 10:00am PST

The last time SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son bet tens of billions of dollars on hot startups, he made snap decisions and took advice from a group of swashbuckling investors known as much for their infighting as for their deals. Today, he’s moving more deliberately and listening to people like Vikas J. Parekh, who has emerged as Son’s trusted deputy... The last time SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son bet tens of billions of dollars on hot startups, he made...

Photo of Elon Musk via Getty

Musk’s OpenAI Bid Leaves Door Open For Boardroom Activism

By Rocket Drew and Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2025 7:00am PST

As the OpenAI-Elon Musk drama bogged down in arguments about whether Musk’s group had actually sent the takeover offer to the board, another issue surfaced. While OpenAI is signalling it will dismiss the Musk-led group’s offer, it turns out any of OpenAI’s 10 board directors could take matters into their own hands. That’s because of a... As the OpenAI-Elon Musk drama bogged down in arguments about whether Musk’s group had actually ...

The Tech People Helping the Trump Administration Shake Up Government

By Julia Black · Feb 12, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

So far, most of the spotlight on Silicon Valley’s Washington invasion has focused on how Elon Musk and a band of young techies from his companies are scouring the federal government looking for waste. But a significant cohort of staff from other Valley firms are assuming outsize roles in the Trump administration as well. In fact, you could... So far, most of the spotlight on Silicon Valley’s Washington invasion has focused on how Elon...

Photos via Getty

Would Musk Be Better Than Altman at Running OpenAI?

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Here’s a question: If you had to choose between Sam Altman and Elon Musk as the best person to safeguard the future of humanity, who would you pick? It’s a tough choice—you can be forgiven if you say neither. A (slightly) easier question is: If you had to pick one of them to run OpenAI, who would it be? Conventional wisdom is that a... Here’s a question: If you had to choose between Sam Altman and Elon Musk as the best person to...

Photo via Getty

Will We Get a $1 Trillion Private Tech Firm?

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 11, 2025 3:29pm PST

Photo via Getty

Will We Get a $1 Trillion Private Tech Firm?

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 11, 2025 3:29pm PST

Will a private tech company reach a $1 trillion valuation in the coming years? It’s not a ridiculous question. A couple of companies seem like potential candidates. OpenAI is closing in on $300 billion in its financing with SoftBank, and SpaceX recently shot to $350 billion. Will a private tech company reach a $1 trillion valuation in the coming years? It’s not a...

Photo via Adobe

Creator Economy

The Aftermath of India’s TikTok Ban Holds Lessons for the U.S.

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 11, 2025 2:05pm PST

TikTok now has 53 days to figure out a deal to keep it alive in the U.S.—otherwise it will have to go dark again under a law passed last year. While President Donald Trump delayed enforcement of that law until early April and has signaled he wants to find a way for TikTok to stay in the U.S., it’s worth looking at what happened to the video app’... TikTok now has 53 days to figure out a deal to keep it alive in the U.S.—otherwise it will have...

Ready, Madrigal screenshots via Youtube.

What’s Working at Pinterest

By Jon Victor · Feb 11, 2025 10:00am PST

Two artificial intelligence trends have converged at Pinterest: the growing usefulness of AI in improving advertising, and how falling costs of such technology can benefit large application developers more than other types of companies.Pinterest is a bit of a rarity in AI. For years, the online scrapbooking company has trained its own AI models... Two artificial intelligence trends have converged at Pinterest: the growing usefulness of AI in...

Photos by Getty

The Strategy Behind Musk’s $97 Billion Bid for OpenAI

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Rocket Drew · Feb 11, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

You've got to hand it to Elon Musk: He is great at getting attention for his causes. In the latest example, the OpenAI cofounder-turned-rival made a $97.4 billion bid for the assets of OpenAI’s nonprofit—namely, control over the OpenAI for-profit arm that runs ChatGPT. This is all part of Musk’s monthslong effort to stop the for-profit from... You've got to hand it to Elon Musk: He is great at getting attention for his causes. In the...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Apple Partners With Alibaba to Develop AI Features for iPhone Users in China

By Qianer Liu and Jing Yang · Feb 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Apple Partners With Alibaba to Develop AI Features for iPhone Users in China

By Qianer Liu and Jing Yang · Feb 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Apple has recently started working with Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to roll out artificial intelligence features in China, according to one person with direct knowledge of the decision. The move is part of Apple’s strategy to offer more compelling software features to counter declining sales in the country, where it faces... Apple has recently started working with Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Feb. 7. Photo from Bloomberg via Getty Images

OpenAI Board Will Reject Musk’s ‘Embarrassing’ Takeover Bid, CEO Says

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Feb 10, 2025 7:46pm PST · 3 comments

Shortly after Elon Musk made a surprise $97 billion bid for OpenAI’s assets on Monday, its CEO Sam Altman told staff in a message that its board of directors intends to make clear it has no interest in Musk’s “supposed ‘bid’” and that the offer wasn’t in the interest of OpenAI’s mission to develop advanced artificial intelligence for all of... Shortly after Elon Musk made a surprise $97 billion bid for OpenAI’s assets on Monday, its CEO...

Photo via Getty.

Stripe Considers Employee Share Sale at $85 Billion Valuation or More

By Sri Muppidi · Feb 10, 2025 6:32pm PST

Stripe is considering arranging a sale of shares held by employees that would value the company at $85 billion or more, according to a person who has spoken to the company. The transaction would extend a series of share buybacks, secondary sales and fundraises that have lifted the payments provider’s valuation close to its $95 billion peak,... Stripe is considering arranging a sale of shares held by employees that would value the company...

Photo via AP

Musk’s Shrewd OpenAI Bid

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2025 5:00pm PST

Elon Musk’s ability to multitask has got to be one of his superpowers. In the past couple of weeks, he’s been all in on his contentious DOGE cost-cutting campaign for the Trump administration, a task he’s handling in addition to his CEO roles at Tesla and SpaceX. Today comes the news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, that he’s also... Elon Musk’s ability to multitask has got to be one of his superpowers. In the past couple of...

Aaron Ginn, cofounder and CEO of Hydra Host

The ‘GPU Whisperer’ Making Software for Data Centers

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 10, 2025 7:00am PST

Aaron Ginn, cofounder and CEO of Hydra Host

The ‘GPU Whisperer’ Making Software for Data Centers

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 10, 2025 7:00am PST

Is going “bare metal” in data centers the future for cloud computing? If so, it could signal a shift away from big cloud firms toward a new group of AI computing startups.Bare metal isn’t a subset of rock music but an industry term for renting servers to cloud customers on terms that give them access to the hardware, allowing customers to... Is going “bare metal” in data centers the future for cloud computing? If so, it could signal a...