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

Charles Lamanna. Screenshot via YouTube/ Microsoft Developer; art by Mike Sullivan

How Microsoft’s New Office Chief Fixed Copilot and Won Over Nadella

By Aaron Holmes · Oct 12, 2026 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

In the summer of 2025, Microsoft was fielding customer complaints that its AI assistant, Copilot, was buggy and not good enough at automating work in Excel or PowerPoint. In response, Charles Lamanna, then a Microsoft president and rising star within the giant firm, went to CEO Satya Nadella with a bold proposal: Microsoft needed to consider... In the summer of 2025, Microsoft was fielding customer complaints that its AI assistant, Copilot,...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Getty Images.

Amazon’s Bargains Include Its Stock

By Martin Peers · Oct 11, 2026 3:01pm PDT

It’s the quiet before the storm of earnings season, which starts in a week or two. While we wait for the third-quarter updates, here’s a thought: Investor enthusiasm for semiconductor stocks and blue-sky vision companies like SpaceX appears to have sucked money out of stocks of long-established tech companies. Some are now trading at... It’s the quiet before the storm of earnings season, which starts in a week or two. While we wait...

A protester in Provo, Utah on Oct. 7.Photo by Charles-McClintock Wilson/NurPhoto via Getty

How to Get Your Data Center Approved? Behave Like An Oil Company

By Steve LeVine · Oct 11, 2026 2:01pm PDT · 1 comment

AI data centers might be encountering a lot less community pushback in the U.S. if their developers thought of their projects like oilfields and spread the expected coming windfall much more freely, says Brian Janous, co-founder of Cloverleaf Infrastructure. AI data centers might be encountering a lot less community pushback in the U.S. if their...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

The Attractive Economics Behind Anthropic Data Center Sprint

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Oct 11, 2026 8:01am PDT · 7 comments

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

AI Infrastructure

The Attractive Economics Behind Anthropic Data Center Sprint

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Oct 11, 2026 8:01am PDT · 7 comments

Why is Anthropic driving its partners to speed up the $530 billion of data center leasing deals it has signed? It’s simple: Every server Anthropic plugs in sooner to run its products could be wildly profitable, according to fresh analysis of upcoming AI data center sites, including one Anthropic will rent outside Baton Rouge, La. Why is Anthropic driving its partners to speed up the $530 billion of data center leasing deals...

Zuckerberg’s Big Biotech Moment

Zuckerberg’s Big Biotech Moment

By Amy Dockser Marcus · Oct 10, 2026 8:01am PDT

• The Big Read: Meet Zach Frankel, the secretive investor behind Cognition, Ramp• Why techies are hoarding AI compute in their homes• Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The AGI Chronicles” and “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother”Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta Platforms, was only six years... • The Big Read: Meet Zach Frankel, the secretive investor behind Cognition, Ramp• Why techies are...

Art by Clark Miller; Nano Banana

GPUs in the Wine Cellar: Why Techies Are Hoarding AI Compute in Their Homes

By Nick Wingfield and Aaron Tilley · Oct 10, 2026 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

The basement of Gary Flake’s contemporary home in a quiet neighborhood in Bellevue, Wash., is furnished with everything you’d expect in a multipurpose man cave. There’s a cozy-looking couch situated between a large screen and a digital projector, a Peloton treadmill and a rowing machine. The real showpiece of the space, however, is a custom... The basement of Gary Flake’s contemporary home in a quiet neighborhood in Bellevue, Wash., is...

Images via Getty Images

China’s AI Model Race Is Just Getting More Crowded

By Juro Osawa · Oct 9, 2026 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Imagine Epic Games, Apple and DoorDash were developing their own large language models now from scratch to compete against the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. That’s basically what’s happening in China, where a trio of big names from other parts of the tech industry have jumped into an already-crowded race to make cutting-edge AI. MiHoYo, a... Imagine Epic Games, Apple and DoorDash were developing their own large language models now from...

Ramin Farjadrad, Eliyan Co-founder & CEO. Art by Clark Miller; TITV.

Networking Startup Eliyan Draws Takeover Interest, Held Early Talks With Arm

By Valida Pau · Oct 8, 2026 5:15pm PDT

Ramin Farjadrad, Eliyan Co-founder & CEO. Art by Clark Miller; TITV.

Networking Startup Eliyan Draws Takeover Interest, Held Early Talks With Arm

By Valida Pau · Oct 8, 2026 5:15pm PDT

Semiconductor M&A has been humming. One of the next deals could be for Eliyan, whose technology allows separate chips inside an AI system to talk to one another more quickly and efficiently. The five-year-old startup, valued at $1 billion in July, has notified some of its investors in the last few days that it received a takeover bid,... Semiconductor M&A has been humming. One of the next deals could be for Eliyan, whose...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Getty Images.

OpenAI ARR Snafu Highlights Flawed Metric

By Martin Peers · Oct 8, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

Here’s a news flash: The quasi-revenue numbers for OpenAI that got wide circulation last week were off— way off. Instead of $70 billion in annualized revenue, as we and others reported, OpenAI is generating closer to $50 billion in annualized revenue (sometimes shortened to ARR). A Financial Times report of the lower number on Thursday... Here’s a news flash: The quasi-revenue numbers for OpenAI that got wide circulation last week...

Photo via Getty

Nvidia to Invest in Chip Rival d-Matrix as Its Challengers Choose Partnership

By Phoebe Liu and Valida Pau · Oct 8, 2026 4:24pm PDT

Nvidia plans to invest in d-Matrix, a seven-year-old developer of server chips for AI that aims to compete with Nvidia, according to three people with knowledge of the deal. The planned investment is part of Nvidia’s effort to make its technology compatible with rival chip designers and bring them into its dominant hardware ecosystem, even as it... Nvidia plans to invest in d-Matrix, a seven-year-old developer of server chips for AI that aims...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The Information Finance

AI’s Boom Has Infrastructure Investors Looking at Garbage

By Alex Eichenstein · Oct 8, 2026 1:11pm PDT

The investing frenzy in data centers that the AI boom sparked has created a bargain-hunting opportunity—in everything but AI assets.AI has pulled investors’ attention away from unglamorous assets in sectors like transportation and waste management over the past few years, as they have poured billions into data centers and related AI... The investing frenzy in data centers that the AI boom sparked has created a bargain-hunting...

Art: Mike Sullivan.

Chinese Open Models Win Over One in Five of The Information’s Subscribers

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2026 11:11am PDT

Art: Mike Sullivan.

Chinese Open Models Win Over One in Five of The Information’s Subscribers

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2026 11:11am PDT

Nearly two-thirds of The Information’s subscribers surveyed last month said their organizations develop AI applications, and a third of subscribers said they receive a return from AI that is a “multiple of what we spend.” The result suggests enterprises have made some progress since the Massachusetts Institute of Technology study last year that... Nearly two-thirds of The Information’s subscribers surveyed last month said their organizations...

Art by Mike Sullivan; Getty Images

How OpenAI Beat Math

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 8, 2026 8:00am PDT

Mathematicians are likely feeling the kind of anxiety that software engineers have experienced for months in the wake of OpenAI release on Tuesday of a whopping 722 research papers with AI-created solutions to a range of problems across math subjects. AI’s success solving ultra-difficult math problems—even though it still makes mistakes... Mathematicians are likely feeling the kind of anxiety that software engineers have experienced...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How Amazon Rewired Its Data Centers After Mississippi Power Warning

By Catherine Perloff · Oct 8, 2026 7:33am PDT

Earlier this year, officials at Mississippi electric utility Entergy had some worrisome news for Amazon: It was going to have to start kicking the company’s Mississippi-based data centers off the grid during peak times to ensure it could support other customers, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Amazon’s cloud unit, Amazon... Earlier this year, officials at Mississippi electric utility Entergy had some worrisome news for...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Shroud of Secrecy Cloaks Star Investor Behind Cognition, Ramp

By Jemima McEvoy · Oct 8, 2026 6:03am PDT · 2 comments

Last month, Zach Dell, son of billionaire Michael Dell and cofounder of Base Power, a billion-dollar battery startup, was gabbing with podcaster David Senra when Senra asked him which of his investors have been the most helpful to him. Dell’s three-year-old company has many prominent backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital... Last month, Zach Dell, son of billionaire Michael Dell and cofounder of Base Power, a...

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI's Simmering Question: "Where the F--- Is All the Automation?"

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 7, 2026 5:20pm PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI's Simmering Question: "Where the F--- Is All the Automation?"

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 7, 2026 5:20pm PDT · 1 comment

A new age of discovery and automation is here. Can you feel it? The leading AI companies certainly can. But you may not.The rare slow news day gave us more time to marinate on the significance of OpenAI’s late-breaking announcement on Tuesday that its unreleased AI model had solved or made major progress on hundreds of significant problems in... A new age of discovery and automation is here. Can you feel it? The leading AI companies...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Ex-Trump AI Adviser Sriram Krishnan Targets Raising a $500 Million Venture Fund

By Leo Schwartz · Oct 7, 2026 12:08pm PDT

Sriram Krishnan, a key AI adviser to President Donald Trump who left the White House in June, is raising an AI-focused venture fund, according to three people familiar with the matter. The fund will target raising around $500 million to invest in growth- and later-stage companies, the people said. Before joining the Trump administration,... Sriram Krishnan, a key AI adviser to President Donald Trump who left the White House in June, is...

Xeal will protect Nvidia compute racks in metal containers, and locate them near its EV chargers. Photo: Courtesy Xeal.

Raising $2 Billion to Turn Idle EV Charging Stations Into Power for the AI Boom

By Steve LeVine · Oct 7, 2026 12:01pm PDT

Here’s a new approach to powering AI computing capacity—using electric vehicle charging stations. That’s an idea being pursued by EV charging startup Xeal, which hopes to raise some $2 billion in debt financing over the next 18 months to back the idea. Here’s a new approach to powering AI computing capacity—using electric vehicle charging stations....

Partner Content

AI Agenda Live: From Token Maxing to Value maxing: Getting More From Every Unit of Compute

By The Information Partnerships · Oct 7, 2026 8:34am PDT

In AI circles, conversations about compute shortages are as common as talk of the weather. As agentic workflows threatento multiply token consumption further, it’s little wonder that talk has shifted from securing GPUs to optimizing them. At a recent panel, The Information’s Phoebe Liu sat down with three AI leaders—from chipmakers and AI clouds... In AI circles, conversations about compute shortages are as common as talk of the weather. As...

Art via Getty Images

Former Tesla Optimus Lead is Launching an Industrial Robot Startup

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 7, 2026 7:01am PDT

Art via Getty Images

Former Tesla Optimus Lead is Launching an Industrial Robot Startup

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 7, 2026 7:01am PDT

Ashish Kumar, a former AI lead for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots, has co-founded a startup developing non-humanoid robots that handle a variety of tasks that would normally be done by highly skilled workers in industries such as manufacturing and aerospace, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The San Francisco... Ashish Kumar, a former AI lead for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots, has co-founded a startup...