The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg. David Zalubowski/AP.

Meta and Nvidia Renew Their Vows

By Martin Peers · Feb 17, 2026 5:00pm PST

Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to spend billions on Google AI chips—known as tensor processing units—for its data centers, Meta and Nvidia unveiled an expanded “multiyear, multigenerational strategic partnership.” Meta is a longtime Nvidia customer, of course, but it is recommitting... Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Could Share Up to $6.4 Billion With Amazon, Google and Microsoft in 2027

By Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff · Feb 17, 2026 4:46pm PST · 2 comments

Anthropic expects to pay Amazon, Google and Microsoft at least $80 billion to run its Claude AI on their cloud servers through 2029, according to the startup’s most optimistic recent forecasts. That’s not the only way the tech giants can make money from Anthropic: They get a cut of the revenue Anthropic generates if their customers buy its AI. ... Anthropic expects to pay Amazon, Google and Microsoft at least $80 billion to run its Claude AI...

A soldier operates an Anduril Ghost-X reconnaissance drone at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. Getty Images.

Anduril Fundraising Shows Defense Tech Is Still Red-Hot

By Katie Roof · Feb 17, 2026 4:19pm PST

In case you missed it on Friday, we broke the news that Anduril is in talks to double its valuation to around $60 billion in a new funding round.The round is notable for more than just its price. While Anduril technically has both A and I in its name, it’s not the AI-centric type of startup that typically gets all the investor attention in this... In case you missed it on Friday, we broke the news that Anduril is in talks to double its...

Ben McMillan, founder and chief investment officer at IDX Advisors. Photo via YouTube

How One Investment Firm is Using AI to Cut Software Costs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 17, 2026 10:37am PST

Ben McMillan, founder and chief investment officer at IDX Advisors. Photo via YouTube

How One Investment Firm is Using AI to Cut Software Costs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 17, 2026 10:37am PST

Brokerage stocks were among the latest stocks to sell off last week on fears artificial intelligence would replace the financial institutions’ role as investment advisers. While those worries may be overblown, it’s easy to see why traders are skittish. Take the case of IDX Advisors, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based asset management firm with... Brokerage stocks were among the latest stocks to sell off last week on fears artificial...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

China’s AI Giveaway War

By Juro Osawa · Feb 17, 2026 7:05am PST

U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get on the path to doing so. In China, the big tech firms behind AI chatbots are fighting a different battle.Chinese tech firms are competing so intensely to draw people to use their AI chatbots that they’re spending this week’s Lunar New Year holidays... U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get...

Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / Getty Images.

Pinterest Calls ‘Code Reds’ to Revive Growth Amid AI Threat

By Ann Gehan and Catherine Perloff · Feb 17, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

For the past three years, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready appeared to have secured a second chance for the scrapbooking app to prove itself to Wall Street. All that evaporated on Thursday night, when weaker fourth-quarter ad revenue prompted a sell-off that drove shares down 17% to their lowest level since April 2020. Even before the earnings report... For the past three years, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready appeared to have secured a second chance for...

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

AI Is Magnifying Google and Meta’s Edge in Ads

By Martin Peers · Feb 16, 2026 3:00pm PST

We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify in the Los Angeles trial hearing a lawsuit filed by a young California woman against big tech firms, namely Google and Meta. The woman claims her social media addiction led to depression and suicidal thoughts, as ... We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms...

Comedian Charlie Berens. Screenshots via YouTube.

No Joke: How Data Center Wars Distract From Real Solutions

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Feb 16, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Comedian Charlie Berens. Screenshots via YouTube.

AI Infrastructure

No Joke: How Data Center Wars Distract From Real Solutions

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Feb 16, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

(An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is a Wisconsin comedian beloved for wickedly funny, and until recently apolitical, satires of “Midwest Nice” culture. He’s now become Public Enemy No. 1 to data center developers and AI model makers. Berens is on a crusade to block data centers,... (An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is...

Art by Clark Miller

Let’s Spend $10 Trillion on AI That Improves the Real World, Not Just Ads

By John Hanke · Feb 16, 2026 6:00am PST · 8 comments

Four years ago, right around the time the concept of the metaverse became fashionable, I wrote a post calling it a “dystopian nightmare.” I argued that instead of diving into virtual worlds, we should all do more to connect with the real world around us. Time will tell if the metaverse will eventually come to fruition, but with global business... Four years ago, right around the time the concept of the metaverse became fashionable, I wrote a...

A driverless excavator at work near Austin, Texas. Photo: Courtesy Bedrock Robotics

The Electric: These Driverless Construction Vehicles Could Speed the Data Center Boom

By Steve LeVine · Feb 16, 2026 4:30am PST

Trey Taparauskas’ construction company is flooded with new business from a sizzling boom in the aerospace and data center industries in and around Austin, Texas. A stark shortage of skilled equipment operators, though, has made it hard to meet all the demand. Trey Taparauskas’ construction company is flooded with new business from a sizzling boom in the...

Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI in Advanced Talks to Hire OpenClaw Founder, Others Connected to Agent Project

By Jessica E. Lessin, Rocket Drew and Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 15, 2026 12:01pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI is in advanced discussions to hire OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger and a handful of other people helping to maintain the red hot open-source software for powering personal agents, according to two people directly involved in the discussions. If those efforts are successful, Steinberger and his team will likely work on personal agents... OpenAI is in advanced discussions to hire OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger and a handful of...

Art by Clark Miller; Image courtesy of SpaceX

SpaceX IPO Could Tap Hordes of Individual Investors

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 15, 2026 8:20am PST

Art by Clark Miller; Image courtesy of SpaceX

Sunday Insights

SpaceX IPO Could Tap Hordes of Individual Investors

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 15, 2026 8:20am PST

A potential record-setting SpaceX initial public offering has sent Wall Street into overdrive. Main Street wants a cut of the action. Bankers and institutional investors who talk to SpaceX executives have been debating how much the company should set aside for individual investors to buy at the IPO price—through brokerages including... A potential record-setting SpaceX initial public offering has sent Wall Street into overdrive....

Art by Clark Miller

AI Industry’s Big Flaw: No One Speaks Normie

By Abram Brown · Feb 14, 2026 8:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet the billionaire financier who has become AI’s debt whiz • Artificial Intelligence: CEOs find new management ethos from AI tools• Wearables: Techies find a surprise alternative use for Oura rings • The Top 5: An emergency guide for salvaging ski season• Plus, Recommendations—... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet the billionaire financier who has...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

Silicon Valley CEOs Find New Ethos From AI Tools: I’ll Do It Myself

By Abram Brown · Feb 14, 2026 6:00am PST · 7 comments

When the tech elite begin tossing around words like “paradise,” “superpower” and “nuclear bomb,” it’s a pretty good indication that Silicon Valley is going through another vibe shift. Just such a moment is happening now—with the industry’s machers obsessively pouring themselves into using the latest AI tools, including Claude Code, Google’... When the tech elite begin tossing around words like “paradise,” “superpower” and “nuclear bomb,”...

Art by Clark Miller

In Sickness and in Health: Wellness-Obsessed Techies Adopt Oura Rings as Wedding Bands

By Jemima McEvoy · Feb 14, 2026 5:23am PST

When AI researcher Sebastian Raschka got married in November 2023, he and his now-wife, Liza, went nontraditional. They wedded in Las Vegas at an Elvis-themed chapel, then celebrated by attending a U2 concert at the Sphere, the futuristic orb-shaped theater on the Strip. The Raschkas also bucked tradition in their selection of wedding rings,... When AI researcher Sebastian Raschka got married in November 2023, he and his now-wife, Liza,...

Art by Clark Miller

An Emergency Guide for Salvaging Ski Season

By Todd Plummer · Feb 14, 2026 5:22am PST · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

An Emergency Guide for Salvaging Ski Season

By Todd Plummer · Feb 14, 2026 5:22am PST · 3 comments

Here’s a cold dose of reality: This year’s ski season in the American West has been pretty bleak. Many of the reliable powder stashes of Utah, Colorado and California have struggled with record-low snowfalls, and the limited amount of terrain resorts have managed to keep open is covered in lackluster artificial snow. Vail Resorts, for instance,... Here’s a cold dose of reality: This year’s ski season in the American West has been pretty bleak....

Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, looks on during the UFC 324 event on January 24 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Getty Images)

Anduril Discusses New Funding at $60 Billion-Plus Valuation

By Katie Roof, Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Feb 13, 2026 4:40pm PST · 1 comment

Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise billions in new funding at a valuation of at least $60 billion including the new investment, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. The valuation would be roughly double the figure from its last private funding round in June. The funding would give the company more leeway to fund its... Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise billions in new funding at a valuation of at...

Grafana Labs CEO Raj Dutt. Screenshot via YouTube

Grafana Labs in Talk to Raise at $9 Billion Valuation

By Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · Feb 13, 2026 1:22pm PST

Grafana Labs, a software startup that helps companies monitor cloud and AI activity and spending, is finalizing a new funding round that would value it at about $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said. That’s up from $6.6 billion in a 2024 funding round. The funding talks follow Grafana’s growth in annual recurring revenue, which hit... Grafana Labs, a software startup that helps companies monitor cloud and AI activity and spending,...

Arif Janmohamed. Screenshot via YouTube/The Fabric.

Lightspeed Partner Behind Navan, Netskope to Launch New Firm

By Katie Roof · Feb 13, 2026 10:49am PST

Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Arif Janmohamed, one of the firm’s leading enterprise software investors, is reducing his involvement to launch a new early stage investment firm later this year, he said. Janmohamed joined Lightspeed in 2008 as one of its first employees and became a partner four years later. He is the latest in a wave of veteran VC... Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Arif Janmohamed, one of the firm’s leading enterprise software...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t reached Marc Lipschultz. He is co-CEO of Blue Owl Capital, a publicly traded investment firm that has struck a series of huge AI data center deals. And he’s gearing up for far more of them. Right now, he says Blue Owl is working on more than $100 billion... If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t...