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

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

Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank. Photo by Akio Kon/ Getty Images

How SoftBank’s OpenAI Bet Could Benefit CEO Son

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2026 5:00pm PST

The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed some personal financial risk in the company’s big OpenAI investment.A little-noticed disclosure in SoftBank’s earnings report released Thursday said that Son no longer was on the hook for the roughly $1 billion personal guarantee he had pledged so a... The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed...

Jonathan Ross, CEO of Groq. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/ Getty Images

Groq Shareholders Get a $7.6 Billion Payout

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 12, 2026 3:22pm PST

It’s been more than a month since Nvidia entered an agreement, made public on Christmas Eve, to license the technology of chip startup Groq and hire its top executives including CEO Jonathan Ross. Now the terms of the deal are coming into focus. Groq told shareholders last month it expected to receive $17 billion in cash from Nvidia... It’s been more than a month since Nvidia entered an agreement, made public on Christmas Eve, to...

Artwork by Clark Miller

Who Can Afford the AI Buildout? Follow the Balance Sheets

By The Information Staff · Feb 12, 2026 12:39pm PST · 1 comment

The soaring cost and operational risk of building AI infrastructure—especially as companies race to deploy next-generation Nvidia chips—are driving a clear split in how the industry finances growth. Tech incumbents like Microsoft and Google are leaning on scale, credit strength and partnerships to spread risk, while challengers such... The soaring cost and operational risk of building AI infrastructure—especially as companies...

Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

The Looming Battle Over Agent Management Software

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Feb 12, 2026 11:05am PST

Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

The Looming Battle Over Agent Management Software

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Feb 12, 2026 11:05am PST

The next big AI battleground will be centered on software for managing agents, helping businesses handle the growing suite of AI agents they’re using from different providers, as we reported today. On that front, the older enterprise software firms feel they have advantages over OpenAI and Anthropic.That advantage boils down to software firms’... The next big AI battleground will be centered on software for managing agents, helping businesses...

Thomas Lee, chairman of BitMine and CIO of Fundstrat, speaks on stage during the Consensus Hong Kong at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on February 11, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty

Reporter's Notebook

Downbeat Crypto Sector Looks to AI for Rescue

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 12, 2026 8:17am PST · 1 comment

Crypto’s market crash has prompted much soul-searching within the industry, I learned at this week’s annual crypto Consensus conference in Hong Kong. The answer: To stay relevant, the industry must tie its fate with the AI boom. I find the crypto industry’s hopes for an AI rescue somewhat ironic, given that AI has siphoned capital and talent... Crypto’s market crash has prompted much soul-searching within the industry, I learned at this...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Problem With World Models

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like worlds where users are playing as a dog on a sunny beach, a vial of poison in the play Hamlet or a pack of cigarettes on the floor of Penn Station. These videos, generated with Google’s Genie 3 model, highlight the promise of so-called world... If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like...

Art via Mike Sullivan

A New AI Superagent Race Is Pitting OpenAI and Anthropic Against Microsoft and Salesforce

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 12, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Even as Anthropic and OpenAI unnerve stock market investors with business-focused AI products that could undermine existing enterprise software firms, the software incumbents are trying to catch up. Companies ranging from Microsoft to ServiceNow and Snowflake have come out with products designed to help customers develop AI agents, sometimes... Even as Anthropic and OpenAI unnerve stock market investors with business-focused AI products...

Ukraine's Vampire kamikaze drone. Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu/Gett

Exclusive From The Electric: These U.S. Startups Are Developing Superbatteries for Long-Range Combat Drones

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2026 4:30am PST

Ukraine's Vampire kamikaze drone. Photo: Jose Colon/Anadolu/Gett

Exclusive From The Electric: These U.S. Startups Are Developing Superbatteries for Long-Range Combat Drones

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2026 4:30am PST

The Department of Energy is developing superbatteries that would substantially extend the range of combat drones such as those used by Ukraine. The greater range would allow the drones to conduct surveillance or drop munitions much further behind enemy lines than is currently possible. The Department of Energy is developing superbatteries that would substantially extend the range...

Wall Street traders last week. Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

Shopify, Unity Get Slammed by Anxious Market

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2026 5:00pm PST

Talk about unforgiving! The great enterprise stock sell-off of 2026 recommenced on Wednesday, and it dragged down a couple of companies—Unity Software and Shopify—after they each reported decent December-quarter earnings. Shares of Shopify, most egregiously, fell as much as 12% after the e-commerce software platform said its first-quarter... Talk about unforgiving! The great enterprise stock sell-off of 2026 recommenced on Wednesday, and...

Musk Restructures xAI Team Amid Senior Departures, SpaceX Merger

By Theo Wayt · Feb 11, 2026 12:01pm PST

Elon Musk has overhauled xAI’s leadership structure following its merger with SpaceX and as he pressures the AI firm to accelerate progress on Grok AI models, The Information’s latest org chart for the combined company shows. The changes coincide with an exodus of senior leaders. Just half of xAI’s 12 founding staffers, including Musk,... Elon Musk has overhauled xAI’s leadership structure following its merger with SpaceX and as he...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Information Finance

How Chinese Fintech Giant Ant Uses AI to Help Banks Hedge Currency Risks

By Jing Yang · Feb 11, 2026 8:00am PST

Will AI make investment bankers and traders irrelevant? That's one of the most talked-about questions in finance these days.In reality, banks are already feeling the impact of AI on their behind-the-scenes plumbing, where payments, cash management, treasury and foreign exchange operations are embracing AI models to cut costs in these notoriously... Will AI make investment bankers and traders irrelevant? That's one of the most talked-about...

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenAI Uses ChatGPT to Catch ‘Leakers’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 11, 2026 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenAI Uses ChatGPT to Catch ‘Leakers’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 11, 2026 7:00am PST

Here at The Information, we’re always trying to break through the hype to understand how folks are actually using AI in the real world. And recently, I came across a new application of AI that I can’t say I had ever heard of before: using ChatGPT to catch so-called leakers.When a news story about OpenAI’s internal activities is published,... Here at The Information, we’re always trying to break through the hype to understand how folks...

Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow. Photo by Victor J. Blue/ Getty Images

What Investors Are Missing About ServiceNow

By Anita Ramaswamy · Feb 11, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Software stocks have started to recover after last week’s disastrous sell-off, but hardly enough to reverse a rout that has plagued the sector since fears that AI would render its products irrelevant took root. Several big-name software stocks, including ServiceNow, Adobe and Workday, are now trading at their lowest valuations in a decade. That... Software stocks have started to recover after last week’s disastrous sell-off, but hardly enough...

Elon Musk. Photo by Brendan Smialowsk/Getty Images

The Risk of the Muskiverse's Steady Turnover

By Theo Wayt · Feb 10, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Working at an Elon Musk company is rarely a stable gig. Musk is known to be an extremely demanding boss, and when he’s focused on a problem, heads will usually roll, either because he fires people or makes their lives so miserable they quit. That seems to have been the case again this week, with major executives at both xAI and Tesla heading for... Working at an Elon Musk company is rarely a stable gig. Musk is known to be an extremely...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft. Photo by Getty Images

A SpaceX IPO Would Be a Tailwind for SPVs

By Katie Roof · Feb 10, 2026 4:06pm PST · 2 comments

Maybe the “dumb money” isn’t so dumb after all. Over the last two years, Silicon Valley has been flooded with special purpose vehicles that promise individual investors a way to own shares in OpenAI, Anthropic and other buzzy startups. These often seemed like a sure way for individuals to lose money, thanks to exorbitant fees and the funds’... Maybe the “dumb money” isn’t so dumb after all. Over the last two years, Silicon Valley has...

Entire founder Thomas Dohmke. Credit: Mustafa Yalcin/Getty Images

GitHub’s Ex-CEO Bets On a Future in Which Humans No Longer Look at Computer Code

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 10, 2026 10:41am PST

Entire founder Thomas Dohmke. Credit: Mustafa Yalcin/Getty Images

GitHub’s Ex-CEO Bets On a Future in Which Humans No Longer Look at Computer Code

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 10, 2026 10:41am PST

Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, an AI agent that has taken the developer world by storm, recently made a stunning statement: he doesn’t even look at much of the AI-generated code he uses to make the agent. That could soon become the norm for a majority of people developing applications, said former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. This... Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, an AI agent that has taken the developer world by storm,...

Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/ Getty Images.

ChatGPT Shopping Could Get Complicated Fast

By Ann Gehan · Feb 10, 2026 10:04am PST

OpenAI has touted shopping inside ChatGPT as a major business opportunity as it tries to raise tens of billions in fresh cash. Meanwhile, the company is still nailing down some online commerce basics. That includes figuring out the best way to navigate state sales taxes—people working on commerce inside OpenAI still haven’t decided how it... OpenAI has touted shopping inside ChatGPT as a major business opportunity as it tries to raise...

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenClaw Learns New Things

By Rocket Drew · Feb 10, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink the math behind today’s AI models. But developers have found a more immediate and practical workaround to get AI to continually learn: “skills.” A skill is a text prompt containing instructions for how an agent should perform a task. For... The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink...

Art by Clark Miller.

Crypto Is Getting Bashed in Markets and Washington

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 10, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

The crypto industry is facing twin crises—in the markets and in Washington—that are threatening to derail its dream of mainstream acceptance. With the worst crypto sell-off since the collapse of FTX in the background, the industry has run into strong opposition to a wide-ranging bill it is trying to push through Congress. To break... The crypto industry is facing twin crises—in the markets and in Washington—that are...

Aneel Bhusri, CEO of Workday. Photo by Noah Graham/Getty Images.

Workday’s CEO Shuffle Is a Sign of Things to Come

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Aneel Bhusri, CEO of Workday. Photo by Noah Graham/Getty Images.

Workday’s CEO Shuffle Is a Sign of Things to Come

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Last week’s sell-off in software stocks is having an impact. Enterprise software firm Workday revealed Monday it had replaced its CEO, Carl Eschenbach, with co-founder and former CEO Aneel Bhusri, who is returning “to lead the company’s next chapter.” Bhusri, to be clear, has led the company for most of its chapters, having been either co-CEO or... Last week’s sell-off in software stocks is having an impact. Enterprise software firm Workday...