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

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Sequoia Capital Names Former Leader Leone as Chairman

By Katie Roof · Mar 31, 2026 4:24pm PDT

Sequoia Capital on Tuesday named Doug Leone, an investor who has been at the firm since 1988, as chairman. After stepping back from making new investments in 2022, Leone will once again participate in new deals, the firm said. Sequoia Capital on Tuesday named Doug Leone, an investor who has been at the firm since 1988, as...

Photo via Getty Images

‘Guardian’ Apps Aim to Stop AI Agents From Going Rogue

By Laura Bratton · Mar 31, 2026 3:28pm PDT

As rogue AI agents cause security problems and product outages even at sophisticated companies such as Meta and Amazon, major firms such as ServiceNow as well as startups are developing new AI to monitor and stop them.The new AI, also known as guardian AI agents, comes in the form of a cloud application and can be laborious to set up. To use a... As rogue AI agents cause security problems and product outages even at sophisticated companies ...

Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post/Getty Images.

How an Unusual Fitness Deal Came Together

By Valida Pau · Mar 31, 2026 3:15pm PDT

Three executives were at a health and fitness industry conference last March, but it was in Las Vegas, so they were drinking old-fashioneds when they hatched a cross-border deal to create a fitness company worth $7.5 billion that spanned subscription and scheduling apps, plus equipment.The three whiskey drinkers were Fritz Lanman, CEO of... Three executives were at a health and fitness industry conference last March, but it was in Las...

Getty Images.

AI Is Weighing on the Software Debt Market

By Laura Bratton · Mar 31, 2026 7:46am PDT · 3 comments

Getty Images.

AI Is Weighing on the Software Debt Market

By Laura Bratton · Mar 31, 2026 7:46am PDT · 3 comments

It’s not just software stocks that have been hammered by investor anxieties about the threat AI poses to software. Prices that investors are willing to pay for syndicated bank debt to software firms dropped nearly 7% in March from the previous year, according to Pitchbook, while prices for similar loans in other sectors fell fractionally. That... It’s not just software stocks that have been hammered by investor anxieties about the threat AI...

LTX CEO Zeev Farbman. Photo courtesy of LTX.

How This Startup Helps Users Generate Videos Without Breaking The Bank

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 31, 2026 7:00am PDT

Despite OpenAI’s decision to shutter Sora, other AI video developers aren’t giving up. Instead, they’re finding interesting new ways to make money from their video-generating models.Take LTX—a spinoff from Lightricks, the company behind the popular image editing app Facetune—which in January launched open-source AI software for video generation... Despite OpenAI’s decision to shutter Sora, other AI video developers aren’t giving up. Instead,...

Art by Mike Sullivan

SpaceX Makes a $75 Billion Offer Investors Can’t Refuse

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 31, 2026 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Whether professional investors think SpaceX is the stock of a lifetime or a grossly overvalued Elon Musk conglomerate, they will be under intense pressure to buy into its initial public offering at a $1 trillion–plus valuation. The most important question for many of them will be: Can I really afford to sit this out? Heightening Wall... Whether professional investors think SpaceX is the stock of a lifetime or a grossly overvalued...

Traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor. Michael Nagle/Getty Images.

Nvidia Stock is Cheap—What That Signals

By Martin Peers · Mar 30, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

Here’s a startling statistic: The last time Amazon shares traded as cheaply as they are now, as a multiple of earnings, was during the 2008 financial crisis, according to Koyfin data. Indeed, Amazon’s stock is so cheap that it’s trading at a discount to Walmart for the first time ever. Considering that Amazon’s revenue is growing at roughly... Here’s a startling statistic: The last time Amazon shares traded as cheaply as they are now, as a...

Photo by Getty Images

Apple Kicks Vibe Coding App Out of App Store, Escalating Crackdown

By Aaron Tilley · Mar 30, 2026 11:51am PDT

Photo by Getty Images

Apple Kicks Vibe Coding App Out of App Store, Escalating Crackdown

By Aaron Tilley · Mar 30, 2026 11:51am PDT

Apple appears to have escalated its crackdown on vibe coding by recently booting one such app out of its App Store for violating its rules. Last Thursday, Apple removed the app, Anything, from the App Store, according to Dhruv Amin, co-founder and CEO of the eponymous startup that makes the app. Apple’s action came a week after The... Apple appears to have escalated its crackdown on vibe coding by recently booting one such app out...

Hunter Hunt, CEO of Hunt Energy. Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/ Getty Images

AI Infrastructure

Big Tech Schools Big Energy on Powering AI

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 30, 2026 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Please join The Information at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 27, for The Information’s “Financing the AI Revolution” forum. Hear from top executives and investors on how the rapid build-out of AI is reshaping tech, finance and capital markets. Learn more here.The energy dominance bulls in the Trump administration came to Houston... Please join The Information at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 27, for The...

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Anthropic’s Success Sparks Server Crunch

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 30, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Anthropic has gained more than a few new fans in recent months (unless you’re Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael). Thanks to the strength of its automated coding tools, Anthropic more than doubled its annualized sales to $19 billion during the first two months this year. And it’s closing the revenue gap with larger rival OpenAI.But as the... Anthropic has gained more than a few new fans in recent months (unless you’re Under Secretary of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Crypto’s Nasty Downturn Is Getting Worse

By Yueqi Yang · Mar 30, 2026 6:00am PDT

The relentless decline in the crypto market is about to hit the six-month mark with no end in sight, prompting companies to cut staff and pivot to businesses such as stock trading and prediction markets. Bitcoin has lost half of its value since peaking early last October at $126,080, with other crypto assets down far more. Monthly trading volume... The relentless decline in the crypto market is about to hit the six-month mark with no end in...

Nth Cycle's pilot factory in Fairfield, Ohio. Photo: Courtesy Nth Cycle.

The Electric: Why Going Small May Be How to Survive the Battery Downturn

By Steve LeVine · Mar 30, 2026 4:30am PDT

Nth Cycle's pilot factory in Fairfield, Ohio. Photo: Courtesy Nth Cycle.

The Electric: Why Going Small May Be How to Survive the Battery Downturn

By Steve LeVine · Mar 30, 2026 4:30am PDT

Five years ago, Western car, battery and metals companies spent billions of dollars to build gigantic factories to meet forecasts of tremendous demand for electric vehicles. Among them were companies that promised to recycle spent batteries, with the goal of reducing the cost and environmental footprint of making EVs and allowing the West to... Five years ago, Western car, battery and metals companies spent billions of dollars to build...

Elon Musk. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

SpaceX’s IPO Challenge

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2026 3:00pm PDT

Break out the oxygen masks. The number of breathless headlines is about to soar. SpaceX is expected to file its initial IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission any day now. It will be the confidential version, so we won’t get to see it. But what is usually a procedural nonevent for the public has turned into a carnival thanks... Break out the oxygen masks. The number of breathless headlines is about to soar. SpaceX is...

Sunday Insights

SpaceX Hype Boosts Stocks in Its Crosshairs

By Theo Wayt · Mar 29, 2026 8:00am PDT · 5 comments

Stocks in rocket launch and satellite companies have surged over the past year, as SpaceX’s soaring private valuation and steps toward what could be a record-smashing initial public offering drums up enthusiasm for all things outer space. But most of the companies whose stocks have been rocketing are at risk if SpaceX solidifies its lead in... Stocks in rocket launch and satellite companies have surged over the past year, as SpaceX’s...

Illustration: Clark Miller (Photos: Getty Images)

Inside JPMorgan's Tech100: Bezos, Amodei and the Billionaire Who Wasn't There

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 28, 2026 8:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Midjourney’s David Holz was AI’s creative rebel. Then Google pounced. • Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Catching the Codfather” “American Reich” and “For All Mankind”The only thing more fluid these days than which AI company has a better model is which... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Midjourney’s David Holz was AI’s creative...

Illustration: Clark Miller (Photos: Apple TV)

The ‘For All Mankind’ Showrunners Think They Know What Silicon Valley Likes

By Abram Brown · Mar 28, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Illustration: Clark Miller (Photos: Apple TV)

Media and Entertainment

The ‘For All Mankind’ Showrunners Think They Know What Silicon Valley Likes

By Abram Brown · Mar 28, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Over five seasons, the fictional human beings in “For All Mankind,” Apple TV’s alt-history space race drama, have accomplished any number of feats: They’ve landed on the moon. And on Mars. They’ve put a woman in the White House—mainstreamed nuclear fusion, too. In another dramatic moment, a group even managed to lasso an asteroid laden... Over five seasons, the fictional human beings in “For All Mankind,” Apple TV’s alt-history space...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Midjourney Is Profitable and Chasing Hardware Dreams. But Can It Survive Google?

By Jemima McEvoy · Mar 27, 2026 9:09am PDT · 3 comments

Over much of the past year, David Holz, the 37-year-old founder of Midjourney, has devoted himself to a single task: reassuring fans of his AI image-making tool that a new, significant update—version 8—would indeed arrive soon. Initially, Holz said it might come at the end of 2025. That date slipped to January. Then February. Then... Over much of the past year, David Holz, the 37-year-old founder of Midjourney, has devoted...

Tencent Bets on OpenClaw to Make Up for Lost Ground in China AI Battle

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Mar 27, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Shortly after OpenClaw shot to popularity in January, a newly hired product manager at Tencent in China became obsessed with the open-source software for building AI agents. That manager, Shuyu Zhang, quickly came up with the idea for QClaw, an OpenClaw-based agent that can be installed with one click and controlled with Tencent’s WeChat app,... Shortly after OpenClaw shot to popularity in January, a newly hired product manager at Tencent in...

The Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday. Genaro Molina/LA Times/Getty Images.

Social Media’s New Legal Overhang

By Martin Peers · Mar 26, 2026 5:00pm PDT

It was a brutal day on Wall Street—particularly for shares of Meta Platforms, Reddit and Snap. While the Nasdaq dropped 2.4%, shares of the social media firms plunged between 8% and 10% as the implications of Wednesday’s verdict in the social media addiction lawsuit sank in. That verdict, which found Meta and Google’s YouTube liable for... It was a brutal day on Wall Street—particularly for shares of Meta Platforms, Reddit and Snap....

How the Next General Partners Are Winning Deals

How the Next General Partners Are Winning Deals

By Julia Hornstein · Mar 26, 2026 4:37pm PDT

How the Next General Partners Are Winning Deals

How the Next General Partners Are Winning Deals

By Julia Hornstein · Mar 26, 2026 4:37pm PDT

This morning we published a list of 15 venture capital partners our sources tell us could be slated to become general partners, or the top decision makers at their firms. One thing that’s clear from the dozens of conversations I had to report on the list: Investors need to be more creative—and move faster—than ever to win deals. Take Yazan... This morning we published a list of 15 venture capital partners our sources tell us could be...