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

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Art by Clark Miller.

Can AI Tollgates Become the New SaaS Model?

By The Information Staff · May 7, 2026 11:49am PDT

AI agents are forcing enterprise software companies to defend the business model that made them rich: charging for every human user. Companies like ServiceNow and SAP are starting to redraw the boundaries around their software, with some restricting how outside agents get in. Others are testing new usage-based pricing models to reflect how AI... AI agents are forcing enterprise software companies to defend the business model that made them...

From left, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella via Getty. Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI’s AI Chip Deal With Broadcom Hits $18 Billion Financing Snag

By Anissa Gardizy · May 7, 2026 11:09am PDT

When OpenAI and chip designer Broadcom announced last fall that they would make custom artificial intelligence chips together, they positioned it as a done deal. The companies said the deal would bring enough chips online before 2030 to consume 10 gigawatts of power, equivalent to five Hoover Dams’ worth of electricity, in a bid to lessen OpenAI... When OpenAI and chip designer Broadcom announced last fall that they would make custom artificial...

Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri. Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Microsoft Cuts Copilot Bloat

By Aaron Holmes · May 7, 2026 10:30am PDT

After Microsoft bought the rights to use OpenAI’s technology for free, Microsoft developed a case of Copilot fever, launching Copilot-branded AI features in dozens of products, from Office and Bing to PowerBI and Dynamics. Microsoft appears to be dialing it back a bit, seemingly in response to complaints from customers that the Copilots are... After Microsoft bought the rights to use OpenAI’s technology for free, Microsoft developed a case...

At the Beijing Auto Show, the Xiaomi Gran Turismo concept EV. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: In Beijing, a Sign That Chinese EV Makers Aren't Invulnerable

By Steve LeVine · May 7, 2026 9:06am PDT · 5 comments

At the Beijing Auto Show, the Xiaomi Gran Turismo concept EV. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: In Beijing, a Sign That Chinese EV Makers Aren't Invulnerable

By Steve LeVine · May 7, 2026 9:06am PDT · 5 comments

One thing no one tells you about going to China is that it’s pretty easy to obtain a temporary local driver’s license. With some help from electric vehicle maker XPeng, I got mine at Beijing Capital International Airport on the way to the Beijing Auto Show, which ended this week. One thing no one tells you about going to China is that it’s pretty easy to obtain a temporary...

Binance's Yi He, left, and Richard Teng. Photos by Getty Images

Treasury Department Demands Binance Compliance After Iran Crypto Reports

By Leo Schwartz · May 7, 2026 9:05am PDT

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has privately demanded that Binance comply with a monitoring program U.S. regulators imposed on the crypto exchange in 2023, when it pleaded guilty to charges related to sanctions and anti–money-laundering violations, The Information has learned. The Treasury Department’s request—which it sent to... The U.S. Department of the Treasury has privately demanded that Binance comply with a monitoring...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Musk is Giving xAI’s Servers to Anthropic; AI Video-App Developer Reka Acquires Video-Generating Startup

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 7, 2026 7:00am PDT

OpenAI and Anthropic’s servers are generally bursting at the seams, while xAI’s mountain of servers aren’t as busy, as we and others recently reported. That’s burning a multibillion-dollar hole in the pocket of new xAI owner SpaceX, which is trying to go public soon and is sure to receive tremendous scrutiny over its AI-related losses.So after... OpenAI and Anthropic’s servers are generally bursting at the seams, while xAI’s mountain of...

Shivon Zilis, former board member of OpenAI Inc., center, exits the federal court in Oakland, California, on May 6, 2026. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence

How Elon Musk’s Team Is Struggling to Prove His Case in Court

By Rocket Drew · May 7, 2026 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

Elon Musk’s lawyers are close to resting their case against OpenAI, but his path to winning a blockbuster legal victory looks steeper than when the trial began, according to lawyers following the case. The Musk team is expected to wrap up its presentation by Monday, after nearly two weeks trying to prove his claim that OpenAI’s other co-founders... Elon Musk’s lawyers are close to resting their case against OpenAI, but his path to winning a...

AP Images.

Elon Musk’s xAI Is Becoming a Cloud Firm

By Martin Peers · May 6, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

AP Images.

Elon Musk’s xAI Is Becoming a Cloud Firm

By Martin Peers · May 6, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Is xAI the next CoreWeave? SpaceX’s announcement on Wednesday that its xAI unit had struck a deal to supply computing capacity to Anthropic comes a couple of weeks after xAI struck a similar deal with AI coding startup Cursor. Last we checked, AI firms with leading models need all the computing capacity they can get, which means they’re... Is xAI the next CoreWeave? SpaceX’s announcement on Wednesday that its xAI unit had struck a deal...

Partner Content

Recap: The IPO Reckoning

By The Information Partnerships · May 6, 2026 1:27pm PDT

After years of mostly tumbleweeds, the initial public offering market is about to enter one of its most exciting and potentially volatile eras. SpaceX—with a valuation expected to exceed $1 trillion—is widely anticipated to go public as soon as June, with companies like Anthropic and OpenAI potentially not far behind. As a historic wave of... After years of mostly tumbleweeds, the initial public offering market is about to enter one of...

Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

The Information Finance

Why SpaceX Might Land in Your Mother’s Index Fund

By Guest · May 6, 2026 8:00am PDT · 3 comments

When SpaceX hits the market, likely next month, Elon Musk’s fans will rush to buy shares no matter what the valuation. A few months later, a far different group of investors might also scramble to get shares, and they’ll also buy at any price.Index funds, the favorites of savvy, cost-conscious investors, might be forced to load up on SpaceX... When SpaceX hits the market, likely next month, Elon Musk’s fans will rush to buy shares no...

Art by Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

Rising AI Costs Are Becoming a Problem For Even Investors

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 6, 2026 7:00am PDT

In recent months, a lot of discussion has centered around the rising costs of AI, with even large, sophisticated public companies like Uber blowing through their 2026 AI budgets in a matter of months.Even venture capitalists are feeling the pain. One partner at a large fund told me that they previously gave five of their staffers enterprise ... In recent months, a lot of discussion has centered around the rising costs of AI, with even...

Polymarket's Situation Room pop-up in Washington in March. Alex Kent/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

Polymarket’s Homecoming Is Shaky and its U.S. CEO Is AWOL

By Michael Roddan and Yueqi Yang · May 6, 2026 6:00am PDT

Polymarket's Situation Room pop-up in Washington in March. Alex Kent/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

Polymarket’s Homecoming Is Shaky and its U.S. CEO Is AWOL

By Michael Roddan and Yueqi Yang · May 6, 2026 6:00am PDT

Four years after its was exiled from the U.S., Polymarket was desperate to get back into the country. To make that happen, the prediction market bought a derivative and futures exchange that had just gotten a U.S. license and retained its chief executive, Justin Hertzberg, to run Polymarket U.S. Hertzberg appears to be CEO in name only. His main... Four years after its was exiled from the U.S., Polymarket was desperate to get back into the...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Getty Images.

Coinbase’s Missed ‘Learning’ on Hiring

By Martin Peers · May 5, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Greetings!Before we get to today’s news, check out our new text-to-audio tool that lets you listen to all of our articles on desktop or mobile web. Just press the Listen button on any article (I promise you will not hear my voice, just in case the thought of that was offputting!).There must be a template out there somewhere, probably created by... Greetings!Before we get to today’s news, check out our new text-to-audio tool that lets you...

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images.

Private Equity’s AI Deals Lighten the Mood at Milken

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · May 5, 2026 4:35pm PDT

News this week about private equity firms’ new joint ventures with OpenAI and Anthropic came at the right time for PE giants: just as they were about to sit down with their investors for days of meetings at the annual Milken Institute conference. The AI partnerships put the slew of PE firms involved—in Anthropic’s case, Blackstone, Hellman... News this week about private equity firms’ new joint ventures with OpenAI and Anthropic came at...

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Meta Is Building an AI Agent Called ‘Hatch’ and an AI Shopping Tool in Instagram

By Jyoti Mann · May 5, 2026 3:33pm PDT

Meta Platforms is building a consumer version of the AI agent OpenClaw and a new agentic shopping tool, people familiar with the efforts said, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushes for products to deliver returns on the company’s huge artificial intelligence investments. Meta is training the OpenClaw-inspired agent, internally called “Hatch,” with the... Meta Platforms is building a consumer version of the AI agent OpenClaw and a new agentic shopping...

Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow. Photo by Bridget Bennett/Getty Images

ServiceNow Is Putting Up a New Tollgate for AI Agents

By Laura Bratton · May 5, 2026 1:25pm PDT

Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow. Photo by Bridget Bennett/Getty Images

ServiceNow Is Putting Up a New Tollgate for AI Agents

By Laura Bratton · May 5, 2026 1:25pm PDT

The number of software tollgates is expanding.ServiceNow on Monday joined firms such as HubSpot and Workday in detailing plans to charge customers that use AI agents to tap data in its apps. During its financial analyst day in Las Vegas, the company unveiled “Action Fabric”, a new layer—effectively a tollgate—that AI agents will have to go... The number of software tollgates is expanding.ServiceNow on Monday joined firms such as HubSpot...

Anthropic Co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei. Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Anthropic Commits to Spending $200 Billion on Google’s Cloud and Chips

By Sri Muppidi, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · May 5, 2026 1:20pm PDT

When Google last month said it would supply Anthropic with an astonishing five gigawatts of server capacity, the companies didn’t put a dollar figure on that commitment. But as part of the deal, which begins next year, Anthropic plans to spend about $200 billion with Google over five years, according to a person with knowledge of it. The... When Google last month said it would supply Anthropic with an astonishing five gigawatts of...

Subscriber Survey

Three-Way AI Race Emerges as ChatGPT Loses Early Lead Among Readers

By Shane Burke · May 5, 2026 11:59am PDT

ChatGPT’s early lead with The Information’s readers has largely vanished, leaving the three biggest AI chatbots in a neck-and-neck race. In our latest reader survey, about 60% of respondents said they use Anthropic’s Claude, while 57% use OpenAI’s ChatGPT and 56% use Google’s Gemini. The shift has been years in the making. We first asked readers... ChatGPT’s early lead with The Information’s readers has largely vanished, leaving the three...

Images via Getty Images; Shutterstock; YouTube.

xAI’s Fast, Cheap Data Center Build-Out Has Hidden Costs

By Theo Wayt and Valida Pau · May 5, 2026 10:10am PDT · 3 comments

SpaceX is touting xAI’s ability to build data centers quickly and cheaply as a major advantage over rival AI labs, part of a pitch for its upcoming initial public offering. For instance, in SpaceX’s draft IPO prospectus, the company said xAI brought the first two chip clusters at its second data center online at roughly a quarter of what it... SpaceX is touting xAI’s ability to build data centers quickly and cheaply as a major advantage...

Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI exits federal court in Oakland yesterday. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Greg Brockman’s Rough Day

By Rocket Drew · May 5, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI exits federal court in Oakland yesterday. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Greg Brockman’s Rough Day

By Rocket Drew · May 5, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Monday was Greg Brockman's turn to get grilled, as Elon Musk's lawyer relentlessly questioned the OpenAI co-founder and president about his financial stake in the AI giant and companies it does business with.Brockman took the stand to start the second week of courtroom proceedings in Musk’s lawsuit alleging breach of charitable trust and unjust... Monday was Greg Brockman's turn to get grilled, as Elon Musk's lawyer relentlessly questioned the...