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

In Ford's Long Beach, Calif. Skunk Works. Photo: Courtesy Ford

The Electric: Inside Ford's Southern California Skunk Works

By Steve LeVine · May 5, 2026 6:30am PDT

In recent months, Ford has dramatically retreated from its bet on electric vehicles and returned to a full-bore lineup of large gasoline pickups and SUVs. There’s one exception: a California skunkworks that aims to build a $30,000 EV that beats Tesla and Chinese juggernauts such as BYD and Xiaomi. In recent months, Ford has dramatically retreated from its bet on electric vehicles and returned...

Art by Shutterstock; Mike Sullivan.

Amazon Weighs ‘Hybrid Mode’ AI Searches on Retail Site

By Catherine Perloff · May 5, 2026 6:00am PDT

Amazon has so far kept its Rufus AI shopping assistant largely separate from its main commerce search bar. But the retail giant is leaving the door open to adding AI commentary to search results, bringing browsing and researching more seamlessly into the buying process. That includes hybrid modes, such as Amazon showing a conversational blurb... Amazon has so far kept its Rufus AI shopping assistant largely separate from its main commerce...

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026 Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Palantir’s AI Boom; Ryan Cohen’s Chutzpah

By Martin Peers · May 4, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Is Palantir soaking up all the growth in the enterprise software sector? That seems like a reasonable question judging by the company’s first-quarter results released on Monday, which showed 85% revenue growth. That’s an astounding growth rate for a business that’s 23 years old. Even better, Palantir turns a lot of that revenue into pure cash.... Is Palantir soaking up all the growth in the enterprise software sector? That seems like a...

Marc Boroditsky of Nebius, Chuck Fisher of Lambda and Nick Robbins of CoreWeave at The Information's Financing the AI Revolution event.

Nebius, Lambda and CoreWeave Say ‘No’ to TPUs Amid Google’s Push

By Anissa Gardizy · May 4, 2026 9:33am PDT

Marc Boroditsky of Nebius, Chuck Fisher of Lambda and Nick Robbins of CoreWeave at The Information's Financing the AI Revolution event.

AI Infrastructure

Nebius, Lambda and CoreWeave Say ‘No’ to TPUs Amid Google’s Push

By Anissa Gardizy · May 4, 2026 9:33am PDT

Good morning! Anissa here. We’ve been tracking Google’s effort to expand the reach of its tensor processing units for quite a while, and two developments last week helped us understand where things are actually headed.On one hand, Google said on its earnings call that it plans to sell its TPUs directly to customers for use in their own data... Good morning! Anissa here. We’ve been tracking Google’s effort to expand the reach of its...

Art via Getty Images; Shutterstock

Cursor Keeps Its Distance From xAI Despite Tie-Up

By Laura Bratton and Stephanie Palazzolo · May 4, 2026 7:00am PDT

When Cursor agreed to a $60 billion conditional takeover offer from SpaceX last month—the purchase isn’t definite—some of Cursor’s rivals expected the coding startup to work with SpaceX’s xAI unit to develop new models, specifically for coding.That’s not happening anytime soon, apparently. Cursor doesn’t currently plan to codevelop coding models... When Cursor agreed to a $60 billion conditional takeover offer from SpaceX last month—the...

Art via Clark Miller

SAP Moves to Block OpenClaw and Other Unauthorized AI Agents

By Kevin McLaughlin and Laura Bratton · May 4, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Some enterprise software companies are worried enough about customers using AI agents to access their data that they’re planning to install tollgates to their apps. And then there are software companies like SAP. Last month, the $200 billion German firm published a policy document for customers, suggesting it would ban them from using external... Some enterprise software companies are worried enough about customers using AI agents to access...

Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Photo by Getty.

Palantir’s AI Pricing Power

By Laura Bratton · May 3, 2026 3:00pm PDT

Results from Google, Microsoft and Amazon last week showed AI is still fueling cloud revenues, news that helped lift the stock market to fresh records on Friday. This week, we’ll get a clearer glimpse into whether AI can also lift the lagging prices of software stocks such as Palantir and ServiceNow.Palantir kicks off the week’s wave of... Results from Google, Microsoft and Amazon last week showed AI is still fueling cloud revenues,...

Art by Mike Sullivan

SpaceX IPO Set to Drive Billions in Tech Stock Sales

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · May 3, 2026 8:00am PDT · 4 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

Sunday Insights

SpaceX IPO Set to Drive Billions in Tech Stock Sales

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · May 3, 2026 8:00am PDT · 4 comments

A jet painted with SpaceX logos ferried nearly 200 investors from the largest Wall Street funds from Newark, N.J., to the southern tip of Texas a week and a half ago for a multiday presentation from executives. The airplane was so full it couldn’t fit everyone who wanted to get on, said an investor on the trip. The massive initial public... A jet painted with SpaceX logos ferried nearly 200 investors from the largest Wall Street funds...

Art: Clark Miller

Doom Ban, Meme Coins and 7 More Highlights from Musk v. OpenAI

By Rocket Drew · May 2, 2026 8:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside ZaiNar, the secretive startup hoping to power the physical AI era • Policy: Meet the Trump official who wants to deliver a win to prediction markets • Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Expanse: The Nannup Four,” “The Infinity Machine” and “Beef”Watching... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside ZaiNar, the secretive startup ...

Art: Clark Miller (Photo: Getty Images)

CFTC Chair Races to Stop States From Killing Prediction Markets

By Nancy Scola · May 2, 2026 7:04am PDT

When Michael Selig took up his new position as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a few months ago, he quickly embarked on an effort that seems fitting for a Trump administration official who would like to make it possible for every American living room to become a wagering parlor. Selig is a sports fan, and he filled the space... When Michael Selig took up his new position as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a...

Anthropic co-founder and president, Daniela Amodei. Kimberly White/Getty Images.

Anthropic in Talks to Buy AI Chips From U.K. Startup

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 2, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

As Anthropic’s sales explode, straining the servers it uses, the company is considering adding another source of AI server chips in addition to existing suppliers Google, Amazon and Nvidia. The maker of Claude has recently been in talks with London-based startup Fractile to buy its inference chips, which aim to run AI models efficiently, when... As Anthropic’s sales explode, straining the servers it uses, the company is considering adding...

Art: Clark Miller

Secretive ZaiNar Exits Shadows, Targets $5 Billion in Deals for GPS Alternative

By Jemima McEvoy · May 1, 2026 9:02am PDT · 3 comments

Art: Clark Miller

Secretive ZaiNar Exits Shadows, Targets $5 Billion in Deals for GPS Alternative

By Jemima McEvoy · May 1, 2026 9:02am PDT · 3 comments

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel Jacker, CEO and co-founder of ZaiNar, made me an alluring offer: Would I like to see the first-ever public demonstration of the technology his startup had spent nine years laboriously developing in anonymity? He described it as the most accurate location-tracking tech on the planet, capable of pinpointing an object’... A couple of weeks ago, Daniel Jacker, CEO and co-founder of ZaiNar, made me an alluring offer:...

Moonshot AI and Other Chinese Firms Weigh Corporate Overhaul in Wake of Meta-Manus Deal Reversal

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · May 1, 2026 6:00am PDT

Chinese tech startups such as Moonshot AI and DeepRoute.ai are considering changing their corporate structures—in which they’re partly incorporated overseas—in favor of incorporating in China. That shift follows signals from China’s securities regulator that it is less likely to approve initial public offerings by local companies... Chinese tech startups such as Moonshot AI and DeepRoute.ai are considering changing their...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty.

Apple's Cash Strategy Shift

By Martin Peers · Apr 30, 2026 5:10pm PDT

Tim Cook is going out with a bang. Apple reported a stellar March quarter on Thursday, delivering 17% higher revenue, thanks to 22% growth in iPhone revenues, a big change from several years of anemic growth in sales of the ubiquitous device. In other words, far more consumers are upgrading their old iPhones than has been the case for a... Tim Cook is going out with a bang. Apple reported a stellar March quarter on Thursday, delivering...

Omar Havana/Getty Images

Founders Fund Takes a Bigger Bite of Anduril

By Julia Hornstein · Apr 30, 2026 4:31pm PDT

Two months ago, my colleagues broke the news of Anduril’s latest funding round, slated to value the company at $60 billion. Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital are leading the roughly $4 billion investment, according to a source with direct knowledge of the fundraising efforts. But another investor stands out for the size of its check. ... Two months ago, my colleagues broke the news of Anduril’s latest funding round, slated to value...

Philip Johnston, CEO of Starcloud. Screenshot via YouTube

Starcloud in Talks for $2.2 Billion Valuation as SpaceX Stirs Interest

By Theo Wayt and Julia Hornstein · Apr 30, 2026 2:24pm PDT · 1 comment

Philip Johnston, CEO of Starcloud. Screenshot via YouTube

Starcloud in Talks for $2.2 Billion Valuation as SpaceX Stirs Interest

By Theo Wayt and Julia Hornstein · Apr 30, 2026 2:24pm PDT · 1 comment

Starcloud, a two-year-old startup building orbital data centers, has told investors it’s in talks to raise at least $200 million at a valuation of around $2.2 billion after the investment, according to a person involved in the deal. The discussions come just one month after Redmond, Wash.-based Starcloud said it raised $170 million at a $1.1... Starcloud, a two-year-old startup building orbital data centers, has told investors it’s in talks...

Partner Content

How to Analyze Customer Sentiment with Google Gemini

By The Information Partnerships · Apr 30, 2026 1:34pm PDT

Customers provideteams with feedback constantly, in the form of support tickets, survey comments, app reviews, and countless other sources. But much of this data is unstructured, making it challenging to identify patterns across hundreds or thousands of responses. In the past, making sense of this data required customer service teams to manually... Customers provideteams with feedback constantly, in the form of support tickets, survey comments,...

Art by Clark Miller.

SpaceX IPO Details Put Musk’s AI Ambitions in Focus

By The Information Staff · Apr 30, 2026 1:30pm PDT

Elon Musk is pitching SpaceX investors on something much bigger—and riskier—than rockets and Starlink. SpaceX’s planned mid-June IPO is shaping up as a test of how eagerly public markets will fund Musk’s next grand bet: using Starlink’s fast-growing internet business to bankroll a costly push into AI infrastructure after SpaceX’s... Elon Musk is pitching SpaceX investors on something much bigger—and riskier—than...

Amy Hood, CFO of Microsoft. Photo by Chona Kasinger/Getty Images

Microsoft Pushes Usage-Based Pricing as AI Eats into Cloud Margins

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 30, 2026 11:59am PDT

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Wednesday that a lot more people were heavily using the company’s AI-powered applications. But his company’s first quarter financial results showed the usage was dragging down profit margins in its cloud unit, prompting Microsoft to effectively boost prices. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Wednesday that a lot more people were heavily using the company’...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Standard Intelligence Rides Neolab Fervor with Computer Use Model

By Rocket Drew · Apr 30, 2026 7:00am PDT

Art via Mike Sullivan

Standard Intelligence Rides Neolab Fervor with Computer Use Model

By Rocket Drew · Apr 30, 2026 7:00am PDT

Pedestrians in downtown San Francisco are used to seeing Waymos navigating the streets. But two months ago, people in the South Park neighborhood saw something new: a Toyota Rav4 driving around with a laptop propped on the dashboard. The laptop was running a new breed of AI model, known as a “computer use model,” from a two-year-old startup... Pedestrians in downtown San Francisco are used to seeing Waymos navigating the streets. But two...