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

Art via Clark Miller

From Snowflake to Sierra, Every Enterprise Software Firm Is Selling the Same AI Agents

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 12, 2025 6:00am PST · 14 comments

When Whoop’s analytics chief Matt Luizzi recently looked across the company’s tech stack, he saw the same thing everywhere: AI agents multiplying. Slack has one. So does Snowflake. Google Workspace, too. And they all promise to do the same jobs—dig through data, forecast sales, even message customers. “Truly every piece of software that we... When Whoop’s analytics chief Matt Luizzi recently looked across the company’s tech stack, he saw...

Art by Clark Miller.

Investors Chase Neolabs to Outflank OpenAI, Anthropic

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Sri Muppidi · Nov 11, 2025 5:10pm PST · 2 comments

Investors are rushing to back a new generation of research-focused AI startups. In just over a month, they’ve made or discussed $2.5 billion of investments into five of these startups, called neolabs, despite the high costs and risk of failure. The neolab startups’ founders say they hope to exploit new approaches to developing AI models and... Investors are rushing to back a new generation of research-focused AI startups. In just over a...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Getty Images.

SoftBank Hunts for Pennies to Meet Its OpenAI Commitment

By Martin Peers · Nov 11, 2025 5:02pm PST

Would you trade shares in Nvidia for stock in OpenAI? That’s what SoftBank just did, selling $5.8 billion worth of shares in the AI chip giant to finance a commitment to invest $22.5 billion in the ChatGPT maker. On the surface, it might seem a logical trade, given that chip companies purporting to compete with Nvidia have proliferated like... Would you trade shares in Nvidia for stock in OpenAI? That’s what SoftBank just did, selling $5.8...

Is AI Breaking Down Data Silos?

By The Information Partnerships · Nov 11, 2025 4:35pm PST

Partner Content

Is AI Breaking Down Data Silos?

By The Information Partnerships · Nov 11, 2025 4:35pm PST

After years of AI hype—and some recent skepticism—organizations are now seeing real value from their AI initiatives. While some highly publicized reports have claimed that generative AI projects experience high failure rates, a majority of surveyed organizations report positive outcomes. In a recent survey of The Information’s readers, 61% of... After years of AI hype—and some recent skepticism—organizations are now seeing real value from...

Photo by Getty Images

An End to the IPO Shutdown

By Katie Roof · Nov 11, 2025 3:26pm PST

For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the Securities and Exchange Commission was in limbo, thanks to the government shutdown that had sent SEC staff home, preventing them from reviewing and approving IPO prospectuses.The securities agency could be back to work soon. Late Monday, the Senate passed... For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the...

He Xiaopeng, cofounder and chairman Xpeng, speaks during AI Day. Photo by Getty Images

The Tesla of China Follows Musk in AI Hardware—with More Pragmatism

By Juro Osawa · Nov 11, 2025 10:26am PST · 1 comment

A billionaire CEO of an electric car maker took the stage last week with a humanoid robot prototype and shared ambitious plans to also develop robotaxis and flying cars. It wasn’t Elon Musk, though. A billionaire CEO of an electric car maker took the stage last week with a humanoid robot...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Little-Known Search and Browser Startup Generating $100 Million in Annualized Revenue

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 11, 2025 7:00am PST

Consumer-focused AI developers such as OpenAI and Perplexity are jockeying for a share of the browser market, now dominated by Google’s Chrome. But before they have a chance of dethroning Chrome, they first have to surpass Brave.Brave has been around for a decade and passed $100 million in annualized revenue in the first quarter of this year,... Consumer-focused AI developers such as OpenAI and Perplexity are jockeying for a share of the...

Marc Lipschultz. Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Stargate Project Gets $3 Billion Blue Owl Investment

By Miles Kruppa · Nov 11, 2025 6:00am PST

Marc Lipschultz. Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Stargate Project Gets $3 Billion Blue Owl Investment

By Miles Kruppa · Nov 11, 2025 6:00am PST

Blue Owl Capital, one of Wall Street’s biggest private lenders, is ramping up its big bet on artificial intelligence with a roughly $3 billion investment in a New Mexico data center that’s part of OpenAI’s Stargate project, said a person with knowledge of the deal. Blue Owl, which has nearly $300 billion in assets, has emerged as a crucial... Blue Owl Capital, one of Wall Street’s biggest private lenders, is ramping up its big bet on...

Getty Images

Instacart’s Slow Growth Lesson

By Martin Peers · Nov 10, 2025 5:00pm PST

Next time you contemplate the much-hyped IPO of a brand-name company, ask yourself this question: Are its glory days behind it? One of the disadvantages for public investors of snapping up newly public tech firms—particularly those that have taken their time going public—is that very often they have already peaked. Take Instacart, which reported... Next time you contemplate the much-hyped IPO of a brand-name company, ask yourself this question:...

Image by Getty

Comcast Cable Spinoff Versant Explores Sale of Youth Sports App

By Sara Germano · Nov 10, 2025 4:11pm PST

Versant, Comcast’s planned spinoff of its cable channels, is exploring a sale of its youth sports management app, SportsEngine, people familiar with the matter said. It’s the latest indication that the market for youth sports technology is headed for consolidation. SportsEngine is a platform that manages communications and scheduling for kids’... Versant, Comcast’s planned spinoff of its cable channels, is exploring a sale of its youth sports...

Art by Clark Miller.

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bots

By Jan Zoltkowski · Nov 10, 2025 12:41pm PST · 2 comments

The decisions by major AI companies—xAI in July, Meta in August, and OpenAI last month—to open their chatbots to erotica have supercharged debate around humans forming romantic relationships with AI. Critics argue that this is the end of human connection. I founded and run one of the largest romantic chat companies in the world, ... The decisions by major AI companies—xAI in July, Meta in August, and OpenAI last...

An Apple store in Mumbai. Getty Images

Apple Delays Release of Next iPhone Air Amid Weak Sales

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Nov 10, 2025 11:10am PST · 1 comment

An Apple store in Mumbai. Getty Images

Apple Delays Release of Next iPhone Air Amid Weak Sales

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Nov 10, 2025 11:10am PST · 1 comment

Apple is delaying the release of next year’s version of the iPhone Air, its thinnest smartphone, after the first model sold below expectations, according to three people involved in the project. Although the length of the delay remains uncertain, the product won’t be released in fall 2026 as previously planned, they said. Apple has already... Apple is delaying the release of next year’s version of the iPhone Air, its thinnest smartphone,...

Art by Mike Sullivan

China’s Open-Source Models Challenge Anthropic in AI Coding

By Juro Osawa · Nov 10, 2025 7:00am PST

Chinese companies are launching open-source AI models built to power coding assistants as cheaper alternatives to those available from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. Late last month, Shanghai-based AI startup MiniMax launched M2, a new open-source large language model developed primarily for coding and AI agents. In a post on X, MiniMax... Chinese companies are launching open-source AI models built to power coding assistants as cheaper...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. AP Images.

Anthropic to Outpace OpenAI in Server Efficiency, Internal Projections Show

By Sri Muppidi · Nov 10, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

As OpenAI and Anthropic seek to make similar breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, their financial paths may be headed in different directions. Both companies produced financial projections a few months ago that show a divergence in how much they plan to spend on computational resources, which make up the vast majority of their costs. While... As OpenAI and Anthropic seek to make similar breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, their...

A concept flying car by XPeng, on display in China. Photo: Juro Osawa

The Electric: Experts Cast Doubt on Musk's Tease of a Flying Roadster

By Steve LeVine · Nov 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying Tesla Roadster in the next couple of months. “If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that,” he said. Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying...

BlackRock's Tony Kim. Getty Images.

Debt Can Plug the AI Hole in Big Tech’s Deep Pockets

By Martin Peers · Nov 9, 2025 3:00pm PST

BlackRock's Tony Kim. Getty Images.

Debt Can Plug the AI Hole in Big Tech’s Deep Pockets

By Martin Peers · Nov 9, 2025 3:00pm PST

We’ve moved from marveling about AI’s potential to puzzling over how to pay for it. The price tag seems to grow every day. On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested Tesla will need so many chips for its robots and self-driving cars that it might build its own chip factory. He also said Tesla would have to spend “tens of billions” to train the... We’ve moved from marveling about AI’s potential to puzzling over how to pay for it. The price tag...

Sunday Insights

AI and Crypto Companies Dominated IPO Winners in 2025

By Valida Pau · Nov 9, 2025 8:00am PST

The drought in initial public offerings ended this year, led by big winners in AI and crypto, but gains were rare for companies outside those industries. Bankers expect those trends to hold in 2026. Booms in AI and crypto delivered two of the biggest winners of the year: data center developer CoreWeave and stablecoin issuer Circle. The losers... The drought in initial public offerings ended this year, led by big winners in AI and crypto, but...

Art by Clark Miller

The Dumbest AI Fear

By Abram Brown · Nov 8, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Data centers are hiring James Bond–style security consultants• The Arena: Is this German club the next Wrexham?• Plus, our Recommendations: “Coining It,” “Gotham at War,” “The Gods of New York” and “The Lowdown”Many fears about artificial intelligence have at least some validity. I do... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Data centers are hiring James Bond–style...

Kara Nortman photo by Erin Beach; team photos courtesy of FC Viktoria Berlin.

The Next Wrexham? American Investors Bet on a Berlin Women’s Soccer Club

By Sara Germano · Nov 8, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

When Kara Nortman was looking to start a women’s professional soccer team in Los Angeles, she and her co-founders—actress Natalie Portman and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman—took meetings with sports experts in their hometown. The advice they received? It would be unwise to enter a market crowded by the MLB’s Dodgers, the NBA’s Lakers and... When Kara Nortman was looking to start a women’s professional soccer team in Los Angeles, she and...

Alfred Lin, Roelof Botha and Pat Grady of Sequoia. Photos by Getty.

Before Sequoia’s Botha Stepped Down, Concerns Over Leadership Simmered

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Katie Roof · Nov 7, 2025 12:38pm PST · 1 comment

Alfred Lin, Roelof Botha and Pat Grady of Sequoia. Photos by Getty.

Before Sequoia’s Botha Stepped Down, Concerns Over Leadership Simmered

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Katie Roof · Nov 7, 2025 12:38pm PST · 1 comment

Before Sequoia Capital’s leader Roelof Botha announced he was stepping down from the position, partners Alfred Lin, Pat Grady and Andrew Reed came to him to talk about his time at the firm. Botha had only held the top-most job at the firm for three years, taking over from long-time leader Doug Leone just as startup valuations were convulsing... Before Sequoia Capital’s leader Roelof Botha announced he was stepping down from the position,...