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

Artificial Intelligence

OpenClaw Struggles to Grow Up After Overnight Success

By Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Apr 22, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

OpenClaw, the AI agent software that took the tech world by storm, is reckoning with a difficult choice: whether to transition from an experimental hacker project to a sustainable tool companies can reliably use. One of the fastest-growing open-source software projects ever, OpenClaw is still managed by a group of volunteers who are trying to... OpenClaw, the AI agent software that took the tech world by storm, is reckoning with a difficult...

Art via Shutterstock

Tencent, Alibaba in Talks to Invest in DeepSeek at $20 Billion-Plus Valuation

By The Information Staff · Apr 22, 2026 4:17am PDT

Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are in talks to invest in DeepSeek, the AI upstart that recently started fundraising for the first time, according to four people with knowledge of the conversations. DeepSeek, owned by Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer Capital Management, is now seeking to raise funding at a valuation of more... Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group are in talks to invest in DeepSeek, the AI...

SpaceX's South Texas production facility. Photo by Reginald Mathalone/Getty Images.

What SpaceX’s Cursor Deal Says About xAI

By Martin Peers · Apr 21, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Elon Musk’s marketing pitch for the SpaceX IPO just got a bit more complicated. SpaceX’s revelation Tuesday afternoon that it was working closely with Cursor, the once-dominant coding firm, and might buy it for $60 billion, raises new questions about the health of xAI, Musk’s AI startup that SpaceX acquired for $250 billion in stock in early... Elon Musk’s marketing pitch for the SpaceX IPO just got a bit more complicated. SpaceX’s ...

Morgan Stanley's Michael Grimes, left, and Goldman Sachs' Kim Posnett. Images via Getty; YouTube

The Bankers Behind SpaceX’s “Project Apex” IPO

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Apr 21, 2026 4:32pm PDT · 1 comment

Morgan Stanley's Michael Grimes, left, and Goldman Sachs' Kim Posnett. Images via Getty; YouTube

The Bankers Behind SpaceX’s “Project Apex” IPO

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Apr 21, 2026 4:32pm PDT · 1 comment

The weeks leading up to SpaceX’s initial public offering will test big ideas about the space industry and the future of artificial intelligence. It will also answer a more basic question: how well Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs can work together.The Wall Street rivals’ top bankers have been holed up at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters... The weeks leading up to SpaceX’s initial public offering will test big ideas about the space...

Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

SpaceX Debt Jumped to $23 Billion Last Year

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 11:50am PDT

SpaceX increased its debt load by nearly two-thirds last year, to about $23 billion at the end of 2025 from $14 billion the year prior. That surge illustrated how much its acquisition of xAI added new financial obligations to the company, according to a confidential initial public offering prospectus reviewed by The Information. Much of the debt... SpaceX increased its debt load by nearly two-thirds last year, to about $23 billion at the end of...

Anil Chakravarthy, President, Customer Experience Orchestration Business. Screenshot via YouTube

Adobe Says It Will Start Charging For AI Agents Only When They Work

By Laura Bratton · Apr 21, 2026 10:57am PDT

A wave of AI pricing changes is keeping customers on their toes. Anthropic, Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday have shifted to charging for AI based on how much customers use, rather than a flat subscription fee, for instance.Now Adobe is taking steps to join AI startup Sierra and other firms that want to go a step further, charging customers... A wave of AI pricing changes is keeping customers on their toes. Anthropic, Salesforce,...

Art by Getty Images/Mike Sullivan

Anthropic’s ID Verification Imperils Chinese Founders

By Juro Osawa · Apr 21, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and startups—circumventing Anthropic’s official restrictions on usage. That may soon change.Anthropic last week started requiring some customers to provide a government-issued photo ID and an image of themselves taken from their phone or webcam. It’s the... Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and...

A Mercado Libre facility in Sāo Paulo State, Brazil. Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Mercado Libre Is Growing 30%-Plus a Year: Its Stock Is Too Cheap

By Anita Ramaswamy · Apr 21, 2026 6:04am PDT · 2 comments

A Mercado Libre facility in Sāo Paulo State, Brazil. Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Mercado Libre Is Growing 30%-Plus a Year: Its Stock Is Too Cheap

By Anita Ramaswamy · Apr 21, 2026 6:04am PDT · 2 comments

Latin America’s largest tech firm, e-commerce and fintech juggernaut Mercado Libre, is on sale. The company’s share price has dropped 9% over the past 12 months even as its business has continued to rocket along at a 30%-plus revenue growth rate. Investors are skittish about growing competition posed by Singapore’s Sea Ltd. in Mercado Libre’s... Latin America’s largest tech firm, e-commerce and fintech juggernaut Mercado Libre, is on sale....

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

SpaceX Gives Musk Incentive to Hit $6.6 Trillion in Market Cap

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Apr 21, 2026 12:21am PDT

Elon Musk increased his stake in SpaceX last year by purchasing $1.4 billion of stock from current and former employees, part of a series of moves leading up to the company’s initial public offering that increased his sway over the company. The large secondary stock purchase was made through the mega-billonaire’s trust. It was disclosed in a... Elon Musk increased his stake in SpaceX last year by purchasing $1.4 billion of stock from...

Apple's Tim Cook and John Ternus. Getty Images.

Apple’s CEO Switch; Amazon’s AI Hedge

By Martin Peers · Apr 20, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Happy talk. That’s what you get when CEOs pass the baton, and so it was with Apple’s long-anticipated announcement that Tim Cook would give up the top job, effective in September. “I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in the announcement (he’s sticking around as executive chair). “I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in... Happy talk. That’s what you get when CEOs pass the baton, and so it was with Apple’s...

Phononic founder, Tony Atti. Screenshot via YouTube/NYSE.

AI Data Center Startup Phononic Discusses Multi-Billion Dollar Valuation in Possible Sale

By Valida Pau and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 20, 2026 4:25pm PDT

The unrelenting demand for AI data centers is spilling over into lesser-known companies that supply components for essential tasks such as cooling chip servers. Phononic, a 17-year-old company whose semiconductor components prevent overheating in AI data centers, is hoping to cash in on that demand. The Durham, N.C., company is talking to... The unrelenting demand for AI data centers is spilling over into lesser-known companies that...

John Ternus, left, and Tim Cook. Photos by Getty Images

Three Big Questions for Apple’s Next CEO, John Ternus

By Aaron Tilley and Nick Wingfield · Apr 20, 2026 4:04pm PDT

John Ternus, left, and Tim Cook. Photos by Getty Images

Three Big Questions for Apple’s Next CEO, John Ternus

By Aaron Tilley and Nick Wingfield · Apr 20, 2026 4:04pm PDT

The most anticipated CEO transition in Silicon Valley is finally official. Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will pass the CEO baton to John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. The changeover will happen September 1, when Cook will become executive chair, continuing his responsibilities for Apple’s... The most anticipated CEO transition in Silicon Valley is finally official. Apple on Monday...

Andrey Rudkov / Bloomberg via Getty Images

AI Infrastructure

The Startup Trying to Tame Accounting Chaos Behind AI Data Centers

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 20, 2026 10:08am PDT

The rush to build and finance AI data centers has created a new kind of stress for CFOs at companies developing them. Some executives at these firms tell me they are struggling to keep their books accurate and move money from their lenders to their suppliers on time, raising the risk of costly delays or even huge overpayments.That risk is... The rush to build and finance AI data centers has created a new kind of stress for CFOs at...

Images from Reddit.

OpenAI Takes Aim at Google with New Image Model

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 20, 2026 7:00am PDT

If you’ve been on X or Reddit in recent weeks, you’ve likely seen images created by an upcoming model from OpenAI floating around. Sharp-eyed people have pointed out that the new model is potentially being tested with some ChatGPT users and on leaderboards under code names. The images generated by that model, which some are calling “... If you’ve been on X or Reddit in recent weeks, you’ve likely seen images created by an upcoming...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Google Creates Strike Team to Improve Coding Models

By Erin Woo · Apr 20, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Google has assembled a strike team of researchers and engineers to improve its AI coding models, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation, as it looks to automate more of its own coding and ultimately its AI research. The push was prompted in part by Anthropic’s recent AI model releases, according to two of the people.... Google has assembled a strike team of researchers and engineers to improve its AI coding models,...

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan rings the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in November. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Polymarket in Talks to Raise Money at About $15 Billion Valuation

By Yueqi Yang and Katie Roof · Apr 19, 2026 7:33pm PDT

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan rings the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in November. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Polymarket in Talks to Raise Money at About $15 Billion Valuation

By Yueqi Yang and Katie Roof · Apr 19, 2026 7:33pm PDT

The predictions site Polymarket is talking to investors about raising $400 million in funding at a valuation of about $15 billion including the new money, according to two people familiar with the talks. The financing would add to the $600 million already invested in the funding round by Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York... The predictions site Polymarket is talking to investors about raising $400 million in funding at...

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen at the company's 2025 summit. David Becker/AP.

Adobe and Google Cloud Head to Vegas

By Martin Peers · Apr 19, 2026 3:00pm PDT

If you’ve never visited Las Vegas, this week might be the time. Adobe and Google Cloud are both having big shows there this week, with Adobe kicking off its customer summit tomorrow and running through Wednesday. Google Cloud Next, conveniently, starts Wednesday and runs through Friday. Come for one, stay for both!The two companies might be in... If you’ve never visited Las Vegas, this week might be the time. Adobe and Google Cloud are both...

Sunday Insights

China’s 10 Most Important Chip Design Firms

By Qianer Liu · Apr 19, 2026 8:00am PDT · 2 comments

Ask Washington’s most plugged-in politicians and lobbyists which Chinese chip company is the biggest threat to Nvidia and you’ll hear one name: Huawei Technologies. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly cited Huawei’s rising prominence in both private meetings with lawmakers and public forums. Huawei has become shorthand for China’s... Ask Washington’s most plugged-in politicians and lobbyists which Chinese chip company is the...

Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Google in Talks With Marvell to Build New AI Chips for Inference

By Qianer Liu · Apr 19, 2026 6:00am PDT

Google is in talks with Marvell Technology to develop two new chips aimed at running AI models more efficiently, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. One is a memory processing unit designed to work alongside Google’s tensor processing unit. The other is a new TPU built specifically for running AI models. The moves... Google is in talks with Marvell Technology to develop two new chips aimed at running AI models...

Illustration: Clark Miller

What xAI and OpenAI Should Buy Next

By Abram Brown · Apr 18, 2026 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Illustration: Clark Miller

What xAI and OpenAI Should Buy Next

By Abram Brown · Apr 18, 2026 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The rise of SemiAnalysis’ Dylan Patel, Silicon Valley’s favorite AI commentator • Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “The Obit Project,” “Disneyland and the Rise of Automation” and “Unfamiliar”Recently, a close friend of mine introduced me to another of his friends, a... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The rise of SemiAnalysis’ Dylan Patel,...