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 Getty

Researchers Record Their Work So AI Can Do Their Jobs

By Rocket Drew · Sep 8, 2025 7:00am PDT

Before we get to today’s main item, please check out my colleague Sri’s exclusive piece from Friday night revealing that OpenAI expects to burn $115 billion in cash through 2029, plus tons of other financial data the company has disclosed to investors. We are still having a hard time digesting the capital that cash burn will require the... Before we get to today’s main item, please check out my colleague Sri’s exclusive piece from...

Brex CEO Pedro Franceschi, left, and Ramp CEO Eric Glyman. Images via YouTube and Getty.

Make No Mistake, Brex and Ramp Are Fintechs, Not Software Firms

By Anita Ramaswamy · Sep 8, 2025 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Fintech startups Brex and Ramp are hurtling toward initial public offerings as soon as next year as they duke it out over customers for their corporate credit cards. In the meantime, investors are getting excited about the companies’ rapid growth rates. Their numbers are impressive, but investors need to temper their enthusiasm. Ramp just passed... Fintech startups Brex and Ramp are hurtling toward initial public offerings as soon as next year...

Lingbo Zhu, chief technology officer of CATL’s international business unit. Photo: Courtesy CATL

In Munich, a Bolder CATL Doubles Down on Good-Enough Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 8, 2025 4:30am PDT

For years, Western battery startups using exotic materials have promised outsize driving range and charging speed, all at a good price. None has reached commercial production, and an increasing number have failed.Not to fret, China’s battery colossus, CATL, seemed to say on Sunday. CATL is steadily improving its tried-and-true battery, which... For years, Western battery startups using exotic materials have promised outsize driving range...

Art by Clark Miller; photos from Getty Images

Tesla Hastens the Era of the Trillionaire

By Abram Brown · Sep 6, 2025 7:28am PDT

Art by Clark Miller; photos from Getty Images

Tesla Hastens the Era of the Trillionaire

By Abram Brown · Sep 6, 2025 7:28am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The tech elite sees GLP-1s as all-purpose wonder drugs• The Arena: Inside the NFL’s feud with venerable ol’ Nielsen• The Top 5: The AI era’s favorite hacker houses• Does a shoeless office stink? Depends on who you ask in Silicon Valley• Plus, our Recommendations: “Bad Elizabeth,” “Dirtbag... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The tech elite sees GLP-1s as all-purpose...

Art by Clark Miller.

Workplace Culture

Does a Shoeless Office Stink? Depends on Who You Ask in Silicon Valley

By Max Berlinger · Sep 6, 2025 7:14am PDT

A few years back, Brandon Gell, chief operating officer of Every, an artificial intelligence–focused media startup, couldn’t stop staring at a photo taken at the headquarters of another startup, Notion, a maker of productivity software. “It was of their entryway, and it was just shoes—this mountain of shoes,” he recalled. The pile of... A few years back, Brandon Gell, chief operating officer of Every, an artificial...

Inside the AI Era’s Favorite Hacker Houses

By Jemima McEvoy · Sep 6, 2025 7:00am PDT

Which hacker house came first? No one’s exactly sure. But what’s certainly clear is that such hostelries have become enduring Silicon Valley staples even as many other rhythms of startup life have significantly shifted. A whole new crop has bubbled up lately as AI fever has taken hold, presenting investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners’... Which hacker house came first? No one’s exactly sure. But what’s certainly clear is that such...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the White House. Photo via Getty

OpenAI Says Its Business Will Burn $115 Billion Through 2029

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 5, 2025 6:32pm PDT · 6 comments

OpenAI recently had both good news and bad news for shareholders. Revenue growth from ChatGPT is accelerating at a more rapid rate than the company projected half a year ago. The bad news? The computing costs to develop artificial intelligence that powers the chatbot, and other data center-related expenses, will rise even faster. As a result, ... OpenAI recently had both good news and bad news for shareholders. Revenue growth from ChatGPT is...

Photo via Getty

By Martin Peers · Sep 5, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

Musk’s Money

By Martin Peers · Sep 5, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is. In a securities filing on Friday, Tesla disclosed a new stock award for its CEO worth as much as $1 trillion. It hinges entirely on Musk’s ambitious claims that his focus on humanoid robots and robotaxis will turn Tesla into “the most valuable company in the world by far,” as he has often... Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is. In a securities filing on Friday, Tesla ...

Art by Clark Miller

Why the NFL and Nielsen Are Beefing as Sports Streaming Surges

By Sara Germano · Sep 5, 2025 11:39am PDT

The NFL, the world’s richest and most powerful sports league, would like you to know something: It is not thrilled with the way Nielsen measures its TV audience. Earlier this week, the NFL took the extraordinary step of criticizing media measurement firm Nielsen, which the football giant argued is undercounting the number of viewers for its... The NFL, the world’s richest and most powerful sports league, would like you to know something:...

Art by Clark Miller; photos from Getty Images

Why Silicon Valley Believes GLP-1s Are All-Purpose Wonder Drugs

By Ann Gehan · Sep 5, 2025 9:13am PDT · 1 comment

Over the past year, investor Brian Sugar has developed what he considers a “superpower,” finding it newly possible to push himself harder than ever before at home, in the gym—and in the office. What’s given him this boost? He attributes it to a recently acquired prescription for semaglutide, which places him among a sizable portion of the... Over the past year, investor Brian Sugar has developed what he considers a “superpower,” finding...

Subscriber Survey

The Information Survey: More Than Half of Respondents Take a GLP-1

By Nick Wingfield · Sep 5, 2025 9:01am PDT · 2 comments

It’s not exactly news that Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs are catching on, with some surveys showing nearly 12% of Americans have used the weight loss medications. The Information’s audience seems to be even more gung-ho about taking GLP-1s than the broader population. More than 50% of the respondents to our recent survey on the topic... It’s not exactly news that Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs are catching on, with some...

Art by Clark Miller.

How Tech Giants Are Spreading the Risk of the AI Buildout

By Miles Kruppa · Sep 5, 2025 6:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller.

How Tech Giants Are Spreading the Risk of the AI Buildout

By Miles Kruppa · Sep 5, 2025 6:00am PDT

Joint ventures. Backstop agreements. Syndicated debt offerings. The richest tech companies and their bankers are developing increasingly complicated financial strategies to meet the soaring demands of funding artificial intelligence. The goal for companies like Google and Meta Platforms is to stay ahead in the AI race while offloading some of... Joint ventures. Backstop agreements. Syndicated debt offerings. The richest tech companies and...

Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s Chip Round-Trip Deals

By Martin Peers · Sep 4, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

What would you think if Apple set up a company to buy iPhones and then rented those devices back for use by Apple staffers? It would make you wonder, right? Yet that’s more or less what Nvidia has taken to doing. As we reported today, Nvidia has struck a couple of deals to rent its own chips from Lambda, a cloud startup Nvidia partly owns.... What would you think if Apple set up a company to buy iPhones and then rented those devices back...

Mercor CEO Brendan Foody. Screenshot via YouTube/First Block.

Mercor Fields $10 Billion-Valuation Offers in ‘Pre-emptive’ Onslaught

By Katie Roof · Sep 4, 2025 4:15pm PDT

The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021. Startups are again receiving unsolicited investment interest months or even weeks after announcing a fundraising, sometimes at prices that would more than double their valuation. The latest is Mercor, a startup that helps OpenAI and other AI developers find... The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021....

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Art by Clark Miller

Nvidia to Pay $1.5 Billion to Rent Back Its Own Chips From Cloud Startup

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Anissa Gardizy · Sep 4, 2025 12:49pm PDT · 3 comments

A small cloud provider for artificial intelligence that’s preparing to go public has secured a major boost from its most important supplier: Nvidia. The chip giant agreed this summer to rent 10,000 of its own AI chips from the cloud firm, Lambda, for $1.3 billion over four years, and a separate $200 million deal to rent 8,000 more Nvidia chips... A small cloud provider for artificial intelligence that’s preparing to go public has secured a...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Salesforce CEO Inadvertently Stokes AI ‘Crisis’ Narrative

By Amir Efrati · Sep 4, 2025 10:30am PDT · 4 comments

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Salesforce CEO Inadvertently Stokes AI ‘Crisis’ Narrative

By Amir Efrati · Sep 4, 2025 10:30am PDT · 4 comments

After listening to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his top brass describe their excitement about the company’s artificial intelligence business for an hour and half on Wednesday, one might have thought they were taking a much deserved victory lap.“Every single one of our customers is becoming an agentic enterprise,” Benioff said.In reality, his... After listening to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his top brass describe their excitement about...

Photo via Dyna Robotics

Robotic Arms Company Considers Investment at $600 Million Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Rocket Drew · Sep 4, 2025 7:15am PDT

Companies like Physical Intelligence or Skild AI that aim to build robots that can handle a variety of tasks out of the box have raised hundreds of millions in funding over the last two years. Now, a startup that’s taking a different approach—building robots that master one task at a time—is raising a new round of funding. The startup,... Companies like Physical Intelligence or Skild AI that aim to build robots that can handle a...

Photo via Getty

Elon Musk’s X Money Plans Stalled by Regulators, Staff Turnover

By Theo Wayt · Sep 4, 2025 7:00am PDT

For decades, one of Elon Musk’s biggest ambitions has been using technology to disrupt and replace traditional banks and payments processors. One of his management obsessions, meanwhile, has been pushing his employees to build things as quickly and cheaply as possible. Inside X, those two ideals are coming into conflict. Musk’s desire for X to... For decades, one of Elon Musk’s biggest ambitions has been using technology to disrupt and...

Photo via Getty

Nasdaq Steps Up Scrutiny of Companies Loading Up on Crypto

By Yueqi Yang · Sep 4, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Nasdaq is stepping up its scrutiny of companies listed on its exchange that are aiming to get a stock price boost by raising money to buy and hoard crypto, according to company filings and people familiar with the matter. The exchange’s move could slow the crypto boom that is putting increasingly exotic tokens on mainstream markets. The stock... Nasdaq is stepping up its scrutiny of companies listed on its exchange that are aiming to get a...

Nickel processing and smelting plant in North Maluku, Indonesia. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty

The Electric: In a Geopolitics Hack, EV Makers Use Indonesia to Obtain Chinese Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 4, 2025 4:30am PDT

Nickel processing and smelting plant in North Maluku, Indonesia. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty

The Electric: In a Geopolitics Hack, EV Makers Use Indonesia to Obtain Chinese Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 4, 2025 4:30am PDT

Two years ago, Indonesia’s president came to the White House and offered then-President Joe Biden a deal. Indonesia would supply all of the nickel the U.S. needed to build a competitive electric vehicle battery industry, if Biden made the mineral-rich country eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Two years ago, Indonesia’s president came to the White House and offered then-President Joe Biden...