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

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Why Google Data-Sharing Decision Could Affect All of Big Tech

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

Google is out of Wall Street’s doghouse! Stock of Google’s parent company Alphabet shot up 9% on Wednesday as investors rushed to buy up stock of a company whose future is no longer overshadowed by a looming antitrust ruling. Now the focus of antitrust anxiety turns to the other three big tech firms facing government lawsuits—Meta Platforms, ... Google is out of Wall Street’s doghouse! Stock of Google’s parent company Alphabet shot up 9% on...

Lambda CEO Stephen Balaban. Screenshot via YouTube

Nvidia-Backed Cloud Provider Lambda Hires Banks for IPO

By Valida Pau and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 3, 2025 1:56pm PDT

Lambda, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia graphics chips for artificial intelligence, has hired investment banks to prepare for an initial public offering in the U.S., according to people with direct knowledge of the talks. The San Jose, Calif.-based startup has hired Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Citi to prepare for a listing as soon as... Lambda, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia graphics chips for artificial intelligence, has...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty

Why Anthropic’s Coding Prediction Hasn’t Panned Out

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Rocket Drew · Sep 3, 2025 7:02am PDT

Before we get to today’s column, we’d be remiss to not touch on Tuesday’s Google antitrust ruling, which was a huge victory for the search giant. Google got pretty much everything it wanted, while the judge only accepted a few of the government’s proposed remedies. (For more on the results, check out this column from our co-executive editor... Before we get to today’s column, we’d be remiss to not touch on Tuesday’s Google antitrust...

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Google Ramps Up AI Chip Competition with Nvidia

By Anissa Gardizy and Miles Kruppa · Sep 3, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Photo via Getty

Google Ramps Up AI Chip Competition with Nvidia

By Anissa Gardizy and Miles Kruppa · Sep 3, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Google is one of the largest buyers of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, which it rents out to Google Cloud customers such as OpenAI and Meta Platforms. But Google’s grand ambitions for its own competing AI chips show no sign of slowing down. In the latest example, Google recently approached small cloud providers that primarily rent out... Google is one of the largest buyers of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, which it rents out...

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Google Wins Antitrust War

By Martin Peers · Sep 2, 2025 5:07pm PDT

Google just won the antitrust war. Yes, it might have lost the initial skirmish, having had its search business branded a monopoly, but it couldn’t have asked for a kinder ruling on how to deal with that monopoly. Google essentially got what it wanted, as the judge said he had accepted “in full” Google’s proposed remedies, with a few... Google just won the antitrust war. Yes, it might have lost the initial skirmish, having had its...

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Nvidia Buys Coding Startup as AI Deal Blitz Grows

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 2, 2025 4:37pm PDT · 1 comment

We’re in the midst of an M&A boom—for artificial intelligence startups. Among the latest: Nvidia last month bought Solver, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The three-year-old startup formerly known as Laredo Labs has developed an AI coding agent that completes software development tasks for users. The company... We’re in the midst of an M&A boom—for artificial intelligence startups. Among the...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo via Getty

Antitrust Judge Bars Google From Exclusive Deals But Allows Apple Payments to Continue

By Erin Woo · Sep 2, 2025 1:35pm PDT · 1 comment

An antitrust judge rejected the Justice Department’s most drastic proposals for how Google’s search business should be overhauled to make up for its illegal monopoly, saying in a decision Tuesday afternoon he wouldn’t require the company to sell either its Chrome browser or its Android operating system. Judge Amit Mehta barred Google from... An antitrust judge rejected the Justice Department’s most drastic proposals for how Google’s...

Software’s Existential AI Crisis Is Bonanza for Bankers

By Valida Pau · Sep 2, 2025 12:29pm PDT · 1 comment

Software’s Existential AI Crisis Is Bonanza for Bankers

By Valida Pau · Sep 2, 2025 12:29pm PDT · 1 comment

U.S. tech merger activity is headed for its best year since 2021—driven in part by enterprise software and other older tech companies acquiring artificial intelligence startups to beef up their AI offerings. So far this year, U.S. software companies have spent nearly $33.8 billion on 150 completed AI acquisitions, surpassing the combined... U.S. tech merger activity is headed for its best year since 2021—driven in part by...

Replit CEO Amjad Masad.

Why Replit is Betting AI Prices Will Never Come Down

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 2, 2025 10:30am PDT

The prices businesses are paying for AI has become the subject of much moaning and gnashing of teeth among startups and their investors in recent weeks. At the heart of the issue, as we reported two weeks ago, is that the price of state-of-the-art models from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI haven’t fallen much in the past year, and AI... The prices businesses are paying for AI has become the subject of much moaning and gnashing of...

Art via Getty

Why AI Psychosis Is Here to Stay

By Rocket Drew · Sep 2, 2025 7:00am PDT

Before we get into today’s Agenda, be sure to check out the story my colleagues and I published on Friday laying out Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. The article can catch you up to speed on the case and explain why Musk stands a chance of winning if it goes to trial in March. The stakes couldn’t be higher for OpenAI:... Before we get into today’s Agenda, be sure to check out the story my colleagues and I published...

Anysphere CEO Michael Truell. Screenshot via YouTube, art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI and XAI Show Interest in Cursor’s Coding Data

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 2, 2025 6:00am PDT

Startups that sell artificial intelligence–powered coding assistants such as Cursor have created some of the fastest-growing businesses in Silicon Valley, making them ripe acquisition targets for OpenAI and other large AI developers. So far, Cursor’s owner Anysphere isn’t selling. Instead, potential acquirers such as OpenAI, xAI and... Startups that sell artificial intelligence–powered coding assistants such as Cursor have...

Art by Clark Miller

DOGE Is Using AI to Target SEC Regulations for Cutting

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Sep 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

DOGE Is Using AI to Target SEC Regulations for Cutting

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Sep 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission are using artificial intelligence to identify rules and regulations to potentially cut, as President Donald Trump’s administration wages a tumultuous campaign aimed at limiting financial regulators and sidelining staff it views as not aligned with its priorities. Employees associated with the... Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission are using artificial intelligence to identify...

The Beta Alia in Norway in August. Photo: Courtesy Beta

The Electric: The Startup Betting That Electric Flying Taxis Will First Carry Cargo

By Steve LeVine · Sep 1, 2025 4:30am PDT

Leading electric air taxi startups have stepped up a campaign of public exploits as they move closer to carrying paid passengers, including recent showy flights by test pilots in California, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. But they may be outdone by a group of less-flashy electric aviation companies: cargo startups that will ferry no... Leading electric air taxi startups have stepped up a campaign of public exploits as they move...

Art by Clark Miller

How AIs Can Have Secret Conversations

By Abram Brown · Aug 30, 2025 8:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Finally! An explanation of what the Musk-Altman legal feud really means• The Arena: Can the metaverse and TikTok help tennis connect with young fans?• Plus, our Recommendations: “The Rise and Fall of Indie Sleaze,” “Anointed” and “Alien: Earth” Generally speaking, humans communicate with... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Finally! An explanation of what the...

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StubHub Missed Financial Targets Ahead of IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 30, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Even as StubHub makes a renewed push to go public, its business isn’t expanding as quickly as it had hoped. In the first half of this year, the ticketing app fell short of revenue and profit projections it shared with lenders earlier this year, in part due to new U.S. ticket pricing rules. The shortfall highlights the volatile nature of the... Even as StubHub makes a renewed push to go public, its business isn’t expanding as quickly as it...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Can Tennis Connect With Young Fans Through the Metaverse and TikTok?

By Sara Germano · Aug 30, 2025 6:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Can Tennis Connect With Young Fans Through the Metaverse and TikTok?

By Sara Germano · Aug 30, 2025 6:00am PDT

For decades, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships has been a crown jewel of the global sports calendar. As the fourth and final Grand Slam of the tennis season, it has hosted historic athletic feats by everyone from Arthur Ashe to Venus Williams. Boisterous night matches—like last weekend’s Daniil Medvedev meltdown—are attended... For decades, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships has been a crown jewel of the global sports...

Art by Clark Miller

Meta’s AI Leaders Discuss Using Google, OpenAI Models in Apps

By Kalley Huang and Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 29, 2025 4:47pm PDT

Meta Platforms’ plans to improve the artificial intelligence features in its apps could lead the company to partner with Google or OpenAI, two of its biggest AI rivals. Leaders in Meta’s new AI organization, Meta Superintelligence Labs, have discussed using Google’s Gemini model to provide conversational, text-based answers to questions that... Meta Platforms’ plans to improve the artificial intelligence features in its apps could lead the...

CEO and founder of OpenEvidence, Daniel Nadler. Screenshot via YouTube.

‘ChatGPT for Doctors’ Startup Considers $6 Billion-Valuation Investment

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 29, 2025 4:00pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenEvidence, which operates a ChatGPT-like product for doctors to find health information, is considering multiple investment offers valuing the three-year-old startup at $6 billion, nearly double its private valuation from a financing just one month ago, according to three people involved in the potential deal. The funding conversations are... OpenEvidence, which operates a ChatGPT-like product for doctors to find health information, is...

President Trump and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in April. Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s Puzzling China PR Play

By Martin Peers · Aug 29, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

As we wrap up for the Labor Day weekend, one question has persisted through this week: Why is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang so determined to demonstrate his need for the Chinese market? With Nvidia’s ability to sell its artificial intelligence chips to China currently in limbo—caught between U.S. and Chinese government restrictions—another CEO might... As we wrap up for the Labor Day weekend, one question has persisted through this week: Why is...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty images.

Why Musk’s Legal Battle Over OpenAI’s Structure Isn’t a Total Long Shot

By Rocket Drew, Theo Wayt and Sri Muppidi · Aug 29, 2025 9:01am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller; Getty images.

Why Musk’s Legal Battle Over OpenAI’s Structure Isn’t a Total Long Shot

By Rocket Drew, Theo Wayt and Sri Muppidi · Aug 29, 2025 9:01am PDT · 2 comments

Much is known about the pastimes of the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk. They include playing videogames, fathering children and reading Douglas Adams novels. Over the past couple of years, Musk has picked up another hobby: waging war against Sam Altman, an ex-friend with whom he co-founded OpenAI a decade ago as a nonprofit. And Musk’s... Much is known about the pastimes of the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk. They include...