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

Google’s Chatbot Health Move Can’t Be Far Behind OpenAI’s

Google’s Chatbot Health Move Can’t Be Far Behind OpenAI’s

By Amir Efrati · Jan 8, 2026 7:00am PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s official foray into health, unveiled in this post on Wednesday, has been a long time coming, as we explained last summer. In short, OpenAI is creating a special section of ChatGPT for customers to ask health-related questions and dump data from their personal health apps and wearable devices to get personalized advice. The features... OpenAI’s official foray into health, unveiled in this post on Wednesday, has been a long time...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI’s Shopping Ambitions Hit Messy Data Reality

By Ann Gehan · Jan 8, 2026 6:00am PST

OpenAI’s efforts to turn ChatGPT into a go-to personal shopper are off to a slow start. Challenges with wrangling product data mean in-app checkouts aren’t yet widely available to the millions of shops that OpenAI said in September would soon be coming to ChatGPT. OpenAI and its early partners, Shopify and Stripe, have been working on ways to... OpenAI’s efforts to turn ChatGPT into a go-to personal shopper are off to a slow start. ...

The Petropiar oil refinery in Venezuela's Anzoategui State, in which Chevron owns a 30% share. Photo: Diego Giudice/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: In Venezuela, Trump Doubles Down on a Bet Scorning the Emerging Electric Economy

By Steve LeVine · Jan 8, 2026 4:30am PST

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the U.S. has taken control of all of Venezuela’s oil sales “indefinitely.” For starters, the South American nation will hand over more than $2 billion in crude oil to the U.S., about 15% of its annual production, apparently in exchange for a friendlier attitude from President Donald Trump. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the U.S. has taken control of all of Venezuela’s oil sales “...

Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad. XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty.

Nvidia’s China Business Still Hostage to Geopolitics

By Martin Peers · Jan 7, 2026 5:00pm PST

Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad. XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty.

Nvidia’s China Business Still Hostage to Geopolitics

By Martin Peers · Jan 7, 2026 5:00pm PST

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang must feel like a child whose parents are perpetually at war. Weeks after he glimpsed a chance to resume sales of AI chips to China—thanks to approval from President Donald Trump—China has said, “Not so fast.” As our Hong Kong reporter Qianer Liu scooped today, the Chinese government has asked local tech companies to... Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang must feel like a child whose parents are perpetually at war. Weeks after...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Aurelien Morissard/AP.

OpenAI Reserves $50 Billion for Stock Grant Pool

By Sri Muppidi · Jan 7, 2026 4:04pm PST · 3 comments

OpenAI last fall set aside an employee stock grant pool worth 10% of the company, which was valued in October at $500 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. The $50 billion pool of restricted stock units should last for roughly five years and should rise in value as the company’s private share price continues to increase.... OpenAI last fall set aside an employee stock grant pool worth 10% of the company, which was...

How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping the Global Energy Market

By The Information Staff · Jan 7, 2026 1:25pm PST · 1 comment

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is driving an unprecedented surge in electricity consumption, creating a conflict between immediate climate goals and the industry’s growth. While tech companies are currently increasing their reliance on fossil fuels to power new data centers, the urgent demand for energy is also accelerating... The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is driving an unprecedented surge in electricity...

Image via Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Preps Personal Health Features in ChatGPT

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Jan 7, 2026 11:11am PST

OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a personal health coach, hoping to keep the chatbot one step ahead of rivals like Google. One feature would let people use ChatGPT to analyze data contained in their personal health apps and wearable devices, such as an Oura ring, Apple Watch or Whoop bracelet, according to two people who have seen designs for... OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a personal health coach, hoping to keep the chatbot one step ahead...

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Photo by Bridget Bennett/Getty Images

Nvidia CEO Says Groq Didn’t Have a ‘Nook and Cranny to Fit Into’

By Amir Efrati · Jan 7, 2026 8:00am PST

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Photo by Bridget Bennett/Getty Images

Nvidia CEO Says Groq Didn’t Have a ‘Nook and Cranny to Fit Into’

By Amir Efrati · Jan 7, 2026 8:00am PST

Before we get to today‘s column, you should check out our scoop this morning that the Chinese government has asked local companies to hold off ordering Nvidia’s H200 chips. It‘s the latest move in the geopolitical chess match that governs Nvidia’s China business. Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has finally given investors a partial... Before we get to today‘s column, you should check out our scoop this morning that the Chinese...

Image via Gemini.

The Information Finance

AI Could Be a Money Pit for Individual Investors

By Ken Brown · Jan 7, 2026 8:00am PST

What’s the best way for an individual to invest in AI? That’s what some relatives asked me over the holidays. The question is particularly relevant right now. Anthropic could go public this year, and OpenAI could follow, meaning individual investors could have access to two of the rare pure-play AI stocks. That would be a big change... What’s the best way for an individual to invest in AI? That’s what some relatives asked me over...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

China Tells Tech Companies to Halt Nvidia H200 Chip Orders

By Qianer Liu · Jan 7, 2026 7:38am PST · 4 comments

The Chinese government this week asked some tech companies to temporarily halt plans to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, according to two people involved in the communication, throwing up a possible roadblock in Nvidia’s hopes of restarting chip sales to one of its biggest markets. The instruction came roughly a month after President Donald Trump... The Chinese government this week asked some tech companies to temporarily halt plans to buy...

The Ant Group station at a conference in Shanghai. Getty Images.

Ant Builds a Mobile Payment Network as an Alternative to Visa, Mastercard

By Jing Yang · Jan 7, 2026 6:00am PST

Five years after the Chinese government quashed Ant Group’s plans for what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering, the Chinese fintech giant has built a fast-growing international business. That offshoot runs a global payment network for digital wallets that could one day be a formidable alternative to Visa or Mastercard. ... Five years after the Chinese government quashed Ant Group’s plans for what would have been the...

Bloomberg/Getty Images.

The Ripple Effects of the AI Data Center Boom

By Martin Peers · Jan 6, 2026 5:00pm PST

Bloomberg/Getty Images.

The Ripple Effects of the AI Data Center Boom

By Martin Peers · Jan 6, 2026 5:00pm PST

Trade in stocks exposed to the AI boom is getting even more volatile. Shares of Sandisk rocketed 27% on Tuesday for no obvious reason other than a report by Morgan Stanley about bigger-than-expected price increases coming for NAND flash memory, which Sandisk makes, among others. Demand for NAND flash has taken off in recent months, thanks to its... Trade in stocks exposed to the AI boom is getting even more volatile. Shares of Sandisk rocketed...

SailPoint CEO Mark McClain. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How Private Equity Is Learning to Love AI

By Valida Pau · Jan 6, 2026 4:31pm PST

Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies, which generate gobs of steady cash flow from long-term customers. But that love affair has broken down because the firms eventually need to sell the companies they own, and right now almost no one wants to pay up for a traditional software maker.... Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies,...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Why Expedia Won’t Fight ChatGPT’s Travel Ambitions

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 6, 2026 10:30am PST

AI companies envision a future in which AI agents, rather than humans, become the primary users of websites such as commerce apps. The idea is that people may be more inclined to ask chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini to buy a new pack of paper towels or book a hotel for them than to go to individual websites.While some website owners such as... AI companies envision a future in which AI agents, rather than humans, become the primary users...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang presents at CES. Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Nvidia’s Clever Approach to Its New Self-Driving Car Model

By Rocket Drew · Jan 6, 2026 7:30am PST

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at CES on Monday to deliver a volley of announcements—Nvidia published 10 press releases during his keynote! Many of those announcements focused on Nvidia’s work on physical AI, such as autonomous robots and cars, so it was fitting that a pair of Huang’s favorite remote controlled Disney droids accompanied... Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at CES on Monday to deliver a volley of announcements—...

Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder of LMArena.

AI Evaluation Startup LMArena Valued at $1.7 Billion in New Funding Round

By Katie Roof and Rocket Drew · Jan 6, 2026 6:59am PST · 2 comments

Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder of LMArena.

AI Evaluation Startup LMArena Valued at $1.7 Billion in New Funding Round

By Katie Roof and Rocket Drew · Jan 6, 2026 6:59am PST · 2 comments

LMArena, a startup that operates a widely cited ranking of AI models based on their performance, has raised $150 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion, including the new money, according to the company. That’s nearly triple the valuation of its seed funding round, announced in May 2025. The funding round, co-led by existing investors... LMArena, a startup that operates a widely cited ranking of AI models based on their...

Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance/Getty Images.

Amazon Tries to Move Beyond AI Basics

By Catherine Perloff · Jan 6, 2026 6:00am PST

After nearly three years of building its own version of cutting-edge large language models, Amazon has come up with models that offer a reliable, cheap alternative to the flashiest ones made by rivals but don’t fully replace them. That’s true even in Amazon’s own products: Amazon’s Rufus shopping assistant uses a mix of its in-house Nova models... After nearly three years of building its own version of cutting-edge large language models,...

The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone, with AI powered by Google’s Gemini, at CES. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images.

Google’s Samsung AI Advantage

By Martin Peers · Jan 5, 2026 5:00pm PST

Can anyone catch up with Google in the AI race? That question came to mind on Monday, after Reuters quoted Samsung’s co-CEO talking about his plans to double the number of mobile devices running Galaxy AI, Samsung’s branded AI features backed by Google’s Gemini AI technology, to 800 million this year. (That’s separate to Samsung phones that have... Can anyone catch up with Google in the AI race? That question came to mind on Monday, after...

A Microsoft data center in Aldie, Va. Getty Images.

AI Infrastructure

The AI Boom Is Now an Energy Boom

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Jan 5, 2026 9:07am PST · 3 comments

The AI race has ignited a parallel boom in energy that is already revamping U.S. power generation and changing natural gas infrastructure, utility systems and regulation in ways that could last for decades.Natural gas producers are expanding pipelines faster than they have in years, utilities have secured regulatory approval for billions of... The AI race has ignited a parallel boom in energy that is already revamping U.S. power generation...

Bay ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images.

Indonesia’s Sovereign AI Play

By Juro Osawa · Jan 5, 2026 7:00am PST

Bay ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images.

Indonesia’s Sovereign AI Play

By Juro Osawa · Jan 5, 2026 7:00am PST

One of the major trends in the AI industry in the past year was the growth of sovereign AI, the movement by various countries to develop their own domestic AI capabilities to reduce their technological dependence on the U.S. and China. While an increasing number of nations and regions are building their own large language models and AI data... One of the major trends in the AI industry in the past year was the growth of sovereign AI, the...