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

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Recent Editions

Tim Cook, left, and Eddy Cue. Photos via Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Apple’s Aversion to Big Deals Could Thwart Its AI Push

By Aaron Tilley, Wayne Ma and Valida Pau · Aug 26, 2025 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

This summer, investment bankers came knocking on Apple’s door with a pitch: Was the iPhone maker interested in doing a major acquisition or some other kind of deal in artificial intelligence? So far, the only answer it has given them is: not so much. In the current AI frenzy, nearly all of Apple’s peers in big tech have thrown open their... This summer, investment bankers came knocking on Apple’s door with a pitch: Was the iPhone maker...

Neil Shen, founding partner of HongShan. Photo via Getty

Neil Shen’s HongShan Is Slow to Deploy Its $9 Billion Capital, Looks for Deals Outside China

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Aug 26, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When venture capital giant Sequoia decided to carve off Sequoia China two years ago in response to growing tensions between the U.S. and China, the newly independent China firm was expected to continue pouring its huge funds into Chinese startups. Renamed HongShan (Mandarin for Sequoia), the firm had only a year earlier raised what was then a... When venture capital giant Sequoia decided to carve off Sequoia China two years ago in response...

Photo via Getty

Musk’s Litigation-Led AI Strategy

By Martin Peers · Aug 25, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

It’s not obvious that filing lawsuits against your competitors is the way to succeed in artificial intelligence, if only because a lawsuit can take years to resolve and AI is evolving extremely rapidly. Nonetheless, litigation is the approach Elon Musk is taking to try to protect his startup, xAI, from bigger rivals. You might wonder if this is... It’s not obvious that filing lawsuits against your competitors is the way to succeed in...

Pantera founder, Dan Morehead. Photo via Getty

Crypto Fund Pantera Seeks to Raise Up to $1.25 Billion for Solana Deal

By Yueqi Yang · Aug 25, 2025 2:06pm PDT · 1 comment

Pantera founder, Dan Morehead. Photo via Getty

Crypto Fund Pantera Seeks to Raise Up to $1.25 Billion for Solana Deal

By Yueqi Yang · Aug 25, 2025 2:06pm PDT · 1 comment

Crypto fund manager Pantera is seeking to raise as much as $1.25 billion to convert a public company into a solana investment firm, as a flood of companies race to cash in on the latest hot crypto sector. Pantera, founded by Dan Morehead, a former trader at Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global Management, is one of the largest and oldest crypto asset... Crypto fund manager Pantera is seeking to raise as much as $1.25 billion to convert a public...

The Information reporters Valida Pau (l) and Sri Muppidi (r). Photos courtesy of the subjects.

The Information Announces New Roles for OpenAI, Deals Reporting

By The Information Staff · Aug 25, 2025 2:03pm PDT · 1 comment

We are delighted to announce new roles for our reporters covering two of the most important beats in business: OpenAI and AI dealmaking. Sri Muppidi, who joined us late last year to cover venture capital and startups, will continue and expand on her strong coverage of the business of the biggest AI startups to become a beat reporter on OpenAI... We are delighted to announce new roles for our reporters covering two of the most important beats...

Art via Getty

VCs Bet on AI Chips That Use Light Instead of Electronics

By Rocket Drew · Aug 25, 2025 7:00am PDT

When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in March said his company would release hardware that lets an AI data center chip send information directly over optical cables instead of needing to convert to optical from electrical signals, it was a shot in the arm for optics developers that have long wanted a bigger role in data centers.Using light to send... When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in March said his company would release hardware that lets an AI...

Photo via Faire

E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue

By Ann Gehan and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 25, 2025 6:00am PDT

In 2022, Faire became one of the most highly priced e-commerce startups, with a valuation of $12.6 billion, as the online marketplace benefited from a surge in internet sales during the pandemic. But after e-commerce growth cooled with waning Covid-19 restrictions, the company in late 2023 slashed its internal valuation to $5 billion, according... In 2022, Faire became one of the most highly priced e-commerce startups, with a valuation of...

Musk in Qatar. Win McNamee/Getty

The Electric: Is One of Tesla's Key Battery Innovations Worth It?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 25, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Musk in Qatar. Win McNamee/Getty

The Electric: Is One of Tesla's Key Battery Innovations Worth It?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 25, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

In 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to completely rework his processes and release a cheap electric vehicle for the masses. That sent rivals scurrying, especially to keep up with his vow to stop making batteries “wet,” the expensive conventional way, requiring toxic solvents, massive drying ovens and cavernous factories. Instead, Tesla would... In 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to completely rework his processes and release a cheap...

Art by Clark Miller

Why MIT’s Viral AI Study Struck A Nerve

By Abram Brown · Aug 23, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders!I’m delighted to introduce Weekend’s latest addition: Jemima McEvoy, who joins as a reporter.Jemima comes from Forbes, where she was a staff writer and a distinguished member of the Wealth Team, the group of reporters who assemble the Forbes 400 and World’s Billionaires lists and chronicle these moguls throughout the year.... Welcome, Weekenders!I’m delighted to introduce Weekend’s latest addition: Jemima McEvoy, who...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

AI Forces Silicon Valley to Confront a Moment of Ecstasy and Agony

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Jemima McEvoy and Erin Woo · Aug 23, 2025 6:55am PDT · 7 comments

Last fall, Howie Liu, CEO and co-founder of Airtable, arrived at a board meeting with an urgent realization: If Airtable, a maker of collaboration software, wanted to stay relevant, it needed to significantly rethink itself. “We started to feel like the incumbent instead of the disruptor and risked becoming one of the dinosaurs,” Liu said. The... Last fall, Howie Liu, CEO and co-founder of Airtable, arrived at a board meeting with an urgent...

AWS data centers in Manassas, Va. Photo via Getty

Bankers Doing Data Center Financings Had No Respite This Summer

By Ken Brown · Aug 22, 2025 3:00pm PDT

There were no August vacations for bankers who do data center financing deals.At the start of the month, Meta reached a deal to borrow $26 billion and get $3 billion in equity tied to its data center build-out, according to Bloomberg. This week, JPMorgan Chase and Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group agreed to underwrite $22 billion in... There were no August vacations for bankers who do data center financing deals.At the start of the...

Figma CEO Dylan Field during the company's initial public offering last month. Photo via Getty

The Funny Math Behind a Key Software Metric

By Anita Ramaswamy · Aug 22, 2025 7:31am PDT · 8 comments

Figma CEO Dylan Field during the company's initial public offering last month. Photo via Getty

The Funny Math Behind a Key Software Metric

By Anita Ramaswamy · Aug 22, 2025 7:31am PDT · 8 comments

The rise of artificial intelligence has turned the software industry into a minefield for investors. To address the risks, some are relying more on a metric known as net revenue retention to pick winners and avoid losers. In its simplest form, NRR, also known as net dollar retention, compares annual revenue from a year ago to now. The number can... The rise of artificial intelligence has turned the software industry into a minefield for...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Struggling Snap Considers Outside Funding for AR Glasses

By Kaya Yurieff, Erin Woo and Jemima McEvoy · Aug 22, 2025 6:09am PDT · 2 comments

For nearly as long as Evan Spiegel has run Snap Inc., his big bet has been on Spectacles, the company’s augmented reality glasses. All together, he has poured $3 billion into the effort—a fraction of what Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Platforms has invested in wearable technology, but a major expense for a company of Snap’s modest size. Spiegel... For nearly as long as Evan Spiegel has run Snap Inc., his big bet has been on Spectacles, the...

Photo via Getty

What Rent the Runway’s Lender Takeover Means

By Martin Peers · Aug 21, 2025 5:10pm PDT

Some companies should never go public—or maybe even exist. Rent the Runway might be in that group. The clothing-rental subscription service—one of a bunch of mid-sized online shopping companies to go public in recent years—says its mission “is to power women to feel their best every day.” How about trying to make money? After years of steady... Some companies should never go public—or maybe even exist. Rent the Runway might be in that...

Image via Getty

Nvidia Orders Halt to H20 Production After China Directive Against Purchases

By Qianer Liu · Aug 21, 2025 4:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Nvidia has told some of its component suppliers to suspend production work related to the H20, its chip tailor-made for the Chinese market, according to two people with direct knowledge of the communications. The directive comes weeks after the Chinese government told local tech companies to stop buying the chips due to alleged security... Nvidia has told some of its component suppliers to suspend production work related to the H20,...

Photo by Getty.

Ex-OpenAI Staff Launch Fund as OpenAI ‘Mafia’ Spreads

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 4:17pm PDT

Photo by Getty.

Ex-OpenAI Staff Launch Fund as OpenAI ‘Mafia’ Spreads

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 4:17pm PDT

Over the last two years, several ex-OpenAI employees have left to found new startups. Now some former researchers at the ChatGPT maker are starting venture funds, extending a history of alums from buzzy startups who jump into investing. The latest example of this is Zero Shot Fund, started this summer by a group of former OpenAI employees... Over the last two years, several ex-OpenAI employees have left to found new startups. Now some...

Art by Clark Miller

Meta Signs $10 Billion-Plus Cloud Deal With Google

By Kevin McLaughlin and Kalley Huang · Aug 21, 2025 3:48pm PDT · 2 comments

Google has struck a major cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms, according to two people familiar with the matter. As part of the agreement, the social media giant will use Google Cloud’s servers, storage, networking and other services, one of the people said. The deal—worth more than $10 billion over six years, the person said—is... Google has struck a major cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms, according to two people...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and Sam Altman. Photos via Getty

OpenAI Is Challenging Google—While Using Its Search Data

By Amir Efrati, Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 2:42pm PDT · 1 comment

As it tries to unseat Google, OpenAI is relying on search data from an unlikely source: Google. OpenAI has been using Google search results scraped from the web to help power ChatGPT responses, according to two people with knowledge of it. As it tries to unseat Google, OpenAI is relying on search data from an unlikely source: Google. ...

Trey Ogilvie and Conduit Commerce employees Rohan Shah, Anand Prabhu and Rahul Sinha (left to right).

Creator Economy

One E-Commerce Startup Makes a Bet on TikTok Shop

By Ann Gehan · Aug 21, 2025 2:00pm PDT

TikTok Shop, the short-form video app’s e-commerce platform, made a big splash nearly two years ago when it first launched in the U.S. Even though it’s reduced the initial deep discounts for shoppers and sellers, quieting some of the initial buzz over the service, some startups are still betting TikTok’s social shopping features will grow.One is... TikTok Shop, the short-form video app’s e-commerce platform, made a big splash nearly two years...

The Information Survey: Two in Three Readers Have Taken Self-Driving Cars

By Shane Burke · Aug 21, 2025 1:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Subscriber Survey

The Information Survey: Two in Three Readers Have Taken Self-Driving Cars

By Shane Burke · Aug 21, 2025 1:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Two out of three subscribers to The Information who responded to a survey have taken a ride in a self-driving car—and nearly 99% of riders were satisfied with the experience. The survey results are the latest confirmation that after years of development and testing, self-driving cars are finally revving up. Two out of three subscribers to The Information who responded to a survey have taken a ride in a...