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

Cyberstarts Founder Gili Raanan. Photo provided by Unlmtdpartners.

Cyberstarts’ New Fund Is a Bet on Cybersecurity M&A

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 30, 2025 11:33am PDT

Venture capitalist Gili Raanan is best known for his first investments in cloud security startups Wiz and Cyera. But as startups stay private for longer, his Israel-based venture firm Cyberstarts is now also investing in later rounds. It now has another $380 million for those more mature investments, thanks to a new fund raised this week to... Venture capitalist Gili Raanan is best known for his first investments in cloud security startups...

Satya Nadella. Photo via Getty

Microsoft Hopes Anthropic Will Solve Its Copilot Problems

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

After AI coding apps like Cursor and Replit popularized “vibe coding,” Microsoft wants to make “vibe working” happen.Microsoft on Monday unveiled Office Agent, which lets people create complex PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets based on simple written prompts in the Copilot chatbot. After AI coding apps like Cursor and Replit popularized “vibe coding,” Microsoft wants to make “...

Subscriber Survey

Top AI Chatbots Lose Ground Among Our Readers

By Shane Burke · Sep 30, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

ChatGPT remains by far the most widely used chatbot among people responding to The Information Pro’s latest subscriber survey, but it lost ground over the past seven months. So did most other chatbots, possibly a sign that our readers are experimenting with fewer chatbots and have decided on those they want to primarily use. Overall, the use of... ChatGPT remains by far the most widely used chatbot among people responding to The Information...

Art by Clark Miller.

Three New Papers AI Researchers Are Reading; What To Expect at AI Agenda Live

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 30, 2025 7:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller.

Three New Papers AI Researchers Are Reading; What To Expect at AI Agenda Live

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 30, 2025 7:00am PDT

It wouldn’t be the eve of our AI Agenda Live conference without a midnight scoop! In case you missed it, check out last night’s story from Amir, Cory and me on OpenAI’s financials for the first half of 2025.I might be slightly sleep-deprived, but I’m thrilled to be seeing many of you in just a few hours at our AI Agenda Live: The Next Wave event... It wouldn’t be the eve of our AI Agenda Live conference without a midnight scoop! In case you...

Art by Clark Miller

SEC Is Moving to Allow Stocks to Trade Like Cryptocurrencies

By Yueqi Yang · Sep 30, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

The Securities and Exchange Commission is working on a plan to allow stocks to trade like cryptocurrencies on the blockchain, but is facing strong opposition from traditional financial firms such as Citadel Securities, according to people involved in the process. The SEC’s staff is talking to industry representatives about the plan, which is a... The Securities and Exchange Commission is working on a plan to allow stocks to trade like...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar via Getty

OpenAI’s First Half Results: $4.3 Billion in Sales, $2.5 Billion Cash Burn

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Amir Efrati and Cory Weinberg · Sep 29, 2025 9:18pm PDT · 31 comments

OpenAI generated around $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, about 16% more than it generated all of last year, according to financial disclosures to shareholders. The company said it burned $2.5 billion, in large part due to its research and development costs for developing artificial intelligence and for running ChatGPT. Some of... OpenAI generated around $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, about 16% more than it...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

OpenAI Goes Shopping

By Martin Peers · Sep 29, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

You might think the $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts would be today’s biggest business event. But that’s yesterday’s news—word of the deal broke on Friday. (For more on that, see below). Today’s biggest news, in reality, is OpenAI’s launch of its shopping feature, which puts the ChatGPT creator in competition with everyone from Amazon to... You might think the $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts would be today’s biggest business...

Art via Getty; Mike Sullivan

Sam Altman Wants 250 Gigawatts of Power. Is That Possible?

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Sep 29, 2025 8:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art via Getty; Mike Sullivan

AI Infrastructure

Sam Altman Wants 250 Gigawatts of Power. Is That Possible?

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Sep 29, 2025 8:00am PDT · 3 comments

Welcome to the first edition of The Information’s newsletter on AI infrastructure. In the coming months, we’ll cover the data centers, chips, networking and energy that power AI.Artificial intelligence is hungry for power at a scale that defies belief.Last week, OpenAI and Nvidia said they would work together to develop 10 gigawatts of data... Welcome to the first edition of The Information’s newsletter on AI infrastructure. In the coming...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Product-List Startup Gets a ChatGPT Bump; Huang’s $1 Trillion Claim

By Ann Gehan · Sep 29, 2025 7:15am PDT

Before we get to today’s newsletter, Stephanie’s profile of Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, the mysterious $10 billion startup, is a fascinating look at Murati’s background and explains why she’s got such a following among AI researchers and, as a result, investors. It’s definitely worth a read.On to today’s column…As artificial... Before we get to today’s newsletter, Stephanie’s profile of Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab,...

The People Running Elon Musk’s xAI

By Theo Wayt · Sep 29, 2025 6:00am PDT

Elon Musk has been paying closer attention to his artificial intelligence company, xAI, over the past few months, pushing staff to move as quickly as possible to catch up with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. The xAI CEO’s increased involvement has led to frequent reorganizations, demotions and firings on the teams building the company’s AI... Elon Musk has been paying closer attention to his artificial intelligence company, xAI, over the...

A Mercedes-Benz team drove an EV powered with a solid state battery 750 miles on a single charge. Photo: Courtesy Mercedes-Benz.

The Electric: The Gimmickry Around Coming Solid State Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 29, 2025 4:30am PDT

For a half century, scientists have agreed that pure lithium metal—the lightest metal on the periodic table and jam-packed with energy—would be the best material for a battery. Since lithium is explosive when exposed to moisture, they have tried to make the battery using a solid-state structure, using no liquid. But no one has managed to make... For a half century, scientists have agreed that pure lithium metal—the lightest metal on the...

Dbt Labs founder and CEO Tristan Handy, left, and Fivetran founder and CEO George Fraser. Photos via YouTube; Getty

Data Startup Fivetran In Talks to Buy Dbt Labs in Multibillion Dollar Deal

By Valida Pau, Katie Roof and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 27, 2025 4:30pm PDT

Dbt Labs founder and CEO Tristan Handy, left, and Fivetran founder and CEO George Fraser. Photos via YouTube; Getty

Data Startup Fivetran In Talks to Buy Dbt Labs in Multibillion Dollar Deal

By Valida Pau, Katie Roof and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 27, 2025 4:30pm PDT

Fivetran, a startup used by companies to manage and prepare data for analytics and artificial intelligence, is in talks to buy data management company dbt Labs, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal. The deal would combine two data companies that are facing competition from artificial intelligence. Fivetran and dbt Labs have... Fivetran, a startup used by companies to manage and prepare data for analytics and artificial...

Art by Clark Miller

Working at AI Speed Without Going Crazy

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 27, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Mira Murati’s enigma machine • Artificial Intelligence: Nvidia’s AI stimulus plan• Plus, our Recommendations: “Desk Set,” “Mission Accomplished” and “It’s Only Drowning”When you’ve worked in an industry for a while, you learn its rhythm. For... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: ...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence

How Jensen Huang is Using Nvidia Cash to Rule the AI Economy

By Anissa Gardizy, Nick Wingfield, Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Sep 27, 2025 6:00am PDT · 8 comments

Even by the standards of one of the most prodigious dealmakers in tech, the past month or so has been a head-spinning one for Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Just in September, Nvidia agreed to buy any unused Nvidia graphics processing units that cloud provider CoreWeave doesn’t sell to other customers over the next seven years, a deal potentially... Even by the standards of one of the most prodigious dealmakers in tech, the past month or so has...

Silver Lake's Egon Durban. Photo via Getty

Silver Lake’s Big Week

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 26, 2025 5:00pm PDT

This week’s biggest business headlines should convince you: One of the most interesting non-founders in tech or finance is Silver Lake’s Egon Durban.First, the under-the-radar tech investor squeezed into the middle of the Trump administration’s deal to split TikTok from its Chinese parent company, and at a seemingly bargain-basement price.... This week’s biggest business headlines should convince you: One of the most interesting...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Ex-OpenAI Trio in Funding Talks at $500 Million Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 26, 2025 2:34pm PDT

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Ex-OpenAI Trio in Funding Talks at $500 Million Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 26, 2025 2:34pm PDT

As artificial intelligence developers increasingly rely on reinforcement learning to improve their models, investors are funding startups that focus on helping businesses utilize the technique to automate more tasks. In the latest example, Applied Compute, founded in May by three former OpenAI staffers, is in talks to raise new funding at a $500... As artificial intelligence developers increasingly rely on reinforcement learning to improve...

Art by Clark Miller

Google’s Ad Tech Defense: The Web Is in Decline

By Catherine Perloff · Sep 26, 2025 11:26am PDT

The rise of artificial intelligence services saved Google from a breakup in its search antitrust case earlier this month. Google’s lawyers seem to be hoping AI might do the same for the second antitrust case the company faces, related to its ad tech business. In April, a Virginia judge found Google had a monopoly in the portion of its ad tech... The rise of artificial intelligence services saved Google from a breakup in its search antitrust...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

The $10 Billion Enigma of Mira Murati

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2025 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

This summer, Meta Platforms offered multiple researchers at artificial intelligence startup Thinking Machines Lab sizable compensation packages to join its new AI lab. When all of the researchers declined the offers, Thinking Machines CEO Mira Murati sent a flattering news report about Meta’s attempted raid to her staff over Slack. At the same... This summer, Meta Platforms offered multiple researchers at artificial intelligence startup...

Human Interest CEO Jeff Schneble. Image courtesy of YouTube. Art by Clark Miller.

Retirement startup Human Interest in Talks for Fundraising at $3 Billion Valuation

By Katie Roof · Sep 25, 2025 8:42pm PDT

Human Interest, a startup that manages employer retirement accounts, is in talks with investors to raise about $200 million at a valuation of close to $3 billion, more than doubling its valuation from a fundraising a year ago, according to a person with direct knowledge of the fundraising. The decade-old startup provides employers with 401(K)... Human Interest, a startup that manages employer retirement accounts, is in talks with investors...

Vice President J.D. Vance, left, and President Donald Trump. Photo via Getty

TikTok’s Fire Sale

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Vice President J.D. Vance, left, and President Donald Trump. Photo via Getty

TikTok’s Fire Sale

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Talk about a fire-sale price. That’s the only way to describe the $14 billion valuation we learned today is being put on TikTok U.S. in the Trump administration–orchestrated sale of the app. Given what we’ve reported about TikTok parent ByteDance’s revenues, and our guesstimate about how much came from TikTok, the valuation may be less than one... Talk about a fire-sale price. That’s the only way to describe the $14 billion valuation we...