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

Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Photo via Getty

All-Male AI Boards; General Catalyst’s AI Head Count Savings

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 2:04pm PDT

The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has President Donald Trump’s administration targeted diversity mandates, but federal courts have overturned related laws, such as those passed in California requiring a certain number of women and underrepresented minorities on public company... The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via Getty

Meta in Talks With Google to Use Gemini to Improve Ad Efforts

By Erin Woo · Sep 25, 2025 1:32pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms staffers have had discussions with Google Cloud about the possibility of using Google’s artificial intelligence models to improve Meta’s ad business, according to people with knowledge of the conversations. The discussions are the latest sign of how Meta’s stumbles with its own AI have prompted it to consider using other companies... Meta Platforms staffers have had discussions with Google Cloud about the possibility of using...

Josh Klahr, a product management leader at Snowflake. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Snowflake Tries to End the AI Data-Access Wars

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 25, 2025 10:44am PDT

Snowflake is reversing an incendiary trend of software incumbents such as Salesforce and Atlassian walling off data in their applications from artificial intelligence startups that threaten them.On Tuesday, Snowflake said a consortium of more than a dozen other enterprise app and database providers—including, ironically, Salesforce—have... Snowflake is reversing an incendiary trend of software incumbents such as Salesforce and...

Art via Mike Sullivan

More AI Startups Join the $100 Million ARR Club. But Will They Stay?

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art via Mike Sullivan

More AI Startups Join the $100 Million ARR Club. But Will They Stay?

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

These days, it seems like each week another artificial intelligence startup announces it’s surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue, a milestone that historically meant a startup had achieved “product-market fit”—in other words, customers really want to pay for its products.In the last five months, our reporting shows that at least six “AI... These days, it seems like each week another artificial intelligence startup announces it’s...

Photos courtesy of the subjects

The Investment Bankers Winning at the AI Deal Game

By Valida Pau · Sep 25, 2025 6:00am PDT

There’s nothing like an earth-changing new technology to get the tech industry’s dealmaking juices flowing. That’s been good news and bad news for bankers, who have pocketed fees but have been boxed out of some of the biggest deals. We’ve pulled together a list of the bankers who have led the way on artificial intelligence dealmaking. The... There’s nothing like an earth-changing new technology to get the tech industry’s dealmaking...

The Thacker Pass lithium deposit in Nevada. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas

Exclusive From The Electric: The Trump Administration Is Seeking Stakes in More Critical Minerals Companies

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2025 4:30am PDT

President Donald Trump’s administration is in talks to take stakes in multiple critical minerals companies, according to industry consultants, solidifying a playbook where government support comes in exchange for payments or equity. President Donald Trump’s administration is in talks to take stakes in multiple critical minerals...

Jessica Chastain. Photo via Getty

Apple’s Missing Savant

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

If you’ve ever wondered why Apple has never bought a TV giant like Warner Bros. Discovery, just look at the minidrama over its upcoming Apple TV+ thriller “The Savant.” Apple this week delayed release of the show, about a “top-secret undercover investigator known as the Savant, who infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent... If you’ve ever wondered why Apple has never bought a TV giant like Warner Bros. Discovery, just...

Art by Clark Miller.

Who Will Build the First True AI Device?

By The Information Staff · Sep 24, 2025 9:46am PDT

Art by Clark Miller.

Who Will Build the First True AI Device?

By The Information Staff · Sep 24, 2025 9:46am PDT

The race to develop personal AI devices is in full swing. Meta’s announcement of a new line of smart glasses with a built-in AI assistant is the latest example of tech giants and ambitious startups trying to transform AI into the next personal device after the smartphone. We asked Deep Research to create a comprehensive report on the topic. The race to develop personal AI devices is in full swing. Meta’s announcement of a new line of...

Art by Clark Miller

Special Report Series

Why It Pays to Hack OpenAI and Anthropic Models

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 24, 2025 9:15am PDT

When Dan Lahav was in grade school, he became obsessed with the short stories of Isaac Asimov, where robots gain sentience and trick humans into relinquishing control of society. Today he spends his time prodding artificial intelligence to do just that. Lahav is CEO of Irregular, a two-year-old startup that specializes in testing AI models’... When Dan Lahav was in grade school, he became obsessed with the short stories of Isaac Asimov,...

Photo courtesy of Scale

Inside Scale AI’s New Robot Labs

By Rocket Drew · Sep 24, 2025 7:00am PDT

After Meta Platforms bought nearly half of the data labelling startup Scale AI and hired its co-founder Alexandr Wang and other key employees, Scale’s future looked uncertain. Even more so after the nine-year old startup laid off 200 employees and customer OpenAI wound down its work with the company.Now, we’re getting a sense of how Scale’s... After Meta Platforms bought nearly half of the data labelling startup Scale AI and hired its...

Art via Mike Sullivan

U.S. Loses Appeal for Chinese AI Researchers

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Sep 24, 2025 6:00am PDT

The U.S. artificial intelligence sector is so crowded with Chinese researchers that some joke the global AI race is between two groups of Chinese—those in the U.S. and those in China. That joke may soon feel a bit stale. A growing number of Chinese AI researchers and doctorate students in the U.S. are seriously considering moving back to... The U.S. artificial intelligence sector is so crowded with Chinese researchers that some joke the...

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

Can We Afford AI?

By Martin Peers · Sep 23, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

Can We Afford AI?

By Martin Peers · Sep 23, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Hey, ChatGPT, can you explain this artificial intelligence disconnect? In a blog post today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “Growth in the use of AI services has been astonishing.” Meanwhile, countless news reports cite businesses who say they’ve yet to see enough benefit in AI to pay for it. We reported last week, for instance, that Microsoft was... Hey, ChatGPT, can you explain this artificial intelligence disconnect? In a blog post today,...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang via Getty

In OpenAI Megadeal, Nvidia Discusses a New Business Model: Chip Leasing

By Anissa Gardizy and Sri Muppidi · Sep 23, 2025 2:31pm PDT · 7 comments

OpenAI and Nvidia are discussing an unusual way to structure their new artificial intelligence data center partnership, under which OpenAI would lease Nvidia’s AI chips rather than buying them, according to two people who spoke to executives at the companies about it. The discussion shows how Nvidia is considering new business models to sell its... OpenAI and Nvidia are discussing an unusual way to structure their new artificial intelligence...

President Donald Trump signs an executive order introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Photo via Getty.

$100,000 H-1B Fee’s Inflationary Effect on Startups

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 23, 2025 12:37pm PDT

The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers applying for new H-1B visas sent a shock wave through the ranks of startups and their investors over the weekend. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Menlo Ventures’ Deedy Das have warned the fees will give large tech companies an even bigger advantage... The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers...

Workday Chief Technology Officer Peter Bailis. Art by Clark Miller; image via YouTube.

Every Enterprise Software Firm is Selling the Same AI Products

By Amir Efrati and Aaron Holmes · Sep 23, 2025 10:30am PDT · 1 comment

Workday has spent most of its 20-year existence selling applications that businesses use to manage their employees and financial operations. Now, the company is joining the growing list of software incumbents that are competing head-on in ways they didn’t use to, by selling the same artificial intelligence-powered applications.Last week, Workday... Workday has spent most of its 20-year existence selling applications that businesses use to...

Sam Altman, left, and Jensen Huang. Photos via Getty

Nvidia and OpenAI’s Fates Get Even More Intertwined

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 23, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Sam Altman, left, and Jensen Huang. Photos via Getty

Nvidia and OpenAI’s Fates Get Even More Intertwined

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 23, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Larry Ellison might have thought his firm’s 4.5 gigawatt cloud deal with OpenAI was unmatched.That is, until he woke up on Monday morning to see OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announcing something much bigger: data center plans that are more than double the size of Oracle’s. The numbers are quite staggering. If OpenAI and... Larry Ellison might have thought his firm’s 4.5 gigawatt cloud deal with OpenAI was unmatched....

Blackstone's Jon Gray, left, and Macquarie's Shemara Wikramanayake. Photos by Getty

AI Data Center Lenders to Watch

By Miles Kruppa · Sep 23, 2025 6:00am PDT

The astounding financial demands of artificial intelligence have forced the tech industry to embrace a new source of funding: lenders that can quickly write multi-billion dollar checks. These banks and investors range from giants like JPMorgan Chase and Blackstone to lesser known lenders such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Macquarie. They... The astounding financial demands of artificial intelligence have forced the tech industry to...

A Volvo EX30. Photo via Getty

Volvo’s Top U.S. Exec Says Carmaker Will Proceed With New EVs

By Steve LeVine · Sep 23, 2025 3:00am PDT · 1 comment

A wave of automakers has cancelled plans to produce electric vehicles in the U.S., responding to slow sales of the cars. But Volvo Cars, an automaker owned by China’s Geely Group, is boosting its EV manufacturing plans at its South Carolina plant, a move that could be a model for other Chinese automakers amid a potential thaw in U.S.-China... A wave of automakers has cancelled plans to produce electric vehicles in the U.S., responding to...

Image courtesy of 1X Technologies.

Humanoid Robot Developer 1X Targets $1 Billion in New Funding

By Wayne Ma, Natasha Mascarenhas and Valida Pau · Sep 22, 2025 5:26pm PDT

Humanoid robotics startup 1X has told investors and employees it is trying to raise as much as $1 billion, according to three people who spoke to CEO Bernt Øivind Børnich. The decade-old company is aiming for a valuation of at least $10 billion, Børnich said, or more than 12 times its previous valuation from a January... Humanoid robotics startup 1X has told investors and employees it is trying to raise as much as $1...

Jensen Huang, left, and Sam Altman. Photos via Getty

Nvidia Pays OpenAI to Buy Its Chips

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Jensen Huang, left, and Sam Altman. Photos via Getty

Nvidia Pays OpenAI to Buy Its Chips

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI loves to make grand announcements. Earlier this year we had the hoopla about its Stargate data center venture, worth up to $500 billion. Today the ChatGPT creator announced a letter of intent to form a strategic partnership with Nvidia to “build and deploy” artificial intelligence data centers holding “millions” of Nvidia’s AI chips. To... OpenAI loves to make grand announcements. Earlier this year we had the hoopla about its Stargate...