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

Arjun Prakash, co-founder & CEO Distyl AI. Image via YouTube. Art by Clark Miller.

AI Consulting Startup Founded by Ex-Palantir Employees Raises at $1.8 Billion Valuation

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 22, 2025 12:57pm PDT · 4 comments

A raft of venture-backed startups are emerging to offer high-tech consultants for businesses needing help with artificial intelligence, posing competition for companies like Palantir and McKinsey & Co. that specialize in high-priced consulting services. One is Distyl AI. The three-year-old startup provides companies like T-Mobile with what’s... A raft of venture-backed startups are emerging to offer high-tech consultants for businesses...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Japan Strikes Back

By Juro Osawa · Sep 22, 2025 7:00am PDT

As Western artificial intelligence developers accelerate international expansion, Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is shaping up to be a key battleground. ChatGPT and Gemini are already popular there. Anthropic is preparing to open a Tokyo office after appointing a Japan country head last month. Canada-based Cohere also hired a... As Western artificial intelligence developers accelerate international expansion, Japan, the...

Art by Clark Miller.

How Crypto Upended Financial Markets and What Comes Next

By Yueqi Yang · Sep 22, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Crypto stormed into the traditional financial system over the past four months, wedging itself deeper than ever into banking and the stock market. The head-spinning changes created billions in profits for the industry and added more risks for investors and regulators. The changes came so fast that they were hard to keep straight. We’ve rolled... Crypto stormed into the traditional financial system over the past four months, wedging itself...

A SunPower project in Utah. Photo: Courtesy SunPower

Exclusive: With an Acquisition, SunPower's T.J. Rodgers Leads New Solar Industry Consolidation

By Steve LeVine · Sep 22, 2025 4:00am PDT

A SunPower project in Utah. Photo: Courtesy SunPower

Exclusive: With an Acquisition, SunPower's T.J. Rodgers Leads New Solar Industry Consolidation

By Steve LeVine · Sep 22, 2025 4:00am PDT

In a sign of a new wave of renewable energy industry consolidation, SunPower has agreed to acquire solar power sales company Sunder Energy for $55 million in cash and stock. It’s the latest deal in the industry, which was already struggling before President Donald Trump slashed subsidies. In a sign of a new wave of renewable energy industry consolidation, SunPower has agreed to...

Flavio Cobolli takes a selfie of Team Europe ahead of the Laver Cup in San Francisco on Wednesday. Photo by Getty

What I Asked Alcaraz in the Land of Alcatraz

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 20, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Musk’s Memphis supercomputer fixer • The Arena: The highlightification of sports. • The Top 5: Tech elites turn to luxury matchmakers to find love.• Plus, our Recommendations: “Home Cooking,” “The World’s Worst Best” and “Three Days of the Condor.” It definitely wasn’t the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Musk’s Memphis supercomputer...

Art by Clark Miller

$500,000 to Find Love? Silicon Valley Upgrades From Dating Apps

By Jemima McEvoy · Sep 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

There’s a big public breakup underway: People are dumping their dating apps. Over the past year, Bumble lost nearly 9% of its paying users, the company reported in its earnings report last month. Match Group, meanwhile, saw about 5% of paying users abandon its flagship apps, including Tinder and Bumble, during the same period. “The companies... There’s a big public breakup underway: People are dumping their dating apps. Over the past year,...

Bleacher Report's Katie Arkins. Art by Clark Miller. Photos via Getty Images and Bleacher Report

NBA Commissioner’s Viral Comment Sparks a Sports Highlights Debate

By Sara Germano · Sep 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Late last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver inadvertently went viral on social media with a passing comment that quickly got under the skin of basketball fans. When asked during a press conference about how expensive being an NBA fan has become—mainly due to fragmented TV broadcasts and streaming price hikes—part of Silver’s... Late last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver inadvertently went viral on social media with a...

People lined up on Friday for the release of Apple's new iPhone 17 in New York. Photo via Getty

Why the Phone is the Best AI Device

By Martin Peers · Sep 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

People lined up on Friday for the release of Apple's new iPhone 17 in New York. Photo via Getty

Why the Phone is the Best AI Device

By Martin Peers · Sep 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up outside Apple stores whenever a new model first becomes available. We saw that again on Friday, when the iPhone 17 series went on sale. As we reported earlier, preorders for the entry-level iPhone 17—the cheap one—were strong enough to prompt Apple... It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up...

Q&A

Meta’s Wearables VP Alex Himel Discusses New Display Glasses

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 19, 2025 12:43pm PDT

Meta Platforms hopes to make money out of its augmented reality glasses through software features, such as subscriptions to its artificial intelligence service, its vice president of wearables Alex Himel said in an interview with The Information’s TITV this week. But Meta doesn’t have near-term plans to try and sell ads on the glasses,... Meta Platforms hopes to make money out of its augmented reality glasses through software...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image via Getty.

Apple Rushes to Boost Production of Cheaper iPhone 17

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Sep 19, 2025 10:59am PDT

Apple is rushing to boost production of its newly released entry-level model iPhone 17 after strong pre-orders last weekend. The tech giant told at least two suppliers to boost their daily output of the standard model by at least 30%, according to people familiar with the matter. The shift suggests more consumers than Apple expected opted to buy... Apple is rushing to boost production of its newly released entry-level model iPhone 17 after...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

How an Ex-Oilman Became the Face of Elon Musk’s Supercomputers

By Theo Wayt · Sep 19, 2025 9:00am PDT

In February, a peace summit of sorts took place on the top floor of Memphis City Hall. On one side there were a handful of local politicians and environmental activists. On the other was the city’s mayor, Paul Young, and Brent Mayo—a youthful, bearded, hoodie-clad Texan—who came with a message that his boss, Elon Musk, had become... In February, a peace summit of sorts took place on the top floor of Memphis City Hall. On one...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

OpenAI to Spend $100 Billion on Backup Servers for AI Breakthroughs

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 19, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

OpenAI to Spend $100 Billion on Backup Servers for AI Breakthroughs

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 19, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

When OpenAI in March released ChatGPT features that could turn photos into animated characters, a spike in usage forced the company to put temporary limits on the features. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told investors at a Goldman Sachs conference last week that the company has to regularly hold... When OpenAI in March released ChatGPT features that could turn photos into animated characters, a...

Photos of Jony Ive and Sam Altman via Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Raids Apple for Hardware Talent, Manufacturing Partners

By Wayne Ma, Aaron Tilley, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Sep 19, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

As OpenAI’s plans to make devices infused with its artificial intelligence get closer to reality, the company is increasingly plucking talent from Silicon Valley’s most successful device maker: Apple. In recent months, the startup behind ChatGPT has been raiding the ranks of Apple’s design, manufacturing and supply chain teams, in addition to ... As OpenAI’s plans to make devices infused with its artificial intelligence get closer to reality,...

Mark Zuckerberg introduces the Meta Oakley Vanguard AI glasses at Meta Connect. Photo via Getty

Meta’s AR Presence

By Martin Peers · Sep 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

If Mark Zuckerberg has his way, in a few weeks you could be talking to a friend wearing Meta’s new “display” glasses (you might call them augmented reality-lite glasses). All of a sudden, your friend will get a glazed look in their eyes and their fingers will start twitching. “Oh no,” you’ll realize. “They got just a text and now they’re... If Mark Zuckerberg has his way, in a few weeks you could be talking to a friend wearing Meta’s...

Photo via Getty

TikTok U.S.’s New Investor Lineup Remains In Flux

By Jing Yang and Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2025 1:37pm PDT · 1 comment

If President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping wrap up a deal for a U.S.-controlled investor group to buy TikTok U.S. on Friday, the next stage of the deal will begin—figuring out the final lineup of the investor consortium. Oracle and Silver Lake are widely reported to be among a group of new investors buying into a newly... If President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping wrap up a deal for a U.S.-controlled...

Anjney Midha, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Image via Getty.

How Andreessen Horowitz’s ‘Compute Whisperer’ Wins AI Deals

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 18, 2025 1:14pm PDT

Anjney Midha, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Image via Getty.

How Andreessen Horowitz’s ‘Compute Whisperer’ Wins AI Deals

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 18, 2025 1:14pm PDT

Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups such as France’s Mistral AI and Germany’s Black Forest Labs. But behind the scenes, he’s also functioned as what he calls the firm’s “compute whisperer,” setting up and managing a group of thousands of Nvidia chips that the firm then rents to... Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups...

Photo via Getty

Studios Say AI Is Finally Good Enough to Design Videogames

By Catherine Perloff and Aaron Holmes · Sep 18, 2025 10:30am PDT

Without video games, the artificial intelligence boom may not have happened: the Nvidia chips that powered recent AI breakthroughs were originally designed to process video game graphics.Now, game studios are increasingly turning to generative AI to automate the work of developing their games. Without video games, the artificial intelligence boom may not have happened: the Nvidia chips...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon’s AR Glasses Could Help Train Its Humanoid Delivery Robots

By Rocket Drew · Sep 18, 2025 7:35am PDT

On Wednesday, Meta Platforms took a big step towards dominating the still-nascent augmented reality market when it unveiled the latest version of its Ray-Bans smart glasses, this time with a see-through display and a wristband for controlling the device. People will be able to send text messages via hand motions interpreted by the wristband.Meta... On Wednesday, Meta Platforms took a big step towards dominating the still-nascent augmented...

Oracle chairman Larry Ellison. Photo via Getty

The Magical Thinking Behind Oracle’s Valuation

By Anita Ramaswamy · Sep 18, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

For a company whose name refers to divine prophecies, Oracle hasn’t done a very good job of predicting the future. Investors, though, appear to believe in the company’s latest, most incredible forecast. The database giant last week upped its forecast for future revenue it expects to generate, based on its current contracts, by a whopping $317... For a company whose name refers to divine prophecies, Oracle hasn’t done a very good job of...

The Luxeed R7 extended-range electric vehicle, produced by China's Chery. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: With the Clock Running Out on EV Subsidies, Carmakers Offer Up a New Idea

By Steve LeVine · Sep 18, 2025 4:30am PDT

The Luxeed R7 extended-range electric vehicle, produced by China's Chery. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: With the Clock Running Out on EV Subsidies, Carmakers Offer Up a New Idea

By Steve LeVine · Sep 18, 2025 4:30am PDT

In less than two weeks, the clock will run out on the $7,500 consumer tax credit on the purchase of electric vehicles in the U.S., killed by Congress as part of President Donald Trump’s energy policy. Carmakers expect EV sales to fall off a cliff, since most consumers think the vehicles still cost too much, don’t go far enough on a charge, and... In less than two weeks, the clock will run out on the $7,500 consumer tax credit on the purchase...