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

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s China Restart Faces Production Obstacles

By Qianer Liu · Jul 19, 2025 6:08am PDT

President Donald Trump’s recent decision allowing Nvidia to resume sales of the H20 artificial intelligence chips to China sent its Chinese customers—mostly big tech firms like ByteDance and Alibaba—into a frenzy to snap up chips before the U.S. administration changes its mind again. Nvidia’s message: not so fast. The AI chip giant... President Donald Trump’s recent decision allowing Nvidia to resume sales of the H20 artificial...

From left, Sundar Pichai, Michael Bloomberg, Sam Altman, Ingrid von Ahn, Jason Ballard, Daniel Ek; Images via Getty.

Altman’s Sunglasses, Bezos’ Power Polo: A Tech Mogul’s Guide to Summer Fashion

By Freya Drohan · Jul 19, 2025 6:00am PDT

What do you get when you mix plenty of the world’s most powerful capitalists with a sleepaway camp setup in Idaho? Well, for years, the Sun Valley Conference, hosted by Allen & Co., the ultrasecretive investment bank, was a place to hobnob and perhaps strike a deal. It’s something else now: an honest-to-goodness fashion event, with more and... What do you get when you mix plenty of the world’s most powerful capitalists with a sleepaway...

Photo via Getty

What’s Missing From Netflix’s Results

By Martin Peers · Jul 18, 2025 3:00pm PDT

Imagine buying a house from someone who refused to show you the interior. The roof might be leaking, but the sellers don’t want you to know. That’s what it’s like buying shares in many of the biggest tech companies, which refuse to disclose key details about their business. More strikingly, many of these companies—such as Netflix and Apple—... Imagine buying a house from someone who refused to show you the interior. The roof might be...

Art by Clark Miller; image courtesy Joby Aviation.

A Flying Taxi Finally Nears Takeoff With an Unlikely Boost From Toyota

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2025 9:15am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller; image courtesy Joby Aviation.

A Flying Taxi Finally Nears Takeoff With an Unlikely Boost From Toyota

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2025 9:15am PDT · 3 comments

We all grew up with wide-eyed ideas of flying cars—you know, one day zipping around town like the Jetsons. Their failure to materialize so disappointed investor Peter Thiel that he quipped: “We wanted flying cars; instead we got 140 characters.” You’re free not to believe him, but JoeBen Bevirt is here to tell you we are now... We all grew up with wide-eyed ideas of flying cars—you know, one day zipping around town...

Photo via Getty

The Education of Roku’s Anthony Wood

By Catherine Perloff · Jul 18, 2025 6:00am PDT

For years, Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood ran the streaming device maker with some strict rules. He wouldn’t allow advertisements on the Roku home screen—the first thing its viewers see when they switch on their TV—for anything besides other entertainment companies. He also wouldn’t allow the home screen to promote individual... For years, Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood ran the streaming device maker with some strict...

Photo via Getty

As Crypto Bill Passes, Bank Bosses Feel Heat

By Yueqi Yang · Jul 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT

The crypto industry today scored its biggest win in Congress with the passage in the House of Representatives of the Genius Act. The bill, which the Senate cleared last month, legitimizes and regulates stablecoins, crypto tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar. President Donald Trump is expected to sign it quickly. It’s a moment of rejoicing for... The crypto industry today scored its biggest win in Congress with the passage in the House of...

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Netflix’s Podcasting Challenge

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 17, 2025 3:46pm PDT

Earlier this year, Netflix made headlines and stirred excitement among talent agents when co-CEO Ted Sarandos said video podcasts would likely start showing up on the streaming giant. Sarandos had framed the development as inevitable for Netflix, given the growing popularity of talk-show-like programming and the blurring lines between talk... Earlier this year, Netflix made headlines and stirred excitement among talent agents when co-CEO...

Martin Casado. Screenshot via YouTube/TechCrunch.

Andreessen Horowitz’s Casado Plays Talent Broker for Cursor

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 17, 2025 3:21pm PDT

Martin Casado. Screenshot via YouTube/TechCrunch.

Andreessen Horowitz’s Casado Plays Talent Broker for Cursor

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 17, 2025 3:21pm PDT

Subscriber Survey

The Information Survey: Nearly 75% of Respondents Are Vibe Coding—Most Like the Results

By Alex Perry · Jul 17, 2025 11:08am PDT · 2 comments

Vibe coding, or using artificial intelligence to translate plain-language ideas into code, is arguably the breakout tech buzzword of the year. The Information’s latest subscriber survey shows there’s plenty of user interest to back up that hype. Nearly three-quarters of readers who responded to our July survey said they’ve tried vibe coding, and... Vibe coding, or using artificial intelligence to translate plain-language ideas into code, is...

Photo via Getty

AWS’ Free Agent Targets Microsoft Customers

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 17, 2025 10:00am PDT

As Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have dueled over cloud customers in the past decade, one of Microsoft’s biggest advantages has been its base of corporate customers that run Windows software on their local servers and want to move it to the cloud. AWS has complained about this dynamic for years, saying the Windows licenses effectively... As Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have dueled over cloud customers in the past decade, one of...

Photo via Getty

Fintech and Crypto Industries Launch Fight to Block Bank Fees for Customer Data

By Yueqi Yang · Jul 17, 2025 9:32am PDT

The fintech industry has gone to the Trump administration to try to block the threat by banks, led by JPMorgan Chase, to charge fintechs fees for accessing their customers’ banking data. Under proposed pricing sheets from JPMorgan, the fintech and crypto industries could face hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to get access to their... The fintech industry has gone to the Trump administration to try to block the threat by banks,...

Art via Mike Sullivan

OpenAI’s Clever Coding Hack with ChatGPT ‘Startup-Killing’ Agents

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 17, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art via Mike Sullivan

OpenAI’s Clever Coding Hack with ChatGPT ‘Startup-Killing’ Agents

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 17, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI is continuing its push into the application layer with ChatGPT “agents.” As we scooped this week, it plans new features that will allow users to create and edit spreadsheets and presentations, generate reports and automate tasks on their browsers—all through ChatGPT.There was one interesting detail in that news that you might have missed.... OpenAI is continuing its push into the application layer with ChatGPT “agents.” As we scooped...

The People With Power at Meta Superintelligence Labs

By Kalley Huang · Jul 17, 2025 6:00am PDT

Meta Platforms’ new artificial intelligence organization is starting to take shape on the company’s Menlo Park, Calif., campus. The company’s blockbuster hires of AI leaders and researchers in recent weeks has introduced dozens of new faces to the area around Meta’s C-suite, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made room for Meta Superintelligence... Meta Platforms’ new artificial intelligence organization is starting to take shape on the company...

China clamped export controls on LFP batteries, such as the CATL battery above. Photo: Zhou Chengfeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: China Has Signaled that LFP Batteries are Strategic. Here's How Trump Should Respond

By Steve LeVine · Jul 17, 2025 4:30am PDT

China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global monopoly: the world’s currently most popular electric vehicle battery, and the metal used in the most promising battery of the future.The moves come a week after the Pentagon acted in a very big way to weaken China’s grip on rare earth magnets, funding a... China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global...

Photo via Getty

No, the AI Bubble Isn’t Worse Than 1999

By Martin Peers · Jul 16, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Here’s a sobering thought. Today’s AI bubble is bigger than the tech bubble of the 1990s, according to Torsten Slok, the chief economist for Apollo whose brief daily emails are widely followed. He bases that statement on his analysis that the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 are today “more overvalued than they were in the 1990s.”If this is... Here’s a sobering thought. Today’s AI bubble is bigger than the tech bubble of the 1990s,...

Lowe's CMO Jennifer Wilson. Photo: Lowe's

Lowe’s Bets Big on DIY Influencers

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 16, 2025 2:00pm PDT

Lowe's CMO Jennifer Wilson. Photo: Lowe's

Creator Economy

Lowe’s Bets Big on DIY Influencers

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 16, 2025 2:00pm PDT

Major retailers that traditionally spent a lot of their advertising budgets on TV have been leaning into working more with creators. One of the latest examples is home improvement giant Lowe’s, which is making a big push to team up with handy influencers. Through a “home improvement creator network” launched last month, Lowe’s is setting up... Major retailers that traditionally spent a lot of their advertising budgets on TV have been ...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei via Getty

Investors Float Deal Valuing Anthropic at More Than $100 Billion

By Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 16, 2025 11:33am PDT · 1 comment

As Anthropic’s sale of artificial intelligence has surged, the company has told investors some of its profit-related metrics are improving even as it burns a tremendous amount of cash. That financial performance has prompted some investors to indicate interest in funding Anthropic at a valuation of more than $100 billion if the company decides... As Anthropic’s sale of artificial intelligence has surged, the company has told investors some of...

Image via Getty

Why xAI Spent So Much on Reinforcement Learning

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 16, 2025 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Watching last week’s Grok 4 release, one statistic stood out to us. XAI said it spent 10 times as much computational power on reinforcement learning for Grok 4 as it laid out for Grok 3.RL is a common AI development technique that rewards a model for accomplishing certain goals and penalizes it for other behaviors. The xAI disclosure provided... Watching last week’s Grok 4 release, one statistic stood out to us. XAI said it spent 10 times as...

SandboxAQ CEO Jack Hidary, center, and his backers, clockwise from top right: Marc Benioff, Eric Schmidt, Jim Breyer, Sergey Brin and Ray Dalio. Photos by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Lavish Spending and Weak Growth Engulf Billionaire-Backed AI Startup SandboxAQ

By Michael Roddan · Jul 16, 2025 6:00am PDT

An array of billionaire backers and the dream of two world-changing technologies has turned SandboxAQ into a $5.6 billion startup star. The company’s business has failed to keep up with the hype, and its CEO’s behavior is now under scrutiny. SandboxAQ’s success so far is illusory. Nearly all of the company’s first-quarter revenue can be traced... An array of billionaire backers and the dream of two world-changing technologies has turned...

Photo via Getty

Waymo’s Debatable Growth Milestone

By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Photo via Getty

Waymo’s Debatable Growth Milestone

By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Way to go, Waymo! The Alphabet-owned robotaxi service has hit a 100-million-mile autonomous driving milestone, the company announced Tuesday to much fanfare. That figure is 10 times what it was two months ago. Take that, Elon Musk, whose Tesla has barely launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.Waymo’s success reflects a growing acceptance... Way to go, Waymo! The Alphabet-owned robotaxi service has hit a 100-million-mile autonomous...