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

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Getty Images

Perplexity Takes On Amazon

By Martin Peers · Nov 4, 2025 5:00pm PST

Cue the violins. Perplexity on Tuesday accused Amazon of bullying it by demanding that the AI startup no longer allow its users to send their AI assistants to Amazon to buy stuff. The startup, which is an expert at public relations theatrics, published a long blog post entitled “Bullying Is Not Innovation,” in which it claimed to be “fighting... Cue the violins. Perplexity on Tuesday accused Amazon of bullying it by demanding that the AI...

Natasha Mascarenhas, Nina Achadjian and Leigh Marie Braswell at The Information's WTF Summit in October 2025. Photo by Erin Beach.

Four Venture Capitalists on How AI Has Disrupted Dealmaking

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 4, 2025 2:02pm PST

Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at Sequoia Capital for three years, announced he was handing the reins to two partners, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. Botha, 52, took over Sequoia in 2022 just as tech stocks were plunging and VC firms including Sequoia were mopping up the excesses of... Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at...

Sridar Ramaswamy. Photo by Getty Images

When Good AI Isn’t Good Enough; Snowflake’s AI Agents Arrive

By Aaron Holmes and Amir Efrati · Nov 4, 2025 10:30am PST

Talking to business leaders about AI these days can often feel paradoxical. On one hand, AI is becoming a steady part of company software budgets, especially productivity tools like chatbots and AI coding software that individual employees use. On the other hand, there’s a persistent frustration that AI isn’t living up to the hype when it... Talking to business leaders about AI these days can often feel paradoxical. On one hand, AI...

Art by Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

The Information 50’s Top Performers From 2024

By Valida Pau · Nov 4, 2025 9:06am PST

Art by Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

The Information 50

The Information 50’s Top Performers From 2024

By Valida Pau · Nov 4, 2025 9:06am PST

Two of the biggest winners from last year’s list of The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups proved again that huge gains can come from surprising places. A year ago the term vibe coding didn’t exist. Now Anysphere, whose Cursor coding assistant is in the middle of the movement and was our top AI app pick, is a blockbuster. Among the... Two of the biggest winners from last year’s list of The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups...

Dario Amodei. Photo by Getty Images

The Information’s Most Promising AI Startups; Positive Cash Flow Seems In Sight For Anthropic

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Laura Mandaro and Rocket Drew · Nov 4, 2025 7:00am PST

I’d recommend you check out our annual list of the most promising startups, which we published this morning and includes companies across artificial intelligence, consumer, cybersecurity, crypto and more.Each year, it gets harder and harder to come up with our final list of AI applications and infrastructure startups. Part of that is due to the... I’d recommend you check out our annual list of the most promising startups, which we published...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Getty Images.

Anthropic Projects $70 Billion in Revenue, $17 Billion in Cash Flow in 2028

By Sri Muppidi · Nov 4, 2025 6:30am PST · 2 comments

Anthropic this summer hiked its most optimistic growth forecasts by roughly 13% to 28% over the next three years and projected generating as much as $70 billion in revenue in 2028, up from close to $5 billion this year, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s financials. The company expects demand from businesses for its AI models... Anthropic this summer hiked its most optimistic growth forecasts by roughly 13% to 28% over the...

The Information 50

Introducing The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups of 2025

By Amir Efrati · Nov 4, 2025 6:00am PST · 9 comments

Investor euphoria around artificial intelligence has shown little sign of wearing off this year, especially as ex-employees of AI developers such as OpenAI, Google and Palantir raised capital for their own AI startups. That made it more difficult than ever to identify promising but relatively unknown startups that fit the criteria for the sixth... Investor euphoria around artificial intelligence has shown little sign of wearing off this year,...

An AWS data center in Ashburn, Va. Getty Images.

AWS Joins OpenAI Club

By Martin Peers · Nov 3, 2025 5:00pm PST

An AWS data center in Ashburn, Va. Getty Images.

AWS Joins OpenAI Club

By Martin Peers · Nov 3, 2025 5:00pm PST

If you’re tired of the seemingly endless parade of AI cloud deals, better get comfortable with them: They’re not going away anytime soon. On Monday, for instance, Microsoft struck deals with two little-known cloud firms, Lambda and Australia’s Iren, for additional computing capacity. Another firm, Cipher Mining Inc. announced a similar deal to... If you’re tired of the seemingly endless parade of AI cloud deals, better get comfortable with...

Mira Murati. Photo by Getty Images

What Ilya Saw: Mira Murati’s Screenshots About Sam Altman

By Amir Efrati · Nov 3, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Before we get to today’s column, OpenAI is continuing its trend of diversifying its cloud compute providers away from Microsoft. Monday morning, the ChatGPT maker announced that it has signed a seven-year, $38 billion cloud deal with Amazon Web Services. OpenAI will immediately start using compute from AWS, with the goal to deploy all capacity... Before we get to today’s column, OpenAI is continuing its trend of diversifying its cloud compute...

Art via Clark Miller

Anthropic, AWS Give Customers of AI Agents a Helping Hand

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 3, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Over the past year, companies have been trying to hand over job duties to artificial intelligence agents. But these agents often aren’t good at their jobs, so AI providers are working hands-on with customers to stop them from screwing up. Fnac, a European retailer similar to Best Buy, struggled with an AI customer support agent after testing... Over the past year, companies have been trying to hand over job duties to artificial intelligence...

Drone assembly at United Aircraft Group in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, home to about 1,700 drone industry companies. Photo: Li An/Xinhua/Getty.

The Electric: China's Next Targets for Domination—Robots, Rockets and Low-Orbit Satellites

By Steve LeVine · Nov 3, 2025 4:30am PST

China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and key industries—has become a key geopolitical issue. Chinese companies make most of the parts that go into the world’s military drones and sell 70% of the commercial drones. China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and...

Getty Images

Preparing for Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Tesla Vote

By Theo Wayt · Nov 2, 2025 3:00pm PST

Getty Images

Preparing for Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Tesla Vote

By Theo Wayt · Nov 2, 2025 3:00pm PST

Over the past couple of months, my X feed and television have been bombarded with Tesla advertisements. For the most part, these ads don’t feature products anyone can actually buy—instead, they include futuristic Tesla projects like the Optimus humanoid robot and are aimed at convincing Tesla shareholders to approve a proposed compensation... Over the past couple of months, my X feed and television have been bombarded with Tesla...

Chart by Shane Burke.

Sunday Insights

Google and Microsoft Face Less AI Spending Risk Than Meta, Amazon

By Martin Peers · Nov 2, 2025 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Of all the big tech companies investing in AI, Google and Microsoft are the best positioned to handle the growing costs of the technology, judging from data disclosed this past week in September-quarter earnings. Google and Microsoft generate more cash from their businesses than other big tech companies, including Apple. And they’re devoting a... Of all the big tech companies investing in AI, Google and Microsoft are the best positioned to...

Art by Clark Miller

The Neo Robot Economy

By Abram Brown · Nov 1, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside Benchmark’s high-stakes pressure test • Artificial Intelligence: The VCs who turned vibe code into whimsical passion projects• Artificial Intelligence: Venerable Casio’s surprise hit? An AI robopet • WTF: Behind the scenes at our summit for the most powerful and influential... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside Benchmark’s high-stakes pressure...

Clara Wu Tsai. Photo by Erin Beach

Clara Wu Tsai’s Plan to Build the First $1 Billion WNBA Franchise

By The Information Staff · Nov 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

When Clara Wu Tsai and her husband, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, bought the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2019, one of her first priorities was convincing her fellow team owners they needed to spend money to see real growth in the sport. “For so long, we felt that the owners in the league have been operating from this scarcity mindset and just... When Clara Wu Tsai and her husband, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, bought the WNBA’s New York...

Art by Clark Miller

Sing the News to Me? The VCs Who Turned Vibe Code Into Whimsical Passion Projects

By Jemima McEvoy · Nov 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

Sing the News to Me? The VCs Who Turned Vibe Code Into Whimsical Passion Projects

By Jemima McEvoy · Nov 1, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

In less than a year, AI-assisted coding has become a fixation within Silicon Valley, which sees the companies building such products as some of the most lucrative startups in tech. While tools like Cursor and Anthropic’s Claude Code can’t transform techno novices into app-building wizards overnight, they do make coding faster—and easier... In less than a year, AI-assisted coding has become a fixation within Silicon Valley, which sees...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

Do We Want an Age of AI Robopets?

By Jessica Roy · Nov 1, 2025 5:26am PDT · 2 comments

One August morning, Kaarage woke up and took the train from the Japanese countryside into the city. She went to a restaurant and enjoyed a lunch of vegetables and soup, as well as an iced coffee. Afterward, she studied a musical score on her iPad, then went home to relax. Kaarage is not a person: She’s an internet-beloved Moflin, an... One August morning, Kaarage woke up and took the train from the Japanese countryside into the...

The WTF summit in Yountville, Calif. Art by Clark Miller; photos by Erin Beach.

WTF: Women in Tech, Media and Finance

The Information’s WTF Summit in Pictures

By The Information Staff · Nov 1, 2025 5:24am PDT

Executives from Netflix, Palantir and YouTube along with dozens more of the most powerful and influential women in technology, media and finance gathered earlier this week for The Information’s annual WTF Summit. The conversations ranged from how AI is reshaping the financing markets to sponsorship pricing power in the WNBA—while attendees... Executives from Netflix, Palantir and YouTube along with dozens more of the most powerful and...

Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever in 2023. Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence

An OpenAI Founder Discusses Anthropic Merger Talks, Internal Beefs in Deposition

By Rocket Drew · Oct 31, 2025 6:47pm PDT · 6 comments

Anthropic initially expressed “excitement” about a possible merger with OpenAI two years ago, after OpenAI’s board fired CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever told attorneys in a deposition made public this week. Such a deal would have potentially placed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the helm of OpenAI. He... Anthropic initially expressed “excitement” about a possible merger with OpenAI two years ago,...

Art by Clark Miller; images via YouTube

Benchmark’s AI Pressure Test: High Prices, Smaller Stakes—and a Poached Star

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Oct 31, 2025 9:49am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller; images via YouTube

Benchmark’s AI Pressure Test: High Prices, Smaller Stakes—and a Poached Star

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Oct 31, 2025 9:49am PDT · 2 comments

Last year, Benchmark, the storied venture capital firm, embarked on a lavish courtship of Brendan Foody, founder and CEO of Mercor, a startup that fills a lucrative niche in AI by hiring workers to train AI programs. First, General Partner Victor Lazarte chatted with Foody over Zoom. Then Peter Fenton, the firm’s longest-tenured active GP, took... Last year, Benchmark, the storied venture capital firm, embarked on a lavish courtship of Brendan...