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

Timothée Chalamet enters a movie premiere in London on a Lime Bike in January. Photo via Getty.

As Stocks Roar, IPO Hopefuls Come Out of Woodwork

By Martin Peers · Jun 24, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Welcome to summer, particularly for those in cities like New York that are enduring 100-degree temperatures today. And it was hot in a different sense on Wall Street, where all those worries about tariffs seem to have faded into the background, judging by the recent stock market frenzy. The Nasdaq 100 index, for instance, rose 1.5% on Tuesday to... Welcome to summer, particularly for those in cities like New York that are enduring 100-degree...

Photo via Getty

Here Come the Software Boomerangs

By Valida Pau · Jun 24, 2025 4:37pm PDT

The market for initial public offerings has thawed a bit so far this year. But don’t forget about deals going the other way—software companies going private again, relatively soon after their IPOs. Bankers say they are talking to software companies that have struggled since their IPOs about going private again. Some of these boomerang... The market for initial public offerings has thawed a bit so far this year. But don’t forget about...

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

YouTube Zeros in on Subscriptions

By Sahil Patel and Kaya Yurieff · Jun 24, 2025 2:27pm PDT

YouTube may already be a behemoth in advertising, but a lot of the video giant’s attention lately has been on its subscription products. In fact, earlier this year YouTube leaders were considering hiring for a new role that could be in charge of all subscription products, as I reported on Monday. (A YouTube spokesperson declined to... YouTube may already be a behemoth in advertising, but a lot of the video giant’s attention lately...

Image via Getty

Enterprises Take Model Evaluation Into Their Own Hands

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 24, 2025 10:14am PDT

Image via Getty

Enterprises Take Model Evaluation Into Their Own Hands

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 24, 2025 10:14am PDT

Buyers of artificial intelligence often need help figuring out which AI models are best at handling a particular task.Kinesso, the tech arm of advertising giant IPG, has been evaluating ways its parent company can use large language models to generate marketing-related text. By now, Kinesso and other AI buyers have become acquainted with... Buyers of artificial intelligence often need help figuring out which AI models are best at...

OpenAI product chief Kevin Weil via Getty. Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI Quietly Designed a Rival to Google Workspace, Microsoft Office

By Amir Efrati and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jun 24, 2025 8:41am PDT

OpenAI has been gearing up to take on Google and Microsoft with features that let people collaborate on documents and communicate via chat in ChatGPT, according to two people who have seen the designs. Launching these features would pit OpenAI more directly against Microsoft, its biggest shareholder and business partner, as well as open a... OpenAI has been gearing up to take on Google and Microsoft with features that let people...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Wall Street’s AI Embrace Leaves Plenty of Work for Junior Bankers

By Valida Pau · Jun 24, 2025 8:00am PDT

For junior investment bankers working 100-hour weeks, artificial intelligence can take care of the grunt work—up to a point. Interviews with half a dozen junior bankers suggest many Wall Street banks have leaned into using AI to help streamline their most menial tasks, including basic research such as asking a chatbot for public... For junior investment bankers working 100-hour weeks, artificial intelligence can take care of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

A Wave of AI M&A Is Coming; The Most Hated AI Startup

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Kevin McLaughlin · Jun 24, 2025 7:00am PDT

Before we get to the column, I’d recommend you check out this story Erin, Rocket and I published on Monday about what sorts of products Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, is looking to build. It gives a sneak peek into how Murati plans to catch up with OpenAI and other AI rivals,... Before we get to the column, I’d recommend you check out this story Erin, Rocket and I published...

Photo via AP.

Polymarket Nears $200 Million Fundraising at Valuation Over $1 Billion

By Yueqi Yang · Jun 24, 2025 6:00am PDT

Photo via AP.

Polymarket Nears $200 Million Fundraising at Valuation Over $1 Billion

By Yueqi Yang · Jun 24, 2025 6:00am PDT

Polymarket, the world’s biggest prediction market, is nearing a deal to raise more than $200 million in a funding round that will value the company at over $1 billion, according to people familiar with the plan. Polymarket, founded in 2020 by CEO Shayne Coplan, rose to prominence last year by becoming the most popular platform for betting on the... Polymarket, the world’s biggest prediction market, is nearing a deal to raise more than $200...

Photo via Shutterstock

Fiserv’s Stablecoin Plans Show Intensifying Crypto Stampede

By Ken Brown · Jun 23, 2025 5:00pm PDT

The crypto stampede is on, and hardly a day goes by without the launch of some bitcoin scheme or stablecoin offering. On Sunday, my colleague Yueqi reported that OKX, one of the three biggest global crypto exchanges, was considering an initial public offering in the U.S. Today, Fiserv, one of the companies that manages the plumbing of the nation... The crypto stampede is on, and hardly a day goes by without the launch of some bitcoin scheme or...

Thinking Machines Lab CEO Mira Murati via Getty

How Ex-OpenAI CTO Murati’s Startup Plans to Compete With OpenAI and Others

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo and Rocket Drew · Jun 23, 2025 3:23pm PDT · 4 comments

The thinking behind Thinking Machines Lab, a high-profile but mysterious artificial intelligence startup led by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, is becoming clearer. After raising an astonishing $2 billion at a $10 billion valuation from investors including Andreessen Horowitz less than five months after its founding, Murati... The thinking behind Thinking Machines Lab, a high-profile but mysterious artificial intelligence...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Great Data-Labeling Debate: Synthetic or Human?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 23, 2025 7:00am PDT

The news around data-labeling startups is stirring a debate in the industry about whether artificial intelligence developers should improve their models with cheap synthetic data (data that are generated by other AI models) or with a much smaller amount of expensive, human-labeled data via firms such as Scale or Surge.Until recently, AI... The news around data-labeling startups is stirring a debate in the industry about whether...

Photo via Getty.

Google Cuts Smart TV Budget as It Doubles Down on YouTube

By Sahil Patel · Jun 23, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Photo via Getty.

Google Cuts Smart TV Budget as It Doubles Down on YouTube

By Sahil Patel · Jun 23, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Google has cut its smart TV budget and trimmed its team—marking the most concrete signs yet of the company’s waning interest competing with the likes of Samsung and Roku as it centers its TV business around YouTube. The company has reduced the budget for Google TV and Android TV 10%, according to people familiar with the matter. This group... Google has cut its smart TV budget and trimmed its team—marking the most concrete signs yet...

Apptronik co-founders Nick Paine, left, and Jeff Cardenas, along with Apollo, their humanoid robot. Photo: Courtesy Apptronik.

The Electric: Tesla's Optimus Hype Has Pumped Up the Nascent U.S. Humanoid Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Jun 23, 2025 4:30am PDT

U.S. researchers invented the electric vehicle battery, but Chinese companies have swallowed up the business of making them. Now a new technological race has emerged, this time in humanoid robots: As in batteries and EVs, U.S. companies are in tough competition with Chinese rivals that already control much of the supply chain for motors and... U.S. researchers invented the electric vehicle battery, but Chinese companies have swallowed up...

Star Xu, founder and CEO of OKX. Photo via Getty

Crypto Is the Hottest Investment, in the Stock Market

By Yueqi Yang · Jun 22, 2025 6:00am PDT

Crypto is booming right now, but the rally is playing out in the stock market rather than on crypto exchanges. Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle are up eightfold since its initial public offering just over two weeks ago, and companies that hold bitcoin are getting valuations that are surprising even to industry insiders. Several big crypto... Crypto is booming right now, but the rally is playing out in the stock market rather than on...

Art by Clark Miller

Who Controls Sam Altman’s Story?

By Abram Brown · Jun 21, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Humanoid robots are the latest pawns in the U.S.-China tech war• The Arena: Can 3D printing—yes, 3D printing—make Nike a winner again?• The quiet AI mogul with $1 billion in sales—and no investors • Plus, our Recommendations: Putin’s favorite fintech; the dirt on d’oh!; and a collision... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Humanoid robots are the latest pawns in...

Art by Clark Miller

Coming to Amazon: A 3D-Printed Nike Sports Bra?

By Sara Germano · Jun 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Coming to Amazon: A 3D-Printed Nike Sports Bra?

By Sara Germano · Jun 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

More than 1,700 men have broken the 4-minute mile, but no woman has ever done so. The fastest any female runner has ever covered the distance is 4 minutes and 7.64 seconds, the current world record set by Faith Kipyegon in 2023. Which is to say: not even close. Nevertheless, Nike is staging a race in Paris next Thursday where Kipyegon will... More than 1,700 men have broken the 4-minute mile, but no woman has ever done so. The fastest any...

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son with a humanoid robot in 2015. Photo via Getty

Why SoftBank’s Robots-in-the-Desert Project Could Be a Mirage

By Nick Wingfield · Jun 20, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Masayoshi Son is a man who keeps adding zeros to his grand ambitions. Apparently, the SoftBank Group founder isn’t content with his $500 billion Stargate plan to build artificial intelligence data centers and is now trying to rally partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., to build a $1 trillion industrial complex in Arizona... Masayoshi Son is a man who keeps adding zeros to his grand ambitions. Apparently, the SoftBank...

Melanie Perkins, CEO and co-founder of Canva.

Canva, Generating Significant Cash, Discusses Share Offer at $37 Billion Valuation

By Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jun 20, 2025 3:30pm PDT

Canva is about to buy itself a little more time before a long-anticipated initial public offering. The Australian maker of design software is in talks to arrange a sale of shares held by current and former employees that would value the company at $37 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the fundraise. That’s just shy of its peak... Canva is about to buy itself a little more time before a long-anticipated initial public...

Partner Content

Four AI Futures for Enterprise Tech

By The Information Partnerships · Jun 20, 2025 10:30am PDT

Expectations about the impact of artificial intelligence on business are running high, but how will AI deployment unfold? The Information’s readers were presented with a survey detailing four different scenarios about how AI will play out in their companies, as defined by the EY organization, in the near and midrange future. Through careful... Expectations about the impact of artificial intelligence on business are running high, but how...

Pro Weekly: AI Efforts Drive Google-Apple Sentiment Split

Pro Weekly: AI Efforts Drive Google-Apple Sentiment Split

By Akash Pasricha · Jun 20, 2025 8:00am PDT

Pro Weekly: AI Efforts Drive Google-Apple Sentiment Split

Pro Weekly: AI Efforts Drive Google-Apple Sentiment Split

By Akash Pasricha · Jun 20, 2025 8:00am PDT

What’s driving reader outlooks for tech giants including Google, Apple and Meta this month? You can probably guess: How much they’re doing (or at least talking about doing) to get ahead in AI. In our June survey, subscribers said they were a lot more optimistic about Google’s prospects compared with our survey the previous month. The share... What’s driving reader outlooks for tech giants including Google, Apple and Meta this month? You...