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

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Financial Markets Giant DTCC Explores a Stablecoin

By Yueqi Yang · Jun 12, 2025 8:00am PDT

A little-known company at the heart of the U.S. financial system is exploring issuing a stablecoin that could accelerate the use of digital assets across markets, according to people with knowledge of its plan. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., the clearinghouse that processes U.S. stock trades, would consider issuing a stablecoin if... A little-known company at the heart of the U.S. financial system is exploring issuing a...

Image by Mike Sullivan via Midjourney

The AI Industry’s Swim Lanes Get Even Blurrier

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 12, 2025 7:00am PDT

If your artificial intelligence firm isn’t also a chipmaker and cloud provider, are you even an AI company?That’s what it’s starting to feel like, as more companies try to fill out more parts of the AI “stack” by providing the models, hardware and computational resources businesses need to build or use AI-powered apps. In just the last 24... If your artificial intelligence firm isn’t also a chipmaker and cloud provider, are you even an...

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AWS to Revamp Key AI Cloud Service to Close Gap with Google

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jun 12, 2025 6:00am PDT

In March, when Amazon Web Services launched a new division focused on developing artificial intelligence that handles complex tasks, known as agents, CEO Matt Garman said in a memo that the technology could be the cloud provider’s next multibillion-dollar business. But some customers say rival cloud providers such as Google have made it easier... In March, when Amazon Web Services launched a new division focused on developing artificial...

Solar array atop an AI data center in Centennial, Colo. Photo: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty

The Electric: Fear of Trump's Wrath Kept Industry From Lobbying to Save AI Data Center Subsidies—Until Now

By Steve LeVine · Jun 12, 2025 4:30am PDT

Solar array atop an AI data center in Centennial, Colo. Photo: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty

The Electric: Fear of Trump's Wrath Kept Industry From Lobbying to Save AI Data Center Subsidies—Until Now

By Steve LeVine · Jun 12, 2025 4:30am PDT

After sitting on the political sidelines for months, tech, utility and energy companies—panicked that the repeal of tax credits threatens the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers—have gone on a massive, late lobbying campaign to persuade Congress to preserve the subsidies.But with President Donald Trump at the spearpoint of the... After sitting on the political sidelines for months, tech, utility and energy companies—panicked...

Mark Zuckerberg (left) and Alexandr Wang. Photos via Getty; AP

Why Meta is Betting Nearly $15 Billion on Alexandr Wang

By Kalley Huang and Cory Weinberg · Jun 11, 2025 6:01pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has tried to fix a seemingly existential problem in recent months. His company’s large language model, Llama, was falling behind competitors and struggling to perform as well as models from OpenAI, particularly on complex tasks. Increasingly, Zuckerberg turned to an unlikely person for advice: Alexandr Wang,... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has tried to fix a seemingly existential problem in recent...

Oracle CEO Safra Catz. Photo via Getty

Stargate Snag Doesn’t Stop Oracle Cloud Growth

By Nick Wingfield and Anissa Gardizy · Jun 11, 2025 5:00pm PDT

We learned a few interesting things from Oracle’s earnings report today. First, CEO Safra Catz dropped the news that Stargate, the splashy, $500 billion joint venture between Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI to build artificial intelligence data centers, is “not yet formed.” The tidbit from Oracle is another sign Stargate is off to a slow start after... We learned a few interesting things from Oracle’s earnings report today. First, CEO Safra Catz...

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OpenAI Has Discussed Raising Money From Saudi Arabia, Indian Investors

By Sri Muppidi · Jun 11, 2025 4:53pm PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI has talked to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries and existing shareholder United Arab Emirates’ MGX about investing in the next installment of its $40 billion financing led by SoftBank, according to two people familiar with the fundraise. The investors could put in at least hundreds of millions... OpenAI has talked to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Indian conglomerate Reliance...

The Future of Entertainment Recap: YouTube Rising

By The Information Partnerships · Jun 11, 2025 4:08pm PDT

Partner Content

The Future of Entertainment Recap: YouTube Rising

By The Information Partnerships · Jun 11, 2025 4:08pm PDT

The entertainment industry—once controlled by a handful of studios and networks—is undergoing a transformation. Thanks to platforms like YouTube, creators with little more than a smartphone and Wi-Fi are reshaping what we watch, how it’s made and who gets to make it. This month, Nielsen ranked YouTube as the most-watched streaming platform in... The entertainment industry—once controlled by a handful of studios and networks—is undergoing a...

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Creator Economy

From Mattel to Perplexity, What to Expect at Cannes

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 11, 2025 2:00pm PDT

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the influential advertiser conference in the south of France, is kicking off next week—and creators and artificial intelligence will be the key themes.Organizers expect a big uptick in creator attendance this year—and a much more global crowd. Most creators last year came from the U.S. and... The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the influential advertiser conference in...

Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, and Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in May. Screenshot via YouTube.

Saudi Arabia, Looking Homeward in AI Buildout, Taps Cisco and AMD for Cloud Project

By Miles Kruppa · Jun 11, 2025 1:21pm PDT

Saudi Arabia is lining up new investors to fund its push to become a major player in artificial intelligence, snagging cash from Cisco Systems and AMD for a cloud project that is central to its efforts to refocus spending on domestic technology. “I’m working really hard to make sure we have a considerable sum of this capital come from external... Saudi Arabia is lining up new investors to fund its push to become a major player in artificial...

Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Alexandr Wang. Photos by Getty; AP

What Meta Gains From Scale CEO Alex Wang

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 11, 2025 7:00am PDT

The cost of acqui-hiring talent keeps rising! Meta Platforms agreed to shell out close to $15 billion for a 49% stake in data-labeling startup Scale AI, whose CEO Alexandr Wang will be joining Meta in a senior position, my colleague Cory Weinberg reported yesterday. I spoke with a number of Scale investors yesterday who shared their... The cost of acqui-hiring talent keeps rising! Meta Platforms agreed to shell out close to $15...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang via Getty

Nvidia Muscles Into GPU Cloud Market, Rankling New Rivals

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 11, 2025 6:00am PDT

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang via Getty

Nvidia Muscles Into GPU Cloud Market, Rankling New Rivals

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 11, 2025 6:00am PDT

Nvidia recently debuted a cloud service enabling artificial intelligence developers to rent server chips directly from the chip designer, part of its push into the cloud market dominated by Amazon and Microsoft. In doing so, Nvidia is encroaching on the turf of CoreWeave and dozens of other up-and-coming firms that sell the same type of service.... Nvidia recently debuted a cloud service enabling artificial intelligence developers to rent...

image via Getty

Salesforce Blocks AI Rivals From Using Slack Data

By Kevin McLaughlin and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 10, 2025 6:40pm PDT · 16 comments

Slack, an instant-messaging service popular with businesses, recently blocked other software firms from searching or storing Slack messages even if their customers permit them to do so, according to a public disclosure from Slack’s owner, Salesforce. The move, which hasn’t previously been reported, could hamper fast-growing artificial... Slack, an instant-messaging service popular with businesses, recently blocked other software...

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Meta’s Risky Scale AI Bet Shows Self-Assurance—or Hubris

By Nick Wingfield and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Jun 10, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg seems confident! As we reported earlier today, Meta Platforms is on the cusp of taking a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8 billion and bringing the AI startup’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, on board to lead a new AI lab. There are echoes in the Meta–Scale AI talks of earlier deals between big tech companies and AI startups, including Google... Mark Zuckerberg seems confident! As we reported earlier today, Meta Platforms is on the cusp of...

Peter Thiel. Photo via Getty

The Investors Set to Win Big From Meta's Scale AI Deal

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 10, 2025 4:37pm PDT

They are co-workers to be, they are both college dropouts-turned billionaire tech founders and they both have recently steered their public images toward wherever the political winds have blown. With Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s big investment in Alexandr Wang’s Scale AI, the two men have something else in common–they both made billions for some... They are co-workers to be, they are both college dropouts-turned billionaire tech founders and...

Roman Wasenmüller, Spotify’s head of podcast business, speaks at The Information's Future of Influence event. Photo by Erin Beach

No, It’s Not Too Late to Start a Podcast

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 10, 2025 2:00pm PDT

Roman Wasenmüller, Spotify’s head of podcast business, speaks at The Information's Future of Influence event. Photo by Erin Beach

Creator Economy

No, It’s Not Too Late to Start a Podcast

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 10, 2025 2:00pm PDT

Podcasting is booming, driven by the rise of video shows and podcasters’ sway during last year’s presidential election. That’s got me thinking about whether podcasting has become too saturated. It’s a question I posed to our podcasting panel at The Information’s Future of Influence event last week in Los Angeles. Spotify doesn’t think so.... Podcasting is booming, driven by the rise of video shows and podcasters’ sway during last year’s...

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet. Photo via Getty.

Google Offers Buyouts to Employees in Search and Ads, Other Units

By Miles Kruppa and Catherine Perloff · Jun 10, 2025 12:14pm PDT · 2 comments

Google is offering voluntary buyouts to employees across several businesses and units, including the knowledge and information organization, which houses the company’s core search and much of the ads organization, a senior executive told staff on Tuesday. The move comes as Google’s search business faces unprecedented threats from ChatGPT and... Google is offering voluntary buyouts to employees across several businesses and units, including...

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CEOs Try Cloning Themselves With AI

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 10, 2025 10:38am PDT · 2 comments

Artificial intelligence may not be advanced enough to run a company yet. But CEOs of some firms are testing ways that AI can sub in for them.They're trying chatbots and video avatars to answer employee questions, schmooze with customers and talk during earnings calls. Artificial intelligence may not be advanced enough to run a company yet. But CEOs of some firms...

Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang

Meta to Pay Nearly $15 Billion for Scale AI Stake and Startup’s 28-Year-Old CEO

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 10, 2025 8:08am PDT · 10 comments

Meta has agreed to take a 49% stake in data labeling firm Scale AI for $14.8 billion, two people familiar with the matter said. The unusual deal will be structured so Meta will send the cash to Scale’s existing shareholders and place the startup’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, in a top position inside Meta, the people said. The deal, which hasn’t yet been... Meta has agreed to take a 49% stake in data labeling firm Scale AI for $14.8 billion, two people...

‘AI Native’ Startups Pass $15 Billion in Annualized Revenue

‘AI Native’ Startups Pass $15 Billion in Annualized Revenue

By Amir Efrati · Jun 10, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

‘AI Native’ Startups Pass $15 Billion in Annualized Revenue

‘AI Native’ Startups Pass $15 Billion in Annualized Revenue

By Amir Efrati · Jun 10, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Annualized revenue at “AI native” companies selling artificial intelligence models or apps has passed $15 billion just two and a half years since OpenAI launched ChatGPT, according to The Information’s Generative AI Database.While that’s not the same as $15 billion in actual revenue, it’s still an unprecedented haul for such a short time period... Annualized revenue at “AI native” companies selling artificial intelligence models or apps has...