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

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Recent Editions

Illustration: Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Anne Wojcicki’s Plan to Revive 23andMe: Rich Donors, Improved Tests—and Maybe Even MAHA

By Amy Dockser Marcus · Mar 6, 2026 6:01am PST · 2 comments

When Anne Wojcicki was considering whether she should try to save her life’s work, genetic testing pioneer 23andMe, from bankruptcy last year, many within her inner circle offered the same advice. “There was no shortage of people who would come to me and say, ‘You can walk away: It’s fine,’” she recalled last month, seated on a sunny patio at... When Anne Wojcicki was considering whether she should try to save her life’s work, genetic...

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Quince in Talks to Double Valuation to More Than $10 Billion

By Katie Roof and Ann Gehan · Mar 5, 2026 7:02pm PST

Online retailer Quince is in talks with investors to raise a funding round that would value the company at above $10 billion after the investment, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. If the talks are successful, the buzzy online brand would more than double its valuation from its last funding round. The fundraise follows continued... Online retailer Quince is in talks with investors to raise a funding round that would value the...

Photo by Cosmin Serban

Anthropic Steals the Limelight at Morgan Stanley’s Tech Conference

By Valida Pau · Mar 5, 2026 5:15pm PST

I’ve spent the last week talking to people who are in town for Morgan Stanley’s annual technology, media and telecom conference at the Palace Hotel this week. Even before the fireworks last week between the Pentagon and Anthropic, the gathering was sure to be buzzy, given the lineup of richly valued private startups—including OpenAI and... I’ve spent the last week talking to people who are in town for Morgan Stanley’s annual...

Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Shopping Glitch

By Martin Peers · Mar 5, 2026 5:00pm PST

Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Shopping Glitch

By Martin Peers · Mar 5, 2026 5:00pm PST

This wasn’t a fun day on Wall Street—the S&P 500 fell 0.5%—but one group of stocks bucked the downward trend. That would be those of several travel-booking and food-delivery firms, such as DoorDash, Booking Holdings and Expedia, which climbed between 3% and 13%. One likely reason is OpenAI’s astounding retreat from offering shopping directly... This wasn’t a fun day on Wall Street—the S&P 500 fell 0.5%—but one group of stocks bucked the...

Vipul Ved Prakash, CEO of Together AI. Photo by Getty Images

Nvidia Cloud Ally Together AI in Talks to Raise at $7.5 Billion Valuation

By Valida Pau, Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · Mar 5, 2026 1:57pm PST

Together AI, one of several up-and-coming cloud providers renting out Nvidia chip servers to AI developers, is in talks with investors to raise around $1 billion in funding at a $7.5 billion valuation before the investment, according to two people with knowledge of the fundraise. The funding would more than double its valuation from a year ago... Together AI, one of several up-and-coming cloud providers renting out Nvidia chip servers to AI...

Artwork by Clark Miller

OpenAI or Hegseth: Who Sets the AI Rules?

By The Information Staff · Mar 5, 2026 12:27pm PST · 1 comment

Recent actions involving the U.S. Department of Defense, Anthropic and OpenAI highlight a shift in how advanced AI systems intersect with national security policy. Government scrutiny and contracting decisions are beginning to shape not only how companies define acceptable uses of their models, but also how they position themselves in relation... Recent actions involving the U.S. Department of Defense, Anthropic and OpenAI highlight a shift...

Alibaba headquarters in Hangzhou, China via Getty Images

Alibaba is Moving Faster Than Amazon and OpenAI in AI For Commerce

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Mar 5, 2026 10:53am PST

Last week, my colleague Qianer tested an AI agent inside Alibaba’s Qwen app, which resembles ChatGPT. She asked to get a ticket to see Pegasus 3, a comedy film about a race car driver that has been topping the Chinese box office. The agent found the nearest theater showing the movie and recommended seats and screening times for later in the day.... Last week, my colleague Qianer tested an AI agent inside Alibaba’s Qwen app, which resembles...

Lee Brown. Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images.

Org Chart Spotlights: Ad Exec Key to Pinterest’s Turnaround, xAI Departures Mount

By The Information Staff · Mar 5, 2026 10:30am PST

Lee Brown. Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images.

Org Chart Spotlights: Ad Exec Key to Pinterest’s Turnaround, xAI Departures Mount

By The Information Staff · Mar 5, 2026 10:30am PST

Online scrapbooking app Pinterest is trying to revive its ad sales growth and has reshuffled some of its leadership to help with that effort. Lee Brown, who joined Pinterest as its chief business officer in January, is at the center of that push. Online scrapbooking app Pinterest is trying to revive its ad sales growth and has reshuffled some...

Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril. Photo by Kyle Grillot/ Getty Images

Anduril Forecasts More Than $4 Billion in Sales, $1 Billion in Losses

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 5, 2026 10:08am PST · 1 comment

Weapons maker Anduril expects to roughly double revenue this year to about $4.3 billion, while its operating loss would rise by nearly half to $1.2 billion, according to confidential financial figures shared with prospective investors. The privately held company is raising $4 billion, valuing it at about $60 billion, in a deal led by existing... Weapons maker Anduril expects to roughly double revenue this year to about $4.3 billion, while...

Art via Getty Images

OpenAI Develops a ‘Bidirectional’ Audio Model to Boost Voice Assistants

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 5, 2026 7:00am PST

Wow, what a day of news! In case you missed it (which would have been difficult), we broke a number of stories yesterday regarding OpenAI and Anthropic. Most memorable was this piece about the fiery, 1,600-word memo Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei penned to staff last Friday criticizing the OpenAI-Pentagon deal. (You can check out the full memo... Wow, what a day of news! In case you missed it (which would have been difficult), we broke a...

Art by Clark Miller

Demand from Alibaba and Other Giants Boosts China’s Homegrown Memory Suppliers

By Qianer Liu · Mar 5, 2026 6:00am PST

Chinese tech heavyweights including Alibaba Group, ByteDance and Tencent Holdings are turning to domestic chipmakers to ease the pain from a deepening global shortage of memory chips, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. The three companies are in talks to buy more standard memory chips—known as DRAM, or dynamic... Chinese tech heavyweights including Alibaba Group, ByteDance and Tencent Holdings are turning to...

Joby demonstrated its flying taxi in Dubai last week. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty

The Electric: The Iran War Creates Doubts About the Commercial Launch of Flying Taxis This Year

By Steve LeVine · Mar 5, 2026 4:30am PST

Joby demonstrated its flying taxi in Dubai last week. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty

The Electric: The Iran War Creates Doubts About the Commercial Launch of Flying Taxis This Year

By Steve LeVine · Mar 5, 2026 4:30am PST

Last week, Joby Aviation and Uber announced a new collaboration in Dubai: Later this year, people opening the Uber app would be able to choose between standard offerings such as UberX and a new option—flying to their destination by electric air taxi.Three days later, President Donald Trump ordered his attack on Iran, largely grounding civilian... Last week, Joby Aviation and Uber announced a new collaboration in Dubai: Later this year, people...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Photo by Getty.

OpenAI Tops $25 Billion in Annualized Revenue as Anthropic Narrows Gap

By Sri Muppidi · Mar 4, 2026 7:30pm PST · 3 comments

OpenAI topped $25 billion in annualized revenue as of last month, according to a person familiar with the figure. That’s a 17% increase from the $21.4 billion in annualized revenue the company was generating at the end of the year, according to the person and a second person with knowledge of the figures. OpenAI is still generating more revenue... OpenAI topped $25 billion in annualized revenue as of last month, according to a person familiar...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI Selects Law Firms Cooley, Wachtell for IPO Prep

By Valida Pau and Sri Muppidi · Mar 4, 2026 5:48pm PST

OpenAI has picked two law firms, Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, to prepare for an initial public offering that could come as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Selecting lawyers to prepare for a listing is one of the first concrete steps the ChatGPT maker has made towards a public listing and usually... OpenAI has picked two law firms, Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, to prepare for an...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Scales Back Shopping Plans for ChatGPT

By Ann Gehan and Sri Muppidi · Mar 4, 2026 5:20pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI is scaling back its plan to introduce shopping directly inside ChatGPT, marking a change in its high-profile effort to put checkouts inside the chatbot. Instead of allowing users to make purchases directly from product listings that show up in ChatGPT search results, the company is now focused on having checkouts take place inside of... OpenAI is scaling back its plan to introduce shopping directly inside ChatGPT, marking a change...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Matthew Rhys, who could play Amodei in a movie. Photos via Getty and Shutterstock.

Anthropic CEO’s Candid Comments Imperil Chances of a Compromise

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Matthew Rhys, who could play Amodei in a movie. Photos via Getty and Shutterstock.

Anthropic CEO’s Candid Comments Imperil Chances of a Compromise

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Who hates Sam Altman more—Elon Musk or Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei? If you guessed Elon Musk, our scoop today about the no-holds-barred memo Amodei sent to his staff on Friday about the Pentagon brouhaha might change your mind. Apart from calling OpenAI’s messaging over the Pentagon issue “mendacious,” Amodei explained the Pentagon’s targeting of... Who hates Sam Altman more—Elon Musk or Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei? If you guessed Elon Musk, our...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI Held Early Talks With The Trade Desk to Sell Ads

By Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff · Mar 4, 2026 2:44pm PST

OpenAI has held early talks to partner with The Trade Desk, a publicly traded ad tech company, to help the ChatGPT maker sell ads, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The talks indicate that OpenAI, which launched ads in ChatGPT in early February, will initially lean on external partners to help it sell ads and quickly ramp... OpenAI has held early talks to partner with The Trade Desk, a publicly traded ad tech company, to...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo by Samyukta Lakshmi/Getty Images

Read Anthropic CEO’s Memo Attacking OpenAI’s ‘Mendacious’ Pentagon Announcement

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 4, 2026 1:08pm PST · 20 comments

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei sent a 1,600-word memo to employees Friday as OpenAI announced a deal to provide AI to the Pentagon. The OpenAI move came hours after the Pentagon said it would sever ties with Anthropic over the company’s safety requirements. In the strongly worded memo, Amodei heavily criticized OpenAI’s actions and the initial... Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei sent a 1,600-word memo to employees Friday as OpenAI announced a...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo by Ludovic Marin/ Getty Images

Anthropic CEO: Trump Disliked Company For Not Giving ‘Dictator-Style Praise’

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo, Sri Muppidi and Amir Efrati · Mar 4, 2026 11:21am PST · 7 comments

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Friday told employees that a deal OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman struck to provide AI to the Department of Defense was “safety theater,” adding that the Trump Administration didn’t like Anthropic in part because the company hadn’t “given dictator-style praise to Trump.” Amodei made the comments in a 1,600-word... Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Friday told employees that a deal OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman...

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell at MWC Barcelona 2026. Photo by Angel Garcia/ Getty Images

SpaceX Pitches Starlink to Wary Telecom Firms in Barcelona

By Theo Wayt · Mar 4, 2026 9:30am PST · 1 comment

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell at MWC Barcelona 2026. Photo by Angel Garcia/ Getty Images

Reporter's Notebook

SpaceX Pitches Starlink to Wary Telecom Firms in Barcelona

By Theo Wayt · Mar 4, 2026 9:30am PST · 1 comment

SpaceX staffers have been out in force this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to pitch its Starlink satellite internet and cell services to the thousands of telecom executives and regulators assembled here. But in my conversations at an event overshadowed by a new war in the Middle East, many attendees expressed concerns about tying... SpaceX staffers have been out in force this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to pitch...