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. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

China Tells Tech Companies to Halt Nvidia H200 Chip Orders

By Qianer Liu · Jan 7, 2026 7:38am PST · 4 comments

The Chinese government this week asked some tech companies to temporarily halt plans to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, according to two people involved in the communication, throwing up a possible roadblock in Nvidia’s hopes of restarting chip sales to one of its biggest markets. The instruction came roughly a month after President Donald Trump... The Chinese government this week asked some tech companies to temporarily halt plans to buy...

The Ant Group station at a conference in Shanghai. Getty Images.

Ant Builds a Mobile Payment Network as an Alternative to Visa, Mastercard

By Jing Yang · Jan 7, 2026 6:00am PST

Five years after the Chinese government quashed Ant Group’s plans for what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering, the Chinese fintech giant has built a fast-growing international business. That offshoot runs a global payment network for digital wallets that could one day be a formidable alternative to Visa or Mastercard. ... Five years after the Chinese government quashed Ant Group’s plans for what would have been the...

Bloomberg/Getty Images.

The Ripple Effects of the AI Data Center Boom

By Martin Peers · Jan 6, 2026 5:00pm PST

Trade in stocks exposed to the AI boom is getting even more volatile. Shares of Sandisk rocketed 27% on Tuesday for no obvious reason other than a report by Morgan Stanley about bigger-than-expected price increases coming for NAND flash memory, which Sandisk makes, among others. Demand for NAND flash has taken off in recent months, thanks to its... Trade in stocks exposed to the AI boom is getting even more volatile. Shares of Sandisk rocketed...

SailPoint CEO Mark McClain. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How Private Equity Is Learning to Love AI

By Valida Pau · Jan 6, 2026 4:31pm PST

SailPoint CEO Mark McClain. Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How Private Equity Is Learning to Love AI

By Valida Pau · Jan 6, 2026 4:31pm PST

Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies, which generate gobs of steady cash flow from long-term customers. But that love affair has broken down because the firms eventually need to sell the companies they own, and right now almost no one wants to pay up for a traditional software maker.... Happy 2026 and welcome back to Dealmaker! Private equity has long loved software companies,...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Why Expedia Won’t Fight ChatGPT’s Travel Ambitions

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 6, 2026 10:30am PST

AI companies envision a future in which AI agents, rather than humans, become the primary users of websites such as commerce apps. The idea is that people may be more inclined to ask chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini to buy a new pack of paper towels or book a hotel for them than to go to individual websites.While some website owners such as... AI companies envision a future in which AI agents, rather than humans, become the primary users...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang presents at CES. Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Nvidia’s Clever Approach to Its New Self-Driving Car Model

By Rocket Drew · Jan 6, 2026 7:30am PST

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at CES on Monday to deliver a volley of announcements—Nvidia published 10 press releases during his keynote! Many of those announcements focused on Nvidia’s work on physical AI, such as autonomous robots and cars, so it was fitting that a pair of Huang’s favorite remote controlled Disney droids accompanied... Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at CES on Monday to deliver a volley of announcements—...

Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder of LMArena.

AI Evaluation Startup LMArena Valued at $1.7 Billion in New Funding Round

By Katie Roof and Rocket Drew · Jan 6, 2026 6:59am PST · 2 comments

LMArena, a startup that operates a widely cited ranking of AI models based on their performance, has raised $150 million at a valuation of $1.7 billion, including the new money, according to the company. That’s nearly triple the valuation of its seed funding round, announced in May 2025. The funding round, co-led by existing investors... LMArena, a startup that operates a widely cited ranking of AI models based on their...

Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance/Getty Images.

Amazon Tries to Move Beyond AI Basics

By Catherine Perloff · Jan 6, 2026 6:00am PST

Julian Stratenschulte/Picture Alliance/Getty Images.

Amazon Tries to Move Beyond AI Basics

By Catherine Perloff · Jan 6, 2026 6:00am PST

After nearly three years of building its own version of cutting-edge large language models, Amazon has come up with models that offer a reliable, cheap alternative to the flashiest ones made by rivals but don’t fully replace them. That’s true even in Amazon’s own products: Amazon’s Rufus shopping assistant uses a mix of its in-house Nova models... After nearly three years of building its own version of cutting-edge large language models,...

The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone, with AI powered by Google’s Gemini, at CES. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images.

Google’s Samsung AI Advantage

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

Can anyone catch up with Google in the AI race? That question came to mind on Monday, after Reuters quoted Samsung’s co-CEO talking about his plans to double the number of mobile devices running Galaxy AI, Samsung’s branded AI features backed by Google’s Gemini AI technology, to 800 million this year. (That’s separate to Samsung phones that have... Can anyone catch up with Google in the AI race? That question came to mind on Monday, after...

A Microsoft data center in Aldie, Va. Getty Images.

AI Infrastructure

The AI Boom Is Now an Energy Boom

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Jan 5, 2026 9:07am PST · 3 comments

The AI race has ignited a parallel boom in energy that is already revamping U.S. power generation and changing natural gas infrastructure, utility systems and regulation in ways that could last for decades.Natural gas producers are expanding pipelines faster than they have in years, utilities have secured regulatory approval for billions of... The AI race has ignited a parallel boom in energy that is already revamping U.S. power generation...

Bay ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images.

Indonesia’s Sovereign AI Play

By Juro Osawa · Jan 5, 2026 7:00am PST

One of the major trends in the AI industry in the past year was the growth of sovereign AI, the movement by various countries to develop their own domestic AI capabilities to reduce their technological dependence on the U.S. and China. While an increasing number of nations and regions are building their own large language models and AI data... One of the major trends in the AI industry in the past year was the growth of sovereign AI, the...

Art by Clark Miller

Nvidia’s Big Ambitions to Solve Manufacturing Shows Slow Returns So Far

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Jan 5, 2026 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Nvidia’s Big Ambitions to Solve Manufacturing Shows Slow Returns So Far

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Jan 5, 2026 6:00am PST · 3 comments

In the past two years, Nvidia’s business of selling chips for AI has rocketed into the stratosphere, lifting the company’s revenue to nearly $148 billion in the nine months through October, up from $27.5 billion for the same period in 2023. But CEO Jensen Huang isn’t satisfied. Perpetually worried about threats to his business, Huang has been... In the past two years, Nvidia’s business of selling chips for AI has rocketed into the...

CES 2025. Getty Images.

CES Kicks Off 2026 for Tech Sector

By Martin Peers · Jan 4, 2026 3:00pm PST

There’s no rest for the AI obsessed. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang kicks off the new year with an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday, where he’s scheduled to speak on Monday. Huang appears so often at events like this that it’s hard to imagine he’ll have much new to say, but you never know. After all, there’s a lot... There’s no rest for the AI obsessed. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang kicks off the new year with an...

Sunday Insights

OpenAI’s International Conundrum

By Sri Muppidi · Jan 4, 2026 8:00am PST · 2 comments

If OpenAI has its way, nearly one-third of the planet will be using ChatGPT by the start of the next decade. That’s roughly triple its nearly 900 million weekly users, and sounds like an impressive base to build a big advertising and commerce business. But where ChatGPT attracts new users will arguably be as important as how many it attracts.... If OpenAI has its way, nearly one-third of the planet will be using ChatGPT by the start of the...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

AI and the Ro Khanna Trap

By Abram Brown · Jan 3, 2026 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Predictions 2026: Sutskever’s fate, OpenAI’s next acquisition, the next hit robot—and 12 more things we think will happen in 2026• The Arena: Sportswear brands face an inflection point• Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,” “The Breath of the Gods” and “Wake Up... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Predictions 2026: Sutskever’s fate, OpenAI’s next...

Art by Clark Miller

From Lululemon to Tracksmith, Sportswear Brands Face an Inflection Point

By Sara Germano · Jan 3, 2026 6:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

From Lululemon to Tracksmith, Sportswear Brands Face an Inflection Point

By Sara Germano · Jan 3, 2026 6:00am PST

For Christmas this holiday season, I bought my mom a navy blue 1980 Lake Placid Olympics sweater. It has special significance for her because, as a college student in upstate New York at the time, she got to attend the famous “Miracle on Ice” hockey game between the U.S. and Soviet Union in person. Now, almost half a century later, my mom... For Christmas this holiday season, I bought my mom a navy blue 1980 Lake Placid Olympics sweater....

Art by Clark Miller

What We Got Right (and Wrong) in Our Predictions for 2025

By The Information Staff · Jan 2, 2026 10:34am PST · 3 comments

What’s that smell? It’s the whiff of humble pie being eaten by The Information’s prognosticators. A year ago, we made a series of predictions about tech deals that would get done, executives who would leave their companies and other events that we thought might happen in 2025. Many of those predictions did not come to pass. In our defense, when... What’s that smell? It’s the whiff of humble pie being eaten by The Information’s prognosticators....

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images, Blue Origin.

Sutskever’s Fate, OpenAI’s Next Deal, A Hit Robot—and 13 Other Predictions for 2026

By The Information Staff · Jan 2, 2026 9:00am PST · 13 comments

No one in Silicon Valley gets wealthy or powerful by dwelling on the past. Rather, the brightest minds within tech often outshine the competition by obsessing about the future. We like to get in on the game too. In keeping with annual tradition, we’re publishing below our best educated guesses on what’ll happen in 2026: what Microsoft buys, what... No one in Silicon Valley gets wealthy or powerful by dwelling on the past. Rather, the brightest...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

2026 Predictions: Microsoft Will Buy an AI Coding Startup

By Aaron Holmes · Jan 2, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Two years ago, Microsoft dominated the market for AI coding tools, which automatically generate code for developers. That’s because it got early access to OpenAI’s models through its partnership with the startup, and at the time, Microsoft led the pack in code generation. As a result, Microsoft moved quickly to launch GitHub Copilot as the... Two years ago, Microsoft dominated the market for AI coding tools, which automatically generate...

Art by Clark Miller.

Our 20 Most Popular Stories of 2025

By The Information Staff · Jan 1, 2026 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

Our 20 Most Popular Stories of 2025

By The Information Staff · Jan 1, 2026 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Happy New Year! It’s the perfect time for a refresh on what’s been top of mind for The Information’s readers—and the early trends and open questions worth keeping tabs on in 2026. In 2025, our most popular stories revealed growing cracks in the artificial intelligence boom and pinpointed challenges facing the most dominant AI companies.... Happy New Year! It’s the perfect time for a refresh on what’s been top of mind for The...