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

Art by Clark Miller.

10 Charts That Explain 2025

By Shane Burke and The Information Staff · Dec 29, 2025 6:00am PST · 7 comments

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence dominated another year in tech. As AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic raced to release smarter models, the largest tech firms mapped out massive data centers that would guzzle up more energy than tens of millions of American households to power them. “Agent” became the industry’s favorite buzzword for... Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence dominated another year in tech. As AI firms like...

SES AI CEO Qichao Hu. Photo: Courtesy SES AI.

The Electric: Rebranded as Defense Manufacturers, Next-Gen Battery Startups Are Finally Earning Revenue

By Steve LeVine · Dec 29, 2025 4:30am PST

Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk about. Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Getty Images.

How Elon Musk’s Promises for Self-Driving, AI and Robots Clashed With Reality

By Theo Wayt · Dec 28, 2025 3:00pm PST · 7 comments

Whether you consider Elon Musk a visionary or a liar, he has a long record of publicly setting aggressive deadlines that his companies don’t meet. Barring any big breakthroughs over the next few days, the 2025 list will include high-profile promises on robotics manufacturing, robotaxis and AI models that fell short. On one hand, that’s... Whether you consider Elon Musk a visionary or a liar, he has a long record of publicly setting...

OpenAI, Meta and Their AI Rivals Ramp Up Turf Wars and Partnerships, in Three Charts

By Amir Efrati · Dec 28, 2025 8:00am PST · 4 comments

Sunday Insights

OpenAI, Meta and Their AI Rivals Ramp Up Turf Wars and Partnerships, in Three Charts

By Amir Efrati · Dec 28, 2025 8:00am PST · 4 comments

You can call 2025 the year of the robot, at least for the major AI companies. While companies such as Anthropic, Meta and xAI filled out their AI hardware and software lineups, nearly everyone started to work on technology for humanoid robots. The shift to robots says as much about the current competitive landscape in AI as it does about the... You can call 2025 the year of the robot, at least for the major AI companies. While companies...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

What Nvidia’s Year-End Shocker Says About Next Year

By Abram Brown · Dec 27, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• A Tehran thriller, a chronicle of tech epochs—and 18 more great books to read over the holidays • The best video games of 2025• The best new tech and business podcasts of 2025 Back in 2024, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang made a really memorable boast: Even if his competitors started giving away their chips... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• A Tehran thriller, a chronicle of tech epochs—and 18...

Art by Clark Miller

The Best New Tech and Business Podcasts 2025

By Abram Brown · Dec 27, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Quantity is so often the enemy of quality, a truth made plainly apparent across podcast feeds these days: Everyone and their cousin—or, rather, everyone and their Series B investor—is trying to do a lengthy chat show, seated behind high-end video cameras and the same set of Shure mics that Joe Rogan uses. In other words, our feeds... Quantity is so often the enemy of quality, a truth made plainly apparent across podcast feeds...

Art by Clark Miller

The Best Video Games of 2025

By Simon Parkin · Dec 27, 2025 6:00am PST · 4 comments

In the early 1980s, while driving his sports car, the game designer Eugene Jarvis was struck by another vehicle that ran a red light. His car did not survive the collision, but Jarvis, mercifully, did—though with a hand injury that temporarily made it impossible for him to press an arcade cabinet’s buttons. Rather than abandon his work,... In the early 1980s, while driving his sports car, the game designer Eugene Jarvis was struck by...

Prediction Markets Win Attention, but Few Reader Bets

By Shane Burke · Dec 26, 2025 10:41am PST

Subscriber Survey

Prediction Markets Win Attention, but Few Reader Bets

By Shane Burke · Dec 26, 2025 10:41am PST

Prediction markets, which offer wagers on real-world events, have gone from fringe to mainstream. More than three quarters of The Information’s readers say they are aware of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, according to our latest subscriber survey. But few are actually betting, with just one in five respondents saying they have... Prediction markets, which offer wagers on real-world events, have gone from fringe to mainstream....

Art by Clark Miller

20 Great Books to Read Over the Holidays 2025

By Abram Brown · Dec 26, 2025 9:04am PST

“Suspense is an artform,” said Bruce Holsinger, the author of “Culpability,” a tense family drama about the ramifications of a horrific car accident. Oh, yes, I should add: The mini-van was driving itself. “I think a lot about suspense—at the level of the chapter, the sentence, the sequence of chapters,” said Holsinger, an author of four... “Suspense is an artform,” said Bruce Holsinger, the author of “Culpability,” a tense family drama...

Federico Parra/Getty Images

Stablecoin Startups Spark Trouble for JPMorgan

By Michael Roddan and Yueqi Yang · Dec 26, 2025 6:00am PST

JPMorgan Chase in recent months has frozen accounts used by at least two fast-growing stablecoin startups, highlighting the risk that cryptocurrency transactions pose for banks, which are required to know the people they do business with and the source of their cash. The stablecoin startups did business in Venezuela and other places that posed... JPMorgan Chase in recent months has frozen accounts used by at least two fast-growing stablecoin...

Groq founder Jonathan Ross. Photo by Getty.

Why Nvidia Struck a $20 Billion Megadeal with Groq

By Wayne Ma, Miles Kruppa, Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Dec 24, 2025 5:14pm PST · 10 comments

Nvidia stunned Silicon Valley on Wednesday by agreeing to pay about $20 billion to license technology from Groq, one of the best-funded startups trying to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in chips for powering AI applications, known as inference computing, according to a person involved in the deal. Nvidia is also hiring Groq’s founders and other... Nvidia stunned Silicon Valley on Wednesday by agreeing to pay about $20 billion to license...

What xAI’s Memphis Christmas Lights Tell Us About Data Centers in Space

What xAI’s Memphis Christmas Lights Tell Us About Data Centers in Space

By Theo Wayt · Dec 24, 2025 12:35pm PST

What xAI’s Memphis Christmas Lights Tell Us About Data Centers in Space

What xAI’s Memphis Christmas Lights Tell Us About Data Centers in Space

By Theo Wayt · Dec 24, 2025 12:35pm PST

In my hometown of Memphis, Tenn., Elon Musk’s xAI is a big topic of conversation for the second holiday season in a row thanks to the two gigantic data centers the company has opened here. The multibillion-dollar facilities have sparked a lot of local opposition because they’re being powered by gas generators that emit air pollution. In... In my hometown of Memphis, Tenn., Elon Musk’s xAI is a big topic of conversation for the second...

Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

The Information Finance

Predicting Prediction Markets Is a Tough Call

By Guest · Dec 24, 2025 8:00am PST

The best prediction for 2025 would have been predicting the soaring growth of prediction markets. My prediction for 2026 is it will be a tough year for prediction markets.My colleagues Sara Germano and Yueqi Yang chronicled the stunning rise of these markets last weekend. They focused on the dramatic growth in sports betting and the tumult this... The best prediction for 2025 would have been predicting the soaring growth of prediction markets....

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenAI and Anthropic Are Navigating the Research-Product Divide

By The Information Staff · Dec 24, 2025 8:00am PST

The tension between “pure research” and “commercial growth” is being put to the test as OpenAI and Anthropic attempt to scale into global giants while pursuing the horizon of AGI. We asked Deep Research to investigate how these companies are managing this messy transformation to ensure that their scientific DNA doesn’t become a bottleneck for... The tension between “pure research” and “commercial growth” is being put to the test as OpenAI...

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Chen Yongnuo/CNS/VCG via Getty Images.

Two IPO-Bound AI Model Developers Reveal Their Losses

By Juro Osawa · Dec 24, 2025 7:00am PST

Two Chinese AI startups are vying to be the first publicly traded AI model providers in the global stock market, ahead of expected future initial public offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. The Chinese firms’ IPO filings offer a window into the hardship facing smaller AI firms that don’t have older cash-cow businesses.Shanghai-based MiniMax... Two Chinese AI startups are vying to be the first publicly traded AI model providers in the...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI’s Ads Push Starts Taking Shape

By Sri Muppidi and Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 24, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI’s Ads Push Starts Taking Shape

By Sri Muppidi and Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 24, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

OpenAI executives have kept a tight lid on how the company could show advertisements to users of its popular ChatGPT chatbot, leaving the broader digital ad industry eager for clues. Behind the scenes, staff are working through key details. Employees have discussed ways for AI models to prioritize sponsored information in ChatGPT’s responses... OpenAI executives have kept a tight lid on how the company could show advertisements to users of...

Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Why ServiceNow Went Ahead With a $7.75 Billion Deal That the Market Didn't Like

By Aaron Holmes · Dec 23, 2025 5:15pm PST

When Bloomberg reported earlier this month that ServiceNow was considering an acquisition of the cybersecurity startup Armis for more than $7 billion, shares of the enterprise software firm fell 11%, erasing $20 billion in market capitalization.But ServiceNow gritted its teeth and signed the deal anyway, as it announced Tuesday. When Bloomberg reported earlier this month that ServiceNow was considering an acquisition of the...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images

Where Could OpenAI’s Next $100 Billion in Funding Come From?

By Katie Roof and Miles Kruppa · Dec 23, 2025 4:44pm PST

The eye-popping $100 billion of capital OpenAI wants in a new funding round has everyone wondering where that kind of cash might come from. The round would value the company at about $750 billion prior to the cash infusion, we’ve reported. U.S. financial investors—including big retail fund managers that back private startups—are likely to... The eye-popping $100 billion of capital OpenAI wants in a new funding round has everyone...

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Snowflake in Talks to Buy App Monitoring Startup Observe Inc. For Around $1 Billion

By Valida Pau, Kevin McLaughlin and Katie Roof · Dec 23, 2025 4:12pm PST

Snowflake is in talks to buy app monitoring startup Observe Inc. for around $1 billion, which would likely be the biggest deal in Snowflake’s history, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Observe, based in San Mateo, Calif., sells so-called observability tools that help developers to understand how their applications are... Snowflake is in talks to buy app monitoring startup Observe Inc. for around $1 billion, which...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff via Getty, art by Clark Miller

Why Our Story on Salesforce’s Declining Trust in LLMs Hit a Nerve

By Amir Efrati · Dec 23, 2025 11:04am PST · 4 comments

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff via Getty, art by Clark Miller

Why Our Story on Salesforce’s Declining Trust in LLMs Hit a Nerve

By Amir Efrati · Dec 23, 2025 11:04am PST · 4 comments

On Friday, Aaron and Kevin’s article about Salesforce calling out the ingrained limitations of large language models struck a major nerve, as have our other in-depth articles about Salesforce AI challenges this year.Business people saw the piece as further evidence that marketing of generative AI got ahead of what the technology could actually... On Friday, Aaron and Kevin’s article about Salesforce calling out the ingrained limitations of...