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

A Claude Catharsis: Accepting When Your Life’s Work Becomes Free and Abundant

By Aditya Agarwal · Mar 4, 2026 9:00am PST · 11 comments

Not long ago, I spent a weekend writing code with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant. I’ve been programming for more than 20 years. I was one of the first engineers at Facebook, where I built the original search engine. I went on to become chief technology officer of Dropbox, where I scaled the engineering team from 25 people to a thousand. Code... Not long ago, I spent a weekend writing code with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant. I’ve been...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

The Information Finance

With AI Finance, It’s All in the Timing

By Ken Brown · Mar 4, 2026 8:15am PST · 1 comment

This may be the moment of maximum AI uncertainty. That means some things will get clearer in the coming months—not necessarily better, just clearer. There are three specific points of uncertainty right now:AI developers have raised a ton of money recently, led by OpenAI’s $110 billion haul, which we broke news on and explained. Coming soon... This may be the moment of maximum AI uncertainty. That means some things will get clearer in the...

Art via Getty Images

OpenAI’s Next AI Model Will Have ‘Extreme’ Reasoning

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 4, 2026 7:00am PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s next GPT model is coming—and soon, according to a person with knowledge of it.Among the highlights, the new model, GPT-5.4, will have more than double the context window of the current GPT-5.2 model. That means the model can handle queries with many more words or data, up to 1 million tokens compared to 400,000 tokens today, the person... OpenAI’s next GPT model is coming—and soon, according to a person with knowledge of it.Among the...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenClaw Rips Through China’s Tech and Startup Landscape

By Juro Osawa · Mar 4, 2026 6:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenClaw Rips Through China’s Tech and Startup Landscape

By Juro Osawa · Mar 4, 2026 6:00am PST

OpenClaw mania has swept across China. Last month, at a five-day online hackathon organized by a Hangzhou-based AI startup, one contestant developed the equivalent of Tinder for AI agents seeking love interests on behalf of their human owners. Another created a recruiting site where job seekers’ AI agents talk to employers’ AI agents. A third... OpenClaw mania has swept across China. Last month, at a five-day online hackathon organized by a...

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images.

Pinterest’s Elliott-Funded Share Buyback Is a Sign of the Times

By Martin Peers · Mar 3, 2026 5:00pm PST

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the benefits of share buybacks. That might sound like a wonky concept, but it’s important. Buybacks shrink the number of shares outstanding, raising the value of the stock that remains. Lately, as AI worries have battered tech stocks, several companies have unveiled expanded buybacks. The latest example is... Let’s take a moment to reflect on the benefits of share buybacks. That might sound like a wonky...

Josh Wolfe, founder and managing director, Lux Capital. Getty Images.

Lux Capital’s Big Warning

By Katie Roof · Mar 3, 2026 4:34pm PST · 4 comments

A venture firm just said the quiet part out loud: Things aren’t as copacetic in startup land as those sky-high AI valuations would suggest. Lux Capital on Tuesday published a letter it had sent to founders it has funded, urging them to prepare for a slew of business risks. The venture capital firm, which has backed Anduril and Ramp,... A venture firm just said the quiet part out loud: Things aren’t as copacetic in startup land as...

Image via Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Is Developing an Internal Alternative to Microsoft’s GitHub

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Mar 3, 2026 2:41pm PST · 3 comments

OpenAI is developing an alternative to GitHub, Microsoft’s popular code repository that lets software engineers store, share and collaborate on computer code, according to a person with knowledge of the project. The decision to embark on the new product came after OpenAI engineers, like other GitHub customers, experienced an increase in outages... OpenAI is developing an alternative to GitHub, Microsoft’s popular code repository that lets...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Photos via AP and Getty.

Anthropic-Palantir Partnership at Risk After Pentagon Decision

By Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi, Rocket Drew and Julia Hornstein · Mar 3, 2026 12:32pm PST · 1 comment

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Photos via AP and Getty.

Anthropic-Palantir Partnership at Risk After Pentagon Decision

By Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi, Rocket Drew and Julia Hornstein · Mar 3, 2026 12:32pm PST · 1 comment

For over a year, Anthropic has served the U.S. government through Palantir Technologies, an enterprise software firm known for working with the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Palantir’s customers have used Anthropic models to help them identify patterns across large volumes of classified data so they can make decisions. But the Defense... For over a year, Anthropic has served the U.S. government through Palantir Technologies, an...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

What OpenAI’s ‘Stateful’ AI is Good For

By Aaron Holmes · Mar 3, 2026 12:10pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI and Amazon last week said they were developing a new cloud service for a new generation of AI agents, but their description of the service generated confusion among AI buyers. Let’s clear it up.The new AI cloud service aims to help Amazon Web Services customers develop custom AI agents— powered by OpenAI technology—to automate business... OpenAI and Amazon last week said they were developing a new cloud service for a new generation of...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (left) and Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering), Emil Michael at the Pentagon in July. Win McNamee/Getty Images.

The OpenAI and Anthropic Execs at the Center of the Pentagon Action

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 3, 2026 7:00am PST · 1 comment

OpenAI was on the backfoot on Monday. Current and former OpenAI employees took to social media to share concerns about their employer signing an agreement with the Pentagon that seemed to accept at least some terms Anthropic had rejected. A surge in people uninstalling the ChatGPT app from their phones over the weekend, according to TechCrunch,... OpenAI was on the backfoot on Monday. Current and former OpenAI employees took to social media to...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Amazon Explores Helping Other Apps Sell Chatbot Ads

By Catherine Perloff · Mar 3, 2026 6:00am PST

Amazon is exploring offering technology to help other apps and sites sell ads in AI chatbots, according to two people who have talked to the company about its plans. Such an offering could potentially buttress its $68.6 billion ads business as people increasingly use AI chats to search for information. In recent months, Amazon Publisher... Amazon is exploring offering technology to help other apps and sites sell ads in AI chatbots,...

What Anthropic Stands to Gain From Pentagon Stance

What Anthropic Stands to Gain From Pentagon Stance

By Martin Peers · Mar 2, 2026 5:05pm PST

What Anthropic Stands to Gain From Pentagon Stance

What Anthropic Stands to Gain From Pentagon Stance

By Martin Peers · Mar 2, 2026 5:05pm PST

Could fighting with the Pentagon be the best thing that ever happened to Anthropic? On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s designation of Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” looked like it could pose an existential threat to the AI firm. Not only could it lose customers, but, depending on how broadly the designation is interpreted, it could... Could fighting with the Pentagon be the best thing that ever happened to Anthropic? On Friday,...

Art by Shane Burke

AI Infrastructure

AI Spurs Shockingly Big Plans for Extra-High-Voltage Power Lines

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 2, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

The AI boom is catalyzing the build-out of some of the biggest, baddest power lines this country has ever seen. These extra-high-voltage wires can carry up to six times the power of other big lines, and they’re one of the only feasible ways to accommodate multigigawatt data centers on a crowded grid.In the last few months, grid authorities in... The AI boom is catalyzing the build-out of some of the biggest, baddest power lines this country...

Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images

The Loopholes in OpenAI’s Pentagon Deal

By Erin Woo · Mar 2, 2026 7:00am PST

What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain risk,” while OpenAI has its own agreement allowing the agency to use OpenAI’s models in “classified environments.”There are still plenty of unanswered questions, including how big of a business risk being designated a “supply chain risk” poses... What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Apple Discusses Google Hosting New Siri as Need for Cloud Help Grows

By Aaron Tilley and Wayne Ma · Mar 2, 2026 6:00am PST

In January, when Apple announced an agreement to use Google’s Gemini models in Apple products, it was an admission that the iPhone maker hasn’t been able to compete in AI on its own over the past couple years. But the deal also showed that Apple is again relying on an outside company to help it with another deficiency: in cloud computing. Now... In January, when Apple announced an agreement to use Google’s Gemini models in Apple products, it...

Firebird Metals plans to mine Western Australia's Oakover deposit. Photo: Courtesy Firebird.

The Electric: This Startup Says Winning in Critical Minerals Means Learning From the Chinese

By Steve LeVine · Mar 2, 2026 4:30am PST

Firebird Metals plans to mine Western Australia's Oakover deposit. Photo: Courtesy Firebird.

The Electric: This Startup Says Winning in Critical Minerals Means Learning From the Chinese

By Steve LeVine · Mar 2, 2026 4:30am PST

Ford and General Motors are banking on a new manganese-based battery to leapfrog China in the EV battery race. The catch is that they won’t break China’s stranglehold on the global supply of the material that goes into the battery—high-purity manganese. Ford and General Motors are banking on a new manganese-based battery to leapfrog China in the EV...

Getty Images

What OpenAI Saw That Anthropic Didn’t

By Martin Peers · Mar 1, 2026 3:00pm PST

Before we get to the scheduled events for this coming week—Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, starring SpaceX, as well as Apple’s master class in hyping product releases—we should acknowledge just how much of a turn the AI debate has taken from humdrum concerns about spending. Friday night’s decision by the Trump administration to declare war... Before we get to the scheduled events for this coming week—Mobile World Congress in Barcelona,...

Sunday Insights

Thrive, Andreessen Horowitz Head Fastest-Growing VC Firms

By Julia Hornstein · Mar 1, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

The biggest venture capital funds are getting even bigger. In the past three years, the top firms have raised billions of dollars—in some cases more than half the total amount they’ve raised in their lifetimes. Take Thrive Capital, which in February said it had raised $10 billion in new funds. The backer of OpenAI and Stripe has raised... The biggest venture capital funds are getting even bigger. In the past three years, the top firms...

Illustration: Clark Miller

Weekend: AI, Land of Make-Believe

By Abram Brown · Feb 28, 2026 8:38am PST · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: What Anthropic’s Pentagon feud means across Silicon Valley• Artificial Intelligence: Otters, Minesweeper and Will Smith’s spaghetti dinner—the at-home tests for judging AI’s abilities• Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Murder at the U,” “End of Days” and “How to Get to... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: What Anthropic’s Pentagon feud means...

Art by Clark Miller

Lost on AI’s Advancements? Just Watch Will Smith Eat Spaghetti

By Rocket Drew · Feb 28, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Lost on AI’s Advancements? Just Watch Will Smith Eat Spaghetti

By Rocket Drew · Feb 28, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In 2022, Ethan Mollick, an AI researcher and University of Pennsylvania professor, found himself needing to amuse his daughter on a boring plane ride. For some help, he turned to what he knows best and began prompting Midjourney’s latest model to generate an image of an otter—his daughter’s favorite animal. Taking inspiration from their... In 2022, Ethan Mollick, an AI researcher and University of Pennsylvania professor, found himself...