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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The Information Survey: Two in Three Readers Have Taken Self-Driving Cars

By Shane Burke · Aug 21, 2025 1:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Two out of three subscribers to The Information who responded to a survey have taken a ride in a self-driving car—and nearly 99% of riders were satisfied with the experience. The survey results are the latest confirmation that after years of development and testing, self-driving cars are finally revving up. Two out of three subscribers to The Information who responded to a survey have taken a ride in a...

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

Why AI Still Feels Pricy

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 21, 2025 10:30am PDT

Our Wednesday story about rising costs of businesses that pay for advanced artificial intelligence from OpenAI and Anthropic stirred strong reactions from readers. OpenAI researcher Aidan McLaughlin wondered aloud where we had gotten the idea that state-of-the-art AI was supposed to get cheaper. The answer: his boss, Sam Altman. OpenAI... Our Wednesday story about rising costs of businesses that pay for advanced artificial...

Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller speaks onstage at the All-In and Hill & Valley Forum on July 23 in Washington, D.C. Image via Getty.

OpenAI’s Data Center Provider in Talks to Raise Money at $10 Billion Valuation

By Anissa Gardizy and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 8:44am PDT

Crusoe, the developer behind OpenAI’s first Stargate data center, is discussing raising funds at a $10 billion valuation—more than three times its valuation less than a year ago, according to two people with direct knowledge of the fundraising talks. The seven-year-old company wants to raise at least $1 billion to fulfill its ambitions to... Crusoe, the developer behind OpenAI’s first Stargate data center, is discussing raising funds at...

Bret Taylor, CEO of Sierra and chairman of OpenAI's board.

Sierra CEO and OpenAI Chair on Rising AI Costs, GPT-5, and AI Data Wars

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 21, 2025 7:15am PDT

Bret Taylor, CEO of Sierra and chairman of OpenAI's board.

Sierra CEO and OpenAI Chair on Rising AI Costs, GPT-5, and AI Data Wars

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 21, 2025 7:15am PDT

If there’s one thing the artificial intelligence industry hasn’t been lacking in recently, it’s news. So on Wednesday’s episode of TITV, our editor-in-chief Jessica Lessin asked Bret Taylor, CEO of customer-support agent firm Sierra, and Winston Weinberg, CEO of legal agent startup Harvey, for their thoughts on recent developments ranging from ... If there’s one thing the artificial intelligence industry hasn’t been lacking in recently, it’s...

Art by Clark Miller.

Solana Gets Respectable and Sets Its Sights on Wall Street

By Yueqi Yang · Aug 21, 2025 6:00am PDT

Solana, the wild younger sibling of the crypto world, wants to be taken seriously. Best known for memecoins and its connection to crypto exchange FTX, the blockchain is getting close to breaking into mainstream finance. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has turned crypto-friendly under President Donald Trump, is expected to... Solana, the wild younger sibling of the crypto world, wants to be taken seriously. Best known for...

Mohamad Yassine, CEO of Predictive Horizons. Photo: Vanessa Harp

Exclusive From The Electric: In a Startup, Tesla Veterans Attack Detroit's Warranty Crisis

By Steve LeVine · Aug 21, 2025 4:30am PDT

Last year, Ford paid out $5.8 billion in warranty claims on its vehicles, a 22% increase over 2023. General Motors spent $4.5 billion on such claims, 12% more than its 2023 number. And Tesla paid $1.45 billion, a 19% year-on-year increase.Detroit has a car repair problem going back to the 1970s. It was one reason Japanese carmakers managed to... Last year, Ford paid out $5.8 billion in warranty claims on its vehicles, a 22% increase over...

Sierra's Bret Taylor, The Information's Jessica Lessin and Harvey's Winston Weinberg.

Why AI Model Makers Might Develop Like Cable and Cellular Companies

By Martin Peers · Aug 20, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Could the artificial intelligence business develop like cable TV or cellular, where the real money is made by apps running on top of internet pipes, rather than by the telecom firms that spent billions building those pipes? That would be a big deal for AI. It implies that AI agent developers will end up more profitable than AI model makers, like... Could the artificial intelligence business develop like cable TV or cellular, where the real...

Sierra’s Bret Taylor and Harvey’s Winston Weinberg: Where the AI Agent War Will Be Won

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 20, 2025 3:33pm PDT · 1 comment

Sierra’s Bret Taylor and Harvey’s Winston Weinberg: Where the AI Agent War Will Be Won

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 20, 2025 3:33pm PDT · 1 comment

It wasn’t the message I expected to hear from Bret Taylor, a veteran Silicon Valley executive and, yes—an artificial intelligence startup founder—as I interviewed him on The Information’s TITV to discuss his latest startup, Sierra. Taylor, more than anyone else I know in the tech industry, has straddled both big and small tech. I... It wasn’t the message I expected to hear from Bret Taylor, a veteran Silicon Valley executive...

Bella Freud, the creator of the “Fashion Neurosis” video podcast. Photo courtesy of Vox Media

Creator Economy

Vox Media Inks Partnership with Bella Freud’s Podcast

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 20, 2025 2:09pm PDT

Every episode of Bella Freud’s video podcast begins the same way: A doorbell rings, and she welcomes a guest—ranging from supermodel Kate Moss to designer Christian Louboutin—to lay down on a couch in her London home. A camera attached to the couch captures a flattering angle of the person’s face from above. The setup is a... Every episode of Bella Freud’s video podcast begins the same way: A doorbell rings, and she...

Cursor CEO Michael Truell. Screenshot via YouTube

The Power of Defaults: Why OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Are Courting App Developers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 20, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The debate around whether it’s better to be an AI-powered app that millions of people use, like Cursor, or an AI model like Claude that powers such apps is getting interesting.While Cursor and other customers of AI models are hurting as OpenAI and Anthropic mostly hold model prices steady rather than cutting them—as they have been doing for... The debate around whether it’s better to be an AI-powered app that millions of people use, like ...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Cost of Buying AI Is Creeping Up, Boosting Microsoft and Other Sellers

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 20, 2025 6:30am PDT · 2 comments

Last year, the cost for businesses to purchase state-of-the-art artificial intelligence was plummeting. Top AI providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google had slashed the price of their flagship AI models by more than 90% compared to prior years, while DeepSeek and other open-source developers were releasing free yet powerful models. Google... Last year, the cost for businesses to purchase state-of-the-art artificial intelligence was...

Character AI CEO Karandeep Anand. Photo via Flickr/Fortune.

Character.AI in Talks to Sell or Raise Money, a Year After Founders Depart

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kalley Huang and Valida Pau · Aug 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Character AI CEO Karandeep Anand. Photo via Flickr/Fortune.

Character.AI in Talks to Sell or Raise Money, a Year After Founders Depart

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kalley Huang and Valida Pau · Aug 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Character.AI, the chatbot maker whose founders Google hired as part of a $2.7 billion deal last August, has in recent weeks discussed a sale of the company with potential buyers, bankers and staff, according to three people who have spoken to its executives. The nearly four-year-old startup could try to stick it out as an independent company... Character.AI, the chatbot maker whose founders Google hired as part of a $2.7 billion deal last...

Photo via Eight Sleep

Eight Sleep Embraces AI For Mattress Topper

By Martin Peers · Aug 19, 2025 5:00pm PDT

What is it about sleep technology that causes tech investors to dream of immense riches? Eight Sleep, which makes high-tech mattress toppers and is a favorite brand of many tech luminaries, announced Tuesday it had raised $100 million partly to—in all seriousness—“supercharge its AI roadmap”with projects including an “AI Agent for Sleep... What is it about sleep technology that causes tech investors to dream of immense riches? Eight...

Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk (left) speaks with The Information's Akash Pasricha.

Creator Economy

How Beehiiv Is Taking on Substack

By Kaya Yurieff and Akash Pasricha · Aug 19, 2025 3:16pm PDT

Newsletter publishers are having a moment again. Beehiiv, a four-year-old competitor to the larger and older Substack, is on pace to double its total revenue this year, to $30 million, CEO and co-founder Tyler Denk told my colleague Akash Pasricha on Tuesday during an interview on TITV, The Information’s new daily streaming show. Investors... Newsletter publishers are having a moment again. Beehiiv, a four-year-old competitor to the...

Photo via Getty

What to Watch as the IPO Heat Turns Up

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT

Initial public offerings are generating buzz again, and share prices of tech listings have doubled on average this year. The Nasdaq has been at an all-time high, today’s big-tech stock sell-off notwithstanding. And Chamath Palihapitiya is raising money for a special purpose acquisition company. Are we about to hit a speculative IPO and SPAC... Initial public offerings are generating buzz again, and share prices of tech listings have...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Is AI Better Than Humans at Interviewing People?

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 19, 2025 10:39am PDT · 1 comment

Art via Mike Sullivan

Is AI Better Than Humans at Interviewing People?

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 19, 2025 10:39am PDT · 1 comment

Job seekers are increasingly running into employers using artificial intelligence-powered job interviewers, and the process has garnered backlash and in some cases sparked lawsuits from spurned candidates. But AI interviewers might actually increase candidates’ chances of getting hired.A new research study published this week from the... Job seekers are increasingly running into employers using artificial intelligence-powered job...

World Liberty Financial co-founder Donald Trump Jr. (left), is joined at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square by Zach Witkoff, the incoming chairman of Alt5 Sigma (center) and incoming Alt5 Sigma board director Eric Trump (right). Photo by Getty

Trump Partner in Crypto Venture Faces SEC Allegations

By Michael Roddan · Aug 19, 2025 10:15am PDT · 1 comment

The Trump family has partnered with a father-son duo with a history of run-ins with financial regulators for a deal to sell $1.5 billion of its crypto tokens. A biotech turned crypto company called Alt5 Sigma will sell $1.5 billion of stock and use the money to buy the crypto token created by World Liberty Financial, founded by Donald Trump Jr.... The Trump family has partnered with a father-son duo with a history of run-ins with financial...

Pylon cofounders Robert Eng, Marty Kausas and Advith Chelikani. Photo courtesy of Pylon.

Why Andreessen and Bain Backed a Self-Described ‘Zendesk Killer’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 19, 2025 7:00am PDT

Automating customer service has been among the most popular applications of artificial intelligence models, and investors have pumped about $1 billion into six key startups developing them. Now, a seventh is throwing its hat into the ring.San Francisco-based startup Pylon has raised $31 million in a fundraise co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and ... Automating customer service has been among the most popular applications of artificial...

Photo via Shutterstock

News Publishers Shift AI Licensing Focus to Usage-Based Deals

By Catherine Perloff · Aug 19, 2025 6:00am PDT

Signs that OpenAI and other artificial intelligence firms are generating ever-increasing revenues are getting attention—from news publishers who want to get their piece of the action. Publishers that have struck deals to license their content to AI firms for training large language models are now discussing internally—and in at least... Signs that OpenAI and other artificial intelligence firms are generating ever-increasing revenues...

Outside the Lordstown, Ohio plant in 2018. Photo via AP.

What Foxconn’s Ohio Factory Deal Says About the Increasing Reach of AI

By Martin Peers · Aug 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Outside the Lordstown, Ohio plant in 2018. Photo via AP.

What Foxconn’s Ohio Factory Deal Says About the Increasing Reach of AI

By Martin Peers · Aug 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Talk about symbolism. Foxconn chair Young Liu said today that the electronics manufacturer was selling its Lordstown, Ohio, electric vehicle factory to SoftBank, which will use it to make artificial intelligence computer servers. It’s the latest example of how AI is supplanting other newish technologies. (Notably, the Lordstown factory, which... Talk about symbolism. Foxconn chair Young Liu said today that the electronics manufacturer was...