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

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo by Getty Images.

As Pentagon Targets Anthropic, OpenAI Moves to Fill the Void

By Rocket Drew and Erin Woo · Feb 27, 2026 7:52pm PST · 8 comments

A rapid escalation of a dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over military use of its AI models has threatened to cut off Anthropic from wide swathes of its customers, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk” on Friday. But the government’s threat to bar military contractors from... A rapid escalation of a dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over military use...

Sam Altman, left, and Andrew Jassy. Photos by Getty Images, AP.

What Amazon and Microsoft Will Win or Lose From OpenAI’s New Deals

By Aaron Holmes, Catherine Perloff, Stephanie Palazzolo, Anissa Gardizy, Valida Pau and Shane Burke · Feb 27, 2026 10:38am PST · 2 comments

OpenAI’s wide-ranging partnership with Amazon, announced on Friday as part of a bigger series of funding agreements valuing the company at $730 billion before the investment, means the ChatGPT creator will soon have two of the three biggest cloud firms pitching its services. But can both Amazon and Microsoft get a big boost without encroaching... OpenAI’s wide-ranging partnership with Amazon, announced on Friday as part of a bigger series of...

Subscriber Survey

77% of Chatbot Users Don’t Trust AI With Ads

By Shane Burke · Feb 27, 2026 9:08am PST

OpenAI’s rollout of advertising in ChatGPT earlier this month has ratcheted up debate over whether AI chatbots can show ads without alienating users. And for most of The Information’s readers, ads in chatbots are a nonstarter. In our latest subscriber survey, 77% of chatbot users said they would not trust an AI service with ads to give them... OpenAI’s rollout of advertising in ChatGPT earlier this month has ratcheted up debate over...

Illustration: Clark Miller (Photos: Getty Images)

Military Worries Simmer at OpenAI, Google As Anthropic Hits Stalemate With Pentagon

By Erin Woo · Feb 27, 2026 7:34am PST · 1 comment

Illustration: Clark Miller (Photos: Getty Images)

Military Worries Simmer at OpenAI, Google As Anthropic Hits Stalemate With Pentagon

By Erin Woo · Feb 27, 2026 7:34am PST · 1 comment

The conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over how the Pentagon can use the startup’s AI has turned into a standoff. The agency has given the company a Friday evening deadline to give it unfettered access to its technology—or else be cut off from working with military contractors. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei... The conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense over how the Pentagon can use the...

Block CEO Jack Dorsey. Getty Images.

Jack Dorsey Proves AI Job Cut Fears Are True; Ellisons Win Warner

By Martin Peers · Feb 26, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Jack Dorsey has been many things in his career, including social media pioneer and crypto advocate. Now he’s the grim reaper of AI. Dorsey on Thursday revealed he will lay off 40% of the employees, or about 4,000 people, at his fintech firm, Block. The reason? AI. “The core thesis is simple,” he explained in a shareholder letter. “Intelligence... Jack Dorsey has been many things in his career, including social media pioneer and crypto...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images.

OpenAI Builds an M&A War Chest

By Katie Roof · Feb 26, 2026 4:34pm PST

Will OpenAI make more acquisitions? The ChatGPT maker is in the process of raising $100 billion in additional cash. I wouldn’t be surprised if it uses some of that money or its richly valued shares to buy startups or lure even more talent. After all, it’s done this before. It used its stock to buy hardware guru Jony Ive’s startup, Io... Will OpenAI make more acquisitions? The ChatGPT maker is in the process of raising $100 billion...

From left: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai via Getty

Google Strikes Multibillion-Dollar AI Chip Deal With Meta, Sharpening Nvidia Rivalry

By Amir Efrati and Anissa Gardizy · Feb 26, 2026 3:14pm PST

Meta Platforms has signed a deal to rent Google’s AI chips, known as tensor processing units, to develop new AI models, according to a person involved in the talks. The multi-year deal is worth billions of dollars, said a person who was briefed about it. Meta has also been talking to Google about buying TPUs for its data centers as... Meta Platforms has signed a deal to rent Google’s AI chips, known as tensor processing...

Meta’s Internal Chip Design Efforts Hit Roadblocks

By Jyoti Mann, Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Feb 26, 2026 12:59pm PST

Meta’s Internal Chip Design Efforts Hit Roadblocks

By Jyoti Mann, Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Feb 26, 2026 12:59pm PST

As Meta Platforms strikes new chip supply deals with AMD and Nvidia, it has been running into problems with AI chips it is designing internally, according to six people with direct knowledge of the matter. Meta last week scrapped the most advanced chip it was developing for training AI models, after struggling with the chip’s design, and shifted... As Meta Platforms strikes new chip supply deals with AMD and Nvidia, it has been running into...

Marc Benioff. Photo by Krisztian Bocsi/ Getty Images

From ‘Parasites’ to ‘SaaSquatch,’ Salesforce and Workday Leaders Take Swipes at AI Rivals

By Kevin McLaughlin and Laura Bratton · Feb 26, 2026 12:38pm PST

Leaders from Salesforce, Workday and Snowflake tried different tactics this week to show they’re benefiting from AI and will emerge as winners—even though their fast-growing AI products aren’t boosting overall revenue growth, fueling concerns known as the SaaSpocalpyse. (See details of their financial results here, here and here.) Some... Leaders from Salesforce, Workday and Snowflake tried different tactics this week to show they’re...

Image from Getty Images.

A Robot Data Startup Raises $60 Million

By Rocket Drew · Feb 26, 2026 7:00am PST

Companies developing AI models to power humanoid and other robots have been hard at work collecting videos and other data for training their models, even paying people to record themselves completing tasks in homes and workplaces. As these data-collection efforts start to pay off, and robots take on some of those tasks, the robot developers... Companies developing AI models to power humanoid and other robots have been hard at work...

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Alphabet and Other Big Tech Could Borrow Hundreds of Billions Each

By Anita Ramaswamy · Feb 26, 2026 6:10am PST

Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms in recent months have each turned to the bond markets to raise tens of billions of dollars for their massive investments in AI data centers. And all three are likely to borrow much more in the next couple of years, with their projected capital expenditures now likely to come close to or surpass the cash they... Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms in recent months have each turned to the bond markets to...

Form Energy's Weirton, W.Va. facility. Photo: Courtesy Form

Exclusive From The Electric: A $1 Billion Payday From Google For Battery Startup Form Energy

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2026 4:30am PST

Form Energy's Weirton, W.Va. facility. Photo: Courtesy Form

Exclusive From The Electric: A $1 Billion Payday From Google For Battery Startup Form Energy

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2026 4:30am PST

Since it launched nine years ago, next-generation battery developer Form Energy has faced a single skeptical question: Do businesses really need a battery that lasts 100 hours or longer? Since it launched nine years ago, next-generation battery developer Form Energy has faced a...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Amazon’s $50 Billion Investment in OpenAI Could Hinge on IPO, AGI

By Sri Muppidi, Anissa Gardizy and Aaron Holmes · Feb 25, 2026 5:51pm PST · 4 comments

Amazon’s decision to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI could hang on whether OpenAI goes public or reaches a loosely defined milestone known as artificial general intelligence, which generally refers to AI that is on par with human abilities, according to three people involved who have communicated with OpenAI executives. Under the terms of the... Amazon’s decision to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI could hang on whether OpenAI goes public...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Bridget Bennett/Getty Images.

Nvidia and Salesforce Show Different Sides of AI

By Martin Peers · Feb 25, 2026 5:00pm PST

It was a tale of two AI cities when Nvidia and Salesforce on Wednesday reported the January-quarter earnings that ended their 2026 fiscal years. Nvidia kept its place at the top of the class, reporting better than projected 73% revenue growth. Net income rose 94% to $42.9 billion. For the full fiscal year, Nvidia had revenue of $216 billion and... It was a tale of two AI cities when Nvidia and Salesforce on Wednesday reported the...

Artwork by Clark Miller

From Vision to Constraints: The Lessons of OpenAI’s Stargate Buildout

By The Information Staff · Feb 25, 2026 1:49pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved significantly over the past two years, offering a revealing look at how difficult it is to translate demand for compute into physical infrastructure. Shifts in partners, scope and timelines highlight the financial and operational trade-offs that come with... OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved...

Photo courtesy of Saronic.

Autonomous Warship Startup Saronic Raising at $7.5 Billion Valuation

By Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof · Feb 25, 2026 12:52pm PST · 2 comments

Photo courtesy of Saronic.

Autonomous Warship Startup Saronic Raising at $7.5 Billion Valuation

By Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof · Feb 25, 2026 12:52pm PST · 2 comments

Saronic, a startup that builds autonomous warships, is raising as much as $1.5 billion in a financing that would value the company at about $7.5 billion, before including the investment, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Kleiner Perkins, the storied venture capital firm that has done few defense tech deals until now, has... Saronic, a startup that builds autonomous warships, is raising as much as $1.5 billion in a...

Co-CEO of Blue Owl, Marc Lipschultz. Photo by Michael Nagle/ Getty Images

The Information Finance

Blue Owl Fouls the Nest for AI Financing

By Ken Brown · Feb 25, 2026 8:00am PST · 4 comments

There are few sure things in business, but here’s one: If you want to start a fast-growing company, lend money. The demand for loans is insatiable, and if you offer a good deal, you’ll have a line stretching down the block.Fair warning: The good times may not last long, and the downturn could be ugly. Private market lender Blue Owl is... There are few sure things in business, but here’s one: If you want to start a fast-growing...

Andrew Feldman, Cerebras Systems. Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Why OpenAI’s Cerebras Chip Deal Matters; What Anthropic Wants to Know About Chinese Rivals

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Rocket Drew · Feb 25, 2026 7:00am PST

OpenAI executives have repeatedly signaled, both publicly and privately, that the only factor limiting the company’s revenue growth is access to computational resources. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar wrote an entire blog post on this topic earlier this year, and OpenAI executives highlighted the message again in a presentation to investors... OpenAI executives have repeatedly signaled, both publicly and privately, that the only factor...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The 17 People Crucial to AI Shopping

By Ann Gehan · Feb 25, 2026 6:00am PST

The AI shopping race is shifting quickly. In less than six months, AI companies have mostly stopped trying to make agents that browse and shop directly on retail sites and have focused instead on putting checkout features inside AI chatbots. That’s elevated the importance of the engineers who have been building these shopping features as well as... The AI shopping race is shifting quickly. In less than six months, AI companies have mostly...

Getty Images

Bankers Ponder New Ways to Raise Data Center Money, Despite Risks

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 24, 2026 5:00pm PST

Getty Images

Bankers Ponder New Ways to Raise Data Center Money, Despite Risks

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 24, 2026 5:00pm PST

Talk about symbolic. This week’s annual conference for bankers and investors who play in the arcane world of asset securitization—selling debt backed by mortgages and other cash streams—was disrupted when an exhibit hall at the convention in Las Vegas caught fire on Monday night. I’m not kidding. You could say the blaze was a physical... Talk about symbolic. This week’s annual conference for bankers and investors who play in the...