The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Photo by Getty.

BlackRock Weighs Multibillion-Dollar Investment in SpaceX IPO

By Cory Weinberg · May 16, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

BlackRock has discussed investing $5 billion to $10 billion in SpaceX’s initial public offering next month, people familiar with the matter said. The massive order, for an offering that could raise as much as $75 billion, would represent a vote of confidence in Elon Musk’s company from the world’s largest asset manager. The investment would... BlackRock has discussed investing $5 billion to $10 billion in SpaceX’s initial public offering...

Art: Mike Sullivan

San Francisco’s Robo-Fight Club, General Catalyst’s Divisive Virality

By Julia Hornstein and Abram Brown · May 16, 2026 8:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Trump officials and VCs love a nuclear power startup’s brute-force approach• Biotech: The case of the disappearing embryo startups • Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Are We Doomed?” “Steve Jobs in Exile” and “Lord of the Flies” The legal slugfest between Elon... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Trump officials and VCs love a...

Art: Clark Miller

Silicon Valley Likes the Idea of Gene-Edited Embryos. It’ll Be a Wait

By Amy Dockser Marcus · May 16, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Two companies aiming to make better babies by tweaking the DNA of embryos were invited to talk about the future of the technology at SynBioBeta, a major gathering of the biotech world scheduled for earlier this month in San Jose, Calif. As the discussion’s moderator, I felt eager to hear more from them about their science and how they might... Two companies aiming to make better babies by tweaking the DNA of embryos were invited to talk...

Art by Clark Miller; YouTube

Why Trump Officials and VCs Love This Nuclear Power Startup’s Brute-Force Approach

By Jemima McEvoy · May 15, 2026 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

Art by Clark Miller; YouTube

Why Trump Officials and VCs Love This Nuclear Power Startup’s Brute-Force Approach

By Jemima McEvoy · May 15, 2026 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

On a cloudy day in late March, Isaiah Taylor, the 27-year-old founder and chief executive of Valar Atomics, a Hawthorne, Calif.–based nuclear energy startup, led me into a large black tent at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in the middle of the Utah desert. Dozens of construction workers and beeping forklifts buzzed around the nearly... On a cloudy day in late March, Isaiah Taylor, the 27-year-old founder and chief executive of...

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cerebras IPO Stock Pop; Apple-OpenAI Drama

By Martin Peers · May 14, 2026 5:00pm PDT

This was quite the day. OpenAI is jumping up and down about its unhappiness with Apple (it’s doubtful Tim Cook is shaking in his boots). Big telecom threw down the gauntlet to Elon Musk and Amazon (not that they should worry). We get to both news items lower down. But first…the AI trade on Wall Street is booming, as demonstrated by today's... This was quite the day. OpenAI is jumping up and down about its unhappiness with Apple (it’s...

Photo by Getty Images.

Cerebras Payday Includes Tiger—And SPVs

By Katie Roof and Julia Hornstein · May 14, 2026 4:20pm PDT

Earlier this morning we published exclusive returns on some of the biggest investors in AI chip designer Cerebras, whose shares surged in their first day of trading. The offering represents welcome cash for investors after they’ve seen initial public offerings get delayed year after year. Tiger Global Management, for instance, bought... Earlier this morning we published exclusive returns on some of the biggest investors in AI...

Art by Clark Miller.

Cerebras Shows IPO Market Will Pay Up for Messy AI Math

By The Information Staff · May 14, 2026 1:05pm PDT

Cerebras’ shares surged in their trading debut Thursday, showing that public investors are willing to look past unusual financial risks for companies tied to the AI infrastructure boom. That’s a striking reception for a company that does not look like the clean software listings investors used to love: Cerebras is an expensive... Cerebras’ shares surged in their trading debut Thursday, showing that public investors are...

Apple's Craig Federighi announces a ChatGPT integration on Apple devices at the company's developer conference in 2024. Screenshot via YouTube

OpenAI’s Apple Partnership Sours

By Aaron Tilley · May 14, 2026 12:39pm PDT · 2 comments

Apple's Craig Federighi announces a ChatGPT integration on Apple devices at the company's developer conference in 2024. Screenshot via YouTube

OpenAI’s Apple Partnership Sours

By Aaron Tilley · May 14, 2026 12:39pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI appears to be headed into conflict with another big name partner, Apple. The AI startup is considering legal action against Apple over breach of contract related to the ChatGPT integration deal it announced with Apple two years ago, said an OpenAI employee familiar with the matter. The AI company has been trying to improve its... OpenAI appears to be headed into conflict with another big name partner, Apple. The AI startup is...

Art by Clark Miller.

Why Anthropic Costs Are Unpredictable

By Laura Bratton · May 14, 2026 12:08pm PDT · 3 comments

Anthropic customers are already feeling pinched by the company’s AI price hikes, Aaron and I reported Wednesday. Making matters harder, Anthropic customers like PagerDuty and ServiceNow—which says it already blew through its full-year budget for Anthropic AI tools—can’t predict what they’ll pay this year.One reason Anthropic costs are tough to... Anthropic customers are already feeling pinched by the company’s AI price hikes, Aaron and I...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The SpaceXAI Exodus: More Than 50 Recent Exits as Meta, Thinking Machines Hire Staff

By Theo Wayt · May 14, 2026 11:06am PDT

Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models have left the AI lab since SpaceX acquired it in February, through layoffs, firings and voluntary departures, according to several people with knowledge of the moves. These departures come on top of the exits of all of xAI’s co-founders besides Elon... Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models...

The BYD Denza Z9GT, on display at the Beijing Auto Show, with a silicon carbon anode. Photo: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty

The Electric: China Steals a Manufacturing March on Another American-Made Technology

By Steve LeVine · May 14, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

For 15 years, Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of silicon carbon battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies, has been working to commercialize a battery that would charge much faster and power electric vehicles much further than conventional batteries. In September, Berdichevsky, a Tesla veteran, finally began test production at his first commercial plant,... For 15 years, Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of silicon carbon battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies,...

Photo via Getty Images

AGI Is the Elephant in the Musk v. OpenAI Courtroom

By Rocket Drew · May 14, 2026 7:00am PDT

Photo via Getty Images

AGI Is the Elephant in the Musk v. OpenAI Courtroom

By Rocket Drew · May 14, 2026 7:00am PDT

Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which centers on Musk’s allegations that OpenAI breached a charitable trust, in part by violating its charitable mission. The two sides disagree on almost everything in the case, but one phrase is likely to be mentioned in both speeches: artificial... Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which...

Cerebras IPO Winners Include Foundation, Benchmark—and OpenAI

By Julia Hornstein, Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · May 14, 2026 6:00am PDT

Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope. The company, which was attempting the difficult and expensive task of developing an alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, didn’t deliver its first chips until five years into its existence. Then, after it filed to go public in 2024, the... Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope....

Amazon HQ in Seattle. Getty Images.

Amazon’s AI Shopping Overhaul

By Martin Peers · May 13, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Remember Bard? It was the original name of Google’s AI chatbot, but the Gemini brand long ago replaced it. Just as you’ve likely forgotten that history, you’re not likely to remember Rufus in 12 months’ time, either. Rufus, the name of Amazon’s AI-powered shopping chatbot, got tossed on Wednesday and replaced with Amazon’s well-established Alexa... Remember Bard? It was the original name of Google’s AI chatbot, but the Gemini brand long ago...

Erik Bernhardsson, Founder and CEO at Modal. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Startup Modal in Talks to Raise at $4.5 Billion Valuation After Revenue Surges

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 13, 2026 10:49am PDT

Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers run and train models as well as agents, is in talks to raise money at around a $4.5 billion valuation. That would be an 80% premium to its last valuation from just a few months ago, according to two people with knowledge of the round. The steep hike... Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers...

Art by Mike Sulivan

Apple Explores Ways to Welcome AI Agents in the App Store

By Aaron Tilley · May 13, 2026 10:17am PDT

Art by Mike Sulivan

Apple Explores Ways to Welcome AI Agents in the App Store

By Aaron Tilley · May 13, 2026 10:17am PDT

Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from the tech industry’s hottest trend while ensuring that the software in its store continues to play by its rules, according to people briefed on the matter. So far, the widespread embrace of agentic AI for software creation has put Apple on the... Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from...

Senators Thom Tillis, left, and Angela Alsobrooks. Photos via Getty Images.

The Information Finance

Can Crypto Beat the Banks and Win Over Washington?

By Ken Brown · May 13, 2026 8:00am PDT

This is a critical week for the crypto industry. The most important crypto law ever to hit Congress is about to take a big step forward, and with the crypto market in the doldrums, the timing couldn’t be better.This could be the last chance for the long-delayed bill to become law, as vacations and election season suck up much of the rest of the... This is a critical week for the crypto industry. The most important crypto law ever to hit...

Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images

How Anthropic Could Take an OpenAI Supplier Off The Table

By Laura Mandaro · May 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a deal we reported on late Tuesday reaches the finish line. Anthropic is in talks to buy developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300 million, according to Stephanie and Katie. The New York startup makes software development kits that... Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

Anthropic Flexes Pricing Power as Its Customers Willingly Eat the Cost

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · May 13, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Anthropic’s revenue growth is unprecedented. Newer Anthropic customers such as PagerDuty are a big part of the reason. Eric Johnson, chief information officer at PagerDuty, which helps software engineers respond to tech outages, said he is bracing for volatile costs as his company’s 1,200 employees start using Anthropic’s AI coding and other... Anthropic’s revenue growth is unprecedented. Newer Anthropic customers such as PagerDuty are a...

Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · May 12, 2026 11:20pm PDT

Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · May 12, 2026 11:20pm PDT

Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred million dollars for his new AI lab, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new AI lab will likely be valued at around $2 billion after the funding round, the people said, adding that the discussions are ongoing and the... Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred...