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: Clark Miller

Is Brian Chesky’s Big Bet Big Enough?

By Abram Brown · May 17, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The AI euphoria—and peril—driving ServiceNow’s Bill McDermott• The Top 5: Silicon Valley’s most exotic fitness goals• Plus, our Recommendations: A wager to save a dad; “Fargo” in Maine; and a band of brothers from Down UnderLately, I’ve lived exactly as Brian Chesky might want. Yet the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The AI euphoria—and peril—driving...

Art by Clark Miller

The Exotic Fitness Goals of the Tech Elite

By Nick Wingfield · May 17, 2025 6:00am PDT · 9 comments

When normies want to set lofty fitness goals for themselves, they train for half- or full-marathons. If they’re feeling ambitious, perhaps they shoot for a triathlon or a Tough Mudder. For the type A personalities of tech, though, those events are sometimes warmups, literally, for even more extravagant athletic feats. Last Friday night, for... When normies want to set lofty fitness goals for themselves, they train for half- or...

John Malone. Photo via Getty

Why the Charter-Cox $34.5 Billion Cable Deal Matters

By Martin Peers · May 16, 2025 2:30pm PDT

Misery loves company, as they say. Friday’s announcement that two of the three biggest cable-broadband firms, Charter Communications and Cox Communications, are combining is a logical next step in the consolidation of a stagnant but still significant industry. Charter, whose biggest shareholder is controlled by aging cable magnate John Malone,... Misery loves company, as they say. Friday’s announcement that two of the three biggest...

Clark Miller

Bots or Bust: ServiceNow’s Bill McDermott Makes an All-In Bet on AI

By Akash Pasricha · May 16, 2025 9:02am PDT · 2 comments

Clark Miller

Bots or Bust: ServiceNow’s Bill McDermott Makes an All-In Bet on AI

By Akash Pasricha · May 16, 2025 9:02am PDT · 2 comments

Late on a Friday night in March, Bill McDermott, ServiceNow’s CEO and chairman, walked off a flight in San Jose, Calif., and then immediately asked his chief of staff to get his top sales and engineering execs on the phone. He had a task for them. McDermott had just spent a week in New York meeting with customers, including the heads of banks... Late on a Friday night in March, Bill McDermott, ServiceNow’s CEO and chairman, walked off a...

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi. Photo via AP

Pro Weekly: AI M&A Heats Up

By Akash Pasricha · May 16, 2025 8:00am PDT

One of the most exciting stories in tech lately is just four letters long: AI M&A. On Wednesday, Databricks said it was paying around $1 billion to buy Neon, a database software startup that can be used to develop AI agents. Then, on Thursday, Salesforce said it was buying AI agent developer Convergence. And OpenAI has reportedly been... One of the most exciting stories in tech lately is just four letters long: AI M&A. On...

Chime headquarters in San Francisco. Photo via Shutterstock

Chime’s Approach to Payday Lending Is Costly—for Chime

By Cory Weinberg · May 16, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Last summer, banking app Chime introduced a lending product that let customers borrow small amounts to get them through to their next paycheck. Typical payday lenders charge exorbitant fees, but Chime was making the loans largely for free. The fintech’s big bet is that fronting cash to customers—and only charging people that want... Last summer, banking app Chime introduced a lending product that let customers borrow small...

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Photo via Getty

Why YouTube Should Say How Much Money It Makes

By Martin Peers · May 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Video-streaming and TV executives were out in force in New York this week, as outlets pitched their program schedules to marketers at lavish star-studded presentations. None other than Lady Gaga performed at YouTube’s party in Lincoln Center, for instance. There’s no doubt YouTube has come a long way since its founding 20 years ago. It now has a... Video-streaming and TV executives were out in force in New York this week, as outlets pitched...

Screenshot of Andy Chen, left, via YouTube. Photo of Mercedes Bent via Getty

Why Andreessen, Lightspeed and Coatue Partners Are Leaving

By Natasha Mascarenhas · May 15, 2025 3:21pm PDT

Screenshot of Andy Chen, left, via YouTube. Photo of Mercedes Bent via Getty

Why Andreessen, Lightspeed and Coatue Partners Are Leaving

By Natasha Mascarenhas · May 15, 2025 3:21pm PDT

After tech stocks crashed three years ago, the correction in private startup valuations led to a wave of partners leaving their venture firms. Over the past year, a new exodus has emerged as investors depart with plans to set up their own funds. Six early-stage partners from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Founders Fund, Lightspeed... After tech stocks crashed three years ago, the correction in private startup valuations led to a...

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan at the company's Brandcast event for advertisers in New York. Image via Getty for YouTube

Creator Economy

YouTube Flexes Its Size to Gain Podcast Listeners

By Kaya Yurieff and Sahil Patel · May 15, 2025 2:33pm PDT

It’s been a busy week for YouTube! The company on Wednesday hosted its annual Brandcast event for advertisers in New York where it announced updates ranging from new deals with the NFL to features for creators. On Thursday, CEO Neal Mohan told a MoffettNathanson investor conference that revenue generated per hour watched on YouTube Shorts ... It’s been a busy week for YouTube! The company on Wednesday hosted its annual Brandcast...

Image via Getty.

Saudi Arabia Did Deals With Trump, but Much of the Cash Is Staying Home

By Miles Kruppa · May 15, 2025 12:36pm PDT

Saudi Arabia, long viewed as a fountain of cash for the tech industry, has flipped the script, getting U.S. companies to fund its build-out of artificial intelligence. President Donald Trump announced hundreds of billions of dollars in deals when he visited Riyadh this week. The announcements touted investments in the U.S., but in many cases the... Saudi Arabia, long viewed as a fountain of cash for the tech industry, has flipped the script,...

Photo by Getty

Businesses’ Impatience with AI Models Spurred Cohere’s App Push

By Jon Victor · May 15, 2025 11:44am PDT

These have been difficult years for roughly a dozen of the major startups trying to sell artificial intelligence models to app developers or corporate customers. OpenAI and other AI firms that sell ready-to-use products for knowledge workers have sucked the oxygen out of the room for startups like Cohere, whose revenue has severely lagged... These have been difficult years for roughly a dozen of the major startups trying to sell...

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez. Photos via Getty

Why OpenAI Challenger Cohere Fell 85% Short of Its Revenue Forecast

By Jon Victor · May 15, 2025 9:33am PDT · 3 comments

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez. Photos via Getty

Why OpenAI Challenger Cohere Fell 85% Short of Its Revenue Forecast

By Jon Victor · May 15, 2025 9:33am PDT · 3 comments

The conversational intelligence boom sparked by OpenAI unleashed a flood of venture capital dollars for the sector, but AI developers that didn’t focus on selling revenue-generating applications fast enough have been left in the dust. One of the best examples is Cohere, an OpenAI rival that was developing similar technology years before the... The conversational intelligence boom sparked by OpenAI unleashed a flood of venture capital...

Photo courtesy of K-Scale Labs

The Open-Source Robotics Startup That Caught OpenAI’s Eye

By Rocket Drew · May 15, 2025 7:15am PDT

In the last year, dozens of new robotics startups have launched. One of them, a recent graduate of the Y Combinator accelerator, is trying to distinguish itself by developing open-source AI models and other software for the humanoid robots it plans to sell, an increasingly popular approach in the sector. The proposition has attracted... In the last year, dozens of new robotics startups have launched. One of them, a recent graduate...

Art by Mike Sullivan

China Tightens Control Over AI Data Centers

By Qianer Liu · May 15, 2025 6:00am PDT

Chinese officials in the past two months told some of the country’s top technology companies that the government will take a more active role in overseeing their data centers for artificial intelligence and the specialized chips for developing the technology, according to two people involved in the conversations. The Chinese government wants... Chinese officials in the past two months told some of the country’s top technology companies that...

One possible target for the new LMR battery is GM's electric Cadillac Escalade. Photo: Courtesy GM.

The Electric: With a Manganese War, GM and Ford Take Aim at China’s Battery Grip

By Steve LeVine · May 15, 2025 4:30am PDT

In a surprising dual strike at China’s grip on the global electric vehicle battery industry, General Motors and Ford have both unveiled manganese-led batteries that could shoulder aside incumbent chemistries dominated by China’s behemoths. In a surprising dual strike at China’s grip on the global electric vehicle battery industry, ...

Chime CEO Chris Britt. Photo via Getty

Chime, Snap and Founder Stock

By Martin Peers · May 14, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Chime CEO Chris Britt. Photo via Getty

Chime, Snap and Founder Stock

By Martin Peers · May 14, 2025 5:00pm PDT

How much motivation does a company founder need to make their company a success? In the case of Chime, a fintech firm whose mission is to offer banking services to low- and mid-income people, quite a lot, it seems. When Chime filed paperwork to go public on Tuesday, it revealed that last month it awarded co-founders Chris Britt (who is also CEO)... How much motivation does a company founder need to make their company a success? In the case of...

LTK cofounder Amber Venz Box. Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

LTK’s Bid for Big League Ad Dollars

By Ann Gehan · May 14, 2025 2:00pm PDT

I checked out LTK’s splashy event for advertisers in New York this week. The gathering, planned to coincide with upfronts held by big media companies, highlighted the creator marketing startup’s ambitions to command serious ad dollars.LTK, founded in 2011 and last valued at $2 billion, is one of the more established creator marketing companies.... I checked out LTK’s splashy event for advertisers in New York this week. The gathering, planned...

Art by Clark Miller

A Blueprint to Strengthen U.S. Resilience Amid a New World Order

By Hemant Taneja and Fareed Zakaria · May 14, 2025 11:30am PDT · 1 comment

Long before Donald Trump entered the White House for a second time, it was becoming clear we were entering a radically different world. Rising nationalism and increased cross-border friction were replacing the open, interconnected system that reigned supreme for three decades. Even in 2015, prior to President Trump’s first term, President Xi... Long before Donald Trump entered the White House for a second time, it was becoming clear we were...

Dario Amodei. Photo by Getty

Anthropic’s Upcoming Models Will Think… And Think Some More

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 14, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The race to develop reasoning models that “think” harder is at full force. At Anthropic, which arrived later than OpenAI and Google to the reasoning race, two upcoming models are taking the concept of “thinking” to the extreme.Anthropic has new versions of its two largest models—Claude Sonnet and Claude Opus—set to come out in the upcoming... The race to develop reasoning models that “think” harder is at full force. At Anthropic, which...

TSMC Is Critical for AI, and Its Shares Are on Sale

By Anita Ramaswamy · May 14, 2025 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

TSMC Is Critical for AI, and Its Shares Are on Sale

By Anita Ramaswamy · May 14, 2025 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Artificial intelligence depends on Nvidia’s computer chips. Nvidia depends on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make those chips. Right now, TSMC is in many ways the better way to invest in AI for the long term. TSMC and Nvidia are closely linked in business and in the stock market. Both companies’ stocks have soared on the back of the... Artificial intelligence depends on Nvidia’s computer chips. Nvidia depends on Taiwan...