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

Ionic Minerals will use halloysite mined in these hills in Utah to make silicon anodes. Photo: Courtesy Ionic.

The Electric: Four New EV Battery Startups That Are Ignoring the Gloom Around Them

By Steve LeVine · Mar 3, 2025 4:30am PST

A bloodbath is happening in the electric vehicle battery industry: Most of the next-generation Western startups that gained favor in 2020 and 2021 are struggling to survive, and some have either filed for bankruptcy or shut down. But a new wave of battery startups, unfazed by the rubble around them, has raised millions of dollars from venture... A bloodbath is happening in the electric vehicle battery industry: Most of the next-generation...

Art by Clark Miller; Intrator image via Getty.

CoreWeave Had Soaring Revenues and Capex Ahead of Planned IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 2, 2025 3:30pm PST

CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed startup cloud provider that is preparing one of the most anticipated initial public offerings of the year, grew revenue exponentially while pouring cash into capital expenditures last year, two people familiar with the matter said. The company is expected to publish its IPO prospectus this week and go public this... CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed startup cloud provider that is preparing one of the most anticipated...

Masayoshi Son. Photo by Getty; art by Mike Sullivan

SoftBank’s Son Goes on a New Borrowing Binge to Fund AI

By Juro Osawa and Cory Weinberg · Mar 1, 2025 8:00am PST · 2 comments

The biggest risk-taker in tech investing is back to his old playbook, loading up on debt to fund his latest obsession: artificial intelligence. SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is planning to borrow $16 billion to invest in AI, his company’s executives told banks last week, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. The... The biggest risk-taker in tech investing is back to his old playbook, loading up on debt to fund...

Art by Clark Miller

Anthropic's Secret Trick for Measuring Claude

By Abram Brown · Mar 1, 2025 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

Anthropic's Secret Trick for Measuring Claude

By Abram Brown · Mar 1, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Runway thinks it can outrun OpenAI and Google• Artificial Intelligence: AI.com is up for sale. Asking price? $100 million• The Top 5: The very best sleep and health tech for kids • Plus, our Recommendations: A father confesses his darkest secrets; how a financial scheme fueled a... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Runway thinks it can outrun OpenAI...

Art by Clark Miller

The Very Best Sleep and Health Tech for Kids

By Paris Martineau · Mar 1, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

The last decade brought the beginning of the biohacking era, prompting American adults to fill their homes with trackers and smart devices to better study and fine tune their health. It was perhaps inevitable that the same interest would lead to a mound of similar technology aimed at a different target market: kids. In a recently published... The last decade brought the beginning of the biohacking era, prompting American adults to fill...

Art by Clark Miller

Artificial Intelligence

AI.com Is for Sale. Asking Price? $100 Million

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 1, 2025 6:00am PST · 7 comments

Deep in Queens, New York, out near John F. Kennedy Airport, Larry Fischer was distraught. One of his favorite Italian joints—Don Peppe, the place where he lunched with Facebook’s lawyers after selling them Messenger.com in 2014—had closed for vacation this past week. It had seemed like a fitting place for our conversation about... Deep in Queens, New York, out near John F. Kennedy Airport, Larry Fischer was distraught. One of...

Sergey Brin. Photo via Getty

Why Sergey Brin Should Push Harder to Shake Up Google

By Martin Peers · Feb 28, 2025 3:00pm PST

When I last checked, Google co-founder Sergey Brin was still one of the two people who between them control the massive tech company. As of last year, at least, Brin had a 25% voting stake, while his co-founder, Larry Page, had a tad more. So why on earth is Brin suggesting people on Google’s Gemini team come into the office every day and in... When I last checked, Google co-founder Sergey Brin was still one of the two people who between...

Meta’s Data Center Bet, Instagram Reels & The Future of Content

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 28, 2025 1:06pm PST

Meta’s Data Center Bet, Instagram Reels & The Future of Content

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 28, 2025 1:06pm PST

This week on More or Less: On the ground at the Upfront Summit, Instagram’s new idea, and what’s coming for consumer. Apple Spotify This week on More or Less: On the ground at the Upfront Summit, Instagram’s new idea, and...

Photo via Getty.

Amazon Plans Global Expansion for Haul, Its Temu Rival

By Theo Wayt · Feb 28, 2025 10:31am PST

Amazon is going global with its counterattack on bargain sellers Temu and Shein. The e-commerce giant is planning on expanding Haul, the ultracheap Temu look-alike it launched in the U.S. in November, to countries in Europe starting this year, according to a seller consultant who spoke with Amazon representatives. At the same time, a recent... Amazon is going global with its counterattack on bargain sellers Temu and Shein. The e-commerce...

Pro Weekly: Trump Bump Fades for Tesla, Coinbase

Pro Weekly: Trump Bump Fades for Tesla, Coinbase

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 28, 2025 8:00am PST

Our latest subscriber survey showed that readers continue to be plenty optimistic about the outlook for the technology sector overall. But when it comes to individual big tech companies, sentiment mostly soured in February, suggesting that developments like government spending cuts and sinking crypto prices are complicating that broadly rosy... Our latest subscriber survey showed that readers continue to be plenty optimistic about the...

Speakers at The Information's AI Agenda Live conference in San Francisco February 27, 2025. Photo by Erin Beach. Art by Clark Miller.

AI Comes for the White-Collar Worker: Agenda Live Highlights

By The Information Staff · Feb 28, 2025 7:15am PST

A growing number of artificial intelligence assistants will make workers more productive in specialized fields such as law, medicine and entertainment. It could also replace some jobs altogether, said speakers at The Information’s AI Agenda Live conference Thursday. “We have tech companies very actively thinking about how I can reduce my IT... A growing number of artificial intelligence assistants will make workers more productive in...

Art by Clark Miller

How Runway Hopes to Outrun OpenAI, Google in the AI Video Race

By Gary Rivlin · Feb 28, 2025 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller

How Runway Hopes to Outrun OpenAI, Google in the AI Video Race

By Gary Rivlin · Feb 28, 2025 6:00am PST · 2 comments

There are two basic ways for startup founders to respond when much larger competitors encroach on their realm. They can soldier on with heads down and voices low, in silent determination. Or they can do as the founders of Runway did when the likes of Google and OpenAI entered the AI video field Runway helped pioneer: They can respond with... There are two basic ways for startup founders to respond when much larger competitors encroach on...

Warner Bros. Discovery's studio in Burbank, Calif. Photo via Getty

A Warner Bros. Discovery Split Is a Matter of Time

By Martin Peers · Feb 27, 2025 5:00pm PST

If you’re watching the latest season of the HBO drama “The White Lotus,” you’ll know that the aging cable channel (represented on streaming through Max) can still capture the zeitgeist. That’s not so true of HBO’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, whose fourth-quarter results on Thursday—showing revenue fell 2% for the quarter and 5% for the year—... If you’re watching the latest season of the HBO drama “The White Lotus,” you’ll know that the...

Vinod Khosla. Photo by Erin Beach.

Vinod Khosla: Most AI Investments Will Lose Money as Market Enters ‘Greed’ Cycle

By Sri Muppidi · Feb 27, 2025 4:57pm PST

Early OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla warned that most investments in artificial intelligence will lose money, particularly as more investors jump into the market, funding more startups. But he said some companies would grow to be worth hundreds of billions—and eventually trillions—of dollars and make up for the failures. “More money... Early OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla warned that most investments in artificial intelligence will...

Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Photo via Flickr

Creator Economy

Why A Reels App Makes Sense

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 27, 2025 2:00pm PST · 1 comment

Instagram has been firing on all cylinders to take advantage of the uncertainty around TikTok in the U.S. The latest: the Meta Platforms-owned app is now considering whether to spin out Reels into a separate app, as we were first to report on Wednesday. A separate app for Reels could make a lot of sense. Instagram has had an identity... Instagram has been firing on all cylinders to take advantage of the uncertainty around TikTok in...

Photo by Getty

The Coming AI Down Rounds; Plus, Always Be Raising

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 27, 2025 1:40pm PST · 1 comment

Photo by Getty

The Coming AI Down Rounds; Plus, Always Be Raising

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 27, 2025 1:40pm PST · 1 comment

You could sum up the vibe at this year’s Upfront Summit, the Los Angeles gathering of venture capitalists and the limited partners who back them, as: always be raising. Followed closely by, beware a correction in artificial intelligence startups. Mark Suster, a partner at Upfront Ventures, kicked off the event by shouting out fund managers... You could sum up the vibe at this year’s Upfront Summit, the Los Angeles gathering of venture...

Subscriber Survey

DeepSeek Is Popular, and Well-Liked, by Readers

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 27, 2025 10:35am PST

Half of The Information’s readers have used DeepSeek, the artificial intelligence app developed in China, but only 10% of those users pay for it, according to our latest survey. OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the dominant AI tool among readers, but Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini have grown considerably more popular in the past 16 months. ... Half of The Information’s readers have used DeepSeek, the artificial intelligence app developed...

Art by Mike Sullivan via Midjourney

Software Startups Under Threat; Experian Finally Takes the Chatbot Plunge

By Rocket Drew, Jon Victor and Catherine Perloff · Feb 27, 2025 10:00am PST

Enterprise software companies that raised money at lofty valuations during the pandemic startup boom are facing many obstacles as they look to jump-start growth. One is the threat from generative artificial intelligence.In our Enterprise Software Startup Takeover List, we’ve identified 92 promising candidates for acquisitions in the coming year.... Enterprise software companies that raised money at lofty valuations during the pandemic startup...

Art by Mike Sullivan via Midjourney

CFOs Are Crashing the AI Buying Party; Six Takeaways From Nvidia Report

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 27, 2025 7:00am PST

Happy AI Agenda Live day! I’m so excited to see many of you at our event later today, where we’ll hear from executives at top AI firms like Anthropic and Google as well as venture capitalists and founders on what research breakthroughs are coming and where to invest.One topic we’ll be sure to broach is the growing pressure chief financial... Happy AI Agenda Live day! I’m so excited to see many of you at our event later today, where we’ll...

The Bitter Fintech Feud That Stretches From Silicon Valley to Moscow

By Michael Roddan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 27, 2025 6:00am PST

The Bitter Fintech Feud That Stretches From Silicon Valley to Moscow

By Michael Roddan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 27, 2025 6:00am PST

The seemingly mundane world of human resources management startups is not the place you’d expect to see cutthroat corporate blood sport, battles linked to global geopolitics, and questions about whether companies took on the wrong customers to boost growth. But Deel and Rippling are hardly ordinary startups. Their feud spilled into open view... The seemingly mundane world of human resources management startups is not the place you’d expect...