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

Art via Shutterstock/Mike Sullivan

How Amazon Tracks Employee AI Usage—and Measures Results

By Catherine Perloff · Feb 19, 2026 11:00am PST

Amazon prides itself on being data obsessed, and its approach to tracking its own employees’ use of AI has been no different. Amazon has been using an internal system called Clarity to track how often employees use AI tools in their work, two people with knowledge of the tracking said. (Clarity also tracks other things about employees, such... Amazon prides itself on being data obsessed, and its approach to tracking its own employees’ use...

Art by Mike Sullivan

AMD to Backstop $300 Million Crusoe Loan, Following Nvidia Playbook

By Miles Kruppa and Valida Pau · Feb 19, 2026 10:43am PST

Chipmaker AMD is pursuing the same growth-driving strategy that has boosted sales at rival Nvidia: lending its financial support to upstart cloud providers buying its chips. AMD will effectively guarantee a $300 million loan for data center and cloud startup Crusoe to purchase AMD’s AI chips and install them in a data center in Ohio. The loan... Chipmaker AMD is pursuing the same growth-driving strategy that has boosted sales at rival...

ZaiNar cofounder and CEO Daniel Jacker. Photo courtesy of ZaiNar.

Startup Developing GPS Alternative for Physical AI Earns $1 Billion-Valuation

By Katie Roof · Feb 19, 2026 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Over the last two years, investors and researchers have flocked to startups helping bring AI into the physical world, from developing robot hands to the AI models that train robots to software to train self-driving cars. Now one startup says it can solve a perennial problem for robots and other AI-powered systems: getting precise location... Over the last two years, investors and researchers have flocked to startups helping bring AI into...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Hungryroot Posts 55% Revenue Growth, Eyes Potential 2026 IPO

By Ann Gehan · Feb 19, 2026 6:00am PST

Art by Mike Sullivan

Hungryroot Posts 55% Revenue Growth, Eyes Potential 2026 IPO

By Ann Gehan · Feb 19, 2026 6:00am PST

With software and other sectors melting down at the merest hint of AI disruption, businesses that sell food and other consumer goods are finally getting some love. That’s good news for venture-backed companies like Hungryroot, which could benefit from investors’ desires to AI-proof their portfolios. Hungryroot, which offers an app for ordering... With software and other sectors melting down at the merest hint of AI disruption, businesses that...

Ford's first stab at electric pickups, the Lightning, was a flop. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty

The Electric: Ford Doubles Down On Beating the Chinese in EVs

By Steve LeVine · Feb 19, 2026 4:30am PST · 1 comment

For months, Ford has backpedaled furiously from a massive gamble it made on electric vehicles, writing down $19.5 billion in costs and killing newly designed EVs it had paraded as proof of its tech cred. For months, Ford has backpedaled furiously from a massive gamble it made on electric vehicles,...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Getty Images

OpenAI Is Finalizing First Commitments for $100 Billion Mega Round

By Sri Muppidi · Feb 18, 2026 6:21pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI is finalizing initial commitments from investors in a round that could raise $100 billion at a $830 billion valuation including the investment, according to two people with direct knowledge of the fundraising. SoftBank is expected to anchor the round with a $30 billion investment, which it will spread in three installments of $10 billion... OpenAI is finalizing initial commitments from investors in a round that could raise $100 billion...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to court today in Los Angeles. Jill Connelly/Getty Images.

Zuckerberg's Day in Court

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 18, 2026 6:02pm PST · 2 comments

“We call Mark Zuckerberg to the stand.” Thus began Wednesday’s nearly six hours of testimony from the Meta Platforms CEO in a trial of a lawsuit brought by a young woman against several tech companies including Meta, contending that social media causes depression and suicidal thoughts. I was in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, where... “We call Mark Zuckerberg to the stand.” Thus began Wednesday’s nearly six hours of testimony from...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses at an event last year. ,Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Meta Revives Plan for Smart Watch, Targets 2026 Launch

By Jyoti Mann · Feb 18, 2026 12:57pm PST

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses at an event last year. ,Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Meta Revives Plan for Smart Watch, Targets 2026 Launch

By Jyoti Mann · Feb 18, 2026 12:57pm PST

Meta Platforms plans to release its first smartwatch in 2026, according to two people familiar with the matter. Meta’s plans come as other big tech companies, including Apple, OpenAI and Google, are stepping up their plans for new consumer devices. The company has revived a previously shelved smartwatch project, now code-named Malibu 2, and... Meta Platforms plans to release its first smartwatch in 2026, according to two people familiar...

What AI Means for Software Builders—and Software Business Models

By The Information Staff · Feb 18, 2026 11:11am PST

The impact of AI on software is showing up both on the engineering side and in the economics of the industry. Tools that automate coding are altering productivity assumptions, while AI-driven workflows are challenging how providers price and package their products. We asked Deep Research to analyze how these changes are affecting incumbents,... The impact of AI on software is showing up both on the engineering side and in the economics of...

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Bloomberg via Getty Images.

The Information Finance

Robinhood’s Private Startup Fund Could Open the Floodgates

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 18, 2026 8:00am PST · 2 comments

A soon to be listed Robinhood fund that invests in private startups could lay a path for Silicon Valley—including VC firms—to raise more money from individual investors. Robinhood is raising $1 billion for the fund, which has the New York Stock Exchange ticker of RVI. The fund, Robinhood says, will invest in “best-in-class” private... A soon to be listed Robinhood fund that invests in private startups could lay a path for Silicon...

Photo via Getty Images

Don’t Get Tricked By Fake ‘Continual Learning’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 18, 2026 7:00am PST

A new holy grail has emerged in the AI industry in recent months: continual learning, or the promise of AI that’s able to learn from real-world experience the way humans do, without having to undergo long formal training processes that require tons of computational power and data.And as you’d might expect with the rise of an ill-defined, buzzy... A new holy grail has emerged in the AI industry in recent months: continual learning, or the...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Meet 16 Data Center Executives Leading the AI Buildout

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 18, 2026 6:00am PST

Art by Mike Sullivan

Meet 16 Data Center Executives Leading the AI Buildout

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 18, 2026 6:00am PST

The battle for AI talent is no longer just about landing the best AI researcher. People with experience developing giant AI data centers suddenly are among the most sought-after professionals in tech right now. While an array of big tech firms and other developers is committing billions to data centers for AI, few people have designed and built... The battle for AI talent is no longer just about landing the best AI researcher. People with...

Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg. David Zalubowski/AP.

Meta and Nvidia Renew Their Vows

By Martin Peers · Feb 17, 2026 5:00pm PST

Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to spend billions on Google AI chips—known as tensor processing units—for its data centers, Meta and Nvidia unveiled an expanded “multiyear, multigenerational strategic partnership.” Meta is a longtime Nvidia customer, of course, but it is recommitting... Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Could Share Up to $6.4 Billion With Amazon, Google and Microsoft in 2027

By Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff · Feb 17, 2026 4:46pm PST · 2 comments

Anthropic expects to pay Amazon, Google and Microsoft at least $80 billion to run its Claude AI on their cloud servers through 2029, according to the startup’s most optimistic recent forecasts. That’s not the only way the tech giants can make money from Anthropic: They get a cut of the revenue Anthropic generates if their customers buy its AI. ... Anthropic expects to pay Amazon, Google and Microsoft at least $80 billion to run its Claude AI...

A soldier operates an Anduril Ghost-X reconnaissance drone at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. Getty Images.

Anduril Fundraising Shows Defense Tech Is Still Red-Hot

By Katie Roof · Feb 17, 2026 4:19pm PST

In case you missed it on Friday, we broke the news that Anduril is in talks to double its valuation to around $60 billion in a new funding round.The round is notable for more than just its price. While Anduril technically has both A and I in its name, it’s not the AI-centric type of startup that typically gets all the investor attention in this... In case you missed it on Friday, we broke the news that Anduril is in talks to double its...

Ben McMillan, founder and chief investment officer at IDX Advisors. Photo via YouTube

How One Investment Firm is Using AI to Cut Software Costs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 17, 2026 10:37am PST

Ben McMillan, founder and chief investment officer at IDX Advisors. Photo via YouTube

How One Investment Firm is Using AI to Cut Software Costs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 17, 2026 10:37am PST

Brokerage stocks were among the latest stocks to sell off last week on fears artificial intelligence would replace the financial institutions’ role as investment advisers. While those worries may be overblown, it’s easy to see why traders are skittish. Take the case of IDX Advisors, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based asset management firm with... Brokerage stocks were among the latest stocks to sell off last week on fears artificial...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

China’s AI Giveaway War

By Juro Osawa · Feb 17, 2026 7:05am PST

U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get on the path to doing so. In China, the big tech firms behind AI chatbots are fighting a different battle.Chinese tech firms are competing so intensely to draw people to use their AI chatbots that they’re spending this week’s Lunar New Year holidays... U.S. AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic haven’t yet turned a profit but they’re trying to get...

Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / Getty Images.

Pinterest Calls ‘Code Reds’ to Revive Growth Amid AI Threat

By Ann Gehan and Catherine Perloff · Feb 17, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

For the past three years, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready appeared to have secured a second chance for the scrapbooking app to prove itself to Wall Street. All that evaporated on Thursday night, when weaker fourth-quarter ad revenue prompted a sell-off that drove shares down 17% to their lowest level since April 2020. Even before the earnings report... For the past three years, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready appeared to have secured a second chance for...

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

AI Is Magnifying Google and Meta’s Edge in Ads

By Martin Peers · Feb 16, 2026 3:00pm PST

We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify in the Los Angeles trial hearing a lawsuit filed by a young California woman against big tech firms, namely Google and Meta. The woman claims her social media addiction led to depression and suicidal thoughts, as ... We could see a brief shift away from obsessive AI talk this week. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms...

Comedian Charlie Berens. Screenshots via YouTube.

No Joke: How Data Center Wars Distract From Real Solutions

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Feb 16, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Comedian Charlie Berens. Screenshots via YouTube.

AI Infrastructure

No Joke: How Data Center Wars Distract From Real Solutions

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Feb 16, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

(An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is a Wisconsin comedian beloved for wickedly funny, and until recently apolitical, satires of “Midwest Nice” culture. He’s now become Public Enemy No. 1 to data center developers and AI model makers. Berens is on a crusade to block data centers,... (An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is...