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

Elon Musk. Photo via Getty

Tesla’s First Quarter Signals Bleak Year

By Martin Peers · Apr 22, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

When Elon Musk said in January that 2025 would be “a pivotal year for Tesla,” he surely wasn’t thinking of what has come to pass. The electric vehicle giant reported Tuesday that its auto revenues plunged 20% in the first quarter to their lowest level since 2021, dragging down Tesla’s overall revenue 9% and operating profit 66%. Tesla, which had... When Elon Musk said in January that 2025 would be “a pivotal year for Tesla,” he surely wasn’t...

Henry Ward, CEO and co-founder of Carta. Photo via YouTube.

Carta, the Startup for Startups, Tries to Restart Growth

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 22, 2025 3:47pm PDT

There are many ways to visualize the boom and slowdown in tech startups. One is the image of Carta CEO Henry Ward, dressed in a suit in a Midtown Manhattan hotel, describing how he once raised billions and is now trying to restart his company’s growth.Ward and I were sitting together, across the street from offices that house some of the largest... There are many ways to visualize the boom and slowdown in tech startups. One is the image of...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg via Getty

Creator Economy

Why Facebook Mulled Wiping Friends Lists

By Kalley Huang and Kaya Yurieff · Apr 22, 2025 2:02pm PDT

Trials are great for airing technology executives’ private ruminations, including some of their most out-there strategies. Among the most extraordinary that have so far come to light in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta Platforms is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “potentially crazy idea” in 2022 for refreshing Facebook: ... Trials are great for airing technology executives’ private ruminations, including some of their...

E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. Photo via Getty.

OpenAI Would Buy Chrome, Executive Testifies

By Erin Woo · Apr 22, 2025 12:02pm PDT · 4 comments

E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. Photo via Getty.

OpenAI Would Buy Chrome, Executive Testifies

By Erin Woo · Apr 22, 2025 12:02pm PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome web browser if a court forced Google to sell it, an OpenAI executive testified on Tuesday in a court hearing related to how Google should be overhauled to remedy its illegal search monopoly. Nick Turley, head of product for ChatGPT, also testified that OpenAI had offered to pay Apple a share... OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome web browser if a court forced Google to sell...

Art by Clark Miller

How Customers Get Around AI’s Poor Math Skills

By Jon Victor · Apr 22, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Healthcare providers and artificial intelligence vendors have touted AI’s potential to automatically interpret medical test results. But the technology still faces a major limitation: It struggles to do basic math. For example, Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot often can’t answer correctly whether a certain number falls within a given range.That’s a... Healthcare providers and artificial intelligence vendors have touted AI’s potential to...

Stock photo via Getty

Three New Ways Developers Are Using AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 22, 2025 7:00am PDT

It’s no surprise that software developers love AI tools. (Just look at the revenue growth of Anysphere, the creator of the popular AI-powered code editing software Cursor, from my colleague Natasha’s feature on the startup last month.)You’ve probably read lots about the most obvious ways that developers are using AI models to speed up software... It’s no surprise that software developers love AI tools. (Just look at the revenue growth of ...

The Uber Executives Running its Self-Driving Car Expansion

By Alex Perry · Apr 22, 2025 6:00am PDT

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said that by the end of the decade, 20% to 40% of the number of trips Uber completes in certain cities will be robotaxi rides. To drive that expansion, the ride-hailing company has staffed up over the past 14 months with autonomous vehicle experts from companies like Waymo and Nuro. Those new additions are part of... Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said that by the end of the decade, 20% to 40% of the number of...

Gail Slater (center), US assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, and Todd Blanche (right), US deputy attorney general, today outside federal court. Photo via Getty.

DOJ Questions Google’s AI Tactics

By Martin Peers · Apr 21, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Gail Slater (center), US assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, and Todd Blanche (right), US deputy attorney general, today outside federal court. Photo via Getty.

DOJ Questions Google’s AI Tactics

By Martin Peers · Apr 21, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Is Google up to its old tricks in the new world of artificial intelligence? That’s what the government alleges. The Justice Department made a big deal in court today—as it argued how Google should be overhauled to remedy its search monopoly—with the charge that the tech giant was repeating its past sins in search in an effort to become dominant... Is Google up to its old tricks in the new world of artificial intelligence? That’s what the...

Palo Alto Networks Offers a Smooth Ride in Turbulent Markets

By Anita Ramaswamy · Apr 21, 2025 10:00am PDT · 2 comments

If the Trump administration’s tariffs and other policies throw the economy into turmoil, cybersecurity stocks could be a safe haven for tech investors. Palo Alto Networks, one of the largest and best-diversified companies in a highly fragmented industry, has shown it can grow through slowdowns and will be relatively safe from tariffs. Palo Alto... If the Trump administration’s tariffs and other policies throw the economy into turmoil,...

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Agent Moment; Cursor’s AI Hallucination

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 21, 2025 7:30am PDT · 1 comment

Google’s role in the AI sector will be in the spotlight this week, as the Justice Department makes its case in a Washington court for how to deal with what the court has already found to be Google’s illegal search monopoly. We’ll keep you updated.Meanwhile, looking back at last week, we had both an AI snafu and—perhaps more importantly—OpenAI’s... Google’s role in the AI sector will be in the spotlight this week, as the Justice Department...

Bedrock Materials headquarters, Chicago. Photo: Courtesy Bedrock

The Electric: Why Bedrock Materials Returned Its Seed Funding to Investors

By Steve LeVine · Apr 21, 2025 6:22am PDT

In a Linkedin post early this month, Bedrock Materials CEO Spencer Gore announced he was shutting down less than two years after launching the sodium-ion battery startup. He will return most of the $9 million in seed round funds he had raised back to investors. In a Linkedin post early this month, Bedrock Materials CEO Spencer Gore announced he was shutting...

AWS Faces Backlash Over Limits on Anthropic’s AI

By Kevin McLaughlin and Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

AWS Faces Backlash Over Limits on Anthropic’s AI

By Kevin McLaughlin and Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon has hitched its artificial intelligence wagon to Anthropic, investing $8 billion in the startup and heavily promoting its AI to customers of the Amazon Web Services cloud unit. But AWS has fumbled Bedrock, a key service its customers use to build applications with Anthropic AI models. Customers who have used Bedrock say its application... Amazon has hitched its artificial intelligence wagon to Anthropic, investing $8 billion in the...

Art by Shane Burke

Weekend: OpenAI, Meta and Tech’s Copycat Games

By Abram Brown · Apr 19, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Unity Software hopes for resurrection after a dramatic implosion• The Top 5: Inside tech’s robot bonanza • Plus, our Recommendations: Spotlight and the snitches; an “ER” for our era; and Jensen Huang, thinking machineHi, It’s Abe Brown, editor of The Information’s Weekend... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Unity Software hopes for resurrection...

Clark Miller

Tech’s Wildest Robot Dreams

By Rocket Drew · Apr 19, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

The robots are coming! Or so it appears. After decades of speculation about the arrival of robots that get closer to the ones envisioned in science fiction, venture funding to robotics companies has shot up in recent years—hitting $7.2 billion in funding last year, a 30% increase from 2020. Robotics mania is closely linked to the dawn of... The robots are coming! Or so it appears. After decades of speculation about the arrival of robots...

Photo via Getty

The AI Hole in Big Tech’s Pockets

By Martin Peers · Apr 18, 2025 1:30pm PDT

There were plenty of surprising revelations about Meta Platforms this week, thanks to its antitrust trial, most obviously that CEO Mark Zuckerberg mused in 2018 whether to spin off Instagram. But even more striking was The Information’s report on Thursday night that Meta for much of the past year was trying to get other big tech companies to... There were plenty of surprising revelations about Meta Platforms this week, thanks to its...

Whatnot CEO Grant LaFontaine. Photo via Getty

Pro Weekly: Big Funding Quarter for Social Commerce

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 18, 2025 9:00am PDT

Whatnot CEO Grant LaFontaine. Photo via Getty

Pro Weekly: Big Funding Quarter for Social Commerce

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 18, 2025 9:00am PDT

It’s starting to feel like the heady days of 2021 again—at least in the creator economy. We reported this week that U.S. creator startup funding had its best quarter in four years, according to our Creator Economy Database. Shopping was the category with the largest funding haul. We recorded just two deals in the quarter, but they were big... It’s starting to feel like the heady days of 2021 again—at least in the creator economy. We...

Art: Clark Miller

After a Dramatic Implosion, Can Unity Software Resurrect Itself?

By Simon Parkin · Apr 18, 2025 8:20am PDT · 5 comments

In mid-September 2023, Rami Ismail was at his home in the Netherlands when his phone began to buzz, buzz and buzz again. Ismail, a videogame developer who’d become well known for a hit iPhone game, Ridiculous Fishing, often received unsolicited messages from other indie designers, but even so, this was an unusually intense flurry of activity. ... In mid-September 2023, Rami Ismail was at his home in the Netherlands when his phone began to...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty.

OpenAI’s User Targets; General Catalyst’s Bigger Seed Bet

By Sri Muppidi · Apr 17, 2025 5:30pm PDT · 2 comments

An earlier version of this column incorrectly stated Thrive Capital has used the option of investing in the latest OpenAI round at the last round’s valuation. While it has that option, Thrive invested in the round with the same terms as the other investors, said a person close to the fundraise. An edited version of the rest of the column... An earlier version of this column incorrectly stated Thrive Capital has used the option of...

Photo via Getty

Google’s Antitrust Dilemma

By Martin Peers · Apr 17, 2025 5:15pm PDT

Before we get to today’s big tech developments, be sure to check out the scoop we just published about Meta Platforms asking companies like Microsoft and Amazon to help fund its Llama AI development. It’s a sign that the enormous costs of AI are straining even the coffers of one of the richest companies in tech… Right now, it’s all tech... Before we get to today’s big tech developments, be sure to check out the scoop we just published...

Photo of Mark Zuckerberg by Getty.

Meta Asked Amazon, Microsoft to Help Fund Llama

By Kalley Huang and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo of Mark Zuckerberg by Getty.

Meta Asked Amazon, Microsoft to Help Fund Llama

By Kalley Huang and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms over the past year asked Microsoft, Amazon and others to help pay the costs of training Meta’s flagship large language model, Llama, according to four people briefed on the discussions. Meta’s overtures reflected worries about the growing costs of its artificial intelligence development, according to two of the people. In exchange... Meta Platforms over the past year asked Microsoft, Amazon and others to help pay the costs of...