The Information

Tim Cook, left, and Eddy Cue. Photos via Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Apple’s Aversion to Big Deals Could Thwart Its AI Push

By Aaron Tilley, Wayne Ma and Valida Pau · Aug 26, 2025 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

This summer, investment bankers came knocking on Apple’s door with a pitch: Was the iPhone maker interested in doing a major acquisition or some other kind of deal in artificial intelligence? So far, the only answer it has given them is: not so much. In the current AI frenzy, nearly all of Apple’s peers in big tech have thrown open their... This summer, investment bankers came knocking on Apple’s door with a pitch: Was the iPhone maker...

Neil Shen, founding partner of HongShan. Photo via Getty

Neil Shen’s HongShan Is Slow to Deploy Its $9 Billion Capital, Looks for Deals Outside China

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Aug 26, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When venture capital giant Sequoia decided to carve off Sequoia China two years ago in response to growing tensions between the U.S. and China, the newly independent China firm was expected to continue pouring its huge funds into Chinese startups. Renamed HongShan (Mandarin for Sequoia), the firm had only a year earlier raised what was then a... When venture capital giant Sequoia decided to carve off Sequoia China two years ago in response...

Pantera founder, Dan Morehead. Photo via Getty

Crypto Fund Pantera Seeks to Raise Up to $1.25 Billion for Solana Deal

By Yueqi Yang · Aug 25, 2025 2:06pm PDT · 1 comment

Crypto fund manager Pantera is seeking to raise as much as $1.25 billion to convert a public company into a solana investment firm, as a flood of companies race to cash in on the latest hot crypto sector. Pantera, founded by Dan Morehead, a former trader at Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global Management, is one of the largest and oldest crypto asset... Crypto fund manager Pantera is seeking to raise as much as $1.25 billion to convert a public...

Photo via Faire

E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue

By Ann Gehan and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 25, 2025 6:00am PDT

Photo via Faire

E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue

By Ann Gehan and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 25, 2025 6:00am PDT

In 2022, Faire became one of the most highly priced e-commerce startups, with a valuation of $12.6 billion, as the online marketplace benefited from a surge in internet sales during the pandemic. But after e-commerce growth cooled with waning Covid-19 restrictions, the company in late 2023 slashed its internal valuation to $5 billion, according... In 2022, Faire became one of the most highly priced e-commerce startups, with a valuation of...

Image via Getty

Nvidia Orders Halt to H20 Production After China Directive Against Purchases

By Qianer Liu · Aug 21, 2025 4:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Nvidia has told some of its component suppliers to suspend production work related to the H20, its chip tailor-made for the Chinese market, according to two people with direct knowledge of the communications. The directive comes weeks after the Chinese government told local tech companies to stop buying the chips due to alleged security... Nvidia has told some of its component suppliers to suspend production work related to the H20,...

Art by Clark Miller

Meta Signs $10 Billion-Plus Cloud Deal With Google

By Kevin McLaughlin and Kalley Huang · Aug 21, 2025 3:48pm PDT · 2 comments

Google has struck a major cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms, according to two people familiar with the matter. As part of the agreement, the social media giant will use Google Cloud’s servers, storage, networking and other services, one of the people said. The deal—worth more than $10 billion over six years, the person said—is... Google has struck a major cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms, according to two people...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and Sam Altman. Photos via Getty

OpenAI Is Challenging Google—While Using Its Search Data

By Amir Efrati, Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 2:42pm PDT · 1 comment

As it tries to unseat Google, OpenAI is relying on search data from an unlikely source: Google. OpenAI has been using Google search results scraped from the web to help power ChatGPT responses, according to two people with knowledge of it. As it tries to unseat Google, OpenAI is relying on search data from an unlikely source: Google. ...

Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller speaks onstage at the All-In and Hill & Valley Forum on July 23 in Washington, D.C. Image via Getty.

OpenAI’s Data Center Provider in Talks to Raise Money at $10 Billion Valuation

By Anissa Gardizy and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 8:44am PDT

Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller speaks onstage at the All-In and Hill & Valley Forum on July 23 in Washington, D.C. Image via Getty.

OpenAI’s Data Center Provider in Talks to Raise Money at $10 Billion Valuation

By Anissa Gardizy and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 21, 2025 8:44am PDT

Crusoe, the developer behind OpenAI’s first Stargate data center, is discussing raising funds at a $10 billion valuation—more than three times its valuation less than a year ago, according to two people with direct knowledge of the fundraising talks. The seven-year-old company wants to raise at least $1 billion to fulfill its ambitions to... Crusoe, the developer behind OpenAI’s first Stargate data center, is discussing raising funds at...

Character AI CEO Karandeep Anand. Photo via Flickr/Fortune.

Character.AI in Talks to Sell or Raise Money, a Year After Founders Depart

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kalley Huang and Valida Pau · Aug 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Character.AI, the chatbot maker whose founders Google hired as part of a $2.7 billion deal last August, has in recent weeks discussed a sale of the company with potential buyers, bankers and staff, according to three people who have spoken to its executives. The nearly four-year-old startup could try to stick it out as an independent company... Character.AI, the chatbot maker whose founders Google hired as part of a $2.7 billion deal last...

World Liberty Financial co-founder Donald Trump Jr. (left), is joined at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square by Zach Witkoff, the incoming chairman of Alt5 Sigma (center) and incoming Alt5 Sigma board director Eric Trump (right). Photo by Getty

Trump Partner in Crypto Venture Faces SEC Allegations

By Michael Roddan · Aug 19, 2025 10:15am PDT · 1 comment

The Trump family has partnered with a father-son duo with a history of run-ins with financial regulators for a deal to sell $1.5 billion of its crypto tokens. A biotech turned crypto company called Alt5 Sigma will sell $1.5 billion of stock and use the money to buy the crypto token created by World Liberty Financial, founded by Donald Trump Jr.... The Trump family has partnered with a father-son duo with a history of run-ins with financial...

Photo via Getty

To Court Big Brands, Walmart Throws Some Smaller Merchants Under the Bus

By Ann Gehan · Aug 18, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

For nearly 25 years, Tracey Shelley, an online merchant who sells products like Olay moisturizer, Coppertone sunscreen and Dr. Squatch deodorant, operated mainly on Amazon’s marketplace. But in the past few years, Shelley said she shifted nearly half her business to Walmart, as the retailer lobbied online sellers to sell on its site. In its... For nearly 25 years, Tracey Shelley, an online merchant who sells products like Olay moisturizer,...

Lyten bought Northvolt's battery plants in Poland on left, Sweden right. Images via Getty

The Inside Story of How a Tiny California Startup Grabbed Europe’s Battery Giant

By Steve LeVine · Aug 17, 2025 1:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Lyten bought Northvolt's battery plants in Poland on left, Sweden right. Images via Getty

The Inside Story of How a Tiny California Startup Grabbed Europe’s Battery Giant

By Steve LeVine · Aug 17, 2025 1:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Until last year, things looked pretty good for Northvolt, a Sweden-based battery startup that Europeans saw as their answer to Tesla. The company had vacuumed up $13 billion in capital from largely blue-chip investors and taken $55 billion in battery orders from major carmakers like BMW, Volkswagen and Volvo. Northvolt executives spoke of going... Until last year, things looked pretty good for Northvolt, a Sweden-based battery startup that...

Mark Zuckerberg at Llama Con 2025. Photo via AP

Meta Plans Fourth Restructuring of AI Efforts in Six Months

By Kalley Huang · Aug 15, 2025 2:11pm PDT · 3 comments

Meta Platforms is planning the fourth restructuring of its artificial intelligence efforts in six months, according to three people familiar with the matter. Meta’s new AI organization, Meta Superintelligence Labs, is expected to be divided into four groups: a new lab that has been going by TBD Lab, short for to be determined; a team focused on... Meta Platforms is planning the fourth restructuring of its artificial intelligence efforts in six...

Photo via Getty

Elon Musk’s xAI Runs on Ex-Google Talent

By Theo Wayt · Aug 15, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When artificial intelligence researcher Igor Babuschkin announced his departure from Elon Musk’s xAI this week, he became the second founding member of the team to quit this year. And like Christian Szegedy, another co-founder who left in May, Babuschkin had originally come from Google. Despite the pair’s departure, xAI still relies heavily on... When artificial intelligence researcher Igor Babuschkin announced his departure from Elon Musk’s...

Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch at The Information's San Francisco AI Summit in 2024. Photo by Erin Beach for The Information.

Cloud Startup Vercel Fields Offers for $9 Billion Valuation

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Sri Muppidi · Aug 14, 2025 3:30pm PDT · 1 comment

Vercel, a nine-year-old cloud startup that companies use to host and develop websites and artificial intelligence apps, has been approached by investors offering to invest hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation between $8 billion to $9 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. The new funding could nearly... Vercel, a nine-year-old cloud startup that companies use to host and develop websites and...

Jeff Green, founder of The Trade Desk. Photo via Getty

Walmart Backing Away From Trade Desk, an Amazon Ad Tech Rival

By Catherine Perloff and Theo Wayt · Aug 14, 2025 7:16am PDT

Jeff Green, founder of The Trade Desk. Photo via Getty

Walmart Backing Away From Trade Desk, an Amazon Ad Tech Rival

By Catherine Perloff and Theo Wayt · Aug 14, 2025 7:16am PDT

Amazon’s most direct rival in handling ad sales across the web, the Trade Desk, could be in danger of losing one of its most valuable clients—Walmart. Last year, Walmart renegotiated its four-year-old arrangement with the Trade Desk, under which advertisers buying spots on the Web using Walmart shopper data for targeting have to use the... Amazon’s most direct rival in handling ad sales across the web, the Trade Desk, could be in...

Michael Liberty (left) and Donald Trump Jr. Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images, YouTube.

Trump Pardon Leads to Business Deal for His Son

By Michael Roddan and Aaron Tilley · Aug 14, 2025 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

On President Donald Trump’s last day of his first term, in 2021, he pardoned Michael Liberty, a real estate developer and tech entrepreneur who had served jail time for illegal campaign contributions and was facing new federal criminal and civil charges. The pardon may pay dividends for the president’s family. Roughly a year after the pardon,... On President Donald Trump’s last day of his first term, in 2021, he pardoned Michael Liberty, a...

A backup battery system form Base Power is installed on February 2025 in Houston. Photo by Getty.

Home Battery Startup Base Power Plots $4 Billion Valuation

By Anissa Gardizy · Aug 13, 2025 6:07pm PDT · 2 comments

Venture investors are discussing ploughing as much as $1 billion into Texas-based energy startup Base Power at a $4 billion valuation, or about four times its valuation in April, according to a person with knowledge of the investment talks. The startup, co-founded in 2023 by Zach Dell, a former Thrive Capital employee and son of PC mogul... Venture investors are discussing ploughing as much as $1 billion into Texas-based energy startup...

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. Photo via Getty

Perplexity Explored Buying Other Search Browsers Before Chrome Bid

By Sri Muppidi, Erin Woo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 13, 2025 2:31pm PDT · 1 comment

Perplexity made headlines this week when the artificial intelligence startup said it had offered to buy Google’s Chrome, the world’s largest internet browser, for a price amounting to nearly double its valuation. While that acquisition seems unlikely to transpire, the company has been on the prowl for smaller browsers it could more easily bite... Perplexity made headlines this week when the artificial intelligence startup said it had offered...

A Rivos employee shown in a company video from last year. Photo via YouTube/Rivos.

Chip Startup Rivos Seeks Up to $500 Million to Compete With Nvidia

By Valida Pau and Wayne Ma · Aug 13, 2025 7:36am PDT

A Rivos employee shown in a company video from last year. Photo via YouTube/Rivos.

Chip Startup Rivos Seeks Up to $500 Million to Compete With Nvidia

By Valida Pau and Wayne Ma · Aug 13, 2025 7:36am PDT

Rivos, a chip startup that aims to compete with Nvidia, is seeking to raise between $400 million and $500 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Santa Clara, Calif.–based startup, backed by Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan, is seeking a valuation of more than $2 billion, one of the people said. It’s not clear if the valuation... Rivos, a chip startup that aims to compete with Nvidia, is seeking to raise between $400 million...