The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

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...

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...

Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank. Photo by Akio Kon/ Getty Images

How SoftBank’s OpenAI Bet Could Benefit CEO Son

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2026 5:00pm PST

The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed some personal financial risk in the company’s big OpenAI investment.A little-noticed disclosure in SoftBank’s earnings report released Thursday said that Son no longer was on the hook for the roughly $1 billion personal guarantee he had pledged so a... The “rough vibes” at OpenAI have gotten less choppy, allowing SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son to shed...

Wall Street traders last week. Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

Shopify, Unity Get Slammed by Anxious Market

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2026 5:00pm PST

Wall Street traders last week. Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images

Shopify, Unity Get Slammed by Anxious Market

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2026 5:00pm PST

Talk about unforgiving! The great enterprise stock sell-off of 2026 recommenced on Wednesday, and it dragged down a couple of companies—Unity Software and Shopify—after they each reported decent December-quarter earnings. Shares of Shopify, most egregiously, fell as much as 12% after the e-commerce software platform said its first-quarter... Talk about unforgiving! The great enterprise stock sell-off of 2026 recommenced on Wednesday, and...

Elon Musk. Photo by Brendan Smialowsk/Getty Images

The Risk of the Muskiverse's Steady Turnover

By Theo Wayt · Feb 10, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Working at an Elon Musk company is rarely a stable gig. Musk is known to be an extremely demanding boss, and when he’s focused on a problem, heads will usually roll, either because he fires people or makes their lives so miserable they quit. That seems to have been the case again this week, with major executives at both xAI and Tesla heading for... Working at an Elon Musk company is rarely a stable gig. Musk is known to be an extremely...

Aneel Bhusri, CEO of Workday. Photo by Noah Graham/Getty Images.

Workday’s CEO Shuffle Is a Sign of Things to Come

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Last week’s sell-off in software stocks is having an impact. Enterprise software firm Workday revealed Monday it had replaced its CEO, Carl Eschenbach, with co-founder and former CEO Aneel Bhusri, who is returning “to lead the company’s next chapter.” Bhusri, to be clear, has led the company for most of its chapters, having been either co-CEO or... Last week’s sell-off in software stocks is having an impact. Enterprise software firm Workday...

The Amazon Alexa+ Super Bowl commercial starring Chris Hemsworth. Screenshot via YouTube/Amazon Alexa.

What to Expect from Spotify, Lyft and Pinterest Earnings This Week

By Martin Peers · Feb 8, 2026 3:00pm PST

After the crush of tech news last week, including a big AI-fueled stock sell-off, things might calm down a bit in the next few days. With any luck, we’ll have time to debate which of the tech companies’ Super Bowl ads running Sunday night were the best and which were the worst. My vote for best is the Amazon Alexa spot, by the way, although the... After the crush of tech news last week, including a big AI-fueled stock sell-off, things might...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Amazon’s Cloud Liftoff

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

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Amazon’s Cloud Liftoff

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

Talk about raising the stakes. A day after Google parent Alphabet scared the market by projecting plans to double its capital expenditures to around $180 billion, Amazon went one better by announcing it plans to lay out $200 billion on capex this year, 56% higher than what it spent in 2025. Investors were just as unimpressed as they had been... Talk about raising the stakes. A day after Google parent Alphabet scared the market by projecting...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Jim Lo Scalzo/Getty Images

Google Cloud Finally Takes Off

By Martin Peers · Feb 4, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Sundar Pichai, take a bow. Google parent Alphabet delivered some red-hot fourth-quarter numbers on Wednesday, a sign that—like its fellow digital ad giant, Meta Platforms—it is enjoying the fruits of its big investment in AI. Alphabet reported both an acceleration in Google’s search revenue growth to nearly 17%, from 15% in the third quarter,... Sundar Pichai, take a bow. Google parent Alphabet delivered some red-hot fourth-quarter numbers...

Bob Iger and Josh D'Amaro. Getty Images. Disney/Getty Images.

Disney’s CEO Choice Reflects Entertainment’s Decline

By Martin Peers · Feb 3, 2026 5:00pm PST

It’s CEO replacement time. Both Walt Disney Co. and PayPal named new chief executives on Tuesday, with each appointment symbolizing major business shifts. Disney named parks chief Josh D’Amaro to succeed longtime CEO Bob Iger, who turns 75 next week (D’Amaro is Iger’s second successor, after the first one flopped so badly Iger had to return to... It’s CEO replacement time. Both Walt Disney Co. and PayPal named new chief executives on Tuesday,...

Elon Musk. Getty Images.

What’s Really Driving Musk’s SpaceX-xAI Merger

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2026 5:00pm PST · 5 comments

Talk about pie in the sky. On Monday, Elon Musk announced that his SpaceX had acquired his cash-eating xAI, at a price we reported to be $250 billion. SpaceX was already planning to go public, but now xAI will be able to get some of the cash the newly enlarged company will raise. Of course, that’s not how Musk explained the combination. Instead,... Talk about pie in the sky. On Monday, Elon Musk announced that his SpaceX had acquired his...

Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

What to Expect From Palantir, Google and Amazon Earnings This Week

By Martin Peers · Feb 1, 2026 3:00pm PST · 2 comments

Palantir CEO Alex Karp. Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

What to Expect From Palantir, Google and Amazon Earnings This Week

By Martin Peers · Feb 1, 2026 3:00pm PST · 2 comments

If you like poring over earnings reports (and who doesn’t!), then you’ll be in your happy place this coming week. We’ve got so many tech earnings announcements that we can barely keep track. I’m not kidding—couldn’t these tech executives space things out a little bit? The biggest reports will be on Wednesday, when Google parent Alphabet reports... If you like poring over earnings reports (and who doesn’t!), then you’ll be in your happy place...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty Images.

AI’s Dealmaking Frenzy

By Martin Peers · Jan 29, 2026 5:00pm PST

AI’s insatiable need for cash is proving to be a dream for dealmakers. Our scoop from Wednesday night that OpenAI was in talks to raise as much as $60 billion from Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon was followed by a Wall Street Journal report today that Amazon alone might put in $50 billion. Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Thursday that Elon Musk was... AI’s insatiable need for cash is proving to be a dream for dealmakers. Our scoop from Wednesday...

Satya Nadella and Mark Zuckerberg. Getty Images

What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla

By Martin Peers · Jan 28, 2026 5:00pm PST

If quarterly earnings announcements were a contest, Mark Zuckerberg would have won Wednesday. You might even say investors are coming to terms with Meta Platforms’ you-only-live-once approach to spending on AI. The owner of Facebook and Instagram reported stronger than projected fourth-quarter growth of 24% and projected that revenue growth... If quarterly earnings announcements were a contest, Mark Zuckerberg would have won Wednesday. You...

Shutterstock.

Amazon’s Fresh Dream Expires

By Martin Peers · Jan 27, 2026 5:00pm PST

It’s a good thing Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an internet-based retailer. He might never have made it as a traditional shopkeeper! Amazon on Tuesday said it would shutter its chain of Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go grocery stores, closing a chapter in its fitful efforts to expand in physical stores. Amazon still owns the Whole Foods chain it bought... It’s a good thing Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an internet-based retailer. He might never have...

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri. Kyle Grillot/Getty Images.

Social Media’s Reckoning

By Erin Woo · Jan 26, 2026 5:00pm PST

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri. Kyle Grillot/Getty Images.

Social Media’s Reckoning

By Erin Woo · Jan 26, 2026 5:00pm PST

Jury selection kicks off in Los Angeles tomorrow for a trial that both friends and foes of social media are saying could be existential for the social media industry—broadly defined to include Google’s YouTube as well as Meta Platforms and TikTok. The trial centers on a 20-year-old girl from Chico, Calif. who says her social media addiction led... Jury selection kicks off in Los Angeles tomorrow for a trial that both friends and foes of social...

Mark Zuckerberg. Getty Images

This Week’s Tech Earnings: Meta, Microsoft, Apple and Tesla

By Martin Peers · Jan 25, 2026 3:00pm PST

Clear your schedule on Wednesday afternoon. Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla are each reporting their December-quarter earnings after the market closes that day. Tesla is its own thing—we have a sense of what’s coming because it already released vehicle delivery numbers, signaling that revenue will drop. But Microsoft and Meta will be... Clear your schedule on Wednesday afternoon. Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla are each...

Getty Images

Brexit in Fintech

By Martin Peers · Jan 22, 2026 5:00pm PST

That’s what you call going out with a whimper. Capital One’s agreement on Thursday to buy Brex, a corporate credit card startup, for $5.15 billion is an uninspiring end to Brex’s life as an independent company. Those with long memories will remember that the nine-year-old Brex’s ambitions were once so grand it claimed to be disrupting American... That’s what you call going out with a whimper. Capital One’s agreement on Thursday to buy Brex, a...

Larry Ellison. Craig Hudson/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Oracle Should (but Likely Won’t) Cut Its Dividend

By Martin Peers · Jan 21, 2026 5:00pm PST

Here’s a question: How much are big tech companies cutting back on sending money to shareholders as they ramp up their AI development spending? It’s a good time to ask: On Friday, Oracle is due to pay out its latest quarterly dividend of 50 cents a share. That will amount to $1.4 billion going out the door, which Oracle can ill afford. After... Here’s a question: How much are big tech companies cutting back on sending money to shareholders...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on TITV at Davos today. Photo via TITV

Andy Jassy in Davos; Netflix’s Q4

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 20, 2026 5:00pm PST

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on TITV at Davos today. Photo via TITV

Andy Jassy in Davos; Netflix’s Q4

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 20, 2026 5:00pm PST

My second day in Davos began way too early—in a sit-down with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for The Information’s TITV. It has been two years and three months since I last sat down with Jassy in Seattle. While he’s always calm and measured—and, for what it is worth, he’s one of the nicest people to interview—one could sense a little defensiveness... My second day in Davos began way too early—in a sit-down with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for The...