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

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo via Getty

Google Is Still Behind in AI. Why?

By Martin Peers · Mar 7, 2025 3:00pm PST · 6 comments

Here’s an exercise: Try asking a selection of AI chatbots for a list of the big tech news stories of the day. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok both deliver a good list of specific stories—ChatGPT even offers links. Google’s Gemini, not so much: Its list is a bunch of vague bullet points with no examples. Gemini’s performance was no better when I... Here’s an exercise: Try asking a selection of AI chatbots for a list of the big tech news stories...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the Economic Club of New York earlier today. Photo via Getty.

Bessent’s Cheap Joke; TSMC Goes on the Defense

By Martin Peers · Mar 6, 2025 5:00pm PST

What country is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent living in? Apparently not the U.S., judging by his statement on Thursday that “access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream.” Really? He’s never seen the crush of people outside a store on the day after Thanksgiving, or witnessed people lining up outside sample sales in New York?... What country is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent living in? Apparently not the U.S., judging by ...

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Photo via Getty

Why YouTube’s Subscription Push Might Be a Zero-Sum Game

By Martin Peers · Mar 5, 2025 5:00pm PST

The stock market recovered a little, as expected, thanks to President Donald Trump’s slight retreat on tariffs. But the market volatility claimed a victim—The Information reported tonight that private equity–backed Genesys, which makes customer service software, has delayed a planned IPO because of the market upheaval. This likely won’t be the... The stock market recovered a little, as expected, thanks to President Donald Trump’s slight...

Photo via Getty

How Trump Volatility Is Freezing Business Decisions

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2025 5:00pm PST

Photo via Getty

How Trump Volatility Is Freezing Business Decisions

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2025 5:00pm PST

There’s an old joke that if you’re unhappy about the weather in San Francisco, you only have to wait a few minutes until it changes. That line is beginning to seem applicable to the Trump administration’s tariff plans. Late Tuesday afternoon—after the stock market closed on the second successive sell-off sparked by President Donald Trump’s... There’s an old joke that if you’re unhappy about the weather in San Francisco, you only have to...

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today. Photo via Getty

Trump’s Stock Sell-Off; Coreweave's IPO Filing

By Martin Peers · Mar 3, 2025 5:00pm PST

This year is really turning into a dud for tech stocks. Monday’s big market sell-off slammed the tech sector across the board, particularly chip companies like Nvidia and Broadcom that have wide exposure to China. That made it a somewhat inauspicious day for CoreWeave, a young cloud company operating data centers for artificial intelligence... This year is really turning into a dud for tech stocks. Monday’s big market sell-off slammed the...

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...

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...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks at today's Alexa+ event. Photo via Getty.

Amazon Revamps Alexa—but Not Her Business Model

By Theo Wayt · Feb 26, 2025 5:00pm PST

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks at today's Alexa+ event. Photo via Getty.

Amazon Revamps Alexa—but Not Her Business Model

By Theo Wayt · Feb 26, 2025 5:00pm PST

At a splashy media event in Manhattan today, I watched Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other executives of the company unveil a long-awaited revamp of Alexa, meant to be a chattier, more helpful and more personalized version of the voice assistant. They demonstrated how to use Alexa+, as the updated version is dubbed, to order groceries from Amazon... At a splashy media event in Manhattan today, I watched Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other executives...

A Tesla dealership in Hanover, Germany. Photo via Getty.

Europeans Spurn Tesla As Musk's Political Profile Rises

By Martin Peers · Feb 25, 2025 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Is Tesla the next Twitter? You might think so, given data from Europe’s car manufacturers group today showing that new car registrations of Teslas fell a whopping 50% in Europe last month (including the U.K., the decline was 45%). Buyers deserted Tesla as Europe’s electric vehicle market overall rose 34% in the same period. Tesla’s sharp market... Is Tesla the next Twitter? You might think so, given data from Europe’s car manufacturers group ...

Photo via Getty

How Apple Turned Regular Business Spending Into a $500 Billion ‘Expansion’

By Martin Peers · Feb 24, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

This is what passes for news nowadays? On Monday, Apple grabbed plenty of headlines with its claim that it will “spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. in the next four years.” That sounds like a big deal—until you read further down in the announcement and realize it’s simply describing the money Apple spends in the normal course of... This is what passes for news nowadays? On Monday, Apple grabbed plenty of headlines with its...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo via Getty.

SEC ’s Coinbase Move Signals Regulatory Vacuum for Crypto

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 21, 2025 3:00pm PST · 1 comment

Welcome to the official start of crypto’s regulatory vacuum. That’s the state we’re in now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to drop its long-running lawsuit against Coinbase (according to Coinbase, at least—we’ll have to wait until the SEC confirms the news after a commission vote).It seems the top financial cop is... Welcome to the official start of crypto’s regulatory vacuum. That’s the state we’re in now that...

Photo via Getty

Walmart’s Slower Growth Projection Highlights Unease About 2025

By Theo Wayt · Feb 20, 2025 5:00pm PST

Photo via Getty

Walmart’s Slower Growth Projection Highlights Unease About 2025

By Theo Wayt · Feb 20, 2025 5:00pm PST

Uncertainty about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies is dampening expectations for how consumer spending will hold up this year. Just look at Walmart, which today projected that its revenue growth this fiscal year would slow to between 3% and 4%, compared with 5% for the year that ended Jan. 31, 2025. Executives used... Uncertainty about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies is dampening...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo via Getty

Microsoft Outdoes Apple in Ambition

By Martin Peers · Feb 19, 2025 5:00pm PST

We got big news from both Microsoft and Apple today! Microsoft unveiled a new advance in quantum chips—which the software giant hinted could revolutionize computing in the next few years—while Apple unveiled a new iPhone, the 16e, which is a bit cheaper than its flagship line of smartphones and is the first device to use an Apple-designed... We got big news from both Microsoft and Apple today! Microsoft unveiled a new advance in quantum...

Mira Murati. Photo via Getty.

Murati Joins Crowded AI Startup Sector

By Martin Peers · Feb 18, 2025 5:00pm PST

So much for the idea that the U.S. doesn’t have enough home-grown competitors in artificial intelligence. OpenAI’s former chief technology officer, Mira Murati, confirmed one of the AI world’s worst-kept secrets on Tuesday by revealing the name and team behind her new startup, Thinking Machines Lab. That news came a day after Bloomberg... So much for the idea that the U.S. doesn’t have enough home-grown competitors in artificial...

Ray-Ban's Meta Lab pop-up in Los Angeles in 2024. Photo via Getty.

Meta Hires for Retail and Robot Expansion

By Martin Peers · Feb 14, 2025 3:00pm PST

Meta Platforms might be laying off staff, but it’s proving to be something of a haven for recently unemployed senior executives. Bloomberg broke news today that the Facebook parent had hired a recently departed CEO of TheRealReal as a vice president of retail, and the former CEO of General Motors’ self-driving–car unit, Cruise, to oversee a new... Meta Platforms might be laying off staff, but it’s proving to be something of a haven for...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo via Getty.

Coinbase’s Meme Moment

By Martin Peers · Feb 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo via Getty.

Coinbase’s Meme Moment

By Martin Peers · Feb 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

Coinbase ran a victory lap tonight, delivering boffo fourth-quarter numbers that capped a good year both business-wise and politically for the crypto giant. In a shareholder letter, Coinbase signaled its optimism for the future with the most predictable of cliches. Thanks to Donald Trump’s election as president, “It’s the dawn of a new era for... Coinbase ran a victory lap tonight, delivering boffo fourth-quarter numbers that capped a good...

Photo via Getty

Reddit and AppLovin, the Young Turks of Digital Advertising

By Martin Peers · Feb 12, 2025 5:00pm PST

Oh, to be young again. That must be what folks at Google and Meta Platforms think when they look at the two digital-ad rocket ships of the past 12 months, AppLovin and Reddit. (Sure, Reddit is 20 years old, but it’s relatively new to the ad market.) That youth is demonstrated by how much their businesses, and their stocks, exploded last year.We... Oh, to be young again. That must be what folks at Google and Meta Platforms think when they look...

Photos via Getty

Would Musk Be Better Than Altman at Running OpenAI?

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Here’s a question: If you had to choose between Sam Altman and Elon Musk as the best person to safeguard the future of humanity, who would you pick? It’s a tough choice—you can be forgiven if you say neither. A (slightly) easier question is: If you had to pick one of them to run OpenAI, who would it be? Conventional wisdom is that a... Here’s a question: If you had to choose between Sam Altman and Elon Musk as the best person to...

Photo via AP

Musk’s Shrewd OpenAI Bid

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2025 5:00pm PST

Elon Musk’s ability to multitask has got to be one of his superpowers. In the past couple of weeks, he’s been all in on his contentious DOGE cost-cutting campaign for the Trump administration, a task he’s handling in addition to his CEO roles at Tesla and SpaceX. Today comes the news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, that he’s also... Elon Musk’s ability to multitask has got to be one of his superpowers. In the past couple of...

Photo via Getty

Amazon’s Server Signal

By Martin Peers · Feb 7, 2025 3:00pm PST

Photo via Getty

Amazon’s Server Signal

By Martin Peers · Feb 7, 2025 3:00pm PST

How long can computer servers be expected to last? Don’t groan—that’s a real issue. After all, if a company is spending tens of billions on servers annually, they presumably don’t want to replace them every other year. But as we learned in the past week or two from December quarterly earnings reports, the big tech companies have differing... How long can computer servers be expected to last? Don’t groan—that’s a real issue. After all, if...