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

Larry Ellison, Hock Tan Take the Stage This Week

Larry Ellison, Hock Tan Take the Stage This Week

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

Step aside, young folks of tech. This week we hear from the industry’s, ah, elder statesmen—specifically Larry Ellison at Oracle and Hock Tan from Broadcom, whose combined age is about 150. Oracle and Broadcom are each reporting their latest quarterly earnings this week, when the status of their newish AI businesses will be in the spotlight. In... Step aside, young folks of tech. This week we hear from the industry’s, ah, elder statesmen—...

OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei. Getty Images.

Amodei’s Advantage Over Altman Comes Into View

By Martin Peers · Dec 4, 2025 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

To a casual observer, OpenAI and Anthropic might have appeared—until recently—to be the Uber and Lyft of the AI world, with Anthropic the distant rival to the dominant OpenAI. That feels to be less the case nowadays. In fact, Anthropic—with its disciplined focus on serving businesses and expectations it will turn a profit several years before... To a casual observer, OpenAI and Anthropic might have appeared—until recently—to be the Uber and...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at the 2025 Dreamforce conference last month. Getty Images

Salesforce’s (Small) AI Lift

By Martin Peers · Dec 3, 2025 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

There may be some blurry light at the end of the tunnel for Marc Benioff. Salesforce’s fiscal third-quarter numbers released on Wednesday suggest its revenue from AI products is growing enough to lift its annual growth rate just a bit. Salesforce is still growing very slowly—its new projection is for revenue to expand 9.2% in the current fiscal... There may be some blurry light at the end of the tunnel for Marc Benioff. Salesforce’s fiscal...

Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz. Getty Images.

Eventbrite Punches Exit Ticket

By Martin Peers · Dec 2, 2025 5:00pm PST

Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz. Getty Images.

Eventbrite Punches Exit Ticket

By Martin Peers · Dec 2, 2025 5:00pm PST

For all the venture capitalist–inspired hype around tech startups, it’s always good to remember that many are too niche to ever amount to anything—and should never go public. We got a reminder of that on Tuesday when Italian conglomerate Bending Spoons said it would buy ticketing firm Eventbrite for $500 million in cash. That’s a stunning... For all the venture capitalist–inspired hype around tech startups, it’s always good to remember...

Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of Strategy Inc. Getty Images.

The Flaw With Strategy’s Stock-Selling Merry-Go-Round

By Martin Peers · Dec 1, 2025 5:00pm PST

You can always rely on Michael Saylor and the folks at Strategy to blaze new trails in corporate finance. Take Strategy’s announcement today that it had raised $1.44 billion by selling shares to—get this—establish a “USD reserve” to pay the $689 million it owes annually in dividends on its stock and interest on its debt. Usually companies try to... You can always rely on Michael Saylor and the folks at Strategy to blaze new trails in corporate...

Amazon CEO Andy at Amazon Re:Invent 2024. Photo courtesy of AWS

AWS Beats the AI Drum in Vegas

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 30, 2025 4:07pm PST

Hopefully, everyone has digested their Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s going to be a busy week, tech event-wise. The biggest of them all is re:Invent, Amazon Web Services’ annual customer conference in Las Vegas that has become something like the Super Bowl of cloud computing. On Tuesday, AWS CEO Matt Garman is scheduled to take the stage for... Hopefully, everyone has digested their Thanksgiving leftovers. It’s going to be a busy week, tech...

Getty Images.

Crypto Robbery Rattles Investors

By Yueqi Yang · Nov 26, 2025 2:48pm PST

The recent bitcoin sell-off wasn’t the only cause for alarm among crypto investors this week. Many were rattled by news that a tech investor was robbed of $11 million worth of crypto at his home. Doorbell camera footage shows someone posing as a delivery worker approaching the home, accessible on street level in Mission Dolores, and asking for “... The recent bitcoin sell-off wasn’t the only cause for alarm among crypto investors this week....

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images

Google’s Meta Talks Put the Ball in Nvidia’s Court

By Martin Peers · Nov 25, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images

Google’s Meta Talks Put the Ball in Nvidia’s Court

By Martin Peers · Nov 25, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

We’re getting close to the year’s end, when reporters’ minds turn to predictions for the new year. So here’s one: I predict sometime soon Nvidia will announce it is investing billions of dollars into Meta Platforms, in exchange for Meta committing to continue using Nvidia’s AI chips. This is just a wild guess, to be clear, but it’s based on how... We’re getting close to the year’s end, when reporters’ minds turn to predictions for the new...

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Grindr’s Control Issues

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 24, 2025 5:00pm PST

It’s not too often that a controlling shareholder can’t get their way at a public company. But an attempt by the two biggest investors in Grindr to take the gay dating and hookup app private went south on Monday. The reason? They didn’t come up with the money. It’s the latest chapter in a long-running corporate finance saga surrounding Grindr,... It’s not too often that a controlling shareholder can’t get their way at a public company. But an...

Oracle, Warner Bros. Discovery and the Ellisons

Oracle, Warner Bros. Discovery and the Ellisons

By Martin Peers · Nov 23, 2025 3:00pm PST

The Ellison family will have plenty to talk about when they convene for Thanksgiving this week (assuming they do!). The price of Oracle has plummeted in the past six weeks, for one thing, reflecting AI bubble jitters centering on Oracle. In the same period of time, Larry Ellison and his son David have been—by all accounts—busy plotting the... The Ellison family will have plenty to talk about when they convene for Thanksgiving this week...

Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Getty Images

Ron DeSantis Spotlights Key AI Question

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2025 5:00pm PST

We’re moving off the (unresolved) AI bubble debate to a much more fundamental question about AI. That is whether decisions about an enormously costly technology, which threatens to put many people out of work, should be left to tech leaders or discussed more broadly. It turns out Republicans may have the best handle on this issue, most obviously... We’re moving off the (unresolved) AI bubble debate to a much more fundamental question about AI....

Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

Nvidia Doesn’t See an AI Bubble as It Rakes In the Cash

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

Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

Nvidia Doesn’t See an AI Bubble as It Rakes In the Cash

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

Bubble? What bubble? Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed fretful talk about massive AI investment on Wednesday, extolling the benefits of AI for a wide variety of companies—from startups to big firms like Meta Platforms. Of course, the biggest beneficiary of the AI transformation is Nvidia itself, whose stranglehold on the AI chip market is... Bubble? What bubble? Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed fretful talk about massive AI investment...

Judge James Boasberg. Getty Images

How Trump’s TikTok Tactics Helped Meta Win Antitrust Case

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

For once, the latest multibillion-dollar AI deal—this time Microsoft and Nvidia investing in Anthropic—isn’t the day’s biggest tech news development. (Skip down for details on that story.) More important was a Washington judge’s ruling on Tuesday that Meta Platforms isn’t a monopoly. So much for all those breathless headlines suggesting Meta... For once, the latest multibillion-dollar AI deal—this time Microsoft and Nvidia investing in...

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Getty Images.

What Google Has That OpenAI Doesn't

By Martin Peers · Nov 17, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Who let the dogs out? Shares of Google parent Alphabet, which was in Wall Street’s doghouse for the past couple of years, are now running freely. Friday night’s news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet sent the shares rising 3% on Monday, even as other tech stocks sagged amid a broader market... Who let the dogs out? Shares of Google parent Alphabet, which was in Wall Street’s doghouse for...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

What to Expect From Nvidia Earnings

By Martin Peers · Nov 16, 2025 3:00pm PST

We’re heading into the last full workweek before Thanksgiving and plenty is going on. A short time ago, bets on prediction market Polymarket were giving an 88% chance that Google would release its much-anticipated Gemini 3 AI model this week. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Friday fueled the speculation with this cryptic X post. Meanwhile, Microsoft... We’re heading into the last full workweek before Thanksgiving and plenty is going on. A short...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Getty Images

Anthropic’s Cybersecurity Cause and Cure

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

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Getty Images

Anthropic’s Cybersecurity Cause and Cure

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

If you listen to tech executives nowadays, AI can solve all of the world’s problems. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman likes to talk about AI’s potential to cure cancer. Elon Musk the other day promised that Optimus robots—AI in a hardware form—would “eliminate poverty” and prevent crime. But will AI cause almost as many problems as it solves? When it comes... If you listen to tech executives nowadays, AI can solve all of the world’s problems. OpenAI CEO...

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Waymo Speeds Up

By Martin Peers · Nov 12, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Next time you’re barreling down a highway and you get stuck behind someone driving at the speed limit, don’t honk or flash your lights. It might be a Waymo self-driving car! The Alphabet-owned robotaxi business announced Wednesday that its cars will now drive on freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Phoenix, a major advance for... Next time you’re barreling down a highway and you get stuck behind someone driving at the speed...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Getty Images.

SoftBank Hunts for Pennies to Meet Its OpenAI Commitment

By Martin Peers · Nov 11, 2025 5:02pm PST

Would you trade shares in Nvidia for stock in OpenAI? That’s what SoftBank just did, selling $5.8 billion worth of shares in the AI chip giant to finance a commitment to invest $22.5 billion in the ChatGPT maker. On the surface, it might seem a logical trade, given that chip companies purporting to compete with Nvidia have proliferated like... Would you trade shares in Nvidia for stock in OpenAI? That’s what SoftBank just did, selling $5.8...

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Instacart’s Slow Growth Lesson

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

Next time you contemplate the much-hyped IPO of a brand-name company, ask yourself this question: Are its glory days behind it? One of the disadvantages for public investors of snapping up newly public tech firms—particularly those that have taken their time going public—is that very often they have already peaked. Take Instacart, which reported... Next time you contemplate the much-hyped IPO of a brand-name company, ask yourself this question:...

BlackRock's Tony Kim. Getty Images.

Debt Can Plug the AI Hole in Big Tech’s Deep Pockets

By Martin Peers · Nov 9, 2025 3:00pm PST

BlackRock's Tony Kim. Getty Images.

Debt Can Plug the AI Hole in Big Tech’s Deep Pockets

By Martin Peers · Nov 9, 2025 3:00pm PST

We’ve moved from marveling about AI’s potential to puzzling over how to pay for it. The price tag seems to grow every day. On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested Tesla will need so many chips for its robots and self-driving cars that it might build its own chip factory. He also said Tesla would have to spend “tens of billions” to train the... We’ve moved from marveling about AI’s potential to puzzling over how to pay for it. The price tag...