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

Jessica Chastain. Photo via Getty

Apple’s Missing Savant

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

If you’ve ever wondered why Apple has never bought a TV giant like Warner Bros. Discovery, just look at the minidrama over its upcoming Apple TV+ thriller “The Savant.” Apple this week delayed release of the show, about a “top-secret undercover investigator known as the Savant, who infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent... If you’ve ever wondered why Apple has never bought a TV giant like Warner Bros. Discovery, just...

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

Can We Afford AI?

By Martin Peers · Sep 23, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Hey, ChatGPT, can you explain this artificial intelligence disconnect? In a blog post today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “Growth in the use of AI services has been astonishing.” Meanwhile, countless news reports cite businesses who say they’ve yet to see enough benefit in AI to pay for it. We reported last week, for instance, that Microsoft was... Hey, ChatGPT, can you explain this artificial intelligence disconnect? In a blog post today,...

Jensen Huang, left, and Sam Altman. Photos via Getty

Nvidia Pays OpenAI to Buy Its Chips

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI loves to make grand announcements. Earlier this year we had the hoopla about its Stargate data center venture, worth up to $500 billion. Today the ChatGPT creator announced a letter of intent to form a strategic partnership with Nvidia to “build and deploy” artificial intelligence data centers holding “millions” of Nvidia’s AI chips. To... OpenAI loves to make grand announcements. Earlier this year we had the hoopla about its Stargate...

People lined up on Friday for the release of Apple's new iPhone 17 in New York. Photo via Getty

Why the Phone is the Best AI Device

By Martin Peers · Sep 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

People lined up on Friday for the release of Apple's new iPhone 17 in New York. Photo via Getty

Why the Phone is the Best AI Device

By Martin Peers · Sep 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up outside Apple stores whenever a new model first becomes available. We saw that again on Friday, when the iPhone 17 series went on sale. As we reported earlier, preorders for the entry-level iPhone 17—the cheap one—were strong enough to prompt Apple... It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up...

Mark Zuckerberg introduces the Meta Oakley Vanguard AI glasses at Meta Connect. Photo via Getty

Meta’s AR Presence

By Martin Peers · Sep 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

If Mark Zuckerberg has his way, in a few weeks you could be talking to a friend wearing Meta’s new “display” glasses (you might call them augmented reality-lite glasses). All of a sudden, your friend will get a glazed look in their eyes and their fingers will start twitching. “Oh no,” you’ll realize. “They got just a text and now they’re... If Mark Zuckerberg has his way, in a few weeks you could be talking to a friend wearing Meta’s...

Photo via Getty

StubHub’s IPO Miss

By Martin Peers · Sep 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Note to private tech CEOs: The IPO market may look like it’s rocking but looks can be deceiving. If your company isn’t growing fast, and/or has a lot of debt, and doesn’t have either a crypto or AI angle, don’t expect a crush of demand. Check out StubHub, which fails on all the counts I just mentioned. Its stock tanked on its opening day as a... Note to private tech CEOs: The IPO market may look like it’s rocking but looks can be deceiving....

Image via Getty

Why TikTok America’s Growth Could Surge

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Our long international nightmare may soon be over. Both China and the U.S. seem to be in agreement about the terms under which TikTok U.S. will be sold to a new company majority-owned by Americans, judging by a statement overnight from a Chinese government official. We don’t know the details, including the full investor lineup in the new TikTok,... Our long international nightmare may soon be over. Both China and the U.S. seem to be in...

Photo via Getty

On Quarterly Earnings, Trump Has a Point

By Martin Peers · Sep 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

On Quarterly Earnings, Trump Has a Point

By Martin Peers · Sep 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Imagine a world where companies report earnings only twice a year, instead of every quarter. As John Lennon put it, “you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” Donald Trump reminded us on Monday that he is a big proponent of switching to a half-yearly corporate reporting cadence, away from the quarterly one. His pitch is that doing so... Imagine a world where companies report earnings only twice a year, instead of every quarter. As...

Satya Nadella, left, and Sam Atman. Photos by Getty

Why Microsoft and OpenAI Announced a Tentative Deal

By Amir Efrati · Sep 12, 2025 3:00pm PDT

As we wrap up what has been a busy week in artificial intelligence-cloud land—one dominated by Oracle—we want to circle back to the striking announcement on Thursday night from Microsoft and OpenAI. Anytime two companies, worth at least $4.5 trillion combined, issue a three-sentence press release with no concrete information about a highly... As we wrap up what has been a busy week in artificial intelligence-cloud land—one dominated by...

David and Larry Ellison. Photos via Getty

OpenAI’s Microsoft Deal; Ellison’s Risky Business

By Martin Peers · Sep 11, 2025 5:00pm PDT

We got big news this afternoon from the folks at OpenAI and Microsoft: They are close to a peace deal. Yes, after nearly a year of talks over changes to their partnership, the companies announced they had signed a “non-binding memorandum of understanding for the next phase of our partnership.” Contractual terms now have to be finalized. Hmmm.... We got big news this afternoon from the folks at OpenAI and Microsoft: They are close to a peace...

Photo via Getty

Oracle Frenzy Spreads

By Ken Brown · Sep 10, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Years from now, today may be remembered as the moment of peak euphoria for artificial intelligence. Not only did Oracle’s stock jump 36%—thanks to the company’s stunningly optimistic forecast for AI-related cloud revenue growth—but the enthusiasm spread to a range of companies that may not get the same boost from AI.I’ll be quick with the... Years from now, today may be remembered as the moment of peak euphoria for artificial...

Larry Ellison. Photo via Getty

Oracle’s Blockbuster Projections; Apple’s New iPhones

By Martin Peers · Sep 9, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Larry Ellison. Photo via Getty

Oracle’s Blockbuster Projections; Apple’s New iPhones

By Martin Peers · Sep 9, 2025 5:00pm PDT

The biggest news today wasn’t Apple’s new line of iPhones—that was about as much of a secret as the time of tomorrow’s sunrise (for more details of the Apple presentation, see below)—but Oracle’s blockbuster revenue projections. The software-and-cloud firm is enjoying what you might call its Nvidia moment. It is finally showing the benefits of... The biggest news today wasn’t Apple’s new line of iPhones—that was about as much of a secret as...

Oracle CEO Safra Catz. Photo via Getty

Oracle Is Squeezing Employees as AI Development Costs Mount

By Martin Peers · Sep 8, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Of all the tech companies to reinvent themselves through the power of artificial intelligence, Oracle may be the most surprising. The software giant of yesteryear (well, the 1980s and ‘90s), which stumbled in software’s transition to the cloud, has gotten a new lease on life as an AI cloud provider. We’ll get an update on its progress on Tuesday... Of all the tech companies to reinvent themselves through the power of artificial intelligence,...

Photo via Getty

Musk’s Money

By Martin Peers · Sep 5, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is. In a securities filing on Friday, Tesla disclosed a new stock award for its CEO worth as much as $1 trillion. It hinges entirely on Musk’s ambitious claims that his focus on humanoid robots and robotaxis will turn Tesla into “the most valuable company in the world by far,” as he has often... Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is. In a securities filing on Friday, Tesla ...

Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s Chip Round-Trip Deals

By Martin Peers · Sep 4, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

What would you think if Apple set up a company to buy iPhones and then rented those devices back for use by Apple staffers? It would make you wonder, right? Yet that’s more or less what Nvidia has taken to doing. As we reported today, Nvidia has struck a couple of deals to rent its own chips from Lambda, a cloud startup Nvidia partly owns.... What would you think if Apple set up a company to buy iPhones and then rented those devices back...

Photo via Getty

Why Google Data-Sharing Decision Could Affect All of Big Tech

By Martin Peers · Sep 3, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Why Google Data-Sharing Decision Could Affect All of Big Tech

By Martin Peers · Sep 3, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Google is out of Wall Street’s doghouse! Stock of Google’s parent company Alphabet shot up 9% on Wednesday as investors rushed to buy up stock of a company whose future is no longer overshadowed by a looming antitrust ruling. Now the focus of antitrust anxiety turns to the other three big tech firms facing government lawsuits—Meta Platforms, ... Google is out of Wall Street’s doghouse! Stock of Google’s parent company Alphabet shot up 9% on...

Photo via Getty

Google Wins Antitrust War

By Martin Peers · Sep 2, 2025 5:07pm PDT

Google just won the antitrust war. Yes, it might have lost the initial skirmish, having had its search business branded a monopoly, but it couldn’t have asked for a kinder ruling on how to deal with that monopoly. Google essentially got what it wanted, as the judge said he had accepted “in full” Google’s proposed remedies, with a few... Google just won the antitrust war. Yes, it might have lost the initial skirmish, having had its...

President Trump and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in April. Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s Puzzling China PR Play

By Martin Peers · Aug 29, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

As we wrap up for the Labor Day weekend, one question has persisted through this week: Why is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang so determined to demonstrate his need for the Chinese market? With Nvidia’s ability to sell its artificial intelligence chips to China currently in limbo—caught between U.S. and Chinese government restrictions—another CEO might... As we wrap up for the Labor Day weekend, one question has persisted through this week: Why is...

Photo via Getty

The Lessons of Google’s Ad Tech Business

By Martin Peers · Aug 28, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Every day this week, we and other close watchers of Google have been holding our breath, waiting for Judge Amit Mehta of the federal court in Washington to issue a ruling on how Google’s illegal search monopoly should be remedied. Options include a forced divestiture of its Chrome browser (where many Google searches originate), ending Google’s... Every day this week, we and other close watchers of Google have been holding our breath, waiting...

Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s (Slightly) Slower Quarter; Musk’s Phone Ambitions

By Martin Peers · Aug 27, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Nvidia’s (Slightly) Slower Quarter; Musk’s Phone Ambitions

By Martin Peers · Aug 27, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Nvidia’s quarterly results, out Wednesday, have become the event of the earnings season. And who can be surprised? After all, here’s a company whose July revenue hit $46.7 billion, up 56% on a year earlier. Little more than two years ago, Nvidia’s quarterly revenue was around $7 billion! Of course, Wall Street traders have long ago lost their... Nvidia’s quarterly results, out Wednesday, have become the event of the earnings season. And who...