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

Photo via Getty

No, the AI Bubble Isn’t Worse Than 1999

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

Here’s a sobering thought. Today’s AI bubble is bigger than the tech bubble of the 1990s, according to Torsten Slok, the chief economist for Apollo whose brief daily emails are widely followed. He bases that statement on his analysis that the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 are today “more overvalued than they were in the 1990s.”If this is... Here’s a sobering thought. Today’s AI bubble is bigger than the tech bubble of the 1990s,...

Photo via Getty

Waymo’s Debatable Growth Milestone

By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Way to go, Waymo! The Alphabet-owned robotaxi service has hit a 100-million-mile autonomous driving milestone, the company announced Tuesday to much fanfare. That figure is 10 times what it was two months ago. Take that, Elon Musk, whose Tesla has barely launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.Waymo’s success reflects a growing acceptance... Way to go, Waymo! The Alphabet-owned robotaxi service has hit a 100-million-mile autonomous...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty

Zuckerberg’s AI Psychological Warfare

By Martin Peers · Jul 14, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg is trying to psych out his rivals in artificial intelligence. That’s one interpretation of his Threads post on Monday, declaring that Meta is “going to invest hundreds of billions of dollars” on AI computing capacity to build “superintelligence”—a new buzzword for the most advanced AI imaginable. That’s a more aggressive... Mark Zuckerberg is trying to psych out his rivals in artificial intelligence. That’s one...

Meta's Menlo Park, Calif. campus. Photo via Getty

Where AI Researchers Will Be Happy

By Martin Peers · Jul 11, 2025 3:00pm PDT

Meta's Menlo Park, Calif. campus. Photo via Getty

Where AI Researchers Will Be Happy

By Martin Peers · Jul 11, 2025 3:00pm PDT

We got big news this afternoon in the AI world, as we learned that OpenAI’s talks to buy Windsurf, maker of the popular Codeium AI coding assistant, have ended—and Google has hired Windsurf’s CEO and some staff. For more on this drama, see our story here. Lots of questions remain unanswered, including what these developments mean for... We got big news this afternoon in the AI world, as we learned that OpenAI’s talks to buy...

Photo via Getty

Tesla’s Late to Shareholder Meeting—and Why It Doesn’t Matter

By Martin Peers · Jul 10, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Here’s a question: When was the last time anyone paid attention to a company’s annual shareholder meeting? More to the point, perhaps, when was the last time a company’s annual meeting really mattered? The answer to the first one (and maybe the second) is when a company drags its feet scheduling the meeting, as Tesla did—until today. On... Here’s a question: When was the last time anyone paid attention to a company’s annual shareholder...

Photo via Getty

Why Elon Musk’s AI Focus Doomed Linda Yaccarino

By Theo Wayt · Jul 9, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Oh, how times have changed! Just two years ago, Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino as the CEO of Twitter with a mandate to clean up relationships with advertisers, many of whom were worried about their products showing up next to hate speech. On Wednesday, Yaccarino unexpectedly announced her departure at a time when the merger of X with Musk’... Oh, how times have changed! Just two years ago, Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino as the CEO...

Apple's Jeff Williams. Photo via Getty

Apple’s COO Retirement Offers Clues About Cook Succession

By Nick Wingfield · Jul 8, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Exciting news on the home front: Today, we launched a powerful new AI chatbot, The Information Deep Research, trained on over a decade of our exclusive reporting on the most important tech companies and people, including our stories, org charts and proprietary data. You can use it to generate reports on the top talent at Nvidia and Meta... Exciting news on the home front: Today, we launched a powerful new AI chatbot, The Information...

Photo via Getty

Questions About CoreWeave’s Shopping Spree

By Ken Brown · Jul 7, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Questions About CoreWeave’s Shopping Spree

By Ken Brown · Jul 7, 2025 5:00pm PDT

In just three months, CoreWeave has gone from an iffy IPO candidate to a financial monster gobbling up rivals. That’s what a 300% stock rally can do.CoreWeave’s $9 billion bid, announced Monday, for its rival in the artificial data center business, Core Scientific, has far more significance than just a flashy deal. It also shows the dominance of... In just three months, CoreWeave has gone from an iffy IPO candidate to a financial monster...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo via Getty

Nvidia Nears $4 Trillion Market Cap

By Martin Peers · Jul 3, 2025 3:00pm PDT

If anyone enjoys this holiday, it should be Jensen Huang. Nvidia stock on Thursday closed at $159.34 a share, up 18.6% for the year, giving it a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion. Getting to $4 trillion is within reach. (Remember when passing $1 trillion was a big deal for any company?) Right now, Nvidia is valued only a little below what... If anyone enjoys this holiday, it should be Jensen Huang. Nvidia stock on Thursday closed at...

Photo via Getty

What Tesla’s Dismal Second Quarter Signals

By Martin Peers · Jul 2, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

This really isn’t Elon Musk’s week. On Tuesday, President Trump made the (obviously unserious) comment about looking into deporting Musk, who has renewed his criticism of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. On Wednesday, Tesla reported that vehicle deliveries fell 13.5% in the second quarter, a slightly greater decline than it sustained in the first... This really isn’t Elon Musk’s week. On Tuesday, President Trump made the (obviously unserious)...

Photo via Getty

Warner Bros Discovery’s Bleak Prospects Underlined by Big Investor’s Sale

By Martin Peers · Jul 1, 2025 5:00pm PDT

And now for something completely different. In a break from artificial intelligence recruiting dramas, we’re looking today at the ancient world of television, through the prism of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Newhouse family, WBD’s second-biggest shareholder, revealed in a securities filing on Tuesday that it had sold half its stake in the... And now for something completely different. In a break from artificial intelligence recruiting...

Mark Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang. Photos: Getty, Flickr

The High Stakes for Meta’s New Super AI Team

By Martin Peers · Jun 30, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Mark Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang. Photos: Getty, Flickr

The High Stakes for Meta’s New Super AI Team

By Martin Peers · Jun 30, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Start your timer. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday unveiled the company’s new artificial intelligence organization—Meta Superintelligence Labs—replete with heavyweights from Silicon Valley. This new org is the product of a massive spending spree by Zuckerberg to snag the best AI talent possible in hopes of turning around Meta’s... Start your timer. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday unveiled the company’s new...

Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise at the European premiere of F1. Photo via Getty

Apple’s “F1” Movie Opens, Spotlighting Puzzle Over Strategy

By Martin Peers · Jun 27, 2025 3:00pm PDT

Can I have a show of hands of those who plan this weekend to see the new Apple-made Brad Pitt movie, “F1,” which opened today in theaters? It is the kind of film—full of shots of cars racing at high speed—that surely looks better on the big screen. That’s definitely the view of Eddy Cue, the Apple executive with responsibility for the company’s... Can I have a show of hands of those who plan this weekend to see the new Apple-made Brad Pitt...

Travis Kalanick. Photo via Getty

Kalanick May Ride Pony Back to Prominence

By Martin Peers · Jun 26, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Welcome back, Travis Kalanick! We’ve missed you as a generator of news. The New York Times scooped the juicy news today that Kalanick is in talks to get Uber’s backing for a buyout of Chinese autonomous vehicle developer Pony.ai’s U.S. assets. Assuming the deal gets done, it may not involve big dollars—Pony’s market capitalization of $5.2... Welcome back, Travis Kalanick! We’ve missed you as a generator of news. The New York Times...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo via Getty

Microsoft’s Shaky AI Leadership

By Martin Peers · Jun 25, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Microsoft is on a hot streak. Its stock has soared in recent weeks and so far this year is up 17%, more than that of any other big tech name besides gravity-defying Meta Platforms. What makes Microsoft’s performance so striking is that the stock was not cheap before the rally—based on multiples of earnings and sales—and it is even less cheap... Microsoft is on a hot streak. Its stock has soared in recent weeks and so far this year is up...

Timothée Chalamet enters a movie premiere in London on a Lime Bike in January. Photo via Getty.

As Stocks Roar, IPO Hopefuls Come Out of Woodwork

By Martin Peers · Jun 24, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Timothée Chalamet enters a movie premiere in London on a Lime Bike in January. Photo via Getty.

As Stocks Roar, IPO Hopefuls Come Out of Woodwork

By Martin Peers · Jun 24, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Welcome to summer, particularly for those in cities like New York that are enduring 100-degree temperatures today. And it was hot in a different sense on Wall Street, where all those worries about tariffs seem to have faded into the background, judging by the recent stock market frenzy. The Nasdaq 100 index, for instance, rose 1.5% on Tuesday to... Welcome to summer, particularly for those in cities like New York that are enduring 100-degree...

Photo via Shutterstock

Fiserv’s Stablecoin Plans Show Intensifying Crypto Stampede

By Ken Brown · Jun 23, 2025 5:00pm PDT

The crypto stampede is on, and hardly a day goes by without the launch of some bitcoin scheme or stablecoin offering. On Sunday, my colleague Yueqi reported that OKX, one of the three biggest global crypto exchanges, was considering an initial public offering in the U.S. Today, Fiserv, one of the companies that manages the plumbing of the nation... The crypto stampede is on, and hardly a day goes by without the launch of some bitcoin scheme or...

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son with a humanoid robot in 2015. Photo via Getty

Why SoftBank’s Robots-in-the-Desert Project Could Be a Mirage

By Nick Wingfield · Jun 20, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Masayoshi Son is a man who keeps adding zeros to his grand ambitions. Apparently, the SoftBank Group founder isn’t content with his $500 billion Stargate plan to build artificial intelligence data centers and is now trying to rally partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., to build a $1 trillion industrial complex in Arizona... Masayoshi Son is a man who keeps adding zeros to his grand ambitions. Apparently, the SoftBank...

Scale AI's Alexandr Wang in 2023. Photo via Getty

What a Scale AI Rival’s Extraordinary Success Says About the Meta Deal

By Nick Wingfield · Jun 19, 2025 5:00pm PDT

The past week has been a steady drip, drip, drip of new details shedding light on Meta Platforms’ $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI and its hiring of the startup’s CEO, Alexandr Wang. The latest eye-opener came this morning in Stephanie and Cory’s profile of a Scale competitor, Surge AI, and its founder, Edwin Chen.In essence, they report,... The past week has been a steady drip, drip, drip of new details shedding light on Meta Platforms’...

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters earlier this month. Photo via Getty

Netflix Is Becoming What It Replaced: Live TV

By Sahil Patel · Jun 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters earlier this month. Photo via Getty

Netflix Is Becoming What It Replaced: Live TV

By Sahil Patel · Jun 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Before we get into this evening’s briefing, check out Kalley and Cory’s late-breaking scoop today about Meta Platforms’ latest efforts to boost its artificial intelligence efforts. We reported that the company is holding advanced talks with Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, two prominent investors, about joining Meta. Meta is also discussing... Before we get into this evening’s briefing, check out Kalley and Cory’s late-breaking scoop today...