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

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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

Ryan Roslansky. Getty Images.

Microsoft’s Executive Exodus Foreshadows Business Transition

By Martin Peers · Oct 1, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Is there a fire alarm going off at Microsoft’s headquarters? A slew of Microsoft executives have bolted for the exits in recent weeks, most recently Ryan Roslansky, executive vice president of Office apps, who said Thursday he would leave at the end of this year. A day earlier it was Microsoft Science President Peter Lee’s turn. Both follow a... Is there a fire alarm going off at Microsoft’s headquarters? A slew of Microsoft executives have...

DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang. Getty Images.

Why DoorDash Needs Its Own AI Assistant

By Martin Peers · Sep 30, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Tech companies may have already perfected the art of separating consumers from their money—but AI promises to take that capability to a whole new level. The latest demonstration of that is DoorDash’s Wednesday announcement that customers will soon be able to order restaurant meals and groceries by text. The new service is a result of DoorDash... Tech companies may have already perfected the art of separating consumers from their money—but AI...

Art by Clark Miller; Courtesy of Oura

Oura’s IPO Delay Signals Broader Market Stall

By Martin Peers · Sep 29, 2026 5:01pm PDT

The IPO market appears to have stalled, which could be a problem for Anthropic. Fitness ring maker Oura’s postponement of its IPO on Tuesday, citing “uncertainty in the IPO market,” followed similar moves by metals producer Amaero last week and Holtec Nuclear Corp. the week before that. Then there’s SB Energy, the SoftBank-controlled power... The IPO market appears to have stalled, which could be a problem for Anthropic. Fitness ring...

CJ Desai. Screenshot via YouTube/Sequoia Capital.

Meta’s MongoDB CEO Poach

By Martin Peers · Sep 28, 2026 5:01pm PDT

CJ Desai. Screenshot via YouTube/Sequoia Capital.

Meta’s MongoDB CEO Poach

By Martin Peers · Sep 28, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg is on a roll. Fresh off his triumphant rollout of the Muse personal agent, he signaled his commitment to selling AI to companies by announcing the poaching of CJ Desai, MongoDB’s CEO, as head of a newly created Meta Enterprise Platform business. Desai has had a long career in enterprise software, at companies including ServiceNow... Mark Zuckerberg is on a roll. Fresh off his triumphant rollout of the Muse personal agent, he...

Oura CEO, Tom Hale. Getty Images.

Why Oura May Not Be the Healthiest IPO

By Martin Peers · Sep 27, 2026 3:01pm PDT

So much is going on in the broadly defined AI world that it’s easy to overlook other stuff that’s happening. This week, for instance, fitness ring maker Oura is expected to go public, which is an event worth watching. It won’t be as earth shattering as Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, to be sure. But it will be a treat for anyone curious to see how... So much is going on in the broadly defined AI world that it’s easy to overlook other stuff that’s...

Meta’s Alexandr Wang at Meta Connect on Wednesday. Getty Images.

Why Meta’s Moment in the AI Sun Won’t Last

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2026 5:00pm PDT

If Meta Platforms wants to raise money by selling equity, now is the time. Meta shares have gone on an incredible run lately, jumping 27% since Sept. 8, when the company released its Muse personal AI agent. Meta stock is now up 18% so far this year, a bigger gain than that for Alphabet, Amazon or Microsoft—quite the turnaround for a company that... If Meta Platforms wants to raise money by selling equity, now is the time. Meta shares have gone...

Getty Images.

Amazon’s New AI Offer Reflects Discounting Surge

By Martin Peers · Sep 23, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Have we gone full circle on AI pricing? A bunch of tech firms are throwing around discounts and free offers for AI products, with Amazon on Wednesday announcing that merchants selling on its shopping site will get a year’s free use of its Quick Plus AI assistant product. Microsoft, meanwhile, is discounting Copilot AI subscriptions heavily, we ... Have we gone full circle on AI pricing? A bunch of tech firms are throwing around discounts and...

President Trump at the United Nations today. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

AI, the UN, Xi and Trump

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2026 5:01pm PDT

President Trump at the United Nations today. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

AI, the UN, Xi and Trump

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2026 5:01pm PDT

It’s a big week for global leaders talking about AI. We’ve got a bunch of presidents and prime ministers at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York—motorcades are creating chaos in Midtown Manhattan right now—and Chinese president Xi Jinping is due to arrive in Washington tomorrow. The top executives from most big tech firms will... It’s a big week for global leaders talking about AI. We’ve got a bunch of presidents and prime...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Getty Images.

Meta’s Muse Tries (and Fails) to Disrupt Amazon

By Martin Peers · Sep 21, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Everyone loves a brawl between two big tech firms—even other tech CEOs. Amazon’s block on Meta Platforms’ new Muse personal agent accessing its shopping site, which came to light Sunday night, prompted Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora to post on X on Monday that the episode signals “a bigger battle than anyone anticipates.” He may be... Everyone loves a brawl between two big tech firms—even other tech CEOs. Amazon’s block on Meta...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Getty Images.

Tech’s New Trend: Ugly Spectacles

By Martin Peers · Sep 20, 2026 3:00pm PDT

It’s that time of year again—when geeky men stand on stage wearing ugly glasses. Last week, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel gave a detailed demonstration of his forthcoming Specs augmented reality glasses, which were first unveiled in June. This week, it’s Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s turn. Meta holds its annual Connect conference, where it shows... It’s that time of year again—when geeky men stand on stage wearing ugly glasses. Last week, Snap...

Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images.

AI Executives Fret About Existential Threat AI Poses—to Publishers

By Martin Peers · Sep 17, 2026 5:00pm PDT

It’s not just humanity that AI folks worry the new technology could wipe out—it’s publishers as well! (Publishers are, of course, people!) That’s what we learned from a court filing today by a group of news publishers including The New York Times Co. in a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The filing cited an OpenAI... It’s not just humanity that AI folks worry the new technology could wipe out—it’s publishers as...

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. Getty Images.

Fed Hike Changes AI Funding Story

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. Getty Images.

Fed Hike Changes AI Funding Story

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Put aside, for just a moment, all the arguments about AI safety. Today’s decision by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates may be a bigger issue for the AI sector in the short term. Long-term bond yields had already risen, of course. But the Fed’s action—pushing up short- and medium-term borrowing costs—seems sure to crimp the debt-fueled... Put aside, for just a moment, all the arguments about AI safety. Today’s decision by the Federal...

Getty Images.

Meta Joins Tech’s AI-Fueled Subscription Rush

By Martin Peers · Sep 15, 2026 5:00pm PDT

When it comes to product names, companies tend to move in packs. In video streaming, almost every company included a plus sign in the name brands of their services (Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+—you get the picture). In tech, we’ve got Apple One, Google One and now Meta One (we used to have Amazon One, but that has been dropped). Does no one... When it comes to product names, companies tend to move in packs. In video streaming, almost every...

Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images.

Wall Street Delivers Verdict on AI Slowdown’s Winners and Losers

By Martin Peers · Sep 14, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Guess who likes the idea of an AI development slowdown? Software investors! Stocks of enterprise software firms, such as Salesforce, Shopify, ServiceNow and Figma, all gained ground on Monday—ServiceNow jumped 7%, for instance, while Salesforce rose nearly 5%. Software firms, of course, have been seen as threatened by AI. Meanwhile, stocks of... Guess who likes the idea of an AI development slowdown? Software investors! Stocks of enterprise...

Dario Amodei. Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images

AI’s ‘Pacing’ Obsession Misses Real Political Problem

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 13, 2026 3:00pm PDT

Dario Amodei typically isn’t considered some camera-ready media maestro. His interview quotes aren’t particularly pithy, and he struggles to control his strained facial expressions. But his habit of sending his most high-stakes messages via essays posted on his own website, darioamodei.com, has proven to be a brilliant media strategy. “The... Dario Amodei typically isn’t considered some camera-ready media maestro. His interview quotes...

Oracle coCEO Clay Magouyrk. Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Oracle Keeps a Lid on Capex as Customers Pay Up-Front

By Martin Peers · Sep 10, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Oracle coCEO Clay Magouyrk. Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Oracle Keeps a Lid on Capex as Customers Pay Up-Front

By Martin Peers · Sep 10, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Forget all that chatter about AI killing us all. We’re back to looking at what really matters—the revenue! Oracle demonstrated on Thursday that demand for AI computing capacity remains pretty darn robust. Larry Ellison’s software and cloud firm reported 30% top-line growth for the quarter ending Aug. 31, a tad better than the company projected... Forget all that chatter about AI killing us all. We’re back to looking at what really matters—the...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Anthropic’s IPO Marketing Meets Extinction Risk

By Martin Peers · Sep 9, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Are we sleepwalking our way into AI-caused extinction? It feels a little like that, given an Anthropic researcher’s X post on Tuesday night that there’s a greater than 10% chance that “AI could kill all humans” within the next decade! Despite that rather gruesome note, for tech executives posting on X today, it was business as usual. (See our... Are we sleepwalking our way into AI-caused extinction? It feels a little like that, given an...

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Getty Images.

Why Price Cuts May Rattle Anthropic's IPO Pitch

By Martin Peers · Sep 8, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Anthropic’s IPO paperwork is expected to become public sometime soon. But it was OpenAI finance chief Sarah Friar who drew a standing-room-only crowd Tuesday at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, as Goldman Sachs kicked off its annual Communacopia + Technology conference with a Q&A with Friar. In her talk, Friar made clear how important price has... Anthropic’s IPO paperwork is expected to become public sometime soon. But it was OpenAI finance...

Oracle co-founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison. Getty Images.

Apple, Oracle and Adobe Dominate the Week

By Martin Peers · Sep 7, 2026 3:01pm PDT

We haven’t had much of a summer lull, let’s face it, what with the relentless pace of AI-related deal news, not to mention earnings. Nevertheless, the end of summer vacation changes the pace a bit this week, when we’ve got both Apple’s annual iPhone event and earnings announcements from Oracle and Adobe. And we’re also on the lookout for... We haven’t had much of a summer lull, let’s face it, what with the relentless pace of AI-related...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue. Images via Getty Images and YouTube/Face the Nati

Nvidia’s Hugging Face Embrace Burnishes AI Kingmaker Status

By Martin Peers and Phoebe Liu · Sep 3, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue. Images via Getty Images and YouTube/Face the Nati

Nvidia’s Hugging Face Embrace Burnishes AI Kingmaker Status

By Martin Peers and Phoebe Liu · Sep 3, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Nvidia’s AI chip design rival, Broadcom, may be forecasting rocketing growth. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang needn’t worry. He’s deftly parlayed Nvidia’s early AI winnings into what’s likely to be an enduring role as kingmaker in the sector, as he demonstrated by confirming the $12.9 billion purchase of Hugging Face on Thursday, a week after we... Nvidia’s AI chip design rival, Broadcom, may be forecasting rocketing growth. But Nvidia CEO...