The Weekend by The Information Staff

Every Saturday

The Weekend

By The Information Staff

Know what happens when Silicon Valley logs off—the trends and people shaping culture, technology and everything in between.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Art by Clark Miller (Photos: Getty Images)

Altman’s Opportunism Should Worry Trump

By Abram Brown · Mar 8, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: We know how Project Stargate begins• The Top 5: The think tanks that matter to Trump and tech• Plus, our Recommendations: Anne Frank in America; how to make a millennial LOL; and when heart cancer warms the heart In Washington, time is a malleable concept. In some moments, it seems... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: We know how Project Stargate begins• The...

Art by Clark Miller

Anthropic's Secret Trick for Measuring Claude

By Abram Brown · Mar 1, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Runway thinks it can outrun OpenAI and Google• Artificial Intelligence: AI.com is up for sale. Asking price? $100 million• The Top 5: The very best sleep and health tech for kids • Plus, our Recommendations: A father confesses his darkest secrets; how a financial scheme fueled a... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Runway thinks it can outrun OpenAI...

Art by Clark Miller

Altman Gets the New York Treatment

By Abram Brown · Feb 22, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Apple and Qualcomm share tech’s rockiest marriage • Policy and Safety: New push for safety laws could lift parents fatigued by tech worries• The Top 5: Silicon Valley’s favorite snow toys • Shopping: Tech’s winter it item? The humble woolen ski sweater• Plus, our... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Apple and Qualcomm share tech’s...

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

By Sara Germano · Feb 15, 2025 7:00am PST

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

By Sara Germano · Feb 15, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Nuclear power could help tech solve its AI-driven electricity problem, if new reactors can actually get built.• Venture Bets: There’s a vibe shift in nuclear startup investing.• Clean Energy: Fusion, geothermal, solar. It’s not all about nuclear fission.• Plus, our Recommendations,... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Nuclear power could help tech solve its...

Art by Clark Miller

The AI Scene Awaiting JD Vance

By Abram Brown · Feb 8, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The Thiel protégé set to dispense a dose of abrupt change to the U.S. Health Department• The Top 5: The best high-tech protective gear for skiers and snowboarders• Plus, our Recommendations: A tricky traitor in the Troubles; a deeply researched television set; and Michael... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The Thiel protégé set to dispense a dose...

Art by Clark Miller

Why Debanking Fears Could Benefit Trump

By Abram Brown · Feb 1, 2025 7:01am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: As Microsoft and Google move in, a battle over hallowed ground erupts• The Arena: The NFL and Netflix likely share a supersize dream• Artificial Intelligence: our new Glossary of AI Jargon • Plus, our Recommendations: Trackers of Gilded Age glam; requiem for the rock stars;... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: As Microsoft and Google move in, a ...

Donald Trump at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville last summer. (Getty Images)

Crypto’s Glory Days Hide An Uncomfortable Reality

By Abram Brown · Jan 25, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Poppi hopes to win the battle of the bubbles • Space Inc.: What India’s space odyssey could look like • Plus, our Recommendations: An explanation for our problematic shopping; a master novelist’s slim oeuvre; and a movie podcast for the nerdiest film nerdsThe most powerful and... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: How Poppi hopes to win the battle of the...

Art by Clark Miller

Wildfire Startups Need a SpaceX Moment

By Abram Brown · Jan 18, 2025 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

Wildfire Startups Need a SpaceX Moment

By Abram Brown · Jan 18, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Sports league startups bet on selfies and shape-shifting putting greens* Power and Influence: The tech industrial complex gets ready to party over Trump• Media and Entertainment: Apple’s most intriguing TV show• Plus, our Recommendations—for deep-winter binges: A buffed-up Baldur’s... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Sports league startups bet on selfies and...

Art by Clark Miller

Will Meta's Olive Branch Hurt TikTok?

By Abram Brown · Jan 11, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex problem• Power and Influence: DOGE goes headhunting • The Top 5: Where to travel after Davos • Plus: When a corporate marvel may be a communist spy ring; piecing together “Severance”; and an uncomfortable masterpieceA couple years ago, ... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex...

Protestors gather on Las Americas Highway in San Juan, Puerto Rico to decry the island's power crisis in 2021. (Getty Images)

An Island That Needs an Elon

By Abram Brown · Jan 4, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Predictions: 18 things we think will happen in 2025 • Predictions: What happened with our guesses about 2024 • How to transform your productivity in the year ahead • Plus: Holmes at home; spilling tea on the Town; and Taylor Sheridan strikes againElon Musk already keeps a pretty full... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Predictions: 18 things we think will happen in...

Art by Clark Miller

Some Educated Guesses about Elon

By Abram Brown · Dec 28, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Lists: 20 great books to read over the holidays.• Artificial intelligence: A marketplace for solving AI’s copyright woes? • Plus: The crust czar; a go-to travel shoe; and birds with bullets.Elon Musk really has reached a remarkable place within our lives, a type of ubiquity few other business titans... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Lists: 20 great books to read over the holidays.• ...

Art by Clark Miller

Will Sports Gambling Copy Crypto’s Playbook?

By Abram Brown · Dec 21, 2024 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

Will Sports Gambling Copy Crypto’s Playbook?

By Abram Brown · Dec 21, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! This edition of Weekend is especially exciting: It marks the debut of a new coverage area for us and the arrival to The Information of a talented reporter. Sara Germano, a veteran of the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, has joined Weekend to helm The Arena, Weekend’s new franchise devoted to covering... Welcome, Weekenders! This edition of Weekend is especially exciting: It marks the debut of a...

Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI’s New Toy Could Be a Problem

By Abram Brown · Dec 14, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside tech’s embrace of devout Christianity• Media and Entertainment: Silicon Valley’s favorite videogames of 2024• The Top 5: The best disaster kit supplies • Plus: A play that morphs; America’s only universal creed; and a saga’s brilliant end.Santa won’t show up for weeks yet, but... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside tech’s embrace of devout...

Art by Clark Miller

An Underappreciated Moment in AI

By Abram Brown · Dec 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution • Power and Influence: Trump’s antitrust cop is a ‘happy warrior’ • The Top 5: Our favorite new corporate merch and gifts. • Plus: Robots who rhapsodize; what Taylor Swift and Legos have in common; and Il Papa and the plotters.What if the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution ...

Art by Clark Miller

The Value of Self-Exile

By Abram Brown · Nov 30, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Shopping: The Information’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide • E-commerce: A bet on Big Brother billboards • The Top 5: What to wear to Silicon Valley’s holiday parties • Plus, we feast!: A lover scorned and scorched; a buddy film seasoned with punchlines and pathos; the TikToker who cheeses for... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• Shopping: The Information’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide...

Art by Clark Miller

From a Beeple to a Banana

By Abram Brown · Nov 23, 2024 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

From a Beeple to a Banana

By Abram Brown · Nov 23, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Teens confront a new age of facial tech • Media: The young, male digital stars using YouTube to take over podcasts• The Top 5: Best AI books of 2024• Plus: Free Adnan! Free Keiko!; revisiting Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk tome; and a TV triumph about the Troubles.A few times a year, the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Teens confront a new age of facial...

A Trump Goes VC

A Trump Goes VC

By Julia Black · Nov 16, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The frustration behind a beautiful, Tesla-beating EV• The Top 5: The very best personal personal trainers• Plus: A different type of It bag; Keri Russell’s Americans; and a Maine attraction returns. Since the presidential election, much of America’s attention has focused on Mar-a-Lago as... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The frustration behind a beautiful,...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

A Valuable AI Startup’s Election Gamble

By Abram Brown · Nov 9, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Tech has bought itself a more moderate San Francisco• Power and Influence: San Francisco's new mayor vows ‘city is open for business’• Media: How tech’s conservative shift went unnoticed for so long • Plus: How Stevie Wonder still wows; a fertile drama in Leningrad; and the witch is... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Tech has bought itself a more moderate...

Getty Images

Musk's Crew Gathers Again

By Abram Brown · Nov 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Musk wins no matter who wins the White House• Biotech: A scientist with Bezos’ and Gates’ money—and possibly a better brain chip• Health and Fitness: Startups eye a gold rush in electrolytes• Plus: The superbabies from the past look like our future; a baby oligarch runs amok; and the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Musk wins no matter who wins the...

Art by Clark Miller

A Wannabe Media Mogul Who Should Call It Quits

By Abram Brown · Oct 26, 2024 7:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

A Wannabe Media Mogul Who Should Call It Quits

By Abram Brown · Oct 26, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Perplexity’s ‘newbie CEO’ hopes to dodge legal threats, Google competition• The Top 5: Best tools for introducing AI to kids• Plus: A dance with the dead; a delightful doomsday clock; and a data nerd fashionista.Six years ago, Patrick Soon-Shiong, a Los Angeles billionaire, spent a... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Perplexity’s ‘newbie CEO’ hopes to dodge...