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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Matthew Rhys, who could play Amodei in a movie. Photos via Getty and Shutterstock.

Anthropic CEO’s Candid Comments Imperil Chances of a Compromise

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2026 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Who hates Sam Altman more—Elon Musk or Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei? If you guessed Elon Musk, our scoop today about the no-holds-barred memo Amodei sent to his staff on Friday about the Pentagon brouhaha might change your mind. Apart from calling OpenAI’s messaging over the Pentagon issue “mendacious,” Amodei explained the Pentagon’s targeting of... Who hates Sam Altman more—Elon Musk or Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei? If you guessed Elon Musk, our...

Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images

The Loopholes in OpenAI’s Pentagon Deal

By Erin Woo · Mar 2, 2026 7:00am PST

What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain risk,” while OpenAI has its own agreement allowing the agency to use OpenAI’s models in “classified environments.”There are still plenty of unanswered questions, including how big of a business risk being designated a “supply chain risk” poses... What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain...

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Alphabet and Other Big Tech Could Borrow Hundreds of Billions Each

By Anita Ramaswamy · Feb 26, 2026 6:10am PST

Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms in recent months have each turned to the bond markets to raise tens of billions of dollars for their massive investments in AI data centers. And all three are likely to borrow much more in the next couple of years, with their projected capital expenditures now likely to come close to or surpass the cash they... Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms in recent months have each turned to the bond markets to...

Form Energy's Weirton, W.Va. facility. Photo: Courtesy Form

Exclusive From The Electric: A $1 Billion Payday From Google For Battery Startup Form Energy

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2026 4:30am PST

Form Energy's Weirton, W.Va. facility. Photo: Courtesy Form

Exclusive From The Electric: A $1 Billion Payday From Google For Battery Startup Form Energy

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2026 4:30am PST

Since it launched nine years ago, next-generation battery developer Form Energy has faced a single skeptical question: Do businesses really need a battery that lasts 100 hours or longer? Since it launched nine years ago, next-generation battery developer Form Energy has faced a...

Artwork by Clark Miller

From Vision to Constraints: The Lessons of OpenAI’s Stargate Buildout

By The Information Staff · Feb 25, 2026 1:49pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved significantly over the past two years, offering a revealing look at how difficult it is to translate demand for compute into physical infrastructure. Shifts in partners, scope and timelines highlight the financial and operational trade-offs that come with... OpenAI’s ambitions to build some of the world’s largest AI data centers have evolved...

Getty Images

Bankers Ponder New Ways to Raise Data Center Money, Despite Risks

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 24, 2026 5:00pm PST

Talk about symbolic. This week’s annual conference for bankers and investors who play in the arcane world of asset securitization—selling debt backed by mortgages and other cash streams—was disrupted when an exhibit hall at the convention in Las Vegas caught fire on Monday night. I’m not kidding. You could say the blaze was a physical... Talk about symbolic. This week’s annual conference for bankers and investors who play in the...

Art by Getty Images

Why ChatGPT Faces Language Barriers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 24, 2026 7:00am PST

Many AI researchers believe AI models that listen and speak to people are trailing text-based models in capabilities and performance. That gap is even bigger when you look at audio models for languages other than English, especially outside the Western hemisphere.That could be a big issue for companies like OpenAI that are aggressively trying to... Many AI researchers believe AI models that listen and speak to people are trailing text-based...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Prakash Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Software Quandary: Are OpenAI and Anthropic Frenemies or Foes?

By Martin Peers · Feb 23, 2026 5:00pm PST

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Prakash Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Software Quandary: Are OpenAI and Anthropic Frenemies or Foes?

By Martin Peers · Feb 23, 2026 5:00pm PST

When does a frenemy become a mortal threat? That question should be top of mind for executives atop enterprise software firms, such as ServiceNow, Salesforce and Snowflake, each of which at various times has announced partnerships with OpenAI. And yet OpenAI seems to be doing everything it can to put at least some of these firms out of business.... When does a frenemy become a mortal threat? That question should be top of mind for executives...

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Getty Images

AI Infrastructure

What OpenAI’s Stargate Issues Could Teach Anthropic

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 23, 2026 8:00am PST

Over the past year, the running joke in the data center industry—even inside OpenAI—has been that the $500 billion Stargate initiative was less of a master plan than a “vibe.”My reporting this weekend showed how little Stargate resembles the $500 billion effort touted at a White House event just over a year ago. Stargate now has no staff, nor... Over the past year, the running joke in the data center industry—even inside OpenAI—has been that...

Art by Clark Miller

Inside OpenAI’s Scramble to Get Computing Power After Stargate Stalled

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 22, 2026 11:00am PST · 4 comments

When President Donald Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate AI data center project in January 2025, the three companies charged with developing it promised to move with lightning speed, spending $100 billion almost immediately to start building 10 gigawatts of computing capacity. More than a year later, the Stargate joint venture has not... When President Donald Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate AI data center project in January...

ZaiNar cofounder and CEO Daniel Jacker. Photo courtesy of ZaiNar.

Startup Developing GPS Alternative for Physical AI Earns $1 Billion-Valuation

By Katie Roof · Feb 19, 2026 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Over the last two years, investors and researchers have flocked to startups helping bring AI into the physical world, from developing robot hands to the AI models that train robots to software to train self-driving cars. Now one startup says it can solve a perennial problem for robots and other AI-powered systems: getting precise location... Over the last two years, investors and researchers have flocked to startups helping bring AI into...

Photo via Getty Images

Don’t Get Tricked By Fake ‘Continual Learning’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 18, 2026 7:00am PST

Photo via Getty Images

Don’t Get Tricked By Fake ‘Continual Learning’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 18, 2026 7:00am PST

A new holy grail has emerged in the AI industry in recent months: continual learning, or the promise of AI that’s able to learn from real-world experience the way humans do, without having to undergo long formal training processes that require tons of computational power and data.And as you’d might expect with the rise of an ill-defined, buzzy... A new holy grail has emerged in the AI industry in recent months: continual learning, or the...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Meet 16 Data Center Executives Leading the AI Buildout

By Anissa Gardizy · Feb 18, 2026 6:00am PST

The battle for AI talent is no longer just about landing the best AI researcher. People with experience developing giant AI data centers suddenly are among the most sought-after professionals in tech right now. While an array of big tech firms and other developers is committing billions to data centers for AI, few people have designed and built... The battle for AI talent is no longer just about landing the best AI researcher. People with...

Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg. David Zalubowski/AP.

Meta and Nvidia Renew Their Vows

By Martin Peers · Feb 17, 2026 5:00pm PST

Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to spend billions on Google AI chips—known as tensor processing units—for its data centers, Meta and Nvidia unveiled an expanded “multiyear, multigenerational strategic partnership.” Meta is a longtime Nvidia customer, of course, but it is recommitting... Take that, Sundar Pichai! Three months after we scooped news that Meta Platforms was in talks to...

Comedian Charlie Berens. Screenshots via YouTube.

AI Infrastructure

No Joke: How Data Center Wars Distract From Real Solutions

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Feb 16, 2026 8:00am PST · 1 comment

(An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is a Wisconsin comedian beloved for wickedly funny, and until recently apolitical, satires of “Midwest Nice” culture. He’s now become Public Enemy No. 1 to data center developers and AI model makers. Berens is on a crusade to block data centers,... (An earlier version of this newsletter inadvertently omitted several paragraphs)Charlie Berens is...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Blue Owl Eyes New Deals as It Pushes Deeper Into AI Boom

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 13, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t reached Marc Lipschultz. He is co-CEO of Blue Owl Capital, a publicly traded investment firm that has struck a series of huge AI data center deals. And he’s gearing up for far more of them. Right now, he says Blue Owl is working on more than $100 billion... If there are growing worries about the scale of money pouring into AI, word of that hasn’t...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Problem With World Models

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 12, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like worlds where users are playing as a dog on a sunny beach, a vial of poison in the play Hamlet or a pack of cigarettes on the floor of Penn Station. These videos, generated with Google’s Genie 3 model, highlight the promise of so-called world... If you follow the AI world on X, you’ve probably seen in recent weeks clips of video game-like...

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenAI Uses ChatGPT to Catch ‘Leakers’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 11, 2026 7:00am PST

Here at The Information, we’re always trying to break through the hype to understand how folks are actually using AI in the real world. And recently, I came across a new application of AI that I can’t say I had ever heard of before: using ChatGPT to catch so-called leakers.When a news story about OpenAI’s internal activities is published,... Here at The Information, we’re always trying to break through the hype to understand how folks...

Art by Clark Miller.

How OpenClaw Learns New Things

By Rocket Drew · Feb 10, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink the math behind today’s AI models. But developers have found a more immediate and practical workaround to get AI to continually learn: “skills.” A skill is a text prompt containing instructions for how an agent should perform a task. For... The sizable gap between how AIs and humans learn new things has inspired researchers to rethink...