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Guests during Cerebras Systems IPO at Nasdaq MarketSite May 14.

Investors Fall Back in Love With IPOs

By Valida Pau · May 19, 2026 5:30pm PDT

For the past two days, I’ve been at JP Morgan’s annual tech conference in Boston. As usual, AI has dominated most of my conversations with investors. But in a change from the past few months, it’s not Anthropic and OpenAI driving those discussions—but hardware and utility companies a few steps removed from what the AI model makers do.On Monday,... For the past two days, I’ve been at JP Morgan’s annual tech conference in Boston. As usual, AI...

Liz Reid, VP and head of search at Google, at Google I/O today. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty.

Google’s AI Search Leap Forward

By Martin Peers · May 19, 2026 5:00pm PDT

If you pay attention to one thing in AI this week, it should be Google’s I/O presentation on Tuesday. The tech giant unveiled a bunch of AI tools, most significantly the addition of new AI features such as agents to Google Search. Any distinction that existed between Google’s Gemini AI chatbot and its search bar is disappearing.No longer should... If you pay attention to one thing in AI this week, it should be Google’s I/O presentation on...

How Microsoft, Meta, xAI Get AI Training Data From Their Employees

How Microsoft, Meta, xAI Get AI Training Data From Their Employees

By Aaron Holmes and Jyoti Mann · May 19, 2026 10:30am PDT

Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot may have lost much of its early lead in the AI coding race to rivals like Anthropic and Cursor, but Microsoft thinks it has an advantage over those companies: roughly 100,000 software engineers who work for Microsoft. As we reported Monday, Microsoft leaders think they can develop coding models using the wealth of... Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot may have lost much of its early lead in the AI coding race to rivals...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Is the Gap Widening Between Anthropic and Open-Source Models?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 19, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

Is the Gap Widening Between Anthropic and Open-Source Models?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 19, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Some developers have told me that the rising costs of frontier AI models from Anthropic and other firms could prompt them to shift to cheaper open-source AI. After all, when companies as sophisticated as Uber are accidentally blowing through their entire year’s AI budget in a matter of months, it makes sense to cut back by using a less capable... Some developers have told me that the rising costs of frontier AI models from Anthropic and other...

A Trainium3 UltraServer at an AWS QA lab in Austin. Photo by Mark Felix / Getty Images.

Amazon’s Nvidia Alternative Starts Winning Over AI Developers

By Catherine Perloff · May 19, 2026 6:00am PDT

Amazon’s yearslong effort to build a serious alternative to Nvidia’s dominant AI chips is starting to gain traction. Anthropic and OpenAI, which have struck multibillion-dollar investment and infrastructure deals with Amazon, have already committed to renting large amounts of current and future Trainium capacity. Now, recent software... Amazon’s yearslong effort to build a serious alternative to Nvidia’s dominant AI chips is...

Michael Gonzalez/AFP/Getty.

Musk Loses in Court; Uber Buys More of Delivery Hero

By Martin Peers · May 18, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Elon Musk’s big week isn’t starting out too well. Firstly, the all-important test launch of Starship got delayed by a day. Meanwhile, news broke that a worker died on Friday at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in Texas, where the rocket will launch. Separately, Musk on Monday lost the lawsuit against his fellow OpenAI founders, Sam Altman and Greg... Elon Musk’s big week isn’t starting out too well. Firstly, the all-important test launch of...

The ‘Price is Right’ for GPUs: The Startup Turning Nvidia Chips Into ‘Boring’ Bankable Assets

AI Infrastructure

The ‘Price is Right’ for GPUs: The Startup Turning Nvidia Chips Into ‘Boring’ Bankable Assets

By Anissa Gardizy · May 18, 2026 10:18am PDT · 1 comment

Good morning, Anissa here!The AI boom requires an enormous amount of new power plants, chips and data centers. But it also requires something that’s less visible: new financial plumbing that makes it possible to lend against this costly hardware.Miami fintech startup Barkr is one of the firms building the pipes, specifically for valuing AI chips... Good morning, Anissa here!The AI boom requires an enormous amount of new power plants, chips and...

Musk at a banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

The Electric: Enduring Chinese Hero Worship for Musk Bolsters Sales of the Tesla Model Y

By Steve LeVine · May 18, 2026 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

Musk at a banquet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

The Electric: Enduring Chinese Hero Worship for Musk Bolsters Sales of the Tesla Model Y

By Steve LeVine · May 18, 2026 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

With their no-frills, spartan interiors, Tesla’s electric vehicles pale in comparison to plush Chinese-made models, which are typically replete with luxury and tech extras. And the technology that Tesla considers its singular distinguishing feature—its Full Self-Driving software—is heavily restricted in China. With their no-frills, spartan interiors, Tesla’s electric vehicles pale in comparison to plush...

Krishna Rangasayee. Photo By Shauna Clinton/ Getty Images

Edge Inference Chip Startup SiMa.ai Raising at $1.4 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 18, 2026 7:00am PDT

Nvidia might be on a tear, but some investors are still convinced that there’s demand for another kind of specialized chips. And they’re putting their money where their mouth is. For example: San Jose, Calif.-based SiMa.ai, which develops chips that work on devices such as drones or cameras, is in talks with investors to raise more than... Nvidia might be on a tear, but some investors are still convinced that there’s demand for another...

Elon Musk attends a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty.

SpaceX Launch, Google I/O Headline a Big News Week in Tech

By Martin Peers · May 17, 2026 3:00pm PDT

This should be an action-packed week in tech news, what with Nvidia’s first-quarter earnings, Google’s annual I/O developer conference and Meta Platforms’ scheduled layoffs of 8,000 employees. But it is Elon Musk who has the biggest week coming up.For one thing, the first test launch of SpaceX’s Starship in seven months is scheduled for Tuesday.... This should be an action-packed week in tech news, what with Nvidia’s first-quarter earnings,...

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cerebras IPO Stock Pop; Apple-OpenAI Drama

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

This was quite the day. OpenAI is jumping up and down about its unhappiness with Apple (it’s doubtful Tim Cook is shaking in his boots). Big telecom threw down the gauntlet to Elon Musk and Amazon (not that they should worry). We get to both news items lower down. But first…the AI trade on Wall Street is booming, as demonstrated by today's... This was quite the day. OpenAI is jumping up and down about its unhappiness with Apple (it’s...

Photo by Getty Images.

Cerebras Payday Includes Tiger—And SPVs

By Katie Roof and Julia Hornstein · May 14, 2026 4:20pm PDT

Photo by Getty Images.

Cerebras Payday Includes Tiger—And SPVs

By Katie Roof and Julia Hornstein · May 14, 2026 4:20pm PDT

Earlier this morning we published exclusive returns on some of the biggest investors in AI chip designer Cerebras, whose shares surged in their first day of trading. The offering represents welcome cash for investors after they’ve seen initial public offerings get delayed year after year. Tiger Global Management, for instance, bought... Earlier this morning we published exclusive returns on some of the biggest investors in AI...

Art by Clark Miller.

Cerebras Shows IPO Market Will Pay Up for Messy AI Math

By The Information Staff · May 14, 2026 1:05pm PDT

Cerebras’ shares surged in their trading debut Thursday, showing that public investors are willing to look past unusual financial risks for companies tied to the AI infrastructure boom. That’s a striking reception for a company that does not look like the clean software listings investors used to love: Cerebras is an expensive... Cerebras’ shares surged in their trading debut Thursday, showing that public investors are...

Art by Clark Miller.

Why Anthropic Costs Are Unpredictable

By Laura Bratton · May 14, 2026 12:08pm PDT · 3 comments

Anthropic customers are already feeling pinched by the company’s AI price hikes, Aaron and I reported Wednesday. Making matters harder, Anthropic customers like PagerDuty and ServiceNow—which says it already blew through its full-year budget for Anthropic AI tools—can’t predict what they’ll pay this year.One reason Anthropic costs are tough to... Anthropic customers are already feeling pinched by the company’s AI price hikes, Aaron and I...

Photo via Getty Images

AGI Is the Elephant in the Musk v. OpenAI Courtroom

By Rocket Drew · May 14, 2026 7:00am PDT

Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which centers on Musk’s allegations that OpenAI breached a charitable trust, in part by violating its charitable mission. The two sides disagree on almost everything in the case, but one phrase is likely to be mentioned in both speeches: artificial... Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which...

Cerebras IPO Winners Include Foundation, Benchmark—and OpenAI

By Julia Hornstein, Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · May 14, 2026 6:00am PDT

Cerebras IPO Winners Include Foundation, Benchmark—and OpenAI

By Julia Hornstein, Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · May 14, 2026 6:00am PDT

Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope. The company, which was attempting the difficult and expensive task of developing an alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, didn’t deliver its first chips until five years into its existence. Then, after it filed to go public in 2024, the... Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope....

Amazon HQ in Seattle. Getty Images.

Amazon’s AI Shopping Overhaul

By Martin Peers · May 13, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Remember Bard? It was the original name of Google’s AI chatbot, but the Gemini brand long ago replaced it. Just as you’ve likely forgotten that history, you’re not likely to remember Rufus in 12 months’ time, either. Rufus, the name of Amazon’s AI-powered shopping chatbot, got tossed on Wednesday and replaced with Amazon’s well-established Alexa... Remember Bard? It was the original name of Google’s AI chatbot, but the Gemini brand long ago...

Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images

How Anthropic Could Take an OpenAI Supplier Off The Table

By Laura Mandaro · May 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a deal we reported on late Tuesday reaches the finish line. Anthropic is in talks to buy developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300 million, according to Stephanie and Katie. The New York startup makes software development kits that... Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Sven Hoppe/Getty Images.

Microsoft’s Stock Slide Raises Specter of Activist Investors

By Martin Peers · May 12, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Is it time for another activist investor to take a run at Microsoft? Shares of the iconic software giant are down nearly 16% so far this year, making it the worst performer of the big tech names. The Financial Times reported on Friday that British hedge fund TCI had sold “almost all” of its stake in Microsoft, citing uncertainty about how AI... Is it time for another activist investor to take a run at Microsoft? Shares of the iconic...

Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman. Getty Images.

Cerebras' Plum OpenAI Deal Is a Double-Edged Sword

By Cory Weinberg · May 12, 2026 4:33pm PDT

Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman. Getty Images.

Cerebras' Plum OpenAI Deal Is a Double-Edged Sword

By Cory Weinberg · May 12, 2026 4:33pm PDT

When some journalist writes the book on the AI boom, one critical chapter will start on Christmas Eve 2025. That was the day that Nvidia and OpenAI’s complicated frenemy relationship became incredibly lucrative for chip startups that focus on AI inference.We already know that Christmas Eve was the day the tech industry (and this newsroom)... When some journalist writes the book on the AI boom, one critical chapter will start on Christmas...