Startups

The Information team’s approach to covering up-and-coming companies focuses on previously unreported news of funding, plus the impact on the surrounding tech and finance ecosystems. Our newsroom produces The Information 50, an annual list of promising startups.

Recent Articles about Startups
Art: Mike Sullivan
The Weekend

San Francisco’s Robo-Fight Club, General Catalyst’s Divisive Virality

By Julia Hornstein and Abram Brown · May 16, 2026 8:00am PDT
Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Trump officials and VCs love a nuclear power startup’s brute-force approach• Biotech: The case of the disappearing embryo startups • Plus, Recommendations—our weekly pop culture picks: “Are We Doomed?” “Steve Jobs in Exile” and “Lord of the Flies” The legal slugfest between Elon... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Trump officials and VCs love a...
Art: Clark Miller
Biotech

Silicon Valley Likes the Idea of Gene-Edited Embryos. It’ll Be a Wait

By Amy Dockser Marcus · May 16, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment
Two companies aiming to make better babies by tweaking the DNA of embryos were invited to talk about the future of the technology at SynBioBeta, a major gathering of the biotech world scheduled for earlier this month in San Jose, Calif. As the discussion’s moderator, I felt eager to hear more from them about their science and how they might... Two companies aiming to make better babies by tweaking the DNA of embryos were invited to talk...
Art by Clark Miller; YouTube
The Big Read

Why Trump Officials and VCs Love This Nuclear Power Startup’s Brute-Force Approach

By Jemima McEvoy · May 15, 2026 6:00am PDT · 7 comments
On a cloudy day in late March, Isaiah Taylor, the 27-year-old founder and chief executive of Valar Atomics, a Hawthorne, Calif.–based nuclear energy startup, led me into a large black tent at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in the middle of the Utah desert. Dozens of construction workers and beeping forklifts buzzed around the nearly... On a cloudy day in late March, Isaiah Taylor, the 27-year-old founder and chief executive of...
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.
Dealmaker

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...
Pro subscription required icon Pro subscription required icon 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...
Apple's Craig Federighi announces a ChatGPT integration on Apple devices at the company's developer conference in 2024. Screenshot via YouTube

OpenAI’s Apple Partnership Sours

By Aaron Tilley · May 14, 2026 12:39pm PDT · 2 comments
OpenAI appears to be headed into conflict with another big name partner, Apple. The AI startup is considering legal action against Apple over breach of contract related to the ChatGPT integration deal it announced with Apple two years ago, said an OpenAI employee familiar with the matter. The AI company has been trying to improve its... OpenAI appears to be headed into conflict with another big name partner, Apple. The AI startup is...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
Exclusive

The SpaceXAI Exodus: More Than 50 Recent Exits as Meta, Thinking Machines Hire Staff

By Theo Wayt · May 14, 2026 11:06am PDT
Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models have left the AI lab since SpaceX acquired it in February, through layoffs, firings and voluntary departures, according to several people with knowledge of the moves. These departures come on top of the exits of all of xAI’s co-founders besides Elon... Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models...
The BYD Denza Z9GT, on display at the Beijing Auto Show, with a silicon carbon anode. Photo: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty
The Electric: China Steals a Manufacturing March on Another American-Made Technology
By Steve LeVine · May 14, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment
The BYD Denza Z9GT, on display at the Beijing Auto Show, with a silicon carbon anode. Photo: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: China Steals a Manufacturing March on Another American-Made Technology

By Steve LeVine · May 14, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment
For 15 years, Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of silicon carbon battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies, has been working to commercialize a battery that would charge much faster and power electric vehicles much further than conventional batteries. In September, Berdichevsky, a Tesla veteran, finally began test production at his first commercial plant,... For 15 years, Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of silicon carbon battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies,...
Photo via Getty Images
AI Agenda

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...
Exclusive

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.
The Briefing

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...
Erik Bernhardsson, Founder and CEO at Modal. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.
Startup Modal in Talks to Raise at $4.5 Billion Valuation After Revenue Surges
By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 13, 2026 10:49am PDT
Erik Bernhardsson, Founder and CEO at Modal. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.
Exclusive

Startup Modal in Talks to Raise at $4.5 Billion Valuation After Revenue Surges

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 13, 2026 10:49am PDT
Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers run and train models as well as agents, is in talks to raise money at around a $4.5 billion valuation. That would be an 80% premium to its last valuation from just a few months ago, according to two people with knowledge of the round. The steep hike... Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers...
Art by Mike Sulivan
Exclusive

Apple Explores Ways to Welcome AI Agents in the App Store

By Aaron Tilley · May 13, 2026 10:17am PDT
Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from the tech industry’s hottest trend while ensuring that the software in its store continues to play by its rules, according to people briefed on the matter. So far, the widespread embrace of agentic AI for software creation has put Apple on the... Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from...
Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images
AI Agenda

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...
Art by Clark Miller
Artificial Intelligence

Anthropic Flexes Pricing Power as Its Customers Willingly Eat the Cost

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · May 13, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments
Anthropic’s revenue growth is unprecedented. Newer Anthropic customers such as PagerDuty are a big part of the reason. Eric Johnson, chief information officer at PagerDuty, which helps software engineers respond to tech outages, said he is bracing for volatile costs as his company’s 1,200 employees start using Anthropic’s AI coding and other... Anthropic’s revenue growth is unprecedented. Newer Anthropic customers such as PagerDuty are a...
Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.
Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation
By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · May 12, 2026 11:20pm PDT
Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.
Exclusive

Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · May 12, 2026 11:20pm PDT
Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred million dollars for his new AI lab, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new AI lab will likely be valued at around $2 billion after the funding round, the people said, adding that the discussions are ongoing and the... Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred...