Venture Capital News & Analysis — The Information

Recent Articles about Venture Capital

Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Photo via Getty

All-Male AI Boards; General Catalyst’s AI Head Count Savings

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 2:04pm PDT

The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has President Donald Trump’s administration targeted diversity mandates, but federal courts have overturned related laws, such as those passed in California requiring a certain number of women and underrepresented minorities on public company... The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has...

Art via Mike Sullivan

More AI Startups Join the $100 Million ARR Club. But Will They Stay?

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

These days, it seems like each week another artificial intelligence startup announces it’s surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue, a milestone that historically meant a startup had achieved “product-market fit”—in other words, customers really want to pay for its products.In the last five months, our reporting shows that at least six “AI... These days, it seems like each week another artificial intelligence startup announces it’s...

Photos courtesy of the subjects

The Investment Bankers Winning at the AI Deal Game

By Valida Pau · Sep 25, 2025 6:00am PDT

There’s nothing like an earth-changing new technology to get the tech industry’s dealmaking juices flowing. That’s been good news and bad news for bankers, who have pocketed fees but have been boxed out of some of the biggest deals. We’ve pulled together a list of the bankers who have led the way on artificial intelligence dealmaking. The... There’s nothing like an earth-changing new technology to get the tech industry’s dealmaking...

Photo courtesy of Scale

Inside Scale AI’s New Robot Labs

By Rocket Drew · Sep 24, 2025 7:00am PDT

Photo courtesy of Scale

Inside Scale AI’s New Robot Labs

By Rocket Drew · Sep 24, 2025 7:00am PDT

After Meta Platforms bought nearly half of the data labelling startup Scale AI and hired its co-founder Alexandr Wang and other key employees, Scale’s future looked uncertain. Even more so after the nine-year old startup laid off 200 employees and customer OpenAI wound down its work with the company.Now, we’re getting a sense of how Scale’s... After Meta Platforms bought nearly half of the data labelling startup Scale AI and hired its...

President Donald Trump signs an executive order introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Photo via Getty.

$100,000 H-1B Fee’s Inflationary Effect on Startups

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 23, 2025 12:37pm PDT

The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers applying for new H-1B visas sent a shock wave through the ranks of startups and their investors over the weekend. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Menlo Ventures’ Deedy Das have warned the fees will give large tech companies an even bigger advantage... The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers...

Sam Altman, left, and Jensen Huang. Photos via Getty

Nvidia and OpenAI’s Fates Get Even More Intertwined

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 23, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Larry Ellison might have thought his firm’s 4.5 gigawatt cloud deal with OpenAI was unmatched.That is, until he woke up on Monday morning to see OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announcing something much bigger: data center plans that are more than double the size of Oracle’s. The numbers are quite staggering. If OpenAI and... Larry Ellison might have thought his firm’s 4.5 gigawatt cloud deal with OpenAI was unmatched....

Image courtesy of 1X Technologies.

Humanoid Robot Developer 1X Targets $1 Billion in New Funding

By Wayne Ma, Natasha Mascarenhas and Valida Pau · Sep 22, 2025 5:26pm PDT

Humanoid robotics startup 1X has told investors and employees it is trying to raise as much as $1 billion, according to three people who spoke to CEO Bernt Øivind Børnich. The decade-old company is aiming for a valuation of at least $10 billion, Børnich said, or more than 12 times its previous valuation from a January... Humanoid robotics startup 1X has told investors and employees it is trying to raise as much as $1...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Japan Strikes Back

By Juro Osawa · Sep 22, 2025 7:00am PDT

Art via Mike Sullivan

Japan Strikes Back

By Juro Osawa · Sep 22, 2025 7:00am PDT

As Western artificial intelligence developers accelerate international expansion, Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is shaping up to be a key battleground. ChatGPT and Gemini are already popular there. Anthropic is preparing to open a Tokyo office after appointing a Japan country head last month. Canada-based Cohere also hired a... As Western artificial intelligence developers accelerate international expansion, Japan, the...

Flavio Cobolli takes a selfie of Team Europe ahead of the Laver Cup in San Francisco on Wednesday. Photo by Getty

What I Asked Alcaraz in the Land of Alcatraz

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 20, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Musk’s Memphis supercomputer fixer • The Arena: The highlightification of sports. • The Top 5: Tech elites turn to luxury matchmakers to find love.• Plus, our Recommendations: “Home Cooking,” “The World’s Worst Best” and “Three Days of the Condor.” It definitely wasn’t the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Musk’s Memphis supercomputer...

Art by Clark Miller

$500,000 to Find Love? Silicon Valley Upgrades From Dating Apps

By Jemima McEvoy · Sep 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

There’s a big public breakup underway: People are dumping their dating apps. Over the past year, Bumble lost nearly 9% of its paying users, the company reported in its earnings report last month. Match Group, meanwhile, saw about 5% of paying users abandon its flagship apps, including Tinder and Bumble, during the same period. “The companies... There’s a big public breakup underway: People are dumping their dating apps. Over the past year,...

People lined up on Friday for the release of Apple's new iPhone 17 in New York. Photo via Getty

Why the Phone is the Best AI Device

By Martin Peers · Sep 19, 2025 3:00pm PDT · 1 comment

It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up outside Apple stores whenever a new model first becomes available. We saw that again on Friday, when the iPhone 17 series went on sale. As we reported earlier, preorders for the entry-level iPhone 17—the cheap one—were strong enough to prompt Apple... It’s hard to believe, but 18 years after the iPhone first hit store shelves, people still line up...

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TikTok U.S.’s New Investor Lineup Remains In Flux

By Jing Yang and Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2025 1:37pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

TikTok U.S.’s New Investor Lineup Remains In Flux

By Jing Yang and Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2025 1:37pm PDT · 1 comment

If President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping wrap up a deal for a U.S.-controlled investor group to buy TikTok U.S. on Friday, the next stage of the deal will begin—figuring out the final lineup of the investor consortium. Oracle and Silver Lake are widely reported to be among a group of new investors buying into a newly... If President Donald Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping wrap up a deal for a U.S.-controlled...

Anjney Midha, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Image via Getty.

How Andreessen Horowitz’s ‘Compute Whisperer’ Wins AI Deals

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 18, 2025 1:14pm PDT

Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups such as France’s Mistral AI and Germany’s Black Forest Labs. But behind the scenes, he’s also functioned as what he calls the firm’s “compute whisperer,” setting up and managing a group of thousands of Nvidia chips that the firm then rents to... Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon’s AR Glasses Could Help Train Its Humanoid Delivery Robots

By Rocket Drew · Sep 18, 2025 7:35am PDT

On Wednesday, Meta Platforms took a big step towards dominating the still-nascent augmented reality market when it unveiled the latest version of its Ray-Bans smart glasses, this time with a see-through display and a wristband for controlling the device. People will be able to send text messages via hand motions interpreted by the wristband.Meta... On Wednesday, Meta Platforms took a big step towards dominating the still-nascent augmented...

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StubHub’s IPO Miss

By Martin Peers · Sep 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Note to private tech CEOs: The IPO market may look like it’s rocking but looks can be deceiving. If your company isn’t growing fast, and/or has a lot of debt, and doesn’t have either a crypto or AI angle, don’t expect a crush of demand. Check out StubHub, which fails on all the counts I just mentioned. Its stock tanked on its opening day as a... Note to private tech CEOs: The IPO market may look like it’s rocking but looks can be deceiving....

An Axon body camera on a police officer. Photo via Getty

Axon in Advanced Talks to Buy Emergency Response Startup for $800 Million

By Katie Roof · Sep 17, 2025 4:37pm PDT · 1 comment

An Axon body camera on a police officer. Photo via Getty

Axon in Advanced Talks to Buy Emergency Response Startup for $800 Million

By Katie Roof · Sep 17, 2025 4:37pm PDT · 1 comment

Axon Enterprise, a maker of police body cameras and Taser electroshock devices, is in advanced talks to buy Prepared, a startup that sells software to emergency responders, including an artificial intelligence tool that summarizes real-time transcripts of 911 calls, according to a person involved in the deal. The companies are discussing a deal... Axon Enterprise, a maker of police body cameras and Taser electroshock devices, is in advanced...

Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI’s Models Are Getting Too Smart For Their Human Teachers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 17, 2025 7:00am PDT

In the fight to improve AI models, Anthropic and OpenAI have doubled down on two methods: letting models train on fake clones of apps—otherwise known as reinforcement learning environments or gyms—and getting experts in various fields to teach models new things, as I reported in this Tuesday story.One problem is emerging, though: It’s getting a... In the fight to improve AI models, Anthropic and OpenAI have doubled down on two methods: letting...

Art by Clark Miller

IPOs Roar Back, Injecting Cash Into Venture Firms

By Katie Roof · Sep 17, 2025 6:21am PDT · 1 comment

September is on track for six venture-backed tech listings, the most since November 2021. The rising number of IPOs means venture funds can start returning more cash to the limited partners that back them, relieving one of the strains that had held back VC fundraising over the last few years. Nearly all of September’s listings are from companies... September is on track for six venture-backed tech listings, the most since November 2021. The...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Images via Getty

Who Will Own the New OpenAI, in One Chart

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 16, 2025 2:45pm PDT

One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on their investment? The ChatGPT maker is a nonprofit that capped the potential returns of early backers in its for-profit arm, such as Khosla Ventures and Microsoft, and would prevent the newer investors including Thrive Capital and SoftBank from reaping... One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on...

Art via Getty

The Secrets OpenAI Revealed About ChatGPT

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Sep 16, 2025 7:00am PDT

Art via Getty

The Secrets OpenAI Revealed About ChatGPT

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Sep 16, 2025 7:00am PDT

Public interest in ChatGPT's impact on society is rising fast, especially given recent high-profile lawsuits filed by family members of people who used the chatbot before taking their own life. On Monday, OpenAI opened the chabot's kimono a little bit, with a new study showing exactly how users are using ChatGPT. Notably, non-work... Public interest in ChatGPT's impact on society is rising fast, especially given recent...