The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Getty Images.

Wall Street Learns to Love Software, Again

By Martin Peers · Aug 27, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Forget the SaaSpocalypse! It's a SaaS renaissance (SaaSaissance, anyone?). Shares of Salesforce rocketed 23% on Thursday, leading a recovery for many of the most beaten-down software stocks, including ServiceNow, Figma and Asana, after Salesforce reported upbeat July-quarter earnings on Wednesday night. The rally signaled a striking change in... Forget the SaaSpocalypse! It's a SaaS renaissance (SaaSaissance, anyone?). Shares of Salesforce...

Getty Images.

Bill Gates’ AI Warning and Nvidia’s Boffo Quarter

By Martin Peers · Aug 26, 2026 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

You couldn’t miss the disconnect in the AI discussion among major tech figures on Wednesday. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned in a lengthy essay about the dangers posed by the technology, noting that he would support a global slowdown in AI advances if someone had a “credible plan” for doing so. Then Nvidia, the dominant seller of AI... You couldn’t miss the disconnect in the AI discussion among major tech figures on Wednesday....

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Getty Images.

Why OpenAI’s Jalapeño Might Sicken Nvidia

By Martin Peers · Aug 25, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Exactly who at OpenAI decided to name the company’s first internally designed chip Jalapeño? That might have seemed like a good idea a few months ago—perhaps OpenAI imagined that name would serve as a subtle indicator that the chip is a hot property. But it’s not ideal right now, when the Food and Drug Administration is warning that products... Exactly who at OpenAI decided to name the company’s first internally designed chip Jalapeño? That...

John Malone and Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

Nvidia's John Malone Dealmaking Opportunity

By Martin Peers · Aug 24, 2026 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

John Malone and Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

Nvidia's John Malone Dealmaking Opportunity

By Martin Peers · Aug 24, 2026 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

Here’s a thought about Nvidia’s future: All the equity stakes it’s accumulating in AI companies—including, as we reported on Sunday, an expanded stake in Perplexity—could become more useful in ways other than simply guaranteeing demand for its chips. Over time the stakes could end up being worth a lot of money and could also make CEO Jensen... Here’s a thought about Nvidia’s future: All the equity stakes it’s accumulating in AI companies—...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Nvidia, Salesforce Are in Spotlight This Week

By Martin Peers · Aug 23, 2026 3:01pm PDT

Some of the hardest-working people in tech right now have to be the corporate communications folks at Nvidia, which is pretty much never out of the news. Aside from updates on its latest AI chips, Nvidia seems to be investing in almost every part of the AI sector, from data center developers to AI model makers to data-labeling providers. And... Some of the hardest-working people in tech right now have to be the corporate communications...

Getty Images.

Walmart’s Slowdown Spotlights Amazon’s Strength

By Martin Peers · Aug 20, 2026 5:00pm PDT

This was not the day to be a Walmart shareholder. Stock of the venerable retailer tumbled 9% after the company reported a dip in comparable sales for its U.S. stores in its fiscal second quarter ending July, even as the e-commerce part of its business grew 23%. The results were fine, really, although there’s no getting around the fact that... This was not the day to be a Walmart shareholder. Stock of the venerable retailer tumbled 9%...

OpenRouter founder Alex Atallah. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.

Stripe Takes OpenRouter

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

No one would ever call payment processing a glamorous business, although if anyone could make it interesting, it’s Stripe’s founders, the Collison brothers (they’re Irish, and one of them has a podcast set in a pub!). Stripe has been out of the limelight for a while, but that’s changed in recent weeks based on speculation that it has been... No one would ever call payment processing a glamorous business, although if anyone could make it...

Erin Popolo, who lost her 17-year-old daughter to suicide, speaks to the press outside the federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif. on Aug. 18 as opening arguments began in the Meta trial. Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP/Getty Images.

What’s at Stake for Meta in Youth Addiction Trial

By Martin Peers · Aug 18, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Erin Popolo, who lost her 17-year-old daughter to suicide, speaks to the press outside the federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif. on Aug. 18 as opening arguments began in the Meta trial. Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP/Getty Images.

What’s at Stake for Meta in Youth Addiction Trial

By Martin Peers · Aug 18, 2026 5:01pm PDT

You might be shocked to learn there is a world outside AI! And we got a glimpse of it in an Oakland, Calif., courtroom today, at the opening of the trial in a lawsuit brought by California and several other states against Meta Platforms over the alleged harms its social media apps have done to kids. This case, part of a deluge of such lawsuits... You might be shocked to learn there is a world outside AI! And we got a glimpse of it in an...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Getty Images.

Nvidia Juggles Mixed Messages on Chip Longevity

By Phoebe Liu · Aug 17, 2026 5:51pm PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia wants customers to buy as many of its next-generation AI chips as possible. It also wants its customers to know their old AI chips will remain valuable for a long time. Can it manage both?Nvidia has been able to grow so quickly because it has convinced big customers to shift almost completely to its latest and greatest hardware nearly... Nvidia wants customers to buy as many of its next-generation AI chips as possible. It also wants...

Photo by Getty

Workday's Potential Buyout Feeds Hope Saas Sell-off Is Over

By Laura Mandaro · Aug 16, 2026 3:00pm PDT

In software land, it’s getting harder and harder to call out a singular vibe shift when the vibes keep shifting every 24 hours. On Thursday, when news broke that Silver Lake was in talks to acquire Workday, the human resource software company’s stock shot up 19%. Such a deal would be a big vote of confidence in a prominent... In software land, it’s getting harder and harder to call out a singular vibe shift when the vibes...

OpenAI’s departing and incoming chief revenue officers Denise Dresser and Dali Rajic. Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Latest Hire Burnishes Its Cybersecurity Credentials

By Aaron Holmes and Laura Bratton · Aug 13, 2026 5:15pm PDT

It may be the dog days of summer, but the biggest AI labs are breaking up the monotony with a few executive changes. The latest is OpenAI Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser. The ChatGPT maker said Thursday she would leave the firm after just eight months on the job. In her place, OpenAI has hired Dali Rajic, formerly president and chief... It may be the dog days of summer, but the biggest AI labs are breaking up the monotony with a few...

Nebius CEO and founder, Arkady Volozh. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images.

Nebius, CoreWeave Are Cashing In on Soaring AI Compute Prices

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

Nebius CEO and founder, Arkady Volozh. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images.

Nebius, CoreWeave Are Cashing In on Soaring AI Compute Prices

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

Remember two weeks ago when Apple passed Nvidia in market capitalization? That’s now ancient history. At today’s close, Nvidia’s market capitalization was $1 trillion higher than Apple’s. In the past two weeks, Nvidia stock has risen 18% and Apple’s has fallen 10% or so. That seems to be mostly due to broad market dynamics, such as the state of... Remember two weeks ago when Apple passed Nvidia in market capitalization? That’s now ancient...

Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How to Analyze CoreWeave’s Mounting Losses

By Martin Peers · Aug 11, 2026 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

The business of running a fast-growing but young cloud computing firm in the age of AI is not necessarily a profitable one. Take CoreWeave, perhaps the best known of a crop of neoclouds trying to take on the well-established cloud firms. On Tuesday it reported second-quarter earnings showing that revenue rose 112% to $2.575 billion while cash... The business of running a fast-growing but young cloud computing firm in the age of AI is not...

Mark Zuckerberg. Getty Images.

Zuckerberg v. Amodei in AI Marketing

By Martin Peers · Aug 10, 2026 5:01pm PDT

If at first people don’t pay attention to what you say, say it again. That appears to be Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s philosophy. About two weeks after publishing a roughly 1,000-word opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal headlined “The AI Future Is for Everyone,” Zuckerberg published a 6,500 word version of the same piece on Meta.com... If at first people don’t pay attention to what you say, say it again. That appears to be Meta...

Tobias Lutke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

AI’s Software Winners and Losers Are Becoming Clearer

By Martin Peers · Aug 9, 2026 3:00pm PDT

After last week’s earnings onslaught, things will likely quiet down this week. Aside from neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius, no major tech earnings announcements are scheduled, which gives us a chance to assess what we learned in the past week. One big takeaway is that the enterprise software sector has bifurcated between those firms that are... After last week’s earnings onslaught, things will likely quiet down this week. Aside from...

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

SoftBank’s OpenAI-Backed Loan Highlights Risks in Financing Strategy

By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

SoftBank’s OpenAI-Backed Loan Highlights Risks in Financing Strategy

By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2026 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

If you’re one of those executives at Alphabet, Meta Platforms or Amazon who deals with investors, here’s an idea: Put a large photo of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on the wall of your office. Next time a visiting investor complains about your AI spending, point to the photo. That should end the discussion.As much as big tech firms are spending on... If you’re one of those executives at Alphabet, Meta Platforms or Amazon who deals with investors,...

Demis Hassabis. Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images.

What Google’s AI Shake-Up Means for Pichai Succession

By Martin Peers · Aug 5, 2026 5:01pm PDT

A flood of June-quarter earnings updates—from the likes of Uber, DoorDash, Shopify and Disney—was interrupted on Thursday by Google’s announcement that its AI guru, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, had been elevated to chair of the AI unit and chief scientist of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. That news coincided with the revelation that... A flood of June-quarter earnings updates—from the likes of Uber, DoorDash, Shopify and Disney—was...

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

SpaceX Reports Lots of Red Ink and Makes Big Promises

By Martin Peers · Aug 4, 2026 5:00pm PDT

Question: How is the 24-year-old SpaceX like a young startup? It’s burning twice as much cash as it brings in as revenue! That’s one takeaway from SpaceX’s first earnings report as a public company, in which the company revealed it burned $16 billion in the second quarter, on $7.8 billion in revenue. That’s thanks to a whopping $18.4 billion in... Question: How is the 24-year-old SpaceX like a young startup? It’s burning twice as much cash as...

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir. Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

Palantir’s Rocket-Ship Growth

By Martin Peers · Aug 3, 2026 5:01pm PDT

Palantir is truly the Nvidia of AI software. On Monday, the company delivered another rip-roaring quarterly result, showing revenue up a blistering 93%, well ahead of what it had projected. The company has accelerated revenue growth every quarter for three years, from a 13% rate of expansion in the second quarter of 2023. In that time, Palantir’... Palantir is truly the Nvidia of AI software. On Monday, the company delivered another rip-roaring...

Photo by Timothy A. Clary/ Getty Images

SpaceX Leads Crowded Earnings Week

By Martin Peers · Aug 2, 2026 3:01pm PDT

Photo by Timothy A. Clary/ Getty Images

SpaceX Leads Crowded Earnings Week

By Martin Peers · Aug 2, 2026 3:01pm PDT

Elon Musk fans have never had so many opportunities to hear from the man. On Tuesday, his newly public SpaceX will deliver its first earnings report, and we all expect Musk will be on the earnings call, in what would be his second call this earnings season following Tesla’s a couple of weeks earlier. (For a more expansive rundown of what will be... Elon Musk fans have never had so many opportunities to hear from the man. On Tuesday, his newly...