The Information

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI’s First Advertisers Can’t Prove ChatGPT Ads Work

By Catherine Perloff · Mar 21, 2026 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

As OpenAI prepares to open up ad sales to more marketers next month, it is trying to address what some advertisers say was lacking in the initial ad sales offering. Among other things, the ChatGPT creator is planning to streamline the process of ad buying, either in partnerships with ad tech firms or with its own ad management system. So far,... As OpenAI prepares to open up ad sales to more marketers next month, it is trying to address what...

Art by Clark Miller

Apple Acquisition Talks, Fraud Accusations: Behind One App Startup’s Nasty Split

By Aaron Tilley · Mar 21, 2026 5:00am PDT

Last summer, Apple held talks to acquire Lux Optics, a tiny startup that makes Halide, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed camera apps in the App Store. The deal never happened. Instead, a couple months after the talks ended, Apple began recruiting Sebastiaan de With, Lux’s co-founder and designer—a revelation to the startup’s... Last summer, Apple held talks to acquire Lux Optics, a tiny startup that makes Halide, one of the...

Art by Clark Miller

CIA Venture Arm Invests in Data Center Developer Prometheus Hyperscale

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 20, 2026 3:33pm PDT

The Central Intelligence Agency’s venture investment arm, IQT, has invested in AI data center company Prometheus Hyperscale, which is developing campuses in Wyoming and Texas, the company said. Wyoming has long been a location for sensitive military assets, and the CIA’s investment suggests Prometheus could potentially run national security... The Central Intelligence Agency’s venture investment arm, IQT, has invested in AI data center...

A RIVR ONE delivery robot. Screenshot via YouTube; art by Mike Sullivan.

Amazon Acquires Robotics Startup, Boosting Efforts to Streamline Deliveries

By Catherine Perloff and Valida Pau · Mar 19, 2026 1:13pm PDT

A RIVR ONE delivery robot. Screenshot via YouTube; art by Mike Sullivan.

Amazon Acquires Robotics Startup, Boosting Efforts to Streamline Deliveries

By Catherine Perloff and Valida Pau · Mar 19, 2026 1:13pm PDT

Amazon has acquired autonomous robotics startup Rivr, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, a deal that could help the commerce and logistics giant deliver packages to shoppers’ doors more efficiently. Based in Zurich and formerly known as Swiss-Mile, Rivr was valued at $110 million in an August 2024 funding round, according to PitchBook. Amazon and... Amazon has acquired autonomous robotics startup Rivr, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, a deal...

Fal AI Co-Founder Burkay Gur. Getty Images.

Video Hosting Startup Fal in Funding Talks at $8 Billion Valuation

By Katie Roof · Mar 18, 2026 9:52pm PDT · 1 comment

Fal, a fast-growing cloud service for accessing and storing AI models that generate images, video, and audio, is in talks to raise $300 million to $350 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the fundraise. The deal, which would nearly double the company’s paper valuation to around $8 billion from a financing three months ago,... Fal, a fast-growing cloud service for accessing and storing AI models that generate images,...

Art by Clark Miller

Inside Meta, a Rogue AI Agent Triggers Security Alert

By Jyoti Mann · Mar 18, 2026 2:31pm PDT

A rogue AI agent recently triggered a major security alert at Meta Platforms, by taking action without approval that led to the exposure of sensitive company and user data to Meta employees who didn’t have authorization to access the data. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the incident, while adding that “no user data was mishandled” as a result of... A rogue AI agent recently triggered a major security alert at Meta Platforms, by taking action...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Apple Cracks Down on ‘Vibe Coding’ Apps

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Tilley · Mar 18, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Apple has quietly prevented AI vibe coding apps such as Replit and Vibecode, which help people create games and other applications, from releasing updates to their mobile apps on the App Store unless they make modifications, according to several people with knowledge of the situation. The company confirmed it has told some app developers that... Apple has quietly prevented AI vibe coding apps such as Replit and Vibecode, which help people...

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Clinches AWS Deal in Bid to Win Government Contracts

By Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes · Mar 17, 2026 6:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Clinches AWS Deal in Bid to Win Government Contracts

By Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes · Mar 17, 2026 6:00am PDT

OpenAI on Friday signed a new contract with Amazon Web Services to sell its AI to U.S. government employees for both classified and unclassified work, according to two people with direct knowledge of the agreement. The contract will allow OpenAI to support the Pentagon through a deal it hastily won late last month after the agency ditched its... OpenAI on Friday signed a new contract with Amazon Web Services to sell its AI to U.S. government...

Art by Mike Sullivan

ByteDance Suspends Launch of Video AI Model After Copyright Disputes With Hollywood

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Mar 14, 2026 9:00am PDT

ByteDance has put on hold the global launch of its latest video-generation model, Seedance 2.0, due to a string of copyright disputes with major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The TikTok parent released Seedance 2.0 to consumers and businesses in China last month, and... ByteDance has put on hold the global launch of its latest video-generation model, Seedance 2.0,...

Getty Images

Ex-Anthropic Researchers Are Raising Capital For New Startup at $1 Billion Valuation

By Julia Hornstein, Anissa Gardizy and Sri Muppidi · Mar 13, 2026 12:54pm PDT · 1 comment

Former Anthropic researchers are in talks to raise $175 million at a $1 billion valuation for a new startup that aims to conduct AI-driven research and development for scientific fields such as biology and materials science, according to people who have spoken to them. Andreesseen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins are in talks to co-lead the round,... Former Anthropic researchers are in talks to raise $175 million at a $1 billion valuation for a...

Travis Kalanick. Photo by AP

Travis Kalanick Plots New Robotics and Self-Driving Venture with Levandowski, Uber

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 13, 2026 10:18am PDT

Former Uber CEO and cofounder Travis Kalanick is preparing to launch a new robotics and self-driving car company with major backing from the ride-hailing giant, according to several people familiar with the matter. Kalanick has also been discussing acquiring the startup founded by Anthony Levandowski, a self-driving car pioneer who has been... Former Uber CEO and cofounder Travis Kalanick is preparing to launch a new robotics and...

Elon Musk at Space X in Brownsville, Texas. Photo by Marvin Joseph/ Getty Images.

SpaceX Discusses Dividing Up Bank Roles in Echo of Alibaba’s Lineup

By Valida Pau · Mar 13, 2026 10:06am PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk at Space X in Brownsville, Texas. Photo by Marvin Joseph/ Getty Images.

SpaceX Discusses Dividing Up Bank Roles in Echo of Alibaba’s Lineup

By Valida Pau · Mar 13, 2026 10:06am PDT · 1 comment

When companies typically go public, they appoint one or two investment banks to oversee everything—from valuing the company to lining up investors. That’s not how Elon Musk plans to handle the upcoming SpaceX giant’s initial public offering. The rocket and AI firm has discussed dividing up roles among a larger group of investment banks,... When companies typically go public, they appoint one or two investment banks to oversee...

Rajeeb Hazra, CEO, Quantinuum. Photo via Getty

The Startups Inching Toward an IPO in a Volatile Market

By Valida Pau · Mar 13, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Startups hoping to go public this year will need plenty of grit to get their shares listed. A rout in software stocks over fears AI will make their businesses irrelevant had already poured cold water on many startups’ initial public offering plans. Then the Middle East war made companies even more nervous about testing a volatile stock market.... Startups hoping to go public this year will need plenty of grit to get their shares listed. A...

Nscale CEO Josh Payne. Screenshot via YouTube/Nscale.

Nvidia Cloud Ally Nscale in Talks to Buy a Major U.S. Data Center Site Ahead of IPO

By Anissa Gardizy · Mar 12, 2026 4:35pm PDT

Nscale, an upstart cloud provider heavily backed by Nvidia whose customers include OpenAI and Microsoft, is in talks to take control of one of the largest available sites for AI data centers in the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the talks and fundraising documents viewed by The Information. A deal to buy the site, located in West... Nscale, an upstart cloud provider heavily backed by Nvidia whose customers include OpenAI and...

Andrew Milich (left) and Jason Ginsberg (right). Screenshots via YouTube/Linkedin.

XAI Hires Two Senior Leaders From Cursor to Catch Up on Coding

By Erin Woo and Theo Wayt · Mar 12, 2026 12:31pm PDT · 3 comments

Elon Musk’s xAI is hiring two senior Cursor leaders as part of an effort to catch up with AI rivals in coding, according to a person with direct knowledge of the move. The pair, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, will both report to Musk, the person said. The move follows a string of high-level departures at xAI, including the majority of its... Elon Musk’s xAI is hiring two senior Cursor leaders as part of an effort to catch up with AI...

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

Anthropic in Talks With Blackstone, Other PE Firms to Form AI Consulting Venture

By Anissa Gardizy, Valida Pau and Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 11, 2026 7:05pm PDT · 1 comment

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

Anthropic in Talks With Blackstone, Other PE Firms to Form AI Consulting Venture

By Anissa Gardizy, Valida Pau and Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 11, 2026 7:05pm PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic is in talks with a consortium of private equity firms including Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman about forming an AI-focused joint venture to sell the Claude maker’s technology to companies funded by the investment firms, according to a person involved in the discussions and another person who was briefed about it. The recent... Anthropic is in talks with a consortium of private equity firms including Blackstone and Hellman...

Photo of the Stargate data center in Abilene, Texas by Getty Images. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Microsoft in Talks to Lease Large Texas Data Center Site After Oracle Walked Away

By Anissa Gardizy and Miles Kruppa · Mar 11, 2026 11:36am PDT

Microsoft is in advanced talks to lease hundreds of megawatts of data center capacity at a closely watched artificial intelligence campus in Abilene, Texas, after rival Oracle walked away from the same opportunity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions and another person briefed about it. Meta Platforms is also in talks... Microsoft is in advanced talks to lease hundreds of megawatts of data center capacity at a...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI’s Shift to Shopping Apps Faces Even More Hurdles

By Ann Gehan and Sri Muppidi · Mar 11, 2026 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

With OpenAI suddenly scaling back on chatbot checkouts, its foray into shopping hinges on convincing retailers to set up shop with dedicated apps within ChatGPT—and getting people to buy stuff there. It faces hurdles on both fronts. ChatGPT apps have been around for just a few months—available for around 100 consumer firms, including... With OpenAI suddenly scaling back on chatbot checkouts, its foray into shopping hinges on...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Plans to Launch Sora Video AI in ChatGPT in Strategy Shift

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Sri Muppidi · Mar 10, 2026 8:54pm PDT

OpenAI plans to soon launch its Sora AI-generated video capabilities in ChatGPT, according to people with knowledge of the effort. The strategy shift could increase the chatbot’s usage as well as its costs. The move comes about five months after OpenAI released a Sora mobile app, which lets people quickly create videos of themselves and other... OpenAI plans to soon launch its Sora AI-generated video capabilities in ChatGPT, according to...

Pony Ma, CEO, of Tencent Holdings. Photo by Justin Chin/ Getty Images

Tencent Joins China’s AI Agent Race With ‘Top-Secret’ WeChat Project

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Mar 10, 2026 6:00am PDT

Pony Ma, CEO, of Tencent Holdings. Photo by Justin Chin/ Getty Images

Tencent Joins China’s AI Agent Race With ‘Top-Secret’ WeChat Project

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Mar 10, 2026 6:00am PDT

Tencent Holdings is secretly building a new AI agent for its hugely popular WeChat messaging app, in hopes of leapfrogging rivals like Alibaba Group and ByteDance in the race to dominate China’s domestic AI market, according to four people familiar with the project. The project could dramatically widen how AI agents, which take actions on... Tencent Holdings is secretly building a new AI agent for its hugely popular WeChat messaging app,...