The Information

Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Google, OpenAI and Anthropic AI Safety Group Takes Shape

By Leo Schwartz and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 24, 2026 6:00am PDT

Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing forward with a plan to create a new AI safety-focused standards body on their own, without government oversight, in hopes of launching it by the end of the year or early in 2027, according to people familiar with the matter. The three companies tentatively plan to name the self-regulatory organization the... Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing forward with a plan to create a new AI safety-focused...

Photo by Matthias Balk/Getty Images

DeepSeek’s Annualized Revenue Hits $1 Billion as Startup Finalizes $7.5 Billion Fundraising

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Sep 23, 2026 11:20pm PDT

DeepSeek’s annualized revenue run rate has hit $1 billion, more than double the rate of a few months ago, buoyed by a recent price hike as well as continued popularity of its models, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The latest revenue figure, shared by CEO Liang Wenfeng in a recent meeting with investors, could boost... DeepSeek’s annualized revenue run rate has hit $1 billion, more than double the rate of a few...

Photo by Erin Beach

Google Nears Release of Flagship Gemini 4 AI Model

By Laura Bratton · Sep 23, 2026 7:15pm PDT

Google is nearing the release of its newest flagship model, Gemini 4, the head of its DeepMind division said Wednesday, a long-awaited development after the tech giant fell behind rivals Anthropic and OpenAI in the AI model race. Speaking at The Information’s AI Agenda Live Summit, in his first media appearance as the new leader of Google... Google is nearing the release of its newest flagship model, Gemini 4, the head of its DeepMind...

Joey Krug, partner at Founders Fund. Photo by Joseph Nair/Getty Images

Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures Visit China as Country’s AI Prowess Rises

By Julia Hornstein, Jing Yang, Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Sep 23, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Joey Krug, partner at Founders Fund. Photo by Joseph Nair/Getty Images

Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures Visit China as Country’s AI Prowess Rises

By Julia Hornstein, Jing Yang, Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew · Sep 23, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

U.S. venture capitalists have slashed investments in Chinese startups in recent years as relations between the two superpowers have soured. But behind the scenes, plenty are taking weekslong trips to meet with the country’s tech founders—a sign of the influence Chinese startups like DeepSeek wield in the hottest parts of tech. Last month,... U.S. venture capitalists have slashed investments in Chinese startups in recent years as...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Anthropic in Talks for 1-Gigawatt Data Center Lease With Apollo-Backed Developer

By Valida Pau and Amir Efrati · Sep 22, 2026 7:21pm PDT

Anthropic is in early talks to lease up to 1 gigawatt in compute capacity from a data center developer majority-owned by Apollo Global Management, part of a major effort by the AI company to reduce its reliance on cloud providers. The maker of Claude has discussed signing on as a direct tenant of sites developed by Stream Data Centers, a... Anthropic is in early talks to lease up to 1 gigawatt in compute capacity from a data center...

Art by Shutterstock; Mike Sullivan

Wall Street’s GPU Futures Push Stalls at the CFTC

By Dakin Campbell · Sep 22, 2026 1:58pm PDT

The launch of futures for rental prices on Nvidia GPUs, which are seen as important to make AI compute an investable asset class, is hitting a snag. CME Group had hoped to launch contracts as soon as early October, but it won’t have regulatory approval by then. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates the futures market, is... The launch of futures for rental prices on Nvidia GPUs, which are seen as important to make AI...

Palmer Luckey photo via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Luckey’s Erebor Bank Plots Syria Expansion

By Michael Roddan · Sep 22, 2026 9:00am PDT

Erebor Bank, fresh from becoming a vital new financial bridge between the U.S. and Venezuela, is eyeing a new foreign foray: expanding into Syria. The bank, founded by Anduril Industries co-founder Palmer Luckey, has told staff and some investors it could help the war-torn Middle Eastern country reconnect to the global financial system,... Erebor Bank, fresh from becoming a vital new financial bridge between the U.S. and Venezuela, is...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Software Firms Discount AI to Keep Customers From Anthropic, OpenAI

By Laura Bratton, Aaron Holmes and Catherine Perloff · Sep 22, 2026 6:01am PDT

Art via Mike Sullivan

Software Firms Discount AI to Keep Customers From Anthropic, OpenAI

By Laura Bratton, Aaron Holmes and Catherine Perloff · Sep 22, 2026 6:01am PDT

Software firms and cloud providers including Amazon, Microsoft, Figma and Workday are dangling new discounts on AI products to clients and consulting partners exhausted by shifts in pricing. The special offers come as customers get choosier about which tools they purchase after they increased budgets for products like Anthropic’s Claude Code and... Software firms and cloud providers including Amazon, Microsoft, Figma and Workday are dangling...

Art via Getty Images; Mike Sullivan

China Probes DeepSeek, Moonshot Over Potential Data Leaks to Anthropic

By Qianer Liu and Jing Yang · Sep 22, 2026 4:18am PDT

China’s internet regulator is investigating DeepSeek and Moonshot AI after Anthropic alleged both companies had been routing sensitive user data to Claude models, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In a 154-page report published on Sept. 10, Anthropic detailed how seven Chinese companies were using Claude illicitly on a widespread... China’s internet regulator is investigating DeepSeek and Moonshot AI after Anthropic alleged both...

Dario Amodei, left, and Sam Altman. Photos by Getty Image

OpenAI and Anthropic Neared Deal to Stress Test Each Other’s AI

By Amir Efrati and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 21, 2026 6:55am PDT

OpenAI is rethinking a range of safety strategies as it responds to fears from employees and others about the dangers its AI poses. One solution could lie in the recent past. Even before the spate of cybersecurity incidents involving OpenAI’s technology and the dire warnings from industry workers, the company was negotiating a legally binding... OpenAI is rethinking a range of safety strategies as it responds to fears from employees and...

Art via Getty Images

DeepSeek Bets Big on Huawei Chips to Bypass U.S. Export Controls

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Sep 21, 2026 3:22am PDT

DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng told investors that a major priority for his company is to use more domestic chips to train its models, adding that he expects Huawei Technologies to start delivering training chips to DeepSeek as early as the fourth quarter this year, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. DeepSeek’s growing... DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng told investors that a major priority for his company is to use more...

Anthropic co-founder and president Daniela Amodei. Getty Images.

Anthropic IPO Waiting Game Puts Wall Street on Edge

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2026 2:55pm PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic co-founder and president Daniela Amodei. Getty Images.

Anthropic IPO Waiting Game Puts Wall Street on Edge

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2026 2:55pm PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic finance chief Krishna Rao and other executives met with groups of prospective public investors last month with his company’s numbers looking spiffier than ever. The company had gone from spending about $2.30 on operations for every $1 of revenue in spring of 2025 to turning a slight profit on that basis in the June... Anthropic finance chief Krishna Rao and other executives met with groups of prospective public...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

A Tsinghua Professor’s Stealth LLM Startup Hits $1.4 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa · Sep 18, 2026 5:10am PDT

A secretive Chinese AI model startup founded in February by a Tsinghua University professor is now valued at more than $1.4 billion, after raising $400 million in three funding rounds from investors including Tencent, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Beijing-based Naive AI is preparing to release its first large... A secretive Chinese AI model startup founded in February by a Tsinghua University professor is...

Art: Clark Miller; Getty Images

Introducing The Information’s 50 Most Influential People in Tech

By Jemima McEvoy and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 17, 2026 6:09am PDT

Money, technical savvy and disruptive ideas all matter within the technology industry. But the most seismic force is influence. Those who have it build, fund and steer the companies that alter the world—again and again. Those without it can only rise so far. So who’s got that clout? You’ll find the answer by poring over our new list: the... Money, technical savvy and disruptive ideas all matter within the technology industry. But the...

Photo by Getty Images.

Apollo Backs AI Startups in Bid to Bankroll Hardware Boom

By Valida Pau · Sep 16, 2026 2:51pm PDT

Apollo Global Management, known for leveraged buyouts and hefty financing deals, has started investing in AI and related hardware startups with the ambition to lend money to them in the future. In one previously unreported deal, Apollo has already invested in the low tens of millions of dollars in Mercor’s latest funding round, which is set to... Apollo Global Management, known for leveraged buyouts and hefty financing deals, has started...

Apple CEO John Ternus. Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images.

Apple Considers Return to Server Market, Has Talked With Nvidia to Use Network Tech

By Aaron Tilley, Qianer Liu and Phoebe Liu · Sep 16, 2026 6:00am PDT

Apple CEO John Ternus. Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images.

Apple Considers Return to Server Market, Has Talked With Nvidia to Use Network Tech

By Aaron Tilley, Qianer Liu and Phoebe Liu · Sep 16, 2026 6:00am PDT

Apple has been working on plans for an enterprise server using its own chips that could incorporate networking equipment from Nvidia, people familiar with the project said, as the Mac maker looks to capitalize on surging interest in its computers for AI. Apple has been developing the server with plans to sell it to AI developers, other... Apple has been working on plans for an enterprise server using its own chips that could...

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AI Agent Startup Instinct in Talks for $10 Billion Valuation

By Valida Pau · Sep 15, 2026 6:50pm PDT

The startup behind personal AI assistant Instinct is in talks to raise $1 billion at a valuation of about $10 billion, people with knowledge of the deal said. Sequoia Capital and Benchmark have been in talks to lead the financing, the people said. Coatue Management has also been in talks to lead, according to one of the people. The Information ... The startup behind personal AI assistant Instinct is in talks to raise $1 billion at a valuation...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Meta to Launch Camera-Free Smart Glasses Amid Mounting Privacy Concerns

By Jyoti Mann · Sep 15, 2026 3:22pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms plans to release a camera-free pair of smart glasses this fall, according to people familiar with the matter, as it looks to expand its hardware lineup amid privacy concerns about cameras on its existing offerings. The new glasses model, internally code-named Luna, has six built-in microphones that will allow users to speak with... Meta Platforms plans to release a camera-free pair of smart glasses this fall, according to...

Art by Shane Burke

How Erebor Bank’s Sweet Stablecoin Deal Backfired

By Michael Roddan and Yueqi Yang · Sep 15, 2026 7:30am PDT

When Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Bank launched earlier this year, it made an attractive pitch to lure new crypto customers: It would convert their stablecoins to cash for free. But Erebor wound up pulling the offer after several months, after sophisticated crypto trading firms sniffed out a way to make an easy profit out of the offer—at a cost... When Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Bank launched earlier this year, it made an attractive pitch to lure...

Photo by Costfoto/ Getty Images

ByteDance’s First-Half Profit Drops to $20 Billion, Weighed Down by AI Spending

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Sep 15, 2026 5:00am PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Costfoto/ Getty Images

ByteDance’s First-Half Profit Drops to $20 Billion, Weighed Down by AI Spending

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Sep 15, 2026 5:00am PDT · 1 comment

ByteDance’s net profit in the first half of this year declined by a single-digit percentage to $20 billion, as the Chinese tech giant ramped up its investments in AI, according to three people with knowledge of the financial results. The company’s revenue for the period rose around 30% year on year to $120 billion, driven partly by robust growth... ByteDance’s net profit in the first half of this year declined by a single-digit percentage to...