The Information

Barret Zoph. YouTube/OpenAI.

OpenAI Names Former TML Staffer Zoph to Oversee Enterprise Push

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Jan 21, 2026 2:14pm PST · 1 comment

Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines Lab cofounder who rejoined OpenAI in a swirl of controversy last week, will lead the company’s push to sell AI products to businesses, as part of a broader reorganization across the company, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications Fidji Simo told staff on Wednesday. Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, will... Barret Zoph, the Thinking Machines Lab cofounder who rejoined OpenAI in a swirl of controversy...

Art by Mike Sullivan/Gemini

Apple Developing AI Wearable Pin

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Jan 21, 2026 11:58am PST · 1 comment

Apple is developing an AI-powered wearable pin the size of an AirTag that is equipped with multiple cameras, a speaker, microphones and wireless charging, according to people with direct knowledge of the project. The device could be released as early as 2027, they said. Such a product would position Apple to compete more effectively with OpenAI,... Apple is developing an AI-powered wearable pin the size of an AirTag that is equipped with...

Art by Mike Sullivan

TikTok Plans Big Shopping Push

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Jan 21, 2026 6:04am PST

TikTok’s U.S. business may be about to take off. The scheduled completion this week of TikTok’s sale of its U.S. data security arm to a joint venture ends years of uncertainty about its future in the U.S. And the video app maker is now redoubling its efforts to build a much bigger e-commerce business in the U.S., in a new challenge to Amazon. TikTok’s U.S. business may be about to take off. The scheduled completion this week of TikTok’s...

Photo by Getty.

OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch

By Catherine Perloff and Sri Muppidi · Jan 20, 2026 7:29pm PST · 1 comment

Photo by Getty.

OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch

By Catherine Perloff and Sri Muppidi · Jan 20, 2026 7:29pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI has started offering its new chatbot ads to dozens of advertisers, according to two people familiar with the matter. To start off, the company is charging on the basis of ad views as opposed to per-ad clicks that are typical at large sellers of search ads like Google and Amazon, the people said. OpenAI is asking that small pool of... OpenAI has started offering its new chatbot ads to dozens of advertisers, according to two people...

Applied Compute co-founders Rhythm Garg and Linden Li.

Applied Compute, Founded by Ex-OpenAI Researchers, in Talks for $1.3 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Valida Pau · Jan 20, 2026 3:01pm PST · 1 comment

Applied Compute, a startup founded by three former OpenAI researchers that helps companies customize models with their own data, is in talks to raise new funding at a $1.3 billion valuation, including the investment, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. The funding would more than double the company’s valuation from its... Applied Compute, a startup founded by three former OpenAI researchers that helps companies...

Art by Clark Miller.

JPMorgan Moves To Cut Off Fintech With Questionable Customers

By Michael Roddan · Jan 20, 2026 12:19pm PST

Fintech startup Checkbook began with the promise to help banks eliminate paper checks and transformed itself into an international payments company that leveraged a relationship with JPMorgan Chase to give all manner of customers access to the U.S. financial system. JPMorgan recently told Checkbook it was winding down its relationship with the... Fintech startup Checkbook began with the promise to help banks eliminate paper checks and...

My Interview With Andy Jassy: OpenAI, Trump, Power and the Future of AWS

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 20, 2026 5:44am PST · 1 comment

AI-powered shopping has the potential to be a big boost to Amazon’s retail business, CEO Andy Jassy said on Tuesday. And while Amazon already has its own shopping chatbot, it is also looking for ways to partner with other companies to run their chatbots on its site. In an interview with The Information’s Jessica Lessin at the World Economic... AI-powered shopping has the potential to be a big boost to Amazon’s retail business, CEO Andy...

Google’s Gemini Sees Developer Requests More Than Double in Five Months

By Erin Woo · Jan 19, 2026 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Google’s Gemini Sees Developer Requests More Than Double in Five Months

By Erin Woo · Jan 19, 2026 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Google’s improvements to its Gemini AI models are boosting the company’s top line. Over the past year, Google’s business selling access to its Gemini AI models has skyrocketed, reflecting the improving quality of those models, according to three people with knowledge of Gemini’s sales. That’s likely to lift revenue from Google Cloud’s core... Google’s improvements to its Gemini AI models are boosting the company’s top line. Over the past...

Mira Murati. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

Thinking Machines Exodus Tests Investor Appetite for a $50 Billion Valuation

By Erin Woo and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 17, 2026 3:36pm PST · 5 comments

The timing couldn’t have been more awkward for Thinking Machines Lab. On Wednesday, during an all-hands meeting at the AI startup, its CEO, Mira Murati, announced that she had fired one of Thinking Machines’ co-founders, its Chief Technology Officer Barret Zoph, for poor performance and speaking with competitors, according to a person familiar... The timing couldn’t have been more awkward for Thinking Machines Lab. On Wednesday, during an...

Motive CEO Shoaib Makani. Art by Clark Miller; screenshot via YouTube.

Dashcam Maker Motive Delays Marketing of Its IPO

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Jan 16, 2026 2:41pm PST

Motive Technologies, a seller of AI-powered dashcams to trucking companies, is delaying the marketing of its initial public offering, which was supposed to begin on Monday, three people close to the company said. It could delay its roadshow another week, two of the people said. They didn’t describe the exact reasons, but one person called it a “... Motive Technologies, a seller of AI-powered dashcams to trucking companies, is delaying the...

Outside of a TSMC microchip fabrication plant in Taichung, Taiwan. An Rong Xu for the Washington Post/Getty Images.

TSMC Can’t Make AI Chips Fast Enough

By Qianer Liu · Jan 14, 2026 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Last November, during one of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s five visits to Taiwan last year, he and CC Wei, CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., met with reporters. Wei told the assembled media that Huang had come to ask for more chips, to which Huang, standing next to him, replied: “Yes!” Huang wasn’t the only U.S. tech executive making... Last November, during one of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s five visits to Taiwan last year, he and CC...

From left, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Images via Getty, art from Mike Sullivan

Microsoft’s Spending on Anthropic AI Is on Pace to Hit $500 Million

By Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff · Jan 14, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

From left, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Images via Getty, art from Mike Sullivan

Microsoft’s Spending on Anthropic AI Is on Pace to Hit $500 Million

By Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff · Jan 14, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

OpenAI is Microsoft’s most important AI provider and its biggest cloud server customer. But as OpenAI does more business with Microsoft’s cloud rivals, Microsoft is doing more business with Anthropic, OpenAI’s archrival. Microsoft has quietly become one of Anthropic’s top customers and was recently on pace to spend nearly $500 million a year for... OpenAI is Microsoft’s most important AI provider and its biggest cloud server customer. But as...

Andrew Feldman, CEO of Cerebras. Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Getty Images

Chipmaker Cerebras in Talks to Raise $1 Billion at a $22 Billion Valuation

By Valida Pau and Anissa Gardizy · Jan 13, 2026 2:04pm PST

AI chip startup Cerebras Systems is in talks to raise about $1 billion, valuing the company at $22 billion before the new investment, as the chipmaker prepares to go public this year, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. That’s a big jump from its last private valuation of $8.1 billion in September 2025, when it raised $1.1... AI chip startup Cerebras Systems is in talks to raise about $1 billion, valuing the company at...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon /Getty Images

China Restricts Nvidia Chip Purchases to Special Circumstances

By Qianer Liu · Jan 13, 2026 8:27am PST

The Chinese government this week told some tech companies it would only approve their purchases of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips under special circumstances, such as for university research and development labs, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The latest communication signals Beijing is hardening its position against... The Chinese government this week told some tech companies it would only approve their purchases...

Fidji Simo, CEO of Apps for OpenAI.

OpenAI Agrees to Buy AI Healthcare App For About $100 Million

By Laura Mandaro · Jan 12, 2026 12:39pm PST · 3 comments

OpenAI has agreed to buy Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app, for about $100 million in equity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the acquisition. Torch enables customers to view and analyze their health data from health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, medical scanning firms like Prenuvo, and apps that track physical... OpenAI has agreed to buy Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app, for about $100 million in...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Dashcam Maker Motive Touts AI but Relies on Humans

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Jan 12, 2026 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

Dashcam Maker Motive Touts AI but Relies on Humans

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Jan 12, 2026 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Last summer, a manager at startup Motive Technologies sent an urgent Slack message to 400 employees based in Pakistan. “WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” it said in all caps. Motive sells AI-powered dashcams that allow trucking companies to monitor drivers and send alerts about crashes and other safety issues. In August, the dashcams recorded a string of... Last summer, a manager at startup Motive Technologies sent an urgent Slack message to 400...

Andrew Dai, co-founder of Elorian and former researcher at Google DeepMind. Photo via YouTube/Databricks.

Former Google, Apple Researchers Raising $50 Million for New Visual AI Startup

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 10, 2026 11:48am PST · 3 comments

Andrew Dai, a veteran AI researcher who recently left Google DeepMind after 14 years, is launching a new startup focused on AI models that understand and process text, images, video and audio simultaneously, Dai said. The new startup, Elorian, is in talks with investors to raise a seed round of around $50 million, said Dai and another person... Andrew Dai, a veteran AI researcher who recently left Google DeepMind after 14 years, is...

Getty Images.

DeepSeek To Release Next Flagship AI Model With Strong Coding Ability

By The Information Staff · Jan 9, 2026 5:11am PST

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is expected to launch its next-generation AI model that features strong coding capabilities in the coming weeks, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plan. The new model, V4, is a successor to the V3 model DeepSeek released in December 2024. Initial tests done by DeepSeek employees based on the company... Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is expected to launch its next-generation AI model that features...

Lambda Labs CEO Stephen Balaban. Screenshot via YouTube

Nvidia-Backed Cloud Provider Lambda in Talks to Raise $350 Million Ahead of IPO

By Cory Weinberg, Aaron Holmes, Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Jan 8, 2026 4:10pm PST

Lambda, an upstart cloud provider that rents out Nvidia AI chips—and whose biggest customer was recently Nvidia itself—is trying to raise at least $350 million before a potential initial public offering this year, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Mubadala Capital, which manages money for the United Arab Emirates... Lambda, an upstart cloud provider that rents out Nvidia AI chips—and whose biggest customer...

Art: Shane Burke. Photos: Getty Images.

Strava Filed Confidentially for IPO, Hired Goldman Sachs

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Jan 8, 2026 1:08pm PST · 1 comment

Art: Shane Burke. Photos: Getty Images.

Strava Filed Confidentially for IPO, Hired Goldman Sachs

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Jan 8, 2026 1:08pm PST · 1 comment

Strava, a fitness app popular with runners and cyclists, filed confidentially in recent weeks for an initial public offering and hired Goldman Sachs to run the listing, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The San Francisco–based firm, founded in 2009, has recently been meeting with prospective investors ahead of the... Strava, a fitness app popular with runners and cyclists, filed confidentially in recent weeks for...