Startups

The Information team’s approach to covering up-and-coming companies focuses on previously unreported news of funding, plus the impact on the surrounding tech and finance ecosystems. Our newsroom produces The Information 50, an annual list of promising startups.

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Recent Articles about Startups
Photo of Donald Trump via Getty Images. Art by Mike Sullivan
Exclusive

White House Briefs AI Companies on Plan to Review Models Before Release

By Leo Schwartz and Stephanie Palazzolo · May 20, 2026 12:06pm PDT · 1 comment
The White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director hosted a briefing Tuesday for companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Reflection AI on a planned executive order on AI that will empower intelligence and other government agencies to review advanced models before the models are released, according to people familiar with the matter. ... The White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director hosted a briefing Tuesday for companies...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
The Information Finance

Fintech Lenders are Still Learning the Hard Way

By Ann Gehan · May 20, 2026 9:41am PDT
The recent bankruptcy of Parker, a corporate card startup that catered to e-commerce customers, is a good reminder that lending is one of the toughest ways to make money in fintech. Parker had been among the dwindling number of standalone, tech-heavy lenders geared toward small businesses that first sprung up during the fintech funding... The recent bankruptcy of Parker, a corporate card startup that catered to e-commerce customers,...
Exclusive

As Anthropic Costs Mount, Businesses Pressure Software Firms to Shorten Contracts

By Laura Bratton · May 20, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment
Businesses are spending more on Anthropic and other AI providers, and the additional budget has to come from somewhere. One natural target for cuts is other software. While businesses aren’t abandoning their enterprise applications outright, they’re putting themselves in a better position to do so if AI makes traditional apps less important. For... Businesses are spending more on Anthropic and other AI providers, and the additional budget has...
Wayve, May Mobility, Einride and Nuro self-driving vehicles. Photos: Wayve, May Mobility, Nuro, Einride, Getty. Art: Shane Burke
Startups to Watch

Nine Self-Driving Startups Chasing Waymo’s Lead

By Alex Perry · May 8, 2025 10:30am PDT · 5 comments
For years, self-driving cars were a feature of the sci-fi future. But Waymo’s leap from testing to ferrying paying customers in four cities has made robotaxis a reality. That’s set off a race among newcomers and industry stalwarts to expand new businesses that support autonomous vehicles. Below we provide exclusive details on nine startups worth... For years, self-driving cars were a feature of the sci-fi future. But Waymo’s leap from testing...
Skild AI robots. Photo by Skild AI
Startups to Watch

9 Robotics Startups to Watch

By Rocket Drew · Dec 27, 2024 6:00am PST · 4 comments
To train artificial intelligence–powered robots to pick a book off a shelf a decade ago, researchers had to direct the robots to perform the task roughly 500 times before the robots learned to imitate the motion, recalls Brad Porter, founder and CEO of Collaborative Robotics, which is developing robots to work in hospitals and warehouses.... To train artificial intelligence–powered robots to pick a book off a shelf a decade ago,...
Image by Clark Miller and Midjourney.
Startups to Watch

Eight Startups Challenging Nvidia in AI Chips

By Kevin McLaughlin, Anissa Gardizy, Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Aug 24, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
Nvidia dominates the market for graphics processing units used to train artificial intelligence models, although rivals like AMD and Intel are trying to catch up. Now some scrappy startups are entering the fray with alternative designs for AI chips they claim work better and more efficiently than Nvidia’s GPUs. Other startups are targeting... Nvidia dominates the market for graphics processing units used to train artificial intelligence...