Two times/week

Applied AI

By The Information Staff

Applied AI focuses on deep storytelling and reporting around the application of AI in business and beyond. From how companies drive innovation, support their customers, and foster collaboration with their teams, to how CEOs are applying AI to optimize their organizations.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Marc Benioff, left, and Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty
Applied AI

Salesforce, Microsoft Find Selling AI to Enterprises Is Easier Said Than Done

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 16, 2025 10:30am PDT · 1 comment
As new artificial intelligence flooded the software market over the past few years, CEOs of incumbents such as Salesforce and Microsoft said they were in pole position to capitalize on the wave.They already have relationships with the largest companies in the world, which rely on their apps as systems of record, meaning they use them to hold... As new artificial intelligence flooded the software market over the past few years, CEOs of...
Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes (l) and The Information reporter Akash Pasricha (r).
Applied AI

Atlassian CEO Claims Edge on Glean; Trouble Exporting From Teams

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 11, 2025 10:41am PDT
Enterprise search startup Glean has attracted customers and venture capital thanks to an AI search tool that lets employees quickly find corporate files and data in all of the apps their companies use. But Mike Cannon-Brookes, the CEO and co-founder of productivity app Atlassian, thinks his company is ahead of Glean in enterprise search—despite... Enterprise search startup Glean has attracted customers and venture capital thanks to an AI...
Census Bureau Says Corporate AI Adoption is Slowing
Applied AI

Census Bureau Says Corporate AI Adoption is Slowing

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 9, 2025 10:30am PDT
Across American businesses, use of artificial intelligence has fallen in recent months, according to the Census Bureau’s biweekly survey of thousands of companies.The drop is especially pronounced at the largest companies surveyed: AI for “producing goods and services” peaked in June for those with 250 employees, with roughly 15% of surveyed... Across American businesses, use of artificial intelligence has fallen in recent months, according...
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff
Salesforce CEO Inadvertently Stokes AI ‘Crisis’ Narrative
By Amir Efrati · Sep 4, 2025 10:30am PDT · 4 comments
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff
Applied AI

Salesforce CEO Inadvertently Stokes AI ‘Crisis’ Narrative

By Amir Efrati · Sep 4, 2025 10:30am PDT · 4 comments
After listening to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his top brass describe their excitement about the company’s artificial intelligence business for an hour and half on Wednesday, one might have thought they were taking a much deserved victory lap.“Every single one of our customers is becoming an agentic enterprise,” Benioff said.In reality, his... After listening to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his top brass describe their excitement about...
Replit CEO Amjad Masad.
Applied AI

Why Replit is Betting AI Prices Will Never Come Down

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 2, 2025 10:30am PDT
The prices businesses are paying for AI has become the subject of much moaning and gnashing of teeth among startups and their investors in recent weeks. At the heart of the issue, as we reported two weeks ago, is that the price of state-of-the-art models from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI haven’t fallen much in the past year, and AI... The prices businesses are paying for AI has become the subject of much moaning and gnashing of...
Applied AI Newsletter
A new The Information franchise that will take you inside how businesses are using AI to automate all kinds of work.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Art via Mike Sullivan
Applied AI

Why OpenAI is Going After Healthcare

By Amir Efrati · Aug 28, 2025 10:30am PDT
It was easy to miss last week’s announcement that Ashley Alexander, a 12-year veteran of Facebook and Instagram, is becoming vice president of health products at OpenAI, with the goal of improving “healthcare outcomes and access.” Alexander’s LinkedIn post didn’t give clues about exactly what products she will oversee, but it’s not hard to see... It was easy to miss last week’s announcement that Ashley Alexander, a 12-year veteran of Facebook...
‘AI Native’ Apps’ $18.5 Billion Annualized Revenues Rebut MIT’s Skeptical Study
Applied AI

‘AI Native’ Apps’ $18.5 Billion Annualized Revenues Rebut MIT’s Skeptical Study

By · Aug 26, 2025 10:32am PDT · 11 comments
It’s been hard to avoid a study last week from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which claimed that 95% of corporate efforts to use artificial intelligence failed to boost the bottom line for the surveyed companies. In other words, “only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools reach production.” Let’s set aside the study’s limitations,... It’s been hard to avoid a study last week from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which...
Sam Altman. Photo via Getty
Why AI Still Feels Pricy
By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 21, 2025 10:30am PDT
Sam Altman. Photo via Getty
Applied AI

Why AI Still Feels Pricy

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 21, 2025 10:30am PDT
Our Wednesday story about rising costs of businesses that pay for advanced artificial intelligence from OpenAI and Anthropic stirred strong reactions from readers. OpenAI researcher Aidan McLaughlin wondered aloud where we had gotten the idea that state-of-the-art AI was supposed to get cheaper. The answer: his boss, Sam Altman. OpenAI... Our Wednesday story about rising costs of businesses that pay for advanced artificial...
Art via Mike Sullivan
Applied AI

Is AI Better Than Humans at Interviewing People?

By · Aug 19, 2025 10:39am PDT · 1 comment
Job seekers are increasingly running into employers using artificial intelligence-powered job interviewers, and the process has garnered backlash and in some cases sparked lawsuits from spurned candidates. But AI interviewers might actually increase candidates’ chances of getting hired.A new research study published this week from the... Job seekers are increasingly running into employers using artificial intelligence-powered job...
Secret Snowflake AI Revenue Figure Shows Brand-Name LLMs Reign Supreme
Applied AI

Secret Snowflake AI Revenue Figure Shows Brand-Name LLMs Reign Supreme

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 14, 2025 1:02pm PDT
For all the talk about the rise of low-cost or open-source AI models, enterprises are still gravitating to brand-name models from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. That’s prompting database providers like Snowflake, Databricks and Oracle to strike deals allowing database customers to use the brand-name AI to build chatbots and search tools that... For all the talk about the rise of low-cost or open-source AI models, enterprises are still...
Applied AI Newsletter
A new The Information franchise that will take you inside how businesses are using AI to automate all kinds of work.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Replit CEO Amjad Masad. Photo via Getty
Applied AI

Why Flat Pricing for AI Agents Won’t Last

By · Aug 12, 2025 10:30am PDT
AI agents are getting more advanced—but they’re also getting more expensive to run. That trend is beginning to force AI agent sellers to change their pricing models to pass on more of the cost of running the agents to their users.Traditionally, AI companies have sold their products to businesses like most other types of software: by charging a... AI agents are getting more advanced—but they’re also getting more expensive to run. That trend is...
Photo via Getty
OpenAI Says GPT-5 Is One-Size-Fits-All; New Open Model Was Cheap to Train
By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Aug 7, 2025 11:05am PDT
Photo via Getty
Applied AI

OpenAI Says GPT-5 Is One-Size-Fits-All; New Open Model Was Cheap to Train

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Aug 7, 2025 11:05am PDT
OpenAI unveiled its new flagship AI model, GPT-5, on Thursday. And with the launch, OpenAI seems to be moving more towards offering an entire AI system to its customers versus giving them the choice between models. The company said during a live-streamed presentation that it would be withdrawing user access to its older models, meaning that... OpenAI unveiled its new flagship AI model, GPT-5, on Thursday. And with the launch, OpenAI seems...
Photo via Getty
Applied AI

How Chatbots Are Eating the M&A Advisory Business

By · Aug 5, 2025 10:30am PDT
In the M&A industry, bankers’ most important asset has historically been their rolodex. But the proliferation of AI chatbots appears to be changing that.When the boards of companies look to sell the business, they turn to M&A advisors to scope out suitable buyers. In the past, junior bankers assembling lists of potential buyers would... In the M&A industry, bankers’ most important asset has historically been their rolodex. But...
Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California. Photo by Getty
Applied AI

U.S. Taps Microsoft, OpenAI Tech to Cut Nuclear Red Tape

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 31, 2025 10:30am PDT
Staff at the Idaho National Laboratory, a federal nuclear research facility, have been using artificial intelligence from OpenAI and Anthropic to automate routine work, such as drafting literature reviews of research papers or generating lines of code.But now, the lab is starting a more ambitious effort: using AI to automate how companies obtain... Staff at the Idaho National Laboratory, a federal nuclear research facility, have been using...
Arsalan Tavakoli, a Databricks co-founder.
Applied AI

Databricks Makes It Easier to Get Out of Oracle

By · Jul 29, 2025 11:23am PDT
Artificial intelligence that rewrites code and can reprogram old apps into newer formats is lowering the cost of switching enterprise software providers and is poised to help companies tackle previously nearly impossible tasks, as Aaron reported Monday. One such task we’re hearing more about involves companies getting their data out of... Artificial intelligence that rewrites code and can reprogram old apps into newer formats is ...
Applied AI Newsletter
A new The Information franchise that will take you inside how businesses are using AI to automate all kinds of work.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Photo by Getty
AWS Took its Time Disclosing Security Flaw in AI Coding Tool
By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 24, 2025 11:19am PDT · 1 comment
Photo by Getty
Applied AI

AWS Took its Time Disclosing Security Flaw in AI Coding Tool

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 24, 2025 11:19am PDT · 1 comment
While artificial intelligence-powered coding is jet fuel for developer productivity, a string of incidents in recent months shows why customers should tread carefully in this version of the Wild West. In the latest worrisome development, a hacker recently found a way to upload malicious code to an Amazon Web Services’ AI coding assistant, Q... While artificial intelligence-powered coding is jet fuel for developer productivity, a string of...
Box CEO Says AI Will Entrench Old-Guard Enterprise Apps, Not Hurt Them
Applied AI

Box CEO Says AI Will Entrench Old-Guard Enterprise Apps, Not Hurt Them

By · Jul 22, 2025 10:49am PDT
Salesforce, Figma and other enterprise app firms have responded to a potential threat from artificial intelligence startups by limiting the startups’ access to customer data or files, even if the customers themselves give permission. But Aaron Levie, CEO of file storage firm Box, which turns 20 this year, says his company has no intention... Salesforce, Figma and other enterprise app firms have responded to a potential threat from...
Photo via Getty
Applied AI

AWS’ Free Agent Targets Microsoft Customers

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 17, 2025 10:00am PDT
As Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have dueled over cloud customers in the past decade, one of Microsoft’s biggest advantages has been its base of corporate customers that run Windows software on their local servers and want to move it to the cloud. AWS has complained about this dynamic for years, saying the Windows licenses effectively... As Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have dueled over cloud customers in the past decade, one of...
Art via Mike Sullivan
Applied AI

AWS, Google Race to Fill the Gaps in Their AI Clouds

By · Jul 15, 2025 11:01am PDT
The artificial intelligence boom is already visibly reshaping the cloud wars. For instance, Amazon Web Services looked like an insurmountable front-runner just a few years ago, but Google has made gains among AI developers thanks to its ability to serve some models at a much lower price, my colleague Kevin reported yesterday.More broadly, we’re... The artificial intelligence boom is already visibly reshaping the cloud wars. For instance,...
Art via Mike Sullivan
Why Some Companies Are Canceling ChatGPT Subscriptions
By Aaron Holmes · Jul 10, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment
Art via Mike Sullivan
Applied AI

Why Some Companies Are Canceling ChatGPT Subscriptions

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 10, 2025 10:00am PDT · 1 comment
Companies that buy artificial intelligence chatbots for their workers have many options, and some of them have started looking for the cheapest option. That could explain new data from payments startup Ramp, showing a slight dip in the percentage of Ramp customers that spent money on AI products like ChatGPT between May and June, to 42% from... Companies that buy artificial intelligence chatbots for their workers have many options, and some...