The Information

A Flock Safety license plate reader in Boulder, Colo. Photo by Getty.

Police Tech Startup Flock Safety Valued at $8.4 Billion Amid Civic Protests

By Cory Weinberg and Julia Hornstein · Apr 17, 2026 6:00am PDT

Flock Safety, which sells cameras, drones and AI software to police departments, was valued at $8.4 billion in a new round of funding completed in recent weeks, a modest bump from its financing last year, according to a publicly filed corporate charter and people familiar with the round. The company raised the new funds amid the largest... Flock Safety, which sells cameras, drones and AI software to police departments, was valued at...

Sam Altman (left) and Andrew Feldman (right). Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

OpenAI to Spend More Than $20 Billion on Cerebras Chips, Receive Equity Stake

By Anissa Gardizy and Valida Pau · Apr 16, 2026 6:19pm PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI recently struck an unusual deal to lessen its dependence on Nvidia’s AI chips and potentially lower its computing expenses in the coming years. OpenAI has agreed to pay Cerebras more than $20 billion to use servers powered by the firm’s chips over the next three years, double the figure that was previously associated with the deal,... OpenAI recently struck an unusual deal to lessen its dependence on Nvidia’s AI chips and...

Art by Clark Miller

Google and Pentagon Discuss Classified AI Deal as Company Rebuilds Military Ties

By Erin Woo · Apr 16, 2026 6:00am PDT

Google is negotiating an agreement with the Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to deploy Google’s Gemini AI models in classified settings, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. If the two parties come to an agreement, it would expand Google’s connection to the Pentagon as a tech contractor and... Google is negotiating an agreement with the Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon...

Art by Mike Sullivan/Shutterstock

Apple Sends Siri Staffers to Coding ‘Bootcamp’ in Latest Shakeup For Organization

By Aaron Tilley and Amir Efrati · Apr 15, 2026 12:44pm PDT · 2 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan/Shutterstock

Apple Sends Siri Staffers to Coding ‘Bootcamp’ in Latest Shakeup For Organization

By Aaron Tilley and Amir Efrati · Apr 15, 2026 12:44pm PDT · 2 comments

Apple is sending a portion of its Siri programmers back to coding school just two months before the company is expected to unveil a major, AI-powered revamp of the voice assistant, people familiar with the team said. The company plans to send a significant chunk of people working on Siri—a group that totals in the hundreds—to a... Apple is sending a portion of its Siri programmers back to coding school just two months before...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Plans New Pricing for ChatGPT Ads, Explores Other Upgrades

By Ann Gehan · Apr 15, 2026 6:00am PDT

OpenAI plans to start pricing some ChatGPT ads based on whether people click on the ads rather than just how many people see them, an agency executive who spoke with OpenAI employees and works with ChatGPT advertisers said. At the same time, OpenAI has also indicated it plans to introduce ads aimed at getting people to take a specific action,... OpenAI plans to start pricing some ChatGPT ads based on whether people click on the ads rather...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Anthropic Changes Pricing to Bill Firms Based on AI Use as Demand Jumps

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Apr 14, 2026 3:10pm PDT · 6 comments

Businesses whose employees are heavy users of Anthropic’s Claude products are likely to pay significantly more for them after the company changed its pricing model to charge business customers based on the amount of AI they use. The shift, which which some customers started to notice in recent weeks, is the latest indication of... Businesses whose employees are heavy users of Anthropic’s Claude products are likely to pay...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Polymarket Reverses Course on Startups That Piggyback on Insider Trades

By Michael Roddan · Apr 14, 2026 6:00am PDT

Polymarket was already under pressure to curb insider trading when it launched a program late last year to support startups that sent trades to its prediction market. Those companies quickly began handing suspected insider trading accounts to their own customers, letting them copy those trades. Now Polymarket has launched an audit of those... Polymarket was already under pressure to curb insider trading when it launched a program late...

Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty.

New SpaceX Numbers Show Reliance on Starlink

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 13, 2026 4:12pm PDT · 1 comment

Ethan Swope/Bloomberg/Getty.

New SpaceX Numbers Show Reliance on Starlink

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 13, 2026 4:12pm PDT · 1 comment

A new set of numbers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX makes it clear that the success of its potential initial public offering will depend on investors embracing the growth of the company’s Starlink satellite internet business. The other two businesses inside SpaceX—rocket launches and AI—are burning cash and not generating the kind of growth... A new set of numbers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX makes it clear that the success of its potential...

Garrett Lord, Co-Founder and CEO of Handshake. Image via YouTube

Handshake, Mercor Revenue Surges on Demand for Human Contractors to Train AI

By Julia Hornstein and Cory Weinberg · Apr 13, 2026 2:13pm PDT · 1 comment

AI firms’ voracious appetite for more data has lifted sales for obscure startups doing the industry’s unglamorous work: contracting with lawyers, PhD holders and medical doctors who grade the answers AI models generate. The latest is Handshake, a 12-year-old startup that began as a job site for college graduates. Handshake’s gross... AI firms’ voracious appetite for more data has lifted sales for obscure startups doing the...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Getty Images.

Microsoft Plots New Copilot Features Inspired by OpenClaw

By Aaron Holmes · Apr 13, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As Microsoft faces growing competition for business customers from Anthropic, it is developing new features that would make its AI assistant Copilot function more like OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent that has taken the AI industry by storm in recent months. A newly created team under Microsoft corporate vice president Omar Shahine is “... As Microsoft faces growing competition for business customers from Anthropic, it is developing...

Jeetu Patel, president and chief product officer at Cisco Systems Inc..

Cisco in Talks to Buy AI Security Startup Astrix for at Least $250 Million

By Valida Pau and Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 10, 2026 2:18pm PDT

Cisco Systems is in talks to acquire Astrix Security, a five-year-old Israeli cybersecurity startup that sells software to monitor and secure AI agents, for between $250 million and $350 million, according to people with knowledge of the deal. That would represent at least a 25% premium to the startup’s last valuation of around $200 million, one... Cisco Systems is in talks to acquire Astrix Security, a five-year-old Israeli cybersecurity...

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Getty Images

OpenAI Stargate Leaders Depart in Latest Shakeup to Data Center Strategy

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 9, 2026 8:25pm PDT · 2 comments

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Getty Images

OpenAI Stargate Leaders Depart in Latest Shakeup to Data Center Strategy

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 9, 2026 8:25pm PDT · 2 comments

Three senior OpenAI executives who helped launch the company’s original Stargate data center initiative have left or are preparing to depart the ChatGPT maker in the coming days, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter. Peter Hoeschele, an OpenAI executive who played a key role in getting the Stargate effort off the... Three senior OpenAI executives who helped launch the company’s original Stargate data center...

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

xAI Spending Pushed SpaceX to a Nearly $5 Billion Loss

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 9, 2026 5:13pm PDT

SpaceX lost just under $5 billion last year while generating more than $18.5 billion in revenue, two people familiar with the figures said. The financial figures include xAI, the Elon Musk-founded artificial intelligence company that SpaceX acquired in February. The net loss, as well as other financial figures that consolidate SpaceX and... SpaceX lost just under $5 billion last year while generating more than $18.5 billion in revenue,...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

SpaceX Woos Investors As C-Suite Shakeups Continue

By Theo Wayt, Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · Apr 9, 2026 10:53am PDT

Some of the biggest Wall Street fund managers are planning to trek to the southernmost tip of Texas, then about 950 miles to Memphis, Tenn, in two weeks, for exclusive visits to SpaceX facilities ahead of what could be the biggest initial public offering of all time, three people familiar with the matter said. The two-day trip is sure to inspire... Some of the biggest Wall Street fund managers are planning to trek to the southernmost tip of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Forecasts Advertising to Hit $102 billion by 2030

By Sri Muppidi · Apr 9, 2026 6:00am PDT · 10 comments

OpenAI’s advertising effort is so new that the company is still working out the kinks in it. That hasn’t stopped it from setting ambitious aims for the business, which it expects to become the largest driver of its revenue by the end of the decade. OpenAI expects advertising to generate about $2.4 billion in revenue this year and to quadruple... OpenAI’s advertising effort is so new that the company is still working out the kinks in it. That...

Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh. Alexander Miridonov/AP.

Nebius in Talks to Buy Israeli AI Startup AI21 After Nvidia Deal Fizzles

By Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Apr 8, 2026 2:39pm PDT

Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh. Alexander Miridonov/AP.

Nebius in Talks to Buy Israeli AI Startup AI21 After Nvidia Deal Fizzles

By Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Apr 8, 2026 2:39pm PDT

Nebius, a cloud provider backed by Nvidia with a market cap of $32 billion, is in talks to buy Israeli-based AI startup AI21 Labs, according to people with knowledge of the deal. The potential deal would help Amsterdam-based Nebius expand AI services for its customers beyond its main business of renting out servers. AI21 develops large... Nebius, a cloud provider backed by Nvidia with a market cap of $32 billion, is in talks to...

Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Polygon Labs in Talks to Raise Up to $100 Million for Payments Business

By Yueqi Yang · Apr 8, 2026 6:00am PDT

Polygon Labs, developer of the blockchain that underpins prediction market Polymarket and other crypto platforms, is in early talks with investors to raise as much as $100 million to build a new stablecoin payments business, according to people familiar with the talks. The funding discussions come amid a nasty downturn in crypto. The new venture... Polygon Labs, developer of the blockchain that underpins prediction market Polymarket and other...

Lindsey Nicholson/Getty Images.

Amazon’s Tough Stance on Prices Prompts Brands to Pull Products

By Ann Gehan · Apr 7, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Selling on Amazon is getting tougher for some big brands. In recent months, Amazon has rebuffed requests from some of the company’s wholesale suppliers to increase what it pays for their inventory, forcing brands to swallow higher costs related to tariffs, and more recently, oil prices, according to people who work with consumer brands like... Selling on Amazon is getting tougher for some big brands. In recent months, Amazon has rebuffed...

Elon Musk and T-Mobile 's then-CEO Mike Sievert on stage during a joint event in 2022 announcing the Starlink partnership. Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images.

Why SpaceX Has an Uphill Battle Growing Starlink Mobile

By Theo Wayt · Apr 6, 2026 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

SpaceX executives say its Starlink Mobile direct-to-cell service offered through mobile carriers will eventually reach hundreds of millions of customers around the globe, which would help justify SpaceX’s valuation. But right now, the service’s revenue is tiny. T-Mobile, for instance, SpaceX’s only mobile partner in the U.S., is offering its... SpaceX executives say its Starlink Mobile direct-to-cell service offered through mobile carriers...

Art by Clark Miller.

Meta Employees Vie for AI ‘Token Legend’ Status

By Jyoti Mann · Apr 6, 2026 6:00am PDT · 8 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

Meta Employees Vie for AI ‘Token Legend’ Status

By Jyoti Mann · Apr 6, 2026 6:00am PDT · 8 comments

Employees at Meta Platforms who want to show off their AI superuser chops are competing on an internal leaderboard for status as a “Session Immortal”—or, even better, “Token Legend.” The rankings, set up by a Meta employee on its intranet using company data, measure how many tokens—the units of data processed by AI... Employees at Meta Platforms who want to show off their AI superuser chops are competing on an...