The Information

Musk Restructures xAI Team Amid Senior Departures, SpaceX Merger

By Theo Wayt · Feb 11, 2026 12:01pm PST

Elon Musk has overhauled xAI’s leadership structure following its merger with SpaceX and as he pressures the AI firm to accelerate progress on Grok AI models, The Information’s latest org chart for the combined company shows. The changes coincide with an exodus of senior leaders. Just half of xAI’s 12 founding staffers, including Musk,... Elon Musk has overhauled xAI’s leadership structure following its merger with SpaceX and as he...

Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/ Getty Images.

ChatGPT Shopping Could Get Complicated Fast

By Ann Gehan · Feb 10, 2026 10:04am PST

OpenAI has touted shopping inside ChatGPT as a major business opportunity as it tries to raise tens of billions in fresh cash. Meanwhile, the company is still nailing down some online commerce basics. That includes figuring out the best way to navigate state sales taxes—people working on commerce inside OpenAI still haven’t decided how it... OpenAI has touted shopping inside ChatGPT as a major business opportunity as it tries to raise...

Photo by Matthias Balk/Getty Images.

Amazon Discusses AI Content Marketplace With Publishers

By Catherine Perloff and Erin Woo · Feb 9, 2026 3:34pm PST · 3 comments

Amazon has indicated to publishing industry executives that it is planning to launch a marketplace where publishers can sell their content to firms offering AI products, according to two people who spoke with Amazon about the project. Those discussions come as publishers and AI companies are battling to set terms over how AI firms can access... Amazon has indicated to publishing industry executives that it is planning to launch a...

MrBeast. Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

MrBeast’s Beast Industries to Buy Gen Z–Focused Banking App

By Valida Pau · Feb 9, 2026 9:05am PST

MrBeast. Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

MrBeast’s Beast Industries to Buy Gen Z–Focused Banking App

By Valida Pau · Feb 9, 2026 9:05am PST

Beast Industries, the entertainment conglomerate founded by Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, has agreed to buy Step Mobile, a teen-focused banking app, the companies plan to announce Monday. The acquisition will expand the YouTube star’s reach beyond media, restaurants and packaged food into financial services. Founded in 2018, Step Mobile runs an app... Beast Industries, the entertainment conglomerate founded by Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, has agreed...

Elon Musk. Photo by Krisztian Bocsi/ Getty Images

Apollo Nears $3 Billion Chip-Funding Deal Tied to XAI

By Miles Kruppa · Feb 9, 2026 6:00am PST

Apollo Global Management, one of Wall Street’s biggest private credit firms, is nearing a deal to lend about $3.4 billion to an investment vehicle that will purchase Nvidia chips and lease them to Elon Musk’s xAI, which just merged with SpaceX, said a person with knowledge of the deal. The deal would be Apollo’s second big investment in a... Apollo Global Management, one of Wall Street’s biggest private credit firms, is nearing a deal to...

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Microsoft Sales Chief Responds to Potential Rivalry with OpenAI’s New Agent Product

By Kevin McLaughlin and Aaron Holmes · Feb 6, 2026 6:45pm PST · 1 comment

Microsoft’s top sales executive told staff on Friday that the company was uniquely positioned to compete against a new OpenAI product aimed at helping businesses automate office tasks across different software applications—including Microsoft’s own apps. In an email, Microsoft commercial CEO Judson Althoff provided talking points... Microsoft’s top sales executive told staff on Friday that the company was uniquely positioned to...

Art by Clark Miller.

Nvidia to Delay New Gaming Chip Due to Memory Chip Shortage

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Feb 5, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Nvidia won’t release a new graphics chip for gamers this year due to a deepening global shortage of memory chips, prompted by the AI boom, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. It would be the first year in three decades that Nvidia hasn’t released a new graphics processing unit for gaming. Nvidia got its start in the... Nvidia won’t release a new graphics chip for gamers this year due to a deepening global shortage...

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Is Hiring Hundreds of AI Consultants to Boost Enterprise Sales

By Sri Muppidi · Feb 4, 2026 6:17pm PST · 2 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Is Hiring Hundreds of AI Consultants to Boost Enterprise Sales

By Sri Muppidi · Feb 4, 2026 6:17pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI is hiring hundreds of new staffers to expand a technical consulting team that helps large corporations develop custom AI applications and agents to automate employee tasks, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s plans. The hiring effort could help it beat back competition from archrival Anthropic, which has also upped its... OpenAI is hiring hundreds of new staffers to expand a technical consulting team that helps large...

Alexandr Wang, left, and Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by AP

Meta Memo: New Avocado Model ‘Most Capable’ to Date

By Jyoti Mann · Feb 4, 2026 12:21pm PST · 2 comments

Meta Platforms is sounding an increasingly bullish note about the first major AI model expected to emerge from its new AI group. The company recently told some staffers in the group, known as Meta Superintelligence Labs, that its next generation large language model, codenamed Avocado, is “now Meta’s most capable pre-trained base model to date,”... Meta Platforms is sounding an increasingly bullish note about the first major AI model expected...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Amazon Discusses Getting Special Access to OpenAI Tech

By Anissa Gardizy, Catherine Perloff and Amir Efrati · Feb 4, 2026 6:00am PST

As Amazon weighs an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, the companies are also discussing a commercial agreement that could require OpenAI to dedicate its own researchers and engineers to developing customized models for powering Amazon’s own AI products, according to a person involved in the talks and another person who... As Amazon weighs an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, the companies are...

Stripe co-founder John Collison. Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images.

Stripe’s Stablecoin Startup Tangles With Sanctions and Scammers

By Michael Roddan and Yueqi Yang · Feb 3, 2026 6:00am PST · 1 comment

When Stripe acquired crypto startup Bridge last year, it described stablecoins as financial services “superconductors.” Thanks to Bridge, Stripe has since integrated stablecoins into an array of products, such as stablecoin cards that allow customers to spend crypto anywhere. Using stablecoins for payments turns out to be harder than it looks.... When Stripe acquired crypto startup Bridge last year, it described stablecoins as financial...

Photo of Elon Musk by Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Inside Musk’s SpaceX-xAI Megamerger

By Cory Weinberg, Theo Wayt, Miles Kruppa, Amir Efrati and Katie Roof · Feb 2, 2026 6:13pm PST · 3 comments

Photo of Elon Musk by Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Inside Musk’s SpaceX-xAI Megamerger

By Cory Weinberg, Theo Wayt, Miles Kruppa, Amir Efrati and Katie Roof · Feb 2, 2026 6:13pm PST · 3 comments

Elon Musk rammed through the combination of his space company, SpaceX, with his AI startup, xAI, on Monday, merging the shiniest jewel in his business empire with his most money-losing firm. The deal—which valued xAI at $250 billion and SpaceX at $1 trillion, according to people familiar with the situation—comes as xAI battles to... Elon Musk rammed through the combination of his space company, SpaceX, with his AI startup, xAI,...

Art by Clark Miller (photos: YouTube, Getty Images)

Epstein Files Reveal Deep Relationship With Venture Capitalist Masha Bucher

By Jemima McEvoy · Feb 2, 2026 1:10pm PST · 10 comments

There are plenty of tech luminaries whose correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein has turned up in the files of the disgraced financier. But few of those exchanges are quite like those that Epstein had with Masha Bucher, who is now a well-known venture capitalist. On June 25, 2019, 11 days before Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking... There are plenty of tech luminaries whose correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein has turned up in...

Photos by Getty Images

ByteDance, Alibaba to Launch New Models in Race for AI Supremacy in China

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Jan 29, 2026 5:00am PST · 2 comments

The battle for AI dominance in China is reaching new heights. Tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba Group are both poised to release their next flagship AI models around the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February, in what could be the most consequential battle in the country’s tech sector. ByteDance is preparing to release three new AI... The battle for AI dominance in China is reaching new heights. Tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba...

CEO Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images.

Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon in Talks to Invest Up to $60 Billion in OpenAI

By Sri Muppidi · Jan 28, 2026 6:55pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI is lining up huge checks from some of its biggest tech partners, as it seeks to raise up to $100 billion to fund growing demand for its AI. Nvidia, an existing investor whose chips power OpenAI’s AI models, is in talks to invest up to $30 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Microsoft, a longstanding backer with... OpenAI is lining up huge checks from some of its biggest tech partners, as it seeks to raise up...

Orlando Bravo, co-founder of Thoma Bravo. Photo by Getty Images.

Thoma Bravo-Backed Anaplan Prepares Confidential IPO Filing

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Jan 28, 2026 5:20pm PST

Orlando Bravo, co-founder of Thoma Bravo. Photo by Getty Images.

Thoma Bravo-Backed Anaplan Prepares Confidential IPO Filing

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · Jan 28, 2026 5:20pm PST

Anaplan, a business-planning software provider owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, is taking steps toward an initial public offering and could file confidentially for the listing in the coming weeks, people familiar with the discussions said. The listing would be a sign that IPOs for PE-backed software companies could soon rebound. ... Anaplan, a business-planning software provider owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, is...

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Hires at Least Seven Staffers From Coding Startup Cline

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 28, 2026 3:10pm PST

OpenAI has recently hired more than a half dozen employees from Cline, a startup that develops an open-source, AI-powered coding assistant, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed. The hires could help OpenAI accelerate improvements for its Codex coding product, which it sees as a key tool to make its AI more essential to large corporations as it... OpenAI has recently hired more than a half dozen employees from Cline, a startup that develops an...

Jerry Tworek. Screenshot via YouTube

Ex-OpenAI Researcher’s Startup Targets Up to $1 Billion in Funding to Develop a New Type of AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Wayne Ma · Jan 28, 2026 1:09pm PST · 2 comments

The wave of so-called AI neolabs seeking breakthroughs they think incumbents like OpenAI will miss continues to rise. Core Automation, an AI startup founded by former senior OpenAI researcher Jerry Tworek in recent weeks, aims to raise between $500 million and $1 billion in funding, according to a person who has spoken with the company. He wants... The wave of so-called AI neolabs seeking breakthroughs they think incumbents like OpenAI will...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft Moves to Respond to New Threats From Anthropic

By Aaron Holmes · Jan 28, 2026 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Anthropic’s launch of Cowork, an AI-powered tool that takes over a computer to handle workplace tasks involving numerous applications, from Microsoft Office apps to Slack, has reverberated through Microsoft’s ranks. In the days following the launch this month, Microsoft product leaders told colleagues that Cowork seemed like a competitor to 365... Anthropic’s launch of Cowork, an AI-powered tool that takes over a computer to handle workplace...

Stephen Ehikian, Chief Executive Officer of C3.AI. Screenshot via YouTube

C3.AI in Talks to Merge with Startup Automation Anywhere

By Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Jan 27, 2026 6:05pm PST

Stephen Ehikian, Chief Executive Officer of C3.AI. Screenshot via YouTube

C3.AI in Talks to Merge with Startup Automation Anywhere

By Valida Pau and Katie Roof · Jan 27, 2026 6:05pm PST

C3.AI, founded by tech industry veteran Thomas Siebel, is in talks to merge with privately held startup Automation Anywhere, which will effectively go public in the deal, according to people familiar with the discussions. C3.AI, which sells AI to large companies and government agencies, was the first branded AI stock when it went public in 2020.... C3.AI, founded by tech industry veteran Thomas Siebel, is in talks to merge with privately held...