The Information

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Polymarket Wants Traders to ID Themselves as It Faces Sanctions, Legal Risks

By Michael Roddan · May 27, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In Russia, making bets on Polymarket isn’t permitted by the popular online prediction market’s rules. But that hasn’t stopped Ruslan Kashaev, a software developer who lives in the small Russian city of Ufa, a 15-hour drive from Moscow, from turning the site into a lucrative source of income. Using automated trading bots hosted on the Telegram... In Russia, making bets on Polymarket isn’t permitted by the popular online prediction market’s...

Tuhin Srivastava, CEO of Baseten. Photo via Getty Images

AI Inference Provider Baseten in Talks to Raise $1 Billion at $11 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Katie Roof · May 26, 2026 3:09pm PDT

AI startup Baseten has recently been in talks with investors to raise $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation including the money, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraise. That would more than double the company’s $5 billion valuation from its last round, which was announced just three months ago. The fundraising comes on the back... AI startup Baseten has recently been in talks with investors to raise $1 billion at an $11...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Targets Smaller Advertisers With New ChatGPT Ads

By Ann Gehan · May 26, 2026 6:01am PDT · 3 comments

When OpenAI first launched ChatGPT ads earlier this year, it lined up well-known brands with big advertising budgets, like Adobe, Ford and Target. Now it’s expanding its advertising business with offerings that cater more to marketers at far smaller companies, putting it directly into competition with ad giant Meta Platforms. OpenAI executives... When OpenAI first launched ChatGPT ads earlier this year, it lined up well-known brands with big...

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Chinese EV Battery Giant CATL Plans to Invest in DeepSeek

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · May 22, 2026 4:56am PDT

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Chinese EV Battery Giant CATL Plans to Invest in DeepSeek

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · May 22, 2026 4:56am PDT

Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, better known as CATL, is planning to invest in Chinese AI developer DeepSeek’s fundraising, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. CATL’s planned investment comes as it is aggressively stepping up its efforts to sell power equipment to AI data centers. DeepSeek’s... Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, better known as CATL, is planning to...

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

OpenAI Generated Nearly $6 Billion in Revenue in First Quarter, Boosted by Codex

By Sri Muppidi · May 21, 2026 11:26am PDT · 6 comments

OpenAI generated about $5.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter, nearly $1 billion more than archrival Anthropic generated in the same period, according to two people with knowledge of the financials. OpenAI’s coding agent Codex, along with growth from selling to businesses and testing ads on ChatGPT, helped drive first-quarter growth,... OpenAI generated about $5.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter, nearly $1 billion more than...

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Anthropic Is in Talks to Use Microsoft’s AI Chips

By Aaron Holmes and Qianer Liu · May 21, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic is in talks to rent servers powered by Microsoft-designed AI server chips as it seeks more computing power to meet rising demand for its AI, according to two people who spoke to executives involved in the discussion. Winning Anthropic as a customer would be a coup for Microsoft, whose in-house chip design effort ran into delays last... Anthropic is in talks to rent servers powered by Microsoft-designed AI server chips as it seeks...

Photo of Donald Trump via Getty Images. Art by Mike Sullivan

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

By Leo Schwartz and Stephanie Palazzolo · May 20, 2026 12:06pm PDT · 2 comments

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...

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

By Laura Bratton · May 20, 2026 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

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

By Laura Bratton · May 20, 2026 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

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...

5 Charts That Make Sense of SpaceX’s IPO Numbers

By Cory Weinberg and Valida Pau · May 19, 2026 2:08pm PDT · 1 comment

SpaceX’s initial public offering prospectus will read like a kaleidoscope when it’s unveiled publicly in the coming days. There will be a dazzling mixture of storylines and figures that show huge financial losses, exciting promises, impressive growth and unmet expectations. Information in the prospectus will help investors knit together parts of... SpaceX’s initial public offering prospectus will read like a kaleidoscope when it’s unveiled...

SpaceX IPO Could Return More Than $60 Billion Each for Founders Fund, Valor

By Katie Roof · May 19, 2026 10:59am PDT

SpaceX’s initial public offering, expected to be the largest in history, is also set to yield the largest venture returns ever at the time of the IPO. Among those set to win big are Founders Fund, Valor Equity Partners and Sequoia Capital. Valor Equity Partners, whose founder Antonio Gracias is on the SpaceX board and has backed several of Musk’... SpaceX’s initial public offering, expected to be the largest in history, is also set to yield the...

Analog Devices CEO Vincent Roche. Photo by Getty.

Analog Devices in Talks to Buy AI Power Chip Startup for $1.5 Billion

By Valida Pau and Cory Weinberg · May 18, 2026 6:22pm PDT

Chipmaker Analog Devices is in advanced talks to buy startup Empower Semiconductor for about $1.5 billion, in a deal that reflects demand for technology that can manage the intense energy needs of AI chips, according to people familiar with the discussion. The acquisition of the 12-year-old startup would expand Analog Devices’ portfolio of chips... Chipmaker Analog Devices is in advanced talks to buy startup Empower Semiconductor for about $1.5...

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Microsoft Executives Sound the Alarm Over GitHub’s Eroding AI Lead

By Aaron Holmes · May 18, 2026 6:00am PDT

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Microsoft Executives Sound the Alarm Over GitHub’s Eroding AI Lead

By Aaron Holmes · May 18, 2026 6:00am PDT

No part of Microsoft better illustrates its predicament in AI than GitHub. The AI boom has boosted usage and revenue of the code repository as well as GitHub Copilot, an AI coding assistant. But GitHub has struggled to respond to new AI coding competitors that have since overtaken it. And the service has suffered from frequent and major outages,... No part of Microsoft better illustrates its predicament in AI than GitHub. The AI boom has...

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BlackRock Weighs Multibillion-Dollar Investment in SpaceX IPO

By Cory Weinberg · May 16, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

BlackRock has discussed investing $5 billion to $10 billion in SpaceX’s initial public offering next month, people familiar with the matter said. The massive order, for an offering that could raise as much as $75 billion, would represent a vote of confidence in Elon Musk’s company from the world’s largest asset manager. The investment would... BlackRock has discussed investing $5 billion to $10 billion in SpaceX’s initial public offering...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The SpaceXAI Exodus: More Than 50 Recent Exits as Meta, Thinking Machines Hire Staff

By Theo Wayt · May 14, 2026 11:06am PDT

Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models have left the AI lab since SpaceX acquired it in February, through layoffs, firings and voluntary departures, according to several people with knowledge of the moves. These departures come on top of the exits of all of xAI’s co-founders besides Elon... Call it the SpaceXAI exodus. More than 50 researchers and engineers working on xAI’s Grok models...

Cerebras IPO Winners Include Foundation, Benchmark—and OpenAI

By Julia Hornstein, Katie Roof and Cory Weinberg · May 14, 2026 6:00am PDT

Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope. The company, which was attempting the difficult and expensive task of developing an alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, didn’t deliver its first chips until five years into its existence. Then, after it filed to go public in 2024, the... Over the last decade, there were times when Cerebras investors could be forgiven for losing hope....

Erik Bernhardsson, Founder and CEO at Modal. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Startup Modal in Talks to Raise at $4.5 Billion Valuation After Revenue Surges

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 13, 2026 10:49am PDT

Erik Bernhardsson, Founder and CEO at Modal. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Startup Modal in Talks to Raise at $4.5 Billion Valuation After Revenue Surges

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 13, 2026 10:49am PDT

Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers run and train models as well as agents, is in talks to raise money at around a $4.5 billion valuation. That would be an 80% premium to its last valuation from just a few months ago, according to two people with knowledge of the round. The steep hike... Modal, a startup that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units and software to help developers...

Art by Mike Sulivan

Apple Explores Ways to Welcome AI Agents in the App Store

By Aaron Tilley · May 13, 2026 10:17am PDT

Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from the tech industry’s hottest trend while ensuring that the software in its store continues to play by its rules, according to people briefed on the matter. So far, the widespread embrace of agentic AI for software creation has put Apple on the... Apple is exploring ways to better incorporate AI agents into its App Store so it can benefit from...

Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

Former Alibaba Star Researcher Starts New AI Lab, Seeks $2 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · May 12, 2026 11:20pm PDT

Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred million dollars for his new AI lab, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new AI lab will likely be valued at around $2 billion after the funding round, the people said, adding that the discussions are ongoing and the... Junyang Lin, former lead researcher of Alibaba’s Qwen models, is seeking to raise several hundred...

Stainless CEO Alex Rattray. Screenshot via YouTube/Stainless.

Anthropic in Talks to Buy Developer Tools Startup Used by OpenAI, Google

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Katie Roof · May 12, 2026 2:59pm PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic is in advanced talks to acquire developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The four-year-old Stainless sells software to model makers including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google that helps developers, non-technical people and AI agents more quickly access AI models. Such... Anthropic is in advanced talks to acquire developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300...

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Microsoft Has Generated More Than $30 Billion in Revenue From OpenAI’s Technology, Spending

By Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes · May 12, 2026 11:08am PDT · 2 comments

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Microsoft Has Generated More Than $30 Billion in Revenue From OpenAI’s Technology, Spending

By Sri Muppidi and Aaron Holmes · May 12, 2026 11:08am PDT · 2 comments

For three years, Microsoft was the only cloud provider to sell OpenAI’s large language models to other businesses, an exclusive right it fought hard to preserve after investing $13 billion in the startup. But businesses bought more access to those models from OpenAI directly than from Microsoft over that time, new data show. Even so, Microsoft’s... For three years, Microsoft was the only cloud provider to sell OpenAI’s large language models to...