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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Art by Shane Burke
AI Infrastructure

AI Spurs Shockingly Big Plans for Extra-High-Voltage Power Lines

By Ann Davis Vaughan · Mar 2, 2026 8:00am PST
The AI boom is catalyzing the build-out of some of the biggest, baddest power lines this country has ever seen. These extra-high-voltage wires can carry up to six times the power of other big lines, and they’re one of the only feasible ways to accommodate multigigawatt data centers on a crowded grid.In the last few months, grid authorities in... The AI boom is catalyzing the build-out of some of the biggest, baddest power lines this country...
Sam Altman. Photo by Getty Images
AI Agenda

The Loopholes in OpenAI’s Pentagon Deal

By Erin Woo · Mar 2, 2026 7:00am PST
What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain risk,” while OpenAI has its own agreement allowing the agency to use OpenAI’s models in “classified environments.”There are still plenty of unanswered questions, including how big of a business risk being designated a “supply chain risk” poses... What a weekend! Anthropic is now poised to sue the Pentagon, after being labeled a “supply chain...
Firebird Metals plans to mine Western Australia's Oakover deposit. Photo: Courtesy Firebird.
The Electric

The Electric: This Startup Says Winning in Critical Minerals Means Learning From the Chinese

By Steve LeVine · Mar 2, 2026 4:30am PST
Ford and General Motors are banking on a new manganese-based battery to leapfrog China in the EV battery race. The catch is that they won’t break China’s stranglehold on the global supply of the material that goes into the battery—high-purity manganese. Ford and General Motors are banking on a new manganese-based battery to leapfrog China in the EV...
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...