Exclusive: Startup 1X is targeting $1 billion in new funding that could help it compete with Tesla and Amazon to bring humanoid robots to the home. Read more from Wayne Ma, Natasha Mascarenhas and Valida Pau 👇 https://bit.ly/4pINrJF

Sports leagues and media companies face a challenge in converting a new generation of fans, who primarily watch short clips on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, into full-game TV viewers. This highlights a shift in how fans engage with sports. https://bit.ly/4gzJpiB

Early investors in OpenAI's for-profit arm will end up with a combined equity stake that's in the low-single digits, potentially worth about $5 billion. These investors put in a combined $194 million in 2019. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/will-new-openai-one-chart

Experts helping to train AI models may soon feel they are creating tools that could someday take their jobs. This could make it difficult for AI labs to convince the most talented people to participate. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-models-getting-smart-human-teachers

Crypto's presence in traditional finance has grown over the past four months, creating billions in profits and new risks. President Donald Trump's embrace of the technology was the biggest driver of the shift. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/crypto-upended-financial-markets-comes-next

Exclusive: Startup Founded by Ex-Palantir Employees Raises at $1.8 Billion Valuation Distyl, founded by ex-Palantir staff to help companies like T-Mobile integrate AI, was recently valued at $1.8 billion by Lightspeed and Khosla. Read more from Natasha Mascarenhas 👇 https://bit.ly/428TGMx

With the IPO market largely frozen for three years, venture capitalists had turned to other methods to return cash to investors. These included selling shares in secondary sales or securing investments in continuation funds. Read more: https://bit.ly/3ViwHeh

Dating apps are losing users, with Bumble losing 9% and Match Group seeing a 5% drop in paying users over the past year. Analysts attribute this to a lack of innovation to meet the needs of current users, particularly Gen Z. Full story here: https://bit.ly/46hKqIA

xAI’s use of gas turbines to power its Memphis data centers has drawn opposition from local activists and politicians concerned about pollution. This marks a shift for tech companies that previously held strong climate pledges. https://bit.ly/48nBlPE

Sources say Apple asked Luxshare Precision to raise its daily production of the standard iPhone 17 by 40%, while a parts supplier was told to increase its output by 30%. Read more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-rushes-boost-production-cheaper-iphone-17

Opinion: For remedies to succeed, they must be paired with visibility into outcomes, according to Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest. This includes regular public reporting and confidential details for regulators. Read his full perspective: https://bit.ly/4prWiPJ

OpenAI has ramped up its recruitment of Apple employees this year, poaching more than two dozen individuals with offers that include lucrative stock grants and the promise of less bureaucracy. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-raids-apple-hardware-talent-manufacturing-partners

Watch Now: The Information’s TITV A new TikTok deal; What Navan tells us about the IPO market; and Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman on the company’s delayed IPO. Tune in on https://bit.ly/4fIpxJA or on The Information App.

Top 5 Matchmakers For Techies Striking out on Hinge and Raya? So are other tech elites who have begun outsourcing their love lives to luxury matchmakers. Read more from Jemima McEvoy 👇 https://www.theinformation.com/articles/500-000-find-love-silicon-valley-upgrades-dating-apps

OpenAI's projected $100 billion in backup server costs is one reason its long-term cash burn projections total $115 billion through 2029. The company projects it will start generating cash in 2030. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-spend-100-billion-backup-servers-ai-breakthroughs

AI Agenda: Japan Strikes Back As Western artificial intelligence developers accelerate international expansion, Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is shaping up to be a key battleground. Read more from Juro Osawa 👇 https://www.theinformation.com/articles/japan-strikes-back

How Crypto Upended Financial Markets and What Comes Next Crypto is everywhere these days thanks to a new law and friendly regulators. Here’s what you need to know. Read more from Yueqi Yang 👇 https://bit.ly/4mtG6L4

Exclusive: With an Acquisition, SunPower's T.J. Rodgers Leads New Solar Industry Consolidation Read more from @sl-thepowerhouse.bsky.social👇 https://www.theinformation.com/articles/exclusive-acquisition-sunpowers-t-j-rodgers-leads-new-solar-industry-consolidation

Prepared has raised about $130 million from investors, including General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz, and was valued at $550 million in a May financing round. Read more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/axon-advanced-talks-buy-emergency-response-startup-800-million

Axon, a maker of police body cameras and Tasers, leverages AI for products like Draft One, which uses generative AI to create police reports from body camera audio. Read the full story: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/axon-advanced-talks-buy-emergency-response-startup-800-million

Dealmaker: OpenAI's nonprofit board is set to receive a ~27% stake in the restructured company, valued at about $135 billion on paper. Read about the new ownership breakdown: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/will-new-openai-one-chart

Some startups have recently lifted their price targets ahead of their public debuts, including Netskope, which raised its proposed price range to $17 to $19 a share. Full story: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ventures-limited-partners-see-lifeline-ipo-wave

Opinion: The open web cannot afford to wait years to see if a new owner simply rewires the same advantages. The court can impose remedies that are implemented quickly and reliably. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/breaking-google-fix-ad-market-instead

The shift in consumer preference toward the cheaper iPhone 17 model could mean that Apple's revenue may not grow as much as it could have. Full story here: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-rushes-boost-production-cheaper-iphone-17

OpenAI is targeting late 2026 or early 2027 for the release of its first devices, which suppliers say could include a smart speaker, glasses, or a wearable pin. Read the full story: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-raids-apple-hardware-talent-manufacturing-partners

A peace summit at Memphis City Hall with xAI's Brent Mayo revealed how upset Elon Musk was with local opposition to the company's new data center, Colossus. The friction highlights the challenge of appeasing local communities while pursuing aggressive expansion. Full story: https://bit.ly/48nBlPE

The next frontier for value creation in AI lies in vertical-specific applications, with a surge of startups and investment targeting industries like medicine and law. This is where AI moves from a horizontal technology to a transformative force within individual sectors. https://bit.ly/4n9GRdu

Microsoft has been gradually reducing the price of Office 365 Copilot with more generous discounts and has dropped the 300-seat minimum requirement, according to customers and salespeople. Full story: https://bit.ly/3K6GmC8

AI Agenda: In the fight to improve AI models, Anthropic and OpenAI are relying on two key methods: letting models train on fake clones of apps and getting human experts to teach them new things. Full story: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-models-getting-smart-human-teachers

OpenAI's CFO Sarah Friar stated the company must hold up launches of new features or models because of a shortage of compute capacity. She described the company as “massively compute constrained.” https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-spend-100-billion-backup-servers-ai-breakthroughs

The insurance industry is one of the largest sources of investment capital, with approximately $5.8 trillion at U.S. life insurers alone. Apollo manages $425 billion for its insurance providers, Athene and Athora, a bit over half of the firm's total investment capital. https://bit.ly/4n6zvHv

The OpenAI restructuring would allow newer investors like SoftBank and Thrive Capital to avoid the capped returns of the previous model. The plan still requires approval from Microsoft and two state attorneys general. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/will-new-openai-one-chart

Opinion: Ad auctions should operate under neutral rules that don't favor any buyer or tool, according to Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest. This would create a foundation for fair price discovery. Learn more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/breaking-google-fix-ad-market-instead

One reason for Microsoft’s push to improve Office AI features is CEO Satya Nadella's concern that Office's growth could slow if the company can't convince customers the AI features are worth the price. https://bit.ly/3K6GmC8

Brent Mayo, a key lieutenant for Elon Musk, has been a central figure in xAI's rapid expansion. We look at how he manages the company's relationships with local communities and politicians, including his blunt and unfiltered approach. Read the full story: https://bit.ly/48nBlPE

The Arena: Sports leagues and media companies are increasingly betting they can convert sports highlight junkies into fans of full games. Read more from @germanotes.bsky.social👇 https://www.theinformation.com/articles/nba-commissioners-viral-comment-sparks-sports-highlights-debate

The rush to increase production of the standard iPhone 17 suggests that more consumers are choosing the $799 model over the premium Pro models, which start at $1,099. Read more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-rushes-boost-production-cheaper-iphone-17

Oracle's cloud infrastructure business is growing rapidly but has a lower margin than its core database software business. Its expansion will likely erode the company's profitability and will demand huge capital outlays. Read more: https://bit.ly/4puvIW7

Perplexity’s success in commerce and advertising is of great importance to the broader AI industry. Both business models offer a way for AI firms to make money from their audiences beyond subscriptions.

Sequoia Capital, which first invested in Klarna in 2010, made a $2.7 billion gain on its original $500 million investment after the fintech went public this month. Find out more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ventures-limited-partners-see-lifeline-ipo-wave

Welcome, Weekenders! In this edition of Weekend: Musk’s Memphis Fixer; a sports highlights challenge; and luxury matchmakers to the tech elite. Read more from Jessica Lessin 👇 https://www.theinformation.com/articles/asked-alcaraz-land-alcatraz

Private equity firms Apollo and KKR have spearheaded the push into insurance assets, providing them with hundreds of billions of dollars in funds. This capital, which is set aside for life insurance claims, is invested to create a surplus after claims are paid. Read more: https://bit.ly/4n6zvHv

The potential acquisition of Prepared is the latest example of how software firms are integrating AI to enhance their applications. Read more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/axon-advanced-talks-buy-emergency-response-startup-800-million

While most large companies are experimenting with AI pilots, only a fraction have moved beyond that stage. A recent survey found that while nearly two-thirds have ongoing AI pilots, only 11% are making AI agents broadly available to employees. Read more: https://bit.ly/4n9GRdu

A major iPhone assembler in China, Luxshare, has a contract to produce at least one of OpenAI’s future devices. Read more: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-raids-apple-hardware-talent-manufacturing-partners

Top AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are hiring experts to teach their models, but as the models get smarter, how will they convince top professionals—like Nobel laureates—to spend their time training them? Find out more: https://bit.ly/4nF0xFZ

Sam Altman believes access to servers will be a defining advantage in the AI race. He has told colleagues the company will someday need more power than the entire U.S. power grid to run its servers https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-spend-100-billion-backup-servers-ai-breakthroughs

AI developers are expanding their training methods to create AI models that can work alongside humans. These new virtual collaborators could one day take over a person’s computer and use apps on their behalf. Read: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/anthropic-openai-developing-ai-co-workers

The Information’s Deep Research Report: A major theme shaping the AI landscape is the rise of AI agents—software that can autonomously perform multi-step tasks for a user. These agents represent an evolution from chatbots to functional tools. https://bit.ly/4n9GRdu

Apple has told two of its suppliers to increase daily production of the entry-level iPhone 17 by as much as 30% after strong pre-order sales. Read: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-rushes-boost-production-cheaper-iphone-17