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 Mike Sullivan
AI Agenda

Cognition Aims to Be the Switzerland of AI Agents with App Makeover

By Rocket Drew · Jun 2, 2026 7:01am PDT
AI coding startup Cognition is revamping its app to help users manage coding agents from many providers, executives told The Information. Cognition is betting that being a neutral platform will strengthen its hand in the increasingly competitive market for AI coding tools.The change, to be announced on Tuesday, involves the Windsurf application... AI coding startup Cognition is revamping its app to help users manage coding agents from many...
Benjamin Fanjoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The Briefing

Google’s AI Fundraising; Anthropic’s IPO Option

By Martin Peers · Jun 1, 2026 5:01pm PDT
How is running an AI firm like running for Congress? In either case, you have to spend half your time raising money! Take Google’s surprising announcement on Monday afternoon that it plans to raise a total of $80 billion in equity “as part of its plan to fund investments” in AI. That’s in addition to the $85 billion it has already borrowed in... How is running an AI firm like running for Congress? In either case, you have to spend half your...
Sachin Katti, OpenAI's head of compute.
AI Infrastructure

OpenAI Could Release Internal Tool That Would Weaken Nvidia’s Software Advantage

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 1, 2026 9:37am PDT
Morning! Anissa here. OpenAI is open to the idea of publicly sharing software it’s been developing to make its AI run on chips from different providers, a senior executive said, a move that could weaken one of Nvidia’s biggest advantages. The revealing comments came from Sachin Katti, who leads compute and infrastructure at OpenAI,... Morning! Anissa here. OpenAI is open to the idea of publicly sharing software it’s been...
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...