The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

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An Inside Round for Accel; What's Next for Databricks

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 12, 2024 3:21pm PST

Venture capital firms have a lot of money to invest but relatively few maturing startups have proven their worth. So firms are doubling down on the startups they see as winners—which is sending valuations soaring, sometimes in just a few months.The latest example: Cyera, a cloud cybersecurity firm, is finalizing a deal to raise new funding from... Venture capital firms have a lot of money to invest but relatively few maturing startups have...

Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

Inside TikTok’s Misinformation Battles

By Sri Muppidi and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 12, 2024 2:37pm PST · 1 comment

On Monday, we reported on how TikTok courted conservative users, including President-elect Donald Trump, in the months before last week’s Trump victory. These efforts, led by TikTok Policy Chief Michael Beckerman and overseen by CEO Shou Zi Chew, included an overhaul of its trust and safety staff and content policies that made it more... On Monday, we reported on how TikTok courted conservative users, including President-elect Donald...

The People in Charge at Klarna as It Nears a Possible IPO

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 12, 2024 10:37am PST · 2 comments

Klarna is marching with significant momentum toward a possible initial public offering next year. Apple recently added the “buy now, pay later” service as an option on its own payment platform, and some shareholders have reportedly raised their valuation of the company. Plus, Klarna’s revenue growth is accelerating. The... Klarna is marching with significant momentum toward a possible initial public offering next year....

Databricks CEO, Ali Ghodsi. Photo via Getty.

Databricks Considers Raising Cash to Resolve Employee Stock Squeeze

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 12, 2024 9:45am PST · 3 comments

Databricks CEO, Ali Ghodsi. Photo via Getty.

Databricks Considers Raising Cash to Resolve Employee Stock Squeeze

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 12, 2024 9:45am PST · 3 comments

Enterprise software firm Databricks, one of the world’s most valuable private tech companies, is considering raising several billion dollars in the coming months to allow employees to cash out stock grants that begin to expire in early 2026. Such a move would signal that the firm, whose business of data management software has gotten a... Enterprise software firm Databricks, one of the world’s most valuable private tech...

Ex-CTO of OpenAI, Mira Murati. Photo via Getty

Ex-OpenAI CTO Murati’s New Team Takes Shape

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Nov 12, 2024 7:30am PST

A month ago, we reported that former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati had begun to pitch current OpenAI staffers on joining her new venture. It seems like at least one OpenAI researcher has taken her up on her offer.Mianna Chen, a research program manager at OpenAI responsible for preparing AI models for release, has recently... A month ago, we reported that former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati had begun...

Spyglass vessels by Saronic Technologies. Photo via Saronic Technologies.

Trump’s Win Stokes Defense Tech Bulls, Despite Talk of a Bubble

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 12, 2024 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Count defense tech bulls among the investor groups buoyed by last week’s election of Donald Trump as president. Some investors and executives are hopeful enough in what the Trump administration will do that they’re downplaying talk of a financial bubble forming among defense and aerospace startups. One bellwether may be Saronic... Count defense tech bulls among the investor groups buoyed by last week’s election of Donald...

Elon Musk. Photo via Getty

Wall Street Finally Forgives Musk for Twitter

By Martin Peers · Nov 11, 2024 5:00pm PST

This is telling: Tesla’s closing price today of $350 was the first time it has closed at that level since the first week of April 2022, when Elon Musk first revealed he was building a position in Twitter (now X). A two-and-a-half-year slump in Tesla’s stock price is over; it was sparked by his excursion into making over the social media app in... This is telling: Tesla’s closing price today of $350 was the first time it has closed at that...

Art: Clark Miller

It’s Not Magic: The Information’s Readers Speak Out About AI in the Workplace

By The Information Partnerships · Nov 11, 2024 3:33pm PST

Art: Clark Miller

Partner Content

It’s Not Magic: The Information’s Readers Speak Out About AI in the Workplace

By The Information Partnerships · Nov 11, 2024 3:33pm PST

The topic of artificial intelligence in the workplace touched a nerve with The Information’s readers. Some described AI as significant for the future of our species or as a new industrial revolution, while others said it’s just an app and not a new way to work. Often they couched their commentary in social terms, reflecting the broad... The topic of artificial intelligence in the workplace touched a nerve with The...

Art by Clark Miller

How TikTok Courted Conservatives Before Trump’s Win

By Juro Osawa, Erin Woo and Sri Muppidi · Nov 11, 2024 11:49am PST · 1 comment

More than a year before Donald Trump’s landslide victory in last week’s presidential election, TikTok’s top leaders insisted on a major shift in the app’s content moderation principles to make the platform more appealing for Trump and his supporters. In a series of internal meetings, U.S. public policy chief Michael... More than a year before Donald Trump’s landslide victory in last week’s presidential...

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Goodbye, GPT. Hello, Reasoning ‘O’

By Amir Efrati · Nov 11, 2024 7:00am PST · 4 comments

On Halloween, a Reddit user asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman whether “GPT-5” was coming, as well as the full version of the company’s o1 reasoning model—a preview version of which went on sale seven weeks ago. In other words, when would the public see the company’s next flagship large language model? Altman answered, “we are prioritizing... On Halloween, a Reddit user asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman whether “GPT-5” was coming, as well as...

Blackstone’s Spanx and Supergoop Bets Are Stuck in Low Gear

By Ann Gehan and Cory Weinberg · Nov 11, 2024 6:00am PST

How tough is it out there for investors that made big consumer bets in recent years? Just take a look at private equity giant Blackstone. Blackstone’s $4.5 billion debut growth equity fund is sitting on steep paper losses in oat milk brand Oatly, whose shares dropped soon after its 2021 initial public offering. The fund’s bet on... How tough is it out there for investors that made big consumer bets in recent years? Just take a...

Trump in Detroit. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Trump Invited China’s EV Makers to Build in the U.S. Will He Follow Through?

By Steve LeVine · Nov 11, 2024 4:30am PST · 2 comments

Trump in Detroit. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Trump Invited China’s EV Makers to Build in the U.S. Will He Follow Through?

By Steve LeVine · Nov 11, 2024 4:30am PST · 2 comments

Campaigning for a second term as president, Donald Trump vowed repeatedly to kill laws and regulations promoted by President Joe Biden to build a U.S. electric vehicle and battery industry. Campaigning for a second term as president, Donald Trump vowed repeatedly to kill laws and...

Art by Clark Miller

OpenAI Shifts Strategy as Rate of ‘GPT’ AI Improvements Slows

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Nov 9, 2024 1:47pm PST · 9 comments

The number of people using ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products is soaring. The rate of improvement for the basic building blocks underpinning them appears to be slowing down, though. The situation has prompted OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, to cook up new techniques for boosting those building blocks, known as large language models,... The number of people using ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products is soaring. The...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

A Valuable AI Startup’s Election Gamble

By Abram Brown · Nov 9, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Tech has bought itself a more moderate San Francisco• Power and Influence: San Francisco's new mayor vows ‘city is open for business’• Media: How tech’s conservative shift went unnoticed for so long • Plus: How Stevie Wonder still wows; a fertile drama in Leningrad; and the witch is... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Tech has bought itself a more moderate...

Art by Clark Miller (photos: Getty Images)

Tech Has Bought Itself a More Moderate San Francisco

By Josh Koehn · Nov 9, 2024 5:00am PST · 4 comments

The moderate political wave that crested over San Francisco this election is the culmination of several years of anger, frustration and tech-funded organizing. It was propelled by millions of dollars in campaign money, hundreds of thousands of fed-up voters, several upstart political organizations, two recall elections and one sad San Francisco... The moderate political wave that crested over San Francisco this election is the culmination of...

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Photo via Getty

Why TV Mergers Aren’t the Solution to Streaming’s Flaws

By Martin Peers · Nov 8, 2024 3:00pm PST

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Photo via Getty

Why TV Mergers Aren’t the Solution to Streaming’s Flaws

By Martin Peers · Nov 8, 2024 3:00pm PST

That didn’t take long. Within a day of Donald Trump’s election as president, TV executives were signaling optimism that the new administration would make life easier for them by allowing the industry to consolidate. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the most articulate case on Thursday, presenting mergers as a way of helping out poor... That didn’t take long. Within a day of Donald Trump’s election as president, TV executives were...

Trump’s Influencer Strategy and the Future of Apps (with Guillermo Rauch!)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 8, 2024 10:38am PST

This week on More or Less: The media lessons to take away from the presidential campaign. Plus, why you are probably building your apps wrong. Enjoy! Transcript below. Apple Spotify This week on More or Less: The media lessons to take away from the presidential campaign. Plus,...

Art by Clark Miller.

How the Media Missed the Rise of the New Tech Right

By Julia Black · Nov 8, 2024 10:15am PST · 16 comments

In 2022, I got a tip about Elon Musk, who even as recently as that was misunderstood—and underestimated—by the media: He had embarked on a mission to singlehandedly try to repopulate the Earth with his children, a source told me, passing along a quiet rumor going around Austin. It led me to a shocking discovery. He had fathered twins... In 2022, I got a tip about Elon Musk, who even as recently as that was misunderstood—and...

Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential. Photo via YouTube

Pro Weekly: Deals Reveal a Maturing Creator Economy

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 8, 2024 8:00am PST

My colleague Kaya reported last month that nine companies in our Creator Economy Database were acquired in the third quarter. Interestingly, none of the nine was on our Creator Startup Takeover List of firms that have not raised funding since 2021 nor raised beyond a Series A.Three of those deals fascinated me because they show how the creator... My colleague Kaya reported last month that nine companies in our Creator Economy Database were...

Citi Cut Off Temu Payments After Visa Raised Concerns

By Michael Roddan and Qianer Liu · Nov 8, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Citi Cut Off Temu Payments After Visa Raised Concerns

By Michael Roddan and Qianer Liu · Nov 8, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

In just two years, Chinese-owned Temu has come out of nowhere to become one of the best-known bargain shopping sites, known for its ultracheap and sometimes wacky gadgets and apparel. U.S. consumers are expected to spend about $18 billion on the site this year. Behind the scenes, though, Temu has encountered trouble with the bank that was... In just two years, Chinese-owned Temu has come out of nowhere to become one of the best-known...