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

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

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

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

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

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...

San Francisco City Hall on Election Day. Photo via Getty.

Politics Won’t Fracture Startup Investing

By Nick Wingfield, Natasha Mascarenhas and Paris Martineau · Nov 7, 2024 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

Considering the political rifts in tech this presidential election exposed, you might think Silicon Valley is about to fracture into a scenario in which blue venture capitalists widely refuse to work with red investors and founders—and vice versa. But we’re not so sure.There’s no doubt that at times during the campaign, the rhetoric between... Considering the political rifts in tech this presidential election exposed, you might think...

Art by Clark Miller; Lurie image via Getty.

Power and Influence

New SF Mayor Daniel Lurie: We Need Sam Altman’s Help

By Josh Koehn · Nov 7, 2024 4:46pm PST · 4 comments

A little more than a year ago, few people in San Francisco could have foreseen Daniel Lurie running away with the mayor’s race: Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir who founded an anti-poverty nonprofit, Tipping Point, had never held elected office. But his outsider status and moderate policy proposals on public safety, housing and... A little more than a year ago, few people in San Francisco could have foreseen Daniel Lurie...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos via Getty.

Amazon Discussing New Multibillion-Dollar Investment in Anthropic

By Anissa Gardizy · Nov 7, 2024 3:24pm PST

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos via Getty.

Amazon Discussing New Multibillion-Dollar Investment in Anthropic

By Anissa Gardizy · Nov 7, 2024 3:24pm PST

Amazon is discussing making a second multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI rival Anthropic, according to a person involved in the discussions. The new deal is similar to Amazon’s initial $4 billion dollar investment in the startup, which was struck last year. But this time, Amazon wants Anthropic to make a concession. The cloud giant is... Amazon is discussing making a second multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI rival Anthropic,...

J.D. Vance. Photo via Getty

A Venture Capitalist Heads to the White House

By Kate Clark · Nov 7, 2024 3:00pm PST

A venture capitalist is stepping into one of the highest offices in the U.S.—the vice presidency—but whether he’ll be a friend or foe to Silicon Valley is still unclear. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance should know what helps startups and their investors, thanks to his five years working in venture capital. During that time, he made early-stage... A venture capitalist is stepping into one of the highest offices in the U.S.—the vice presidency—...

Instagram Chief CEO Adam Mosseri. Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Creators Still Don’t Know What Threads Is For

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 7, 2024 2:02pm PST

I was surprised last week when Meta announced on its earnings call that its text-based app Threads has almost 275 million monthly active users. Threads rarely comes up in my conversations with creators—or brands—though when you pop into the app it’s not a ghost town either. That got us thinking about where exactly Threads’ growth is coming... I was surprised last week when Meta announced on its earnings call that its text-based app...

How Threads Is Catching Up to X

By Kalley Huang and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 7, 2024 10:19am PST · 1 comment

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week said Threads, his company’s microblogging app, was on track to be the company’s “next major social app.” Threads appears to be catching up to its main competitor, X. In October, Meta said Threads had almost 275 million monthly active users. That was up 38% from three months... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week said Threads, his company’s microblogging app,...

Photo via Getty

Expect AI Developers to Benefit from Energy Buildouts, Face Chip Uncertainty Under Trump, Experts Say; Are LLMs Reaching a Plateau?

By Kalley Huang · Nov 7, 2024 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

Expect AI Developers to Benefit from Energy Buildouts, Face Chip Uncertainty Under Trump, Experts Say; Are LLMs Reaching a Plateau?

By Kalley Huang · Nov 7, 2024 7:00am PST · 1 comment

We don’t know how Donald Trump and his administration will handle open-source artificial intelligence, as Stephanie wrote on Wednesday. But AI developers in the U.S. should expect to benefit from easier access to more energy sources and face fresh uncertainty in the AI chip industry, policy experts said on a call with subscribers to The... We don’t know how Donald Trump and his administration will handle open-source artificial...

Former President Donald Trump with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo by The Washington Post via Getty

The Electric: Elon Musk May Be an Ace in China’s Pocket in Its Dealings With Trump

By Steve LeVine · Nov 7, 2024 5:15am PST

Donald Trump’s election could put Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tough spot, caught between his support for the president-elect and Trump’s tough stance toward China, Tesla’s second-biggest market. But Musk could instead thrive by proving a valuable bridge between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, I write today in a piece with my colleagues Rachel... Donald Trump’s election could put Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tough spot, caught between his support...

Photos by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Musk Could Prove China’s Ace in Dealing With Trump

By Steve LeVine, Juro Osawa and Rachel Liang · Nov 7, 2024 5:00am PST · 1 comment

Donald Trump’s election could put Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tough spot, caught between his support for the president-elect and Trump’s tough stance toward China, Tesla’s second-biggest market. But Musk could instead thrive by proving a valuable bridge between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Here’s why: Tesla’s... Donald Trump’s election could put Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tough spot, caught between his...

Image via Getty

Two OpenAI Business Partners Each Discuss $2 Billion Valuation

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Jon Victor · Nov 6, 2024 7:04pm PST

OpenAI’s rapid growth continues to boost the prospects of suppliers and other business partners whose sales are also climbing quickly. Anysphere, which develops Cursor, an artificial intelligence coding assistant powered in part by OpenAI technology, has received investment offers from venture capitalists at a valuation of around $2.5... OpenAI’s rapid growth continues to boost the prospects of suppliers and other business...

Photo via Getty

Techies Hope for Trump-Driven Deregulation

By Martin Peers · Nov 6, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

Techies Hope for Trump-Driven Deregulation

By Martin Peers · Nov 6, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

That’s what you call delight. Stocks rocketed—the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 3%—as Wall Street applauded Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s election. Most tech stocks rose in tandem—Tesla stock jumped 15%, reflecting the benefits CEO Elon Musk is expected to earn from his vocal support for Trump. Notably, one of the few tech stocks to lose... That’s what you call delight. Stocks rocketed—the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 3%—as Wall Street...