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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The Software Firms OpenAI Works With; o1’s Deception

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 10, 2024 7:00am PST

OpenAI on Monday gave us a deeper look into the software suppliers it works with, specifically those that touch customer data at some point. The list, which includes everyone from Microsoft to Cloudflare to a few smaller and less well known firms, reveals a lot about the enterprise tech stack of one of the most sophisticated and well-funded... OpenAI on Monday gave us a deeper look into the software suppliers it works with, specifically...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Breaking Up Google Could Make Rival Browsers’ Life Worse

By Catherine Perloff · Dec 10, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

To many in tech, Google is the big, bad tech giant that monopolizes search and dominates the web browser market. To others, though, particularly in the independent browser world, Google is like a generous parent—and those browsers don’t want the antitrust verdict against it to change things. Many browsers rely on Google, either for... To many in tech, Google is the big, bad tech giant that monopolizes search and dominates the web...

President-elect Donald Trump and President of China, Xi Jinping. Photos via Getty.

Nvidia’s China Risk

By Martin Peers · Dec 9, 2024 5:00pm PST

Investors may need to rethink the valuation they’re putting on Nvidia. Shares of the artificial intelligence chipmaker fell 2.5% on Monday after Chinese regulators revealed they had opened an investigation into whether Nvidia broke anti-monopoly laws there. Details of the probe are described here. Suffice it to say this could well be one of... Investors may need to rethink the valuation they’re putting on Nvidia. Shares of the artificial...

Image by Midjourney

OpenAI’s Sora Could Be Here This Week

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 9, 2024 7:20am PST

Image by Midjourney

OpenAI’s Sora Could Be Here This Week

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 9, 2024 7:20am PST

Big news! I’m hearing that an updated version of OpenAI’s video generation model, Sora, is coming this week. This is likely the culmination of the work the company has been doing to train a new version of the model that can quickly generate clips that are higher in quality and longer than the ones it demonstrated earlier this year, as we ... Big news! I’m hearing that an updated version of OpenAI’s video generation model, Sora, is coming...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft’s New Sales Pitch for AI: Spend Less Money on Humans

By Aaron Holmes · Dec 9, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Microsoft has a new pitch to persuade businesses to spend money on artificial intelligence–powered services: If you use them, you won’t need as many employees. The potential of AI to replace human workers is an old idea, but one most companies have avoided bringing up explicitly, for fear of suffering reputational harm and political... Microsoft has a new pitch to persuade businesses to spend money on artificial...

Amazon Global Selling booth at the China Import and Export Fair. Photo via Getty.

Why Big Amazon China Sellers Are Branching Out

By Jing Yang and Theo Wayt · Dec 9, 2024 6:00am PST

A key group of Amazon sellers is becoming a lot less loyal to the shopping giant. China-based merchants such as kitchenware seller Carote have added sales through longtime Amazon rivals like Walmart, with Carote’s share of revenue coming through Walmart up to 18% in 2023 from less than 2% a year before. Apparel company Zibuyu Group,... A key group of Amazon sellers is becoming a lot less loyal to the shopping giant. China-based...

Group14's coming silicon anode production plant in Moses Lake, Wash. Photo: Courtesy Group14

The Electric: AI Mania Provides Welcome Demand for Struggling Next-Gen EV Battery Developers

By Steve LeVine · Dec 9, 2024 4:30am PST

The slowdown in sales of electric vehicles has led to smaller and postponed orders for next-generation batteries. But some next-gen battery makers are eyeing a lifeline from an unexpected source: artificial intelligence. The slowdown in sales of electric vehicles has led to smaller and postponed orders for...

Trump Aides Contact Google, Meta, Snap Over Online Drug Sales

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 8, 2024 11:10am PST · 1 comment

Trump Aides Contact Google, Meta, Snap Over Online Drug Sales

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 8, 2024 11:10am PST · 1 comment

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has invited five major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, to a meeting in mid-December about dealing with online drug sales, according to a person with direct knowledge of the correspondence. A representative for Jim Carroll—the drug czar during Trump’s... President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has invited five major tech companies,...

Art by Clark Miller

An Underappreciated Moment in AI

By Abram Brown · Dec 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution • Power and Influence: Trump’s antitrust cop is a ‘happy warrior’ • The Top 5: Our favorite new corporate merch and gifts. • Plus: Robots who rhapsodize; what Taylor Swift and Legos have in common; and Il Papa and the plotters.What if the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution ...

Gail Slater (left) and Donald Trump. Art by Clark Miller. Slater screengrab via YouTube; Trump image via Getty

Politics and Policy

Trump Chooses a ‘Happy Warrior’ as His Antitrust Cop

By Nick Wingfield and Nancy Scola · Dec 7, 2024 5:00am PST

A decade or so ago, Gigi Sohn—then the head of Public Knowledge, an internet rights nonprofit—was working closely with Gail Slater, at the time the general counsel to a tech trade group called the Internet association, on the issue of net neutrality legislation. Sohn assumed Slater, who had previously been a legal adviser to a... A decade or so ago, Gigi Sohn—then the head of Public Knowledge, an internet rights...

Art by Clark Miller

The Best New Corporate Merch and Gifts

By Todd Plummer · Dec 7, 2024 5:00am PST

It’s often said that ’tis better to give than to receive, but more often than not, corporate swag leaves both giver and recipient cold. How many times have we left a conference with the same old leaky commuter mug? Or received some drab pen along with a forgettable pad of sticky notes? Swag need not be a source of dismay,... It’s often said that ’tis better to give than to receive, but more often than not,...

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Lifespan Shortens

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2024 3:00pm PST

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Lifespan Shortens

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2024 3:00pm PST

TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today, affirming the law passed earlier this year forcing TikTok to cut its ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance or be banned, was a compelling ruling. It’s hard to imagine that TikTok management would come away from it with any grounds for optimism.To be... TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today,...

In a World with 99.99% Accurate AI… (feat. Aaron Levie)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 6, 2024 10:39am PST

Tech executives love to bemoan growing regulation. But, on the pod this week, Aaron Levie, the CEO of enterprise company Box, had a much more nuanced and interesting view. I hope you enjoy, along with a fiery Levie versus Sam Lessin debate over the promise of AI. I'll let you guess where they each netted out! Enjoy! Apple Spotify ... Tech executives love to bemoan growing regulation. But, on the pod this week, Aaron Levie, the...

Art by Clark Miller

Another Crypto Revolution Is Here—and It’s Unlike Any From the Past

By Yueqi Yang · Dec 6, 2024 9:07am PST · 2 comments

In 2022, Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin startup Bridge, was staring into the abyss. The price of TerraUSD—one of the largest of the stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar—collapsed, casting a pall on everyone working with stablecoins. Then, a few months later, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX imploded.... In 2022, Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin startup Bridge, was staring into the...

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok CEO Vows to Take Ban Fight to Supreme Court

By Kaya Yurieff, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Dec 6, 2024 8:48am PST · 3 comments

TikTok’s hopes of continuing to operate in the U.S. now rest on intervention of the Supreme Court. The Chinese owned app on Friday lost the first round in its legal efforts to block a law requiring it to sever its ties with its parent, ByteDance, or be banned next month. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Friday told the video app’s staff... TikTok’s hopes of continuing to operate in the U.S. now rest on intervention of the Supreme...

Photo by Getty

Pro Weekly: Nvidia Draws More Rivals With More Funding

By Scott Thurm · Dec 6, 2024 8:19am PST

Photo by Getty

Pro Weekly: Nvidia Draws More Rivals With More Funding

By Scott Thurm · Dec 6, 2024 8:19am PST

As Nvidia’s market cap tops $3 trillion, entrepreneurs and investors are looking for new ways to grab pieces of the lucrative market for chips that power artificial intelligence.Some startups are looking to build more-specialized chips. We recently added two companies to our AI Chip Database that are designing chips primarily for computer... As Nvidia’s market cap tops $3 trillion, entrepreneurs and investors are looking for new ways to...

Photo via Getty.

Netflix’s NFL Games Pose Advertising Test

By Sahil Patel · Dec 6, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In Netflix’s yearslong quest to build an ad business, Dec. 25 poses a big test: It will be the first time the streaming giant shows ads in a livestream—in this case, two NFL games. And in the wake of last month’s Mike Tyson–Jake Paul boxing match, which was plagued with technical glitches, ad buyers at multiple top... In Netflix’s yearslong quest to build an ad business, Dec. 25 poses a big test: It will be...

A Waymo self-driving car. Photo courtesy of Waymo.

Waymo’s Progress May Be Good for Uber, Too

By Martin Peers · Dec 5, 2024 5:00pm PST

This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’s Waymo, our favorite self-driving taxi service, is opening for business in Miami. Just a few weeks ago, the ride-hailing firms’ stocks rose about 10% as investors decided Tesla’s self-driving–car event the day before had been a dud—implying that it... This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’...

Tomasz Tunguz. Photo via Flickr/Collision.

Why One Enterprise Investor Is Newly Exuberant on Crypto

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 5, 2024 3:26pm PST · 2 comments

Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless conversations about artificial intelligence, I’ve been bombarded by venture capitalists with renewed excitement for cryptocurrency startups. To sum up the mood: One startup founder made a toast when Bitcoin crossed $100,000 on Wednesday. Investor Tomasz... Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless...

Prince Ghosh, Factored Quality's cofounder and CEO (left) and Ronak Trivedi, Pietra's cofounder and CEO (right). Photo via Pietra.

Creator Startup Strikes Deal to Help Anyone Launch the Next Feastables

By Ann Gehan · Dec 5, 2024 2:00pm PST

Prince Ghosh, Factored Quality's cofounder and CEO (left) and Ronak Trivedi, Pietra's cofounder and CEO (right). Photo via Pietra.

Creator Economy

Creator Startup Strikes Deal to Help Anyone Launch the Next Feastables

By Ann Gehan · Dec 5, 2024 2:00pm PST

Pietra, a startup that helps creators and celebrities like Chrissy Teigen launch and manage their own brands, is diving deeper into the crucial behind-the-scenes work it takes to get a hot new product up and running. The company is acquiring Factored Quality, a startup that works with popular brands like Brooklinen to set them up with... Pietra, a startup that helps creators and celebrities like Chrissy Teigen launch and manage their...