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

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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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Exclusive From The Electric: Tesla Plans to Soon Introduce Long-Awaited Battery Innovation in Cybertrucks

By Steve LeVine · Mar 20, 2025 5:33am PDT

In one of the most closely watched projects in the global battery industry, Tesla plans this year to introduce an innovation in its Cybertruck batteries that could sharply decrease battery manufacturing costs, a senior executive said Wednesday.Bonne Eggleston, senior director of the battery program, said Tesla would introduce dry cathodes later... In one of the most closely watched projects in the global battery industry, Tesla plans this year...

Photo via Getty

Investors Are Overvaluing Musk’s X

By Martin Peers · Mar 19, 2025 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Wow. Elon Musk really is the Pied Piper of investors. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the social media firm had raised “close to $1 billion” in fresh equity at a $32 billion valuation. Including X’s debt, that implies a roughly $44 billion enterprise value for the company, which is what it was worth in Musk’s 2022 buyout of the company then... Wow. Elon Musk really is the Pied Piper of investors. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the...

Podcaster Chris Williamson speaks at a Spotify event at SXSW in Austin. Photo courtesy of Spotify

Creator Economy

A Podcaster Develops AI to Search His Own Episodes

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 19, 2025 2:24pm PDT

When I ask creators how they’re using AI, I typically get this response: They’re primarily using ChatGPT or other similar chatbots to talk through ideas or to help them write scripts for brand partnerships or videos. Chris Williamson, the host of the popular podcast Modern Wisdom, is going deeper. He’s hired a software engineer to develop ... When I ask creators how they’re using AI, I typically get this response: They’re primarily using...

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI’s ‘Agents’ Pose Risks to DoorDash, Other Consumer Apps

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Mar 19, 2025 10:51am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI’s ‘Agents’ Pose Risks to DoorDash, Other Consumer Apps

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Mar 19, 2025 10:51am PDT · 6 comments

Before OpenAI in January launched Operator, its artificial intelligence that uses the web to plan trips, compile reports and shop online for people, it asked DoorDash to be an official “launch partner” for the new product. DoorDash agreed—but it had a question. In a meeting last fall between the companies, a DoorDash executive asked OpenAI... Before OpenAI in January launched Operator, its artificial intelligence that uses the web to plan...

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, at the Nvidia GTC. Photo by Getty

Top Developers Want Nvidia Blackwell Chips. Everyone Else, Not So Much

By Anissa Gardizy · Mar 19, 2025 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Jensen Huang turned Nvidia into the third most valuable company in the world by designing chips that were way ahead of their time. But Huang’s remarks on Tuesday suggest he’s pulling far ahead of some customers, and the growing gap between what he’s selling and what they’re buying could spell trouble.In his keynote speech at the GTC developer... Jensen Huang turned Nvidia into the third most valuable company in the world by designing chips...

Google DeepMind’s Expanding Org

By Erin Woo · Mar 19, 2025 6:00am PDT

As Google attempts to catch up to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, its DeepMind artificial intelligence unit is in a near constant state of flux. Two years after Google merged its two AI units to form Google DeepMind, the unit’s chief, Demis Hassabis, has expanded his purview by adding numerous other teams. He has added oversight of Google’s Gemini chatbot,... As Google attempts to catch up to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, its DeepMind artificial intelligence unit is...

Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photos via Getty

Why Google Wanted Wiz So Badly

By Aaron Holmes · Mar 18, 2025 5:00pm PDT

If at first you don’t succeed, try offering more money. That’s the strategy Google employed to ink its $32 billion deal to acquire cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz, which the two companies announced today. The deal reemerged from the ashes this week after Wiz last summer rejected a $23 billion bid from Google, deciding that it preferred to remain... If at first you don’t succeed, try offering more money. That’s the strategy Google employed to...

Entrepreneur Reid Rasner. Photo via Reid Rasner for Wyoming.

TikTok’s Newest Suitor Wants To Give Creators Monthly Payments

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 18, 2025 2:50pm PDT · 1 comment

Entrepreneur Reid Rasner. Photo via Reid Rasner for Wyoming.

Creator Economy

TikTok’s Newest Suitor Wants To Give Creators Monthly Payments

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 18, 2025 2:50pm PDT · 1 comment

It’s still murky, but the bidding process for TikTok is beginning to come into focus. Last week, my colleagues reported Oracle was the lead contender among a group of bidders. Today I have more details about one of them—Reid Rasner, a Wyoming entrepreneur, who last month said he was making a bid worth more than $47 billion for TikTok’s U.S.... It’s still murky, but the bidding process for TikTok is beginning to come into focus. Last week,...

Parker Conrad, founder and CEO of Rippling. Photo via Getty

Investors React to Rippling vs. Deel; Susa's $175 Million Seed Fund

By Sri Muppidi · Mar 18, 2025 1:44pm PDT · 1 comment

For Silicon Valley venture capitalists dealing with overpriced bets made during the low-interest rate period, Rippling and Deel have been bright spots. The San Francisco HR rivals passed new revenue milestones and minted higher valuations—great news for investors who poured a combined $2 billion into both startups. By some measures, Deel’s... For Silicon Valley venture capitalists dealing with overpriced bets made during the low-interest...

How ChatGPT Convinced Moderna to Merge its IT and HR Departments

How ChatGPT Convinced Moderna to Merge its IT and HR Departments

By Jon Victor · Mar 18, 2025 10:00am PDT

One of the most underappreciated applications of artificial intelligence in the corporate world involves its role in writing performance reviews.Take Moderna, the pharmaceutical giant. Late last year, Brice Challamel, its vice president of AI products and platforms, noticed a trend: ChatGPT usage by the pharmaceutical firm’s employees spiked... One of the most underappreciated applications of artificial intelligence in the corporate world...

Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo by Getty

Anthropic’s Not-So-Secret Weapon That’s Giving Agents a Boost

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 18, 2025 7:31am PDT

Every few months, a new acronym takes hold among artificial intelligence researchers.The latest one gaining steam is MCP, or model context protocol, an open source software Anthropic released in November. It’s a software standard that, if widely adopted, would help large language models of any kind access external data sources and tools, such as... Every few months, a new acronym takes hold among artificial intelligence researchers.The latest...

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Amazon’s Quest to Displace Google as Internet Ad Powerbroker

By Catherine Perloff, Sahil Patel and Theo Wayt · Mar 18, 2025 7:15am PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Getty.

Amazon’s Quest to Displace Google as Internet Ad Powerbroker

By Catherine Perloff, Sahil Patel and Theo Wayt · Mar 18, 2025 7:15am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon has become one of the biggest advertising businesses thanks to merchants promoting their wares in search ads on Amazon’s e-commerce site. Now Amazon has set its sights on becoming the conduit for advertisers to buy ads everywhere on the internet, not just on websites it controls. To get there, Amazon has lately offered incentives for... Amazon has become one of the biggest advertising businesses thanks to merchants promoting their...

An Annapurna Labs Trainium 2 chip. Photo by Getty

Amazon Undercuts Nvidia With Aggressive AI Chip Discounts

By Kevin McLaughlin and Anissa Gardizy · Mar 18, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Amazon Web Services has a new strategy to convince cloud customers to use its artificial intelligence chip rather than chips made by Nvidia: sharply undercutting Nvidia on price. A longtime AWS cloud customer said the company recently pitched them on renting servers powered by the chip, Trainium, that would give them the same computing... Amazon Web Services has a new strategy to convince cloud customers to use its artificial...

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna. Photo via Getty

Klarna Affirms Marketing Savvy With Walmart Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2025 5:00pm PDT

If the folks at Klarna ever decide to diversify from installment lending, they should give marketing a go. The Swedish company seems to be an expert in getting attention—and we’re not just talking about its frequent pronouncements about how it is using AI to cut costs. More to the point: Klarna’s announcement on Monday that it will become the... If the folks at Klarna ever decide to diversify from installment lending, they should give...

From left to right: Andrew Bosworth, Chris Cox, Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Schultz, Adam Mosseri, Susan Li and Dave Wehner. Art by Clark Miller; Images via Getty.

Meta Ramps Up for Landmark FTC Trial

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 17, 2025 10:54am PDT

Next month, a much-anticipated Federal Trade Commission trial against Meta Platforms is expected to kick off in a federal courtroom in Washington. If the government gets its way, the trial could end up forcing Meta to sell one or both of its most popular apps, Instagram and WhatsApp, but it will likely take months or years before that’s known. ... Next month, a much-anticipated Federal Trade Commission trial against Meta Platforms is expected...

Photo via Getty

Salesforce and Manus Show the High Cost of Agents

By Juro Osawa · Mar 17, 2025 7:22am PDT

Photo via Getty

Salesforce and Manus Show the High Cost of Agents

By Juro Osawa · Mar 17, 2025 7:22am PDT

The unexpected popularity of Manus, a so-called computer-using AI that takes over a person’s web browser to execute tasks like travel booking and stock analysis, has put the Chinese startup behind it in a bind. The firm’s ability to meet demand for the product, also known as an agent, is limited both by its server capacity and, more importantly,... The unexpected popularity of Manus, a so-called computer-using AI that takes over a person’s web...

Photo by AP

Google Taps MediaTek for Cheaper AI Chips

By Qianer Liu · Mar 17, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Google plans to work with a new firm to help design and produce some of its artificial intelligence chips: MediaTek. Google is preparing to team up with the Taiwanese firm on the next version of the chips, known as Tensor Processing Units, that would be produced next year, according to two people involved in the project. Google plans to work with a new firm to help design and produce some of its artificial...

The Xiaomi SU7 sedan. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty

The Electric: Xiaomi's Latest EV Will Make It Harder for Tesla To Grow This Year

By Steve LeVine · Mar 17, 2025 4:30am PDT

Over the past year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has shown up two formidable U.S. brands: First, it released an electric car, something that Apple failed to do, despite spending an estimated $10 billion and a decade trying. Over the past year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has shown up two formidable U.S. brands:...

Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller, left, and Engine No. 1 founder Christopher James. Photos: Erin Beach

Startup Behind OpenAI’s Stargate Data Center Lands Record Power Deal

By Anissa Gardizy · Mar 16, 2025 8:57pm PDT · 5 comments

An Nvidia-backed startup building a massive data center for OpenAI has gained access to one of the largest new power sources for data centers in the U.S. The startup, Crusoe, said it struck an agreement with the owner of gas turbines that would generate 4.5 gigawatts of energy by 2027, an unprecedented sum that could power millions of Nvidia... An Nvidia-backed startup building a massive data center for OpenAI has gained access to one of...

Art by Clark Miller

Vibe Coding Explained

By Abram Brown · Mar 15, 2025 7:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

Vibe Coding Explained

By Abram Brown · Mar 15, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Amazon’s retail chief shifts from Bezos era• Artificial Intelligence: Scale AI’s billionaire CEO eyes a grander stage in politics• Plus, our Recommendations: Death at 28,000 feet; a VC tells all; and an unapologetically twisty apocalypse show“It was like strapping on an Iron Man suit and... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Amazon’s retail chief shifts from Bezos...