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

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Recent Editions

Art by Clark Miller

Our Favorite New Age Canned Beverages—That Thirsty VCs Love, Too

By Abram Brown · Mar 30, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

“We’re not trying to bring back Prohibition—or judge anyone,” promised Bill Shufelt, leading me through a taste test of the non-alcoholic beer from his seven-year-old Athletic Brewing, recently valued at nearly a half-billion dollars. That money has afforded some fine products: To my immense surprise, Shufelt’s... “We’re not trying to bring back Prohibition—or judge anyone,” promised...

Generative AI illustration via Adobe Stock.

AI Rivals Broadband in High Upfront Cost—What About the Return?

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2024 3:30pm PDT

Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are cool to experiment with. But it’s becoming clearer by the day just how humongously expensive this kind of AI technology is to develop. Our scoop today about Microsoft drawing up plans to spend as much as $100 billion on a data center project for OpenAI... Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are cool...

Reddit IPO, Apple v. DOJ and the Return of the Power Lunch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 29, 2024 12:04pm PDT · 1 comment

This week's More or Less was an ode to the return of in-person business. Plus, how VCs are breaking down the Reddit IPO and more. Hope you enjoy. Apple Spotify This week's More or Less was an ode to the return of in-person business. Plus, how VCs are...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty. Art: Shane Burke

Microsoft and OpenAI Plot $100 Billion Stargate AI Supercomputer

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Mar 29, 2024 10:05am PDT · 13 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty. Art: Shane Burke

Microsoft and OpenAI Plot $100 Billion Stargate AI Supercomputer

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Mar 29, 2024 10:05am PDT · 13 comments

Executives at Microsoft and OpenAI have been drawing up plans for a data center project that would contain a supercomputer with millions of specialized server chips to power OpenAI’s artificial intelligence, according to three people who have been involved in the private conversations about the proposal. The project could cost as much... Executives at Microsoft and OpenAI have been drawing up plans for a data center project that...

Art by Clark Miller

How the CEO of Kim Kardashian’s Skims Dodged Retail Armageddon

By Ann Gehan and Annie Goldsmith · Mar 29, 2024 9:28am PDT · 2 comments

When Skims co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede were recently considering where to put their very first physical store, they knew right away that New York and Los Angeles wouldn’t work well. Their retail unicorn had previously held pop-up shops in those cities, and they had attracted enormous crowds that limited any chance to observe... When Skims co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede were recently considering where to put their...

Left to right, Everett Randle, Delian Asparouhov, John Luttig, Leigh Marie Braswell, Avery Klemmer, Vinay Iyengar and Grace Isford.

Pro Weekly: Venture Capital's Youth Movement

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 29, 2024 8:00am PDT

My colleagues Natasha and Kate this week published The Next GPs, identifying 19 people in industry and at venture capital firms such as Accel, Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners who are likely to become general partners in coming years. As I studied the list, I was struck by the relative youth of its members. At least nine,... My colleagues Natasha and Kate this week published The Next GPs, identifying 19 people in...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

How U.S. Sellers Are Embracing Trade ‘Loophole’ That Has Boosted Shein and Temu

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Mar 29, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Air Up, a maker of scented water bottles backed by PepsiCo and Ashton Kutcher, was looking to cut costs last year, it decided to stop using warehouses located in California and Ohio, and instead ship its Asia- and Europe-made products out of the border city of Reynosa, Mexico. That change will make it cheaper for Munich-based Air Up to... When Air Up, a maker of scented water bottles backed by PepsiCo and Ashton Kutcher, was looking...

Scale AI CEO, Alexandr Wang. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Scale AI Nears $13 Billion Valuation in Accel-Led Round

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Mar 28, 2024 8:13pm PDT

Scale AI CEO, Alexandr Wang. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Scale AI Nears $13 Billion Valuation in Accel-Led Round

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Mar 28, 2024 8:13pm PDT

Venture capital firm Accel, an early investor in the data labeling startup Scale AI, is in talks to lead a new round of funding that would raise the startup’s valuation nearly 80% to about $13 billion, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. The investment would allow Accel to maintain a large share of a valuable startup that... Venture capital firm Accel, an early investor in the data labeling startup Scale AI, is in talks...

U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland at a news conference on March 21 after the Justice Department sued Apple for alleged antitrust violations. Photo by Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

When Tech Regulators Shift on a Dime

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 28, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Ask most founders, venture capitalists and tech executives how they feel about the state of regulation—from the antitrust case the Justice Department brought against Apple to the executive order regarding artificial intelligence—and you’ll hear a familiar refrain. Most tech leaders ignore regulators because they believe these authorities are... Ask most founders, venture capitalists and tech executives how they feel about the state of...

Sam Bankman-Fried at Manhattan Federal Court on June 15, 2023. Photo by Getty Images.

Crypto’s New Beginning; Seed Valuations Rise 25% From 2021

By Kate Clark · Mar 28, 2024 3:04pm PDT

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years by a federal judge after he was found guilty of seven counts of criminal fraud. Facing a possible 110 years, he got off easy; the crypto industry, however, did not. The yearslong saga tarnished crypto’s reputation among institutional investors and sparked an exodus of capital. ... Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years by a federal judge after he was...

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

By Sahil Patel · Mar 28, 2024 2:51pm PDT

It’s been a year since YouTube started sharing Shorts ad revenue with creators that meet certain audience requirements, and it’s starting to pay off. Sort of.More than 25% of YouTube channels in its YouTube Partnership Program are now earning revenue on its short-form videos, YouTube said. With more than 3 million creators in that program, that... It’s been a year since YouTube started sharing Shorts ad revenue with creators that meet certain...

Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Fanatics.

Bolt’s Fanatics Partnership Goes South, Adding to Growth Woes

By Abubakar Idris and Erin Woo · Mar 28, 2024 11:34am PDT

Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Fanatics.

Bolt’s Fanatics Partnership Goes South, Adding to Growth Woes

By Abubakar Idris and Erin Woo · Mar 28, 2024 11:34am PDT

Bolt, the checkout startup that rocketed to an $11 billion valuation during the pandemic e-commerce boom, is embroiled in another legal battle with a high-profile retail partner: sports apparel company Fanatics, which signed a deal in 2022 to offer Bolt’s speedy payment buttons across several of its e-commerce sites. Fanatics filed a... Bolt, the checkout startup that rocketed to an $11 billion valuation during the pandemic...

Photo via Midjourney

Why Two Models Are Better Than One

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 28, 2024 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

You may have heard of the saying, “two heads are better than one.” The same could be said about large language models.Yes, developers have figured out that model performance can be improved by combining a couple of LLMs. The concept behind "model merging" is surprisingly intuitive. Developers combine the weights (or the “settings” that determine... You may have heard of the saying, “two heads are better than one.” The same could be said about...

Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund. Photo via Getty Images.

Inside Mercury’s Stumble From Fintech Hero to Target of the Feds

By Michael Roddan · Mar 28, 2024 6:00am PDT

The meeting last July between officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and executives from Choice Financial Group was tense. For most of the two-and-a-half hour session, the FDIC officials delivered the results of the agency’s recent examination of Choice, a once sleepy bank based in Fargo, N.D., for possible violations of... The meeting last July between officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and executives...

The electric Lightning LS-218, with Enevate's dominant metallurgical silicon anode. Photo: Courtesy Lightning Motorcycle

The Electric: The First Commercial Silicon-Dominant Battery Powers This Motorcycle

By Steve LeVine · Mar 28, 2024 4:30am PDT

California-based Lightning Motorcycle has released a new electric bike that it says accelerates from zero to 60 mph in two seconds, delivers 335 miles of range, and adds about 200 miles of charge in 12 minutes. The secret behind Lightning’s LS-218 is the first commercial electric vehicle battery anode dominated by silicon, a material that... California-based Lightning Motorcycle has released a new electric bike that it says accelerates...

Photo by Tada Images/Adobe Stock.

What Amazon’s Anthropic Update Doesn’t Tell Us

By Martin Peers · Mar 27, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Photo by Tada Images/Adobe Stock.

What Amazon’s Anthropic Update Doesn’t Tell Us

By Martin Peers · Mar 27, 2024 5:00pm PDT

You could hear a pin drop in the tech world today, things were so quiet. (Are techies off painting Easter eggs?) We’re so starved for news that we appreciated Amazon’s decision to “update” everyone on the status of its commitment to invest up to $4 billion in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. The update was…Amazon has completed the full... You could hear a pin drop in the tech world today, things were so quiet. (Are techies off...

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

How Creators Make Money Is Changing

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 27, 2024 1:40pm PDT

In 2021, we reported on a survey that measured creators’ top sources of revenue. At that time, sponsorships with advertisers took the top spot by far. Some 77% of creators said it was their single highest source of income. Three years later, other revenue sources are starting to gain more ground. For instance, affiliate marketing, where... In 2021, we reported on a survey that measured creators’ top sources of revenue. At that time,...

Diana Doyle of Morgan Stanley and Rich Wong of Accel. Photos via Morgan Stanley and Accel.

Q&A

Why Fewer Than 20% of Startup Unicorns Are Likely to Go Public Soon

By Laura Mandaro · Mar 27, 2024 10:48am PDT · 2 comments

The market for initial public offerings is crawling out of a two-year slumber, invigorated by the debuts of Reddit and Astera Labs. But most startups valued at $1 billion or higher won’t go public soon, predicts Accel partner Rich Wong. Of the 1,200-plus private startups that now have this valuation, he estimated far fewer than 20% will... The market for initial public offerings is crawling out of a two-year slumber, invigorated by the...

Art by Clark Miller

To Build a Winning Defense Tech Company, Think Outside the Pentagon

By Tom Biegala · Mar 27, 2024 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

There has been a lot of buzz recently around technology startups developing products for the defense industry. In the past few years, companies such as Palantir, Anduril and SpaceX have achieved strong valuations from public and private investors. In addition, geopolitical instability in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and East Asia has led to a... There has been a lot of buzz recently around technology startups developing products for the...

Databricks headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by Tada Images/Adobe Stock.

Why the AI Hyperrealists at Databricks Spent $10 Million to Beat Meta’s LLM

By Amir Efrati · Mar 27, 2024 7:05am PDT · 1 comment

Databricks headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by Tada Images/Adobe Stock.

Why the AI Hyperrealists at Databricks Spent $10 Million to Beat Meta’s LLM

By Amir Efrati · Mar 27, 2024 7:05am PDT · 1 comment

Perhaps no executive in the artificial intelligence field has gone to greater lengths to knock down generative AI hype quite like Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi. A year ago, that looked like sour grapes as OpenAI’s quick progress made many people think that software tools like those Databricks sells to companies to manage data and utilize AI would... Perhaps no executive in the artificial intelligence field has gone to greater lengths to knock...