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

Art by Clark Miller

Where Techies Who Love E-Bikes Should Travel

By Todd Plummer · Sep 28, 2024 5:00am PDT · 7 comments

You’ve seen them everywhere—and have probably even dodged a couple while crossing Market Street in San Francisco or Fifth Avenue in New York. Electric bikes have become a de rigueur mode of transportation for the office-going set, affording even those who routinely skip leg day at the gym the ability to sail through SoMa without... You’ve seen them everywhere—and have probably even dodged a couple while crossing...

Mark Zuckerberg wearing prototype AR glasses at Meta Connect on Wednesday. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Meta’s Costly Reality

By Martin Peers · Sep 27, 2024 3:00pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg has become a watch nerd. In his appearance at Connect on Wednesday, he was flashing a timepiece identified by Redditors as this one costing tens of thousands of dollars, at least the third such ultrapricey watch he has sported lately. It’s all part of a recent style makeover that also includes gold chains and loud shirts. It’s... Mark Zuckerberg has become a watch nerd. In his appearance at Connect on Wednesday, he was...

Mark Rober. Art by Clark Miller. Rober image via Getty

How a YouTuber Got Inside the Heads of Silicon Valley’s Families

By Annie Goldsmith · Sep 27, 2024 9:16am PDT · 3 comments

Last fall, Satyajeet Salgar, the director of product management and user experience at Google AI, was huddled outside his kids’ Palo Alto, Calif., elementary school with a group of parents who were there for a class performance. The parents began talking about their kids’ favorite shows, and the conversation landed on the topic of... Last fall, Satyajeet Salgar, the director of product management and user experience at Google AI,...

Notion's Simon Last (left) and Canva's Cameron Adams (right). Photos via Sequoia and YouTube.

Pro Weekly: The Co-Founders Not Running Silicon Valley

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 27, 2024 8:00am PDT

Notion's Simon Last (left) and Canva's Cameron Adams (right). Photos via Sequoia and YouTube.

Pro Weekly: The Co-Founders Not Running Silicon Valley

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 27, 2024 8:00am PDT

Last week, my colleague Jon Victor published our Notion Org Chart, along with insights from his interview with co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao. One of Jon’s findings about co-founder Simon Last fascinated me.Last is the only C-suite executive at Notion who has no direct reports. He doesn’t even have a title—he’s simply listed as a co-founder. Zhao... Last week, my colleague Jon Victor published our Notion Org Chart, along with insights from his...

Art by Shane Burke.

Wall Street Hunts for Its Blockchain ‘Killer App’

By Yueqi Yang · Sep 27, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Two years ago, a behind-the-scenes giant in U.S. financial markets went live with one of Wall Street’s biggest and most ambitious blockchain initiatives. Known as Project Ion, the effort aimed to use blockchain to revolutionize settlement of stock trades, when buyers fork over the cash and get share certificates. Firms ranging from big... Two years ago, a behind-the-scenes giant in U.S. financial markets went live with one of Wall...

Mira Murati with Sam Altman last year. Photo by AP

Altman’s Spin Versus Reality

By Martin Peers · Sep 26, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Talk about staying above the fray. Even as the latest rash of senior executive departures from OpenAI sparks a fresh round of questions about the company’s management, CEO Sam Altman was in Turin, Italy, appearing at an event to do what he does best: talk about the future.In an onstage interview, Altman did address the latest departures at... Talk about staying above the fray. Even as the latest rash of senior executive departures from...

Sam Altman, Mira Murati, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever. Photos by Getty.

Behind OpenAI’s Staff Churn: Turf Wars, Burnout, Compensation Demands

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Sep 26, 2024 3:10pm PDT · 8 comments

Last fall, members of OpenAI’s board of directors had had enough of the rumblings inside the artificial intelligence startup about CEO Sam Altman’s management style. They began questioning staffers, including Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, about how Altman operated, including his tendency to pit other leaders against each... Last fall, members of OpenAI’s board of directors had had enough of the rumblings inside...

Departed OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Photo via Getty.

OpenAI’s Investors Are Hanging On For the Ride

By Kate Clark · Sep 26, 2024 3:01pm PDT

Departed OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Photo via Getty.

OpenAI’s Investors Are Hanging On For the Ride

By Kate Clark · Sep 26, 2024 3:01pm PDT

OpenAI's investors are accustomed to turmoil. There’s been a steady stream of high-profile departures since last November, when CEO Sam Altman was fired in a board coup of cinematic proportions. That may be why its backers, though surprised by this week’s resignation of Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and two other top technical... OpenAI's investors are accustomed to turmoil. There’s been a steady stream of high-profile...

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Photo: YouTube

Creator Economy

YouTube Makes It Easier to Watch Creators on TV Screens

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 26, 2024 2:00pm PDT · 1 comment

YouTubers are making more videos with the TV screen in mind. Now YouTube is rewarding them by making it easier for fans to find and watch their favorite videos on connected TVs.Last week, it announced creators will soon be able to organize their content into seasons and episodes on YouTube TV, its paid streaming service that offers live TV and... YouTubers are making more videos with the TV screen in mind. Now YouTube is rewarding them by...

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" Courtesy of Amazon Studios

Amazon’s Upfront Ad Haul Tops $1.8 Billion Target

By Theo Wayt and Sahil Patel · Sep 26, 2024 12:47pm PDT

Amazon’s decision to introduce ads within its Prime Video streaming service is already paying off for the company. In talks with advertisers during the just-concluded upfront ad market for the coming year, Amazon exceeded its goal of drawing $1.8 billion in ad-spending commitments for its video-streaming services, including Prime Video,... Amazon’s decision to introduce ads within its Prime Video streaming service is already...

Photo via Getty

A Flurry of Leadership Departures at OpenAI; Meta Flexes Its Advantage

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Kalley Huang · Sep 26, 2024 7:00am PDT

You know what they say: when it rains, it pours. OpenAI employees experienced that firsthand yesterday, when they received abrupt news of three major leadership departures.Chief technology officer Mira Murati, chief research officer Bob McGrew and head of post-training Barret Zoph are all leaving the ChatGPT maker, leaders told staff yesterday.... You know what they say: when it rains, it pours. OpenAI employees experienced that firsthand...

Art by Clark Miller.

Software Firms Race to Beat OpenAI in AI Agents

By Jon Victor · Sep 26, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller.

Software Firms Race to Beat OpenAI in AI Agents

By Jon Victor · Sep 26, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Even as businesses struggle to figure out how artificial intelligence chatbots can help their operations, they’re getting inundated with a new AI offering: chatbots that can independently take actions like scheduling appointments, also known as AI agents. In the last month, Salesforce, Microsoft, Workday and ServiceNow—hoping to head... Even as businesses struggle to figure out how artificial intelligence chatbots can help their...

A Byd Yuan Plus, on the road in Merida, Mexico. Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal/Getty

The Electric: Bold U.S. Moves Could Invite Chinese Retaliation Against Tesla

By Steve LeVine · Sep 26, 2024 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

The Biden administration’s latest salvo against Chinese electric vehicles carries a risk: potential retaliation against Tesla. The Biden administration’s latest salvo against Chinese electric vehicles carries a risk:...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Meta’s AI Edge

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Sam Altman may have Elon Musk beat for the ability to pull off impressive technological achievements despite near-constant corporate drama. Wednesday’s news that OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati is leaving comes after numerous other high-profile exits in recent months (or in the case of President Greg Brockman, a leave of absence.)... Sam Altman may have Elon Musk beat for the ability to pull off impressive technological...

Creator Don Allen Stevenson III and Mark Zuckerberg at today's event. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Creator Economy

Meta Re-Ups Creator Chatbots, This Time in Video

By Rocket Drew · Sep 25, 2024 3:12pm PDT

Creators played a big role at Meta’s annual developer conference last year, when Instagram unveiled a line of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots styled after celebrities. Meta scrapped that experiment earlier this year, in favor of helping influencers make their own chatbots.Meta is now expanding these chatbots beyond text messages.... Creators played a big role at Meta’s annual developer conference last year, when Instagram...

A still from a Sora-generated video. Photo via OpenAI.

OpenAI is Revamping Sora AI Video

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 25, 2024 7:20am PDT

A still from a Sora-generated video. Photo via OpenAI.

OpenAI is Revamping Sora AI Video

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 25, 2024 7:20am PDT

Between OpenAI’s long-awaited Strawberry launch and its monster ongoing fundraising, it might be easy to forget about Sora, a video-generating model it teased in February to global fanfare. A number of investors told me at the time that the impressive Sora demos cast a worrying shadow over the gaggle of competing AI video startups that had... Between OpenAI’s long-awaited Strawberry launch and its monster ongoing fundraising, it might be...

Michael Rubin, Founder & CEO of Fanatics photographed at offices in NYC. Photo by Getty.

Why Fanatics Is Losing Investor Fans

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 25, 2024 6:00am PDT

Sports jersey seller Fanatics was one of the few high-profile private commerce companies to dodge a valuation collapse in 2022 when interest rates began rising. But as its growth has slowed, investors have started to sour on its prospects, with four mutual funds marking down their stakes in Fanatics by an average of 14% in the first half of the... Sports jersey seller Fanatics was one of the few high-profile private commerce companies to dodge...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty

Private Equity’s Proof of Life

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Private equity dealmakers are starting to get busy. The latest evidence of that was today’s news that Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners will buy Smartsheet, which sells software that helps workers plan projects, for $8.4 billion. As falling interest rates are likely at least part of the reason for the (slight) deal revival, we should see more... Private equity dealmakers are starting to get busy. The latest evidence of that was today’s news...

Fadi Ghandour. Photo by Wamda Capital.

Tech Investors Head to Mideast for Deals

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 24, 2024 3:27pm PDT

Silicon Valley has never felt more intertwined with the Middle East—and I’m not just saying that because I’m writing this column as I graze on dates in the lobby of Rosewood Abu Dhabi. I spent the last week meeting investors, operators and founders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where evidence of U.S. venture capital was easy to find.One of those... Silicon Valley has never felt more intertwined with the Middle East—and I’m not just saying that...

Hulu's “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” centers on a group of eight Mormon moms who have found viral TikTok fame. Photo via YouTube/Hulu

The Talent Managers Who Brought TikTok’s ‘Mormon Moms’ to Hulu

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 24, 2024 3:01pm PDT

Hulu's “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” centers on a group of eight Mormon moms who have found viral TikTok fame. Photo via YouTube/Hulu

Creator Economy

The Talent Managers Who Brought TikTok’s ‘Mormon Moms’ to Hulu

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 24, 2024 3:01pm PDT

I’ve been binging Hulu’s new reality TV series, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which follows the lives of eight young TikTok-famous Mormon moms who get caught up in a scandal where some of them hooked up with each other’s husbands.Even though that drama played out in real time on TikTok two years ago, the show has become a huge hit. Hulu... I’ve been binging Hulu’s new reality TV series, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which follows...