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

Klarna CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty.

Can AI Really Replace Salesforce and Workday?

By Ann Gehan and Amir Efrati · Sep 12, 2024 7:15am PDT · 1 comment

Before you get your hands on OpenAI’s Strawberry reasoning model—which we’re told is due out before the end of this week, including a version that will be in the free tier of ChatGPT—noodle on this:Can artificial intelligence kill the enterprise software app industry that’s led by companies such as Salesforce and Workday?That’s the... Before you get your hands on OpenAI’s Strawberry reasoning model—which we’re told is due out...

GoDaddy Is Having a Moment: Why It Might Not Last

By Anita Ramaswamy · Sep 12, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Grabbing attention is in GoDaddy’s DNA. The web domain hosting company that skyrocketed to widespread fame in the 2010s with a series of provocative Super Bowl ads is having another moment in the limelight, this time with Wall Street investors. After stagnating at the same level for five years, GoDaddy shares doubled between last November... Grabbing attention is in GoDaddy’s DNA. The web domain hosting company that skyrocketed to...

Piedmont Lithium's headquarters in Belmont, N.C. Photo: Google Earth

One in Four Recipients of a U.S. Battery Grant Has Given Them Up

By Steve LeVine · Sep 12, 2024 5:45am PDT · 1 comment

When Piedmont Lithium withdrew its application for a Department of Energy loan to build an $800 million lithium refinery, it joined a growing list of U.S. battery and mining companies that, roiled by slow electric vehicle sales, are walking away from government aid intended to spur a domestic battery supply chain. In some cases, companies have... When Piedmont Lithium withdrew its application for a Department of Energy loan to build an $800...

A 5G cellular tower in San Mateo, Calif. Photo via Getty.

Cellular Data Use Has Exploded: Why That’s a Problem

By Martin Peers · Sep 11, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

A 5G cellular tower in San Mateo, Calif. Photo via Getty.

Cellular Data Use Has Exploded: Why That’s a Problem

By Martin Peers · Sep 11, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Here’s a quiz: What vital digital resource are we consuming as though it was water, apparently unaware that supply is finite? I’m not talking about electricity (well, not today), but wireless spectrum, the airwaves telephone giants use for cellular services like 5G. You know, the service we only pay attention to when it doesn’t work.Here’s a... Here’s a quiz: What vital digital resource are we consuming as though it was water, apparently...

Demonstrators hold signs in support of TikTok outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. in March. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

Creator Economy

TikTok’s Tougher Legal Fight

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 11, 2024 2:24pm PDT

I’ll be in Washington on Monday, when TikTok’s legal team will argue that a new law that could shut down the app in January is an infringement on Americans’ freedom of speech. Even as the deadline to this ban gets closer, I’ve been surprised by how unfazed many people, from TikTok staff to the company’s business partners and creators, have been... I’ll be in Washington on Monday, when TikTok’s legal team will argue that a new law that could...

Art by Tim Boucher

I’m an Author Who Proudly Uses Generative AI to Write My Books

By Tim Boucher · Sep 11, 2024 11:24am PDT · 2 comments

I set up a Google Alert on my name so long ago that I’d almost forgotten about it. It occasionally sends me stories about people in faraway places who share my first and last names. But the alert I received in mid-August was different. When I opened the email, I realized that this was really about me: My work had been referenced in a class... I set up a Google Alert on my name so long ago that I’d almost forgotten about it. It...

Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg at a conference on computer graphics earlier this year. Photo by AP/David Zalubowski.

Meta Will Soon Get a 100,000 GPU Cluster Too; What’s Life At Character Like Now?

By Amir Efrati and Kalley Huang · Sep 11, 2024 8:10am PDT

If an artificial intelligence developer doesn't have a cluster of 100,000 Nvidia H100 server chips for training large language models, do they even exist?All kidding aside, the AI data center race is in full swing as the six or so richest developers and cloud providers seemingly try to one-up each other on a weekly basis in terms of the size of... If an artificial intelligence developer doesn't have a cluster of 100,000 Nvidia H100 server...

Oracle senior vice president Karan Batta. Art by Clark Miller.

Oracle Exec: AMD Gaining Favor in Nvidia-Dominated Market for AI Chips

By Jon Victor · Sep 11, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Oracle senior vice president Karan Batta. Art by Clark Miller.

The Big Interview

Oracle Exec: AMD Gaining Favor in Nvidia-Dominated Market for AI Chips

By Jon Victor · Sep 11, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Despite Nvidia’s booming growth in selling data center chips for artificial intelligence, some customers developing AI are turning to chips from smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices, said Karan Batta, a senior executive in Oracle’s cloud business. Oracle rents out chips from both companies. “What we’re finding now is... Despite Nvidia’s booming growth in selling data center chips for artificial intelligence,...

Huawei's tri-fold smartphone, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Edition, at a Huawei today in Yantai, China. Photo by Tang Ke/VCG via AP.

Huawei Takes on Apple With Trifold

By Martin Peers · Sep 10, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Take that, Tim Cook! Chinese phone giant Huawei, a big Apple rival in China, tried to upstage the introduction of the iPhone 16 on Monday by unveiling a new foldable phone on Tuesday. This isn’t just any foldable—no, the Mate XT unfolds into three parts, compared to those low-ambition two-part designs from Samsung, Motorola and others. ... Take that, Tim Cook! Chinese phone giant Huawei, a big Apple rival in China, tried to upstage the...

D-Matrix's co-founders, Sudeep Bhoja (left) and Sid Sheth (right). Photos via YouTube/D-Matrix

Nvidia Challenger Woos Investors as It Prepares to Unveil New Chip

By Akash Pasricha and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 10, 2024 4:44pm PDT · 1 comment

Another artificial intelligence chip startup is trying to rally investors as it takes on Nvidia. D-Matrix, a Santa Clara, Calif.–based company designing an AI-focused chip to run large language models more cost effectively, wants to raise $250 million in a Series C funding round, according to two people with direct knowledge of the... Another artificial intelligence chip startup is trying to rally investors as it takes on...

The New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings playing at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. Photo by Luke Hales/Getty.

Creator Economy

A Dispatch From YouTube’s NFL Party With Creators

By Sahil Patel · Sep 10, 2024 1:56pm PDT

It’s YouTube’s second year offering customers the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service, which streams every regular season game outside of a viewer’s local market on Sunday afternoons. As part of that deal, the organizations have invited some top YouTubers to shoot videos from the stadiums, as well as use NFL-owned highlights and other intellectual... It’s YouTube’s second year offering customers the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service, which streams...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Stripe’s Challenges With Wells Fargo, Goldman Highlight Payments Risks

By Michael Roddan · Sep 10, 2024 10:39am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Stripe’s Challenges With Wells Fargo, Goldman Highlight Payments Risks

By Michael Roddan · Sep 10, 2024 10:39am PDT · 2 comments

Last year, staff inside Stripe got some alarming news: The payment giant’s relationship with a key bank partner was about to change—for the worse. Wells Fargo executives had told Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison they wanted to end a partnership powering Stripe’s payments, according to three former Stripe employees... Last year, staff inside Stripe got some alarming news: The payment giant’s relationship...

Photo generated by OpenAI's DALL-E.

New Details on OpenAI’s Strawberry; Apple’s Siri Makeover; Larry Ellison Doubles Down on Data Centers

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Sep 10, 2024 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Strawberry, OpenAI’s reasoning-focused artificial intelligence, is coming sooner than we thought.OpenAI plans to release Strawberry as part of its ChatGPT service in the next two weeks, earlier than the original fall timeline we had recently reported, said two people who have tested out the model. Release timelines are always subject to change,... Strawberry, OpenAI’s reasoning-focused artificial intelligence, is coming sooner than we thought....

Art by Clark Miller

Inside TikTok, It’s Business as Usual-ish as Ban Looms

By Kaya Yurieff and Juro Osawa · Sep 10, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Next Monday, attorneys for TikTok will attempt to convince a U.S. appeals court to slam the brakes on a government law that would shut the short video app down in January. Inside TikTok, executives have expressed confidence they will be able to pull that off, according to two people who have recently spoken to TikTok leaders. That legal... Next Monday, attorneys for TikTok will attempt to convince a U.S. appeals court to slam the...

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., where the Department of Justice's second antirust trial against Google is underway. Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty.

Google’s Antitrust Trial No. 2 Starts

By Martin Peers · Sep 9, 2024 5:00pm PDT

There may never be a company with a bigger demand for antitrust lawyers than Google has right now. A little over a month after a court issued its ruling in one Justice Department lawsuit against Google, the trial of the government’s second antitrust lawsuit against Google opened on Monday. This one centers on how Google dominates the market for... There may never be a company with a bigger demand for antitrust lawyers than Google has right...

Chart by Shane Burke

Temu’s Biggest Bargain: Its Parent Company’s Stock

By Jing Yang · Sep 9, 2024 7:21am PDT · 1 comment

Chart by Shane Burke

Temu’s Biggest Bargain: Its Parent Company’s Stock

By Jing Yang · Sep 9, 2024 7:21am PDT · 1 comment

If you’re looking for a bargain backpack or pair of shoes, Temu might seem like the ideal place to look. If you’re looking for a bargain stock, the price tag on Temu’s parent, PDD Holdings, certainly seems tempting. Since PDD’s top management warned two weeks ago that rising competition would put downward pressure on its... If you’re looking for a bargain backpack or pair of shoes, Temu might seem like the ideal...

Photo by I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg via Getty.

Power and Memory Bottlenecks, Blackwell Delays, AI Returns: Takeaways from Semicon Taiwan

By Qianer Liu · Sep 9, 2024 7:00am PDT

The frenzy around AI may be abating, but in a good way. That’s my takeaway from last week's Semicon Taiwan, the chip industry’s big annual convention. Instead of just gushing about the raw power of AI, the conversations on and off stage revolved more around the technical challenges of developing semiconductor technology capable of supporting... The frenzy around AI may be abating, but in a good way. That’s my takeaway from last week's ...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, second from left, and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner, far right, at the Sun Valley conference in July. Photo by Getty.

Why Josh Kushner Became OpenAI’s Fundraising Sherpa

By Kate Clark and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 9, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

In mid-July, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman flew into Idaho to mingle with entertainment and tech elites at the annual Sun Valley retreat. Among those by Altman’s side was Josh Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, the New York venture capital firm that had led a recent share sale valuing the ChatGPT maker at $86 billion. Less than a month later,... In mid-July, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman flew into Idaho to mingle with entertainment and tech elites...

The now-closed Cuberg laboratory in San Leandro, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Northvolt

The Travails of Three Battery Startups Reflect the Industry’s Woes

By Steve LeVine · Sep 9, 2024 4:30am PDT

In May, a worker at the San Leandro, Calif., laboratory of next-generation battery developer Cuberg accidentally spilled alcohol solvent on a pile of scrap lithium metal. A fire broke out, reaching the ceiling, and now-molten lithium burned a 5-inch crater in the floor. Overhead sprinklers sent a spray of water over the interior of the facility,... In May, a worker at the San Leandro, Calif., laboratory of next-generation battery developer ...

Art by Clark Miller

Where Miami’s Party Goes Next

By Abram Brown · Sep 7, 2024 7:02am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

Where Miami’s Party Goes Next

By Abram Brown · Sep 7, 2024 7:02am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The schools where AI isn’t the enemy, but flaky startups are • The Top 5: What to wear for fall conference seasonPlus: The fuhrer and the czar; the art of the swindle; and leave the gun, take the saltwater taffy.A few weeks after tech’s love affair with Miami kicked off in late 2020, I... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The schools where AI isn’t the enemy, but...