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

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Tech’s Sea of Red

By Martin Peers · Sep 3, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Just what we needed: a stock market chill to remind us that summer is over. Investors on Wall Street were dumping stocks left, right and center on Tuesday, after anemic manufacturing data reminded people of economic uncertainties they had put out of their minds. Tech stocks were a sea of red, from the smallest to the biggest companies. But... Just what we needed: a stock market chill to remind us that summer is over. Investors on Wall...

Photo via Getty

A Dogfight Over a Dog Food Startup

By Julia Hornstein and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 3, 2024 4:12pm PDT · 1 comment

As funding for startups outside artificial intelligence has dried up, more founders have contemplated takeover offers. But such deals can sour if the founders agree to an all-stock deal—and the acquiring business doesn’t live up to its promises.That’s essentially the situation the shareholders of venture-backed Canadian startup Kabo allege they’... As funding for startups outside artificial intelligence has dried up, more founders have...

Sienna Mori and Dan McCormick. Photo courtesy of subjects

Creator Economy

Create Raises $5 Million Thanks to Creatine Craze

By Ann Gehan · Sep 3, 2024 2:19pm PDT

For years, creatine was best known as a supplement for hardcore gym enthusiasts looking to get a workout boost. More recently, popular podcasters and health and fitness influencers like Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman have been touting other purported health benefits of creatine, like better cognitive function and sleep.One supplement startup, ... For years, creatine was best known as a supplement for hardcore gym enthusiasts looking to get a...

Fidji Simo, Tobi Lütke and Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Getty

Founder Mode Shouldn’t Be Just for Founders

By Fidji Simo · Sep 3, 2024 1:04pm PDT · 11 comments

Fidji Simo, Tobi Lütke and Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Getty

Founder Mode Shouldn’t Be Just for Founders

By Fidji Simo · Sep 3, 2024 1:04pm PDT · 11 comments

Paul Graham’s essay on founder mode captured the imagination of Silicon Valley this weekend by clearly articulating the magic we witness in many founder-driven companies. As someone who spent a decade working under a generational founder at Meta Platforms and now sits on the board of two founder-led companies (Shopify and OpenAI), I... Paul Graham’s essay on founder mode captured the imagination of Silicon Valley this weekend...

ByteDance's Singapore offices. Photo via Shutterstock.

ByteDance Increases Share Price in Latest Employee Buyback

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 3, 2024 12:22pm PDT · 1 comment

ByteDance has increased its share price in its latest employee buyback, an increase that's in line with secondary market trades that have lifted its valuation close to $230 billion. The TikTok parent set the price for an upcoming employee share buyback at about $181 a share, while it will offer former employees about $154 a share, according... ByteDance has increased its share price in its latest employee buyback, an increase that's in...

Disney Leads TV Companies in Streaming Ad War

By Sahil Patel · Sep 3, 2024 9:21am PDT

The Redstone family’s recent decision to sell Paramount Global, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery’s loss of NBA broadcasting rights, reflect the perilous state of traditional TV companies, mostly due to the slow decline of the hugely lucrative cable TV machine. Of the traditional TV firms, Disney may be best positioned to survive the... The Redstone family’s recent decision to sell Paramount Global, as well as Warner Bros....

Photo via Adobe Stock

Two AI Developers Are Plotting $125 Billion Supercomputers

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 3, 2024 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Developers of artificial intelligence say they need bigger and bigger data centers to concentrate processing power so that it produces better versions of the technology.The companies are notoriously secretive about the details of those plans, though, which is why we just published an AI Data Center Database that lists some of the biggest... Developers of artificial intelligence say they need bigger and bigger data centers to concentrate...

Introducing the AI Data Center Database

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Introducing the AI Data Center Database

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

The biggest developers of artificial intelligence closely guard their state-of-the-art technology, but they’re arguably even more secretive about the specialized data centers needed to develop it. The Information is lifting the veil on existing and planned AI data centers, sometimes known as supercomputers or AI chip clusters, in a... The biggest developers of artificial intelligence closely guard their state-of-the-art...

Volkswagen has bought almost 20% of QuantumScape for $300 million. Photos: Getty; Shutterstock

The Electric: Will VW’s $21 Billion Investment Spree Produce Winning EVs?

By Steve LeVine · Sep 2, 2024 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

In 2022, Volkswagen’s board fired chair Herbert Diess after a rocky tenure in which, while pushing employees to move fast into the electric vehicle age, he reportedly angered powerful German labor leaders and regional government officials. The last straw, analysts said, was the failure of a core Diess project—internally designed software that... In 2022, Volkswagen’s board fired chair Herbert Diess after a rocky tenure in which, while...

Philippe Laffont at The Information's Private Capital Conference in April. Photo by Nicole Pereira/The Information.

Coatue Founder Laffont Leaves Board of TikTok Parent ByteDance

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Aug 31, 2024 9:35am PDT

Coatue Management founder Philippe Laffont has left the board of ByteDance, the parent of TikTok, according to the company’s website. At the same time, ByteDance has added a new director, French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel. Laffont’s departure follows The Information’s report last week that Coatue was considering selling a... Coatue Management founder Philippe Laffont has left the board of ByteDance, the parent of TikTok,...

Art by Clark Miller

The Risk Guru Rides Again

By Abram Brown · Aug 31, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A videogame that fuels fake wars• HBO’s surprise Sunday night wager—and what else we’re watching this fallPlus: A deepfake music video; Apple’s little-loved masterpiece; and the moment when Silicon Valley saved the military. Oh! Look who’s back in our lives: Nate Silver, the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A videogame that fuels fake wars• HBO’s ...

Art by Clark Miller (Photos: HBO)

HBO’s Surprise Sunday Night Wager

By Josh Duboff · Aug 31, 2024 5:00am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller (Photos: HBO)

Media and Entertainment

HBO’s Surprise Sunday Night Wager

By Josh Duboff · Aug 31, 2024 5:00am PDT · 2 comments

Konrad Kay and Mickey Down were out at a party near the end of 2023 when they received word from HBO that their show, “Industry,” would move from its home on Monday evenings to the television industry’s premier time slot: 9 p.m. on Sunday, a position HBO had previously given to the likes of “Succession,” “Game... Konrad Kay and Mickey Down were out at a party near the end of 2023 when they received word from...

California State Senator Scott Wiener. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.California State Senator Scott Wiener. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What California AI Bill Could Mean

By Martin Peers · Aug 30, 2024 4:35pm PDT

The constantly humming AI-news machine revved up a notch this week, what with Nvidia’s earnings report, news about OpenAI’s fundraising and the first ever data about how many people are using Meta AI. But potentially the biggest development was the passage in the California legislature of SB 1047, aimed at addressing the risks of AI. It has... The constantly humming AI-news machine revved up a notch this week, what with Nvidia’s earnings...

Stills from our subscriber call on SB 1047. Photo via The Information.

California’s AI Bill Won’t Harm Open Source, Says Author

By Laura Mandaro · Aug 30, 2024 4:22pm PDT

A California bill that could penalize the makers of large artificial intelligence models if they’re found to cause harm is headed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, where its outcome is uncertain. “I do not know what the governor will do,” said Scott Wiener, the state senator from San Francisco who authored SB 1047, in a... A California bill that could penalize the makers of large artificial intelligence models if...

An AI rendering of the gang at Burning Man. Credit: Runway and Pica.

Telegram, Free Speech and Its Limits

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 30, 2024 10:36am PDT

Should you have free speech inside America if you are not an American? That was one of the meaty questions we discussed this week, following the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The gang took the opportunity to check in on deeper questions that remain unanswered about freedom of speech and censorship. While the topic can feel... Should you have free speech inside America if you are not an American? That was one of...

Art by Clark Miller

The Aging Videogame That Fuels Fake Wars

By Simon Parkin · Aug 30, 2024 9:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

The Aging Videogame That Fuels Fake Wars

By Simon Parkin · Aug 30, 2024 9:00am PDT

A few months ago, a user from Chongquing, China, posted a video to Chinese social media platform Weibo, which has more than half a billion active users. The grainy 26-second clip appears to have been filmed on a primitive camcorder: We see a barrage of rockets ascend from a small vessel into a dusky sky, then streak toward a nearby aircraft... A few months ago, a user from Chongquing, China, posted a video to Chinese social media platform...

Left to right: Harvey AI co-founders Winston Weinberg and Gabriel Pereyra, Hebbia AI founder George Sivulka, and Minna Song, co-founder of Elise AI. Photos via Harvey AI, Hebbia AI and Elise AI.

Pro Weekly: What This Summer's AI Deals Reveal

By Akash Pasricha · Aug 30, 2024 8:00am PDT

Summer can feel slow, but artificial intelligence investors have been busy over the past two months. Venture capitalists invested nearly $876 million in generative AI startups in July and August, according to The Information’s Generative AI Database.That’s 18% more than investors put into GenAI startups in July and August 2023, which was a 90%... Summer can feel slow, but artificial intelligence investors have been busy over the past two...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Amazon Decided to Cozy Up to Meta and TikTok

By Theo Wayt · Aug 30, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Over the past two years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has sat down with some of the most high-profile CEOs in the social media business to discuss a range of topics including Amazon Web Services, which many of the social media companies use. Also on the agenda: letting Amazon sell its goods within TikTok, Instagram and other apps through a new... Over the past two years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has sat down with some of the most high-profile...

The California State Capitol building in Sacramento. Photo via Getty.

Passage of California AI Bill Sends Shivers Across Tech Industry

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Aug 29, 2024 5:12pm PDT · 5 comments

Artificial intelligence developers are waking up to the potential implications of the California legislature’s passage on Thursday of a first-of-its-kind bill. SB 1047 would require developers to anticipate what their customers do with their AI and to pay steep fines if the software causes harm—for instance, if someone hacks into an... Artificial intelligence developers are waking up to the potential implications of the California...

Sam Altman at WWDC this year. Photo via Getty.

Why OpenAI Needs an IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 29, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Sam Altman at WWDC this year. Photo via Getty.

Why OpenAI Needs an IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 29, 2024 5:00pm PDT

The elite circle of the world’s most valuable private companies face a steady chorus of will-they-or-won’t-they IPO chatter from investors and bankers (and me). It helps to cut through the rumors by thinking through the reasons why a company might want or need to go through the expensive ritual (lawyer fees, new scrutiny, dealing with the... The elite circle of the world’s most valuable private companies face a steady chorus of...