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

Eli Mack is one of the NFL's "Creator of the Week" picks. Photo courtesy of NFL

Creator Economy

Inside The NFL’s Creator Strategy

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 7, 2024 2:54pm PST

When you’re not scanning Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast for a Taylor Swift sighting, look out for some high profile creators like MrBeast, Mark Rober and Deestroying. The National Football League, as part of a strategy to turn more Gen Z viewers into football fans, is working with a record number of creators around the big game this year—in... When you’re not scanning Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast for a Taylor Swift sighting, look out for...

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

OpenAI Shifts AI Battleground to Software That Operates Devices, Automates Tasks

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Feb 7, 2024 1:50pm PST · 5 comments

OpenAI’s first major product, ChatGPT, proved so popular that it sparked a generation of wannabes. But as rivals like Google catch up, OpenAI is hustling to release a product that could prove almost as revolutionary. OpenAI is developing a form of agent software to automate complex tasks by effectively taking over a customer’s... OpenAI’s first major product, ChatGPT, proved so popular that it sparked a generation of...

Pictured: Temu and Amazon packages; Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores; and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos via Getty Images, Shutterstock and YouTube

Inside Amazon, Temu’s Rise Prompts Soul Searching

By Theo Wayt and Jing Yang · Feb 7, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Amazon’s executives pride themselves on their obsession with customers rather than competitors. A year ago, though, the head of Amazon’s e-commerce business, Doug Herrington, had one Amazon competitor very much on his mind. Herrington sent his subordinates a news article about Temu, at the time a little-known subsidiary of Chinese... Amazon’s executives pride themselves on their obsession with customers rather than...

Photo via Midjourney.

One Class of AI Startups That Can Thrive Without Funding: Porn Chatbots

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Photo via Midjourney.

One Class of AI Startups That Can Thrive Without Funding: Porn Chatbots

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Sex sells, and sex created by artificial intelligence is no exception.While many generative AI startups have struggled to manage the exploding costs of AI and retain their customers, AI-powered romantic chatbots haven’t had much trouble attracting and keeping their users. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, a thriving ecosystem has... Sex sells, and sex created by artificial intelligence is no exception.While many generative AI...

Image by Clark Miller

Apple Develops a Foldable Clamshell iPhone

By Wayne Ma · Feb 7, 2024 6:00am PST

Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise like a clamshell, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. If Apple ends up launching a foldable iPhone, it would be one of the biggest hardware design changes in the product’s history. Foldable phones can be smaller and more portable than typical... Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise like a clamshell,...

The Golden State Warriors versus Brooklyn Nets yesterday in New York City. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images.

Media Giants’ Sports Venture Could Trigger Earthquake in Cable and Streaming

By Martin Peers · Feb 6, 2024 5:00pm PST

Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox announced they were joining forces to create a new streaming joint venture for sports. By including access to programming on traditional cable channels such as Disney’s ESPN, Fox’s sports channels and Warner’s TNT and TBS, the new service... Whoa! We got very big news in the television world late Tuesday, as Disney, Warner Bros....

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel

Creator Economy

Evan Spiegel’s Snap Game Plan; YouTube’s Top Priorities

By Erin Woo · Feb 6, 2024 4:44pm PST

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is having a rough week. Snap’s stock plunged 30% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after the company reported revenue that fell within its own guidance but below stock pickers’ expectations. That followed Snap’s decision to lay off 10% of staff, a move that targeted senior (and thus expensive)... Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is having a rough week. Snap’s stock plunged 30% in...

Photo by NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Amazon Pilots New Driver Safety Features After Shootings

By Theo Wayt · Feb 6, 2024 2:17pm PST

Photo by NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Amazon Pilots New Driver Safety Features After Shootings

By Theo Wayt · Feb 6, 2024 2:17pm PST

Amazon is working on several new safety features for Amazon Flex gig drivers who make deliveries in their own vehicles, the company said. The measures follow several incidents in which residents had shot Flex drivers or threatened them with guns, in many instances saying they had mistaken them for intruders. Amazon is working on a feature in its... Amazon is working on several new safety features for Amazon Flex gig drivers who make deliveries...

Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer, Our Next Energy. Photo: Courtesy ONE

Exclusive From The Electric: In a New Blow, Chief Scientific Officer of Our Next Energy Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Feb 6, 2024 10:25am PST

Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer of embattled next-generation battery developer Our Next Energy, has resigned. The move is the latest blow to the Novi, Mich., startup, coming two months after company founder Mujeeb Ijaz stepped down as CEO and became chief technology officer. Kaye’s departure was announced at a company meeting Monday, a... Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer of embattled next-generation battery developer Our Next...

Menlo Ventures partner Rama Sekhar. Photo courtesy of Menlo Ventures.

Why We’re Worried About the Wrong AI Security Risk; Gemini is Coming (Again)

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 6, 2024 7:10am PST · 1 comment

Put aside all of the scary talk about bad people theoretically using large language models to build bombs or bioweapons for a moment. A more urgent threat, says investor Rama Sekhar, are AI models that could leak sensitive corporate data or hackers that trigger ChatGPT service outages. Sekhar is a longtime cybersecurity investor who joined Menlo... Put aside all of the scary talk about bad people theoretically using large language models to...

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty Images

Some OpenAI Investors Sit Out Share Sale, Reflecting AI Divide

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Feb 6, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

For the past year, owning a stake in OpenAI was akin to possessing Silicon Valley gold, signaling that the investor had a ticket to the next great tech transformation. But as the valuation of the startup has tripled, some investors have refrained from buying more. And a number of marquee venture capital firms have shied from investing in dozens... For the past year, owning a stake in OpenAI was akin to possessing Silicon Valley gold, signaling...

Snap Inc. stock figures displayed on the New York Stock Exchange floor this afternoon. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Snap’s Layoffs Aim to Reduce Stock Comp Dilution

By Martin Peers · Feb 5, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Snap Inc. stock figures displayed on the New York Stock Exchange floor this afternoon. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Snap’s Layoffs Aim to Reduce Stock Comp Dilution

By Martin Peers · Feb 5, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense. On Monday, Snap said it was cutting 10% of its global workforce. As it was the latest in a very long list of tech companies to undertake layoffs in recent weeks, the news might not seem like a big deal. Like other companies, Snap said the layoffs were... Hold the front page! A tech company is acknowledging that stock compensation is a real expense....

A Shein warehouse in Indiana. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Shein’s Top U.S. Lawyer Departs

By Ann Gehan · Feb 5, 2024 1:47pm PST · 1 comment

Shein lawyers have plenty of work on their plate right now, as the China-founded fast-fashion firm fends off a raft of trademark infringement lawsuits and gears up for a potential U.S. initial public offering. But Shein’s internal legal ranks are going through a change in leadership, with Shein’s top U.S. lawyer, Valerie Ho,... Shein lawyers have plenty of work on their plate right now, as the China-founded fast-fashion...

Mike Clayville. Photo via Stripe.

Top Stripe Executive Clayville Departs, Is Helping Secretive Startup Omniva Hire

By Theo Wayt, Cory Weinberg and Anissa Gardizy · Feb 5, 2024 12:25pm PST

Stripe returned to profitability last year in part by squeezing spending on sales and marketing. The executive in charge of growing sales to large customers isn’t sticking around to see how the slimmed-down strategy plays out. Mike Clayville, a former Amazon Web Services executive who became a marquee Stripe hire three and a half years ago... Stripe returned to profitability last year in part by squeezing spending on sales and marketing....

Evan Spiegel. Photo by Getty.

Snap Targets Senior Leadership in Sweeping Layoffs

By Erin Woo · Feb 5, 2024 9:48am PST · 3 comments

Snap cut several senior executives in its layoffs announced on Monday, aiming in part to reduce the amount of stock based compensation it pays out to senior people, CEO Evan Spiegel told staff on Monday. The company said it would cut its workforce by 10%, or around 550 employees. Included in the cuts were Sam Corrao Clanon, director of content;... Snap cut several senior executives in its layoffs announced on Monday, aiming in part to reduce...

Nat Friedman holding one of the burnt scrolls from Vesuvius he set out to decipher. Photo via YouTube/Dwarkesh Patel.

Our GPU Reseller Prediction Comes True; 2,000-Year-Old Mystery Solved with AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 5, 2024 8:00am PST

Nat Friedman holding one of the burnt scrolls from Vesuvius he set out to decipher. Photo via YouTube/Dwarkesh Patel.

Our GPU Reseller Prediction Comes True; 2,000-Year-Old Mystery Solved with AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 5, 2024 8:00am PST

In October we predicted that resellers of graphics processing units, an emerging class of startups that provide Nvidia’s in-demand server chips to artificial intelligence developers, would soon be in trouble. Sure enough, three months later, one of those startups is giving up.On Thursday, the startup Banana, which raised $3.4 million in funding... In October we predicted that resellers of graphics processing units, an emerging class of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Musk’s X is Flooded With Ad Spam—Stolen Credit Cards May Be Key

By Erin Woo · Feb 5, 2024 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has in the past couple of months been inundated with a wave of ads for porn sites and fake luxury goods. That might sound like a low-priority problem for X, as these ads—no matter how sketchy—could in theory bring in much-needed ad revenue. The problem is that the flood of ad spam, as... Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has in the past couple of months been inundated...

General Motors has discontinued the Chevy Bolt, but 2023 models remain on sale, including these at a Colma, Calif. dealership. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Is That Chill in the Air ‘EV Winter’?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 5, 2024 4:30am PST · 5 comments

In a 1950 paper, British mathematician Alan Turing posed the provocative question “Can machines think?”—firing up fellow computing experts to devise one that could. In 1958, researchers on contract with the U.S. Navy said they were just a year away from revealing a machine that would “walk, talk, see, write, reproduce itself and be conscious of... In a 1950 paper, British mathematician Alan Turing posed the provocative question “Can machines...

The Billionaire Doing the Unthinkable

The Billionaire Doing the Unthinkable

By Abram Brown · Feb 3, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome to your Weekend!A few years ago, I went to India to see two friends get hitched on a beach in Goa, a ceremony that, like much of the country, offered a rich blend of ancient and modern. On that trip, I met the bride’s grandmother—Aaji to all, the Marathi term for your mom’s mom—and as I’ve seen her more since, I’ve come to treasure the... Welcome to your Weekend!A few years ago, I went to India to see two friends get hitched on a...

Photo via AP

Investors Lose the Plot on Meta Stock

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2024 3:13pm PST · 7 comments

Photo via AP

Investors Lose the Plot on Meta Stock

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2024 3:13pm PST · 7 comments

Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of Facebook parent Meta Platforms. The stock rocketed 20% today, a rise fueled by the company’s robust fourth-quarter results, giving Meta a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion. (Bloomberg reported that the market value of today’s gain was the single... Investors appear to have taken leave of their senses—at least with regard to the value of...