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

OpenAI Chief Scientist, Jakub Pachocki. Photo via YouTube/ICPC News.

The Rising Guard at OpenAI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 13, 2024 7:00am PDT

OpenAI’s upper management has been a bit of a revolving door lately. The last few months have seen a number of high-profile departures—both permanent and temporary—from the ChatGPT maker, including two cofounders, a product exec, a safety leader and a former board member, and even more internal reorgs.Already, though, others have risen to fill... OpenAI’s upper management has been a bit of a revolving door lately. The last few months have...

Crib bumpers and drawstring hoodies, which U.S. regulators say pose health hazards to youth, on Temu and Shein's websites. Photos via Shein and Temu. Art by Shane Burke

On Shein and Temu, Deadly Baby and Toddler Goods Are Easy to Find

By Ann Gehan · Aug 13, 2024 6:00am PDT

Two years ago, Congress passed a law banning the sale of padded crib bumpers, saying they posed a suffocation hazard for babies. But in recent weeks, U.S. shoppers could have bought as many as four different styles of padded bumpers in a variety of colors and patterns on bargain site Temu. On the site of Temu’s main rival, Shein, shoppers... Two years ago, Congress passed a law banning the sale of padded crib bumpers, saying they posed a...

Elon Musk and Thierry Breton. Photos via Getty.

Musk’s European Cage Match

By Martin Peers · Aug 12, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

It looks like Elon Musk is preparing for a cage match with Thierry Breton, a European commissioner who has been on the X owner’s case over his lack of compliance with European regulations. Today, for instance, Musk re-tweeted the latest missive from Breton—as verbose a letter as any bureaucrat could produce—with an image from the movie “Tropic... It looks like Elon Musk is preparing for a cage match with Thierry Breton, a European...

Art by Shane Burke

The Generative AI Startups That May Look for a Buyer

By Jon Victor · Aug 12, 2024 10:02am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Shane Burke

The Generative AI Startups That May Look for a Buyer

By Jon Victor · Aug 12, 2024 10:02am PDT · 2 comments

Google’s complex deal to hire the founders and other researchers of Character.AI—the third such deal between a tech giant and an artificial intelligence startup in the past six months—raises a question: Which startup might be next? Startups that collectively raised billions to develop their own AI models have found it difficult... Google’s complex deal to hire the founders and other researchers of Character.AI—the...

Photo via Getty

The New Fake Math of AI Startup ARR: Not So Annual, Not So Recurring

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 12, 2024 7:00am PDT

Being a venture capitalist investing in AI startups these days isn’t that different from being a detective. Much of the job, VCs tell me, is sniffing out the BS and separating it from reality.Nowhere is that more true than when analyzing startups’ top lines. We’ve talked in the past about how some AI startups are pitching investors on their... Being a venture capitalist investing in AI startups these days isn’t that different from being a...

A Nvidia chip. Photo by Getty

Nvidia AI Chip Smuggling to China Becomes an Industry

By Qianer Liu · Aug 12, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Several months ago, an electric appliance company in eastern China put in a $120 million order for 300 servers powered by eight of Nvidia’s cutting-edge H100 chips. The order was for chips that U.S. export rules bar from sale in China. To get around those rules, the company didn’t go to one of Nvidia’s authorized distributors... Several months ago, an electric appliance company in eastern China put in a $120 million order...

Qichao Hu, founder and CEO, lithium metal battery developer SES AI. Photo: Courtesy SES.

Exclusive From The Electric: In a ‘Come to Jesus’ Moment, SES Bows Out of Sole Manufacturing

By Steve LeVine · Aug 12, 2024 4:30am PDT

In recent months, Qichao Hu, CEO of Massachusetts-based lithium-metal battery developer SES AI, had a “come to Jesus moment,” he said. After 12 years of work, the company’s battery was nearly ready for large-volume production. But Hu was anxious: How would tiny SES, which had never manufactured a commercial battery, compete with the world’s... In recent months, Qichao Hu, CEO of Massachusetts-based lithium-metal battery developer SES AI,...

Art by Clark Miller

Weekend Welcomes Two New Reporters: Josh Koehn and Paris Martineau

By The Information · Aug 10, 2024 7:24am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller

Weekend Welcomes Two New Reporters: Josh Koehn and Paris Martineau

By The Information · Aug 10, 2024 7:24am PDT · 1 comment

Nothing livens up a weekend like change, and I’m very pleased to tell you about some changes here at Weekend, The Information’s weekly magazine section: We’ve added two new reporters, Josh Koehn and Paris Martineau. Josh joins us from The San Francisco Standard to cover tech’s power and influence in San Francisco and the... Nothing livens up a weekend like change, and I’m very pleased to tell you about some...

What Altman Discussed at a Secret All-Male Retreat

What Altman Discussed at a Secret All-Male Retreat

By Abram Brown · Aug 10, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet Curtis Yarvis, far-right guru and friend to tech conservatives like Peter Thiel• The Top 5: Our favorite board games • The techies who went for gold in Paris Plus: A nifty, nasty weather app; Stephen King strikes again; and laughter in the slammer. For almost a century and a... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Meet Curtis Yarvis, far-right guru and...

Art by Clark Miller

The Board Games That Techies Can’t Stop Playing

By David Ewalt · Aug 10, 2024 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Matt Calkins sees a parallel between the best board games and the best software. “What I like is efficiency, the simultaneous utilization of the time of everyone at the table,” said Calkins, founder and CEO of Appian, an enterprise software company. “I like a game with high throughput.” Calkins is the author of several... Matt Calkins sees a parallel between the best board games and the best software. “What I...

Art by Clark Miller (Photos: Getty Images)

The Techies Who Went Out of Office to Chase Olympic Glory

By Akash Pasricha · Aug 10, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Shortly before Canyon Barry shipped out for the Paris Olympics to compete in 3×3 basketball, his co-workers at L3Harris Technologies, the U.S. defense tech giant, threw him a jubilant send-off. “A nice little ice cream party,” he recalled. For the occasion, the company commissioned custom T-shirts, showing a basketball orbiting... Shortly before Canyon Barry shipped out for the Paris Olympics to compete in 3×3...

Photos via Adobe Stock

Paramount and Warner Discover Reality

By Martin Peers · Aug 9, 2024 3:30pm PDT

Photos via Adobe Stock

Paramount and Warner Discover Reality

By Martin Peers · Aug 9, 2024 3:30pm PDT

It’s Friday and lots of people are on vacation. That makes this an ideal time to dive into a really wonky subject—accounting. Fun! Don’t click away just yet. This is actually interesting. Two aging entertainment companies, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, both chose this week to reveal multibillion-dollar write-downs of their... It’s Friday and lots of people are on vacation. That makes this an ideal time to dive into a...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok’s Latest Growth Hack: Buying New Users With Discounts

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 9, 2024 12:30pm PDT · 1 comment

TikTok is testing a truism: Money talks. TikTok users in the U.S. who invite their friends to the app can now get steep discounts on goods, such as digital cameras and hair styling tools marked down to just a penny, as part of a promotion the ByteDance-owned company introduced in recent weeks. That builds on a referral scheme TikTok has been... TikTok is testing a truism: Money talks. TikTok users in the U.S. who invite their friends to the...

Photo by Freyr

U.S. President of Freyr Battery Leaves in Latest Shakeup

By Steve LeVine · Aug 9, 2024 12:06pm PDT

In a new shakeup, Jeremy Bezdek, president of Freyr Battery’s U.S. division, has left the company, according to a person familiar with the situation. The unexpected move comes two months after CEO Birger Steen left the next-generation battery maker 10 months after taking the job. The move is surprising. Senior company executives did not... In a new shakeup, Jeremy Bezdek, president of Freyr Battery’s U.S. division, has left the...

Can Google Outrun Regulation?

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 9, 2024 11:36am PDT · 1 comment

Another bustling week in tech... and on More or Less. After taping this week's episode—which covers everything from why Instagram products are so expensive to my new podcast obsession—we all looked at each other and said, "What are we going to title this one?" I hope you enjoy and that it jogs some new ideas loose in... Another bustling week in tech... and on More or Less. After taping this week's...

Art by Clark Miller

The Far-Right Guru Who Has Befriended Silicon Valley’s Extreme Factions

By Julia Black · Aug 9, 2024 9:00am PDT · 17 comments

Art by Clark Miller

The Far-Right Guru Who Has Befriended Silicon Valley’s Extreme Factions

By Julia Black · Aug 9, 2024 9:00am PDT · 17 comments

In recent weeks, Democrats have relentlessly blistered Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, using a straightforward message: They’re too weird to hold high office. If Trump and Vance are weird, imagine what the American public might make of Curtis Yarvin, 51, whose far-right thinking has influenced both Vance and, increasingly,... In recent weeks, Democrats have relentlessly blistered Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D....

Greg Brockman. Photo by Errich Petersen/Getty Images for SXSW

Pro Weekly: Where AI Employees Are Moving

By Akash Pasricha · Aug 9, 2024 8:00am PDT

Earlier this week, my colleagues Stephanie, Jon and Amir broke the news of another leadership shake-up at OpenAI. Greg Brockman, president, is on a leave of absence. Peter Deng, president of consumer product, and John Schulman, a co-founder and scientific lead for advancement, are departing; Schulman is joining Anthropic’s technical staff. We’ve... Earlier this week, my colleagues Stephanie, Jon and Amir broke the news of another leadership...

DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter, left, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photos via Getty

How Google’s Antitrust Losses Could Shrink Its Business

By Erin Woo · Aug 9, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

After winning a landmark antitrust case against Google on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice won’t just seek to diminish the company’s lucrative alliance with Apple. In the next phase of the case, which involves meting out punishments for Google’s illegal monopoly, government lawyers are also likely to try to hamper the... After winning a landmark antitrust case against Google on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Getty

Airbnb’s Paradox: Profits v. Growth

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 8, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

One of the internet’s corporate success stories of the past decade, Airbnb, is suddenly in need of an overhaul. Its stock plunged 11% this week—dragging it down 15% for the year—after executives acknowledged a slowdown among U.S. consumers had hurt its growth. The slowdown crystallizes a paradox about Airbnb’s performance. Its 11% expected... One of the internet’s corporate success stories of the past decade, Airbnb, is suddenly in need...

Image by Getty.

The Recession Fears Looming Over VC’s Booming July

By Kate Clark · Aug 8, 2024 3:15pm PDT

Image by Getty.

The Recession Fears Looming Over VC’s Booming July

By Kate Clark · Aug 8, 2024 3:15pm PDT

Global venture funding reached $23 billion last month, up 20% compared to July 2023, according to Crunchbase data. Judging from the numerous funding announcements that arrived in my inbox this morning, those increases look poised to continue. However, investors are wary a recession could hamper the turnaround.First the positives: Anduril just... Global venture funding reached $23 billion last month, up 20% compared to July 2023, according to...