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

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Creator Economy

Online Commerce Ads Boost Meta; Threads Users Rise

By Julia Hornstein · Jul 31, 2024 4:48pm PDT

For all the talk about artificial intelligence, Meta Platform’s digital ad business continues to mint money. Advertising from apps including Instagram and Facebook rose 22% in the second quarter from the year-ago period, to $38 billion. Ads for online commerce sites were the largest contributor to year-on-year growth. The average price... For all the talk about artificial intelligence, Meta Platform’s digital ad business continues to...

XAI founder Elon Musk. Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

Musk’s xAI Has Considered Buying Character.AI

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Stephanie Palazzolo and Kalley Huang · Jul 31, 2024 4:18pm PDT · 2 comments

XAI, Elon Musk’s one-year-old artificial intelligence startup, has considered acquiring chatbot maker Character.AI as it looks for more ways to test its Grok AI models, according to a person who spoke with xAI leadership about the deal. The discussion may not result in a deal. But the internal debate at xAI points to the types of pairings... XAI, Elon Musk’s one-year-old artificial intelligence startup, has considered acquiring...

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How an Old Google Search Trick is Solving AI Hallucinations

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 31, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

If you’ve kept up with this newsletter, you’ve likely learned a lot about retrieval augmented generation, a commonly-used technique that reduces bad results from large language models by providing the models with access to data whose accuracy has been vetted.Artificial intelligence developers have improved traditional RAG (otherwise known as ... If you’ve kept up with this newsletter, you’ve likely learned a lot about retrieval augmented...

TikTok Spending Drove Microsoft’s Booming AI Business

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 31, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

TikTok Spending Drove Microsoft’s Booming AI Business

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 31, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft has had success reselling OpenAI’s artificial intelligence to its cloud customers, a core part of its plan to build a new multibillion-dollar profit machine. New data show which customers are powering the business. TikTok, for instance, was paying nearly $20 million per month to buy OpenAI’s models through Microsoft as of... Microsoft has had success reselling OpenAI’s artificial intelligence to its cloud...

Amy Hood. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Microsoft Tests Investors’ Patience

By Anita Ramaswamy · Jul 30, 2024 6:03pm PDT · 4 comments

Patience may be a virtue, but Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood is asking investors to take it to extremes. Twice during the Tuesday conference call to discuss the company’s June-quarter results, Hood said Microsoft’s extraordinary investment in building and leasing data centers to support artificial intelligence would pay off over... Patience may be a virtue, but Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood is asking investors to...

Photo via Getty.

AI Anxiety and Political Spats Hang Over Silicon Valley

By Kate Clark · Jul 30, 2024 3:47pm PDT

There was a palpable sense of trepidation in the air in San Francisco and on Sand Hill Road during my latest visit last week.Venture capitalists are increasingly stressed by the frenetic pace of artificial intelligence deals, which they say resembles the frenzied check-writing of 2021. They are also growing more concerned about the lack of... There was a palpable sense of trepidation in the air in San Francisco and on Sand Hill Road...

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

AI Chatbots Go Mainstream on Social Media

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 30, 2024 2:52pm PDT

As remarkable as it sounds, we’re already in the second wave of artificial intelligence chatbots. As Sylvia, Kalley and I reported earlier today, Meta Platforms has scrapped its high-profile celebrity chatbots—the ones modeled after public figures and creators such as Charli D’Amelio, whose avatar, Coco, offered dancing tips—after they... As remarkable as it sounds, we’re already in the second wave of artificial intelligence...

Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, introducing the celebrity AI chatbots at Meta Connect 2023 last September. Photo via YouTube.

Meta Scraps Celebrity AI Chatbots That Fell Flat With Users

By Kaya Yurieff, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Jul 30, 2024 12:55pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, introducing the celebrity AI chatbots at Meta Connect 2023 last September. Photo via YouTube.

Meta Scraps Celebrity AI Chatbots That Fell Flat With Users

By Kaya Yurieff, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Jul 30, 2024 12:55pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms has scrapped its first high-profile foray into consumer artificial intelligence—chatbots played by celebrities and social media influencers such as Charli D’Amelio, MrBeast and Paris Hilton. The reversal, less than a year after Meta launched the celebrity chatbots, shows how even the biggest tech companies... Meta Platforms has scrapped its first high-profile foray into consumer artificial...

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How OpenAI's Smaller Rivals Are Developing Their Own AI That ‘Reasons’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 30, 2024 7:00am PDT

To expand the market for artificial intelligence, developers must create large language models that can reason through customers’ problems, not just parrot answers based on what’s in the models’ training data.While OpenAI and Google are throwing tons of capital at developing AI that solves problems it hasn’t seen before, small startups and... To expand the market for artificial intelligence, developers must create large language models...

Skims co-founder, Kim Kardashian. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.

Skims, Chime Take New Steps to 2025 IPOs

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 30, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

The bankers, lawyers and other advisers who usher tech companies through initial public offerings have already written off 2024 as another lost year. That has put an added spotlight on which companies are taking new concrete steps to list publicly next year. The lineup is starting to take shape: Skims, the apparel company co-founded by Kim... The bankers, lawyers and other advisers who usher tech companies through initial public offerings...

Long waits at Madrid-Barajas International Airport on July 19 due to the global communications outage caused by CrowdStrike. Photo by Diego Radames/Anadolu via Getty.

CrowdStrike’s Comeback Hits an Air Pocket

By Laura Mandaro · Jul 29, 2024 5:00pm PDT

I just spent a relaxing week at the beach that started in turmoil: Mine was one of more than 3,500 Delta flights canceled as a result of a CrowdStrike-sparked outage that also shut down hospital, bank and courthouse systems. While Delta’s still on the hot seat with transportation regulators, Wall Street seems to have largely forgiven... I just spent a relaxing week at the beach that started in turmoil: Mine was one of more than...

John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Systems. Photo by Thibault Camus/POOL/AFP via Getty.

Veteran Dealmaker John Chambers to Join Board of Embattled AI Startup Humane

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 29, 2024 1:00pm PDT · 2 comments

John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Systems. Photo by Thibault Camus/POOL/AFP via Getty.

Veteran Dealmaker John Chambers to Join Board of Embattled AI Startup Humane

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 29, 2024 1:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Humane, the maker of a wearable device that aimed to replace smartphones, has told investors that former Cisco CEO John Chambers is joining its board of directors, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The move came after the six-year-old San Francisco startup recently considered a sale after reviewers panned the device, and it... Humane, the maker of a wearable device that aimed to replace smartphones, has told investors that...

Vienna, Austria. Photo via Shutterstock.

The Hottest AI Research: Cutting Costs; OpenAI Director Says AGI in Five to 15 Years

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 29, 2024 7:00am PDT

Machine learning conferences used to be about pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box. These days, they’re focused on practicality and helping businesses cut the cost of running artificial intelligence.Take the International Conference on Machine Learning, or ICML, in Vienna last week, where the desire to lower AI costs seemed front of... Machine learning conferences used to be about pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box....

A Pinterest banner at the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, marking the fifth anniversary of the company's listing. Photo via AP.

Pinterest, LinkedIn Team Up With Publishers to Sell Ads

By Sahil Patel · Jul 29, 2024 6:00am PDT

Social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn are trying a new tack to gain a bigger share of digital advertising—getting news outlets and other publishers to help them sell ads. Pinterest, for instance, is testing a new program through which publishers would be able to sell advertising on their Pinterest pages using the... Social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn are trying a new tack to gain a...

Like most of the West's other next-gen battery makers, Sweden's Northvolt is struggling to scale production. Photo: Shutterstock.

The Electric: The Clock Ticks for Next-Gen Western Battery Startups

By Steve LeVine · Jul 29, 2024 4:30am PDT

Four years ago, a flurry of Western next-generation battery-manufacturing startups caught the attention of investors, promising to lead a transformation of electric vehicle propulsion that would make the cars go longer distances and charge faster. Today, though, almost all these companies have vastly narrowed their ambitions or seem to be in... Four years ago, a flurry of Western next-generation battery-manufacturing startups caught the...

Harris Expands Lead Over Trump in New Reader Survey

By Scott Thurm · Jul 27, 2024 7:30am PDT · 23 comments

Subscriber Survey

Harris Expands Lead Over Trump in New Reader Survey

By Scott Thurm · Jul 27, 2024 7:30am PDT · 23 comments

Vice President Kamala Harris has more support among The Information readers than President Joe Biden did before he dropped out of the presidential race, according to our latest survey. Asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, survey respondents favored Harris over former President Donald Trump 76% to 19%. In a similar... Vice President Kamala Harris has more support among The Information readers than President Joe...

Will Zuck’s Embrace of ‘Badass’ Trump Haunt Him?

Will Zuck’s Embrace of ‘Badass’ Trump Haunt Him?

By Abram Brown · Jul 27, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A lawyer who thinks social media and asbestos have a lot in common • The Top 5: New water toys that tech moguls love• Power and Influence: Kamala Harris’ Silicon Valley hive is fired up• Revisiting: The Parker Conrad–David Sacks feud • Plus: What eels say... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A lawyer who thinks social media and...

Art by Clark Miller

The New Water Toys That Tech Moguls Love

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 27, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Look past Crissy Field on the Presidio shoreline, and you might spot Ariel Poler, co-founder of Reveri Health, and some of his friends—10 to 20 small sails dotting the San Francisco Bay, riding a cargo ship’s wake. They’re not kitesurfing or windsurfing: They’re wing foiling. It’s a new water sport that’s made a real splash over the past... Look past Crissy Field on the Presidio shoreline, and you might spot Ariel Poler, co-founder of...

Zuckerberg’s Open Source AI Manifesto

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 26, 2024 3:06pm PDT

This week on More or Less, we took a deep dive into Mark Zuckerberg's latest open source AI crusade and what's missing from the strategy. Plus, the Morins school the Lessins on Brat and all the latest in pop culture. Hope you enjoy! Apple Spotify This week on More or Less, we took a deep dive into Mark Zuckerberg's latest open source AI...

John McEnroe, David Zaslav and Dustin Hoffman at a Los Angeles Lakers game in March. Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty.

Why Warner’s NBA Suit Is Pointless

By Martin Peers · Jul 26, 2024 3:00pm PDT

John McEnroe, David Zaslav and Dustin Hoffman at a Los Angeles Lakers game in March. Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty.

Why Warner’s NBA Suit Is Pointless

By Martin Peers · Jul 26, 2024 3:00pm PDT

David Zaslav may be persona non grata the next time he shows up to an NBA game. Warner Bros. Discovery, which Zaslav runs, filed suit Friday against the league over its rejection of WBD’s offer to renew its longstanding deal to air NBA games. Whatever the merits of WBD’s argument, this doesn’t seem likely to end well for Zaslav.The fundamental... David Zaslav may be persona non grata the next time he shows up to an NBA game. Warner Bros....