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

Art by Clark Miller

Dawn of the Silicon Valley Superbaby

By Julia Black and Margaux MacColl · Jul 19, 2024 9:00am PDT · 7 comments

When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they were ready to have children, she’d be willing to conceive using in vitro fertilization. Abraham had lost both his mother and his aunt at a young age to ovarian cancer, linked to a rare mutation in their... When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he...

Left to right: Everett Randle of Kleiner Perkins, Amanda Robson formerly of Cowboy Ventures and Dan Levine of Accel. Photos via listed firms.

Pro Weekly: Our Next GPs Have Been Busy

By Akash Pasricha · Jul 19, 2024 8:00am PDT

In March, we published The Next GPs, our list of 19 rising stars in venture capital who we think are likely to take leadership roles as general partners of VC firms in coming years. It’s a group I’ve been watching closely. In less than four months since we introduced the list, some of these VCs have been promoted or made flashy investments. Two... In March, we published The Next GPs, our list of 19 rising stars in venture capital who we think...

Art by Clark Miller

Why Silicon Valley’s Democrats Lost Their Voice on Trump

By Nick Wingfield and Cory Weinberg · Jul 19, 2024 6:00am PDT · 13 comments

It wasn't so long ago that being a supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy in Democrat-leaning Silicon Valley—or even having a loose affiliation with him—was the kind of thing that earned you dirty looks, a pink slip from an employer and stern advice to rethink your life choices. In 2016, Reed Hastings—the... It wasn't so long ago that being a supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy...

Bridgerton's Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan. Photo by Lucy North/PA Images via Getty.

Netflix's Advertising Cloud Looms Larger

By Martin Peers · Jul 18, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Bridgerton's Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan. Photo by Lucy North/PA Images via Getty.

Netflix's Advertising Cloud Looms Larger

By Martin Peers · Jul 18, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Forget presidential politics—let’s talk about the third season of “Bridgerton.” The fun series about romance in quasi-Regency London was a big draw for Netflix in the second quarter, the video-streaming service noted today as it reported another solid quarter. Revenue rose 17% year on year, subscriber numbers grew about the same and its cash... Forget presidential politics—let’s talk about the third season of “Bridgerton.” The fun series...

Wintermute co-founder and CEO, Evgeny Gaevoy. Photo by Joseph Nair/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Crypto Trading Giant Wintermute In Fundraising Talks

By Yueqi Yang · Jul 18, 2024 4:14pm PDT

Wintermute Trading, the crypto trading firm that has become a dominant market marker since the collapse of FTX, has been in talks to raise fresh money in a funding round, according to investors with knowledge of the process. The firm has been discussing a share sale of $100 million, with some of that money going to existing shareholders.... Wintermute Trading, the crypto trading firm that has become a dominant market marker since the...

A TikTok event at VidCon last month. Photo by Philip Farone via Getty.

Creator Economy

TikTok Faces Challenges in Advertising Upfronts

By Sahil Patel · Jul 18, 2024 3:36pm PDT

Amazon’s move to make ads within Prime Video the default for customers who don’t pay extra upended the streaming TV advertising market earlier this year. Lately I’ve been hearing more about the repercussions—namely that this surge of ad inventory will hurt TikTok’s ability to win some of the ad dollars slated for TV and streaming services. ... Amazon’s move to make ads within Prime Video the default for customers who don’t pay extra...

Hans Swildens. Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty.

What to Do With Startups Whose Revenue Has Stalled

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 18, 2024 3:00pm PDT

Even with a dormant market for initial public offerings, shareholders in mature and highly valued startups still have been able to cash out if their startups are growing at a rapid clip. They’ve had the opportunity to sell shares in secondary rounds at fast-growing Figma, Databricks, Canva and Scale AI. Some investors are getting the chance... Even with a dormant market for initial public offerings, shareholders in mature and highly valued...

Mei Cai. Photo via General Motors

Key General Motors Battery Executive Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2024 2:05pm PDT

Mei Cai. Photo via General Motors

Key General Motors Battery Executive Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2024 2:05pm PDT

Mei Cai, who led the team that developed the next-generation battery powering General Motors’ electric vehicles, has resigned, the company confirmed Thursday. The move comes five months after GM hired Kurt Kelty, a Tesla veteran, to run its battery development efforts as vice president of battery. The China-born Cai, a 24-year GM... Mei Cai, who led the team that developed the next-generation battery powering General...

Art by Clark Miller. Altman via Getty Images.

OpenAI Has Talked to Broadcom About Developing New AI Chip

By Qianer Liu and Amir Efrati · Jul 18, 2024 12:21pm PDT · 2 comments

Last year, as the world’s top artificial intelligence developers were racing to speed up their work using ever-bigger clusters of computers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was trying to play a longer game. He decided to start a new company that could develop and produce a new AI chip and help set up chip factories to make them and data centers to... Last year, as the world’s top artificial intelligence developers were racing to speed up...

Photo via Getty.

Why Coding Assistants Are Improving; OpenAI’s ‘Russian Doll’ Data Center

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 18, 2024 7:20am PDT

While everyone waits for OpenAI’s next flagship large language model, developers have been eking out more gains from today’s LLMs with some engineering elbow grease, as we covered here. That’s especially true for artificial intelligence-powered coding assistants, which are getting a lot better. Ofir Press, a postdoctoral researcher at ... While everyone waits for OpenAI’s next flagship large language model, developers have been eking...

Photo by Chesnot via Getty.

Reality Comes to Meta’s Reality Labs

By Wayne Ma and Kalley Huang · Jul 18, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has canceled the blank check he once reserved for his augmented reality and virtual reality teams. As Meta ramps up its spending on artificial intelligence, company executives have started turning a more skeptical eye on its Reality Labs division, home of AR, VR and Zuckerberg’s former pet project, the... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has canceled the blank check he once reserved for his...

Photo: Marc Piasecki/Getty

The Electric: Musk’s Bet on Trump Follows a Pattern of Tycoons Diving Into Politics

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2024 4:30am PDT · 4 comments

Photo: Marc Piasecki/Getty

The Electric: Musk’s Bet on Trump Follows a Pattern of Tycoons Diving Into Politics

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2024 4:30am PDT · 4 comments

In 1996, a half-dozen Russian tycoons known as the oligarchs put their fortunes and media companies behind then-President Boris Yeltsin’s faltering reelection effort, and helped turn around his campaign: Yeltsin handily beat the Communist Party candidate, and went on to reward the oligarchs with prime pieces of the Russian economy. In 1996, a half-dozen Russian tycoons known as the oligarchs put their fortunes and media...

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty.

Biden Chip Worries Send Stocks Plunging

By Martin Peers · Jul 17, 2024 5:00pm PDT

No one can accuse President Joe Biden of sucking up to the tech industry as he tries to win reelection. Tech stocks slumped across the board on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration is considering imposing “the most severe trade restrictions available” on Netherlands-based ASML and Japan’s Tokyo Electron in a new... No one can accuse President Joe Biden of sucking up to the tech industry as he tries to win...

"Binging With Babish" creator Andrew Rea. Photo by Jim Spellman/Getty Images.

Creator Economy

Where a Popular YouTube Cooking Channel Goes Next

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 17, 2024 2:07pm PDT

Andrew Rea was working as a visual effects artist in 2016 when he decided to film himself cooking a turkey burger depicted in a scene on the sitcom “Parks & Recreation,” which he was watching in the background. That spawned a video series on YouTube called “Binging with Babish,” where he recreated dishes from TV shows and movies. His... Andrew Rea was working as a visual effects artist in 2016 when he decided to film himself cooking...

Subscriber Survey

Biden Leads Trump 59%-27% in Survey of The Information Readers

By Scott Thurm · Jul 17, 2024 10:29am PDT · 23 comments

Prominent venture capitalists are lining up behind Donald Trump’s bid to recapture the White House, but readers of The Information remain solidly behind President Joe Biden. Readers favored Biden by a more than 2-to-1 margin in a survey conducted Tuesday and early Wednesday. Nearly 59% of 2,487 respondents said they plan to vote to reelect... Prominent venture capitalists are lining up behind Donald Trump’s bid to recapture the...

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty.

A Reality Check on AI With Chevron’s CIO

By Anissa Gardizy · Jul 17, 2024 7:00am PDT

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty.

A Reality Check on AI With Chevron’s CIO

By Anissa Gardizy · Jul 17, 2024 7:00am PDT

A few days ago I grabbed a cup of coffee in San Francisco with Bill Braun, chief information officer of oil giant Chevron, to talk about his company’s spending on new artificial intelligence and Nvidia’s forthcoming AI chips. I came away believing that the conversations happening about AI inside the C-suites of the largest companies are very... A few days ago I grabbed a cup of coffee in San Francisco with Bill Braun, chief information...

Google, Microsoft Help Chinese Firms Skirt Ban on Nvidia Chips

By Juro Osawa and Aaron Holmes · Jul 17, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

U.S. export controls forbid Chinese firms from buying Nvidia’s advanced artificial intelligence chips. But companies in China can still gain access to some of those chips by renting Nvidia-powered servers at data centers outside China from Google, Microsoft and other global firms—underlining a gap in U.S. export rules. Both Google... U.S. export controls forbid Chinese firms from buying Nvidia’s advanced artificial...

Former president Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention yesterday. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

VCs Can’t Be Sure What Trump Will Bring

By Martin Peers · Jul 16, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Be careful what you wish for. Many of Silicon Valley’s biggest-name venture capitalists are donating money to Donald Trump this election cycle, including, as The Information scooped today, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Venture capitalists aren’t alone—Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump on Saturday night and is donating $45 million a month to a... Be careful what you wish for. Many of Silicon Valley’s biggest-name venture capitalists are...

Former president Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention Monday. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

A Tipping Point for Tech’s Trump Support

By Kate Clark, Natasha Mascarenhas and Cory Weinberg · Jul 16, 2024 3:37pm PDT · 1 comment

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), former US President Donald Trump, and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Republican vice-presidential nominee, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday. Photo by Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty.

The 18-Year-Old High Schooler Behind the RNC’s Creator Strategy

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 16, 2024 2:00pm PDT

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), former US President Donald Trump, and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Republican vice-presidential nominee, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday. Photo by Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty.

Creator Economy

The 18-Year-Old High Schooler Behind the RNC’s Creator Strategy

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 16, 2024 2:00pm PDT

This U.S. election cycle is really shaping up to be one where creators take center stage. More than 100 social media influencers, who post about everything from conservative politics to fitness and gaming, have descended on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, the first time a major political convention is giving creators... This U.S. election cycle is really shaping up to be one where creators take center stage. More...