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

Left to right: Keith Rabois, managing partner at Khosla Ventures, and Ramp cofounders Karim Atiyeh (CTO), Eric Glyman (CEO) and Gene Lee (CPO). Photos by Bloomberg and Ramp.

Ramp’s Value Rises 36% in New Deal as Fintechs Rebound

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Apr 17, 2024 3:03pm PDT · 3 comments

After a bruising couple of years for cash-burning financial technology startups, valuations are starting to rise again. Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund are co-leading a $150 million financing of Ramp, which offers credit cards and software for managing corporate expenses, at around a $7.65 billion valuation including the new capital, according... After a bruising couple of years for cash-burning financial technology startups, valuations are...

CAA Vault facilitates scans of clients' body, face and voice to capture their persona and make an AI replica. Photo: CAA

Creator Economy

Hollywood Talent Agency CAA Tests AI Clones

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 17, 2024 2:37pm PDT

There’s a palpable anxiety in Hollywood about AI leading to job losses or automating some of the creative process. Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that represents stars like Brad Pitt and Reese Witherspoon, is also trying to figure out how entertainers can benefit. Last fall, the talent agency started testing a new initiative... There’s a palpable anxiety in Hollywood about AI leading to job losses or automating some of the...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Special Report: M&A

If Salesforce is a Buyer Again, the M&A Market Must Be (Almost) Back

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 17, 2024 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

A year ago, the board of Salesforce, one of the most acquisitive companies in tech, disbanded its mergers and acquisitions committee as it faced pressure from activist shareholders to reduce spending. The economic backdrop had sent deal-hunters into hiding. Forecasters braced for a global recession. Investment bankers complained they had nothing... A year ago, the board of Salesforce, one of the most acquisitive companies in tech, disbanded its...

The Information’s Readers Prefer Biden to Trump for Tech

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 17, 2024 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

Subscriber Survey

The Information’s Readers Prefer Biden to Trump for Tech

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 17, 2024 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

More than two-thirds of The Information’s readers think Joe Biden would be a better president for the technology sector than Donald Trump, despite the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust policies and moves to regulate artificial intelligence. Roughly 68% of respondents to The Information’s latest reader survey said they... More than two-thirds of The Information’s readers think Joe Biden would be a better...

Photo via Midjourney.

Why Many AI Startups Are Consultancies Posing as Software Businesses

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 17, 2024 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

There are plenty of reasons generative artificial intelligence hasn’t taken off with businesses as much as pundits expected, including high costs and errors (i.e. hallucinations). One less-discussed reason is that conversational AI is simply hard to use. Big companies outside of tech can’t often hire the kind of technical talent needed to make... There are plenty of reasons generative artificial intelligence hasn’t taken off with businesses...

Bolt co-founder Ryan Breslow. Photo by Getty.

Bolt Co-Founder Pulled Strings on Unusual Stock Buyback, Suit Alleges

By Abubakar Idris · Apr 17, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

When one-click checkout startup Bolt told investors it would buy back their shares at what amounted to a 97% discount on the company’s late 2021 fundraising, it wasn’t clear why the company would make such an unusual move. After all, Bolt was burning cash as revenue flatlined. A new lawsuit may provide an answer. Bolt co-founder Ryan... When one-click checkout startup Bolt told investors it would buy back their shares at what...

Arthur Mensch, founder of Mistral AI, in Paris on Nov. 17, 2023. Photo by Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Mistral, an OpenAI Rival in Europe, in Talks to Raise Capital at a $5 Billion Valuation

By Kate Clark · Apr 16, 2024 6:39pm PDT · 1 comment

Mistral, a Paris-based startup developing artificial intelligence that is open source, has been speaking to investors about raising several hundred million dollars at a valuation of $5 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge. The company, which has just recently begun to generate revenue, in December raised $415 million at a... Mistral, a Paris-based startup developing artificial intelligence that is open source, has been...

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Photo by Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Goldman Sachs Sees Gold Mine in Financing AI

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

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Photo by Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Goldman Sachs Sees Gold Mine in Financing AI

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

It’s not only tech companies that see artificial intelligence as a big new moneymaking opportunity. It’s a potential gold mine for investment banks, according to Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. Using a newer piece of corporate lingo, Solomon “double-clicked”—elaborated, in plain English—on the potential of AI while he was speaking on Monday’s... It’s not only tech companies that see artificial intelligence as a big new moneymaking...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas grand opening party in Austin on April 7, 2022. Photo by Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

Before Tesla Layoffs, Musk Cranked Up Pressure Amid Sales Slump

By Becky Peterson · Apr 16, 2024 3:16pm PDT · 5 comments

When Elon Musk arrived at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory last week to tour an expansion project on the south side of the 10-million-square-foot facility, he was furious. The expansion was part of a high-priority project for Musk: a data center for Dojo, a supercomputer Tesla is developing. Dojo is necessary to make full self-driving... When Elon Musk arrived at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory last week to tour an expansion...

Photo via Shutterstock.

A Fresh Sign Creator Startups Haven’t Hit Bottom

By Kate Clark · Apr 16, 2024 3:08pm PDT

These days, when I think of startups in the “creator economy,” a subsector propelled by the rise of TikTok and influencers, I think of pricey disappointments like Cameo and Clubhouse, or one of several smaller ventures that shuttered in recent months. And I struggle to come up with any big winners, beyond giants like ByteDance and Instagram,... These days, when I think of startups in the “creator economy,” a subsector propelled by the rise...

What to Make of Venture’s New Appetite for Creator Startups

Creator Economy

What to Make of Venture’s New Appetite for Creator Startups

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

We are so back (sort of). Funding for U.S. creator economy startups increased for the first time in two years, bucking a continued slump in overall funding for American startups. Investments in these U.S. startups more than doubled in the first three months of the year to nearly $341 million year-over-year, according to The Information’s Creator... We are so back (sort of). Funding for U.S. creator economy startups increased for the first time...

The Shopify retail store in New York City. Photo by AP.

Shopify Employees Go Head to Head for Raises in New Ranking System

By Ann Gehan · Apr 16, 2024 12:42pm PDT · 5 comments

The Shopify retail store in New York City. Photo by AP.

Shopify Employees Go Head to Head for Raises in New Ranking System

By Ann Gehan · Apr 16, 2024 12:42pm PDT · 5 comments

Some companies like to pit workers against each other to encourage them to pull out all the stops. At Shopify, a new employee ranking system rolled out in stages over the past year has, in the view of some employees, put that philosophy into action—by effectively making employees compete for pay rises. In recent months, Shopify has been... Some companies like to pit workers against each other to encourage them to pull out all the...

Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain. Photo via YouTube/Warner Bros. Entertainment.

When Does ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ Just Become ‘Faking It’?; The History of ‘Plagiarism’ in AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 16, 2024 7:00am PDT

Fame can be a double-edged sword—a lesson some artificial intelligence startups are learning the hard way.Take Devin, the AI-powered coding assistant developed by Cognition AI that went viral when it launched last month with an impressive demo showing how it could complete coding jobs on the freelance site Upwork. Techies across X and Reddit... Fame can be a double-edged sword—a lesson some artificial intelligence startups are learning the...

Cory Cotton, Coby Cotton of Dude Perfect; Lucy Guo of Passes. Photos by Getty, Lucy Guo.

Creator Economy Database

U.S. Creator Funding Surges for First Time in Two Years

By Kaya Yurieff and Akash Pasricha · Apr 16, 2024 6:00am PDT

Venture capitalists are warming to creator economy startups again. Funding for U.S.-based creator startups more than doubled in the first three months of the year to nearly $341 million, according to The Information’s Creator Economy Database. The quarter marked the first year-over-year rise since early 2022 and defied a continued slump in... Venture capitalists are warming to creator economy startups again. Funding for U.S.-based creator...

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Tesla Needs a Full-Time CEO

By Martin Peers · Apr 15, 2024 5:00pm PDT

We all know this hasn’t been Apple’s year, between the so-so reaction to its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, the cancellation of its car project, an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. government, worries about its lagging status in artificial intelligence and, of course, the reality that iPhone sales are no longer growing. Apple stock is down... We all know this hasn’t been Apple’s year, between the so-so reaction to its Vision Pro...

Art by Mike Sullivan

To Keep Viewers, Disney Plans a New Streaming Concept: Old-Style TV Channels

By Sahil Patel · Apr 15, 2024 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

To Keep Viewers, Disney Plans a New Streaming Concept: Old-Style TV Channels

By Sahil Patel · Apr 15, 2024 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

In television, what’s old is new again. After more than a decade of growth in streaming services that make viewers click on shows they want to watch “on demand,” a growing number of streaming services are offering new “channels” that function more like old-style TV, with a continuous, scheduled stream of shows. ... In television, what’s old is new again. After more than a decade of growth in streaming...

Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. Photo via Google.

Google Cloud’s AI Strategy Is Starting to Sound Like AWS’

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 15, 2024 7:00am PDT

I’m back in San Francisco after a busy week in Las Vegas, where my colleague Jon Victor and I spent days talking to Google Cloud customers about the difference between generative artificial intelligence hype and reality. At one point during the conference, I was sitting at a table in a chilly Mandalay Bay conference room when I heard a... I’m back in San Francisco after a busy week in Las Vegas, where my colleague Jon Victor and I...

Art by Clark Miller

Generative AI’s Open Secret: Everyone Is Copying Everyone Else

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 15, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

It's the worst-kept secret in artificial intelligence. Many of the AI chatbots developed by startups were likely made using data from OpenAI and other firms, even though these startups are trying to undercut OpenAI, according to developers and founders. This practice has resulted in a startling competitive dynamic: Developers are charging... It's the worst-kept secret in artificial intelligence. Many of the AI chatbots developed by...

Former President Donald Trump and Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office in the U.S. Energy Department. Photo: Shutterstock; Energy Department.

The Electric: Under Trump, a Possible Welcome Mat to China

By Steve LeVine · Apr 15, 2024 4:30am PDT

Virtually no one expects Donald Trump—should he win election in November—to be able to fulfill his threat to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and other programs supporting the U.S. electric vehicle and battery industries. But Trump’s history and recent statements suggest he might flip the script on the EV transition, slowing the Biden... Virtually no one expects Donald Trump—should he win election in November—to be able to fulfill...

Why Google’s Demis Hassabis Won $3 Million

Why Google’s Demis Hassabis Won $3 Million

By Abram Brown · Apr 13, 2024 7:00am PDT

Why Google’s Demis Hassabis Won $3 Million

Why Google’s Demis Hassabis Won $3 Million

By Abram Brown · Apr 13, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A secretive weapons billionaire and his never-ending transformationWhere art insiders and Silicon Valley collectors make their hidden-gem purchasesA power lunch to end all power lunchesPlus: Apple’s latest chase; Spider-Man takes on Big Brother; and a billionaire investor’s favorite book.A week ago, Demis... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A secretive weapons billionaire and his never-ending...