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

James Hoffman. Photo by Anil Mistry.

Creator Economy

X Has its OpenAI Moment; Interview With a Coffee Influencer

By Kalley Huang · Nov 21, 2023 4:31pm PST · 1 comment

After the surprise ouster of Sam Altman from OpenAI over the weekend, X was atwitter—pun intended—with real-time updates about what was happening. Our feeds were flooded with heart emojis, cryptic messages about what’s next, posts saying “OpenAI is nothing without its people” and, of course, total speculation.“See, Twitter’s not dead,” comedian... After the surprise ouster of Sam Altman from OpenAI over the weekend, X was atwitter—pun intended...

Scott Shleifer. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Tiger Global’s Private Investment Chief Shleifer to Transition to Senior Adviser

By Erin Woo and Kate Clark · Nov 21, 2023 1:29pm PST

Scott Shleifer, a key architect of Tiger Global Management’s aggressive private tech dealmaking during the 2020-2022 startup boom, will transition from his role leading private investments, the firm’s co-founder Chase Coleman told investors Tuesday. Effective January 1, Shleifer will become a senior adviser. Tiger invested at least... Scott Shleifer, a key architect of Tiger Global Management’s aggressive private tech...

OpenAI Board Member and Quora CEO, Adam D'Angelo. Photo by MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty.

The Quiet Silicon Valley Insider Complicating Sam Altman’s Return

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 21, 2023 11:30am PST · 13 comments

Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, one of the central figures in the power struggle over OpenAI, has gained a reputation for stubbornness among Quora employees, a facet of his personality that may be playing into the debate on OpenAI’s board about whether to reinstate Sam Altman as CEO. At the question-and-answer site, there was... Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, one of the central figures in the power struggle over OpenAI, has...

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Photo via YouTube/Microsoft Research.

Anthropic Goes It Alone

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 21, 2023 7:29am PST · 5 comments

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Photo via YouTube/Microsoft Research.

Anthropic Goes It Alone

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 21, 2023 7:29am PST · 5 comments

Just when I thought the OpenAI saga couldn’t get any crazier, I learned last night that OpenAI’s board had approached Dario Amodei, the co-founder and CEO of its biggest startup rival Anthropic, about a potential merger of the two companies as part of an effort to persuade him to replace Sam Altman as CEO.The idea didn’t get very far. In fact,... Just when I thought the OpenAI saga couldn’t get any crazier, I learned last night that OpenAI’s...

Car on the assembly line at Giga Texas in Austin. Photo by AFP via Getty Images

At Tesla’s Giant Texas Factory, Injuries and Safety Lapses Mount

By Becky Peterson · Nov 21, 2023 6:00am PST · 10 comments

In 2021, an engineer was programming the software that controls manufacturing robots at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory when something went wrong. Two of the robots, which cut car parts from freshly cast pieces of aluminum, were disabled so the engineer and his teammates could safely work on the machines. A third one, which grabbed and... In 2021, an engineer was programming the software that controls manufacturing robots at...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via AP

OpenAI’s Board Approached Anthropic About Merger

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 20, 2023 5:25pm PST · 25 comments

OpenAI’s board of directors approached Dario Amodei, the co-founder and CEO of rival large-language model developer Anthropic, about a potential merger of the two companies, said a person with direct knowledge. The approach came after OpenAI’s board had fired CEO Sam Altman on Friday and was part of an effort by OpenAI to persuade... OpenAI’s board of directors approached Dario Amodei, the co-founder and CEO of rival...

Photo by AFP via Getty

OpenAI’s Board Lacked Foresight, But So Did Everyone Else

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Three days after OpenAI’s board fired CEO and co-founder Sam Altman, most of the staff has threatened to quit, investors are complaining and customers are canvassing the wide range of alternatives. It’s a good bet this isn’t how the board members thought the Altman firing would play out. Hopefully,... Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Three days after OpenAI’s board fired CEO and...

Emmett Shear speaks during TwitchCon 2022 on October 7, 2022 in San Diego, California. Photo by Robin L. Marshall/Getty.

Emmett Shear’s Next Act; Startup Kick Spikes Bank Products

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 20, 2023 4:38pm PST

Emmett Shear speaks during TwitchCon 2022 on October 7, 2022 in San Diego, California. Photo by Robin L. Marshall/Getty.

Creator Economy

Emmett Shear’s Next Act; Startup Kick Spikes Bank Products

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 20, 2023 4:38pm PST

My colleagues have spent most of the last three days trying to get ahead the twists and turns at OpenAI. Besides co-founder Sam Altman being a bona fide influencer in his own right, with 2.2 million followers on his @sama, this telenovela on warp speed intersects the creator economy in some surprising ways. First and foremost, the embattled... My colleagues have spent most of the last three days trying to get ahead the twists and turns at...

The Vast Majority of OpenAI Employees Ask the Board to Resign

By Shane Burke · Nov 20, 2023 12:39pm PST · 26 comments

More than 710 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have signed a letter to the company’s board asking members to resign and to reinstate former CEO Sam Altman and former President Greg Brockman. If Altman and Brockman are not reinstated, the employees say they will join the duo at Microsoft, according to employees. The Information has... More than 710 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have signed a letter to the company’s board...

Left to right: Emmett Shear, interim CEO of OpenAI; Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub; Alex Wang, co-founder and CEO of Scale AI. Photos via Getty and Erin Beach.

Former GitHub CEO Friedman, Scale AI Founder Wang Declined OpenAI Top Job

By Kate Clark and Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 20, 2023 12:15pm PST · 6 comments

Before Emmett Shear accepted the Interim CEO role at OpenAI, the board offered it to Nat Friedman, the former CEO of Microsoft-owned GitHub and a prolific investor in artificial intelligence startups, as well as Alex Wang, co-founder and CEO of Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. Both declined the offer, the people said. The... Before Emmett Shear accepted the Interim CEO role at OpenAI, the board offered it to Nat...

Sam Altman. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

OpenAI’s Customers Consider Defecting to Anthropic, Microsoft, Google

By Aaron Holmes, Anissa Gardizy, Natasha Mascarenhas and Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 20, 2023 9:57am PST · 6 comments

Questions about the future of OpenAI intensified on Monday, after board member and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever expressed regret for his participation in the firing of CEO Sam Altman. Meanwhile, OpenAI customers are looking for the exits, signaling a possible exodus of business that could devastate the startup. More than 100 OpenAI customers... Questions about the future of OpenAI intensified on Monday, after board member and chief...

Sam Altman, former CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP.

OpenAI’s Board Set Back the Promise of Artificial Intelligence

By Vinod Khosla · Nov 20, 2023 7:53am PST · 42 comments

Sam Altman, former CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP.

OpenAI’s Board Set Back the Promise of Artificial Intelligence

By Vinod Khosla · Nov 20, 2023 7:53am PST · 42 comments

I was the first venture investor in OpenAI. The weekend drama illustrated my contention that the wrong boards can damage companies. Fancy titles like “Director of Strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology” can lead to a false sense of understanding of the complex process of entrepreneurial innovation.... I was the first venture investor in OpenAI. The weekend drama illustrated my contention that the...

Photo via Shutterstock.

The War Within OpenAI and What Comes Next

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 20, 2023 7:11am PST · 9 comments

What a weekend! The OpenAI drama continued on Monday morning, as Ilya Sutskever—OpenAI’s chief scientist and a key figure in former CEO Sam Altman’s firing—tweeted, “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions.” Meanwhile, hundreds of OpenAI staffers, including Sutskever himself, reportedly signed an open letter threatening to quit... What a weekend! The OpenAI drama continued on Monday morning, as Ilya Sutskever—OpenAI’s chief...

At Freyr's pilot plant in Mo i Rana, Norway. Photo: Courtesy Freyr

The Electric: Freyr Takes Drastic Action After Trouble Scaling Up 24M’s Battery

By Steve LeVine · Nov 20, 2023 4:30am PST

A surprising manufacturing setback by Freyr Battery has more than halved its share price and struck a blow at the reputation of 24M Technologies, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff that licenses a novel battery that Freyr has planned to manufacture in gigafactories in Norway and Georgia. A surprising manufacturing setback by Freyr Battery has more than halved its share price and...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

OpenAI Staff Revolt Raises Pressure on Board to Back Down

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Nov 20, 2023 12:41am PST · 27 comments

Sam Altman’s jump to Microsoft may not be as much of a done deal as it seemed on Sunday night. Monday morning’s statement of regret by Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and board member who participated in Altman’s firing as CEO, signaled that at least one of the four members of the board had changed their mind. Sutskever... Sam Altman’s jump to Microsoft may not be as much of a done deal as it seemed on Sunday...

OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever via Getty.

Dozens of Staffers Quit OpenAI After Sutskever Says Altman Won’t Return

By Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2023 10:29pm PST · 14 comments

OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever via Getty.

Dozens of Staffers Quit OpenAI After Sutskever Says Altman Won’t Return

By Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2023 10:29pm PST · 14 comments

Dozens of OpenAI staffers internally announced they were quitting the company Sunday night, said a person with knowledge of the situation, after board director and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever told employees that fired CEO Sam Altman would not return. The moves could hamper the company's ability to move forward after the shock... Dozens of OpenAI staffers internally announced they were quitting the company Sunday night,...

OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever speak together in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023.

Emmett Shear Becomes Interim OpenAI CEO as Altman Talks Break Down

By Amir Efrati and Anissa Gardizy · Nov 19, 2023 8:58pm PST · 43 comments

Sam Altman won’t return as CEO of OpenAI, despite efforts by the company’s executives to bring him back, according to co-founder and board director Ilya Sutskever. After a weekend of negotiations with the board of directors that fired him Friday, as well as with its remaining leaders and top investors, Altman will not return to the... Sam Altman won’t return as CEO of OpenAI, despite efforts by the company’s executives...

Sam Altman and Satya Nadella at OpenAI DevDay on Nov. 6. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty.

Microsoft Eyes Seat on OpenAI’s Revamped Board

By Aaron Holmes and Kate Clark · Nov 19, 2023 4:01pm PST · 13 comments

Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer, is considering taking a role on the board if ousted CEO Sam Altman’s returns to the ChatGPT developer, according to two people familiar with the talks. Microsoft could either take a seat on OpenAI’s board of directors, or as a board observer without voting power, one of the people said. The... Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer, is considering taking a role on the board if ousted CEO...

Sam Altman at the OpenAI DevDay event on Nov. 6 in San Francisco. Photo by Getty.

Altman, Brockman Arrive at OpenAI Headquarters as Execs Push to Reinstate Them

By Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2023 12:06pm PST · 5 comments

Two days after OpenAI’s board of directors fired him, Sam Altman joined executives at the company’s San Francisco headquarters Sunday as they pushed the board to reinstate him and other recently departed executives, said a person with knowledge of the situatioin. Interim CEO Mira Murati earlier told staff that she and the leadership... Two days after OpenAI’s board of directors fired him, Sam Altman joined executives at the...

Sam Altman receiving an award on behalf of OpenAI in Cambridge, England on November 1. Photo by Nordin Catic via Getty.

OpenAI’s Rivals Rush to Poach Staff After Altman Ouster

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Natasha Mascarenhas, Jon Victor and Kate Clark · Nov 19, 2023 9:47am PST

Sam Altman receiving an award on behalf of OpenAI in Cambridge, England on November 1. Photo by Nordin Catic via Getty.

OpenAI’s Rivals Rush to Poach Staff After Altman Ouster

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Natasha Mascarenhas, Jon Victor and Kate Clark · Nov 19, 2023 9:47am PST

For at least a brief moment, OpenAI's rivals caught a lucky break. After spending the last year racing to catch up to the ChatGPT developer’s lead, OpenAI competitors learned the jaw-dropping news: the startup’s board had pushed out Altman. By Sunday it looked like the reprieve would be short-lived, as growing employee and... For at least a brief moment, OpenAI's rivals caught a lucky break. After spending the last...