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

TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew. Photo via Getty.

TikTok Shop Hikes Seller Fees, Axes Subsidies

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Jan 3, 2024 11:27am PST

TikTok powered early growth in its U.S. shopping service by offering low sellers’ fees and footing the bill for deep discounts. But that free ride is quickly coming to an end. The company on Wednesday told sellers it will start taking a bigger cut of the sales they make on its app, by raising the commission it charges on most items to 8%... TikTok powered early growth in its U.S. shopping service by offering low sellers’ fees and...

Photo via Midjourney

Why Users Have to Compliment ChatGPT To Get the Most Out of It

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 3, 2024 7:39am PST · 2 comments

If you’re not getting what you want from OpenAI’s large language models these days, try paying them a compliment. One example, according to Scale AI field CTO Vijay Karunamurthy, is to say: “you’re a very smart computer that takes a lot of time and thinks step by step to answer questions.” Remarkably, that helps Scale AI’s developers get better... If you’re not getting what you want from OpenAI’s large language models these days, try paying...

Art by Clark Miller, Numoto photo by D. Begley via Flickr.

The Architect of Microsoft’s Vaunted Cloud Bundle Turns His Gaze to AI

By Aaron Holmes · Jan 3, 2024 6:00am PST · 4 comments

When Microsoft announced the retirement of its longtime chief marketing officer, Chris Capossela, last October, its choice of his successor may have seemed counterintuitive to outsiders. Unlike Capossela, who had a flair for the spotlight, Takeshi Numoto has kept a low profile inside the software giant as a marketing executive over the past two... When Microsoft announced the retirement of its longtime chief marketing officer, Chris Capossela,...

Recap: What’s Ahead for Enterprise AI in 2024

By The Information Partnerships · Jan 2, 2024 11:12pm PST

Partner Content

Recap: What’s Ahead for Enterprise AI in 2024

By The Information Partnerships · Jan 2, 2024 11:12pm PST

In 2023, companies all over the world rushed to take advantage of artificial intelligence. Now, these same companies are taking a breath and looking at their budgets. At the same time, we’re seeing incredible new use cases every week. In partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs, The Information’s Amir Efrati discussed the... In 2023, companies all over the world rushed to take advantage of artificial intelligence....

Photo via Shutterstock

Apple Stock Leads Tech Sell-Off for 2024’s Opening Day

By Martin Peers · Jan 2, 2024 5:00pm PST

Talk about a cold shower! We opened 2024 with a tech stock sell-off across the board, as investors retreated from the go-go days of the past two months. The Nasdaq Composite Index, for instance, fell 1.6%. Among the biggest losers was Apple, everybody’s favorite stock, which fell 3.6% after an analyst at Barclays put out a bearish report on the... Talk about a cold shower! We opened 2024 with a tech stock sell-off across the board, as...

Singer Olivia Rodrigo joins a White House press briefing in 2021. Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Creator Economy

Five Predictions for the 2024 Creator Economy

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 2, 2024 2:00pm PST

This year is already gearing up to be a busy one. We’re heading into a U.S. presidential election and artificial intelligence technology continues to develop at a rapid speed. Both will involve creators, I predict. Here are more of my forecasts for 2024.• Dozens of creator economy startups will shut down or get acquired. This year, startups... This year is already gearing up to be a busy one. We’re heading into a U.S. presidential election...

Photo via Midjourney

Why the New York Times’ Case Against OpenAI is Stronger Than Sarah Silverman’s

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 2, 2024 7:00am PST

As people around the world are planning out their new year’s resolutions, OpenAI is adding an ambitious one to its list too: Reaching $5 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2024. Now, whether the model developer shares my tendency to overpromise with my new year's goals, I’m not sure. But, it’s off to a pretty good start—it recently... As people around the world are planning out their new year’s resolutions, OpenAI is adding an...

Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images.

Canva Nears $1 Billion Stock Sale for Employees and Investors, Part of Wave of Private Deals

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 2, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images.

Canva Nears $1 Billion Stock Sale for Employees and Investors, Part of Wave of Private Deals

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 2, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Design software startup Canva is nearing a deal that lets longtime employees and investors at the company sell more than $1 billion in stock to new investors, people familiar with the matter said, less than six months after the private Australian firm arranged a similar, though smaller, transaction. Canva won’t raise any money for itself... Design software startup Canva is nearing a deal that lets longtime employees and investors at the...

In October, Toyota President Koji Sato, left, and Idemitsu CEO Shunichi Kito announced a partnership to commercialize solid state EVs by 2028. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The World of Potemkin Solid-State Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jan 1, 2024 4:30am PST · 3 comments

In an industry known for braggadocio, Toyota has a decadeslong reputation for tight-lipped reserve, divulging little publicly about what it’s working on before a snazzy new feature or car appears in its showrooms. But it’s made a notable exception. Since 2012, Toyota has routinely touted “breakthrough” progress in an industrywide race to develop... In an industry known for braggadocio, Toyota has a decadeslong reputation for tight-lipped...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Annualized Revenue Tops $1.6 Billion as Customers Shrug Off CEO Drama

By Maria Heeter, Amir Efrati and Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 30, 2023 7:00am PST

OpenAI recently topped $1.6 billion in annualized revenue on strong growth from its ChatGPT product, up from $1.3 billion as of mid-October, according to two people with knowledge of the figure. The 20% growth over two months represented in that figure—a measure of the prior month’s revenue multiplied by 12—suggests that the... OpenAI recently topped $1.6 billion in annualized revenue on strong growth from its ChatGPT...

Tech Leaders Pour One Out for 2023

Tech Leaders Pour One Out for 2023

By Nick Wingfield · Dec 30, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.I’m a sucker for year-end lists, reflections and resolutions, despite the fact that so many of them suffer from predictability. One of the highlights of my week was sitting around my dining room table with extended family discussing what everybody liked and didn’t like about 2023.It was also fascinating to hear tech... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.I’m a sucker for year-end lists, reflections and resolutions, despite...

Art by Clark Miller

The Information’s Can’t-Miss Culture Picks from 2023

By The Information Staff · Dec 30, 2023 5:55am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller

The Information’s Can’t-Miss Culture Picks from 2023

By The Information Staff · Dec 30, 2023 5:55am PST · 1 comment

This year felt like a moment for monoculture. Many of us saw “Barbie,” went to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour or Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour (or at least saw them in theaters) and freaked out over Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk tome. Our cultural pastimes became unifying ties in an otherwise turbulent year. But... This year felt like a moment for monoculture. Many of us saw “Barbie,” went to Taylor...

Jonah Peretti, Buzzfeed founder and CEO. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

BuzzFeed’s Slow Disintegration; What Big Tech’s 5-Year Stock Record Reveals

By Martin Peers · Dec 29, 2023 3:00pm PST

Let’s hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow disintegration of BuzzFeed, the media star of 2016. We broke the news today that BuzzFeed’s big hope for paying off its debt and turning itself around isn’t going as planned. The company will shortly sell most of its Complex Network assets, but for just... Let’s hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow...

Art by Clark Miller

Tech Wrapped: The Stats that Defined Silicon Valley’s 2023

By Margaux MacColl · Dec 29, 2023 1:00pm PST · 2 comments

You’ve got to hand it to Spotify. The company’s Spotify Wrapped feature—which packages personalized data about its users’ music listening habits for the year—has become a viral sensation. It has even inspired Wrapped-like imitations for your running habits and Hinge dating activity. That got us The Weekend team... You’ve got to hand it to Spotify. The company’s Spotify Wrapped feature—which...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images.

BuzzFeed’s Complex Sale Price Is Likely to Fall Short

By Sahil Patel and Martin Peers · Dec 29, 2023 11:47am PST

After months of discussions, BuzzFeed is close to an agreement to sell most of its Complex Networks business to Ntwrk, a live video shopping and e-commerce startup, but at a price that will be a little above $100 million—significantly below what BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti was originally seeking in a sale, said people familiar with the... After months of discussions, BuzzFeed is close to an agreement to sell most of its Complex...

Art by Clark Miller

The Information’s 2023 Exit Survey of Tech Leaders

By The Information Staff · Dec 29, 2023 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller

The Information’s 2023 Exit Survey of Tech Leaders

By The Information Staff · Dec 29, 2023 9:00am PST · 2 comments

It has been a year of extremes in tech—mass layoffs, society-rattling advancements in artificial intelligence, fraud convictions and record-breaking fundraises. We don’t blame you if your head is still spinning. With 2024 around the corner, we gave tech leaders a chance to reflect on the past 12 months by filling out our 2023 Exit... It has been a year of extremes in tech—mass layoffs, society-rattling advancements in...

Photos via Getty, AP, Humane and Shutterstock. Art by Shane Burke.

The Information’s 2024 Predictions

By The Information Staff · Dec 29, 2023 6:00am PST · 6 comments

Few people outside the artificial intelligence sector of tech likely anticipated how the emergence of ChatGPT late in 2022 would overwhelm developments in tech in 2023. Meanwhile, what didn’t happen this year was mainly related to the economy and the markets—few deals or initial public offerings got done, while an array of struggling... Few people outside the artificial intelligence sector of tech likely anticipated how the...

Photos by Getty

What We Got Right (and Wrong) in Our Predictions for 2023

By The Information Staff · Dec 29, 2023 5:30am PST · 3 comments

The year is winding to a close, which means it’s time for us to grade our predictions for 2023. This time last year, our journalists checked in with sources to figure out what they thought would happen in the year ahead. Some of the predictions that resulted from that reporting turned out to be accurate. Some weren’t. We were spot on with... The year is winding to a close, which means it’s time for us to grade our predictions for 2023....

Cheddar's founder, Jon Steinberg. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Cheddar ‘No Money Down’ Sale Suggests Way of Future

By Martin Peers · Dec 28, 2023 5:00pm PST

Here’s a private equity firm you may hear more about next year: Regent. It appears to have developed a specialty in acquiring distressed assets, as financiers call businesses that are struggling to survive, without paying anything for them upfront. Regent has struck a series of deals this year in which it has taken a weak business off the hands... Here’s a private equity firm you may hear more about next year: Regent. It appears to have...

Where Venture Capital is Going in 2024

Where Venture Capital is Going in 2024

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 28, 2023 1:03pm PST · 2 comments

Where Venture Capital is Going in 2024

Where Venture Capital is Going in 2024

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 28, 2023 1:03pm PST · 2 comments

Venture capital had a few stumbles this year, including turnover at the top ranks of Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Greycroft, and the abrupt slowdown in dealmaking among these once-frenetic checkwriters. Startups that had raised billions of dollars in VC money, including Convoy, Olive AI and Veev, shut down and wiped out investors. Others... Venture capital had a few stumbles this year, including turnover at the top ranks of Sequoia...