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

Art from Mike Sullivan

American AI Startups Quietly Raise Money From Top Chinese VC Firms, Including Sequoia Capital China

By Juro Osawa · Nov 7, 2023 10:25am PST · 1 comment

Major Chinese venture capital firms are quietly investing in American artificial intelligence startups, undeterred by growing concerns from U.S. officials about Chinese involvement in local technology firms. For example, Sequoia Capital China, the biggest VC firm by assets in mainland China, recently invested in UTA, or Universal Travel... Major Chinese venture capital firms are quietly investing in American artificial intelligence...

Photo by Getty.

Shein Hires TikTok’s Top U.S. Logistics Exec

By Ann Gehan · Nov 7, 2023 7:37am PST · 4 comments

Shein has hired TikTok owner ByteDance’s top U.S. logistics executive, Wei “Andy” Huang, to lead its fulfillment and logistics operations. The hiring is a big win for the China-founded fast-fashion giant as it tries to edge out TikTok in the online shopping arena. The hiring is also a sign of Shein’s ambitions to compete... Shein has hired TikTok owner ByteDance’s top U.S. logistics executive, Wei...

Photo by Getty.

OpenAI’s ‘Extinction Event’ For Other AI Startups

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 7, 2023 7:00am PST

Despite Elon Musk’s attempts to steal the spotlight, the AI community gave its undivided attention on Monday to OpenAI’s first-ever live event for developers and the press. The large-language model developer didn’t announce any mind-blowing research breakthroughs, but several of its product improvements undoubtedly will hurt some smaller,... Despite Elon Musk’s attempts to steal the spotlight, the AI community gave its undivided...

Photo via Getty.

Supply Chain Unicorns Say: We’re Not the Next Convoy

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Nov 7, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty.

Supply Chain Unicorns Say: We’re Not the Next Convoy

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Nov 7, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Trucking startup Convoy abruptly shut down last month, while freight forwarder Flexport’s revenue has cratered. Other supply chain unicorns are now trying to prove they will have a different fate. Previously unreported financial data for three other major supply chain startups, including Project44 and Cart.com, show all of them are on... Trucking startup Convoy abruptly shut down last month, while freight forwarder Flexport’s...

Behind Enterprise Software Stocks' Lackluster Year

Behind Enterprise Software Stocks' Lackluster Year

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 6, 2023 5:00pm PST

The good news from tech’s earnings season, so far, is that the ad market appears to have recovered a lot from the worst of the downturn. But that’s likely not true for enterprise software. While we haven’t yet heard earnings updates from most enterprise software firms, some of those who have reported suggest that business remains weak, thanks to... The good news from tech’s earnings season, so far, is that the ad market appears to have...

Photo by Shutterstock

Creator Economy

Threads Courts Reality TV Creators

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 6, 2023 2:25pm PST

We’re starting the week off with a scoop about Instagram’s efforts to court creators. Instagram’s Threads recently invited some creators to join “Pops,” a new community of reality TV and pop culture creators on the text-based app. Among other incentives, it will offer challenges where creators compete to win unnamed “special prizes,” we are... We’re starting the week off with a scoop about Instagram’s efforts to court creators. ...

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty.

Musk’s ChatGPT Rival Isn’t as Smart as It Seems; Creators of a Key Open-Source Model Get Offer From Index Ventures

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 6, 2023 7:00am PST

Elon Musk finally unveiled his alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which he developed because he felt it was too woke, as my colleagues first revealed eight months ago. Why do it on a Sunday? Perhaps because OpenAI’s Dev Day event in San Francisco is this morning, and Musk’s xAI team was hoping to upstage it. (Musk also doesn’t distinguish between... Elon Musk finally unveiled his alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which he developed because he...

The People Running Disney As It Grapples With Streaming Revolution

By Sahil Patel · Nov 6, 2023 6:00am PST

The People Running Disney As It Grapples With Streaming Revolution

By Sahil Patel · Nov 6, 2023 6:00am PST

The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And more of that is likely to come as Disney, along with other entertainment companies, tries to get the right structure in place to cope with changes in the industry caused by the rise of streaming video. The most recent shakeup came Monday, as Disney... The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And...

24M CEO Naoki Ota. Photo: Courtesy 24M.

The Electric: 24M Fires a Shot Across the Bow of the Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2023 4:30am PST

Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how tightly electrodes can be stacked in a battery pack, improving energy density and electric vehicle driving range. If 24M’s assertions are true, its new battery could outperform groundbreaking, roughly similar batteries made by China’s Byd and... Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how...

Photo by Getty

Palo Alto Networks Finalizing $600 Million-Plus Acquisition of Israeli Security Startup

By Maria Heeter and Aaron Holmes · Nov 5, 2023 11:09am PST · 1 comment

Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that could value it at $600 million to $700 million, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The deal could be announced as soon as Monday, one of the people said. The acquisition would extend Palo Alto Networks’... Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that...

‘It’s Like I Created a Baby’: An AI Matriarch Appraises Her Offspring

By Adam Lashinsky · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

In the most overheated technology debate of our time—the societal impact of artificial intelligence—Fei-Fei Li finds herself precariously balanced in the middle. A Stanford University computer science professor and co-head of its Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Li is neither a Geoffrey Hinton–esque doomer,... In the most overheated technology debate of our time—the societal impact of artificial...

Second-time author Bradley Tusk is also a political strategist, venture capitalist, small business owner, philanthropist and podcaster. Tusk photo by Getty. Art by Clark Miller.

A New Novel By ‘Silicon Valley’s Favorite Fixer’ Is Coming for Everybody

By Julia Black · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Second-time author Bradley Tusk is also a political strategist, venture capitalist, small business owner, philanthropist and podcaster. Tusk photo by Getty. Art by Clark Miller.

A New Novel By ‘Silicon Valley’s Favorite Fixer’ Is Coming for Everybody

By Julia Black · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In Bradley Tusk’s new satirical novel, “Obvious in Hindsight,” no one is safe from skewering—including the author. When I asked Tusk whether his cast of conniving characters is based on people he’s encountered in his long, drama-filled career in politics and tech, or whether they are actually all versions of... In Bradley Tusk’s new satirical novel, “Obvious in Hindsight,” no one is safe...

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan has been taking one for the team, rising long before dawn to commute to the U.S. courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Once there, he’d grab a place in line and wait on the sidewalk for hours, huddling in the dark and sometimes the pouring rain, until the... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo via Shutterstock.

It’s Time for Apple to Identify Cook’s Successor

By Martin Peers · Nov 3, 2023 3:15pm PDT

What a week Tim Cook had. On Thursday, Apple reported anemic September-quarter results, completing a fiscal year where revenues fell 2.8%. That’s actually not a bad result given that the smartphone market that drives Apple’s business shrank 10.5% in the same 12-month period, according to IDC data. Still, it is yet another reminder (if any were... What a week Tim Cook had. On Thursday, Apple reported anemic September-quarter results,...

AI Regulation, War and the Future of the American Tech Stack

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 3, 2023 12:01pm PDT

This week, the United States and the European Union tipped their hands on how they plan to regulate AI. The rules amounted to a sea change in the relationship bewteen tech businesses and the government and spurred a whole lot of thinking on our part about what comes next. We hope you enjoy. Apple Spotify This week, the United States and the European Union tipped their hands on how they plan to...

Art by Clark Miller

A Front-Row Seat at the Sam Bankman-Fried Circus

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 3, 2023 9:00am PDT · 9 comments

Art by Clark Miller

A Front-Row Seat at the Sam Bankman-Fried Circus

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 3, 2023 9:00am PDT · 9 comments

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, while most people were tucked in bed ahead of the new week, I stepped into an Uber outside my apartment in Brooklyn. I was on my way to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan with the hopes of snagging one of the 21 courtroom seats to see Sam Bankman-Fried testify in his own criminal... Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, while most people were tucked in bed ahead of the new...

Art by Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: Behind the Explosion of Generative AI Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 3, 2023 8:00am PDT

Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our 100th (and 101st) companies, with inside reporting about who’s backing each company, how much revenue the company has generated, the machine-learning model it uses and the cloud providers it relies on.The numbers make clear just how much investors are... Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our...

Sam Bankman-Fried Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

SBF Found Guilty on All Counts

By Nick Wingfield · Nov 2, 2023 5:25pm PDT

Hot off the presses: The jury in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried convicted the FTX founder and former CEO of all seven fraud and conspiracy charges he was facing. The quick verdict—jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon—felt fitting for a case that federal prosecutors filed less than a year ago. Bankman-Fried now faces a maximum sentence of... Hot off the presses: The jury in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried convicted the FTX founder and...

X CEO Linda Yaccarino. Photo by Getty

Creator Economy

Hashtag Activism Returns to X

By Erin Woo · Nov 2, 2023 5:04pm PDT

Hashtag activism is back.Dozens of trans users of X have been posting their stories on the app formerly known as Twitter as a way of protesting conservative video maker PragerU, which purchased one of X’s most prominent advertising spots to promote a documentary arguing that gender-affirming care is dangerous for transgender youth. The... Hashtag activism is back.Dozens of trans users of X have been posting their stories on the app...

Palmer Luckey. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon via Getty.

Tension Brews in Defense Tech

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 2, 2023 2:16pm PDT · 3 comments

Palmer Luckey. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon via Getty.

Tension Brews in Defense Tech

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 2, 2023 2:16pm PDT · 3 comments

It’s not every day that you see a company like Anduril, a 2,200-person defense technology company last valued at $8.5 billion, sue a 6-person startup with just $4 million in venture backing. But, as my colleague Margaux and I reported this week, Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey is going after a much smaller upstart founded by his former employees,... It’s not every day that you see a company like Anduril, a 2,200-person defense technology company...