The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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 by Clark Miller

The Firebrand Investor Who Can Explain Trump’s Rise in Tech

By Abram Brown · Sep 13, 2024 9:11am PDT · 16 comments

“You’ve been here before?” asked the guard at the gate, a pistol fastened to his belt. I shook my head no. “If you go past the red Tesla,” the guard said, waving my Uber through, “you’ve gone too far.” After a few minutes of Texas shrubland, we arrived at Joe Lonsdale’s back door, where... “You’ve been here before?” asked the guard at the gate, a pistol fastened to...

A wafer on display at Semicon Taiwan earlier this month. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Pro Weekly: AI Chip Startups Race to Finish Products

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 13, 2024 8:00am PDT

Our AI Chip Database includes 24 companies that hope to grab some of the riches flowing to market leader Nvidia. It’s an expensive task, and several have been busy raising money lately.Groq and Etched, two companies designing chips to run large language models, raised $640 million and $120 million, respectively, over the past few months. I... Our AI Chip Database includes 24 companies that hope to grab some of the riches flowing to market...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Tiger Global Plans to Join OpenAI’s Funding Round

By Kate Clark · Sep 13, 2024 7:13am PDT

A clearer picture is emerging of OpenAI’s massive financing, which values the ChatGPT developer at $150 billion. Venture capital firm Tiger Global Management plans to participate in the multi-billion dollar round, according to people familiar with the matter. Tiger would join Thrive Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and the Abu Dhabi AI... A clearer picture is emerging of OpenAI’s massive financing, which values the ChatGPT...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Venture Capitalists Turn to Novel Methods to Return Cash

By Kate Clark · Sep 13, 2024 6:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

Venture Capitalists Turn to Novel Methods to Return Cash

By Kate Clark · Sep 13, 2024 6:00am PDT

In 2022, not long after the window for initial public offerings slammed shut, European early-stage investment firm Speedinvest hired someone who informally began using a wonky new job title. The firm’s self-styled “head of DPI” is in charge of making sure the distributed to paid-in capital ratio—a measurement of the cash... In 2022, not long after the window for initial public offerings slammed shut, European...

Sam Altman. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty.

What OpenAI Investors Are Risking

By Martin Peers · Sep 12, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 6 comments

OpenAI today released its much-anticipated Strawberry artificial intelligence model, designed to “solve harder problems” than its previous models, as the company said in its blog post today. Here’s a problem it should try to tackle: How can investors justify investing money in the ChatGPT maker at a $150 billion valuation, the level at which... OpenAI today released its much-anticipated Strawberry artificial intelligence model, designed to...

Christopher Ahlberg, CEO of Recorded Future. Photo via Recorded Future

Insight Proves There Are Still Home-Run Deals in Cybersecurity

By Aaron Holmes and Anissa Gardizy · Sep 12, 2024 3:01pm PDT · 1 comment

For cybersecurity investors rattled by a year filled with valuation haircuts for high-priced cybersecurity companies, Thursday offered a glimmer of hope that home-run deals are still possible in the sector.Mastercard announced that it will acquire threat intelligence startup Recorded Future for $2.65 billion from private equity and venture... For cybersecurity investors rattled by a year filled with valuation haircuts for high-priced...

OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap. Photo by STR via Getty

OpenAI COO Says ChatGPT Passed 11 Million Paying Subscribers

By Amir Efrati · Sep 12, 2024 2:44pm PDT

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has more than 10 million paying subscribers and another 1 million subscribers that are part of higher-priced plans for business teams, COO Brad Lightcap recently told staff in a message, according to a person who viewed the message. Those numbers, which the company hasn’t publicly disclosed, imply that the artificial... OpenAI’s ChatGPT has more than 10 million paying subscribers and another 1 million...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty

Stripe Likes Creators—as Long as They’re SFW

By Laura Mandaro · Sep 12, 2024 2:21pm PDT

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty

Creator Economy

Stripe Likes Creators—as Long as They’re SFW

By Laura Mandaro · Sep 12, 2024 2:21pm PDT

For creators, getting paid comes a close second in importance to reaching fans. But we don’t often get an inside look at how the payments—from tips to subscriptions—happen. That’s why our colleague Michael Roddan’s reporting on Stripe earlier this week is a must read. Fintech companies like Stripe have leaned into a surge in online payments... For creators, getting paid comes a close second in importance to reaching fans. But we don’t...

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai earlier this year. Photo by Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty.

OpenAI in Talks with UAE Investment Fund for $7 Billion Fundraising

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Sep 12, 2024 11:35am PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI has told investors it may try to raise as much as $7 billion in a massive fundraising round that would value it at $150 billion. It is in talks with MGX, the $100 billion United Arab Emirates-backed investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter, as well as tech and VC investors such as Microsoft and Thrive Capital. A... OpenAI has told investors it may try to raise as much as $7 billion in a massive fundraising...

Klarna CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty.

Can AI Really Replace Salesforce and Workday?

By Ann Gehan and Amir Efrati · Sep 12, 2024 7:15am PDT · 1 comment

Before you get your hands on OpenAI’s Strawberry reasoning model—which we’re told is due out before the end of this week, including a version that will be in the free tier of ChatGPT—noodle on this:Can artificial intelligence kill the enterprise software app industry that’s led by companies such as Salesforce and Workday?That’s the... Before you get your hands on OpenAI’s Strawberry reasoning model—which we’re told is due out...

GoDaddy Is Having a Moment: Why It Might Not Last

By Anita Ramaswamy · Sep 12, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Grabbing attention is in GoDaddy’s DNA. The web domain hosting company that skyrocketed to widespread fame in the 2010s with a series of provocative Super Bowl ads is having another moment in the limelight, this time with Wall Street investors. After stagnating at the same level for five years, GoDaddy shares doubled between last November... Grabbing attention is in GoDaddy’s DNA. The web domain hosting company that skyrocketed to...

Piedmont Lithium's headquarters in Belmont, N.C. Photo: Google Earth

One in Four Recipients of a U.S. Battery Grant Has Given Them Up

By Steve LeVine · Sep 12, 2024 5:45am PDT · 1 comment

Piedmont Lithium's headquarters in Belmont, N.C. Photo: Google Earth

One in Four Recipients of a U.S. Battery Grant Has Given Them Up

By Steve LeVine · Sep 12, 2024 5:45am PDT · 1 comment

When Piedmont Lithium withdrew its application for a Department of Energy loan to build an $800 million lithium refinery, it joined a growing list of U.S. battery and mining companies that, roiled by slow electric vehicle sales, are walking away from government aid intended to spur a domestic battery supply chain. In some cases, companies have... When Piedmont Lithium withdrew its application for a Department of Energy loan to build an $800...

A 5G cellular tower in San Mateo, Calif. Photo via Getty.

Cellular Data Use Has Exploded: Why That’s a Problem

By Martin Peers · Sep 11, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Here’s a quiz: What vital digital resource are we consuming as though it was water, apparently unaware that supply is finite? I’m not talking about electricity (well, not today), but wireless spectrum, the airwaves telephone giants use for cellular services like 5G. You know, the service we only pay attention to when it doesn’t work.Here’s a... Here’s a quiz: What vital digital resource are we consuming as though it was water, apparently...

Demonstrators hold signs in support of TikTok outside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. in March. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

Creator Economy

TikTok’s Tougher Legal Fight

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 11, 2024 2:24pm PDT

I’ll be in Washington on Monday, when TikTok’s legal team will argue that a new law that could shut down the app in January is an infringement on Americans’ freedom of speech. Even as the deadline to this ban gets closer, I’ve been surprised by how unfazed many people, from TikTok staff to the company’s business partners and creators, have been... I’ll be in Washington on Monday, when TikTok’s legal team will argue that a new law that could...

Art by Tim Boucher

I’m an Author Who Proudly Uses Generative AI to Write My Books

By Tim Boucher · Sep 11, 2024 11:24am PDT · 2 comments

I set up a Google Alert on my name so long ago that I’d almost forgotten about it. It occasionally sends me stories about people in faraway places who share my first and last names. But the alert I received in mid-August was different. When I opened the email, I realized that this was really about me: My work had been referenced in a class... I set up a Google Alert on my name so long ago that I’d almost forgotten about it. It...

Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg at a conference on computer graphics earlier this year. Photo by AP/David Zalubowski.

Meta Will Soon Get a 100,000 GPU Cluster Too; What’s Life At Character Like Now?

By Amir Efrati and Kalley Huang · Sep 11, 2024 8:10am PDT

Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg at a conference on computer graphics earlier this year. Photo by AP/David Zalubowski.

Meta Will Soon Get a 100,000 GPU Cluster Too; What’s Life At Character Like Now?

By Amir Efrati and Kalley Huang · Sep 11, 2024 8:10am PDT

If an artificial intelligence developer doesn't have a cluster of 100,000 Nvidia H100 server chips for training large language models, do they even exist?All kidding aside, the AI data center race is in full swing as the six or so richest developers and cloud providers seemingly try to one-up each other on a weekly basis in terms of the size of... If an artificial intelligence developer doesn't have a cluster of 100,000 Nvidia H100 server...

Oracle senior vice president Karan Batta. Art by Clark Miller.

The Big Interview

Oracle Exec: AMD Gaining Favor in Nvidia-Dominated Market for AI Chips

By Jon Victor · Sep 11, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Despite Nvidia’s booming growth in selling data center chips for artificial intelligence, some customers developing AI are turning to chips from smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices, said Karan Batta, a senior executive in Oracle’s cloud business. Oracle rents out chips from both companies. “What we’re finding now is... Despite Nvidia’s booming growth in selling data center chips for artificial intelligence,...

Huawei's tri-fold smartphone, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Edition, at a Huawei today in Yantai, China. Photo by Tang Ke/VCG via AP.

Huawei Takes on Apple With Trifold

By Martin Peers · Sep 10, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Take that, Tim Cook! Chinese phone giant Huawei, a big Apple rival in China, tried to upstage the introduction of the iPhone 16 on Monday by unveiling a new foldable phone on Tuesday. This isn’t just any foldable—no, the Mate XT unfolds into three parts, compared to those low-ambition two-part designs from Samsung, Motorola and others. ... Take that, Tim Cook! Chinese phone giant Huawei, a big Apple rival in China, tried to upstage the...

D-Matrix's co-founders, Sudeep Bhoja (left) and Sid Sheth (right). Photos via YouTube/D-Matrix

Nvidia Challenger Woos Investors as It Prepares to Unveil New Chip

By Akash Pasricha and Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 10, 2024 4:44pm PDT · 1 comment

Another artificial intelligence chip startup is trying to rally investors as it takes on Nvidia. D-Matrix, a Santa Clara, Calif.–based company designing an AI-focused chip to run large language models more cost effectively, wants to raise $250 million in a Series C funding round, according to two people with direct knowledge of the... Another artificial intelligence chip startup is trying to rally investors as it takes on...

The New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings playing at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. Photo by Luke Hales/Getty.

A Dispatch From YouTube’s NFL Party With Creators

By Sahil Patel · Sep 10, 2024 1:56pm PDT

The New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings playing at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. Photo by Luke Hales/Getty.

Creator Economy

A Dispatch From YouTube’s NFL Party With Creators

By Sahil Patel · Sep 10, 2024 1:56pm PDT

It’s YouTube’s second year offering customers the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service, which streams every regular season game outside of a viewer’s local market on Sunday afternoons. As part of that deal, the organizations have invited some top YouTubers to shoot videos from the stadiums, as well as use NFL-owned highlights and other intellectual... It’s YouTube’s second year offering customers the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service, which streams...