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

Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, rings the opening bell during the company's IPO at Nasdaq MarketSite on Sept. 14. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Startups Squint to Read the IPO Tea Leaves

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

SeatGeek, a venture capital–backed ticketing app, may have a strong sales pitch when it starts early discussions with investors this week about a potential initial public offering led by Morgan Stanley. During recent quarters, revenue grew roughly 70% from the prior year, thanks to a boom in live concerts. While SeatGeek isn’t yet... SeatGeek, a venture capital–backed ticketing app, may have a strong sales pitch when it...

Merchandise purchased through Xiaohongshu (“little red book”) in Jinhua, China. VCG via Getty Images

Sequoia Capital China Buys Discounted Stake in Prominent E-Commerce App

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Sep 26, 2023 10:26pm PDT · 1 comment

Sequoia Capital China recently acquired a stake in Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu from existing investors at a discount to the company’s most recent equity financing valuation, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Sequoia China, which is preparing to separate from Silicon Valley’s Sequoia Capital next... Sequoia Capital China recently acquired a stake in Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu from...

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Getty.

Designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Discuss AI Hardware Project

By Jessica E. Lessin and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2023 6:51pm PDT · 16 comments

Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing building a new AI hardware device, according to two people familiar with the conversations. SoftBank CEO and investor Masayoshi Son has talked to both about the idea, according to one of these people, but it is unclear if he will remain involved. Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been...

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty.

The Flaws in FTC’s Amazon Case

By Martin Peers · Sep 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty.

The Flaws in FTC’s Amazon Case

By Martin Peers · Sep 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Talk about anticlimactic. We’ve been expecting today’s Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit against Amazon since the day commission chair Lina Khan was sworn into office in June 2021. After all, she rose to antitrust fame with her 2017 Yale Law Journal paper arguing that modern competition policy wasn’t equipped to deal with the threat... Talk about anticlimactic. We’ve been expecting today’s Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit...

MasterClass CEO David Rogier. Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

The Lessons From MasterClass

By Paris Martineau · Sep 26, 2023 2:14pm PDT · 1 comment

Paris here. Yesterday, we published a story about MasterClass’ post-pandemic woes. MasterClass, like many startups, spent wildly when times were good, then got caught flatfooted when its pandemic-era gains didn’t continue. Its evolution says something about the position many creator economy darlings now find themselves in. For a while, it... Paris here. Yesterday, we published a story about MasterClass’ post-pandemic woes. MasterClass,...

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

FTC Alleges Secret Projects, Manipulative Pricing at Amazon

By Theo Wayt · Sep 26, 2023 1:07pm PDT · 10 comments

The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit filed against Amazon in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday does not explicitly call for the break up of Amazon, but a close reading suggests that is definitely what the agency wants. The FTC argued in the lawsuit that anticompetitive practices in one business line can reinforce Amazon’s... The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit filed against Amazon in federal court in Seattle on...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty

How Microsoft is Trying to Lessen Its Addiction to OpenAI as AI Costs Soar

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 26, 2023 7:30am PDT · 3 comments

Microsoft’s push to put artificial intelligence into its software has hinged almost entirely on OpenAI, the startup Microsoft funded in exchange for the right to use its cutting-edge technology. But as the costs of running advanced AI models rise, Microsoft researchers and product teams are working on a plan B. In recent weeks, Peter Lee,... Microsoft’s push to put artificial intelligence into its software has hinged almost...

SAP HQ in Walldorf, Germany. Photo via Getty.

ChatGPT Does Its Best Siri Impression; SAP Joins the Ranks of AI Assistant Providers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2023 7:00am PDT

SAP HQ in Walldorf, Germany. Photo via Getty.

ChatGPT Does Its Best Siri Impression; SAP Joins the Ranks of AI Assistant Providers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2023 7:00am PDT

ChatGPT might be coming soon to a fridge or bedroom near you.On Monday, LLM developer OpenAI announced upcoming voice and image capabilities for its AI-powered chatbot. These new features will allow users to do things like asking for a dinner recipe based on the ingredients revealed by a photo of their fridge contents or requesting ChatGPT to... ChatGPT might be coming soon to a fridge or bedroom near you.On Monday, LLM developer OpenAI...

From left to right: Blair Effron, Robert Pruzan and David Handler. Photos by Getty; Tidal Partners.

Disputes, Employee Misconduct Rattle Centerview’s Silicon Valley Dreams

By Michael Roddan · Sep 26, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

The San Francisco Bay Area–based bankers at Centerview Partners, the investment bank that advised Silicon Valley Bank’s owner and Credit Suisse through recent turmoil, got two doses of bad news last week. First, they learned officially what many already suspected: The firm had fired a male banker in its San Francisco office after he... The San Francisco Bay Area–based bankers at Centerview Partners, the investment bank that...

Photo by Getty

Amazon’s Anthropic Deal Signals Cloud Sector Turbulence

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2023 5:00pm PDT

You know the cloud industry is in upheaval when industry leader Amazon Web Services has to copy a tactic used by its smaller rivals to compete more effectively. The Amazon unit’s decision on Monday to invest up to $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, as part of a broader deal in which AWS becomes the startup’s “primary cloud provider,” looks a... You know the cloud industry is in upheaval when industry leader Amazon Web Services has to copy a...

Photo via Midjourney

Creator Economy

Beehiiv’s Deal for an Ad Tech Startup Shows Strains on Founders

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 25, 2023 1:05pm PDT · 2 comments

Let’s kick off this week with some creator economy M&A news. Beehiiv, a newsletter publishing startup, is acquiring Swapstack, an advertising marketplace for newsletters, Beehiiv’s CEO Tyler Denk confirmed to me. Beehiiv is acquiring the smaller firm’s tech and relationships with advertisers. Swapstack co-founder and CEO Jake... Let’s kick off this week with some creator economy M&A news. Beehiiv, a newsletter publishing...

Photo by Midjourney.

Amazon’s ‘Switzerland’ Days Are Over; Are LLMs Cheating on Benchmark Tests?; OpenAI Quietly Develops Customizable GPTs

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 25, 2023 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Midjourney.

Amazon’s ‘Switzerland’ Days Are Over; Are LLMs Cheating on Benchmark Tests?; OpenAI Quietly Develops Customizable GPTs

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 25, 2023 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Looks like Amazon’s finally made its AI bet.On Monday, model developer Anthropic announced that it had raised as much as $4 billion from Amazon. As part of the deal, Amazon Web Services will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, and Anthropic will train and deploy its future models on AWS’ training- and inference-specialized chips, Trainium... Looks like Amazon’s finally made its AI bet.On Monday, model developer Anthropic announced that...

Art by Clark Miller

MasterClass Takes a Crash Course in Frugality

By Paris Martineau · Sep 25, 2023 6:00am PDT · 10 comments

MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. The startup was emerging as a poster child of the new media landscape, one that was bringing Hollywood-style production values and A-list celebrities to a category—online education—often associated with dry lectures and crummy... MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co....

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a Luddite ever since. Gil Golan, who worked on the car as a young engineer, argues that the rap is unfair. Golan, named this month as GM’s chief technology officer and vice president of research and development, says canceling the EV1 was not a knock... In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a...

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the kind that pokes fun at the industry returning to the good old days of expensive perks and wine-soaked dinners.I had a real-life “We’re so back” moment this week when I attended a bacchanalian feast thrown by Bain Capital Ventures at Fogo de Chão in... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the...

Art by Clark Miller.

Runners’ Highs: Tech’s Serial Marathoners on Their Favorite Long-Distance Runs

By Annie Goldsmith · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

Runners’ Highs: Tech’s Serial Marathoners on Their Favorite Long-Distance Runs

By Annie Goldsmith · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Despite Silicon Valley’s drift toward sports that require an octagon, long-distance running still ranks highly. In our recent Brain-Body Investment Survey, running was respondents’ second most time-consuming form of exercise, right after weightlifting. True to form, tech executives are applying their competitive spirit to the... Despite Silicon Valley’s drift toward sports that require an octagon, long-distance...

Photo via Shutterstock

SpaceX, Klaviyo, LLMs: Highlight Stories From This Week

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 22, 2023 4:01pm PDT

This week we were treated to not one but two big tech IPOs! Plus, two tech juggernauts—Amazon and Microsoft—held big, flashy product launch events. Through it all, The Information’s newsroom pumped out a string of scoops, analyses and meaty newsletters. This week we were treated to not one but two big tech IPOs! Plus, two tech juggernauts—Amazon and...

Art by Clark Miller

Europe Has Figured Out How to Tame Big Tech. Can the U.S. Learn Its Tricks?

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Sep 22, 2023 11:00am PDT · 23 comments

Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul Tang, a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament. How had they done it, she asked him. How had the EU managed to bring big tech to heel? The liberal Massachusetts senator, alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), had stopped off in... Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul...

Instacart’s Fake IPO and Why Hiring in Tech Is So Broken

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2023 10:21am PDT

Like all industries, Silicon Valley gets set in its ways. So I particularly enjoyed a comment from Sam pointing out the absurdity of tech hiring practices on this week's episode of More or Less. It is definitely food for thought, along with our debate about when tech companies should go public. Hope you enjoy! Spotify Apple YouTube... Like all industries, Silicon Valley gets set in its ways. So I particularly enjoyed a comment...

If AI researchers can meet Nat Friedman's Vesuvius Challenge, “It’ll be the first time we’ve read handwriting that hasn’t been seen in 2,000 years.” Art by Clark Miller

Nat Versus the Volcano: Can an AI Investor Solve an Ancient Mystery from the Ashes of Vesuvius?

By Margaux MacColl · Sep 22, 2023 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

If AI researchers can meet Nat Friedman's Vesuvius Challenge, “It’ll be the first time we’ve read handwriting that hasn’t been seen in 2,000 years.” Art by Clark Miller

Nat Versus the Volcano: Can an AI Investor Solve an Ancient Mystery from the Ashes of Vesuvius?

By Margaux MacColl · Sep 22, 2023 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

Long before men’s daily thoughts about ancient Rome became a TikTok meme, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman’s mind was regularly turning toward the Roman Empire. In the early pandemic months of 2020, he ripped through Philip Matyszak’s “24 Hours in Ancient Rome,” a book that, by his own admission, was “written... Long before men’s daily thoughts about ancient Rome became a TikTok meme, former GitHub CEO...