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

Left: Dave Clark. Photo by AP. Right: Ryan Petersen. Photo by Getty.

Why Dave Clark and Ryan Petersen Butted Heads at Flexport

By Theo Wayt, Ann Gehan, Paris Martineau and Nick Wingfield · Sep 7, 2023 12:34pm PDT · 7 comments

Dave Clark, a veteran Amazon executive who helped transform the company into a logistics juggernaut, made a huge splash last summer when he announced he was joining Flexport, a startup looking to shake up the old school freight business that had ballooned to an $8 billion valuation with backing from SoftBank and Andreessen Horowitz. But Clark,... Dave Clark, a veteran Amazon executive who helped transform the company into a logistics...

Art by Clark Miller.

A Hopeful Sign for Big Media?

By Andrew A. Rosen · Sep 7, 2023 9:00am PDT

The one constant of 2023 has been a sense of accelerating change as media businesses shift from distributing content through intermediaries such as cable providers to engaging directly with consumers. Change alone creates uncertainty. Change in areas where recent attempts to navigate a transition have largely failed is scary for managers and... The one constant of 2023 has been a sense of accelerating change as media businesses shift from...

John Giannandrea. Photo via YouTube/TechCrunch.

Apple Enters the AI Race, Boosting Google in the Process

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

In the race to win the large-language model race, one big tech name has not surfaced as a contestant: Apple. Until now.My colleague Wayne Ma reported on Wednesday that Apple created a team four years ago, long before the current generative AI hype cycle, to develop large-language models. In other words, Apple may not be as much of an LLM laggard... In the race to win the large-language model race, one big tech name has not surfaced as a...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifying in Congress in 2018. Photo by Getty

As Google Case Heads to Trial, a Judge’s Decisions Worry Company’s Critics

By Jon Victor · Sep 7, 2023 6:00am PDT

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifying in Congress in 2018. Photo by Getty

As Google Case Heads to Trial, a Judge’s Decisions Worry Company’s Critics

By Jon Victor · Sep 7, 2023 6:00am PDT

After years of anticipation, a trial next week in Washington, D.C., will attempt to answer a critical question: Did Google break antitrust laws by striking deals with companies like Apple and Samsung to make its search engine the default on their products? Those business arrangements are expected to be at the heart of the 10-week trial, which... After years of anticipation, a trial next week in Washington, D.C., will attempt to answer a...

China's Huayou Cobalt is trying to figure out how to supply battery nickel to the U.S. market despite U.S.-China tensions. Photo: VCG/Getty

Exclusive from The Electric: A Leading Chinese Nickel Producer Tries Its Luck in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Sep 7, 2023 4:30am PDT

The Inflation Reduction Act was meant to keep companies like Huayou Cobalt, a leading Chinese supplier of battery-grade nickel to Western carmakers including Tesla, Ford and Volkswagen, out of the U.S. battery supply chain. But the company is attempting to break into the U.S. market anyway and qualify for IRA tax credits.In a conversation this... The Inflation Reduction Act was meant to keep companies like Huayou Cobalt, a leading Chinese...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo by Getty.

Arm’s IPO Pitch to Wall Street: Don’t Worry, Growth Is Coming

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 6, 2023 5:40pm PDT · 3 comments

Behind the scenes of its much-anticipated initial public offering, SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm has pushed a clear message to skeptical analysts and investors: Growth is coming soon. The company told investment banking analysts last month in Cambridge, England, that its recently flat revenue growth would re-accelerate over the next few... Behind the scenes of its much-anticipated initial public offering, SoftBank-owned chip...

Dave Clark in 2018. Photo by AP.

Flexport Founder Has a CEO Change of Heart

By Martin Peers · Sep 6, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Memo to would-be CEOs: Next time a company founder approaches you about taking the reins from them, run in the opposite direction as fast as you can. As we were reminded on Wednesday, when former Amazonian Dave Clark said he was yielding the top job at freight forwarder Flexport to founder Ryan Petersen, successfully filling a founder’s shoes... Memo to would-be CEOs: Next time a company founder approaches you about taking the reins from...

Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison. Photo by Getty.

Clubhouse Is Now an Audio Messaging App

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 6, 2023 3:08pm PDT · 1 comment

Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison. Photo by Getty.

Creator Economy

Clubhouse Is Now an Audio Messaging App

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 6, 2023 3:08pm PDT · 1 comment

Clubhouse, after laying off half its staff in April to “reset” the company, on Wednesday revealed a long-awaited revamp. It’s updating the app to feature voice-only group chats with friends or friends of friends that happen asynchronously. The live, public audio groups that Clubhouse popularized during the pandemic shutdowns aren’t going... Clubhouse, after laying off half its staff in April to “reset” the company, on Wednesday revealed...

Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea. Photo via Getty

Apple Boosts Spending to Develop Conversational AI

By Wayne Ma · Sep 6, 2023 10:49am PDT

Apple has been expanding its computing budget for building artificial intelligence to millions of dollars a day. One of its goals is to develop features such as one that allows iPhone customers to use simple voice commands to automate tasks involving multiple steps, according to people familiar with the effort. The technology, for instance,... Apple has been expanding its computing budget for building artificial intelligence to millions of...

Photo via Getty

Gemini’s Pitch to Genesis Creditors

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 6, 2023 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

Crypto firm Genesis, whose lending unit filed for bankruptcy in January, said last week that its parent company, Digital Currency Group, and a committee of creditors had tentatively agreed to a restructuring deal that would be a big step toward paying back customers. But there’s been a lot more going on behind the scenes.Crypto exchange ... Crypto firm Genesis, whose lending unit filed for bankruptcy in January, said last week that...

Generated by Pika Labs.

A Rival to Runway Emerges; Meta’s AI Drama; A Robotics Vet Becomes a VC

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 6, 2023 7:00am PDT

In the past two months, the number of people using a Discord server dubbed Pika has quietly grown from zero to more than 160,000. Thousands of users post requests such as, “a sleek, electric car silently glides across the screen against a backdrop of futuristic cityscapes” and “clouds move with breeze.” The server spits back three-second... In the past two months, the number of people using a Discord server dubbed Pika has quietly grown...

Illustration by Clark Miller

Delivering in the Dark, Amazon’s Gig Drivers Face Guns and Death

By Theo Wayt · Sep 6, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Illustration by Clark Miller

Delivering in the Dark, Amazon’s Gig Drivers Face Guns and Death

By Theo Wayt · Sep 6, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

In February 2022, Chris Fear was sitting in her car outside Scottsdale, Ariz., a couple of hours after sunset with the windows down, when she heard a man’s voice. “Get out of your car,” the man said from the darkness. Fear had spent the prior couple of hours delivering packages for Amazon, but she had gotten lost on the way to... In February 2022, Chris Fear was sitting in her car outside Scottsdale, Ariz., a couple of hours...

Deel photo by Getty. Background reflects prop trading websites that use Deel and YouTube video tutorials for them. Art by Shane Burke.

How Deel Became Payout Provider for Prop Trading Firms, Including Site Frozen by CFTC

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 5, 2023 5:27pm PDT · 2 comments

Four-year-old Deel has become one of the fastest-growing and most valuable startups by positioning itself as a way for businesses to hire contract employees anywhere in a snap. What the human resources startup doesn’t talk about in its prolific marketing is the fact that the company, last valued by investors at $12 billion, has also become... Four-year-old Deel has become one of the fastest-growing and most valuable startups by...

Photo by Getty

Arm Value Numbers Inhabit SoftBank’s Parallel Universe

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

It’s time for an updated edition of “Games People Play,” one dedicated to IPO marketing. The prime example could be SoftBank and the army of bankers it has on tap that are marketing the IPO for chip design firm Arm. They’re doing a masterful job in manipulating what the media thinks SoftBank wants. A few weeks ago, we saw reports that SoftBank... It’s time for an updated edition of “Games People Play,” one dedicated to IPO marketing. The...

Credit: Midjourney

Creator Economy

The Artists Using Midjourney

By Alex Perry · Sep 5, 2023 3:47pm PDT

You may have heard about Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence company that specializes in creating images from text prompts and visual inputs. My colleague Kate Clark today published an in-depth profile of the startup, whose founder David Holz refuses to take venture capital and hosts the service on Discord, a chat application... You may have heard about Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence company that...

Illustration by Harol Bustos.

Inside Meta’s AI Drama: Internal Feuds Over Compute Power

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Sep 5, 2023 9:16am PDT · 2 comments

Illustration by Harol Bustos.

Inside Meta’s AI Drama: Internal Feuds Over Compute Power

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Sep 5, 2023 9:16am PDT · 2 comments

Meta Platforms’ releases of its large-language models, Llama and Llama 2, in the past six months have won the company praise for offering free, open-source alternatives to models from OpenAI and Anthropic. But for some of the scientists and engineers who worked on Llama, that praise was too little, too late. Many have quit, embittered by a... Meta Platforms’ releases of its large-language models, Llama and Llama 2, in the past six...

Chart by Shane Burke.

What We Can Learn From AI Startups in Y Combinator’s Latest Batch

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 5, 2023 7:01am PDT

Tomorrow, dozens of startups will take to the virtual stage to pitch their ideas as part of Y Combinator’s iconic Demo Day, though some well-known investors have already gotten an early look at them. This year, more than 60% of the group—or 134 startups—are building applications or tools around artificial intelligence, mostly related to... Tomorrow, dozens of startups will take to the virtual stage to pitch their ideas as part of Y...

Midjourney CEO David Holz has bucked the tide among AI founders by boxing out venture capitalists. Midjourney art by Clark Miller

‘He Doesn’t Need VC in His Life’: How Midjourney’s Founder Built an AI Winner While Rejecting Venture Capital

By Kate Clark · Sep 5, 2023 6:15am PDT · 6 comments

Ever since David Holz founded Midjourney in mid-2021, venture capitalists have been practically begging him to take their money. On top of cold-calling and emailing Holz incessantly, some have asked his inner circle for “warm” introductions. Others have preemptively sent him term sheets. A lucky few have landed meetings with the... Ever since David Holz founded Midjourney in mid-2021, venture capitalists have been practically...

Nikola Tesla's alternating current illuminated the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Photo: Chicago History Museum/Getty

The Electric: The U.S.-French Race to Electrify the Skies Above the Olympics

By Steve LeVine · Sep 4, 2023 4:31am PDT

In 1876, millions of visitors to the World’s Fair in Philadelphia saw the first typewriter, the largest steam engine ever, and arguably the showstopper—the telephone, demonstrated by Alexander Graham Bell. Seventeen years later, visitors to the Chicago World’s Fair witnessed Nikola Tesla’s system of alternating electric current and the “City of... In 1876, millions of visitors to the World’s Fair in Philadelphia saw the first typewriter, the...

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This week, we’re publishing stories from near (a testosterone party in San Francisco) and far (Jessica's four-day reporting junket in China). But there’s another story we’re tracking that is geographically close to home and psychologically close to Never Never Land. I’m talking about the dream city of California... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This week, we’re publishing stories from near (a testosterone party...