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

Czinger cofounders Lukas Czinger (center) and his father Kevin Czinger. Collage by Clark Miller. Photography courtesy Czinger

Selling a Vision, and a $2 Million Hypercar, at Pebble Beach

By Tim Stevens · Sep 2, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

The chassis lurking under the skin of most cars is a pretty pedestrian thing—mostly sections of stamped and welded steel perforated with mounting points for the engine, suspension and everything else required to make the machine whole. The 3D-printed chassis of the Czinger 21C, however, has an unnervingly organic look. Imagine a car not so... The chassis lurking under the skin of most cars is a pretty pedestrian thing—mostly...

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo engaged in a high-wire act of diplomacy during her four-day trip to China. Photo of Raimondo via Getty Images. Collage by Clark Miller.

‘Excited and Terrified’: On a High-Stakes Trip to China, Gina Raimondo Confronts a Complex Future

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 2, 2023 6:00am PDT · 15 comments

A former ambulance driver was whizzing me through the rainy streets of Shanghai to meet an eight-car motorcade and—hopefully—U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. She’d been a hard person to wrangle during her three-day diplomatic trip to China, and I had been given the smallest of windows for a face-to-face interview: just 15... A former ambulance driver was whizzing me through the rainy streets of Shanghai to meet an...

Tyler (left) and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Gemini Tries to Line Up Other Creditors in New Genesis Bankruptcy Plan

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 1, 2023 4:45pm PDT

The high-profile spat between Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert is poised to get even uglier. Gemini is trying to rally other creditors behind a plan to wring more money out of DCG to help pay back the more than $3.5 billion owed by its bankrupt lending subsidiary, Genesis, two... The high-profile spat between Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Digital...

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Los Angeles Times via Getty.

John Malone’s Charter Squeezes Disney at Vulnerable Moment

By Martin Peers · Sep 1, 2023 4:23pm PDT

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Los Angeles Times via Getty.

John Malone’s Charter Squeezes Disney at Vulnerable Moment

By Martin Peers · Sep 1, 2023 4:23pm PDT

Bob Iger’s path to rescuing Disney just ran into a roadblock. Disney’s cable channels, including ESPN, went dark on Thursday on the No. 2 cable operator, Charter Communications, amid a fight about how much Charter should pay to carry the channels. Make no mistake: This is not one of those boring cable TV industry battles that have been going on... Bob Iger’s path to rescuing Disney just ran into a roadblock. Disney’s cable channels, including...

Inside the VC Brain

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 1, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Sometimes VCs need a therapy session. Reporters and editors, too. And so, with this week’s episode, you get a little bit of both—and some news nuggets on what I learned about China and AI on my quick trip to Beijing and Shanghai this week. Hope you enjoy and have a great Labor Day weekend! Spotify Apple Sometimes VCs need a therapy session. Reporters and editors, too. And so, with this week’s...

Midjourney art by Clark Miller

Scene and Heard

Inside Silicon Valley’s New Boys Club: The Testosterone-Testing ‘T Party’

By Zara Stone · Sep 1, 2023 9:00am PDT · 28 comments

Early one Saturday morning in August, a dozen men—a mix of startup founders, software engineers, designers and one professional Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master—gathered inside a small San Francisco condo to get their blood drawn. Testosterone levels had been in steep decline globally, the men had learned, and they wanted... Early one Saturday morning in August, a dozen men—a mix of startup founders, software...

Photo by Getty

Pro Weekly: What Companies’ Cloud Spending Reveals

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 1, 2023 8:00am PDT

As companies have shifted more of their computing tasks to cloud providers, their payments to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and others have become a significant cost of doing business. New updates to The Information’s Cloud Database reveal how those payments rise and fall with those companies’ financial results.Take Robinhood, for... As companies have shifted more of their computing tasks to cloud providers, their payments to ...

Photo via Shutterstock.

For Software Firms, Price Increases Are Becoming a Bigger Growth Factor

By Martin Peers · Aug 31, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Photo via Shutterstock.

For Software Firms, Price Increases Are Becoming a Bigger Growth Factor

By Martin Peers · Aug 31, 2023 5:00pm PDT

After a flood of earnings today, from the likes of MongoDB, Broadcom and Nutanix, we’re pretty much done with tech’s latest quarterly earnings season. (Next earnings season is only six weeks away—whoopee!) As we look back at what we learned, here’s something that’s worth thinking about: Price increases for enterprise software firms are likely to... After a flood of earnings today, from the likes of MongoDB, Broadcom and Nutanix, we’re pretty...

Nvidia-Backed Cloud Provider Hires Morgan Stanley to Sell $500 Million of Employee Shares

By Anissa Gardizy · Aug 31, 2023 4:52pm PDT · 5 comments

CoreWeave, a fast-growing cloud computing startup that rents specialized servers for developing artificial intelligence, has hired Morgan Stanley to sell employee stock to investors at a valuation of at least $6 billion, three times higher than its valuation in an equity financing in May, according to someone with direct knowledge. The deal... CoreWeave, a fast-growing cloud computing startup that rents specialized servers for developing...

Bryan Reisberg (left) and Cliff Brush with their famous dogs. Photos courtesy of subjects

Creator Economy

Two Social Media Famous Dog Dads Join Forces

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 31, 2023 2:04pm PDT

More creators are joining forces to promote their work. The latest example: Bryan Reisberg and Cliff Brush, the owners of two social-media famous dogs, are collaborating on a deal to develop and promote a super-sized dog backpack. Reisberg two years ago launched Little Chonk, a line of dog backpacks, after he couldn’t find a suitable... More creators are joining forces to promote their work. The latest example: Bryan Reisberg and ...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Shopify Rolling Out TikTok Shop Integration, Adding New Twist to Rivalry

By Ann Gehan · Aug 31, 2023 1:45pm PDT · 3 comments

Shopify is making peace with the threat posed by TikTok Shop. This week, the Canadian e-commerce software firm quietly began rolling out a way for merchants using its software to integrate more closely with TikTok’s small but growing online shopping service, according to a person familiar with the matter. The arrangement is a concession of... Shopify is making peace with the threat posed by TikTok Shop. This week, the Canadian e-commerce...

Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

The Summer of Stake Sales

By Kate Clark · Aug 31, 2023 1:25pm PDT

Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

The Summer of Stake Sales

By Kate Clark · Aug 31, 2023 1:25pm PDT

Venture capitalists need to show their limited partners they can make money off their past investments if they have any hope of raising another fund in the future. That’s what’s driving a number of attempted startup stake sales this summer. In two of the latest instances, Tiger Global Management and Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital are... Venture capitalists need to show their limited partners they can make money off their past...

James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley. Photo via Getty.

The Secret Sauce Morgan Stanley’s CEO Is Leaving for His Successor

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Aug 31, 2023 8:00am PDT

Over the past five years, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman spent $14 billion buying the pieces of what is now the world’s second-biggest provider of corporate stock plans. It was a bold bet to get an inside track to people sitting on valuable company equity who one day will be rich. The bank's overall workplace business now oversees... Over the past five years, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman spent $14 billion buying the pieces of...

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. Photo by Getty.

Salesforce Shows Incumbents’ Power in AI Race

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 31, 2023 7:00am PDT

In a year that’s seen one out of every four dollars of venture funding go to an artificial intelligence startup, a historically un-sexy breed of investor has dominated the field: corporations.And not just the tech behemoths. It’s no secret that Microsoft, Google, Nvidia and Oracle have collectively invested billions of dollars into AI startups... In a year that’s seen one out of every four dollars of venture funding go to an artificial...

Photo by AP.

A Tangled Mess of Tech: JPMorgan’s Tall Task to Integrate First Republic

By Michael Roddan · Aug 31, 2023 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

In the hours after JPMorgan Chase bought troubled First Republic Bank for $10.6 billion in a government fire sale, its consumer banking chiefs Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak—both potential successors to CEO Jamie Dimon—flew to California. What they found when they arrived the morning of May 1 was startling: The business JPMorgan... In the hours after JPMorgan Chase bought troubled First Republic Bank for $10.6 billion in a...

When they crash, like the Tesla above, EVs take an average of 58 days to be repaired and cost $6,587 to fix. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: The Nightmare Cost of Repairing Your Wrecked EV

By Steve LeVine · Aug 31, 2023 4:30am PDT

When they crash, like the Tesla above, EVs take an average of 58 days to be repaired and cost $6,587 to fix. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: The Nightmare Cost of Repairing Your Wrecked EV

By Steve LeVine · Aug 31, 2023 4:30am PDT

When considering an electric vehicle, a motorist will typically focus on its looks, how fast it accelerates and how far the vehicle will go on a charge. What the motorist will almost certainly not contemplate: the average of 58 days they will have to wait for repairs should they wreck that brand-spanking-new car, and the average $6,587 it will... When considering an electric vehicle, a motorist will typically focus on its looks, how fast it...

Photo by Shutterstock.

Salesforce Delivers on Profits, but Growth Is Not What It Was

By Martin Peers · Aug 30, 2023 5:01pm PDT

It was a relaxed Marc Benioff who addressed Wall Street analysts on Wednesday afternoon, after Salesforce reported its July-quarter earnings. Not only did he tease a couple of his top executives on the call, but he waxed lyrical about his experience using Google’s Bard chatbot and talked up the potential of AI startups to revive San Francisco’s... It was a relaxed Marc Benioff who addressed Wall Street analysts on Wednesday afternoon, after...

Credit: Shutterstock

Creator Economy

Efforts to Protect Child Influencers Are Just Getting Started

By Alex Perry · Aug 30, 2023 3:50pm PDT

It looks like efforts to ensure young influencers get a share of earnings from their social media work could become more widespread. Earlier this month, the Illinois state legislature passed an amendment to a state law that mandates guardians of children under 16 who appear in monetized social media posts must set aside portions of the... It looks like efforts to ensure young influencers get a share of earnings from their social media...

The founders of AI21 Labs. Left to right: Yoav Shoham, Ori Goshen and Amnon Shashua. Photo via AI21 Labs.

OpenAI Challenger AI21 Labs Nears Funding at $1.2 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Aidan Ryan and Erin Woo · Aug 30, 2023 12:29pm PDT · 1 comment

AI21 Labs, an Israel-based rival to OpenAI, has neared a new round of funding that would value the six-year-old startup at $1.2 billion, before the new capital, according to two people familiar with the matter. It’s the latest sign of investor appetite for firms developing conversational artificial intelligence as the technology becomes a... AI21 Labs, an Israel-based rival to OpenAI, has neared a new round of funding that would value...

Antonio Gracias. Photo by Getty.

Valor Equity Returns Show Limits of Musk Halo

By Becky Peterson · Aug 30, 2023 11:59am PDT · 3 comments

Antonio Gracias. Photo by Getty.

Valor Equity Returns Show Limits of Musk Halo

By Becky Peterson · Aug 30, 2023 11:59am PDT · 3 comments

Valor Equity Partners made a name for itself thanks to early bets on Elon Musk companies such as Tesla, and its repeat investments in Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies have paid off handsomely. Yet despite the Musk glow, Valor’s recent and biggest funds are only performing slightly better than those of its venture capital peers,... Valor Equity Partners made a name for itself thanks to early bets on Elon Musk companies such as...