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

Rivian's R1T electric pickup. Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg/Getty

Exclusive from The Electric: Rivian Becomes the Latest to Lay Off Battery Workers

By Steve LeVine · Dec 7, 2023 9:22pm PST · 1 comment

Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian this week laid off about 20 members of its long-range battery cell development team including Victor Prajapati, the company’s lead cell engineer and a former senior manager at Tesla, according to people familiar with the matter. It is the latest in a surge of battery and electric vehicle industry cutbacks as... Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian this week laid off about 20 members of its long-range...

Elon Musk. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Musk Escalates Attack on Disney

By Martin Peers · Dec 7, 2023 5:00pm PST · 20 comments

If Bob Iger decides to update his 2019 memoir, “Ride of a Lifetime,” with a chapter on his return to Disney a year ago, he’ll have plenty of juicy material. The executive once widely admired for his success in running the entertainment giant is now being assailed on all sides. Today, we had Elon Musk, still irritated that Disney joined other... If Bob Iger decides to update his 2019 memoir, “Ride of a Lifetime,” with a chapter on his return...

Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images.

Creator Economy

TikTok ‘Swipe Out Hate’ Campaign Follows a Now Familiar Playbook

By Kaya Yurieff · Dec 7, 2023 4:03pm PST

This afternoon, we published a story about TikTok’s latest moves to address mounting criticism that antisemitism and other hate speech has proliferated in videos about the Hamas-Israel war, including an upcoming “Swipe Out Hate” campaign in its app and a new “anti-hate and discrimination” task force to tackle antisemitism and Islamophobia. ... This afternoon, we published a story about TikTok’s latest moves to address mounting criticism...

Marcie Frost, CEO of Calpers. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Calpers’ $4.5 Billion Venture Bet

By Kate Clark · Dec 7, 2023 2:52pm PST · 2 comments

Marcie Frost, CEO of Calpers. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Calpers’ $4.5 Billion Venture Bet

By Kate Clark · Dec 7, 2023 2:52pm PST · 2 comments

Here’s a number that might surprise you: In the first six months of the year, California Public Employees’ Retirement System committed about $4.5 billion to venture capital funds, according to public filings. That’s almost 15% of the total capital raised by U.S. VC firms in the same period, and a staggering increase over Calpers’ 2022... Here’s a number that might surprise you: In the first six months of the year, California Public...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew

TikTok Plans Anti-Hate Speech Campaign After Complaints Over Israel-Hamas Videos

By Kaya Yurieff · Dec 7, 2023 12:41pm PST · 1 comment

TikTok is preparing a slew of initiatives to defuse growing complaints that antisemitism and other hate speech has proliferated in videos about the Hamas-Israel war. The ByteDance-owned app is planning a social media campaign this month called “Swipe Out Hate” that will involve creators to spread its message, according to a person... TikTok is preparing a slew of initiatives to defuse growing complaints that antisemitism and...

Google's London office. Photo by Anadolu Agency via Getty.

Why Gemini Probably Isn’t as Good as Google Says It Is; A New Open-Source Security Threat: AIJacking

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 7, 2023 7:15am PST

After months of build-up, developers were excited to finally see the long-awaited release of Google’s Gemini models yesterday. But their enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that the only model available right now is Gemini Nano, which you can guess means it’s small—so small it can run on Google’s Pixel phones. Developers have to wait until next... After months of build-up, developers were excited to finally see the long-awaited release of...

Dave Brown, vice president of compute and networking for Amazon Web Services. Photo courtesy of AWS

Q&A

Why Amazon and Nvidia Are Teaming Up in the Cloud

By Anissa Gardizy · Dec 7, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Amazon Web Services last week said it would allow Nvidia to operate a cloud service using AWS data centers, making AWS the last major cloud provider to do so. With the new service, known as DGX Cloud service, Nvidia will rent servers that contain its graphics processing units from AWS, then sell access to the servers to its own customers,... Amazon Web Services last week said it would allow Nvidia to operate a cloud service using AWS...

Protesters at a Green Charter Township, MI, board meeting. Photo: Screenshot via YouTube.

The Electric: A Small Michigan Town Threatens Gotion’s U.S. Battery Plans

By Steve LeVine · Dec 7, 2023 4:30am PST

Protesters at a Green Charter Township, MI, board meeting. Photo: Screenshot via YouTube.

The Electric: A Small Michigan Town Threatens Gotion’s U.S. Battery Plans

By Steve LeVine · Dec 7, 2023 4:30am PST

For a year or two, Chinese auto and battery companies have circled North America in search of an opening to sell their products in the U.S.—the world’s second-largest car market, but one hostile to goods made in China, the U.S.’s chief geopolitical rival. None of the Chinese companies, however, has been as bold as battery developer Gotion,... For a year or two, Chinese auto and battery companies have circled North America in search of an...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What Google’s Gemini Says About the State of Alphabet

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2023 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Today tells you a lot about the current state of Google and its parent company Alphabet. The tech giant, once the leader in artificial intelligence, unveiled its answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT with a product—Gemini Pro—that is comparable to what OpenAI released a year ago. It’s easy to miss this nuance amid the deluge of positive press, but Google’s... Today tells you a lot about the current state of Google and its parent company Alphabet. The tech...

Players at a New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks game in New Orleans. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images.

Creator Economy

Warner’s ‘House of Highlights’ Is Cutting New Deals with Creators

By Sahil Patel · Dec 6, 2023 2:32pm PST

You probably first came across House of Highlights years ago on Instagram after the channel posted a clip of LeBron James blocking a shot or Steph Curry hitting a three-point shot from deep. You may have also noticed these NBA stars liking and commenting on those posts. House of Highlights, or HOH for short, has become as much of a household... You probably first came across House of Highlights years ago on Instagram after the channel...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Top 100 Articles from The Information’s First 10 Years

By The Information Staff · Dec 6, 2023 1:36pm PST · 4 comments

Ten years ago, on December 4, 2013, The Information hit the ground sprinting—and it hasn’t slowed down since. Day 1 saw the publication of a pair of instantly buzzy stories. The first, by founder and CEO Jessica Lessin, was titled “How Apple Gives Some Apps an Edge.” The second, co-bylined by Jessica and... Ten years ago, on December 4, 2013, The Information hit the ground sprinting—and it...

Art by Clark Miller

Media Executives Covet Games, but Are Ill-Suited to Run Them

By Andrew A. Rosen · Dec 6, 2023 9:00am PST · 6 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Media Executives Covet Games, but Are Ill-Suited to Run Them

By Andrew A. Rosen · Dec 6, 2023 9:00am PST · 6 comments

Warner Bros. Discovery executives talked up their gaming business as a growth opportunity in a recent call with investors. That makes sense. In 2023, gaming and Hollywood increasingly overlapped in the zeitgeist: The second-highest-grossing movie of the year is “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” based on a videogame. “Friday Night... Warner Bros. Discovery executives talked up their gaming business as a growth opportunity in a...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

A First Look at Google’s Gemini AI

By Jon Victor · Dec 6, 2023 7:00am PST

After months of anticipation, Google executives are sharing details about Gemini, its high-stakes effort to catch up to OpenAI. There’s a lot to talk about but the bottom line is that Google’s competitor to OpenAI’s GPT-4 isn’t ready yet.Google today is letting developers sign up to access a miniature version of the model, named Gemini Nano, to... After months of anticipation, Google executives are sharing details about Gemini, its high-stakes...

Art by Clark Miller.

8 Charts That Explain 2023

By The Information Staff · Dec 6, 2023 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Say this for 2023—it was better for tech than 2022 was. Shares of the biggest tech companies recovered, while Nvidia’s soared, boosting the chipmaker’s market capitalization past $1 trillion. There were even a handful of initial public offerings. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence—most notably OpenAI’s... Say this for 2023—it was better for tech than 2022 was. Shares of the biggest tech...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images.

Airbnb Wants to Feel Young Again

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 5, 2023 5:00pm PST

Booking Holdings and Airbnb have long resembled a father-son duo of the online travel industry. Airbnb has traditionally been the cool kid of the two, a fast-growing San Francisco media darling that customers flocked to. Its product became a verb. Booking—which came from an older internet generation, marked by a utilitarian, Dutch-influenced... Booking Holdings and Airbnb have long resembled a father-son duo of the online travel industry....

How Startups' AI Dubbing Features Compare

How Startups' AI Dubbing Features Compare

By Kalley Huang · Dec 5, 2023 4:47pm PST

How Startups' AI Dubbing Features Compare

Creator Economy

How Startups' AI Dubbing Features Compare

By Kalley Huang · Dec 5, 2023 4:47pm PST

The creator economy is global, but many creators make content in only one language. To reach more fans, some creators are replacing the audio with a translated version, known as dubbing. But dubbing can cost as much as $75 per minute, according to Bunny Studio, which provides creative services including voiceovers. Generative artificial... The creator economy is global, but many creators make content in only one language. To reach more...

Photo by MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

VC Firm OpenView Abruptly Winds Down After Key Partners Leave, Returns Sour

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kate Clark and Amir Efrati · Dec 5, 2023 2:10pm PST · 8 comments

OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that has backed enterprise software firms such as Calendly and Expensify, laid off most of its staff and will no longer make new investments, leaders told staff Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The sudden fall of the firm, which employed at least 74... OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that has backed enterprise...

Luciana Lixandru. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images.

Sequoia Partner Luciana Lixandru Joins Stripe Board as Michael Moritz Exits

By Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Dec 5, 2023 1:04pm PST · 1 comment

Sequoia’s investing empire is shoring up control at one of its startup crown jewels during a critical time for the Silicon Valley firm. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently added Luciana Lixandru, a partner based in London, to the board of $50 billion payments company Stripe, one of the most valuable holdings in Sequoia’s... Sequoia’s investing empire is shoring up control at one of its startup crown jewels during...

PayPal's office in San Jose, Calif. Photo by NurPhoto via Getty.

New PayPal CEO Fast-Tracks Upgrades to Beat Back Competition

By Mark Matousek · Dec 5, 2023 10:57am PST

New PayPal CEO Alex Chriss is fast-tracking an effort to bolster the company’s defenses against Stripe and Apple Pay, highlighting how the payments giant has fallen behind newer, slicker competitors. Teams across the payments giant have been racing to add a slew of new features to make its digital wallet and online checkout more attractive... New PayPal CEO Alex Chriss is fast-tracking an effort to bolster the company’s defenses...

Chart by Shane Burke.

All I Want For Christmas is GPUs

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 5, 2023 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Chart by Shane Burke.

All I Want For Christmas is GPUs

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 5, 2023 7:01am PST · 2 comments

If anyone knows anything about me, it’s that I’m terrible at giving gifts. But, if I were BFFs with any of the model developers, I’d know what would be at the top of their Christmas lists: AI chips.These pieces of specialized hardware—known as “graphics processing units'' in industry parlance—have been the hottest commodity of 2023, so much so... If anyone knows anything about me, it’s that I’m terrible at giving gifts. But, if I were BFFs...