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

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

The TikTok Shop Live Dashboard, for BK Beauty Photo by Paul Jauregui.

Creator Economy

‘A Monster Explosion:’ TikTok Discounts and Livestreams Juice Holiday Sales

By Ann Gehan · Nov 30, 2023 2:29pm PST

This holiday shopping season is acting as a coming out party for TikTok Shop, the video app’s new shopping feature, which has been wooing shoppers with big discounts. To get a sense of how the first Black Friday weekend for brands using TikTok Shop went, I caught up with Paul Jauregui, the cofounder of BK Beauty. The Austin-based seller of... This holiday shopping season is acting as a coming out party for TikTok Shop, the video app’s new...

Sam Altman. Photo via Getty.

The End of the AI Frenzy; VC Divorces

By Kate Clark · Nov 30, 2023 2:05pm PST · 3 comments

Many would argue that today marks the one-year anniversary of the investor frenzy for generative artificial intelligence startups. It was exactly this time last year that OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, one of the most transformative new tech products in recent history. Investors had already gotten a taste for AI deals before then, thanks to... Many would argue that today marks the one-year anniversary of the investor frenzy for generative...

To Continue Innovating, OpenAI Should Return to Its Nonprofit Roots

By Keval Desai · Nov 30, 2023 9:20am PST · 9 comments

There’s much speculation about the reasons for the abrupt removal and subsequent return of Sam Altman as the CEO of OpenAI. Irrespective of who leads the company going forward, OpenAI faces a fundamental challenge in reconciling its mission with its choice of corporate structure and business model. To solve it, we can learn from the... There’s much speculation about the reasons for the abrupt removal and subsequent return of...

Ahmed Rashad, founder and CEO of Sapien. Photo courtesy of Sapien.

An Ex-Executive of Scale AI is Taking On His Former Employer; A Stability-Amazon Showdown

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 30, 2023 7:46am PST · 2 comments

Ahmed Rashad, founder and CEO of Sapien. Photo courtesy of Sapien.

An Ex-Executive of Scale AI is Taking On His Former Employer; A Stability-Amazon Showdown

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 30, 2023 7:46am PST · 2 comments

In the lucrative world of artificial intelligence, data are king. Model developers like OpenAI have inked multi-million dollar deals with companies such as The Associated Press to get access to hard-to-find data with which to train their AI models. And startups like Amsterdam-based Adaptive have landed eight-figure sums of capital just with the... In the lucrative world of artificial intelligence, data are king. Model developers like OpenAI...

Alibaba Cloud's mascot. Photo by Long Wei/Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty.

Why Alibaba’s Cloud Ambitions Fell to Earth

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Nov 30, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Several months ago, executives at Alibaba tried to persuade some big investors to take a stake in its cloud unit—which Alibaba was then planning to spin off as a separate company—at a $40 billion valuation. Alibaba’s idea was that the outside investments could signal to the stock market the appeal of the cloud unit ahead of its... Several months ago, executives at Alibaba tried to persuade some big investors to take a stake in...

SK On's battery gigafactory in Commerce, GA. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: A Layoff Surge in EV Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Nov 30, 2023 4:30am PST

Traditional and next-generation electric vehicle battery companies have laid off hundreds of employees in the U.S. and Europe in the last couple of weeks, a symptom of a new industry malaise triggered by lower-than-expected EV sales growth. The layoffs are part of a broad move by the battery makers to conserve cash as costs have soared and... Traditional and next-generation electric vehicle battery companies have laid off hundreds of...

Photo via Getty.

Microsoft to Become Non-Voting Observer in Latest Shake-up of OpenAI Board

By Jon Victor and Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 29, 2023 5:30pm PST · 3 comments

Microsoft is to become a non-voting observer on the non-profit board that governs OpenAI, newly reinstated CEO Sam Altman told employees on Wednesday, while confirming he had officially rejoined the firm. Microsoft’s new status will give it some insight into the board’s deliberations, but it won’t have a vote, thereby limiting... Microsoft is to become a non-voting observer on the non-profit board that governs OpenAI, newly...

Photo via Rover

Blackstone Finds a Diamond in the Ruff With Rover

By Martin Peers · Nov 29, 2023 5:00pm PST

Photo via Rover

Blackstone Finds a Diamond in the Ruff With Rover

By Martin Peers · Nov 29, 2023 5:00pm PST

Woof! There is deal-making going on out there that doesn’t have to do with artificial intelligence (unless of course you mean animal intelligence). Blackstone’s $2.3 billion purchase of pet-sitting marketplace Rover Group, unveiled Wednesday, demonstrates that Rover is that rarest of gems, a company that went public via a SPAC merger and turned... Woof! There is deal-making going on out there that doesn’t have to do with artificial...

In March, an AI-generated image of the Pope in a Balenciaga puffer jacket went viral when it fooled social media users into thinking it was a real photo. Image via Midjourney.

Creator Economy

More AI, More Problems

By Kalley Huang · Nov 29, 2023 4:15pm PST

Creators have started using generative artificial intelligence to make their jobs easier, and more startups are looking to provide those tools. At least 19 creator startups center on AI, according to our Creator Economy Database.Still, creators are worried they won’t get credit for their work. Already, some like comedian Sarah Silverman have... Creators have started using generative artificial intelligence to make their jobs easier, and...

Roelof Botha (left) and Neil Shen (right). Photos via Getty.

Sequoia Capital Separates From China Affiliate Ahead of Schedule

By Jing Yang and Kate Clark · Nov 29, 2023 12:20pm PST

Sequoia Capital has finalized a key aspect of its landmark breakup with its Chinese and Indian affiliates one month ahead of schedule. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm has completed the process of separating IT systems and other back-end functions such as finance and accounting from the Chinese and Indian entities, formerly known as... Sequoia Capital has finalized a key aspect of its landmark breakup with its Chinese and Indian...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Members of Congress Plan to Grill OCC Over Fintech Regulator Who Faked His Resume

By Michael Roddan · Nov 29, 2023 12:11pm PST · 1 comment

A congressional committee is preparing to question officials from the federal banking regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, over the appointment of its first chief financial technology officer, who The Information reported fabricated his work history to get the $300,000-a-year job. The House Financial Services... A congressional committee is preparing to question officials from the federal banking regulator,...

CoinDesk CEO Kevin Worth. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

CoinDesk Revenue Slowed Before Sale to Bullish

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 29, 2023 10:34am PST

CoinDesk CEO Kevin Worth. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

CoinDesk Revenue Slowed Before Sale to Bullish

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 29, 2023 10:34am PST

Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group announced last week that it sold its crypto news subsidiary CoinDesk to the crypto exchange Bullish. Silbert said in a tweet that the sale made CoinDesk, which DCG bought for $500,000 in 2016, “one of our best investments of all time,” but the sale price was not disclosed and could not be learned.What is... Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group announced last week that it sold its crypto news...

Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue departs the closed-door "AI Insight Forum" on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty.

Hugging Face CEO on What Comes After Transformers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 29, 2023 8:10am PST

Clem Delangue‘s got some hot takes on AI, and he’s not afraid to share them.Yesterday, the cofounder and CEO of Hugging Face, a popular large-language model repository, joined the company’s chief ethics scientist Margaret Mitchell and head of global policy Irene Solaiman to share their thoughts during a press briefing on the past year of AI and... Clem Delangue‘s got some hot takes on AI, and he’s not afraid to share them.Yesterday, the...

Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik.

Ahead of IPO, Rubrik’s Revenue Growth Slows as It Targets Long-Term Customers

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2023 7:17am PST · 1 comment

Microsoft-backed cloud startup Rubrik, which has been preparing for an initial public offering, may have the same problem that complicated the recent IPOs of Instacart and Arm: unusually slow revenue growth. Rubrik’s revenue grew about 8% year over year during the six months that ended in July, to nearly $290 million, a person familiar... Microsoft-backed cloud startup Rubrik, which has been preparing for an initial public offering,...

Tim Cook and Masayoshi Son. Photos via Getty

How a Lopsided Apple Deal Got Under Arm’s Skin

By Wayne Ma and Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In 2017, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son gathered a group of executives from Arm Holdings, the British chip designer SoftBank had just bought, to complain about one of its most important customers: Apple. In a conference room in Tokyo, Son told the group that Apple paid more for the piece of plastic that protects the screens of new iPhones than it... In 2017, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son gathered a group of executives from Arm Holdings, the British...

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Troubled Youth

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 28, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Troubled Youth

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 28, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s board appointment of two rhetorical graybeards—tech veteran Bret Taylor and, for some reason, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers—mercifully helped avert its pre-Thanksgiving leadership crisis. It has more board vacancies to fill (but not with investors), governance rules to set and a CEO to investigate.I’d pose another... OpenAI’s board appointment of two rhetorical graybeards—tech veteran Bret Taylor and, for some...

Celebrity chef Andre Rush (left) and Aura CEO Hari Ravichandran. Photo: Aura

Creator Economy

Why a Cybersecurity Startup Is Boosting Its Influencer Marketing Budget

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 28, 2023 2:52pm PST

Even cybersecurity startups are starting to use influencers to market their products.Aura, a five-year-old cybersecurity startup last valued at $2.5 billion, started working with influencers about two years ago as a way to raise awareness about its AI-powered product that protects families against online fraud, such as identity theft. In 2024,... Even cybersecurity startups are starting to use influencers to market their products.Aura, a...

A NASA crew lands in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a SpaceX spacecraft in Oct. 2022. Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images

SpaceX Acquires Parachute Maker Pioneer Aerospace for $2.2 Million

By Becky Peterson · Nov 28, 2023 2:32pm PST

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is parachuting in to rescue one of its vendors from bankruptcy. The rocket company is acquiring Pioneer Aerospace—which makes parachutes for space vehicles as they return to Earth—for $2.2 million, according to a Florida bankruptcy filing by the parent company of Pioneer. The acquisition, which was approved... Elon Musk’s SpaceX is parachuting in to rescue one of its vendors from bankruptcy. The...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

OpenAI Isn’t Expected to Offer Microsoft, Other Investors a Board Seat

By Amir Efrati, Jessica E. Lessin and Aaron Holmes · Nov 28, 2023 1:52pm PST · 19 comments

OpenAI’s revamped board of directors doesn’t plan to include representatives from outside investors, according to a person familiar with the situation. It’s a sign that the board will prioritize safety practices ahead of investor returns. The new board hasn’t been officially seated and things could change. But the person... OpenAI’s revamped board of directors doesn’t plan to include representatives from...

Photo via Getty

Be Like Microsoft: How OpenAI Customers Bend the Rules to Save Money

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 28, 2023 7:15am PST

Photo via Getty

Be Like Microsoft: How OpenAI Customers Bend the Rules to Save Money

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 28, 2023 7:15am PST

This might not be at the top of Sam Altman’s priority list now that he’s back at OpenAI, but the CEO may soon have to deal with a looming threat to the business. Customers, such as fintech startup Ramp, are using OpenAI models like GPT-4 to customize cheaper-to-run open-source alternatives. Technically, that behavior goes against OpenAI’s... This might not be at the top of Sam Altman’s priority list now that he’s back at OpenAI, but the...