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

The Enovix office in Fremont, Calif. Photo via Shutterstock.

Battery Developer Enovix Lays Off Roughly One-Third of Staff

By Steve LeVine · May 6, 2024 12:24pm PDT

A week after reporting a battery development agreement with an unnamed maker of smartphones, silicon battery maker Enovix on Monday laid off approximately 170 workers at its Fremont, Calif., factory. The layoff appeared to be part of a company attempt, announced last week, to reduce annual operating costs by $35 million before the end of the... A week after reporting a battery development agreement with an unnamed maker of smartphones,...

Photo by Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Meet MAI-1: Microsoft Readies New AI Model to Compete With Google, OpenAI

By Aaron Holmes · May 6, 2024 7:20am PDT

For the first time since it invested more than $10 billion into OpenAI in exchange for the rights to reuse the startup’s AI models, Microsoft is training a new, in-house AI model large enough to compete with state-of-the-art models from Google, Anthropic and OpenAI itself.The new model, internally referred to as MAI-1, is being overseen by ... For the first time since it invested more than $10 billion into OpenAI in exchange for the rights...

From left: Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva; Parker Conrad, CEO of Rippling; Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks; Dylan Field, CEO of Figma. Photos by Getty

How Investment Banks Are Helping Canva, Stripe, Figma Stay Private

By Cory Weinberg · May 6, 2024 6:00am PDT

When Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon gathered two dozen tech executives, bankers and investors to a wine and steak dinner in Las Vegas last November, seated next to him was Cliff Obrecht, co-founder of Canva, a $26 billion privately held design software company. Canva is exactly the kind of company Goldman would look to take public one... When Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon gathered two dozen tech executives, bankers and investors to...

CATL shows off its 375-mile Shenxing Plus battery at the Beijing Auto Show. Photo by Zhou Chengfeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: Should Iron-Based Batteries Be a National Security Priority?

By Steve LeVine · May 6, 2024 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

CATL shows off its 375-mile Shenxing Plus battery at the Beijing Auto Show. Photo by Zhou Chengfeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: Should Iron-Based Batteries Be a National Security Priority?

By Steve LeVine · May 6, 2024 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Last week, the Biden administration released its final rules attempting to cut China out of the U.S. battery supply chain and encourage American companies to build battery and electric vehicle manufacturing capacity in the U.S. It left one conspicuous opening for Chinese companies: For two years, they could continue to supply graphite to U.S.... Last week, the Biden administration released its final rules attempting to cut China out of the...

Art by Clark Miller

Weekend: FTX and the Shipwreck Treasure

By Abram Brown · May 4, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A race against Apple that didn’t go as expectedSilicon Valley’s favorite new supplementsPlus: The terrors of an AI afterlife; a CEO who loves to war; and the hit that Netflix missed.A very rare watch sold for $1.5 million at auction a few days ago, a 14-karat gold heirloom belonging to John Jacob Astor IV,... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A race against Apple that didn’t go as expectedSilicon...

Art by Clark Miller

Silicon Valley’s Favorite New Supplements

By Ashwin Rodrigues · May 4, 2024 5:00am PDT · 7 comments

Everyone in Silicon Valley is on something these days. In all, the global supplement industry is expected to surpass $192 billion in 2024, driven by web ads, podcast hosts and word-of-mouth recommendations. There are the time-tested basics, like creatine and protein powders, as well as a medicine cabinet’s worth of more unusual and much... Everyone in Silicon Valley is on something these days. In all, the global supplement industry is...

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images.

The Big Threat Hanging Over Google

By Martin Peers · May 3, 2024 3:27pm PDT

If you’re lying awake at 3 a.m. one night, try reading the Justice Department’s 509-page “proposed finding of fact” in its antitrust lawsuit against Google’s search business, a revised version of which was filed with the court on Tuesday. You likely won’t make it past the extensive table of contents before you fall asleep. Even so, getting... If you’re lying awake at 3 a.m. one night, try reading the Justice Department’s 509-page “...

Chris Clark and Diane Yoon. Photos via YouTube and Talent Summit.

Two Senior OpenAI Executives Leave Company

By Jon Victor · May 3, 2024 2:33pm PDT · 1 comment

Chris Clark and Diane Yoon. Photos via YouTube and Talent Summit.

Two Senior OpenAI Executives Leave Company

By Jon Victor · May 3, 2024 2:33pm PDT · 1 comment

Two senior OpenAI executives—vice president of people Diane Yoon and Chris Clark, head of nonprofit and strategic initiatives—left the company earlier this week, a company spokesperson said. The two resignations are the latest high-profile changes to OpenAI’s leadership in the aftermath of Sam Altman’s dramatic ouster and... Two senior OpenAI executives—vice president of people Diane Yoon and Chris Clark, head of...

How Tech Cos. Quit the Culture Wars

By Jessica Lessin · May 3, 2024 1:03pm PDT

Amid the wave of campus protests and encampments, I've been surprised there hasn't been more conversation about activism at tech companies. This week, we dove into why things have been quiet on the corporate front and why everyone is talking about hardware, "boring phones" and games. Enjoy! Apple Spotify Amid the wave of campus protests and encampments, I've been surprised there hasn't been...

Art by Clark Miller

How Whoop Survived a Race Against the Apple Watch—And Made Its Wearables a Hit Among Athletes

By Akash Pasricha · May 3, 2024 9:00am PDT · 4 comments

Up on the roof above corporate headquarters, Will Ahmed eyed the weather as April wind and rain swirled. “We’re going to make this a surgical strike,” he said, and off we trotted toward two giant baths filled with 42-degree water. We slid in, dunking our heads beneath the surface—and were greeted by the kind of cold that... Up on the roof above corporate headquarters, Will Ahmed eyed the weather as April wind and rain...

Drew Baglino, Tesla's former head of powertrain. Photo via YouTube.

Pro Weekly: Future Entries in the Tesla Diaspora Database

By Scott Thurm · May 3, 2024 8:00am PDT

Monday we published our Tesla Diaspora Database, highlighting 90 former Tesla managers and executives now in key roles at other makers of electric vehicles and batteries. In the following days, we added a 91st manager, Peter Villa, who had eluded our research. From 2014 to 2020 Villa worked at Tesla, where he helped scale up its Fremont, Calif.,... Monday we published our Tesla Diaspora Database, highlighting 90 former Tesla managers and...

Art by Clark Miller

How Apple Boosts Chinese Suppliers With Know-How From Foreign Companies

By Wayne Ma · May 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

How Apple Boosts Chinese Suppliers With Know-How From Foreign Companies

By Wayne Ma · May 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

In March at an event in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook mingled with the founders of several major Apple suppliers in the country, including Lens Technology, which makes the protective glass screens for iPhones. “It’s the partnership between Apple and Chinese companies that really makes things happen,” Cook told Chinese state media... In March at an event in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook mingled with the founders of several major...

An Apple Store in Shanghai. Photo by Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images.

Apple’s Downbeat Quarter

By Martin Peers · May 2, 2024 5:00pm PDT

After a streak of healthy big tech earnings over the past week, we got a decidedly more downbeat report from Apple tonight. The iPhone maker reported a 4% drop in sales and slightly lower profits. Revenues from its engine, the iPhone, fell 10% on a year earlier, and the company’s June-quarter outlook implied continued weak iPhone sales. All that... After a streak of healthy big tech earnings over the past week, we got a decidedly more downbeat...

Snapchat's immersive "More Snapchat" experience at IAB NewFronts in New York City. Photo via Snapchat.

Creator Economy

Snap Pitches Advertisers on its Olympics Plans

By Sahil Patel · May 2, 2024 3:20pm PDT

It’s NewFronts week in New York, when tech companies and digital media firms pitch advertisers by teasing cool initiatives they have planned. Snap, which held a flashy event at Cipriani 25 Broadway in the Financial District Wednesday, unveiled a big investment in sports and creators. At the upcoming Summer Olympics in June, the parent of... It’s NewFronts week in New York, when tech companies and digital media firms pitch advertisers by...

The Dubai skyline. Photo via Adobe Stock.

The Startup Scene in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is Bustling

By Kate Clark · May 2, 2024 3:00pm PDT · 2 comments

I just landed back in New York after spending the past week in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two important cities in a region undergoing a remarkable transformation into a global tech hub.Government initiatives are propelling those changes, and those efforts seem to be paying off. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has become an... I just landed back in New York after spending the past week in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two important...

Chart by Mike Sullivan.

How Will AI Investment Affect Big Tech Profits? It May Be Hard to Find Out

By Anita Ramaswamy · May 2, 2024 7:32am PDT

Chart by Mike Sullivan.

How Will AI Investment Affect Big Tech Profits? It May Be Hard to Find Out

By Anita Ramaswamy · May 2, 2024 7:32am PDT

The four big tech firms that reported earnings results in the past 10 days—Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Amazon—posted substantially richer operating profit margins than they have in several years. Investors shouldn’t get used to it. That boost to profits, a result of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures last year,... The four big tech firms that reported earnings results in the past 10 days—Microsoft,...

Photo via Adobe Stock.

How Developers Gave Llama 3 More Memory

By Kalley Huang · May 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

Developers have been praising Meta Platforms’ Llama 3, the latest version of its flagship large language model. But, as my colleague Stephanie and I explained, they have one big criticism: Llama 3’s context window is too short, at just over 8,000 tokens. (As a refresher, a context window is how much information a model can accept in a single... Developers have been praising Meta Platforms’ Llama 3, the latest version of its flagship large...

BlackRock headquarters in New York City. Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

How BlackRock Is Winning in Crypto

By Yueqi Yang · May 2, 2024 5:59am PDT

A dramatic recovery in bitcoin prices over the past year and a half has powered a comeback for crypto firms like Coinbase. But it’s also benefited one of the most influential companies in traditional finance: BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager. BlackRock launched a long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded fund in January,... A dramatic recovery in bitcoin prices over the past year and a half has powered a comeback for...

Tesla watchers expect the company to release a gussied-up Model 3 as a "low-cost" EV over the next year. Photo: Graham Hughes/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Musk Has Promised New Low-Cost EVs, but Tesla Has None

By Steve LeVine · May 2, 2024 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

On April 23, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors that the company would deliver “new vehicles, including more-affordable models” as soon as the end of the year. But people familiar with the matter said that Tesla has only one future model sufficiently developed to meet that time frame—the $25,000 compact SUV dubbed the Model 2 that Musk shelved... On April 23, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors that the company would deliver “new vehicles,...

Palmer Luckey, Parker Conrad and Jony Ive. Photos via Getty Images.

The Era of Spite Startups

By Cory Weinberg · May 1, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Palmer Luckey, Parker Conrad and Jony Ive. Photos via Getty Images.

The Era of Spite Startups

By Cory Weinberg · May 1, 2024 5:00pm PDT

The same old adjectives come up again and again in conversations with investors about top tech founders: gritty, visionary, creative. I’m hearing a new one lately that speaks to this moment in tech: vengeful. A number of the founders attracting the most investor enthusiasm right now have something in common: They’ve all made messy exits from... The same old adjectives come up again and again in conversations with investors about top tech...