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

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Company Plans YouTuber Trip to Ukraine as Social Media Awareness Drops

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 16, 2023 3:52pm PDT

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the war took over social media as people outside the country posted videos and photos pledging support for the residents. Ordinary people as well as professional creators also published updates from Ukraine, including a livestream of the invasion on Twitch. But 18 months later, it’s no longer a... When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the war took over social media as people outside...

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi. Photo by Bloomberg/Getty.

Databricks, After $380 Million Loss, in Talks to Raise More Cash

By Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati · Aug 16, 2023 12:59pm PDT · 8 comments

Enterprise software firm Databricks is in early discussions with investors for a new cash infusion, likely totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, as it looks to capitalize on the fervor over artificial intelligence, two people familiar with the matter said. The investment talks come as Databricks has moved closer to break-even, after losing a... Enterprise software firm Databricks is in early discussions with investors for a new cash...

Crypto Startup Investors Go Bargain Hunting

Crypto Startup Investors Go Bargain Hunting

By Aidan Ryan · Aug 16, 2023 9:00am PDT

Unless you’re running an AI startup, it’s tough to raise money these days. That’s especially true for crypto companies, where global venture funding fell by 78% in the first half compared to the same period last year, according to data from PitchBook.Crypto focused venture capitalists still have plenty of money to put to work though, and several... Unless you’re running an AI startup, it’s tough to raise money these days. That’s especially true...

Chart by Shane Burke.

How Eight AI Coding Assistants Stack Up

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 16, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Chart by Shane Burke.

How Eight AI Coding Assistants Stack Up

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 16, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Hello!One of the earliest companies to commercialize generative AI was GitHub, the Microsoft-owned code repository, which released its AI coding assistant Copilot under preview in June 2021. Powered by OpenAI’s technology, the assistant quickly captured the hearts of developers by giving them a tool that suggests code fragments while they type,... Hello!One of the earliest companies to commercialize generative AI was GitHub, the Microsoft...

The Key People Driving Meta’s Generative AI Work

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Aug 16, 2023 6:00am PDT

As Meta Platforms has tried to cut costs and trim headcount over the past year, one area has emerged as an exception: generative artificial intelligence. Caught flat-footed by the explosion of interest in OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta scrambled to put together a team in February focused on the buzzy technology in the hopes of deploying it in... As Meta Platforms has tried to cut costs and trim headcount over the past year, one area has...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Don’t Fall for the Musk Distraction Machine

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 15, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 14 comments

For years, politicians and the public have attacked the leaders of companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google, arguing they had their “thumbs on the scales” of political discourse. Critics worried these companies had too much power over how content was amplified on their sites, were picking winners and losers in elections, and on and on.And so... For years, politicians and the public have attacked the leaders of companies like Facebook,...

How X’s Subscription Offers Compare

Creator Economy

How X’s Subscription Offers Compare

By Alex Perry · Aug 15, 2023 4:01pm PDT · 2 comments

In early August, Elon Musk said X would only take a cut of its creators’ subscription revenue on the platform if their payouts topped $100,000 in lifetime earnings, a more generous offer than Musk’s prior deal, which delayed taking its 10% cut for the first 12 months of a creator’s subscription revenue. The move looked designed to attract more... In early August, Elon Musk said X would only take a cut of its creators’ subscription revenue on...

Recap: Combating Misinformation, Deepfakes and the Proliferation of Generative AI

By The Information Partnerships · Aug 15, 2023 10:00am PDT

Partner Content

Recap: Combating Misinformation, Deepfakes and the Proliferation of Generative AI

By The Information Partnerships · Aug 15, 2023 10:00am PDT

With AI technology progressing, it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell what content is real and what’s not. While many deepfakes are for entertainment purposes, more and more of them are being used to defraud people or influence elections. In partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs, The Information’s Margaux... With AI technology progressing, it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell...

Photo via Midjourney.

Google Gemini’s Strength May Be Its Greatest Weakness; Don’t Hop on the AI Hiring Train

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 15, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Historically (and much to the dismay of people born in May and June), the word “Gemini” has been associated with being “two-faced” or having dual personalities. So it’s somewhat fitting, then, that Google’s upcoming collection of large machine-learning models using that name was born out of the forced marriage of two AI teams, Google... Historically (and much to the dismay of people born in May and June), the word “Gemini” has been...

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in May. Photo via Getty

How Google is Planning to Beat OpenAI

By Jon Victor · Aug 15, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In April, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took an unusual step: merging two large artificial intelligence teams—with distinct cultures and code—to catch up to and surpass OpenAI and other rivals. Now the test of that effort is coming, with hundreds of people scrambling to release a group of large machine-learning models—one of the... In April, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took an unusual step: merging two large artificial...

From left: Kai-Fu Lee, Li Ruigang, Richard Zhijian Peng. Photos: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Venture Capital Firms Struggle to Raise Funds in China

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Aug 15, 2023 5:00am PDT · 2 comments

When CMC Capital, a Shanghai-based venture capital and private equity firm, started raising a new fund from global investors in 2021, its target size of more than $1 billion didn’t seem ambitious. The amount was only a tad more than the firm’s previous fund of $950 million. And CMC’s founder, Li Ruigang, is a well-known media... When CMC Capital, a Shanghai-based venture capital and private equity firm, started raising a new...

Image courtesy of Happy Money.

Lending Startups Seek Buyers as Rate Hikes Hobble Growth

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Aug 14, 2023 6:43pm PDT · 1 comment

Image courtesy of Happy Money.

Lending Startups Seek Buyers as Rate Hikes Hobble Growth

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Aug 14, 2023 6:43pm PDT · 1 comment

Venture-backed consumer lending startups are starting to fold their cards. Happy Money, an online lending startup formerly known as Payoff, is in talks to sell itself, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The Torrance, Calif.-based company, valued at $1.1 billion in a private financing announced in February last year, has... Venture-backed consumer lending startups are starting to fold their cards. Happy Money, an online...

Carl Icahn. Photo by Getty.

PayPal and the Activist Campaigns That Didn’t Work

By Martin Peers · Aug 14, 2023 5:05pm PDT

One of the more fun business stories of recent weeks was the pressure campaign waged by an activist investor against—wait for it—Carl Icahn, an activism icon for decades! Few other activists run public companies, as Icahn does, so we’re unlikely to see something like this repeated. But it is a good reminder that activists, who like to point out... One of the more fun business stories of recent weeks was the pressure campaign waged by an...

Cadre founder and CEO Ryan Williams. Photo by Getty

Yieldstreet Nears a Deal to Buy Real Estate Tech Startup Cadre

By Lauren Tara LaCapra, Kate Clark and Maria Heeter · Aug 14, 2023 2:56pm PDT

Asset manager Yieldstreet is near a deal to buy Cadre, a once-promising real estate investment firm whose value has fallen sharply in recent years, said people familiar with the situation. If the two sides finalize an agreement, it would be the latest sign that mergers and acquisitions activity among troubled startups is beginning to pick... Asset manager Yieldstreet is near a deal to buy Cadre, a once-promising real estate...

Creator Cassey Ho. Photo courtesy of subject

Creator Economy

How the ‘Blogilates’ YouTube Channel Spawned Two Merchandise Brands—and a Target Deal

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 14, 2023 2:20pm PDT

Creators’ success on social media often has a limited shelf life. They need to generate a constant stream of new content, keep up with frequent changes on social platforms and deal with inconsistent income. So many are starting offline brands to expand their businesses and find new ways to connect with their fans. Take Cassey Ho, 36, who... Creators’ success on social media often has a limited shelf life. They need to generate a...

Left: Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere. Photo via Cohere. Right: Edo Liberty, CEO of Pinecone. Photo via Pinecone.

Pinecone and Cohere CEOs Warn About Leaving the GPU ‘Faucet’ Running in the Age of AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 14, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Left: Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere. Photo via Cohere. Right: Edo Liberty, CEO of Pinecone. Photo via Pinecone.

Pinecone and Cohere CEOs Warn About Leaving the GPU ‘Faucet’ Running in the Age of AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 14, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

You know those horror stories of people who leave a faucet running in their house while on vacation for a week, returning to a flooded residence? That kind of thing is happening in AI.Edo Liberty, founder of Pinecone, a buzzy infrastructure startup which helps developers build AI applications using their own data, says he heard about an intern... You know those horror stories of people who leave a faucet running in their house while on...

Artwork by Clark Miller. Gracias photo by Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images

How Antonio Gracias Became the Most Hardcore of Elon Musk’s Loyalists

By Becky Peterson · Aug 14, 2023 6:00am PDT

Early this year, as the interest costs from the $13 billion in loans Elon Musk took out to buy Twitter began weighing on his pocketbook, the billionaire turned for help to a longtime trusted partner. The investor, Antonio Gracias, head of Valor Equity Partners, got involved early in Musk’s effort last year to acquire Twitter, helping him... Early this year, as the interest costs from the $13 billion in loans Elon Musk took out to buy...

Toyota's first hybrid Land Cruiser, to be distributed in North America and China.

The Electric: Is Toyota Right to Be Skeptical About EVs?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 14, 2023 4:30am PDT

On Aug. 2 in Tokyo, Toyota unveiled the first hybrid electric Land Cruiser, a refreshed version of a large SUV previously known for its off-road muscle-bound chops, now containing both a gasoline engine and a small electric motor. Toyota, which had pulled the Land Cruiser from its U.S. lineup in 2021 after Americans began to balk at its $85,000... On Aug. 2 in Tokyo, Toyota unveiled the first hybrid electric Land Cruiser, a refreshed version...

Evangelists of Two Different Silicon Valleys

Evangelists of Two Different Silicon Valleys

By Jon Steinberg · Aug 12, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Heads up, Weekenders: The Information is asking subscribers how much time and money they spend on their various fitness and wellness routines. Please fill out our completely anonymous Brain-Body Investment survey (done in five minutes, tops), and we'll share the results soon. Thanks for participating! Hi, welcome to your Weekend.... Heads up, Weekenders: The Information is asking subscribers how much time and money they spend on...

After presiding over the largest cutbacks in company history, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat made it clear to CEO Sundar Pichai last February that she was ready for change. Photos Getty

Is Ruth Porat’s New Job at Alphabet a Coronation or a Last Dance?

By Anita Raghavan · Aug 12, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

After presiding over the largest cutbacks in company history, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat made it clear to CEO Sundar Pichai last February that she was ready for change. Photos Getty

Is Ruth Porat’s New Job at Alphabet a Coronation or a Last Dance?

By Anita Raghavan · Aug 12, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

In February, after Alphabet had put the finishing touches on the technology giant’s 2023 plan, CEO Sundar Pichai and Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat sat down to brainstorm about the future of the organization and its people. One of the people the two discussed was Porat herself, according to sources familiar with the conversation. The... In February, after Alphabet had put the finishing touches on the technology giant’s 2023...