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

A CATL battery production plant in Shanghai, China. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: How to Use Chinese Battery Material in US EVs

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

The Biden administration has issued rules intended to keep Chinese battery materials out of U.S. vehicles, undermine China’s dominance of the global battery supply and jump-start a competing U.S. battery industry. But the administration left a narrow pathway for automakers such as Ford to employ Chinese battery technology in their electric... The Biden administration has issued rules intended to keep Chinese battery materials out of U.S....

Demis Hassabis and Sundar Pichai. Photos by Bloomberg via Getty.

Google Preps Public Preview of Gemini AI After Postponing In-Person Launch Events

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Dec 2, 2023 10:18am PST · 7 comments

Update, Dec.4: After Google quietly scrapped a set of in-person events to launch Gemini, its biggest artificial intelligence initiative in a decade, the company has planned a virtual preview of the new AI as soon as this week, said a person with knowledge of the situation. By giving journalists and software developers a first look at some of the... Update, Dec.4: After Google quietly scrapped a set of in-person events to launch Gemini, its...

It's Vinod Khosla's World

It's Vinod Khosla's World

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 2, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Next week will mark The Information's 10-year anniversary, and we'll be commemorating the last decade of tech by publishing a series of top 10 lists, plus some reflections from our founder Jessica Lessin. But before we look back at the Valley's greatest hits (and misses), we also wanted to look forward, peering... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Next week will mark The Information's 10-year anniversary, and we'll...

Art by Clark Miller

My Year of Eating by Aircraft

By Nate Becker · Dec 2, 2023 6:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

My Year of Eating by Aircraft

By Nate Becker · Dec 2, 2023 6:00am PST

The first time I saw the delivery drone glide over the tree line of my backyard, I felt as if I’d been transported to the future. I stood on my patio, bug-eyed, as the drone stopped to hover a few dozen feet above my lawn, floating there like the archangel of cheeseburgers. The trap door on the bottom opened up and a bright yellow bag... The first time I saw the delivery drone glide over the tree line of my backyard, I felt as if...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Top 5: Where to Host Your Silicon Valley Offsite

By Annie Goldsmith · Dec 2, 2023 6:00am PST · 7 comments

Tech companies have long been famous for their offsites. Though these are not always the most prudently planned events—recall WeWork’s lavish English countryside summer camp—Silicon Valley has perfected the art of getting out of the office, bringing the team together and doing a few trust falls. Since the pandemic, these... Tech companies have long been famous for their offsites. Though these are not always the most...

Bill Ackman. Photo by Patrick McMullan via Getty Images.

What X, TikTok and Meta Have in Common

By Martin Peers · Dec 1, 2023 3:30pm PST · 4 comments

Every social media service is unhappy in its own way. That’s something Bill Ackman should remember. The hedge fund manager came out swinging in support of Elon Musk in a lengthy tweet late Thursday night, claiming that recent advertiser defections from X were a result of Musk being “targeted” because other media organizations view X as a... Every social media service is unhappy in its own way. That’s something Bill Ackman should...

TikTok, Porn and the Immediate Risks of AI

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 1, 2023 11:31am PST · 4 comments

One of the things I loved about this week’s episode is that it got out of abstract questions about the future of AI and into the here and now implications. That led the gang to TikTok and the future of the app. A big thanks to Brit for moderating this week’s episode as my one hour at the DMV turned into two and a half and I missed the... One of the things I loved about this week’s episode is that it got out of abstract questions...

Vinod Khosla Can See the Future. It Just Got Hazy for a Minute

By David Kirkpatrick · Dec 1, 2023 9:06am PST · 14 comments

Vinod Khosla Can See the Future. It Just Got Hazy for a Minute

By David Kirkpatrick · Dec 1, 2023 9:06am PST · 14 comments

Only minutes after Sam Altman was fired by the board of OpenAI on the afternoon of November 17, Vinod Khosla got a call from a major OpenAI investor. “What is going on?” the person asked. In the ensuing days, puzzled calls and texts from various principals continued streaming in. But even Khosla, one of OpenAI’s earliest... Only minutes after Sam Altman was fired by the board of OpenAI on the afternoon of November 17,...

Photo via Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: The OpenAI Drama Spurs Soul-Searching at AI Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Dec 1, 2023 8:00am PST

Last week’s drama at OpenAI is still fresh on the minds of founders leading artificial intelligence startups in our Generative AI database. Several of them told me this week the saga has spurred reflections about their own boards, discussions with directors and new priorities around AI safety.Sasha Orloff said that Puzzle, the AI accounting... Last week’s drama at OpenAI is still fresh on the minds of founders leading artificial...

Shein’s pop-up in the Times Square Forever 21 store on Nov. 10. Photo by Getty.

Shein Faces an Uphill Battle to Sustain Growth

By Jing Yang and Ann Gehan · Dec 1, 2023 6:03am PST

For the past few years, Shein has seemed untouchable. The secretive e-commerce firm had exploded into one of the world’s most valuable private companies by shipping trendy apparel directly from Chinese manufacturers to shoppers around the world, offering rock-bottom prices in exchange for longer delivery times. But last year, Shein’s... For the past few years, Shein has seemed untouchable. The secretive e-commerce firm had exploded...

Elon Musk speaks during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 on Nov. 29 in New York City. Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images.

Musk and Altman Are Businesspeople, Not Politicians

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 30, 2023 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

It was once common to wonder whether businesses were too big to fail. I think it is time we start worrying about business leaders who think they are too big to fail—and what we should do about that. I had this thought as I was listening to Elon Musk tell The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin that businesses pulling their ads from X were... It was once common to wonder whether businesses were too big to fail. I think it is time we start...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

More AI, More Problems

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

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...