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

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Recent Editions

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo via AP.

OpenAI’s $86 Billion Share Sale in Jeopardy Following Altman Firing

By Kate Clark, Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · Nov 18, 2023 10:53am PST · 2 comments

A planned sale of OpenAI employee shares that would value the startup at about $86 billion on paper hangs in the balance after the sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman and a slew of top executive departures. The tender offer, which Thrive Capital is leading, has not yet closed but has been in its final stages and was expected to be completed as soon... A planned sale of OpenAI employee shares that would value the startup at about $86 billion on...

Meta Splits Up Its Responsible AI Team

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Nov 18, 2023 10:28am PST · 2 comments

Meta Platforms has split up a team responsible for understanding and preventing harms associated with the artificial intelligence technology it’s developing, as the company diverts more resources to its generative AI work, according to an internal post reviewed by The Information. The changes are part of a wider reshuffle of the AI teams... Meta Platforms has split up a team responsible for understanding and preventing harms associated...

Live By the Valley, Die By the Valley

Live By the Valley, Die By the Valley

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 18, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

New subscribers can get three months on us with our Black Friday offer, available through November 26. You’ll save 25% on an annual subscription, which gives you unlimited access to our journalism, org charts, events, newsletters—and, of course, every story from The Information Weekend. Subscribe here to save $100+.Hi, welcome to your... New subscribers can get three months on us with our Black Friday offer, available through...

OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. Photo via Getty

Three Senior OpenAI Researchers Resign as Crisis Deepens

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 10:41pm PST · 25 comments

OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. Photo via Getty

Three Senior OpenAI Researchers Resign as Crisis Deepens

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 10:41pm PST · 25 comments

Three senior researchers at OpenAI resigned Friday night as the artificial intelligence developer suffered fallout from the firing of CEO Sam Altman and sudden resignation of President Greg Brockman, according to several people with knowledge of the situation. Jakub Pachocki, the company’s director of research; Aleksander Madry, head of a... Three senior researchers at OpenAI resigned Friday night as the artificial intelligence developer...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty

What Went Down at OpenAI

By Laura Mandaro · Nov 17, 2023 7:15pm PST

What a turn of events! OpenAI began the day once again as the hottest startup in tech, run by the smartest hotshots in artificial intelligence. But around lunchtime on the west coast, it was a car crash, one that kept getting worse throughout the day. First, the OpenAI board dropped a bombshell with the announcement that it had ousted CEO... What a turn of events! OpenAI began the day once again as the hottest startup in tech, run by the...

Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever speaking at Tel Aviv University on June 5. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty.

Before OpenAI Ousted Altman, Employees Disagreed Over AI ‘Safety’

By Jon Victor, Stephanie Palazzolo, Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 6:40pm PST · 18 comments

OpenAI’s ouster of CEO Sam Altman on Friday followed internal arguments among employees about whether the company was developing artificial intelligence safely enough, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Such disagreements were high on the minds of some employees during an impromptu all-hands meeting following the firing.... OpenAI’s ouster of CEO Sam Altman on Friday followed internal arguments among employees...

Greg Brockman. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

OpenAI President Brockman Resigns Following CEO Firing

By Amir Efrati and Jon Victor · Nov 17, 2023 4:10pm PST · 21 comments

OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who helped launch the artificial intelligence developer and has been key to developing ChatGPT and other core products, has resigned, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The move came after the company's board fired CEO Sam Altman earlier Friday. Brockman was a member of the six-member ... OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who helped launch the artificial intelligence developer and has...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty.

Interim OpenAI CEO: Microsoft Has ‘Utmost Confidence’ in Startup Following Altman Departure

By Erin Woo, Anissa Gardizy, Aaron Holmes and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 2:43pm PST · 11 comments

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty.

Interim OpenAI CEO: Microsoft Has ‘Utmost Confidence’ in Startup Following Altman Departure

By Erin Woo, Anissa Gardizy, Aaron Holmes and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 2:43pm PST · 11 comments

OpenAI Interim CEO Mira Murati on Friday told staff in a companywide meeting that its relationship with Microsoft—its biggest outside source of capital and computing power—was stable following the sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman, according to people with knowledge of the meeting. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CTO Kevin Scott... OpenAI Interim CEO Mira Murati on Friday told staff in a companywide meeting that its...

The Dating App Founder Who Wants You to Stop Swiping

By Annie Goldsmith · Nov 17, 2023 11:00am PST · 3 comments

Within minutes of meeting Amanda Bradford, founder of dating app The League, I had to bring up the company’s did-they-really-just-say-that subway ads. “Date someone with a 5-year plan that makes you want to ovulate” one reads; “Achieve multiple goalgasms” suggests another. Covering three New York... Within minutes of meeting Amanda Bradford, founder of dating app The League, I had to bring up...

Arab tech founders and investors said that Silicon Valley was not a safe place to express pro-Palestinian perspectives. Art by Clark Miller

For Arabs in Tech, a Time of Fear and a Culture of Silence

By Margaux MacColl · Nov 17, 2023 10:04am PST · 14 comments

Amid the Israeli military’s siege of Gaza in late October, Ali, an Arab American tech investor, decided to send a letter to over 200 of his firm’s portfolio founders, fellow investors and other work contacts. He began the letter by saying he was outraged by the Hamas terror attacks of October 7 and he prayed for the safe return of... Amid the Israeli military’s siege of Gaza in late October, Ali, an Arab American tech...

Why (and How) SMBs and Creators Will Win With AI, the New Financing Contracts, and More

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 17, 2023 9:27am PST · 3 comments

A few weeks ago, Sam predicted the end of the "venture capital industrial complex," a term he coined to refer to the old way of doing things in the industry. And so, I asked him this week, how—amid news of major new fundraises—that was holding up. That, and lots more, on this week's episode of More or Less. Apple ... A few weeks ago, Sam predicted the end of the "venture capital industrial complex," a...

Pro Weekly: Software Budgets Rising

Pro Weekly: Software Budgets Rising

By Scott Thurm · Nov 17, 2023 8:00am PST

Pro Weekly: Software Budgets Rising

Pro Weekly: Software Budgets Rising

By Scott Thurm · Nov 17, 2023 8:00am PST

Readers of The Information are spending more on software, especially programs related to artificial intelligence and the cloud, and expect to boost software budgets further in 2024, although perhaps at a slower pace.Our latest survey also found that readers expect conditions for tech companies to improve in the coming months, but they are... Readers of The Information are spending more on software, especially programs related to...

Illustration by Lina Chekhovich/Adobe Stock.

‘Figma Took Their Lunch Money’: How $2 Billion Design Startup InVision Fell Apart

By Maria Heeter · Nov 17, 2023 6:00am PST · 11 comments

The founder and CEO of InVision saw the siege coming. His successful user interface design startup was growing fast, having built a product that some expected to put Adobe, the juggernaut of the design industry, back on its heels. But Adobe was working on a next-generation app of its own, and another upstart, Figma, was gaining momentum with... The founder and CEO of InVision saw the siege coming. His successful user interface design...

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Joe Biden in Woodside, Calif., on Wednesday. Photo AFP via Getty

Tech Kisses the Ring

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 16, 2023 5:12pm PST · 2 comments

Lately, when San Francisco makes national headlines, it’s about crime, homelessness or questions about whether tech companies will ever return to downtown. So this week, it was nice to see San Francisco in the news for a different reason, as U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping of China came to town for the Asia-Pacific... Lately, when San Francisco makes national headlines, it’s about crime, homelessness or questions...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussing Gemini in May, via YouTube.

Google Delays Release of Gemini AI That Aims to Compete With OpenAI

By Jon Victor · Nov 16, 2023 4:07pm PST · 2 comments

Google’s company-defining effort to catch up to ChatGPT creator OpenAI is turning out to be harder than expected. Google representatives earlier this year told some cloud customers and business partners they would get access to the company’s new conversational AI, a large language model known as Gemini, by November. But the company... Google’s company-defining effort to catch up to ChatGPT creator OpenAI is turning out to be...

Frances Haugen. Photo by Roy Rochlin via Getty.

How Whistleblowers Changed Our Understanding of Meta

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Nov 16, 2023 3:53pm PST · 1 comment

Frances Haugen. Photo by Roy Rochlin via Getty.

Creator Economy

How Whistleblowers Changed Our Understanding of Meta

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Nov 16, 2023 3:53pm PST · 1 comment

Before Frances Haugen became a global public figure for leaking a trove of internal documents on Facebook, she carefully avoided alerting Facebook’s security to her plans. The details on how—fascinating to journalists and probably alarming to any CEO—suggest Haugen knew she was about to launch a grenade into the strenuously cultivated public... Before Frances Haugen became a global public figure for leaking a trove of internal documents on...

Discord CEO, Jason Citron; Moonpay CEO, Ivan Soto-Wright; OpenSea CEO, Devin Finzer. Photos by Getty

Venture Capitalists Can’t Hold Off on Markdowns Forever

By Kate Clark · Nov 16, 2023 2:10pm PST · 8 comments

A debate has resurfaced in the venture capital industry over the value of regularly updating portfolio startups’ valuations to better reflect current conditions—in particular, how aggressively to lower the value of the stakes. Many venture capitalists argue that markdowns are arbitrary and therefore meaningless, and that a VC firm’s limited... A debate has resurfaced in the venture capital industry over the value of regularly updating...

New Web Summit CEO, Katherine Maher, at the first day of the event on November 13 in Lisbon. Photo by Getty.

Two Startups Reject Web Summit Money in Fallout From Ex-CEO’s Remarks

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 16, 2023 7:30am PST · 4 comments

Web Summit attempted to put a turbulent chapter behind it this week, drawing more than 70,000 attendees to the annual tech conference in Lisbon. But the fallout from its former CEO's remarks isn’t over. Two Israeli startups, Lasso Security and Ask-AI, are rejecting the investments of the tech conference’s venture arm after former... Web Summit attempted to put a turbulent chapter behind it this week, drawing more than 70,000...

Photo by Midjourney.

Regulation Drama in Silicon Valley; Why AI Agents Haven’t Lived Up To The Hype

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 16, 2023 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Before we get into today’s main topic, here’s a piece from our editor in chief Jessica Lessin and me that will be interesting if you’re into the drama of Silicon Valley and AI regulation.The article digs into the divisions between tech investors—well known to be an opinionated bunch—around how to regulate new AI technology. The most recent... Before we get into today’s main topic, here’s a piece from our editor in chief Jessica Lessin and...

JPMorgan's Onyx Lounge in Decentraland, complete with digital tiger. Photo via YouTube/BeFuture.

JPMorgan’s Blockchain Business Onyx Searches for Its Identity—and Revenue

By Michael Roddan · Nov 16, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

JPMorgan's Onyx Lounge in Decentraland, complete with digital tiger. Photo via YouTube/BeFuture.

JPMorgan’s Blockchain Business Onyx Searches for Its Identity—and Revenue

By Michael Roddan · Nov 16, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In early 2022, JPMorgan Chase proudly claimed it was the first bank to enter the metaverse. Inside a crypto-focused virtual world called Decentraland, users could visit the swanky Onyx lounge, named after the bank’s blockchain operations, to mingle with fellow crypto enthusiasts and watch videos of the bank’s experts discussing... In early 2022, JPMorgan Chase proudly claimed it was the first bank to enter the metaverse. ...