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

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty.

Musk’s ChatGPT Rival Isn’t as Smart as It Seems; Creators of a Key Open-Source Model Get Offer From Index Ventures

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 6, 2023 7:00am PST

Elon Musk finally unveiled his alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which he developed because he felt it was too woke, as my colleagues first revealed eight months ago. Why do it on a Sunday? Perhaps because OpenAI’s Dev Day event in San Francisco is this morning, and Musk’s xAI team was hoping to upstage it. (Musk also doesn’t distinguish between... Elon Musk finally unveiled his alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which he developed because he...

The People Running Disney As It Grapples With Streaming Revolution

By Sahil Patel · Nov 6, 2023 6:00am PST

The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And more of that is likely to come as Disney, along with other entertainment companies, tries to get the right structure in place to cope with changes in the industry caused by the rise of streaming video. The most recent shakeup came Monday, as Disney... The Walt Disney Co. has been a scene of near-constant reorganization for the past few years. And...

24M CEO Naoki Ota. Photo: Courtesy 24M.

The Electric: 24M Fires a Shot Across the Bow of the Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2023 4:30am PST

Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how tightly electrodes can be stacked in a battery pack, improving energy density and electric vehicle driving range. If 24M’s assertions are true, its new battery could outperform groundbreaking, roughly similar batteries made by China’s Byd and... Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how...

Photo by Getty

Palo Alto Networks Finalizing $600 Million-Plus Acquisition of Israeli Security Startup

By Maria Heeter and Aaron Holmes · Nov 5, 2023 11:09am PST · 1 comment

Photo by Getty

Palo Alto Networks Finalizing $600 Million-Plus Acquisition of Israeli Security Startup

By Maria Heeter and Aaron Holmes · Nov 5, 2023 11:09am PST · 1 comment

Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that could value it at $600 million to $700 million, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The deal could be announced as soon as Monday, one of the people said. The acquisition would extend Palo Alto Networks’... Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that...

‘It’s Like I Created a Baby’: An AI Matriarch Appraises Her Offspring

By Adam Lashinsky · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

In the most overheated technology debate of our time—the societal impact of artificial intelligence—Fei-Fei Li finds herself precariously balanced in the middle. A Stanford University computer science professor and co-head of its Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Li is neither a Geoffrey Hinton–esque doomer,... In the most overheated technology debate of our time—the societal impact of artificial...

Second-time author Bradley Tusk is also a political strategist, venture capitalist, small business owner, philanthropist and podcaster. Tusk photo by Getty. Art by Clark Miller.

A New Novel By ‘Silicon Valley’s Favorite Fixer’ Is Coming for Everybody

By Julia Black · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In Bradley Tusk’s new satirical novel, “Obvious in Hindsight,” no one is safe from skewering—including the author. When I asked Tusk whether his cast of conniving characters is based on people he’s encountered in his long, drama-filled career in politics and tech, or whether they are actually all versions of... In Bradley Tusk’s new satirical novel, “Obvious in Hindsight,” no one is safe...

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan has been taking one for the team, rising long before dawn to commute to the U.S. courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Once there, he’d grab a place in line and wait on the sidewalk for hours, huddling in the dark and sometimes the pouring rain, until the... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo via Shutterstock.

It’s Time for Apple to Identify Cook’s Successor

By Martin Peers · Nov 3, 2023 3:15pm PDT

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo via Shutterstock.

It’s Time for Apple to Identify Cook’s Successor

By Martin Peers · Nov 3, 2023 3:15pm PDT

What a week Tim Cook had. On Thursday, Apple reported anemic September-quarter results, completing a fiscal year where revenues fell 2.8%. That’s actually not a bad result given that the smartphone market that drives Apple’s business shrank 10.5% in the same 12-month period, according to IDC data. Still, it is yet another reminder (if any were... What a week Tim Cook had. On Thursday, Apple reported anemic September-quarter results,...

AI Regulation, War and the Future of the American Tech Stack

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 3, 2023 12:01pm PDT

This week, the United States and the European Union tipped their hands on how they plan to regulate AI. The rules amounted to a sea change in the relationship bewteen tech businesses and the government and spurred a whole lot of thinking on our part about what comes next. We hope you enjoy. Apple Spotify This week, the United States and the European Union tipped their hands on how they plan to...

Art by Clark Miller

A Front-Row Seat at the Sam Bankman-Fried Circus

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 3, 2023 9:00am PDT · 9 comments

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, while most people were tucked in bed ahead of the new week, I stepped into an Uber outside my apartment in Brooklyn. I was on my way to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan with the hopes of snagging one of the 21 courtroom seats to see Sam Bankman-Fried testify in his own criminal... Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, while most people were tucked in bed ahead of the new...

Art by Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: Behind the Explosion of Generative AI Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 3, 2023 8:00am PDT

Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our 100th (and 101st) companies, with inside reporting about who’s backing each company, how much revenue the company has generated, the machine-learning model it uses and the cloud providers it relies on.The numbers make clear just how much investors are... Time flies! We launched our Generative AI Database five months ago, and this week we added our...

Sam Bankman-Fried Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

SBF Found Guilty on All Counts

By Nick Wingfield · Nov 2, 2023 5:25pm PDT

Sam Bankman-Fried Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

SBF Found Guilty on All Counts

By Nick Wingfield · Nov 2, 2023 5:25pm PDT

Hot off the presses: The jury in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried convicted the FTX founder and former CEO of all seven fraud and conspiracy charges he was facing. The quick verdict—jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon—felt fitting for a case that federal prosecutors filed less than a year ago. Bankman-Fried now faces a maximum sentence of... Hot off the presses: The jury in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried convicted the FTX founder and...

X CEO Linda Yaccarino. Photo by Getty

Creator Economy

Hashtag Activism Returns to X

By Erin Woo · Nov 2, 2023 5:04pm PDT

Hashtag activism is back.Dozens of trans users of X have been posting their stories on the app formerly known as Twitter as a way of protesting conservative video maker PragerU, which purchased one of X’s most prominent advertising spots to promote a documentary arguing that gender-affirming care is dangerous for transgender youth. The... Hashtag activism is back.Dozens of trans users of X have been posting their stories on the app...

Palmer Luckey. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon via Getty.

Tension Brews in Defense Tech

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 2, 2023 2:16pm PDT · 3 comments

It’s not every day that you see a company like Anduril, a 2,200-person defense technology company last valued at $8.5 billion, sue a 6-person startup with just $4 million in venture backing. But, as my colleague Margaux and I reported this week, Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey is going after a much smaller upstart founded by his former employees,... It’s not every day that you see a company like Anduril, a 2,200-person defense technology company...

Tom Bernthal and Sheryl Sandberg. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Ex-Meta COO Sandberg Sets Up Venture Investment Firm with Husband

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 2, 2023 12:43pm PDT · 2 comments

Sheryl Sandberg, the longtime former chief operating officer at Meta Platforms, and her husband Tom Bernthal have started an investment firm to fund businesses in various sectors, according to a spokesperson for Sandberg. An internationally recognized figure, Sandberg often was the public face of the Facebook parent company before leaving last... Sheryl Sandberg, the longtime former chief operating officer at Meta Platforms, and her husband...

CEO of X Intervened to Get Hitler Post Taken Down

By Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo · Nov 2, 2023 12:13pm PDT · 6 comments

CEO of X Intervened to Get Hitler Post Taken Down

By Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo · Nov 2, 2023 12:13pm PDT · 6 comments

Last weekend, staffers at X grew increasingly upset after a Pakistani senator posted a photo of Adolf Hitler on the service with the text “at least now the world know, why he did, what he did,” in reference to the Holocaust. Over the course of several hours, the post drew about a million views, as well as complaints from several... Last weekend, staffers at X grew increasingly upset after a Pakistani senator posted a photo of...

Chart by Shane Burke.

What it Takes to Make Open-Source AI Cheaper Than OpenAI; Microsoft Goes Multimodal

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 2, 2023 7:15am PDT · 3 comments

When Meta Platforms’ released its open-source Llama models earlier this year, the tech giant was praised for giving developers a free alternative to the expensive, bleeding-edge large-language models offered by proprietary LLM developers such as OpenAI. Turns out it’s not so simple.In many cases, using open-source LLMs can actually be more... When Meta Platforms’ released its open-source Llama models earlier this year, the tech giant was...

The People Running Innovative Battery Maker SES AI

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

Last year, Kang Xu, a top U.S. expert on battery electrolytes, noticed a stark change in how U.S. passport authorities were treating him when he returned from trips abroad. Born in China, Xu is a naturalized U.S. citizen, earned his doctorate in chemistry at Arizona State University, worked for 26 years—his entire career—as a... Last year, Kang Xu, a top U.S. expert on battery electrolytes, noticed a stark change in how U.S....

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Getty

Meta’s Free AI Isn’t Cheap to Use, Companies Say

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 2, 2023 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Some companies that pay for OpenAI’s artificial intelligence have been looking to cut costs with free, open-source alternatives. But these AI customers are realizing that oftentimes open-source tech can actually be more expensive than buying from OpenAI. Take Andreas Homer and Ebby Amir, co-founders of Cypher, an app that helps people... Some companies that pay for OpenAI’s artificial intelligence have been looking to cut costs...

UAW President Shawn Fain. Photo: John J. Kim/Tribune News Service/Getty

The Electric: The Labor Fight Moves to Nonunion Plants

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 4:30am PDT

UAW President Shawn Fain. Photo: John J. Kim/Tribune News Service/Getty

The Electric: The Labor Fight Moves to Nonunion Plants

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 4:30am PDT

Moving fast with a pay bump for its U.S. employees and a new $8 billion investment in batteries, Toyota has offered a sign of how the next stage of the fight over auto industry pay and job security will play out: with a fierce struggle in dozens of nonunion electric vehicle and battery plants across the U.S. Moving fast with a pay bump for its U.S. employees and a new $8 billion investment in batteries,...