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

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Getty

Salesforce Leads Financing of AI Startup at More Than $4 Billion Valuation

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Aug 22, 2023 2:04pm PDT · 1 comment

Salesforce is leading a financing round in Hugging Face, one of the most highly valued startups helping businesses use artificial intelligence, at a valuation north of $4 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The roughly $200 million funding round more than doubles the share price and private valuation of the New... Salesforce is leading a financing round in Hugging Face, one of the most highly valued startups...

Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Tiger Global Nears Deal to Sell Slice of Cohere Stake at $3 Billion Valuation

By Maria Heeter, Kate Clark and Jon Victor · Aug 22, 2023 1:19pm PDT

Tiger Global Management is nearing a deal to sell part of its stake in OpenAI rival Cohere at a roughly $3 billion valuation, a markup of more than 40% from Cohere’s last financing round in June, according to people familiar with the matter. Tiger is selling a stake of roughly 2.1% of Cohere for about $63 million, equal to the dollar... Tiger Global Management is nearing a deal to sell part of its stake in OpenAI rival Cohere at a...

Photo by Shutterstock.

Drug Startup Truepill Moves to Cut Share Price 90% as Garry Tan Departs Board

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 22, 2023 1:05pm PDT · 1 comment

Truepill, a startup that ships prescription drugs on behalf of online pharmacies such as Hims, Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs and GoodRx, has authorized slashing the price of some of its shares by more than 90% from their peak in 2021, according to a recent filing provided by Prime Unicorn Index. In 2021, the startup said investors had... Truepill, a startup that ships prescription drugs on behalf of online pharmacies such as Hims,...

Photo via Midjourney.

Why Midjourney and Runway Are Suddenly on Shaky Ground; Nvidia’s Upcoming Blowout

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 22, 2023 7:16am PDT · 1 comment

Photo via Midjourney.

Why Midjourney and Runway Are Suddenly on Shaky Ground; Nvidia’s Upcoming Blowout

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 22, 2023 7:16am PDT · 1 comment

A recent court ruling may put rocket-ship AI startups like Midjourney and Runway on shaky ground.United States District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled on Friday that art completely generated by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted, the latest update in a string of controversies surrounding the technology’s usage in art. The ruling... A recent court ruling may put rocket-ship AI startups like Midjourney and Runway on shaky ground....

Ant Group's office building in Nanjing, China. Photo by Getty.

Ant Group Will Cut Foreign Investors Out of Fast-Growing Database Business

By Jing Yang · Aug 22, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When international investors such as General Atlantic and the Carlyle Group invested in Chinese fintech firm Ant Group in 2018, they likely hoped for a big payoff given its dominance in facilitating payments for both Chinese brick-and-mortar merchants and e-commerce sites such as Alibaba. Those hopes were dashed in 2020, when Chinese authorities... When international investors such as General Atlantic and the Carlyle Group invested in Chinese...

Microchips designed by Arm. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

SoftBank’s Arm IPO Win Won’t Make Up for What It Missed Out On

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 21, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Here’s a declaration the tech press doesn’t get to make very often: It’s a good day to be SoftBank. Arm, a chip designer the SoftBank Group has owned since 2016, finally released its investor prospectus this afternoon, a key step before the initial public offering expected next month. If investors bite—no sure thing, as I explain below—Arm’s... Here’s a declaration the tech press doesn’t get to make very often: It’s a good day to be...

Photo via Shutterstock.

Creator Economy

Apple Beefs Up Tools for Paid Podcasters

By Alex Perry · Aug 21, 2023 4:02pm PDT

We don’t hear much about Apple and the creator economy except when creators—or the platforms that host them—complain about the Apple App Store fees that cut into their earnings. That makes Apple’s launch Monday of multiple features aimed at helping creators all the more remarkable, even if the individual products are fairly standard. The... We don’t hear much about Apple and the creator economy except when creators—or the platforms that...

Michael Bloomberg. Photo by Getty.

Bloomberg Overhauls Its Executive Ranks

By Maria Heeter · Aug 21, 2023 8:20am PDT · 5 comments

Michael Bloomberg. Photo by Getty.

Bloomberg Overhauls Its Executive Ranks

By Maria Heeter · Aug 21, 2023 8:20am PDT · 5 comments

Bloomberg LP made a sweeping overhaul of its top ranks, putting in place a new CEO, president and chief financial officer, and said it would build a new board of directors chaired by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, according to an internal memo seen by The Information. JP Zammitt will become president of Bloomberg LP, Patti Roskill... Bloomberg LP made a sweeping overhaul of its top ranks, putting in place a new CEO, president and...

Photo via Getty

Beware of Fear-Mongering in AI Regulation; Meta Scores Another Point for Open-Source

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 21, 2023 7:00am PDT

It’s no secret politicians are worried about artificial intelligence. And while AI executives suggest they’re just as concerned, they may have another agenda in creating that perception.Recent proposed federal legislation with cheery names like the “Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023” or the “Artificial... It’s no secret politicians are worried about artificial intelligence. And while AI executives...

The People With Power at Oracle as It Focuses on the Cloud

By Anissa Gardizy · Aug 21, 2023 6:00am PDT

At most companies, employees report up to the CEO. At Oracle, many of the most important executives report to Larry Ellison, the company’s co-founder, chair and chief technology officer. Several current and former Oracle employees said Ellison oversees all of the software giant’s product and engineering groups, including its cloud... At most companies, employees report up to the CEO. At Oracle, many of the most important...

Freyr's battery gigafactory "Giga Arctic," where it hopes to begin production next year. Photo: Courtesy Freyr Battery

The Electric: A Battery CEO on Why He’s Stepping Down and Moving His Company to the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Aug 21, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

On Aug. 10, Norwegian battery maker Freyr Battery announced a dramatic shake-up: CEO Tom Jensen stepped aside and became executive chair, effective today, replacing founder Torstein Sjøtveit, who retired. In the same announcement, the board said it was moving Freyr’s headquarters from Luxembourg to the U.S.Investors hardly noticed, but the moves... On Aug. 10, Norwegian battery maker Freyr Battery announced a dramatic shake-up: CEO Tom Jensen...

Instacart’s Revenue Rose More than 30% in First Half

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 19, 2023 10:54am PDT · 11 comments

Instacart’s Revenue Rose More than 30% in First Half

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 19, 2023 10:54am PDT · 11 comments

When Instacart executives begin their initial public offering pitch to investors as early as next week, they face a challenge. Order volume in Instacart’s core grocery-delivery business is barely growing, new data reveals, although the company is showing revenue expansion by keeping more of the dollars spent on each order and from a... When Instacart executives begin their initial public offering pitch to investors as early as next...

President Biden. Photo by AP.

Biden Order Could Hit Chinese VC Firms Run by Americans

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Aug 19, 2023 9:43am PDT · 10 comments

Some of China’s most prominent venture capitalists are U.S. citizens or green-card holders. That could soon become a problem for their firms. President Joe Biden’s executive order last week, limiting certain American investments in China, could also curtail the activities of Chinese investment firms whose leaders are U.S. citizens.... Some of China’s most prominent venture capitalists are U.S. citizens or green-card holders....

Animation by Clark Miller; Cybertruck courtesy Tesla.

Waiting for Cybertruck: Some Tesla Customers Have Lost Faith During the Long Road to Production

By Tim Stevens · Aug 19, 2023 6:00am PDT · 14 comments

Nearly four years after its bombastic public debut and two years after it was initially supposed to ship, Elon Musk’s curveless, futurama Cybertruck is finally crawling off production lines and into the hands of its first test drivers. Recent sightings in the wild (one Tesla blog likened the model to a “modern-day Bigfoot”)... Nearly four years after its bombastic public debut and two years after it was initially supposed...

Art by Clark Miller.

Market Research

Education Meets Insulation: Bento Boxes, Smartwatches and Other Back-to-School Buys

By Annie Goldsmith · Aug 19, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Janine Sickmeyer, the founding partner at seed and pre-seed firm Overlooked Ventures, was trying to find a low-tech way to occupy her four kids under age 8. She, like many of her Silicon Valley peers, aims to keep her young children off screens as much as possible. “Even though I’m a tech entrepreneur and investor in tech, I always... Janine Sickmeyer, the founding partner at seed and pre-seed firm Overlooked Ventures, was trying...

Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers

Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers

By Jon Steinberg · Aug 19, 2023 6:00am PDT

Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers

Stars Learn to Love Their AI Doppelgängers

By Jon Steinberg · Aug 19, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.There’s been a lot of bed-wetting down in Southern California this summer about the dangers of the artificial intelligence boom. Maybe bed-wetting isn’t fair: The Hollywood actors who are striking, in part, over how their AI-generated likenesses will be scanned, stored and monetized, have valid concerns. And they... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.There’s been a lot of bed-wetting down in Southern California this...

Photo by Getty.

Why Next Week Will Be Action-Packed for Tech News Junkies

By Martin Peers · Aug 18, 2023 3:01pm PDT

Next week is promising to be action-packed for tech news, with earnings coming from some notable enterprise software names—Nvidia, Snowflake and Zoom Video. There will also likely be IPO filings from Instacart, according to Bloomberg, and Arm, according to various outlets. The IPO market seems to be awaking from its slumber. The IPO filings... Next week is promising to be action-packed for tech news, with earnings coming from some notable...

You Should Kill Your Startup, R.I.P Globalization

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 18, 2023 11:26am PDT · 1 comment

This was a fun “More or Less” episode. I enjoyed listening to Sam and Dave reminisce about some of their, shall we say, less successful investments. I then asked Sam for his strategy in venture capital. I was bemused by the answer. Later in the show, we moved to another tricky topic: the future of the not-so-global... This was a fun “More or Less” episode. I enjoyed listening to Sam and Dave...

Art by Clark Miller.

‘Don’t Put Your Head in the Sand’: Stars Are Quietly Inking Deals to License Their AI Doubles

By Julia Black · Aug 18, 2023 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

In 2008, while working with Will Smith on the set of a film that never ended up getting made, Remington Scott had an epiphany. The visual effects director was watching Smith stand in a photogrammetry booth, with dozens of cameras capturing the actor’s facial features from every possible angle. “Every single major star on that level,... In 2008, while working with Will Smith on the set of a film that never ended up getting made,...

Photo by Getty.

Verizon Has Talked With Disney About ESPN Partnership

By Sahil Patel · Aug 18, 2023 8:21am PDT

Photo by Getty.

Verizon Has Talked With Disney About ESPN Partnership

By Sahil Patel · Aug 18, 2023 8:21am PDT

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said he’s looking for strategic partners to help launch a streaming version of the ESPN cable channel. One key distributor, Verizon, has already thrown its hat into the ring. The telecom giant has been in touch with Disney about potentially partnering on a new ESPN streaming service, according to people familiar... Disney CEO Bob Iger has said he’s looking for strategic partners to help launch a streaming...