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

Art by Clark Miller.

Don’t Build the Wrong Kind of AI Business

By Ben Parr · Mar 28, 2023 9:00am PDT · 13 comments

At a catch-up coffee a few weeks ago, a founder friend asked me, “What AI thing should we build?” It was the third time that week a founder had asked me the same question. Generative artificial intelligence is 99% of the buzz in Silicon Valley right now. In just the last few weeks, Open AI released GPT-4, its most advanced language... At a catch-up coffee a few weeks ago, a founder friend asked me, “What AI thing should we...

Art by Clark Miller.

Crypto VCs Revert to What’s Safe: Blockchain’s Building Blocks

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Mention the term “blockchain infrastructure” at a party and you’re likely to meet blank looks. Unless, that is, you’re hanging out with a group of crypto venture capitalists. As investors have pulled back from high-profile crypto names, unnerved by the collapse of firms like FTX, the appeal of crypto infrastructure, or... Mention the term “blockchain infrastructure” at a party and you’re likely to...

Why the CFTC’s Binance lawsuit is good news for Coinbase. Plus, Musk’s backers need to believe.

Why the CFTC’s Binance Lawsuit Is Good News for Coinbase

By Martin Peers · Mar 27, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Privately held crypto exchanges are setting new lows in corporate governance. If you thought the initial bankruptcy filing for Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX was stunning in what it revealed about how that company was run, check out the Commodity Futures Trading Commissions lawsuit against Binance today. Here’s a business empire controlled by one... Privately held crypto exchanges are setting new lows in corporate governance. If you thought the...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Bloomberg

TikTok Is on the Defensive

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 27, 2023 2:17pm PDT

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Bloomberg

Creator Economy

TikTok Is on the Defensive

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 27, 2023 2:17pm PDT

I’m getting a lot more texts about whether I think TikTok will be banned following CEO Shou Zi Chew’s Congressional hearing last week. The growing possibility is starting to spook creators and businesses who use the short-form video app. Golin, a major PR firm that hires creators on behalf of brand clients, asked some clients to hold off on... I’m getting a lot more texts about whether I think TikTok will be banned following CEO Shou Zi...

Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon Fulfillment center in Robbinsville, N.J. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Starts Warning Customers About ‘Frequently Returned’ Items

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Mar 27, 2023 1:53pm PDT

Amazon’s free and easy return policy for the vast majority of its items is a key part of its pitch to consumers, but a new feature the company is rolling out shows it’s trying to get customers to send purchases back less often. Amazon in recent months has started warning customers that an item they’re about to buy has been... Amazon’s free and easy return policy for the vast majority of its items is a key part of...

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance. Photo by Getty.

7 Biggest Revelations About Binance From CFTC’s Explosive Lawsuit

By Aidan Ryan and Akash Pasricha · Mar 27, 2023 1:14pm PDT · 2 comments

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued crypto exchange Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, Monday for violating U.S. trading laws, the first major lawsuit from a U.S. agency against the world’s largest crypto exchange. The lawsuit alleges that Binance breached multiple laws by encouraging U.S.-based customers to use the trading... The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued crypto exchange Binance and its CEO, Changpeng...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Streaming Business Model Is Hitting Its Half-Life

By Andrew A. Rosen · Mar 27, 2023 9:00am PDT · 13 comments

Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, Parqor, part of The Information’s newsletter network. There is a big question lurking in the background of the media business’s ongoing production budget cuts, layoffs and general sense of struggle: What if the entertainment we love simply can't survive anymore—and what if... Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, Parqor, part of The Information’s newsletter...

The People Who Make OpenAI Run Fast

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The People Who Make OpenAI Run Fast

By Jon Victor · Mar 27, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Sam Altman has been the face of OpenAI as it quickly outmaneuvered rivals such as Google to launch cutting-edge artificial intelligence to the public. But the co-founder and CEO delegates broad authority to a handful of lieutenants who have managed its growing workforce, developed new software and integrated it with products made by Microsoft.... Sam Altman has been the face of OpenAI as it quickly outmaneuvered rivals such as Google to...

Signage outside of a Silicon Valley Bank branch in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg.

SVB Is Sold, but Other Banks Are Already Filling Its Niche

By Michael Roddan · Mar 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

After a two-week auction process, Silicon Valley Bank has finally been sold to regional lender First Citizens Bank. But already, other banks have moved to replace SVB as the tech industry’s go-to bank. Among the firms moving quickly are SVB rival Western Alliance-owned Bridge Bank and JPMorgan Chase, as well as newer institutions Mercury... After a two-week auction process, Silicon Valley Bank has finally been sold to regional lender...

Mercedes will offer silicon anodes from Sila Nanotechnologies in its ultraluxury G-Class SUVs in 2025. Silicon Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Electric: Will Next-Gen Batteries Break into Mass Market EVs This Decade?

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2023 4:30am PDT

Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow next-generation battery makers, he says, are overpromising a future of cheap, faster-charging, long-distance electric vehicles. Pluvinage says automakers will be reluctant to adopt these technologies after sinking billions of dollars into factories... Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Musk Puts $20 Billion Value on Twitter

By Erin Woo and Martin Peers · Mar 25, 2023 4:45pm PDT · 3 comments

Elon Musk offered Twitter employees stock grants at a valuation of roughly $20 billion, said a person familiar with an email Musk sent to staff, less than half what he paid to buy the company. It was a concrete acknowledgment of how much Twitter’s value has dropped since the deal—but it is still well above public market valuation... Elon Musk offered Twitter employees stock grants at a valuation of roughly $20 billion, said a...

Art by Clark Miller.

An AI Researcher Tries to Build Good AI While Burning Down the Bad

By Margaux MacColl · Mar 25, 2023 7:05am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

An AI Researcher Tries to Build Good AI While Burning Down the Bad

By Margaux MacColl · Mar 25, 2023 7:05am PDT · 2 comments

In the hours after Margaret Mitchell was fired by Google over email in February 2021, she ran to the bathroom and threw up. “I was just so terrified that I was never going to get a job in tech again, that my name had been scarlet lettered,” she told me over an hourlong Zoom this week, calling from her home outside Seattle. That was... In the hours after Margaret Mitchell was fired by Google over email in February 2021, she ran to...

Art by Clark Miller.

Market Research

The Skin-Tech Devices Helping Execs Beautify in a Hurry

By Aja Mangum · Mar 25, 2023 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

I’m always 29 at heart,” said Liyia Wu, CEO of ShopShops, a livestream shopping app for fashion, beauty and lifestyle products. But now that she’s actually over 40, Wu is searching for her fountain of youth. She’s one of the many time-starved executives navigating the crowded beauty tech marketplace, which did an... I’m always 29 at heart,” said Liyia Wu, CEO of ShopShops, a livestream shopping app...

How (and Where) VCs Take Their Coffee

How (and Where) VCs Take Their Coffee

By Jon Steinberg · Mar 25, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!We all have our spot: The one cafe within a 5-minute walk (or a 10-minute drive, if you work in L.A.), where you can grab a quick meeting, sidle up to an acquaintance or eavesdrop on a stranger. It’s the kind of place where you feel like you’re being productive, even when you’re really procrastinating. My... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!We all have our spot: The one cafe within a 5-minute walk (or a...

A TikTok advertisement at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Photo by Bloomberg.

TikTok Shifts Into Damage Control Mode

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 24, 2023 3:27pm PDT · 2 comments

TikTok and some companies that work with the popular app have shifted into damage control mode after a rancorous Congressional grilling of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew failed to allay lawmakers’ concerns that its Chinese parent, ByteDance, poses a national security risk. Golin, a major public relations firm that hires creators on behalf of... TikTok and some companies that work with the popular app have shifted into damage control mode...

Anu Aiyengar, global head of M&A at JPMorgan Chase, said potential sellers that have endured steep stock price drops are getting closer to coming back to the table. Photo by Bloomberg.

Dealmakers See M&A Targets in Tech When Slowdown Abates

By Cory Weinberg and Lauren Tara LaCapra · Mar 24, 2023 1:25pm PDT · 2 comments

Anu Aiyengar, global head of M&A at JPMorgan Chase, said potential sellers that have endured steep stock price drops are getting closer to coming back to the table. Photo by Bloomberg.

Dealmakers See M&A Targets in Tech When Slowdown Abates

By Cory Weinberg and Lauren Tara LaCapra · Mar 24, 2023 1:25pm PDT · 2 comments

Dealmakers who gathered in New Orleans this week are hopeful that the prolonged deals freeze will thaw this year—and that the tech sector in particular holds plenty of companies ripe for acquisition. That may be a case of optimism transcending reality. On panels and in coffee chats at the annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute conference,... Dealmakers who gathered in New Orleans this week are hopeful that the prolonged deals freeze will...

Art by Clark Miller

Silicon Valley’s Realtors, Like Its Bankers, Are Having a Tough Month

By Zara Stone · Mar 24, 2023 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that sold more than $1 billion in homes in 2021, called one of his venture capitalist clients to discuss the purchase of a $20 million–plus megamansion. The client was flip-flopping between a cash offer and a loan. “First Republic Bank has a... In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that...

Block chairman and co founder Jack Dorsey. Photo by Getty

Fintech’s Big Wakeup Call

By Ann Gehan · Mar 24, 2023 10:20am PDT · 4 comments

Fintechs were supposed to transform banking by making it dead simple for users to open savings accounts or pay their bills. But a series of recent high-profile setbacks with both fintechs and the traditional banking sector is setting off alarm bells. This month’s series of bank collapses has shined a spotlight on the health of small banks,... Fintechs were supposed to transform banking by making it dead simple for users to open savings...

Art by Clark Miller.

Caffeinated Capitalists

Venture Capital’s 25 Favorite Cafes

By Annie Goldsmith · Mar 24, 2023 9:00am PDT · 10 comments

Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto. Buck’s of Woodside. The Creamery in SoMa (RIP). Silicon Valley’s coffee shops have undoubtedly seen more dealmaking than any one fancy office building or members’ club. Now a new guard of cafes, spread throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Los Angeles, is growing in popularity among... Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto. Buck’s of Woodside. The Creamery in SoMa (RIP). Silicon...

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

By Scott Thurm · Mar 24, 2023 8:00am PDT

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

By Scott Thurm · Mar 24, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back! The Information 50 is our guide to promising startups, which we’ve published each year since 2020. Now we’ve brought together the 150 startups we’ve identified over the past three years, with added information about how they’ve fared since. The Information 50 Startups Database, which we published Thursday, details each... Welcome back! The Information 50 is our guide to promising startups, which we’ve published...