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

Left to right: Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction; Saam Motamedi, general partner at Greylock; and Nat Friedman, investor and former CEO of GitHub. Photos via Getty, Greylock and Erin Beach (right).

VCs Dangle AI Chips to Woo Founders

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kate Clark and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 28, 2023 1:24pm PDT

Venture capitalists have long flaunted their ties with startup founders. Lately they have been touting a different relationship: their connections with the biggest providers of artificial intelligence chips. VC partners competing to win sought-after investments in AI startups have been highlighting their relationships with Amazon, Microsoft... Venture capitalists have long flaunted their ties with startup founders. Lately they have been...

Photo by Midjourney.

AI Startups Are Trying to Make Usage-Based Pricing Happen

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 28, 2023 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Tech waves have often brought along with them corresponding changes in business and pricing models. For instance, when companies moved from using servers in their own data centers to ones hosted by public cloud providers, they also switched from buying packaged software a la carte to subscribing to cloud-based software, leading to the much-loved... Tech waves have often brought along with them corresponding changes in business and pricing...

From left: Paul Graham, Garry Tan and Michael Seibel. Photos by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Y Combinator’s Garry Tan Goes to the Mat

By Kate Clark · Sep 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Garry Tan was in his happy place. Surrounded by food trucks and techies basking in San Francisco’s September sun, the CEO of Y Combinator snapped selfies with entrepreneurs as he meandered through a crowd of 2,700 attendees at the startup accelerator’s annual alumni event. A week earlier, though, Tan had been blowing a fuse. In a... Garry Tan was in his happy place. Surrounded by food trucks and techies basking in San...

Ford CEO Jim Farley announcing the company's now-embattled $3.5 billion LFP plant licensing technology from China's CATL in February 2023. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: Ford’s Planned $3.5 Billion Battery Plant in Michigan May Be in Jeopardy

By Steve LeVine · Sep 28, 2023 4:30am PDT

Ford CEO Jim Farley announcing the company's now-embattled $3.5 billion LFP plant licensing technology from China's CATL in February 2023. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: Ford’s Planned $3.5 Billion Battery Plant in Michigan May Be in Jeopardy

By Steve LeVine · Sep 28, 2023 4:30am PDT

Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce political criticism of a licensing agreement between the automaker and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., the world’s largest battery manufacturer. Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce...

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Why the AI Race Is Getting Weird

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 27, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

There comes a point in every major new technology cycle where new alliances form, especially between the incumbents and the younger upstarts nipping at their heels.This is happening at superspeed in artificial intelligence—but the pattern is frankly pretty weird, and I think it points to the fact that AI, in a lot of ways, is going to be... There comes a point in every major new technology cycle where new alliances form, especially...

Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Connect 2023. Photo via YouTube/IGN.

Creator Economy

Instagram Launches Chatbots Modeled on MrBeast, Charli D’Amelio

By Kalley Huang · Sep 27, 2023 2:30pm PDT

It’s Kalley Huang, reporting from Menlo Park, Calif., where Meta Platforms’ developer conference is taking place in person for the first time since 2019. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on a stage set up in the middle of Meta’s campus, unveiled a suite of generative artificial intelligence products, several directed at creators.The most interesting are 28... It’s Kalley Huang, reporting from Menlo Park, Calif., where Meta Platforms’ developer conference...

The X (formerly Twitter) office in San Francisco on July 29. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Musk’s X Cuts Half of Election Integrity Team After Promising to Expand It

By Erin Woo · Sep 27, 2023 11:11am PDT · 2 comments

Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, is cutting around half of the global team devoted to limiting disinformation and election fraud on the platform, including the head of the group, according to three people familiar with the situation. The cuts come less than a month after the company said it would expand the team and as X faces... Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, is cutting around half of the global team devoted...

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo via Getty.

FTX Investors Are Back in the Spotlight—as Victims

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 27, 2023 10:19am PDT · 3 comments

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo via Getty.

FTX Investors Are Back in the Spotlight—as Victims

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 27, 2023 10:19am PDT · 3 comments

Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, set to kick off with jury selection on Oct. 3, will thrust the FTX founder and the collapse of one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges back in the spotlight. It will be a brutal reminder of a huge misstep by Sequoia Capital, Paradigm and other investors who poured a total of $2 billion into... Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, set to kick off with jury selection on Oct. 3, will...

The U.S. Capitol building from Pennsylvania Avenue. Photo via Shutterstock.

How the SBF Trial Could Upend Crypto Policy

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 27, 2023 9:00am PDT

All eyes will be on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried next week, which is set to kick off in a Manhattan court on Oct. 3. The trial will bring FTX and its dramatic collapse back into the news, which could spell trouble for crypto proponents who have been advocating for pro-crypto legislation in Washington.“We realize it's going to be the major... All eyes will be on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried next week, which is set to kick off in a...

Jony Ive. Photo via Getty.

Ex-Apple Designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Discussing AI Hardware Device; Why Open-Source and AGI Might Kill OpenAI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 27, 2023 7:20am PDT

If you were thinking of trading in your phone for the latest iPhone 15, you may want to hold off.Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing building a new AI hardware device, Jessica and I reported on Tuesday. In a who’s who of tech, SoftBank CEO and investor Masayoshi Son has also talked to... If you were thinking of trading in your phone for the latest iPhone 15, you may want to hold off....

Rene Haas, CEO of Arm, rings the opening bell during the company's IPO at Nasdaq MarketSite on Sept. 14. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Startups Squint to Read the IPO Tea Leaves

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

SeatGeek, a venture capital–backed ticketing app, may have a strong sales pitch when it starts early discussions with investors this week about a potential initial public offering led by Morgan Stanley. During recent quarters, revenue grew roughly 70% from the prior year, thanks to a boom in live concerts. While SeatGeek isn’t yet... SeatGeek, a venture capital–backed ticketing app, may have a strong sales pitch when it...

Merchandise purchased through Xiaohongshu (“little red book”) in Jinhua, China. VCG via Getty Images

Sequoia Capital China Buys Discounted Stake in Prominent E-Commerce App

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Sep 26, 2023 10:26pm PDT · 1 comment

Merchandise purchased through Xiaohongshu (“little red book”) in Jinhua, China. VCG via Getty Images

Sequoia Capital China Buys Discounted Stake in Prominent E-Commerce App

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Sep 26, 2023 10:26pm PDT · 1 comment

Sequoia Capital China recently acquired a stake in Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu from existing investors at a discount to the company’s most recent equity financing valuation, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Sequoia China, which is preparing to separate from Silicon Valley’s Sequoia Capital next... Sequoia Capital China recently acquired a stake in Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu from...

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Getty.

Designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Discuss AI Hardware Project

By Jessica E. Lessin and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2023 6:51pm PDT · 16 comments

Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing building a new AI hardware device, according to two people familiar with the conversations. SoftBank CEO and investor Masayoshi Son has talked to both about the idea, according to one of these people, but it is unclear if he will remain involved. Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been...

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty.

The Flaws in FTC’s Amazon Case

By Martin Peers · Sep 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Talk about anticlimactic. We’ve been expecting today’s Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit against Amazon since the day commission chair Lina Khan was sworn into office in June 2021. After all, she rose to antitrust fame with her 2017 Yale Law Journal paper arguing that modern competition policy wasn’t equipped to deal with the threat... Talk about anticlimactic. We’ve been expecting today’s Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit...

MasterClass CEO David Rogier. Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

The Lessons From MasterClass

By Paris Martineau · Sep 26, 2023 2:14pm PDT · 1 comment

Paris here. Yesterday, we published a story about MasterClass’ post-pandemic woes. MasterClass, like many startups, spent wildly when times were good, then got caught flatfooted when its pandemic-era gains didn’t continue. Its evolution says something about the position many creator economy darlings now find themselves in. For a while, it... Paris here. Yesterday, we published a story about MasterClass’ post-pandemic woes. MasterClass,...

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

FTC Alleges Secret Projects, Manipulative Pricing at Amazon

By Theo Wayt · Sep 26, 2023 1:07pm PDT · 10 comments

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

FTC Alleges Secret Projects, Manipulative Pricing at Amazon

By Theo Wayt · Sep 26, 2023 1:07pm PDT · 10 comments

The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit filed against Amazon in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday does not explicitly call for the break up of Amazon, but a close reading suggests that is definitely what the agency wants. The FTC argued in the lawsuit that anticompetitive practices in one business line can reinforce Amazon’s... The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit filed against Amazon in federal court in Seattle on...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty

How Microsoft is Trying to Lessen Its Addiction to OpenAI as AI Costs Soar

By Aaron Holmes · Sep 26, 2023 7:30am PDT · 3 comments

Microsoft’s push to put artificial intelligence into its software has hinged almost entirely on OpenAI, the startup Microsoft funded in exchange for the right to use its cutting-edge technology. But as the costs of running advanced AI models rise, Microsoft researchers and product teams are working on a plan B. In recent weeks, Peter Lee,... Microsoft’s push to put artificial intelligence into its software has hinged almost...

SAP HQ in Walldorf, Germany. Photo via Getty.

ChatGPT Does Its Best Siri Impression; SAP Joins the Ranks of AI Assistant Providers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 26, 2023 7:00am PDT

ChatGPT might be coming soon to a fridge or bedroom near you.On Monday, LLM developer OpenAI announced upcoming voice and image capabilities for its AI-powered chatbot. These new features will allow users to do things like asking for a dinner recipe based on the ingredients revealed by a photo of their fridge contents or requesting ChatGPT to... ChatGPT might be coming soon to a fridge or bedroom near you.On Monday, LLM developer OpenAI...

From left to right: Blair Effron, Robert Pruzan and David Handler. Photos by Getty; Tidal Partners.

Disputes, Employee Misconduct Rattle Centerview’s Silicon Valley Dreams

By Michael Roddan · Sep 26, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

The San Francisco Bay Area–based bankers at Centerview Partners, the investment bank that advised Silicon Valley Bank’s owner and Credit Suisse through recent turmoil, got two doses of bad news last week. First, they learned officially what many already suspected: The firm had fired a male banker in its San Francisco office after he... The San Francisco Bay Area–based bankers at Centerview Partners, the investment bank that...

Photo by Getty

Amazon’s Anthropic Deal Signals Cloud Sector Turbulence

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Photo by Getty

Amazon’s Anthropic Deal Signals Cloud Sector Turbulence

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2023 5:00pm PDT

You know the cloud industry is in upheaval when industry leader Amazon Web Services has to copy a tactic used by its smaller rivals to compete more effectively. The Amazon unit’s decision on Monday to invest up to $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, as part of a broader deal in which AWS becomes the startup’s “primary cloud provider,” looks a... You know the cloud industry is in upheaval when industry leader Amazon Web Services has to copy a...