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

Photo via Midjourney

Creator Economy

Beehiiv’s Deal for an Ad Tech Startup Shows Strains on Founders

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 25, 2023 1:05pm PDT · 2 comments

Let’s kick off this week with some creator economy M&A news. Beehiiv, a newsletter publishing startup, is acquiring Swapstack, an advertising marketplace for newsletters, Beehiiv’s CEO Tyler Denk confirmed to me. Beehiiv is acquiring the smaller firm’s tech and relationships with advertisers. Swapstack co-founder and CEO Jake... Let’s kick off this week with some creator economy M&A news. Beehiiv, a newsletter publishing...

Photo by Midjourney.

Amazon’s ‘Switzerland’ Days Are Over; Are LLMs Cheating on Benchmark Tests?; OpenAI Quietly Develops Customizable GPTs

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 25, 2023 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Looks like Amazon’s finally made its AI bet.On Monday, model developer Anthropic announced that it had raised as much as $4 billion from Amazon. As part of the deal, Amazon Web Services will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, and Anthropic will train and deploy its future models on AWS’ training- and inference-specialized chips, Trainium... Looks like Amazon’s finally made its AI bet.On Monday, model developer Anthropic announced that...

Art by Clark Miller

MasterClass Takes a Crash Course in Frugality

By Paris Martineau · Sep 25, 2023 6:00am PDT · 10 comments

MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. The startup was emerging as a poster child of the new media landscape, one that was bringing Hollywood-style production values and A-list celebrities to a category—online education—often associated with dry lectures and crummy... MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co....

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a Luddite ever since. Gil Golan, who worked on the car as a young engineer, argues that the rap is unfair. Golan, named this month as GM’s chief technology officer and vice president of research and development, says canceling the EV1 was not a knock... In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a...

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the kind that pokes fun at the industry returning to the good old days of expensive perks and wine-soaked dinners.I had a real-life “We’re so back” moment this week when I attended a bacchanalian feast thrown by Bain Capital Ventures at Fogo de Chão in... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the...

Art by Clark Miller.

Runners’ Highs: Tech’s Serial Marathoners on Their Favorite Long-Distance Runs

By Annie Goldsmith · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Despite Silicon Valley’s drift toward sports that require an octagon, long-distance running still ranks highly. In our recent Brain-Body Investment Survey, running was respondents’ second most time-consuming form of exercise, right after weightlifting. True to form, tech executives are applying their competitive spirit to the... Despite Silicon Valley’s drift toward sports that require an octagon, long-distance...

Photo via Shutterstock

SpaceX, Klaviyo, LLMs: Highlight Stories From This Week

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 22, 2023 4:01pm PDT

This week we were treated to not one but two big tech IPOs! Plus, two tech juggernauts—Amazon and Microsoft—held big, flashy product launch events. Through it all, The Information’s newsroom pumped out a string of scoops, analyses and meaty newsletters. This week we were treated to not one but two big tech IPOs! Plus, two tech juggernauts—Amazon and...

Art by Clark Miller

Europe Has Figured Out How to Tame Big Tech. Can the U.S. Learn Its Tricks?

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Sep 22, 2023 11:00am PDT · 23 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Europe Has Figured Out How to Tame Big Tech. Can the U.S. Learn Its Tricks?

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Sep 22, 2023 11:00am PDT · 23 comments

Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul Tang, a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament. How had they done it, she asked him. How had the EU managed to bring big tech to heel? The liberal Massachusetts senator, alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), had stopped off in... Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul...

Instacart’s Fake IPO and Why Hiring in Tech Is So Broken

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2023 10:21am PDT

Like all industries, Silicon Valley gets set in its ways. So I particularly enjoyed a comment from Sam pointing out the absurdity of tech hiring practices on this week's episode of More or Less. It is definitely food for thought, along with our debate about when tech companies should go public. Hope you enjoy! Spotify Apple YouTube... Like all industries, Silicon Valley gets set in its ways. So I particularly enjoyed a comment...

If AI researchers can meet Nat Friedman's Vesuvius Challenge, “It’ll be the first time we’ve read handwriting that hasn’t been seen in 2,000 years.” Art by Clark Miller

Nat Versus the Volcano: Can an AI Investor Solve an Ancient Mystery from the Ashes of Vesuvius?

By Margaux MacColl · Sep 22, 2023 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

Long before men’s daily thoughts about ancient Rome became a TikTok meme, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman’s mind was regularly turning toward the Roman Empire. In the early pandemic months of 2020, he ripped through Philip Matyszak’s “24 Hours in Ancient Rome,” a book that, by his own admission, was “written... Long before men’s daily thoughts about ancient Rome became a TikTok meme, former GitHub CEO...

Pro Weekly: Readers Temper Their Optimism About Tech

Pro Weekly: Readers Temper Their Optimism About Tech

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 22, 2023 8:00am PDT

Readers of The Information are feeling the back-to-school blues. In our latest monthly survey, around 30% of the 680 respondents said they anticipate conditions for technology companies will improve in the next six months, roughly the same as the percentage of people who think conditions will worsen. The rest don’t think much will change.... Readers of The Information are feeling the back-to-school blues. In our latest monthly...

Art by Clark Miller

SpaceX’s Starship Setback Could Hold Up Cellphone Ambitions

By Becky Peterson · Sep 22, 2023 6:28am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

SpaceX’s Starship Setback Could Hold Up Cellphone Ambitions

By Becky Peterson · Sep 22, 2023 6:28am PDT

When SpaceX’s new Starship rocket exploded during a test flight in April, the company largely painted it as a success to have even gotten the 400-foot-tall behemoth off the ground. But inside the company, some employees were worried that the setback could delay, among other things, a SpaceX plan to provide wireless coverage to cellphones... When SpaceX’s new Starship rocket exploded during a test flight in April, the company...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Google’s Standoff with AI Chip 'Shark' Broadcom

By Amir Efrati · Sep 21, 2023 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

Jim Cramer, CNBC’s “Mad Money” host, took a swipe at our report today that Google has set an internal goal to break from Broadcom, its supplier of artificial intelligence chips. Cramer called the story “patently false” on X. Cramer, who has been particularly bullish on Broadcom lately, is often criticized for dispensing bad advice—for example,... Jim Cramer, CNBC’s “Mad Money” host, took a swipe at our report today that Google has set an...

YouTube's new generative AI feature, Dream Screen, creates photos and videos based on creators' prompts. Photo via YouTube

Creator Economy

YouTube Ushers in Fresh Wave of Creator AI Tools

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 21, 2023 2:42pm PDT

Startups this year have been busy launching artificial intelligence tools, from chatbots to editing features, aimed at lightening creators’ workloads. Now YouTube is the first of the major social platforms to go hard on its own AI offerings for creators. At its Made on YouTube event in New York on Thursday, the Google-owned company made... Startups this year have been busy launching artificial intelligence tools, from chatbots to...

Photo via Shutterstock

The New VC Mantra: It's ‘Time to IPO’

By Kate Clark · Sep 21, 2023 12:57pm PDT

“It’s time to build” became the rallying cry of venture capitalists after Marc Andreessen published his blog post in 2020, as the economy was reeling from the pandemic’s outbreak. More than three years later, a new one has entered the mix: It’s “time to IPO,” wrote Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of investment firm Altimeter Capital, in a post on... “It’s time to build” became the rallying cry of venture capitalists after Marc Andreessen...

GGV Capital partners Jeff Richards, Jenny Lee, Hans Tung and Glenn Solomon. Photos by Getty

Another Major Venture Firm to Separate China Investment Partners Following U.S. Pressure

By Juro Osawa and Kate Clark · Sep 21, 2023 9:49am PDT

GGV Capital partners Jeff Richards, Jenny Lee, Hans Tung and Glenn Solomon. Photos by Getty

Another Major Venture Firm to Separate China Investment Partners Following U.S. Pressure

By Juro Osawa and Kate Clark · Sep 21, 2023 9:49am PDT

GGV Capital, a prominent venture capital firm managing $9.2 billion in assets, plans to separate its China and U.S. teams following scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington about the national security implications of the firm’s investments in Chinese artificial intelligence and semiconductor firms, according to a notice the firm sent to its... GGV Capital, a prominent venture capital firm managing $9.2 billion in assets, plans to separate...

Subscriber Survey

The Information Readers Are Wary of Doing Business With China

By Akash Pasricha · Sep 21, 2023 9:20am PDT

Readers of The Information are hesitant to do business with China and also have grown more pessimistic about the global outlook for technology companies, according to our most recent survey. More than one-third of survey respondents think President Joe Biden’s China policies aren’t tough enough, even after Biden last month banned... Readers of The Information are hesitant to do business with China and also have grown more...

Photo via Jacopo Pantaleoni.

Nvidia Engineer’s Message to Google AI Researchers: Leave Your Company

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

Jacopo Pantaleoni joined Nvidia in 2001 when the company had less than 500 employees. He worked on what was then a small research project to improve Nvidia’s graphics processing units so they could better render images on computers and gaming consoles.More than two decades later, Nvidia has more than 26,000 employees and its GPUs are at the... Jacopo Pantaleoni joined Nvidia in 2001 when the company had less than 500 employees. He worked...

Photo via Getty

TikTok Plans Seattle Beachhead for Shopping Expansion

By Erin Woo · Sep 21, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As TikTok seeks to compete with Amazon, it’s planting a flag in the e-commerce giant’s backyard. The video app company is using the Seattle area as the base for an aggressive expansion into online shopping, the company confirmed. TikTok is offering existing employees in other TikTok offices, such as Los Angeles and New York... As TikTok seeks to compete with Amazon, it’s planting a flag in the e-commerce...

A lithium brine operation in Chile's Salar de Atacama. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lower Metals Costs Invite Risky Forecasts of More-Robust EV Sales

By Steve LeVine · Sep 21, 2023 4:49am PDT

A lithium brine operation in Chile's Salar de Atacama. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lower Metals Costs Invite Risky Forecasts of More-Robust EV Sales

By Steve LeVine · Sep 21, 2023 4:49am PDT

Recent declines in the cost of batteries have persuaded some analysts to significantly increase their forecasts of electric vehicle sales later this decade. But the sales projections partly depend on the prices of battery metals like lithium and nickel staying comparatively low, a considerable risk given wild price swings over the last two... Recent declines in the cost of batteries have persuaded some analysts to significantly increase...