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

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty

Behind Meta’s ‘Made in USA’ AR Glasses: a Military-Grade Material

By Wayne Ma · Aug 10, 2023 6:00am PDT

Meta Platforms plans to build only around a thousand units of the first generation of its augmented-reality glasses due out next year, a tiny batch that it will just use for internal development and to demonstrate the device to the public. And yet, to build the glasses, Meta is using a convoluted and expensive arrangement involving factories in... Meta Platforms plans to build only around a thousand units of the first generation of its...

Proterra's bus manufacturing factory in Greenville, S.C. Photo: Courtesy Proterra

The Electric: The Valley of Death Takes Out Another EV Maker

By Steve LeVine · Aug 10, 2023 4:30am PDT

In May, Michael Shlisky, an analyst with investment bank D.A. Davidson, listened to electric truck and bus manufacturer Proterra’s first-quarter earnings call and was impressed: Just a few months earlier, the Burlingame, Calif., company’s share price had been in free fall, plunging 79% in six weeks, in part because it had been burning through... In May, Michael Shlisky, an analyst with investment bank D.A. Davidson, listened to electric...

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Getty.

Iger’s More Sober Tone Reflects Entertainment’s Existential Crisis

By Martin Peers · Aug 9, 2023 5:02pm PDT · 1 comment

Disney CEO Bob Iger must be wishing he was at Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park (“a land where fantasy reigns”) in Florida right now. His tone on Wednesday afternoon’s June-quarter earnings conference call was noticeably more sober than in the past, perhaps reflecting the existential crisis facing the entertainment industry. Not only are the... Disney CEO Bob Iger must be wishing he was at Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park (“a land where...

Photo via Getty.

Amazon Offers Sellers AI Tool to Write Product Descriptions

By Theo Wayt · Aug 9, 2023 2:58pm PDT

Photo via Getty.

Amazon Offers Sellers AI Tool to Write Product Descriptions

By Theo Wayt · Aug 9, 2023 2:58pm PDT

Amazon is rolling out an artificial intelligence tool for sellers on its marketplace that will write copy for product listings, a company spokesperson confirmed, marking one of the first examples of Amazon integrating large-language models into its e-commerce business. While Amazon’s highest-profile AI tools are ones its cloud unit, Amazon... Amazon is rolling out an artificial intelligence tool for sellers on its marketplace that will...

Photo via Shutterstock

Creator Economy

More Creators Have Trouble With Facebook Payments; TikTok’s New Trust & Safety Leader

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 9, 2023 2:21pm PDT

You have to wonder what’s going on with the systems Meta Platforms uses to pay creators. Some this week have seen an alert that their accounts are restricted from making money due to “unusual activity.” That follows a glitch we covered last week that vastly inflated Facebook creators’ estimated earnings from posting Reels with licensed music.... You have to wonder what’s going on with the systems Meta Platforms uses to pay creators. Some...

Tome founders Keith Peiris (left) and Henri Liriani (right). Photo via YouTube/Greylock.

Tome, AI Startup Founded by Ex-Meta Managers, Discusses Fundraising at $600 Million Valuation

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Aug 9, 2023 1:15pm PDT · 14 comments

Tome, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to make it easier to create and design presentations, has talked to investors about raising new money that could double its valuation to up to $600 million, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The new financing could amount to $60 million, according to one of the... Tome, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to make it easier to create and design...

Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Coinbase Goes Local With Policy Blitz

By Aidan Ryan · Aug 9, 2023 9:00am PDT

Crypto regulation has been a hot topic in 2023, thanks to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance. But crypto companies have much more to deal with than federal regulators.Case in point: Last week, as CEO Brian Armstrong and other Coinbase executives were discussing second-quarter results with analysts,... Crypto regulation has been a hot topic in 2023, thanks to the Securities and Exchange Commission’...

Art generated by Midjourney.

Author Paranoia About AI Finds New Targets

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 9, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art generated by Midjourney.

Author Paranoia About AI Finds New Targets

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 9, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

AI founders need to watch out. It’s no secret that publishers and writers are sensitive about large-language models using their data for training. But just how sensitive became clear in the recent shuttering of a six-year-old publishing dataset called Prosecraft.The service, created in 2017 by Benji Smith, founder and CEO at word processor ... AI founders need to watch out. It’s no secret that publishers and writers are sensitive about...

The People in Charge as Adobe Moves Into Generative AI

By Kalley Huang · Aug 9, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Adobe jumped into the generative artificial intelligence race in March by releasing a beta version of Firefly, which generates images based on text prompts. As it competes with smaller startups such as OpenAI and Runway, the 41-year-old software giant—which has more than 28,000 employees—is leaning on its practice of having teams... Adobe jumped into the generative artificial intelligence race in March by releasing a beta...

Sandie Hawkins, former TikTok U.S. E-Commerce General Manager (right), with The Information's Kaya Yurieff at our Creator Economy Summit in April. Photo by Erin Beach.

TikTok Is Amid an Overhaul

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 8, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Part of the fun of business reporting is reading between the lines. When you follow a company or industry closely, eventually you pick up on very subtle shifts. And often those lead to even bigger ones. That’s happening at TikTok right now. The company has swung hard from being a little languid and consumed by political pressures to... Part of the fun of business reporting is reading between the lines. When you follow a company or...

Tara Walpert Levy, YouTube vice president of Americas. Photo: YouTube

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Walpert Levy on the AI ‘Tsunami’

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 8, 2023 2:28pm PDT

YouTube is getting ready to release generative AI tools for creators. But unlike rivals such as Facebook-parent Meta Platforms, it’s less interested in chatbots—the conversational software that can take on a persona such as Tony Soprano. Instead, it’s focusing on tools that will power video editing or help creators generate ideas, said Tara... YouTube is getting ready to release generative AI tools for creators. But unlike rivals such as ...

Sandie Hawkins. Photo by Erin Beach.

TikTok Replaces Top Shopping Executive With Retail Veterans

By Erin Woo · Aug 8, 2023 11:30am PDT

Sandie Hawkins. Photo by Erin Beach.

TikTok Replaces Top Shopping Executive With Retail Veterans

By Erin Woo · Aug 8, 2023 11:30am PDT

TikTok has hired two retail veterans who worked at Amazon and Meta Platforms to help oversee its ambitious push to build a giant U.S. ecommerce business. At the same time, TikTok’s U.S. ecommerce general manager, Sandie Hawkins, is leaving the company, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. The shakeup comes as... TikTok has hired two retail veterans who worked at Amazon and Meta Platforms to help oversee its...

Chart by Shane Burke.

OpenAI Quietly Releases Web Crawler; ChatGPT Flounders, Bard Flourishes in Latest Usage Data

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 8, 2023 7:30am PDT · 5 comments

One of the biggest complaints that ChatGPT users have is the lack of up-to-date information from the web in its models and chatbot. OpenAI’s announcement on Monday night of GPTBot, a web crawler that scrapes sites for data that may be used to improve its future models, could be the company’s answer.It might not be a coincidence that the... One of the biggest complaints that ChatGPT users have is the lack of up-to-date information from...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft vs. Google: The 10 Execs at the Center of Lobbying Battle

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 8, 2023 6:00am PDT

A nearly decadelong truce between Microsoft and Google is over—and the rivalry could reshape tech regulation for decades to come. The tech behemoths are at an escalating stand-off in Washington, with both companies deploying large lobbying teams to chip away at each other’s competitive advantages in software licensing, search and... A nearly decadelong truce between Microsoft and Google is over—and the rivalry could...

Bob Bakish, CEO and President of Paramount Global. Photo by Getty.

Paramount Global’s Q2 Results Show It’s Going Nowhere Fast

By Martin Peers · Aug 7, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Talk about a missed opportunity. Paramount Global said today it would sell its Simon & Schuster book business, which publishes author Stephen King, among others, to private equity firm KKR for $1.6 billion. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish should have thrown a few other assets into the deal, like some of its once-valuable cable channels (MTV, VH1,... Talk about a missed opportunity. Paramount Global said today it would sell its Simon &...

Alix Earle at her graduation from the University of Miami on May 11. Photo by Getty.

TikTokers Are Becoming Philanthropists

By Alex Perry · Aug 7, 2023 3:22pm PDT · 1 comment

Alix Earle at her graduation from the University of Miami on May 11. Photo by Getty.

Creator Economy

TikTokers Are Becoming Philanthropists

By Alex Perry · Aug 7, 2023 3:22pm PDT · 1 comment

Creators are lending their online influence to social causes. Alix Earle, a creator with 5.6 million followers on TikTok, is one of the most recent. This June she started a scholarship at the University of Miami for juniors and seniors pursuing a business degree at the University of Miami’s Herbert Business School. The 22-year-old, who recently... Creators are lending their online influence to social causes. Alix Earle, a creator with 5.6...

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, left, and Apple CEO Tim Cook in Arizona in December. Photo by AP

How Apple Will Save Billions of Dollars on Chips for New iPhone

By Wayne Ma · Aug 7, 2023 8:00am PDT · 9 comments

When Apple’s next iPhone goes on sale in September, its upgraded core processor will be more powerful than that of any rival smartphone. That’s possible because of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes all of Apple’s custom chips. TSMC is using a new process to make smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips,... When Apple’s next iPhone goes on sale in September, its upgraded core processor will be...

Photo via Midjourney.

Hype About AI ‘Agents’ Rises Again; Why GPUs Are So Hard to Find

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 7, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Like many others, I dream of having my own personal artificial intelligence-powered assistant to answer texts I’ve been avoiding or land that impossible-to-get reservation at a restaurant blowing up on TikTok. So like seemingly everyone else in AI-land, I was excited when a young startup, HyperWrite, publicly launched an AI-powered assistant... Like many others, I dream of having my own personal artificial intelligence-powered assistant to...

Navin Chaddha and Jenny Lefcourt. Photos via Getty

Venture Firms Still Writing Small Checks Despite $271 Billion in ‘Dry Powder’

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 7, 2023 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

In 2019, Sean Park—a co-founder of Anthemis Group—was on the road 200 nights a year, traveling to Boston, London and other tech hot spots to meet with startups. Even after Covid-19 curtailed travel, Park, who is also the firm’s chief investment officer, was swamped with Zoom meetings with entrepreneurs he was thinking about... In 2019, Sean Park—a co-founder of Anthemis Group—was on the road 200 nights a year,...

German electric air taxi maker Lilium hopes to begin commercial operations in 2025. Photo: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg via Getty

The Electric: A University Leaps Into Electric Aviation

By Steve LeVine · Aug 7, 2023 4:30am PDT

German electric air taxi maker Lilium hopes to begin commercial operations in 2025. Photo: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg via Getty

The Electric: A University Leaps Into Electric Aviation

By Steve LeVine · Aug 7, 2023 4:30am PDT

In 2000, Toyota introduced the hybrid Prius in the U.S. Sales started slowly—Americans bought just 5,600 of the novel cars that first year and 15,600 the next, a tiny fraction of the Japanese company’s sales. Yet-Ming Chiang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who at the time was just about to set up his own battery... In 2000, Toyota introduced the hybrid Prius in the U.S. Sales started slowly—Americans bought...