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

Chegg headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif on May 2. Photo by Bloomberg.

ChatGPT Bandwagon Runs Over Chegg

By Martin Peers · May 2, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Are we at peak ChatGPT hype yet? It seems every company has got the memo that they need to declare how they’re using the technology. Just today, for instance, we heard from Uber (artificial intelligence will help Uber predict ETAs more accurately for riders), Box (announcing Box AI, “a breakthrough in how you can interact with your content”) and... Are we at peak ChatGPT hype yet? It seems every company has got the memo that they need to...

An advertisement in the Washington D.C. metro on March 30. Photo by Bloomberg.

Creator Economy

TikTok’s Head of U.S. Trust & Safety to Leave

By Kaya Yurieff · May 2, 2023 2:48pm PDT

It hasn’t been an easy few years to be the head of TikTok’s U.S trust and safety team, as the popular app deals with everything from reports its algorithm promoted eating disorders and suicide content to misinformation. Now it’s in search of a new leader. Eric Han, who was responsible for overseeing efforts to police harmful content on... It hasn’t been an easy few years to be the head of TikTok’s U.S trust and safety team, as the...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Writers’ Strike, DVDs and the Death of Free Money

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 2, 2023 9:00am PDT · 4 comments

Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, Parqor, part of The Information’s newsletter network. As of midnight last night, Hollywood’s writers are on strike. Their demands for better pay and better job security seem like the beginning of the end of this digital chapter in our entertainment industry. I would argue, however, that the... Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, Parqor, part of The Information’s newsletter...

Photo by Bloomberg

Scared of Leaking Data to ChatGPT? Microsoft Tests a Private Alternative

By Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · May 2, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Photo by Bloomberg

Scared of Leaking Data to ChatGPT? Microsoft Tests a Private Alternative

By Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · May 2, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Not everyone trusts OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While the new artificial intelligence–powered chatbot has proved popular with some businesses looking to automate business tasks, other companies, such as banks, have avoided adopting ChatGPT for fear that their employees would inadvertently give the chatbot proprietary information when they use... Not everyone trusts OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While the new artificial intelligence–powered...

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Photo by Bloomberg.

JPMorgan’s First Republic Deal Is a Home Run

By Martin Peers · May 1, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Talk about mixed feelings. Anyone who banks with First Republic is surely feeling relieved today, now that JPMorgan Chase has essentially taken over the bank in a rescue deal brokered by the federal government. After weeks of worrisome headlines and a steadily falling stock price, this is a good outcome for customers—even if it’s a disaster for... Talk about mixed feelings. Anyone who banks with First Republic is surely feeling relieved today,...

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Photo by Bloomberg.

JPMorgan’s Silicon Valley Moment

By Michael Roddan, Cory Weinberg and Becky Peterson · May 1, 2023 2:50pm PDT · 4 comments

When business payments firm Bill.com went public in November 2019, the banks leading the initial public offering included Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Jefferies. Missing was JPMorgan Chase, despite the fact that it had worked closely with the Palo Alto, Calif.–based company. Among other endeavors, JPMorgan made a strategic investment... When business payments firm Bill.com went public in November 2019, the banks leading the initial...

A TikTok ad in the Washington D.C. metro. Photo by Bloomberg.

Creator Economy

Where to Draw the Generative AI Line

By Kaya Yurieff · May 1, 2023 2:45pm PDT · 3 comments

We are living in interesting times. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence are forcing social networks like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram to grapple with videos and posts that use AI to make facsimiles of real artists and public figures. The output can be lighthearted—think Pope Francis in a Balenciaga puffer. But the technology... We are living in interesting times. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence are...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok Is Developing AI-Generated Video Disclosures as Deepfakes Rise

By Kaya Yurieff · May 1, 2023 11:28am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok Is Developing AI-Generated Video Disclosures as Deepfakes Rise

By Kaya Yurieff · May 1, 2023 11:28am PDT

Some viral TikTok videos may soon show a new type of label: that it’s made by AI. The ByteDance-owned app is developing a tool for content creators to disclose they used generative artificial intelligence in making their videos, according to a person with direct knowledge of the efforts. The move comes as people increasingly turn to... Some viral TikTok videos may soon show a new type of label: that it’s made by AI. The...

AI Push Drives Up Capex for Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft

By Martin Peers, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Akash Pasricha · May 1, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Big tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft have become more careful about spending over the past few months, with each laying off thousands of people. But all three are ramping up spending on servers and other technical infrastructure to gain the capacity to build and sell more artificial intelligence tools. The spending... Big tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft have become more careful about...

Li Auto's booth at the Shanghai Auto Show. Photo: VCG via Getty

The Electric: A Wake-Up Call for the West at the Shanghai Auto Show

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

After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week concluded a mobbed Shanghai Auto Show, and people returning from the event had a near-unanimous message: Chinese electric vehicle makers are coming to the West, and legacy auto and battery makers appear unready to defend their turf.The verdict seemed... After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week...

Scott Kauffman, left, is the acting CEO of IRL. Photo by Getty

IRL Suspended CEO Shafi After Reported Pattern of Misconduct; Acting CEO Named

By Mark Matousek · Apr 30, 2023 2:33pm PDT · 3 comments

A special committee of messaging app IRL’s board of directors suspended CEO Abraham Shafi on Friday after receiving a report from outside counsel that outlined a pattern of misconduct by Shafi, an IRL spokesperson told The Information. The spokesperson for the company, previously valued at $1.2 billion when SoftBank invested in it in... A special committee of messaging app IRL’s board of directors suspended CEO Abraham Shafi...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk told employees early Saturday they were welcome to subscribe to creators "and expense that back to the company.” Photo by Getty.

Twitter Intensifies Efforts to Woo Creators

By Erin Woo · Apr 29, 2023 1:02pm PDT · 2 comments

Twitter CEO Elon Musk told employees early Saturday they were welcome to subscribe to creators "and expense that back to the company.” Photo by Getty.

Twitter Intensifies Efforts to Woo Creators

By Erin Woo · Apr 29, 2023 1:02pm PDT · 2 comments

After spending six months alienating many of its biggest users, Elon Musk’s Twitter is now trying to woo creators. For the past few weeks, Twitter has been encouraging creators to sign up for its subscription product, through which users pay creators a few dollars a month to receive content that’s behind a paywall, as well as a badge... After spending six months alienating many of its biggest users, Elon Musk’s Twitter is now...

Revenge of the Social Media Clones

Revenge of the Social Media Clones

By Jon Steinberg · Apr 29, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.While we wait around for another bank to collapse (First Republic, we hardly knew ye), the opposite is happening in social media. A thousand new apps are blooming! With Bluesky and Lemon8 and Mastodon and T2 soaking up attention, it feels like 2008 again in the Valley—except that all the coding is being done by GPTs... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.While we wait around for another bank to collapse (First Republic, we...

Art by Clark Miller

Tech’s Newest Side Hustle: Prompt Engineers Surf the AI Wave

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Apr 29, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Bohdan Skitenko has been working in the design industry, producing 3D art and animation, for around five years. But it was when version four of generative AI image creator Midjourney was released in November 2022 that he began thinking about pivoting his career toward a more artificial intelligence–integrated one. “I realized that... Bohdan Skitenko has been working in the design industry, producing 3D art and animation, for...

IRL CEO and Co-founder Abraham Shafi. Art by Mike Sullivan

IRL’s CEO Steps Down After Allegation of Inflated User Numbers

By Mark Matousek and Amir Efrati · Apr 28, 2023 3:20pm PDT

Abraham Shafi has stepped down as CEO of messaging app IRL following allegations that the company used bots to inflate the users it reported publicly and to investors, according to a person with direct knowledge. The abrupt change happened after The Information reported a former employee alleged he was fired after expressing concern that a high... Abraham Shafi has stepped down as CEO of messaging app IRL following allegations that the company...

Art by Clark Miller.

ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller.

ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice creators plugging yet another new social media platform. “Follow me on Lemon8!” one said. “It’s going to be the next big thing” the next interjected. “You need to get on TikTok’s new app Lemon8,” another... Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice...

Photo by Getty

Sequoia Hired National Security Firm Beacon Amid Scrutiny of China Deals

By Juro Osawa, Amir Efrati and Abram Brown · Apr 28, 2023 9:12am PDT

Sequoia Capital, whose Chinese affiliate became one of the biggest funders of startups in China, has been working with Washington-based national security advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies as it faces potential U.S. government restrictions on American technology investment in China, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. ... Sequoia Capital, whose Chinese affiliate became one of the biggest funders of startups in China,...

Art by Clark Miller

Copy and Kill: The Ex-Tweeps Hatching a Plan to Knock Off Twitter

By Arielle Pardes · Apr 28, 2023 9:00am PDT · 6 comments

On the day Sarah Oh got laid off from Twitter last November, her friend Gabor Cselle called with his condolences. Then he made her an offer: Would she help him build a better Twitter? Cselle wasn’t trying to reinvent the social media wheel. He just wanted to return to a simpler time on the platform—before 4,000-character tweets or... On the day Sarah Oh got laid off from Twitter last November, her friend Gabor Cselle called with...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Pro Weekly: Cost Cutting Shakes up the Org Charts

By Kalley Huang · Apr 28, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!I’m Kalley Huang, a data reporter for The Information. I’m now writing The Pro Weekly. Please feel free to ask questions and share feedback at [email protected]. With sales stagnating or falling, tech companies continue looking for ways to cut costs. They are thinning their ranks, shuttering products and streamlining... Welcome back!I’m Kalley Huang, a data reporter for The Information. I’m now writing The Pro...

Jon Korngold. Photo by Getty/Illustration by Shane Burke.

Blackstone Growth Chief Korngold Sees Opportunity in Wake of Turmoil

By Rachel Graf · Apr 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Jon Korngold. Photo by Getty/Illustration by Shane Burke.

The Big Interview

Blackstone Growth Chief Korngold Sees Opportunity in Wake of Turmoil

By Rachel Graf · Apr 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Blackstone’s Jon Korngold has been winning deals since he was nine years old. Back then, the venue was a flea market rather than a boardroom, and the prize was often a random antique rather than a multibillion-dollar company. But he was a deal hound nonetheless, and he often got a better price than his mom, who collected antiques, could. ... Blackstone’s Jon Korngold has been winning deals since he was nine years old. Back then,...