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

Index Ventures Leads $50 Million Investment in AI Startup Weaviate

Index Ventures Leads $50 Million Investment in AI Startup Weaviate

By Kate Clark · Apr 20, 2023 11:00am PDT · 5 comments

Weaviate, an infrastructure startup whose technology is essential for companies trying to build generative AI tools, could probably have landed a higher valuation for its recent Series B given all the investor hype around AI right now. Instead, CEO and co-founder Bob van Luijt said he struck a quick deal after meeting with only three firms.... Weaviate, an infrastructure startup whose technology is essential for companies trying to build...

Art by Clark Miller.

America Is Holding Back Its Immigrant Entrepreneurs

By Gagan Sandhu · Apr 20, 2023 9:30am PDT · 13 comments

The U.S. is the best country in the world for entrepreneurs. Yet it’s also a country that goes out of its way to prevent many of the most promising would-be entrepreneurs from realizing their potential. Every year, the U.S. grants H-1B visas to 85,000 highly skilled foreign workers, nearly 70% of whom come to this country to work in the... The U.S. is the best country in the world for entrepreneurs. Yet it’s also a country that...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 Billion Venture Fund Records 20% Loss

By Erin Woo · Apr 20, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 billion venture fund, launched near the peak of the tech stock boom in October 2021, gave the New York hedge fund firepower to back hundreds of startups in under two years. Now the mammoth fund is bearing testimony to the bruising correction in private tech valuations that followed. Tiger has told investors... Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 billion venture fund, launched near the peak of the tech...

Shredded and crushed batteries, otherwise known as black mass. Photo: Courtesy Li-Cycle.

The Electric: What’s the Right Price for Recycled EV Battery Metals?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 20, 2023 4:30am PDT

Shredded and crushed batteries, otherwise known as black mass. Photo: Courtesy Li-Cycle.

The Electric: What’s the Right Price for Recycled EV Battery Metals?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 20, 2023 4:30am PDT

The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel, cobalt and lithium from discarded EV batteries and prevent them from ending up in landfills. But recyclers and their customers have struggled with a vexing question: How much should recycled battery material cost?Metals have been widely traded for... The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel,...

SeatGeek CEO Mr. Jack Groetzinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

The IPOs Are Coming (Maybe)

By Martin Peers · Apr 19, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news today that event-ticketing firm SeatGeek had filed confidentially with regulators to go public, just a few of days after blockchain firm Chia Network Inc. said it had done the same. (For more on Chia, see our Crypto Global newsletter today). A long... Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news ...

Igor Babuschkin and Elon Musk. Photos via TU Dortmund and Wikimedia.

Musk’s Leader for OpenAI Rival Was Recently Arrested for Domestic Violence

By Jon Victor · Apr 19, 2023 3:14pm PDT · 17 comments

Police in northern California last month arrested Igor Babuschkin, Elon Musk’s first known hire for a new company that aims to compete with artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, for domestic battery, public records show. A representative for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, Lisa Buuck, said the office had... Police in northern California last month arrested Igor Babuschkin, Elon Musk’s first known...

Brooke Berry, Head of Talent Development, speaks at the Snap Partner Summit. Photo via Snap Partner Summit livestream.

Creator Economy

Snapchat Is Doubling Down on Stories Revenue Sharing

By Erin Woo · Apr 19, 2023 1:58pm PDT

Erin Woo here, reporting from Snap’s Partner Summit in sunny Santa Monica, Calif. The big news for creators from the one-day developer conference: Snapchat is doubling down on sharing revenue from ads inserted into creators’ disappearing Stories to incentivize them to keep posting on the app. Snapchatters with at least 50,000 followers and... Erin Woo here, reporting from Snap’s Partner Summit in sunny Santa Monica, Calif. The big news...

SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger speaks to Senators during a hearing that revolved around rival Ticketmaster's competitive practices earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

SeatGeek Files Confidentially for IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 19, 2023 12:34pm PDT

SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger speaks to Senators during a hearing that revolved around rival Ticketmaster's competitive practices earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

SeatGeek Files Confidentially for IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 19, 2023 12:34pm PDT

Event ticketing company SeatGeek filed confidentially with regulators this month for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said, adding itself to a long list of firms aiming for IPOs once market conditions improve. Event ticketing company SeatGeek filed confidentially with regulators this month for an initial...

TikTok vice president Michael Beckerman photographs CEO Shou Zi Chew before he testifies to Congress on March 23. Photo by Getty.

ByteDance and TikTok Executives to Watch this Year

By Juro Osawa and Kaya Yurieff · Apr 19, 2023 9:29am PDT

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, thanks to his televised five-hour grilling by Congress last month and accompanying brush with viral TikTok fame, has become better known in the U.S. this year. But several other less well-known executives at the company are also playing critical roles and could gain visibility in the coming months. These include senior... TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, thanks to his televised five-hour grilling by Congress last month and...

Chia Network Founder and CTO Bram Cohen, left, and CEO Gene Hoffman, right.

Chia Network’s IPO Pitch: It's Just Another Software Company

By Akash Pasricha · Apr 19, 2023 9:00am PDT

Initial public offerings of any kind are notable these days, given that few IPOs have happened for more than a year. A crypto IPO is even more ambitious, given the regulatory crackdown on the industry. Despite all that, blockchain development company Chia Network, Inc. says it’s gearing up to go public. The company announced on Friday it... Initial public offerings of any kind are notable these days, given that few IPOs have happened...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How an Online Pharmacy’s Automation Project Went Awry

By Paris Martineau · Apr 19, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Last summer, Capsule—an online pharmacy startup that had won attention with its speedy prescription-drug deliveries and quirky practice of addressing customers in emails and over the phone as “dear”—had a crisis on its hands in New York, its most important market. Beginning in August, Capsule customers in the city began... Last summer, Capsule—an online pharmacy startup that had won attention with its speedy...

Photo by Shutterstock

Netflix Is Now a Real TV Firm: Slow-Growing but Printing Money

By Martin Peers · Apr 18, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Shutterstock

Netflix Is Now a Real TV Firm: Slow-Growing but Printing Money

By Martin Peers · Apr 18, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s growing slowly but producing lots of cash. The video-streaming giant reported what can only be described as anemic growth in the first quarter. Revenue rose 3.7%, which is the kind of growth rate we associate with traditional TV firms like Fox Corp.... Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s...

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

A Chart of Twitter Alternatives, From Mastodon to Spill

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 18, 2023 3:19pm PDT · 2 comments

I’ve been an avid Twitter user since April 2019, but I have to admit, the bird app isn’t doing it for me anymore. My user experience has worsened since Elon Musk took over the company in October, thanks to features that stop working and a string of changes to its verification system. More than a dozen social media apps, old and new,... I’ve been an avid Twitter user since April 2019, but I have to admit, the bird app isn’t doing it...

Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post, and The Information founder Jessica Lessin.

The Information’s Journalism Summer School

By The Information · Apr 18, 2023 10:33am PDT

The Information is delighted to again host a virtual summer journalism school for any student interested in a career in journalism. This year’s session will be hosted virtually on June 28, 2023. During these challenging times in the industry, our aim is to help connect aspiring journalists across career stages with industry leaders to... The Information is delighted to again host a virtual summer journalism school for any student...

Art by Clark Miller.

Buying Stocks Doesn’t Make You an Investor

By David Trainer · Apr 18, 2023 9:15am PDT · 9 comments

Last year was the worst year for the stock market since 2008—and for good reason. The nearly 19% drop in the benchmark S&P 500 in 2022 capped many years of wild speculation in capital markets driven largely by the Federal Reserve’s era of free money and government handouts. Dangerously loose fiscal and monetary policies sparked a... Last year was the worst year for the stock market since 2008—and for good reason. The...

Photo via Instacart.

Deal-Seeking Bidders Line Up for Instacart’s Private Stock

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 18, 2023 8:51am PDT · 2 comments

Photo via Instacart.

Deal-Seeking Bidders Line Up for Instacart’s Private Stock

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 18, 2023 8:51am PDT · 2 comments

For more than a year, investors have had little appetite for Instacart’s stock, available on the private market for tech shares. Now investors who may be hunting for bargains are starting to clamor for a piece of the grocery-delivery startup ahead of an expected initial public offering. For more than a year, investors have had little appetite for Instacart’s stock, available...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft Readies AI Chip as Machine Learning Costs Surge

By Anissa Gardizy and Wayne Ma · Apr 18, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

After placing an early bet on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has another secret weapon in its arsenal: its own artificial intelligence chip for powering the large-language models responsible for understanding and generating humanlike language. The software giant has been developing the chip, internally code-named Athena, since as... After placing an early bet on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has another secret weapon...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s New Savings Account Makes iPhones More Valuable—for Thieves

By Martin Peers · Apr 17, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now available through Apple Wallet, administered by Goldman Sachs, and you will get an interest rate of 4.15%, Apple announced today. That’s a very good rate—most other digital-only banks aren’t offering terms quite as generous (as for big banks, forget it—... Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now...

From left to right: Kim Larson of YouTube, Marc and Heidi D'Amelio of "The D’Amelio Show," and creator Jon Youshaei. Photos: Getty and Jon Youshaei.

Creator Economy

What to Expect at Our Creator Economy Summit

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 17, 2023 2:24pm PDT

I’m en route to Los Angeles today ahead of The Information’s third annual Creator Economy Summit on Thursday. This is the first time we’re hosting this event in person, and we are so excited to bring together more than 500 registered attendees, including creators, investors and entrepreneurs shaping the creator economy. (We are at full capacity,... I’m en route to Los Angeles today ahead of The Information’s third annual Creator Economy Summit...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by AP.

OpenAI Wraps Up Tender as AI Talent War Heats Up

By Jon Victor and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2023 7:31am PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by AP.

OpenAI Wraps Up Tender as AI Talent War Heats Up

By Jon Victor and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2023 7:31am PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI has told employees it has finalized a tender offer that allowed some staff to cash out their holdings, one person with direct knowledge of the situation said. The move caps a process that began last fall alongside talks to raise billions of dollars from Microsoft. Over the past few months, the San Francisco startup behind artificial... OpenAI has told employees it has finalized a tender offer that allowed some staff to cash out...