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

Greg Becker, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Bank. Photo by Bloomberg.

Silicon Valley Bank’s Spiral

By Martin Peers · Mar 9, 2023 5:00pm PST

What a panic. You might have thought a new coronavirus had surfaced in Silicon Valley Bank’s Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters, as SVB investors (and, apparently, depositors) rushed for the exits. SVB’s shares fell 60% in regular trading and another 21% after hours. This doesn’t seem likely to end well. My best guess is that SVB will get... What a panic. You might have thought a new coronavirus had surfaced in Silicon Valley Bank’s...

Photo by Bloomberg

Silicon Valley Bank Told Some Customers Money Transfers Are ‘Backed Up’

By Kate Clark and Michael Roddan · Mar 9, 2023 2:59pm PST · 5 comments

Silicon Valley Bank on Thursday told at least four clients that wire transfers could be delayed, and the bank’s support phone lines were recently inaccessible. Other clients reported trouble logging in to the company’s website to view their account information and make transfers. One founder who reached an SVB customer support agent... Silicon Valley Bank on Thursday told at least four clients that wire transfers could be delayed,...

Founder and CEO Hans Swildens of Industry Ventures in his office. Photo by The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty.

Venture’s Limited Partners Look for a Way Out; SVB’s Meltdown

By Kate Clark · Mar 9, 2023 2:13pm PST · 3 comments

Silicon Valley Bank’s stock was in freefall as I wrote this, down 60%, after it announced a $2.25 billion share sale, partially to counter “elevated cash burn” at the startups it banks. That news set off a wave of panic, with some VC firms like USV warning their portfolio companies to move their funds, we reported earlier today. CEO Greg Becker... Silicon Valley Bank’s stock was in freefall as I wrote this, down 60%, after it announced a $2.25...

Art by Shane Burke

Discord Joins the AI Stampede

By Isabelle Sarraf · Mar 9, 2023 2:00pm PST · 1 comment

Art by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Discord Joins the AI Stampede

By Isabelle Sarraf · Mar 9, 2023 2:00pm PST · 1 comment

Another company is jumping on the artificial intelligence bandwagon: Discord, which is infusing AI into several platform features, including its mascot bot, Clyde. The messaging app commonly used by gamers announced Thursday it’s dipping its toes into OpenAI technology, transforming Clyde into a talkative chatbot that can answer user... Another company is jumping on the artificial intelligence bandwagon: Discord, which is infusing...

Silicon Valley Bank CEO Tells VC Clients to ‘Stay Calm’

By Erin Woo, Amir Efrati, Lauren Tara LaCapra, Michael Roddan, Kate Clark and Kaya Yurieff · Mar 9, 2023 12:02pm PST · 8 comments

Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday told top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to “stay calm” amid concerns around a capital crunch that wiped nearly $10 billion off the bank’s market valuation. On a call, Becker said that “calls started coming and started panic.” He added that the bank has... Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday told top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew photographed in the company's Washington, D.C. office. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Plan to Stay in the U.S. Could Pose a Threat—to U.S. Tech Companies

By Matt Perault · Mar 9, 2023 9:00am PST · 8 comments

In a bid to avoid a U.S. ban, TikTok is embarking on a project to restructure its product and operations in the country. It plans to store local citizen data on local servers, create a domestic entity to house that data, comply with local legal and law enforcement requests for data, limit the flow of data across national borders—and spend... In a bid to avoid a U.S. ban, TikTok is embarking on a project to restructure its product and...

Greg Brockman. Photo by Getty

Q&A

OpenAI President on Musk Criticism: ‘We Made a Mistake’

By Jon Victor and Kevin McLaughlin · Mar 9, 2023 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Elon Musk fanned a growing culture war in artificial intelligence by confirming last week that he plans to develop an “anti-woke” alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as The Information first reported. Musk and other critics have a point, said Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s co-founder and president. In an interview, he said the... Elon Musk fanned a growing culture war in artificial intelligence by confirming last week that he...

Tonopah Flats, NV, where American Battery Technology is mining lithium from claystone. Photo: Courtesy American Battery Technology Co.

The Electric: A Big New U.S. Source of Lithium? Maybe.

By Steve LeVine · Mar 9, 2023 4:30am PST

Tonopah Flats, NV, where American Battery Technology is mining lithium from claystone. Photo: Courtesy American Battery Technology Co.

The Electric: A Big New U.S. Source of Lithium? Maybe.

By Steve LeVine · Mar 9, 2023 4:30am PST

A new report claims that Nevada land leased by lithium developer American Battery Technology Co. could contain the largest lithium deposit in the U.S., enough to equip 1.5 million electric vehicle batteries a year. The claim carries two big caveats: American Battery must do more work to confirm the size of the deposit, and it must perfect a... A new report claims that Nevada land leased by lithium developer American Battery Technology Co....

Photo by Bloomberg

To Prove Efficiency, Zuckerberg Should Reverse Name Change

By Martin Peers · Mar 8, 2023 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Here’s an idea for Meta Platforms as we wait for the company to unveil another round of layoffs: Mark Zuckerberg should reverse his decision to change the name of the company to Meta. That label might have made sense (at least to him) back at the height of the boom times, in the fall of 2021, when his focus was all metaverse, all the time. The... Here’s an idea for Meta Platforms as we wait for the company to unveil another round of layoffs:...

Julie McNamara, Spotify’s head of global podcast studios, oversees originals and exclusives. Photo: Spotify

Creator Economy

Spotify Redoubles Podcast Efforts

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 8, 2023 2:59pm PST

Over the past two years, Spotify became known for pricey, exclusive deals with popular podcasters, including Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper and Emma Chamberlain. But the audio streaming company also wants to help a broader swath of podcasters, an effort that was center stage at Spotify’s annual Stream On event in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Spotify... Over the past two years, Spotify became known for pricey, exclusive deals with popular...

Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic. Photo: YouTube/Centre for Effective Altruism.

OpenAI Rival Anthropic Raises Funding at $4.1 Billion Valuation

By Kate Clark · Mar 8, 2023 1:37pm PST

Spark Capital is leading a $300 million investment in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, one of the primary startup challengers to OpenAI, at a pre-investment valuation of $4.1 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal follows a $400 million investment in the startup by Google, one of the people said. ... Spark Capital is leading a $300 million investment in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic,...

Silvergate Bank's offices in La Jolla, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

VCs Step in as Silvergate Woes Send Crypto Startups Scrambling

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 8, 2023 1:00pm PST · 2 comments

Silvergate Bank's offices in La Jolla, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

VCs Step in as Silvergate Woes Send Crypto Startups Scrambling

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 8, 2023 1:00pm PST · 2 comments

Is crypto about to be unbankable? Crypto-friendly bank Silvergate is teetering, saying last week it could be left “less than well capitalized” after a run on deposits and shutting off its Silvergate Exchange Network payments system for crypto companies and big traders. The bank had been suffering from significant withdrawals following the... Is crypto about to be unbankable? Crypto-friendly bank Silvergate is teetering, saying last...

Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.com. Photo by Better.com.

Better.com CEO Doesn’t Rule Out More Layoffs or a Down Round

By Theo Wayt · Mar 8, 2023 11:18am PST · 1 comment

Better.com is staring into the abyss. The SoftBank-backed mortgage lender is fighting to survive amid high interest rates that have crushed its core refinancing business. In an interview with The Information, its founder and CEO—who went viral in late 2021 when he sacked 900 employees on a Zoom call—didn’t rule out further... Better.com is staring into the abyss. The SoftBank-backed mortgage lender is fighting to survive...

LinkedIn's San Francisco office lobby. Photo by LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Faces Growing Complaints From Recruiters Over Rising Prices

By Mark Matousek · Mar 8, 2023 6:00am PST · 6 comments

A core pillar of LinkedIn’s revenue growth in recent years, its recruiting services business, is under pressure as customers rebel against the company’s prices. LinkedIn has hiked the fees it charges for recruiter subscriptions so much that in recent months, as companies have slowed hiring, some tech firms and specialist recruiting... A core pillar of LinkedIn’s revenue growth in recent years, its recruiting services...

Photo by Getty Images

Can CEOs Please Stop Acting like Jerks?

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 7, 2023 5:00pm PST · 5 comments

Twitter CEO Elon Musk was speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference around the corner from our office in San Francisco today. You can’t have a conversation in Silicon Valley these days without him coming up. It’s not just that tech people love to talk about Twitter (and they do). It’s also that they love to talk about CEOs and their styles and... Twitter CEO Elon Musk was speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference around the corner from our...

Photo: Shutterstock/Shane Burke

TikTok Asks Creators to Help Win Over Lawmakers

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 7, 2023 3:04pm PST

Photo: Shutterstock/Shane Burke

Creator Economy

TikTok Asks Creators to Help Win Over Lawmakers

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 7, 2023 3:04pm PST

TikTok sent a message to some creators this week inviting them to join top company executives in Washington D.C. in late March as the ByteDance-owned company continues to fight calls for a ban of the app in the U.S.The trip would include “standing side by side with creators and the TikTok team at the U.S. Capital” to show TikTok’s positive... TikTok sent a message to some creators this week inviting them to join top company executives in...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Crypto Startups Scramble to Find Banks After Silvergate Meltdown

By Aidan Ryan, Akash Pasricha and Michael Roddan · Mar 7, 2023 2:39pm PST

Crypto companies need banks to operate—but finding one is getting a lot harder. During the crypto boom of recent years, a number of small banks looked past potential risks to embrace the fast-growing crypto industry. Now, following the implosion of FTX, top crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Bank is struggling to stay afloat and Signature... Crypto companies need banks to operate—but finding one is getting a lot harder. During the...

Art by Clark Miller.

Terms of Service Have Gotten Out of Control

By David Hoffman · Mar 7, 2023 9:00am PST · 11 comments

Over a decade ago, journalist Eric Felten claimed that “most of us make more legal agreements in a year than our grandparents made in a lifetime.” The same statement—if we equate “legal agreements” with “written contracts”—would be true today only if you changed “in a year” to... Over a decade ago, journalist Eric Felten claimed that “most of us make more legal...

Navan CEO Ariel Cohen. Photo via Navan.

No ‘Sugarcoating’: Travel Startup Navan’s Turbulent Ride Toward an IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 7, 2023 6:01am PST · 1 comment

Ariel Cohen took the stage sipping champagne before 9 a.m. in front of more than 3,000 of his employees last month. Dozens of his travel software company’s workers, wearing purple pajamas, had just slept at the firm’s Palo Alto office. Another executive urged employees to get up and dance. They were celebrating a rebrand of the... Ariel Cohen took the stage sipping champagne before 9 a.m. in front of more than 3,000 of his...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple and Samsung’s Teamwork

By Martin Peers · Mar 6, 2023 5:00pm PST

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple and Samsung’s Teamwork

By Martin Peers · Mar 6, 2023 5:00pm PST

Comedian Louis C.K. had a smart observation a few years ago about how quickly people become blasé about the wonders of modern life, such as plane flight. His commentary came to mind after I read my colleague Wayne Ma’s story this morning about Apple’s rocky business marriage with Samsung. Among other things, the story describes how hard it is to... Comedian Louis C.K. had a smart observation a few years ago about how quickly people become blasé...