The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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

Illustration via Shutterstock.

What Deals Drought? Founders Without Backing Are Still Selling Their Businesses

By Rachel Graf · May 30, 2023 8:00am PDT

Merger and acquisition activity has been anemic for more than a year, with buyers and sellers often far apart on price after valuations have taken a beating. But one corner of the M&A market has held up much better than others during the doldrums: the sale of companies owned by a founder with neither venture capital nor private equity... Merger and acquisition activity has been anemic for more than a year, with buyers and sellers...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Bloomberg.

TikTok CEO Expands Purview to Include ByteDance’s New App Lemon8

By Juro Osawa · May 30, 2023 5:59am PDT

The Singapore-based CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, is getting a bigger job. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is putting its newer social media app, Lemon8, under Chew’s supervision, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The move appears to reflect ByteDance’s strategy of locating the heads of its... The Singapore-based CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, is getting a bigger job. TikTok’s Chinese...

Mixed hydroxide precipitate, the go-to feedstock for battery nickel sulfate, on a conveyor belt at Indonesia's Harita Group, which pioneered the process. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

The Electric: Western Auto and Battery Makers’ Big Gamble on Indonesian Nickel

By Steve LeVine · May 29, 2023 4:30am PDT

For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in Russia or the Philippines and smelted at temperatures up to 2,900 degrees. But demand for nickel is outstripping supplies because the metal is a key component in most electric vehicle batteries. So metals producers have turned to a new supplier—... For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in...

Art by Clark Miller

How to Grease a Chatbot: E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses

By Chris Stokel-Walker · May 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Clark Miller

How to Grease a Chatbot: E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses

By Chris Stokel-Walker · May 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

When Andy Wilson’s company received its first successful client referral through ChatGPT, he was shaken to his core. The founder and CEO of Logikcull, a San Francisco–based legal technology company, Wilson “had the exact same reaction to ChatGPT as I had to the internet browser in the early ’90s,” he said.... When Andy Wilson’s company received its first successful client referral through ChatGPT,...

The Short Seller Who Told Us So

The Short Seller Who Told Us So

By Jon Steinberg · May 27, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Wall Street short sellers are not everyone’s cup of tea. That goes double for a lifelong contrarian like Marc Cohodes, who sees himself as an anti-fraud vigilante fighting for the little guys—while also being a loudmouth bully on Twitter. Nobody knows this better than veteran finance journalist Michelle Celarier,... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Wall Street short sellers are not everyone’s cup of tea. That goes...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Cut Key Software Before DeSantis Audio Glitch

By Kevin McLaughlin and Erin Woo · May 26, 2023 2:12pm PDT · 11 comments

On Wednesday night, Twitter experienced multiple outages during a high-profile live audio forum on the app in which Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his presidential campaign. While the specific reason for the flub couldn’t be learned, the company several weeks ago stopped paying for special software that handles high-traffic... On Wednesday night, Twitter experienced multiple outages during a high-profile live audio forum...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Day TikTok Went Dark in India

By Amanda Florian · May 26, 2023 11:00am PDT · 8 comments

On June 29, 2020, as thunderstorms swept Mumbai and daily Covid-19 cases in India surged by almost 20,000, millions of people began experiencing a flood of network errors on their mobile devices. TikTok—and nearly 60 other Chinese apps—had been driven offline in the world’s largest democracy. A sweeping government crackdown on... On June 29, 2020, as thunderstorms swept Mumbai and daily Covid-19 cases in India surged by...

Art by Clark Miller

The Master of Destruction Rides Again

By Michelle Celarier · May 26, 2023 9:00am PDT · 10 comments

Art by Clark Miller

The Master of Destruction Rides Again

By Michelle Celarier · May 26, 2023 9:00am PDT · 10 comments

In the spring of 2022, the irascible Wall Street short seller Marc Cohodes was in a particularly foul mood. The 62-year-old’s second marriage was on the rocks. He was recuperating from shoulder surgery after his horse rammed him. He couldn’t do much of anything besides fume and tweet about the financial markets. On April 29,... In the spring of 2022, the irascible Wall Street short seller Marc Cohodes was in a particularly...

Fewer creator startups are based in Los Angeles. Photo by Bloomberg

Pro Weekly: Creator Funding Flows to More Places

By Kalley Huang · May 26, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!Los Angeles, with its close ties to the larger entertainment industry, has emerged as the center of the creator economy. For years, startups serving creators have flocked to Southern California. But this year, more money is flowing to creator startups based elsewhere.Only 14% of the creator economy startups that have raised funding... Welcome back!Los Angeles, with its close ties to the larger entertainment industry, has emerged...

Chris Britt, co-founder and CEO of Chime.

Chime’s Slowdown Highlights Limits of Bank Disruptors

By Mark Matousek and Erin Woo · May 26, 2023 6:14am PDT · 11 comments

Chime found a way to offer zero-fee banking services without being a bank itself. But that approach is starting to show its limits. While Chime brought in more than $1 billion in revenue last year, according to two people familiar with the figure, Chime’s revenue growth has slowed dramatically since 2020. And behind the scenes, the... Chime found a way to offer zero-fee banking services without being a bank itself. But that...

Sam Altman. Photo by Bloomberg.

Big Tech Investors Have Drunk the AI Kool-Aid

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 25, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Since 100% of the conversations I have on a given day turn to artificial intelligence, I can’t stop thinking about the new technology, the new business models around it and how regulators will respond. And if I am being honest with myself, the answer to most of the questions that come up in these conversations is that I simply have no idea how... Since 100% of the conversations I have on a given day turn to artificial intelligence, I can’t...

Chart by Mike Sullivan

The Sudden Rise of Twitch Rival Kick

By Kaya Yurieff · May 25, 2023 2:12pm PDT

Chart by Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

The Sudden Rise of Twitch Rival Kick

By Kaya Yurieff · May 25, 2023 2:12pm PDT

A new livestreaming service called Kick has been attracting streamers with a revenue-split that lets creators keep 95% of their subscription revenue, a more generous deal than the 50% split they get from streaming site Twitch. A new report Thursday shows just how successful that perk has been. Hours watched on Kick climbed to 51.8... A new livestreaming service called Kick has been attracting streamers with a revenue-split that...

Bilal Zuberi. Photo courtesy of Lux Capital.

The Perils of Venture Patriotism

By Kate Clark · May 25, 2023 1:30pm PDT · 2 comments

Welcome back!U.S. venture capitalists seem to be gripped by patriotic fervor, with a growing faction urging their peers to back more companies that help the U.S. battle adversaries like China. That’s put other venture capital firms with large China footprints on the defensive, as I reported this week.The recent bout of nationalism has worried... Welcome back!U.S. venture capitalists seem to be gripped by patriotic fervor, with a growing...

Photo by Bloomberg.

JPMorgan Culling First Republic Bank’s Personal Credit Lines

By Maria Heeter and Michael Roddan · May 25, 2023 10:02am PDT · 1 comment

JPMorgan has told customers with personal credit lines at First Republic Bank that it will no longer offer those lines when they come up for renewal, according to correspondence viewed by The Information. The failed lender, which has been sold to JPMorgan, had offered personal lines of credit to its wealthy client base as a key way of attracting... JPMorgan has told customers with personal credit lines at First Republic Bank that it will no...

Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock (2).

It’s Storytelling, Stupid

By Andrew A. Rosen · May 25, 2023 9:00am PDT · 7 comments

Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, The Medium, part of The Information’s newsletter network. I doubt the shareholder lawsuit filed against former Disney CEO Bob Chapek and current Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy a couple weeks ago will go to trial. If Disney is guilty of fraud in how it represented the performance of its... Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, The Medium, part of The Information’s newsletter...

Microsoft's Satya Nadella, left, and Peter Lee. Photo by Bloomberg, Microsoft

How Microsoft Swallowed Its Pride to Make a Massive Bet on OpenAI

By Aaron Holmes · May 25, 2023 6:00am PDT · 15 comments

Microsoft's Satya Nadella, left, and Peter Lee. Photo by Bloomberg, Microsoft

How Microsoft Swallowed Its Pride to Make a Massive Bet on OpenAI

By Aaron Holmes · May 25, 2023 6:00am PDT · 15 comments

Satya Nadella didn’t want to hear it. Last December, Peter Lee, who oversees Microsoft’s sprawling research efforts, was briefing Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, and his deputies about a series of tests Microsoft had conducted of GPT-4, the then-unreleased new artificial intelligence large-language model built by OpenAI. Lee told... Satya Nadella didn’t want to hear it. Last December, Peter Lee, who oversees...

Ford CEO Jim Farley got concrete about his plans for iron-based batteries. Photo: Courtesy Ford

The Electric: Ford EVs Will Use Iron-Based Batteries, but Not Many and Not for a While

By Steve LeVine · May 25, 2023 4:30am PDT

The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—they largely use inexpensive iron-based batteries in their cars. By contrast, legacy Western car manufacturers have stuck almost entirely with more costly nickel-based EV batteries. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis have said they will use... The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg.

Nvidia’s AI Victory Lap

By Amir Efrati · May 24, 2023 5:31pm PDT · 1 comment

The most important acronym in business right now is AI, but another one—GPU—isn’t far behind. Today’s earnings forecast from chip designer Nvidia, which makes graphics processing units that power ChatGPT and its ilk, shows what surging demand for the data center chip is worth. Nvidia said it expected to generate about $11 billion in revenue... The most important acronym in business right now is AI, but another one—GPU—isn’t far behind....

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai

Shareholder Advisory Firms Call for Alphabet Chair’s Ouster

By Jon Victor · May 24, 2023 3:13pm PDT · 8 comments

Two influential shareholder advisory firms have taken an aggressive stance against Alphabet’s board of directors ahead of the company’s June 2 annual meeting, telling clients they should vote in favor of a majority of proposals submitted by shareholders to improve the company’s corporate governance—proposals the board... Two influential shareholder advisory firms have taken an aggressive stance against...

Mike Minton, Twitch's chief monetization officer. Photo: Twitch

Twitch Weighs Live Shopping and Even a Chatbot for Creators

By Kaya Yurieff · May 24, 2023 2:57pm PDT

Mike Minton, Twitch's chief monetization officer. Photo: Twitch

Creator Economy

Twitch Weighs Live Shopping and Even a Chatbot for Creators

By Kaya Yurieff · May 24, 2023 2:57pm PDT

Given that Amazon owns Twitch, you’d think that the live streaming service would have made commerce a key part of its product. That hasn’t been the case, though it’s tested features like affiliate links and even live shopping games. But Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief monetization officer, said it still has hopes for commerce—and live shopping may... Given that Amazon owns Twitch, you’d think that the live streaming service would have made...