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

Art by Clark Miller

Market Research

Roadie Revolution: The Stunning New Tech on Silicon Valley Bikes

By Tim Stevens · Apr 8, 2023 7:00am PDT · 7 comments

As a technology, the bicycle hasn’t changed much since 1885, when designer J.K. Starley decided to use a chain to drive the rear wheel. Nearly 140 years later, a foot still turns a crank that pulls a chain that spins a wheel. But the tech that’s layered on top of the modern bicycle is the stuff of sci-fi. I spoke with a number of... As a technology, the bicycle hasn’t changed much since 1885, when designer J.K. Starley...

Crime Data vs. Lived Reality

Crime Data vs. Lived Reality

By Jon Steinberg · Apr 8, 2023 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Hi, welcome to your Weekend. This week, Annie brings us the story of a family-run startup arming young women with a new kind of safety device: The Birdie. Invented by two sisters whose children had been sexually assaulted, the emergency alarm attaches easily to bags or belt loops and screeches like a smoke detector when it’s activated.... Hi, welcome to your Weekend. This week, Annie brings us the story of a family-run startup...

Art by Clark Miller

How Chess.com Became ‘the Wild West of the Streaming World’

By Jessica Lucas · Apr 7, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Michael Brancato began working with Chess.com in late 2017, it wasn’t particularly popular. A product manager at Twitch, Brancato was tapped to spearhead a two-year partnership between the chess site and the video streaming giant, hoping to grow the 1,500-year-old game’s reputation as a legitimate e-sport. He had his work cut... When Michael Brancato began working with Chess.com in late 2017, it wasn’t particularly...

Art by Clark Miller.

Fear the Birdie: Can an Ear-Splitting Device Make Women Feel Safer?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 7, 2023 9:05am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

Fear the Birdie: Can an Ear-Splitting Device Make Women Feel Safer?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 7, 2023 9:05am PDT · 6 comments

A few months ago, I broke down and bought myself a Birdie, a $30 personal safety device that’s the size of a canary and the color of a candy bracelet. When activated, it emits an electronic shriek that is said to reach 130 decibels, loud enough to make your ears hurt and, theoretically, to keep bad guys at heel. Already my relationship... A few months ago, I broke down and bought myself a Birdie, a $30 personal safety device...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Pro Weekly: Washington Calling

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 7, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!Scott is on vacation, and so I’m coming to you Pro subscribers this week to say a quick hello and share some thoughts ahead of this holiday weekend. It’s a pretty lively time between technology and Washington. Over the last few years, all anyone wanted to talk about was antitrust. And while those cases and issues are still... Welcome back!Scott is on vacation, and so I’m coming to you Pro subscribers this week to say a...

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI Developers Stymied by Server Shortage at AWS, Microsoft, Google

By Aaron Holmes and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 7, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Startups and other companies trying to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom sparked by OpenAI are running into a problem: They can’t find enough specialized computers to make their own AI software. A spike in demand for server chips that can train and run machine-learning software has caused a shortage, prompting major... Startups and other companies trying to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom sparked by...

Photo by Getty

What OpenAI Is Doing That Google Isn’t

By Martin Peers · Apr 6, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Sibling rivalry. It’s a real thing, as any parent with more than one child knows, and it can either motivate a kid to work harder or alienate them. No, you haven’t accidentally opened a newsletter about parenting. Sibling rivalry turns out to be a big problem in tech. It prevented the two AI labs within Google’s parent Alphabet from working... Sibling rivalry. It’s a real thing, as any parent with more than one child knows, and it can...

Art by Shane Burke

How Creators Are Making Money From ByteDance-owned CapCut

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 6, 2023 4:46pm PDT

Art by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

How Creators Are Making Money From ByteDance-owned CapCut

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 6, 2023 4:46pm PDT

So many TikTok videos on my For You Page the last few weeks have featured a CapCut overlay of “The Last of Us” actor Pedro Pascal eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The template, made on the app owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has been used more than 1.15 million times on TikTok and other apps, according to metrics from... So many TikTok videos on my For You Page the last few weeks have featured a CapCut overlay of “...

Photo by AP.

The Information's 411

Special 411 Podcast: Jessica Lessin interviews Kara Swisher

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 6, 2023 2:15pm PDT · 1 comment

A few weeks ago, at the SXSW conference, I sat down with journalist and the host of “Pivot” and “On with Kara Swisher,” Kara Swisher. With Silicon Valley Bank imploding around us, and technology companies on edge about all sorts of issues, it felt like a good time to check with Swisher on not just the state of tech, but... A few weeks ago, at the SXSW conference, I sat down with journalist and the host of...

Photo by Getty

Bessemer Fights to Win $350 Million Valuation AI Deal

By Kate Clark · Apr 6, 2023 12:53pm PDT

After months of writing about layoffs and cram downs, I stumbled across the rare buzzy deal in Silicon Valley this week. More than half a dozen venture capital firms have been vying for a stake in a San Francisco startup—EvenUp—that uses artificial intelligence to help personal injury lawyers compile claims using medical documents and case... After months of writing about layoffs and cram downs, I stumbled across the rare buzzy deal in...

Art by Clark Miller.

India Is the World’s Next Tech Manufacturing Hub

By Shaoshan Liu · Apr 6, 2023 9:00am PDT · 2 comments

Historically, India has been a software kingdom, a place where more advanced economies such as the U.S. outsource their development jobs. Lacking both the infrastructure and the expertise necessary to be competitive in manufacturing, India rarely produced any major consumer electronic products. That is poised to change. As major tech... Historically, India has been a software kingdom, a place where more advanced economies such as...

Comcast's Brian Roberts and Disney's Bob Iger. Photos by Getty

Comcast’s Roberts Has Upper Hand Over Iger as Hulu Battle Looms

By Sahil Patel · Apr 6, 2023 8:33am PDT · 4 comments

Comcast's Brian Roberts and Disney's Bob Iger. Photos by Getty

Comcast’s Roberts Has Upper Hand Over Iger as Hulu Battle Looms

By Sahil Patel · Apr 6, 2023 8:33am PDT · 4 comments

The last time Disney CEO Bob Iger and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts tangled, in a battle for control of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment business, Roberts came off second best. But as they prepare for their next contest, over ownership of streaming service Hulu, it’s the Comcast CEO who appears to have all the leverage. Next January,... The last time Disney CEO Bob Iger and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts tangled, in a battle for control...

OpenAI President Greg Brockman. Photo via OpenAI

The OpenAI Coder Who Spun Tech On its Head

By Jon Victor · Apr 6, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Greg Brockman needed a win. In 2017, Brockman—then chief technology officer of OpenAI, a 50-person nonprofit at the time—was worried about getting left in the dust by bigger rivals like DeepMind, an AI lab owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. He also was concerned that OpenAI might fall into the trap that had ensnared... Greg Brockman needed a win. In 2017, Brockman—then chief technology officer of OpenAI, a...

In September 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and his deputy, Drew Baglino, laid out a case for making battery electrodes in a completely dry process. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Tesla Recruits a Manufacturing Expert In a New Push for Cheap EVs

By Steve LeVine · Apr 6, 2023 3:30am PDT

In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist Matt Tyler to jump-start its stalled efforts to cut the cost of making batteries. As Tesla’s “director of dry electrode development,” Tyler is taking on a key challenge of the EV battery industry, one that some experts jokingly compare to making a... In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist...

Photo by Shutterstock

Arming the Enemy? Why U.S. VCs Investing in China AI Is Complicated

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

It’s become a major refrain among several U.S. tech leaders that the U.S. can’t let China win in artificial intelligence. And so it is pretty interesting that leading venture firms funded by U.S. endowments and other institutional investors are putting money into the most promising young AI startups in China. In an important piece in The... It’s become a major refrain among several U.S. tech leaders that the U.S. can’t let China win in...

Priyanka Naik, a self-taught vegan chef. Photo: Courtesy of Priyanka Naik.

The Ex-Twitter Employee Going Viral With Vegan Food

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 5, 2023 3:11pm PDT

Priyanka Naik, a self-taught vegan chef. Photo: Courtesy of Priyanka Naik.

Creator Economy

The Ex-Twitter Employee Going Viral With Vegan Food

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 5, 2023 3:11pm PDT

Until November, Priyanka Naik’s career as a food blogger took place around the sidelines of her main job at Twitter, where she most recently led the social network’s North American and Latin American partnerships with large companies developing products with its API, or backend to its tweet data. But after she lost that position in layoffs that... Until November, Priyanka Naik’s career as a food blogger took place around the sidelines of her...

Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla. Photo by Bloomberg

Winners and Losers of the Stablecoin Shakeout

By Aidan Ryan · Apr 5, 2023 9:08am PDT

Stablecoins have been in the spotlight recently, thanks to regulatory crackdowns and chaos in the traditional financial sector, and investors have been pulling money out of some stablecoins at a staggering pace. To recap what’s been going on: The New York State Department of Financial Services in February ordered Paxos to stop issuing the ... Stablecoins have been in the spotlight recently, thanks to regulatory crackdowns and chaos in the...

Tiger founder Chase Coleman. Photo by Bloomberg.

Tiger Global Tried to Sell VC Fund Stakes in Latest Sign of Strategy Shift

By Kate Clark · Apr 5, 2023 6:31am PDT · 2 comments

Tiger Global Management, the most prolific investor in private tech companies during the recent boom, also invested in dozens of venture capital firms as it sought to forge closer ties to the young startups those funds backed. But in recent months, the New York–based investment firm has been looking to dump some of those VC fund stakes. ... Tiger Global Management, the most prolific investor in private tech companies during the recent...

Art by Shane Burke/Shutterstock

Sequoia and Other U.S.-Backed VCs Are Funding China’s Answer to OpenAI

By Juro Osawa · Apr 5, 2023 6:00am PDT · 13 comments

A boom in artificial intelligence startup funding sparked by OpenAI has spilled over to China, the world’s second-biggest venture capital market. Now American institutional investors are indirectly financing a rash of Chinese AI startups aspiring to be China’s answer to OpenAI. The American investors, including U.S. endowments, back... A boom in artificial intelligence startup funding sparked by OpenAI has spilled over to China,...

An Amazon warehouse in Rialto, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Website Snafu Undercuts Its Image as a Well-Oiled Machine

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

An Amazon warehouse in Rialto, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Website Snafu Undercuts Its Image as a Well-Oiled Machine

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

Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier online retail website, was marking products made by big companies and foreign sellers with a label meant to denote small U.S. businesses has a comedic side (make sure you check out the anecdote about Chomps jerky). But there’s a serious angle here. Over... Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier...