The Information

Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, and Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Photos via Getty.

Nvidia Faces DOJ Antitrust Probe Over Complaints From Rivals

By Anissa Gardizy, Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Aug 1, 2024 5:49pm PDT · 2 comments

Antitrust officials at the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating complaints that Nvidia is allegedly abusing its market dominance in selling chips that power artificial intelligence. In recent weeks, U.S. officials reached out to several Nvidia competitors, including Advanced Micro Devices and AI chip startups, to gather information about... Antitrust officials at the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating complaints that Nvidia is...

Art by Clark Miller. Michelle Ritter photo via BFA, Eric Schmidt via Getty.

An Eric Schmidt Investment Firm Crumbles After Mismanagement, Soured Romance

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Aug 1, 2024 10:01am PDT · 14 comments

Michelle Ritter felt stuck. She knew it was an odd thing to say last month, as she sat on the living-room carpet of the 13-bedroom Bel Air mansion—previously owned by the Hilton family—that she currently lives in. The owner of the mansion is Eric Schmidt, the 69-year-old former Google CEO, whom Ritter, 30, began dating in 2020 when... Michelle Ritter felt stuck. She knew it was an odd thing to say last month, as she sat on the...

XAI founder Elon Musk. Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

Musk’s xAI Has Considered Buying Character.AI

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Stephanie Palazzolo and Kalley Huang · Jul 31, 2024 4:18pm PDT · 2 comments

XAI, Elon Musk’s one-year-old artificial intelligence startup, has considered acquiring chatbot maker Character.AI as it looks for more ways to test its Grok AI models, according to a person who spoke with xAI leadership about the deal. The discussion may not result in a deal. But the internal debate at xAI points to the types of pairings... XAI, Elon Musk’s one-year-old artificial intelligence startup, has considered acquiring...

TikTok Spending Drove Microsoft’s Booming AI Business

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 31, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

TikTok Spending Drove Microsoft’s Booming AI Business

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 31, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft has had success reselling OpenAI’s artificial intelligence to its cloud customers, a core part of its plan to build a new multibillion-dollar profit machine. New data show which customers are powering the business. TikTok, for instance, was paying nearly $20 million per month to buy OpenAI’s models through Microsoft as of... Microsoft has had success reselling OpenAI’s artificial intelligence to its cloud...

John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Systems. Photo by Thibault Camus/POOL/AFP via Getty.

Veteran Dealmaker John Chambers to Join Board of Embattled AI Startup Humane

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 29, 2024 1:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Humane, the maker of a wearable device that aimed to replace smartphones, has told investors that former Cisco CEO John Chambers is joining its board of directors, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The move came after the six-year-old San Francisco startup recently considered a sale after reviewers panned the device, and it... Humane, the maker of a wearable device that aimed to replace smartphones, has told investors that...

A Pinterest banner at the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, marking the fifth anniversary of the company's listing. Photo via AP.

Pinterest, LinkedIn Team Up With Publishers to Sell Ads

By Sahil Patel · Jul 29, 2024 6:00am PDT

Social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn are trying a new tack to gain a bigger share of digital advertising—getting news outlets and other publishers to help them sell ads. Pinterest, for instance, is testing a new program through which publishers would be able to sell advertising on their Pinterest pages using the... Social media platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn are trying a new tack to gain a...

Photo via Stord.

Logistics Startup Stord Buys Part of Pitney Bowes’ E-Commerce Business

By Ann Gehan and Theo Wayt · Jul 26, 2024 12:44pm PDT

Logistics startup Stord is acquiring the e-commerce fulfillment services operations of publicly traded shipping services company Pitney Bowes, according to an internal memo sent to Pitney Bowes staff. It’s the second acquisition so far this year by the Kleiner Perkins– and Founders Fund–backed startup, which aims to help... Logistics startup Stord is acquiring the e-commerce fulfillment services operations of publicly...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

DoorDash Hires Flexport Executive to Deliver More Than Just Takeout

By Ann Gehan and Theo Wayt · Jul 26, 2024 6:00am PDT

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

DoorDash Hires Flexport Executive to Deliver More Than Just Takeout

By Ann Gehan and Theo Wayt · Jul 26, 2024 6:00am PDT

DoorDash is doubling down on its push to deliver more than just takeout noodles and late-night fast food. The company has hired an Amazon veteran and current Flexport executive, Parisa Sadrzadeh, as vice president of strategy and operations, a spokesperson confirmed. Her hire will help boost DoorDash’s efforts to deliver more types of... DoorDash is doubling down on its push to deliver more than just takeout noodles and late-night...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How Snapchat Struggled to Protect Teens From Drug Dealing, ‘Sextortion’

By Erin Woo · Jul 25, 2024 6:00am PDT

In the spring of 2021, Snap leapt into action. After the teenage son of a television host died from what his parents said were fentanyl-laced Xanax pills purchased on Snapchat—Snap’s social media app—the company declared a “code red,” an expression it uses for its highest-priority projects, according to two people... In the spring of 2021, Snap leapt into action. After the teenage son of a television host died...

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. Photo by Getty

Nvidia Devises Special Server Design to Boost China Sales

By Qianer Liu · Jul 24, 2024 7:49am PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia has a new workaround to U.S. export rules that block the sale of the most advanced artificial intelligence chips to China—pairing the chips with a special server. The company will next year launch a new AI chip specially tailored for the Chinese market that will be sold alongside a new server designed to maximize the performance of... Nvidia has a new workaround to U.S. export rules that block the sale of the most advanced...

Reed Hastings Backs Pro-Kamala Harris PAC with $7 Million Donation

By Julia Black · Jul 23, 2024 1:40pm PDT · 2 comments

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has given $7 million to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris’s run for president, the Republican Accountability PAC. Hastings said it was his biggest donation ever in support of a single candidate. The gift comes less than a month after Hastings joined the chorus of major Democratic donors asking... Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has given $7 million to a super PAC supporting Kamala...

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri. Photo by Anadolu via Getty.

Meta Employees Debate Merits of Threads’ No-Politics Policy

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Jul 23, 2024 1:29pm PDT · 2 comments

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri. Photo by Anadolu via Getty.

Meta Employees Debate Merits of Threads’ No-Politics Policy

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Jul 23, 2024 1:29pm PDT · 2 comments

Shortly after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential election Sunday, an employee at Meta Platforms posted in the company’s internal forum that Threads, its text app, was missing in action. “Biden dropped out 20 [minutes] ago and I can’t find anything on it in my feed,” the employee wrote in the post, which The... Shortly after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential election Sunday, an employee at Meta...

OpenAI’s Aleksander Mądry. Photo by Ben Hider/O'Reilly Conferences via Flickr.

OpenAI Removes AI Safety Leader Mądry, a Onetime Ally of CEO Altman

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 23, 2024 12:51pm PDT

OpenAI has reassigned the executive in charge of ensuring that its artificial intelligence won’t harm society to a different role within its research organization, the company told staffers last week. The executive, Aleksander Mądry, set up OpenAI’s Preparedness team last year to evaluate AI models for “catastrophic... OpenAI has reassigned the executive in charge of ensuring that its artificial intelligence...

An Apple store in Shanghai. Photo by NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Apple Moves Forward With Foldable iPhone

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Jul 23, 2024 8:10am PDT · 5 comments

Apple is working on a foldable iPhone that could be released as early as 2026 and in recent months reached out to suppliers in Asia to make components for the device, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The phone would fold widthwise like a clamshell, the people said. That would make it similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z... Apple is working on a foldable iPhone that could be released as early as 2026 and in recent...

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. Photo via Getty.

Condé Nast Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to AI Search Engine Perplexity

By Sahil Patel and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 22, 2024 10:19am PDT · 2 comments

Magazine giant Condé Nast has sent a cease-and-desist letter to artificial intelligence search engine Perplexity, demanding that it stop using content from Condé Nast publications in its search results, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Information. Condé Nast’s publications include The New Yorker,... Magazine giant Condé Nast has sent a cease-and-desist letter to artificial intelligence...

Art via Reddit/Shane Burke.

Reddit Teams Up With the NFL, NBA to Boost Revenue

By Sahil Patel · Jul 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

Art via Reddit/Shane Burke.

Reddit Teams Up With the NFL, NBA to Boost Revenue

By Sahil Patel · Jul 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

Reddit, known for its chat forums on everything from Proust to Wall Street stocks, is going big on sports. The newly public social media company has struck deals with sports leagues including the NFL, NBA and MLB to get videos and other content for its social media site, according to Reddit’s chief operating officer, Jen Wong. Reddit will... Reddit, known for its chat forums on everything from Proust to Wall Street stocks, is going big...

Madrid-Barajas Airport earlier today. Photo by Diego Radames/Anadolu via Getty.

CrowdStrike Crisis Gives Rivals Opening to Pounce

By Aaron Holmes · Jul 19, 2024 12:57pm PDT · 2 comments

CrowdStrike has long dominated the market for cloud-based software meant to protect customers’ networks from hackers, known as endpoint detection. But a botched software update on Friday that brought businesses from airlines to banks to a screeching halt may loosen the $74 billion market capitalization company’s grip on those... CrowdStrike has long dominated the market for cloud-based software meant to protect...

Wintermute co-founder and CEO, Evgeny Gaevoy. Photo by Joseph Nair/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Crypto Trading Giant Wintermute In Fundraising Talks

By Yueqi Yang · Jul 18, 2024 4:14pm PDT

Wintermute Trading, the crypto trading firm that has become a dominant market marker since the collapse of FTX, has been in talks to raise fresh money in a funding round, according to investors with knowledge of the process. The firm has been discussing a share sale of $100 million, with some of that money going to existing shareholders.... Wintermute Trading, the crypto trading firm that has become a dominant market marker since the...

Mei Cai. Photo via General Motors

Key General Motors Battery Executive Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Jul 18, 2024 2:05pm PDT

Mei Cai, who led the team that developed the next-generation battery powering General Motors’ electric vehicles, has resigned, the company confirmed Thursday. The move comes five months after GM hired Kurt Kelty, a Tesla veteran, to run its battery development efforts as vice president of battery. The China-born Cai, a 24-year GM... Mei Cai, who led the team that developed the next-generation battery powering General...

Art by Clark Miller. Altman via Getty Images.

OpenAI Has Talked to Broadcom About Developing New AI Chip

By Qianer Liu and Amir Efrati · Jul 18, 2024 12:21pm PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller. Altman via Getty Images.

OpenAI Has Talked to Broadcom About Developing New AI Chip

By Qianer Liu and Amir Efrati · Jul 18, 2024 12:21pm PDT · 2 comments

Last year, as the world’s top artificial intelligence developers were racing to speed up their work using ever-bigger clusters of computers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was trying to play a longer game. He decided to start a new company that could develop and produce a new AI chip and help set up chip factories to make them and data centers to... Last year, as the world’s top artificial intelligence developers were racing to speed up...