The Information

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ByteDance Steps Up AI Chip Efforts

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Sep 16, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is accelerating efforts to make its own artificial intelligence chips as it looks for an edge over its rivals in China’s AI chatbot market. ByteDance is aiming for mass production of two semiconductors it has designed by 2026, in collaboration with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.,... TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is accelerating efforts to make its own artificial...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Tiger Global Plans to Join OpenAI’s Funding Round

By Kate Clark · Sep 13, 2024 7:13am PDT

A clearer picture is emerging of OpenAI’s massive financing, which values the ChatGPT developer at $150 billion. Venture capital firm Tiger Global Management plans to participate in the multi-billion dollar round, according to people familiar with the matter. Tiger would join Thrive Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and the Abu Dhabi AI... A clearer picture is emerging of OpenAI’s massive financing, which values the ChatGPT...

OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap. Photo by STR via Getty

OpenAI COO Says ChatGPT Passed 11 Million Paying Subscribers

By Amir Efrati · Sep 12, 2024 2:44pm PDT

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has more than 10 million paying subscribers and another 1 million subscribers that are part of higher-priced plans for business teams, COO Brad Lightcap recently told staff in a message, according to a person who viewed the message. Those numbers, which the company hasn’t publicly disclosed, imply that the artificial... OpenAI’s ChatGPT has more than 10 million paying subscribers and another 1 million...

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai earlier this year. Photo by Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty.

OpenAI in Talks with UAE Investment Fund for $7 Billion Fundraising

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Sep 12, 2024 11:35am PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai earlier this year. Photo by Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty.

OpenAI in Talks with UAE Investment Fund for $7 Billion Fundraising

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Sep 12, 2024 11:35am PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI has told investors it may try to raise as much as $7 billion in a massive fundraising round that would value it at $150 billion. It is in talks with MGX, the $100 billion United Arab Emirates-backed investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter, as well as tech and VC investors such as Microsoft and Thrive Capital. A... OpenAI has told investors it may try to raise as much as $7 billion in a massive fundraising...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Stripe’s Challenges With Wells Fargo, Goldman Highlight Payments Risks

By Michael Roddan · Sep 10, 2024 10:39am PDT · 2 comments

Last year, staff inside Stripe got some alarming news: The payment giant’s relationship with a key bank partner was about to change—for the worse. Wells Fargo executives had told Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison they wanted to end a partnership powering Stripe’s payments, according to three former Stripe employees... Last year, staff inside Stripe got some alarming news: The payment giant’s relationship...

Art by Clark Miller

Inside TikTok, It’s Business as Usual-ish as Ban Looms

By Kaya Yurieff and Juro Osawa · Sep 10, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Next Monday, attorneys for TikTok will attempt to convince a U.S. appeals court to slam the brakes on a government law that would shut the short video app down in January. Inside TikTok, executives have expressed confidence they will be able to pull that off, according to two people who have recently spoken to TikTok leaders. That legal... Next Monday, attorneys for TikTok will attempt to convince a U.S. appeals court to slam the...

A Huawei store in Chengdu, China. Photo via Shutterstock.

Apple’s China Rival Huawei Faces Production Snag With New Phone

By Qianer Liu · Sep 5, 2024 6:06am PDT · 1 comment

Huawei Technologies, whose phones are a major competitor to Apple’s iPhones in China, has scheduled a big product announcement for next Tuesday, the day after Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone. That would be an ideal time for Huawei to unveil its much-anticipated next flagship phone, the Mate 70. But Huawei and the company that... Huawei Technologies, whose phones are a major competitor to Apple’s iPhones in China, has...

ByteDance's Singapore offices. Photo via Shutterstock.

ByteDance Increases Share Price in Latest Employee Buyback

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 3, 2024 12:22pm PDT · 1 comment

ByteDance's Singapore offices. Photo via Shutterstock.

ByteDance Increases Share Price in Latest Employee Buyback

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 3, 2024 12:22pm PDT · 1 comment

ByteDance has increased its share price in its latest employee buyback, an increase that's in line with secondary market trades that have lifted its valuation close to $230 billion. The TikTok parent set the price for an upcoming employee share buyback at about $181 a share, while it will offer former employees about $154 a share, according... ByteDance has increased its share price in its latest employee buyback, an increase that's in...

Introducing the AI Data Center Database

By Anissa Gardizy · Sep 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

The biggest developers of artificial intelligence closely guard their state-of-the-art technology, but they’re arguably even more secretive about the specialized data centers needed to develop it. The Information is lifting the veil on existing and planned AI data centers, sometimes known as supercomputers or AI chip clusters, in a... The biggest developers of artificial intelligence closely guard their state-of-the-art...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Amazon Decided to Cozy Up to Meta and TikTok

By Theo Wayt · Aug 30, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Over the past two years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has sat down with some of the most high-profile CEOs in the social media business to discuss a range of topics including Amazon Web Services, which many of the social media companies use. Also on the agenda: letting Amazon sell its goods within TikTok, Instagram and other apps through a new... Over the past two years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has sat down with some of the most high-profile...

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty

Meta’s AI Assistant Wins Millions of Users in Challenge to ChatGPT

By Kalley Huang · Aug 29, 2024 12:55pm PDT · 5 comments

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants his company’s artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI, to be the world’s “most used AI assistant” by the end of this year, eclipsing OpenAI’s ChatGPT. He seems to be making progress. In early August, less than a year after its debut, Meta AI had at least 400 million... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants his company’s artificial intelligence assistant,...

A Meta employee wearing the Meta Quest Pro VR Headset. Photo by Getty

Meta Considers Mixed Reality Glasses Code-Named ‘Puffin’

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Aug 28, 2024 10:44am PDT · 2 comments

A Meta employee wearing the Meta Quest Pro VR Headset. Photo by Getty

Meta Considers Mixed Reality Glasses Code-Named ‘Puffin’

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Aug 28, 2024 10:44am PDT · 2 comments

Meta Platforms is planning a new mixed reality device that resembles a bulky pair of glasses, according to two Meta employees. The project, internally code-named Puffin, suggests the company is looking to design an alternative to its large, heavy headsets, which so far have had limited consumer appeal. Mixed reality is a combination of augmented... Meta Platforms is planning a new mixed reality device that resembles a bulky pair of glasses,...

Daniel Gross. Art by Clark Miller. Screenshot of Gross via YouTube.

The Superintelligence of AI Investor Daniel Gross

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 28, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Over the past decade, investor Daniel Gross has written checks for over 150 startups, including Cruise, Coinbase and Rippling. If there’s one deal that could define his legacy, though, you’ll find it a short walk away from his investment office in Palo Alto, Calif., at the headquarters of Safe Superintelligence Inc. The artificial... Over the past decade, investor Daniel Gross has written checks for over 150 startups, including...

Art by Mike Sullivan/ Midjourney

OpenAI Races to Launch ‘Strawberry’ Reasoning AI to Boost Chatbot Business

By Erin Woo, Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Aug 27, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

As OpenAI looks to raise more capital, its researchers are trying to launch a new artificial intelligence product they believe can reason through tough problems much better than its existing AI. Researchers have aimed to launch the new AI, code-named Strawberry (previously called Q*, pronounced Q Star), as part of a chatbot—possibly within... As OpenAI looks to raise more capital, its researchers are trying to launch a new artificial...

Coatue founder, Philippe Laffont, at The Information Private Capital Conference in April. Photo by Nicole Pereira.

Coatue Considers Selling Part of ByteDance Stake as IPO Remains Uncertain

By Jing Yang, Erin Woo and Juro Osawa · Aug 23, 2024 9:53am PDT · 1 comment

New York investment firm Coatue Management, an early and substantial backer of ByteDance that has a seat on the TikTok parent’s board, is discussing selling part of its stake, according to three people with knowledge of the talks. The firm has talked to brokers in the secondary market for private stocks to gauge the interest of potential... New York investment firm Coatue Management, an early and substantial backer of ByteDance that has...

An attendee of an event by The Washington AI Network tries out the Meta Quest 3 in April. Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images.

Meta Cancels High-End Mixed-Reality Headset

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Wayne Ma · Aug 23, 2024 8:15am PDT · 3 comments

An attendee of an event by The Washington AI Network tries out the Meta Quest 3 in April. Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images.

Meta Cancels High-End Mixed-Reality Headset

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Wayne Ma · Aug 23, 2024 8:15am PDT · 3 comments

Meta Platforms has canceled plans for a premium mixed-reality headset intended to compete with Apple’s Vision Pro, according to two Meta employees. Meta told employees at the company’s Reality Labs division to stop work on the device this week after a product review meeting attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Technology... Meta Platforms has canceled plans for a premium mixed-reality headset intended to compete with...

Stripe CEO, Patrick Collison. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Stripe, Now Gushing Money, Plans New Employee Tender

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 22, 2024 10:52am PDT · 3 comments

Stripe is planning a new tender offer to buy back shares held by employees, but it will finance this one entirely with its own cash, unlike in previous employee tenders. The financing approach shows how much the payment processing firm’s business has improved from the slump it experienced a couple of years ago. The company had about $615... Stripe is planning a new tender offer to buy back shares held by employees, but it will finance...

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E-commerce Startups Switch Gears as Shakeout Looms

By Ann Gehan · Aug 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

Last fall, after marketing software company Klaviyo went public at a market value of more than $9 billion, leaders at rival Attentive were cheerful about their own initial public offering prospects. At an all-hands meeting, executives told staff the Klaviyo debut showed that public markets could understand a company in the wonky business of... Last fall, after marketing software company Klaviyo went public at a market value of more than $9...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via AP.

Meta’s Search for AI Clout Takes It Into New Terrain

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan, Theo Wayt and Aaron Holmes · Aug 21, 2024 6:00am PDT

Meta Platforms knows how to get brands like Away and Temu to buy advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. If the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is to succeed at his goal of becoming a leader in artificial intelligence, though, Meta’s going to have to quickly learn a new skill: how to pitch software to big businesses. Zuckerberg... Meta Platforms knows how to get brands like Away and Temu to buy advertisements on Facebook and...

Bolt co-founder, Ryan Breslow. Photo via Getty.

Some Bolt Investors Balk at Founder’s Costly Attempt to Return as CEO

By Erin Woo · Aug 20, 2024 4:09pm PDT · 7 comments

Bolt co-founder, Ryan Breslow. Photo via Getty.

Some Bolt Investors Balk at Founder’s Costly Attempt to Return as CEO

By Erin Woo · Aug 20, 2024 4:09pm PDT · 7 comments

Ryan Breslow’s proposed return as CEO of Bolt, a commerce software firm that became one of the biggest symbols of investor overexuberance during the pandemic-fueled tech boom, would carry a high cost for existing investors. The deal proposed by Breslow and the company’s current CEO also would reward Breslow with lots of cash for... Ryan Breslow’s proposed return as CEO of Bolt, a commerce software firm that became one of...