The Information

Art by Mike Sullivan

Apple Aims to Cut Headcount on Some iPhone Assembly Lines by Up to 50%

By Wayne Ma · Jun 24, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

It was the kind of incident Apple executives never want to repeat. In November 2022, at a factory in Zhengzhou, China—the largest plant in the world for making iPhones—police officers in white hazmat suits beat factory workers, who had begun protesting over strict Covid-19 lockdowns and disputes over pay. Video of the episode, which... It was the kind of incident Apple executives never want to repeat. In November 2022, at a factory...

Incoming Stability AI CEO, Prem Akkaraju. Photo via Stability AI.

Stability AI Gets New CEO and a Bailout From Investor Group Led By Sean Parker

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jun 21, 2024 11:39am PDT · 2 comments

Stability AI, a startup that rode the boom in generative artificial intelligence to a $1 billion valuation before experiencing financial trouble and employee defections, has a new CEO. Prem Akkaraju, former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, will step into the role, according to a person involved in the decision. The 51-year-old... Stability AI, a startup that rode the boom in generative artificial intelligence to a $1 billion...

Cerebras’ third-generation wafer-scale engine (WSE-3). Photo via Cerebras.

Cerebras, an Nvidia Challenger, Files for IPO Confidentially

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 20, 2024 4:08pm PDT

Cerebras, a developer of artificial intelligence chips that’s trying to wrestle business from Nvidia, has filed confidentially with securities regulators for an initial public offering, according to a person involved in the decision. The startup has also notified Delaware, the state in which it is incorporated, that it is creating... Cerebras, a developer of artificial intelligence chips that’s trying to wrestle business...

Mubadala's Ibrahim Ajami. Photos via Flickr and Getty Images. Art by Shane Burke.

A Middle East Dealmaker Fights for Credibility in Silicon Valley

By Kate Clark · Jun 20, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Mubadala's Ibrahim Ajami. Photos via Flickr and Getty Images. Art by Shane Burke.

A Middle East Dealmaker Fights for Credibility in Silicon Valley

By Kate Clark · Jun 20, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In March, a group of VIPs piled into Qasr Al Sarab, a luxury resort two hours’ drive from Abu Dhabi, for an invite-only event co-hosted by Mubadala Investment Co., a $300 billion sovereign wealth fund based in the United Arab Emirates. It was the same hotel where, two years earlier, cast members of “Dune: Part Two” had gotten... In March, a group of VIPs piled into Qasr Al Sarab, a luxury resort two hours’ drive from...

Screenshots from Ohai's character roleplay interface.

China’s Top AI Startups Enter U.S., Defying Political Tensions

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · Jun 19, 2024 6:00am PDT

Chinese tech companies are facing more scrutiny in the U.S. than ever before. Yet some of China’s artificial intelligence startups are making a rush to grab U.S. customers. The reason: it’s too hard to make any money in China. One example is Beijing-based Moonshot AI, one of China’s most valuable AI startups. Its employees have... Chinese tech companies are facing more scrutiny in the U.S. than ever before. Yet some of...

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X. Photo by Getty

Some Advertisers Are Bargain Hunting on X. It May Not Be Enough

By Erin Woo · Jun 18, 2024 11:42am PDT · 3 comments

Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has lost so many big-name advertisers that it’s starting to look attractive—at least for smaller marketers focused more on luring new customers than burnishing their brand name. But even that may not be enough to turn around X’s much-shrunken ad business. One advertiser who is... Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has lost so many big-name advertisers that...

Apple's Vision Pro headset. Photo by Getty.

Apple Suspends Work on Next Vision Pro, Focused on Releasing Cheaper Model in Late 2025

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · Jun 18, 2024 8:00am PDT · 6 comments

Apple has told at least one supplier that it has suspended work on its next high-end Vision headset, an employee at a manufacturer that makes key components for the Vision Pro said. The pullback comes as analysts and supply chain partners have flagged slowing sales of the $3,500 device. The company is still working on releasing a more affordable... Apple has told at least one supplier that it has suspended work on its next high-end Vision...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Illustration by Clark Miller; Huang photos via Getty Images.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Is on Top of the World. So Why Is He Worried?

By Anissa Gardizy and Qianer Liu · Jun 18, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Illustration by Clark Miller; Huang photos via Getty Images.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Is on Top of the World. So Why Is He Worried?

By Anissa Gardizy and Qianer Liu · Jun 18, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Around Christmas last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called a series of meetings with company executives to discuss a growing concern: whether Nvidia’s biggest customers were going to run out of data center space to install its artificial intelligence chips, which could hurt sales, according to someone who attended the meetings. Huang told... Around Christmas last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called a series of meetings with company...

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. Photo by Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

OpenAI CEO Says Company Could Become Benefit Corporation Akin to Rivals Anthropic, xAI

By Aaron Holmes, Natasha Mascarenhas, Julia Hornstein and Amir Efrati · Jun 14, 2024 5:09pm PDT · 9 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently told some shareholders that the artificial intelligence developer is considering changing its governance structure to a for-profit business that OpenAI’s nonprofit board doesn’t control, according to a person who heard the comments. One scenario Altman said the board is considering is a for-profit benefit... OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently told some shareholders that the artificial intelligence developer...

An Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football broadcast. Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

Amazon and YouTube Clash for Dominance in Streaming Ad Dollars at Upfronts

By Sahil Patel · Jun 13, 2024 6:00am PDT

The battle for advertising dollars in television used to be dominated by networks like CBS and NBC. Now the most intense competition may be between newer tech entrants—Google’s YouTube, Amazon’s Prime Video and Netflix. Less than six months after launching ads on its Prime Video streaming service, Amazon has made a deep... The battle for advertising dollars in television used to be dominated by networks like CBS and...

Sam Altman at WWDC earlier this week. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

OpenAI’s Annualized Revenue Doubles to $3.4 Billion Since Late 2023

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Jun 12, 2024 1:33pm PDT · 5 comments

OpenAI has more than doubled its annualized revenue to $3.4 billion in the past six months or so, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has told staff, a sign that growth in the ChatGPT developer’s business is accelerating despite intensifying competition. Annualized revenue—a measure of the past month’s revenue multiplied by 12—was $1.6 billion in... OpenAI has more than doubled its annualized revenue to $3.4 billion in the past six months or so,...

Art by Shane Burke

American AI Startups Relocate China-Based Engineers

By Juro Osawa and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 11, 2024 6:00am PDT

Art by Shane Burke

American AI Startups Relocate China-Based Engineers

By Juro Osawa and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 11, 2024 6:00am PDT

Among the hundreds of American artificial intelligence startups launched in the last few years, those founded by China-born entrepreneurs exercised a unique advantage: They could hire less expensive, talented engineers based in China. Now, as the geopolitical battle between the U.S. and China increasingly extends to AI, these startups are... Among the hundreds of American artificial intelligence startups launched in the last few years,...

Shein's Whitestown, Ind. warehouse. Photo by Jonathan Weiss via Shutterstock.

Shein’s 40% Revenue Growth and Profit Boost in 2023 Could Help Lure IPO Investors

By Jing Yang · Jun 10, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

China-founded fast fashion giant Shein lifted its net profit margin even as it posted slightly faster revenue growth in 2023, two people with direct knowledge of its finances said. That performance should help Shein lure investors for a highly anticipated initial public offering—if it can convince regulators to sign off. Shein recorded... China-founded fast fashion giant Shein lifted its net profit margin even as it posted slightly...

Harvey co-founders Gabriel Pereyra and Winston Weinberg. Photo via YouTube.

AI Startup Harvey Targets $2 Billion Valuation and Mulls Buying a Legal Research Company

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Kate Clark · Jun 7, 2024 3:21pm PDT

In just over a year, artificial intelligence startup Harvey raised three investment rounds to develop software that takes the drudgery out of legal paperwork. Now the company wants an even bigger war chest—one that could help it acquire other companies. The San Francisco startup has been talking to investors about raising $600 million at a... In just over a year, artificial intelligence startup Harvey raised three investment rounds to...

Art by Shane Burke.

Trillion-Dollar Asset Manager Franklin Templeton Explores New Crypto Fund

By Yueqi Yang · Jun 6, 2024 6:50am PDT

Franklin Templeton, the 77-year-old mutual fund heavyweight named in honor of founding father Benjamin Franklin, is exploring launching a new crypto fund that will invest in a range of tokens beyond bitcoin and ether, according to people with direct knowledge of the effort. While some traditional asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity have... Franklin Templeton, the 77-year-old mutual fund heavyweight named in honor of founding father...

Art by Clark Miller

China’s Nvidia Loophole: How ByteDance Got the Best AI Chips Despite U.S. Restrictions

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 6, 2024 3:30am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller

China’s Nvidia Loophole: How ByteDance Got the Best AI Chips Despite U.S. Restrictions

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 6, 2024 3:30am PDT · 1 comment

The U.S. government forbids Nvidia from selling some of its most advanced artificial intelligence chips to customers in China. But it doesn’t stop Chinese firms from buying or renting Nvidia’s chips if they’re used within the U.S. Some big Chinese tech firms have taken advantage of that loophole, or tried to. ByteDance, owner... The U.S. government forbids Nvidia from selling some of its most advanced artificial intelligence...

Photo courtesy Ionic Materials.

Next-Gen Battery Developer Ionic Materials Closes Down

By Steve LeVine · Jun 4, 2024 10:10pm PDT

In another setback for a maker of a next-generation electric vehicle battery, Massachusetts battery developer Ionic Materials let go virtually its entire workforce on Tuesday, closed down and made plans to sell its equipment and other assets, according to multiple former employees. The company fired more than 40 employees, two of whom said they... In another setback for a maker of a next-generation electric vehicle battery, Massachusetts...

Left to right: Mark Goldberg, Kristina Shen and Ethan Kurzweil. Photos via Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Venture Capitalists Defy Funding Slump to Launch New Firms

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Jun 4, 2024 3:15pm PDT · 3 comments

Over the past year, a wave of venture capitalists have left their firms as the industry wrestles with a steep correction. Now several are launching their own firms, shrugging off the worst market to raise new VC funds in a decade. Former Andreessen Horowitz general partner Kristina Shen, former Index Ventures partner Mark Goldberg and outgoing... Over the past year, a wave of venture capitalists have left their firms as the industry wrestles...

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces Apple tv in 2019. Photo by Getty.

Apple Held Talks With China Mobile to Bring Apple TV+ to China

By Wayne Ma · Jun 4, 2024 7:00am PDT

Apple was in talks last year to launch its Apple TV+ video streaming service in China via a deal with China Mobile, the country’s largest telecommunications provider, according to people with knowledge of the matter. If successful, the talks would make Apple TV+ the only U.S. streaming service to be available in China, one of the... Apple was in talks last year to launch its Apple TV+ video streaming service in China via a deal...

ByteDance's Singapore headquarters. Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images.

ByteDance Seeks to Raise up to $800 million for Car Marketplace Unit

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Jun 4, 2024 5:22am PDT

ByteDance's Singapore headquarters. Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images.

ByteDance Seeks to Raise up to $800 million for Car Marketplace Unit

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Jun 4, 2024 5:22am PDT

TikTok parent ByteDance is raising between $700 million and $800 million for its online auto information and marketplace business Dongchedi, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter, in preparation for an initial public offering for the unit. Plans for an eventual IPO are part of a bigger plan by the Chinese tech giant to... TikTok parent ByteDance is raising between $700 million and $800 million for its online auto...