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

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet, is one of many executives to transition from Chief Financial Officer roles in 2023. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images.

This Year’s CFO Revolving Door

By Martin Peers · Dec 11, 2023 5:00pm PST

Quick quiz: Which C-suite position has the least job security? This year, at least, the answer would have to be chief financial officer, arguably the No. 2 executive at most big public companies. In tech and media in 2023, we’ve seen CFO departures (or CFOs taking a different position internally) at Alphabet, Uber, Tesla, Disney, Stripe, Airbnb,... Quick quiz: Which C-suite position has the least job security? This year, at least, the answer...

A Microsoft Store in London. Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images.

Regulators Scrutinize Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership; Shein’s IPO Hurdles

By Martin Peers · Dec 8, 2023 3:30pm PST

You knew it was just a matter of time. Regulators in the U.K. and U.S. are looking into the antitrust implications of Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, according to the U.K. regulator and Bloomberg. Yes, that’s right. A partnership that poses a serious competitive threat to Google—whose dominance of internet search and advertising is the... You knew it was just a matter of time. Regulators in the U.K. and U.S. are looking into the...

Elon Musk. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

Musk Escalates Attack on Disney

By Martin Peers · Dec 7, 2023 5:00pm PST · 20 comments

If Bob Iger decides to update his 2019 memoir, “Ride of a Lifetime,” with a chapter on his return to Disney a year ago, he’ll have plenty of juicy material. The executive once widely admired for his success in running the entertainment giant is now being assailed on all sides. Today, we had Elon Musk, still irritated that Disney joined other... If Bob Iger decides to update his 2019 memoir, “Ride of a Lifetime,” with a chapter on his return...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What Google’s Gemini Says About the State of Alphabet

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2023 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What Google’s Gemini Says About the State of Alphabet

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2023 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Today tells you a lot about the current state of Google and its parent company Alphabet. The tech giant, once the leader in artificial intelligence, unveiled its answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT with a product—Gemini Pro—that is comparable to what OpenAI released a year ago. It’s easy to miss this nuance amid the deluge of positive press, but Google’s... Today tells you a lot about the current state of Google and its parent company Alphabet. The tech...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images.

Airbnb Wants to Feel Young Again

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 5, 2023 5:00pm PST

Booking Holdings and Airbnb have long resembled a father-son duo of the online travel industry. Airbnb has traditionally been the cool kid of the two, a fast-growing San Francisco media darling that customers flocked to. Its product became a verb. Booking—which came from an older internet generation, marked by a utilitarian, Dutch-influenced... Booking Holdings and Airbnb have long resembled a father-son duo of the online travel industry....

Spotify founder and CEO, Daniel Ek. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images.

Spotify’s Layoffs and Uber Joins S&P 500: Tech Grows Up

By Martin Peers · Dec 4, 2023 5:00pm PST

Where’s the cake? Today marks The Information’s 10th birthday, which is a milestone for any news startup, and even more so for one that has never raised outside funding. (That’s what you call bootstrapping.) Those of us who’ve been here through most or all of the past decade truly have empathy for tech startups. You labor in obscurity until one... Where’s the cake? Today marks The Information’s 10th birthday, which is a milestone for any news...

Bill Ackman. Photo by Patrick McMullan via Getty Images.

What X, TikTok and Meta Have in Common

By Martin Peers · Dec 1, 2023 3:30pm PST · 4 comments

Every social media service is unhappy in its own way. That’s something Bill Ackman should remember. The hedge fund manager came out swinging in support of Elon Musk in a lengthy tweet late Thursday night, claiming that recent advertiser defections from X were a result of Musk being “targeted” because other media organizations view X as a... Every social media service is unhappy in its own way. That’s something Bill Ackman should...

Elon Musk speaks during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 on Nov. 29 in New York City. Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images.

Musk and Altman Are Businesspeople, Not Politicians

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 30, 2023 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

Elon Musk speaks during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 on Nov. 29 in New York City. Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images.

Musk and Altman Are Businesspeople, Not Politicians

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 30, 2023 5:00pm PST · 4 comments

It was once common to wonder whether businesses were too big to fail. I think it is time we start worrying about business leaders who think they are too big to fail—and what we should do about that. I had this thought as I was listening to Elon Musk tell The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin that businesses pulling their ads from X were... It was once common to wonder whether businesses were too big to fail. I think it is time we start...

Photo via Rover

Blackstone Finds a Diamond in the Ruff With Rover

By Martin Peers · Nov 29, 2023 5:00pm PST

Woof! There is deal-making going on out there that doesn’t have to do with artificial intelligence (unless of course you mean animal intelligence). Blackstone’s $2.3 billion purchase of pet-sitting marketplace Rover Group, unveiled Wednesday, demonstrates that Rover is that rarest of gems, a company that went public via a SPAC merger and turned... Woof! There is deal-making going on out there that doesn’t have to do with artificial...

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Troubled Youth

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 28, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

OpenAI’s board appointment of two rhetorical graybeards—tech veteran Bret Taylor and, for some reason, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers—mercifully helped avert its pre-Thanksgiving leadership crisis. It has more board vacancies to fill (but not with investors), governance rules to set and a CEO to investigate.I’d pose another... OpenAI’s board appointment of two rhetorical graybeards—tech veteran Bret Taylor and, for some...

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) takes Elon Musk (left) on a tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza after the October 7th Massacre took place there, on November 27, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout via Getty Images.

Israel Gets Sensible and Thoughtful Musk

By Martin Peers · Nov 27, 2023 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

After a week of OpenAI and Thanksgiving, we’re back to regularly scheduled tech programming. That means Elon Musk is once again all over the news, this time visiting Israel in what appears to be an effort to counter perceptions, rekindled by this tweet from two weeks ago, that he is antisemitic. Not surprisingly, we got the respectable version... After a week of OpenAI and Thanksgiving, we’re back to regularly scheduled tech programming. That...

The referee flips a coin prior to the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders game on Thanksgiving 2023. Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty.

Thanksgiving’s Football Streaming Mess

By Martin Peers · Nov 24, 2023 3:00pm PST · 9 comments

The referee flips a coin prior to the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders game on Thanksgiving 2023. Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty.

Thanksgiving’s Football Streaming Mess

By Martin Peers · Nov 24, 2023 3:00pm PST · 9 comments

If we learned anything over Thanksgiving, it’s how much of an opportunity there is for Disney chief Bob Iger to turn ESPN into a streaming hub for all sports. If you tried to catch the three NFL games on Thanksgiving Day without the benefit of cable TV (or an online version of cable, like YouTube TV), you would have discovered—as my household... If we learned anything over Thanksgiving, it’s how much of an opportunity there is for Disney...

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty.

OpenAI Drama’s First Season Ends but Second Season Is Possible

By Martin Peers · Nov 22, 2023 3:30pm PST

The OpenAI soap opera’s first season is over. And just in time for all involved—even reporters—to take a break for Thanksgiving. Their moods may vary. While many people, including executives, employees and investors in OpenAI, are surely thrilled the boardroom drama got resolved with Sam Altman’s reinstatement as CEO, doubtless a few aren’t so... The OpenAI soap opera’s first season is over. And just in time for all involved—even reporters—to...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo via Shutterstock.

Nvidia Shows, Again, Its Real AI Moneymaker

By Martin Peers · Nov 21, 2023 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

As the tech world remained riveted by the OpenAI soap opera, the real artificial intelligence money machine was demonstrating the fine art of printing greenbacks. That would be Nvidia, which reported on Tuesday that its revenue soared 206% in the October quarter, to $18.1 billion from $5.9 billion a year earlier. That’s what happens when you... As the tech world remained riveted by the OpenAI soap opera, the real artificial intelligence...

Photo by AFP via Getty

OpenAI’s Board Lacked Foresight, But So Did Everyone Else

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Three days after OpenAI’s board fired CEO and co-founder Sam Altman, most of the staff has threatened to quit, investors are complaining and customers are canvassing the wide range of alternatives. It’s a good bet this isn’t how the board members thought the Altman firing would play out. Hopefully,... Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Three days after OpenAI’s board fired CEO and...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty

What Went Down at OpenAI

By Laura Mandaro · Nov 17, 2023 7:15pm PST

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty

What Went Down at OpenAI

By Laura Mandaro · Nov 17, 2023 7:15pm PST

What a turn of events! OpenAI began the day once again as the hottest startup in tech, run by the smartest hotshots in artificial intelligence. But around lunchtime on the west coast, it was a car crash, one that kept getting worse throughout the day. First, the OpenAI board dropped a bombshell with the announcement that it had ousted CEO... What a turn of events! OpenAI began the day once again as the hottest startup in tech, run by the...

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Joe Biden in Woodside, Calif., on Wednesday. Photo AFP via Getty

Tech Kisses the Ring

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 16, 2023 5:12pm PST · 2 comments

Lately, when San Francisco makes national headlines, it’s about crime, homelessness or questions about whether tech companies will ever return to downtown. So this week, it was nice to see San Francisco in the news for a different reason, as U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping of China came to town for the Asia-Pacific... Lately, when San Francisco makes national headlines, it’s about crime, homelessness or questions...

Photo via Adobe.

Shein and Amazon Are Both Good for the Ad Business

By Martin Peers · Nov 15, 2023 5:00pm PST

If you’re a fashion plate on a budget, you’re probably a fan of Shein, known for selling ultracheap and trendy clothes. By all accounts, it’s popular with the kids. As we scooped today, the Singapore-based online store’s global revenue surged 40% in the first three quarters of this year, which means its revenue is now bigger than that of another... If you’re a fashion plate on a budget, you’re probably a fan of Shein, known for selling...

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo arrives for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and Prosperity ministerial during the APEC summit in San Francisco. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty.

Raimondo on AI Safety: ‘Off to a Good Start’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 14, 2023 5:02pm PST

A day before U.S. President Joe Biden and China President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in a highly anticipated meeting in San Francisco at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, I sat down in a small conference room off Market Street with one of Biden’s key deputies, who will be by his side in the meeting: Secretary of Commerce Gina... A day before U.S. President Joe Biden and China President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in a...

Photo via Shutterstock

What Investors Are Getting Wrong About Apple and Microsoft

By Martin Peers · Nov 13, 2023 5:00pm PST

Photo via Shutterstock

What Investors Are Getting Wrong About Apple and Microsoft

By Martin Peers · Nov 13, 2023 5:00pm PST

Today’s tech stock market is no country for unthinking investors. A bunch of stocks—among them Alphabet and Amazon—have gone nowhere amid the market gyrations of the past two years, while others such as Apple have seen OK but not great performance. That adjective can really only be applied to Nvidia, which has soared this year thanks to its... Today’s tech stock market is no country for unthinking investors. A bunch of stocks—among them...