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

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 Mike Sullivan

TikTok Sees Trump Victory As App’s Best Hope

By Juro Osawa and Kaya Yurieff · Nov 5, 2024 1:40pm PST

Donald Trump used to be TikTok’s biggest threat. But now, four years after he tried to ban the app, he may be TikTok’s last hope for survival. As Americans vote in Tuesday’s election, TikTok’s top executives believe the company would be better off with a Trump presidency than a Harris administration. Trump has come out in... Donald Trump used to be TikTok’s biggest threat. But now, four years after he tried to ban...

A visitor wears a virtual reality headset Meta Quest as he takes part in an immersive experience stand in Paris last May. Photo by Getty.

Meta’s VR App Funding Retreat Forces Developers to Slash Staff

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Nov 5, 2024 12:02pm PST

Meta Platforms is becoming more discriminating in its spending for games and other apps for its Quest mixed reality headsets. Over the past year, as Meta has confronted weakening sales in the mixed reality market, its staffers have been rethinking the millions of dollars it spends on app development. In recent months, the company has closed one... Meta Platforms is becoming more discriminating in its spending for games and other apps for its...

Photo via Shutterstock

Coding Assistants Are Great—But Flawed

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 5, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

These days, venture capitalists, major artificial intelligence developers and cloud providers have zeroed in on AI-powered coding assistants as the killer product for large language models. But coding assistants aren’t perfect. It turns out that as they become ubiquitous, coding assistants are creating plenty of problems at companies that... These days, venture capitalists, major artificial intelligence developers and cloud providers...

Chart by Shane Burke

Why Reddit’s Explosive Growth Could Last

By Anita Ramaswamy · Nov 5, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Chart by Shane Burke

Why Reddit’s Explosive Growth Could Last

By Anita Ramaswamy · Nov 5, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Redditors may have their new favorite meme stock—Reddit. The social media platform’s report of a 68% jump in third-quarter revenue sent the stock soaring 40% to around $115 last week, more than triple the price at which it went public in March. Reddit is now trading at a huge premium to other social media stocks—11.2 times next... Redditors may have their new favorite meme stock—Reddit. The social media platform’s...

ByteDance's Singapore offices. Photo via Shutterstock.

Why ByteDance is a Bargain

By Martin Peers · Nov 4, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

What’s the cheapest stock around right now? That has to be ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok. As we reported today, ByteDance lifted its first-half revenue about 35% to $73 billion, which means it is now about as big as Facebook owner Meta Platforms but growing faster. In the first half, Meta’s revenue increased... What’s the cheapest stock around right now? That has to be ByteDance, the privately owned Chinese...

Photo by Getty

TikTok Maintains Solid First-Half Revenue Growth Despite U.S. Ban Threat

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Nov 4, 2024 1:36pm PST · 1 comment

TikTok parent ByteDance increased its international revenue more than 60% to about $17 billion in the first half of 2024, according to two people with knowledge of the financial results. As TikTok accounts for most of ByteDance’s revenue outside China, the growth suggests that TikTok’s advertising and other businesses have remained... TikTok parent ByteDance increased its international revenue more than 60% to about $17 billion in...

The Next President’s Tech Agenda: A Breakdown on the Tech Statements of Trump and Harris

By Kate Clark · Nov 4, 2024 12:13pm PST · 4 comments

The stakes for Silicon Valley in Washington have never been higher, as Democrats and Republicans argue over how to best ensure America’s tech supremacy. We’ve mapped out how, if elected, each presidential candidate would change aspects of tech, from antitrust and AI to China and crypto, based on their comments and people closely... The stakes for Silicon Valley in Washington have never been higher, as Democrats and Republicans...

Art by Midjourney/Mike Sullivan

Five New AI Hacks For Developers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 4, 2024 7:00am PST

Art by Midjourney/Mike Sullivan

Five New AI Hacks For Developers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 4, 2024 7:00am PST

Since generative AI exploded onto the scene two years ago with the release of ChatGPT, we’ve seen the rise and fall of various creative hacks developers have used to eke out better performance and lower costs from large language models. And over the past few months, I’ve seen a flurry of new tricks and hacks pop up in conversations with... Since generative AI exploded onto the scene two years ago with the release of ChatGPT, we’ve seen...

Art via Clark Miller

Corporate Spending on OpenAI Threatens Salesforce, Other Enterprise Apps

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 4, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Artificial intelligence is supposed to transform the business world and boost the software industry that’s selling it. But as companies spend more money on chatbots and other conversational AI (see related chart), some say they plan to reduce spending on other types of software, such as expensive enterprise applications and non-AI cloud... Artificial intelligence is supposed to transform the business world and boost the software...

The Generative AI Spending of 50 Companies, From Coke to Walmart

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 4, 2024 6:00am PST · 8 comments

Companies large and small are incorporating more artificial intelligence into their workflows and products. Interviews with tech executives and new data reveal that some companies are on track to spend tens of millions of dollars annually on conversational AI powered by large language models. This list is a first-of-its-kind look at how 50... Companies large and small are incorporating more artificial intelligence into their workflows and...

Rept's booth at a recent industry conference. Photo: Courtesy Rept

The Electric: How One Chinese Battery Company Views the U.S. Election

By Steve LeVine · Nov 4, 2024 4:30am PST

Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group has roiled the world of nickel, selling enormous volumes of the metal at cheap prices that have prompted several rivals to shut mines in Australia. Now it is seeking a share of the U.S. battery market, selling iron-based batteries for energy storage and electric vehicles through its Irvine, Calif.,... Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group has roiled the world of nickel, selling enormous...

Getty Images

Musk's Crew Gathers Again

By Abram Brown · Nov 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

Getty Images

Musk's Crew Gathers Again

By Abram Brown · Nov 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Musk wins no matter who wins the White House• Biotech: A scientist with Bezos’ and Gates’ money—and possibly a better brain chip• Health and Fitness: Startups eye a gold rush in electrolytes• Plus: The superbabies from the past look like our future; a baby oligarch runs amok; and the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Why Musk wins no matter who wins the...

Health and Fitness

Startups Eye a Gold Rush in Electrolytes

By Ashwin Rodrigues · Nov 2, 2024 5:00am PDT · 3 comments

“I haven’t been hung over in seven years,” said Jahaan Ansari, the bearded, muscled co-founder of Gainful, a New York–based startup. Ansari may be in that fortunate position partly because he has yet to hit his 30s—he’s just 29—but he also credits what Gainful sells: powdered electrolytes. Electrolytes... “I haven’t been hung over in seven years,” said Jahaan Ansari, the bearded,...

Art by Clark Miller

A Better Brain Chip Than Elon Musk’s?

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 2, 2024 5:00am PDT · 2 comments

Shortly after 2 a.m. on a Saturday in a midtown Manhattan sports bar packed with Aussies, Dr. Tom Oxley was feeling stunned. The underdog Brisbane Lions, his longtime favorite Australian rules football club, was up 73 to 27 against the Sydney Swans going into the second half of the championship match. “It’s a good start,” Oxley... Shortly after 2 a.m. on a Saturday in a midtown Manhattan sports bar packed with Aussies, Dr. Tom...

Michael Saylor. Photo via Getty.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet

By Martin Peers · Nov 1, 2024 3:35pm PDT

You could be forgiven for missing, amid the onslaught of tech company earnings news lately, what may be the most startling business story of the week. That would be the plan by enterprise software and bitcoin investment firm MicroStrategy to raise a massive $42 billion over the next three years to buy more bitcoin, using equal parts debt and... You could be forgiven for missing, amid the onslaught of tech company earnings news lately, what...

Big Tech Earnings and the AI Revolution

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 1, 2024 1:39pm PDT

Big Tech Earnings and the AI Revolution

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 1, 2024 1:39pm PDT

This week on More or Less: Earnings from Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft explained. Plus, Bezos's big bind at the Washington Post. Enjoy! Apple Spotify This week on More or Less: Earnings from Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft explained. Plus,...

CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator at a July event on AI legislation with N.J. Governor Phil Murphy. Photo via Flickr.

Microsoft Is a CoreWeave Rival. It’s Also a Big Customer

By Cory Weinberg and Anissa Gardizy · Nov 1, 2024 11:31am PDT · 1 comment

CoreWeave, a fast-growing cloud startup that operates data centers for artificial intelligence developers, pitches itself to investors as a nimble rival to behemoths like Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet. And yet the speed of CoreWeave’s rise has only been possible thanks to its relationship with one of the giants it says it’s trying... CoreWeave, a fast-growing cloud startup that operates data centers for artificial intelligence...

Photos by Getty. Art by Clark Miller

Why Kamala Harris Is Better for Tech

By Carl Bass · Nov 1, 2024 11:05am PDT · 101 comments

In the final days of the U.S. presidential election, The Information Opinion has been soliciting pieces from supporters of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The first is below. Please email [email protected] with any submissions. Many of you are throwing your support behind former President Donald Trump or... In the final days of the U.S. presidential election, The Information Opinion has been soliciting...

Tesla's gigafactory in Germany. Photo via Getty

Pro Weekly: The Red Wave on Our Gigafactory Database

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 1, 2024 8:00am PDT

Two years ago, we launched our Gigafactory Database to help readers track the progress of more than 50 proposed factories to make batteries for electric vehicles. The database arrived amid surging optimism about the transition to EVs: The U.S. government had enacted subsidies and tax credits for making and buying EVs, and automakers were... Two years ago, we launched our Gigafactory Database to help readers track the progress of more...

Art by Clark Miller; Harris, Musk, Trump images via Getty.

Elon Musk Will Win, No Matter Who Wins the White House

By Nick Wingfield and Steve LeVine · Nov 1, 2024 6:00am PDT · 17 comments

Art by Clark Miller; Harris, Musk, Trump images via Getty.

Elon Musk Will Win, No Matter Who Wins the White House

By Nick Wingfield and Steve LeVine · Nov 1, 2024 6:00am PDT · 17 comments

For weeks, Elon Musk has warned voters, as he campaigns for Donald Trump, about the dire consequences of a Kamala Harris administration—for America, civilization and him personally. “If he loses, I’m fucked,” Musk joked in an interview last month with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host. “How long do you think... For weeks, Elon Musk has warned voters, as he campaigns for Donald Trump, about the dire...