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

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Amazon Global Selling booth at the China Import and Export Fair. Photo via Getty.

Why Big Amazon China Sellers Are Branching Out

By Jing Yang and Theo Wayt · Dec 9, 2024 6:00am PST

A key group of Amazon sellers is becoming a lot less loyal to the shopping giant. China-based merchants such as kitchenware seller Carote have added sales through longtime Amazon rivals like Walmart, with Carote’s share of revenue coming through Walmart up to 18% in 2023 from less than 2% a year before. Apparel company Zibuyu Group,... A key group of Amazon sellers is becoming a lot less loyal to the shopping giant. China-based...

Group14's coming silicon anode production plant in Moses Lake, Wash. Photo: Courtesy Group14

The Electric: AI Mania Provides Welcome Demand for Struggling Next-Gen EV Battery Developers

By Steve LeVine · Dec 9, 2024 4:30am PST

The slowdown in sales of electric vehicles has led to smaller and postponed orders for next-generation batteries. But some next-gen battery makers are eyeing a lifeline from an unexpected source: artificial intelligence. The slowdown in sales of electric vehicles has led to smaller and postponed orders for...

Trump Aides Contact Google, Meta, Snap Over Online Drug Sales

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 8, 2024 11:10am PST · 1 comment

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has invited five major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, to a meeting in mid-December about dealing with online drug sales, according to a person with direct knowledge of the correspondence. A representative for Jim Carroll—the drug czar during Trump’s... President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has invited five major tech companies,...

Art by Clark Miller

An Underappreciated Moment in AI

By Abram Brown · Dec 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

An Underappreciated Moment in AI

By Abram Brown · Dec 7, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution • Power and Influence: Trump’s antitrust cop is a ‘happy warrior’ • The Top 5: Our favorite new corporate merch and gifts. • Plus: Robots who rhapsodize; what Taylor Swift and Legos have in common; and Il Papa and the plotters.What if the... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A dawn of another crypto revolution ...

Gail Slater (left) and Donald Trump. Art by Clark Miller. Slater screengrab via YouTube; Trump image via Getty

Politics and Policy

Trump Chooses a ‘Happy Warrior’ as His Antitrust Cop

By Nick Wingfield and Nancy Scola · Dec 7, 2024 5:00am PST

A decade or so ago, Gigi Sohn—then the head of Public Knowledge, an internet rights nonprofit—was working closely with Gail Slater, at the time the general counsel to a tech trade group called the Internet association, on the issue of net neutrality legislation. Sohn assumed Slater, who had previously been a legal adviser to a... A decade or so ago, Gigi Sohn—then the head of Public Knowledge, an internet rights...

Art by Clark Miller

The Best New Corporate Merch and Gifts

By Todd Plummer · Dec 7, 2024 5:00am PST

It’s often said that ’tis better to give than to receive, but more often than not, corporate swag leaves both giver and recipient cold. How many times have we left a conference with the same old leaky commuter mug? Or received some drab pen along with a forgettable pad of sticky notes? Swag need not be a source of dismay,... It’s often said that ’tis better to give than to receive, but more often than not,...

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Lifespan Shortens

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2024 3:00pm PST

TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today, affirming the law passed earlier this year forcing TikTok to cut its ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance or be banned, was a compelling ruling. It’s hard to imagine that TikTok management would come away from it with any grounds for optimism.To be... TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today,...

In a World with 99.99% Accurate AI… (feat. Aaron Levie)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 6, 2024 10:39am PST

In a World with 99.99% Accurate AI… (feat. Aaron Levie)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 6, 2024 10:39am PST

Tech executives love to bemoan growing regulation. But, on the pod this week, Aaron Levie, the CEO of enterprise company Box, had a much more nuanced and interesting view. I hope you enjoy, along with a fiery Levie versus Sam Lessin debate over the promise of AI. I'll let you guess where they each netted out! Enjoy! Apple Spotify ... Tech executives love to bemoan growing regulation. But, on the pod this week, Aaron Levie, the...

Art by Clark Miller

Another Crypto Revolution Is Here—and It’s Unlike Any From the Past

By Yueqi Yang · Dec 6, 2024 9:07am PST · 2 comments

In 2022, Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin startup Bridge, was staring into the abyss. The price of TerraUSD—one of the largest of the stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the U.S. dollar—collapsed, casting a pall on everyone working with stablecoins. Then, a few months later, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX imploded.... In 2022, Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of stablecoin startup Bridge, was staring into the...

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok CEO Vows to Take Ban Fight to Supreme Court

By Kaya Yurieff, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Dec 6, 2024 8:48am PST · 3 comments

TikTok’s hopes of continuing to operate in the U.S. now rest on intervention of the Supreme Court. The Chinese owned app on Friday lost the first round in its legal efforts to block a law requiring it to sever its ties with its parent, ByteDance, or be banned next month. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Friday told the video app’s staff... TikTok’s hopes of continuing to operate in the U.S. now rest on intervention of the Supreme...

Photo by Getty

Pro Weekly: Nvidia Draws More Rivals With More Funding

By Scott Thurm · Dec 6, 2024 8:19am PST

As Nvidia’s market cap tops $3 trillion, entrepreneurs and investors are looking for new ways to grab pieces of the lucrative market for chips that power artificial intelligence.Some startups are looking to build more-specialized chips. We recently added two companies to our AI Chip Database that are designing chips primarily for computer... As Nvidia’s market cap tops $3 trillion, entrepreneurs and investors are looking for new ways to...

Photo via Getty.

Netflix’s NFL Games Pose Advertising Test

By Sahil Patel · Dec 6, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Photo via Getty.

Netflix’s NFL Games Pose Advertising Test

By Sahil Patel · Dec 6, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In Netflix’s yearslong quest to build an ad business, Dec. 25 poses a big test: It will be the first time the streaming giant shows ads in a livestream—in this case, two NFL games. And in the wake of last month’s Mike Tyson–Jake Paul boxing match, which was plagued with technical glitches, ad buyers at multiple top... In Netflix’s yearslong quest to build an ad business, Dec. 25 poses a big test: It will be...

A Waymo self-driving car. Photo courtesy of Waymo.

Waymo’s Progress May Be Good for Uber, Too

By Martin Peers · Dec 5, 2024 5:00pm PST

This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’s Waymo, our favorite self-driving taxi service, is opening for business in Miami. Just a few weeks ago, the ride-hailing firms’ stocks rose about 10% as investors decided Tesla’s self-driving–car event the day before had been a dud—implying that it... This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’...

Tomasz Tunguz. Photo via Flickr/Collision.

Why One Enterprise Investor Is Newly Exuberant on Crypto

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 5, 2024 3:26pm PST · 2 comments

Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless conversations about artificial intelligence, I’ve been bombarded by venture capitalists with renewed excitement for cryptocurrency startups. To sum up the mood: One startup founder made a toast when Bitcoin crossed $100,000 on Wednesday. Investor Tomasz... Silicon Valley’s holiday party season is in full swing. But instead of having endless...

Prince Ghosh, Factored Quality's cofounder and CEO (left) and Ronak Trivedi, Pietra's cofounder and CEO (right). Photo via Pietra.

Creator Economy

Creator Startup Strikes Deal to Help Anyone Launch the Next Feastables

By Ann Gehan · Dec 5, 2024 2:00pm PST

Pietra, a startup that helps creators and celebrities like Chrissy Teigen launch and manage their own brands, is diving deeper into the crucial behind-the-scenes work it takes to get a hot new product up and running. The company is acquiring Factored Quality, a startup that works with popular brands like Brooklinen to set them up with... Pietra, a startup that helps creators and celebrities like Chrissy Teigen launch and manage their...

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Latest Rivals Are Getting Help From… OpenAI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 5, 2024 9:51am PST

Photo via Getty

OpenAI’s Latest Rivals Are Getting Help From… OpenAI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 5, 2024 9:51am PST

As artificial intelligence developers find it easier to catch up with OpenAI in reasoning than with traditional large language models—a topic Erin and I wrote about last week—they may be using a tried-and-true strategy.Researchers at OpenAI believe that some rival AI developers are training their reasoning models by using OpenAI’s o1 reasoning... As artificial intelligence developers find it easier to catch up with OpenAI in reasoning than...

Vimeo CEO Philip D. Moyer. Photo via Vimeo.

What Investors Are Missing About Vimeo’s Potential

By Anita Ramaswamy · Dec 5, 2024 7:00am PST · 1 comment

After a long slump, software stocks have gotten a lift from the market euphoria that has followed Donald Trump’s election. The exuberance has even spread to companies that sell video creation and distribution tools, such as Vimeo, despite the very real threat hanging over their business models: artificial intelligence–powered video... After a long slump, software stocks have gotten a lift from the market euphoria that has followed...

Visitors test Meta Quest 3 goggles at a Meta booth at the Hanover technology Fair in April. Photo by Getty

Meta to Farm Out Design for Mixed Reality Devices, Shift Some Production From China

By Kalley Huang, Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Dec 5, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Meta Platforms is changing how it designs and where it builds its mixed reality devices to stem deep financial losses and skirt a possible trade war between the U.S. and China. Meta is shifting part of the development and design of its mixed reality headsets to Chinese contract manufacturer Goertek, according to an employee at Goertek and two... Meta Platforms is changing how it designs and where it builds its mixed reality devices to stem...

The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, displayed in March at the New York International Auto Show. Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: U.S. Auto and Battery Makers Are Poised to Fight Trump’s Anti-EV Plans

By Steve LeVine · Dec 5, 2024 4:30am PST

U.S. auto and battery makers are challenging President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to eliminate or curtail federal subsidies on electric vehicles and battery materials. If Trump proceeds with his plans, they say, he would cost consumers thousands of dollars per vehicle and hurt their efforts to compete with Chinese rivals. U.S. auto and battery makers are challenging President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to eliminate or...

Peter DeSantis, Senior Vice President of AWS Utility Computing, at Amazon Re:Invent. Photo via Amazon.

Amazon Tries to Lure Cloud Customers Away From Nvidia

By Anissa Gardizy · Dec 4, 2024 5:26pm PST · 1 comment

Peter DeSantis, Senior Vice President of AWS Utility Computing, at Amazon Re:Invent. Photo via Amazon.

Q&A

Amazon Tries to Lure Cloud Customers Away From Nvidia

By Anissa Gardizy · Dec 4, 2024 5:26pm PST · 1 comment

Amazon, like other cloud providers, makes money from artificial intelligence primarily by renting out servers powered by Nvidia’s AI chips to software developers and businesses. But now, Amazon Web Services is trying to convince those customers to use servers powered by Amazon’s own AI chips instead, said Gadi Hutt, who leads... Amazon, like other cloud providers, makes money from artificial intelligence primarily by renting...