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 Clark Miller

These ‘Remedies’ for Google Would Hurt My Healthy-Habits Business

By Sean Higgins · Jan 15, 2025 9:00am PST

In 2018—after I forgot to call my mom one too many times—a friend and I launched an app that nudges people to take life-enhancing steps such as connecting with family, exercising more and learning new skills. Today we have nearly 40,000 subscribers. Businesses and organizations across the country use our app to improve... In 2018—after I forgot to call my mom one too many times—a friend and I launched an...

Ranger founder and CEO, Josh Ip. Photo courtesy of Ranger.

General Catalyst Backs Startup in New AI Category: Software Testing

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 15, 2025 7:00am PST

When it comes to the billion-dollar question of where businesses are seeing the biggest returns from conversational AI, automating software development has emerged as an early frontrunner. We have AI software to autocomplete lines of code, AI software to write entire apps, and soon, AI software to test other software.That last one is the focus... When it comes to the billion-dollar question of where businesses are seeing the biggest returns...

Art by Clark Miller.

Some U.S. Banks Warm Up to Crypto Firms

By Yueqi Yang · Jan 15, 2025 6:00am PST

Marc Andreessen and other crypto proponents have complained about how regulators under President Joe Biden have choked off banking services for crypto firms. But even before Donald Trump takes office, some smaller U.S. banks have been quietly expanding services for crypto companies. In recent months, regional bank Western Alliance has been... Marc Andreessen and other crypto proponents have complained about how regulators under President...

TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the U.S. on Sunday

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jan 14, 2025 8:03pm PST

TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the U.S. on Sunday

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jan 14, 2025 8:03pm PST

TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes to block the ban, according to two people familiar with TikTok’s plans. Abruptly switching off the app, rather than allowing people who have already downloaded it to continue using it, will bring home the... TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via Getty

Zuckerberg Acts Like Musk but Isn’t

By Martin Peers · Jan 14, 2025 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re witnessing a version of the Hollywood movie “Face/Off,” where the Meta Platforms CEO will shortly rip off a mask and reveal himself to be Elon Musk. Aside from Zuckerberg’s moves last week to abandon both diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives... You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re...

Jamie Hodari. Photo via Industrious.

The Anti-WeWork Makes Good; Plaid Considers M&A Push

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 14, 2025 3:50pm PST

Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon: Hundreds of startup workers throwing graduation caps into the air and then ice skating in green gowns. That was the celebration cooked up by Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari to memorialize the sale of his co-working startup to $38 billion real estate... Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon:...

In the face of a potential ban, TikTok users are joining another Chinese-owned social app, RedNote or Xiaohongshu in Chinese. Image by Getty

Creator Economy

As TikTok Ban Looms, Competitors Are Circling

By Kaya Yurieff and Juro Osawa · Jan 14, 2025 2:00pm PST

As we near Sunday’s effective date of a U.S. law that could ban TikTok, a growing number of U.S. TikTok users are joining another Chinese-owned social app: RedNote. The app, known as Xiaohongshu in Chinese, is similar to Instagram. The movement has helped turn RedNote into one of the most downloaded apps in the U.S. almost overnight. Some... As we near Sunday’s effective date of a U.S. law that could ban TikTok, a growing number of U.S....

Photo via Getty

2025 Is the Year of the AI App

By Jon Victor · Jan 14, 2025 1:21pm PST

Photo via Getty

2025 Is the Year of the AI App

By Jon Victor · Jan 14, 2025 1:21pm PST

Executives at software vendors and chief information officers who buy software are starting to agree on one thing: Artificial intelligence models are becoming far less important than the apps that harness them. Many prominent AI apps, including GitHub Copilot, Perplexity search, and Cursor’s coding assistant, previously relied almost... Executives at software vendors and chief information officers who buy software are starting to...

Microsoft’s Gaming Business Falls Short, Despite Activision

By Aaron Holmes · Jan 14, 2025 12:23pm PST · 4 comments

In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella faced a choice involving the company’s Xbox and cloud gaming business. The company could either acquire major game studios to drive more subscriptions to its nascent Game Pass subscription service. Or it could wind down its games business entirely, Nadella told two people at the time. Nadella took the... In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella faced a choice involving the company’s Xbox and cloud...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty.

Meta Platforms Plans Performance-Based Job Cuts

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Jan 14, 2025 8:03am PST · 1 comment

Meta Platforms plans a new round of job cuts in the coming weeks, the company told employees on Tuesday, focused on employees who are considered weak performers. The cuts would affect about 5% of Meta’s employees, or about 3,600 people, a human resources director later told staff. In a post on the company’s internal chat system, Meta... Meta Platforms plans a new round of job cuts in the coming weeks, the company told employees on...

Photo by Getty

Why Biden’s Final AI Chip Move Caused an Uproar

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · Jan 14, 2025 7:57am PST

It’s the final week of the Biden presidency, and the administration kicked it off by announcing new export control rules for AI-related technologies, causing quite a stir. The rules aim to limit how many of Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips other countries or foreign companies can obtain, helping American AI developers companies stay ahead,... It’s the final week of the Biden presidency, and the administration kicked it off by announcing...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Temu Pilots Amazon-Like Search Ad Business, Plans App Store

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Theo Wayt · Jan 14, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Temu Pilots Amazon-Like Search Ad Business, Plans App Store

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Theo Wayt · Jan 14, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Chinese-owned bargain seller Temu has spooked Amazon by selling ultracheap household gadgets, electronics and more, oftentimes undercutting the e-commerce giant on price. Now Temu is looking to capitalize on its popularity by going head to head with Amazon in another business: advertising. Temu has started testing selling ad space to merchants... Chinese-owned bargain seller Temu has spooked Amazon by selling ultracheap household gadgets,...

Patrick Spence, former CEO of Sonos. Photo via Flickr/Collision Conference.

Where Does Sonos Go From Here?

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of internet-connected speakers parted ways this morning with Patrick Spence, its embattled CEO. Last May, the company introduced a new version of its mobile app for controlling its speakers. But the updated app left out a number of features that had... To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of...

Chris Lehane. Photo by Getty

OpenAI Starts Its Trump Strategy; CES Shows Not Everything Needs AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 13, 2025 7:50am PST

Meta Platforms’ announcement last week that it had relaxed its content moderation stance immediately raised the question of whether others, such as OpenAI, would follow suit.When I asked Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, about that during an interview on Friday, he pointed me to a new broad-ranging policy proposal from the... Meta Platforms’ announcement last week that it had relaxed its content moderation stance...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a Thor Blackwell robotics processor. Photo by Getty.

Nvidia’s Top Customers Face Delays From Glitchy AI Chip Racks

By Qianer Liu and Anissa Gardizy · Jan 13, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Some of Nvidia’s biggest customers are facing new delays in getting its most advanced artificial intelligence chips up and running in data centers. The first shipments of racks equipped with Nvidia’s newest chips, Blackwell, have been plagued by overheating as well as glitches involving the way the chips connect to one another,... Some of Nvidia’s biggest customers are facing new delays in getting its most advanced...

Archer Aviation's future commercial air taxi, Midnight. Photo: Getty

The Electric: A Bet on Hybrid Fighter Aircraft and a Friendship With Trump

By Steve LeVine · Jan 13, 2025 4:30am PST

Archer Aviation's future commercial air taxi, Midnight. Photo: Getty

The Electric: A Bet on Hybrid Fighter Aircraft and a Friendship With Trump

By Steve LeVine · Jan 13, 2025 4:30am PST

Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like a long shot: In the next year or two, regulators will likely certify one or more of the startups to carry passengers, but no one knows how many people will want to fly in them, or whether they will be willing to pay enough and use them often enough... Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like...

Art by Clark Miller

Will Meta's Olive Branch Hurt TikTok?

By Abram Brown · Jan 11, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex problem• Power and Influence: DOGE goes headhunting • The Top 5: Where to travel after Davos • Plus: When a corporate marvel may be a communist spy ring; piecing together “Severance”; and an uncomfortable masterpieceA couple years ago, ... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex...

Art by Clark Miller; Ramaswamy via Getty.

Power and Influence

Inside the DOGE Recruitment Drive

By Julia Black · Jan 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 23 comments

For decades, the path toward federal government employment has involved a long and winding journey for full-timers and contractors alike. The Department of Government Efficiency, the pseudo-governmental entity run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is doing things differently. Recruitment to join DOGE, as the Musk-Ramaswamy group has styled... For decades, the path toward federal government employment has involved a long and winding...

Art by Clark Miller

Where Tech Leaders Travel After the World Economic Forum

By Todd Plummer · Jan 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos is the Super Bowl of schmoozing. And let’s face it, after a week of nonstop on-calendar panel discussions, off-calendar networking and late-night parties—Google and McKinsey & Co. are known for throwing some of the best ones!—even the most extroverted movers and... The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos is the Super Bowl of schmoozing. And...

Creators outside of the Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

With TikTok Ban Likely, ‘Game of Chicken’ Begins

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2025 2:31pm PST

Creators outside of the Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

With TikTok Ban Likely, ‘Game of Chicken’ Begins

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2025 2:31pm PST

I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to stay alive in the U.S. Judging from the justices’ questions and comments, it sounds like they’re inclined to uphold a U.S. law that could ban TikTok in just nine days. That’s the opening its potential suitors, such as Activision Blizzard’s former CEO,... I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to...