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

Art by Clark Miller

Welcome to Fakesville: Inside an AI Nightmare That Tore Apart a School

By David Kushner · Aug 23, 2024 9:10am PDT · 6 comments

On January 17, @murder_ink_bmore, a Baltimore-based Instagram account with 240,000 followers, posted what it said was a voice recording of Eric Eiswert, principal of Pikesville High School outside Baltimore, denigrating Black students and faculty as well as Jews. “I seriously don’t understand why I have to constantly put up... On January 17, @murder_ink_bmore, a Baltimore-based Instagram account with 240,000...

An attendee of an event by The Washington AI Network tries out the Meta Quest 3 in April. Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images.

Meta Cancels High-End Mixed-Reality Headset

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Wayne Ma · Aug 23, 2024 8:15am PDT · 3 comments

Meta Platforms has canceled plans for a premium mixed-reality headset intended to compete with Apple’s Vision Pro, according to two Meta employees. Meta told employees at the company’s Reality Labs division to stop work on the device this week after a product review meeting attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Technology... Meta Platforms has canceled plans for a premium mixed-reality headset intended to compete with...

Kajabi CEO Ahad Khan and Linktree founders Anthony Zaccaria, Alex Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys. Photos via Kajabi/Getty.

Pro Weekly: Creator Economy M&A Isn't As Quiet as It Might Appear

By Akash Pasricha · Aug 23, 2024 8:03am PDT · 1 comment

As I’ve been updating our Creator Economy Database lately, I’ve been closely monitoring acquisitions in the sector. Last year, 37 companies were acquired, a number of which were fire sales, my colleague Kaya Yurieff reported. But so far in 2024, we’ve seen just 13 acquisitions, suggesting the year will end up quieter.That said, there might... As I’ve been updating our Creator Economy Database lately, I’ve been closely monitoring...

As Stripe, Ramp Valuations Rise, Some Fintechs Face Likely Down Rounds

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 23, 2024 6:00am PDT

As Stripe, Ramp Valuations Rise, Some Fintechs Face Likely Down Rounds

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 23, 2024 6:00am PDT

The fintech world is a tale of two cities. After a thrashing over the last two years, some big fintech startups, such as Stripe and Ramp, have seen their valuations rebound from the lows, as business improves and investor demand rises. Many other fintechs, including Brex, Chime and Plaid, have yet to crystallize a lower valuation in new... The fintech world is a tale of two cities. After a thrashing over the last two years, some big...

Snowflake CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Snowflake’s AI Winter

By Anita Ramaswamy · Aug 22, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Investors are certainly giving Snowflake the cold shoulder. On Wednesday, the data analytics firm delivered an earnings update that showed July-quarter revenue above the company’s own projections and increased its estimate of full-year revenue growth for fiscal 2025 by two percentage points, to 26%. As Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick pointed... Investors are certainly giving Snowflake the cold shoulder. On Wednesday, the data analytics firm...

Photo via Adobe

The M&A Matchmaking in VC Portfolios

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 22, 2024 3:44pm PDT

A merger in the works between two struggling startups, online pharmacy Truepill and health test provider LetsGetChecked, signals a growing trend in an era of tough financing: deals between companies that share major shareholders. Dublin-based LetsGetChecked has offered to buy California-based Truepill for $500 million in stock and $25... A merger in the works between two struggling startups, online pharmacy Truepill and health test...

Photos via Set Active

Creator Economy

An Athleisure Startup’s Creator-Centric Investor Pitch

By Ann Gehan and Kaya Yurieff · Aug 22, 2024 2:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Ever since the pandemic trapped shoppers at home in 2020, the athleisure market has gotten crowded. Startup brands like Alo Yoga and Skims have quickly scaled up to hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales, and retail giants like Nike and Lululemon have tried to keep up with customers’ changing tastes by adding trendier styles. One... Ever since the pandemic trapped shoppers at home in 2020, the athleisure market has gotten...

Stripe CEO, Patrick Collison. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Stripe, Now Gushing Money, Plans New Employee Tender

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 22, 2024 10:52am PDT · 3 comments

Stripe CEO, Patrick Collison. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Stripe, Now Gushing Money, Plans New Employee Tender

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 22, 2024 10:52am PDT · 3 comments

Stripe is planning a new tender offer to buy back shares held by employees, but it will finance this one entirely with its own cash, unlike in previous employee tenders. The financing approach shows how much the payment processing firm’s business has improved from the slump it experienced a couple of years ago. The company had about $615... Stripe is planning a new tender offer to buy back shares held by employees, but it will finance...

Photo via AP.

Is Enthusiasm For Meta’s Llama Slowing Down?

By Kalley Huang · Aug 22, 2024 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

To compete with OpenAI and other artificial intelligence developers, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs cloud providers like Amazon Web Services to convince businesses to use Meta’s AI model Llama.So far, that has been a mixed bag, as my colleagues reported on Wednesday. And we just noticed another potentially troubling sign about Llama’s... To compete with OpenAI and other artificial intelligence developers, Meta Platforms CEO Mark...

Photos via Adobe/Getty.

E-commerce Startups Switch Gears as Shakeout Looms

By Ann Gehan · Aug 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

Last fall, after marketing software company Klaviyo went public at a market value of more than $9 billion, leaders at rival Attentive were cheerful about their own initial public offering prospects. At an all-hands meeting, executives told staff the Klaviyo debut showed that public markets could understand a company in the wonky business of... Last fall, after marketing software company Klaviyo went public at a market value of more than $9...

Former Cuberg CEO Richard Wang, who was let go in February. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The Death of Cuberg Reflects a Battery Industry Shakeout

By Steve LeVine · Aug 22, 2024 4:30am PDT

Northvolt’s decision this week to shut down Cuberg, its lithium-metal battery division, is another dramatic sign of a shakeout in the next-generation battery industry—a business that was so hot a few years ago that it seemed almost any startup could attract venture investment. It’s the second U.S. lithium-metal battery startup to fail in the... Northvolt’s decision this week to shut down Cuberg, its lithium-metal battery division, is...

Jim Gorman. Photo via Getty.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Gorman Gets Hardest Job in Business: Finding Iger Successor

By Martin Peers · Aug 21, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Jim Gorman. Photo via Getty.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Gorman Gets Hardest Job in Business: Finding Iger Successor

By Martin Peers · Aug 21, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Uh-oh. This doesn’t seem good. Disney on Wednesday announced that board member Jim Gorman, a former CEO of Morgan Stanley, would take the reins of the board’s succession planning committee from Disney chair Mark Parker. This is the committee charged with what is apparently the hardest job in the Western world: finding a lasting successor for CEO... Uh-oh. This doesn’t seem good. Disney on Wednesday announced that board member Jim Gorman, a...

Loren Gray has a part in the upcoming Netflix film “Incoming,” which comes out on Friday. Photo: Spyglass Media Group, LLC and Artists Road, LLC/Courtesy of Netflix

Creator Economy

TikTok Queen Loren Gray on Landing Her First Netflix Role

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 21, 2024 2:05pm PDT

Loren Gray is one of the original queens of TikTok, finding early success on its predecessor app Musical.ly in 2015 when she was just 13 years old. Now Gray is the latest social media star to break into traditional acting. She was cast in Netflix’s new film “Incoming,” slated for release Friday, which centers on a group of high school... Loren Gray is one of the original queens of TikTok, finding early success on its predecessor app...

Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty

Nvidia’s Aggressive Sales Tactics Will Backfire, Says Rival

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Aug 21, 2024 12:23pm PDT · 9 comments

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating accusations by customers and rivals of Nvidia, including Advanced Micro Devices, that the artificial intelligence chip designer is behaving in an anti-competitive way, including in how it bundles its products. One longtime rival argues that while Nvidia’s sharp-edged tactics don’t... The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating accusations by customers and rivals of Nvidia,...

The California State Capitol. Photo by Arturo Holmes via Getty.

The Friends and Foes of California’s AI Legislation

By Rocket Drew · Aug 21, 2024 7:00am PDT

If you follow a lot of tech and venture capitalists on X, you’d get the sense that all founders and investors are in violent opposition to SB 1047. The proposed bill moving through the California legislature would regulate large artificial intelligence makers by requiring them to hire outside auditors, ensuring the companies are testing their... If you follow a lot of tech and venture capitalists on X, you’d get the sense that all founders...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via AP.

Meta’s Search for AI Clout Takes It Into New Terrain

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan, Theo Wayt and Aaron Holmes · Aug 21, 2024 6:00am PDT

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via AP.

Meta’s Search for AI Clout Takes It Into New Terrain

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan, Theo Wayt and Aaron Holmes · Aug 21, 2024 6:00am PDT

Meta Platforms knows how to get brands like Away and Temu to buy advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. If the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is to succeed at his goal of becoming a leader in artificial intelligence, though, Meta’s going to have to quickly learn a new skill: how to pitch software to big businesses. Zuckerberg... Meta Platforms knows how to get brands like Away and Temu to buy advertisements on Facebook and...

Bolt CEO, Ryan Breslow. Photo via YouTube/Axios.

Bolt’s Breslow Plots His Return

By Martin Peers · Aug 20, 2024 5:00pm PDT

You really can’t beat tech industry founders (and a few venture capitalists) when it comes to setting new standards of chutzpah. The latest example? As my colleague Erin Woo scooped today, Bolt founder Ryan Breslow is proposing to return as CEO of the once-hot e-commerce startup. He claims to have the backing of an overseas investor who would... You really can’t beat tech industry founders (and a few venture capitalists) when it comes to...

Photo via Adobe Stock/Freepik.

The Brouhaha Over Cash Distributions

By Julia Hornstein · Aug 20, 2024 4:22pm PDT · 1 comment

A report from Carta published last week showed just how little venture capital funds have returned in cash to investors, adding to the disappointment in the asset class over the past few years. But a number of venture capitalists—and even some limited partners—say those findings aren’t as bad as they look. To recap, Carta, which sells... A report from Carta published last week showed just how little venture capital funds have...

Bolt co-founder, Ryan Breslow. Photo via Getty.

Some Bolt Investors Balk at Founder’s Costly Attempt to Return as CEO

By Erin Woo · Aug 20, 2024 4:09pm PDT · 7 comments

Ryan Breslow’s proposed return as CEO of Bolt, a commerce software firm that became one of the biggest symbols of investor overexuberance during the pandemic-fueled tech boom, would carry a high cost for existing investors. The deal proposed by Breslow and the company’s current CEO also would reward Breslow with lots of cash for... Ryan Breslow’s proposed return as CEO of Bolt, a commerce software firm that became one of...

Influencer Deja Foxx spoke at the DNC on Monday. Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty.

The DNC’s Creator Play

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 20, 2024 2:18pm PDT

Influencer Deja Foxx spoke at the DNC on Monday. Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty.

Creator Economy

The DNC’s Creator Play

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 20, 2024 2:18pm PDT

Democrats are trying to one up Republicans when it comes to creators this election cycle. The Democratic National Convention invited more than 200 influencers to the nearly weeklong event, which kicked off on Monday in Chicago. That’s double the number invited to the Republican National Convention last month. It’s the first time either... Democrats are trying to one up Republicans when it comes to creators this election cycle. The ...