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

Caption: YouTube’s new gifts feature. Photos via YouTube.

Creator Economy

Why YouTube and TikTok Are Pushing Live Tipping

By Rocket Drew · Nov 21, 2024 2:52pm PST

Last week, YouTube began introducing jewels, virtual tips that fans can buy to send creators during livestreams. YouTubers can exchange these tips for cash, a penny per jewel. The Google-owned video site is the latest to get into live tipping, which has been popular for years on Twitch. As the chart below shows, most major social apps are... Last week, YouTube began introducing jewels, virtual tips that fans can buy to send creators...

OpenAI Considers Taking on Google With Browser

By Erin Woo, Sahil Patel and Amir Efrati · Nov 21, 2024 1:19pm PST · 3 comments

OpenAI is preparing to launch a frontal assault on Google. The ChatGPT owner recently considered developing a web browser that it would combine with its chatbot, and it has separately discussed or struck deals to power search features for travel, food, real estate and retail websites, according to people who have seen prototypes or... OpenAI is preparing to launch a frontal assault on Google. The ChatGPT owner recently...

From left: Brad Smith, Donald Trump and John Thune. Photos by Getty

Microsoft’s Brad Smith Sees Trump Boost to Data Centers, AI

By Aaron Holmes · Nov 21, 2024 9:06am PST · 2 comments

As Republicans sweeping to power in Washington call for bringing the great tech powers to heel, one of those big companies has mostly escaped their wrath: Microsoft. Brad Smith, the company’s president and main liaison to Washington, is trying to keep it that way. In the months before Donald Trump’s reelection, Microsoft staffers... As Republicans sweeping to power in Washington call for bringing the great tech powers to heel,...

Photo via Brave

The Startup Powering Perplexity, Meta's AI Search

By Kalley Huang · Nov 21, 2024 7:00am PST

Photo via Brave

The Startup Powering Perplexity, Meta's AI Search

By Kalley Huang · Nov 21, 2024 7:00am PST

There’s a lot of excitement around artificial intelligence disrupting search. Consumers and businesses increasingly use AI tools in lieu of traditional search engines such as Google. OpenAI has added search features to ChatGPT, Meta Platforms is crawling and indexing the web for its Meta AI chatbot and the AI search startup Perplexity is nearing... There’s a lot of excitement around artificial intelligence disrupting search. Consumers and...

Photo via Nasdaq.

Marketing Software Firm Braze Could Be a Hot Acquisition Target

By Anita Ramaswamy · Nov 21, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

This isn’t the year to be in marketing software. Companies’ marketing spending as a percentage of sales is at a five-year low, according to data from Gartner. That has hurt big software companies like Salesforce and Adobe, which get a chunk of revenue from selling marketing tools. It’s also hurt smaller marketing software firms... This isn’t the year to be in marketing software. Companies’ marketing spending as a...

Photo: Getty

The Electric: Does Tesla Really Stand to Prosper From the Trump Presidency?

By Steve LeVine · Nov 21, 2024 4:30am PST · 4 comments

Since Donald Trump won reelection as president, many investors have assumed that the chief beneficiaries would include businesses run by Elon Musk, his biggest financial backer and recently his frequent companion. Investors have pushed up the share price of Musk’s one listed business—Tesla—36% since the Nov. 5 election. Since Donald Trump won reelection as president, many investors have assumed that the chief...

Jiang Fan. Photo by Getty

Alibaba Revamps E-Commerce Businesses As Competition Intensifies

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Nov 21, 2024 1:52am PST

Alibaba Group is placing all of its e-commerce businesses, both domestic and international, under one umbrella overseen by a single executive, according to a person close to the company, as the Chinese tech giant seeks to keep up with fast-moving competitors. The newly formed Alibaba E-Commerce Group, comprising domestic marketplaces Taobao and... Alibaba Group is placing all of its e-commerce businesses, both domestic and international, under...

Photo via Getty

Why Nvidia’s Investors Are So Hard to Please

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Photo via Getty

Why Nvidia’s Investors Are So Hard to Please

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Nvidia investors are, let’s face it, a bit like spoiled children. Here’s a company that posts a 94% increase in revenue from a year ago, which is quite a bit better than it had projected, and the stock falls! Sure, Nvidia’s growth rate has come down from the blazing-fast 260% or so of a few quarters ago, but did anyone imagine the company could... Nvidia investors are, let’s face it, a bit like spoiled children. Here’s a company that posts a ...

Redpoint Ventures’ Rashad Assir and Morning Brew’s Dan Toomey speak on a panel about the creator economy in New York on Monday. Photo: Media Summit | NYC

Creator Economy

Why More Companies Will Hire Creators in 2025

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 20, 2024 2:09pm PST

Next year, expect more companies to hire creators as employees, either to represent their brands to the public or run their social strategies.On Monday I spoke to two creators who have joined companies in the past few years: Morning Brew’s Dan Toomey, who runs the media outlet’s Good Work YouTube channel, which covers business and finance... Next year, expect more companies to hire creators as employees, either to represent their brands...

Credit: Erin Beach

Partner Content

Recap: Will 2025 Be the Year of IPOs for AI?

By The Information Partnerships · Nov 20, 2024 11:49am PST · 1 comment

To call the last two years “tepid” for tech initial public offerings would be an understatement. In the wake of a record-smashing high in 2021, IPO deal proceeds plummeted 94% in 2022 and have been slow to recover. But 2025 could be looking up, with some big names likely to hit exchanges. At a recent event about artificial... To call the last two years “tepid” for tech initial public offerings would be an...

Subscriber Survey

Most Readers Oppose Return-to-Office Mandates

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 20, 2024 8:00am PST

Six in 10 readers of The Information oppose policies mandating that they work in an office every day, but executives and founders view such policies more favorably, according to our latest reader survey. A majority of respondents said their ideal is to be in the office three days a week or fewer. Respondents were slightly less optimistic than in... Six in 10 readers of The Information oppose policies mandating that they work in an office every...

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Photo via Getty.

Snowflake Talks With Anthropic About AI Partnership

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 20, 2024 7:47am PST

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. Photo via Getty.

Snowflake Talks With Anthropic About AI Partnership

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 20, 2024 7:47am PST

Database provider Snowflake is talking with OpenAI rival Anthropic about letting Snowflake’s customers use Anthropic’s large language models to build artificial intelligence–powered applications, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The Anthropic agreement, if consummated, could help CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy... Database provider Snowflake is talking with OpenAI rival Anthropic about letting...

Writer cofounders May Habib and Waseem Alshikh. Courtesy of Writer.

What If LLMs Could Continue Learning?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 20, 2024 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Here’s a question of paramount importance in AI: what if large language models could continue learning new information even after they’re done training? That’s the question that researchers at Writer, a $2 billion-valuation startup developing AI tools for enterprises, found themselves asking six months ago. Those researchers have now... Here’s a question of paramount importance in AI: what if large language models could continue...

Steve McLaughlin, screenshot via YouTube.

FT Partners’ Steve McLaughlin Fights ‘Blood Brothers’ Over Fees

By Michael Roddan · Nov 20, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In mid-2020, when cryptocurrency firm Circle needed to raise cash, CEO Jeremy Allaire sought out Steve McLaughlin, founder of investment bank FT Partners and a force in fintech dealmaking. For its services, FT wanted a percentage of any capital it raised for Circle, plus fees on any future fundraising or acquisition, even if FT wasn’t... In mid-2020, when cryptocurrency firm Circle needed to raise cash, CEO Jeremy Allaire sought out...

Nisa Leung, Managing Partner, Qiming Venture Partners. Photo by Getty.

Top Chinese VC Firm Qiming Plans Leadership Transition

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Nov 20, 2024 4:00am PST

Qiming Venture Partners, one of China’s leading venture firms, is planning a major leadership transition, one of the first of a generation of Chinese VC firms to take this step, according to three people with knowledge of the plan. Nisa Leung and Duane Kuang, two of Qiming’s managing partners, will gradually step back from their... Qiming Venture Partners, one of China’s leading venture firms, is planning a major...

Google Sundar Pichai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President-Elect Donald Trump via Getty. Art by Clark Miller

Musk Joined Call Between Trump, Google CEO

By Erin Woo · Nov 19, 2024 7:07pm PST · 7 comments

Google Sundar Pichai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President-Elect Donald Trump via Getty. Art by Clark Miller

Musk Joined Call Between Trump, Google CEO

By Erin Woo · Nov 19, 2024 7:07pm PST · 7 comments

When Google CEO Sundar Pichai called Donald Trump to congratulate the president-elect on winning the election, a guest was on the line: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, xAI and other companies, according to two people familiar with the situation. Musk’s appearance took Pichai by surprise, one of these people said. When Google CEO Sundar Pichai called Donald Trump to congratulate the president-elect on winning...

Photo via Adobe

Amazon’s Walmart Problem

By Theo Wayt · Nov 19, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Walmart reported solid third-quarter numbers today, driving home what’s surely a sore point for Jeff Bezos: No matter how hard Amazon tries, it can’t conquer Walmart.The Arkansas retailer’s revenue grew 5.5% to $169.6 billion, and the company showed optimism about the holiday season by raising its full-year sales forecast. Investors are happy... Walmart reported solid third-quarter numbers today, driving home what’s surely a sore point for...

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi and ServiceTitan CEO Ara Mahdessian. Photos via Flickr and ServiceTitan.

Databricks’ $8 Billion Ask; ServiceTitan IPO Winners

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 19, 2024 3:00pm PST · 2 comments

Good afternoon from Las Vegas, where I’m writing this newsletter from a hotel room with a Strip view of the Encore, the hotel where bankers, investors and tech executives will slide from meeting to meeting at Goldman Sachs’ annual private tech confab. Say hi if you’re there. (I’ll be one of the many bald guys roaming around, but I’m younger than... Good afternoon from Las Vegas, where I’m writing this newsletter from a hotel room with a Strip...

A mini drama on Douyin, TikTok's sister app in China. Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

Serial Shows Make a Comeback on TikTok and Instagram

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 19, 2024 2:03pm PST

Companies like YouTube, Snap and Quibi have all tried to make short original shows on social media work. Now, a second wave of attempts is coming. As Juro and I reported, TikTok is now considering adding TV-like dramas with minutes-long episodes, which have proven popular on its Chinese sister app Douyin. Companies like YouTube, Snap and Quibi have all tried to make short original shows on social...

From left, Sara Germano, Sri Muppidi, Catherine Perloff and Kevin McLaughlin.

The Information Hires Four Reporters to Deepen Coverage of Startups, AI and Sports

By The Information Staff · Nov 19, 2024 8:00am PST · 2 comments

From left, Sara Germano, Sri Muppidi, Catherine Perloff and Kevin McLaughlin.

The Information Hires Four Reporters to Deepen Coverage of Startups, AI and Sports

By The Information Staff · Nov 19, 2024 8:00am PST · 2 comments

The Information is pleased to announce the hiring of three new reporters—Sara Germano, Sri Muppidi and Catherine Perloff—as well as the return of veteran reporter Kevin McLaughlin. Sara Germano will join The Information’s Weekend section from the Financial Times on Dec. 2, covering the business and future of sports—with a... The Information is pleased to announce the hiring of three new reporters—Sara Germano, Sri...