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

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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

Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind. Photo by Getty

Google’s AI Efforts Marred by Turf Disputes

By Erin Woo · Feb 18, 2025 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Google scored a rare hit with an artificial intelligence–powered product last fall: NotebookLM, which helps people summarize documents, even generating podcasts from its results. The podcast feature drew a glowing review from The Wall Street Journal. After the product’s release, CEO Sundar Pichai praised the “small, dedicated team... Google scored a rare hit with an artificial intelligence–powered product last fall: ...

Image via Getty.

Veteran Google Researcher Joins ByteDance as AI Rivalry Intensifies

By Juro Osawa and Jon Victor · Feb 17, 2025 10:07pm PST

A longtime Google researcher has joined TikTok owner ByteDance to help lead the Chinese company’s artificial intelligence research and development, in one of the Chinese tech giant’s most significant external hires of AI talent to date, according to two ByteDance employees with knowledge of the matter. Wu Yonghui, a 17-year Google veteran who... A longtime Google researcher has joined TikTok owner ByteDance to help lead the Chinese company’s...

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Image via Getty.

Spotify is Booming—Except For Its Ad Business

By Catherine Perloff · Feb 17, 2025 6:00am PST

Spotify is having a moment. The music-streaming pioneer recorded its first-ever annual profit in 2024, as a diversification into audiobooks and other new features brought in new subscribers and price hikes boosted revenues. So far this year, Spotify’s stock price has rocketed 43%, making it one of the best-performing tech stocks. But the surge... Spotify is having a moment. The music-streaming pioneer recorded its first-ever annual profit in...

Byd founder Wang Chuanfu. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Byd’s Driverless Aspirations Grasp a Big Thing—People Want Stuff That's Free

By Steve LeVine · Feb 17, 2025 4:30am PST · 5 comments

Byd founder Wang Chuanfu. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Byd’s Driverless Aspirations Grasp a Big Thing—People Want Stuff That's Free

By Steve LeVine · Feb 17, 2025 4:30am PST · 5 comments

In a call with analysts last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra predicted a terrific flow of new revenue within five years—$2 billion a year in recurring fees from customers using its autonomous driving system, Super Cruise. In a call with analysts last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra predicted a terrific flow of...

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

The NBA Meets Tech on Its Home Turf

By Sara Germano · Feb 15, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Nuclear power could help tech solve its AI-driven electricity problem, if new reactors can actually get built.• Venture Bets: There’s a vibe shift in nuclear startup investing.• Clean Energy: Fusion, geothermal, solar. It’s not all about nuclear fission.• Plus, our Recommendations,... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Nuclear power could help tech solve its...

Art by Clark Miller.

Regulator That Haunted Fintechs Falls Under Trump Ax

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Feb 15, 2025 6:00am PST · 6 comments

Two big fintechs, banking app Chime and “buy now, pay later” firm Klarna, are getting ready to go public. While they were primping and polishing, they got a pleasant surprise from Washington this week: The Donald Trump administration effectively shut down the top consumer finance regulator. The shuttering of the Consumer Financial Protection... Two big fintechs, banking app Chime and “buy now, pay later” firm Klarna, are getting ready to go...

Ray-Ban's Meta Lab pop-up in Los Angeles in 2024. Photo via Getty.

Meta Hires for Retail and Robot Expansion

By Martin Peers · Feb 14, 2025 3:00pm PST

Meta Platforms might be laying off staff, but it’s proving to be something of a haven for recently unemployed senior executives. Bloomberg broke news today that the Facebook parent had hired a recently departed CEO of TheRealReal as a vice president of retail, and the former CEO of General Motors’ self-driving–car unit, Cruise, to oversee a new... Meta Platforms might be laying off staff, but it’s proving to be something of a haven for...

Elon’s $97B Curveball For OpenAI

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 14, 2025 2:19pm PST

Elon’s $97B Curveball For OpenAI

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 14, 2025 2:19pm PST

On More or Less: The gang discusses Elon’s latest curveball. Apple Spotify On More or Less: The gang discusses Elon’s latest curveball. Apple Spotify

Art by Clark Miller

Nuclear Investing, No Longer Radioactive

By Nick Wingfield · Feb 14, 2025 9:00am PST

Around the time Jigar Shah became director of the loan programs office at the U.S. Department of Energy, his venture capitalist friends gave him an earful about the idea of investing in nuclear power startups. “Like, 20 of my best friends in 2021 told me, ‘Jigar, we will never, ever in a million years invest in nuclear power,’” said Shah,... Around the time Jigar Shah became director of the loan programs office at the U.S....

Art by Clark Miller

From Fusion to Geothermal, Tech’s Clean Energy Bets Are Multiplying

By Nick Wingfield · Feb 14, 2025 9:00am PST · 1 comment

Nuclear isn’t the only source of carbon-free power that has energized the tech industry. For years, solar and wind have been mainstays for tech companies looking to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by their data centers and other operations. The tech industry is also forming partnerships to build power plants that use new technologies to tap... Nuclear isn’t the only source of carbon-free power that has energized the tech industry. For...

Art by Clark Miller

Can Tech Get Nuclear Power to Move at AI Speeds?

By Nick Wingfield · Feb 14, 2025 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Over the past two years, the explosive growth of artificial intelligence has created a dilemma for tech behemoths: How can their data centers meet AI’s mind-boggling need for electricity without befouling the planet in the process? Amazon, for one, may have found an answer to that question 200 miles southeast of its headquarters, on a patch of... Over the past two years, the explosive growth of artificial intelligence has created a dilemma...

Pro Weekly: Megadeals Lead Fourth-Quarter AI Funding Surge

Pro Weekly: Megadeals Lead Fourth-Quarter AI Funding Surge

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 14, 2025 8:00am PST · 1 comment

Pro Weekly: Megadeals Lead Fourth-Quarter AI Funding Surge

Pro Weekly: Megadeals Lead Fourth-Quarter AI Funding Surge

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 14, 2025 8:00am PST · 1 comment

As public companies report their fourth-quarter financial results, we’ve been running the numbers on fourth-quarter venture funding for startups in our Generative AI Database. Two headlines emerged: It was the biggest quarter yet, and venture capitalists are bullish on artificial intelligence agents.Investors poured nearly $20.9 billion into AI... As public companies report their fourth-quarter financial results, we’ve been running the numbers...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

From BNY to Citi, Wall Street Moves In on Crypto

By Yueqi Yang · Feb 14, 2025 6:00am PST

Some of the biggest U.S. banks are muscling into crypto services for big funds, investors and traders, taking advantage of fast-loosening regulations under President Donald Trump to launch digital asset versions of businesses they have long dominated. For now, most of the action involves the business of custody, or safekeeping crypto on behalf... Some of the biggest U.S. banks are muscling into crypto services for big funds, investors and...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo via Getty.

Coinbase’s Meme Moment

By Martin Peers · Feb 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

Coinbase ran a victory lap tonight, delivering boffo fourth-quarter numbers that capped a good year both business-wise and politically for the crypto giant. In a shareholder letter, Coinbase signaled its optimism for the future with the most predictable of cliches. Thanks to Donald Trump’s election as president, “It’s the dawn of a new era for... Coinbase ran a victory lap tonight, delivering boffo fourth-quarter numbers that capped a good...

Why Early-Stage Founders Are Opting to ‘Seed-Strap’ Their Startups

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 13, 2025 4:04pm PST

Artificial intelligence startups such as coding assistant Cursor and legal AI software-maker Harvey have become fundraising beasts, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in rounds just months apart. But some founders are bucking that trend, instead opting to “seed-strap” their businesses, using revenue to expand operations after an initial... Artificial intelligence startups such as coding assistant Cursor and legal AI software-maker...

Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy: TikTok Employees Have Something Else to Fret About

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Feb 13, 2025 2:25pm PST

Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

Creator Economy: TikTok Employees Have Something Else to Fret About

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Feb 13, 2025 2:25pm PST

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had some good news for employees at the company’s all-hands meeting Wednesday night—and then some less than stellar news.While its short-lived shutdown in the U.S. nearly a month ago hurt the business, the app has seen “positive momentum” since then, Chew said, adding: “100% of our ad campaigns that were paused as a... TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had some good news for employees at the company’s all-hands meeting...

art via Midjourney by Mike Sullivan

Agents Hit Trust Roadblock With Logistics Execs; Anthropic Targets OpenAI Customers

By Theo Wayt, Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Feb 13, 2025 10:49am PST

Artificial intelligence agents designed to make decisions for their customers are all the rage. But as companies developing agents make their pitches, they’re going to have to figure out how to quell customers’ trust issues and skepticism. I could see this dynamic at Manifest, an e-commerce and logistics conference I attended in Las Vegas... Artificial intelligence agents designed to make decisions for their customers are all the rage....

Partner Content

How Ready Are You for the Next Phase of Cloud AI?

By The Information Partnerships · Feb 13, 2025 10:16am PST

Inexorable, overhyped, underappreciated: These are the seemingly mutually exclusive adjectives The Information’s readers use to describe cloud artificial intelligence in a recent survey (see methodology). The reason for these divergent opinions is the relatively early stage of cloud AI deployment, where success in cloud AI has not yet been fully... Inexorable, overhyped, underappreciated: These are the seemingly mutually exclusive adjectives...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at the inauguration. Photo via AP.

TikTok CEO Hints At Cuts as Talks With Trump Team Continue

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Juro Osawa · Feb 13, 2025 8:19am PST

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a staff meeting Wednesday evening that he is working closely with the Trump administration to determine the best course of action for the app’s future in the U.S. At the meeting, Chew also discussed another priority: To continue shedding layers and overlapping roles within TikTok. “We have to review our teams. We... TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a staff meeting Wednesday evening that he is working closely with...

Photo by Getty

Anthropic Strikes Back

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 13, 2025 7:00am PST

Photo by Getty

Anthropic Strikes Back

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 13, 2025 7:00am PST

After OpenAI released its reasoning models last fall, Google, Alibaba, High-Flyer Capital Management and others followed with their own. One prominent competitor, Anthropic, has been noticeably absent from the race. Now we know one reason: Anthropic is taking a slightly different approach to reasoning. It has developed a hybrid AI model... After OpenAI released its reasoning models last fall, Google, Alibaba, High-Flyer Capital...