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

Art by Clark Miller. Photo via Getty

Meta Curbs Privacy Teams’ Sway Over Product Releases

By Kalley Huang · Feb 10, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Meta Platforms has erected guardrails around how it develops new products over the past decade to better protect the privacy of its more than 3 billion users following high-profile breaches. Now executives are lowering those guardrails so the company can release products more quickly. Among the changes, privacy teams will have less authority to... Meta Platforms has erected guardrails around how it develops new products over the past decade to...

In December in Angola, Biden inaugurates U.S. funding for the Lobito railway corridor. With him, left to right: Tanzania Vice-President Philip Isdor Mpango; President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo; Angola President Joao Lourenco; and Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema. Photo: Getty.

The Electric: Trump May Be Jeopardizing a Critical Metals Win in Africa

By Steve LeVine · Feb 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment

In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito in a challenge to China’s grip on Africa’s rich supplies of metals used in electric vehicles, high-tech devices and weapons.With a flourish, Biden announced $560 million in funding to build projects along an 800-mile railway from the Democratic Republic of Congo... In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito in a challenge...

Art by Clark Miller

The AI Scene Awaiting JD Vance

By Abram Brown · Feb 8, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The Thiel protégé set to dispense a dose of abrupt change to the U.S. Health Department• The Top 5: The best high-tech protective gear for skiers and snowboarders• Plus, our Recommendations: A tricky traitor in the Troubles; a deeply researched television set; and Michael... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: The Thiel protégé set to dispense a dose...

Art by Clark Miller

The Best High-Tech Protective Gear for Skiers and Snowboarders

By Brigid Mander · Feb 8, 2025 5:00am PST · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller

The Best High-Tech Protective Gear for Skiers and Snowboarders

By Brigid Mander · Feb 8, 2025 5:00am PST · 1 comment

My first ski helmet was ridiculous. Whenever I wore it, it looked like I had an upside-down fruit bowl on my head. I initially bought it back around 2002, a time when just a quarter of skiers wore helmets, according to the National Ski Areas Association’s annual survey. And no wonder: Back then, ski goggles and helmets were often shaped... My first ski helmet was ridiculous. Whenever I wore it, it looked like I had an upside-down fruit...

Photo via Getty

Amazon’s Server Signal

By Martin Peers · Feb 7, 2025 3:00pm PST

How long can computer servers be expected to last? Don’t groan—that’s a real issue. After all, if a company is spending tens of billions on servers annually, they presumably don’t want to replace them every other year. But as we learned in the past week or two from December quarterly earnings reports, the big tech companies have differing... How long can computer servers be expected to last? Don’t groan—that’s a real issue. After all, if...

Photos of Elon Musk (from left), Jim O’Neill and Peter Thiel via YouTube screenshots. Art by Clark Miller

As DOGE Shakeup Looms, a Thiel Protégé Looks to Disrupt U.S. Health Department

By Julia Black · Feb 7, 2025 9:00am PST · 3 comments

In November, virologist Beata Halassy announced to the world that she had cured her own breast cancer using a treatment developed in a laboratory she runs. Many in the medical community celebrated her breakthrough, which she says has allowed her to live cancer-free for over four years. But some bioethicists worried that overpublicizing the... In November, virologist Beata Halassy announced to the world that she had cured her own breast...

Photo via Shutterstock

Pro Weekly: Chime Taps IPO Veterans in Run-Up to Likely Stock Debut

By Akash Pasricha · Feb 7, 2025 8:00am PST

In the run-up to its expected initial public offering this year, Chime has been adding C-suite executives and leaders from public companies, according to The Information’s updated Chime Org Chart. More than one-third of the 42 people on our chart have joined the digital banking company in the past two years. New hires include Sarah Wagener,... In the run-up to its expected initial public offering this year, Chime has been adding C-suite...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Shopify’s ‘Trojan Horse’ to Beat Salesforce

By Ann Gehan · Feb 7, 2025 6:00am PST

Art by Mike Sullivan

Shopify’s ‘Trojan Horse’ to Beat Salesforce

By Ann Gehan · Feb 7, 2025 6:00am PST

Shopify, best known for selling software and services to help small entrepreneurs run online shops, wants to boost its growth by landing bigger retailers as clients. One obvious target is merchants that use e-commerce software from enterprise giants like Salesforce, Adobe and Oracle. While Shopify has highlighted its success in winning some... Shopify, best known for selling software and services to help small entrepreneurs run online...

General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja. Art by Clark Miller. Photo via Getty.

General Catalyst Stretches the Definition of Venture Capital

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 6, 2025 5:15pm PST

General Catalyst seems to be drawing a blueprint for what it means to be a venture capital firm that is not just a venture capital firm. Earlier this week, the 25-year-old firm announced it would be expanding into wealth management, led by a team of former First Republic Bank staffers. And now, three people who have spoken to the firm tell... General Catalyst seems to be drawing a blueprint for what it means to be a venture capital firm...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo via Getty

Amazon Ups AI Capex Ante

By Martin Peers · Feb 6, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Amazon is upping the ante in tech’s great capex stakes. The commerce cloud giant’s CEO, Andy Jassy, intimated Thursday, as the company reported fourth-quarter earnings, that it would spend around $100 billion on capital expenditures this year. That’s up around 29% from what Amazon spent in 2024, and roughly $20 billion to $25 billion ahead of... Amazon is upping the ante in tech’s great capex stakes. The commerce cloud giant’s CEO, Andy...

ByteDance's Shanghai office. Photo via Getty.

Creator Economy

Why ByteDance Could Afford to Shut Down TikTok’s U.S. Business

By Sri Muppidi and Juro Osawa · Feb 6, 2025 2:48pm PST · 1 comment

How painful would it be for ByteDance to shut down TikTok in the U.S. altogether? Such a question may be moot if you only listened to President Donald Trump, who has frequently weighed in on the likelihood of a deal to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations—perhaps to Oracle, maybe to Elon Musk, or even to the U.S. government itself! But as we’ve... How painful would it be for ByteDance to shut down TikTok in the U.S. altogether? Such a question...

Photo by Shutterstock

DeepSeek Will Pressure Microsoft, Salesforce to Drop AI Prices, Software Executives Say

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 6, 2025 10:00am PST

Photo by Shutterstock

DeepSeek Will Pressure Microsoft, Salesforce to Drop AI Prices, Software Executives Say

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 6, 2025 10:00am PST

The falling cost of artificial intelligence—underscored by the arrival of DeepSeek—is likely to pressure software firms to stop charging customers for ChatGPT-like features such as summarizing documents and automatically drafting emails, which are fast becoming a commodity, executives from security firm Palo Alto Networks and file storage firm... The falling cost of artificial intelligence—underscored by the arrival of DeepSeek—is likely to...

Photos by Getty

Google Closes In On DeepSeek’s AI Efficiency, While DeepSeek’s Chatbot Blows Past Google’s

By Amir Efrati and Rocket Drew · Feb 6, 2025 7:00am PST

Google doesn’t get the accolades OpenAI, Anthropic and DeepSeek are getting in advancing artificial intelligence, but it’s arguably doing some things right.Case in point: On Wednesday, Google made a trio of new Gemini AI models generally available to app developers, including a reasoning model akin to OpenAI’s o1 and the much-discussed DeepSeek... Google doesn’t get the accolades OpenAI, Anthropic and DeepSeek are getting in advancing...

JP Morgan’s Greek Tragedy

By Michael Roddan · Feb 6, 2025 6:00am PST · 6 comments

JPMorgan Chase’s $917 million investment in a Greek fintech company has gone so wrong that the bank last year offered to sell back half of its stake at a valuation of $175 million. The fintech, Viva Wallet, didn’t take the offer. JPMorgan responded with a lawsuit that accused Viva’s founder of bullying and threatening its... JPMorgan Chase’s $917 million investment in a Greek fintech company has gone so wrong that...

Musk has said Tesla doesn't need subsidies. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty

The Electric: Plans Afoot to Make It Even Harder to Use Chinese Materials in U.S. EVs

By Steve LeVine · Feb 6, 2025 4:30am PST

Auto and battery makers are bracing for the impact of potential U.S. tariffs. Now they may be facing another challenge: a move in Congress to make it significantly harder for companies that use Chinese-made battery material to get subsidies. Auto and battery makers are bracing for the impact of potential U.S. tariffs. Now they may be...

Mercury CEO Immad Akhund. Art by Clark Miller; Akhund screenshot via YouTube.

Banking Startup Mercury In Financing Talks As Investors Warm to Fintechs

By Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 5, 2025 8:52pm PST

Mercury CEO Immad Akhund. Art by Clark Miller; Akhund screenshot via YouTube.

Banking Startup Mercury In Financing Talks As Investors Warm to Fintechs

By Sri Muppidi and Natasha Mascarenhas · Feb 5, 2025 8:52pm PST

Investors are warming to fintech startups after a spike in interest rates made these once-hot companies look overvalued. Mercury, a business banking startup whose profile soared after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank nearly two years ago, is in talks to raise more capital, targeting about $250 million, according to a person with direct... Investors are warming to fintech startups after a spike in interest rates made these once-hot...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo via Getty.

Khan’s Parallel Universe; Uber Is Minting Money

By Martin Peers · Feb 5, 2025 5:00pm PST · 9 comments

Lina Khan is out of the government, but she hasn’t given up her crusade against big tech. The former Federal Trade Commission chair has written an opinion piece for The New York Times suggesting the success of China’s artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek is a sign that “there isn’t enough competition” in the tech industry. Perhaps Lina... Lina Khan is out of the government, but she hasn’t given up her crusade against big tech. The...

President Donald Trump. Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Why Trump’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Plan for TikTok Won’t Work

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 5, 2025 2:36pm PST

President Trump’s plan to set up a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, which he said could play a role in buying TikTok’s U.S. business, is generating a lot of conversation this week. But here’s why it’s unlikely to work out. First of all, it’s unclear where the money to seed such a fund would come from. Sovereign wealth funds are common in... President Trump’s plan to set up a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, which he said could play a role in...

Art by Clark Miller; images via Getty.

How Trump Upended E-Commerce Overnight

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Feb 5, 2025 12:30pm PST · 4 comments

President Donald Trump’s weekend decision to simultaneously hike tariffs and eliminate a popular duty-free import method for direct-from-China sellers including Temu and Shein has forced e-commerce companies, logistics firms and customs authorities into triage mode to minimize disruptions. The most immediate headache is figuring out how to... President Donald Trump’s weekend decision to simultaneously hike tariffs and eliminate a...

Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI. Photo by Getty

Will DeepSeek Hurt Scale AI’s Business Model?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 5, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI. Photo by Getty

Will DeepSeek Hurt Scale AI’s Business Model?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Feb 5, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

To understand how OpenAI has been improving the quality of its reasoning models in recent months, check out the following question the company recently asked scores of biology PhDs:“Please write a summary of wet-lab experimental approaches available before August 2024 for assessing in parallel the gene expression effects of many different... To understand how OpenAI has been improving the quality of its reasoning models in recent months,...