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

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Recent Editions

Photo by Erin Beach

Creator Economy Summit

Outdoor Voices’ Ty Haney: New Creator Startup Takes From ‘Good and Bad’ of Her Experience

By Sahil Patel · Apr 2, 2024 2:03pm PDT

Ty Haney left Outdoor Voices, the athleisure startup she co-founded, after a widely publicized dispute four years ago with the company’s board. Now she’s taking a new shot at one of the ideas that caused the rift: building loyal communities of users. “Having built a brand whose life was cut short for various reasons, I saw a... Ty Haney left Outdoor Voices, the athleisure startup she co-founded, after a widely publicized...

TikTok's Marni Levine. Photo by Erin Beach.

Creator Economy Summit

TikTok Shop Chief: No Plans to Dial Back Shop Content

By Erin Woo · Apr 2, 2024 11:47am PDT · 1 comment

TikTok isn’t swayed by users complaining they’re seeing too much on their feeds from creators hawking products. “I’m not considering” dialing back the amount of e-commerce content on TikTok’s For You page, said Marni Levine, head of TikTok Shop’s U.S. operations for small and medium businesses, in... TikTok isn’t swayed by users complaining they’re seeing too much on their feeds from...

Chart by Shane Burke.

AI Valuations May Be Coming Down to Earth; A Glimpse of OpenAI’s Search Engine

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

The valuations of artificial intelligence startups, as a multiple of their projected future revenue, may be coming down from their peaks.Three months ago, we calculated such valuation multiples for eight prominent companies that sell consumer or enterprise services tied to large language models. On average, investors valued these companies at 83... The valuations of artificial intelligence startups, as a multiple of their projected future...

Tony Hoggett, Amazon's "grocery chief." Photos: Flickr/Tesco and Getty Images. Art: Shane Burke.

Amazon’s Grocery Stores to Drop Just Walk Out Checkout Tech

By Theo Wayt · Apr 2, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Tony Hoggett, Amazon's "grocery chief." Photos: Flickr/Tesco and Getty Images. Art: Shane Burke.

Amazon’s Grocery Stores to Drop Just Walk Out Checkout Tech

By Theo Wayt · Apr 2, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon’s grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, has been a centerpiece of its ambitions to transform bricks-and-mortar supermarkets. Now Amazon is gearing up to open a new batch of grocery stores after an 18-month pause—and it’s ditching the technology. Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of grocery stores,... Amazon’s grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, has been a centerpiece of its...

Photo via Shutterstock

Microsoft Unbundles Teams—Are Customers Better Off?

By Martin Peers · Apr 1, 2024 5:00pm PDT · 2 comments

We got big news today from the world of enterprise software. Microsoft has decided to stop including its Teams feature, a rival to Slack and Zoom Video, by default in its Office suite of software services, at least for new customers. The software giant made this change in Europe last summer, after a regulatory inquiry in its Teams bundling... We got big news today from the world of enterprise software. Microsoft has decided to stop...

Photo via Shutterstock.

OpenAI Moves to Lessen Reliance on Some Nvidia Hardware

By Anissa Gardizy · Apr 1, 2024 7:15am PDT · 2 comments

After breaking the news on Friday about how Microsoft and OpenAI are drawing up plans for an ambitious data center project costing as much as $100 billion, we were bombarded with questions from people across the artificial intelligence and cloud industries: What part of the country will it be located in? What chips would it use? How would the... After breaking the news on Friday about how Microsoft and OpenAI are drawing up plans for an...

Art by Mike Sullivan

YouTube Leaders Bring a New Focus on Financial Discipline

By Kaya Yurieff and Sahil Patel · Apr 1, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Not long after Mary Ellen Coe joined YouTube as chief business officer in late 2022, leaders at the streaming video behemoth began intensifying their questions about a team of YouTube staffers who provided support to content creators. They wanted to know if the team was worth the money YouTube was investing in it, said a person involved in these... Not long after Mary Ellen Coe joined YouTube as chief business officer in late 2022, leaders at...

Photo: Getty

The Electric: ‘Good Enough’ Batteries Threaten Lithium-Metal Startups

By Steve LeVine · Apr 1, 2024 4:35am PDT

Photo: Getty

The Electric: ‘Good Enough’ Batteries Threaten Lithium-Metal Startups

By Steve LeVine · Apr 1, 2024 4:35am PDT

In 2020, a mania erupted around next-generation electric vehicle batteries, especially lithium-metal batteries that promised 500 miles of driving range, twice as far as most EVs could go on a charge at the time. Investors mobbed QuantumScape, a California lithium-metal battery developer, whose share price rose almost sixfold in the month... In 2020, a mania erupted around next-generation electric vehicle batteries, especially...

Josh Kushner, The Next Unhappy Media Mogul?

Josh Kushner, The Next Unhappy Media Mogul?

By Abram Brown · Mar 30, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:The skinny on Kim Kardashian’s Skims—and how it dodged retail armageddon.Beyoncé water and fake Pilsner: Our top 5 favorite New Age canned beverages that thirsty VCs love, too.Plus: The perils of inheritance; a man who could save us from our sinking world; and how a football star, a preacher and an actor... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:The skinny on Kim Kardashian’s Skims—and how it dodged...

Art by Clark Miller

Our Favorite New Age Canned Beverages—That Thirsty VCs Love, Too

By Abram Brown · Mar 30, 2024 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

“We’re not trying to bring back Prohibition—or judge anyone,” promised Bill Shufelt, leading me through a taste test of the non-alcoholic beer from his seven-year-old Athletic Brewing, recently valued at nearly a half-billion dollars. That money has afforded some fine products: To my immense surprise, Shufelt’s... “We’re not trying to bring back Prohibition—or judge anyone,” promised...

Generative AI illustration via Adobe Stock.

AI Rivals Broadband in High Upfront Cost—What About the Return?

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2024 3:30pm PDT

Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are cool to experiment with. But it’s becoming clearer by the day just how humongously expensive this kind of AI technology is to develop. Our scoop today about Microsoft drawing up plans to spend as much as $100 billion on a data center project for OpenAI... Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are cool...

Reddit IPO, Apple v. DOJ and the Return of the Power Lunch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 29, 2024 12:04pm PDT · 1 comment

Reddit IPO, Apple v. DOJ and the Return of the Power Lunch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 29, 2024 12:04pm PDT · 1 comment

This week's More or Less was an ode to the return of in-person business. Plus, how VCs are breaking down the Reddit IPO and more. Hope you enjoy. Apple Spotify This week's More or Less was an ode to the return of in-person business. Plus, how VCs are...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty. Art: Shane Burke

Microsoft and OpenAI Plot $100 Billion Stargate AI Supercomputer

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Mar 29, 2024 10:05am PDT · 13 comments

Executives at Microsoft and OpenAI have been drawing up plans for a data center project that would contain a supercomputer with millions of specialized server chips to power OpenAI’s artificial intelligence, according to three people who have been involved in the private conversations about the proposal. The project could cost as much... Executives at Microsoft and OpenAI have been drawing up plans for a data center project that...

Art by Clark Miller

How the CEO of Kim Kardashian’s Skims Dodged Retail Armageddon

By Ann Gehan and Annie Goldsmith · Mar 29, 2024 9:28am PDT · 2 comments

When Skims co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede were recently considering where to put their very first physical store, they knew right away that New York and Los Angeles wouldn’t work well. Their retail unicorn had previously held pop-up shops in those cities, and they had attracted enormous crowds that limited any chance to observe... When Skims co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede were recently considering where to put their...

Left to right, Everett Randle, Delian Asparouhov, John Luttig, Leigh Marie Braswell, Avery Klemmer, Vinay Iyengar and Grace Isford.

Pro Weekly: Venture Capital's Youth Movement

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 29, 2024 8:00am PDT

My colleagues Natasha and Kate this week published The Next GPs, identifying 19 people in industry and at venture capital firms such as Accel, Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners who are likely to become general partners in coming years. As I studied the list, I was struck by the relative youth of its members. At least nine,... My colleagues Natasha and Kate this week published The Next GPs, identifying 19 people in...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

How U.S. Sellers Are Embracing Trade ‘Loophole’ That Has Boosted Shein and Temu

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Mar 29, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan.

How U.S. Sellers Are Embracing Trade ‘Loophole’ That Has Boosted Shein and Temu

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Mar 29, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Air Up, a maker of scented water bottles backed by PepsiCo and Ashton Kutcher, was looking to cut costs last year, it decided to stop using warehouses located in California and Ohio, and instead ship its Asia- and Europe-made products out of the border city of Reynosa, Mexico. That change will make it cheaper for Munich-based Air Up to... When Air Up, a maker of scented water bottles backed by PepsiCo and Ashton Kutcher, was looking...

Scale AI CEO, Alexandr Wang. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Scale AI Nears $13 Billion Valuation in Accel-Led Round

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Mar 28, 2024 8:13pm PDT

Venture capital firm Accel, an early investor in the data labeling startup Scale AI, is in talks to lead a new round of funding that would raise the startup’s valuation nearly 80% to about $13 billion, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. The investment would allow Accel to maintain a large share of a valuable startup that... Venture capital firm Accel, an early investor in the data labeling startup Scale AI, is in talks...

U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland at a news conference on March 21 after the Justice Department sued Apple for alleged antitrust violations. Photo by Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

When Tech Regulators Shift on a Dime

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 28, 2024 5:00pm PDT

Ask most founders, venture capitalists and tech executives how they feel about the state of regulation—from the antitrust case the Justice Department brought against Apple to the executive order regarding artificial intelligence—and you’ll hear a familiar refrain. Most tech leaders ignore regulators because they believe these authorities are... Ask most founders, venture capitalists and tech executives how they feel about the state of...

Sam Bankman-Fried at Manhattan Federal Court on June 15, 2023. Photo by Getty Images.

Crypto’s New Beginning; Seed Valuations Rise 25% From 2021

By Kate Clark · Mar 28, 2024 3:04pm PDT

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years by a federal judge after he was found guilty of seven counts of criminal fraud. Facing a possible 110 years, he got off easy; the crypto industry, however, did not. The yearslong saga tarnished crypto’s reputation among institutional investors and sparked an exodus of capital. ... Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years by a federal judge after he was...

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

By Sahil Patel · Mar 28, 2024 2:51pm PDT

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Shorts Challenge

By Sahil Patel · Mar 28, 2024 2:51pm PDT

It’s been a year since YouTube started sharing Shorts ad revenue with creators that meet certain audience requirements, and it’s starting to pay off. Sort of.More than 25% of YouTube channels in its YouTube Partnership Program are now earning revenue on its short-form videos, YouTube said. With more than 3 million creators in that program, that... It’s been a year since YouTube started sharing Shorts ad revenue with creators that meet certain...