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

Instagram's Menlo Park, Calif., office. Photo via Shutterstock.

Creator Economy

Instagram Sharpens Focus on Creators Who Drive Teen Engagement

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Jan 11, 2024 2:22pm PST

Instagram staffers were caught off guard this week by a round of job cuts that effectively eliminated a layer of management at Instagram, in line with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “efficiency” drive. The cuts reportedly affected about 60 technical program managers—of thousands of Instagram employees—who have two months to try to find another... Instagram staffers were caught off guard this week by a round of job cuts that effectively...

HongShan's chief, Neil Shen, and Iluvatar GPUs. Photos by Bloomberg via Getty.

Sequoia’s Former Chinese Arm Backs Another Nvidia Challenger

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Jan 11, 2024 7:25am PST

HongShan, a prominent Chinese venture capital firm that recently separated from Sequoia Capital, has invested in a startup that competes with U.S. artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia in the Chinese market, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. It’s the latest of several investments HongShan has made in domestic AI... HongShan, a prominent Chinese venture capital firm that recently separated from Sequoia Capital,...

OpenAI's new GPT Store. Photo via OpenAI.

OpenAI’s App Store Moment; VCs’ Love Affair with AI, By the Numbers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 11, 2024 7:10am PST

After a two-month delay, OpenAI’s long-awaited chatbot store is finally here.As I previously reported would happen, the model developer on Wednesday opened its GPT app store, which allows software developers to distribute customized OpenAI-powered apps for everything from lesson planning for middle school teachers to researching academic papers... After a two-month delay, OpenAI’s long-awaited chatbot store is finally here.As I previously ...

Art by Mike Sullivan/Midjourney

Cybersecurity Startups Face Down Rounds, Sale Pressures

By Maria Heeter and Cory Weinberg · Jan 11, 2024 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan/Midjourney

Cybersecurity Startups Face Down Rounds, Sale Pressures

By Maria Heeter and Cory Weinberg · Jan 11, 2024 6:00am PST · 5 comments

It’s a paradox: Cyberattacks against governments, companies and individuals are escalating dramatically, lifting cybersecurity spending to a record. And yet there are so many cybersecurity startups competing with each other—and with bigger tech companies such as Microsoft and Palo Alto Networks—that a shakeout in the sector is... It’s a paradox: Cyberattacks against governments, companies and individuals are escalating...

Freyr Battery's factory in Mo-i-Rana, Norway. Photo: Courtesy Freyr.

The Electric: Struggling Freyr Pins its Hopes on the IRA in an Uncertain Election Year

By Steve LeVine · Jan 11, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Freyr Battery, struggling to manufacture its next-generation battery, hopes to right itself by temporarily producing and selling a different battery technology, and obtaining federal subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act to make it in Georgia. But election-year politics cloud the plan’s future, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump and... Freyr Battery, struggling to manufacture its next-generation battery, hopes to right itself by...

SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. Photo by Drew Angerer via Getty Images.

Bitcoin ETFs Approved After Six-Year Wait

By Martin Peers · Jan 10, 2024 5:00pm PST

This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday granted approval for companies to issue spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The approval will make it easier for individuals and institutional investors to invest in bitcoin without holding it directly on a... This time it’s for real! After at least a six-year wait—and a hoax post on X Tuesday—the...

The Tadpole webcam from Opal Camera.

Creator Economy

The Webcam Startup That Bucked the Funding Drought

By Kalley Huang · Jan 10, 2024 3:24pm PST

When most people think about the creator economy, they aren’t thinking about hardware. Yet creators are heavy users of cameras and other video production gear. That may explain why webcam maker Opal Camera has gained a following among creators and managed to raise money during last quarter’s funding drought.In October, the three-year-old... When most people think about the creator economy, they aren’t thinking about hardware. Yet...

Art by Clark Miller

How to Build an AI-Enabled Service Company

By Robert Lindsay · Jan 10, 2024 9:00am PST · 9 comments

Art by Clark Miller

How to Build an AI-Enabled Service Company

By Robert Lindsay · Jan 10, 2024 9:00am PST · 9 comments

In a blog post last year, Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg surmised that there are three large opportunities for founders in the artificial intelligence era, including “copilot for services.” Services are an attractive category, Rosenberg reasoned, because AI can help frontline service professionals—such as wealth managers,... In a blog post last year, Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg surmised that there are three large...

The Volkswagen ID. 7 on display after a presentation by Volkswagen during CES 2024 Media Days on Monday. Photo by AP.

ChatGPT’s Latest Invasion: Cars; A Threat to OpenAI’s Nonprofit Status

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 10, 2024 7:00am PST

It won’t surprise anyone that artificial intelligence, the hottest subject in tech, is also big at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, underway in Las Vegas. Among the silly and wondrous AI-powered devices unveiled so far: A one-foot-tall robot from LG that can patrol your home for open windows or switch off the lights when you’re out; a... It won’t surprise anyone that artificial intelligence, the hottest subject in tech, is also big...

Amazon to Lay Off Several Hundred Prime Video, Studios Employees

By Theo Wayt · Jan 10, 2024 6:09am PST · 3 comments

Amazon is laying off several hundred employees in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, according to an email sent to employees on Wednesday morning viewed by The Information. It’s the latest example of fresh rounds of targeted job cuts at Amazon following mass layoffs that began in November 2022. Amazon video chief Mike Hopkins... Amazon is laying off several hundred employees in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios,...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

JPMorgan’s WePay Abruptly Dumps Business Customers

By Michael Roddan · Jan 10, 2024 6:00am PST

JPMorgan Chase has stopped providing payments services for many long-standing clients of WePay, the payments processing business for small accounting and marketing businesses it acquired in 2017, suggesting a retreat in the bank’s efforts to compete with Stripe. JPMorgan had bought WePay, a Silicon Valley–based firm, to try to... JPMorgan Chase has stopped providing payments services for many long-standing clients of WePay,...

Carta CEO, Henry Ward. Photo via Carta.

Will Investor Patience for Bad Founder Behavior Finally Wear Thin?

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 9, 2024 5:00pm PST

Carta CEO, Henry Ward. Photo via Carta.

Will Investor Patience for Bad Founder Behavior Finally Wear Thin?

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 9, 2024 5:00pm PST

Marc Andreessen oversees 10 tech CEOs on the corporate boards he sits on. Andreessen, a self-proclaimed techno-optimist who often likes to stick it to the tech press when he finds its coverage unfair, probably doesn’t mind that several of those CEOS are lightning rods for controversy. There’s Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Platforms, Brian... Marc Andreessen oversees 10 tech CEOs on the corporate boards he sits on. Andreessen, a...

Kosas product displays at the Kosas, Beauty Undone launch party in 2018. Photo by Getty.

Kosas Taps Bankers to Explore Sale as Beauty Startup M&A Heats Up

By Ann Gehan · Jan 9, 2024 3:28pm PST · 1 comment

The Gen Z-favorite cosmetics brand Kosas has hired bankers to explore a potential sale, according to two people familiar with the matter, signaling that a recent wave of beauty startup sales is likely to keep gaining steam. Dealmaking among beauty companies has remained relatively resilient even as mergers and acquisitions have slumped broadly,... The Gen Z-favorite cosmetics brand Kosas has hired bankers to explore a potential sale, according...

Graphic by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

The Top Cities for Creator Economy Startups

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 9, 2024 3:14pm PST

As we’ve expanded our efforts to track the creator economy globally, we’ve been looking more closely at where startups and venture dollars have gone. A new analysis of our Creator Economy Database, which now tracks 525 startups, shows that while the Los Angeles area is home to the most startups globally, those in the San Francisco Bay Area... As we’ve expanded our efforts to track the creator economy globally, we’ve been looking more...

Relativity engineers and technicians prepare the Terran 1 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Fla.. Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Relativity Space Closes in On New Funding for Its 3D Printed Rockets

By Becky Peterson · Jan 9, 2024 1:49pm PST

Relativity Space, which last year launched into space the first rocket made with 3D printing, is in talks to raise money in a round that values the company at around $4.2 billion, flat with its last funding round in 2021, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Existing investors Bond and Social Capital are among the firms... Relativity Space, which last year launched into space the first rocket made with 3D printing, is...

Keith Rabois. Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois to Return to Khosla Ventures

By Kate Clark · Jan 9, 2024 12:14pm PST · 7 comments

Keith Rabois. Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois to Return to Khosla Ventures

By Kate Clark · Jan 9, 2024 12:14pm PST · 7 comments

Two days before Christmas, Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois boarded a flight to Park City, Utah, to have dinner with Vinod Khosla, the founder of venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and an early backer of OpenAI. By the end of the evening, the pair had agreed that Rabois would join Khosla Ventures as a managing director, its most... Two days before Christmas, Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois boarded a flight to Park...

Help Us Celebrate Our 10th Anniversary

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 9, 2024 11:32am PST · 1 comment

To celebrate turning 10, The Information is making a video featuring our subscribers and what they have learned from us over the years. If you would like to participate, please film yourself answering one or more of the following questions. Aim for 30 to 60 seconds, filmed horizontally, and uploaded as an mp4. You can use your phone... To celebrate turning 10, The Information is making a video featuring our subscribers and what...

Photo via Adobe Stock.

The Twelve Startups Battling For a Slice of Nvidia’s Pie

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 9, 2024 7:10am PST

No company has been better positioned to profit from the generative AI boom than Nvidia, the maker of graphics processing units. But a host of rival startups developing similar chips or the software to run those chips are trying to capture some of the revenue currently being spent on GPUs. We wrote about eight of these companies in August, but... No company has been better positioned to profit from the generative AI boom than Nvidia, the...

Marco Argenti. Screenshot via YouTube

How Wall Street Firms Are Warming to AI—With Help From Silicon Valley

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Jan 9, 2024 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Big banks were slow to adopt cloud services, initially nervous about storing their sensitive customer data on other companies’ servers. But when it comes to generative artificial intelligence, banks and other financial services firms have been early adopters. Goldman Sachs, for instance, has more than 1,000 developers using generative AI... Big banks were slow to adopt cloud services, initially nervous about storing their sensitive...

Twilio CEO, Jeff Lawson, who left the company on Sunday. Photo via Getty Images.

Why Twilio’s Lawson Didn’t Have to Cave to Activists

By Martin Peers · Jan 8, 2024 5:00pm PST

Twilio CEO, Jeff Lawson, who left the company on Sunday. Photo via Getty Images.

Why Twilio’s Lawson Didn’t Have to Cave to Activists

By Martin Peers · Jan 8, 2024 5:00pm PST

Well, that didn’t turn out to be too much of a fight. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on Sunday exited the company he founded, the enterprise software company said today, surrendering to activist Anson Funds with barely a shot fired. It didn’t take much to scare Twilio. Anson had hinted it could mount a proxy fight to win board seats if Twilio didn’t... Well, that didn’t turn out to be too much of a fight. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on Sunday exited the...