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

EU Commissioner for 'A Europe Fit for the Digital Age' Margrethe Vestager speaking today in Brussels. Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images.

What Europe’s Big Fine on Apple Means

By Martin Peers · Mar 4, 2024 5:00pm PST

Europe’s antitrust bureaucrats have fined U.S. tech firms so many times that another big penalty—this one for nearly $2 billion, levied at Apple over its App Store rules—might seem like just another day in Brussels. But this episode is a little different. For one thing, Europe’s targets don’t usually include Apple. And, perhaps because CEO... Europe’s antitrust bureaucrats have fined U.S. tech firms so many times that another big penalty—...

Photo by Shutterstock.

Trendy Soda Brand Olipop Seeks Fresh Cash, Targets $400 Million in Sales

By Ann Gehan · Mar 4, 2024 3:50pm PST

Olipop, a fast-growing brand of soda that has built buzz on TikTok and Instagram with help of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, is aiming to lift its sales this year to around $400 million, up from more than $250 million last year, and is in talks to raise fresh capital to help fuel its growth, according to a person with direct knowledge of... Olipop, a fast-growing brand of soda that has built buzz on TikTok and Instagram with help of...

ByteDance offices in Singapore. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

ByteDance Revenue Growth Accelerated to 43% in Third Quarter

By Kaya Yurieff and Jon Victor · Mar 4, 2024 2:58pm PST · 1 comment

ByteDance revenue in the third quarter of 2023 rose roughly 43% to $30.9 billion, indicating that the TikTok parent company accelerated advertising and ecommerce sales slightly from the first half. It also demonstrated that ByteDance is continuing to grow at nearly twice the growth rate of Facebook-owner Meta Platforms. For the first nine months... ByteDance revenue in the third quarter of 2023 rose roughly 43% to $30.9 billion, indicating that...

Rami Zeidan, founder and former CEO of Life House. Photo via YouTube/Influence Group. Art by Shane Burke.

Life House CEO Departs After The Information’s Report on Company

By Paris Martineau · Mar 4, 2024 10:32am PST · 1 comment

Rami Zeidan, founder and former CEO of Life House. Photo via YouTube/Influence Group. Art by Shane Burke.

Life House CEO Departs After The Information’s Report on Company

By Paris Martineau · Mar 4, 2024 10:32am PST · 1 comment

The founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Life House, Rami Zeidan, has resigned and left the board, board member Chris Hemmeter told shareholders in an email on Monday. The board hired two travel industry veterans to take over the company’s management. The shakeup follows a February 14 report in The Information which cited customers... The founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Life House, Rami Zeidan, has resigned and left the...

Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba. Photo by Getty

What’s Behind Alibaba’s AI Funding Frenzy

By Juro Osawa · Mar 4, 2024 7:15am PST · 1 comment

Big tech companies the world over like to spread their bets on large language models. We’ve seen that with Microsoft—which backed OpenAI but has also struck deals with rivals Cohere and Mistral to make their models available to customers of Azure. (Microsoft also invested a tiny amount in Mistral). Similarly, Alibaba, China’s equivalent of ... Big tech companies the world over like to spread their bets on large language models. We’ve seen...

Clockwise from top left: Chris Capossela, Andrej Karpathy, Sarah Friar, Paul Vogel, JuE Wong.

On the Market: OpenAI, Microsoft, Spotify and Nextdoor Leaders

By The Information Staff · Mar 4, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

For many tech executives, the outbreak of Covid-19 turned into a leadership boot camp, requiring them to shepherd companies through the intense spike in demand for online shopping and entertainment and the painful slowdown in business that followed. A generation of tech executives is now leaving those companies with battle-honed skills. Our... For many tech executives, the outbreak of Covid-19 turned into a leadership boot camp, requiring...

Cuberg founder and ex-CEO Richard Wang. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Why Next-Gen Battery CEOs Are Dropping Like Flies

By Steve LeVine · Mar 4, 2024 4:30am PST

On Feb. 16, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, visited the company’s California-based subsidiary, lithium-metal battery developer Cuberg. In recent years, Northvolt had racked up $55 billion in orders for conventional electric vehicle batteries and broken ground on three gigafactories. But Cerruti was displeased... On Feb. 16, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, visited the...

Hot Dealmakers As Tech's Winter Lingers

Hot Dealmakers As Tech's Winter Lingers

By Abram Brown · Mar 2, 2024 7:00am PST

Hot Dealmakers As Tech's Winter Lingers

Hot Dealmakers As Tech's Winter Lingers

By Abram Brown · Mar 2, 2024 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A new VC star’s unordinary approachOur finest AI tips to improve your lifeHow to best appreciate the new “Dune” moviePlus: What Socrates and Satya Nadella have in common; a vengeful billionaire and a murderous enigma; and a top-notch ‘Job.’A couple days ago, something unusual caught my attention: an... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:A new VC star’s unordinary approachOur finest AI tips to...

Art by Clark MIller

The Billion-Dollar Startup That Quietly Makes America Run

By Abram Brown · Mar 2, 2024 7:00am PST

In 2012, Joe Lonsdale and his co-founder, Zac Bookman, started OpenGov with a fairly straightforward idea. “We thought there’s room for something to really help governments run a lot better,” said Lonsdale, who’s also a venture capitalist and a Palantir co-founder. Since then, they’ve found plenty of room in that... In 2012, Joe Lonsdale and his co-founder, Zac Bookman, started OpenGov with a fairly...

Art by Clark Miller

The Secret Strategies for Stronger Communication

By Abram Brown · Mar 2, 2024 5:00am PST · 6 comments

What makes Microsoft’s Satya Nadella such a strong CEO? Should we all talk like spies? And why did bestselling author Charles Duhigg struggle for a time as a New York Times journalist? It was all a matter of communication—well, miscommunication, in Duhigg’s case. “I was fine at, like, the strategy and logistics and was... What makes Microsoft’s Satya Nadella such a strong CEO? Should we all talk like spies? And...

Art by Clark Miller

Our Best Tips for Using AI in Everyday Life

By The Information Staff · Mar 2, 2024 5:00am PST · 5 comments

One of the finest uses of artificial intelligence is to efficiently summarize an immense amount of information. But why let the bots have all the fun—or do all the work? In that spirit, we’ve taken our anecdote-rich insiders’ guide to AI from last week and condensed it to the practical tips that impressed or surprised us the... One of the finest uses of artificial intelligence is to efficiently summarize an immense amount...

Photos by Getty

Alphabet Needs Its Own Mark Zuckerberg

By Martin Peers · Mar 1, 2024 3:30pm PST

Photos by Getty

Alphabet Needs Its Own Mark Zuckerberg

By Martin Peers · Mar 1, 2024 3:30pm PST

Mark Zuckerberg may be few people’s conception of the ideal CEO. Some might balk at his strategic thinking, particularly around burning tens of billions on far-off metaverse technology, or might complain about Meta Platforms’ lack of fiscal discipline before its business slowed in 2022. Others might cite Meta’s ineffectual response to complaints... Mark Zuckerberg may be few people’s conception of the ideal CEO. Some might balk at his strategic...

RIP Apple Car, Google’s AI Reality Problem, Long Live Consumer Tech

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 1, 2024 1:00pm PST

This week, the gang of More of Less had a lot to chat about. The Morins gave us the download from what they called the "most premier VC conference" around. The event was surely a sign that the venture capital industry is not dead (or at least doesn't believe it is dead). We also couldn't refrain from armchair... This week, the gang of More of Less had a lot to chat about. The Morins gave us the download from...

Art by Clark Miller

Investor Neil Mehta Answers the Panic Button

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 1, 2024 9:00am PST · 3 comments

The Clay Theatre, a Pacific Heights landmark constructed shortly after the 1906 earthquake, has stood empty for four years on a busy stretch of Fillmore Street, the exterior poster frames as vacant as the adjacent ticket booth. Given the venue’s storied past and the area’s tony reputation as a place filled with Gettys and... The Clay Theatre, a Pacific Heights landmark constructed shortly after the 1906 earthquake,...

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman. Photo by Getty

Pro Weekly: IPO Chatter Surfaces Again

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 1, 2024 8:00am PST

Reddit’s initial public offering prospectus, published last week, has reignited chatter that IPOs could pick up this year. According to The Information’s Tech IPO Tracker, at least 16 tech companies could make public debuts in the next 10 months. In another sign of increased activity, artificial intelligence hardware startup Astera Labs released... Reddit’s initial public offering prospectus, published last week, has reignited chatter that IPOs...

Meta Quest 3 headset. Photo by Getty.

Meta Rebuffed Google Proposal For a VR and AR Tie-Up

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 1, 2024 6:00am PST

Meta Quest 3 headset. Photo by Getty.

Meta Rebuffed Google Proposal For a VR and AR Tie-Up

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 1, 2024 6:00am PST

Late last year, in a meeting between Google and Meta Platform staffers, Google suggested that Meta partner on Android XR, the new software platform Google is developing for virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed-reality headsets, according to a person involved in the talks. The two companies had long been in regular contact over... Late last year, in a meeting between Google and Meta Platform staffers, Google suggested that...

Photo: Barry Winiker/The Image Bank via Getty

Venture Capital Has Never Felt More Polarized

By Kate Clark · Feb 29, 2024 5:22pm PST · 1 comment

Venture capital leaders flew to Los Angeles this week for the annual Upfront Summit, a two-day conference featuring investors, founders and a smattering of celebrities like Lady Gaga. The energy was high and the references to the painful VC correction that pummeled valuations and knocked out VC firms were rare. The downtown is over, apparently!... Venture capital leaders flew to Los Angeles this week for the annual Upfront Summit, a two-day...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Lessons From an Energy Drink Company’s Crazy Stock Run

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 29, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

My writing and reporting workload over the last few days has gotten pretty heavy, so I’ve regularly been grabbing Celsius energy drinks. The sleek cans have become ubiquitous in grocery and convenience stores. Celsius drinks, which taste better than Red Bull, contain a crazy caffeine jolt and have no added sugars. They’re favored by TikTokers,... My writing and reporting workload over the last few days has gotten pretty heavy, so I’ve...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Why TikTok Can Outstare UMG in its Music Standoff

By Erin Woo · Feb 29, 2024 3:31pm PST · 1 comment

TikTok’s standoff with Universal Music Group is the latest example of how the app has changed from its roots as a lip-syncing platform toward one more focused on shopping.To recap: Late last month, TikTok and Universal Music Group, one of the biggest record labels in the world, failed to reach an agreement to let TikTok license UMG songs for use... TikTok’s standoff with Universal Music Group is the latest example of how the app has changed...

Photo by Getty

Behind Meta’s Effort to Make Llama 3 More Engaging

By Kalley Huang · Feb 29, 2024 7:10am PST

Photo by Getty

Behind Meta’s Effort to Make Llama 3 More Engaging

By Kalley Huang · Feb 29, 2024 7:10am PST

“Promoting or encouraging harmful or illegal activities is not acceptable,” Meta AI, an artificial intelligence assistant, told me the other day. “It's important to respect the safety and well-being of individuals and property.”I had asked the assistant, which is embedded in Meta Platforms’ apps and Ray-Ban smart glasses, how to kill the engine... “Promoting or encouraging harmful or illegal activities is not acceptable,” Meta AI, an...