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

AI Push Drives Up Capex for Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft

By Martin Peers, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Akash Pasricha · May 1, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Big tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft have become more careful about spending over the past few months, with each laying off thousands of people. But all three are ramping up spending on servers and other technical infrastructure to gain the capacity to build and sell more artificial intelligence tools. The spending... Big tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft have become more careful about...

Li Auto's booth at the Shanghai Auto Show. Photo: VCG via Getty

The Electric: A Wake-Up Call for the West at the Shanghai Auto Show

By Steve LeVine · May 1, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week concluded a mobbed Shanghai Auto Show, and people returning from the event had a near-unanimous message: Chinese electric vehicle makers are coming to the West, and legacy auto and battery makers appear unready to defend their turf.The verdict seemed... After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week...

Scott Kauffman, left, is the acting CEO of IRL. Photo by Getty

IRL Suspended CEO Shafi After Reported Pattern of Misconduct; Acting CEO Named

By Mark Matousek · Apr 30, 2023 2:33pm PDT · 3 comments

A special committee of messaging app IRL’s board of directors suspended CEO Abraham Shafi on Friday after receiving a report from outside counsel that outlined a pattern of misconduct by Shafi, an IRL spokesperson told The Information. The spokesperson for the company, previously valued at $1.2 billion when SoftBank invested in it in... A special committee of messaging app IRL’s board of directors suspended CEO Abraham Shafi...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk told employees early Saturday they were welcome to subscribe to creators "and expense that back to the company.” Photo by Getty.

Twitter Intensifies Efforts to Woo Creators

By Erin Woo · Apr 29, 2023 1:02pm PDT · 2 comments

Twitter CEO Elon Musk told employees early Saturday they were welcome to subscribe to creators "and expense that back to the company.” Photo by Getty.

Twitter Intensifies Efforts to Woo Creators

By Erin Woo · Apr 29, 2023 1:02pm PDT · 2 comments

After spending six months alienating many of its biggest users, Elon Musk’s Twitter is now trying to woo creators. For the past few weeks, Twitter has been encouraging creators to sign up for its subscription product, through which users pay creators a few dollars a month to receive content that’s behind a paywall, as well as a badge... After spending six months alienating many of its biggest users, Elon Musk’s Twitter is now...

Revenge of the Social Media Clones

Revenge of the Social Media Clones

By Jon Steinberg · Apr 29, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.While we wait around for another bank to collapse (First Republic, we hardly knew ye), the opposite is happening in social media. A thousand new apps are blooming! With Bluesky and Lemon8 and Mastodon and T2 soaking up attention, it feels like 2008 again in the Valley—except that all the coding is being done by GPTs... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.While we wait around for another bank to collapse (First Republic, we...

Art by Clark Miller

Tech’s Newest Side Hustle: Prompt Engineers Surf the AI Wave

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Apr 29, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Bohdan Skitenko has been working in the design industry, producing 3D art and animation, for around five years. But it was when version four of generative AI image creator Midjourney was released in November 2022 that he began thinking about pivoting his career toward a more artificial intelligence–integrated one. “I realized that... Bohdan Skitenko has been working in the design industry, producing 3D art and animation, for...

IRL CEO and Co-founder Abraham Shafi. Art by Mike Sullivan

IRL’s CEO Steps Down After Allegation of Inflated User Numbers

By Mark Matousek and Amir Efrati · Apr 28, 2023 3:20pm PDT

Abraham Shafi has stepped down as CEO of messaging app IRL following allegations that the company used bots to inflate the users it reported publicly and to investors, according to a person with direct knowledge. The abrupt change happened after The Information reported a former employee alleged he was fired after expressing concern that a high... Abraham Shafi has stepped down as CEO of messaging app IRL following allegations that the company...

Art by Clark Miller.

ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller.

ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice creators plugging yet another new social media platform. “Follow me on Lemon8!” one said. “It’s going to be the next big thing” the next interjected. “You need to get on TikTok’s new app Lemon8,” another... Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice...

Photo by Getty

Sequoia Hired National Security Firm Beacon Amid Scrutiny of China Deals

By Juro Osawa, Amir Efrati and Abram Brown · Apr 28, 2023 9:12am PDT

Sequoia Capital, whose Chinese affiliate became one of the biggest funders of startups in China, has been working with Washington-based national security advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies as it faces potential U.S. government restrictions on American technology investment in China, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. ... Sequoia Capital, whose Chinese affiliate became one of the biggest funders of startups in China,...

Art by Clark Miller

Copy and Kill: The Ex-Tweeps Hatching a Plan to Knock Off Twitter

By Arielle Pardes · Apr 28, 2023 9:00am PDT · 6 comments

On the day Sarah Oh got laid off from Twitter last November, her friend Gabor Cselle called with his condolences. Then he made her an offer: Would she help him build a better Twitter? Cselle wasn’t trying to reinvent the social media wheel. He just wanted to return to a simpler time on the platform—before 4,000-character tweets or... On the day Sarah Oh got laid off from Twitter last November, her friend Gabor Cselle called with...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Pro Weekly: Cost Cutting Shakes up the Org Charts

By Kalley Huang · Apr 28, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!I’m Kalley Huang, a data reporter for The Information. I’m now writing The Pro Weekly. Please feel free to ask questions and share feedback at [email protected]. With sales stagnating or falling, tech companies continue looking for ways to cut costs. They are thinning their ranks, shuttering products and streamlining... Welcome back!I’m Kalley Huang, a data reporter for The Information. I’m now writing The Pro...

Jon Korngold. Photo by Getty/Illustration by Shane Burke.

Blackstone Growth Chief Korngold Sees Opportunity in Wake of Turmoil

By Rachel Graf · Apr 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Jon Korngold. Photo by Getty/Illustration by Shane Burke.

The Big Interview

Blackstone Growth Chief Korngold Sees Opportunity in Wake of Turmoil

By Rachel Graf · Apr 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Blackstone’s Jon Korngold has been winning deals since he was nine years old. Back then, the venue was a flea market rather than a boardroom, and the prize was often a random antique rather than a multibillion-dollar company. But he was a deal hound nonetheless, and he often got a better price than his mom, who collected antiques, could. ... Blackstone’s Jon Korngold has been winning deals since he was nine years old. Back then,...

Photo by Getty.

Snap and Amazon Q1 Shows Big Tech’s Advertising Advantage

By Martin Peers · Apr 27, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Advantage, big tech. Snap’s first-quarter report today, showing a 7% drop in revenue, was a markedly worse performance than what its much bigger rival Meta Platforms reported on Wednesday night. (For those who’ve already forgotten, Meta’s ad revenue rose 4% in the quarter.) More noticeable was the difference in the second-quarter revenue... Advantage, big tech. Snap’s first-quarter report today, showing a 7% drop in revenue, was a...

Photo via Shutterstock

Creator Economy

No Bottom for Snap Ad Business

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 27, 2023 3:43pm PDT

So much for the burst of good tidings about the ad market from Meta Platforms’ first quarter results. Snap results, out Thursday, took up the baton that YouTube’s drooping ad sales left off. Snap told investors that the advertising slump that hammered first-quarter results would extend into the second quarter. Pinterest, meanwhile, forecast a... So much for the burst of good tidings about the ad market from Meta Platforms’ first quarter...

Photo via Shutterstock

The Looming Layoffs for Venture Capitalists

By Kate Clark · Apr 27, 2023 12:32pm PDT · 2 comments

This week’s news that fintech investor Anthemis Group has cut 28% of its staff, which comes one month after Y Combinator slashed about 20% of its workers, suggests more venture capital layoffs are coming.The shrinking appetite of their limited partners means many will likely raise smaller funds, taking away resources to maintain headcount that... This week’s news that fintech investor Anthemis Group has cut 28% of its staff, which comes one...

John Hegeman, VP of Monetization at Meta. Photo via Meta.

Meta Ads Boss Merges Ads and Business Messaging in New Product Group

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 27, 2023 11:37am PDT

John Hegeman, VP of Monetization at Meta. Photo via Meta.

Meta Ads Boss Merges Ads and Business Messaging in New Product Group

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 27, 2023 11:37am PDT

Meta Platforms has combined its advertising product, business messaging and commerce departments into one division as part of a broader effort to reduce the ranks of middle management across the company. The changes, communicated internally last week by Meta’s vice president of monetization, John Hegeman, also show how closely Meta has... Meta Platforms has combined its advertising product, business messaging and commerce departments...

Photo via Upstart.

Fintech’s Credit Crunch

By Ann Gehan · Apr 27, 2023 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Fintechs, beat down by the tech meltdown last year, are struggling to make good on their pitch to consumers. Consumer lending–focused fintechs like Upstart and Pagaya touted artificial intelligence and other flashy tech as a way to lend money to people quickly and easily—even to customers with bad or limited credit histories that... Fintechs, beat down by the tech meltdown last year, are struggling to make good on their pitch to...

Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock (2).

The Case for Realistic Action to Regulate Artificial Intelligence

By Roddy Lindsay · Apr 27, 2023 9:00am PDT · 11 comments

The overnight success of ChatGPT and GPT-4 marks a clear turning point for artificial intelligence. It also marks an inflection point for public discourse about the risks and benefits of AI for our society. Practitioners, policymakers and pundits alike have voiced loud concerns, ranging from fear of a potential flood of AI-generated... The overnight success of ChatGPT and GPT-4 marks a clear turning point for artificial...

Art by Clark Miller.

Former IRL Employee Alleges Company Inflated User Count

By Mark Matousek · Apr 27, 2023 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

A former employee of SoftBank-backed messaging app IRL alleged in a legal filing that the company has inflated its user count and retaliated against him and other employees who raised concerns about the accuracy of its user numbers. The former employee, Nicholas Grant, made the allegations in an unfair dismissal complaint he filed with the Welsh... A former employee of SoftBank-backed messaging app IRL alleged in a legal filing that the company...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Tesla Replaces South Korea Chief as Musk Meets With Head of State

By Becky Peterson · Apr 27, 2023 7:07am PDT

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Tesla Replaces South Korea Chief as Musk Meets With Head of State

By Becky Peterson · Apr 27, 2023 7:07am PDT

Tesla is shaking up its top leadership in South Korea just one day after CEO Elon Musk met with South Korea’s president to discuss further investment in the country. Yvonne Chan, a regional director for Tesla’s business in Thailand and Taiwan and close deputy to Tesla automotive head Tom Zhu, has added South Korea business to her... Tesla is shaking up its top leadership in South Korea just one day after CEO Elon Musk met with...