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

Nick Grudin. Photo by Dapper Labs.

Meta Rehires Partnerships Executive After Vowing to Shrink Management

By Sahil Patel and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 22, 2023 7:16am PDT · 2 comments

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to cut back on middle managers isn’t stopping the company hiring more middle managers. Meta has re-hired a veteran manager, Nick Grudin, to oversee its relationships with media companies and other creators, just seven months after Grudin quit to join Dapper Labs, an NFT startup. Grudin will... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to cut back on middle managers isn’t...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Faces Moment of Truth on Alexa as ChatGPT Steals Its Thunder

By Theo Wayt · Mar 22, 2023 6:05am PDT

At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Amazon announced one of its biggest partnerships yet to help make its Alexa voice assistant ubiquitous: a deal with Toyota to integrate Alexa into the auto giant’s cars. “Our vision for Alexa is that she should be everywhere a customer might need her—at home, in the office, on... At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Amazon announced one of its biggest partnerships yet to...

Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, at a conference in 2019.

Larry Summers Has a Message for Silicon Valley

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 21, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Larry Summers has a message to all of us here in Silicon Valley: It’s time to switch up that reading list. “Perhaps pay a little more attention to history relative to science fiction in terms of understanding all the things that the future may hold,” he said during a conversation with me and The Information subscribers Tuesday. Larry Summers has a message to all of us here in Silicon Valley: It’s time to switch up that...

Larry Summers. Photo by Bloomberg.

Summers Predicts “Cleaning Out” of Fintech Sector After SVB Failure

By The Information Staff · Mar 21, 2023 4:44pm PDT · 4 comments

Larry Summers. Photo by Bloomberg.

Summers Predicts “Cleaning Out” of Fintech Sector After SVB Failure

By The Information Staff · Mar 21, 2023 4:44pm PDT · 4 comments

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicted Silicon Valley will see a “cleaning out” in the fintech sector as a result of regulatory attention flowing from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. In an interview with The Information’s editor in chief Jessica Lessin, Summers also said that the banking crisis of the past 10... Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicted Silicon Valley will see a “cleaning...

Tonal’s now-shuttered Palo Alto, Calif. retail store. Photo by Getty.

Tonal’s Valuation May Fall 90% in ‘Cram-Down’ Financing

By Maria Heeter · Mar 21, 2023 3:11pm PDT · 7 comments

Tonal, a fitness startup with a cadre of celebrity backers, is crunched for cash after failing to find a buyer. The company now may take a drastic step: raising money at a valuation nearly 90% lower than its last one, in a deal that would effectively wipe out the stakes of many existing investors, people familiar with the matter said. Private... Tonal, a fitness startup with a cadre of celebrity backers, is crunched for cash after failing to...

Photo via Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Twitter’s Tipping and Coin Features Are Disappearing

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 21, 2023 1:30pm PDT

Twitter over the last two years introduced several features to help creators make money off the platform. But in recent weeks, some have stopped functioning, throwing its efforts to court creators into disarray. Its 18-month-old tipping feature has disappeared from creators’ accounts on its website, but still appears on mobile, according to... Twitter over the last two years introduced several features to help creators make money off the...

Musical.ly's Shanghai headquarters in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg.

Biden’s Path to Forcing TikTok Sale Leads to Now-Dead App Musical.ly

By Juro Osawa and Maria Heeter · Mar 21, 2023 1:00pm PDT

Would TikTok have become a powerhouse without Musical.ly? As arcane as that question might appear, it could become the paramount issue in court if the Biden administration tries to force TikTok’s parent ByteDance to sell the app. That’s because ByteDance’s 2017 purchase of Musical.ly, a rival to the then-young TikTok, is what... Would TikTok have become a powerhouse without Musical.ly? As arcane as that question might...

Art by Shane Burke / Dall-E 2.

Twitter Used to Make Us Smarter

By Jillian York · Mar 21, 2023 9:00am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Shane Burke / Dall-E 2.

Twitter Used to Make Us Smarter

By Jillian York · Mar 21, 2023 9:00am PDT · 6 comments

A handful of months into Twitter’s new management and it’s clear an era has ended. For the site’s power users, which include academics, journalists and lawmakers, the sudden changes in the social network’s policies, practices and culture have destroyed years of careful network building. What that will cost us in the... A handful of months into Twitter’s new management and it’s clear an era has...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos by Getty Images; Bloomberg.

OpenAI and Microsoft Are Partners, Until They Vie for the Same Customers

By Aaron Holmes and Kevin McLaughlin · Mar 21, 2023 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has enraptured the business world since its November release and OpenAI is signing up customers eager to pay to use its artificial intelligence models in their own products. But the Microsoft-backed startup faces a surprising rival: Microsoft itself. As part of its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, Microsoft has... OpenAI’s ChatGPT has enraptured the business world since its November release and OpenAI is...

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo via Getty.

Amazon Takes Its Time Delivering Second Round of Job Cuts

By Martin Peers · Mar 20, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

Amazon is in the lead! The e-commerce behemoth has moved ahead of Alphabet in the contest to win this year’s IBM Cup, awarded occasionally to the most bureaucratic and slow-moving big tech company around. That’s one takeaway from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s explanation today for cutting another 9,000 jobs, on top of the 18,000 layoffs already... Amazon is in the lead! The e-commerce behemoth has moved ahead of Alphabet in the contest to win...

Chart: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

How Meta Verified Compares to Other Social Subscriptions

By Isabelle Sarraf · Mar 20, 2023 3:20pm PDT

Pegged as a bundle “to help creators establish their presence” on its platforms, Meta Verified grants subscribers a blue checkmark, extra protection from impersonation and a direct line to customer support for an $11.99 monthly price tag (or $14.99 on mobile). But it will no longer include an increase in visibility and reach for paid users.... Pegged as a bundle “to help creators establish their presence” on its platforms, Meta Verified...

The TikTok Investors With the Most to Lose From a U.S. Ban

By Juro Osawa · Mar 20, 2023 2:29pm PDT

The TikTok Investors With the Most to Lose From a U.S. Ban

By Juro Osawa · Mar 20, 2023 2:29pm PDT

For venture investors that have collectively invested more than $8 billion in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, the fate of the video app in the U.S., where officials are seeking changes to its ownership, could mean the difference between a huge portfolio win and a soul-crushing loss. Early backers of ByteDance such as Susquehanna... For venture investors that have collectively invested more than $8 billion in TikTok’s...

Partner Content

Event Recap: Now Presenting the Metaverse

By The Information Partnerships · Mar 20, 2023 12:42pm PDT

The term “metaverse” has been around for years, but what’s the state of it today—and where is it going next? Jillian Goodman, opinion editor of The Information, sat down for a virtual discussion with Kevan Yalowitz, software and platform global industries lead at Accenture, Vince Cacace, founder and CEO of Vertebrae, a... The term “metaverse” has been around for years, but what’s the state of it...

Clockwise from top left: Julie Bornstein, Esther Crawford, Mark Hammond, Max Cutler, Kağan Sümer. Photos via Julie Bernstein, Robert Cowherd, Microsoft, Wikimedia and Kağan Sümer.

On the Market: The Founders Who Joined Microsoft, Spotify, Coinbase and Twitter

By The Information Staff · Mar 20, 2023 6:00am PDT

Call them acqui-fires. Several founders who took positions at the bigger tech companies that bought their startups recently lost their jobs when layoffs rolled through Silicon Valley. That means managers and engineers who also have the entrepreneurial bug are now on the market. Twitter’s most recent round of job cuts included at least four... Call them acqui-fires. Several founders who took positions at the bigger tech companies that...

Manganese-rich nodules on the seafloor 2.5 miles below the surface of the northeast Pacific Ocean. Photo: Courtesy The Metals Co.

The Electric: An Undersea Drama Could Roil the EV Industry

By Steve LeVine · Mar 19, 2023 2:00pm PDT

More than 30 countries including France, Spain, Singapore and Brazil fiercely oppose deep-sea mining, warning of irreversible damage to one of the world’s few remaining pristine areas. But they may not be able to overcome the wishes of the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. The island country is sponsoring a bid by The Metals Co., a Canadian mining... More than 30 countries including France, Spain, Singapore and Brazil fiercely oppose deep-sea...

Art by Clark Miller.

SVB Is Dead. Long Live SVB.

By Jason Pontin · Mar 18, 2023 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

SVB Is Dead. Long Live SVB.

By Jason Pontin · Mar 18, 2023 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

We all know how it began. It started on March 9, when the run on Silicon Valley Bank made the innovation economy totter and threatened a global financial crisis. It continued on March 10, when SVB failed and it became clear that anyone who hadn’t gotten their money out yet was stuck, facing payroll in just five days with no clear way to... We all know how it began. It started on March 9, when the run on Silicon Valley Bank made the...

The Best of Times (for AI), the Worst of Times (for Your Bank)

The Best of Times (for AI), the Worst of Times (for Your Bank)

By Jon Steinberg · Mar 18, 2023 8:14am PDT · 1 comment

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Deep breath, everyone. The last 10 days have been a doozy. First came the Great Regional Bank Panic of 2023, which essentially wiped out the previous weekend for anyone operating in the startup ecosystem. In the cover story below, our team recorded the stories of two dozen tech leaders, including... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Deep breath, everyone. The last 10 days have been a doozy. First came...

A sign outside TikTok's offices in Culver City, Calif. this week. Photo by Getty.

TikTok Tries to Allay Advertisers’ Concerns as U.S. Ban Threat Looms

By Kaya Yurieff and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 17, 2023 12:21pm PDT

No matter what happens in Washington, TikTok needs to keep advertisers spending money on the app. The latest threat of a ban, made recently by the Biden administration, has prompted marketers to consider their alternatives, ad executives say. TikTok has been taking steps to reassure the ad industry, including convening a closed-door meeting with... No matter what happens in Washington, TikTok needs to keep advertisers spending money on the app....

Cover art and portraits by Clark Miller

The Instant Oral History of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

By Abram Brown, Annie Goldsmith, Margaux MacColl, Arielle Pardes, Nick Wingfield and Kaya Yurieff · Mar 17, 2023 11:26am PDT · 2 comments

On a cosmic level, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a mere blip. The murmurs about trouble began last Wednesday, the panic spread via group texts and Twitter threads on Thursday, the bank went under on Friday, the government got its act together on Saturday, and on Sunday every current and former customer of SVB could breathe a cautious... On a cosmic level, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a mere blip. The murmurs about trouble...

Sarah Nagy gives a demo of her startup, Seek.ai, at an AI event at the San Francisco Wine Society in January. Photography by Laura Morton for The Information

Boom Times in San Francisco’s AI Underground

By Arielle Pardes · Mar 17, 2023 9:02am PDT · 8 comments

Sarah Nagy gives a demo of her startup, Seek.ai, at an AI event at the San Francisco Wine Society in January. Photography by Laura Morton for The Information

Boom Times in San Francisco’s AI Underground

By Arielle Pardes · Mar 17, 2023 9:02am PDT · 8 comments

Not even a banking crisis could chill the fever sweeping San Francisco. Last Wednesday, as the tech industry recoiled from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a party was scheduled at the offices of Maverick Ventures in an old army hospital in the Presidio. The venture capital firm’s partners were hosting the latest LangChain... Not even a banking crisis could chill the fever sweeping San Francisco. Last Wednesday, as the...