The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Photo: Shutterstock

Creator Economy

The Creator Startups That Tapped Extension Rounds; Introducing SBF, Substack Writer

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 12, 2023 4:08pm PST

One thing that stood out to me as I analyzed The Information’s Creator Economy Database for our latest story was the increase in the number of rounds that were extensions to previous rounds, which means investors poured more money into existing investments while generally maintaining prior deal terms. Those rounds have murky labels, like... One thing that stood out to me as I analyzed The Information’s Creator Economy Database for our...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo: Bloomberg

What OpenAI’s ‘Bonkers’ Deal Structure Means For Silicon Valley

By Kate Clark · Jan 12, 2023 2:31pm PST · 7 comments

Microsoft’s expected investment in OpenAI, destined to be one of the biggest startup stories of the year, comes with a whole lot of strings attached. It’s a deal structure that two lawyers told me this week they had never seen before in VC dealmaking, and that one venture capitalist described as “really bonkers.” But the arrangement could... Microsoft’s expected investment in OpenAI, destined to be one of the biggest startup stories of...

Art by Mike Sullivan via Shutterstock

General Catalyst, Spark in Talks to Back OpenAI Rival

By Kate Clark, Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Jan 12, 2023 12:00pm PST

OpenAI is bringing back an element of the tech boom that had briefly gone dormant: steep valuations. As the artificial intelligence developer talks to Microsoft and others about a deal valuing it at more than $20 billion, at least 100 times its projected revenue this year, rival startups are trying to score similarly high prices from venture... OpenAI is bringing back an element of the tech boom that had briefly gone dormant: steep...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Cloud’s Top U.S. Sales Execs Depart in Shakeup as Profits Remain Elusive

By Jon Victor, Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Jan 12, 2023 8:46am PST

Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Cloud’s Top U.S. Sales Execs Depart in Shakeup as Profits Remain Elusive

By Jon Victor, Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Jan 12, 2023 8:46am PST

Google’s cloud computing unit on Thursday made sweeping changes to its leadership, including replacing its top U.S. sales executive and one of her lieutenants, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The changes, announced to employees, include the departure of Kirsten Kliphouse, the top U.S. sales executive. She is being... Google’s cloud computing unit on Thursday made sweeping changes to its leadership,...

Chart by Mike Sullivan.

Stripe and Instacart Fare Poorly in Fidelity Value Markdowns

By Maria Heeter · Jan 12, 2023 6:00am PST

Of all the private tech firms waiting to hit the public markets, Reddit and Discord look to stand the best chance of scoring the healthiest valuations. That’s based on where asset management firm Fidelity has been valuing its stakes in the companies. After an initial big markdown in the second quarter of 2022, when the stock market plunged... Of all the private tech firms waiting to hit the public markets, Reddit and Discord look to stand...

Stripe's Bay Area office. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe Cuts Internal Valuation by 11%, Implying $63 Billion Valuation

By Maria Heeter · Jan 11, 2023 5:04pm PST · 13 comments

Stripe has cut the internal value of its shares by about 11%, implying a valuation of $63 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. It’s at least the third time since June that the payments startup has cut its internal valuation, following a smaller cut in October, and brings the total reduction to about 40% in the past six... Stripe has cut the internal value of its shares by about 11%, implying a valuation of $63...

Photo by Getty Images

Why Musk’s User-Pays Twitter Policy Makes Sense; Hell Freezes Over at Apple

By Martin Peers · Jan 11, 2023 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Give Elon Musk some credit. While his tornadolike upheaval of Twitter has apparently devastated its ad business (see an update with our latest story on that subject), there is upside in what he’s doing for the tech industry. Musk has indicated he wants to make Twitter users pay up for some features—so much so that, as The New York Times reported... Give Elon Musk some credit. While his tornadolike upheaval of Twitter has apparently devastated...

VSCO President Eric Wittman. Photo: VSCO

The Startup Popularized by ‘VSCO Girls’ Tries a New Tack

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 11, 2023 3:38pm PST

VSCO President Eric Wittman. Photo: VSCO

Creator Economy

The Startup Popularized by ‘VSCO Girls’ Tries a New Tack

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 11, 2023 3:38pm PST

Oh, the challenges of viral fame. By 2019, VSCO’s photo-editing app had become a byword for a certain hyper-trendy style, as high school girls and tweens photographed themselves sporting casual gear such as Birkenstocks and scrunchies, then posted them using VSCO filters reminiscent of Kodak snapshots. Fast forward to 2023: the VSCO girl... Oh, the challenges of viral fame. By 2019, VSCO’s photo-editing app had become a byword for a...

Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat. Photo by Bloomberg

Alphabet Job Cuts Widen to Robotics Subsidiary

By Jon Victor · Jan 11, 2023 3:29pm PST

Less than a month ago, Alphabet’s industrial robotics subsidiary Intrinsic said it acquired a team of people from a software development firm called Open Robotics. On Wednesday, Intrinsic went in the other direction by laying off 40 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to The Information. A person close to the company said the layoffs... Less than a month ago, Alphabet’s industrial robotics subsidiary Intrinsic said it acquired...

Gemini’s Blind Spot; What’s on Coinbase’s Chopping Block

Gemini’s Blind Spot; What’s on Coinbase’s Chopping Block

By Aidan Ryan · Jan 11, 2023 3:20pm PST

The Gemini-Genesis battle has reached a boiling point.Cameron Winklevoss, the Gemini co-founder and president, published an open letter Monday that called for the Digital Currency Board to remove CEO Barry Silbert from his post and had a scathing assessment of the financial health of Genesis, DCG’s crypto lending subsidiary. The Gemini-Genesis battle has reached a boiling point.Cameron Winklevoss, the Gemini co-founder...

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet. Photo by Bloomberg.

Alphabet’s Verily Lays Off 15% of Staff

By Jon Victor · Jan 11, 2023 12:14pm PST

Alphabet’s life-sciences subsidiary Verily is laying off 15% of staff, or roughly 250 people, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Information, a move that raises the prospect of job cuts at sister company Google. Update: Job cuts on Wednesday also hit a different Alphabet subsidiary, Intrinsic, The Information first... Alphabet’s life-sciences subsidiary Verily is laying off 15% of staff, or roughly 250...

Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo via Getty Images

Twitter’s Efforts to Court Advertisers Turns Them Off

By Sahil Patel and Erin Woo · Jan 11, 2023 11:54am PST

Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo via Getty Images

Twitter’s Efforts to Court Advertisers Turns Them Off

By Sahil Patel and Erin Woo · Jan 11, 2023 11:54am PST

Twitter’s ad business is not recovering. Clients of WPP-owned GroupM, the world’s largest ad-buying firm, have cut their spending on Twitter by between 40% and 50% since Elon Musk took control of the company in late October, according to people familiar with the matter. Standard Media Index, an ad industry firm that tracks... Twitter’s ad business is not recovering. Clients of WPP-owned GroupM, the world’s...

How to Get Your Opinions Published in The Information

By The Information · Jan 11, 2023 10:10am PST · 7 comments

We are always hunting for fresh, exciting essay ideas, and where better to look than from The Information’s own illustrious readership? If that’s something you’re interested in, here’s how to make it happen. Step 1: Come up with an idea. Good ideas come in all shapes and sizes, but in general they are: Specific. Less... We are always hunting for fresh, exciting essay ideas, and where better to look than from The...

Illustration by Josh Brill

How Congress Can Get Crypto Legislation Right

By Jake Chervinsky and Kristin Smith · Jan 11, 2023 9:00am PST · 2 comments

The near-overnight collapse of FTX International sent shockwaves through the crypto industry that are now reverberating in Washington. As the dust settles and details of what went on behind closed doors emerge, it’s clear that FTX’s leadership displayed a complete disregard for corporate governance, risk management and, most... The near-overnight collapse of FTX International sent shockwaves through the crypto industry that...

From left: Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla, Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Marc Benioff. Photos by Bloomberg, Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Microsoft + OpenAI: Inside Tech’s Hottest Romance

By Erin Woo, Aaron Holmes and Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 11, 2023 8:17am PST · 8 comments

Three years ago, as Microsoft sought to overtake Amazon and Google in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the company made a major move. It invested $1 billion into a project originally co-founded by Elon Musk, former Y Combinator president Sam Altman and other tech leaders to create artificial general intelligence—software that... Three years ago, as Microsoft sought to overtake Amazon and Google in cloud computing and...

A lithium pile at Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora mine in Port Hedland, Australia. Photo: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

The Electric: Biden Administration Favors Making More Nations Eligible for U.S. Battery Subsidies

By Steve LeVine · Jan 11, 2023 5:00am PST

A lithium pile at Pilbara Minerals' Pilgangoora mine in Port Hedland, Australia. Photo: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

The Electric: Biden Administration Favors Making More Nations Eligible for U.S. Battery Subsidies

By Steve LeVine · Jan 11, 2023 5:00am PST

The landmark climate bill signed into law in August offered tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for electric vehicles whose batteries contain materials from the U.S. or countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. That excluded many of the most ore-rich countries of the world, and the Biden administration has been seeking a way... The landmark climate bill signed into law in August offered tens of billions of dollars in...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo by Bloomberg.

Coinbase May Have the Best Shot of Weathering the Crypto Winter

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 10, 2023 5:40pm PST

By crypto standards, today was like any other day—both newsy and noisy. Let’s see, Coinbase laid off 20% of its staff, and the Winklevoss twins escalated their public battle with crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group with an open letter demanding the removal of its chief, Barry Silbert. Meanwhile, a former Coinbase manager's brother was... By crypto standards, today was like any other day—both newsy and noisy. Let’s see, Coinbase laid...

Writer Elle Griffin. Photo courtesy of subject

Creator Economy

The Writer Who Serialized Her Novels on Substack

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2023 3:12pm PST

Elle Griffin's Substack career over the last two years is a testament to how tech platforms have transformed what it means to be an aspiring novelist. The former content marketing writer found success on Substack by taking a page from Alexandre Dumas and Charles Dickens: starting in 2021, she serialized her gothic and utopian novels to her... Elle Griffin's Substack career over the last two years is a testament to how tech platforms have...

A scene from the 2017 day when Okta went public. Photo by AP.

Okta Chief Revenue Officer Departs Amid Sales Shakeup

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 10, 2023 12:38pm PST · 2 comments

Okta’s chief revenue officer, Steve Rowland, is leaving the identity and access management software provider at the end of the month, according to a current Okta employee. Rowland’s departure, less than two years after the enterprise software veteran joined Okta, comes as Okta is grappling with an industrywide slowdown in the... Okta’s chief revenue officer, Steve Rowland, is leaving the identity and access management...

Redfin, with a market capitalization of less than $600 million, had $1.3 billion of convertible debt on its books as of September. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Looming Debt Crunch Facing Tech Companies Like The RealReal

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 10, 2023 8:08am PST · 5 comments

Redfin, with a market capitalization of less than $600 million, had $1.3 billion of convertible debt on its books as of September. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Looming Debt Crunch Facing Tech Companies Like The RealReal

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 10, 2023 8:08am PST · 5 comments

In 2020, a wave of public tech companies—including The RealReal, Vroom and Redfin—began selling record amounts of ultra-low-interest bonds that would convert into shares if the companies’ stocks kept soaring. Instead, stocks have been crushed, and a wall of potentially crippling or course-altering debt now looms over some... In 2020, a wave of public tech companies—including The RealReal, Vroom and...