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

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. Photo by AP

LinkedIn Plans Streaming Video Ad Push

By Sahil Patel · Jun 15, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Major advertisers and nearly every big TV network have jumped into the market for ads on video-streaming services. Now LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, is trying to get in on the act as well. The Microsoft-owned business is about to start testing an ad product that will allow marketers to target LinkedIn users when they’re... Major advertisers and nearly every big TV network have jumped into the market for ads on...

Margrethe Vestager via Getty

Why the European Antitrust Case Against Google Might or Might Not Matter

By Martin Peers · Jun 14, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Margrethe Vestager must have been getting a little antsy. The European Commission antitrust boss has been relatively quiet lately even as her British counterpart has been throwing punches at big tech companies, including by forcing Meta Platforms to divest Giphy and then blocking Microsoft’s purchase of Activision. In contrast, the Europeans... Margrethe Vestager must have been getting a little antsy. The European Commission antitrust boss...

A panel at VidCon 2022. Photo by Getty.

Creator Economy

Who’s Headed to VidCon Next Week

By Isabelle Sarraf · Jun 14, 2023 2:44pm PDT · 1 comment

Next week will be a busy one for the creator economy: Kaya is headed to the South of France for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the splashy annual beachside event for advertisers, while my colleague Erin will be reporting at VidCon in Anaheim, Calif.Kaya will give you the download on Cannes in tomorrow’s newsletter. Today,... Next week will be a busy one for the creator economy: Kaya is headed to the South of France for...

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Photo by Getty

Why a Ripple Win Isn’t a Free Pass for Coinbase

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 14, 2023 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Photo by Getty

Why a Ripple Win Isn’t a Free Pass for Coinbase

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 14, 2023 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

In the week since the Securities and Exchange Commission filed its lawsuit against Coinbase, buzz has been building in the crypto community about another case that could derail the security regulator’s sweeping crackdown.Ripple Labs has been locked in its own battle with the SEC since 2020 over whether $1.3 billion in sales of xrp, the token... In the week since the Securities and Exchange Commission filed its lawsuit against Coinbase, buzz...

Art by Shutterstock, Mike Sullivan

Why YouTube Could Give Google an Edge in AI

By Jon Victor · Jun 14, 2023 6:00am PDT

Google last month upgraded its Bard chatbot with a new machine-learning model that can better understand conversational language and compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. As Google develops a sequel to that model, it may hold a trump card: YouTube. The video site, which Google owns, is the single biggest and richest source of imagery, audio and... Google last month upgraded its Bard chatbot with a new machine-learning model that can better...

Outgoing Cloudera CEO Rob Bearden. Photo via Cloudera

Cloudera CEO to Depart

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 13, 2023 5:42pm PDT · 1 comment

Rob Bearden, the CEO of Cloudera, told employees in a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday that he is stepping down, according to someone with direct knowledge. Bearden said in the meeting that it was his decision to leave the company, and that he had not been fired or forced to leave, the person said. His departure comes two years after the... Rob Bearden, the CEO of Cloudera, told employees in a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday that...

Photo by Getty

New Revelations About Shopify’s Deliverr Sale Spotlights CEO

By Martin Peers · Jun 13, 2023 5:00pm PDT

When business historians look back at what happened in tech between 2020 and 2022, one subject they’ll likely explore is the mass suspension of disbelief that led venture capitalists, startup founders and big companies to go wild spending money on all sorts of crazy stuff. We’re now living through the retreat from those moves, which we at The... When business historians look back at what happened in tech between 2020 and 2022, one subject...

Dmitry Shapiro (left) and Sean Thielen of GoMeta, parent company of Koji. Photo via GoMeta

Why Two Creator Founders Are Switching to AI

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 13, 2023 3:46pm PDT · 1 comment

Dmitry Shapiro (left) and Sean Thielen of GoMeta, parent company of Koji. Photo via GoMeta

Creator Economy

Why Two Creator Founders Are Switching to AI

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 13, 2023 3:46pm PDT · 1 comment

Earlier today, I published a story about how creator economy startups are facing a reckoning after the 2020-2021 VC funding boom that spawned hundreds of startups trying to sell tools and services to creators. As funding has dried up, several creator-related startups—including Popshop Live, Zurp and Moetic—have been looking for buyers, pivoting... Earlier today, I published a story about how creator economy startups are facing a reckoning...

Photo by Getty

AWS Cuts Ties With Fast-Rising Cloud-Sales Partner

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 13, 2023 10:19am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon Web Services has suddenly cut ties with a key firm that earns commissions for bringing new customers to AWS, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. The firm, Philadelphia-based Triumph Tech, was among a select number of “premier tier” partners, AWS’s highest designation for partners. The reason for... Amazon Web Services has suddenly cut ties with a key firm that earns commissions for bringing new...

Photo by Getty.

Why Shopify Ditched Its Amazon-Like Delivery Dreams

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Jun 13, 2023 9:32am PDT · 2 comments

When Shopify last month announced the sale of its delivery operation, it was an abrupt reversal of a strategy to compete with Amazon it had spent four years and billions of dollars developing. Just six months earlier, for instance, top Shopify executives dismissed suggestions from logistics leaders that they scale back their investment to reduce... When Shopify last month announced the sale of its delivery operation, it was an abrupt reversal...

Art by Clark Miller.

How Silicon Valley Can Stretch Its Dollars

By Rob Jesudason · Jun 13, 2023 9:05am PDT · 6 comments

Silicon Valley was perhaps the world’s greatest beneficiary of nearly 15 years of extraordinarily loose monetary policy. From this fertile mix, West Coast venture capitalists and financial institutions spun a finely tuned ecosystem that excelled at converting cheap capital into high valuations. But with interest rates high and quite... Silicon Valley was perhaps the world’s greatest beneficiary of nearly 15 years of...

Illustration by Laurent Hrybyk

A Reckoning Arrives for Creator Economy Startups

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 13, 2023 6:09am PDT · 4 comments

Illustration by Laurent Hrybyk

A Reckoning Arrives for Creator Economy Startups

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 13, 2023 6:09am PDT · 4 comments

Two years ago, Dmitry Shapiro and Sean Thielen were so optimistic about the booming creator economy that they pivoted their startup to a new product: a simple tool called Koji that lets influencers more easily link to their online tip jars, merch and other services in their social media bios. Sure, there were already dozens of other startups... Two years ago, Dmitry Shapiro and Sean Thielen were so optimistic about the booming creator...

Photo via YouTube/TCV

TCV Raised 50% to 75% Less Than Planned For New Venture Fund

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Jun 12, 2023 6:23pm PDT · 5 comments

TCV, a 28-year-old mainstay of the venture capital industry, has raised 50% to 75% less capital for its next flagship fund for private investments than the $5.5 billion target it set last year, according to new securities filings and a document compiled by one of TCV’s limited partners. The filing doesn’t clarify whether TCV is... TCV, a 28-year-old mainstay of the venture capital industry, has raised 50% to 75% less capital...

Photo by Getty

Thoma Bravo Hits Home Run With Adenza Deal

By Martin Peers · Jun 12, 2023 5:00pm PDT

The pace of tech news is picking up—and not just because antitrust regulators in both Europe and the U.S. are busy filing new lawsuits against big tech companies. And it has little to do with the fact that Twitter is once again communicating with the news media using something other than a poop emoji. No, today’s significant tech news... The pace of tech news is picking up—and not just because antitrust regulators in both Europe and...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg

After Elon Musk Bashes Sacramento Data Centers, Tesla Gets One

By Erin Woo and Becky Peterson · Jun 12, 2023 3:38pm PDT · 1 comment

Last December, in a live event on Twitter, Elon Musk called Sacramento “possibly the worst place to have a data center,” complaining about the hot temperatures of California’s inland capital, where Twitter’s data centers once went down because a heat wave overwhelmed their equipment. Musk seems to have gotten comfortable... Last December, in a live event on Twitter, Elon Musk called Sacramento “possibly the worst...

Flavrs founders Alejandro Oropeza and François Chu.

Flavrs Cooks Up Creator Equity Fund

By Isabelle Sarraf · Jun 12, 2023 2:18pm PDT · 1 comment

Flavrs founders Alejandro Oropeza and François Chu.

Creator Economy

Flavrs Cooks Up Creator Equity Fund

By Isabelle Sarraf · Jun 12, 2023 2:18pm PDT · 1 comment

Flavrs, a three-year-old creator-focused cooking app, is taking an unusual approach to attracting creators: It’s promising to give online food influencers a small stake in the startup if they post short-form videos on the app. Creators approved for what Flavrs is calling a creator equity fund will receive shares that vest over time. In... Flavrs, a three-year-old creator-focused cooking app, is taking an unusual approach to attracting...

Image via Getty

U.S. Investors Are Bailing Out of China Funds

By Juro Osawa · Jun 12, 2023 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Sequoia Capital’s decision this week to split off its China operations showed the impact of growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. But the political conflict has sparked a bigger and more important change: Suddenly, American capital has stopped flowing to Chinese venture capital and private equity funds en masse. The University... Sequoia Capital’s decision this week to split off its China operations showed the impact of...

Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sumo Logic Cuts Staff After Francisco Partners Takeover

By Paris Martineau and Maria Heeter · Jun 10, 2023 7:30am PDT · 8 comments

Data analytics software company Sumo Logic made widespread layoffs this week, according to people familiar with the matter and an email to staff viewed by The Information, less than a month after private equity firm Francisco Partners bought the company for $1.7 billion. The exact size of the cuts couldn’t be learned. Chief Executive Joe... Data analytics software company Sumo Logic made widespread layoffs this week, according to people...

Why We Must Love A Moonshot

Why We Must Love A Moonshot

By Jon Steinberg · Jun 10, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Jon, our intrepid Weekender in Chief, is out. I’m happily subbing for him. Indeed, I feel particularly energized this week after spotting something I haven’t seen in what feels like for-ev-er: an actually audacious piece of technology—that might never take off. I’m talking, of course, about Apple’s newly debuted... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Jon, our intrepid Weekender in Chief, is out. I’m happily subbing for...

Oracle co-founder talks to Elon Musk in Miami in May. Photo by Getty

Oracle’s Answer to the Microsoft-OpenAI Alliance: Cozying Up to Cohere

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 9, 2023 2:08pm PDT

Oracle co-founder talks to Elon Musk in Miami in May. Photo by Getty

Oracle’s Answer to the Microsoft-OpenAI Alliance: Cozying Up to Cohere

By Anissa Gardizy · Jun 9, 2023 2:08pm PDT

Oracle has invested in Cohere, an artificial intelligence startup that competes with OpenAI, the startup said on Thursday. What Cohere didn’t say: Oracle plans to make the startup a centerpiece of its strategy to catch up to bigger cloud rivals that sell services powered by large-language models. Steve Miranda, a senior Oracle executive,... Oracle has invested in Cohere, an artificial intelligence startup that competes with OpenAI, the...