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

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Recent Editions

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe’s Ill-Timed Crypto Re-Entry; SBF Needs to Stay Off Signal

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 1, 2023 4:13pm PST · 1 comment

My colleagues have been busy covering the latest at payments giant Stripe, which is in talks with existing investors that include Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital to raise $3 billion. Those talks are likely to value Stripe at $55 billion to $60 billion—a far cry from the $95 billion valuation it landed in its last funding round in early... My colleagues have been busy covering the latest at payments giant Stripe, which is in talks with...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s No-Fly Zone: Drone Delivery Largely Grounded Despite Splashy Launch

By Theo Wayt · Feb 1, 2023 11:04am PST · 2 comments

Amazon in December announced with great fanfare that, after nearly a decade of work, it had finally launched drone delivery in the U.S., in two towns in California and Texas. But by mid-January, Amazon Prime Air had made deliveries to fewer than 10 houses, according to people who worked on the project. Despite what Amazon has said publicly about... Amazon in December announced with great fanfare that, after nearly a decade of work, it had...

Netflix Tells Advertisers Sign-Ups to Ad Tier Doubled in January

By Sahil Patel · Feb 1, 2023 7:00am PST

Netflix is making progress in its plunge into advertising—slowly. The streaming firm told advertisers in the past 10 days that new sign-ups for the tier with ads had doubled in January over December, a sign that low-cost offering was catching on with subscribers, ad executives say. Netflix didn’t tell advertisers how many sign-ups... Netflix is making progress in its plunge into advertising—slowly. The streaming firm told...

Photos via Adept Labs, Edmund Hillary Fellowship, Gantry ML, KIT Gründerschmiede, Sci Founders, Shutterstock, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and YouTube.

OpenAI Is Making Headlines. It’s Also Seeding Talent Across Silicon Valley

By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Feb 1, 2023 6:00am PST

Photos via Adept Labs, Edmund Hillary Fellowship, Gantry ML, KIT Gründerschmiede, Sci Founders, Shutterstock, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and YouTube.

OpenAI Is Making Headlines. It’s Also Seeding Talent Across Silicon Valley

By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Feb 1, 2023 6:00am PST

OpenAI has just 375 full-time employees, but its buzzy chatbot, ChatGPT, is shaking up Silicon Valley. The company’s influence extends even further, through former employees who are now in top positions at other artificial intelligence firms or have founded startups of their own. Even as layoffs roil the tech sector, AI talent is in high... OpenAI has just 375 full-time employees, but its buzzy chatbot, ChatGPT, is shaking up Silicon...

Thacker Pass, Nev. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas

The Electric: The New ‘Elephants’—GM Grabs the Biggest Lithium Deposit in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Feb 1, 2023 4:30am PST

For a century, the world’s oil drillers fought for rights to what they called “elephants,” supergiant oil fields in the Middle East, Central Asia and the U.S., because just one of them could make a company fabulously wealthy. Now global auto companies are scrambling for the new elephants—giant lithium deposits, which are emerging as a key to... For a century, the world’s oil drillers fought for rights to what they called “elephants,”...

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Meta’s Resistance to Sharing Ad Sales Starts to Crumble

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 31, 2023 5:15pm PST

For at least a year, one question has hung over Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram: whether the apps will introduce a way to share a cut of ad revenues with more creators, similar to how YouTube pays video-makers. Our story today by Sylvia and Kaya goes deep into the debate at Meta over introducing ad-revenue sharing, which some staff... For at least a year, one question has hung over Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram:...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Getty Images.

Snap’s Spaghetti Strategy Is Cause for Concern

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 31, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Snap’s abysmal financial forecast for the current quarter continued the company’s string of rough news. While the social media company said revenues in the fourth quarter were largely flat from a year earlier, it warned that business is going to get worse. “Our internal forecast assumes revenue will be between -10% to -2% year-over-year in... Snap’s abysmal financial forecast for the current quarter continued the company’s string of rough...

Art by Shane Burke. Photo by Bloomberg

Musk Leaves Twitter Staff Without Equity Plan as Deadline Looms

By Erin Woo · Jan 31, 2023 1:40pm PST

Art by Shane Burke. Photo by Bloomberg

Musk Leaves Twitter Staff Without Equity Plan as Deadline Looms

By Erin Woo · Jan 31, 2023 1:40pm PST

Shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter last fall, he promised Twitter staff that they could look forward to the kind of stock rewards employees at SpaceX—another private company Musk runs—enjoy. But as Musk’s ownership of Twitter nears the end of its third month, he has yet to release details of the new stock compensation plan,... Shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter last fall, he promised Twitter staff that they could look...

Illustration by Getty Images.

The Relationship Model Is Killing Venture Capital

By Del Johnson · Jan 31, 2023 9:00am PST · 40 comments

The social and racial homogeneity of the venture capital industry has long been a source of frustration for entrepreneurs and investors alike. In recent years, this frustration has boiled over into a full-fledged movement, with a growing chorus of voices arguing that venture capitalists are destroying value by overlooking founders from swaths of... The social and racial homogeneity of the venture capital industry has long been a source of...

Illustration by Josh Brill

Meta Insiders Debate Key Issue for Reels: Whether to Share Ad Dollars With Creators

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jan 31, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

When Wall Street analysts dial into an earnings call tomorrow with Mark Zuckerberg, they’re likely to pepper the Meta Platforms CEO with different versions of a favorite question: What’s the latest on making money from Reels, Meta’s answer to TikTok? It’s a delicate topic inside Meta. After three years of work on... When Wall Street analysts dial into an earnings call tomorrow with Mark Zuckerberg, they’re...

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo: Bloomberg.

Stripe in Talks to Raise Up to $3 Billion From Current Investors

By Jessica E. Lessin, Erin Woo and Cory Weinberg · Jan 30, 2023 5:08pm PST · 1 comment

Less than a week after telling employees that it would evaluate a public offering over the next year, payments giant Stripe is moving quickly on a deal to raise as much as $3 billion from its existing investors. The talks, which have heated up in recent days, are likely to value the company at between $55 billion and $60 billion, according to... Less than a week after telling employees that it would evaluate a public offering over the next...

Photos by Bloomberg

Stripe’s Trajectory Has Echoes of Uber; BuzzFeed’s AI-Fueled Rally

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2023 5:00pm PST

Photos by Bloomberg

Stripe’s Trajectory Has Echoes of Uber; BuzzFeed’s AI-Fueled Rally

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2023 5:00pm PST

Once upon a time, there was a private tech company that bankers thought could be worth as much as $120 billion when it went public. Its potential initial public offering was described in news reports like this one in 2018 as the “most hotly anticipated on Wall Street and Silicon Valley.” Today, it’s worth only about $60 billion. Can you guess... Once upon a time, there was a private tech company that bankers thought could be worth as much as...

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Problems Inside Facebook Gaming’s Black Creator Program; Meta Expects Revenue to Drop

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 30, 2023 4:01pm PST

On Monday, I reported that Meta Platforms has reduced the contracts it paid out to creators on its game-streaming service Facebook Gaming. As part of my reporting, I confirmed that Meta let its Black Gaming Creators Program, a $10 million fund, sunset at the end of last year. That brings up an important question of how successful this fund and... On Monday, I reported that Meta Platforms has reduced the contracts it paid out to creators on...

Photo of Sam Altman by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Dangles Perks and Early Access to Win Investments in AI Startups

By Kate Clark · Jan 30, 2023 11:17am PST

OpenAI has proven itself to be a prolific fundraiser, collecting billions of dollars from Microsoft and others to perfect its artificial intelligence software. Lately, it’s also been flexing its muscles as an investor in other AI startups, a strategy that could tie a generation of young companies to its machine-learning models and... OpenAI has proven itself to be a prolific fundraiser, collecting billions of dollars from...

Attendees at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June 2018. Photo by Bloomberg.

Meta’s Twitch Competitor Cuts Contracts With Gaming Creators

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 30, 2023 6:00am PST

Since 2018, Meta Platforms has paid videogamers to stream their play on Facebook’s gaming service, its alternative to Twitch. Now, in a new era of austerity, Meta is cutting back on those payments. Facebook Gaming in the second half of last year dropped its contracts with at least 200 creators that paid them to spend time streaming on the... Since 2018, Meta Platforms has paid videogamers to stream their play on Facebook’s gaming...

In Palo Alto, CA. in November 2010, Musk and Toyoda announce what would become a star-crossed partnership. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

The Electric: Modern EVs Were Born in Japan. So Why Have the Japanese Lost Their Way?

By Steve LeVine · Jan 29, 2023 2:00pm PST

In Palo Alto, CA. in November 2010, Musk and Toyoda announce what would become a star-crossed partnership. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

The Electric: Modern EVs Were Born in Japan. So Why Have the Japanese Lost Their Way?

By Steve LeVine · Jan 29, 2023 2:00pm PST

In 2010, Akio Toyoda, chief executive of Toyota, the Japanese automaker his grandfather founded decades earlier, sipped red wine in Palo Alto, Calif., with Elon Musk, CEO of electric vehicle upstart Tesla, and drove the entrepreneur’s flashy Roadster. Toyoda, only recently installed as CEO, was taken by Musk’s spirit and determination on the... In 2010, Akio Toyoda, chief executive of Toyota, the Japanese automaker his grandfather founded...

Ban It, Divest It or Regulate It? Washington Looks for an Answer to TikTok

Ban It, Divest It or Regulate It? Washington Looks for an Answer to TikTok

By Jon Steinberg · Jan 28, 2023 7:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Interesting dinner table discussion this week: My 13-year-old daughter, hearing about Nancy Scola’s cover story on TikTok’s war in Washington, offered her prediction for what would happen if the U.S. took the drastic step of banning the app.“Every teenager in America would refuse to come out of their rooms,” she... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Interesting dinner table discussion this week: My 13-year-old...

The cofounders of Character.AI, Noam Shazeer (CEO) and Daniel de Freitas Adiwardana (president) at the company's office in Palo Alto, CA. Photo via Getty.

Chatbot Startup Character Seeks $250 Million, Testing Investor Appetite for AI

By Jon Victor, Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Jan 27, 2023 2:25pm PST

Character, an AI chatbot startup founded by two former Google researchers, has told investors it wants to raise as much as $250 million in new funding, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The pitch will test investors’ appetite for machine-learning startups as Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar deal with OpenAI... Character, an AI chatbot startup founded by two former Google researchers, has told investors it...

Nate CEO Albert Saniger. Art by Shane Burke.

Coatue-Backed ‘AI’ Shopping Startup Nate Has Slashed Most Staff and Disabled Key Features of its App

By Ann Gehan · Jan 27, 2023 1:46pm PST · 1 comment

Nate, the shopping app that drew attention last year for overstating its use of artificial intelligence technology to power its transactions, has stopped processing payments on its app and has cut most of its workforce, according to three people directly familiar with the matter. The moves suggest Nate is poised to become the latest casualty... Nate, the shopping app that drew attention last year for overstating its use of artificial...

Art by Clark Miller

Bari Weiss Brings the Culture Wars Home

By Annie Goldsmith · Jan 27, 2023 12:00pm PST · 5 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Bari Weiss Brings the Culture Wars Home

By Annie Goldsmith · Jan 27, 2023 12:00pm PST · 5 comments

“I’m just putting my face on!” yelled the voice around the corner. Bari Weiss—former New York Times Op-Ed staff editor and writer and current founder of the controversy-courting new media company The Free Press—came streaming into her living room, hair wet, dressed all in black. She greeted me and two of her... “I’m just putting my face on!” yelled the voice around the corner. Bari...