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

Disney CEO Robert Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Photos by Bloomberg, Shutterstock

2023 Will Be Another Difficult Year for Traditional Media

By Andrew A. Rosen · Dec 21, 2022 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Parqor is part of The Information’s newsletter network. To receive it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, sign up here. Next year is going to be ugly for public media companies. Cord cutting has reached levels many have long anticipated—an estimated 60 million households still have cable service, down from 95 million in... Parqor is part of The Information’s newsletter network. To receive it in your inbox every...

How Shopify’s Leadership Has Transformed to Battle the E-Commerce Slump

By Ann Gehan · Dec 21, 2022 8:12am PST · 1 comment

As Shopify grapples with the online shopping downturn, the e-commerce giant has revamped its top management ranks to reflect its biggest priorities. Kaz Nejatian, a Shopify product executive who also took on the role of chief operating officer in September, is playing a key role as the company looks to offset slumping growth in its software... As Shopify grapples with the online shopping downturn, the e-commerce giant has revamped its top...

A "zombie" Amazon Fresh store in Lodi, N.J. last week. Photo by Theo Wayt.

‘Zombie’ Amazon Grocery Stores Pile Up as Openings Grind to a Halt

By Theo Wayt · Dec 21, 2022 6:00am PST

For the most part, these Amazon Fresh stores look like they’re ready to open: The lights are on; there are signs for meat, seafood, bread and 15-cent bananas. But the shelves are empty, the doors are locked and no employees are around. Amazon’s pivot from rapid expansion to cost-cutting has left “zombie” grocery stores... For the most part, these Amazon Fresh stores look like they’re ready to open: The lights...

Photo by Getty Images

Europe’s Latest Attacks on Meta and Amazon Make No Sense

By Martin Peers · Dec 20, 2022 5:00pm PST

Photo by Getty Images

Europe’s Latest Attacks on Meta and Amazon Make No Sense

By Martin Peers · Dec 20, 2022 5:00pm PST

Whose side are Europe’s antitrust regulators on? Obviously not consumers’. Today’s European Commission settlement with Amazon, which includes provisions that could erode the efficiency of the company’s Prime service, follows in the footsteps of the case the agency outlined against Meta Platforms’ Facebook Marketplace on Monday. In that case,... Whose side are Europe’s antitrust regulators on? Obviously not consumers’. Today’s European...

Famous Birthdays founder Evan Britton. Photo: Courtesy of Subject

Creator Economy

The Website That Predicts the Next Top Creators

By Kaya Yurieff · Dec 20, 2022 2:00pm PST

Ten years ago, Evan Britton set out to create a concise version of Wikipedia focused on celebrities. People were shifting from using desktop computers to mobile devices, and he thought Wikipedia pages would be too busy for a phone screen. Then, Britton noticed visitors were instead using his site Famous Birthdays to search for a different... Ten years ago, Evan Britton set out to create a concise version of Wikipedia focused on...

A hardware engineer works on argo lidar components. Photo by Argo AI.

Lidar Startups Scramble to Raise Cash, Find Buyers

By Maria Heeter · Dec 20, 2022 12:03pm PST

It’s going to be a busy holiday season for some investment bankers. Anyone with expertise in mobility tech firms, such as electric vehicles or lidar tech for autonomous vehicles, is flooded with work right now. With funding drying up, cash-burning startups are scrambling to find buyers, either by hiring banks to run official processes or... It’s going to be a busy holiday season for some investment bankers. Anyone with expertise...

From left: Ariel Cohen, CEO and founder of TripActions; Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart; Rene Haas, CEO of ARM. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Instacart, Databricks, Arm Could Lead the IPO Market Out of Its Freeze

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 20, 2022 7:30am PST · 1 comment

The IPO market remains frozen for now. But once it starts to thaw, the companies that will likely jump into the public markets first are those that can show a path to profitability, have reconciled themselves to lower valuations and—perhaps just as important—are simply sick of waiting. Grocery-delivery firm Instacart, data-focused... The IPO market remains frozen for now. But once it starts to thaw, the companies that will likely...

A ByteDance employee at the entrance to a ByteDance office in Beijing. Photo by Getty Images.

TikTok Owner Now Aiming to Expand Into U.S. Enterprise Software Market

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Dec 20, 2022 6:00am PST · 4 comments

A ByteDance employee at the entrance to a ByteDance office in Beijing. Photo by Getty Images.

TikTok Owner Now Aiming to Expand Into U.S. Enterprise Software Market

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Dec 20, 2022 6:00am PST · 4 comments

If some American politicians and regulators had their way, TikTok would be banned in the U.S. Executives at TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, though, appear so unconcerned by the threat that they’re trying to expand into a new business in the U.S.—selling software for businesses. ByteDance is stepping up its hiring in the U.S.... If some American politicians and regulators had their way, TikTok would be banned in the U.S....

Nickel cores drilled by Talon Metals at the Tamarack Mine in Minnesota. Photo: Courtesy Talon Metals

The Electric: Struggling to Grasp Batteries, U.S. Officials Delay EV Rebate Rules

By Steve LeVine · Dec 20, 2022 3:30am PST

After scrambling for four months to get up to speed on the innards of electric vehicle batteries, U.S. officials on Monday said they will miss a Dec. 31 deadline to issue much-awaited rules governing a new $7,500 consumer tax rebate for EV purchases. Instead, they will release only the “anticipated direction” of the rules by the end of the... After scrambling for four months to get up to speed on the innards of electric vehicle batteries,...

Photo by Bloomberg

Musk Goes Quiet, SBF Goes Quietly, While Meta Looks to ‘the Future’

By Martin Peers · Dec 19, 2022 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas jail cell. According to The New York Times, the founder of the bankrupt FTX crypto firm, now charged with various counts of fraud, is in a prison renowned for its harsh conditions. Bankman-Fried is in the infirmary with five other inmates, The Times reported, so his living conditions may... Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas jail cell. According to The New York...

Photo Bloomberg

Creator Economy

How Creators Fit Pinterest’s Commerce Goals; Musk’s Brief ‘Anti-Creator’ Policy

By Mahira Dayal · Dec 19, 2022 2:00pm PST

On Friday, I published an analysis of Pinterest, where creators post content such as mood boards, clothing outfits and home decor setups. One takeaway: Its new CEO Bill Ready wants to find ways to increase how much time its existing users spend on Pinterest, and earn more revenue from those users. To do that, he wants to make all of the products... On Friday, I published an analysis of Pinterest, where creators post content such as mood boards,...

Illustration by Josh Brill

If Apple Opens Up iPhone, Alternative App Stores Could Multiply—and Struggle

By Aaron Holmes, Jon Victor and Nick Wingfield · Dec 19, 2022 11:20am PST · 1 comment

Illustration by Josh Brill

If Apple Opens Up iPhone, Alternative App Stores Could Multiply—and Struggle

By Aaron Holmes, Jon Victor and Nick Wingfield · Dec 19, 2022 11:20am PST · 1 comment

If Apple lets consumers begin installing apps onto iPhones from sources other than Apple itself, could we see dozens of app stores bloom, from companies big and small, as some advocates of greater competition in the mobile market predict? Not likely. The odds of success are stacked against such alternatives, although a variety of companies are... If Apple lets consumers begin installing apps onto iPhones from sources other than Apple itself,...

Photos by Bloomberg.

Inside Meta’s Struggles to Gain an Edge on Apple in AR Race

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 19, 2022 6:00am PST

Before Meta Platforms released its Ray-Ban camera-equipped glasses last September, the team spent months trying to get them to work with Apple’s iPhone. Meta wanted photos taken on the glasses to automatically download to users’ phones without requiring them to open Meta’s app. But because of how Apple’s software... Before Meta Platforms released its Ray-Ban camera-equipped glasses last September, the team spent...

Elon Musk appearing via video at a conference in Qatar in June. Photo by Bloomberg

Even Elon Musk’s Allies Question Judgment After Link Ban, Account Suspensions

By Nick Wingfield and Erin Woo · Dec 18, 2022 2:54pm PST · 8 comments

Update: Sunday evening, Elon Musk asked Twitter users in poll whether he should step down as CEO and that he would abide by the results. As of 8pm eastern time, 58% of more than 4 million respondents had voted yes. He also tweeted an apology, implying he had erred in making recent policy changes. How chaotic has Elon Musk’s management... Update: Sunday evening, Elon Musk asked Twitter users in poll whether he should step down as CEO...

Piedmont Lithium has riled up local opposition to its mining plans. Photo: Courtesy Stop Piedmont Lithium

The Electric: Will Americans Embrace Dirty Plants Making Clean Technologies?

By Steve LeVine · Dec 18, 2022 2:00pm PST

The U.S. has made a $250 billion bet that it can build a world-class battery industry, and puncture China's domination of the technology. But to get there, the country must reverse decades-old local opposition in the country to mining and heavy industry. This week, we look at Piedmont Lithium, a poster child for how not to win over local... The U.S. has made a $250 billion bet that it can build a world-class battery industry, and...

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty

Twitter Lays Off Engineers in Infrastructure Org, Days After Leaders Were Fired

By Erin Woo · Dec 17, 2022 7:24am PST · 23 comments

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty

Twitter Lays Off Engineers in Infrastructure Org, Days After Leaders Were Fired

By Erin Woo · Dec 17, 2022 7:24am PST · 23 comments

Twitter laid off engineers in its infrastructure organization on Friday evening, reducing the staff in the part of the company that keeps the social media sevice running, according to a person familiar with the situation. The layoffs, which came days after some leaders in the organization were fired, are the latest in a series of employee... Twitter laid off engineers in its infrastructure organization on Friday evening, reducing the...

Back to Work, the Party's Over

Back to Work, the Party's Over

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 17, 2022 7:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Compared to other austerity measures that have swept over tech this past year (the mass layoffs, the hiring freezes, the end of in-house laundry), the demise of the holiday party likely isn’t inspiring panic amongst tech workers. But should it? As Annie and Arielle write in this week’s cover story, it seems like... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!Compared to other austerity measures that have swept over tech this...

Art by Clark Miller.

Screentime: Katelin Holloway Won’t Accept Your FaceTime Call

By Annie Goldsmith · Dec 17, 2022 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Katelin Holloway has extremely decisive opinions on technology. FaceTime: never. Dark Mode: always. Inbox zero: essential. Siri and Alexa: toxic. And selfies? “I never learned how to take a selfie, kind of on principle,” said Holloway, a founding partner at Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture firm. “It was very of my... Katelin Holloway has extremely decisive opinions on technology. FaceTime: never. Dark Mode:...

Art by Clark Miller.

Market Research

‘This Is the Best. I’ve Tried Everything’: Tech Execs on the Ski Gear They Won’t Go Downhill Without

By Annie Goldsmith · Dec 16, 2022 12:00pm PST · 15 comments

For tech’s skiers and snowboarders, it’s the most wonderful time of the year—and also the most decision-packed. “Every year I feel like I have to pick a religion: either Epic or Ikon,” said Aziz Gilani, managing director at Mercury Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm. For Gilani, choosing between the two... For tech’s skiers and snowboarders, it’s the most wonderful time of the...

Midjourney art by Clark Miller

ChatGPT Is on Fire, and a Cottage Industry of Bot Builders Is Exploding Alongside It

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Dec 16, 2022 10:00am PST · 3 comments

Midjourney art by Clark Miller

ChatGPT Is on Fire, and a Cottage Industry of Bot Builders Is Exploding Alongside It

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Dec 16, 2022 10:00am PST · 3 comments

Joshua Browder wakes up most mornings wanting to empower the little guy. The entrepreneur, who has been deemed the “Robin Hood of the internet,” has helped people annul marriages, get out of parking tickets and file lawsuits against failed crypto platforms through DoNotPay, his robo lawyer startup. DoNotPay works by automating the... Joshua Browder wakes up most mornings wanting to empower the little guy. The entrepreneur, who...