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

A prototype nine-seat electric jet made by Eviation, an Israeli company. Photo: Courtesy Eviation

The Electric: A Search For a Powerful New Battery To Help Electric Planes Fly

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2022 4:00am PDT

Save the date: For three centuries, Prussian blue has been the hue behind some of the world's most famous paintings, including Gainsborough's The Blue Boy and Picasso's Blue Period works. Now, it's the material in one of the most inventive new batteries. For the next Live Chat With The Electric, I'm excited to welcome Colin Wessells, CEO of... Save the date: For three centuries, Prussian blue has been the hue behind some of the world's...

Ben Silbermann. Photo by Bloomberg.

Pinterest’s Tardy CEO Shakeup

By Martin Peers · Jun 28, 2022 5:00pm PDT

What timing! No one could say they were surprised that Ben Silbermann is stepping down as CEO of Pinterest—that’s something we’ve expected for a while. After all, while he and his co-founder, Evan Sharp, built the business into a public company worth $13 billion—even after the stock plunge of recent months—Silbermann lately has been grappling... What timing! No one could say they were surprised that Ben Silbermann is stepping down as CEO of...

Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann, who will be replaced as CEO by former Google exec Bill Ready. Photo: Bloomberg.

Creator Economy

Pinterest Bets Big on Commerce With CEO Hire; A Science Creator Shuns YouTube Ad Share

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 28, 2022 3:37pm PDT

Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann is stepping down from the CEO role after more than a decade leading the company. E-commerce executive Bill Ready, who led commerce initiatives at Alphabet’s Google, will replace Silbermann. Prior to joining Google, Ready was the chief operating officer at PayPal. We already knew commerce was top of mind... Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann is stepping down from the CEO role after more than a decade...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo: Bloomberg

Coinbase Pulls Back Its Startup Investing as Others Weigh Options

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 28, 2022 12:11pm PDT · 2 comments

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo: Bloomberg

Coinbase Pulls Back Its Startup Investing as Others Weigh Options

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 28, 2022 12:11pm PDT · 2 comments

Investors are fleeing crypto as the markets collapse. So will big crypto companies keep pumping money into startups to help the fledgling industry stay afloat? So far, the data is mixed. On one hand, industry giant and once prolific investor Coinbase has been tapping the brakes. Its venture arm, Coinbase Ventures, invested in just eight... Investors are fleeing crypto as the markets collapse. So will big crypto companies keep pumping...

Screenshots from NBA All-World. Credit: Niantic, HypGames, NBA, and NBPA.

Niantic’s Shot at Mixing AR and Basketball; HTC’s Metaverse Phone

By Mathew Olson · Jun 28, 2022 11:00am PDT

If you squint, sports fandom doesn’t look all that different from video game fandom. In each, people have their favorite players (or larger-than-life characters), there are stats to pore over endlessly. Anyone with an impulse for collecting things can likely be drawn in by either pastime. It’s easy to see, then, how Niantic ended up landing an... If you squint, sports fandom doesn’t look all that different from video game fandom. In each,...

From left: Brooke Hainey & Keith George, co-founders of Cortina; Bennett Carroccio, co-founder of Canal; Conner Sherline, founder of Disco.

Startups to Watch

Three Startups That Help Online Retailers Cut Out Facebook Ads

By Malique Morris · Jun 28, 2022 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever since Apple’s 2021 privacy changes made it harder and more expensive to land new customers. But a small group of e-commerce software startups is looking to help DTC sellers work together to showcase their goods in new ways—without... Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever...

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo by Bloomberg.

Who Else Will FTX Founder Rescue?

By Martin Peers · Jun 27, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Has there ever been a more aptly named entrepreneur than Sam Bankman-Fried? Not only is his FTX turning out to be a lender of last resort for crypto lenders such as BlockFi and Voyager Digital, both of which are caught up in a chain reaction of missed margin calls triggered by the crypto slide, but it could also emerge as a savior for Robinhood.... Has there ever been a more aptly named entrepreneur than Sam Bankman-Fried? Not only is his FTX...

TikTok was the lead sponsor of VidCon this year, edging out YouTube. Photo: Kaya Yurieff

Lessons from VidCon on Surviving the Downturn; MrBeast’s Advice to Creators; Charli D’Amelio on Being Dethroned as No. 1 TikToker

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 27, 2022 2:11pm PDT

TikTok was the lead sponsor of VidCon this year, edging out YouTube. Photo: Kaya Yurieff

Creator Economy

Lessons from VidCon on Surviving the Downturn; MrBeast’s Advice to Creators; Charli D’Amelio on Being Dethroned as No. 1 TikToker

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 27, 2022 2:11pm PDT

A looming recession did little to damper the buoyant mood at VidCon, the annual conference for creators, their fans and industry professionals, which wrapped up on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.. Attendees schmoozed at cocktail parties and stood in hours-long lines to be lowered via a harness into a giant pool full of soft plush toys called... A looming recession did little to damper the buoyant mood at VidCon, the annual conference for...

Apple CEO Tim Cook posing next to a line of new M2 MacBook products. Photo: Bloomberg.

The Importance of Apple’s M2 Chip; Meta’s New AI Audio Tricks for AR

By Mathew Olson · Jun 27, 2022 11:00am PDT

What’s in a name? In the case of Apple-designed silicon, not much: from the A-series of chips designed for iPhones through to the M1 and new M2 chips, Apple’s only revision to each new name is updating the number.So, when Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says he expects that Apple’s mixed reality headset will use the M2 chip—which lines up with what The... What’s in a name? In the case of Apple-designed silicon, not much: from the A-series of chips...

Tesla's Fremont factory, in a photo taken in May 2020.

At Tesla, Returning to the Office Creates New Problems

By Becky Peterson · Jun 27, 2022 6:00am PDT

On the evening of June 8, speaking from Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., Elon Musk addressed a few dozen of the electric car maker’s employees in person, and thousands more in a livestream. It was the first time Musk had spoken to the entire staff since announcing the prior week that all white-collar staff would be required to... On the evening of June 8, speaking from Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., Elon Musk...

Byd's cell-to-pack Blade battery, clashing with the typical boxy or cylindrical cell shape. Photo: Kyodo/AP

The Electric: China Engineers a Lead on an Important Battery Technology

By Steve LeVine · Jun 26, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to The Electric! For years lithium-iron-phosphate was a has-been battery—once heralded by automakers but then left behind by nickel-based chemistries that delivered greater electric vehicle range. Then Chinese companies figured out how to pack LFP densely into cells, and the iron-based chemistry staged a comeback. This week, we... Welcome back to The Electric! For years lithium-iron-phosphate was a has-been battery—once...

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

By Jon Steinberg · Jun 25, 2022 8:00am PDT

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

By Jon Steinberg · Jun 25, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Even before the Supreme Court’s earth-shaking rulings this week that struck down states’ gun restrictions and ended women's right to an abortion, Americans were losing faith in the highest court in the land. On Thursday, Gallup reported that trust in the Supreme Court has never been lower, with only 25% of... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Even before the Supreme Court’s earth-shaking rulings this week...

Art by Clark Miller.

As a Kid, Samantha John Recoiled From Videogames. Now She’s Teaching Kids to Code Them

By Annie Goldsmith · Jun 25, 2022 7:00am PDT

This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers of tech founders and executives. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. For the past decade, Samantha John, 35, and her co-founder, Jocelyn Leavitt, have been helping kids learn to code. Their app, Hopscotch, teaches children... This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers...

Protesters at the Supreme Court today. Photo by AP

Roe Ruling’s Repercussions for Tech; Zendesk’s Fit of Pique

By Martin Peers · Jun 24, 2022 5:00pm PDT

What a week! Tech business news has been relatively scarce in recent days—but today’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade will have repercussions for all businesses. For the tech industry, which has been spreading outside the San Francisco Bay Area and New York for the past couple of years as remote work has become widely available,... What a week! Tech business news has been relatively scarce in recent days—but today’s Supreme...

Art by Clark Miller

Scene and Heard

‘The Last Great Party’: With Crypto Winter Coming, NFT Lovers Try to Stave Off Reality

By Margaux MacColl · Jun 24, 2022 2:30pm PDT · 9 comments

Ten days before NFT.NYC began last Monday in New York, I interviewed the conference’s founder, Jodee Rich, about how the crypto market’s collapse would impact this year’s gathering. It seemed like an obvious topic of discussion: $400 billion in cryptocurrencies’ market value had just vanished in a matter of weeks; heavyweights like Coinbase had... Ten days before NFT.NYC began last Monday in New York, I interviewed the conference’s founder,...

Carta CEO Henry Ward. Photo: Carta

Carta Has Had Talks to Acquire Vauban, a European AngelList-like Startup

By Erin Woo, Mahira Dayal and Becky Peterson · Jun 24, 2022 1:35pm PDT

Carta CEO Henry Ward. Photo: Carta

Carta Has Had Talks to Acquire Vauban, a European AngelList-like Startup

By Erin Woo, Mahira Dayal and Becky Peterson · Jun 24, 2022 1:35pm PDT

Financial services startup Carta has been in talks to acquire Vauban, a London-based startup that provides software for raising venture capital funds and investing capital, according to two people familiar with the matter. Carta, which builds software for startups and investors to track their equity stakes, raised $500 million at a $7.4 billion... Financial services startup Carta has been in talks to acquire Vauban, a London-based startup that...

Art by Clark Miller

Will Your Cheatin’ Heart Tell on You? As Americans Lose Trust in Each Other, They’re Turning to Tech to Detect Lies

By Zara Stone · Jun 24, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 1 comment

A few months ago, inside a soundproof room attached to his office, Dennis Cates, a retired police officer and founder of Mid Valley Polygraph in Porterville, Calif., cleared his throat and directed his client to answer an awkward question. “Have you ever had sex with your husband’s brother?” “No,” the client answered, clicking false on the... A few months ago, inside a soundproof room attached to his office, Dennis Cates, a retired police...

Amazon’s Ad Staffers Flee Amid Complaints of Bloat, Bureaucracy

By Mark Di Stefano and Jessica Toonkel · Jun 24, 2022 10:07am PDT · 1 comment

In the years immediately before Covid-19 sidelined the global advertising festival in Cannes, Amazon kept a low-key presence at the annual gathering of ad and tech people. While staffers booked rooms at the iconic Carlton Hotel to meet with clients, they were so conscious of overspending that one year two senior employees shared a room,... In the years immediately before Covid-19 sidelined the global advertising festival in Cannes,...

The Question Plaguing Connected TV: Who’s Watching?

By Andrew A. Rosen · Jun 24, 2022 9:00am PDT · 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. We’re more than 15 years into the age of streaming media, and yet we still don’t know the answer to two basic questions: How many people are watching, and who are they? A recent study... PARQOR is part of The Information’s newsletter network. To receive it in your inbox every...

Not Just Tiger: Coatue, Greenoaks Reduce Late-Stage Deals

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 24, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Not Just Tiger: Coatue, Greenoaks Reduce Late-Stage Deals

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 24, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Last year, Tiger Global Management led a rush to back startups nearing initial public offerings, piling into late-stage funding rounds for banking app Chime, data firm Databricks and videoconferencing startup Hopin. New data shows just how much Tiger and other deep-pocketed investors have pulled back so far this year. Tiger’s participation... Last year, Tiger Global Management led a rush to back startups nearing initial public offerings,...