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

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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

Elon Musk in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. Photo: Bloomberg.

Twitter Lays Off at Least 50 in Relentless Cost Cuts

By Erin Woo · Feb 25, 2023 10:39pm PST

Elon Musk’s Twitter laid off dozens of employees Saturday in what is at least the eighth round of job cuts since Musk took over the social network in late October. The cuts aim to offset a plunge in revenue following Musk’s takeover and further whittle down a staff that had shrunk by at least 70% to roughly 2,000. ... Elon Musk’s Twitter laid off dozens of employees Saturday in what is at least the...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Screentime: The TikTok Creator Bringing Comedy to Venture Capital

By Arielle Pardes · Feb 25, 2023 8:44am PST

Rashad Assir has many faces: He’s a venture capitalist with no idea what he’s doing. (“My thesis? I don’t know. I’m trying to make money.”) He’s a Gen Z colleague trying out new jargon. He’s a CEO, making a return-to-office plea. And he’s an annoying co-worker who just took up improv. Assir... Rashad Assir has many faces: He’s a venture capitalist with no idea what he’s doing....

The Keys to Josh Kushner's Venture Kingdom

The Keys to Josh Kushner's Venture Kingdom

By Jon Steinberg · Feb 25, 2023 8:43am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!The tech industry is not a zero-sum game. It can foster many winners, all at once—as the last decade showed. But it’s also noteworthy when one darling of Silicon Valley rises just as another falls. That’s been happening this winter, with the anointing of OpenAI and the simultaneous humbling of Stripe. As my... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!The tech industry is not a zero-sum game. It can foster many winners,...

Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison. Photo by Getty.

Stripe’s Search for Billions Nears an End, But It Hasn’t Been Easy

By Maria Heeter, Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Feb 24, 2023 1:04pm PST · 4 comments

Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison. Photo by Getty.

Stripe’s Search for Billions Nears an End, But It Hasn’t Been Easy

By Maria Heeter, Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Feb 24, 2023 1:04pm PST · 4 comments

A place on Stripe’s roster of investors was once one of the most exclusive and highly coveted seats in tech. To raise the billions of dollars it now needs, Stripe has had to open the door very wide—and even then not everyone has rushed in. Stripe is close to lining up investment commitments for the $4 billion fundraising in a deal... A place on Stripe’s roster of investors was once one of the most exclusive and highly...

Illustration by Clark Miller

‘This Fight Is Much Bigger Than Yelp Versus Google’: Antitrust Crusader Luther Lowe Is Enjoying the Moment

By Adam Lashinsky · Feb 24, 2023 1:00pm PST

Here’s something you don’t hear every day: “I'm a little bit jealous of my friends who are working inside government.” Such is the rosy outlook of Luther Lowe, the 40-year-old senior vice president for public policy at Yelp, as he assesses the state of antitrust reform in Washington these days. Speaking over Zoom the... Here’s something you don’t hear every day: “I'm a little bit jealous of my...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Hires Ad Executive for Apple TV+, a Sign of Apple’s Video Ad Ambitions

By Sahil Patel · Feb 24, 2023 11:28am PST

Apple has hired Lauren Fry, a TV and digital video advertising executive, to help build a video advertising business for its Apple TV+ streaming service, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The move signals Apple's ambitions to give the streaming service more revenue to pay for a wider array of programming. Apple TV+... Apple has hired Lauren Fry, a TV and digital video advertising executive, to help build a video...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Voice That Launched a Thousand Deepfakes: How One Viral Song Led to a Music Industry Reckoning

By Jessica Lucas · Feb 24, 2023 11:00am PST

When Marc set out to clone the voice of Ariana Grande in January, he didn’t know it would infuriate hordes of his fellow Grande fans. Marc, who asked to remain anonymous to shield him from further online attacks, wasn’t looking to incite a stan riot. He just wanted to experiment with DiffSVC, an open-source software developed by... When Marc set out to clone the voice of Ariana Grande in January, he didn’t know it would...

Welcome to the Pro Weekly Newsletter

Welcome to the Pro Weekly Newsletter

By Scott Thurm · Feb 24, 2023 8:00am PST

Welcome to the Pro Weekly Newsletter

Welcome to the Pro Weekly Newsletter

By Scott Thurm · Feb 24, 2023 8:00am PST

Welcome to the first edition of The Pro Weekly—our weekly newsletter only for The Information Pro subscribers.We are thrilled to be launching this new service to release and unpack troves of important data. I’m Scott Thurm, the editor of The Information Pro. As we build the service, I would love your feedback any time at... Welcome to the first edition of The Pro Weekly—our weekly newsletter only for The Information Pro...

Wall Street’s Bankers Are Retrenching—Here’s Where They See the Action Going Next

By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Cory Weinberg · Feb 24, 2023 8:00am PST · 3 comments

One tech banker recently told The Information he often gets asked, sometimes with a tinge of rudeness: With the markets dead, what exactly are you doing all day? Dealmaking revenue is off to its worst start in at least a decade. But investment bankers say they are frenetically busy—in part laying the groundwork for when Wall Street’s... One tech banker recently told The Information he often gets asked, sometimes with a tinge of...

Photo-illustration by Clark Miller. Palmer Luckey: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Kim Kardashian West: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg; Henry Kravis: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Peter Thiel: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg; Bob Iger: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Jon Winkelried: Bess Adler/Bloomberg; Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images; Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner: David 'Dee' Delgado/Bloomberg; Mukesh Ambani: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg

Josh Kushner’s Budding Empire

By Kate Clark and Abram Brown · Feb 24, 2023 6:00am PST · 16 comments

As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk to some of the firm’s portfolio companies: How about a one-on-one meeting with Bob Iger, the 71-year-old former Disney CEO turned freshly minted Thrive venture partner? Eric Glyman, CEO and co-founder of Ramp, a New York–based credit card... As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk...

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Photo by Getty Images.

Warner’s Profit-First, No-Growth Streaming Strategy

By Martin Peers · Feb 23, 2023 5:00pm PST

Investors interested in the video-streaming segment can’t complain they don’t have choices. If they want to buy into a company that’s singularly focused on turning a profit in streaming, instead of trying to balance profits and growth, they can check out Warner Bros. Discovery. The parent of HBO Max and Discovery+ reported Thursday that the loss... Investors interested in the video-streaming segment can’t complain they don’t have choices. If...

YouTube launched an audio feature for creators to dub their videos. Photo: Shutterstock

YouTube to Set Off an Audio Dubbing Spree

By Mahira Dayal · Feb 23, 2023 3:33pm PST · 2 comments

YouTube launched an audio feature for creators to dub their videos. Photo: Shutterstock

Creator Economy

YouTube to Set Off an Audio Dubbing Spree

By Mahira Dayal · Feb 23, 2023 3:33pm PST · 2 comments

YouTube is giving creators a new handy way to expand their audiences. On Thursday, the video streaming giant said it will roll out tools for creators to add their own audio dubbing to new and existing long-form videos, a way to increase the reach of the same video to viewers who want to choose different languages. The free feature could... YouTube is giving creators a new handy way to expand their audiences. On Thursday, the video...

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo via Bloomberg

Stripe Is No Longer the Darling of Silicon Valley

By Kate Clark · Feb 23, 2023 2:44pm PST

The last few months have laid out Stripe’s dirty laundry for the first time. As a reporter who has for years tried to find the cracks in the company’s shiny facade, I more than welcome a balanced conversation about Stripe and its prospects. For so long, questioning Stripe’s valuation was the equivalent of a crime in Silicon Valley. As one... The last few months have laid out Stripe’s dirty laundry for the first time. As a reporter who...

Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff at the company's 2022 Code Conference. Photo by Getty Images.

Vox Media’s Bankoff is Battered but Standing. What’s Next?

By Sahil Patel and Paris Martineau · Feb 23, 2023 7:02am PST · 1 comment

Last summer, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff met with representatives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms to catch up on business. The meeting was timely. A few months before, Vox, owner of New York magazine and websites including Eater and The Verge, had bought Group Nine Media, a smaller collection of websites such as The Dodo, which makes cute... Last summer, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff met with representatives from Facebook parent Meta...

The People With Power at TikTok Owner ByteDance

By Juro Osawa · Feb 23, 2023 6:00am PST · 5 comments

When TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress next month, he’s likely to face heated questions about the app’s Chinese ownership. TikTok has taken steps to distance itself from its parent, ByteDance, but a close look at the Chinese tech giant’s management structure shows how closely integrated TikTok remains. Most... When TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress next month, he’s likely to face...

Lithium miner Albemarle received a $149 million federal grant for a lithium processing plant. Pictured above, the company's brine operation in Silver Peak, Nev. Photo: The Electric

The Electric: U.S. Battery Subsidies Go Far but Perhaps Not Far Enough

By Steve LeVine · Feb 23, 2023 4:30am PST

Lithium miner Albemarle received a $149 million federal grant for a lithium processing plant. Pictured above, the company's brine operation in Silver Peak, Nev. Photo: The Electric

The Electric: U.S. Battery Subsidies Go Far but Perhaps Not Far Enough

By Steve LeVine · Feb 23, 2023 4:30am PST

New U.S. subsidies have begun to attract investments in electric vehicle batteries, including a decision announced Wednesday by Tesla to relocate some of its battery cell manufacturing from Germany to the U.S. But a public-private group linked to the U.S. Department of Energy says the $250 billion U.S. effort still falls substantially short, and... New U.S. subsidies have begun to attract investments in electric vehicle batteries, including a...

Signage outside Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Photo by Bloomberg.

Intel’s Predictable Dividend Cut

By Martin Peers · Feb 22, 2023 5:00pm PST

Intel’s other shoe dropped. Less than a month after reporting a miserable fourth quarter, in which revenue fell 32% and the chip giant lost $661 million, Intel said Wednesday it was slashing its dividend 66%. It’s a logical move given that Intel needs to spend tens of billions on new chip investments in the next few years, yet burned through $9... Intel’s other shoe dropped. Less than a month after reporting a miserable fourth quarter, in...

The Coinbase Inc. booth at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris, France, on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Photo by Bloomberg.

Policy Is a Priority for Coinbase; Paradigm’s Exits

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 22, 2023 4:53pm PST

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has one big priority this year: Policy. As I wrote last week, regulators are increasingly cracking down on crypto in the wake of the FTX blowup. Recently, that has included actions to rein in stablecoins and staking. In a letter to shareholders on Tuesday, Coinbase said that it expects 2023 to be a year of “... Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has one big priority this year: Policy. As I wrote last week,...

Singer and TikTok creator Adanna Duru. Photo: Dove Shore Photography

Creator Economy

Creator Startups Prep Generative AI Features; Q&A With TikTok Singer Adanna Duru

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 22, 2023 3:26pm PST

The excitement around generative AI is hitting creator economy startups, which are looking for ways to use the technology to make workloads lighter for creators, spurred by the immense success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. Podcastle, a startup that provides audio recording and editing tools for podcasting, announced a new feature last month... The excitement around generative AI is hitting creator economy startups, which are looking for...

Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang. Photos by Paradigm and Shutterstock.

Exits Mount at Crypto Venture Firm Paradigm

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 22, 2023 2:35pm PST · 3 comments

Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang. Photos by Paradigm and Shutterstock.

Exits Mount at Crypto Venture Firm Paradigm

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 22, 2023 2:35pm PST · 3 comments

Paradigm, the crypto-focused venture firm founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia partner Matt Huang, is shrinking quickly. At least eight employees, including two investment partners and four engineers, have left the firm since the start of October, according to The Information’s tally based on the company’s... Paradigm, the crypto-focused venture firm founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former...