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

Art by Shane Burke

Benchmark Expected to Join Generative AI Rush With Deal for Startup LangChain

By Maria Heeter, Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Feb 13, 2023 6:22am PST · 3 comments

Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as Snap, Twitter and Uber, is pushing into another trendy sector: artificial intelligence that can quickly generate complex text and images based on simple prompts. Benchmark has been in talks to lead a seed funding of LangChain, according to two people who... Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as...

Art by Clark Miller

TikTok Turns to New Tactics to Spur Growth as Boom Times End

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 13, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most visited website on the internet, and competitors such as Instagram and YouTube were scrambling to mimic the short video clips that made TikTok a sensation. But at that very moment, inside TikTok, the app’s leaders were putting their heads... Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most...

Some Ford F-150 Lightning pickups will be equipped with batteries made by China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty.

The Electric: Ford Risks Political Heat With a Deal to Make Chinese Batteries on U.S. Soil

By Steve LeVine · Feb 13, 2023 4:30am PST

In a risky move that’s already creating political waves, Ford on Monday plans to announce a deal with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technologies Ltd. to build electric vehicle batteries in Michigan. In a display of the thorny politics, President Joe Biden declined an invitation to join Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Ford CEO Jim Farley at the... In a risky move that’s already creating political waves, Ford on Monday plans to announce a deal...

Byd displays its electric Tang SUV at the Brussels Expo in Belgium in January. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Is the EV Race Already Over?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2023 2:00pm PST

Byd displays its electric Tang SUV at the Brussels Expo in Belgium in January. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Is the EV Race Already Over?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2023 2:00pm PST

As the world’s automakers intensify their scramble to go electric, Tesla and China’s Byd have run away from the pack with sales of millions of electric vehicles, and seem likely to maintain the lead through the end of the decade. The game isn’t over. But other auto manufacturers could be relegated to fighting over relative crumbs of EV sales... As the world’s automakers intensify their scramble to go electric, Tesla and China’s Byd have run...

A Quarter-Million Reasons to Not Trust Your Company

A Quarter-Million Reasons to Not Trust Your Company

By Jon Steinberg · Feb 11, 2023 7:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!When you're a tech company, life comes at you fast. Just last year around this time, things were looking mighty flush for both big firms and smaller startups. Evidence for this can be found in the sizable number of brands that splurged on multimillion-dollar Super Bowl ads in 2022: 18 of them, by our count. Now, can... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!When you're a tech company, life comes at you fast. Just last year...

Art by Clark Miller.

‘I’ve Been Driven by My Gut My Entire Life’: Bozoma Saint John Returns to the Spotlight

By Annie Goldsmith · Feb 11, 2023 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Last month, Beyoncé’s team invited Bozoma Saint John to Dubai for the grand opening of the Atlantis The Royal hotel. The starring attraction was a performance by Queen B herself, but the event also coincided with Saint John’s 46th birthday, which she celebrated with champagne toasts, fireworks displays and walks on the red... Last month, Beyoncé’s team invited Bozoma Saint John to Dubai for the grand opening...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Founder Who Wants to Turn Drones Into Crime Fighters

By Margaux MacColl · Feb 11, 2023 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Blake Resnick’s life changed forever on October 1, 2017, when a shooter opened fire on the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest country music festival. While he was safe at his Las Vegas home, his best friend was near the shooting and called Resnick for help. It was a traumatic and sobering moment for Resnick, who at 17 became obsessed with how... Blake Resnick’s life changed forever on October 1, 2017, when a shooter opened fire on the...

Photo by Bloomberg

Google Miscalculates Stock Severance, Apologizes to Laid-Off Workers

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Feb 10, 2023 12:21pm PST · 13 comments

Photo by Bloomberg

Google Miscalculates Stock Severance, Apologizes to Laid-Off Workers

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Feb 10, 2023 12:21pm PST · 13 comments

The severance package Google gave to 12,000 employees it laid off on Jan. 20 was among the best in the tech industry, but it wasn’t as good as many of the affected employees were initially told. Google on Thursday notified soon-to-be former employees in the U.S. that it had incorrectly calculated the number of the stock grants many of them... The severance package Google gave to 12,000 employees it laid off on Jan. 20 was among the best...

Illustration by Clark Miller

Corridors of Capital

A Sand Hill Road in the Sky: Inside Venture Capital’s New Power Building

By Abram Brown · Feb 10, 2023 11:00am PST · 6 comments

I really should show you the roof,” said Alexa von Tobel, perched on a white bouclé chair in the gleaming Manhattan offices of her venture firm, Inspired Capital. “Let’s pop up there.” We whisked out of the ninth-floor conference room, past a large portrait by Alex Katz, the Brooklyn-born artist currently receiving... I really should show you the roof,” said Alexa von Tobel, perched on a white bouclé...

Graphic by Clark Miller

Tales from the Shredder: How a Quarter-Million Fired Tech Workers Are Picking Up the Pieces

By Arielle Pardes · Feb 10, 2023 9:30am PST · 3 comments

On a brisk Wednesday in December, Pakin Wirojwatanakul made his usual commute to the downtown San Francisco office of fintech startup Plaid. But when he arrived, the front desk security guard told him to go home. Puzzled, he left the office and reversed his commute. Then he received a cryptic text from a friend: “Are you safe?”... On a brisk Wednesday in December, Pakin Wirojwatanakul made his usual commute to the downtown San...

Serena Williams partnering with Tonal. Photos by Tonal.

Home Gym Maker Tonal Looks for Buyer After Burning Through Cash

By Maria Heeter, Ann Gehan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 10, 2023 8:50am PST · 3 comments

Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in 2021, has explored options including a sale, two people familiar with the matter said. Tonal—an even more upmarket alternative to Peloton—burned through cash last year after spending heavily on hiring, opening bricks-and-mortar showrooms... Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in...

Photo by Getty

HR Software Startups Enjoy Booming Business Despite Tech’s Hiring Pullback

By Mark Matousek · Feb 10, 2023 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Photo by Getty

HR Software Startups Enjoy Booming Business Despite Tech’s Hiring Pullback

By Mark Matousek · Feb 10, 2023 6:00am PST · 3 comments

You might think with so many tech firms laying off staff, this wouldn’t be a good time for the startups that specialize in selling recruiting and other human resources–related software, such as Deel, Rippling and Pave. The opposite may actually be true. These firms are enjoying robust business, as at least some companies that last... You might think with so many tech firms laying off staff, this wouldn’t be a good time for...

Photo by Shutterstock.

The Flaw in Apple’s ‘Installed Base’ Metric

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2023 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Here’s an idea for the new AI-powered Bing: Write the script for the next Apple quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts. It wouldn’t be difficult. Throw in the phrases “installed base rose to a new all-time high” and “customers are loving the new iPhone” and you’re halfway there. The same would be true for many other big tech... Here’s an idea for the new AI-powered Bing: Write the script for the next Apple quarterly...

Spillt co-founders Maddy and Ann Baum (left to right). Photo courtesy of subjects

Creator Economy

An Ex-Instagram Engineer Launches a Social Cooking App

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 9, 2023 2:30pm PST · 2 comments

Short cooking videos have exploded on TikTok and other social media networks, but the food bloggers who make them still largely depend on their personal websites to bring in income from ads. For people looking for online recipes created by these bloggers, it can be hard to keep track of them or save favorites in one place. Spillt, an app... Short cooking videos have exploded on TikTok and other social media networks, but the food...

Photo via Bloomberg

VC’s Limited Partners Are Still Pissed

By Kate Clark · Feb 9, 2023 2:13pm PST · 3 comments

The rush to join the Church of Sam Altman marked the beginning of an entirely new hype cycle, this time relating to generative AI. But venture capital’s limited partners are still reeling from the last cycle and their trust in startup investors might be at an all-time low.LPs, the individuals who represent family offices, funds of funds,... The rush to join the Church of Sam Altman marked the beginning of an entirely new hype cycle,...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 9, 2023 1:07pm PST · 3 comments

Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 9, 2023 1:07pm PST · 3 comments

In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers use the metaverse in industrial settings, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The group’s roughly 100 employees have all been laid off, the person said. Microsoft created its Industrial Metaverse Core team in October to... In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers...

Art by Clark Miller and Shane Burke.

Section 230 Has to Go

By Bradley Tusk · Feb 9, 2023 9:00am PST · 56 comments

On Monday, The Information published an opinion piece with the headline “Let Section 230 Stay.” Today, we present an opposing point of view. If you’re reading The Information, you already know that the internet is a toxic waste dump. How could it not be? Negative content attracts more eyeballs than positive content. The... On Monday, The Information published an opinion piece with the headline “Let Section 230...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Without Genesis, the Future of Barry Silbert’s DCG Hinges on a Bitcoin Bounce

By Akash Pasricha and Aidan Ryan · Feb 9, 2023 6:00am PST

Barry Silbert spent nearly a decade building Digital Currency Group, a cryptocurrency giant with subsidiaries spanning trading, media, mining, venture investing and more. After a turbulent few months, that empire is set to shrink dramatically. The big question now is what the remaining pieces of the DCG, which landed a $10 billion valuation in a... Barry Silbert spent nearly a decade building Digital Currency Group, a cryptocurrency giant with...

Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Iger’s Disney Fix-It Plan Has Something for Everyone

By Martin Peers · Feb 8, 2023 5:00pm PST

Bob Iger really should have run for president, as he once considered doing. His political instinct is unmatched, at least among CEOs. On Wednesday, in his first quarterly earnings call since returning to the top job at Disney, Iger offered something for everyone. A return of the dividend! Layoffs! Creative executives get their power back!... Bob Iger really should have run for president, as he once considered doing. His political...

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Photo by Getty Images.

Robinhood’s Post-FTX Bump Turned Out to Be Short Lived

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 8, 2023 4:29pm PST

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Photo by Getty Images.

Robinhood’s Post-FTX Bump Turned Out to Be Short Lived

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 8, 2023 4:29pm PST

Robinhood’s crypto trading business got a boost from the implosion of FTX in November, but it turned out to be very short lived. As we’d reported at the time, Robinhood’s crypto trading volume surged 60% from October to November, which likely reflected former FTX customers moving over to Robinhood’s app. But the question was how much of... Robinhood’s crypto trading business got a boost from the implosion of FTX in November, but it...