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

In September 2020, Musk and technology protege Drew Baglino, introducing the concept of dry cathode processing. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: The Challenge for a Cheaper Battery—Dry Electrodes

By Steve LeVine · Feb 5, 2023 2:00pm PST

Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased investors with an artist’s rendering of a planned $3.6 billion expansion of the company’s flagship Nevada battery gigafactory. Using a fraction of the floor space devoted to the plant’s existing equipment, Musk said, Tesla would triple production, making enough batteries to equip 1.5 million electric... Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased investors with an artist’s rendering of a planned $3.6...

Art by Clark Miller.

‘We Just Have to Keep Winning’: A Sonos Executive With a Colorful History Goes to War Against Google

By Janko Roettgers · Feb 4, 2023 7:00am PST · 7 comments

A few months into his job as chief legal officer of Sonos, Eddie Lazarus was ready to wage war. When Lazarus joined the audio hardware company in late 2018, it was facing growing competition from Amazon and Google. Both tech giants were selling cheap speakers capable of multiroom audio playback, a feature Sonos had pioneered on its devices... A few months into his job as chief legal officer of Sonos, Eddie Lazarus was ready to wage war. ...

Silicon Valley's Latest Invention: The Supplement Stack

Silicon Valley's Latest Invention: The Supplement Stack

By Jon Steinberg · Feb 4, 2023 7:00am PST

Greetings, and welcome to your Weekend!Today’s newsletter really ought to come with a surgeon general’s warning: “Consuming dozens of unregulated health supplements may not actually be awesome for your health.” It’s hard not to shake your head at the sheer number of nascent and untested substances that some of our tech-industry peers are... Greetings, and welcome to your Weekend!Today’s newsletter really ought to come with a surgeon...

A selection of AI-generated selfies (good ones on the left, duds on the right) of the author Zara Stone.

Know Thy Selfie: A Journey Into the Uncanny Valley of AI-Generated Avatars

By Zara Stone · Feb 3, 2023 12:00pm PST · 4 comments

A selection of AI-generated selfies (good ones on the left, duds on the right) of the author Zara Stone.

Market Research

Know Thy Selfie: A Journey Into the Uncanny Valley of AI-Generated Avatars

By Zara Stone · Feb 3, 2023 12:00pm PST · 4 comments

At 7 a.m. on August 22, 2022, Yaron Inger woke up to find his business irrevocably changed. The co-founder and chief technology officer of Lightricks, which develops Facetune and other popular media-editing apps, scrolled through his newsfeed, his eyes flicking from one image to another. While Inger slept, Stable Diffusion, an open-source... At 7 a.m. on August 22, 2022, Yaron Inger woke up to find his business irrevocably changed. The...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Genesis Creditors Could Miss Out on Recent Crypto Rally

By Akash Pasricha and Aidan Ryan · Feb 3, 2023 10:35am PST · 3 comments

Crypto prices have risen since parts of crypto lender Genesis filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, lifting the value of customers’ crypto assets stuck in Genesis accounts. That’s not necessarily good news for Genesis’ creditors, however. Creditors are worried that any repayments they get from the bankruptcy will be made... Crypto prices have risen since parts of crypto lender Genesis filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy...

The supplement stacks of 11 founders and investors. Photos courtesy of subjects.

The Supplement Stacks: All the Pills, Powders and Potions Filling Tech’s Kitchen Counters

By Annie Goldsmith and Margaux MacColl · Feb 3, 2023 9:00am PST · 7 comments

When Courtney Reum wakes up in his Los Angeles home, it’s time to freeze, shake and dangle upside down. The co-founder of venture firm M13 takes a dip in his cold plunge—shocking his system awake—before stepping onto his Bulletproof vibration plate, which shakes him, getting his blood flowing. His morning routine crescendos... When Courtney Reum wakes up in his Los Angeles home, it’s time to freeze, shake and dangle...

Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos. Art by Mike Sullivan

How Amazon’s Bricks-and-Mortar Dreams Hit a Wall

By Theo Wayt and Nick Wingfield · Feb 3, 2023 6:09am PST · 2 comments

If Amazon’s ambitious vision for becoming a power in bricks-and-mortar retail had gone to plan, last month would have been a big milestone for the company. As recently as late 2021, Amazon had set January 2023 as the target date for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its first ever big-box store. It would have been a bit smaller than a Target... If Amazon’s ambitious vision for becoming a power in bricks-and-mortar retail had gone to...

Photos by Bloomberg

For Tech CEOs, ‘Challenging’ Means Dismal

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photos by Bloomberg

For Tech CEOs, ‘Challenging’ Means Dismal

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2023 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Challenging! That’s the euphemism of the moment, used by way too many tech CEOs (including Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai tonight and Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel in recent days) to describe either 2022 or the current moment or both. Translated from corporate-speak into conversational English, it means business is bad. Just how bad became clear... Challenging! That’s the euphemism of the moment, used by way too many tech CEOs (including Tim...

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. Photo by Bloomberg

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Ad Revenue Falls Again; More U.S. Pressure on TikTok

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 2, 2023 3:30pm PST

A continued decline in YouTube ad revenue spells bad news for creators who earn money from the video-sharing site. On Thursday, Alphabet said YouTube’s ad revenue fell nearly 8% to $7.96 billion during the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. That’s the second straight quarter of decline. A continued decline in YouTube ad revenue spells bad news for creators who earn money from the...

Photo Illustration by Shane Burke. Photos by Getty and Shutterstock

Musk’s Twitter Scores Super Bowl Deals, a Boon for Struggling Ad Business

By Erin Woo · Feb 2, 2023 3:16pm PST

After weeks of turmoil and layoffs, Twitter’s sales team in recent weeks has reorganized to focus more on big advertisers and launch new ad products, such as its recently released digital confetti. Now Twitter faces its biggest sales test since Elon Musk took over the company: Super Bowl Sunday, historically Twitter’s... After weeks of turmoil and layoffs, Twitter’s sales team in recent weeks has reorganized to...

Photo via Getty

A New Bubble Is Forming for AI Startups, But Don’t Expect a Crypto-like Pop

By Kate Clark · Feb 2, 2023 1:44pm PST · 3 comments

Venture capitalists have dumped crypto and moved on to a new fascination: artificial intelligence. As a sign of this frenzy, they're paying steep prices for startups that are little more than ideas. Thrive Capital recently wrote an $8 million check for an AI startup co-founded by a pair of entrepreneurs who had just left another AI... Venture capitalists have dumped crypto and moved on to a new fascination: artificial...

Illustration by Clark Miller.

Stop Paying People So Much

By Marcus Ryu · Feb 2, 2023 9:00am PST · 42 comments

Illustration by Clark Miller.

Stop Paying People So Much

By Marcus Ryu · Feb 2, 2023 9:00am PST · 42 comments

Every startup leadership team wrestles with the trade-offs between growth and profitability. This is fitting and ever shall be. What teams don’t reflect on sufficiently is how a flawed compensation philosophy can make those trade-offs far more painful than they could be. As a former entrepreneur, I know that every venture relies on the... Every startup leadership team wrestles with the trade-offs between growth and profitability. This...

Verily headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by AP.

Revenues Rise at Alphabet’s Biggest ‘Other Bet’ But So Do Losses

By Jon Victor · Feb 2, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Verily, by far the biggest Alphabet unit by revenue after Google, continues to post heavy losses, according to previously undisclosed financial information. The results show just how far Verily is from standing on its own—a key goal of the Alphabet corporate structure created in 2015. Revenue at Verily, which tries to apply data... Verily, by far the biggest Alphabet unit by revenue after Google, continues to post heavy losses,...

Photo by Bloomberg

Meta Declares ‘Year of Efficiency’ as Revenue Stagnates

By Martin Peers · Feb 1, 2023 5:00pm PST

We’re in the middle of Chinese New Year celebrations at the start of the Year of the Rabbit. At Meta Platforms, though, it’s the “year of efficiency,” as CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared Wednesday on announcing fourth-quarter results. Investors such as Altimeter Capital, which last fall called on Meta to streamline, will be happy. It’s just a pity... We’re in the middle of Chinese New Year celebrations at the start of the Year of the Rabbit. At...

Cameo co-founders Steven Galanis, Devon Townsend, Martin Blencowe, from left to right. Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Creator Economy

Cameo and Rally Shutter NFT Products, #Paid Conducts Layoffs

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 1, 2023 4:30pm PST

I’m kicking off today’s newsletter with some news: Creator services from Rally to Cameo are ditching crypto features that generated lots of buzz during the pandemic. And another creator economy startup, #Paid, is cutting workers, I’m first to report, adding to layoffs hitting the sector. Let’s start with Cameo, the startup that connects... I’m kicking off today’s newsletter with some news: Creator services from Rally to Cameo are...

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

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

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

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,”...