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

Elon Musk. Photo: Bloomberg

Elon Musk’s Metaverse Skepticism; Niantic’s Key AR Metric

By Mathew Olson · Dec 22, 2021 11:00am PST

Back in March, when Meta Platforms was still Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said he didn’t think anyone would “want to get their head drilled open” to use AR or VR. The comment served to distance his vision for neural input from that of Elon Musk who (in typical fashion) has made bold and questionable claims about the potential of brain implants.Now,... Back in March, when Meta Platforms was still Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said he didn’t think...

BuzzFeed’s Biggest Winners and Losers

By Martin Peers · Dec 22, 2021 9:20am PST · 1 comment

You might think, based on BuzzFeed’s 40% stock drop since its Dec. 6 public listing, that the stock has been a disappointment to its shareholders. But for most of the digital media firm’s early venture investors, BuzzFeed has turned out to be a winning investment, generating returns of as much as 600%. Only one of its venture... You might think, based on BuzzFeed’s 40% stock drop since its Dec. 6 public listing, that...

Amazon Fresh opened its first store in the D.C. area last May. Photo by AP

Amazon Changes Could Signal a New Era for Grocery Business

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Dec 22, 2021 6:00am PST

Changes are afoot for Amazon’s yearslong experiment with physical stores. Over the past six months, Amazon’s grocery and physical stores team has experienced a steady stream of senior-level departures, including two vice presidents, two directors and two department heads, among others, The Information has learned. John Mackey, the... Changes are afoot for Amazon’s yearslong experiment with physical stores. Over the past six...

Mnemonic co-founders Andrii Yasinetsky, Elena Ikonomovska and Ben Metcalfe. Photos by Mnemonic.

Mnemonic Sifts Through NFT Data for Insights; Dorsey Clashes With A16z

By Hannah Miller · Dec 21, 2021 5:10pm PST · 1 comment

Mnemonic co-founders Andrii Yasinetsky, Elena Ikonomovska and Ben Metcalfe. Photos by Mnemonic.

Mnemonic Sifts Through NFT Data for Insights; Dorsey Clashes With A16z

By Hannah Miller · Dec 21, 2021 5:10pm PST · 1 comment

One of the biggest stories in crypto this year is the rise of digital blockchain-based assets known as non-fungible tokens. Here’s a look at how NFT data startup Mnemonic hopes to capitalize on demand.Founders: Andrii Yasinetsky, Elena Ikonomovska, Ben Metcalfe and Denys NevozhaiMoney Raised: $4 millionInvestors: Kenetic Capital, Monochrome... One of the biggest stories in crypto this year is the rise of digital blockchain-based assets...

Former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by Bloomberg.

AT&T’s Xandr Sale Closes Book on Media Adventures

By Martin Peers · Dec 21, 2021 5:00pm PST

AT&T quietly closed the book on its six-year foray into media and entertainment by selling its advertising technology business, Xandr, to Microsoft. The telecom giant would doubtless like us all to forget its adventures in entertainment, which involved the purchase of DirecTV, Time Warner and AppNexus—the ad tech business that formed the... AT&T quietly closed the book on its six-year foray into media and entertainment by selling...

Rosebud AI CEO Lisha Li. Photo: Courtesy of Lisha Li.

Creator Economy

Animation Startup Rosebud AI Pivots to Blockchain; OnlyFans’ Founder Steps Down

By Mahira Dayal · Dec 21, 2021 4:02pm PST

Talk that the decentralized technology of Web3 will soon supplant the established internet puts young startups in a quandary: they can stick to their existing technology and business models or make a costly and risky overhaul onto the blockchain.Some, like Rosebud AI, are making the leap. The three-year-old startup began by operating a... Talk that the decentralized technology of Web3 will soon supplant the established internet puts...

Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow. Photo by Bolt

Bolt Seeks Valuation Lift to $14 Billion Weeks After Raising Last Round

By Malique Morris and Kate Clark · Dec 21, 2021 2:15pm PST

With the ink barely dry on one fundraising effort by Bolt, a firm that makes e-commerce checkout software, the startup is already pitching investors on a new round. Shortly after raising nearly $400 million at an $11 billion valuation in a Series E funding round, according to three people familiar with the matter, Bolt is seeking another nearly... With the ink barely dry on one fundraising effort by Bolt, a firm that makes e-commerce checkout...

Josh Machiz of Redpoint Ventures. Photo: Guerin Blask. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Redpoint Ventures is Launching a Media Operation—And Embracing TikTok

By Kate Clark · Dec 21, 2021 1:43pm PST · 12 comments

Josh Machiz of Redpoint Ventures. Photo: Guerin Blask. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Redpoint Ventures is Launching a Media Operation—And Embracing TikTok

By Kate Clark · Dec 21, 2021 1:43pm PST · 12 comments

Venture capitalists do a lot of things to show entrepreneurs they aren’t just a bunch of squares, from wearing hoodies to bragging about their NFT purchases. Now Redpoint Ventures—the San Francisco venture firm known for its stakes in Stripe and Snowflake—has a new plan to connect with startup founders: hiring a creator to... Venture capitalists do a lot of things to show entrepreneurs they aren’t just a bunch of...

A person wearing a Quest 2 headset. Photo: Meta

Meta’s New Optics Advantage; Untangling a Messy Quest Sales Story

By Mathew Olson · Dec 21, 2021 12:23pm PST

It’s time to add another company to the list of Meta’s acquisitions in the AR/VR industry. Meta has acquired ImagineOptix, a small North Carolina-based team specializing in liquid crystal lenses, Meta confirms. This may prove to be a coup for the company’s hardware division, although it’s not clear whether Meta will have the regulatory leeway to... It’s time to add another company to the list of Meta’s acquisitions in the AR/VR industry. Meta...

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zhang Yiming Still Oversees ByteDance, Despite Stepping Back

By Juro Osawa · Dec 21, 2021 6:00am PST

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, resigned as CEO and chair earlier this year. He no longer has any management title or board seat. But that doesn’t mean he’s no longer in control. The 38-year-old Zhang remains as active as ever inside the company. He continues to participate in high-level... Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, resigned as CEO and...

Larry Ellison. Photo by Bloomberg.

Larry Ellison’s $28 Billion Jab at Amazon

By Martin Peers · Dec 20, 2021 5:00pm PST

Larry Ellison rarely misses an opportunity to take a swipe at Amazon Web Services, whether it’s about its security or its not-infrequent outages. But with his deal today to buy Cerner Corp. for $28 billion, Ellison has a chance to inflict a bit of pain on his Amazon nemesis. While hardly a household name, Cerner has been an important and... Larry Ellison rarely misses an opportunity to take a swipe at Amazon Web Services, whether it’s...

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor. Photo by MicroStrategy. Art by Mike Sullivan.

MicroStrategy CEO on Company's Bitcoin Lending Plans

By Hannah Miller · Dec 20, 2021 4:59pm PST · 1 comment

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor. Photo by MicroStrategy. Art by Mike Sullivan.

MicroStrategy CEO on Company's Bitcoin Lending Plans

By Hannah Miller · Dec 20, 2021 4:59pm PST · 1 comment

Software company MicroStrategy is learning in real time the downside of investing a big portion of its cash reserves in cryptocurrencies. Even at its current nose-bleed price of just above $47,000, bitcoin has fallen 32% from its all-time high of $69,000 in November. MicroStrategy’s stock has seen a similar decline over the same period, with its... Software company MicroStrategy is learning in real time the downside of investing a big portion...

A Chart of Twitter’s Creator Economy Deals; Instagram’s Mosseri Explores NFTs

Creator Economy

A Chart of Twitter’s Creator Economy Deals; Instagram’s Mosseri Explores NFTs

By Mahira Dayal · Dec 20, 2021 3:38pm PST

Twitter has been busy making deals this year, disclosing the acquisitions of at least 10 companies or their personnel. The chart above shows that three of these—social podcasting app Breaker, newsletter publishing tool Revue, and Threader, an app that compiles tweets into threads—are aimed at creators. They signal Twitter is serious about... Twitter has been busy making deals this year, disclosing the acquisitions of at least 10...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Google Cloud’s Software Crackdown Disrupts Customer Deals Worth Hundreds of Millions

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 20, 2021 11:16am PST · 1 comment

Google Cloud is much younger than its bigger competitors. While youth can be an asset in the technology business, it’s also caused difficulties for Google on numerous occasions—the latest of which has thrown at least several hundred million dollars’ worth of software contracts into limbo, according to an estimate from a Google... Google Cloud is much younger than its bigger competitors. While youth can be an asset in the...

A group of four Rec Room avatars gathered together. Credit: Rec Room

Rec Room’s Value Balloons; A New Wave of Crowdfunded VR Headsets

By Mathew Olson · Dec 20, 2021 11:00am PST

Rec Room raised another $145 million in a round led by Coatue Management today, shooting its valuation up to $3.5 billion. It crystallizes Rec Room’s status as a real metaverse contender. Competitors like Roblox and Meta’s Horizon Worlds should be taking notes.Since its launch as a VR-only game in 2016, Rec Room has gradually become a... Rec Room raised another $145 million in a round led by Coatue Management today, shooting its...

Illustration by Danielle Davis

It’s Not Too Late for Tech Companies to Spill Their Secrets

By Nu Wexler · Dec 20, 2021 9:00am PST · 1 comment

Illustration by Danielle Davis

It’s Not Too Late for Tech Companies to Spill Their Secrets

By Nu Wexler · Dec 20, 2021 9:00am PST · 1 comment

Keeping track of tech policy debates in the U.S. was an almost impossible task in 2021. Well-intentioned government inquiries into privacy and competition got dragged into the culture wars, triggering a lot of high-drama political theater and very little sensible legislating. The chaos has its roots in 2016, when then–presidential... Keeping track of tech policy debates in the U.S. was an almost impossible task in 2021....

China’s Venture Investors See 65% Drop in Fundraising

By Shai Oster and Juro Osawa · Dec 20, 2021 6:00am PST · 5 comments

There will be a lot less money sloshing around China’s tech startups next year—at just the time when they’re going to need it most. VC firms that invest U.S. dollars in Chinese tech startups have raised far less money this year than in the past. Such firms have raised $4.2 billion this year so far, down 65% from all of last... There will be a lot less money sloshing around China’s tech startups next year—at...

Salt mounds in the mining operations of Chile's lithium-rich Atacama Desert. Photo: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg

“Go F—ing Solve It Yourself”: Four EV Battery Startups Worth Watching

By Steve LeVine · Dec 19, 2021 2:00pm PST

Welcome back to The Electric!This is the last issue of 2021. Thanks so much for joining the beta, and for the many suggestions for improving The Electric. I'd be grateful if you don't mind taking a moment to complete this very brief survey so we can get even better. Finally, do tell your friends and colleagues about The Electric! Have a... Welcome back to The Electric!This is the last issue of 2021. Thanks so much for joining the beta,...

The Information Weekend: The New Most-Powerful Books on Tech; Silicon Valley Turns on Tesla; and the Crypto-Curious Guide to Gifting NFTs

The Information Weekend: The New Most-Powerful Books on Tech; Silicon Valley Turns on Tesla; and the Crypto-Curious Guide to Gifting NFTs

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 18, 2021 8:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!E.B. Boyd has been covering tech for most of this century, but back during the first dot-com boom, Liza (as her friends call her) worked on product teams at Intuit and a now-defunct startup. She remembers feeling excited about the amazing innovation taking place, but also like a stranger in a strange land. In... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!E.B. Boyd has been covering tech for most of this century, but back...

The Athletic co founder Alex Mather. Photo by Erin Beach.

Why a Times-Athletic Wedding Might Finally Happen

By Martin Peers · Dec 17, 2021 5:00pm PST

The Athletic co founder Alex Mather. Photo by Erin Beach.

Why a Times-Athletic Wedding Might Finally Happen

By Martin Peers · Dec 17, 2021 5:00pm PST

Hot on the heels of Vox Media’s acquisition of Group Nine, we could be near another high-profile digital media merger. Puck reported today that The New York Times Co. had entered exclusive talks to buy The Athletic. This is the business equivalent of a couple getting engaged after breaking up: The Times and the digital sports news subscription... Hot on the heels of Vox Media’s acquisition of Group Nine, we could be near another high-profile...