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 scenic vista in Zenith: The Last City. Credit: Ramen VR

Zenith VR MMO Team Raises $10 Million; New Oculus Hardware Leaks

By Mathew Olson · Sep 27, 2021 11:00am PDT

Ramen VR, a small game studio based in the Bay Area, has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Makers Fund, with participation from Dune Ventures and Anthos Capital. The funding round comes as the small (12 full-timers) studio prepares to launch Zenith: The Last City, a VR title that follows in the footsteps of massively multiplayer... Ramen VR, a small game studio based in the Bay Area, has raised $10 million in a Series A round...

Splunk CEO Doug Merritt. Photo by Bloomberg. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Q&A

Splunk CEO Merritt Says Cloud Will Soon Be 50% of Its Business, Double From Start of Pandemic

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 27, 2021 6:01am PDT

Splunk CEO Doug Merritt tries not to show it but he’s clearly a little frustrated with Wall Street. The 18-year-old enterprise software company’s stock has dropped 30% since last fall, wiping out all its gains earlier in 2020, even as Splunk’s cloud-based software sales soared thanks to the impact of remote work on corporate... Splunk CEO Doug Merritt tries not to show it but he’s clearly a little frustrated with Wall...

Photo: Cayce Clifford/Bloomberg

Why Investors May Regret Hopping On the E-Bike Sharing Craze

By Steve LeVine · Sep 26, 2021 2:00pm PDT

Save the Date: The Electric Presents: Winning the EV Wars: The Establishment vs. The Upstarts. In the first subscriber-only Live Chat, The Electric is delighted to present a conversation between editor Steve LeVine and Ford Motor's Darren Palmer. Palmer is general manager of Ford's electric vehicle program and a founding member of the company’s... Save the Date: The Electric Presents: Winning the EV Wars: The Establishment vs. The Upstarts. In...

Barry Diller. Photo by Bloomberg.

Barry Diller’s Puzzling Magazine Drive

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Barry Diller. Photo by Bloomberg.

Barry Diller’s Puzzling Magazine Drive

By Martin Peers · Sep 24, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

What is the fascination that internet billionaires have with print media? First Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post, then Marc Benioff snaps up Time magazine. And now Barry Diller is in “advanced talks” to buy Meredith Corp., the company behind People, Better Homes and Gardens, Entertainment Weekly, among others, according to the Wall Street... What is the fascination that internet billionaires have with print media? First Jeff Bezos buys...

A high school student works on a laptop computer at home during a remote learning day. Photo by Bloomberg

Online Learning Company Udemy Plans October IPO

By Kate Clark · Sep 24, 2021 10:44am PDT · 1 comment

Udemy, a San Francisco–based startup that sells online courses to individuals and businesses, is preparing to file paperwork for an initial public offering whose listing could come as soon as next month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The company, which raised $50 million at a $3.3 billion valuation in... Udemy, a San Francisco–based startup that sells online courses to individuals and...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Google Seeks Search Deals For TikTok and Instagram Videos

By Sarah Krouse and Kaya Yurieff · Sep 24, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

If you’ve ever tried searching on Google for one of those TikTok or Instagram videos all your friends are gushing about—such as sea shanties or the Renegade dance—you’ll notice something. The videos don’t show up. Google is trying to fix that—but there’s no guarantee its efforts will succeed. Google... If you’ve ever tried searching on Google for one of those TikTok or Instagram videos all...

European Commissioner competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Photo by Bloomberg.

Europe Aims to Solve Tech’s Knottiest Problem: Too Many Chargers

By Martin Peers · Sep 23, 2021 5:00pm PDT

The FTC’s new chair, Lina Khan, wants to drastically shake up antitrust enforcement in the U.S., by taking into account the interests of “workers and independent businesses as well as consumers,” she outlined in a memo made public this week. Over in Europe, antitrust czar Margrethe Vestager, no stranger to vigorous antitrust enforcement, is... The FTC’s new chair, Lina Khan, wants to drastically shake up antitrust enforcement in the U.S.,...

Non-fungible tokens from a collection released by Twitter in June. Photo: Twitter

Twitter Adds Bitcoin Tips; Circle and Plaid Team Up; College Football Star Issues Own Crypto

By Hannah Miller · Sep 23, 2021 4:26pm PDT

Non-fungible tokens from a collection released by Twitter in June. Photo: Twitter

Twitter Adds Bitcoin Tips; Circle and Plaid Team Up; College Football Star Issues Own Crypto

By Hannah Miller · Sep 23, 2021 4:26pm PDT

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is backing up his bitcoin bullishness with actual changes to how the social media network functions. The company introduced the ability to tip in bitcoin on its Apple iOS app on Thursday. Twitter users can send bitcoin payments using Strike, a third-party crypto payment service. Strike is based on the Lightning... Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is backing up his bitcoin bullishness with actual changes to how the...

Photo of Twitter headquarters by Bloomberg, Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Twitter’s Subscription Challenge; Live Shopping App NTWRK Raises $50 Million

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 23, 2021 3:02pm PDT · 1 comment

Twitter is trying hard to go after creators with new features including tipping, newsletters and Super Follows, which ask fans to pay a monthly subscription of between $3 and $10 for bonus tweets. But data from mobile app- tracking firm Sensor Tower shows a slow start to at least one of these features: Super Follows has only generated about... Twitter is trying hard to go after creators with new features including tipping, newsletters and...

Rendering of the YAM-4 spacecraft bus by Blue Canyon Technologies for Loft Orbital. Image provided by Business Wire

Blackrock Values ‘Space Carpool’ Startup Loft Orbital at $550 Million

By Aidan Ryan and Berber Jin · Sep 23, 2021 12:02pm PDT

Commercial space startups have had a mixed track record as investment prospects: While shares in space tourism outfit Virgin Galactic have doubled in two years, satellite internet provider OneWeb ended up in bankruptcy court last year. Even after that bumpy ride, investors are still keen on the sector, which they see as a way to bet on the next... Commercial space startups have had a mixed track record as investment prospects: While shares in...

Gorillas founder Kağan Sümer. Photo provided by Gorillas

Gorillas Raising $950 Million Amidst European Delivery Wars

By Mark Di Stefano and Kate Clark · Sep 23, 2021 11:45am PDT

Gorillas, one of the biggest of a crop of European startups in the convenience delivery market, has finalized a $950 million series C fundraising round, valuing the company at $3 billion, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The fundraising is the latest example of the investor frenzy around startups seeking to deliver... Gorillas, one of the biggest of a crop of European startups in the convenience delivery market,...

Fortnite characters sporting Balenciaga outfits, a recent metaverse-forward partnership. Credit: Epic Games

Epic’s Metaverse Needs Mobile Eventually

By Mathew Olson · Sep 23, 2021 11:00am PDT

Fortnite characters sporting Balenciaga outfits, a recent metaverse-forward partnership. Credit: Epic Games

Epic’s Metaverse Needs Mobile Eventually

By Mathew Olson · Sep 23, 2021 11:00am PDT

Fortnite won’t be coming back to iOS any time soon, and the outcome of Epic v. Apple doesn’t exactly augur well for Epic’s prospects of prevailing in its pending lawsuit with Google either. For now, as has been for over a year, Fortnite remains unavailable on either app store and without updates for those who already had it installed.“So what?”... Fortnite won’t be coming back to iOS any time soon, and the outcome of Epic v. Apple doesn’t...

Illustration by Haejin Park

How Google Spies on Its Employees

By Sarah Krouse · Sep 23, 2021 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

At Google, a seemingly innocuous action can earn an employee the attention of the company’s corporate security department. For example, when Google wants to find out who has been accessing or leaking sensitive corporate information, the company often homes in on employees who are thinking about leaving it. In the past, its security teams... At Google, a seemingly innocuous action can earn an employee the attention of the company’s...

The Whoop 4.0, containing Sila Nanotechnologies' silicon-carbon anode. Image: Courtesy Whoop

The Electric Flash Analysis: The Customers Many Battery Startups Are Overlooking

By Steve LeVine · Sep 23, 2021 4:00am PDT

If you are worth your salt in the lithium-ion battery business, you are working on a new-generation anode, a cathode, an electrolyte—or all three. You are aiming to both break new ground and earn billions of dollars to boot by powering the electric vehicles that are about to swamp the global market. But what if EVs are a buzzy diversion and the... If you are worth your salt in the lithium-ion battery business, you are working on a...

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. Photo by Bloomberg

Today’s Lessons in How Apple Wields Power

By Martin Peers · Sep 22, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Apple’s legal battle with Tim Sweeney of Epic Games is turning into one of those off-putting television dramas where none of the characters are likable. Sweeney, in particular, is losing credibility by the day. After the court ruling on his antitrust case against Apple two weeks ago, he described the decision as a loss for developers and... Apple’s legal battle with Tim Sweeney of Epic Games is turning into one of those off-putting...

Art from the Axie Infinity NFT game. Photo: Axie Infinity.

NFT Game Axie Infinity Targets $1 Billion in Revenue, Launch of Crypto Exchange

By Hannah Miller · Sep 22, 2021 4:51pm PDT · 1 comment

Art from the Axie Infinity NFT game. Photo: Axie Infinity.

NFT Game Axie Infinity Targets $1 Billion in Revenue, Launch of Crypto Exchange

By Hannah Miller · Sep 22, 2021 4:51pm PDT · 1 comment

Online video game Axie Infinity has emerged as the most successful of video games built on blockchain technology, which underpins how players make money in the game. It has generated $700 million in revenue so far this year and will likely hit $1 billion by year-end, said Jeff Zirlin, co-founder of Sky Mavis, the game’s developer.Now the company... Online video game Axie Infinity has emerged as the most successful of video games built on...

A Chipotle restaurant in San Francisco. Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Why Disney and Chipotle Are Launching Creator Programs

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 22, 2021 4:32pm PDT

Disney this week joined a growing number of national chains, including Chipotle and Hollister, trying to woo internet personalities with special programs. They are taking a page from TikTok and YouTube, which set up funds paying creators to make videos for their apps. Disney’s effort doesn’t go quite that far. Its Disney Creators Lab... Disney this week joined a growing number of national chains, including Chipotle and Hollister,...

Roblox CEO David Baszucki. Photo: Roblox

Roblox Grows Up; AR Puts Exposure Therapy in Your Pocket

By Mathew Olson · Sep 22, 2021 11:00am PDT

Roblox is largely the company to thank for the metaverse craze that has spread throughout tech, gaming, VR and AR in 2021. It also wants to be a pioneer and leader in terms of digital safety for these kinds of immersive worlds, an ambition that’s only going to become more challenging as its millions-strong user base grows.On Tuesday, Roblox... Roblox is largely the company to thank for the metaverse craze that has spread throughout tech,...

The Athletic co-founder Alex Mather with The Information's Jessica Lessin in 2018. Photo by Erin Beach.

The Athletic Hires LionTree to Find Buyer at Price of More Than $750 Million

By Sahil Patel and Jessica Toonkel · Sep 22, 2021 10:01am PDT

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That appears to be the motto of The Athletic in its efforts to sell itself. After holding unsuccessful discussions for a sale with both Axios and the New York Times Co. over the past few months, the online sports news subscription site has hired investment bank LionTree to help it find a... If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That appears to be the motto of The Athletic...

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg

As FTC Shifts Priorities Under Khan, Collusion Probe of Hyatt, Hilton Goes on Ice

By Josh Sisco · Sep 22, 2021 6:01am PDT

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo by Bloomberg

As FTC Shifts Priorities Under Khan, Collusion Probe of Hyatt, Hilton Goes on Ice

By Josh Sisco · Sep 22, 2021 6:01am PDT

As Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawyers try to police vast swaths of the economy with limited resources, they’re making trade-offs. The FTC earlier this year stepped up a long-running investigation into whether a group of major hotels including Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott hurt customers by colluding to stop competing for ad space in... As Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawyers try to police vast swaths of the economy with...