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 depiction of a Snapdragon-branded plaza in the metaverse. Credit: Qualcomm.

Qualcomm’s $100 Million AR/VR Fund; A Startup Fighting Toxicity in Virtual Worlds

By Mathew Olson · Mar 21, 2022 11:30am PDT

Qualcomm made two announcements on Monday morning, one launching a $100 million metaverse developer fund and the other revealing a gaming collaboration with Japanese publisher Square Enix. Considered in tandem, the moves show Qualcomm putting its money where its mouth has been—first expanding its focus to include software and developer tools for... Qualcomm made two announcements on Monday morning, one launching a $100 million metaverse...

Illustration by Josh Brill.

The Amazon Rollup Model Starts to Show Strain

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 21, 2022 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

It was not long ago that Factory14, a Luxembourg-based startup focused on buying small firms that sell directly to consumers on Amazon and other online marketplaces, was flying high. The company came out of stealth mode in May with a $200 million war chest in equity and debt and announced its first acquisition: U.K.-based Pro Bike Tool, a seller... It was not long ago that Factory14, a Luxembourg-based startup focused on buying small firms that...

On Battery Day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and top deputy Drew Baglino promised a 56% cut in battery costs. Photo: Screenshot

Tesla’s Rivals Are Finally in the Fight but Are Still Struggling to Catch Up

By Steve LeVine · Mar 20, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to The Electric!Coming on Tuesday: The electric vehicle race often looks like a competition among companies fighting to be first to the same technologies. That’s why I’m excited to host Mujeeb Ijaz, founder of Our Next Energy, as my next guest on Live Chat With The Electric. One of the sharpest minds in the field today, Ijaz has... Welcome back to The Electric!Coming on Tuesday: The electric vehicle race often looks like a...

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Cabal

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Cabal

By Jon Steinberg · Mar 19, 2022 8:00am PDT

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Cabal

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Cabal

By Jon Steinberg · Mar 19, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Before you jump ahead to Margaux’s cover story about the Hollywood cabal behind a surge of celebrity crypto investments, I wanted to share another story from one of this weekend’s contributors.Katia Savchuk, a former reporter at Forbes, was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of four. Two weeks... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Before you jump ahead to Margaux’s cover story about the...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The New Resistance

Meet the Volunteers Cold-Calling Russians to Change their Minds about the Ukraine War

By Katia Savchuk · Mar 19, 2022 7:00am PDT · 8 comments

On Thursday morning, Katia Zalkind, a vice president at a medical communications firm in Chicago, dialed an unfamiliar number. A man picked up. “I’m a volunteer, and we’re calling people in Russia to answer questions about what’s going on in Ukraine,” said Zalkind, who is 48, speaking Russian. “May I talk with you?” “Yes, let’s do it,” he said.... On Thursday morning, Katia Zalkind, a vice president at a medical communications firm in Chicago,...

SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Bails on Cruise, Possibly In a Sign of the Times

By Martin Peers · Mar 18, 2022 5:00pm PDT

If there’s one company that’s likely to be harder hit than most by the recent stock market upheaval, its Japanese investor SoftBank. Today’s news that SoftBank is selling out of the GM-controlled self-driving car unit Cruise, instead of investing more money as was expected just six weeks ago, might be an indication that SoftBank is feeling the... If there’s one company that’s likely to be harder hit than most by the recent stock market...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Paris Hilton, Bored Apes and the Making of a Hollywood Crypto Clique

By Margaux MacColl · Mar 18, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

“Did you see our NFT stunt on Fallon that went viral this week?? Ha,” venture capitalist Carter Reum joked over email. Reum was referring, of course, to his wife, Paris Hilton, and her Jan. 24 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Perhaps you saw it. The “stunt” opened with Hilton, glittering in a lime-green minidress,... “Did you see our NFT stunt on Fallon that went viral this week?? Ha,” venture capitalist Carter...

Photograph courtesy of Shashank Samala. Art by Haejin Park.

How a Founder’s Childhood in India Inspired His Fight Against Climate Change

By Annie Goldsmith · Mar 18, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 5 comments

Photograph courtesy of Shashank Samala. Art by Haejin Park.

How a Founder’s Childhood in India Inspired His Fight Against Climate Change

By Annie Goldsmith · Mar 18, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 5 comments

This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers of tech founders and executives. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. After reading the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Shashank Samala saw a need to not only reduce carbon emissions, but remove... This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers...

Photo by AP.

Surging Fuel Costs Hit Amazon’s Uber-Like Trucking Service

By Paris Martineau · Mar 18, 2022 10:05am PDT

The truckers Amazon relies on to move goods between its warehouse facilities are seeing their take-home pay dwindle due to a spike in fuel prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Six owners of small trucking companies that book jobs transporting cargo for the e-commerce giant through an Uber-like platform called Amazon Relay said the... The truckers Amazon relies on to move goods between its warehouse facilities are seeing their...

Art by Mike Sullivan

A Vibe Shift Is Brewing in Streaming

By Andrew A. Rosen · Mar 18, 2022 9:00am PDT

PARQOR is part of The Information’s newsletter network. To receive it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, sign up here. Change is a constant in the streaming marketplace, which may be the most dynamic marketplace out there (unless you believe the metaverse is a marketplace, which it isn’t…at least not... PARQOR is part of The Information’s newsletter network. To receive it in your inbox every...

Atoms co-founder and CEO Waqas Ali. Photo by Nad E Al. Art by Mike Sullivan

‘The Brutal Reality’: Startups Face Great Uncertainty—Again

By Kate Clark · Mar 18, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

After a two-year tech boom, startups are bracing for a downturn. For Waqas Ali, co-founder and CEO of online shoe seller Atoms, that has meant trimming costs and arranging a last-minute cash infusion. In February, he stopped advertising on Instagram and Facebook, a key way Atoms reaches customers, and reduced spending on Google search ads by 50%... After a two-year tech boom, startups are bracing for a downturn. For Waqas Ali, co-founder and...

MGM's office in California. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Minor Win Over FTC Overshadowed by Bigger Battle to Come

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 5:00pm PDT

MGM's office in California. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Minor Win Over FTC Overshadowed by Bigger Battle to Come

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Greetings!With its completion of its MGM purchase today, Amazon appears to have won a minor victory in the increasingly intense war between the tech behemoth and the Federal Trade Commission. But the real battle, which will likely focus on Amazon’s power in e-commerce and cloud computing, remains to be fought. And all Amazon might have... Greetings!With its completion of its MGM purchase today, Amazon appears to have won a minor...

Gemini founders Tyler Winklevoss, left, and Cameron Winklevoss at a Bitcoin conference in 2021 in Miami. Photo by Bloomberg

A Deeper Look at Gemini’s Investment Strategy; Inside The Crypto-Crazed SXSW

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 17, 2022 4:20pm PDT

In case you missed it, my story today shows the increasing number of crypto companies that have launched VC arms. Out of the top 25 most valuable crypto companies, 20 have made at least one investment and 15 have launched or plan to launch venture arms to make investments in other startups. Just in the past year, eight of the 15 companies... In case you missed it, my story today shows the increasing number of crypto companies that...

TikTok creator Taryn Smith. Photo: Taryn Smith

Creator Economy

Influencers Take On SXSW; Q&A with Comedic TikTok Creator Taryn Smith

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 17, 2022 2:00pm PDT

As I wrote for our Weekend section, crypto’s influence was hard to escape at South by Southwest this year. But when I wasn’t turning myself into a 3D avatar and minting it on a blockchain or walking around an Instagrammable exhibit celebrating pastel-themed non-fungible tokens called Doodles, I checked out creator-focused events. ... As I wrote for our Weekend section, crypto’s influence was hard to escape at South by Southwest...

The new Crypto.com Arena sign at the former Staples Center on December 22, 2021 in Los Angeles. Photo by Shutterstock.

The Top 15 Crypto Startups That Moonlight as VC Investors

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 17, 2022 11:00am PDT

The venture capitalists and hedge funds competing to back crypto startups are increasingly facing a third set of rivals: other startups. In just the past year, at least eight highly valued crypto startups—ranging from crypto exchange Gemini to peer-to-peer payments startup Circle—have launched venture capital arms to invest in other... The venture capitalists and hedge funds competing to back crypto startups are increasingly facing...

Art featuring two of the character types in Zenith: The Last City. Credit: Ramen VR.

Team Behind Hit Game Zenith Raises $35 Million for VR “Super-App”

By Mathew Olson · Mar 17, 2022 11:00am PDT

Art featuring two of the character types in Zenith: The Last City. Credit: Ramen VR.

Team Behind Hit Game Zenith Raises $35 Million for VR “Super-App”

By Mathew Olson · Mar 17, 2022 11:00am PDT

What’s the next step for a VR developer once they’ve got a successful massively multiplayer online game on their hands? Expanding in the metaverse-like direction of Fortnite or Roblox might seem like the natural move, but the makers of Zenith: The Last City at Ramen VR—who say their MMO has gained “several hundreds of thousands” of players since... What’s the next step for a VR developer once they’ve got a successful massively multiplayer...

Photographs, clockwise from top-left: Doodles, Kaya Yurieff, Chris Hershman/Blokhaus.

Scene and Heard

In Austin, a Coronation for Crypto, a Celebration of Doodles, and Confusion for Nicolas Cage

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 17, 2022 10:05am PDT · 1 comment

South by Southwest, the annual tech and arts festival in Austin, Tex., kicked off this year against the backdrop of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, record inflation, skyrocketing gas prices and a two-year pandemic hangover. It also coincided with a sudden dip in the price of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. But all the bad news didn’t... South by Southwest, the annual tech and arts festival in Austin, Tex., kicked off this year...

Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Salesforce Trades Like Oracle—Investors Fear Benioff’s Next Big Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

If you want an example of just how much more weight investors are placing on profits than on revenue growth, take a look at Salesforce and Oracle. On one side is Salesforce, whose top line has grown at a remarkably stable rate, averaging 26% over the past seven fiscal years. On the other is aging software giant Oracle, whose revenue averaged... If you want an example of just how much more weight investors are placing on profits than on...

Monica Long, General Manager of RippleX. Photo by Ripple. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Ripple to Give Out $794 Million of Tokens for Developers; Recapping Yuga Labs’ Big Year

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 16, 2022 6:03pm PDT

Ripple will give out 1 billion of its XRP tokens as grants for developers to create projects based on its payments-oriented distributed ledger, the company’s representatives told The Information. Based on the value of the digital currency, XRP, that translates to $794 million in tokens, which Ripple says it will disperse over the next 10... Ripple will give out 1 billion of its XRP tokens as grants for developers to create ...

Troy Aikman. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Troy Aikman’s ESPN Move Says About Amazon’s Status in Media

By Martin Peers · Mar 16, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Troy Aikman. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Troy Aikman’s ESPN Move Says About Amazon’s Status in Media

By Martin Peers · Mar 16, 2022 5:00pm PDT

ESPN’s confirmation today that it signed former star Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, along with sportscaster Joe Buck, to announce Monday Night Football games is a reminder of the pull that the Disney-controlled cable sports channel still exercises in the media. Aikman, most recently at Fox Sports, had been reportedly courted by Amazon... ESPN’s confirmation today that it signed former star Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman,...