The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica 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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Pelé in 2005. Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

A Market for Buying Shares of Creators Finds Its Way

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 17, 2021 4:06pm PDT · 1 comment

Investing directly in creators—a chance to bet on the future success of an internet personality and buy into their future earnings—has been gaining steam. The idea is a natural outgrowth of viewing creators as an asset, not dissimilar to an early-stage startup, that could rise in value with more followers and sponsorships. But this market is... Investing directly in creators—a chance to bet on the future success of an internet personality...

Photo:Audius

Why TikTok's New Streaming Partner Uses Blockchain

By Hannah Miller · Aug 17, 2021 3:38pm PDT

The fact that TikTok chose Audius, which relies on blockchain technology, as its first music streaming partner may open up business opportunities for similar platforms like Livepeer, a blockchain-based video streaming service. After all, TikTok could have picked Spotify or Apple Music as a music streaming service to link with; instead, it chose... The fact that TikTok chose Audius, which relies on blockchain technology, as its first music...

Ampere Computing CEO Renée James. Collage by Joanna Lin Su. Photo by Bloomberg

Q&A

How Renée James Dodged the Global Chip Shortage

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 17, 2021 12:32pm PDT · 2 comments

Renée James learned a lot about semiconductor manufacturing during her 28-year career at Intel. As president of the semiconductor giant from 2013 to 2016, her responsibilities included managing the company’s chip manufacturing factories around the world. That partly explains why James, now founder and CEO of chip startup Ampere... Renée James learned a lot about semiconductor manufacturing during her 28-year career at...

A collection of various Roblox user avatars. Credit: Roblox

What Roblox's Earnings Stumble Says About its Metaverse Aims

By Mathew Olson · Aug 17, 2021 11:02am PDT

A collection of various Roblox user avatars. Credit: Roblox

What Roblox's Earnings Stumble Says About its Metaverse Aims

By Mathew Olson · Aug 17, 2021 11:02am PDT

Roblox CEO David Baszucki probably deserves as much credit as Mark Zuckerberg (if not more) for making the metaverse a hot button term not just in gaming or AR/VR, but all of tech. So, should Roblox’s underwhelming quarterly earnings and the corresponding dip in stock price come as a sobering wakeup call after a few months of concentrated... Roblox CEO David Baszucki probably deserves as much credit as Mark Zuckerberg (if not more) for...

Lithium-metal batteries may contain LFP by the end of the decade. Photo: QuantumScape

The Electric Flash Analysis: A Surprising, Potent New Battery Would Marry the Old and the New

By Steve LeVine · Aug 17, 2021 7:56am PDT

Leading battery researchers are talking up the idea of a Goldilocks battery that combines one of the most exotic electrodes under commercial development with one of the cheapest. The objective: a dirt-cheap battery that will take an electric vehicle more than 300 miles on a charge, and thus attract a broad swath of mass-market EV buyers.The idea... Leading battery researchers are talking up the idea of a Goldilocks battery that combines one of...

Photo of Lina Khan by AP; illustration by Mike Sullivan

Lina Khan Gets to Work at the FTC

By Josh Sisco · Aug 17, 2021 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Once Joe Biden was elected president, companies contemplating mergers knew the U.S. government would take a harder line on deal making. Still, they figured it would take regulators a little time to find their groove amid the many layers of bureaucracy in Washington. Lina Khan had a different idea. Since she took over the Federal Trade... Once Joe Biden was elected president, companies contemplating mergers knew the U.S. government...

Photo: Bloomberg

Why TikTok Will Become a Political Football Again

By Amir Efrati · Aug 16, 2021 5:29pm PDT

One of the hottest topics in business last summer was then-President Donald Trump’s effort to ban TikTok, the Chinese-owned viral video app that had accumulated more than 100 million American users. But while TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, ultimately prevailed against Trump in federal court, some of the key arguments TikTok made to defend itself... One of the hottest topics in business last summer was then-President Donald Trump’s effort to ban...

Robert Kyncl. Photo: YouTube

YouTube’s Chief Business Officer on TikTok, Shopping and Future Deals

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 16, 2021 4:22pm PDT · 1 comment

Robert Kyncl. Photo: YouTube

Creator Economy

YouTube’s Chief Business Officer on TikTok, Shopping and Future Deals

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 16, 2021 4:22pm PDT · 1 comment

As YouTube’s chief business officer, Robert Kyncl oversees global partnerships with media companies, artists and creators. Those internet personalities are starting to gravitate to a product YouTube rolled out nearly a year ago: a quick and easy way to produce short-form videos, like the ones popularized by TikTok. “That was a missing... As YouTube’s chief business officer, Robert Kyncl oversees global partnerships with media...

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, in October, 2019. Cuban's comments on dogecoin helped boost the currency Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

Mark Cuban Boosts Dogecoin; Walmart's Crypto Ambitions

By Hannah Miller · Aug 16, 2021 2:21pm PDT

Digital currencies are back on top. While stocks spent most of Monday lower, bitcoin rallied. It’s been hovering above $45,000 for the past few days, helping boost the global market cap for all cryptocurrencies to above $2 trillion for the first time in almost three months, according to data from CoinMarketCap. While bitcoin’s recovery from... Digital currencies are back on top. While stocks spent most of Monday lower, bitcoin rallied. It’...

Photo: Bloomberg

TikTok’s Stealthy New AR Tools; AR Developers Start a Collab House

By Mathew Olson · Aug 16, 2021 11:14am PDT

You’ve heard of creator collab houses, where creators live together, post together and aspire to become famous. Enter AR House, a project that seeks to put six AR developers under one Los Angeles roof to “build a vertical slice of the future.”The two men behind the house, Lucas Rizzotto and Aidan Wolf, are both AR developers who gravitate toward... You’ve heard of creator collab houses, where creators live together, post together and aspire to...

Chart by Joanna Lin Su

Instacart Forecast to Lose Market Share to DoorDash, Uber

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Aug 16, 2021 9:02am PDT · 3 comments

Last year, it seemed like Instacart was the only game in town when it came to online grocery services that deliver carrots, crackers and soda on behalf of established bricks-and-mortar stores. But that is set to change, according to projections by eMarketer, which forecasts that Instacart’s dominance will wither over the next few years as... Last year, it seemed like Instacart was the only game in town when it came to online grocery...

ByteDance headquarters in Beijing. Photo by AP; illustration by Mike Sullivan

Beijing Tightens Grip on ByteDance by Quietly Taking Stake, China Board Seat

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 16, 2021 6:00am PDT

ByteDance headquarters in Beijing. Photo by AP; illustration by Mike Sullivan

Beijing Tightens Grip on ByteDance by Quietly Taking Stake, China Board Seat

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 16, 2021 6:00am PDT

For months, China has sought to bring its bustling internet sector to heel with an intensifying series of antitrust crackdowns and data security probes. In one example that hasn’t been previously reported, the Chinese government in April quietly took a stake and a board seat in TikTok owner ByteDance’s key Chinese entity, according... For months, China has sought to bring its bustling internet sector to heel with an intensifying...

Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Age of the EV App Store Has Arrived. Now What?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 15, 2021 2:00pm PDT

Last month, Dan Ives, a technology analyst with Wedbush, added what most would consider a decidedly non-tech company to the stable he covers—General Motors, whose share price he forecast would surge 50% over the coming year. GM was no longer a stalwart of a bygone industrial Detroit, but “a broader disruptive technology play that can start to... Last month, Dan Ives, a technology analyst with Wedbush, added what most would consider a...

DoorDash, Instacart and Washington’s Soft Power

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 14, 2021 7:45am PDT · 1 comment

When we got a tip that a public tech company was contemplating a major acquisition that would cost $40 billion to $50 billion, the wheels here at The Information started turning. Was Snap buying Twitter? (Yes, all tech journalists immediately jump to the idea of Twitter going on the block because it sort of always is.) Nah, Twitter would cost... When we got a tip that a public tech company was contemplating a major acquisition that would...

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Where Have All Amazon’s Investor Fans Gone?

By Martin Peers · Aug 13, 2021 5:00pm PDT

This week concluded the bulk of tech’s summer earnings season (although Zoom Video and Snowflake are among the stragglers still to report). We’ve learned a lot about how robust the digital ad market is (very), the state of play in ride-hailing (so-so) and food delivery (still strong). It’s notable that some of the newly public crop of tech... This week concluded the bulk of tech’s summer earnings season (although Zoom Video and Snowflake...

YouTube's office building in San Bruno, Calif. Photo by AP.

YouTube Poses Rising Competition—for Publishers on YouTube

By Sahil Patel · Aug 13, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

YouTube's office building in San Bruno, Calif. Photo by AP.

YouTube Poses Rising Competition—for Publishers on YouTube

By Sahil Patel · Aug 13, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

YouTube’s ad business is booming. But one group of YouTube program producers—media companies that sell their own ad spots on the platform—are finding the boom isn’t quite as bountiful. The Google-owned video giant has become so adept at selling ad space through automated auctions that it is now massively underpricing... YouTube’s ad business is booming. But one group of YouTube program producers—media...

Disney's Burbank studio. Photo by Bloomberg

Disney’s Hulu Deserves More Respect

By Martin Peers · Aug 12, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Disney’s quarterly earnings tonight made clear that the company’s flagship streaming service Disney+ is getting most of its growth out of cut-priced Asian markets such as India. That’s a long term problem for the entertainment giant, which has to figure out a way to get Disney+ growing more strongly in richer, more lucrative markets, most... Disney’s quarterly earnings tonight made clear that the company’s flagship streaming service...

Stationhead CEO Ryan Star. Photo: Stationhead

Creator Economy

The Startup Where Superfans Turn Into Streaming DJs; Reddit’s Boffo Quarter

By Sylvie Venuto · Aug 12, 2021 4:54pm PDT

As an independent rock musician, Stationhead CEO Ryan Star recalls getting frustrated every time he tried to convince a radio station program director to play his songs. “We don’t break the hits, we play the hits,” was the common response. Six years later, the startup Star co-founded—a form of fan-organized radio for the streaming age—has become... As an independent rock musician, Stationhead CEO Ryan Star recalls getting frustrated every time...

At the White House, announcing a national goal to sell 50% electric vehicles by 2030. Photo: AP/Evan Vucci

The Electric Flash Analysis: Democrats Have Suddenly Gone Vague on EVs and Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Aug 12, 2021 3:51pm PDT

Only last week, President Joe Biden yet again put a buildout of the U.S. lithium-ion–battery supply chain and electric vehicle industry at the center of federal policy, lining up with auto industry and labor leaders to push for a surge of EV sales by the end of the decade. But such explicit messaging—and spending—is not clearly spelled out in... Only last week, President Joe Biden yet again put a buildout of the U.S. lithium-ion–battery...

Lionel Messi. Credit: AP; Mike Sullivan

Stablecoin Shakeup; Messi’s Crypto Compensation

By Hannah Miller · Aug 12, 2021 2:30pm PDT · 3 comments

Lionel Messi. Credit: AP; Mike Sullivan

Stablecoin Shakeup; Messi’s Crypto Compensation

By Hannah Miller · Aug 12, 2021 2:30pm PDT · 3 comments

Two news items are adding to doubts over whether stablecoins—a digital currency supposedly tied to a hard asset such as the U.S. dollar—can live up to their name. Tether, the Hong Kong-based company that manages tether, the biggest of these cryptocurrencies by market cap, gave more details on just how much of its holdings are tied to... Two news items are adding to doubts over whether stablecoins—a digital currency supposedly tied...