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

The east gate of the Old City in Kashgar, Xinjiang autonomous region, China. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Hosts Apps Run by China Paramilitary Group Accused of Uyghur Genocide

By Wayne Ma · Mar 26, 2021 6:57am PDT · 4 comments

Apple’s App Store has been distributing more than a dozen apps created by a Chinese organization sanctioned by the U.S. for human rights abuses against Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region, The Information has learned. The apps, which provide news, offer information about government services and help small businesses manage... Apple’s App Store has been distributing more than a dozen apps created by a Chinese...

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appearing at Thursday's virtual congressional hearing, as seen on a computer screen. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Briefing: Tech Executives Turn Feisty

By Martin Peers · Mar 25, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Tech executives appear to be tiring of being treated as political punching bags and are pushing back, at least a little. Leading that charge was Amazon retail chief Dave Clark, who in a series of tweets yesterday attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders for Vermont’s lower-than-Amazon’s minimum wage. “The [senator] should save his finger... Tech executives appear to be tiring of being treated as political punching bags and are pushing...

Photo: Flickr

Key Takeaways on International Expansion From Leaders at Grab and Zoom

By The Information Staff · Mar 25, 2021 3:00pm PDT

On March 9th, The Information hosted a Video Summit on mastering hypergrowth and global expansion with speakers from Grab and Zoom. The live virtual event was in partnership with Singapore: Passion Made Possible, a joint venture between the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Singapore Tourism Board. As companies experience hypergrowth,... On March 9th, The Information hosted a Video Summit on mastering hypergrowth and global expansion...

A screenshot of VRChat. Image from VRChat

TI Reality Check: Making Body Tracking More Accessible

By Mathew Olson · Mar 25, 2021 11:23am PDT

A screenshot of VRChat. Image from VRChat

TI Reality Check: Making Body Tracking More Accessible

By Mathew Olson · Mar 25, 2021 11:23am PDT

For many people, the feeling of immersion that VR apps strive for can be shattered in an instant when the virtual bodies of their avatars don’t respond to the movement of their real bodies. While a number of tech companies are working on solving this problem, an especially interesting new startup, Tundra Labs, on Monday will open up orders... For many people, the feeling of immersion that VR apps strive for can be shattered in an instant...

Xiaohongshu co-founder Miranda Qu. Photo by Bloomberg.

China’s $6 Billion Social E-Commerce App Hires CFO as It Eyes U.S. IPO

By Juro Osawa, Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Mar 25, 2021 8:56am PDT

The list of Chinese tech firms heading to the public markets is getting longer. The latest to lay the groundwork for an initial public offering is Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like social e-commerce platform. The company recently hired a chief financial officer and is considering going public in the U.S. as early as this year, according to people... The list of Chinese tech firms heading to the public markets is getting longer. The latest to lay...

Xingsheng co-founder and CEO Yue Lihua. Photo by Xingsheng.

China’s Hottest Grocery Startup, Worth $8 Billion, Wants to Build an Online Version of Costco

By Yunan Zhang · Mar 25, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Yue Lihua’s background is as far from Silicon Valley as you can get: The founder of one of China’s hottest startups grew up in a poor village, located in a remote corner of rural China. He was one of seven brothers and sisters whose parents ran a modest grocery at a time when private enterprise was just emerging in the communist... Yue Lihua’s background is as far from Silicon Valley as you can get: The founder of one of...

Attendees at a Japanese anime convention in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Briefing: How the DOJ Might Strengthen Netflix at Sony’s Expense

By Martin Peers · Mar 24, 2021 5:00pm PDT

You might think antitrust lawyers at the Justice Department would be crazy busy, what with the lawsuit they have going against Google, as well as an investigation underway into Apple, as well as deals outside of tech. And yet, as we reported today, the DOJ has decided to undertake a close review of...wait for it… Sony’s $1.2 billion... You might think antitrust lawyers at the Justice Department would be crazy busy, what with the...

Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast on YouTube. Photo by Night Media.

‘MrBeast’ Explains His Plans to Help YouTube Creators Raise Equity Finance

By Sam Lessin · Mar 24, 2021 11:38am PDT · 3 comments

Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast on YouTube. Photo by Night Media.

Q&A

‘MrBeast’ Explains His Plans to Help YouTube Creators Raise Equity Finance

By Sam Lessin · Mar 24, 2021 11:38am PDT · 3 comments

Jimmy Donaldson, known as “MrBeast” on YouTube, today unveiled a new company called Creative Juice focused on providing equity-based financing for YouTube creators, including valuing and investing in YouTube channels. Creative Juice initially will focus on valuing and buying minority stakes in YouTube channels and supporting creators... Jimmy Donaldson, known as “MrBeast” on YouTube, today unveiled a new company called...

A Rec Room screenshot. Image provided by Rec Room

TI Reality Check: A VR Unicorn and Pikmin Particulars

By Mathew Olson · Mar 24, 2021 11:01am PDT

Virtual reality software has a unicorn: Rec Room, creator of the free-to-play social and gaming platform by the same name, announced it has raised $100 million in new funding at a valuation of $1.25 billion. The new round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures with participation from Madrona Venture Group (all existing investors),... Virtual reality software has a unicorn: Rec Room, creator of the free-to-play social and gaming...

Screen grab of “Dragon Ball Super” from Crunchyroll.

Sony’s Hopes of Countering Netflix in Anime Market Delayed by Antitrust Probe

By Josh Sisco and Jessica Toonkel · Mar 24, 2021 9:35am PDT

Sony Pictures’ hopes of countering Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly popular market for the Japanese-style animated videos known as anime has hit a snag. The U.S. Justice Department has extended its antitrust review of Sony’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of anime-streaming service Crunchyroll from AT&T’s... Sony Pictures’ hopes of countering Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly popular market...

An employee uses a facial recognition device as she swipes her badge to enter the assembly line area at a Pegatron factory in Shanghai in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Forbids Facial Scanning of Employees—But Not Factory Workers

By Wayne Ma · Mar 24, 2021 6:01am PDT

Apple says privacy is a “fundamental human right,” and shielding people’s privacy is the cornerstone of the company’s public relations fight against rivals such as Google and Facebook. But those privacy concerns don’t necessarily apply to the workers who make its products. Apple recently told its manufacturing... Apple says privacy is a “fundamental human right,” and shielding people’s...

Adam Selipsky. Photo by Tableau

The Briefing: Amazon’s Unexpected AWS Choice

By Martin Peers · Mar 23, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Adam Selipsky. Photo by Tableau

The Briefing: Amazon’s Unexpected AWS Choice

By Martin Peers · Mar 23, 2021 5:01pm PDT

Amazon surprised the enterprise software industry with its choice of Adam Selipsky, chief of Salesforce’s Tableau unit, to succeed Andy Jassy as CEO of the cloud unit. Selipsky is a onetime lieutenant to Jassy, who is moving upstairs to Jeff Bezos’ job. So he has the experience for the role. But Selipsky had been seen as a possible... Amazon surprised the enterprise software industry with its choice of Adam Selipsky, chief of...

Adam Selipsky, the new chief of AWS, in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Names Adam Selipsky Head of AWS

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Mar 23, 2021 1:19pm PDT · 1 comment

Amazon on Tuesday said that Adam Selipsky, the chief of Salesforce’s Tableau Software unit, will become the new head of Amazon Web Services. Selipsky, a former AWS executive before he left to run Tableau, will replace Andy Jassy, the current CEO of AWS. Later this year, Jassy will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon, the company previously... Amazon on Tuesday said that Adam Selipsky, the chief of Salesforce’s Tableau Software unit,...

Screenshot of “Half-Life: Alyx.” Image: Valve

TI Reality Check: Why VR Needs More Than a Single ‘Killer App’

By Mathew Olson · Mar 23, 2021 12:11pm PDT · 6 comments

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the release of Half-Life: Alyx, a new installment of the Valve PC game, one built exclusively for virtual reality. While the Half-Life series, launched in the late 1990s, isn’t as popular as giant gaming franchises like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, it has made a big mark in gaming. Earlier... Today marks the one-year anniversary of the release of Half-Life: Alyx, a new installment of the...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

What Comes After Radical Candor

By Kim Scott · Mar 23, 2021 9:01am PDT · 9 comments

When I published Radical Candor, I joked that it was a guerrilla feminist text—even if all the feminism was buried in the subtext. Embarrassingly, I failed to notice the irony here: that I had encoded a clandestine message about equitable work environments in a book about candor. I was not living in accordance with my personal philosophy.... When I published Radical Candor, I joked that it was a guerrilla feminist text—even if all...

Chart by Mike Sullivan

Why Netflix Will Keep Subscriber Edge Over Rivals

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 23, 2021 6:01am PDT · 3 comments

Chart by Mike Sullivan

Why Netflix Will Keep Subscriber Edge Over Rivals

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 23, 2021 6:01am PDT · 3 comments

Wall Street has fallen in love with video-streaming services. And the more subscribers a company says it is signing up, the more investors pile into its stock. There’s only one problem: for most services other than Netflix, a fair amount of fuzziness surrounds what constitutes a subscriber and even fuzzier math defines what a subscriber is... Wall Street has fallen in love with video-streaming services. And the more subscribers a company...

Screen grab of David Dobrik from YouTube

Spark’s Dispo Decision: A ‘Precursor of What Is to Come’

By Kate Clark · Mar 22, 2021 6:56pm PDT · 2 comments

For Spark Capital, Dispo must have seemed like a stellar investment opportunity: a photo-sharing app co-founded by a YouTube star, David Dobrik, that had become an overnight sensation with young users. Within days of Dispo’s second launch in February, Spark led a $20 million funding round for the startup at a steep $200 million valuation.... For Spark Capital, Dispo must have seemed like a stellar investment opportunity: a photo-sharing...

Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus. Photo by Bloomberg

The Briefing: Microsoft Starts Return to Office

By Martin Peers · Mar 22, 2021 5:31pm PDT

We’re inching closer to normal life. Microsoft’s announcement that next Monday it will start reopening its Redmond, Wash., campus to employees now working at home suggests that, a year after a wave of companies mandated remote work, the momentum is reversing. If the experience of last year is anything to go by, once one big company... We’re inching closer to normal life. Microsoft’s announcement that next Monday it...

A Mojo Vision AR contact lens. Photo provided by the company

TI Reality Check: Is the World Ready for AR Contact Lenses?

By Mathew Olson · Mar 22, 2021 11:31am PDT · 1 comment

Just over a year ago, a startup called Mojo Vision emerged from stealth mode with prototypes for augmented reality contact lenses. That’s a category of devices that could display interactive content for people who wear them, while also giving them enhanced vision, such as the ability to zoom in on objects. Last month, Mojo Vision revealed... Just over a year ago, a startup called Mojo Vision emerged from stealth mode with prototypes for...

Art by Sam Lessin

The Future of Investing Directly In People

By Sam Lessin · Mar 22, 2021 8:59am PDT · 19 comments

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

The Future of Investing Directly In People

By Sam Lessin · Mar 22, 2021 8:59am PDT · 19 comments

When companies need capital to grow, they can generally go down one of two financial paths. They either borrow money at a fixed rate, or they sell equity where they owe nothing, but the investors get to participate in any future upside. People, of course, only have access to debt. The idea of investing in the future earnings of a person has been... When companies need capital to grow, they can generally go down one of two financial paths. They...