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

An image of the Potter Portal effect in action. Image by Facebook.

Facebook Sprinkles a Little AR Magic on Portal

By Mathew Olson · Jul 8, 2021 11:00am PDT

Facebook’s Portal device, which offers video chatting and an Amazon Alexa-powered digital assistant, might feel like the odd item out in the company’s AR/VR product division, where it is housed. But news from the company on Wednesday suggests Facebook is doubling down on Portal as another way to get more people using AR.The strategy? Use a big... Facebook’s Portal device, which offers video chatting and an Amazon Alexa-powered digital...

Josh Brill

What Congress’s Antitrust Proposals Miss

By Steve C. Holtzman · Jul 8, 2021 9:00am PDT

Last year, I began work on a project that alerted me and my co-counsel to a new antitrust challenge that many young, innovative companies were facing. In addition to the roadblocks already erected by Google, companies’ mobile phone manufacturer partners were reporting that Google was seeking to renegotiate agreements under which it shared... Last year, I began work on a project that alerted me and my co-counsel to a new antitrust...

Amazon vans departing a new staging lot outside an Amazon delivery station in Milford, Mass. Photo by Paris Martineau

When Amazon Comes to Town

By Paris Martineau · Jul 8, 2021 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

MILFORD, MASS.—When the Amazon warehouse came to town in 2016, most residents of Milford, located 45 minutes from Boston, didn’t think much of it. The internet retailer submitted plans to city officials for a delivery station—essentially a post office exclusively for Amazon packages—that it wanted to open in a vacant... MILFORD, MASS.—When the Amazon warehouse came to town in 2016, most residents of Milford,...

The Signal app icon. Photo: AP

MobileCoin, Which Powers Crypto Payments on Signal, Valued at $1 Billion

By Hannah Miller and Kate Clark · Jul 7, 2021 6:38pm PDT · 1 comment

The Signal app icon. Photo: AP

MobileCoin, Which Powers Crypto Payments on Signal, Valued at $1 Billion

By Hannah Miller and Kate Clark · Jul 7, 2021 6:38pm PDT · 1 comment

MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency business with close ties to Signal and its founder, Moxie Marlinspike, has raised more than $75 million in venture capital funding at a $1 billion valuation, more than 10 times higher than at its last financing in March, according to two people familiar with the matter. Founded in 2017, MobileCoin has developed a... MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency business with close ties to Signal and its founder, Moxie...

Amazon's just-retired CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon’s Much Feared Day Two May Already Have Started

By Martin Peers · Jul 7, 2021 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

One of Jeff Bezos’ big fears about Amazon is the notion that it could one day enter “Day Two,” which he has defined as “stasis,” followed in close order by irrelevance and then death. By at least one measure, the size of Amazon’s senior management team, it looks like the sun has started to rise on Day Two. And that occurred even before Bezos... One of Jeff Bezos’ big fears about Amazon is the notion that it could one day enter “Day Two,”...

Willa CEO Kristofer Sommestad. Photo: Willa

Creator Economy

The Startups Competing for Creators’ Wallets

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 7, 2021 4:08pm PDT · 1 comment

Our recent dive into the startups reshaping how independent musicians get paid generated a lot of interest from readers. Today we wade into another subsector that’s a tad less glamorous—but just as important. These startups are developing software that manages the back-end tasks of a creators’ business, from tracking earnings on Stir to handling... Our recent dive into the startups reshaping how independent musicians get paid generated a lot of...

A video clip of Andy Murray, above, winning the 2013 Wimbledon championship, sold for $177,777 on a new NFT marketplace. Photo: AELTC/Wimbledon

Binance’s Image Crisis; Beeple on His Latest NFT Project

By Hannah Miller · Jul 7, 2021 3:03pm PDT · 1 comment

Binance gave more signals that it is feeling the heat from regulatory scrutiny around the world. The crypto exchange’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, commonly known in crypto as “CZ,” published an open letter Wednesday calling for more regulation of digital currency and detailing his company’s efforts to become more compliant. The letter makes you... Binance gave more signals that it is feeling the heat from regulatory scrutiny around the world....

Justin Overdorff. Photo: Lightspeed Venture Partners

Stripe’s Former VC Dealmaker Joins Lightspeed to Invest in Sizzling Fintech

By Berber Jin · Jul 7, 2021 11:23am PDT · 1 comment

Justin Overdorff. Photo: Lightspeed Venture Partners

Stripe’s Former VC Dealmaker Joins Lightspeed to Invest in Sizzling Fintech

By Berber Jin · Jul 7, 2021 11:23am PDT · 1 comment

While Justin Overdorff was at payments company Stripe, he helped it become a prolific VC investor, spearheaded its partnerships with companies including Amazon and developed its lending business. This spring, he joined Lightspeed Venture Partners as a fintech partner, the first time the venture firm has hired someone to specialize exclusively in... While Justin Overdorff was at payments company Stripe, he helped it become a prolific VC investor...

ViewMagic's Rolf Herken and James McCombe. Photo by ViewMagic.

How a Stealth Startup Hopes to Change Video Calls and VR

By Mathew Olson · Jul 7, 2021 11:00am PDT

Video calls became part of daily life during the pandemic and, while the tech has improved in recent years, they’re still far from ideal. ViewMagic, a Bay Area startup that’s been operating in stealth since 2014, has been focusing intensely on overcoming one shortcoming in particular: the difficulty that people have in making eye contact with... Video calls became part of daily life during the pandemic and, while the tech has improved in...

An employee types on a touch screen as a Geek+ Inc. Eve robot transports shelves at a warehouse in Japan in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg

Chinese Warehouse Automation Startup Seeks $1.3 Billion Valuation

By Juro Osawa · Jul 7, 2021 7:38am PDT

Hai Robotics, a Chinese startup that develops warehouse robots similar to those made by Amazon’s robotics unit, is in talks with Sequoia Capital China and other investors to raise more than $150 million at a pre-money valuation of $1.3 billion, roughly triple its last valuation from a funding round in March, said people familiar with the... Hai Robotics, a Chinese startup that develops warehouse robots similar to those made by...

Google’s ‘Moral Bellwether’ Cartoonist Quits: ‘I Have to Draw the Line Somewhere’

By Sarah Krouse · Jul 7, 2021 6:01am PDT · 5 comments

For 14 years, Manu Cornet’s day job was to help speed up Google searches and develop new backgrounds for Gmail. But Cornet was better known inside Google for publishing hundreds of cartoons, known as Goomics, which initially poked fun at its culture and employees’ sense of entitlement and later became a blistering critique of senior... For 14 years, Manu Cornet’s day job was to help speed up Google searches and develop new...

Didi's Beijing offices. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Real Lesson of Didi Global’s Stock Drop

By Martin Peers · Jul 6, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Didi's Beijing offices. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Real Lesson of Didi Global’s Stock Drop

By Martin Peers · Jul 6, 2021 5:00pm PDT

For a brief moment last week, it looked like Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global was going to get away with a more successful IPO than that of its U.S. counterparts Uber and Lyft two years ago. That was until the Chinese government, with a weekend edict about data security, reminded the company who’s really in charge, lopping 20% off the value... For a brief moment last week, it looked like Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global was going to...

Doja Cat attends the iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 27, 2021, in Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Creator Economy

The Big Money in Music Startups

By Kaya Yurieff · Jul 6, 2021 4:17pm PDT

TikTok wouldn’t be much as fun without music. A cluster of music-oriented startups have taken note, selling independent musicians access to online production tools and marketplaces that connect them with video performers who can help their songs go viral.Among the 52 startups in our creator economy database, five are focused on music, and they’... TikTok wouldn’t be much as fun without music. A cluster of music-oriented startups have taken...

People protested a crypto mining operation near Seneca Lake in upstate New York last month. Photo: Kelly Marciniak—Marciniak Photography

Gauging China’s Impact; N.Y. Mining Operation Draws Protests

By Hannah Miller · Jul 6, 2021 3:56pm PDT

The latest move by China to put the brakes on digital currencies rattled the market Tuesday, with bitcoin prices falling as much as 3% on the news that Beijing had shuttered a software company involved in crypto trading. But the effect didn’t last: The market bounced off its low point a few hours later.To crypto diehards, bitcoin’s recovery lent... The latest move by China to put the brakes on digital currencies rattled the market Tuesday, with...

Facebook's Andrew Bosworth. Photo by Bloomberg

The Flaw in Facebook’s VR Ad Defense

By Mathew Olson · Jul 6, 2021 11:00am PDT

Facebook’s initial rollout of ads in virtual reality apps hasn’t even begun in earnest, yet we’re already seeing the company’s head of AR and VR adopt a defensive stance. Facebook needs to face up to the reality that if it wants to put ads in games that people have paid for, they’ll have to cope with a backlash.To recap, Facebook announced in... Facebook’s initial rollout of ads in virtual reality apps hasn’t even begun in earnest, yet we’re...

Didi president and cofounder Jean Liu. Photo by Bloomberg.

Didi’s Executives Gave Themselves $3 Billion in Stock Before IPO

By Shai Oster · Jul 6, 2021 10:20am PDT

Didi president and cofounder Jean Liu. Photo by Bloomberg.

Didi’s Executives Gave Themselves $3 Billion in Stock Before IPO

By Shai Oster · Jul 6, 2021 10:20am PDT

The senior leadership of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global granted themselves stock options worth $3 billion in the second quarter, before last week’s initial public offering, securities filings show. That move is likely to inflame investor anger over the offering as Wall Street comes to grips with the Chinese government’s... The senior leadership of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global granted themselves stock options...

Tech IPO Preview for the Second Half of 2021

By The Information Staff · Jul 6, 2021 6:01am PDT

The number of initial public offerings has surged to 182 so far this year, raising $79 billion, or already more money than U.S. IPOs raised in all of last year, according to research from IPOBoutique. And the second half of 2021 looks to be just as busy, with a big group of tech firms queued up to go public, including Robinhood, Rivian and... The number of initial public offerings has surged to 182 so far this year, raising $79 billion,...

Illustration by Jesus Escudero

The Information’s Nine Books for Summer

By The Information Staff · Jul 5, 2021 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

A novel about trees as the new zeitgeist. A portrait of a volatile Saudi Arabian monarch who is also a tech investor. A 25-year-old doorstop of a book from David Foster Wallace, which we belatedly and joyfully rediscovered. These are among the fiction and nonfiction treasures that have engrossed The Information staffers recently. We think any of... A novel about trees as the new zeitgeist. A portrait of a volatile Saudi Arabian monarch who is...

Didi Chuxing's office in Hangzhou. Photo by Bloomberg

Didi’s Trouble With Regulators Could Chill China Tech Plans for U.S. IPOs

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Jul 5, 2021 5:37am PDT · 2 comments

Didi Chuxing’s trouble with China’s regulators raises questions about the ride-hailing giant’s future just days after it raised $4.4 billion in a U.S. initial public offering. It also could discourage other major Chinese tech companies from going public in the U.S. On Sunday, the Cybersecurity Administration of China ordered... Didi Chuxing’s trouble with China’s regulators raises questions about the...

The Advice Founders Really Need to Hear

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 3, 2021 7:44am PDT · 4 comments

The Advice Founders Really Need to Hear

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 3, 2021 7:44am PDT · 4 comments

It has been the season of graduation speeches, virtual graduation speeches, essays pondering graduation speeches one would have given if asked—and more.And reading all that advice prompted me to reflect on the good and bad counsel I’ve received over the years.One piece of bad advice immediately jumped out—and it is pretty ubiquitous. Indeed,... It has been the season of graduation speeches, virtual graduation speeches, essays pondering...