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

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Meta Platforms Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth. Photo via Getty

Meta CTO Says Company Mishandled Introduction of New Content Policies

By Kalley Huang · Jan 16, 2025 1:10pm PST · 11 comments

Meta Platforms Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth on Tuesday told staff that the company had handled parts of recent changes to its human resources and content moderation policies clumsily, and that it plans to “correct” some of the changes. “There were things I think were pretty ham-fisted, borderline... Meta Platforms Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth on Tuesday told staff that the company...

Photo via Getty

Google and Microsoft Force Customers to Pay For AI

By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Jan 16, 2025 11:26am PST

For the last two years, enterprise software companies have been trying to convince customers to fork over more money for new artificial intelligence features, such as generating notes from conference calls and ginning up images for slide presentations.Now, the software firms are no longer asking. Google said Wednesday it would automatically... For the last two years, enterprise software companies have been trying to convince customers to...

Jack Dorsey. Photo by Getty

Block Stock is Stalled As Side Bets Distract From Core Businesses

By Anita Ramaswamy · Jan 16, 2025 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Of Jack Dorsey’s two business creations, only one looms large in the public consciousness: the company previously known as Twitter. But by some measures, his other company, Block, has been a more successful enterprise. Dorsey has built Block’s original business—Square, which gives small businesses a way to accept credit card... Of Jack Dorsey’s two business creations, only one looms large in the public consciousness:...

Photo via Getty

The Startups Taking on Scale AI—In Robotics

By Rocket Drew · Jan 16, 2025 7:00am PST

Photo via Getty

The Startups Taking on Scale AI—In Robotics

By Rocket Drew · Jan 16, 2025 7:00am PST

As I wrote last month, there’s been a flurry of excitement about applying generative artificial intelligence techniques to robotics, a field that’s generated much hope and plenty of disappointment over the last two decades. Like chatbot makers, robotics companies have relied on humans to manually label data, for example identifying packages... As I wrote last month, there’s been a flurry of excitement about applying generative artificial...

Photo via Getty

TikTok Users’ Move to Chinese App RedNote Alarms Beijing’s Censors

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Jan 16, 2025 5:51am PST · 4 comments

A pending ban of TikTok in the U.S. is prompting a flood of TikTok users to try out Chinese social media app RedNote. Chinese regulators aren’t happy. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s Internet watchdog, is concerned that English-language content showing up on RedNote may contain politically sensitive posts that... A pending ban of TikTok in the U.S. is prompting a flood of TikTok users to try out Chinese...

Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office. Photo by Getty

The Electric: The Biden Team Awards Battery Loans to the Last Minute

By Steve LeVine · Jan 16, 2025 4:30am PST

In the final days of a four-year campaign to reindustrialize the U.S., the Biden administration on Wednesday announced a conditional $1.3 billion loan to a lithium extraction project at the Salton Sea in California.The loan to California-based EnergySource Minerals was the 39th made by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office under... In the final days of a four-year campaign to reindustrialize the U.S., the Biden administration...

Photo by Getty

Google to Give Businesses AI Tools Whether or Not They Want It

By Martin Peers · Jan 15, 2025 5:00pm PST

Beware companies bearing gifts: They tend to want something. Google’s announcement on Wednesday that it would now include its artificial intelligence tools in its business products such as corporate Gmail, whether customers want the tools or not, was cast as a do-gooder move aiming to bring the power of AI to everyone. The reality is more likely... Beware companies bearing gifts: They tend to want something. Google’s announcement on Wednesday...

Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey. Photo by Getty

Anduril Doubles Revenue and Plans $100 Million Employee Tender

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 15, 2025 2:37pm PST

Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey. Photo by Getty

Anduril Doubles Revenue and Plans $100 Million Employee Tender

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 15, 2025 2:37pm PST

Business has been booming for Anduril. The venture-backed weapons maker doubled revenue to about $1 billion in 2024, say people close to the company, and could get another sales lift from a change in Defense Department leadership under incoming President Donald Trump. The opportunity for growth could position Anduril for an initial public... Business has been booming for Anduril. The venture-backed weapons maker doubled revenue to about...

TikTok Plans To Go Dark; U.S. Creator Startup Funding Bounces Back

Creator Economy

TikTok Plans To Go Dark; U.S. Creator Startup Funding Bounces Back

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 15, 2025 2:00pm PST

Before we get to the rest of today’s newsletter, we have the latest update on TikTok. On Tuesday night, my colleague Sylvia and I reported TikTok’s plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a U.S. law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes.That news is causing quite a stir among creators, their managers and users... Before we get to the rest of today’s newsletter, we have the latest update on TikTok. On Tuesday...

Creator Economy Database

Creator Economy Startup Funding Rebounds as Industry Matures

By Kaya Yurieff and Akash Pasricha · Jan 15, 2025 10:45am PST

Funding for U.S. creator economy startups roared back in 2024, buoyed in part by excitement about artificial intelligence, after two years of decline. At the same time, dozens of startups agreed to be acquired or shut down, signs that the industry is maturing. Last year, funding for U.S. creator economy startups rose 51% to more than $1.58... Funding for U.S. creator economy startups roared back in 2024, buoyed in part by excitement about...

Art by Clark Miller

These ‘Remedies’ for Google Would Hurt My Healthy-Habits Business

By Sean Higgins · Jan 15, 2025 9:00am PST

In 2018—after I forgot to call my mom one too many times—a friend and I launched an app that nudges people to take life-enhancing steps such as connecting with family, exercising more and learning new skills. Today we have nearly 40,000 subscribers. Businesses and organizations across the country use our app to improve... In 2018—after I forgot to call my mom one too many times—a friend and I launched an...

Ranger founder and CEO, Josh Ip. Photo courtesy of Ranger.

General Catalyst Backs Startup in New AI Category: Software Testing

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 15, 2025 7:00am PST

Ranger founder and CEO, Josh Ip. Photo courtesy of Ranger.

General Catalyst Backs Startup in New AI Category: Software Testing

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 15, 2025 7:00am PST

When it comes to the billion-dollar question of where businesses are seeing the biggest returns from conversational AI, automating software development has emerged as an early frontrunner. We have AI software to autocomplete lines of code, AI software to write entire apps, and soon, AI software to test other software.That last one is the focus... When it comes to the billion-dollar question of where businesses are seeing the biggest returns...

Art by Clark Miller.

Some U.S. Banks Warm Up to Crypto Firms

By Yueqi Yang · Jan 15, 2025 6:00am PST

Marc Andreessen and other crypto proponents have complained about how regulators under President Joe Biden have choked off banking services for crypto firms. But even before Donald Trump takes office, some smaller U.S. banks have been quietly expanding services for crypto companies. In recent months, regional bank Western Alliance has been... Marc Andreessen and other crypto proponents have complained about how regulators under President...

TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the U.S. on Sunday

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jan 14, 2025 8:03pm PST

TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes to block the ban, according to two people familiar with TikTok’s plans. Abruptly switching off the app, rather than allowing people who have already downloaded it to continue using it, will bring home the... TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via Getty

Zuckerberg Acts Like Musk but Isn’t

By Martin Peers · Jan 14, 2025 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re witnessing a version of the Hollywood movie “Face/Off,” where the Meta Platforms CEO will shortly rip off a mask and reveal himself to be Elon Musk. Aside from Zuckerberg’s moves last week to abandon both diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives... You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re...

Jamie Hodari. Photo via Industrious.

The Anti-WeWork Makes Good; Plaid Considers M&A Push

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 14, 2025 3:50pm PST

Jamie Hodari. Photo via Industrious.

The Anti-WeWork Makes Good; Plaid Considers M&A Push

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 14, 2025 3:50pm PST

Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon: Hundreds of startup workers throwing graduation caps into the air and then ice skating in green gowns. That was the celebration cooked up by Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari to memorialize the sale of his co-working startup to $38 billion real estate... Visitors to Bryant Park in New York would have had a confusing sight on Tuesday afternoon:...

In the face of a potential ban, TikTok users are joining another Chinese-owned social app, RedNote or Xiaohongshu in Chinese. Image by Getty

Creator Economy

As TikTok Ban Looms, Competitors Are Circling

By Kaya Yurieff and Juro Osawa · Jan 14, 2025 2:00pm PST

As we near Sunday’s effective date of a U.S. law that could ban TikTok, a growing number of U.S. TikTok users are joining another Chinese-owned social app: RedNote. The app, known as Xiaohongshu in Chinese, is similar to Instagram. The movement has helped turn RedNote into one of the most downloaded apps in the U.S. almost overnight. Some... As we near Sunday’s effective date of a U.S. law that could ban TikTok, a growing number of U.S....

Photo via Getty

2025 Is the Year of the AI App

By Jon Victor · Jan 14, 2025 1:21pm PST

Executives at software vendors and chief information officers who buy software are starting to agree on one thing: Artificial intelligence models are becoming far less important than the apps that harness them. Many prominent AI apps, including GitHub Copilot, Perplexity search, and Cursor’s coding assistant, previously relied almost... Executives at software vendors and chief information officers who buy software are starting to...

Microsoft’s Gaming Business Falls Short, Despite Activision

By Aaron Holmes · Jan 14, 2025 12:23pm PST · 4 comments

In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella faced a choice involving the company’s Xbox and cloud gaming business. The company could either acquire major game studios to drive more subscriptions to its nascent Game Pass subscription service. Or it could wind down its games business entirely, Nadella told two people at the time. Nadella took the... In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella faced a choice involving the company’s Xbox and cloud...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty.

Meta Platforms Plans Performance-Based Job Cuts

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Jan 14, 2025 8:03am PST · 1 comment

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Getty.

Meta Platforms Plans Performance-Based Job Cuts

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kalley Huang · Jan 14, 2025 8:03am PST · 1 comment

Meta Platforms plans a new round of job cuts in the coming weeks, the company told employees on Tuesday, focused on employees who are considered weak performers. The cuts would affect about 5% of Meta’s employees, or about 3,600 people, a human resources director later told staff. In a post on the company’s internal chat system, Meta... Meta Platforms plans a new round of job cuts in the coming weeks, the company told employees on...