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

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Temu Pilots Amazon-Like Search Ad Business, Plans App Store

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Theo Wayt · Jan 14, 2025 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Chinese-owned bargain seller Temu has spooked Amazon by selling ultracheap household gadgets, electronics and more, oftentimes undercutting the e-commerce giant on price. Now Temu is looking to capitalize on its popularity by going head to head with Amazon in another business: advertising. Temu has started testing selling ad space to merchants... Chinese-owned bargain seller Temu has spooked Amazon by selling ultracheap household gadgets,...

Patrick Spence, former CEO of Sonos. Photo via Flickr/Collision Conference.

Where Does Sonos Go From Here?

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of internet-connected speakers parted ways this morning with Patrick Spence, its embattled CEO. Last May, the company introduced a new version of its mobile app for controlling its speakers. But the updated app left out a number of features that had... To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of...

Chris Lehane. Photo by Getty

OpenAI Starts Its Trump Strategy; CES Shows Not Everything Needs AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 13, 2025 7:50am PST

Meta Platforms’ announcement last week that it had relaxed its content moderation stance immediately raised the question of whether others, such as OpenAI, would follow suit.When I asked Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, about that during an interview on Friday, he pointed me to a new broad-ranging policy proposal from the... Meta Platforms’ announcement last week that it had relaxed its content moderation stance...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a Thor Blackwell robotics processor. Photo by Getty.

Nvidia’s Top Customers Face Delays From Glitchy AI Chip Racks

By Qianer Liu and Anissa Gardizy · Jan 13, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a Thor Blackwell robotics processor. Photo by Getty.

Nvidia’s Top Customers Face Delays From Glitchy AI Chip Racks

By Qianer Liu and Anissa Gardizy · Jan 13, 2025 6:00am PST · 5 comments

Some of Nvidia’s biggest customers are facing new delays in getting its most advanced artificial intelligence chips up and running in data centers. The first shipments of racks equipped with Nvidia’s newest chips, Blackwell, have been plagued by overheating as well as glitches involving the way the chips connect to one another,... Some of Nvidia’s biggest customers are facing new delays in getting its most advanced...

Archer Aviation's future commercial air taxi, Midnight. Photo: Getty

The Electric: A Bet on Hybrid Fighter Aircraft and a Friendship With Trump

By Steve LeVine · Jan 13, 2025 4:30am PST

Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like a long shot: In the next year or two, regulators will likely certify one or more of the startups to carry passengers, but no one knows how many people will want to fly in them, or whether they will be willing to pay enough and use them often enough... Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like...

Art by Clark Miller

Will Meta's Olive Branch Hurt TikTok?

By Abram Brown · Jan 11, 2025 7:00am PST

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex problem• Power and Influence: DOGE goes headhunting • The Top 5: Where to travel after Davos • Plus: When a corporate marvel may be a communist spy ring; piecing together “Severance”; and an uncomfortable masterpieceA couple years ago, ... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: A casual sex website with an underage sex...

Art by Clark Miller; Ramaswamy via Getty.

Power and Influence

Inside the DOGE Recruitment Drive

By Julia Black · Jan 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 23 comments

For decades, the path toward federal government employment has involved a long and winding journey for full-timers and contractors alike. The Department of Government Efficiency, the pseudo-governmental entity run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is doing things differently. Recruitment to join DOGE, as the Musk-Ramaswamy group has styled... For decades, the path toward federal government employment has involved a long and winding...

Art by Clark Miller

Where Tech Leaders Travel After the World Economic Forum

By Todd Plummer · Jan 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Art by Clark Miller

Where Tech Leaders Travel After the World Economic Forum

By Todd Plummer · Jan 11, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos is the Super Bowl of schmoozing. And let’s face it, after a week of nonstop on-calendar panel discussions, off-calendar networking and late-night parties—Google and McKinsey & Co. are known for throwing some of the best ones!—even the most extroverted movers and... The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos is the Super Bowl of schmoozing. And...

Creators outside of the Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

With TikTok Ban Likely, ‘Game of Chicken’ Begins

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2025 2:31pm PST

I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to stay alive in the U.S. Judging from the justices’ questions and comments, it sounds like they’re inclined to uphold a U.S. law that could ban TikTok in just nine days. That’s the opening its potential suitors, such as Activision Blizzard’s former CEO,... I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to...

Meta’s Community Notes: More Speech and Fewer Mistakes?

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 10, 2025 11:58am PST

This week on More or Less: The group takes sides on Meta's moderation overhaul. Plus, why we are happy we skipped CES. Apple Spotify This week on More or Less: The group takes sides on Meta's moderation overhaul. Plus, why we...

Art by Clark Miller.

How a Casual Sex Website Left the Door Open to Teens

By Paris Martineau and Cory Weinberg · Jan 10, 2025 9:14am PST · 3 comments

Kelly Weld didn’t know what to expect when she finally managed to unlock her son’s iPhone in February 2023. Still, she had hoped to find an answer as to why the then-16-year-old had recently started failing classes, skipping school and acting out at their home in central Florida. She found a disturbing explanation in his web-browsing... Kelly Weld didn’t know what to expect when she finally managed to unlock her son’s...

Pro Weekly: A Creator Economy Banker Predicts a Blockbuster Year for M&A

Pro Weekly: A Creator Economy Banker Predicts a Blockbuster Year for M&A

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 10, 2025 8:00am PST

Pro Weekly: A Creator Economy Banker Predicts a Blockbuster Year for M&A

Pro Weekly: A Creator Economy Banker Predicts a Blockbuster Year for M&A

By Akash Pasricha · Jan 10, 2025 8:00am PST

Dealmakers have been busy in the early days of 2025, as we’ve noted. Creator economy companies have been in on the action. On Monday, YouTube production company Brat TV bought a similar digital video studio, Electric Monster, in a possible harbinger of more consolidation in the sector. Last week, influencer marketing company Later bought... Dealmakers have been busy in the early days of 2025, as we’ve noted. Creator economy companies...

Photos via Getty and Meta. Art by Shane Burke.

Amazon Downplays DEI, Meta Plays Up Free Speech as Tech Tilts Right

By Theo Wayt, Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Nick Wingfield · Jan 10, 2025 6:00am PST · 4 comments

Like most big technology companies, Amazon began publishing pages and blog posts on its corporate website in recent years declaring its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion along with other issues. Over the past few weeks, though, some of those webpages have been undergoing curious makeovers—or disappearing altogether. For... Like most big technology companies, Amazon began publishing pages and blog posts on its corporate...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo via Amazon.

Amazon’s Dubious Ad Tech Expansion

By Theo Wayt · Jan 9, 2025 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Amazon’s decision to stuff its search results and product pages with ads over the past several years might annoy some shoppers like me, but it’s paid off handsomely for the company. Those ads are thought to account for the lion’s share of the $50 billion in ad revenue it is expected to have taken in last year. Now Amazon is going to start... Amazon’s decision to stuff its search results and product pages with ads over the past several...

Fazal Merchant. Photo via Wiz.

Wiz Completes Piece of IPO Puzzle

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 9, 2025 3:13pm PST · 1 comment

Five-year-old Wiz, a $16 billion–valuation startup that sells cloud cybersecurity software to large companies, has always had a flair for the dramatic. A few years ago, CEO Assaf Rappaport declared it the fastest-growing software company ever. In 2023, it openly mulled a takeover of larger, publicly held SentinelOne. And last year Wiz told its... Five-year-old Wiz, a $16 billion–valuation startup that sells cloud cybersecurity software to...

Photo via Getty

TikTok’s Vibe as It Heads to Supreme Court

By Kaya Yurieff and Wayne Ma · Jan 9, 2025 2:30pm PST

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

TikTok’s Vibe as It Heads to Supreme Court

By Kaya Yurieff and Wayne Ma · Jan 9, 2025 2:30pm PST

I’m in Washington D.C. ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Friday morning, where TikTok will argue against a U.S. law that could ban the app in 10 days if it doesn’t sever ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance. Despite this threat, TikTok is pushing forward as normal—so much so that this week at the major tech conference... I’m in Washington D.C. ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Friday morning, where...

Deel co-founder and CEO Alex Bouaziz. Photo via Getty.

Deel Accused of Money Laundering, Sanctions Failures in Lawsuit

By Michael Roddan · Jan 9, 2025 1:07pm PST · 1 comment

Fast-growing human resources and payroll startup Deel has been dragged into a dispute involving a Florida Ponzi scheme, in the latest legal action connecting the firm to fraudulent or illegal movement of money. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Florida last week, Deel was accused of transferring money for a Ponzi operation the Securities... Fast-growing human resources and payroll startup Deel has been dragged into a dispute involving a...

Art by Shane Burke

Why Businesses Are Skipping Open-Source Models

By Jon Victor · Jan 9, 2025 10:38am PST · 1 comment

If there’s one thing artificial intelligence sellers learned in 2024, it’s that customers want AI to be a cinch to set up. Businesses are even willing to pay a premium and take their chances with AI models or chatbots like ChatGPT that have fewer built-in security features than they’re used to—as long as they just work out of the box.That... If there’s one thing artificial intelligence sellers learned in 2024, it’s that customers want AI...

The Information Welcomes Ken Brown as Senior Finance Editor

By The Information Staff · Jan 9, 2025 10:35am PST

The Information is pleased to announce that Ken Brown is joining The Information as senior finance editor. Ken’s name is synonymous with in-depth financial reporting about the biggest business stories of our time. As an editor at the Wall Street Journal, he has overseen investigative teams devoted to breaking news... The Information is pleased to announce that Ken Brown is joining...

Photo via Getty

Why Research Talent Still Costs So Much

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 9, 2025 7:20am PST

Photo via Getty

Why Research Talent Still Costs So Much

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 9, 2025 7:20am PST

One of the rarest resources in artificial intelligence—perhaps even more than Nvidia servers or training data—is the people who make it. Founders tell me that the shortage of talent that can develop and improve language and vision models is still extreme, two years into the conversational AI boom.That’s demonstrated by recent developments at... One of the rarest resources in artificial intelligence—perhaps even more than Nvidia servers or...