The Information

Photo via Getty

Google Plays Catch-Up in Video Ad Tech as Streaming Ads Take Off

By Catherine Perloff · Jan 6, 2025 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Google is good at operating the technology independent websites use to sell their ads—so good that the U.S. says it has a monopoly in that area. But it has been surprisingly poor at developing streaming TV ad technology—advertisers, TV ad sellers and former Google employees say its technology lag those of rivals. Buyers say... Google is good at operating the technology independent websites use to sell their ads—so...

Art by Clark Miller. Ma screenshot via YouTube.

Databricks, Snowflake Discussed Buying Same AI Search Startup

By Kevin McLaughlin, Natasha Mascarenhas and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jan 3, 2025 8:33am PST

Databricks and Snowflake, already embroiled in a fierce rivalry over software that manages companies’ data, are now jockeying for position in generative artificial intelligence—particularly AI that helps businesses search their own data. Those goals have led both companies to consider buying the same startups. In recent weeks,... Databricks and Snowflake, already embroiled in a fierce rivalry over software that manages...

Art by Clark Miller.

Fintech Startup Level Abruptly Shuts Down

By Cory Weinberg and Michael Roddan · Jan 2, 2025 11:46am PST · 3 comments

Benefits startup Level has told its clients that it is shutting down after an effort to sell the company fell through, marking another abrupt closure of a fintech that has left users in the lurch. Level, which was founded in 2018 and raised a $27 million Series A round in 2021 led by Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, told the... Benefits startup Level has told its clients that it is shutting down after an effort to sell the...

Photo by AP.

TikTok Promises Ban Refunds to Keep Advertisers Spending

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan, Sahil Patel and Catherine Perloff · Jan 2, 2025 9:22am PST

Photo by AP.

TikTok Promises Ban Refunds to Keep Advertisers Spending

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan, Sahil Patel and Catherine Perloff · Jan 2, 2025 9:22am PST

As some advertisers start to pull back from buying ad space on TikTok, the Chinese-owned app is telling big ad buying firms how they could get out of ad agreements if the app is banned in the U.S. in January. TikTok said in an email to big ad buying firms that it would return any principal payments—down payments on agencies’ spending... As some advertisers start to pull back from buying ad space on TikTok, the Chinese-owned app is...

Photo via Getty.

Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade Explores Offering Crypto Trading

By Yueqi Yang · Jan 2, 2025 6:00am PST

Morgan Stanley’s online stock-trading arm, E-Trade, is exploring adding crypto trading in anticipation of a more favorable crypto regulatory environment under the incoming Donald Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the firm’s plans. If Morgan Stanley goes ahead with the launch, E-Trade would become one of the... Morgan Stanley’s online stock-trading arm, E-Trade, is exploring adding crypto trading in...

Jack Hidary, left, and Eric Schmidt. Art by Mike Sullivan

An Eric Schmidt–Chaired Quantum AI Moon Shot Has a Rocky Launch

By Michael Roddan and Cory Weinberg · Dec 31, 2024 8:00am PST · 3 comments

In October, on a panel at an investor conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, futurist Peter Diamandis congratulated a technology entrepreneur sitting next to him, Jack Hidary, on the success of his startup, SandboxAQ. “I’ve never seen a company scale revenues as quickly as you have,” said Diamandis, founder of the nonprofit XPrize... In October, on a panel at an investor conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, futurist Peter...

Art by Clark Miller

Accounting Startup’s Sudden Shutdown Adds to Fintech Woes

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 30, 2024 6:28pm PST · 4 comments

Elizabeth MacBride, an author and the owner of a small publishing company, was celebrating a belated Christmas with her daughters on Friday morning when she glanced at her phone and saw an e-mail from her accounting firm, Bench. The Vancouver, British Columbia–based startup said it was shutting down services for customers, effective... Elizabeth MacBride, an author and the owner of a small publishing company, was celebrating a...

Photos via Getty

ByteDance Planned to Spend $7 Billion on Nvidia Chips Next Year

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Dec 30, 2024 6:00am PST

Photos via Getty

ByteDance Planned to Spend $7 Billion on Nvidia Chips Next Year

By Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Dec 30, 2024 6:00am PST

ByteDance continues to use Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips despite U.S. efforts to block Chinese companies from using them. The Chinese owner of TikTok recently told suppliers it planned to spend up to $7 billion to access Nvidia chips outside China in 2025, according to a person who has been involved in the plan.... ByteDance continues to use Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips despite...

Sam Altman and Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty.

Microsoft and OpenAI Wrangle Over Terms of Their Blockbuster Partnership

By Amir Efrati and Stephanie Palazzolo · Dec 26, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants to convert the artificial intelligence developer, which is governed by a nonprofit, into a for-profit corporation. His biggest hurdle is Microsoft, which has outsize influence on the process after having committed more than $13 billion to OpenAI. The companies have been negotiating potential changes in OpenAI’s... OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants to convert the artificial intelligence developer, which is governed...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos via Amazon/Adobe Stock.

Amazon Wants Merchants to Sell Everywhere—Except Temu

By Jing Yang, Qianer Liu and Theo Wayt · Dec 24, 2024 10:52am PST · 1 comment

For popular China-based Amazon merchants, bargain site Temu has been an attractive new place to sell their wares. And Amazon hadn’t been doing much to stop them from branching out. That’s all changed in recent weeks, several major Amazon merchants said. Amazon representatives have been offering incentives such as free advertising and... For popular China-based Amazon merchants, bargain site Temu has been an attractive new place to...

From left, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook and Steve Jobs

How Apple Developed an Nvidia Allergy

By Wayne Ma · Dec 24, 2024 6:00am PST

Like most big tech companies with artificial intelligence ambitions, Apple has little choice but to use chips from Nvidia, whose graphics processing units are practically a de facto standard in the development and running of AI software. But Apple is working on ways to spend less on Nvidia chips without undermining its success in AI. Instead of... Like most big tech companies with artificial intelligence ambitions, Apple has little choice but...

A person wearing a Magic Leap 2 headset. Photo by Getty.

Google Contracts Employees From Magic Leap

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 20, 2024 10:04am PST

A person wearing a Magic Leap 2 headset. Photo by Getty.

Google Contracts Employees From Magic Leap

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 20, 2024 10:04am PST

Google has hired more than 100 staffers at augmented reality firm Magic Leap as contractors to assist with Google’s work on its new Android XR operating system, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. The unusual arrangement, which Magic Leap’s senior vice president of product, Jade Meskill, confirmed, will give... Google has hired more than 100 staffers at augmented reality firm Magic Leap as contractors to...

Photo by Getty

Shopify Checkout Changes Threaten Package Protection Startups

By Ann Gehan · Dec 20, 2024 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Shopify, the Canadian-based e-commerce software giant, is walking a tightrope. The company has growing ambitions to promote its own software, such as its Shop Pay branded checkout, which appears on many of its 2 million merchants’ sites. Those goals are beginning to clash with the interests of the small software firms that historically... Shopify, the Canadian-based e-commerce software giant, is walking a tightrope. The company has...

Nvidia's Jensen Huang (left) and Supermicro's Charles Liang at a conference in Taiwan in June. Photo via Getty

U.S. Prompts Nvidia, Supermicro Probe Into How Chips Ended Up in China

By The Information Staff · Dec 19, 2024 6:00am PST · 1 comment

To figure out how its advanced artificial intelligence chips are ending up in China in violation of U.S. export laws, chip giant Nvidia has turned to companies like Super Micro Computer for answers. Nvidia generally doesn’t sell its chips directly to customers, relying instead on specialized dealers and server companies like Supermicro, as... To figure out how its advanced artificial intelligence chips are ending up in China in violation...

Marc Benioff. Art by Clark Miller; Benioff image via Getty.

AI Is Marc Benioff’s Friend—and Foe

By Jon Victor and Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 18, 2024 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In the weeks after Salesforce unveiled Agentforce in September, its new artificial intelligence agent—a software tool that automates business tasks—CEO Marc Benioff had an aggressive demand for his sales teams. In all-hands sales meetings, he ordered that Agentforce must be part of every deal they complete with customers, said a... In the weeks after Salesforce unveiled Agentforce in September, its new artificial intelligence...

Jensen Huang. Photos by Getty.

China Poised to Investigate More U.S. Tech Deals After Nvidia Probe

By Jing Yang and Qianer Liu · Dec 17, 2024 4:30am PST

Jensen Huang. Photos by Getty.

China Poised to Investigate More U.S. Tech Deals After Nvidia Probe

By Jing Yang and Qianer Liu · Dec 17, 2024 4:30am PST

As the U.S. restricts China’s access to American technology, Beijing is striking back—with antitrust reviews of both ongoing and long-completed acquisitions. The Chinese antitrust regulator’s decision a week ago to investigate Nvidia for alleged violations of antitrust rules in relation to its 2020 purchase of Mellanox... As the U.S. restricts China’s access to American technology, Beijing is striking...

The Venture Capitalists Set to Win Big in 2025

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 16, 2024 2:12pm PST · 4 comments

For three years, venture capitalists struggled to return cash to their investors. In 2025, many believe the dam is about to break. With more than a dozen tech startups on track to list publicly next year, early and large investors in companies including Klarna, Chime and CoreWeave will have the opportunity to cash out their shares. Below, we... For three years, venture capitalists struggled to return cash to their investors. In 2025, many...

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. Photo via Getty.

Google Challenger Perplexity Promises Booming Growth, Rosy Margins

By Sri Muppidi · Dec 12, 2024 3:10pm PST · 1 comment

Google Search challenger Perplexity AI recently projected it will more than double its annualized revenue in 2025 to $127 million, implying it would be generating $10.5 million per month, according to three people who have seen the projections. Perplexity also projected it would quintuple annualized revenue to $656 million by the end of the... Google Search challenger Perplexity AI recently projected it will more than double its annualized...

Bobby Kotick. Photo by Getty.

TikTok Suitor Bobby Kotick Waits for Trump

By Jing Yang, Nick Wingfield and Juro Osawa · Dec 12, 2024 11:55am PST · 1 comment

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick remains interested in buying TikTok, said people familiar with Kotick’s thinking, but he is expected to wait until Donald Trump takes office before moving ahead with an offer. Barring a last minute court intervention, TikTok has until Jan. 19 to sever its ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance or... Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick remains interested in buying TikTok, said people...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and Donald Trump. Photos by Getty

Google CEO Expected to Meet with Trump Thursday

By Aaron Holmes and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 12, 2024 10:52am PST · 1 comment

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and Donald Trump. Photos by Getty

Google CEO Expected to Meet with Trump Thursday

By Aaron Holmes and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Dec 12, 2024 10:52am PST · 1 comment

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to fly to the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, according to a person briefed on the plans. The meeting comes as Trump has signaled a desire to crack down on Google and other big tech companies that he has claimed are biased against him and... Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to fly to the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach,...