The Information

Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen. Photo by Getty.

Andreessen Horowitz Plots Infrastructure, American Dynamism Funds

By Kate Clark and Becky Peterson · Dec 12, 2023 2:04pm PST · 2 comments

Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most prolific investors during the pandemic-era funding boom, recently held an event for limited partners in Las Vegas, where it presented its ideas on investing in various industry sectors, according to a person familiar with the talks. The investment firm could soon ask its backers to commit to those... Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most prolific investors during the pandemic-era funding...

Art by Clark Miller

Some AI Startups Find the Money’s No Longer So Easy

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 12, 2023 6:00am PST · 3 comments

The venture capital gravy train for artificial intelligence startups may be slowing down. Some young startups have struggled to close rounds investors would have jumped to win a year ago. Take Liquid AI, which is developing a new kind of AI model that can learn while in use, not just during its training, a method that differs from the way... The venture capital gravy train for artificial intelligence startups may be slowing down. Some...

OpenView's office building in the South Boston waterfront. Photo by 123RF.

OpenView, After Deep Layoffs, Mulls Returning Capital or Raising New Funds

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Dec 11, 2023 5:22pm PST · 2 comments

OpenView Ventures’ sudden decision last week to lay off most of its staff and halt investments in new startups left one major question unanswered: what to do with the $570 million that endowments and other institutions recently committed to its latest fund. Earlier Monday, the firm’s senior partners held all-day meetings to review... OpenView Ventures’ sudden decision last week to lay off most of its staff and halt...

D2iQ CEO Tobi Knaup. Photo via D2iQ.

Software Startup That Rejected Buyout From Microsoft Shuts Down, Sells Assets to Nutanix

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 8, 2023 2:36pm PST · 8 comments

D2iQ CEO Tobi Knaup. Photo via D2iQ.

Software Startup That Rejected Buyout From Microsoft Shuts Down, Sells Assets to Nutanix

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 8, 2023 2:36pm PST · 8 comments

Andreessen Horowitz-backed D2iQ, a cloud infrastructure startup formerly known as Mesosphere and which was once popular with software developers, is shutting down. It is the latest in a string of firms to evaporate this year after raising significant venture capital. D2iQ, which raised $250 million in venture funding, on Thursday sent... Andreessen Horowitz-backed D2iQ, a cloud infrastructure startup formerly known as Mesosphere and...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew

TikTok Plans Anti-Hate Speech Campaign After Complaints Over Israel-Hamas Videos

By Kaya Yurieff · Dec 7, 2023 12:41pm PST · 1 comment

TikTok is preparing a slew of initiatives to defuse growing complaints that antisemitism and other hate speech has proliferated in videos about the Hamas-Israel war. The ByteDance-owned app is planning a social media campaign this month called “Swipe Out Hate” that will involve creators to spread its message, according to a person... TikTok is preparing a slew of initiatives to defuse growing complaints that antisemitism and...

Photo by MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

VC Firm OpenView Abruptly Winds Down After Key Partners Leave, Returns Sour

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kate Clark and Amir Efrati · Dec 5, 2023 2:10pm PST · 8 comments

OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that has backed enterprise software firms such as Calendly and Expensify, laid off most of its staff and will no longer make new investments, leaders told staff Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The sudden fall of the firm, which employed at least 74... OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that has backed enterprise...

Luciana Lixandru. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images.

Sequoia Partner Luciana Lixandru Joins Stripe Board as Michael Moritz Exits

By Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Dec 5, 2023 1:04pm PST · 1 comment

Sequoia’s investing empire is shoring up control at one of its startup crown jewels during a critical time for the Silicon Valley firm. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently added Luciana Lixandru, a partner based in London, to the board of $50 billion payments company Stripe, one of the most valuable holdings in Sequoia’s... Sequoia’s investing empire is shoring up control at one of its startup crown jewels during...

PayPal's office in San Jose, Calif. Photo by NurPhoto via Getty.

New PayPal CEO Fast-Tracks Upgrades to Beat Back Competition

By Mark Matousek · Dec 5, 2023 10:57am PST

PayPal's office in San Jose, Calif. Photo by NurPhoto via Getty.

New PayPal CEO Fast-Tracks Upgrades to Beat Back Competition

By Mark Matousek · Dec 5, 2023 10:57am PST

New PayPal CEO Alex Chriss is fast-tracking an effort to bolster the company’s defenses against Stripe and Apple Pay, highlighting how the payments giant has fallen behind newer, slicker competitors. Teams across the payments giant have been racing to add a slew of new features to make its digital wallet and online checkout more attractive... New PayPal CEO Alex Chriss is fast-tracking an effort to bolster the company’s defenses...

Photo by Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress via Getty.

Fidelity Backs AI Infrastructure Startup at $9 Billion-Plus Valuation

By Cory Weinberg, Kate Clark and Anissa Gardizy · Dec 4, 2023 4:54pm PST · 3 comments

Vast Data, an AI software and storage startup backed by Nvidia, raised a new funding round led by Fidelity Investments and including participation of venture capital firms NEA and Bond. The round values Vast Data at more than $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said, compared to its valuation of $3.7 billion set in 2021. Seven-year-old... Vast Data, an AI software and storage startup backed by Nvidia, raised a new funding round led by...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Inside Morgan Stanley’s OpenAI Push

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Dec 4, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

During the most harrowing moments of the OpenAI leadership crisis, one of the startup’s biggest partnerships—a deal with Morgan Stanley that is supposed to demonstrate how AI can change the game at a giant, highly regulated Wall Street bank—was left twisting in the wind. Executives at Morgan Stanley, one of OpenAI’s... During the most harrowing moments of the OpenAI leadership crisis, one of the startup’s...

Demis Hassabis and Sundar Pichai. Photos by Bloomberg via Getty.

Google Preps Public Preview of Gemini AI After Postponing In-Person Launch Events

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Dec 2, 2023 10:18am PST · 7 comments

Update, Dec.4: After Google quietly scrapped a set of in-person events to launch Gemini, its biggest artificial intelligence initiative in a decade, the company has planned a virtual preview of the new AI as soon as this week, said a person with knowledge of the situation. By giving journalists and software developers a first look at some of the... Update, Dec.4: After Google quietly scrapped a set of in-person events to launch Gemini, its...

Shein’s pop-up in the Times Square Forever 21 store on Nov. 10. Photo by Getty.

Shein Faces an Uphill Battle to Sustain Growth

By Jing Yang and Ann Gehan · Dec 1, 2023 6:03am PST

Shein’s pop-up in the Times Square Forever 21 store on Nov. 10. Photo by Getty.

Shein Faces an Uphill Battle to Sustain Growth

By Jing Yang and Ann Gehan · Dec 1, 2023 6:03am PST

For the past few years, Shein has seemed untouchable. The secretive e-commerce firm had exploded into one of the world’s most valuable private companies by shipping trendy apparel directly from Chinese manufacturers to shoppers around the world, offering rock-bottom prices in exchange for longer delivery times. But last year, Shein’s... For the past few years, Shein has seemed untouchable. The secretive e-commerce firm had exploded...

Alibaba Cloud's mascot. Photo by Long Wei/Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty.

Why Alibaba’s Cloud Ambitions Fell to Earth

By Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Nov 30, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Several months ago, executives at Alibaba tried to persuade some big investors to take a stake in its cloud unit—which Alibaba was then planning to spin off as a separate company—at a $40 billion valuation. Alibaba’s idea was that the outside investments could signal to the stock market the appeal of the cloud unit ahead of its... Several months ago, executives at Alibaba tried to persuade some big investors to take a stake in...

Roelof Botha (left) and Neil Shen (right). Photos via Getty.

Sequoia Capital Separates From China Affiliate Ahead of Schedule

By Jing Yang and Kate Clark · Nov 29, 2023 12:20pm PST

Sequoia Capital has finalized a key aspect of its landmark breakup with its Chinese and Indian affiliates one month ahead of schedule. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm has completed the process of separating IT systems and other back-end functions such as finance and accounting from the Chinese and Indian entities, formerly known as... Sequoia Capital has finalized a key aspect of its landmark breakup with its Chinese and Indian...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Members of Congress Plan to Grill OCC Over Fintech Regulator Who Faked His Resume

By Michael Roddan · Nov 29, 2023 12:11pm PST · 1 comment

A congressional committee is preparing to question officials from the federal banking regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, over the appointment of its first chief financial technology officer, who The Information reported fabricated his work history to get the $300,000-a-year job. The House Financial Services... A congressional committee is preparing to question officials from the federal banking regulator,...

Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik.

Ahead of IPO, Rubrik’s Revenue Growth Slows as It Targets Long-Term Customers

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2023 7:17am PST · 1 comment

Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik.

Ahead of IPO, Rubrik’s Revenue Growth Slows as It Targets Long-Term Customers

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2023 7:17am PST · 1 comment

Microsoft-backed cloud startup Rubrik, which has been preparing for an initial public offering, may have the same problem that complicated the recent IPOs of Instacart and Arm: unusually slow revenue growth. Rubrik’s revenue grew about 8% year over year during the six months that ended in July, to nearly $290 million, a person familiar... Microsoft-backed cloud startup Rubrik, which has been preparing for an initial public offering,...

Tim Cook and Masayoshi Son. Photos via Getty

How a Lopsided Apple Deal Got Under Arm’s Skin

By Wayne Ma and Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In 2017, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son gathered a group of executives from Arm Holdings, the British chip designer SoftBank had just bought, to complain about one of its most important customers: Apple. In a conference room in Tokyo, Son told the group that Apple paid more for the piece of plastic that protects the screens of new iPhones than it... In 2017, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son gathered a group of executives from Arm Holdings, the British...

A NASA crew lands in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a SpaceX spacecraft in Oct. 2022. Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images

SpaceX Acquires Parachute Maker Pioneer Aerospace for $2.2 Million

By Becky Peterson · Nov 28, 2023 2:32pm PST

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is parachuting in to rescue one of its vendors from bankruptcy. The rocket company is acquiring Pioneer Aerospace—which makes parachutes for space vehicles as they return to Earth—for $2.2 million, according to a Florida bankruptcy filing by the parent company of Pioneer. The acquisition, which was approved... Elon Musk’s SpaceX is parachuting in to rescue one of its vendors from bankruptcy. The...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

OpenAI Isn’t Expected to Offer Microsoft, Other Investors a Board Seat

By Amir Efrati, Jessica E. Lessin and Aaron Holmes · Nov 28, 2023 1:52pm PST · 19 comments

OpenAI’s revamped board of directors doesn’t plan to include representatives from outside investors, according to a person familiar with the situation. It’s a sign that the board will prioritize safety practices ahead of investor returns. The new board hasn’t been officially seated and things could change. But the person... OpenAI’s revamped board of directors doesn’t plan to include representatives from...

Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio. Photo by Getty.

Hedge Fund Anson Builds Stake in Twilio, Pushes for Sale

By Maria Heeter · Nov 28, 2023 5:00am PST

Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio. Photo by Getty.

Hedge Fund Anson Builds Stake in Twilio, Pushes for Sale

By Maria Heeter · Nov 28, 2023 5:00am PST

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson might have breathed a sigh of relief when the leader of tech investing at Legion Partners, an activist hedge fund that had agitated for change at Lawson’s software company, left for another fund. But the investor picked up where he left off, leading his new employer, Anson Funds, to buy a stake in Twilio. Anson is... Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson might have breathed a sigh of relief when the leader of tech investing at...