The Information

NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube graphic during the 2023 NFL Draft on April 27. Photo by AP.

Hollywood’s Pain Is YouTube’s Advertising Gain

By Sahil Patel · Aug 1, 2023 12:45pm PDT · 3 comments

The Hollywood labor strikes have proven a boon for YouTube, with Google’s video-streaming service luring television ad buyers who are worried about committing to traditional TV ads while actors and writers remain on the picket lines. That, combined with YouTube’s push into live sports with National Football League games starting in... The Hollywood labor strikes have proven a boon for YouTube, with Google’s video-streaming...

Photo by Getty.

Sequoia, Lightspeed Fund AI Startups in Frenzied Back-to-Back Deals

By Kate Clark and Natasha Mascarenhas · Jul 26, 2023 1:15pm PDT · 5 comments

Foundry Technologies, a startup that plans to rent servers to companies to run artificial intelligence software, is in talks to raise money at a valuation of $350 million, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. That might not sound surprising except for the fact Foundry was valued at around $50 million in its seed round... Foundry Technologies, a startup that plans to rent servers to companies to run artificial...

Photo by Getty.

Shein Makes an Aggressive Pitch to Woo U.S. Amazon Sellers

By Ann Gehan and Theo Wayt · Jul 26, 2023 12:37pm PDT

The world’s most valuable private e-commerce company is coming for Amazon on its home turf. Shein, the Singapore-based fast-fashion giant most recently valued in May at $66 billion, has won over millions of American shoppers by shipping $4 crop tops and $8 jeans directly from China. Now it’s pushing further into incumbents’... The world’s most valuable private e-commerce company is coming for Amazon on its home turf....

An OpenAI exhibit at Tel Aviv University on June 5. Photo by Getty.

OpenAI Hires Former Microsoft Lawyer to Oversee Publisher Negotiations

By Alex Perry and Nick Wingfield · Jul 26, 2023 11:59am PDT

An OpenAI exhibit at Tel Aviv University on June 5. Photo by Getty.

OpenAI Hires Former Microsoft Lawyer to Oversee Publisher Negotiations

By Alex Perry and Nick Wingfield · Jul 26, 2023 11:59am PDT

OpenAI has hired a onetime Microsoft intellectual property lawyer, Tom Rubin, to oversee products, policy and partnerships, the company confirmed. His hiring means OpenAI has an intellectual property specialist in charge of negotiating deals with news publishers to license use of their material in training large-language models that run ChatGPT.... OpenAI has hired a onetime Microsoft intellectual property lawyer, Tom Rubin, to oversee...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Getty

Inside TikTok CEO’s Plan to Play Offense

By Erin Woo and Juro Osawa · Jul 26, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

When the public face of TikTok’s management in the U.S.—V Pappas, TikTok’s chief operating officer—announced their departure last month, it marked the biggest shake-up in the top ranks of the popular short-form video app since its CEO, Shou Zi Chew, took over the job two years ago. To people inside TikTok, though, it... When the public face of TikTok’s management in the U.S.—V Pappas, TikTok’s...

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, left, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photos by Getty.

How the Partnership Between Apple and Goldman Sachs Soured

By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Wayne Ma · Jul 25, 2023 11:54am PDT · 5 comments

Apple and Goldman Sachs were in test runs before embarking publicly on one of the biggest-name partnerships ever between tech and finance. Engineers from the Silicon Valley giant and the Wall Street titan were pulling an all-nighter a few months before launch, scrambling to find a solution to a problem that had cropped up: Tim Cook... Apple and Goldman Sachs were in test runs before embarking publicly on one of the biggest-name...

Left to right: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece; Haris Karonis, CEO of Viva Wallet; and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. Photos by Getty.

JPMorgan’s Greek Fintech Unicorn Draws Regulatory Blitz

By Michael Roddan · Jul 24, 2023 6:00am PDT

When JPMorgan Chase signed a deal last year to buy 49% of Greek payments fintech Viva Wallet for $800 million, Jamie Dimon flew to Athens to stand alongside Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who hailed the purchase as a “vote of confidence in the country.” The deal crowned Viva Wallet as Greece’s first tech unicorn, valued at... When JPMorgan Chase signed a deal last year to buy 49% of Greek payments fintech Viva Wallet for...

Ryan Breslow. Photo by Getty

Bolt Probed by SEC, Investors Over Statements Made During Fundraising

By Erin Woo · Jul 21, 2023 7:10am PDT · 6 comments

Ryan Breslow. Photo by Getty

Bolt Probed by SEC, Investors Over Statements Made During Fundraising

By Erin Woo · Jul 21, 2023 7:10am PDT · 6 comments

The Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed e-commerce software startup Bolt and sent a notice to co-founder and former CEO Ryan Breslow last year over their past statements to current and potential investors, according to an April 2023 letter from a lawyer representing two of Bolt’s major investors. Brian Reinken of WestCap... The Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed e-commerce software startup Bolt and sent a...

Cameo CEO Steven Galanis. Photo by Getty

At Cameo, Deep Layoffs Followed a Dash for Cash

By Kaya Yurieff, Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Jul 21, 2023 6:08am PDT · 4 comments

Last week, things finally seemed to be stabilizing for employees of Cameo—an online marketplace where people can pay supporting cast members of “Seinfeld” and other celebrities to record personalized video messages. After two rounds of layoffs in 2022 that had gutted the size of its staff, Cameo had flown dozens of employees to... Last week, things finally seemed to be stabilizing for employees of Cameo—an online...

iPhone 14 series go on sale on September 16, 2022 in Shanghai. Photo by Getty

Apple Struggling With Manufacturing Larger Screen for iPhone 15 Pros

By Wayne Ma · Jul 20, 2023 9:22am PDT

Apple is facing challenges assembling its two upcoming new iPhone models, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, which could lead to a shortage of units at launch in September, according to two people with direct knowledge of the issue. Apple’s suppliers are using a new manufacturing process for the two models, the most expensive of the upcoming... Apple is facing challenges assembling its two upcoming new iPhone models, the iPhone 15 Pro and...

Sequoia China's Neil Shen. Photo by Getty

Sequoia Capital China in Talks for New $2.8 Billion Fund, Defying Malaise

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Jul 20, 2023 6:00am PDT

Sequoia Capital’s Chinese affiliate, which is preparing to split from the Silicon Valley venture firm, is in talks to raise around 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) for a new Chinese currency fund from domestic backers including the government of the city of Hangzhou, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Hangzhou’s... Sequoia Capital’s Chinese affiliate, which is preparing to split from the Silicon Valley...

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters speaking at an event in Barcelona in early March. Photo by Getty

Netflix Signs Up 1.5 Million U.S. Subscribers for Ad Tier So Far

By Sahil Patel · Jul 19, 2023 10:25am PDT

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters speaking at an event in Barcelona in early March. Photo by Getty

Netflix Signs Up 1.5 Million U.S. Subscribers for Ad Tier So Far

By Sahil Patel · Jul 19, 2023 10:25am PDT

Around 1.5 million people in the U.S. have signed up to pay for Netflix’s tier of service that carries ads, the streaming service has told advertisers in the past two weeks, according to industry executives. That’s a tiny fraction of both Netflix’s total U.S. subscribers and the roughly 30 million subscribers who pay for... Around 1.5 million people in the U.S. have signed up to pay for Netflix’s tier of service...

Mike Moritz (left) and Mike Vernal (right). Photos via Getty Images and Wikimedia.

Shake-Up at Sequoia as Five Partners Exit

By Kate Clark · Jul 19, 2023 9:12am PDT · 3 comments

Five Sequoia Capital partners have left the firm, the biggest shakeup to the storied venture firm’s leadership since its leader Roelof Botha took over a year ago. Sequoia on Wednesday told its limited partners that longtime partner Michael Moritz would leave and focus on the firm’s independent wealth management business, Sequoia... Five Sequoia Capital partners have left the firm, the biggest shakeup to the storied venture...

Photo by AP.

Meta Scales Back Ambitions for AR Glasses

By Wayne Ma · Jul 19, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

In March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to transform the world, the company then known as Facebook struck a deal to buy all the augmented reality displays made by British firm Plessey. At the time, the deal appeared to be a savvy way of squeezing out Apple in the competition to develop AR glasses, as Plessey was one of the few makers of AR... In March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to transform the world, the company then known as...

Cameo CEO and founder Steven Galanis with co-founders Devon Townsend and Martin Blencowe at a Cameo-hosted Super Bowl watch party in 2022. Photo by Getty.

Cameo Cuts Staff to Fewer Than 50 After Financial Stumble

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Kaya Yurieff · Jul 18, 2023 11:54am PDT · 5 comments

Cameo, the video shoutout app that gained in popularity during the pandemic shutdowns, told employees on Tuesday that it was laying off at least 80 workers because of financial pressures, according to two former employees involved in the layoffs. The cuts leave fewer than 50 people at the startup, according to the employees, or down nearly 90%... Cameo, the video shoutout app that gained in popularity during the pandemic shutdowns, told...

A SpaceX rocket lifts off in Florida in May. Photo by Getty

SpaceX Forecasts Doubling of Revenue to $8 Billion

By Becky Peterson and Cory Weinberg · Jul 17, 2023 1:12pm PDT

A SpaceX rocket lifts off in Florida in May. Photo by Getty

SpaceX Forecasts Doubling of Revenue to $8 Billion

By Becky Peterson and Cory Weinberg · Jul 17, 2023 1:12pm PDT

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, the most highly valued private tech company in the U.S., has told some investors it expects to bring in about $8 billion in revenue in 2023, roughly doubling its revenue from the previous year, according to people familiar with the discussions. The expectation for rapid growth helps explain the... Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, the most highly valued private tech company in...

Pat Bajari, Amazon's former chief economist. Photo by Getty.

Architect of Amazon’s Economist Army Exits

By Theo Wayt · Jul 17, 2023 6:01am PDT · 3 comments

Over the past decade, Amazon has built an army of several hundred economists with doctorates who inform executives’ decisions in e-commerce, cloud computing and other businesses—an approach other tech giants have copied. The architect of that buildout, Chief Economist Pat Bajari, quietly left in March, he confirmed to The... Over the past decade, Amazon has built an army of several hundred economists with doctorates who...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

With Nvidia’s Help, Revenue Surges at Smaller Cloud Providers

By Aaron Holmes, Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Jul 14, 2023 2:22pm PDT · 9 comments

The demand for artificial intelligence chips is turning into a boom for several upstart cloud-server providers, thanks to the complicated politics of the tech industry. Consider the case of one young cloud provider, CoreWeave. The company has received a generous allotment of the latest AI server chips from Nvidia, the dominant force behind... The demand for artificial intelligence chips is turning into a boom for several upstart...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Meta Finally Went for Twitter’s Throat

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jul 14, 2023 11:42am PDT · 5 comments

Meta Platforms’ successful launch of its Twitter-like app, Threads, came together in just six months of furious work by a tiny team of engineers. But the desire within Meta’s top ranks to take on Twitter goes back years. The company’s Instagram unit even began building a text-based prototype similar to Twitter, which they... Meta Platforms’ successful launch of its Twitter-like app, Threads, came together in just...

Foreground: Source Code Capital founder Charlie Cao. Background: Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance. Photos via Source Code Capital and Getty.

For Early ByteDance Investor and China Venture Star, the Results Are a Paper Tiger

By Juro Osawa · Jul 13, 2023 6:00am PDT

Foreground: Source Code Capital founder Charlie Cao. Background: Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance. Photos via Source Code Capital and Getty.

For Early ByteDance Investor and China Venture Star, the Results Are a Paper Tiger

By Juro Osawa · Jul 13, 2023 6:00am PDT

In some ways, Source Code Capital is China’s version of Andreessen Horowitz—it’s a relative newbie to venture investing that has surged to the top echelons of the Chinese venture capital industry and raised billions of dollars—in large part thanks to founder Cao Yi’s early bet on ByteDance. In fact, some of the... In some ways, Source Code Capital is China’s version of Andreessen...