The Information

Art by Shane Burke

Benchmark Expected to Join Generative AI Rush With Deal for Startup LangChain

By Maria Heeter, Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Feb 13, 2023 6:22am PST · 3 comments

Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as Snap, Twitter and Uber, is pushing into another trendy sector: artificial intelligence that can quickly generate complex text and images based on simple prompts. Benchmark has been in talks to lead a seed funding of LangChain, according to two people who... Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as...

Art by Clark Miller

TikTok Turns to New Tactics to Spur Growth as Boom Times End

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 13, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most visited website on the internet, and competitors such as Instagram and YouTube were scrambling to mimic the short video clips that made TikTok a sensation. But at that very moment, inside TikTok, the app’s leaders were putting their heads... Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most...

Serena Williams partnering with Tonal. Photos by Tonal.

Home Gym Maker Tonal Looks for Buyer After Burning Through Cash

By Maria Heeter, Ann Gehan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 10, 2023 8:50am PST · 3 comments

Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in 2021, has explored options including a sale, two people familiar with the matter said. Tonal—an even more upmarket alternative to Peloton—burned through cash last year after spending heavily on hiring, opening bricks-and-mortar showrooms... Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 9, 2023 1:07pm PST · 3 comments

Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 9, 2023 1:07pm PST · 3 comments

In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers use the metaverse in industrial settings, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The group’s roughly 100 employees have all been laid off, the person said. Microsoft created its Industrial Metaverse Core team in October to... In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Musk Tells Twitter Staff to Pause Development Amid Outage

By Erin Woo · Feb 8, 2023 3:11pm PST

Elon Musk told employees on Wednesday afternoon to pause feature development as Twitter staff worked to solve an outage that left users unable to tweet or send and read direct messages for more than an hour. “Please pause for now on new feature development in favor of maximizing system stability and robustness, especially with the Super... Elon Musk told employees on Wednesday afternoon to pause feature development as Twitter staff...

Alexis Ohanian. Photo by AP.

Alexis Ohanian Venture Fund Plots $776 Million in New Funds

By Kate Clark · Feb 8, 2023 12:26pm PST

Seven Seven Six, the venture capital fund launched by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2020, plans to raise $776 million for two new funds, according to investment documents viewed by The Information. The planned fundraising is more than 50% bigger than what it raised last year and will test investor appetite for bigger funds during a tough... Seven Seven Six, the venture capital fund launched by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2020,...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman. Art by Clark Miller. Photos by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

OpenAI’s Hidden Weapon: Ex-Google Engineers

By Jon Victor · Feb 8, 2023 11:00am PST · 3 comments

As OpenAI’s web chatbot became a global sensation in recent months, artificial intelligence practitioners and investors have wondered how a seven-year-old startup beat Google to the punch. Google runs two of the world’s foremost AI research groups, yet a startup quickly developed a product, ChatGPT, that tens of millions of people... As OpenAI’s web chatbot became a global sensation in recent months, artificial intelligence...

Art by Shane Burke. Photos via Reddit/Shutterstock.

How Reddit Grew Its Ad Business, Bolstering IPO Hopes

By Isabelle Sarraf · Feb 8, 2023 6:00am PST

Art by Shane Burke. Photos via Reddit/Shutterstock.

How Reddit Grew Its Ad Business, Bolstering IPO Hopes

By Isabelle Sarraf · Feb 8, 2023 6:00am PST

While whiling away the hours on Call of Duty and other videogames, gamers love to chew on Kraft Singles. At least, that’s what research done by food giant Kraft Heinz implies. So to drive more sales of the individually wrapped pieces of processed cheese, Kraft Heinz targeted gaming interest groups on Reddit and launched an ad in the form... While whiling away the hours on Call of Duty and other videogames, gamers love to chew on Kraft...

Photo by Getty.

Fast-Delivery Startups Getir and Flink Held Merger Talks

By Maria Heeter and Erin Woo · Feb 7, 2023 11:46am PST

Turkey-based fast-delivery firm Getir had preliminary talks late last year about merging with Flink, the Germany-based startup, in a sign that consolidation in the fast-delivery sector may have another round to go. Merging with Flink would strengthen Getir in Germany, where it expanded through last year’s acquisition of Gorillas. Flink... Turkey-based fast-delivery firm Getir had preliminary talks late last year about merging with...

Ben Schwerin. Photo: Getty

Coatue Hires Snap Exec as New General Partner After String of Exits

By Kate Clark · Feb 7, 2023 10:34am PST · 2 comments

Ben Schwerin, a senior vice president of content and partnerships at Snap who helps lead the company's TikTok competitor Spotlight, will join Coatue Management as a general partner, Schwerin told The Information. The new hire follows the departures of four general partners at the New York-based firm, including most recently David Cahn, chief... Ben Schwerin, a senior vice president of content and partnerships at Snap who helps lead the...

Hedge funds, pensions funds and even huge asset managers are outsourcing more and more of their trading. Photo by Bloomberg.

Where Did All the Traders Go? Investment Funds Lean on Outsourcing to Cut Costs

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Feb 7, 2023 7:11am PST · 2 comments

More and more investment funds are outsourcing their trading, a move that cuts costs and aims to boost returns but also poses risks for the funds’ portfolios and underlying investors. Once a niche Wall Street business that catered to young hedge funds, outsourced trading has now attracted mutual funds, pension funds and other asset... More and more investment funds are outsourcing their trading, a move that cuts costs and aims to...

Artwork by Clark Miller. Photo of SpaceX Starship by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images

Musk’s Long Road to Mars: How Poor Planning Dogged the Development of SpaceX Rocket

By Becky Peterson · Feb 7, 2023 6:00am PST · 6 comments

Artwork by Clark Miller. Photo of SpaceX Starship by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images

Musk’s Long Road to Mars: How Poor Planning Dogged the Development of SpaceX Rocket

By Becky Peterson · Feb 7, 2023 6:00am PST · 6 comments

Early last year, Elon Musk stood on a stage near the coast of Southern Texas with a 400-foot-tall stainless steel rocket made by his company, SpaceX, jutting up into the night sky behind him. That rocket was supposed to be the first of a powerful new class of space vehicles, known as Starship, that SpaceX was preparing to blast into orbit, part... Early last year, Elon Musk stood on a stage near the coast of Southern Texas with a 400-foot-tall...

Luke Voiles. Art: Shane Burke.

Pipe, a Lending Startup Backed By Benioff and Shopify, Nears CEO Appointment

By Maria Heeter and Erin Woo · Feb 6, 2023 4:53pm PST

Pipe, one of a cluster of startups that found a niche in lending money to companies against their recurring revenues, is close to naming a new CEO to succeed co-founders Harry Hurst and Josh Mangel, who were co-CEOs until last fall, according to people familiar with the decision. Luke Voiles, an executive from payment app Block, has surfaced as... Pipe, one of a cluster of startups that found a niche in lending money to companies against their...

Elon Musk, right, last month. Photo by Getty.

Musk’s Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch

By Erin Woo · Feb 6, 2023 1:16pm PST · 5 comments

Around 180,000 people in the U.S. were paying for subscriptions to Twitter, including Twitter Blue, as of mid-January, or less than 0.2% of monthly active users, according to a document viewed by The Information. The tiny number signals the challenge Elon Musk faces in turning the subscription product into a major source of revenue. The U.S.... Around 180,000 people in the U.S. were paying for subscriptions to Twitter, including Twitter...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Genesis Creditors Could Miss Out on Recent Crypto Rally

By Akash Pasricha and Aidan Ryan · Feb 3, 2023 10:35am PST · 3 comments

Crypto prices have risen since parts of crypto lender Genesis filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, lifting the value of customers’ crypto assets stuck in Genesis accounts. That’s not necessarily good news for Genesis’ creditors, however. Creditors are worried that any repayments they get from the bankruptcy will be made... Crypto prices have risen since parts of crypto lender Genesis filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy...

Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos. Art by Mike Sullivan

How Amazon’s Bricks-and-Mortar Dreams Hit a Wall

By Theo Wayt and Nick Wingfield · Feb 3, 2023 6:09am PST · 2 comments

Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos. Art by Mike Sullivan

How Amazon’s Bricks-and-Mortar Dreams Hit a Wall

By Theo Wayt and Nick Wingfield · Feb 3, 2023 6:09am PST · 2 comments

If Amazon’s ambitious vision for becoming a power in bricks-and-mortar retail had gone to plan, last month would have been a big milestone for the company. As recently as late 2021, Amazon had set January 2023 as the target date for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its first ever big-box store. It would have been a bit smaller than a Target... If Amazon’s ambitious vision for becoming a power in bricks-and-mortar retail had gone to...

Photo Illustration by Shane Burke. Photos by Getty and Shutterstock

Musk’s Twitter Scores Super Bowl Deals, a Boon for Struggling Ad Business

By Erin Woo · Feb 2, 2023 3:16pm PST

After weeks of turmoil and layoffs, Twitter’s sales team in recent weeks has reorganized to focus more on big advertisers and launch new ad products, such as its recently released digital confetti. Now Twitter faces its biggest sales test since Elon Musk took over the company: Super Bowl Sunday, historically Twitter’s... After weeks of turmoil and layoffs, Twitter’s sales team in recent weeks has reorganized to...

Verily headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by AP.

Revenues Rise at Alphabet’s Biggest ‘Other Bet’ But So Do Losses

By Jon Victor · Feb 2, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Verily, by far the biggest Alphabet unit by revenue after Google, continues to post heavy losses, according to previously undisclosed financial information. The results show just how far Verily is from standing on its own—a key goal of the Alphabet corporate structure created in 2015. Revenue at Verily, which tries to apply data... Verily, by far the biggest Alphabet unit by revenue after Google, continues to post heavy losses,...

Netflix Tells Advertisers Sign-Ups to Ad Tier Doubled in January

By Sahil Patel · Feb 1, 2023 7:00am PST

Netflix is making progress in its plunge into advertising—slowly. The streaming firm told advertisers in the past 10 days that new sign-ups for the tier with ads had doubled in January over December, a sign that low-cost offering was catching on with subscribers, ad executives say. Netflix didn’t tell advertisers how many sign-ups... Netflix is making progress in its plunge into advertising—slowly. The streaming firm told...

Photos via Adept Labs, Edmund Hillary Fellowship, Gantry ML, KIT Gründerschmiede, Sci Founders, Shutterstock, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and YouTube.

OpenAI Is Making Headlines. It’s Also Seeding Talent Across Silicon Valley

By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Feb 1, 2023 6:00am PST

Photos via Adept Labs, Edmund Hillary Fellowship, Gantry ML, KIT Gründerschmiede, Sci Founders, Shutterstock, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and YouTube.

OpenAI Is Making Headlines. It’s Also Seeding Talent Across Silicon Valley

By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Feb 1, 2023 6:00am PST

OpenAI has just 375 full-time employees, but its buzzy chatbot, ChatGPT, is shaking up Silicon Valley. The company’s influence extends even further, through former employees who are now in top positions at other artificial intelligence firms or have founded startups of their own. Even as layoffs roil the tech sector, AI talent is in high... OpenAI has just 375 full-time employees, but its buzzy chatbot, ChatGPT, is shaking up Silicon...