The Information

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

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

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 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

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...

Art by Shane Burke. Photo by Bloomberg

Musk Leaves Twitter Staff Without Equity Plan as Deadline Looms

By Erin Woo · Jan 31, 2023 1:40pm PST

Shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter last fall, he promised Twitter staff that they could look forward to the kind of stock rewards employees at SpaceX—another private company Musk runs—enjoy. But as Musk’s ownership of Twitter nears the end of its third month, he has yet to release details of the new stock compensation plan,... Shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter last fall, he promised Twitter staff that they could look...

Illustration by Josh Brill

Meta Insiders Debate Key Issue for Reels: Whether to Share Ad Dollars With Creators

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · Jan 31, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

When Wall Street analysts dial into an earnings call tomorrow with Mark Zuckerberg, they’re likely to pepper the Meta Platforms CEO with different versions of a favorite question: What’s the latest on making money from Reels, Meta’s answer to TikTok? It’s a delicate topic inside Meta. After three years of work on... When Wall Street analysts dial into an earnings call tomorrow with Mark Zuckerberg, they’re...

Photo of Sam Altman by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Dangles Perks and Early Access to Win Investments in AI Startups

By Kate Clark · Jan 30, 2023 11:17am PST

Photo of Sam Altman by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

OpenAI Dangles Perks and Early Access to Win Investments in AI Startups

By Kate Clark · Jan 30, 2023 11:17am PST

OpenAI has proven itself to be a prolific fundraiser, collecting billions of dollars from Microsoft and others to perfect its artificial intelligence software. Lately, it’s also been flexing its muscles as an investor in other AI startups, a strategy that could tie a generation of young companies to its machine-learning models and... OpenAI has proven itself to be a prolific fundraiser, collecting billions of dollars from...

Attendees at the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June 2018. Photo by Bloomberg.

Meta’s Twitch Competitor Cuts Contracts With Gaming Creators

By Mahira Dayal · Jan 30, 2023 6:00am PST

Since 2018, Meta Platforms has paid videogamers to stream their play on Facebook’s gaming service, its alternative to Twitch. Now, in a new era of austerity, Meta is cutting back on those payments. Facebook Gaming in the second half of last year dropped its contracts with at least 200 creators that paid them to spend time streaming on the... Since 2018, Meta Platforms has paid videogamers to stream their play on Facebook’s gaming...

Nate CEO Albert Saniger. Art by Shane Burke.

Coatue-Backed ‘AI’ Shopping Startup Nate Has Slashed Most Staff and Disabled Key Features of its App

By Ann Gehan · Jan 27, 2023 1:46pm PST · 1 comment

Nate, the shopping app that drew attention last year for overstating its use of artificial intelligence technology to power its transactions, has stopped processing payments on its app and has cut most of its workforce, according to three people directly familiar with the matter. The moves suggest Nate is poised to become the latest casualty... Nate, the shopping app that drew attention last year for overstating its use of artificial...

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

‘We Haven’t Won Yet’: Stripe Finds Growth Has a Cost

By Cory Weinberg, Maria Heeter and Becky Peterson · Jan 27, 2023 11:09am PST

Last fall, executives at payments giant Stripe gave employees an unusual warning: Look out for watermelons. The company had just scuttled a crucial project called Sonic, which was supposed to rewrite significant pieces of Stripe’s code in part to speed up transactions—an important step to reduce cloud computing costs and boost profit... Last fall, executives at payments giant Stripe gave employees an unusual warning: Look out for...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Apple Devising Software to Help Anyone Build AR Apps, to Drive Headset Sales

By Wayne Ma · Jan 27, 2023 7:27am PST · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Apple Devising Software to Help Anyone Build AR Apps, to Drive Headset Sales

By Wayne Ma · Jan 27, 2023 7:27am PST · 1 comment

Apple is developing software to make it easy for users of its upcoming mixed-reality headset to build their own augmented reality apps, according to four people who have worked on the headset. With the software tools, Apple hopes that even people who don’t know computer code could tell the headset, via the Siri voice assistant, to build an... Apple is developing software to make it easy for users of its upcoming mixed-reality headset to...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

What Went Wrong at Wyre, the Crypto Payments Startup That Went From $1.5 Billion Deal to Last-Ditch Rescue

By Aidan Ryan · Jan 27, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In early May, crypto startup Wyre rented out three houses in Arizona for an offsite for its product and engineering teams. Executives arranged a tour of the Grand Canyon nearby and rented all-terrain vehicles to ride around the area, one person who attended told The Information. There was good reason to celebrate: Weeks before, checkout startup... In early May, crypto startup Wyre rented out three houses in Arizona for an offsite for its...

Stripe's revenue growth fell sharply last year. Photo via Bloomberg.

Stripe’s Revenue Growth Slid Last Year as Firm Burned Through Cash

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 26, 2023 3:40pm PST · 3 comments

Stripe’s revenue growth fell sharply last year and the firm was unprofitable, factors the payments giant will need to navigate while planning to either go public or raise money privately in the next year. The company’s gross revenue—the amount of sales it pulls in before paying out a significant chunk to credit card... Stripe’s revenue growth fell sharply last year and the firm was unprofitable, factors...

Photo via Getty Images

Another Software Shakeup: Confluent Chief Revenue Officer Departs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 26, 2023 11:39am PST · 8 comments

As software gets harder to sell, top sales leaders are increasingly getting replaced. Larry Shurtz, chief revenue officer at data analytics firm Confluent, is leaving about 18 months after joining from Salesforce, according to a person with direct knowledge. His departure follows similar removals of sales leaders at major enterprise software... As software gets harder to sell, top sales leaders are increasingly getting replaced. Larry...

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe Plans to Go Public in Next Year or Make a Deal to Resolve Employee Stock Squeeze

By Cory Weinberg, Becky Peterson and Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 26, 2023 8:05am PST · 1 comment

Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe Plans to Go Public in Next Year or Make a Deal to Resolve Employee Stock Squeeze

By Cory Weinberg, Becky Peterson and Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 26, 2023 8:05am PST · 1 comment

Stripe plans to either go public or make a deal that will allow employees to sell stock within the next year, the company told employees and investors Thursday, moves that would be aimed at easing a looming stock crunch for some veteran employees. The company is considering both a direct listing and a private-market transaction that would give... Stripe plans to either go public or make a deal that will allow employees to sell stock within...