The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

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Amazon v. SpaceX in Taiwan

By Theo Wayt · Dec 17, 2024 5:00pm PST

As Amazon looks to sell its nascent satellite internet service to foreign governments, a big part of its pitch ought to be: Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy are not Elon Musk. That seems to be the appeal for Taiwan, which on Tuesday revealed it was talking with Amazon about a “collaboration” with the company’s Project Kuiper satellite internet service.... As Amazon looks to sell its nascent satellite internet service to foreign governments, a big part...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Getty

Nvidia on the Outs as Tech Stocks Rally

By Martin Peers · Dec 16, 2024 5:00pm PST

Is Nvidia’s great bull run over? For the moment, at least, it seems so. Even as other big tech stocks have been riding the wave of bullish sentiment in recent weeks—shares of Apple, for instance, hit $251 on Monday, giving it a market capitalization of $3.8 trillion—Nvidia stock has been going in the opposite direction. On Monday it was down... Is Nvidia’s great bull run over? For the moment, at least, it seems so. Even as other big tech...

Photo by Getty

Broadcom Stock Soars on Upbeat AI Talk

By Martin Peers · Dec 13, 2024 3:00pm PST · 1 comment

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan wants some of Jensen Huang’s limelight. Stock of the chip and software firm rocketed 24% on Friday, the day after Tan claimed that the company had a “massive” opportunity in artificial intelligence chips over the next three years. Speaking on an earnings call on Thursday night, he said Broadcom had three customers whose AI... Broadcom CEO Hock Tan wants some of Jensen Huang’s limelight. Stock of the chip and software firm...

Vahe Kuzoyan, President & Co-Founder of ServiceTitan, at the Nasdaq MarketSite today in New York City. Photo by Getty.

ServiceTitan Runs With the Bulls in Well-Timed IPO

By Martin Peers · Dec 12, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Vahe Kuzoyan, President & Co-Founder of ServiceTitan, at the Nasdaq MarketSite today in New York City. Photo by Getty.

ServiceTitan Runs With the Bulls in Well-Timed IPO

By Martin Peers · Dec 12, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Timing is everything. ServiceTitan, a smallish tech firm that specializes in selling software for plumbers, roofers and other tradespeople, demonstrated that on Thursday when its shares debuted on the public markets at $101 apiece, a 42% premium to its IPO price of $71. That translates to a market capitalization of about $9 billion, which is not... Timing is everything. ServiceTitan, a smallish tech firm that specializes in selling software for...

Stock traders. Photo via Getty

Wall Street Loves Tech Again

By Martin Peers · Dec 11, 2024 5:00pm PST

Where have all the bears gone? (They can’t all be at Lake Tahoe!) The Nasdaq Composite Index passed 20,000 on Wednesday, up 1.8% on the day but 36% from where it started the year. As a benchmark, its November 2021 high—before the 2022 selloff—was 16,057. Among the individual standout stocks today was Tesla, which rose 6% to a new all-time high... Where have all the bears gone? (They can’t all be at Lake Tahoe!) The Nasdaq Composite Index...

A Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco last year. Photo via Getty.

GM’s Cruise Hits a Dead End

By Martin Peers · Dec 10, 2024 5:00pm PST

And then there were three. General Motors’ decision to abandon its Cruise self-driving–car unit’s efforts in the robotaxi market on Tuesday is good news for Alphabet’s Waymo, already the market leader, and helpful for Tesla, which has ambitions in the market. (Let’s not forget Amazon, which is testing its Zoox robotaxis in San Francisco as... And then there were three. General Motors’ decision to abandon its Cruise self-driving–car unit’s...

President-elect Donald Trump and President of China, Xi Jinping. Photos via Getty.

Nvidia’s China Risk

By Martin Peers · Dec 9, 2024 5:00pm PST

Investors may need to rethink the valuation they’re putting on Nvidia. Shares of the artificial intelligence chipmaker fell 2.5% on Monday after Chinese regulators revealed they had opened an investigation into whether Nvidia broke anti-monopoly laws there. Details of the probe are described here. Suffice it to say this could well be one of... Investors may need to rethink the valuation they’re putting on Nvidia. Shares of the artificial...

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Lifespan Shortens

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2024 3:00pm PST

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, DC. Photo by Getty.

TikTok’s Lifespan Shortens

By Martin Peers · Dec 6, 2024 3:00pm PST

TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today, affirming the law passed earlier this year forcing TikTok to cut its ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance or be banned, was a compelling ruling. It’s hard to imagine that TikTok management would come away from it with any grounds for optimism.To be... TikTok’s chances of avoiding a ban are fast diminishing. The DC Appeals Court’s decision today,...

A Waymo self-driving car. Photo courtesy of Waymo.

Waymo’s Progress May Be Good for Uber, Too

By Martin Peers · Dec 5, 2024 5:00pm PST

This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’s Waymo, our favorite self-driving taxi service, is opening for business in Miami. Just a few weeks ago, the ride-hailing firms’ stocks rose about 10% as investors decided Tesla’s self-driving–car event the day before had been a dud—implying that it... This is going to become tedious. Shares of Uber and Lyft dropped 10% today on word that Alphabet’...

Photo via Getty.

CEO Murder Spotlights Executive Security Spending

By Martin Peers · Dec 4, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

No one is ever likely to again question the money companies spend on executive security. Wednesday’s shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson, as he walked to a company investor conference in midtown Manhattan was a good reminder of why companies such as Meta Platforms, Snap, Coinbase and Tesla spend millions to protect their... No one is ever likely to again question the money companies spend on executive security....

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks at re:Invent today. Photo by Amazon.

Apple Scratches Amazon’s Back

By Martin Peers · Dec 3, 2024 5:00pm PST

Here’s news we didn’t expect: Apple is endorsing Amazon’s cloud service. That’s what happened on Tuesday at Amazon Web Service’s annual conference, re:Invent, when an Apple artificial intelligence executive, Benoit Dupin, took the stage to talk up AWS—and to mention that Apple is using AWS’ custom-made chips for search and testing its AI chips.... Here’s news we didn’t expect: Apple is endorsing Amazon’s cloud service. That’s what happened on...

Photo via Getty

Judge Rebuffs Musk; Intel Searches for a Savior

By Martin Peers · Dec 2, 2024 5:00pm PST

Photo via Getty

Judge Rebuffs Musk; Intel Searches for a Savior

By Martin Peers · Dec 2, 2024 5:00pm PST

These are heady days for Elon Musk, whose friendship with Donald Trump has accentuated his already immense power in the tech industry. But there’s one quarter where Musk can’t yet get what he wants: the Delaware courts.Late Monday afternoon, the Delaware judge hearing the long-running fight over Musk’s Tesla pay package reaffirmed her January... These are heady days for Elon Musk, whose friendship with Donald Trump has accentuated his...

Teenagers in Melbourne, Australia, on their phones. Photo by Getty.

What Australia’s Social Media Kids Ban Means for Tech

By Martin Peers · Nov 29, 2024 2:00pm PST

While U.S. tech executives were tucking into their turkey on Thursday or guzzling Koia shakes, Australian lawmakers were approving a law that bans children under 16 from having a social media account. Whoa! Australia is a relatively small country whose revenue contribution to Meta Platforms, Snap or TikTok is likely minuscule. But investors have... While U.S. tech executives were tucking into their turkey on Thursday or guzzling Koia shakes,...

FTC Chair Lina Khan. Photo via Getty.

Microsoft’s Antitrust Luck Runs Out

By Martin Peers · Nov 27, 2024 3:20pm PST

You have to hand it to Lina Khan. The Federal Trade Commission chair, appointed by outgoing President Joe Biden, is working until the bitter end (which is likely two months away). Bloomberg reported Wednesday afternoon that Khan had signed off on an antitrust investigation of Microsoft. That’s a big deal.Microsoft is the only one of the five big... You have to hand it to Lina Khan. The Federal Trade Commission chair, appointed by outgoing...

Photo via Getty

Why Apple Might Be Headed for Another Antennagate

By Martin Peers · Nov 26, 2024 5:00pm PST

It’s a bit early to be offering predictions for 2025, but here goes anyway. Chances are very good that sometime next year we’re going to hear a bunch of complaints about newly released Apple iPhones dropping calls more often than previous models did. In other words, we’re in for a repeat of the “Antennagate” brouhaha of 2010, when similar... It’s a bit early to be offering predictions for 2025, but here goes anyway. Chances are very good...

Photo via Getty

Klarna’s AI Savings

By Theo Wayt · Nov 25, 2024 5:00pm PST · 7 comments

Photo via Getty

Klarna’s AI Savings

By Theo Wayt · Nov 25, 2024 5:00pm PST · 7 comments

Klarna has been louder than most other companies about using artificial intelligence to cut jobs and save money—part of a broader AI rebrand as the installment lender polishes itself up for a potential IPO. A fresh batch of financial details the company released today, alongside an AI-generated avatar of CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski discussing... Klarna has been louder than most other companies about using artificial intelligence to cut jobs...

Former AWS CEO Adam Selipsky and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei during AWS re:Invent 2023 last November. Photo via Getty.

Anthropic Keeps Amazon in AI Contest

By Martin Peers · Nov 22, 2024 2:47pm PST

In Thursday’s Briefing newsletter, my colleague Cory Weinberg reported that bankers at Goldman Sachs’ private tech gathering this week had asked, “For big tech, is capex the new M&A?” as part of a slide presentation on the market. We got the answer today—yes, it is—when Amazon announced it was investing $4 billion more into Anthropic, the... In Thursday’s Briefing newsletter, my colleague Cory Weinberg reported that bankers at Goldman...

Photo via Adobe

Is Capex the New M&A for Big Tech?

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 21, 2024 5:00pm PST

Goldman Sachs’ annual private tech conference this week was, from one angle, a study in East Coast realism versus West Coast optimism. Spreadsheets versus innovation. Bankers’ slacks versus Palmer Luckey’s shorts. One of the most high-profile founders on stage, Perplexity’s Aravind Srinivas, cited the satirical TV show “Silicon Valley” as... Goldman Sachs’ annual private tech conference this week was, from one angle, a study in East...

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Why Nvidia’s Investors Are So Hard to Please

By Martin Peers · Nov 20, 2024 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

Nvidia investors are, let’s face it, a bit like spoiled children. Here’s a company that posts a 94% increase in revenue from a year ago, which is quite a bit better than it had projected, and the stock falls! Sure, Nvidia’s growth rate has come down from the blazing-fast 260% or so of a few quarters ago, but did anyone imagine the company could... Nvidia investors are, let’s face it, a bit like spoiled children. Here’s a company that posts a ...

Photo via Adobe

Amazon’s Walmart Problem

By Theo Wayt · Nov 19, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Photo via Adobe

Amazon’s Walmart Problem

By Theo Wayt · Nov 19, 2024 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Walmart reported solid third-quarter numbers today, driving home what’s surely a sore point for Jeff Bezos: No matter how hard Amazon tries, it can’t conquer Walmart.The Arkansas retailer’s revenue grew 5.5% to $169.6 billion, and the company showed optimism about the holiday season by raising its full-year sales forecast. Investors are happy... Walmart reported solid third-quarter numbers today, driving home what’s surely a sore point for...