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

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Recent Editions

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photo via Getty

Amazon Ups AI Capex Ante

By Martin Peers · Feb 6, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Amazon is upping the ante in tech’s great capex stakes. The commerce cloud giant’s CEO, Andy Jassy, intimated Thursday, as the company reported fourth-quarter earnings, that it would spend around $100 billion on capital expenditures this year. That’s up around 29% from what Amazon spent in 2024, and roughly $20 billion to $25 billion ahead of... Amazon is upping the ante in tech’s great capex stakes. The commerce cloud giant’s CEO, Andy...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo via Getty.

Khan’s Parallel Universe; Uber Is Minting Money

By Martin Peers · Feb 5, 2025 5:00pm PST · 9 comments

Lina Khan is out of the government, but she hasn’t given up her crusade against big tech. The former Federal Trade Commission chair has written an opinion piece for The New York Times suggesting the success of China’s artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek is a sign that “there isn’t enough competition” in the tech industry. Perhaps Lina... Lina Khan is out of the government, but she hasn’t given up her crusade against big tech. The...

A Google Cloud data center. Photo via Google.

DeepSeek Doesn't Slow Tech’s AI Capex Splurge

By Martin Peers · Feb 4, 2025 5:00pm PST

Tech’s AI-driven capex splurge lives! Google parent Alphabet today said it expected to lay out $75 billion on capital expenditures this year, a 43% lift over 2024. That puts Google very close to Microsoft, which has said it will spend $80 billion building artificial intelligence data centers in its fiscal year ending June. Meta Platforms, with... Tech’s AI-driven capex splurge lives! Google parent Alphabet today said it expected to lay out...

Photo via Getty.

What Trump’s Order Means for Temu and Shein

By Theo Wayt · Feb 3, 2025 5:00pm PST

Photo via Getty.

What Trump’s Order Means for Temu and Shein

By Theo Wayt · Feb 3, 2025 5:00pm PST

If you’re planning on buying your significant other a Valentine’s Day gift on Temu, Shein or Amazon’s low-cost rival to those services, Haul, make sure you have a backup plan so you don’t wind up in the doghouse. A (perhaps unintended) consequence of a Trump administration executive order issued over the weekend means packages from the... If you’re planning on buying your significant other a Valentine’s Day gift on Temu, Shein or...

Art by Clark Miller; Images via Getty.

The Zuckerberg-Musk Double Act

By Martin Peers · Jan 31, 2025 3:23pm PST

Is Mark Zuckerberg auditioning for the role of Elon Musk’s Mini-Me? We’re kidding, but it is uncanny how much Zuckerberg seems to be following Musk’s lead lately. In the latest example, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Meta Platforms is considering moving its legal incorporation to Texas, out of Delaware, just as Tesla did last... Is Mark Zuckerberg auditioning for the role of Elon Musk’s Mini-Me? We’re kidding, but it is...

An Apple Store in Shanghai decorated for Lunar New Year. Photo via Getty.

Apple’s China Syndrome

By Martin Peers · Jan 30, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Apple had good news and bad news when it reported December-quarter results on Thursday. The bad news was that revenues from China—Apple’s second-biggest market—shrank 11%, almost certainly a result of Apple losing share in smartphones to local rivals such as Huawei. Indeed, iPhone revenues globally shrank 0.8% in the quarter. The good news... Apple had good news and bad news when it reported December-quarter results on Thursday. The bad...

Photo by Getty

Meta and Microsoft Show AI Bets Still in Play

By Martin Peers · Jan 29, 2025 5:00pm PST

If we learned anything from tonight’s December-quarter earnings announcements from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, it’s that we’re still in a wait-and-see mode on artificial intelligence. In fact, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared that 2025 would be a “big year” because the trajectory of most of the company’s big bets—such as on its AI assistant—... If we learned anything from tonight’s December-quarter earnings announcements from Microsoft and...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Trump. Photos via Getty.

Trump Plays Banker Role for TikTok—Will Microsoft Bite?

By Martin Peers · Jan 28, 2025 5:08pm PST

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Trump. Photos via Getty.

Trump Plays Banker Role for TikTok—Will Microsoft Bite?

By Martin Peers · Jan 28, 2025 5:08pm PST

Did we miss the memo that ByteDance has retained Donald Trump to sell TikTok? It’s easy to get that impression, given how enthusiastic he is in talking up TikTok’s salability. He claimed on Monday that “a lot of people” are going to bid on the app, and that Microsoft was already in talks to buy it. Does Microsoft know that?Maybe Trump is telling... Did we miss the memo that ByteDance has retained Donald Trump to sell TikTok? It’s easy to get...

Outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square today. Photo via Getty.

Investors’ Deep Search For AI Meaning

By Martin Peers · Jan 27, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Talk about a jittery market! Shares of some tech firms exposed to artificial intelligence tumbled today, prompted by new evidence that China’s DeepSeek is giving AI folks in the U.S. a run for their money. Nvidia and Broadcom each fell 17%, while Alphabet dropped 4% and Microsoft 2%. Oh, and let’s not forget Oracle, a small player in the... Talk about a jittery market! Shares of some tech firms exposed to artificial intelligence tumbled...

Photo via Getty

How Trump’s Order Blitz Played Out for Tech

By Rocket Drew · Jan 24, 2025 3:47pm PST · 1 comment

What a week! President Donald Trump had promised a slew of executive orders once he took office, and the tech and finance industry executives who threw their support behind him expected several would address their long-held beefs with Biden administration policies.Trump delivered on the deluge. The crypto industry got almost everything it... What a week! President Donald Trump had promised a slew of executive orders once he took office,...

Donald Trump, left, and Xi Jinping. Photo by Getty.

Trump Loves TikTok—Does Xi?

By Martin Peers · Jan 23, 2025 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

It’s a good bet that President Donald Trump cares a lot more about TikTok than Chinese President Xi Jinping does. That suggests the Chinese leader will have some bargaining leverage over Trump in whatever discussions the two have about the fate of the ByteDance-owned app. You can just imagine Xi pressing for big concessions on tariffs or Chinese... It’s a good bet that President Donald Trump cares a lot more about TikTok than Chinese President...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty

What Anthropic and Stargate Have in Common

By Martin Peers · Jan 22, 2025 5:30pm PST

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty

What Anthropic and Stargate Have in Common

By Martin Peers · Jan 22, 2025 5:30pm PST

The term “bottomless pit of need” usually refers to an insecure person, but it could also apply to artificial intelligence startups, with their insatiable appetite for cash. Take Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s biggest rivals, which the Financial Times reported on Wednesday was raising $1 billion from Google. Just two weeks ago, we reported Anthropic... The term “bottomless pit of need” usually refers to an insecure person, but it could also apply...

President Donald Trump alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by Getty.

Larry Ellison in the Spotlight

By Martin Peers · Jan 21, 2025 5:00pm PST

Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison is suddenly the tech executive in the center of the action. Not only did Oracle bring back TikTok on Sunday, the aging tech firm also got a headline role, along with SoftBank and OpenAI, in President Donald Trump’s Tuesday announcement of an artificial intelligence data center project that will cost up... Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison is suddenly the tech executive in the center of the...

Photo via AP.

Could Trump Be Considering a Revised TikTok Global Deal From 2020?

By Martin Peers · Jan 20, 2025 4:45pm PST

Donald Trump is president again, as of today! And in tech, among the most immediately affected will be viewers of the long-running drama “TikTok—Ban or Not?”. Trump on Sunday promised to renew the series for an expected three months. So far, Apple and Google don’t appear to be sticking around for the new season. While cloud service... Donald Trump is president again, as of today! And in tech, among the most immediately affected...

The Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

TikTok in Trump’s Court Now

By Martin Peers · Jan 17, 2025 3:00pm PST

When future historians chronicle recent events in the tech industry, they’re likely to marvel at the endurance of TikTok, which has become like a cockroach in a nuclear war: the ultimate survivor. Today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the ban-or-sell law should have been the nail in the coffin for the company. After all, as we recounted... When future historians chronicle recent events in the tech industry, they’re likely to marvel at...

Chuck Schumer. Photo by Getty.

TikTok's Powerful New Friends

By Martin Peers · Jan 16, 2025 5:00pm PST

Chuck Schumer. Photo by Getty.

TikTok's Powerful New Friends

By Martin Peers · Jan 16, 2025 5:00pm PST

While it’s too early to predict what’s going to happen with TikTok, it’s beginning to look like ByteDance has successfully called the U.S.’s bluff. For months, ByteDance has refused to contemplate selling TikTok to avoid a ban. And now, days before the ban is due to take effect, politicians are caving in. Most notably, Senate Democratic... While it’s too early to predict what’s going to happen with TikTok, it’s beginning to look like...

Photo by Getty

Google to Give Businesses AI Tools Whether or Not They Want It

By Martin Peers · Jan 15, 2025 5:00pm PST

Beware companies bearing gifts: They tend to want something. Google’s announcement on Wednesday that it would now include its artificial intelligence tools in its business products such as corporate Gmail, whether customers want the tools or not, was cast as a do-gooder move aiming to bring the power of AI to everyone. The reality is more likely... Beware companies bearing gifts: They tend to want something. Google’s announcement on Wednesday...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo via Getty

Zuckerberg Acts Like Musk but Isn’t

By Martin Peers · Jan 14, 2025 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re witnessing a version of the Hollywood movie “Face/Off,” where the Meta Platforms CEO will shortly rip off a mask and reveal himself to be Elon Musk. Aside from Zuckerberg’s moves last week to abandon both diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives... You might wonder, watching Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements of the past week, whether we’re...

Patrick Spence, former CEO of Sonos. Photo via Flickr/Collision Conference.

Where Does Sonos Go From Here?

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 13, 2025 5:00pm PST

To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of internet-connected speakers parted ways this morning with Patrick Spence, its embattled CEO. Last May, the company introduced a new version of its mobile app for controlling its speakers. But the updated app left out a number of features that had... To those of us who are longtime Sonos customers, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the maker of...

Creators outside of the Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

With TikTok Ban Likely, ‘Game of Chicken’ Begins

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2025 2:31pm PST

Creators outside of the Supreme Court this morning. Photo via Getty.

With TikTok Ban Likely, ‘Game of Chicken’ Begins

By Kaya Yurieff · Jan 10, 2025 2:31pm PST

I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to stay alive in the U.S. Judging from the justices’ questions and comments, it sounds like they’re inclined to uphold a U.S. law that could ban TikTok in just nine days. That’s the opening its potential suitors, such as Activision Blizzard’s former CEO,... I was at the Supreme Court on Friday—and things aren’t looking too rosy for TikTok’s hopes to...