The Weekend by The Information Staff

Every Saturday

The Weekend

By The Information Staff

Know what happens when Silicon Valley logs off—the trends and people shaping culture, technology and everything in between.

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Recent Editions

Art by Clark Miller

The Cost of Social Media Superpowers

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 13, 2024 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.When it comes to the way people under the age of 25 use their phones, I try to have what Zen Buddhists and certain tech CEOs call a beginner’s mindset. For example, not too long ago I learned that my daughter shares her location through her phone with two dozen college friends and that they all do the same with her.... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.When it comes to the way people under the age of 25 use their phones,...

Art by Clark Miller

The AI Election Apocalypse Isn’t Here—Yet

By Nick Wingfield · Jan 6, 2024 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.We’re nine days away from the official start of the race for the White House, with the Iowa Republican caucuses on January 15th. A lot of people are already on edge about this election for a variety of reasons. At the top of that list are technologists who believe a cataclysmic mash-up of artificial intelligence and... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.We’re nine days away from the official start of the race for the...

Tech Leaders Pour One Out for 2023

Tech Leaders Pour One Out for 2023

By Nick Wingfield · Dec 30, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.I’m a sucker for year-end lists, reflections and resolutions, despite the fact that so many of them suffer from predictability. One of the highlights of my week was sitting around my dining room table with extended family discussing what everybody liked and didn’t like about 2023.It was also fascinating to hear tech... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.I’m a sucker for year-end lists, reflections and resolutions, despite...

The Man Who Fights X's Battles

The Man Who Fights X's Battles

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 23, 2023 6:00am PST

The Man Who Fights X's Battles

The Man Who Fights X's Battles

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 23, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Hard to believe it’s been 14 months since Elon Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco with his infamous "let that sink in" wash basin. Feels like 14 years, to be honest. In the time since, at least three-quarters of the company has been fired or has voluntarily departed. Those ranks include almost... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Hard to believe it’s been 14 months since Elon Musk walked into...

The 'All-In' Podcast Gets Its Closeup

The 'All-In' Podcast Gets Its Closeup

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 16, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.The winding path to this week’s must-read cover story on the “All-In” podcast began, for this editor, in August 2022. That’s when I first reached out to one of the show’s co-hosts, Jason Calacanis, to see if he and his fellow “besties” would sit for a profile. I’d met and interacted with Calacanis a few times... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.The winding path to this week’s must-read cover story on the “All-In”...

From Day One to Decade One

From Day One to Decade One

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 9, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend: 10th Anniversary Edition!Ten years isn't a lot in geologic or California redwood time—but it's an eternity in media time. Just ask some of the news startups that went bankrupt over the last decade. So what secrets have we at The Information gathered in our first ten years of bringing business news to the business... Hi, welcome to your Weekend: 10th Anniversary Edition!Ten years isn't a lot in geologic or...

It's Vinod Khosla's World

It's Vinod Khosla's World

By Jon Steinberg · Dec 2, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Next week will mark The Information's 10-year anniversary, and we'll be commemorating the last decade of tech by publishing a series of top 10 lists, plus some reflections from our founder Jessica Lessin. But before we look back at the Valley's greatest hits (and misses), we also wanted to look forward, peering... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Next week will mark The Information's 10-year anniversary, and we'll...

120 Sleepless Hours

120 Sleepless Hours

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 25, 2023 6:00am PST · 3 comments

120 Sleepless Hours

120 Sleepless Hours

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 25, 2023 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the reporters and editors at The Information, the Thanksgiving holiday couldn’t have come at a better time: We needed to sleep! The same is undoubtedly true for the staff at OpenAI, who watched their CEO and president get whacked; an interim CEO promoted and then demoted; another interim CEO hired and met with “f—... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the reporters and editors at The Information, the Thanksgiving...

Live By the Valley, Die By the Valley

Live By the Valley, Die By the Valley

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 18, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

New subscribers can get three months on us with our Black Friday offer, available through November 26. You’ll save 25% on an annual subscription, which gives you unlimited access to our journalism, org charts, events, newsletters—and, of course, every story from The Information Weekend. Subscribe here to save $100+.Hi, welcome to your... New subscribers can get three months on us with our Black Friday offer, available through...

Tech Rolls Out the Red Carpet

Tech Rolls Out the Red Carpet

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 11, 2023 6:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Today marks the opening of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperative Summit in San Francisco, which is basically NBA All-Star weekend for government people. For the next seven days, our one-name tech leaders (Sam, Elon, Marc, Sundar) will play unofficial hosts to their lawmaking counterparts from around the globe (Joe,... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Today marks the opening of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperative...

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

The SBF Circus Leaves Town

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 4, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan has been taking one for the team, rising long before dawn to commute to the U.S. courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Once there, he’d grab a place in line and wait on the sidewalk for hours, huddling in the dark and sometimes the pouring rain, until the... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.For the past five weeks, The Information’s crypto reporter Aidan Ryan...

One AI Device to Rule Them All

One AI Device to Rule Them All

By Jon Steinberg · Oct 28, 2023 6:00am PDT

One AI Device to Rule Them All

One AI Device to Rule Them All

By Jon Steinberg · Oct 28, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.It’s been 10 years since the movie “Her” introduced us to a queasy future in which a man falls in love with his AI-powered digital assistant. Guess who loved that movie? Yup, Sam Altman, the father of ChatGPT. “The things ‘Her’ got right—like the whole interaction models of how people use AI—that was incredibly... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.It’s been 10 years since the movie “Her” introduced us to a queasy...

Hey Alexa: What’s Andy Jassy Up To?

Hey Alexa: What’s Andy Jassy Up To?

By Jon Steinberg · Oct 21, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.As Jessica writes in her cover story this week, Andy Jassy has enjoyed a relatively smooth transition period as CEO of Amazon. Sure, there have been hiccups and challenges in the two years since Jeff Bezos handed Jassy the reins. He earned some ire from employees after laying off 27,000 workers in 2022. And there was... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.As Jessica writes in her cover story this week, Andy Jassy has...

Thierry, Taylor, Rainbolt and Sam

Thierry, Taylor, Rainbolt and Sam

By Jon Steinberg · Oct 14, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This wasn’t an easy week for anyone. But if you’re on a trust and safety team of a social media company, this was likely the worst week in memory. In just three days after Hamas committed its depraved terrorist attacks in Israel last Saturday, Meta reported removing nearly 800,000 pieces of content labeled as “... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This wasn’t an easy week for anyone. But if you’re on a trust and...

‘A Unicorn Atop a Unicorn’

‘A Unicorn Atop a Unicorn’

By Jon Steinberg · Oct 7, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Silicon Valley loves a wunderkind, as we covered extensively last spring. It also loves to pattern-match, projecting visions of future success on entrepreneurs who look a lot like winners of the past. So what happens when an obvious wunderkind doesn’t look anything like her predecessors? It took a lot of... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Silicon Valley loves a wunderkind, as we covered extensively last...

The Heir Who Wants to Be Mayor

The Heir Who Wants to Be Mayor

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 30, 2023 6:00am PDT

The Heir Who Wants to Be Mayor

The Heir Who Wants to Be Mayor

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 30, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.To spend time with Daniel Lurie is to understand the true meaning of the word “mensch.” Everyone who knows the San Francisco philanthropist and Levi’s heir says pretty much the same things about him: Daniel is “a really good guy”—affable, smart, egoless and earnest in his desire to improve the lives of the... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.To spend time with Daniel Lurie is to understand the true meaning of...

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 23, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the kind that pokes fun at the industry returning to the good old days of expensive perks and wine-soaked dinners.I had a real-life “We’re so back” moment this week when I attended a bacchanalian feast thrown by Bain Capital Ventures at Fogo de Chão in... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.One of my favorite tech memes is the “We’re so back” post, the...

Meet the Leaders of the Austin Tech Brat Pack

Meet the Leaders of the Austin Tech Brat Pack

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 16, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.It’s been another week of all-things Elon Musk, courtesy of Walter Isaacson’s book drop, an appearance in Washington for AI discussions with lawmakers and his opining on the inevitability of a future Chinese invasion of Taiwan at the All-In Summit. The illustration designer Clark Miller created for Adam Lashinsky’s... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.It’s been another week of all-things Elon Musk, courtesy of Walter...

'If Hell Is a Party Like This...'

'If Hell Is a Party Like This...'

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 9, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.“The playa doesn’t give you what you want. It gives you what you need.” I’ve been hearing that old Burning Man saw around these parts since the early 2000s—most recently by a participant in this weekend’s cover story, The Instant Oral History of ‘Trench Foot Burning Man.’ But never has the truism seemed more true... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.“The playa doesn’t give you what you want. It gives you what you...

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

The Botched Reveal of California Forever

By Jon Steinberg · Sep 2, 2023 7:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This week, we’re publishing stories from near (a testosterone party in San Francisco) and far (Jessica's four-day reporting junket in China). But there’s another story we’re tracking that is geographically close to home and psychologically close to Never Never Land. I’m talking about the dream city of California... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.This week, we’re publishing stories from near (a testosterone party...