Andy Rubin, creator of Android and a former Google executive, has launched a new startup focused on humanoid robots, said a person with direct knowledge of the venture. His venture is the latest addition to the red-hot and frothy humanoid space, crowded with companies ranging from Tesla to startups such as Figure AI. Rubin’s startup, Genki Robotics, is based in Tokyo, where he is currently living, according to the person.... Read more ›
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Talk about mixed feelings. Anyone who banks with First Republic is surely feeling relieved today, now that JPMorgan Chase has essentially taken over the bank in a rescue deal brokered by the federal government. After weeks of worrisome headlines and a steadily falling stock price, this is a good outcome for customers—even if it’s a disaster for shareholders. Still, we’ll miss (yes, I’m a customer) the free cookies and umbrellas... Read more ›
12
When business payments firm Bill.com went public in November 2019, the banks leading the initial public offering included Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Jefferies. Missing was JPMorgan Chase, despite the fact that it had worked closely with the Palo Alto, Calif.–based company. Among other endeavors, JPMorgan made a strategic investment when it led Bill.com’s $100 million financing round in 2017 and even inked a deal to integrate the firm’s... Read more ›
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We are living in interesting times. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence are forcing social networks like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram to grapple with videos and posts that use AI to make facsimiles of real artists and public figures. The output can be lighthearted—think Pope Francis in a Balenciaga puffer. But the technology can spread political disinformation and violate artists’ copyrights. In a sign of how things are playing out,... Read more ›
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Some viral TikTok videos may soon show a new type of label: that it’s made by AI. The ByteDance-owned app is developing a tool for content creators to disclose they used generative artificial intelligence in making their videos, according to a person with direct knowledge of the efforts. The move comes as people increasingly turn to AI-generated videos for creative expression, which has sparked copyright battles as well as concerns... Read more ›
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Big tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft have become more careful about spending over the past few months, with each laying off thousands of people. But all three are ramping up spending on servers and other technical infrastructure to gain the capacity to build and sell more artificial intelligence tools. The spending reflects the gold rush mentality that has taken hold in tech as companies race to... Read more ›
27
After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week concluded a mobbed Shanghai Auto Show, and people returning from the event had a near-unanimous message: Chinese electric vehicle makers are coming to the West, and legacy auto and battery makers appear unready to defend their turf.The verdict seemed ominous: Analysts and the executives of legacy automakers raved about the range, quality and technology on... Read more ›
0
A special committee of IRL’s board of directors suspended CEO Abraham Shafi on Friday after receiving a report from outside counsel that outlined a pattern of misconduct by Shafi, an IRL spokesperson told The Information. The spokesperson declined to offer details on the misconduct described in the report or disclose which law firm prepared the report. Scott Kauffman, who has previously served as CEO for tech and media firms including... Read more ›
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After spending six months alienating many of Twitter’s biggest users, Elon Musk’s Twitter is now trying to woo creators. For the past few weeks, Twitter has been encouraging creators to sign up for its subscription product, through which users pay creators a few dollars a month to receive content that’s behind a paywall, as well as a badge denoting their subscriber status. Twitter’s director of product management overseeing subscriptions, Patrick... Read more ›
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Hi, welcome to your Weekend.While we wait around for another bank to collapse (First Republic, we hardly knew ye), the opposite is happening in social media. A thousand new apps are blooming! With Bluesky and Lemon8 and Mastodon and T2 soaking up attention, it feels like 2008 again in the Valley—except that all the coding is being done by GPTs instead of humans. This week, Arielle examines the great race... Read more ›
14
Bohdan Skitenko has been working in the design industry, producing 3D art and animation, for around five years. But it was when version four of generative AI image creator Midjourney was released in November 2022 that he began thinking about pivoting his career toward a more artificial intelligence–integrated one. “I realized that this is the future,” said Skitenko, 21, who lives in Dnipro, Ukraine. “Neural networks remove this barrier between... Read more ›
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Abraham Shafi has stepped down as CEO of messaging app IRL following allegations that the company used bots to inflate the users it reported publicly and to investors, according to a person with direct knowledge. The abrupt change happened after The Information reported a former employee alleged he was fired after expressing concern that a high percentage of IRL’s 20 million claimed users were bots. He researched the matter inside... Read more ›
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Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice creators plugging yet another new social media platform. “Follow me on Lemon8!” one said. “It’s going to be the next big thing” the next interjected. “You need to get on TikTok’s new app Lemon8,” another reiterated. Sullivan kept seeing these posts—some sponsored by Lemon8, some organic—hyping the new service, which happens to be owned by... Read more ›
33
Sequoia Capital, whose Chinese affiliate became one of the biggest funders of startups in China, has been working with Washington-based national security advisory firm Beacon Global Strategies as it faces potential U.S. government restrictions on American technology investment in China, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. Beacon’s work for Sequoia, which hasn’t been previously reported, is of critical importance because the Biden administration has reportedly discussed limiting... Read more ›
0
On the day Sarah Oh got laid off from Twitter last November, her friend Gabor Cselle called with his condolences. Then he made her an offer: Would she help him build a better Twitter? Cselle wasn’t trying to reinvent the social media wheel. He just wanted to return to a simpler time on the platform—before 4,000-character tweets or the bloodbath of blue check marks. Before Donald Trump or Alex Jones... Read more ›
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Welcome back!I’m Kalley Huang, a data reporter for The Information. I’m now writing The Pro Weekly. Please feel free to ask questions and share feedback at kalley@theinformation.com. With sales stagnating or falling, tech companies continue looking for ways to cut costs. They are thinning their ranks, shuttering products and streamlining their operations. This week, we reported personnel changes at Amazon and Meta Platforms that reflect belt-tightening by big tech. Read more ›
0
Blackstone’s Jon Korngold has been winning deals since he was nine years old. Back then, the venue was a flea market rather than a boardroom, and the prize was often a random antique rather than a multibillion-dollar company. But he was a deal hound nonetheless, and he often got a better price than his mom, who collected antiques, could. Fast-forward 40 years, and Korngold makes deals on a much bigger... Read more ›
22
Advantage, big tech. Snap’s first-quarter report today, showing a 7% drop in revenue, was a markedly worse performance than what its much bigger rival Meta Platforms reported on Wednesday night. (For those who’ve already forgotten, Meta’s ad revenue rose 4% in the quarter.) More noticeable was the difference in the second-quarter revenue outlook: Snap projected a 6% drop, while Meta projected growth of as much as 11%. Investors have made... Read more ›
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So much for the burst of good tidings about the ad market from Meta Platforms’ first quarter results. Snap results, out Thursday, took up the baton that YouTube’s drooping ad sales left off. Snap told investors that the advertising slump that hammered first-quarter results would extend into the second quarter. Pinterest, meanwhile, forecast a second quarter gain in revenue—but not at the double-digit rate that larger Meta expects. Here’s what... Read more ›
29
This week’s news that fintech investor Anthemis Group has cut 28% of its staff, which comes one month after Y Combinator slashed about 20% of its workers, suggests more venture capital layoffs are coming.The shrinking appetite of their limited partners means many will likely raise smaller funds, taking away resources to maintain headcount that ballooned during the record bull run. Recall that VC firms’ management fees, usually 2% of a... Read more ›
9
Meta Platforms has combined its advertising product, business messaging and commerce departments into one division as part of a broader effort to reduce the ranks of middle management across the company. The changes, communicated internally last week by Meta’s vice president of monetization, John Hegeman, also show how closely Meta has aligned commerce, messaging and advertising areas as it tries to jumpstart ad growth. Read more ›
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21.11.2025 08:56
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