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1.	Musk Lieutenant and other DOGE Leaders to Exit Administration By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan Source: The Information

Less than 24 hours after Elon Musk announced he was leaving the Trump administration, several other prominent figures involved in the Department of Government Efficiency have made plans to leave as well.

A White House official confirmed Thursday that Steve Davis, a longtime Musk lieutenant and key leader in the cost-cutting effort, James Burnham, DOGE's general counsel, and Katie Miller, a spokesperson for DOGE, are all leaving the administration. According to CNN, Miller, who is married to Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is going to work for Musk full time. Burnham and Miller did not respond to requests for comment. Davis could not be reached for comment.

It's unclear what the leadership upheaval will mean for DOGE—and how many more exits will follow. The effort has drawn considerable pushback and legal challenges since its inception. Musk, who announced the end of his tenure on X late Wednesday, has made public his frustrations with Washington and recently criticized the president's tax and spending bill, which he said undermined the work DOGE was doing.

2.	Meta and Anduril Partner on VR Devices for U.S. Military By Kalley Huang Source: The Information

Meta Platforms and Anduril, a defense technology startup, on Thursday announced a partnership to design and build augmented and virtual reality devices for the U.S. military. The devices will use Meta's artificial intelligence models, as well as a software from Anduril called Lattice, which has been used for surveillance.

The partnership will help "American servicemembers that protect our interests at home and abroad," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

Meta and Anduril have jointly bid on a U.S. Army contract for VR devices, worth up to about $100 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. The social media company is trying to make inroads with the Defense Department. In November, it started allowing U.S. government agencies and contractors working on defense and national security to use its AI models for military purposes.

The partnership marks a reunion for Meta and Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey. Meta bought Luckey's virtual reality startup Oculus VR in 2014, but the two had a messy breakup in 2017, following Luckey's 2016 donation to a group opposing Hillary Clinton.

3.	Amazon to License New York Times Material for AI Training, Alexa By Theo Wayt Source: The Information

Amazon will license editorial material from The New York Times to train its artificial intelligence models, the companies said Thursday.

Editorial content from The New York Times, as well from NYT Cooking and from sports-focused Times subsidiary The Athletic, will also appear in Amazon products and services, such as Alexa, the Times said. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal. Amazon has also touted deals with other publishers including Reuters, Hearst and the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post.

The Amazon deal comes as The New York Times continues to fight a legal battle against OpenAI and Microsoft, who the publisher sued in 2023 for copyright infringement for allegedly using Times material to train its models without permission.

4.	Business Insider Lays Off 21% of Staff By Sahil Patel Source: The Information

Business Insider is laying off 21% of its employees, the Axel Springer-owned publication's CEO Barbara Peng said in a memo to staff on Thursday. Peng said the cuts will affect all departments as the digital media firm moves away from businesses that are reliant on user traffic.

Peng said 70% of BI's business has some degree of "traffic sensitivity," meaning that revenue is reliant on the number of people who visit its webpages. This includes its commerce business, which is reliant on users coming in from search engines. Instead, BI will focus on areas such as live events.

"We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility," Peng said in the memo.

Last September, Axel Springer, which also owns Politico and a portfolio of German newspapers, struck a deal with its outside investors including the private equity firm KKR to split its publishing business from its classified advertising business. This gave Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner and Friede Springer, the widow of the company's founder, full control over the media properties.

5.	Elf Beauty Shares Surge Following Rhode Acquisition By Ann Gehan Source: The Information

Elf Beauty shares surged more than 25% Thursday morning, a day after the company announced it would acquire influencer and model Hailey Bieber's skincare and makeup company Rhode.

The deal could value Rhode as high as $1 billion—Elf will pay $600 million in cash and $200 million worth of Elf shares at closing, and depending on Rhode's growth over the next three years, Elf could pay an additional $200 million. The acquisition will help Elf expand into higher-end products. Rhode, which was founded in 2022 sells online, has grown to $212 million in net sales in the year ended March 31 and will launch in Sephora soon. Rhode manufactures its products in Europe, the U.S. and other parts of Asia, which will help Elf cut its exposure to Chinese suppliers. Elf recently announced price increases to help offset the impacts of China tariffs.

The deal marks Elf's second acquisition, following a 2023 deal for skin and body care brand Naturium, founded by influencer Susan Yara. The Rhode acquisition bucks a recent slowdown in beauty M&A, showing big cosmetics companies are still willing to pay up for fast-growing brands.

6.	Protein Bar Maker David Boosts Valuation to $725 Million By Ann Gehan Source: The Information

Protein bar startup David announced $75 million in fresh funding and the acquisition of ingredient supplier Epogee Thursday. Inclusive of the new funding, David's valuation is now $725 million, cofounder and CEO Peter Rahal said in an interview.

David is among the startups that have leaned into consumer enthusiasm for high-protein snacks, and says its bars have the highest protein-to-calorie ratio on the market, in part due to its use of EPG, an oil-based fat substitute. It previously raised $10 million in seed funding last year from investors including Rahal, Valor Siren Ventures and popular wellness personalities Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman. Greenoaks Capital led the latest funding round.

Rahal said the company, which launched sales in September 2024, expects to bring in $140 million in sales for its first full year in business and is profitable. Epogee, which will operate as a subsidiary of David, holds the patent for EPG, an advantage that Rahal said will allow David to launch other products under new brand names in the future. Rahal previously cofounded RxBar, which Kellogg acquired for $600 million in 2017.

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