The U.S. government is taking its first steps to launch far-reaching investigations into Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, hiring attorneys, economists and technology analysts as they examine whether the companies abused their powerful market positions to undermine competitors. 

The Justice Department has asked Congress for an additional $1.8 million for its antitrust division, and is in ...

Bill Stasior, the longtime former Apple executive overseeing its Siri digital assistant, has joined Microsoft, continuing a reshuffling of artificial intelligence leadership at big tech companies. 

Starting this month, Stasior, whose move to Microsoft hasn’t been previously reported, will become a corporate vice president of technology, reporting to Chief Technology Officer Kevin ...

Apple has said upcoming changes to its iPhone operating system will better protect the privacy of users. But a group of app developers recently told Apple some of those changes will hurt their businesses, while accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior in the way it subjects its own software to the new rules.

In an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook last Friday, the leaders of seven app ...

Chinese online retailer JD.com is in talks with bankers to list shares of its online supermarket joint venture in the U.S. next May, looking to capitalize on the growth of China’s e-commerce sector, which is a bright spot in the country’s otherwise weakening economy.

Dada-JD Daojia, a joint venture controlled by JD.com and 10% owned by Walmart, which earlier sold its own China-based ...

Digital media publisher Axios is planning to enter a new business that includes selling software for helping companies create newsletters for their employees. The move comes at a moment when more media businesses are seeking to diversify their revenue through software sales.

Axios wants to sell the software, which it is beta testing, to communications and human resources departments at ...

A host of startups have sought to build residential housing’s answer to office giant WeWork: a modern property manager that offers flexible leases and a friendly atmosphere for residents. One of the tech industry’s most prominent investment firms is backing a newer entrant to the field, even as the concept as a whole has struggled to catch fire. 

Bungalow Living, a San ...

Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley success story. Founded in 2010, it soon attracted funding from well-known investors including Andreessen Horowitz and hired scores of employees who were promised stock if things went well and the company raised more money.

And things did go well. So well, in fact, that Toptal has grown at least 30% ...

I was monitoring bitcoin’s price on Wednesday morning, as investors dumped stocks after government bond prices warned of a potential U.S. recession. The idea that bitcoin is untethered to any traditional assets, making it a good investment in times of market uncertainty, has gained traction in recent months. But the jury is still out on whether that’s true, or merely wishful ...

WeWork is expanding, and losing money, at a breathtaking pace, paperwork filed in connection with the company’s upcoming public offering showed Wednesday. Financial information in the filing revealed that the real estate giant continues each year to double its customer base, which increasingly includes large companies signing up for longer deals.

The filing also sparked a host of new ...

Two years ago, Walt Disney Co. decided to unify the ad sales operations of most of its TV networks and websites. The idea was to make it easier for advertisers to buy spots across all Disney properties.

But the transition didn’t go smoothly, as Disney struggled to integrate new technology. The episode, which hasn’t previously been reported, underscores the challenge Disney faces as ...

A little-known Chinese discount shopping app is gaining ground in Europe and the Middle East, posing a potential challenge to U.S. e-commerce startup Wish’s efforts to expand globally.

The app, called Vova, is going after the price-conscious consumers also being targeted by Wish. It is one of an emerging group of Chinese e-commerce companies that are focusing entirely on overseas markets, ...

Subscription software stocks like Zoom Video and Atlassian have been one of the hottest tech sectors on Wall Street in the past couple of years, thanks in part to their reliably recurring revenue. Investors love the predictability of subscription businesses.

But that predictability disappears when subscriber growth is driven by hit products as ephemeral as a popular TV show. That’s an ...