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The Briefing
Amazon’s Anthropic Deal Signals Cloud Sector Turbulence
Sept. 25, 2023
Creator Economy
Beehiiv’s Deal for an Ad Tech Startup Shows Strains on Founders
Sept. 25, 2023
AI Agenda
Amazon’s ‘Switzerland’ Days Are Over; Are LLMs Cheating on Benchmark Tests?; OpenAI Quietly Develops Customizable GPTs
Sept. 25, 2023
The Electric
Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries
Sept. 25, 2023
The Weekend
What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy
Sept. 23, 2023
Pro Weekly
Pro Weekly: Readers Temper Their Optimism About Tech
Sept. 22, 2023
Dealmaker
The New VC Mantra: It's ‘Time to IPO’
Sept. 21, 2023
Crypto Global
Behind the Scenes at Paradigm
Sept. 20, 2023

Briefings

TikTok Grapples With Indonesia’s Crackdown on Social E-Commerce
Sept. 26, 2023
Ford Pauses Work on $3.5 Billion EV Battery Plant in Michigan
Sept. 26, 2023
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Will Offer Voice Conversations, Mimicking Siri
Sept. 25, 2023
Outgoing Amazon Devices Chief to Lead Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin
Sept. 25, 2023
Amazon Agrees to Invest up to $4 Billion in AI Startup Anthropic
Sept. 25, 2023
Writers Guild Reaches Tentative Deal With Studios to End Strike
Sept. 24, 2023
Cybersecurity Venture Firm Cyberstarts Closes $480 Million Fund
Sept. 23, 2023
Apple Adds Option to Switch From Google Search in Safari
Sept. 22, 2023
Unity Technologies Issues Apology, Revises New Business Model
Sept. 22, 2023
Biden Administration Wants to Know Cloud Providers’ AI Customers
Sept. 22, 2023
Snap Ad Executive Rob Wilk Exits After Short Tenure
Sept. 22, 2023
FTC to File Long-Awaited Amazon Lawsuit
Sept. 22, 2023
Amazon to Put Ads on Prime Video, Charge $3 For Ad-Free Tier
Sept. 22, 2023

Subscriber comments

Pano anthos

on Why Dave Clark and Ryan Petersen Butted Heads at Flexport

Pano anthos

on A Tangled Mess of Tech: JPMorgan’s Tall Task to Integrate First Republic

Tech is the least of their issues. They have essentially disavowed the commitments and strategy that FRB executed with the private equity and startup community. The defections in the key banking roles testify to this. We had high hopes for Chase but better systems do not compare to relationships and networking, which is how the startup world works, unfortunately. Chase is treating FRB clients like SMB accounts. Good luck!

Jud Valeski

on OpenAI Considers Creating an App Store for AI Software

Reckoning is coming for OpenAI… they’d be smart to get the marketplace going in earnest. Playing with what mostly amounts to a hallucinating NLP engine is losing steam quickly. Time for thousands of adjacent flowers to bloom.

Joseph Bohrer

on Investors Say They’re Fed Up With Amazon’s Big Bets

I feel like I've been waiting 15 years to read an article like this. Aside from the lack of discipline and transparency on unrelated investments, the retail business has never delivered the consistent profits that were promised years ago and that were the reason investors held a profitless company all those years.

Brad Templeton

on SoftBank’s Onetime Pizza-Robot Darling Shuts Down

It was a silly investment for the time. One obvious flaw is that the pizza tasted terrible. Which is odd because we should start seeing foods that robots make flawlessly -- if given a great formula and training from a great chef, allowing that food to scale in a way it could not before. But pizza already scales.

Yutaka Okura

on Google Invests in AI Startup Runway to Wrest Cloud Business From AWS

Google used to always aim high - like B-HUG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) as they call it internally. But their recent investment looks like just following social technical trend, rather than setting the trend. I would like them to regain dynamism of leading the society, further investing in moonshot type of activities such as they used to do it at GoogleX.

Carsten Schmidt

Carsten Schmidt

on TikTok Is Not the Enemy

While TikTok is certainly shady, there hasn’t been any clear evidence that shows they are guilty. I think the government owes it to the people to provide clear evidence of this being a clear security threat before banning a service.

Latest Articles

Art by Clark Miller

Exclusive

MasterClass Takes a Crash Course in Frugality

By Paris Martineau · Sept. 25, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 4 comments

MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. The startup was emerging as a poster child of the new media landscape, one that was bringing Hollywood-style...

Image: Art by Clark Miller

Vernon Chan

microsoft google

Samsung Taps Apple Veterans for Retail Push

By Katie Benner and Jessica E. Lessin · Dec. 17, 2013 7:29 AM PST

Forget the floating Google showrooms. When it comes to retail, Samsung Electronics is contemplating a bigger plunge. The South Korean company's U.S. telecom unit recently hired a senior Apple store designer, Tim Gudgel, as it ponders a deeper investment in U.S. retail, according to two people close to the company. Mr. Gudgel specializes in... Forget the floating Google showrooms. When it comes to retail, Samsung Electronics is...

Laurence Tucker

Google Trials Smart-Thermostat Service

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Dec. 16, 2013 1:57 PM PST

Google is eyeing energy-use data, again. The company has been running a trial of Internet-connected home thermostats to help consumers monitor and adjust their energy use, according to two people told about the project. The program has been referred to as EnergySense, according to a document reviewed by The Information. Google has been... Google is eyeing energy-use data, again. The company has been running a trial of...

microsoft google

Will Thiel's Xero Bet Yield Next Microsoft?

By Katie Benner · Dec. 16, 2013 8:44 AM PST

Why are bold-face investing names like Peter Thiel making a big bet on a tiny New Zealand accounting software company? Mr. Thiel’s Valar Ventures, along with Matrix Capital Management, have poured at least $150 million into Xero over the past two years, with a clutch of other funds joining them. Over that time the company’s... Why are bold-face investing names like Peter Thiel making a big bet on a tiny New Zealand...

Y Combinator Founder Jessica Livingston. Credit: Robert Scoble

When Founders Fight, They Call Jessica Livingston

By Eric Newcomer · Dec. 13, 2013 8:17 AM PST

Y Combinator Founder Jessica Livingston. Credit: Robert Scoble

enterprise venture capital

When Founders Fight, They Call Jessica Livingston

By Eric Newcomer · Dec. 13, 2013 8:17 AM PST

A disagreement erupted among the founders of TapIn.tv. Relationships among the four, all old friends, frayed. Work slowed. The Y Combinator-backed startup knew who to call. Not Paul Graham, the celebrated thinker behind Silicon Valley’s best-known incubator, nor any of the other YC partners. Like so many YC startups before them the... A disagreement erupted among the founders of TapIn.tv. Relationships among the four, all old...

Google's Trojan Horse in China: Android

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 12, 2013 3:13 PM PST

China has been viewed as a lost cause for Google ever since its services were hurt by government interference and strong domestic competitors. But Android is proving to be a significant backdoor into China for Google's Web services. The mobile software, which Google makes available to handset makers, powers the vast majority of... China has been viewed as a lost cause for Google ever since its services were hurt by government...

Lightspeed Venture Partners

venture capital

Venture Firms’ Backdoor to Bitcoin

By Eric Newcomer · Dec. 12, 2013 12:20 PM PST

Venture capitalists investing in Bitcoin startups are grabbing a nice slice of Bitcoin too. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and others are pouring tens of millions of dollars into startups that help people buy and sell bitcoins or use the digital currency to make purchases. The investments position the firms... Venture capitalists investing in Bitcoin startups are grabbing a nice slice of Bitcoin too. ...

How 'Deep Learning' Works at Apple, Beyond

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 11, 2013 3:17 PM PST

If you’ve found that Apple’s Siri voice search understands your voice a little better than she did two years ago, give some thanks to the geeks who helped her learn. Siri and other programs have benefited from a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning. If you’ve found that Apple’s Siri voice search understands your voice a little better...

Facebook, Google in ‘Deep Learning’ Arms Race

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 11, 2013 3:14 PM PST

microsoft google

Facebook, Google in ‘Deep Learning’ Arms Race

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 11, 2013 3:14 PM PST

Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are battling to acquire expertise in a once-obscure branch of artificial intelligence that’s improving speech recognition, online-ad targeting and other technologies. Their main problem: There isn’t enough talent. Only a handful of researchers can call themselves experts in the red-hot field... Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are battling to acquire expertise in a...

microsoft startups

Meet More of The Information’s Free Agents

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 10, 2013 1:28 PM PST

Yesterday we brought you the first installment of The Information's Free Agents, a feature about respected tech and media executives on the sidelines who may be looking for new opportunities.We recently spoke with the next group of Free Agents, which includes a 10-time CEO who's now a sharpshooter; a current adviser to... Yesterday we brought you the first installment of The Information's Free Agents, a feature...

By Matt Vascellaro · Dec. 10, 2013 12:29 PM PST

A Tiger in Silicon Valley

A Tiger in Silicon Valley

By Katie Benner · Dec. 10, 2013 9:32 AM PST

Lee Fixel, a partner at investment firm Tiger Global Management, is bringing Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Over the past few years, Mr. Fixel, a former emerging markets analyst based in New York, has become a go-to advisor in Silicon Valley and the technology industry. He's shared his global take on the industry with the likes of... Lee Fixel, a partner at investment firm Tiger Global Management, is bringing Wall Street to...

Meet The Information’s Free Agents

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 9, 2013 12:38 PM PST

microsoft google

Meet The Information’s Free Agents

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 9, 2013 12:38 PM PST

Businesses are only as good as their people, and in the technology and media industries, talent doesn’t often stay put for long.Clashing cultures, strong personalities and strategy shifts often send big names to the exits (see former Apple executive Scott Forstall and former Microsoft executive Steve Sinofsky in the list below). Even... Businesses are only as good as their people, and in the technology and media industries, talent...

Wikimedia Commons

Software Developers Wait on Wearables

By Eric Newcomer · Dec. 9, 2013 9:34 AM PST

Amid all the buzz about wearable devices, something’s missing: software worth wearing. Tech giants including Google and Samsung, soon to be joined by Apple and Microsoft, have staked big bets on wearables as the next defining era of hardware. For these companies, the devices hold the lucrative promise of burrowing ever deeper into our... Amid all the buzz about wearable devices, something’s missing: software worth wearing. Tech...

Decoding Hagberg's Management Test

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 6, 2013 4:43 PM PST

I had never met Richard Hagberg, but that didn’t stop him from telling me I was too disorganized. “You’re low on order and planfulness," he said on a recent Skype video call. "You’ll be less efficient because you’re less organized than you need to be. I had never met Richard Hagberg, but that didn’t stop him from telling me I was too...

Louie Rochon

Analyze This: Silicon Valley’s Hottest Appointment

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 6, 2013 4:41 PM PST

Last year, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston called a shrink.He didn’t sit down on a sofa for talk therapy about his childhood. Instead, he filled out a 365-question survey and received 70 pages of charts and scores showing how his skills stacked up against other CEOs. Last year, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston called a shrink.He didn’t sit down on a sofa for...

Sam Churchill

Google’s Latest TV Takeover Attempt: ‘Nexus TV’

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 6, 2013 1:20 PM PST

Sam Churchill

microsoft google

Google’s Latest TV Takeover Attempt: ‘Nexus TV’

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 6, 2013 1:20 PM PST

The battle among technology companies to take over the living room is getting even more crowded. Google has been developing a “Nexus”-branded TV set-top box and could launch it in the first half of next year, according to people who have seen the device or were told about it. The battle among technology companies to take over the living room is getting even more crowded....

Square CEO Jack Dorsey. Credit: Brian Solis

Employee Stock Sales Boom, As Square Considers One at $5 Billion

By Jessica E. Lessin and Eric Newcomer · Dec. 5, 2013 4:35 PM PST

Across Silicon Valley, employees are cashing out. For years, the Valley's conventional wisdom has held that allowing employees to sell some stock before an initial public offering would reduce their drive and hurt retention. Sales began happening anyway, but behind employers' backs on the secondary markets. But there has been a... Across Silicon Valley, employees are cashing out. For years, the Valley's conventional wisdom...

Facebook's Deb Liu speaks at this year's Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas. Source: Facebook.

For New Payments Strategy, Facebook Turns to Old Focus

By Katie Benner · Dec. 5, 2013 8:25 AM PST

As more companies jostle for a piece of the payments pie, Facebook has decided on an unlikely strategy: win by giving in. Visa and MasterCard are so dominant in payments that new entrants have struggled to compete. Most players piggyback on the credit card processors’ network. They typically charge merchants fees in addition to those... As more companies jostle for a piece of the payments pie, Facebook has decided on an unlikely...

Eric Gulbransen and Rich Filipowicz

Robots Aim to Move Beyond Maids

By Amir Efrati · Dec. 4, 2013 3:31 PM PST

There aren’t many autonomous robots for sale to consumers. That makes it a big potential market for roboticists like Andy Rubin of Google, who is exploring robots for manufacturing and has considered making robot "assistants" for the home, according to a person briefed on his current project. The definition of robot... There aren’t many autonomous robots for sale to consumers. That makes it a big potential...

Intel

Google’s Andy Rubin Pursues ‘Replicant’ Robots

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Dec. 4, 2013 3:31 PM PST · 1 comment

Intel

microsoft google

Google’s Andy Rubin Pursues ‘Replicant’ Robots

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Dec. 4, 2013 3:31 PM PST · 1 comment

Google’s Andy Rubin confirmed Tuesday night that he is working on a robotics project. The effort has gone by the previously undisclosed name “Replicant” and provides a big new test to the playbook he used successfully at Android. Mr. Rubin is working on robots for industrial tasks like manufacturing and logistics... Google’s Andy Rubin confirmed Tuesday night that he is working on a robotics project....