The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Marissa Mayer. Photo courtesy of Marissa Mayer.

Future of Startups

Marissa Mayer’s Startup Goes Subscription Route, Reflecting Broader Shift in Tech

By Martin Peers · Feb 3, 2021 2:46pm PST · 2 comments

Marissa Mayer built her career at big companies reliant on digital advertising, initially at Google and later as CEO of Yahoo. But in her first startup, Sunshine, Mayer has opted to go in the opposite direction. Sunshine plans to charge consumers for subscriptions to generate revenue for its products, which will start with a contact management... Marissa Mayer built her career at big companies reliant on digital advertising, initially at...

A still image from an Amazon instructional video about its new deliver van cameras. Credit: Amazon via Vimeo

Amazon Plans AI-Powered Cameras to Monitor Delivery Van Drivers

By Mark Di Stefano · Feb 3, 2021 12:01pm PST

Big Brother could be coming to Amazon’s delivery vans soon. The company plans to install high-tech video cameras in Amazon delivery vans in a move that it says is aimed at improving safety but that will surely ignite questions about privacy. The company recently disclosed the plans by sharing an instructional video explaining the cameras... Big Brother could be coming to Amazon’s delivery vans soon. The company plans to install...

Didi's app on a phone in China. Photo by Didi.

After $1 Billion Profit From Rides, Didi Chuxing Considers Second-Half IPO

By Yunan Zhang · Feb 3, 2021 6:00am PST

Despite a nationwide lockdown in the beginning of last year that put China at a standstill, Chinese ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing managed to finish the year with a 10% increase in rides compared to 2019. That translated to a net profit from its core ride-hailing business of roughly $1 billion in 2020, according to two people with knowledge of... Despite a nationwide lockdown in the beginning of last year that put China at a standstill,...

Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Bezos Hands Off CEO Baton: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2021 5:00pm PST

Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Bezos Hands Off CEO Baton: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2021 5:00pm PST

Jeff Bezos likes to say that it’s always Day 1 at Amazon. But now that the founding CEO is passing the baton to his lieutenant Andy Jassy, Day 2 may not be far away. That might sound unfair, given that Bezos has defined Day 2 as “stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by excruciating, painful decline, followed by death.”... Jeff Bezos likes to say that it’s always Day 1 at Amazon. But now that the founding CEO is...

Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy. Photos by Bloomberg

Amazon’s Shakeup: Five Questions and Answers About the Bezos-Jassy Bombshell

By Nick Wingfield, Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 2, 2021 4:24pm PST · 4 comments

Jeff Bezos’ decision to step aside as CEO of Amazon in favor of his lieutenant, Andy Jassy, is an earth-shaking move in the tech industry. Bezos has built Amazon into one of America's biggest companies, with its tentacles in a wide range of businesses. Jassy's appointment also means that four out of the five most iconic tech firms... Jeff Bezos’ decision to step aside as CEO of Amazon in favor of his lieutenant, Andy Jassy,...

A Google worker protest in 2018. Photo by AP

Why Tech Employees Stay

By Mark S. Luckie · Feb 2, 2021 6:01am PST · 9 comments

When any big Silicon Valley scandal breaks, the news is usually followed by a flurry of tweets and social media posts from vocal outsiders asking why tech employees don’t just leave. The companies have crossed the line of morality, they say. To stay in the employ of a company like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Reddit, Twitter, Uber or any... When any big Silicon Valley scandal breaks, the news is usually followed by a flurry of tweets...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Robinhood’s GameStop Saga Ropes In Musk and Netflix: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 1, 2021 5:01pm PST

There’s something strangely appropriate about the news, broken by Deadline on Monday, that Netflix is in talks to make a movie of the GameStop stock market drama. GameStop is the type of brick-and-mortar chain that internet firms like Netflix have put out of business over the past 20 years. That’s of course why the stock rally in... There’s something strangely appropriate about the news, broken by Deadline on Monday, that...

Photos by Bloomberg; Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

How Google Learned to Embrace Its Inner Oracle

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Feb 1, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Photos by Bloomberg; Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

How Google Learned to Embrace Its Inner Oracle

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Feb 1, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Thomas Kurian wasn’t pleased. In mid-2019, a few months after Kurian had joined Google, the internet giant’s cloud computing service suffered a series of outages, including one that took down several of Google’s own services, along with those of major customers like Snap and Spotify. Kurian—CEO of Google Cloud—and... Thomas Kurian wasn’t pleased. In mid-2019, a few months after Kurian had joined Google, the...

The Nightmare Awaiting the News Industry

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 30, 2021 7:45am PST · 35 comments

It was somewhere around minute 13 of watching Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez try to remove the blur of her livestream camera while streaming to nearly 300,000 people on Twitch that I got a big pit in my stomach, sat back and wondered: Is this what my future media diet will become? To rewind, while following this week’s... It was somewhere around minute 13 of watching Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...

iPhones on display in an Apple store. Photo by Bloomberg

The Other Big Tech Power Story: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 29, 2021 5:01pm PST

Put aside for a moment all the drama around Robinhood and Reddit, and think of GameStop in the same vein as DoorDash, Tesla or Snowflake—as another hugely overvalued stock that defies fundamental analysis. With that in mind, it’s worth spending a little time on the news of this week that may have longer-lasting implications than... Put aside for a moment all the drama around Robinhood and Reddit, and think of GameStop in the...

The Information’s 411 — How GameStop Disrupts ‘Consensus Reality’

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 29, 2021 1:24pm PST · 2 comments

The Information columnist and former Facebook executive Sam Lessin talks to Cory and helps us make sense of online communities, internet populism and the GameStop stock surge. Then, reporters Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel explain why ESPN is no longer the favorite child of parent company Disney. The Information columnist and former Facebook executive Sam Lessin talks to Cory and helps us...

Canoo's beta vehicles. Photo courtesy of Canoo

As SPACs Search for Merger Candidates, Risks for Investors Grow

By Ross Matican · Jan 29, 2021 9:00am PST · 4 comments

Canoo's beta vehicles. Photo courtesy of Canoo

As SPACs Search for Merger Candidates, Risks for Investors Grow

By Ross Matican · Jan 29, 2021 9:00am PST · 4 comments

When Allied Esports went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company in mid-2019, its financial statements showed its businesses had generated just $20.6 million in revenue in 2018. A company with such low revenue would have been a nonstarter for a traditional initial public offering, bankers say. But for SPAC deal makers, it... When Allied Esports went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company in...

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. Photo by Bloomberg

Robinhood’s Staff Fret Over Mission After Startup Halted ‘Meme Stock’ Buying

By Kate Clark and Zoë Bernard · Jan 29, 2021 6:02am PST · 11 comments

In the eyes of some employees at Robinhood, the stock trading app lost its way when it decided Thursday to halt the buying of “meme stocks” such as videogame retailer GameStop, which Robinhood customers bought in order to squeeze hedge funds that had bet that those stocks would fall. After cheering on the steep rise in shares of... In the eyes of some employees at Robinhood, the stock trading app lost its way when it decided...

Robinhood's web site. Photo by Bloomberg

Robinhood’s Hero to Zero Moment: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 28, 2021 5:02pm PST · 1 comment

Talk about self-immolation. Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading in GameStop and other “meme” stocks seems guaranteed to alienate a big chunk of its user base. Who would go back to a trading platform responsible for losing them money, no matter the explanation? This also can’t bode well for its hopes of going public.... Talk about self-immolation. Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading in GameStop and other...

Jamie Bestwick flips during an event at the X Games in 2017 in Minneapolis. Photo by AP.

ESPN Looks to Sell X Games as It Deals With Streaming Pressure

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 28, 2021 8:00am PST · 2 comments

When Jimmy Pitaro got the job of running ESPN in 2018, it was a dream come true for the lifelong sports fan. But the reality of running ESPN has been a far different story, as Pitaro has found himself presiding over a network in decline. ESPN last November laid off 300 people, about 6% of its workforce, a gut-wrenching move for what was once the... When Jimmy Pitaro got the job of running ESPN in 2018, it was a dream come true for the lifelong...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (l) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (r). Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Preps Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple

By Alex Heath and Josh Sisco · Jan 28, 2021 6:00am PST · 10 comments

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (l) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (r). Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Preps Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple

By Alex Heath and Josh Sisco · Jan 28, 2021 6:00am PST · 10 comments

A long-simmering public dispute between Facebook and Apple has neared a boiling point. With the aid of outside legal counsel, Facebook for months has been preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple that would allege the iPhone-maker abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app developers to abide by App Store rules that... A long-simmering public dispute between Facebook and Apple has neared a boiling point. With the...

A GameStop store in California. Photo by Bloomberg

Where Social Media’s GameStop Surge Could Lead: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 27, 2021 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

There’s no doubt the current stock market hysteria over GameStop and the like will come to a bloody end. The real question is whether the craziness, fueled by social media sites like Reddit and Discord and stock trading app Robinhood, leads those companies to clamp down on stock debate or trading. Media post-mortems are sure to blame those... There’s no doubt the current stock market hysteria over GameStop and the like will come to...

MainStreet CEO and co-founder Doug Ludlow. Art by Mike Sullivan

MainStreet, Which Finds Tax Credits for Startups, Valued at $500 Million

By Kate Clark · Jan 27, 2021 1:11pm PST · 2 comments

The cost cutting at startups during the pandemic shutdowns has led to a windfall for MainStreet, whose software promises to find “free money” for its clients by helping them obtain tax credits. The year-old startup has raised new funding in a round led by SignalFire that values it at $500 million, according to three people familiar... The cost cutting at startups during the pandemic shutdowns has led to a windfall for MainStreet,...

Bird and Lime scooters in downtown San Jose, Calif. Photo: Bloomberg

After Tough Year, SPACs Tempt Bird, Lime

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 27, 2021 6:00am PST

Dogged by questions of financial viability and then a pandemic that crippled demand for scooter rentals, Bird and Lime are taking steps to repair the damage. Bird is finalizing a deal to raise more than $100 million in convertible debt, led by existing investors Sequoia Capital and Valor Equity Partners, people familiar with the matter said. The... Dogged by questions of financial viability and then a pandemic that crippled demand for scooter...

Verizon technicians installing fiber optic cable in New York. Photo by Bloomberg

Internet Outages, Verizon and Value: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 26, 2021 5:03pm PST

Verizon technicians installing fiber optic cable in New York. Photo by Bloomberg

Internet Outages, Verizon and Value: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 26, 2021 5:03pm PST

If you’re on the East Coast, you might have experienced the internet outage this morning that played havoc with Zoom calls, Gmail and other everyday working tools. Unlike previous outages, this wasn’t caused by a cloud provider like AWS or a specific application like Slack but by Verizon, which owned up to a “fiber cut”... If you’re on the East Coast, you might have experienced the internet outage this morning...