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

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg

Censorship Drama Engulfs Facebook, Twitter: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 14, 2020 6:02pm PDT · 3 comments

There’s no question that Facebook and Twitter face an extremely difficult task in trying to keep misinformation from polluting their networks, particularly now, in the weeks before the election. And doing so without upsetting either Democrats or Republicans is downright impossible. But the companies didn’t do themselves any favors in... There’s no question that Facebook and Twitter face an extremely difficult task in trying to...

A TuSimple facility in Tucson. Photo by TuSimple

New Data Show Reality Behind Self-Driving Truck Startup’s Funding

By Yunan Zhang and Amir Efrati · Oct 14, 2020 12:35pm PDT · 2 comments

TuSimple, a prominent developer of self-driving semitrailer trucks that is worth more than $1 billion on paper, said last fall it had secured funding of $215 million from investors. Part of the funding came from U.S. package delivery giant UPS, which that summer also struck a deal to have TuSimple prototype trucks haul packages in Arizona. ... TuSimple, a prominent developer of self-driving semitrailer trucks that is worth more than $1...

Palantir signage covering the New York Stock Exchange when the company went public last month. Photo by Bloomberg

Jobs@TheInformation

Cover Wall Street for The Information!

By The Information Staff · Oct 14, 2020 11:34am PDT

If you’re interested in how the capital markets work, and you love the tech industry, The Information has a job for you. We’re looking for a reporter to cover tech companies’ interactions with Wall Street: how the companies go public and how they deal with investors and Wall Street once they are public. This may be the best... If you’re interested in how the capital markets work, and you love the tech industry, The...

New Amazon Data: Retailer Wins Sales While Losing to Merchants on Listings

By Paris Martineau · Oct 14, 2020 6:02am PDT · 2 comments

New Amazon Data: Retailer Wins Sales While Losing to Merchants on Listings

By Paris Martineau · Oct 14, 2020 6:02am PDT · 2 comments

Just 1% of the vacuum cleaners, immersion blenders and other household products listed on Amazon last year were sold by the retailer, with the rest coming from other merchants who use its platform. And yet 33% of all sales in that category were by Amazon. Those were among the figures published last week in a little-noticed chart, based on... Just 1% of the vacuum cleaners, immersion blenders and other household products listed on Amazon...

Kaianne Drance, vice president of iPhone product marketing at Apple Inc., showing off one of Apple's new iPhones on Tuesday. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Unveils 5G Phones: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 13, 2020 5:32pm PDT

Apple brought all its usual marketing hyperbole to today’s unveiling of its latest iPhones, with breathless exclamation for new colors, chip speed and the ceramic cover that Apple promises will be less breakable. And if you thought Lidar was something in a self-driving car, think again! The Pro line of new iPhones also have it, to beef up... Apple brought all its usual marketing hyperbole to today’s unveiling of its latest iPhones,...

Outside the Nasdaq on September 30, 2020, when Velodyne Lidar went public through a merger with a SPAC, a deal that EarlyBird handled. Photo: Velodyne Lidar.

SPAC Pioneer Is Vindicated by Boom, Even as Bigger Banks Take Over Market

By Ross Matican · Oct 13, 2020 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

David Nussbaum has been waiting for this moment for 30 years. The 66-year-old banker helped pioneer the concept of special purpose acquisition companies—cashed-up, empty corporate shells looking for businesses to buy—in the early 1990s. He stuck with the concept for years—even when only three or four SPACs were going public a... David Nussbaum has been waiting for this moment for 30 years. The 66-year-old banker helped...

Former politician Paul Ryan. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank Feeds SPAC Frenzy: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 12, 2020 5:31pm PDT

Raise your hand if you’re not doing a SPAC. It often feels like the list of people who aren’t involved with a special purpose acquisition company—a cashed-up public company looking for a business to buy—is shorter than the list of people who are involved in one. So far, SPAC backers include former politician Paul Ryan,... Raise your hand if you’re not doing a SPAC. It often feels like the list of people who...

Google employees working in a Berlin office in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Google’s Internal Data Show Engineers Found It Harder to Code From Home

By Nick Bastone and Amir Efrati · Oct 12, 2020 2:06pm PDT · 4 comments

Google employees working in a Berlin office in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Google’s Internal Data Show Engineers Found It Harder to Code From Home

By Nick Bastone and Amir Efrati · Oct 12, 2020 2:06pm PDT · 4 comments

Google’s engineering directors are grappling with a worrisome trend: internal data that indicate productivity during the coronavirus shutdowns deteriorated among engineers, particularly newly hired ones. One internal survey viewed by The Information found that in the three months ended in June, only 31% of the company’s engineers... Google’s engineering directors are grappling with a worrisome trend: internal data that...

Art by Shutterstock/Mike Sullivan

Microsoft, AWS, Others Boast of ‘Exclusive’ Cloud Customers Who Aren’t

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Oct 12, 2020 6:02am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft and OpenAI, a hot new artificial intelligence startup co-founded by Elon Musk, first began cozying up to each other in 2016. That year, OpenAI began to buy cloud services from Microsoft, dubbing the company’s Azure business the startup’s “primary” cloud provider. In July 2019, OpenAI got even tighter with... Microsoft and OpenAI, a hot new artificial intelligence startup co-founded by Elon Musk, first...

Funding for Female Founders Is Tanking—and It Gets Worse

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 10, 2020 7:46am PDT · 6 comments

Earlier this week, during a Clubhouse discussion, someone asked me if I felt the VC industry was taking diversity seriously. I wanted to say yes. After all, venture firms have increased the number of partners from underrepresented groups in the past year or so. Instead, I said I feared that they weren’t and that their hiring moves were... Earlier this week, during a Clubhouse discussion, someone asked me if I felt the VC industry was...

Microsoft's main campus in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft Joins Shift to Remote Work: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 9, 2020 5:02pm PDT

Microsoft joined the group of companies permanently allowing their employees to work from home at least some of the time. Also in this group, to varying degrees, are Twitter, Slack and Facebook, all responding to the greater flexibility employees have discovered since Covid forced remote work on everyone. Still, despite the apparent momentum in... Microsoft joined the group of companies permanently allowing their employees to work from home at...

The Information’s 411 — The Appiest Place on Earth

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 9, 2020 12:41pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — The Appiest Place on Earth

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 9, 2020 12:41pm PDT

Cory Weinberg talks to Tom Dotan about the success of Disney+ and why the app’s importance has bred tensions at the entertainment giant. Then, Cory talks antitrust and tech culture with Maelle Gavet, a former executive at real estate startup Compass and online travel firm Booking. Gavet recently published a book about her experience with... Cory Weinberg talks to Tom Dotan about the success of Disney+ and why the app’s importance...

Quibi's Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman unveiling the service earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Katzenberg Strikes Out on Quibi Sale Efforts, So Far

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Oct 9, 2020 11:33am PDT · 2 comments

Six months after launching his revolutionary video-streaming service, Quibi, Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is looking for a buyer. So far, he is coming up short. Over the past few weeks, Katzenberg has pitched several tech and entertainment executives about buying Quibi, only to be turned down. Among those he approached was Eddy Cue,... Six months after launching his revolutionary video-streaming service, Quibi, Hollywood mogul...

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg; photo illustration by Mike Sullivan

In TikTok Saga, ByteDance CEO Confronts His Blind Spot: Politics

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Oct 9, 2020 6:02am PDT · 1 comment

Zhang Yiming was shocked. China’s government had just announced new rules that could kill his chances of saving TikTok, the viral video app, from being banned in the U.S. The 37-year-old founder and CEO of TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance confided to some of his executives that Beijing’s action, in late August, blindsided him.... Zhang Yiming was shocked. China’s government had just announced new rules that could kill...

Instacart workers filling an order at a supermarket in Los Angeles. Photo by Bloomberg

Food Delivery Apps Arm for War: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 8, 2020 5:32pm PDT

Instacart and GoPuff each announced new fundraisings on Thursday, a sign that food-delivery services are arming themselves with plenty of cash for what looks to be a winter of intense competition. Instacart, which became the market leader during the pandemic, raised $200 million at a valuation of $17.7 billion. That’s a sizable increase... Instacart and GoPuff each announced new fundraisings on Thursday, a sign that food-delivery...

Illustration by J. Claeys

Audio Startups Multiply as Investors Seek the Next Clubhouse

By Kate Clark · Oct 8, 2020 6:02am PDT · 1 comment

Illustration by J. Claeys

Audio Startups Multiply as Investors Seek the Next Clubhouse

By Kate Clark · Oct 8, 2020 6:02am PDT · 1 comment

This spring, Silicon Valley investors watched with a mix of envy and disbelief as top VC firms battled for a stake in tiny audio app Clubhouse. Now others are getting in on the act. Dozens of audio startups, including Betty Labs, Geneva, Chalk, Rodeo and Spoon, are raising capital from venture firms such as Greylock Partners, Alphabet’s GV... This spring, Silicon Valley investors watched with a mix of envy and disbelief as top VC firms...

Mapbox's office in Washington, D.C. Photo by Shutterstock

A New Target in Antitrust Battle Against Google: Maps

By Amir Efrati and Nick Bastone · Oct 8, 2020 6:02am PDT

Maps have suddenly become a new front in the antitrust war against Google. Credit for that goes to Mapbox, a growing rival to Google Maps that steered federal investigators to alleged abuses by the company, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. A congressional report on Tuesday, which made antitrust claims against four... Maps have suddenly become a new front in the antitrust war against Google. Credit for that goes...

Europe's competition czar, Margrethe Vestager. Photo by Bloomberg

EU Warns of Tougher Measures Against Tech: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 7, 2020 5:31pm PDT

As much of the news media dived deep into the House of Representatives’ antitrust report on big tech, a more consequential development was unfolding in Europe. Broadcom settled “abuse of dominance” proceedings initiated by the European Commission by caving on the main points the regulator sought. And Europe’s competition... As much of the news media dived deep into the House of Representatives’ antitrust report on...

Airbnb Burned Through $1.2 Billion as IPO Loomed

By Cory Weinberg, Amir Efrati and Zoë Bernard · Oct 7, 2020 6:01am PDT

Airbnb burned through more than $1.2 billion in cash between mid-2019 and mid-2020, according to previously undisclosed figures, as the plunge in global travel earlier this year eroded a balance sheet already weakened by big increases in spending on hiring and marketing. The cash drain wiped away more than a third of what the company had on hand... Airbnb burned through more than $1.2 billion in cash between mid-2019 and mid-2020, according to...

David Cicilline, who heads the antitrust subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Photo by Bloomberg

House’s Antitrust Verdict on Big Tech: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 6, 2020 6:02pm PDT

David Cicilline, who heads the antitrust subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Photo by Bloomberg

House’s Antitrust Verdict on Big Tech: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Oct 6, 2020 6:02pm PDT

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the House of Representatives committee investigating big tech should conclude that all four companies—Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple—are monopolies in one way or another. The views of Democrats who control the committee came through at the CEO hearing in late July. But the report does provide... It shouldn’t be a surprise that the House of Representatives committee investigating big...