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

Pinterest CEO Chris Silbermann. Photo by Bloomberg

Pinterest’s Culture Challenge: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 12, 2020 6:16pm PDT

The subject of gender discrimination in Silicon Valley is back in the news after former Pinterest COO Francoise Brougher published a post on Medium about her experiences dealing with sexism at the company. The detailed post is a little reminiscent of Susan Fowler’s Uber missive of a few years ago—and it may have as much of an impact... The subject of gender discrimination in Silicon Valley is back in the news after former Pinterest...

The Dubsmash music video app. Photo courtesy of Dubsmash.

Facebook, Snap Held Talks to Buy TikTok Rival Dubsmash

By Alex Heath · Aug 12, 2020 2:01pm PDT

Facebook and Snap recently held talks to buy Dubsmash, a lip-syncing video app that has surged in popularity alongside a crop of other TikTok competitors.Dubsmash was approached by both Facebook and Snap about a deal in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. The acquisition talks progressed far enough to include... Facebook and Snap recently held talks to buy Dubsmash, a lip-syncing video app that has surged in...

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. Photo by Bloomberg

AT&T Wants $1.5 Billion in Crunchyroll Sale to Sony

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Aug 12, 2020 9:27am PDT

AT&T is in discussions to sell WarnerMedia’s Crunchyroll Japanese anime-streaming service to Sony, according to three people familiar with the situation. If the two sides could reach a deal—which is far from certain—it would strengthen Sony’s position in the niche market, as it already owns a rival anime service... AT&T is in discussions to sell WarnerMedia’s Crunchyroll Japanese anime-streaming...

Fish captured by an Aquabyte camera. Image: Aquabyte

AI Startups Proliferate as Businesses Look for Savings

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2020 7:10am PDT · 3 comments

Fish captured by an Aquabyte camera. Image: Aquabyte

AI Startups Proliferate as Businesses Look for Savings

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2020 7:10am PDT · 3 comments

Artificial intelligence has taken some punches. For years, IBM’s Watson promised to transform the business world but failed to live up to its own hopes and marketing blitz. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others vowed to build cars that drive themselves, but they aren’t even close to that goal. In June, The Economist declared: “An... Artificial intelligence has taken some punches. For years, IBM’s Watson promised to...

Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks. Image: Databricks

Startup Winners in the AI Boom

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2020 7:02am PDT · 5 comments

Dozens of startups, as well as some public companies, are fueling a boom in artificial intelligence that is increasingly automating certain functions of businesses or their products. The Information has learned the revenue and growth figures for some of the highest-profile AI startups (see below), as business customers purchase software allowing... Dozens of startups, as well as some public companies, are fueling a boom in artificial...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg

September’s (Likely) IPO Spree: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 11, 2020 5:02pm PDT

News that Airbnb will file to go public by the end of this month is the latest sign that the post-Labor Day period may see a spate of high profile tech IPOs. Both Palantir and Snowflake have reportedly filed confidentially to go public, while Asana is also said to be planning a public debut this year.Executives at all these companies are... News that Airbnb will file to go public by the end of this month is the latest sign that the...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Investors to Watch in the TikTok-Trump War

By Yunan Zhang and Juro Osawa · Aug 11, 2020 9:55am PDT

Behind one of the most valuable private technology companies, ByteDance, is a cadre of some of the world’s most powerful technology investors. While all have been fairly silent on the conflict with the Trump administration and ByteDance’s talks to sell part of TikTok to Microsoft, the investors’ behind-the-scenes... Behind one of the most valuable private technology companies, ByteDance, is a cadre of some of...

A move by Apple to restrict ad tracking on iPhones and iPads could reduce the effectiveness of Facebook's ad tracking system. Photo: AP

Facebook, Gaming Firms Brace for Apple’s Restrictions on Ad Targeting

By Tom Dotan and Alex Heath · Aug 11, 2020 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

A move by Apple to restrict ad tracking on iPhones and iPads could reduce the effectiveness of Facebook's ad tracking system. Photo: AP

Facebook, Gaming Firms Brace for Apple’s Restrictions on Ad Targeting

By Tom Dotan and Alex Heath · Aug 11, 2020 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook representatives in recent weeks have been meeting with mobile gaming companies, a key group of advertisers, ahead of a major change by Apple that will make it harder for apps to track the behavior of iPhone owners.In the talks, Facebook employees have sought to hear gaming companies’ concerns about Apple’s next mobile... Facebook representatives in recent weeks have been meeting with mobile gaming companies, a key...

Jason Kilar, now chief executive officer of WarnerMedia, at a conference in 2010, when he was chief executive officer of Hulu LLC. Photo: Bloomberg

WarnerMedia’s Big Job Cuts: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 10, 2020 5:20pm PDT

WarnerMedia’s layoffs of 600 people today were the latest sign that the entertainment industry is coming to grips with its new reality: The golden rivers of money from cable TV are drying up. With the only growth business for most of the companies coming from streaming, which isn’t a profit maker yet, the companies have no... WarnerMedia’s layoffs of 600 people today were the latest sign that the entertainment...

Modest Proposals

Why Instagram’s Reels Rollout Will Slow, but Not Stop, TikTok’s Growth

By Sam Lessin · Aug 10, 2020 12:25pm PDT · 4 comments

Last February, I wrote a product teardown of the 10 core product mechanics that make TikTok such a deeply innovative and successful product. At the time, I asserted that TikTok’s breakthrough patterns of social design were so countercultural to the dominant follow-and-feed model that the product would be hard for existing large networks to... Last February, I wrote a product teardown of the 10 core product mechanics that make TikTok such...

Photo by Bloomberg

Marc Benioff in Lockdown

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 10, 2020 6:16am PDT

Every fall, more than 150,000 people flood a convention center in San Francisco for Dreamforce, the annual conference put on by the city’s largest technology company, Salesforce. Although nominally about the online marketing tools and other cloud services Salesforce specializes in, the event has turned into a cultural jamboree featuring... Every fall, more than 150,000 people flood a convention center in San Francisco for Dreamforce,...

Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary. Photo by Bloomberg.

Larry Summers on Trump’s ‘Tragic Precedent,’ TikTok and Regulation

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 8, 2020 8:00am PDT · 5 comments

Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary. Photo by Bloomberg.

Larry Summers on Trump’s ‘Tragic Precedent,’ TikTok and Regulation

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 8, 2020 8:00am PDT · 5 comments

It was a week of shattering precedents as President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Treasury would exact a bounty for allowing the sale of TikTok and signed an executive order that would block U.S. companies from doing deals with the video app and with Chinese messaging service WeChat. So I reached out to someone who knows a little bit... It was a week of shattering precedents as President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Treasury...

Trump, TikTok and Tencent: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 7, 2020 7:18pm PDT

The Trump administration’s surprise executive orders that would effectively ban TikTok and WeChat in the U.S. raised a flurry of questions, such as whether the ban would extend to video games owned by WeChat’s parent Tencent. Equally unclear: whether a related government effort could thwart lucrative cloud services deals, such as the... The Trump administration’s surprise executive orders that would effectively ban TikTok and...

The Information’s 411 — Tik Talk

By Tom Dotan · Aug 7, 2020 6:49pm PDT

Yunan joins to explain why the TikTok saga and the U.S. government's decision to ban the app, unless it sells to an American company, has hurt the reputation of Zhang Yiming, the CEO of the app's parent company ByteDance. And Cory speaks to Kate about Headspin and the case of the startup that had to give back much of its capital to... Yunan joins to explain why the TikTok saga and the U.S. government's decision to ban the...

Andy Forssell, WarnerMedia. Photo: Getty Images

WarnerMedia CEO Unveils Major Reorg that Promotes New Head of Streaming

By Jessica Toonkel · Aug 7, 2020 12:49pm PDT

WarnerMedia on Friday announced a major reorganization that elevates streaming executive Andy Forssell to oversee the company’s global direct-to-consumer business, including HBO Max, reporting directly to new CEO Jason Kilar. The new structure, which resulted in the departure of two top entertainment executives, also streamlines... WarnerMedia on Friday announced a major reorganization that elevates streaming executive Andy...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok’s Next Political Fight: Setting Up Shop in London

By Mark Di Stefano · Aug 7, 2020 7:01am PDT

Illustration by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok’s Next Political Fight: Setting Up Shop in London

By Mark Di Stefano · Aug 7, 2020 7:01am PDT

London—As the geopolitical fight continues between the U.S. and China over the future of TikTok, Chinese owner ByteDance has moved forward with plans to open its first non-U.S. headquarters for the short-form–video app in the central London district of Farringdon, according to a person familiar with the matter.It won’t be... London—As the geopolitical fight continues between the U.S. and China over the future of...

An Uber Eats delivery courier in Tokyo on April 21. Photo: Bloomberg

The New Uber, Google Founders’ Letter: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2020 6:45pm PDT

In a sign of the times, Uber said Thursday its restaurant-food delivery revenue surpassed ride-hailing for the first time. Uber Eats revenue rose 103%, to $1.2 billion in the June quarter, and its profit margin—at negative 19%—was the unit’s best in many quarters. Ride-hailing generated just $790 million, down 67% due to... In a sign of the times, Uber said Thursday its restaurant-food delivery revenue surpassed...

Zhang Yiming, CEO and founder of Bytedance, in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.

Once a Hero, TikTok’s Founder Is Under Attack in China

By Yunan Zhang and Juro Osawa · Aug 6, 2020 8:01am PDT · 4 comments

Zhang Yiming was a hometown hero. Local media heralded his startup, ByteDance, as China’s most internationally successful internet product. It was the first Chinese tech company to challenge the likes of Facebook for global pop-culture dominance with its breakout hit app, TikTok. Now, as his company is under attack across the world,... Zhang Yiming was a hometown hero. Local media heralded his startup, ByteDance, as China’s...

Illustration by J.Claeys

Casper’s Sleep Troubles

By Zoë Bernard · Aug 6, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Hours after Casper Sleep executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to inaugurate the mattress maker’s initial public offering in early February, the mood at the company’s downtown New York offices was celebratory. CEO Philip Krim was jubilant, while Gregory Macfarlane, then Casper’s chief financial officer,... Hours after Casper Sleep executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to inaugurate...

Facebook launched its TikTok competitor Reels, a feature of Instagram, into the U.S. and other markets on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Takes On TikTok: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 5, 2020 6:48pm PDT

Facebook launched its TikTok competitor Reels, a feature of Instagram, into the U.S. and other markets on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Takes On TikTok: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 5, 2020 6:48pm PDT

Facebook has never been shy about drawing inspiration from competitors. It was already preparing a rival to TikTok—Instagram Reels—even as concern about TikTok’s Chinese ownership reached a fever pitch in recent months. So it wasn’t surprising when Instagram quickly rolled out Reels in India shortly after the government... Facebook has never been shy about drawing inspiration from competitors. It was already preparing...