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

Mukesh Amabani and Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

How India’s Jio Won Facebook’s Heart

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Jun 24, 2020 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

Four years ago, India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, set out to remake India’s mobile industry by launching a cellular phone service with rock-bottom prices that made it affordable for India’s rural poor. After Reliance Industries, his business empire spanning oil, retail and other sectors, invested $30 billion to build the... Four years ago, India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, set out to remake India’s mobile...

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo by Bloomberg

Canada’s Tech Lure: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 23, 2020 5:40pm PDT

Most major tech leaders have called out the wrongheadedness of President Trump’s H-1B visa halt. But probably the most telling comment came from Twitter chairman Patrick Pichette, a Canadian, who tweeted that all H-1B seekers should “just look to the North, where we welcome you.”Tobi Lutke, CEO of Canada-based Shopify, tweeted... Most major tech leaders have called out the wrongheadedness of President Trump’s H-1B visa...

Pierre Omidyar, shown in 2010. Photo: Bloomberg

The Tech Billionaire Marshaling the Fight Against Big Tech

By Christopher Stern · Jun 23, 2020 7:01am PDT

In 2018, when Google engineer Liz Fong-Jones was rallying fellow employees to oppose the company’s contract to do artificial intelligence work for the U.S. Department of Defense, she turned to techniques developed by Coworker.org, a nonprofit that supports employee activism.Using Coworker’s guidelines, Fong-Jones set up petitions and... In 2018, when Google engineer Liz Fong-Jones was rallying fellow employees to oppose the...

Apple CEO Tim Cook on the company's online-only Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Chip Shift: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 22, 2020 6:55pm PDT

Apple CEO Tim Cook on the company's online-only Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Chip Shift: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 22, 2020 6:55pm PDT

In 2008, when Apple acquired a semiconductor startup called P.A. Semi, I asked Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at the time, why he would bother buying a chip company. “We’ve got some cool stuff we’re going to do,” he told me, then a reporter at The Wall Street Journal. On Monday, more than 12 years after that... In 2008, when Apple acquired a semiconductor startup called P.A. Semi, I asked Steve Jobs,...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

On Feed Ranking and Free Speech

By Sam Lessin · Jun 22, 2020 10:02am PDT · 7 comments

Many people wrote to me in response to my last column, “The Slippery Slope to Censored Speech,” disagreeing with my contention that people have a right to have their speech distributed and magnified through social platforms and personally ranked feeds.These people assert that when social platforms suggest specific voices to follow or... Many people wrote to me in response to my last column, “The Slippery Slope to Censored...

Endeavor Group's Ariel Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell. Photo by Alex J. Berliner/ABImages via AP Images

What’s Next for Endeavor?

By Jessica Toonkel · Jun 22, 2020 6:46am PDT · 1 comment

For most of the past year, everything that could go wrong for Endeavor Group Holdings did go wrong. The entertainment firm—which owns everything from a controlling interest in Ultimate Fighting Championship, the mixed martial arts league, to WME, the powerful Hollywood talent agency that represents Matt Damon and Justin... For most of the past year, everything that could go wrong for Endeavor Group Holdings did go...

A street in San Francisco May 6. Even as coronavirus restrictions start to loosen, many office workers are likely to keep working from home. Photo: Bloomberg

The Aftershocks of Extended Remote Work

By Laura Mandaro · Jun 20, 2020 7:46am PDT · 1 comment

Today marks the official start of summer. Even here in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has been slower to remove coronavirus restrictions than many parts of the country, it feels shutdowns are nearly behind us. People are drinking beer on restaurant patios. Traffic is returning. Yet a review of when tech companies are planning to bring... Today marks the official start of summer. Even here in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has been...

The Information’s 411 — Party at the Mailbox

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 19, 2020 1:31pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Party at the Mailbox

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 19, 2020 1:31pm PDT

As part of our Juneteenth episode, we're focusing on how tech companies and tech products can contribute to major policy changes. We talk to Catherine Bracy, executive director of TechEquity Collaborative, about why tech companies should fight for racial justice through property tax reform. Then we hear from Nykidra Robinson, who runs Black... As part of our Juneteenth episode, we're focusing on how tech companies and tech products...

Just 2.7% of Top Roles in Big Tech Held by Black Executives

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 19, 2020 12:39pm PDT

Shavone Charles got her start in the tech industry as an intern at Google in 2011, before moving to full-time media and partnerships jobs at Twitter and, later, Instagram. She has watched those businesses succeed in part because of their popularity with African Americans. But tech companies have few black executives. Charles, who is black, has... Shavone Charles got her start in the tech industry as an intern at Google in 2011, before moving...

Ulili Onovakpuri. Photo: Kapor Capital

Q&A

Venture Capital’s Elite Must Knock Down Barriers for Black Founders, Says Kapor Partner

By Kate Clark · Jun 19, 2020 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Ulili Onovakpuri has been getting a lot of emails lately—mostly from fellow venture capitalists and startup leaders, each with a similar message: “We realize that we have a diversity problem. Can you help?”For the Kapor Capital partner, one of very few black women partners in the venture capital industry, Silicon Valley’s... Ulili Onovakpuri has been getting a lot of emails lately—mostly from fellow venture...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg

Tech’s Anti-Apple Campaign Builds: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 18, 2020 5:32pm PDT

This might be what’s called a tech bandwagon. Within two days of news that the European Commission is investigating Apple over its App Store rules, a flood of companies’ complaints about the issue have appeared. It all culminated in a Bloomberg report on Thursday quoting Microsoft president Brad Smith calling for antitrust regulators... This might be what’s called a tech bandwagon. Within two days of news that the European...

Google Reorg Gives Top Exec Portfolio to Jump-Start Shopping

By Nick Bastone · Jun 18, 2020 12:28pm PDT · 2 comments

Google Reorg Gives Top Exec Portfolio to Jump-Start Shopping

By Nick Bastone · Jun 18, 2020 12:28pm PDT · 2 comments

Until a few weeks ago, when Google staffers wanted to test new shopping features for Google’s search home page, the need to get approval from Google’s search team sometimes held things up, former employees say. But a management shake-up earlier this month, giving a key executive responsibility for search and e-commerce, could smooth... Until a few weeks ago, when Google staffers wanted to test new shopping features for...

Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump. Photos: Dorsey and Trump, Bloomberg; Zuckerberg, AP. Art by Mike Sullivan

Facebook’s Month of Whiplash

By Alex Heath · Jun 18, 2020 7:00am PDT

Facebook finally got a breather. After getting pummeled for several years by lawmakers, privacy advocates and press, the company was riding a wave of positive publicity during the coronavirus lockdown. Executives began giving interviews about how their social apps were keeping people stuck at home connected rather than tearing them apart... Facebook finally got a breather. After getting pummeled for several years by lawmakers,...

Attorney General Bill Barr. Photo by Bloomberg

Trump’s Escalating Attacks on Tech: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 17, 2020 5:30pm PDT

The Trump administration on Wednesday escalated its attacks on Section 230 liability protections for tech companies, with the Justice Department issuing a 25-page paper that suggested how lawmakers could overhaul the law. Democrats immediately denounced the proposal, which they see as an effort by President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr... The Trump administration on Wednesday escalated its attacks on Section 230 liability protections...

A TikTok sign at a ByteDance event in Tokyo last year. Photo by Bloomberg

TikTok’s U.S. Revenues Expected to Hit $500 Million This Year

By Yunan Zhang and Tom Dotan · Jun 17, 2020 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

TikTok has taken off like a rocket ship in the U.S. and around the world, creating a new mobile video experience that has left YouTube and Facebook scrambling to keep up. Now, under a new CEO, former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, the Chinese-owned social app hopes to turn that growth into billions in revenues. Mayer could look to the success of... TikTok has taken off like a rocket ship in the U.S. and around the world, creating a new mobile...

An aerial shot of Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. Photo by Bloomberg

How Lockdowns Changed Venture Capital: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 16, 2020 5:46pm PDT

An aerial shot of Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. Photo by Bloomberg

How Lockdowns Changed Venture Capital: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 16, 2020 5:46pm PDT

One of the good things that may come out of the pandemic lockdown is an increase in venture investment in startups outside Silicon Valley. That’s one takeaway from our story today about how some VCs have bowed to the inevitable and made investments in founders after having met them only on Zoom.With face-to-face meetings on hold, founders... One of the good things that may come out of the pandemic lockdown is an increase in venture...

Aydin Senkut. Credit: Felicis Ventures

Can You Invest Over Zoom? Venture Capitalists Are Split

By Kate Clark · Jun 16, 2020 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

For weeks, Race Capital general partner Alfred Chuang had been pursuing an investment in a startup he thought was headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Then, over a series of video chats, he realized it had relocated to Toronto. He’s still interested. “The whole work-from-home thing makes the border go away,” said... For weeks, Race Capital general partner Alfred Chuang had been pursuing an investment in a...

eBay's Silicon Valley headquarters. Photo by AP

eBay’s Cyberstalking Drama: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 15, 2020 5:07pm PDT

Auction site eBay has gone through some fascinating corporate drama lately, including a power struggle on its board involving activist investor Elliott and the departure of CEO Devin Wenig last year. But nothing can compare to the extraordinary allegations made by the Justice Department in a cyberstalking case filed on Monday against former... Auction site eBay has gone through some fascinating corporate drama lately, including a power...

Acronym's Tatenda Musapatike. Photo by Acronym

Tech Took On Voter Turnout. It’s Still Working On It

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 15, 2020 10:16am PDT · 7 comments

Matt Mahan launched a startup called Brigade in 2014 with the aim of encouraging young, smartphone-obsessed Americans to turn out for elections. Backed by high-profile investors including Facebook’s first president, Sean Parker, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Mahan hired scores of software engineers and political veterans. Their job was... Matt Mahan launched a startup called Brigade in 2014 with the aim of encouraging young,...

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Hires From Rivals but Sues Those Who Defect

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jun 15, 2020 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Hires From Rivals but Sues Those Who Defect

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jun 15, 2020 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Last week, Amazon sent a stark message to highly paid employees thinking about leaving the company for a rival: Do so and we might sue. But Amazon is only too happy to hire away employees from those same rivals. In recent years, Amazon has poached prominent people from Microsoft, Google, VMware and other companies, and those competitors... Last week, Amazon sent a stark message to highly paid employees thinking about leaving the...