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

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

The Lesson From AB5

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 14, 2019 7:47am PDT · 1 comment

The big news of the week was the near passage of the California law that would require Uber, Lyft and other companies that rely on contractors to treat them more like full-time employees. Amir’s sources told him the move could add an estimated 20% to Uber’s costs. Some observers hailed the move as the beginning of the end of... The big news of the week was the near passage of the California law that would require Uber, Lyft...

The Information’s 411 — Amazon’s Go Slow

By Priya Anand · Sep 13, 2019 3:41pm PDT

Wayne discusses who has power at Apple, after some high-profile departures. Priya explains how Amazon has fallen behind on its internal goals to open more cashierless Go stores. Wayne discusses who has power at Apple, after some high-profile departures. Priya explains how...

Cheddar founder Jon Steinberg. Photo by Keith MacDonald

Media Companies Need Huge Scale to Survive, Cheddar Founder Says

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 13, 2019 11:57am PDT

Media companies need to consolidate unless they have massive scale, says Jon Steinberg, founder of millennial-focused financial news network Cheddar, which sold to New York cable company Altice USA earlier this year. “Cheddar had to be sold,” he said at The Information’s annual Media Bootcamp event in New York City, in an... Media companies need to consolidate unless they have massive scale, says Jon Steinberg, founder...

Journalist and activist Shaun King. Photo by Keith MacDonald.

Shaun King Admits Mistakes in Launch of News Outlet North Star

By Carleton English · Sep 13, 2019 10:55am PDT · 3 comments

Journalist and activist Shaun King. Photo by Keith MacDonald.

Shaun King Admits Mistakes in Launch of News Outlet North Star

By Carleton English · Sep 13, 2019 10:55am PDT · 3 comments

Activist and journalist Shaun King said he made “major mistakes” on his way to launching subscription-based social justice news outlet the North Star last year, but forgoing venture capital money isn’t one of them.King acknowledged Friday that the North Star’s launch had difficulties, including doing too much with too... Activist and journalist Shaun King said he made “major mistakes” on his way to...

The Information's editor in chief Jessica Lessin talks with Wired Editor in Chief Nick Thompson on Friday. Photo by Keith MacDonald

Publishers Increasingly Skeptical of Working With Tech, Says Wired Editor

By Alex Heath · Sep 13, 2019 9:08am PDT · 3 comments

Publishers have grown wary of doing deals with tech companies like Apple and Facebook, says Wired Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Thompson, aware that the terms of the deals often favor the tech companies over the news outlets. “I think that the journalism industry is appropriately wary of these platforms, and they’ve noticed that the... Publishers have grown wary of doing deals with tech companies like Apple and Facebook, says Wired...

Alibaba's office in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg

U.S. Official Escalates China Rhetoric With Alibaba and Tencent Criticism

By Juro Osawa, Ashley Gold and Christopher Stern · Sep 12, 2019 6:07pm PDT · 1 comment

A mid-level official with the State Department asserted in a little-noticed speech on Wednesday that several huge Chinese tech companies—Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu—were effectively arms of the Chinese government. His comments raised the prospect that the Trump administration, which in May effectively barred Chinese smartphone maker... A mid-level official with the State Department asserted in a little-noticed speech on Wednesday...

The People With Power at Apple

By Wayne Ma and Aaron Tilley · Sep 12, 2019 8:40am PDT

Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined as it grapples with a slowdown of its most important product, the iPhone, the latest models of which were unveiled on Tuesday. Aside from high-profile departures, such as chief designer Jony Ive, Apple has elevated its heads of operations and... Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined...

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. Photo by Bloomberg

Goldman Hires AWS Executive in Boost for Cloud Ambitions

By Kevin McLaughlin and Carleton English · Sep 12, 2019 7:01am PDT · 6 comments

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. Photo by Bloomberg

Goldman Hires AWS Executive in Boost for Cloud Ambitions

By Kevin McLaughlin and Carleton English · Sep 12, 2019 7:01am PDT · 6 comments

Goldman Sachs has hired a well-known executive from Amazon Web Services for a top tech role, the clearest signal yet that the bank wants to increase its use of public cloud services. Marco Argenti, who has spent the past six years at AWS as vice president of technology, is joining Goldman as co-chief information officer, succeeding Elisha... Goldman Sachs has hired a well-known executive from Amazon Web Services for a top tech role, the...

California governor Gavin Newsom. Photo by Bloomberg

Uber Costs Could Rise by 20% if Drivers Were Employees

By Amir Efrati · Sep 11, 2019 2:54pm PDT · 7 comments

A California bill that appears on the verge of becoming law could upend the business model of Uber and Lyft, by trying to force them to hire drivers as full-time employees rather than as contractors. Uber’s costs could rise by around 20% if that policy were applied globally, according to a former Uber executive who has examined the... A California bill that appears on the verge of becoming law could upend the business model of...

The entry of an Amazon Go store. Photo by Bloomberg

No ‘Go’ Soda Lines: Amazon’s Search for Ideal Cashierless Store

By Priya Anand · Sep 11, 2019 7:02am PDT · 4 comments

This summer, Amazon sought to answer a key question about its cashierless Go convenience stores: How small could it go?Employees at Amazon were seeking to determine the smallest possible size and design for a Go store in order to hit its target of $2 million in annual sales from each store, according to an internal analysis prepared in June and... This summer, Amazon sought to answer a key question about its cashierless Go convenience stores:...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

Internal Facebook Memo Reveals Guidelines for Showcasing News

By Alex Heath and Jessica Toonkel · Sep 10, 2019 3:26pm PDT · 1 comment

Facebook has said repeatedly that it isn’t in the journalism business, but a team of human editors responsible for an upcoming news initiative by the company will exercise significant control over the presentation of top stories, including judging them over their use of anonymous sources, according to internal guidelines seen by The... Facebook has said repeatedly that it isn’t in the journalism business, but a team of human...

Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event in September, 2018. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s iPhone Prospects in China Tougher Than Ever

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Sep 10, 2019 9:32am PDT · 1 comment

Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event in September, 2018. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s iPhone Prospects in China Tougher Than Ever

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Sep 10, 2019 9:32am PDT · 1 comment

Huawei may be struggling to deal with U.S. sanctions in many international markets, but in China its sales are surging, thanks to its smartphones’ high-end specs and rising patriotic sentiment. And that spells bad news for Apple’s hopes for its new iPhones in the Chinese market.Until recently, the iPhone was the only luxury... Huawei may be struggling to deal with U.S. sanctions in many international markets, but in China...

In India, Many Internet Users, but Little Ad Revenue

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Sep 10, 2019 7:02am PDT · 4 comments

India, home to 1.3 billion people, offers a temptingly huge target for global tech companies: one of the world’s fastest growing economies and more than half a billion internet users, second only to China. American titans like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Walmart and Uber, as well as China’s ByteDance and Alibaba, are all trying to grab... India, home to 1.3 billion people, offers a temptingly huge target for global tech companies: one...

Jobs@TheInformation

Apply for The Information’s Summer 2020 Reporting Internship

By The Information Staff · Sep 9, 2019 4:04pm PDT

Come join our team as a summer reporting intern. This is an ideal opportunity for a college or graduate student with journalism ambitions and experience in reporting. The intern will spend the summer reporting and writing stories, supported by our team. Candidates must be able to generate ideas and source up. We are looking for someone with... Come join our team as a summer reporting intern. This is an ideal opportunity for a college or...

Jobs@TheInformation

Join The Information as Our Apple Reporter!

By The Information Staff · Sep 9, 2019 3:53pm PDT

Apple’s evolution into one of the most valuable companies in the world was one of the biggest stories in tech of the past 20 years. How it changes as it grapples with a slowdown of its most important product, the iPhone, is sure to be one of the biggest tech stories of the next few years. The Information is looking for a reporter to cover... Apple’s evolution into one of the most valuable companies in the world was one of the...

Photo by Erin Beach

Cover Google for The Information!

By The Information Staff · Sep 9, 2019 3:53pm PDT

Photo by Erin Beach

Jobs@TheInformation

Cover Google for The Information!

By The Information Staff · Sep 9, 2019 3:53pm PDT

No company embodies the captivating array of themes surrounding Silicon Valley better than Google. Its dominance of the internet search and advertising markets has made it a top target for regulators, and controversies around its handling of harassment complaints have made it a center for employee activism sweeping through tech. YouTube has... No company embodies the captivating array of themes surrounding Silicon Valley better than...

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by Bloomberg

How Streaming Math Could Hurt AT&T

By Martin Peers · Sep 9, 2019 2:03pm PDT · 5 comments

Activist investor Elliott Associates, which on Monday said it had bought a stake in AT&T, homed in on the flaws in the telecom giant’s growth strategy of recent years: It spent a total of $163 billion buying DirecTV and Time Warner just as cord-cutting was starting to eat away at the foundations of those companies’ businesses.... Activist investor Elliott Associates, which on Monday said it had bought a stake in AT&T,...

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, shown in June, is leading a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general in investigating Facebook for alleged antitrust issues. Photo: AP

Google, Facebook Face Multiple Risks From New State Probes

By Ashley Gold and Christopher Stern · Sep 9, 2019 9:28am PDT

Google and Facebook are likely to find it much harder to escape antitrust penalties now that more than two dozen state attorneys general have decided to launch their own probes of the tech giants.The states’ involvement ups the ante for Google parent Alphabet and Facebook in multiple ways. The companies, already under investigation for... Google and Facebook are likely to find it much harder to escape antitrust penalties now that more...

An Amazon Go store in Seattle. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Forecast $639M for ‘Go’ Stores by 2020 but Openings Fall Short

By Priya Anand · Sep 9, 2019 7:01am PDT

Shortly after Amazon opened its first Amazon Go mini-mart to the public in Seattle last year, the company privately mapped out its ambitions for building more of the high-tech, cashierless stores. It projected that annual revenue from all Amazon Go stores would balloon from a mere $28 million in 2018 to as much as $639 million... Shortly after Amazon opened its first Amazon Go mini-mart to the public in Seattle last year, the...

What to Watch at Apple’s iPhone Launch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 7, 2019 7:46am PDT

What to Watch at Apple’s iPhone Launch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 7, 2019 7:46am PDT

Apple is unveiling its latest iPhones next Tuesday in an annual event that generates no shortage of interest from the tech heads. There’s speculation and reporting pointing to upgraded cameras, improved facial recognition, a new dongle that would compete with Tile and more. The pressure is on for these phones to sell well. iPhone... Apple is unveiling its latest iPhones next Tuesday in an annual event that generates no shortage...