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

Carbon Robotics co-founder and CEO Rosanna Myers at a conference in Hong Kong last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Startup Carbon Robotics Shutting Down, Selling Assets

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 23, 2019 12:49pm PDT

Robotic arms that can perform complex, delicate tasks—from assembling electronics to picking and packing online orders in warehouses—are one of the holy grails of researchers and tech companies. Developing them is also proving to be highly risky, as the failure of another robotic arm startup shows. Carbon Robotics, a San... Robotic arms that can perform complex, delicate tasks—from assembling electronics to...

CNN's offices in Atlanta. Photo by Bloomberg

CNN to Launch Digital News Service to Compete With Facebook, Apple

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 23, 2019 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

First there was Knewz. Now there is “Newsco.” Media companies are ramping up their efforts to take on Facebook and Apple with digital news services. Just a few months after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. announced it was developing Knewz.com, a news aggregation service offering articles from a wide range of outlets, CNN is... First there was Knewz. Now there is “Newsco.” Media companies are ramping up their...

Masayoshi Son (left) and Adam Neumann. Photos by Bloomberg and AP.

How SoftBank Propelled WeWork’s Rise and Fall

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 22, 2019 5:01pm PDT

At a WeWork executive offsite meeting last year, Adam Neumann tried to fire up his lieutenants by invoking the company’s largest benefactor, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. Neumann pointed to Son’s audacious goal for WeWork: a $1 trillion valuation. WeWork could get there, Neumann said, by thinking bigger.The eye-popping target was... At a WeWork executive offsite meeting last year, Adam Neumann tried to fire up his lieutenants by...

The Information’s 411 — Fidji Simo

By Tom Dotan · Oct 22, 2019 4:15pm PDT

Subscriber Summit Podcast

The Information’s 411 — Fidji Simo

By Tom Dotan · Oct 22, 2019 4:15pm PDT

Jessica Lessin interviews Facebook executive Fidji Simo about the future of the Facebook app, its slowing growth and the struggle to protect users while maintaining principles of free speech. This on-stage interview took place at our annual Subscriber Summit at the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel in Menlo Park on October 17, 2019. Jessica Lessin interviews Facebook executive Fidji Simo about the future of the Facebook app, its...

The Information's San Francisco team. Photo by Angie Silvy

Jobs@TheInformation

Join The Information as Senior Event & Marketing Coordinator

By The Information Staff · Oct 22, 2019 12:32pm PDT

The Information is a fast-growing media startup in the heart of downtown San Francisco. Politico called us "a well respected, scoopy journalism outfit and a must-read for many global business elites." Fortune, Vanity Fair and Digiday have also featured our business as an innovator in media. We’re a must-read for the most... The Information is a fast-growing media startup in the heart of downtown San Francisco. Politico...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

Modest Proposals

The Challenges Facing Free Speech

By Sam Lessin · Oct 22, 2019 10:01am PDT · 10 comments

Many people have asked me in the last few days what I thought of Mark Zuckerberg’s speech on “free expression,” since it is a topic I have focused on so much. I admire Mark’s commitment to free speech. He did an admirable job of clearly articulating both some of the nuanced challenges of free speech, and a rational... Many people have asked me in the last few days what I thought of Mark Zuckerberg’s speech...

Maxine Waters photo by AP. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Maxine Waters Emerges as New Facebook Foe

By Christopher Stern · Oct 22, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will face a grilling by a congressional committee led by Maxine Waters. That was supposed to be Sheryl Sandberg's job. Initially, Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, was scheduled to testify before the committee about the company’s Libra cryptocurrency, but when she had a... On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will face a grilling by a congressional committee led...

Lime scooters in Munich, Germany. Photo: AP

Lime’s Loss to Top $300 Million in 2019

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 21, 2019 3:37pm PDT

Lime scooters in Munich, Germany. Photo: AP

Lime’s Loss to Top $300 Million in 2019

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 21, 2019 3:37pm PDT

Scooter rental operator Lime has touted itself as one of the fastest-growing startups ever, blanketing cities such as Berlin, Paris and Los Angeles with thousands of two-wheeled electric vehicles. But the firm is losing money nearly as quickly as it expands in part because the company’s vehicles tend to break down before they can generate... Scooter rental operator Lime has touted itself as one of the fastest-growing startups ever,...

AWS Customers Rack Up Hefty Bills for Moving Data

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Oct 21, 2019 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

There are a lot of ways companies can rack up high bills for using cloud services, sometimes unexpectedly. One particularly stiff expense is the cost of shifting data from one cloud provider’s servers to another provider, or to a company’s own data center. The Information has learned just how much some companies have had to pay for... There are a lot of ways companies can rack up high bills for using cloud services, sometimes...

Regulation Talk Hits Silicon Valley

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 19, 2019 7:46am PDT

As Mark Zuckerberg was giving his ‘free speech’ speech in Georgetown, I was interviewing his wife and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative co-founder Priscilla Chan and, later, his colleague Fidji Simo, who runs the Facebook part of Facebook. Nice timing, Mark! The speech was an important backdrop for our Summit where regulation ran... As Mark Zuckerberg was giving his ‘free speech’ speech in Georgetown, I was...

The Information’s 411 — Trump’s Secret Trade Crackdown

By Tom Dotan · Oct 18, 2019 4:06pm PDT

Matt Drange joins to talk about how the Trump administration has cracked down on the volume of sensitive U.S. technology that it allows to be exported around the world. Matt Drange joins to talk about how the Trump administration has cracked down on the volume of...

Former HBO chief Richard Plepler. Photo by Bloomberg

Ex-HBO Chief Plepler Has Discussed Launching Studio

By Jessica Toonkel and Alex Heath · Oct 18, 2019 11:36am PDT

Former HBO chief Richard Plepler. Photo by Bloomberg

Ex-HBO Chief Plepler Has Discussed Launching Studio

By Jessica Toonkel and Alex Heath · Oct 18, 2019 11:36am PDT

Less than a year after leaving WarnerMedia, former HBO CEO Richard Plepler appears to be getting back in the entertainment business. Plepler has told industry associates over the past several weeks that he is looking to start his own production studio, tentatively called Eden Productions, according to people who have spoken to him. Plepler... Less than a year after leaving WarnerMedia, former HBO CEO Richard Plepler appears to be getting...

What Wall Street’s Short-Selling Bets Say About Uber, Peloton, Zoom

By Carleton English · Oct 18, 2019 7:01am PDT

Stock prices of Peloton Interactive, Uber and Zoom Video have further to fall, judging by big short-selling bets placed by investors in recent months, new data shows. It also reveals that investors have drastically scaled back short-selling bets on Lyft since the summer.The data is a reminder that the looming expiration of lockup restrictions... Stock prices of Peloton Interactive, Uber and Zoom Video have further to fall, judging by big...

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse with The Information's Subscriber Summit on Thursday.

Subscriber Summit

Ripple CEO Blasts Libra, Boasts of Warchest

By Alex Heath · Oct 17, 2019 6:13pm PDT

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse blasted Facebook’s proposed Libra digital currency, suggesting that the initiative would have been met with less pushback had it been led by another company, such as PayPal. “I think that the way they approached it demonstrated, frankly, [from] my point of view, arrogance in how they rolled it... Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse blasted Facebook’s proposed Libra digital currency, suggesting...

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta with The Information's Jessica Lessin at The Information's Subscriber Summit on Thursday. Photo by Angie Silvy

Subscriber Summit

Instacart Expanded Ad Team FiveFold In Recent Months, Mehta Says

By Priya Anand · Oct 17, 2019 5:36pm PDT

Instacart has grown its advertising sales team fivefold in the last six months, the grocery delivery company’s CEO revealed on Thursday, as part of an effort to build a significant advertising business.Advertising “is a big and growing portion of our revenue,” said Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta in an on-stage interview at The... Instacart has grown its advertising sales team fivefold in the last six months, the grocery...

Affirm CEO Max Levchin. Photo by Angie Silvy

Affirm’s Levchin Opposes Tech Breakup

By Nick Bastone · Oct 17, 2019 5:19pm PDT

Affirm CEO Max Levchin. Photo by Angie Silvy

Subscriber Summit

Affirm’s Levchin Opposes Tech Breakup

By Nick Bastone · Oct 17, 2019 5:19pm PDT

Max Levchin, a serial entrepreneur and chief executive of the payment lending company Affirm, added his voice to the chorus of Silicon Valley leaders warning that a breakup of big tech companies by regulators will weaken the U.S. on the global stage, handing an advantage to Chinese competitors.In a wide-ranging discussion at The... Max Levchin, a serial entrepreneur and chief executive of the payment lending company Affirm,...

Lauren Cummings, Will Connolly and Scott Stanford appear on a panel at The Information’s Subscriber Summit. Photo by Angie Silvy.

Subscriber Summit

Options for Going Public Broadening, Bankers Say

By Martin Peers · Oct 17, 2019 2:50pm PDT

Despite a heated debate among investors and bankers about the best way for companies to go public—via a traditional IPO or the newer direct listing—investment bankers say there is unlikely to be one single answer. Some companies are better suited to IPOs, and others to direct listings, while in the future some might benefit from a... Despite a heated debate among investors and bankers about the best way for companies to go...

The Information founder Jessica Lessin interviews CZI’s Priscilla Chan. Photo: Angie Silvy

Subscriber Summit

CZI’s Priscilla Chan Talks About Lessons Learned

By Tom Dotan · Oct 17, 2019 12:33pm PDT

Four years after starting the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, co-founder Priscilla Chan said she had learned a number of lessons, including the need to “work with anyone” on sensitive political issues such as immigration in order to accomplish the organization’s goals.As the broader tech backlash brought more scrutiny to Facebook... Four years after starting the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, co-founder Priscilla Chan said she had...

Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook's flagship app. Photo by Angie Silvy

Subscriber Summit

Facebook Exec Says Regulatory Scrutiny Makes Acquisitions ‘Really Hard’

By Alex Heath · Oct 17, 2019 12:07pm PDT · 1 comment

One of Facebook’s top executives, Fidji Simo, downplayed recent defections from the group it formed to run its controversial Libra digital currency, while also acknowledging that growing regulatory scrutiny of Facebook has made it harder to acquire other companies.Simo, one of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s direct reports who oversees... One of Facebook’s top executives, Fidji Simo, downplayed recent defections from the group...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb’s Q1 Loss More Than Doubled

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 17, 2019 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb’s Q1 Loss More Than Doubled

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 17, 2019 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Airbnb’s operating loss more than doubled in the first quarter to $306 million from the year-earlier period, previously undisclosed financial data shows, a result in part of a sharply increased investment in marketing. While that spending could bring in a lot of new business, prospective investors could be unnerved if subsequent quarters... Airbnb’s operating loss more than doubled in the first quarter to $306 million from the...