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

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

ConsenSys Recalibrates

By Jon Victor · Dec 5, 2018 12:34pm PST

On Monday, we published our list of the five biggest tech stories of the last five years, in honor of The Information’s fifth anniversary. Here on the crypto desk, I am planning a similar roundup for the industry—but I’d appreciate input from readers as well. What do you think were the most important stories in crypto and... On Monday, we published our list of the five biggest tech stories of the last five years, in...

A Google Export Experience Center, known until recently as a Google AdWords Experience Center, in Shanghai in 2016. Photo by AP

How the Chinese Government Is Helping Google Sell Ads in China

By Wayne Ma · Dec 5, 2018 7:01am PST

On the 20th floor of a nondescript office building in China’s southern boomtown of Shenzhen, employees from small businesses such as electronic-component makers can often be seen in a colorful bright office checking out big TV screens displaying Google Search, Gmail and YouTube—which are otherwise blocked in China. They are in one of... On the 20th floor of a nondescript office building in China’s southern boomtown of...

A technician works with Rethink's Baxter at The Rodon Group manufacturing facility in 2013. Photo by AP.

How Robotics Maker Rethink Crashed and Burned

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 4, 2018 10:00am PST · 1 comment

A few years ago, Rethink Robotics was hailed as a revolutionary company that would change the course of industrial robots. Featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2015, the company raised $150 million in financing from backers such as Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs at a valuation that reached $291 million.Its relatively low-cost machines were... A few years ago, Rethink Robotics was hailed as a revolutionary company that would change the...

Five Years In, A Letter to Our Readers

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 4, 2018 8:34am PST

Five Years In, A Letter to Our Readers

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 4, 2018 8:34am PST

The Information turns five today, and I’d like to take this moment to thank you those who have been part of our community and to express some thoughts about the years ahead. I am very proud of the impact we have had in just five short years.We created a new way of covering startups, focusing on business results and the truth behind their... The Information turns five today, and I’d like to take this moment to thank you those who...

Art by Mike Sullivan. Photos by Bloomberg; AP

Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Year Under Fire

By Sarah Kuranda · Dec 4, 2018 7:02am PST

When Sundar Pichai woke up November 1 to prepare for an appearance at a conference in New York, Google’s CEO, an engineer by training, had likely hoped to tout the leaps in artificial intelligence and cloud computing that Google had made in his three years as the company’s leader. But any hope of delivering that message... When Sundar Pichai woke up November 1 to prepare for an appearance at a conference in New York,...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

We Need Better Measures of Social and Environmental Impacts

By Sam Lessin · Dec 3, 2018 10:01am PST · 7 comments

When historians look back at the 21st century, they will describe us as a global society deeply weakened by incomplete measurement and false precision in how we view our economy.This challenge feels pervasive. The U.S. economy, on paper, looks pretty good over the last few years. Yet it feels like there are huge “off balance sheet”... When historians look back at the 21st century, they will describe us as a global society deeply...

Bryan Goldberg. Photo by Bustle. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

How Bryan Goldberg Became Media’s Buyer of Last Resort

By Tom Dotan · Dec 3, 2018 7:01am PST · 3 comments

On the day before Thanksgiving, Bustle CEO Bryan Goldberg got an urgent call from his counterpart at millennial news site Mic, Chris Altchek. Mic was in dire financial straits. Months of effort to find a buyer had fallen apart. Mr. Goldberg, who was friendly with Mr. Altchek, had resisted getting involved previously because he didn’t want... On the day before Thanksgiving, Bustle CEO Bryan Goldberg got an urgent call from his counterpart...

The Tech Industry: 2013 through 2018

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 1, 2018 6:36pm PST · 4 comments

The Tech Industry: 2013 through 2018

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 1, 2018 6:36pm PST · 4 comments

In the news business, we love looking forward. But you learn a lot by looking backwards, too. So on the eve of our 5th anniversary next week, our two-dozen reporters and editors huddled in a conference room (and around the virtual Google Hangout) and hashed out the five defining themes of the last five years. After an hour or so of debating... In the news business, we love looking forward. But you learn a lot by looking backwards, too. So...

A collection of Bird electric scooters in Detroit. Photo by Bloomberg

Uber Exploring Deal to Buy Bird or Lime

By Amir Efrati, Juro Osawa and Cory Weinberg · Nov 30, 2018 9:10pm PST

Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal, said several people briefed on the discussions. But Uber is considering another option: The company has also recently held acquisition talks with the scooter company, Lime, said one of the people. While Uber... Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in...

The Information’s 411 — Charlie and the CFO Factory

By Tom Dotan · Nov 30, 2018 5:26pm PST

Tom talks about Mic's firesale to Bustle and what it means for digital media. Priya talks about how Amazon seeded CFOs across the tech industry. Tom talks about Mic's firesale to Bustle and what it means for digital media. Priya talks...

Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit pose during a red carpet of Netflix's Mowgli world premier in Mumbai, India last Sunday. Photo by AP

To Go Global, Netflix Sends U.S. Writers to Foreign Shores

By Beejoli Shah · Nov 30, 2018 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Matt Pyken knows how to tell a story. Over a 20-year career as a writer, he has worked on broadcast TV dramas including “Empire” and “Castle,” and consulted on other shows, including “Mr. Robot.” But over the past few months he had an entirely new assignment: helping TV writers in India learn to write for a... Matt Pyken knows how to tell a story. Over a 20-year career as a writer, he has worked on...

A publicity photo from Lady Gaga's collaboration with Intel. Photo by Intel

Intel Pulls Back From In-House Ad Agency

By Aaron Tilley · Nov 29, 2018 6:34pm PST · 1 comment

A publicity photo from Lady Gaga's collaboration with Intel. Photo by Intel

Intel Pulls Back From In-House Ad Agency

By Aaron Tilley · Nov 29, 2018 6:34pm PST · 1 comment

In recent years, the chip giant Intel sought to burnish its brand with a series of whimsical marketing antics—from a light show at the 2018 Winter Olympics consisting of Intel drones to a collaboration with Lady Gaga, who performed at the 2016 Grammy Awards with dancing robotic arms and interactive holograms.Now Intel is sharply scaling... In recent years, the chip giant Intel sought to burnish its brand with a series of whimsical...

Art by Danielle Davis

Sidewalk Labs’ Grand Vision Meets Reality in Toronto

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2018 8:31am PST

Sidewalk Labs executives were full of ambition two years ago when they pitched their parent company, Alphabet, more than 600 pages of plans for building a city neighborhood from scratch. The 2016 proposal, which Sidewalk described as preliminary, was designed to stretch the conventions of urban planning, proposing things like enclosing the newly... Sidewalk Labs executives were full of ambition two years ago when they pitched their parent...

Mic CEO Chris Altchek. Photo by Flickr/Ole Bader.

Mic’s Anticipated Sale Price Less Than $10 Million

By Tom Dotan · Nov 29, 2018 6:41am PST · 5 comments

Bustle is nearing a deal to buy millennial news site Mic for less than $10 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. That price, which hasn’t previously been reported, would be a massive discount to Mic’s last reported valuation in 2017, when it was said to have raised money at a valuation in the hundreds of millions... Bustle is nearing a deal to buy millennial news site Mic for less than $10 million, according to...

Crypto Newsletter

Bear Market Fallout; Civil Pivots

By Jon Victor · Nov 28, 2018 1:03pm PST

I hope you had a restorative Thanksgiving holiday, and that you were able to concentrate more on food and family rather than on the value of your crypto holdings. Bitcoin remains in a slump, hovering around $4,300 as of this afternoon, though it has recovered from its lows of a few days ago, when it traded at $3,600.Still, there are signs that... I hope you had a restorative Thanksgiving holiday, and that you were able to concentrate more on...

Former Amazon executives (from left) Chris Nielsen, Greg Greeley, Jason Warnick, Dave Stephenson, Allen Parker.

Amazon, the Tech Industry’s CFO Factory

By Priya Anand · Nov 28, 2018 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Former Amazon executives (from left) Chris Nielsen, Greg Greeley, Jason Warnick, Dave Stephenson, Allen Parker.

Amazon, the Tech Industry’s CFO Factory

By Priya Anand · Nov 28, 2018 7:00am PST · 2 comments

While technology companies have struggled to find chief financial officers, a growing number of them have started shopping for CFOs at the same place: Amazon.The Seattle-based e-commerce giant, known for its culture of bean-counting, has become a wellspring of talent for companies looking to inject more financial discipline into their ranks.... While technology companies have struggled to find chief financial officers, a growing number of...

Reversal of Fortune: Didi Chuxing on the Defensive

By Yunan Zhang · Nov 27, 2018 3:40pm PST

Last year, when Uber was grappling with a series of controversies that led to the ouster of founder Travis Kalanick, the president of China’s ride-hailing behemoth Didi Chuxing, Jean Liu, was being touted as an executive role model. What a difference a year makes. Even as a new CEO at Uber has calmed the waters at that company, Didi has... Last year, when Uber was grappling with a series of controversies that led to the ouster of...

A Waymo van in Phoenix. Photo by Waymo

Waymo’s Cars Play It Safer After Incidents and ‘Driver Fatigue’

By Amir Efrati · Nov 27, 2018 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Waymo has only weeks to meet its self-imposed deadline to launch a public taxi service using fully automated cars by the end of 2018. And right now, that deadline looks tough for the company to meet.The Information has learned that within the past month or so, due to concerns about safety, the Alphabet company put so-called “safety... Waymo has only weeks to meet its self-imposed deadline to launch a public taxi service using...

China’s Video Craze Drives Growth for ByteDance

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Nov 26, 2018 10:00am PST · 1 comment

China’s ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup, had its first success with a personalized news feed, Toutiao. New data shows its short-form video app Douyin has become an even bigger hit. But there are signs that the rapid growth rate of Chinese video apps is starting to slow. And that raises a new question for ByteDance: Does... China’s ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup, had its first success with a...

These Startups Want to Revolutionize Health Care, Gaming and Transportation

By The Information Staff · Nov 26, 2018 7:00am PST

Startups to Watch

These Startups Want to Revolutionize Health Care, Gaming and Transportation

By The Information Staff · Nov 26, 2018 7:00am PST

It isn't unusual for big company employees to spot ways to improve on products or internal operations. That can lead to startup ideas, as we have found with a couple of the firms profiled in our latest installment of Startups to Watch. One is a firm founded by a former Apple employee attempting to improve manufacturing automation. Another... It isn't unusual for big company employees to spot ways to improve on products or internal...