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

Photo: AP

Google’s Ad Sales From China Are Booming

By Yunan Zhang and Juro Osawa · Feb 27, 2019 6:31am PST

Google hasn't decided whether to return to China with a search engine and other tools that will meet censors’ demands, but the internet giant already has built a fast-growing business there. Google saw a huge upsurge in revenue from China last year, powered by a wave of Chinese tech companies buying ads outside China to promote... Google hasn't decided whether to return to China with a search engine and other tools that...

Introducing The Information’s Tech Investigations Tracker

By The Information Staff · Feb 26, 2019 12:58pm PST · 1 comment

The tech industry, including household names like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Apple, is attracting more public scrutiny from governments and regulators, both in the U.S. and Europe. Facebook is the highest-profile example right now. It is facing at least half a dozen inquiries, largely thanks to the controversy over Cambridge... The tech industry, including household names like Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Apple, is...

VMware's Pat Gelsinger, left, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella. Photos by Bloomberg.

Microsoft and VMware Working on Cloud Partnership

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 26, 2019 6:30am PST

Microsoft and VMware were once fierce rivals in the software business. But even as hostilities ceased in recent years, their business customers couldn’t use VMware’s most popular product inside Microsoft’s cloud computing service without a lot of technical work. That could be about to change. The two companies are jointly... Microsoft and VMware were once fierce rivals in the software business. But even as hostilities...

Photo by Bloomberg

Lyft Kicks Off Price War With Uber Ahead of IPOs

By Amir Efrati · Feb 25, 2019 4:56pm PST · 38 comments

Photo by Bloomberg

Lyft Kicks Off Price War With Uber Ahead of IPOs

By Amir Efrati · Feb 25, 2019 4:56pm PST · 38 comments

As Uber and Lyft prepare to go public, both companies are reviving an old and costly tactic to boost market share: discounts.Lyft, which is likely to be first to hit the public market, sharply ramped up discounts for riders in recent weeks, according to people close to both companies. The discounts covered as many as a third of its trips,... As Uber and Lyft prepare to go public, both companies are reviving an old and costly tactic to...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

ISAs and the Future of Securitization

By Sam Lessin · Feb 25, 2019 9:32am PST · 6 comments

Finance is fundamentally an exercise in pricing risk, and pricing risk is in large part a function of the cost of information.Given this reality, it is somewhat surprising that in the last few decades the internet has not more fundamentally revolutionized how individuals and businesses broadly access capital. Finance is fundamentally an exercise in pricing risk, and pricing risk is in large part a...

As AWS Use Soars, Companies Surprised by Cloud Bills

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 25, 2019 6:32am PST · 9 comments

Pinterest executives got a surprise during last year’s holiday season. Consumers were spending so much time using the online scrapbook that Pinterest’s computing bills on Amazon Web Services—the internet retailer’s cloud offering—had shot past their expectations. Pinterest, which had paid in advance for AWS’s... Pinterest executives got a surprise during last year’s holiday season. Consumers were...

My Spring Tech Outlook: Media, IPOs and More

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 24, 2019 10:30am PST

This April, Apple is expected to launch a new streaming video service, some gazillion years since it began discussing internally whether to launch such a service. So, it’s a big moment. But since so much of the content has leaked, expect the details, as written about several times by our team, to underwhelm.Don’t miss the bigger... This April, Apple is expected to launch a new streaming video service, some gazillion years since...

The Information’s 411 — Privacy in the Swamp

By Tom Dotan · Feb 22, 2019 2:26pm PST · 1 comment

The Information’s 411 — Privacy in the Swamp

By Tom Dotan · Feb 22, 2019 2:26pm PST · 1 comment

Ashley talks about how members of Congress are struggling to devise a new privacy protection law. Amir dives into Cruise, GM's self-driving technology division. Ashley talks about how members of Congress are struggling to devise a new privacy protection law....

Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Photo by Bloomberg

Federal Privacy Law Sees Rare Bipartisan Effort, but Hurdles Persist

By Ashley Gold · Feb 22, 2019 6:30am PST · 1 comment

About once a week over the past few months, aides for a bipartisan group of four Senate lawmakers have huddled in Capitol Hill offices to discuss what data privacy legislation in the U.S. should look like. They have a long way to go. One area of debate, said people close to the negotiations, is defining what consumer privacy means.Disagreement... About once a week over the past few months, aides for a bipartisan group of four Senate lawmakers...

Cloudfare CEO Matthew Prince. Photo by Cloudflare

The Big Interview

Cloudflare, an IPO Contender, Doesn’t Want to Play Content Cop

By Sarah Kuranda · Feb 21, 2019 10:00am PST · 3 comments

When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince decided to take steps that knocked a neo-Nazi website off the internet in 2017, he was painted as an online censor. Even he referred to his own actions as “dangerous” in a blog post. Now the same thing that gives Cloudflare the clout to decide who can stay on the internet—its services for... When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince decided to take steps that knocked a neo-Nazi website off the...

Disney's office at the international TV sales market MIPCOM in Cannes, France in 2017. Photo by AP

To Make Way for Streaming, Disney Is Revamping Overseas TV Business

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Feb 21, 2019 6:31am PST · 1 comment

One of the big questions facing Walt Disney Co. as it prepares to launch its Disney+ streaming app is how aggressively will it retreat from selling TV shows and movies to other networks and streaming services, in favor of keeping everything on its own outlets. If recent signals from the company are any guide, Disney is going all in on its own... One of the big questions facing Walt Disney Co. as it prepares to launch its Disney+ streaming...

Mike Sullivan

Open vs. Closed Networks

By Jon Victor · Feb 20, 2019 12:33pm PST · 1 comment

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Open vs. Closed Networks

By Jon Victor · Feb 20, 2019 12:33pm PST · 1 comment

Bitcoin’s price nearly broke $4,000 yesterday, a level it hasn’t seen in six weeks. Some said it was a delayed reaction to news that JPMorgan was rolling out a cryptocurrency, but a late response would be unusual. Still, as we all know, there has never been anything typical about bitcoin markets.Below, we take a closer look at... Bitcoin’s price nearly broke $4,000 yesterday, a level it hasn’t seen in six weeks....

Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky. Photo by Tableau

The Big Interview

Tableau Rallies After Subscription Shift, Microsoft Threat

By Nick Wingfield · Feb 20, 2019 6:31am PST · 3 comments

Not long before former Amazon executive Adam Selipsky joined Tableau Software as its chief executive in 2016, the Seattle-based software company’s stock had lost half its value in a single day on worries that Microsoft was preparing to eat its lunch with a cheaper product. Investors got another scare after Mr. Selipsky took over when... Not long before former Amazon executive Adam Selipsky joined Tableau Software as its chief...

Ucommune founder Mao Daqing. Photo by Bloomberg.

Chinese WeWork Rival Ucommune Seeks $3 Billion Valuation in Nasdaq IPO

By Yunan Zhang · Feb 20, 2019 2:25am PST · 2 comments

Ucommune, WeWork’s biggest rival in China, is seeking a $3 billion valuation for a New York listing this year, as China’s economic slowdown makes it harder for many startups to raise money. Ucommune has hired investment banks Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to work on an initial public offering in Nasdaq as early as the third quarter of... Ucommune, WeWork’s biggest rival in China, is seeking a $3 billion valuation for a New York...

The 250 ‘Cruisers’ Who Power GM’s Self-Driving Car Unit

By Amir Efrati · Feb 19, 2019 6:31am PST

General Motors’ autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise has always lived in the shadow of Alphabet’s Waymo unit, which was first to launch a robotaxi service late last year. But under new CEO Dan Ammann, who was president of GM until a month ago, Cruise is hoping to prove it can be among the first to build a robotaxi business in a dense... General Motors’ autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise has always lived in the shadow of...

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer group, presented the MateBook X Pro laptop in Barcelona last year.

How Huawei Targets Apple Trade Secrets

By Wayne Ma · Feb 18, 2019 6:30am PST · 1 comment

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer group, presented the MateBook X Pro laptop in Barcelona last year.

How Huawei Targets Apple Trade Secrets

By Wayne Ma · Feb 18, 2019 6:30am PST · 1 comment

As U.S. companies grow more concerned about efforts by Chinese firms to obtain their intellectual property, all eyes are on Huawei Technologies, which the U.S. government recently accused of stealing trade secrets. New reporting by The Information sheds light on Huawei’s tactics, which often have been aimed at one of the company’s... As U.S. companies grow more concerned about efforts by Chinese firms to obtain their intellectual...

Why This Next Era in Tech May Favor the Incumbents

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 16, 2019 6:27pm PST · 4 comments

As those of you stuck in traffic in San Francisco this week or still gawking at your Uber surcharges can attest, it was a big week for non-Bay Area companies descending on our shores. IBM hosted its annual developer THINK conference while Goldman Sachs hosted its annual Internet company conference a few blocks away. I attended parts of both... As those of you stuck in traffic in San Francisco this week or still gawking at your Uber...

The Information’s 411 — Sand Hill Crossroads

By Tom Dotan · Feb 15, 2019 2:37pm PST

Zoë and Reed talk about Mamoon Hamid, the venture capitalist tasked with turning around Kleiner Perkins. Martin breaks down the math Disney and other media companies have to do as they go into the streaming business. Zoë and Reed talk about Mamoon Hamid, the venture capitalist tasked with turning around...

Skinny Bundles Hit Their Weight Limit

By Tom Dotan and Martin Peers · Feb 15, 2019 6:31am PST · 7 comments

In the battle to sign up consumers for low-priced streaming versions of cable TV, the streaming-only internet companies appear to be gaining on the traditional media firms.The two biggest firms in the market, Dish Network’s Sling TV and AT&T’s DirecTV Now, each posted anemic growth for the December quarter. That followed several... In the battle to sign up consumers for low-priced streaming versions of cable TV, the...

A 5G sign at a Verizon company booth during a 2018 telecoms industry conference in Los Angeles. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google in Middle of Fight Over 5G Spectrum

By Christopher Stern · Feb 14, 2019 10:16am PST · 2 comments

A 5G sign at a Verizon company booth during a 2018 telecoms industry conference in Los Angeles. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google in Middle of Fight Over 5G Spectrum

By Christopher Stern · Feb 14, 2019 10:16am PST · 2 comments

A proposal by four satellite operators to sell wireless spectrum critical for new 5G technologies has run into opposition from Google and cable companies such as Charter Communications. The opponents complain the plan would let the satellite firms sell the spectrum privately, thereby allowing them to shape the competitive landscape for next... A proposal by four satellite operators to sell wireless spectrum critical for new 5G technologies...