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

Kuaishou's app on a smartphone. Photo by Bloomberg

China’s Video App Kuaishou Targets a $25 Billion Valuation

By Yunan Zhang · Oct 31, 2018 8:37am PDT · 1 comment

Kuaishou, a Chinese live-streaming app backed by Tencent, Baidu and Sequoia, is in talks to raise money at a valuation of as much as $25 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions. That would be up from $18 billion in an earlier fundraising round.The fundraising is the latest shot in a multibillion-dollar arms race among Chinese... Kuaishou, a Chinese live-streaming app backed by Tencent, Baidu and Sequoia, is in talks to raise...

Parts of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo have been designated as opportunity zones. Photo: Bloomberg

To Snare Tax Break, Venture Firms Eye Relocating Startups

By Alfred Lee · Oct 31, 2018 7:03am PDT · 3 comments

The federal government is rolling out big tax breaks for investing in economically depressed areas. One strategy that numerous venture capitalists are exploring to take advantage of the new savings: helping portfolio companies move into one of the designated neighborhoods.One of those investors, Patrick McKenna, founder of Miami... The federal government is rolling out big tax breaks for investing in economically depressed...

Lime co-founders Toby Sun and Brad Bao at the company's San Mateo headquarters earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Scooter Rental Startup Lime Plans Car-Rental Service in Seattle

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 30, 2018 5:35pm PDT

Lime, the Uber- and Alphabet-backed startup that boasts its electric scooter rentals take cars off the road, has decided that some four-wheel vehicles aren’t so bad after all. Lime plans to test a car-rental service in Seattle in the coming months, people familiar with the matter said. The service would allow people to book through... Lime, the Uber- and Alphabet-backed startup that boasts its electric scooter rentals take cars...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a company event in September. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook User Growth Stalls in Mature Markets

By Sarah Kuranda · Oct 30, 2018 3:46pm PDT · 1 comment

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a company event in September. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook User Growth Stalls in Mature Markets

By Sarah Kuranda · Oct 30, 2018 3:46pm PDT · 1 comment

Facebook’s user growth in its most mature markets—the U.S., Canada and Europe—has screeched to a halt, but the company squeezed more revenue from those regions, a sign that the formidable advertising machine it has built continues to chug along. While there were some worrying signs for the social network in its third quarter... Facebook’s user growth in its most mature markets—the U.S., Canada and...

Art by Mike Sullivan

‘Gun-Shy’: How Federal Prosecutors Forgot Silicon Valley

By Matt Drange · Oct 30, 2018 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

The tech industry has become known for risk-takers and rule breakers. But for nearly 20 years, it hasn’t had a prosecutor willing to take it on.The number of white-collar cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California has plunged from a peak of 354 in 1995 to 72 in fiscal 2018. And the prosecutor’s... The tech industry has become known for risk-takers and rule breakers. But for nearly 20 years, it...

Elastic executives celebrate the company's initial public offering earlier this month. Photo by Bloomberg

After IBM-Red Hat, Which Open-Source Companies Are Next?

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 30, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

With IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, open-source software—once one of the biggest threats facing traditional enterprise technology companies—has become a hot commodity. It is just a matter of time before more open-source companies are gobbled up. This year has already seen three other major open-source deals:... With IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat, open-source software—once one of the...

Apple's store in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Iconic Stores Struggle in China

By Wayne Ma · Oct 29, 2018 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

Eight years ago, Tim Cook, then Apple's chief operating officer, was so bullish on the performance of the company’s stores in China he told analysts its four retail locations in the country—one of which sat beneath a glittering 40-foot tall shaft of glass in Shanghai’s ritzy Pudong district—were generating more... Eight years ago, Tim Cook, then Apple's chief operating officer, was so bullish on the...

Go-Jek motorbike drivers and riders in Jakarta. Photo: Bloomberg

Google-Backed Ride-Hailing Startup Go-Jek Valued at Over $9 Billion

By Juro Osawa · Oct 29, 2018 2:54am PDT · 1 comment

Go-Jek motorbike drivers and riders in Jakarta. Photo: Bloomberg

Google-Backed Ride-Hailing Startup Go-Jek Valued at Over $9 Billion

By Juro Osawa · Oct 29, 2018 2:54am PDT · 1 comment

Google and Chinese giants Tencent and JD.com are doubling down on Indonesia’s Go-Jek in an investment round that could nearly double the ride-hailing startup’s valuation to more than $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said.In Southeast Asia, home to 600 million people and one of the world’s fastest-growing internet... Google and Chinese giants Tencent and JD.com are doubling down on Indonesia’s Go-Jek in an...

In Silicon Valley, Silence on Saudi

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 27, 2018 8:10pm PDT · 2 comments

As business leaders made headlines by joining—or skipping—the Saudi’s annual Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, I spent much of this week trying to track down whether Silicon Valley was going to turn its back on Saudi Arabia, and its partner SoftBank, as the global crisis over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder... As business leaders made headlines by joining—or skipping—the Saudi’s annual...

The Information’s 411 — Scooternomics

By Tom Dotan · Oct 26, 2018 4:21pm PDT

Jessica explores why there hasn't been a bigger backlash in Silicon Valley over accepting Saudi money. Cory gives an update on the scooter business. Jessica explores why there hasn't been a bigger backlash in Silicon Valley over accepting...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Turns Tough With Streaming Services, in Replay of Cable Tactics

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Oct 26, 2018 1:51pm PDT · 3 comments

Amazon.com has established itself as a major distribution platform for small video-streaming services. Now the tech giant is trying to squeeze more money out of those services, sparking a battle reminiscent of the cable TV era.Amazon is looking to increase its cut of revenue from some subscription services available through Prime Video by 10 to... Amazon.com has established itself as a major distribution platform for small video-streaming...

Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Photo by AP

Saudi’s Uber and Tesla Investor Thrust Into Crisis

By Amir Efrati · Oct 26, 2018 10:48am PDT · 1 comment

Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Photo by AP

Saudi’s Uber and Tesla Investor Thrust Into Crisis

By Amir Efrati · Oct 26, 2018 10:48am PDT · 1 comment

The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Turkey has sparked soul-searching among U.S. tech companies that have accepted investment money from Saudi Arabia’s investment fund, most notably through SoftBank’s Vision Fund. And it threatens efforts by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the mild-mannered... The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in...

A house being sold by Opendoor. Photo by Opendoor

Real Estate Startups Turn to More Debt

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 26, 2018 7:00am PDT

Opendoor, which buys and sells homes online, has seemed poised for rapid growth after raising more than $700 million from SoftBank and other venture capital investors this year. A more fickle group of investors to appease might be its growing cadre of lenders, who have now loaned the company about $2 billion so it can buy more homes, often sight... Opendoor, which buys and sells homes online, has seemed poised for rapid growth after raising...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg

Online Advertising Still Surging, Results Show

By The Information Staff · Oct 25, 2018 4:06pm PDT · 2 comments

The online ad market is still surging, based on third quarter results from Google, Amazon, Twitter and Snap released Thursday. That raises the stakes for Facebook, which reports next week amid intense questions about whether advertisers or users have been scared off by negative publicity. The results also were the latest evidence of how much... The online ad market is still surging, based on third quarter results from Google, Amazon,...

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg

Disney’s Next Challenge: Managing Internal Conflicts Over Streaming

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Oct 25, 2018 7:00am PDT

As Walt Disney Company speeds along with its plans to launch new streaming services, it faces a fundamental challenge: how to more directly compete with Netflix without undermining its traditional TV networks.One area where the potential for internal conflict could become clear is in executive compensation. Disney is discussing using streaming... As Walt Disney Company speeds along with its plans to launch new streaming services, it faces a...

Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Firing of Conservative May Fuel Discrimination Claims

By Reed Albergotti · Oct 24, 2018 3:37pm PDT · 2 comments

Google's campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Firing of Conservative May Fuel Discrimination Claims

By Reed Albergotti · Oct 24, 2018 3:37pm PDT · 2 comments

In recent months, President Donald Trump and right-leaning media have attacked Google for allegedly showing anti-conservative bias in its search results and workplace culture. While Google denied those criticisms, a lawsuit the search giant filed earlier this year against a former employee could fuel the perception that Google treats employees... In recent months, President Donald Trump and right-leaning media have attacked Google for...

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Tether Slump; Institutional Ramp-Up

By Jon Victor · Oct 24, 2018 12:35pm PDT

Coinbase has officially entered the stablecoin game. The wallet and exchange company announced Tuesday that it will offer trading in USD Coin, a stablecoin operated by Circle, another major U.S. crypto company. Below, we take a closer look at the shifting stablecoin landscape, including how USD Coin stacks up against its competitors.Also in this... Coinbase has officially entered the stablecoin game. The wallet and exchange company announced...

Jobs@TheInformation

Apply for The Information’s Summer Reporting Internship

By The Information Staff · Oct 24, 2018 10:47am PDT

The Information is a fast-growing subscription publication dedicated to original, compelling reporting on business and technology. We’ve made a multimillion-dollar investment to significantly expand our coverage into several new areas, including media, entertainment, fintech and cryptocurrencies. We don’t publish commodity... The Information is a fast-growing subscription publication dedicated to original, compelling...

Xilinx CEO Victor Peng. Photo by Xilinx

The Big Interview

Chip Maker Xilinx Sees Breakout Moment in AI

By Aaron Tilley · Oct 24, 2018 7:01am PDT

For most of Xilinx’s 34 years in existence, the company was a little-known provider of specialized chips, lacking the star power of Silicon Valley chip giants like Intel and Nvidia. Thanks to a surge in applications for artificial intelligence, though, Xilinx products are now making their way into hot new tech categories, from autonomous... For most of Xilinx’s 34 years in existence, the company was a little-known provider of...

Oprah Winfrey. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple to Launch TV Subscription Service Globally

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 23, 2018 12:31pm PDT · 2 comments

Oprah Winfrey. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple to Launch TV Subscription Service Globally

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 23, 2018 12:31pm PDT · 2 comments

Apple is planning to launch its upcoming TV subscription service in more than 100 countries, three people familiar with the company’s plans told The Information. That would quickly make Apple a competitor with both Amazon and Netflix, both of whose video services are widely available internationally.Apple is working to launch its new TV... Apple is planning to launch its upcoming TV subscription service in more than 100 countries,...