The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica E. Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica E. 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

Stacey Lysik speaking at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference early last month. Photo by AP.

Apple’s ‘Bug Wrangler’ Moves to AR Team

By Aaron Tilley · Jul 31, 2019 11:01am PDT

Apple has moved a high-profile software executive into the company’s secretive augmented reality team, a shift seen internally as intended to bring some order to the team developing a long-anticipated AR headset. Kim Vorrath, who led program management in the software team for more than 15 years, has moved over to the team headed by Mike... Apple has moved a high-profile software executive into the company’s secretive augmented...

Facebook's Portal device. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Approached Netflix, Disney to Support TV Chat Device

By Alex Heath · Jul 31, 2019 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming services on a new Facebook device for making video calls from televisions, The Information has learned. The device, which Facebook is aiming to release this fall, will use the same video-calling technology that is in Facebook’s... Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming...

Illustration by Shutterstock

Website Builder Webflow to Exceed $200 Million Valuation in New Funding

By Amir Efrati · Jul 30, 2019 10:01am PDT · 2 comments

Website-design software maker Webflow is expected to raise at least $20 million in new funding led by venture firm Accel at a pre-investment valuation of more than $200 million, according to a person briefed on the deal.Initially backed by startup fund Y Combinator, Webflow is one of a class of software companies that develops tools to help... Website-design software maker Webflow is expected to raise at least $20 million in new funding...

Peter Faricy.

Cable Giant Discovery Hires Amazon Veterans to Build E-Commerce and Tech

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 30, 2019 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Peter Faricy.

Q&A

Cable Giant Discovery Hires Amazon Veterans to Build E-Commerce and Tech

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 30, 2019 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

As entertainment companies Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal develop their own streaming services, much of their focus is on securing exclusive programming to lure in viewers. Peter Faricy, a former Amazon executive who last fall joined cable channel giant Discovery to run its expanding array of streaming services, thinks content isn’t... As entertainment companies Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal develop their own streaming...

Huawei's consumer electronics chief Richard Yu. Photo by Bloomberg

Huawei and Google Were Working On New Smart Speaker Before Trump’s Ban

By Juro Osawa · Jul 29, 2019 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

China’s Huawei and Google were working together on a new Huawei-branded smart speaker right before President Donald Trump restricted Huawei’s access to U.S. tech suppliers, say people familiar with the situation. The collaboration, which was suspended in May, shows that the companies were even closer than previously understood.Before... China’s Huawei and Google were working together on a new Huawei-branded smart speaker right...

The People With Power at Google Cloud

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Jul 29, 2019 7:01am PDT

In February, a month after Thomas Kurian became CEO of Google’s cloud computing unit, he pledged publicly that Google Cloud would compete “much more aggressively” than in the past, promising to significantly expand its sales force in order to land more Fortune 500 companies as customers. Since then, Mr. Kurian has moved quickly... In February, a month after Thomas Kurian became CEO of Google’s cloud computing unit, he...

Regulation Is Not the Bogeyman

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 27, 2019 7:45am PDT

Facebook’s long-awaited Federal Trade Commission settlement, including a $5 billion fine, arrived—with somewhat of a whimper. As reporters and lobbyists used Twitter to debate who got the better deal, Facebook investors shrugged it off. Even word of a sweeping Justice Department tech-sector wide antitrust investigation targeting... Facebook’s long-awaited Federal Trade Commission settlement, including a $5 billion fine,...

The Information’s 411 — All Your Coinbase Are Belong to Us

By Tom Dotan · Jul 26, 2019 12:34pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — All Your Coinbase Are Belong to Us

By Tom Dotan · Jul 26, 2019 12:34pm PDT

Jon talks about the chaos at Coinbase and the fallout between its CEO and his top executives. Jon talks about the chaos at Coinbase and the fallout between its CEO and his top executives.

David Cicilline. Photo by Bloomberg.

Top Lawmaker Probing Tech Plans New Legislation

By Ashley Gold · Jul 26, 2019 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Big tech companies don’t get a free pass on antitrust scrutiny just because their products are popular.So says Rep. David Cicilline, the Democrat from Rhode Island leading a wide-ranging House antitrust probe into major technology companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. In an interview with The Information, Mr. Cicilline said... Big tech companies don’t get a free pass on antitrust scrutiny just because their products...

Scale CEO Alexandr Wang. Photo by Erin Beach

Supplier to Self-Driving Car Makers Nears Financing at $1 Billion Valuation

By Zoë Bernard and Amir Efrati · Jul 25, 2019 11:18am PDT

Driverless cars may be years away from being practical, but a key independent supplier of software to the self-driving vehicle industry, Scale, is having a breakout moment with investors as its business booms. The company is nearing the completion of a new round of financing led by Founders Fund, the venture firm co-founded by... Driverless cars may be years away from being practical, but a key independent supplier of...

Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke. Photo by AP

Inside Amazon’s Struggles to Make its Mark in Hollywood

By Beejoli Shah and Tom Dotan · Jul 25, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Earlier this year, two senior executives in Amazon’s TV business, Vernon Sanders and Albert Cheng, gathered the division’s top television staffers and delivered some difficult news: Amazon Studios had committed most of its budget for 2019, and no new projects could start unless existing projects were delayed or canceled, according to... Earlier this year, two senior executives in Amazon’s TV business, Vernon Sanders and Albert...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

FTC Deal with Facebook Sparks Skepticism

By Ashley Gold, Christopher Stern and Alex Heath · Jul 24, 2019 2:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

FTC Deal with Facebook Sparks Skepticism

By Ashley Gold, Christopher Stern and Alex Heath · Jul 24, 2019 2:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission had a consistent message about the privacy settlement they announced Wednesday: It was a historic deal that will significantly change how the social media company conducts itself in the future. Both parties have a lot of persuading to do to convince critics. While the $5 billion fine Facebook... Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission had a consistent message about the privacy settlement...

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Lawsuit Alleges Financial Irregularities at Token

By Jon Victor · Jul 24, 2019 12:04pm PDT

A highly anticipated lunch between Warren Buffett and members of the crypto industry was postponed this week, in dramatic fashion. Justin Sun, the creator of the Tron blockchain, made waves last month when he won a charity auction for the chance to dine with the Oracle of Omaha. The waves spread when, earlier this week, Mr. Sun unexpectedly... A highly anticipated lunch between Warren Buffett and members of the crypto industry was...

Lumi Labs co-founder Marissa Mayer in January. Photo by Bloomberg

Marissa Mayer’s Lumi Labs Working on Contacts App

By Aaron Tilley and Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 24, 2019 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO and early Google employee, has joined a wave of new entrepreneurs seeking to reinvent basic software tools aimed at making people more productive. Ms. Mayer’s new startup, Lumi Labs, is building a suite of such “productivity” apps, starting with software for managing contacts, which is... Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO and early Google employee, has joined a wave of new...

Facebook Secret Research Warned of ‘Tipping Point’ Threat to Core App

By Alex Heath · Jul 23, 2019 10:14am PDT · 5 comments

Last October, after spending almost a year examining trends among Facebook users, a senior data scientist at the company named Tom Cunningham painted a bleak picture of one possible future for its flagship Facebook app.At the time, Facebook noticed that users of the app—known internally as the “blue app” because of the color of... Last October, after spending almost a year examining trends among Facebook users, a senior data...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Salesforce Stock Has Lost its Edge

By Ross Matican · Jul 23, 2019 7:01am PDT

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Salesforce Stock Has Lost its Edge

By Ross Matican · Jul 23, 2019 7:01am PDT

Salesforce, once the fast-moving disrupter of the enterprise software sector, is showing its age.After years of outperforming the broader tech sector, Salesforce shares are up just 6% in the past six months while the Nasdaq is up 17%. That likely reflects a worry among investors that a slowing growth rate is prompting Salesforce to make bigger... Salesforce, once the fast-moving disrupter of the enterprise software sector, is showing its age....

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

On Inequality and Risk Capacity

By Sam Lessin · Jul 22, 2019 10:02am PDT · 7 comments

One of the most important social questions of the next few decades is clearly going to be how we respond as a society to the overt growing inequality in the United States.As this discussion becomes more mainstream, the narrative that gets shared blames some combination of technology (which gives more leverage to individuals than ever before) and... One of the most important social questions of the next few decades is clearly going to be how we...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo by Bloomberg

Inside Coinbase’s Executive Turmoil: Conflicting Visions

By Jon Victor · Jul 22, 2019 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

In late 2017, with prices of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin surging, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong faced a tough choice: Would his company, the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, become more like a traditional financial services company or would it lean into the industry’s wild side?In the end, Mr. Armstrong hired deputies who pursued... In late 2017, with prices of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin surging, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong...

The Information’s 411 — Supply Chain Gang

By Tom Dotan · Jul 19, 2019 3:04pm PDT

Wayne dives into the world of leakers in Apple's supply chain and how the company fought back. Alex talks about his profile of David Marcus and gives recaps his testimony in front of congress. Wayne dives into the world of leakers in Apple's supply chain and how the company fought...

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. Photo by Bloomberg

Cisco In Talks to Buy Cybersecurity Startup Signal Sciences

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 19, 2019 12:41pm PDT

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. Photo by Bloomberg

Cisco In Talks to Buy Cybersecurity Startup Signal Sciences

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 19, 2019 12:41pm PDT

Cisco Systems is in talks to buy cybersecurity startup Signal Sciences, the latest sign of Cisco’s efforts to expand in cybersecurity, according to several people familiar with the talks.Signal Sciences develops software that protects applications running in private data centers and on cloud providers from attacks. The 5-year-old... Cisco Systems is in talks to buy cybersecurity startup Signal Sciences, the latest sign of...