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

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg.

Pressured by Google and Facebook, News Sites Slim Down

By Tom Dotan · Sep 22, 2016 1:22pm PDT · 5 comments

News sites are in a race to speed up their mobile webpages so they can compete better with Facebook and Google. Sites such as Slate, NYMag.com and the Washington Post are trying various ways to make ad-clogged pages load faster. While some tactics could cost ad revenue, doing nothing risks alienating readers.Slate, for example, has recently been... News sites are in a race to speed up their mobile webpages so they can compete better with...

Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Big Interview

Joe Tsai: Alibaba Finding Its Groove

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2016 7:02am PDT · 6 comments

Alibaba has been on a roller coaster since going public two years ago. U.S. investors haven’t quite known what to make of the crown jewel of China tech that is worth a whopping $258 billion. Will Chinese consumers continue to shop even as the economy slows? Why is the company being investigated by the SEC? Why on earth is the company... Alibaba has been on a roller coaster since going public two years ago. U.S. investors...

Google cloud chief Diane Greene. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

AWS, Google Gearing Up For Data Center Battle

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 21, 2016 11:00am PDT · 6 comments

Amazon Web Services and Google are developing storage software for companies to use in their own data centers, a reversal of the cloud providers’ usual efforts to get companies to put all their data in the clouds run by AWS and Google, according to people who have been briefed on the products.The targets are companies like banks that... Amazon Web Services and Google are developing storage software for companies to use in their own...

Housing protesters at San Francisco City Hall in 2014. Photo by AP.

Tech Workers Wade Into Political Hot Zone

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 21, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Housing protesters at San Francisco City Hall in 2014. Photo by AP.

Tech Workers Wade Into Political Hot Zone

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 21, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

For years, housing activists have blamed the fast-growing tech industry for causing housing shortages in the Bay Area. But now that tech employees are themselves struggling to pay high rents, they’re starting to get more politically active in dealing with housing issues. Take Adrian Fine, a city strategist with the social network... For years, housing activists have blamed the fast-growing tech industry for causing housing...

Honest Co. founder Jessica Alba. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Honest Company’s Value May Have Dropped

By Alfred Lee · Sep 20, 2016 10:02am PDT · 4 comments

The Honest Company has reportedly been in talks to sell itself at a price well below its last valuation of $1.7 billion. Some back-of-the-envelope math gives a hint why its valuation may have come down—and suggests investors will make out fine anyway.Investors who bought in at that higher valuation might have been banking on Honest Co.... The Honest Company has reportedly been in talks to sell itself at a price well below its last...

Source: Paysa

Tech Pay Study Shows Asians Have an Edge

By Amir Efrati and Peter Schulz · Sep 20, 2016 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

At eight major consumer internet companies, including Google, Airbnb, Uber and Amazon, technical workers from India, China and Southeast Asia earn roughly 20% more on average than white people or Hispanics and 26% more than African-Americans, according to new data.The data show less of a difference in compensation between men and women holding... At eight major consumer internet companies, including Google, Airbnb, Uber and Amazon, technical...

Art by Sam Lessin and Sid Shanker.

Modest Proposals

Uber’s Self-Driving Car Puzzle

By Sam Lessin · Sep 19, 2016 10:02am PDT · 13 comments

The wave of fervor over self-driving cars is putting Uber in a precarious position. At first blush, it is easy to believe that fully autonomous vehicles will be the step that propels a valuable company to unfathomable heights. But a deeper look reveals that self-driving technology poses a strategic problem for the company.If unsupervised, fully... The wave of fervor over self-driving cars is putting Uber in a precarious position. At first...

Media investor Ken Lerer. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

Inside King Lerer’s Media Kingdom

By Tom Dotan · Sep 19, 2016 7:00am PDT

Media investor Ken Lerer. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

Inside King Lerer’s Media Kingdom

By Tom Dotan · Sep 19, 2016 7:00am PDT

When Mic co-founder Chris Altchek met Ken Lerer in 2011, he asked the prolific media investor to back his news site. Mr. Lerer demurred. Show us some traction, Mr. Lerer told him, and he’d consider it.A year and a half later, Mr. Altchek returned to Mr. Lerer with data showing a big uptick in traffic and asked him to invest in Mic as part... When Mic co-founder Chris Altchek met Ken Lerer in 2011, he asked the prolific media investor to...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Sep 17, 2016 8:00am PDT

So Twitter has discovered live sports broadcasting, just a little while after Facebook invented live video. What will the tech industry think of next! So Twitter has discovered live sports broadcasting, just a little while after Facebook invented...

The Information’s 411 — The Mazuma Was Just Rolling In

By Tom Dotan · Sep 16, 2016 1:50pm PDT

Stephen and Tom talk about Dropbox's efforts to sign up business customers as well as data that shows people aren't viewing most Facebook ads. Stephen and Tom talk about Dropbox's efforts to sign up business customers as well as data...

Google cloud chief Diane Greene. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Ditching ‘Google For Work’ Branding

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 16, 2016 12:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Google is discontinuing the Google For Work branding it uses for its business-focused products, replacing it with “Google Cloud,” said two people who’ve been briefed on the change. Google For Work includes Google's business-focused productivity apps, cloud services, maps, Chromebooks and Android devices, search, and... Google is discontinuing the Google For Work branding it uses for its business-focused products,...

The Truth about Next Year’s IPO ‘Rush’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 16, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

The Truth about Next Year’s IPO ‘Rush’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 16, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Greetings from New York, where I spent the week with subscribers and catching up with the industry that Silicon Valley loves to hate (but doesn’t really): Wall Street. With tech giants like Snapchat and Dropbox eyeing IPOs next year, I was curious what bankers would tell me about the preparations. More importantly, I wanted to know how the... Greetings from New York, where I spent the week with subscribers and catching up with the...

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Michael Dell Calls Gelsinger VMware’s Long-Term CEO

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 15, 2016 1:54pm PDT

Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell says VMware chief Pat Gelsinger will stay on at the helm of the company, putting to rest speculation that Mr. Gelsinger would leave in the wake of Dell’s $67 billion takeover of VMware and its majority owner EMC.“Pat is the long-term CEO of VMware. No question,” Mr. Dell said in a text message... Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell says VMware chief Pat Gelsinger will stay on at the helm of...

Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Dropbox Doubled Down on Business Market

By Steve Nellis · Sep 15, 2016 7:01am PDT

Last November, Dropbox’s leaders were preparing for Dropbox Open, a star-studded event in San Francisco where the company would rebrand its workplace offerings as Dropbox Business and then unveil Dropbox Enterprise, a new top tier of the company’s file-sharing and collaboration tools geared toward the largest corporate users. To... Last November, Dropbox’s leaders were preparing for Dropbox Open, a star-studded event in...

At Nasdaq on the day Etsy went public. Photo by AP.

Employee Stock May Offer Clues to IPO Prices

By Alfred Lee · Sep 14, 2016 1:04pm PDT · 1 comment

If you want to gauge where a tech company will price an upcoming public offering, don’t bother looking at the value of its last fundraising. Instead, check out the employee stock option price.For instance, enterprise software firm Apptio said on Monday it expects to go public at a price range of between $13 and $15 a share. That’s... If you want to gauge where a tech company will price an upcoming public offering, don’t...

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Video Leaves a Small Window for Advertisers

By Tom Dotan · Sep 14, 2016 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Video Leaves a Small Window for Advertisers

By Tom Dotan · Sep 14, 2016 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Most video ads on Facebook are seen for only a second or two, according to a new study, well below the average for video ads on YouTube and other websites. It suggests few people on Facebook are clicking on video ads as they scroll past them in their News Feed.The data provides further evidence to advertisers who want to use Facebook that they... Most video ads on Facebook are seen for only a second or two, according to a new study, well...

Source: Paysa

How Tech Firms Stack Up on Pay

By Amir Efrati and Peter Schulz · Sep 13, 2016 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

Twitter is offering junior technical talent higher compensation than most other top consumer tech companies, as it tries to keep engineers from fleeing, new data shows. Meanwhile, private companies on the ascent, like Snapchat, Uber and Airbnb, are doling out plenty of equity compensation to give their employees the chance of significant gains.... Twitter is offering junior technical talent higher compensation than most other top consumer tech...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at this year's F8 developer conference. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook’s Power Struggle Over App Links

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 13, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Employees at Yelp have seen a troubling trend recently: Facebook sometimes appears to be blocking their app. Even if customers have downloaded Yelp, links posted to its Facebook page direct them back into the social network’s own browser. Instead of sending viewers into Yelp’s restaurant review app, they stay stuck in Facebook. Yelp... Employees at Yelp have seen a troubling trend recently: Facebook sometimes appears to be blocking...

Last year's San Francisco subscriber summit. Photo by Erin Beach.

Our Next Subscriber Summit: Silicon Valley 2020

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 12, 2016 10:42am PDT · 1 comment

It’s no secret that cities and industries around the world are intent on copying Silicon Valley. But Silicon Valley isn’t standing still. For our third Subscriber Summit we’re focusing on where the Valley is headed next—the stuff everyone will be talking about in a year or so, but what people in the know are talking about... It’s no secret that cities and industries around the world are intent on copying Silicon...

Nervana's three co-founders, Arjun Bansal, Amir Khosrowshahi and Naveen Rao, at a meeting at DFJ, one of Nervana's investors, during the sale talks. Photo by Flickr/Steve Jurvetson.

How Nvidia Let Intel Get an Edge in AI Chip Market

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 12, 2016 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

Nervana's three co-founders, Arjun Bansal, Amir Khosrowshahi and Naveen Rao, at a meeting at DFJ, one of Nervana's investors, during the sale talks. Photo by Flickr/Steve Jurvetson.

How Nvidia Let Intel Get an Edge in AI Chip Market

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 12, 2016 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

It’s the story of a missed opportunity: how Nvidia let a deep learning tech startup get away and be snapped up by its rival Intel. With its $408 million acquisition of Nervana Systems, Intel can now enter a segment of the computer chip market that could fuel a boom in artificial intelligence applications.Nvidia’s rejection of Nervana... It’s the story of a missed opportunity: how Nvidia let a deep learning tech startup get...