Briefing
crypto google

Google Signals Interest in Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies

By
Sarah Krouse
· · Source: Bloomberg

After being noticeably absent from the cryptocurrency boom, Google is creating a new blockchain-focused unit led by a long-tenured engineer from its ad business and hired a former PayPal executive to run its payments business, which includes developing partnerships with crypto-focused companies, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. In doing so, Google showed it’s trying to develop technologies in...

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
The Briefing apple ar/vr
Apple’s New Headset Makes Meta Look Like AR’s BlackBerry
By Martin Peers · June 5, 2023 5:00 PM PDT
The Apple Vision Pro Headset. Photo by Getty.
Apple may have just BlackBerried Meta Platforms’ Quest devices. Apple’s presentation of its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, on Monday seems likely to spell the beginning of the end for Meta’s ambitions in augmented reality and virtual reality. Remarkably, given the endless amounts of media coverage devoted to this device over the past couple of years, Apple’s presentation felt...
Latest Briefs
 
Twitter U.S. Ad Sales Reportedly Down 59%
By Erin Woo · June 5, 2023
SEC Alleges Solana, Polygon Are Securities in Lawsuit Against Binance
By Aidan Ryan · June 5, 2023
Tesla Loses Key Supply Chain Executive to Electric Truck Rival Rivian 
By Becky Peterson · June 5, 2023
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Art by Clark Miller.
Exclusive startups crypto
MoonPay CEO, Other Executives Cashed Out Before Crypto Business Dropped
By Aidan Ryan
In November 2021, just as crypto prices were hitting all-time highs, MoonPay—a crypto payments startup that celebrities including Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton had praised for its non-fungible token “concierge” service— announced it had completed its first ever outside fundraising: an eye-popping $555 million round at a $3.4 billion valuation from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management.
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Photo by Getty.
Exclusive startups Finance
Growth Wanes at Instacart, Gopuff
By Cory Weinberg
Grocery upstarts Instacart and Gopuff haven’t been able to deliver two things at once this year: growth and profits.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg
semiconductors ai
Why Nvidia Aids Cloud Rivals of AWS, Google and Microsoft
By Anissa Gardizy
Nvidia’s business of selling chips for artificial intelligence is going gangbusters, but the company faces a looming problem.
Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive apple ar/vr
Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges
By Wayne Ma
If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone.
Adam D'Angelo photograph by Ko Sasaki. Art by Clark Miller
The 1:1 ai
Adam D’Angelo’s Endless Quest to Answer Everything
By Arielle Pardes
Adam D’Angelo is basking in an “ endless summer ” of artificial intelligence. A few weeks before he and 350 industry peers released a bizarre, one-line statement warning that AI could herald a nuclear-level extinction event, the 38-year-old co-founder of Quora told me he actually sees more upside in AI than downside.
Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock (4)
Opinion ar/vr
Don’t Count the Metaverse Out
By Brittan Heller
The technology hype cycle would have us believe that the metaverse—so recently the darling of digital trendsetters—is on the decline, its place usurped by generative artificial intelligence.