When Google unveiled its plan to form an Alphabet holding company in 2015, it was pitched as a way to ensure Google’s blue-sky bets in areas like self-driving cars and health care could flourish under independent leadership. One business that hoped to capitalize on the new arrangement was the London-based artificial intelligence startup DeepMind, which Google had acquired a year earlier. ...

Intel’s long-failing foray into wearables and augmented reality is officially dead.

The chip giant’s new devices group will shut down, according to people familiar with the situation. The division, formed in 2013, made fitness trackers and smart glasses. Despite an investment of several hundred million dollars by Intel, including through acquisitions of other companies, the group ...

Security giant McAfee has held talks to acquire security startup Endgame, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. A deal would help McAfee expand its technology to protect computers and other devices on corporate networks from cybersecurity threats.

The talks were taking place as recently as two weeks ago, said one of the people familiar with the discussions, though it ...

Netflix, one of Amazon Web Services’ biggest customers, is expanding its use of Google Cloud, AWS’s biggest rival, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The move, which hasn’t previously been reported, could portend a shift in the balance of power in the cloud computing market.

Netflix is using Google Cloud for several functions, including the service’s ...

Cybereason, a Softbank-backed rising star in corporate cybersecurity, touts its ability to spot attacks  on data networks. But one threat slipped past the roughly $1 billion startup’s defenses: an executive hired to run Cybereason’s human resources unit who the company says turned out to be a fraud.

The incident was just the latest in what numerous current and former employees ...

Qualcomm’s China Tech Day conference in January in Beijing represented a who’s who of China’s mobile industry. Top executives from the country’s biggest handset makers showed up. But one Chinese smartphone giant, Huawei, was notably absent.

Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung, used to be a major Qualcomm customer. But over ...

John Giannandrea, senior vice president of engineering at Google and one of the company’s leading public voices on artificial intelligence issues, is stepping down from his position as head of the search and AI units, according to a person with knowledge of the change. A Google spokeswoman confirmed the move in an email.

The move comes two years after Mr. Giannandrea’s role ...

Tesla’s struggles to manufacture its flagship Model 3 electric sedan reached a boiling point last week, prompting CEO Elon Musk to take direct control of the division producing the vehicles, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The move came after Tesla failed to hit its goal of making about 500 Model 3 sedans per day, or 2,500 per week, by the end of March. Mr. Musk appears to ...

Spotify shareholders appeared reluctant to sell much stock last week ahead of the company’s public listing, say investors and brokers, suggesting the price will jump when shares begin trading on Tuesday.

The music streaming service was still allowing private trades last week, a highly unusual move so close to a public listing. But investors were finding it difficult to pick up big blocks ...

After the head of Amazon Studios, Roy Price, resigned in October amid a sexual harassment allegation, Amazon Senior Vice President Jeff Blackburn addressed several hundred Studios staff members at an all-hands meeting in Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome. Mr. Blackburn didn’t elaborate on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Price’s exit, according to four people who attended the ...

AT&T is building a hardware device to move traffic over the network it uses to provide telecom services to its customers, said two people with knowledge of the project, potentially depriving longtime supplier Cisco Systems of millions of dollars in annual sales.

The switch project, which hasn’t been previously reported, is part of AT&T’s broader goal of replacing its older ...

As Facebook faces a storm of criticism about how it handles its trove of user data, the company is taking steps to secure users’ information in its first-ever foray into smart-home devices.

One of the devices under development, called Portal, would use facial-recognition technology to help set up video calls between friends and family members, according to people familiar with the ...

More Silicon Valley investors are jumping into one of the most obscure niches in private tech finance: lending money to startup employees to profit from the windfall when the companies go public.

New employee loan funds are aiming to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, backed by institutional investors, private wealth managers and high-profile venture capitalists like Peter Thiel. They are ...

More than 80 tech companies including Google, Qualcomm and Samsung have joined together to develop a new open-source chip design that offers a much cheaper way to build chips for new technologies like autonomous vehicles. If the effort succeeds, it could seriously undercut SoftBank-owned Arm Holdings, which has been trying to extend its dominance in smartphone chips into new areas.

The push to ...

Warby Parker has become a major e-commerce success story since launching eight years ago. Investors seem to be banking on big growth from the trendy eyewear retailer, judging by a recent fundraising. But revenue figures suggest the company has its work cut out for it if it is going to continue to meet investors’ lofty expectations.

The eyeglasses retailer generated revenue in the range of ...

Google has established itself as a force in the education software market through its free Google Classroom app. Now, it is hoping to capitalize on the software’s popularity by offering a reconfigured version to business customers looking to train employees, said two people who have been briefed on the plans. The move could help Google Cloud fend off competitors including Adobe, Workday ...

An unidentified investor is planning to buy around $150 million of shares in Lyft from employees in a tender offer, at just a 3% discount to the valuation put on Lyft in its recent fundraising. That’s a small discount for stock sold by employees in a tender and reflects investors’ intense interest right now in Lyft, which last year gained market share from Uber.

The tender is the ...

China’s DJI, the world’s largest consumer drone maker, is in talks with investors to raise a new round of funding at a valuation of $15 billion, people familiar with the discussions said.

The amount raised will likely range between $500 million and $1 billion, the people said, although the deal hasn’t been finalized. The fundraising could be a combination of equity and debt, ...

As Spotify pitches its coming public listing to investors, there are signs the music streaming service is holding its own against Apple Music. But Spotify still is wrestling with how to improve its weak margins and work toward profitability.

Apple Music’s sales growth is decelerating in the U.S., according to a sales analytics firm. Although Apple remains a fierce rival, investors and ...

Apple’s 2011 “Let’s talk iPhone” event at its Cupertino headquarters was a pivotal moment for the company. It was the first big showcase for new CEO Tim Cook as he tried to fill the shoes of the legendary but ailing Steve Jobs. Yet the event threatened to disappoint because the company’s new iPhone, the 4s, was simply an incremental update and not a flashy new ...