The Information

Image: Mike Sullivan

Influx of Professional Hosts Tests Airbnb’s Message

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 21, 2020 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Last fall, in Airbnb’s first major advertising campaign in more than two years, it portrayed hosts as regular homeowners happy to rent out a spare room and socialize with their guests. The message—that Airbnb helps foster a global community by bringing together travelers and locals—is one Airbnb has promoted since its earliest... Last fall, in Airbnb’s first major advertising campaign in more than two years, it...

Photo courtesy of GoPuff

SoftBank’s Secret $750 Million Investment in GoPuff

By Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati · Jan 17, 2020 1:07pm PST

SoftBank’s Vision Fund made one of its largest U.S. venture investments last year in a Philadelphia-based startup that has developed a big following on college campuses for its deliveries of junk food, alcohol and other convenience store items.The Vision Fund led a $750 million investment in goPuff last August, two people familiar with the... SoftBank’s Vision Fund made one of its largest U.S. venture investments last year in a...

David Krane, Bill Maris and David Drummond. Photos by Bloomberg. llustration by Mike Sullivan

Drummond Departure Puts Spotlight on Google Venture Arm

By Nick Bastone · Jan 17, 2020 7:02am PST

When Alphabet’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, announced his retirement from the company last week, an executive who once ran the company’s main venture investment arm—now known as GV—issued an unusual public statement blasting Drummond. “We have very, very different ideas about how to treat people, and this... When Alphabet’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, announced his retirement from the...

Quibi CEO Meg Whitman exits the stage at CES 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Quibi’s Numbers Show High Wire Act

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 10, 2020 10:15am PST · 3 comments

Quibi CEO Meg Whitman exits the stage at CES 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Quibi’s Numbers Show High Wire Act

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 10, 2020 10:15am PST · 3 comments

If there’s one thing to be said for Quibi, the short-form streaming service coming from Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman this spring, it’s that it doesn’t suffer from a lack of ambition. When it launches, it will join a crowded field of streaming services from big media companies, all offering movies and TV shows for a few... If there’s one thing to be said for Quibi, the short-form streaming service coming from...

Huawei's headquarters in Germany. Photo by AP.

Huawei in Talks With Banks to Raise $2 Billion

By Juro Osawa · Jan 8, 2020 2:14pm PST · 1 comment

Huawei is in talks with several international banks as part of an effort to raise about $2 billion through loans and bond sales outside China, people familiar with the matter said. The fundraising is partly aimed at showing that the Chinese company can still get international banks on board for its future financing plans, despite U.S. sanctions.... Huawei is in talks with several international banks as part of an effort to raise about $2...

Twitch headquarters in San Francisco. Photo by Shutterstock

How Big Is Amazon’s Twitch? Revenues Reveal Ad Struggles

By Priya Anand · Jan 8, 2020 7:01am PST · 1 comment

After Amazon paid nearly $1 billion to acquire the streaming video service Twitch more than five years ago, it looked like the company had a shot at turning it into the next YouTube. That view got a boost when Twitch began pushing beyond its main audience of gamers into cooking and craft videos. So far, though, Twitch is falling short... After Amazon paid nearly $1 billion to acquire the streaming video service Twitch more than five...

Getaround to Lay Off About One-Fourth of Staff

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 7, 2020 11:11am PST · 2 comments

Car-rental startup Getaround plans to lay off roughly 150 employees, or about a quarter of its staff, in a bid to reduce rising costs, people familiar with the matter said. Getaround’s chief executive told The Information that the cuts mostly will involve employees handling day-to-day interactions between car owners and renters.Getaround... Car-rental startup Getaround plans to lay off roughly 150 employees, or about a quarter of its...

Art by Danielle Davis

Uber CEO Khosrowshahi Struggles to Find Formula for Success

By Amir Efrati · Jan 6, 2020 7:02am PST · 3 comments

Art by Danielle Davis

Uber CEO Khosrowshahi Struggles to Find Formula for Success

By Amir Efrati · Jan 6, 2020 7:02am PST · 3 comments

As 2020 begins, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi faces what is shaping up to be a year of reckoning. Uber’s market capitalization has dropped $29 billion since it went public in May. It likely lost five to six times as much money in 2019 as it forecast in presentations to banks two years ago. And it has lost ground in its ride-hailing, scooter... As 2020 begins, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi faces what is shaping up to be a year of reckoning....

A Revel moped being ridden in Brooklyn, N.Y., last year. Photo: Bloomberg

Brooklyn’s Moped Upstart Readies West Coast Expansion

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 3, 2020 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Revel, a startup that rents electric mopeds, had such high ridership after launching service in Brooklyn last May that it took all hands on deck to keep the mopeds running and on the street. Revel’s CEO had to personally swap out vehicle batteries when they ran low on power. It didn’t take long for Revel to expand elsewhere.... Revel, a startup that rents electric mopeds, had such high ridership after launching service in...

Apple AirPods at a Walmart story last month. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple AirPod Suppliers Seek Financing to Expand in Vietnam

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Dec 26, 2019 7:01am PST

The two Chinese manufacturers of Apple’s wireless earbuds are each in talks to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars from banks to expand production in Vietnam, according to a person familiar with the matter. The discussions come as a growing number of electronics manufacturers move some operations out of China as a hedge against trade... The two Chinese manufacturers of Apple’s wireless earbuds are each in talks to borrow...

Grab president Ming Maa. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Grab of Singapore Is Learning Lessons of Uber

By Juro Osawa · Dec 24, 2019 7:02am PST

Grab, the ride-hailing and food-delivery app in Southeast Asia valued at $14 billion, doesn’t want to be compared to Uber. But comparisons are inevitable. Both companies are backed by SoftBank, are unprofitable, and face strong competitors. Grab even acquired Uber’s Southeast Asia operations last year.At the end of 2018, Grab was... Grab, the ride-hailing and food-delivery app in Southeast Asia valued at $14 billion,...

Didi president Jean Liu. Photo by Bloomberg

Didi Chuxing Aims to Jumpstart Growth After a Rough 2019

By Yunan Zhang · Dec 20, 2019 7:01am PST

Didi president Jean Liu. Photo by Bloomberg

Didi Chuxing Aims to Jumpstart Growth After a Rough 2019

By Yunan Zhang · Dec 20, 2019 7:01am PST

The bloody wars in the global ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses, which have unnerved investors in the U.S. so much this year, will open on a new front in 2020. Didi Chuxing is expanding its ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses in Latin America, ramping up the competitive threat for Uber in the region. Didi’s international... The bloody wars in the global ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses, which have unnerved...

Illustration by Laurent Bazart (@laurentbazart)

To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

By Alex Heath · Dec 19, 2019 7:01am PST · 3 comments

In Burlingame, California, a small city about 15 miles north of Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters, a monument to the social media giant’s future ambitions is taking shape. Construction is underway on a 770,000-square-foot new campus, with the capacity for about 4,000 employees, that will be devoted entirely to a burgeoning... In Burlingame, California, a small city about 15 miles north of Facebook’s Silicon Valley...

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian at a company event in April. Photo by Bloomberg

Google Brass Set 2023 as Deadline to Beat Amazon, Microsoft in Cloud

By Nick Bastone, Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Dec 17, 2019 7:01am PST · 2 comments

The clock is ticking for Google Cloud.The Google unit, which sells computing services to big companies, is under pressure from top management to pass Amazon or Microsoft—currently first and second, respectively, in cloud market share—or risk losing funding. While the company has invested heavily in the business since last year,... The clock is ticking for Google Cloud.The Google unit, which sells computing services to big...

Illustration by Grant Kratzer

Amazon Learns a New Skill: Making Money From Alexa

By Priya Anand and Amir Efrati · Dec 16, 2019 7:00am PST

For most of Alexa’s five years in existence, Amazon has focused on making its voice assistant as ubiquitous as possible, putting it in everything from microwaves to wearable rings to its growing family of Echo devices. Now Amazon has a new focus for Alexa: making money from it. The company is exploring how it can profit from premium... For most of Alexa’s five years in existence, Amazon has focused on making its voice...

A WeWork office. Photo by Bloomberg

WeWork Trying to Unravel Office Lease Deals

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 12, 2019 10:01am PST · 1 comment

A WeWork office. Photo by Bloomberg

WeWork Trying to Unravel Office Lease Deals

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 12, 2019 10:01am PST · 1 comment

WeWork has tried to convey a semblance of strength in the midst of management upheaval and mass layoffs. It announced last week that it opened a record number of buildings in December, as coworking spaces long under construction were completed. But quietly, WeWork has been trying to shrink the number of buildings it leases even faster than is... WeWork has tried to convey a semblance of strength in the midst of management upheaval and mass...

TerraTrue COO Chris Handman (left) and CEO Jad Boutros. Photo by TerraTrue

Former Snap Executives Raise Funds for a ‘TurboTax for Privacy’

By Alex Heath · Dec 11, 2019 10:01am PST

Two former Snap executives have raised a first round of funding for a new startup building what they describe as a TurboTax for privacy. TerraTrue, created by former Snap chief security officer Jad Boutros and former general counsel Chris Handman, recently closed a $4.5 million round of seed funding led by Anthos Capital—a venture... Two former Snap executives have raised a first round of funding for a new startup building what...

Beijing headquarters of Kuaishou. Photo by AP

Tencent Nears $2 Billion Investment in Chinese Video App Kuaishou to Fight ByteDance

By Yunan Zhang and Wayne Ma · Dec 11, 2019 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Tencent is nearing a deal to invest another $2 billion in Kuaishou, creator of a popular short-video app by the same name that’s gained an especially strong following in China’s smaller cities and countryside, say people familiar with the matter. The investment is designed to counter the rise of ByteDance’s group of apps,... Tencent is nearing a deal to invest another $2 billion in Kuaishou, creator of a popular...

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in Vietnam at a conference in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook and Google Balance Booming Business with Censorship Pressure in Vietnam

By Wayne Ma · Dec 10, 2019 7:00am PST

When Facebook and Google want to strike ad deals in Vietnam, salespeople in Singapore get on a plane and fly to major cities like Ho Chi Minh City. They rent out rooms in five-star hotels for meetings with small retailers looking to sell around the world or big brands wanting to reach Vietnamese consumers. Vietnam is the most important market in... When Facebook and Google want to strike ad deals in Vietnam, salespeople in Singapore get on a...

An Uber self-driving car prototype in February 2018. Photo by AP

Uber Nears Deal for Self-Driving Car Simulation Startup

By Amir Efrati · Dec 9, 2019 1:32pm PST

An Uber self-driving car prototype in February 2018. Photo by AP

Uber Nears Deal for Self-Driving Car Simulation Startup

By Amir Efrati · Dec 9, 2019 1:32pm PST

Uber is in advanced negotiations to acquire the team behind a small Silicon Valley-based startup, Foresight, that develops simulation software to help test self-driving car prototypes, said a person who has worked at Uber and has direct knowledge of the pending deal. The small deal, if completed, would aid Uber’s robo-taxi development... Uber is in advanced negotiations to acquire the team behind a small Silicon Valley-based startup,...