The Information

Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang, speaking at a news conference in Hong Kong last year. Photo: Bloomberg

Alibaba Puts the Brakes on U.S. Cloud Expansion

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 31, 2018 7:01am PDT

China’s internet giant Alibaba is putting on hold its plans to expand its cloud business in the U.S., people familiar with the matter said, after its initial efforts to take on Amazon Web Services and other big players didn’t live up to its expectations. The company also feared that an aggressive strategy would provoke a backlash in... China’s internet giant Alibaba is putting on hold its plans to expand its cloud business in...

Bird scooters in Detroit. Photo: Bloomberg

Scooter Startups Try to Solve Their Parking Problem

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 29, 2018 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Sergio Romo is trying to build the Latin American version of Lime or Bird, recently raising about a $20 million seed round for Grin, his scooter startup, from prominent Silicon Valley investors including Y Combinator, DCM Ventures and Shasta Ventures, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Romo said he has learned a lesson from some of the... Sergio Romo is trying to build the Latin American version of Lime or Bird, recently raising about...

Amazon's latest Fire Stick TV devices introduced last year. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Plans New Video App, Latest Step Into TV Ad Market

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Aug 28, 2018 1:18pm PDT

Amazon.com is planning to launch a free, advertising-supported video service for the estimated 48 million people who use its Fire TV streaming video devices, say people familiar with the situation. The new service, which is being developed by Amazon’s IMDB subsidiary, will join a growing collection of efforts by Amazon to tap into the $70... Amazon.com is planning to launch a free, advertising-supported video service for the estimated 48...

A Waymo vehicle sits parked in Chandler, Ariz. Photo: Bloomberg

Waymo’s Big Ambitions Slowed by Tech Trouble

By Amir Efrati · Aug 28, 2018 7:00am PDT · 11 comments

A Waymo vehicle sits parked in Chandler, Ariz. Photo: Bloomberg

Waymo’s Big Ambitions Slowed by Tech Trouble

By Amir Efrati · Aug 28, 2018 7:00am PDT · 11 comments

CHANDLER, Ariz.—Alphabet’s Waymo unit is a worldwide leader in autonomous vehicle development for suburban environments. It has said it would launch a driverless robo-taxi service to suburban Phoenix residents this year. Yet its self-driving minivan prototypes have trouble crossing the T-intersection closest to the company’s... CHANDLER, Ariz.—Alphabet’s Waymo unit is a worldwide leader in autonomous vehicle...

Software maker Twilio was among the companies in which mutual funds sold a substantial portion of their holdings post-IPO. Photo: Bloomberg

Post-IPO, Mutual Funds Quick to Shrink Startup Stakes

By Alfred Lee · Aug 27, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Mutual funds investing in private tech firms are often perceived to be in it for the long haul, rather just holding out for an IPO windfall. But public filings tell a more complicated story: Mutual funds sometimes cut their investments substantially after their portfolio companies go public. Mutual funds have sold significant portions of their... Mutual funds investing in private tech firms are often perceived to be in it for the long haul,...

Zoox's former CEO Tim Kentley-Klay with his co-founder Jesse Levinson at The Information's self driving car summit in June. Photo by Erin Beach

CEO of Self-Driving Car Startup Zoox Is Out

By Amir Efrati · Aug 22, 2018 1:47pm PDT · 3 comments

Tim Kentley-Klay, the co-founder and CEO of Zoox, one of the most high-profile and well-financed startups in the self-driving car world, has left the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. In a tweet, Mr. Kentley-Klay said he was fired.Carl Bass, the former CEO of Autodesk who has been a board director of Zoox, has stepped up... Tim Kentley-Klay, the co-founder and CEO of Zoox, one of the most high-profile and well-financed...

The New York Yankees, whose games are carried on the Fox sports channel the Yes Network. Photo by Wikimedia Commons/Jeremy M. Call

Fox May Bid to Buy Back Sports Channels

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Aug 21, 2018 12:50pm PDT

Everyone from Amazon.com to YouTube to Liberty Media has been reported as a potential bidder for the 22 Fox regional sports networks that Disney must sell as a condition of buying most of 21st Century Fox. One name that hasn’t surfaced may be the least—and most—surprising: Fox itself. Executives at Fox have discussed... Everyone from Amazon.com to YouTube to Liberty Media has been reported as a potential bidder...

Didi founder Cheng Wei. Photo by Bloomberg.

As Didi’s Growth Misses Goals, Focus Shifts to Car Services

By Yunan Zhang · Aug 21, 2018 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Didi founder Cheng Wei. Photo by Bloomberg.

As Didi’s Growth Misses Goals, Focus Shifts to Car Services

By Yunan Zhang · Aug 21, 2018 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Growth is falling short of internal targets at Didi Chuxing, the world’s biggest ride-hailing company. That has added urgency to its efforts to generate new revenue by diversifying into car insurance, maintenance, car sales and consumer loans. Didi, valued at $56 billion last December, has scaled back this year’s internal... Growth is falling short of internal targets at Didi Chuxing, the world’s biggest...

Photo by Katerra

Inside the Struggles of a SoftBank-Backed Construction Startup

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 20, 2018 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Jon Hamilton, a longtime construction worker, got a job last year leading a small crew building a custom home near San Antonio, Texas. His employer, Katerra, was one of the most well-funded startups in Silicon Valley. The tech-oriented construction company has raised more than $1 billion from major investors including SoftBank, Foxconn and DFJ.... Jon Hamilton, a longtime construction worker, got a job last year leading a small crew building a...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Wish, an Internet Dollar Store, Struggles to Keep Customers

By Priya Anand · Aug 16, 2018 7:01am PDT

Private investors have put a lot of faith in Wish becoming the online version of dollar stores, betting on huge growth for the ecommerce site and rewarding it with a valuation of about $8.5 billion. One possible hitch in those plans is that Wish’s new customers stop shopping at the site in fewer and fewer numbers within a few months of... Private investors have put a lot of faith in Wish becoming the online version of dollar stores,...

An Uber self driving car in Phoenix in February. Photo by AP

Uber’s Losses Mount at Self-Driving Car Unit

By Amir Efrati · Aug 15, 2018 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Uber has been spending between $125 million and $200 million a quarter on its self-driving car unit over the past 18 months, The Information has learned, equivalent to between 15% and 30% of the company’s quarterly losses. The previously undisclosed spending highlights the financial burden that self-driving car development has imposed on... Uber has been spending between $125 million and $200 million a quarter on its self-driving car...

Mike Sullivan

Tensions Flare Behind the Scenes of ‘League of Legends’

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Aug 13, 2018 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Mike Sullivan

Tensions Flare Behind the Scenes of ‘League of Legends’

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Aug 13, 2018 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

Chinese tech giant Tencent became one of the world’s biggest videogame makers thanks to its 2011 acquisition of U.S. game studio Riot Games, maker of blockbuster “League of Legends.” But relations between the two companies have often resembled a war game, forcing Tencent to cut costly deals to keep Riot happy.New details... Chinese tech giant Tencent became one of the world’s biggest videogame makers thanks to its...

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke. Photo by Bloomberg

NBCU’s Latest Online Video Idea: Paying Viewers

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Aug 9, 2018 11:53am PDT · 3 comments

The battle to win over viewers online may be reaching new levels of intensity. Comcast’s NBCUniversal is considering the launch of a streaming service that would pay people to watch it.The tentative name for the service is Watch Back and it would feature episodes of TV shows and web series from NBCUniversal’s own TV... The battle to win over viewers online may be reaching new levels of intensity. Comcast’s...

Uzabase co-CEO Yusuke Umeda. Photo by AP

How Quartz’s New Owner Aims to Become a Digital News Force

By Jessica Toonkel · Aug 9, 2018 7:01am PDT

The latest entrant in the overcrowded field of online news is a 37-year-old onetime investment banker from Japan, Yusuke Umeda, co-CEO of a financial data firm called Uzabase. What he lacks in name recognition, though, he makes up in ambition.Last month Uzabase completed the purchase of Quartz, the business-oriented news site founded by the... The latest entrant in the overcrowded field of online news is a 37-year-old onetime investment...

Illustration by Danielle Davis

Behind Some Low Amazon Prices: Stolen Goods

By Reed Albergotti · Aug 8, 2018 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

A few years ago, GoPro was grappling with an exasperating problem: Unknown sellers were offering stolen GoPro cameras on Amazon.com at a discount.While the stolen items accounted for only a small percentage of GoPro’s total sales, the discounting created a domino effect as competitors tried to match the low price. Amazon would first cut... A few years ago, GoPro was grappling with an exasperating problem: Unknown sellers were offering...

Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb Looks to Settle Old Fights, Faces New Threats

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 7, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments

Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb Looks to Settle Old Fights, Faces New Threats

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 7, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments

Airbnb’s regulatory roller-coaster ride has taken new twists as the company enters its second decade. When the home rental site sent employees updates on its talks with local governments in June, it heralded positive momentum with politicians in two of its “toughest markets,” Barcelona and Berlin. It decried a... Airbnb’s regulatory roller-coaster ride has taken new twists as the company enters its...

Amazon's Echo and Echo Plus devices. Photo by Bloomberg

The Reality Behind Voice Shopping Hype

By Priya Anand · Aug 6, 2018 10:01am PDT · 10 comments

Amazon and Google both tout voice shopping—the ability to make purchases and check on the status of orders with verbal commands—as significant features of their smart speakers. Some forecasts call for annual voice shopping sales to reach $40 billion in just a few years. But it appears that only a small fraction of smart speaker... Amazon and Google both tout voice shopping—the ability to make purchases and check on the...

Uber Eats delivery people in Moscow. Photo by Bloomberg

How Uber Eats Became a Hit Business

By Amir Efrati · Aug 6, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments

In 2015, then-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was under pressure. His beloved product, the food delivery service that was supposed to prove Uber could be more than a ride-hailing company, was struggling. To offer fast delivery, the company was buying a few kinds of prepared meals ahead of time and waiting for people to order them. Demand was... In 2015, then-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was under pressure. His beloved product, the food delivery...

Carsten Breitfeld, co-founder and chief executive of Byton. Photo: Bloomberg

China’s Byton Seeks to Eclipse Rivals With Didi Deal

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 3, 2018 10:34am PDT

The two German automobile executives who founded Byton, a Chinese electric car startup, are confident that they can build a reliable vehicle. But they worry that manufacturing alone won’t make their company a success.That’s why Byton also wants a piece of China’s $30 billion ride-hailing market. The company is in talks with... The two German automobile executives who founded Byton, a Chinese electric car startup, are...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai at an event last month in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Google Developing News App for China

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Aug 1, 2018 9:41pm PDT · 5 comments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai at an event last month in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Google Developing News App for China

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Aug 1, 2018 9:41pm PDT · 5 comments

Google is developing a news-aggregation app for use in China that will comply with the country’s strict censorship laws, part of a plan to re-enter the world’s largest internet market in the near future, according to three people familiar with the project.Google has been working on the app since last year and had been meeting with... Google is developing a news-aggregation app for use in China that will comply with the...