The Information

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft Hatches Plan to Sell Cloud Services to ‘Holdout’ Businesses

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 26, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Microsoft has become a cloud powerhouse provider primarily on the strength of its decadeslong, deep relationships with Fortune 500 companies. Now it’s stepping up its efforts to go after business customers who haven’t previously spent much on the cloud—call them cloud holdouts—so rivals like Amazon, Zoom and Salesforce... Microsoft has become a cloud powerhouse provider primarily on the strength of its decadeslong,...

From left, former Katerra CEO Michael Marks, Foxconn founder Terry Gou and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in Taiwan, 2019.

Bankrupt Startup That Blew $2 Billion From SoftBank Sues Ex-CEO, Board Directors Over ‘Self-Dealing’

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

In early 2018, SoftBank, the world’s biggest investor in tech startups, directed accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess a construction startup in which it had just led an $865 million investment. The three-year-old startup, Katerra, was led by a former CEO of Tesla and had hired other experienced Silicon Valley executives and... In early 2018, SoftBank, the world’s biggest investor in tech startups, directed accounting...

Broadcom headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg

Broadcom is Under Antitrust Scrutiny from the FTC—Again

By Josh Sisco · Apr 22, 2022 1:47pm PDT

Less than six months after Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission formally settled an antitrust probe of the chip giant, the company is back in the agency’s crosshairs following complaints that it is once again forcing exclusive agreements with customers, according to people with knowledge of the situation and a document seen by The... Less than six months after Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission formally settled an...

Netflix's headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Employees Press for More Pay Flexibility as Stock Drop Wipes Out Option Value

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 22, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 6 comments

Netflix's headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Employees Press for More Pay Flexibility as Stock Drop Wipes Out Option Value

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 22, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 6 comments

Netflix’s stock collapse this week has wiped out the value of all stock options issued to company employees since 2018. It didn’t take long for employees to complain: At a staff meeting the day after the company’s earnings report on Tuesday, employees pressed the company to consider changes to existing compensation arrangements... Netflix’s stock collapse this week has wiped out the value of all stock options issued to...

A Netflix sign in New York. Photo by Bloomberg.

Before Netflix About-Face on Advertising, Months of Debate

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 21, 2022 12:34pm PDT · 3 comments

When Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings interrupted a colleague on Tuesday’s quarterly earnings call to reveal plans for an ad-supported tier, it wasn’t only analysts and investors who were taken by surprise. Earlier this week, Netflix executives indicated to staffers no decision had yet been made on the advertising move, which had been... When Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings interrupted a colleague on Tuesday’s quarterly earnings...

Photos by Bloomberg.

Amid Ad-mageddon, Shopify and Facebook Butt Heads Over Data

By Mark Di Stefano, Malique Morris and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 20, 2022 6:47am PDT

For years, a rumor swirled inside Shopify that Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, was looking to buy the Canadian e-commerce giant. Nothing ever materialized—and regulatory scrutiny on the social media giant’s deals makes it seem likely nothing ever will—but the mere fact that the chatter persisted highlights how... For years, a rumor swirled inside Shopify that Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, was...

Why Google and Facebook Keep Shutting Down Abortion Pill, Sex Product Ads

By Sarah Krouse · Apr 19, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Women’s healthcare startup Hey Jane spent more than a year running ads on Google promoting its services providing abortion pills by mail. Then, in late March, Google shut off the three-year-old startup’s ad campaigns with no warning. In the subsequent ten days, Hey Jane lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, while... Women’s healthcare startup Hey Jane spent more than a year running ads on Google promoting...

Photo of Amazon's Brian Huseman by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Policy Chief Wields Sharp Elbows in D.C.—and the Office

By Paris Martineau and Josh Sisco · Apr 18, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Photo of Amazon's Brian Huseman by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Policy Chief Wields Sharp Elbows in D.C.—and the Office

By Paris Martineau and Josh Sisco · Apr 18, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

In 2019, Rep. David Cicilline, chair of the House antitrust subcommittee, sent Amazon a letter questioning whether one of the company’s lawyers was truthful in his testimony before the committee a week earlier. The letter rattled some members of Amazon’s public policy team, who worried that the incident had inflamed regulators... In 2019, Rep. David Cicilline, chair of the House antitrust subcommittee, sent Amazon a letter...

Art: Jesus Escudero

Apple’s Privacy Rules Leave Its Engineers in the Dark

By Wayne Ma · Apr 15, 2022 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Privacy is one of the selling points of Apple products. But for employees who develop these products, it can be a pain. Apple doesn’t collect a lot of customer data from its services, including Apple Maps, the Siri voice assistant and its paid video-streaming service, according to more than a dozen former employees. And the customer data... Privacy is one of the selling points of Apple products. But for employees who develop these...

Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Board Expected To Fight Musk Offer

By Amir Efrati and Josh Sisco · Apr 14, 2022 10:46am PDT · 3 comments

Twitter’s board of directors views Elon Musk’s takeover offer as unwelcome, said a person familiar with the situation, suggesting it will fight the bid. One person close to the situation said that the board wanted to support CEO Parag Agrawal, who only assumed the role in November. Meanwhile, Musk hasn’t provided details of his... Twitter’s board of directors views Elon Musk’s takeover offer as unwelcome, said a...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Meta Reshuffles Leadership of Ads Team As Company Scrambles to Contain Apple Fallout

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 13, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

One of Meta Platforms’ big hopes for responding to Apple’s ad tracking changes is to persuade more merchants to set up stores within the Facebook and Instagram apps. To help advance that effort, Meta late last month replaced the leader of its advertising and business products division, installing a former News Feed head with personal... One of Meta Platforms’ big hopes for responding to Apple’s ad tracking changes is to...

Photo by AP.

Amazon Targets High Schoolers in a Warehouse Recruiting Blitz

By Mark Di Stefano · Apr 12, 2022 10:49am PDT

Photo by AP.

Amazon Targets High Schoolers in a Warehouse Recruiting Blitz

By Mark Di Stefano · Apr 12, 2022 10:49am PDT

Amazon is launching a big recruiting push aimed at teens who are about to graduate high school, in the e-commerce giant’s latest effort to keep its sprawling network of warehouses staffed up in a tight labor market. In a hiring drive set to kick off next month, Amazon will attend events at schools across the U.S. and Canada, a person... Amazon is launching a big recruiting push aimed at teens who are about to graduate high school,...

A store sign promoting Meta's Ray Bans smart glasses in New York. Photo by AP

Meta Platforms is Struggling to Develop Its Own Device Chips

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Stephen Nellis · Apr 8, 2022 9:15am PDT · 1 comment

In late 2021, a team of Meta Platforms employees building a key chip for the second version of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses was notified that the company had decided to go with an alternative chip from Qualcomm, according to two people familiar with the matter. The custom chip would power a variety of functions, such as taking high-quality... In late 2021, a team of Meta Platforms employees building a key chip for the second version of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Solo Venture Capitalist Who Doubles Down Like Andreessen

By Berber Jin · Apr 7, 2022 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Somebody forgot to send Oren Zeev the memo about how Silicon Valley venture capitalists are supposed to act. The investor has fewer than 3,000 followers on Twitter, where he rarely opines on the kinds of trending topics that light up venture land. He conducts meetings with startup founders at a two-story coffee shop in Palo Alto, Calif., Cafe... Somebody forgot to send Oren Zeev the memo about how Silicon Valley venture capitalists are...

Fast CEO Domm Holland. Art by Mike Sullivan

Live Fast, Die Young: Behind the Fall of a One-Click Wonder

By Kate Clark and Malique Morris · Apr 6, 2022 6:08am PDT · 9 comments

On Aug. 3 last year, after doing a round of victory donuts on a street near Sparkman Wharf in Tampa, Fla., Domm Holland stepped out of the passenger seat of a NASCAR racing pickup truck. The black Chevy Silverado was branded with the name of the startup he was leading: Fast, a developer of software that online stores could use to help shoppers... On Aug. 3 last year, after doing a round of victory donuts on a street near Sparkman Wharf in...

Fast CEO Domm Holland (center) at his office. Credit: Fast

Fast, the Troubled Fintech Startup, Is Shutting Down

By Jessica E. Lessin and Malique Morris · Apr 5, 2022 10:27am PDT · 10 comments

Fast CEO Domm Holland (center) at his office. Credit: Fast

Fast, the Troubled Fintech Startup, Is Shutting Down

By Jessica E. Lessin and Malique Morris · Apr 5, 2022 10:27am PDT · 10 comments

Update, April 6: The Information tracked Fast's rise and fall. Read our in-depth look at its over-the-top spending and rapid-fire hiring that masked the startup's chronic struggles. One-click checkout startup Fast is shutting down entirely and will discontinue its products and brand, according to several people familiar... Update, April 6: The Information tracked Fast's rise and fall. Read our in-depth...

Art by Josh Brill

China’s ‘Little Nvidia’ Has a Big Secret: Its Homegrown AI Chip Isn’t

By Juro Osawa and Stephen Nellis · Apr 5, 2022 8:09am PDT · 3 comments

Chinese microchip startup Moore Threads has a short history many Silicon Valley counterparts would envy. Within 100 days of its founding in October 2020, the Beijing-based company was worth more than $1 billion on paper after raising hundreds of millions of dollars from marquee investors including Sequoia Capital China and TikTok’s owner,... Chinese microchip startup Moore Threads has a short history many Silicon Valley counterparts...

Illustration by Jesus Escudero

The Tech Tussle Over Gartner’s ‘Magic Quadrant’

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 5, 2022 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Jay Chaudhry wasn’t happy when the interlopers arrived in his space—one of the most coveted corners in all of tech. The corner in question was part of a chart called a Magic Quadrant, published by Gartner. The tech research firm used it to show how the products made by Chaudhry’s company—a cybersecurity firm,... Jay Chaudhry wasn’t happy when the interlopers arrived in his space—one of the most...

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings. Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix Tells Employees to Be More Careful About Spending, Hiring

By Jessica Toonkel · Apr 1, 2022 12:04pm PDT

Netflix is tightening its belt. In two separate meetings over the past few weeks, Netflix executives cautioned employees to be more mindful about spending and hiring, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The comments, made at an employee town hall on Monday as well as during a management offsite held last month in Anaheim,... Netflix is tightening its belt. In two separate meetings over the past few weeks, Netflix...

Fast CEO Domm Holland at a company event. Photo: Fast

Stripe-Backed ‘Fast’ Seeks Buyer After Struggling to Raise Capital

By Malique Morris and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 31, 2022 8:56pm PDT · 8 comments

Fast CEO Domm Holland at a company event. Photo: Fast

Stripe-Backed ‘Fast’ Seeks Buyer After Struggling to Raise Capital

By Malique Morris and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 31, 2022 8:56pm PDT · 8 comments

Fast, a startup that develops one-click checkout software for online merchants, is trying to find a buyer after failing to raise a new round of funding, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Fast has raised about $120 million from investors including payments firm Stripe and Index ventures, but its main product, which helps... Fast, a startup that develops one-click checkout software for online merchants, is trying to find...