The Information

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky. Photo by Bloomberg.

Argo AI Planning Public Listing Later This Year

By Berber Jin and Amir Efrati · Apr 2, 2021 11:08am PDT

Self-driving car startup Argo AI is considering going public later this year or early next year, Argo CEO Bryan Salesky told employees at an all-hands meeting, joining a growing list of self-driving firms contemplating a public listing. Argo would be going public at a challenging time for the self-driving car industry. Expectations that cars... Self-driving car startup Argo AI is considering going public later this year or early next year,...

A ‘Sold’ sign is displayed outside a home under construction at a Lennar development site. Photo by Bloomberg

Largest Homebuilder Emerges as Unlikely Startup Kingmaker

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 1, 2021 9:02am PDT · 1 comment

Back in 2016, executives at homebuilding giant Lennar Corp. sat down with the founders of Doma, which uses technology to speed the underwriting of title insurance. Worried that the startup didn’t have sufficient experience in either real estate or insurance, Lennar decided to pass on investing in the firm. “They said it was a... Back in 2016, executives at homebuilding giant Lennar Corp. sat down with the founders of Doma,...

An image from a distribution center of J&T rival ZTO Express. Photo by AP

Upstart Courier Service Raised More Than $2 Billion to Fight Alibaba-Backed Rivals

By Yunan Zhang, Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Apr 1, 2021 5:46am PDT

J&T Express, an upstart Southeast Asian logistics and courier service that has expanded aggressively in China, has raised more than $2 billion to fund its fight against rival parcel delivery companies backed by Alibaba, people familiar with the matter said. It’s another example of how control of shipping has emerged as a key link in... J&T Express, an upstart Southeast Asian logistics and courier service that has expanded...

Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc. Photo by Bloomberg

Vice Media Is in Advanced Talks to Merge With SPAC Backed by 7GC

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 31, 2021 8:15am PDT · 2 comments

Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc. Photo by Bloomberg

Vice Media Is in Advanced Talks to Merge With SPAC Backed by 7GC

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 31, 2021 8:15am PDT · 2 comments

Vice Media is in advanced talks to merge with 7GC & Co Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company led by tech investor Jack Leeney, according to people familiar with the situation, the latest step in the media firm’s hopes of going public via a SPAC merger. Vice had previously talked with other SPACs, including one backed by Group... Vice Media is in advanced talks to merge with 7GC & Co Holdings, a special purpose...

Photo of the most recent model of Snap's Spectacles by Snap. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Snap Plans Hardware Push With AR Spectacles, Drone

By Alex Heath · Mar 30, 2021 10:25am PDT · 2 comments

Snap is readying a new push into hardware with a more advanced version of its Spectacles smart glasses that feature displays capable of augmented reality effects, according to two people with direct knowledge of the device. It has also revived a years-long effort to build a drone. Unlike past models of Snap’s smart glasses though, this... Snap is readying a new push into hardware with a more advanced version of its Spectacles smart...

Photo of AWS CEO Andy Jassy by Bloomberg. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Steps Up Silicon Ambitions With New Networking Chip

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Mar 30, 2021 6:00am PDT · 9 comments

Over the past several years, Amazon has designed its own silicon chips to speed up the performance of servers in its cloud data centers and the artificial intelligence services it sells to customers. Now, in a big step toward seizing control over a key component in its technologies, Amazon is developing a chip to power the hardware switches that... Over the past several years, Amazon has designed its own silicon chips to speed up the...

Ramp co-founders Karim Atiyeh (left) and Eric Glyman. Photo courtesy of Ramp.

Stripe Invests in Brex Rival Ramp at $1.6 Billion Valuation

By Berber Jin and Kate Clark · Mar 29, 2021 12:28pm PDT · 1 comment

Ramp, a two-year-old startup that offers corporate cards and software tools for managing employee expenses, is close to finalizing two rounds of funding that will value the company at $1.6 billion, according to three people familiar with the deals. D1 Capital Partners led the first, $65 million round at a $1.1 billion post-money valuation with... Ramp, a two-year-old startup that offers corporate cards and software tools for managing employee...

An Amazon delivery driver. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Drops Plan to Track Mask Wearing by Drivers With Cameras

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 26, 2021 9:05am PDT

An Amazon delivery driver. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Drops Plan to Track Mask Wearing by Drivers With Cameras

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 26, 2021 9:05am PDT

Amazon has scrapped a plan to use new high-tech surveillance cameras to verify whether its delivery drivers are wearing face masks on the job. The internet retail giant is in the process of installing the cameras—which will use artificial intelligence to identify driver drowsiness, distracted driving and other risky behavior—in its... Amazon has scrapped a plan to use new high-tech surveillance cameras to verify whether its...

The east gate of the Old City in Kashgar, Xinjiang autonomous region, China. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Hosts Apps Run by China Paramilitary Group Accused of Uyghur Genocide

By Wayne Ma · Mar 26, 2021 6:57am PDT · 4 comments

Apple’s App Store has been distributing more than a dozen apps created by a Chinese organization sanctioned by the U.S. for human rights abuses against Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region, The Information has learned. The apps, which provide news, offer information about government services and help small businesses manage... Apple’s App Store has been distributing more than a dozen apps created by a Chinese...

Xiaohongshu co-founder Miranda Qu. Photo by Bloomberg.

China’s $6 Billion Social E-Commerce App Hires CFO as It Eyes U.S. IPO

By Juro Osawa, Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Mar 25, 2021 8:56am PDT

The list of Chinese tech firms heading to the public markets is getting longer. The latest to lay the groundwork for an initial public offering is Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like social e-commerce platform. The company recently hired a chief financial officer and is considering going public in the U.S. as early as this year, according to people... The list of Chinese tech firms heading to the public markets is getting longer. The latest to lay...

Xingsheng co-founder and CEO Yue Lihua. Photo by Xingsheng.

China’s Hottest Grocery Startup, Worth $8 Billion, Wants to Build an Online Version of Costco

By Yunan Zhang · Mar 25, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Yue Lihua’s background is as far from Silicon Valley as you can get: The founder of one of China’s hottest startups grew up in a poor village, located in a remote corner of rural China. He was one of seven brothers and sisters whose parents ran a modest grocery at a time when private enterprise was just emerging in the communist... Yue Lihua’s background is as far from Silicon Valley as you can get: The founder of one of...

Screen grab of “Dragon Ball Super” from Crunchyroll.

Sony’s Hopes of Countering Netflix in Anime Market Delayed by Antitrust Probe

By Josh Sisco and Jessica Toonkel · Mar 24, 2021 9:35am PDT

Screen grab of “Dragon Ball Super” from Crunchyroll.

Sony’s Hopes of Countering Netflix in Anime Market Delayed by Antitrust Probe

By Josh Sisco and Jessica Toonkel · Mar 24, 2021 9:35am PDT

Sony Pictures’ hopes of countering Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly popular market for the Japanese-style animated videos known as anime has hit a snag. The U.S. Justice Department has extended its antitrust review of Sony’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of anime-streaming service Crunchyroll from AT&T’s... Sony Pictures’ hopes of countering Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly popular market...

An employee uses a facial recognition device as she swipes her badge to enter the assembly line area at a Pegatron factory in Shanghai in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Forbids Facial Scanning of Employees—But Not Factory Workers

By Wayne Ma · Mar 24, 2021 6:01am PDT

Apple says privacy is a “fundamental human right,” and shielding people’s privacy is the cornerstone of the company’s public relations fight against rivals such as Google and Facebook. But those privacy concerns don’t necessarily apply to the workers who make its products. Apple recently told its manufacturing... Apple says privacy is a “fundamental human right,” and shielding people’s...

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian at an event in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Google Cloud Caps Sales Commissions as Losses Mount

By Kevin McLaughlin · Mar 22, 2021 6:01am PDT · 7 comments

Last year, Google lost $5.6 billion on its cloud computing business—real money even for one of the most wildly profitable companies on the planet. Now it’s taking a new approach that could help it stem a bit of that flood of red ink. Thomas Kurian, chief of Google’s cloud computing unit, recently reintroduced a cap on the... Last year, Google lost $5.6 billion on its cloud computing business—real money even for one...

Zach Perret, CEO and co-founder of Plaid, speaks during the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in Salt Lake City in 2020.

Altimeter to Lead Plaid Deal After Scrapped Visa Merger

By Kate Clark, Berber Jin and Josh Sisco · Mar 18, 2021 5:11pm PDT

Plaid, the financial technology startup whose planned sale to Visa fell apart in January, is raising about $600 million in a funding round that could value it at between $10 billion to $15 billion, according to four people close to the company. Altimeter Capital, a hedge fund turned VC firm that has bought stakes in some of Silicon... Plaid, the financial technology startup whose planned sale to Visa fell apart in January, is...

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

Instacart Eyes Fourth-Quarter Public Listing, International Expansion

By Alex Heath and Amir Efrati · Mar 18, 2021 10:27am PDT

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

Instacart Eyes Fourth-Quarter Public Listing, International Expansion

By Alex Heath and Amir Efrati · Mar 18, 2021 10:27am PDT

Grocery-delivery app Instacart has been among the biggest beneficiaries of Americans being stuck at home during the pandemic. But its executives don’t want future buyers of its stock to worry about what happens when that ends. The company, which hopes to become a major challenger to Amazon by selling a wide variety of products from retail... Grocery-delivery app Instacart has been among the biggest beneficiaries of Americans being stuck...

Signage for Bumble's IPO at the Nasdaq market in February. Photo by Bloomberg.

After Bumble’s Stock Pop, Chinese Dating App Soul Seeks Billion-Dollar IPO

By Yunan Zhang · Mar 16, 2021 10:49am PDT · 1 comment

A Chinese dating and social chat app called Soul is preparing for an initial public offering likely to value the company at $1 billion or more, riding a wave of interest after the recent success of U.S. dating app Bumble and a rush of Chinese startups tapping red-hot capital markets. Soul, which masks users’ profile pictures and matches... A Chinese dating and social chat app called Soul is preparing for an initial public offering...

Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc. Photo by Bloomberg

Vice, BuzzFeed Facing Valuation Cuts in SPAC Deals

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 16, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

Media firms such as Vice and BuzzFeed are likely to go public by merging with special purpose acquisition companies in the next few months—but unlike SPAC deals in bubbly industries like electric vehicles, the deals are likely to be done at valuations below what the media firms have fetched in the past. Vice Media is in talks with at least... Media firms such as Vice and BuzzFeed are likely to go public by merging with special purpose...

Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla. Art by Mike Sullivan

Khosla’s Lawsuit Against Lime Shows Ugly Side of Aborted Acqui-Hires

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 15, 2021 12:48pm PDT · 2 comments

It would have been an unremarkable transaction: Electric skateboard pioneer Boosted was running out of money in late 2019 and tried to sell key assets and transfer some employees to Lime, a scooter rental firm, for $30 million in Lime’s stock. The deal would have helped Boosted’s biggest financial backer, Khosla Ventures, recoup some... It would have been an unremarkable transaction: Electric skateboard pioneer Boosted was running...

A worker at a picking station at an Amazon warehouse. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Expands Effort to ‘Gamify’ Warehouse Work

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Mar 15, 2021 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

A worker at a picking station at an Amazon warehouse. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Expands Effort to ‘Gamify’ Warehouse Work

By Paris Martineau and Mark Di Stefano · Mar 15, 2021 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

At dozens of Amazon warehouses every day, employees go about their regular work routines, plucking the items from shelves that make up customer orders and dropping them into plastic bins. They get paid, of course, but some of them are also vying for digital rewards that allow them to buy virtual narwhals, dinosaurs and other electronic pets. ... At dozens of Amazon warehouses every day, employees go about their regular work routines,...