The Information

Fish captured by an Aquabyte camera. Image: Aquabyte

AI Startups Proliferate as Businesses Look for Savings

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2020 7:10am PDT · 3 comments

Artificial intelligence has taken some punches. For years, IBM’s Watson promised to transform the business world but failed to live up to its own hopes and marketing blitz. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others vowed to build cars that drive themselves, but they aren’t even close to that goal. In June, The Economist declared: “An... Artificial intelligence has taken some punches. For years, IBM’s Watson promised to...

Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks. Image: Databricks

Startup Winners in the AI Boom

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2020 7:02am PDT · 5 comments

Dozens of startups, as well as some public companies, are fueling a boom in artificial intelligence that is increasingly automating certain functions of businesses or their products. The Information has learned the revenue and growth figures for some of the highest-profile AI startups (see below), as business customers purchase software allowing... Dozens of startups, as well as some public companies, are fueling a boom in artificial...

A move by Apple to restrict ad tracking on iPhones and iPads could reduce the effectiveness of Facebook's ad tracking system. Photo: AP

Facebook, Gaming Firms Brace for Apple’s Restrictions on Ad Targeting

By Tom Dotan and Alex Heath · Aug 11, 2020 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook representatives in recent weeks have been meeting with mobile gaming companies, a key group of advertisers, ahead of a major change by Apple that will make it harder for apps to track the behavior of iPhone owners.In the talks, Facebook employees have sought to hear gaming companies’ concerns about Apple’s next mobile... Facebook representatives in recent weeks have been meeting with mobile gaming companies, a key...

Photo by Bloomberg

Marc Benioff in Lockdown

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 10, 2020 6:16am PDT

Photo by Bloomberg

Marc Benioff in Lockdown

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 10, 2020 6:16am PDT

Every fall, more than 150,000 people flood a convention center in San Francisco for Dreamforce, the annual conference put on by the city’s largest technology company, Salesforce. Although nominally about the online marketing tools and other cloud services Salesforce specializes in, the event has turned into a cultural jamboree featuring... Every fall, more than 150,000 people flood a convention center in San Francisco for Dreamforce,...

Andy Forssell, WarnerMedia. Photo: Getty Images

WarnerMedia CEO Unveils Major Reorg that Promotes New Head of Streaming

By Jessica Toonkel · Aug 7, 2020 12:49pm PDT

WarnerMedia on Friday announced a major reorganization that elevates streaming executive Andy Forssell to oversee the company’s global direct-to-consumer business, including HBO Max, reporting directly to new CEO Jason Kilar. The new structure, which resulted in the departure of two top entertainment executives, also streamlines... WarnerMedia on Friday announced a major reorganization that elevates streaming executive Andy...

Zhang Yiming, CEO and founder of Bytedance, in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.

Once a Hero, TikTok’s Founder Is Under Attack in China

By Yunan Zhang and Juro Osawa · Aug 6, 2020 8:01am PDT · 4 comments

Zhang Yiming was a hometown hero. Local media heralded his startup, ByteDance, as China’s most internationally successful internet product. It was the first Chinese tech company to challenge the likes of Facebook for global pop-culture dominance with its breakout hit app, TikTok. Now, as his company is under attack across the world,... Zhang Yiming was a hometown hero. Local media heralded his startup, ByteDance, as China’s...

Illustration by J.Claeys

Casper’s Sleep Troubles

By Zoë Bernard · Aug 6, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Hours after Casper Sleep executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to inaugurate the mattress maker’s initial public offering in early February, the mood at the company’s downtown New York offices was celebratory. CEO Philip Krim was jubilant, while Gregory Macfarlane, then Casper’s chief financial officer,... Hours after Casper Sleep executives rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to inaugurate...

HeadSpin founders Manish Lachwani and Brien Colwell. Photo courtesy of Headspin.

Startup HeadSpin to Return Funding After Probe of Financial Statements

By Kate Clark · Aug 3, 2020 10:08pm PDT · 1 comment

HeadSpin founders Manish Lachwani and Brien Colwell. Photo courtesy of Headspin.

Startup HeadSpin to Return Funding After Probe of Financial Statements

By Kate Clark · Aug 3, 2020 10:08pm PDT · 1 comment

HeadSpin, a mobile app testing company recently valued at $1.16 billion, plans to return up to $95 million in funding to investors after an internal review of financial irregularities forced it to restate its financials.The previously unreported review follows the board’s discovery that the company was on track to post only $15 million in... HeadSpin, a mobile app testing company recently valued at $1.16 billion, plans to return up to...

Photo by Bloomberg

Trump Threat of Ban Puts TikTok-Microsoft Talks on Hold

By Jessica E. Lessin and Alex Heath · Aug 1, 2020 1:16pm PDT · 1 comment

President Trump’s announcement that he plans to ban Chinese-owned TikTok has halted a potential acquisition of the popular app by Microsoft, with both companies waiting for more information from the U.S. government, according to several people involved in the talks. Late Friday, the companies were in advanced stages of negotiating a... President Trump’s announcement that he plans to ban Chinese-owned TikTok has halted a...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb’s New Strategy: Living Without Google

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 31, 2020 7:08am PDT · 1 comment

Employees who worked on Airbnb’s marketing team in recent years have sometimes pondered a tantalizing question: What would happen to the company’s growth if it stopped spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on ads that appear high up in Google search results? The pandemic may have given Airbnb the opportunity to test... Employees who worked on Airbnb’s marketing team in recent years have sometimes pondered a...

A person walks into a building at the Google campus in Mountain View, California, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Photo by Bloomberg

Google’s Plan to Resume Reviews Rankles Employees With Children

By Cory Weinberg and Nick Bastone · Jul 30, 2020 12:27pm PDT · 1 comment

Life won’t start looking normal for most Google employees before next July, the earliest the company expects its workforce to be able to return to its offices. Yet Google is resuming some suspended business functions, including a high-stakes review cycle that has made at least one group of employees—parents—particularly... Life won’t start looking normal for most Google employees before next July, the earliest...

An employee assists a customer with televisions at a Walmart. Photo by Bloomberg

Walmart’s Rivalry With Amazon Becomes Hot-Button Issue for TV Maker

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 30, 2020 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

An employee assists a customer with televisions at a Walmart. Photo by Bloomberg

Walmart’s Rivalry With Amazon Becomes Hot-Button Issue for TV Maker

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 30, 2020 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Walmart is fighting Amazon on a growing number of fronts. The latest: TV remote controls.Walmart has asked the manufacturer of one of its biggest-selling smart TVs, Vizio, to remove the Amazon Prime Video button on remote controls for its sets. The buttons make it easy for Vizio owners to turn on Amazon’s Prime Video service, a major... Walmart is fighting Amazon on a growing number of fronts. The latest: TV remote controls.Walmart...

Photo by Bloomberg

Breaking Off TikTok Will Be Hard to Do

By Juro Osawa, Yunan Zhang and Amir Efrati · Jul 29, 2020 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

Under pressure from the Trump administration, ByteDance is considering selling control of its blockbuster social video app, TikTok. But carving TikTok out of ByteDance would mean cutting off the app’s access to a wide range of technology, powering everything from personalized recommendations to advertising to content moderation. And... Under pressure from the Trump administration, ByteDance is considering selling control of its...

Facebook executive Ime Archibong, who heads a new products group that now includes Facebook's venture capital arm.

Facebook Seeks Insights Into Startups by Investing in VC Funds

By Alex Heath and Kate Clark · Jul 28, 2020 10:52am PDT · 6 comments

Facebook in recent weeks has approached a handful of small venture capital firms to discuss becoming an investor in their funds, according to people familiar with the matter. The VC strategy, which also includes direct investments in startups, aims to give the social network early, valuable insight into a wider swath of companies. To run... Facebook in recent weeks has approached a handful of small venture capital firms to discuss...

A Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy Note Edge smartphone running the Android mobile operating system. Photo by Bloomberg.

Internal Google Program Taps Data on Rival Android Apps

By Alex Heath, Nick Bastone and Amir Efrati · Jul 23, 2020 3:49pm PDT · 2 comments

When YouTube was planning the rollout of its rival to TikTok in India earlier this month, employees turned to a valuable source of market research: how people in the country were using TikTok and its competitors on Android, the mobile operating system controlled by YouTube parent company Google.The research was part of an unreported Google... When YouTube was planning the rollout of its rival to TikTok in India earlier this month,...

TuSimple self-driving truck. Photo courtesy of TuSimple

The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals

By Amir Efrati and Yunan Zhang · Jul 22, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

TuSimple self-driving truck. Photo courtesy of TuSimple

The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals

By Amir Efrati and Yunan Zhang · Jul 22, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

In just five years, TuSimple has become the biggest and most visible developer of self-driving trucks, raising more cash and putting more robotic big rigs on the road than any rival. High-profile customers including UPS have contracted to let TuSimple haul their cargo on the highway. Executives have forecast heady revenue and predicted that... In just five years, TuSimple has become the biggest and most visible developer of self-driving...

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

ByteDance Investors Discuss TikTok Purchase

By Juro Osawa and Tom Dotan · Jul 21, 2020 1:53pm PDT · 2 comments

A small group of ByteDance’s U.S. investors is discussing with the company’s top management the possibility of joining forces to buy a majority stake in TikTok, said people familiar with the situation, as it grows more difficult for the Chinese-owned company to keep control of the fast-growing video app. The talks appear to be... A small group of ByteDance’s U.S. investors is discussing with the company’s top...

Microsoft President Brad Smith. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft President Met With House Antitrust Committee

By Christopher Stern and Nick Wingfield · Jul 20, 2020 5:38pm PDT

Next Monday, a House antitrust subcommittee will grill a quartet of CEOs from Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook, but the committee has already prepped for a related investigation into the sector by quizzing a top executive from another tech giant: Microsoft. Several weeks ago, the subcommittee interviewed Brad Smith, president and chief... Next Monday, a House antitrust subcommittee will grill a quartet of CEOs from Apple, Amazon,...

Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda. Photo by Coursera

Coursera Raises $130 Million Amid Flurry of Ed Tech Deals

By Kate Clark · Jul 17, 2020 1:23pm PDT · 1 comment

Another education technology company is flourishing amid the coronavirus pandemic, as people stuck at home flock to online classes. Coursera, the global online learning platform founded by prominent artificial intelligence researcher Andrew Ng, has raised $130 million in Series F funding, the company confirmed. NEA managing general partner... Another education technology company is flourishing amid the coronavirus pandemic, as people...

Autonomous Trucking Startup Plus.ai in Talks to Raise $60 Million

By Yunan Zhang · Jul 17, 2020 2:41am PDT · 1 comment

Autonomous Trucking Startup Plus.ai in Talks to Raise $60 Million

By Yunan Zhang · Jul 17, 2020 2:41am PDT · 1 comment

Plus.ai, a developer of self-driving trucks based in the U.S. and China, is in talks to raise $60 million, according to two people familiar with the matter.The fundraising, which is still under negotiation, would be led by Hong Kong-based investment and securities firm Guotai Junan International and could value Plus.ai in the range of $600... Plus.ai, a developer of self-driving trucks based in the U.S. and China, is in talks to raise $60...