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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

September’s (Likely) IPO Spree: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 11, 2020 5:02pm PDT
News that Airbnb will file to go public by the end of this month is the latest sign that the post-Labor Day period may see a spate of high profile tech IPOs. Both Palantir and Snowflake have reportedly filed confidentially to go public, while Asana is also said to be  planning a public debut this year.Executives at all these companies are... News that Airbnb will file to go public by the end of this month is the latest sign that the...
Jason Kilar, now chief executive officer of WarnerMedia, at a conference in 2010, when he was chief executive officer of Hulu LLC. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

WarnerMedia’s Big Job Cuts: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 10, 2020 5:20pm PDT
WarnerMedia’s layoffs of 600 people today were the latest sign that the entertainment industry is coming to grips with its new reality: The golden rivers of money from cable TV are drying up. With the only growth business for most of the companies coming from streaming, which isn’t a profit maker yet, the companies have no... WarnerMedia’s layoffs of 600 people today were the latest sign that the entertainment...
The logo for Tencent's popular WeChat app. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

Trump, TikTok and Tencent: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 7, 2020 7:18pm PDT
The Trump administration’s surprise executive orders that would effectively ban TikTok and WeChat in the U.S. raised a flurry of questions, such as whether the ban would extend to video games owned by WeChat’s parent Tencent. Equally unclear: whether a related government effort could thwart lucrative cloud services deals, such as the... The Trump administration’s surprise executive orders that would effectively ban TikTok and...
An Uber Eats delivery courier in Tokyo on April 21. Photo: Bloomberg
The New Uber, Google Founders’ Letter: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2020 6:45pm PDT
An Uber Eats delivery courier in Tokyo on April 21. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

The New Uber, Google Founders’ Letter: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 6, 2020 6:45pm PDT
In a sign of the times, Uber said Thursday its restaurant-food delivery revenue surpassed ride-hailing for the first time. Uber Eats revenue rose 103%, to $1.2 billion in the June quarter, and its profit margin—at negative 19%—was the unit’s best in many quarters. Ride-hailing generated just $790 million, down 67% due to... In a sign of the times, Uber said Thursday its restaurant-food delivery revenue surpassed...
Facebook launched its TikTok competitor Reels, a feature of Instagram, into the U.S. and other markets on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

Facebook Takes On TikTok: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 5, 2020 6:48pm PDT
Facebook has never been shy about drawing inspiration from competitors. It was already preparing a rival to TikTok—Instagram Reels—even as concern about TikTok’s Chinese ownership reached a fever pitch in recent months. So it wasn’t surprising when Instagram quickly rolled out Reels in India shortly after the government... Facebook has never been shy about drawing inspiration from competitors. It was already preparing...
An employee at Walt Disney Co.'s Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong on June 18. Shutdowns resulting from the coronavirus contributed to a $4.7 billion quarterly loss.
The Briefing

Disney Streamers Hit 100 Million: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 4, 2020 7:12pm PDT
Disney pulled off a successful misdirection today by getting investors to think less about Covid-19 and more about the invasion of the Huns.The company said during an otherwise dismal earnings report that it will release Mulan—its twice-delayed big budget release about a young woman who fends off invaders in China—as a rental in... Disney pulled off a successful misdirection today by getting investors to think less about...
Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., at a tech conference in Bengaluru, India, on February 25, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

Microsoft’s Focus Gets Fuzzier: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Aug 3, 2020 7:57pm PDT
A few months after Microsoft’s board named Satya Nadella CEO of the company in 2014, Nadella sent a 3,100-word memo to the tech giant’s employees describing what he saw as Microsoft’s “soul” and “unique core.” “Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first... A few months after Microsoft’s board named Satya Nadella CEO of the company in 2014,...
The logo of TikTok on a smartphone. Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok, The Information confirmed. Photo: Bloomberg.
Microsoft Talks to TikTok: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jul 31, 2020 5:16pm PDT
The logo of TikTok on a smartphone. Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok, The Information confirmed. Photo: Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Microsoft Talks to TikTok: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 31, 2020 5:16pm PDT
News that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok raises all sorts of fascinating questions. Microsoft in recent years has been much more focused on selling to business customers than individuals; TikTok would take them in the opposite direction. The closest fit within Microsoft’s business would be its Xbox gaming division, although it... News that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok raises all sorts of fascinating questions....
Amazon.com Inc. packages sit stacked on the sidewalk in New York, U.S., on Thursday, June 11, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Amazon’s Big Quarter: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 30, 2020 6:53pm PDT
Any attempts by Jeff Bezos in yesterday’s antitrust hearing to cast Amazon as a minor player in the global retail market quickly got overshadowed by Amazon’s superlative-laden second-quarter results. Sales surged 40% to $89 billion, net income doubled to $5.2 billion and the number of its employees hit one million, it told... Any attempts by Jeff Bezos in yesterday’s antitrust hearing to cast Amazon as a minor...
The Briefing

Scoring the Tech CEOs: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 29, 2020 6:51pm PDT · 2 comments
Members of Congress scored some direct hits against big tech CEOs at Wednesday’s antitrust hearing, in an intense series of exchanges lasting more than five hours. From the opening gavel, the lawmakers asked pointed questions and showed little patience for the CEOs’ attempts to provide long responses that didn’t directly answer... Members of Congress scored some direct hits against big tech CEOs at Wednesday’s antitrust...
Art by Mike Sullivan
The Briefing

Tech’s High Noon in Washington: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 28, 2020 6:01pm PDT
At high noon tomorrow, Eastern time, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai will appear via videoconference before Congress in a long-awaited showdown with the House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee. If you are planning to watch, make sure you have a... At high noon tomorrow, Eastern time, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg,...
Photo: AP
Alphabet’s Remote Work Extension: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jul 27, 2020 5:31pm PDT
Photo: AP
The Briefing

Alphabet’s Remote Work Extension: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 27, 2020 5:31pm PDT
There has been a lot written about how the pandemic affects businesses very differently. One subject that maybe hasn’t received as much attention as it should: how businesses cope with the long-term impact of remote work on productivity and employees’ mental health.Google’s decision to delay a return to work for its employees... There has been a lot written about how the pandemic affects businesses very differently. One...
The New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Tech’s Big Earnings Week: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 24, 2020 5:30pm PDT
Our plans to spend Monday glued to our screen watching big tech CEOs getting grilled by various congresspeople are out the window, likely delayed for at least a week. But next week will be an important one for big tech nonetheless, as all four of the major companies—Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook—are reporting earnings.We go... Our plans to spend Monday glued to our screen watching big tech CEOs getting grilled by various...
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Twitter’s Subscription Hope: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 23, 2020 5:31pm PDT
Twitter very successfully changed the subject on Thursday. Most of the discussion of its second quarter earnings results could have focused on the 19% drop in revenue the company reported, which was a marked contrast with Snap’s 17% growth for the same period.Instead, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed that the company was considering... Twitter very successfully changed the subject on Thursday. Most of the discussion of its second...
Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Slack Ends Microsoft’s Exceptionalism: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 22, 2020 5:46pm PDT
Slack has brought to an end Microsoft’s exceptionalism amid big tech’s current antitrust moment. The business messaging company lodged a European Union complaint against its much bigger rival on Wednesday, pulling it into the broad antitrust war being waged even more aggressively by the European regulators than by the U.S. agencies.... Slack has brought to an end Microsoft’s exceptionalism amid big tech’s current...
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg
Snap Shows the Way: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jul 21, 2020 5:47pm PDT
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Snap Shows the Way: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 21, 2020 5:47pm PDT
We’re finally starting to get a real sense of the impact that the coronavirus has had on tech. And it’s clear the results will be all over the map.Snap’s results on Tuesday, for instance, showed decent growth in its business, with revenue up 17%. That is admittedly a comedown for Snap, which in the first quarter had posted 44%... We’re finally starting to get a real sense of the impact that the coronavirus has had on...
Mark Cuban. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

The New Stock Market Bubble: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 20, 2020 5:31pm PDT · 1 comment
Investor Mark Cuban on Monday likened the present stock market to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Cuban, of course, made his fortune by selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo during that era, so he knows what he is talking about. He sold the company a year before the tech crash of early 2000.Cuban also made the point that the dot-com boom lasted... Investor Mark Cuban on Monday likened the present stock market to the dot-com boom of the late...
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Why the Netflix Sell-Off Isn’t Meaningful: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 17, 2020 6:02pm PDT
Netflix’s second-quarter results on Thursday were about as good as it gets. But you could be forgiven for missing that, given some media coverage that took its cue from the stock sell-off following the earnings report. Investors were supposedly upset that Netflix wasn’t forecasting a repeat of the rip-roaring growth in the third... Netflix’s second-quarter results on Thursday were about as good as it gets. But you could...
EU flags outside of the European Union Commission building in Brussels.
The Briefing

Europe Queries Alexa and Siri: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 16, 2020 5:31pm PDT
A day after European authorities suffered an embarrassing court defeat in a 4-year-old tax case against Apple, regulators on the Continent are going after big tech again. Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s top antitrust enforcer, announced an inquiry into the internet of things sector, including how voice assistants like Siri,... A day after European authorities suffered an embarrassing court defeat in a 4-year-old tax case...
Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg
Scammers Hack Twitter: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2020 6:01pm PDT
Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Scammers Hack Twitter: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 15, 2020 6:01pm PDT
Wednesday’s hack of the Twitter accounts of top executives and politicians, including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Barack Obama, is an enormous black eye for the company. Scammers have used Twitter before to make money. What is worrisome about this hack is the possibility, raised by some people on Twitter, that the hackers gained... Wednesday’s hack of the Twitter accounts of top executives and politicians, including Jeff...