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Amir Efrati

Executive Editor

Amir helped launch The Information in 2013. His reporting on Uber’s corporate missteps and on the dangers and limits of self-driving vehicle development at Tesla, Uber, Alphabet’s Waymo, and General Motors’ Cruise won consecutive Best in Business awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Before The Information, he spent the previous nine years at the Wall Street Journal reporting on technology, health, and criminal justice. He was first to report on Bernie Madoff’s arrest and broke major news about the epic fraud. Federal judges have cited his reporting on egregious criminal sentencing. His TV and radio appearances include CNBC, PBS, BBC, Fox, and NPR. He graduated from the University of Iowa, which is his home state. He can be reached at [email protected]

A Waymo minivan arrives to pick up passengers for an autonomous vehicle ride, Wednesday, April 7, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. Photo: AP

Autonomous Vehicles Startups

Way Mo’ Cash for High-Tech Cars

By Amir Efrati · June 16, 2021 5:08 PM PDT · 1 comment

Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary Waymo on Wednesday said it raised $2.5 billion from investors, with an asterisk: Alphabet was the lead investor in the round, according to a person familiar with the deal. In Silicon Valley, the lead designation usually belongs to the party that contributed half of the total amount in the round. So... Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary Waymo on Wednesday said it raised $2.5 billion from...

Didi Chuxing’s IPO Filing Shows Fast Rides Growth, Puzzling Financial Reporting

June 10, 2021 · 3:55 PM PDT

Didi made it exceedingly difficult for investors to compare its business to Uber's and Lyft's.

An Argo AI prototype in Pittsburgh, 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

Autonomous Vehicles Summit

Markets Autonomous Vehicles

As IPO Nears, Argo CEO Says Self-Driving-Car Prototypes Are ‘Regularly Beating’ Human Drivers

By Amir Efrati · June 10, 2021 10:47 AM PDT · 1 comment

Prototype self-driving cars developed by Argo AI “regularly” have lower collision rates than human drivers in metro areas such as Miami, said Bryan Salesky, Argo’s CEO, during The Information’s fifth annual Autonomous Vehicle Summit on Wednesday. Salesky’s comment stands in contrast to mounting criticism that the... Prototype self-driving cars developed by Argo AI “regularly” have lower collision...

Locomation trucks on the test track at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. Credit: Locomation

Two More Self-Driving-Truck Developers Consider Public Offerings

By Amir Efrati · June 9, 2021 6:01 AM PDT · 1 comment

Locomation trucks on the test track at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. Credit: Locomation

Autonomous Vehicles Markets

Two More Self-Driving-Truck Developers Consider Public Offerings

By Amir Efrati · June 9, 2021 6:01 AM PDT · 1 comment

Embark Trucks and Locomation, both of which develop self-driving semitrailers to haul freight over long distances, have recently discussed going public, including by merging with a shell company known as a special purpose acquisition vehicle, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The talks follow the successful public offering... Embark Trucks and Locomation, both of which develop self-driving semitrailers to haul freight...

Autonomous Vehicles

Reid Hoffman’s SPAC Nears Deal with Aurora, a Self-Driving Truck Developer

June 4, 2021 · 1:51 PM PDT

Aurora needs more money after absorbing Uber's self-driving car unit.

A Boeing 777X airplane at Boeing Field in Seattle. Photo by Bloomberg

Enterprise Cloud

Amazon, Microsoft and Google Pursue $1 Billion Cloud Deal With Boeing

By Amir Efrati and Kevin McLaughlin · May 27, 2021 6:01 AM PDT · 3 comments

The biggest cloud computing companies—Amazon, Microsoft and Google—often pull out all the stops to land long-term contracts with marquee corporate customers. The latest prize all three are pursuing, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, is a multiyear deal to provide cloud services to aerospace giant Boeing. Amazon,... The biggest cloud computing companies—Amazon, Microsoft and Google—often pull out all...

DoorDash Bounces Back, Generating $112 Million of Cash in First Quarter

May 13, 2021 · 2:08 PM PDT

DoorDash's free lunch may not be over after all.

Tesla Books Record $438 Million Profit From Sale of Credits, Bitcoin

April 26, 2021 · 2:39 PM PDT

Tesla's bet on bitcoin at the start of the year helped it to book a record profit in Q1.

Uber/Lyft Autonomous Vehicles

Lyft Sells Self-Driving Car Unit to Toyota For $550 Million

April 26, 2021 · 1:59 PM PDT

Uber paid money to unload its self-driving car unit whereas Lyft is getting paid to do the same.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Venture Capital Startups

‘These Guys Are Very Different’: Inside Andreessen Horowitz’s Rise

By Kate Clark and Amir Efrati · April 16, 2021 6:01 AM PDT · 9 comments

As recently as two years ago, the performance of Andreessen Horowitz’s investments in tech startups were average, despite the firm’s outsize public profile. But its partners had placed bigger bets on cryptocurrencies than almost anyone else, and they did so during moments when most investors had soured on the field. The firm’s... As recently as two years ago, the performance of Andreessen Horowitz’s investments in tech...

Uber/Lyft COVID-19

Uber Gets Stellar PR for $250 Million Driver Stimulus

April 7, 2021 · 11:40 AM PDT

Uber is shrewdly calling attention to its U.S. drivers' sky-high earnings as the ride-hailing service recovers from the pandemic.

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky. Photo by Bloomberg.

Argo AI Planning Public Listing Later This Year

By Berber Jin and Amir Efrati · April 2, 2021 11:08 AM PDT

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky. Photo by Bloomberg.

Argo AI Planning Public Listing Later This Year

By Berber Jin and Amir Efrati · April 2, 2021 11:08 AM 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,...

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

Enterprise Amazon

Amazon Steps Up Silicon Ambitions With New Networking Chip

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · March 30, 2021 6:00 AM 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...

Google Cloud’s EMEA Sales Chief Departs

March 25, 2021 · 10:39 AM PDT

Chris Ciauri, a veteran sales executive who joined Google Cloud 18 months ago from Salesforce, has left the unit.

Adam Selipsky, the new chief of AWS, in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Enterprise Amazon

Amazon Names Adam Selipsky Head of AWS

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · March 23, 2021 1:19 PM PDT · 1 comment

Amazon on Tuesday said that Adam Selipsky, the chief of Salesforce’s Tableau Software unit, will become the new head of Amazon Web Services. Selipsky, a former AWS executive before he left to run Tableau, will replace Andy Jassy, the current CEO of AWS. Later this year, Jassy will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon, the company previously... Amazon on Tuesday said that Adam Selipsky, the chief of Salesforce’s Tableau Software unit,...

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

Instacart Eyes Fourth-Quarter Public Listing, International Expansion

By Alex Heath and Amir Efrati · March 18, 2021 10:27 AM PDT

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

Instacart Eyes Fourth-Quarter Public Listing, International Expansion

By Alex Heath and Amir Efrati · March 18, 2021 10:27 AM 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...

Policy Uber/Lyft

Uber Grants Worker Benefits to U.K. Drivers Following Legal Losses

March 16, 2021 · 2:43 PM PDT

It's the latest in a long line of regulatory defeats that will push up Uber's costs.

Short Seller Hindenburg Stings Another Electric Vehicle SPAC

March 12, 2021 · 2:32 PM PST

Retail investors may be realizing that public companies that have no product and no revenue might not be a sure thing.

E-commerce Markets

Instacart Hires the Product Chief of Rival Uber Eats

March 5, 2021 · 6:17 AM PST

Daniel Danker is expected to lead Instacart’s product and operations related to the 500,000-plus workers who help fulfill Instacart’s online orders by picking up items at places including Costco, Safeway and non-grocery retailers such as Best Buy.

Autonomous Vehicles

Self-Driving Car Developer Cruise in Talks to Acquire Startup Voyage

March 2, 2021 · 6:21 PM PST

Consolidation in autonomous vehicles has been a long time coming.