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Google Cloud's outgoing CEO Diane Greene and Tencent CEO Pony Ma. Photos by Bloomberg.

Google and Tencent Secretly Explore Cloud-Computing Cooperation

By Juro Osawa · Dec 7, 2018 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Google is secretly exploring ways to use Tencent as a proxy for Google Cloud in China, where the U.S. company doesn’t operate its own cloud-computing business, people familiar with the matter said. If the project moves forward, corporate customers using Google Cloud’s software tools and services outside China—for tasks ranging... Google is secretly exploring ways to use Tencent as a proxy for Google Cloud in China, where the...

Logos of some of the apps produced by ByteDance.
Photo by Imaginechina via AP Images

ByteDance in Talks to Raise $1.45 Billion for Startup Shopping Spree

By Yunan Zhang and Juro Osawa · Dec 6, 2018 11:58pm PST

China’s ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup worth $75 billion, is in talks to raise the equivalent of more than $1 billion for its first venture fund to invest in artificial intelligence and media content, people familiar with the matter said. The Beijing-based company, whose popular video app TikTok is growing... China’s ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup worth $75 billion, is in talks...

What Airbnb’s New Guard Faces Ahead of IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 6, 2018 7:01am PST · 2 comments

As Airbnb prepares to go public, its strengths and weaknesses are coming into focus. A previously shorthanded executive team has been reinforced with veterans from Amazon, creating new power centers inside the company, as our new org chart shows. The company’s home-sharing business has become more popular with lucrative business travelers.... As Airbnb prepares to go public, its strengths and weaknesses are coming into focus. A previously...

A Google Export Experience Center, known until recently as a Google AdWords Experience Center, in Shanghai in 2016. Photo by AP

How the Chinese Government Is Helping Google Sell Ads in China

By Wayne Ma · Dec 5, 2018 7:01am PST

A Google Export Experience Center, known until recently as a Google AdWords Experience Center, in Shanghai in 2016. Photo by AP

How the Chinese Government Is Helping Google Sell Ads in China

By Wayne Ma · Dec 5, 2018 7:01am PST

On the 20th floor of a nondescript office building in China’s southern boomtown of Shenzhen, employees from small businesses such as electronic-component makers can often be seen in a colorful bright office checking out big TV screens displaying Google Search, Gmail and YouTube—which are otherwise blocked in China. They are in one of... On the 20th floor of a nondescript office building in China’s southern boomtown of...

A technician works with Rethink's Baxter at The Rodon Group manufacturing facility in 2013. Photo by AP.

How Robotics Maker Rethink Crashed and Burned

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 4, 2018 10:00am PST · 1 comment

A few years ago, Rethink Robotics was hailed as a revolutionary company that would change the course of industrial robots. Featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2015, the company raised $150 million in financing from backers such as Jeff Bezos and Goldman Sachs at a valuation that reached $291 million.Its relatively low-cost machines were... A few years ago, Rethink Robotics was hailed as a revolutionary company that would change the...

A collection of Bird electric scooters in Detroit. Photo by Bloomberg

Uber Exploring Deal to Buy Bird or Lime

By Amir Efrati, Juro Osawa and Cory Weinberg · Nov 30, 2018 9:10pm PST

Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal, said several people briefed on the discussions. But Uber is considering another option: The company has also recently held acquisition talks with the scooter company, Lime, said one of the people. While Uber... Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in...

A publicity photo from Lady Gaga's collaboration with Intel. Photo by Intel

Intel Pulls Back From In-House Ad Agency

By Aaron Tilley · Nov 29, 2018 6:34pm PST · 1 comment

In recent years, the chip giant Intel sought to burnish its brand with a series of whimsical marketing antics—from a light show at the 2018 Winter Olympics consisting of Intel drones to a collaboration with Lady Gaga, who performed at the 2016 Grammy Awards with dancing robotic arms and interactive holograms.Now Intel is sharply scaling... In recent years, the chip giant Intel sought to burnish its brand with a series of whimsical...

Art by Danielle Davis

Sidewalk Labs’ Grand Vision Meets Reality in Toronto

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2018 8:31am PST

Art by Danielle Davis

Sidewalk Labs’ Grand Vision Meets Reality in Toronto

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 29, 2018 8:31am PST

Sidewalk Labs executives were full of ambition two years ago when they pitched their parent company, Alphabet, more than 600 pages of plans for building a city neighborhood from scratch. The 2016 proposal, which Sidewalk described as preliminary, was designed to stretch the conventions of urban planning, proposing things like enclosing the newly... Sidewalk Labs executives were full of ambition two years ago when they pitched their parent...

Mic CEO Chris Altchek. Photo by Flickr/Ole Bader.

Mic’s Anticipated Sale Price Less Than $10 Million

By Tom Dotan · Nov 29, 2018 6:41am PST · 5 comments

Bustle is nearing a deal to buy millennial news site Mic for less than $10 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. That price, which hasn’t previously been reported, would be a massive discount to Mic’s last reported valuation in 2017, when it was said to have raised money at a valuation in the hundreds of millions... Bustle is nearing a deal to buy millennial news site Mic for less than $10 million, according to...

Reversal of Fortune: Didi Chuxing on the Defensive

By Yunan Zhang · Nov 27, 2018 3:40pm PST

Last year, when Uber was grappling with a series of controversies that led to the ouster of founder Travis Kalanick, the president of China’s ride-hailing behemoth Didi Chuxing, Jean Liu, was being touted as an executive role model. What a difference a year makes. Even as a new CEO at Uber has calmed the waters at that company, Didi has... Last year, when Uber was grappling with a series of controversies that led to the ouster of...

A Waymo van in Phoenix. Photo by Waymo

Waymo’s Cars Play It Safer After Incidents and ‘Driver Fatigue’

By Amir Efrati · Nov 27, 2018 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Waymo has only weeks to meet its self-imposed deadline to launch a public taxi service using fully automated cars by the end of 2018. And right now, that deadline looks tough for the company to meet.The Information has learned that within the past month or so, due to concerns about safety, the Alphabet company put so-called “safety... Waymo has only weeks to meet its self-imposed deadline to launch a public taxi service using...

A Pony.ai car. Photo by AP

China’s Autonomous Driving Startups Join the Billion-Dollar Club

By Yunan Zhang · Nov 23, 2018 7:01am PST

A Pony.ai car. Photo by AP

China’s Autonomous Driving Startups Join the Billion-Dollar Club

By Yunan Zhang · Nov 23, 2018 7:01am PST

In the race to develop autonomous cars, Silicon Valley companies like Alphabet’s Waymo are far ahead. But a wave of Chinese startups are raising of hundreds of millions of dollars to try to catch up. And these companies, including Pony.ai, Roadstar.ai, WeRide.ai and Momenta, have an edge: Their U.S. competitors may be shut out of the... In the race to develop autonomous cars, Silicon Valley companies like Alphabet’s Waymo are...

An Amazon Web Services event in San Francisco last year. Photo by Bloomberg

AWS to Expand Security Offerings With Threat-Hunting Tool

By Kevin McLaughlin, Sarah Kuranda and Amir Efrati · Nov 21, 2018 3:53pm PST

Amazon’s cloud unit is working on two new services to help customers identify security threats, as the company steps up its use of artificial intelligence to protect customers’ applications and data, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter and two people briefed on the cloud unit’s plans. Both of the new... Amazon’s cloud unit is working on two new services to help customers identify security...

Apple's TV streaming box. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Considered New Connected TV ‘Dongle’

By Aaron Tilley and Jessica Toonkel · Nov 21, 2018 12:24pm PST

To get more viewers for its upcoming TV streaming service, Apple has contemplated going downmarket on its TV hardware. The tech giant has had internal discussions about introducing a low-priced streaming “dongle” that people could plug into the back of their TV sets, similar to Amazon’s Fire Stick or Google’s Chromecast,... To get more viewers for its upcoming TV streaming service, Apple has contemplated going...

Apple's HomePod features the company's Siri virtual assistant. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Acquires AI Device Startup Silk Labs

By Aaron Tilley · Nov 20, 2018 4:30pm PST · 1 comment

Apple has quietly acquired a startup, Silk Labs, that specializes in making artificial intelligence software lightweight enough to fit onto consumer hardware like cameras, another sign of its growing ambitions around AI and smart home devices. The acquisition, which hasn’t been reported before, occurred earlier this year, according to a... Apple has quietly acquired a startup, Silk Labs, that specializes in making artificial...

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy at a company event last year. Photo by Bloomberg

AWS Developing New Services Amid Open-Source Tensions

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 19, 2018 10:53am PST

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy at a company event last year. Photo by Bloomberg

AWS Developing New Services Amid Open-Source Tensions

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 19, 2018 10:53am PST

Companies that manage open-source software have a message for cloud computing providers like Amazon: pay up, share your code or stop using our technology for free. The tension stems from the fact that cloud providers like Amazon Web Services are increasingly relying on open-source software—which is generally available to use free of... Companies that manage open-source software have a message for cloud computing providers like...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Snap’s Spiegel Flies High Above Wall Street Worries

By Tom Dotan · Nov 19, 2018 7:01am PST · 3 comments

Until a few months ago, Snap’s board meetings could be tense affairs. Benchmark partner Mitch Lasky, a Snap director until August, on occasion would challenge CEO Evan Spiegel about the company’s failure to meet Wall Street expectations for user growth and profits. Mr. Spiegel, who spends most board meetings looking at his phone and... Until a few months ago, Snap’s board meetings could be tense affairs. Benchmark partner...

New Instagram Bug Raises Security Questions

By Sarah Kuranda and Reed Albergotti · Nov 16, 2018 3:32pm PST

Instagram notified some users of a new security flaw that could have inadvertently exposed their passwords to public view, raising questions among security researchers about the effectiveness of Instagram’s security measures.The security flaw was tied, ironically, to a tool Instagram introduced in April to let users see how much of their... Instagram notified some users of a new security flaw that could have inadvertently exposed their...

Vacation rental startups are snapping up apartment leases in places like Austin, Texas, above. Photo: Bloomberg

Biggest Vacation Home Operator Moving Into City Market

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 13, 2018 11:41am PST

Vacasa became the largest vacation rental management company in North America this year, operating homes in beach and mountain towns. Now, backed by more than $200 million from tech investors on the road to a potential public offering, Vacasa wants to move into the big city.Vacasa see an opportunity in managing tourist lodgings in city apartment... Vacasa became the largest vacation rental management company in North America this year,...

Cameras inside a Walmart store in Levittown, N.Y., where it is testing automation technologies. Photo by Jon Victor

Inside Walmart’s Secret ‘Kepler’ Store for Testing Tech

By Priya Anand, Kevin McLaughlin and Jon Victor · Nov 9, 2018 10:01am PST

Cameras inside a Walmart store in Levittown, N.Y., where it is testing automation technologies. Photo by Jon Victor

Inside Walmart’s Secret ‘Kepler’ Store for Testing Tech

By Priya Anand, Kevin McLaughlin and Jon Victor · Nov 9, 2018 10:01am PST

At first glance, the small Walmart store in the New York suburb of Levittown seems unexceptional, but hovering above the aisles of water bottles, pet food and cookies are clues to an important technology experiment the giant retailer is conducting. A halo of cameras hangs above shelves throughout the store, the sheer number of... At first glance, the small Walmart store in the New York suburb of Levittown seems unexceptional,...