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A picking robot from Kindred Systems. Photo by Kindred Systems

Amazon Developing ‘Picking’ Robots for Warehouses

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 11, 2018 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Amazon announced plans last week to bump the minimum wage for 250,000 employees to $15 an hour, it avoided a related, but sensitive topic: When might machines replace those workers, many of whom work in its warehouses? Amazon already uses robots to handle some jobs in its warehouses, known as fulfillment centers, but it has... When Amazon announced plans last week to bump the minimum wage for 250,000 employees to $15 an...

Harvard University. Photo: Bloomberg

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Endowments Invest in Crypto Funds

By Jon Victor · Oct 10, 2018 12:32pm PDT

The endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina have made investments into at least one cryptocurrency fund, a person familiar with the investments said, in a sign of the asset class’ growing acceptance among institutional investors.... The endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts...

Stewart Butterfield, co-founder and CEO of Slack. Photo: Bloomberg

Tech Founders Cede Some Power to Shareholders

By Alfred Lee · Oct 10, 2018 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Founders wield outsize influence over many of Silicon Valley’s most successful public companies through their shareholdings. But lately a growing number of tech firms are setting limits on founder power, partly in response to investor backlash.Messaging service Slack, which is expected to go public next year, adopted rules in December that... Founders wield outsize influence over many of Silicon Valley’s most successful public...

Photo: Bloomberg

Costco Has Considered Video Streaming Service for Executive Members

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 9, 2018 2:56pm PDT

Photo: Bloomberg

Costco Has Considered Video Streaming Service for Executive Members

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 9, 2018 2:56pm PDT

Costco Wholesale had preliminary discussions over the past few months about offering a video streaming service as a perk for its top-tier customers, according to three people with direct knowledge of the discussions.The retailer has talked to at least two providers of existing streaming services about the possibility of offering such a service... Costco Wholesale had preliminary discussions over the past few months about offering a video...

Illustration by Scotty Reifsynder

Inside Apple’s War on iPhone Fraud in China

By Wayne Ma · Oct 9, 2018 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

Five years ago, Apple was forced to temporarily close what was then its only retail store in Shenzhen, China, after it was besieged by lines of hundreds of customers waiting to swap broken iPhones for new devices, according to two former Apple employees who were briefed about the matter. In May 2013, the Shenzhen store logged more than 2,000... Five years ago, Apple was forced to temporarily close what was then its only retail store in...

Todd Holmdahl, a corporate vice president with Microsoft's quantum computing project. Photo by Microsoft

Microsoft Quantum Project Grows With Ex-Qualcomm Engineers

By Aaron Tilley · Oct 8, 2018 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft’s efforts to build a futuristic computer based on quantum mechanics are getting a boost from former engineers of the chipmaker Qualcomm. Over the past few months, Microsoft has aggressively hired chip engineers from a struggling Qualcomm division devoted to building chips for the computers that power data centers, more so than... Microsoft’s efforts to build a futuristic computer based on quantum mechanics are getting a...

A local resident in Shanghai used a smartphone to have the QR code scanned through Tencent's WeChat Pay. Photo: AP

Tencent to Invest in Brazilian Fintech Startup at $4 Billion Valuation

By Wayne Ma and Juro Osawa · Oct 8, 2018 2:51am PDT · 1 comment

Chinese internet giant Tencent has agreed to invest about $200 million in Brazil’s Nubank, which offers virtual credit cards, in a deal that values the startup at around $4 billion, a person familiar with the matter said. Tencent’s first investment in Brazil makes Nubank one of the most valuable startups in Latin America. It is the... Chinese internet giant Tencent has agreed to invest about $200 million in Brazil’s Nubank,...

Heather Lommatzsch’s Tesla Model S after crashing into the back of a fire truck in South Jordan, Utah, in May. Photo: South Jordan Police Department

Tesla Gives Mixed Messages on Hands-Free Driving

By Matt Drange · Oct 5, 2018 7:00am PDT · 7 comments

Heather Lommatzsch’s Tesla Model S after crashing into the back of a fire truck in South Jordan, Utah, in May. Photo: South Jordan Police Department

Tesla Gives Mixed Messages on Hands-Free Driving

By Matt Drange · Oct 5, 2018 7:00am PDT · 7 comments

One of the most appealing features of Tesla’s cars is their ability to steer themselves. But the semi-autonomous “Autopilot” feature has been linked to a series of crashes, and increasingly is blamed for encouraging drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel.Tesla has responded by sending drivers... One of the most appealing features of Tesla’s cars is their ability to steer themselves....

Traveloka CFO Henry Hendrawan. Photo by Bloomberg

Asia Tech Gold Rush Boosts Travel Startup to $4 Billion Price Tag

By Juro Osawa · Oct 4, 2018 1:48am PDT · 2 comments

As U.S. and Asian tech giants pour billions of dollars into Southeast Asia, local startup valuations are soaring. Now, one of the region’s biggest online travel sites is in talks for a new funding round which would double its valuation to $4.1 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.Indonesia-based Traveloka, backed by Expedia of... As U.S. and Asian tech giants pour billions of dollars into Southeast Asia, local startup...

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Foreign Venture Capitalists Raising Large Funds for China

By Yunan Zhang · Oct 3, 2018 11:36am PDT · 1 comment

Even as China’s domestic investors struggle to raise cash, U.S. venture capitalists and other firms based outside of China are gathering record sums of money to invest in China. Morningside, an early backer of Xiaomi, the smartphone maker listed in Hong Kong, is raising $1 billion. GGV, which backed Alibaba and travel company Qunar.com, is... Even as China’s domestic investors struggle to raise cash, U.S. venture capitalists and...

Apoorva Mehta, founder and CEO of Instacart, at an event last year. Photo by Bloomberg

Instacart Expected to Top $3 Billion in Orders This Year

By Priya Anand · Oct 3, 2018 7:01am PDT

Instacart is on track to surpass $3 billion in grocery orders this year, as the same-day delivery service expands the number of supermarkets it works with, The Information has learned. That figure would represent more than double its business from last year.The previously undisclosed figures show how Instacart has managed to thrive in the wake... Instacart is on track to surpass $3 billion in grocery orders this year, as the same-day delivery...

A Waymo self-driving van in Chandler, Ariz. Photo: Waymo

Waymo Collision Shows Flaws in Self-Driving Car Tests

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2018 7:02am PDT · 8 comments

A Waymo self-driving van in Chandler, Ariz. Photo: Waymo

Waymo Collision Shows Flaws in Self-Driving Car Tests

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2018 7:02am PDT · 8 comments

One morning in June, a self-driving car prototype developed by Alphabet’s Waymo unit drove itself northbound on the freeway not far from the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The Waymo vehicle, a white Chrysler Pacifica minivan, traveled on a route that the company uses to test different versions of autonomous vehicle... One morning in June, a self-driving car prototype developed by Alphabet’s Waymo unit drove...

SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, at a news conference in Tokyo, in August. Photo: Bloomberg

SoftBank Asserts More Control Over Startups

By Alfred Lee · Oct 1, 2018 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

SoftBank is changing the tech landscape by investing massive amounts of money in startups. Increasingly, that money is coming with more strings attached.As it deploys its nearly $100 billion Vision Fund, the investing giant is negotiating deal terms that can go to great lengths to protect its returns and give it greater control over key... SoftBank is changing the tech landscape by investing massive amounts of money in startups....

Byedance founder Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank in Talks to Invest in Bytedance

By Yunan Zhang · Sep 27, 2018 3:53am PDT · 3 comments

SoftBank and Primavera Capital are in talks to invest in Bytedance, the six-year-old startup behind news app Toutiao and other popular Chinese entertainment apps, which is raising money ahead of a possible initial public offering next year.The new round of financing could value Bytedance at as much as $75 billion, according to people familiar... SoftBank and Primavera Capital are in talks to invest in Bytedance, the six-year-old startup...

Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg

Lyft Shows Financial Improvement Ahead of IPO Filing

By Amir Efrati · Sep 26, 2018 10:26am PDT

Lyft appears to be getting better at controlling its costs.The ride-hailing firm more than doubled revenue to $909 million in the first half of 2018 compared with a year earlier, according to a person with knowledge of the figures. But tighter control of expenses such as promotions for riders and technical infrastructure and networking meant the... Lyft appears to be getting better at controlling its costs.The ride-hailing firm more than...

Adam Mosseri. Photo by Karen Obrist

Facebook Likely to Name Mosseri to Lead Instagram

By Sarah Kuranda · Sep 25, 2018 10:14am PDT · 3 comments

Adam Mosseri. Photo by Karen Obrist

Facebook Likely to Name Mosseri to Lead Instagram

By Sarah Kuranda · Sep 25, 2018 10:14am PDT · 3 comments

Facebook most likely will name Adam Mosseri as the new leader of Instagram, following the announcement on Monday night that the photo-sharing service’s two founders are leaving the company, according to people familiar with the matter. The departure of the two founders, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger, was the culmination... Facebook most likely will name Adam Mosseri as the new leader of Instagram, following the...

IBM's David Kenny talking with Box CEO Aaron Levie at a Box conference in August. Photo by Bloomberg

IBM Shakes Up Its Public Cloud Leadership

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 25, 2018 7:00am PDT

One of IBM’s top cloud executives quietly departed the company a few weeks ago, amid a broader shakeup of the tech giant’s cloud management team. The changes follow IBM losing market share in the public cloud, where it had hoped to expand.IBM was overtaken by Alibaba in the first quarter for the fourth spot in the global market,... One of IBM’s top cloud executives quietly departed the company a few weeks ago, amid a...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky in 2017. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb’s Engineering Chief to Depart

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 24, 2018 11:24am PDT · 1 comment

Airbnb has another top job to fill: engineering leader. Mike Curtis, the company’s vice president of engineering for more than five years, will step down this year, he told the company earlier this month. The company will search for a chief technology officer as his replacement, an Airbnb spokesman said.His departure adds to the number of... Airbnb has another top job to fill: engineering leader. Mike Curtis, the company’s vice...

Jonah Peretti. Photo by Erin Beach

The Evolution of BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 24, 2018 7:00am PDT · 3 comments

More than most other entrepreneurs, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti has been the trendsetter of the past decade in digital media. Now, he is learning what it takes to build a sustainable media business. Interviews with more than two dozen people involved in BuzzFeed provide an inside look at how the company founder preferred to study how people... More than most other entrepreneurs, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti has been the trendsetter of the...

Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg

Social Capital Founder Gives His Account of Turmoil at Firm

By Reed Albergotti · Sep 20, 2018 7:31am PDT · 6 comments

Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg

Social Capital Founder Gives His Account of Turmoil at Firm

By Reed Albergotti · Sep 20, 2018 7:31am PDT · 6 comments

For the past year, venture firm Social Capital has been decimated by high-level departures and investor complaints about the firm’s founder, Chamath Palihapitiya, and his unpredictable and unilateral decision making.Now, in an exclusive interview in which Mr. Palihapitiya questioned the very nature of startup funding, he made clear he... For the past year, venture firm Social Capital has been decimated by high-level departures and...