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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Photo: Bloomberg
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In Reversal, Facebook Mulls Switch to Google Apps

By Kevin McLaughlin and Sarah Kuranda · Jul 17, 2018 7:00am PDT · 4 comments
Facebook, which stopped using Google email and productivity applications inside the company a few years ago, is now mulling a switch back to the Google services for its employees, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Such a move would be an embarrassing setback for Microsoft, whose applications Facebook currently uses.If it... Facebook, which stopped using Google email and productivity applications inside the company a few...
Former Qualcomm executive chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs. Photo: Bloomberg
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Behind Qualcomm’s Retreat From Data Center Business

By Aaron Tilley · Jul 16, 2018 10:02am PDT · 3 comments
Three years ago, Qualcomm mounted an attack on Intel in the market for server chips used in the highly profitable data center business. By June the effort was a shambles. As the company laid off hundreds of workers in the data center unit in North Carolina, a collection of tech giants—including Microsoft, Intel, Samsung and... Three years ago, Qualcomm mounted an attack on Intel in the market for server chips used in the...
An app tied to the World Cup launched after the tournament started because of a lengthy review by Facebook. Photo: AP
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Facebook Scrutiny Slows Approval of Messenger Apps

By Sarah Kuranda · Jul 16, 2018 7:00am PDT
Leading up to the World Cup, GameOn Technology built a Facebook Messenger app for getting scores and game highlights. But as the World Cup kicked off last month, the app was still on the sidelines, awaiting Facebook’s approval.GameOn isn’t alone. The Information spoke to nearly a dozen developers frustrated by significant recent... Leading up to the World Cup, GameOn Technology built a Facebook Messenger app for getting scores...
Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy at a company event last year. Photo: Bloomberg
Amazon Web Services Targets Cisco in Networking
By Wayne Ma and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 13, 2018 10:03am PDT · 9 comments
Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy at a company event last year. Photo: Bloomberg
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Amazon Web Services Targets Cisco in Networking

By Wayne Ma and Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 13, 2018 10:03am PDT · 9 comments
Amazon Web Services already dominates the market for cloud services. Now, it is eyeing a part of the cloud business it doesn’t already control: the $14 billion global market for data center switches.AWS is considering selling its own networking switches for business customers—hardware devices that move traffic around networks,... Amazon Web Services already dominates the market for cloud services. Now, it is eyeing a part of...
Airbnb is one of numerous private companies facing expiring employee stock option grants. Photo: Bloomberg
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Delayed IPOs Undercut Startup Employee Options

By Alfred Lee · Jul 13, 2018 7:02am PDT · 5 comments
When Airbnb assured employees last month that it aimed to go public before their stock grants expired, the company became the latest example of a private tech firm grappling with a once unheard-of problem. Tech companies are staying private longer than ever, but most employee stock grants aren’t designed to last quite so long. Stock... When Airbnb assured employees last month that it aimed to go public before their stock grants...
Photo: AP
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China’s Huawei Plots AI Push With ‘Project Da Vinci’

By Juro Osawa and Aaron Tilley · Jul 12, 2018 10:16am PDT · 3 comments
Once a month, a top Huawei executive huddles with colleagues to talk about how to bring artificial intelligence into everything the Chinese tech giant makes, from telecom base stations and cloud data centers to devices like smartphones and surveillance cameras. The broad effort is code-named Project Da Vinci—referred to as Project D by... Once a month, a top Huawei executive huddles with colleagues to talk about how to bring...
Illustration by Mike Sullivan
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Facebook Watch Is Struggling to Win Fans

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jul 12, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
Facebook Watch, the company’s bid to dethrone YouTube, has had a shaky first year.In the months after Watch’s launch last August, the number of people who visited the social network’s new section every day to watch shows produced by ABC, A&E Networks, Discovery and other smaller media companies disappointed some show... Facebook Watch, the company’s bid to dethrone YouTube, has had a shaky first year.In the...
After Self-Driving Cars Get Billions, Trucks Get Second Look
By Amir Efrati · Jul 10, 2018 7:01am PDT
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After Self-Driving Cars Get Billions, Trucks Get Second Look

By Amir Efrati · Jul 10, 2018 7:01am PDT
The self-driving truck market is getting more congested. Three new startups—including one whose existence hasn’t been disclosed before—are developing autonomous truck-related software. All three were founded by entrepreneurs with ties to Uber, which has seen turmoil in its autonomous vehicle unit.The companies are seeking to... The self-driving truck market is getting more congested. Three new startups—including one...
DeepMap co-founders Mark Wheeler, left, and James Wu. Photo: Bloomberg
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Silicon Valley Mapping Startup Tries to Navigate Its Way Into China

By Yunan Zhang · Jul 9, 2018 10:01am PDT
DeepMap, founded by former Google mapping whizzes and backed by big-name Silicon Valley investors, is in talks to strengthen its ties to China with up to $60 million in fresh cash from Alibaba, Didi Chuxing and automaker BAIC Group, according to two people with direct knowledge of the fundraising.The Palo Alto, Calif., company, which makes... DeepMap, founded by former Google mapping whizzes and backed by big-name Silicon Valley...
Mike Sullivan
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Once Worth $800 Million, Cloud Startup Crumbles

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 6, 2018 10:28am PDT
Flash storage provider Tintri was riding high heading into its initial public offering last spring. Tintri, already a favorite of Hollywood studio Dreamworks, had just landed the biggest customer deal in its history, with Bank of New York Mellon worth “tens of millions” of dollars, according to a former Tintri employee.... Flash storage provider Tintri was riding high heading into its initial public offering last...
Xiaopeng founder He Xiaopeng spoke at a conference in Beijing in April.
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China’s Hot Electric Car Market Gets Jolt of Alibaba Money

By Juro Osawa · Jul 6, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
While Tesla struggles to meet investors’ expectations, its young Chinese counterparts are raising money at soaring valuations on hopes that China’s electric vehicle market will zoom ahead in the coming years. Xiaopeng Motors, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, is in talks to raise $600 million to $700 million from Alibaba and other... While Tesla struggles to meet investors’ expectations, its young Chinese counterparts are...
Valerie Nygaard, product manager for Google, presented a demo of the Duplex program last month. Photo: AP
Google’s Controversial Voice Assistant Could Talk Its Way Into Call Centers
By Sarah Kuranda · Jul 5, 2018 7:02am PDT · 4 comments
Valerie Nygaard, product manager for Google, presented a demo of the Duplex program last month. Photo: AP
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Google’s Controversial Voice Assistant Could Talk Its Way Into Call Centers

By Sarah Kuranda · Jul 5, 2018 7:02am PDT · 4 comments
At a developer conference in May, Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated how a cutting-edge, computer-generated voice assistant called Duplex could call up a restaurant or hair salon and make an appointment without the person on the other end ever realizing they were talking with a robot. The technology was as controversial as it was impressive,... At a developer conference in May, Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated how a cutting-edge,...
Oath CEO Tim Armstrong. Photo by Bloomberg
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Armstrong Has Explored Options for Verizon’s Oath

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 3, 2018 11:58am PDT
Oath CEO Tim Armstrong has been exploring strategic options for the digital media division, created from the combination of Yahoo and AOL, that could include buying the business out of Verizon, say people familiar with his thinking.There is no sign Mr. Armstrong and Verizon are currently discussing a buyout, however. Instead, executives at... Oath CEO Tim Armstrong has been exploring strategic options for the digital media division,...
A Juul e-cigarette device. Photo: AP
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Tiger to Invest $600 Million in Juul as Valuation Climbs

By Alfred Lee · Jul 2, 2018 3:56pm PDT · 1 comment
Tiger Global Management has agreed to invest $600 million to lead a new fundraising round in fast-rising e-cigarette maker Juul, according to two people familiar with the matter. Investors in the round, which has yet to close, have agreed to put in a total of more than $1 billion at a post-round valuation of roughly $16 billion, the people said.... Tiger Global Management has agreed to invest $600 million to lead a new fundraising round in...
A Scoot moped. Photo by Scoot
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In Scooter Wars, City Ties Might Level Playing Field

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 29, 2018 7:02am PDT · 3 comments
San Francisco officials are expected to decide within weeks which companies will win five coveted slots to operate electric scooters in the city. The more than a dozen contenders include Uber and Lyft, which have recently entered the scooter market, and Bird, Lime and Ofo, three transportation startups with billion-dollar valuations from venture... San Francisco officials are expected to decide within weeks which companies will win five coveted...
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky speaking at an event in San Francisco in February. Photo: AP
Airbnb Promises More Cash for Employees, Plots IPO by 2020
By Cory Weinberg · Jun 28, 2018 11:44am PDT
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky speaking at an event in San Francisco in February. Photo: AP
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Airbnb Promises More Cash for Employees, Plots IPO by 2020

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 28, 2018 11:44am PDT
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told employees Thursday it will pay cash bonuses for the first time in years, a move apparently designed to address growing frustration that the hospitality startup had yet to go public. Mr. Chesky indicated that the company would aim to go public by late 2020, before some employee stock grants expire, a person close to... Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told employees Thursday it will pay cash bonuses for the first time in...
An Uber self-driving car being tested earlier this year. Photo by AP
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How Uber’s Self-Driving Car Unit Plans to Move Forward

By Amir Efrati · Jun 28, 2018 7:01am PDT · 1 comment
Uber plans to resume testing self-driving cars by August, in Pittsburgh and possibly San Francisco, said a person familiar with the decision, five months after an Uber car struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz. The testing resumption might dispel questions about whether Uber’s self-driving car effort will recover from the highly... Uber plans to resume testing self-driving cars by August, in Pittsburgh and possibly San...
Peter Chernin, left, with investor Eric Semler at the Allen & Co Sun Valley conference in 2016. Photo by Bloomberg
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Chernin Plans New $500 Million-Plus Fund

By Jessica Toonkel · Jun 27, 2018 4:13pm PDT
Media mogul Peter Chernin is planning to raise a new media investment fund of more than $500 million, said three people familiar with the situation, giving the media investor more fuel for his digital media engine.Word of the new fund follows a report last week that AT&T planned to buy full ownership of its online video joint venture with... Media mogul Peter Chernin is planning to raise a new media investment fund of more than $500...
Oprah Winfrey, who has agreed to produce shows for Apple. Photo by Bloomberg.
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Apple Eyes Streaming Bundle for TV, Music and News

By Jessica Toonkel · Jun 27, 2018 3:58pm PDT
Apple is considering creating a single subscription offering that would encompass its original TV shows, music service and magazine articles, two people familiar with the company’s plans told The Information.Such an ambitious offering would bear some similarity to Amazon’s Prime service, which spans video, music and some news. Yet it... Apple is considering creating a single subscription offering that would encompass its original TV...
Snapchat's app open on an iPhone. Photo: AP
Snap Gaming Platform Coming This Fall
By Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati · Jun 27, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
Snapchat's app open on an iPhone. Photo: AP
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Snap Gaming Platform Coming This Fall

By Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati · Jun 27, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
In the past few months, Snap has been lightly dipping its toe into the waters of gaming. Later this year, it’s going to take the plunge.The company is preparing to launch a platform this fall that will let outside developers create games to be played through the Snapchat app, according to two people familiar with the matter. It already has... In the past few months, Snap has been lightly dipping its toe into the waters of gaming. Later...