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The Briefing

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

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Recent Editions

Facial recognition technology being demonstrated at a conference in China last year. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

A Reckoning on Facial Recognition? The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 9, 2020 6:16pm PDT
IBM’s decision to stop offering facial recognition technology is likely to amplify calls for other big technology companies—notably, Amazon—to do the same. As IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a letter to several members of Congress, Big Blue’s decision reflected concerns about the technology’s potential use as a tool... IBM’s decision to stop offering facial recognition technology is likely to amplify calls...
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Bezos Shows the Limits to Amazon’s Customer Obsession: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 8, 2020 6:45pm PDT
Among the dozen or so leadership principles that Amazon employees are expected to learn and operate by, “customer obsession” is the first, and, in many ways, the most sacred. In more than two decades following the company, I can’t think of a time when I heard an executive bash an Amazon customer, and certainly not in any kind... Among the dozen or so leadership principles that Amazon employees are expected to learn and...
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

HBO Max’s Edge; Grubhub’s Latest Suitors: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 5, 2020 7:30pm PDT
Two years after a federal court approved AT&T’s $81 billion purchase of Time Warner, we are finally seeing how the telecom giant aims to create synergies from the deal. Exhibit A is AT&T’s decision to exempt new streaming service HBO Max from AT&T data caps. That means AT&T customers can stream the service more... Two years after a federal court approved AT&T’s $81 billion purchase of Time Warner, we...
ZoomInfo's logo at the Nasdaq stock market where it went public on Thursday. Photo by Nasdaq
IPO Market Reopens: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jun 4, 2020 6:19pm PDT
ZoomInfo's logo at the Nasdaq stock market where it went public on Thursday. Photo by Nasdaq
The Briefing

IPO Market Reopens: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 4, 2020 6:19pm PDT
The IPO market is open for business! That’s clearly the message of the past two days, when both ZoomInfo and Warner Music debuted to strong reception. Thursday’s opening of ZoomInfo, a subscription software data analytics firm, in particular seemed like old times. The stock opened up double its IPO price, before easing off a little... The IPO market is open for business! That’s clearly the message of the past two days, when...
Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Little Support for Zuckerberg’s Hands-Off Policy Among The Information Subscribers: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 3, 2020 6:00pm PDT
A majority of The Information subscribers responding to our survey think Facebook should attach warning labels or fact-check Trump’s posts. Only a quarter think the social network should leave the posts alone, and 17% think Facebook should take down the incendiary posts.Those findings, in a poll we conducted Wednesday, suggest that the... A majority of The Information subscribers responding to our survey think Facebook should attach...
Twitter's new chairman, Patrick Pichette. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Blackout Day, Zoom’s Rocketing Revenue and Twitter’s Shakeup: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 2, 2020 5:51pm PDT
One thing you can say about the stock market’s recent performance: at least it is consistent in its disconnection from reality. For the past couple of months, I’ve marveled at the ability of the market to rally even as the pandemic raged and the economy shrank. This week, as protests roiled the U.S., the market has continued going... One thing you can say about the stock market’s recent performance: at least it is...
Protesters in San Francisco over the weekend. Photo by AP
The Briefing

The Limits of Tech Employee Activism: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 1, 2020 5:55pm PDT
When the Covid-19 layoffs began a couple of months ago, I wondered whether this would dampen the employee activism we had seen at big tech companies in recent years. On Monday, I got my answer—no.That’s one conclusion from the virtual walkout of Facebook employees protesting the company’s hands-off policy toward Trump’s... When the Covid-19 layoffs began a couple of months ago, I wondered whether this would dampen the...
China's Xi Jinping. Photo by AP.
Big Shifts for Tech on the Horizon: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 29, 2020 5:17pm PDT
China's Xi Jinping. Photo by AP.
The Briefing

Big Shifts for Tech on the Horizon: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 29, 2020 5:17pm PDT
The torrent of news this week was remarkable for a few reasons. For one, a lot that happened had nothing to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. And it was striking that two of the week’s biggest stories—the Trump fight with social media and China’s curtailing of Hong Kong’s autonomy—underlined potential major shifts for... The torrent of news this week was remarkable for a few reasons. For one, a lot that happened had...
Twitter's Jack Dorsey, President Trump and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Bloomberg
The Briefing

A New Front in Tech v. Trump Fight: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 28, 2020 6:08pm PDT
President Trump’s executive order governing social media sent us reeling, trying to think through the implications for the big tech platforms. While lots of people think a legal challenge from the industry is inevitable—and very likely to succeed—that’s not the end of the matter. If tech responds too aggressively, it... President Trump’s executive order governing social media sent us reeling, trying to think...
President Trump. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Latest Shots in Social Media’s Battlefield: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 27, 2020 6:28pm PDT
It’s probably a sign of how jaded we all are by President Trump’s Twitter activity that his threat to “strongly regulate” or close down social media platforms over what he sees as their anti-conservative bias sparked only a muted reaction on Wall Street and in the wider world. In fact, both Facebook and Twitter held their... It’s probably a sign of how jaded we all are by President Trump’s Twitter activity...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photos by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Digital Ad Giants’ Diverging Stocks: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 26, 2020 5:19pm PDT
What does Mark Zuckerberg have that Sundar Pichai doesn’t? That’s what I wondered when I looked this morning at how big tech stocks had performed in the past week. While Facebook, which is as exposed to advertising as Alphabet, has soared in the past week, Alphabet has...not.For the first two months of the pandemic crisis, the two... What does Mark Zuckerberg have that Sundar Pichai doesn’t? That’s what I wondered...
A person runs past a building under construction at the Google campus in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 21, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg
Welcome to the 3-Day Office Week: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 22, 2020 7:00pm PDT · 1 comment
A person runs past a building under construction at the Google campus in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 21, 2020. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

Welcome to the 3-Day Office Week: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 22, 2020 7:00pm PDT · 1 comment
This week seemed the perfect time to ask our subscribers about their plans to return to the office. While tech companies are starting to mark their calendars for when some employees head back to the workplace, Mark Zuckerberg’s expectation that half of Facebook employees will work remotely in five to 10 years seemed to draw a line in... This week seemed the perfect time to ask our subscribers about their plans to return to the...
An attendee at a Facebook virtual reality event last year. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Facebook Settles the Remote Work Debate: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 21, 2020 6:44pm PDT
The work-from-home tipping point, in tech at least, has been reached. On Thursday, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg announced that in five to 10 years he expects half of the company’s employees will be working remotely and that it will allow many existing workers, along with new hires, to work from home permanently. Twitter, Coinbase,... The work-from-home tipping point, in tech at least, has been reached. On Thursday,...
A person wearing a protective mask in San Francisco on May 14, 2020. States are easing some coronavirus restrictions and tech companies are slowly planning a return to work. Photo: Bloomberg
The Briefing

A Two-Faced Market: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 20, 2020 7:25pm PDT
The two-faced Roman god Janus hovered over the 2000 dot-com bubble, thanks to the Janus Capital Group’s big stakes in fast-growth tech stocks. When shares like Nokia and America Online crashed to earth, so did Janus.The stern deity, with one face looking to the past and another to the future, might be a fitting emblem for the current... The two-faced Roman god Janus hovered over the 2000 dot-com bubble, thanks to the Janus Capital...
Signage at a TikTok event in Tokyo last year. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Will TikTok Be Disneyfied: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 19, 2020 6:45pm PDT
The announcement late Monday that Disney’s streaming honcho, Kevin Mayer, has become the CEO of TikTok made perfect sense—in my household at least. My 17-year-old daughter is a fanatical user of the short video app. Her face lights up when I ask her who her favorite Tik-Toker is (answer: @irisapatow, who happens to be the... The announcement late Monday that Disney’s streaming honcho, Kevin Mayer, has become the...
Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
WeWork’s New Number: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 18, 2020 6:57pm PDT
Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
The Briefing

WeWork’s New Number: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 18, 2020 6:57pm PDT
A year ago, we noted an unusual discrepancy in WeWork’s apparent worth. Based on SoftBank’s earlier, large investments, the office co-working company carried a $47 billion valuation. Yet investors including mutual funds, secondary market buyers and even SoftBank in a smaller deal judged WeWork to be worth just $23 billion. Fast... A year ago, we noted an unusual discrepancy in WeWork’s apparent worth. Based on...
Google CEO Sundar Pichai at last year's Google I/O conference. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Conference Nostalgia Sets In: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 13, 2020 7:31pm PDT
Today, I thought I would be waking up at 6 am to make the trek from San Francisco to Mountain View for the second day of Google’s annual developer conference, I/O. I probably would have forgotten to wear sunscreen and complained about trying to write stories from a venue made for rock concerts. But here we are. I’ve spent the day in... Today, I thought I would be waking up at 6 am to make the trek from San Francisco to Mountain...
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Twitter Sparks San Francisco Questions: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 12, 2020 6:57pm PDT
In 2003, not too long after the dot-com collapse wiped out internet startups all over San Francisco, I wrote a story for The Wall Street Journal about artists and other bohemian types reclaiming the city from tech interlopers. LOL. If there’s one thing San Francisco has shown again and again over the decades, it’s that fortune... In 2003, not too long after the dot-com collapse wiped out internet startups all over San...
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last June. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

IPO Rumblings: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 11, 2020 7:31pm PDT
It’s no surprise that the market for initial public offerings has been one of the casualties of the economic upheaval of the past couple of months. But in technology, optimism is an endlessly renewable resource, and it seems to be fueling hopes for a re-opening of the IPO window in the coming months. One example is Vroom, an online... It’s no surprise that the market for initial public offerings has been one of the...
Tesla's Fremont, Calif. factory. Photo by Bloomberg
Navigating State-by-State Reopening Rules: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 8, 2020 6:21pm PDT
Tesla's Fremont, Calif. factory. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Navigating State-by-State Reopening Rules: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · May 8, 2020 6:21pm PDT
Every day brings news of companies gingerly trying to reopen for business amid a patchwork of different state rules. Today, we learned that Apple plans to reopen a handful of U.S. stores next week, in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska, where local rules allow. It’s another reminder of the brave new world we now inhabit where... Every day brings news of companies gingerly trying to reopen for business amid a patchwork of...