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The Briefing

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

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Recent Editions

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Tech’s Anti-Apple Campaign Builds: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 18, 2020 5:32pm PDT
This might be what’s called a tech bandwagon. Within two days of news that the European Commission is investigating Apple over its App Store rules, a flood of companies’ complaints about the issue have appeared. It all culminated in a Bloomberg report on Thursday quoting Microsoft president Brad Smith calling for antitrust regulators... This might be what’s called a tech bandwagon. Within two days of news that the European...
Attorney General Bill Barr. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Trump’s Escalating Attacks on Tech: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 17, 2020 5:30pm PDT
The Trump administration on Wednesday escalated its attacks on Section 230 liability protections for tech companies, with the Justice Department issuing a 25-page paper that suggested how lawmakers could overhaul the law. Democrats immediately denounced the proposal, which they see as an effort by President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr... The Trump administration on Wednesday escalated its attacks on Section 230 liability protections...
An aerial shot of Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

How Lockdowns Changed Venture Capital: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 16, 2020 5:46pm PDT
One of the good things that may come out of the pandemic lockdown is an increase in venture investment in startups outside Silicon Valley. That’s one takeaway from our story today about how some VCs have bowed to the inevitable and made investments in founders after having met them only on Zoom.With face-to-face meetings on hold, founders... One of the good things that may come out of the pandemic lockdown is an increase in venture...
eBay's Silicon Valley headquarters. Photo by AP
eBay’s Cyberstalking Drama: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jun 15, 2020 5:07pm PDT
eBay's Silicon Valley headquarters. Photo by AP
The Briefing

eBay’s Cyberstalking Drama: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 15, 2020 5:07pm PDT
Auction site eBay has gone through some fascinating corporate drama lately, including a power struggle on its board involving activist investor Elliott and the departure of CEO Devin Wenig last year. But nothing can compare to the extraordinary allegations made by the Justice Department in a cyberstalking case filed on Monday against former... Auction site eBay has gone through some fascinating corporate drama lately, including a power...
Google Pay on a smartphone. Photo by AP
The Briefing

Google’s Well-Timed Digital Pay Advance: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 12, 2020 6:02pm PDT
For those betting on which technologies would emerge from the pandemic stronger than before, contactless payments seemed like a safe one. For years, most Americans ignored features from Apple, Samsung and Google that let users hold their phones near checkout-stand readers to pay. A nation of borrowers found reaching for the physical credit card... For those betting on which technologies would emerge from the pandemic stronger than before,...
A DoorDash delivery person picking up an order in Washington D.C. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Briefing

Instacart, DoorDash Raise Money: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 11, 2020 6:25pm PDT
What goes up must come down. After the common sense-defying rally of recent weeks, a sell-off was overdue. But the size of the fall—the S&P 500 dropped nearly 6%, while the Nasdaq lost more than 5%—was still surprising. It’s a reminder of just how volatile stocks are likely to remain while the threat of the virus... What goes up must come down. After the common sense-defying rally of recent weeks, a sell-off was...
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg
The Briefing

Uber Misses Out: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jun 10, 2020 5:18pm PDT
Shareholders in Uber have a reason to be disappointed today, as Uber’s takeover target, Grubhub, decided to join forces instead with a European firm, the aptly named Just Eat Takeaway. Hopes had been high for the past year or so among investors that some of the U.S. food delivery firms would combine, helping everyone lose less money.Alas,... Shareholders in Uber have a reason to be disappointed today, as Uber’s takeover target,...
Facial recognition technology being demonstrated at a conference in China last year. Photo by Bloomberg
A Reckoning on Facial Recognition? The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · Jun 9, 2020 6:16pm PDT
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
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
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
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.
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
A New Front in Tech v. Trump Fight: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 28, 2020 6:08pm PDT
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
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
Facebook Settles the Remote Work Debate: The Information’s Tech Briefing
By Martin Peers · May 21, 2020 6:44pm PDT
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,...