Recode

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Tesla
Tesla’s 2020 self-driving car promise sounds too good to be true because it is
Recode - Emily Stewart
Well, probably. Even Elon Musk seems a little skeptical of his promise to get 1 million completely self-driving Tesla “robotaxis” on the road next year. The South African-born entrepreneur at Tesla’s Investor
Tech Industry
Digital media lifestyle brand Brit + Co is in financial trouble
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
CEO Brit Morin told Recode that her company was not shutting down, but confirmed that it was laying off a large number of her staff. Brit + Co, a buzzy digital media brand for millennial women, is in danger
Facebook Messenger
Can Facebook be trusted to combat misinformation? Sri Lanka’s shutdown suggests no.
Recode - Emily Stewart
“It demonstrates this kind of degradation of trust in the platforms.” In the wake of a series of bombings in Sri Lanka that left more than 300 people dead, the country’s government shut downa number of
Tech Industry
Recode Daily: Two organizers of the Google walkout say they are facing retaliation
Recode - Kat Borgerding
Plus: When Sri Lanka shut down social media sites, Kara Swisher’s first thought was, “Good”; and Apple and Amazon have a particularly intimate business relationship. Two organizers of the Google walkout
Tech Industry
How tech founders are trying to disrupt — and replicate — the Giving Pledge
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
Silicon Valley billionaires can make promises to give away fortunes to charity. Why can’t the rest of us? The Giving Pledge is the brainchild of some of the most prominent elders of Silicon Valley — people
Tech Industry
Recode Daily: Sri Lanka blocks Facebook and Twitter following Easter morning attacks
Recode - Kat Borgerding
Plus: WeWork is replacing its chief operating officer to focus more on overseas growth and Huawei reported first-quarter revenue of $27 billion, a 39 percent jump. The Sri Lankan government blocked Facebook
Tech Industry
Tech is “flunking” the diversity test, says activist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein
Recode - Eric Johnson
On the latest Recode Decode, Kapor Klein says we need to “take a deep hard look at the BS notion of meritocracy.” In recent years, several venture capital firms in Silicon Valley have made public strides
WeWork
WeWork is replacing its chief operating officer to focus more on overseas growth
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
A lot is riding on a new London-based COO to help justify the company’s $45 billion valuation. WeWork is shuffling around some of its most senior executives as it tries to build out its international which
Recode
Recode Daily: The Mueller report doesn’t have anything nice to say about Twitter or Facebook
Recode - Kat Borgerding and Kurt Wagner
Plus: Say hello to the first billion-dollar sneaker reseller, and Pinterest and the video-chat service Zoom prove that maybe the sky isn’t falling for IPOs in 2019. Included in special counsel Robert 448-page
Tech Industry
A giant new investment will make StockX the first billion-dollar sneaker reseller
Recode - Theodore Schleifer and Jason Del Rey
DST, the venture capital firm founded by Yuri Milner, is expected to lead the deal. The online sneaker resale marketplace StockX is in advanced talks to be valued at at least $1 billion in a new round
Facebook
Facebook says it stored millions of Instagram passwords unencrypted on its servers
Recode - Kurt Wagner
This number is much, much bigger than Facebook originally shared. On the same morning Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference finally became public, Facebook dropped some
Tech Industry
Why is LinkedIn producing original journalism? LinkedIn editor-at-large Jessi Hempel explains.
Recode - Eric Johnson
Hempel joined the site’s editorial team this year after 17 years at magazines like Businessweek, Fortune, and Wired. The core business of Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is helping professionals network and new
Tech Industry
Recode Daily: “Hey Facebook” — The social media giant is building a voice assistant
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Plus: Susan Wojcicki has one of the toughest jobs in Silicon Valley, and Apple and Google are blocking TikTok in India. Facebook is building a voice assistant to rival similar assistants from Amazon, and
Pinterest
Is the sky falling for tech IPOs? Two companies on Thursday — Pinterest and Zoom — tell different stories.
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
Microsoft has persistently tried to acquire Zoom, the video chat tool, sources tell Recode. 2019 is supposed to be the year of the monster tech IPO. And it still might be. But, apparently, not without
Recode
Recode Daily: Silicon Valley can’t decide which Democrat to endorse
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Plus: Twitter claims it’s improving when it comes to fighting spam and abuse, and Netflix has nearly 150 million subscribers. Silicon Valley can’t agree on which Democratic presidential candidate to get
Tech Industry
Here’s why some Silicon Valley families should remain nervous about the college admissions scandal
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
Who is next? It has been a month since the college admissions scandal erupted out of nowhere, implicating 33 parents on criminal charges related to a long-running scheme that prosecutors say was led by
Tech Industry
Ford CTO Ken Washington explains why self-driving cars are such a hard tech problem
Recode - Eric Johnson
And why Tesla’s so-called Autopilot features are not really “self-driving.” Five years ago at the Code Conference, self-driving cars seemed as though they were just around the corner: Google unveiled project
Netflix
Netflix makes up nearly 30 percent of global streaming video subscriptions
Recode - Rani Molla
The streaming video company now has 155 million total subscribers globally. Netflix has 148 million paying users around the globe, up 26 percent from the same quarter last year and in line with analyst
Netflix
Netflix is booming internationally, but its growth is slowing in the US
Recode - Peter Kafka
The streaming company added 9.6 million subscribers last quarter — and it says it isn’t worried about Apple or Disney. Netflix continues to grow at an astonishing pace around the world: The streaming company
Twitter
Twitter says it’s getting better at detecting abusive tweets without your help
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Twitter is using technology to catch more bad tweets. Twitter can be a terrible, hateful place. It’s why the company has promised over and over and over again that it plans to clean up its service and
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley Democrats aren’t sure who they want as their nominee
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, and Cory Booker are battling it out in the fundraising streets of Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley’s biggest Democratic donors are still wrestling with which candidate they
Tech Industry
Europe is passing strict new copyright laws that could hurt companies like Facebook and Google
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Facebook and Google could soon be forced to pay more creators for the content that appears on their sites. Facebook and YouTube will soon face strict new copyright laws across Europe that could impact
Recode
Recode Daily: A fascinating, incredibly detailed look inside Facebook’s past 15 months
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Plus: People around the world were stunned as images and videos surfaced of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris engulfed in flames. And winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize were announced on Monday.
Tech Industry
AMC Networks boss Josh Sapan wants the people who make TV to look at the data — but not too much
Recode - Eric Johnson
There’s no algorithm for creativity yet, Sapan says on the latest Recode Media. Design within tech companies is often data-driven: People click this button 50 percent more when it’s red than when it’s
Tech Industry
New immigration rules could prevent our next Elon Musk
Recode - Rani Molla
Silicon Valley wants people with experience. US immigration services want people with grad degrees. Silicon Valley’s highest echelon is filled with examples of successful people who have eschewed degrees
Tech Industry
Recode Daily: Law enforcement agencies are increasingly tapping into Google’s massive location history database
Recode - Shirin Ghaffary
Plus: Amazon is in talks to launch an ad-free music service, Reed Hastings is leaving Facebook’s board, and Microsoft reveals some Outlook accounts were compromised. Law enforcement agencies are using
PBS
If Congress cancels federal funding for PBS, rural areas will be hurt the most, says CEO Paula Kerger
Recode - Eric Johnson
All 335 PBS stations use federal funding, but the ones that depend on it are largely in Trump country. Once again, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger has to justify the 50-year-old institution of public
Tech Industry
Nancy Pelosi says Trump’s tweets “cheapened the presidency” — and the media encourages him
Recode - Eric Johnson
“He’s just being a freak.” Enough people use Twitter to get their information that politicians have to be there, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says. But on the latest episode of Recode Decode, she
Walt Disney Company
Disney used to make hundreds of millions from Netflix. Now it will spend billions to fight it.
Recode - Peter Kafka
The war for the streaming services is getting very expensive. Disney used to make hundreds of millions of dollars a year selling its stuff to Netflix. Now it is going to spend billions of dollars a year