The technology industry is built on a model where venture capitalists have lots of leverage. Start-up founders, after all, regularly beg them for the cash needed to turn nascent ideas into viable businesses. But that’s a power dynamic with dangerous consequences, as a sexual harassment scandal...
Recent scandals have put Uber on such shaky ground that a lawyer representing aggrieved drivers has filed a lawsuit against Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp — the ride-hailing firm's co-founders — in case the company doesn't survive long enough to defend itself. Describing the lawsuit filed Thursday...
It may not be enough for the electric car company Tesla to take on the giants of Detroit, like General Motors and Ford. The Palo Alto-based automaker is said to be exploring its very own music streaming service too, a move that would pit the company against market leader Spotify, and the aggressive...
In the year since Snapchat began welcoming geofilters, paid submissions have increased to tens of thousands per day. Last month, graduations made up 15% of such sales.
The majority of Uber’s investors may have wanted its co-founder and chief executive, Travis Kalanick, out, but some employees of the ride-hailing company are already calling for his return. In a petition that began circulating within Uber on Wednesday, employees called for Uber’s board of directors...
Tesla Inc. is working with the city of Shanghai to “explore the possibility” of opening a factory in the area, the maker of electric cars confirmed Thursday. Sales in China generate a hefty chunk of Tesla’s revenue, and moving some manufacturing near those buyers would slash some costs. “While...
YouTube is launching a program to give creators a crash course in pitching and growing their business.
Travis Kalanick never ran away from a fight. When cities challenged the legality of his ride-hailing service, he ordered drivers to continue picking up passengers. When competitors complained about his tactics, he lowered prices and tried to poach their drivers. He even got into a spat — caught...
Snapchat has billed itself as a way to stay up to date with friends. It’s latest feature, Snap Map, delivers on that premise, at the least. The tool lets users see where their friends are — and what they’re doing — at any given moment. The goal, according to a Snap Inc. spokesperson, is to get...
Amazon can’t provide a fitting room for trying on that new pair of jeans before purchasing them, but a new feature for Amazon Prime members is taking a crack at being the next best thing. The company on Tuesday announced Amazon Prime Wardrobe, which will allow users who pay for the e-commerce giant’s...
A Tesla car in Autopilot mode warned its driver seven times to put his hands on the steering wheel during the 40 minutes before the crash that ended his life last year, a newly released set of reports from the National Transportation Safety Board revealed. The reports, released this week, contain...
Uber is enabling passengers to tip its U.S. drivers with a tap on its ride-hailing app for the first time, part of a push to recast itself as a company with a conscience and a heart. Besides the built-in tipping option announced Tuesday, Uber is giving drivers an opportunity to make more money...
Apple has latched onto a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that restricts patent holders’ rights to bolster its increasingly bloody legal war against San Diego’s Qualcomm. The iPhone maker on Tuesday amended its January lawsuit in San Diego federal court that alleges Qualcomm illegally charges too...
What's Instacart to do if Amazon buys Whole Foods?
Months after some advertisers fled Google over concerns about ads appearing alongside YouTube videos that promote hate and extremism, the Internet giant has announced new steps aimed at tackling such content. “There should be no place for terrorist content on our services,” Google said in a Sunday...
Amazon revolutionized the sale of books, electronics and other products. Now the online shopping giant is threatening to transform how people buy their food. Amazon.com Inc. dropped a bombshell Friday on the U.S. grocery industry by agreeing to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion, including...
A lawmaker who has written a number of bills making it easier for Uber, Lyft and taxis to operate talks about the future of the industry.
E3, the nation’s biggest video game convention, is a place of constant chatter and neon lights, punctuated by the sporadic boom of video game gunfire. It’s a place where thousands elbow their way from booth to booth to try their hand at the hottest games, displayed on giant screens mounted on all...
Start-ups with at least one female founder wind up building companies where nearly half the staff are women, a new study finds. With an average of 48% female workers, women-led firms have nearly twice the industry average and outpace some of the nation’s largest tech companies in gender diversity...
Thirty-nine journalists at HuffPost were laid off Wednesday as part of Verizon Communications Inc.’s acquisition of Yahoo Inc., according to the union representing the website’s editorial staffers. The cuts are part of what’s expected to be a 15% staff reduction across Yahoo and the Verizon-owned...
Billionaire businessman David Bonderman resigned from Uber’s board of directors Tuesday evening after making a joke about women at a companywide meeting aimed at addressing the harassment of women and unprofessional conduct at the company. “Today at Uber’s all-hands meeting, I directed a comment...
Uber was the bad boy of Silicon Valley — a company modeled after brash co-founder and Chief Executive Travis Kalanick that always got into trouble but never seemed to pay the price. What outsiders saw as arrogant and abrasive behavior — Uber’s fights with and attempts to circumvent regulators and...
Lyft casts itself as the softer, kinder alternative to Uber. But there’s nothing gentle about the way the country’s second-largest ride-hailing company is capitalizing on its chief rival’s missteps. While Uber has been engulfed in months of turmoil, capped off Tuesday by the release of the findings...
It’s official: Apple Inc. plans to develop technology that powers self-driving cars — and although it’s a relative latecomer to the increasingly competitive field, analysts say it’s not too late for the tech giant to make its mark there. In an interview with Bloomberg TV released Tuesday, Chief...
So long, Yahoo. Of late it has been a laughingstock, but the company is also remembered fondly for its pioneering contributions to the technology industry and Silicon Valley. Yahoo Inc.’s tumultuous $4.5-billion sale to Verizon Communications Inc. closed Tuesday, and now the company has disappeared,...
Clutter, a Culver City start-up that picks up, stores and returns goods to people, landed a $64-million investment to bring its storage service to more cities and launch new services.
When you're the hottest start-up in the world, investors will give you a pass for burning through as much as $1 billion a quarter. You're growing your business, after all. But when your company is consumed with complaints of pervasive harassment, mismanagement, executive firings and departures,...
Emil Michael, Uber's senior vice president of business and Chief Executive Travis Kalanick’s right-hand man, has left the embattled ride-hailing company, according to an email he sent Monday to employees. It is unclear whether Michael was fired or resigned. An Uber spokeswoman confirmed that he...
Uber’s board of directors met in Los Angeles on Sunday to discuss potentially far-reaching changes to the ride-sharing company and the future of embattled Chief Executive Travis Kalanick. The company’s seven-person board was expected to vote Sunday on a series of recommendations from a report prepared...
Boston Dynamics’ robots can lurch like a human, sprint on all fours like a canine and navigate around small spaces like a spider. Though the machines look like sci-fi villains, Google once saw in them an opportunity, snatching up the start-up for an undisclosed amount in 2014. But the robots now...
Snap Inc. shares closed Friday near their lowest point ever as investors weighed what to make of concerning growth estimates and an impending flood of new stock. The Los Angeles company that produces the Snapchat app has experienced a rocky journey on Wall Street since going public in early March....
Uber and Lyft continue to expand their dominance in California, and taxi companies are looking to the state Legislature for some relief. “If communities value taxicabs, then we’re going to have to have a regulatory environment that allows cab companies to thrive,” said William Rouse, general manager...
Verizon will cut 15% of the combined workforce of Yahoo and AOL in a merger expected to close next week, resulting in an estimated 2,100 layoffs, a source familiar with the plans told the Los Angeles Times. Yahoo's shareholders on Thursday approved the $4.5-billion sale of its core business to...
For the second year in a row, shareholders of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, voted down a proposal asking the tech giant to publish a report on possible pay disparities between its male and female employees. The vote comes at a time when the company is grappling with a federal lawsuit...
Los Angeles is home to hot tech firms such as Snap Inc. and Tinder, but Silicon Beach still has a long way to go to rival the tech industries of Silicon Valley or San Francisco. That’s according to a new study by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield that ranks Los Angeles 18th among the nation’s...
Uber fired 20 staffers following a report into harassment at the ride-hailing giant, but it did not release the names of those terminated. Here's why.
America's top patent and trademark official has abruptly resigned from her post. Michelle Lee, who has been director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for more than two years, submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday afternoon. "I am confident that the leadership team in place will serve...
Amazon.com is offering a discount on its Prime membership for people who have low incomes and receive government assistance, positioning itself as an even greater competitor to retail giant Wal-Mart. Customers with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer card — used for programs such as the Supplemental...
Cornerstone OnDemand wants to freshen up corporate human resources videos with some of the features familiar to anyone who uses YouTube.
Snapchat maker Snap Inc. acquired a Seattle start-up that tracks the location of smartphones to help businesses and advertisers learn more about consumer behavior. Terms of the deal for Placed Inc. were not disclosed in an announcement Monday, but Geekwire reported that it was worth up to about...
British Prime Minister Theresa May says tech companies can do more to stop terrorism.
Google parent company Alphabet Inc. joined rarefied company Monday when it reached a $1,000 share price for the first time. Shares of the tech company closed at $1,003.88, up $7.76, or 0.78%. By reaching this milestone, Alphabet joins e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc., whose shares sold for $1,000...
Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey faced backlash for contributing thousands of dollars to an organization that hoped to elect then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. For his next act, Luckey is working on technology that could serve one of Trump’s signature issues: border walls. Luckey, who earlier...
To err is Uber. That’s the belief of tech industry experts after last week’s revelation that the ride-hailing giant underpaid New York City drivers tens of millions of dollars. They say the gaffe — which Uber describes as an accounting error — illustrates the company’s rapid rise and the poor oversight...
Speculation over what Apple will do to compete in the home hub market is spinning up ahead of Apple's annual developers conference next week, where many analysts expect Apple will confirm a project. And what will be the Apple home hub's distinguishing feature? It may be sound quality, according...
Lyft’s first-ever diversity report, published Thursday, came with few surprises: The ride-hailing company’s workforce — excluding its drivers, who are independent contractors and whose data was not tallied — is predominantly white and male. And like many technology companies in Silicon Valley that...
The world's most popular e-sport plans to soften a controversial rule banishing bad teams and to add a new panel made up of professional gamers. The "League of Legends" North American league replaces its two worst performing teams with a pair of upstarts at the end of each year. Under a new plan...