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Viewsroom: Will millennials kill Silicon Valley?

25 Apr 2019

Young, tech-savvy adults say everything from high prices to climate change may prompt them to leave the San Francisco area. Other U.S. cities can benefit. Also: Why CEO Jack Dorsey should favor Square over Twitter. And what to expect from Indonesian President Widodo’s second term.

Toxic U.S. tabloid sale talk sounds like a whopper

11 Apr 2019

The hedge fund behind the Trump-friendly National Enquirer may want to sell the controversial title. Yet if heavy debt, a brush with federal prosecutors and an alleged attempt to blackmail Jeff Bezos are scary to the owner, they’ll have the same effect on any credible buyer.

News M&A battle prints one farce after another

9 Apr 2019

After waving around a toothless credit commitment in its $1.4 bln pursuit of Gannett, Denver Post publisher MNG is going after the board. But its six nominees have ties to either the bidder or its hedge-fund owner. Investors should throw the slate straight into the recycling.

Pinterest can make a virtue of down-round IPO

8 Apr 2019

The social-scrapbooking app wants a lower value for its stock-market debut than its last price tag of $12 bln. It may bode ill for tech IPOs after Lyft sputtered. But Pinterest’s finances are healthier than other startups going public. Being conservative can work in its favor.

UK web rules will speed internet’s balkanisation

8 Apr 2019

The government may fine groups like Facebook – and senior managers – who fail to police harmful content. This adds teeth to lame social-media regulation, but also creates a UK-specific standard. As other states beef up local regulations, web groups’ margins will feel the squeeze.

Big Tech could use some schooling on ethics

5 Apr 2019

Google has scrapped an advisory council on artificial intelligence after protests about a few members. Yet it deserves credit for training staff on the dangers of unintended bias in algorithms. More outside input, particularly from academia, can help Silicon Valley reduce risk.

Zuckerberg’s plea for regulation is a siren call

1 Apr 2019

The Facebook founder wants governments to develop more standardized rules for the internet to combat problems from harmful content to data security. The idea has merit. But it also smacks of a way for tech firms to keep profits private while socializing responsibility and costs.

Grindr stokes bad blood in U.S.-China relationship

27 Mar 2019

The dating app’s Chinese ownership has been flagged as a U.S. security risk, Reuters reports. That ought not be a surprise given the potential to use hook-up data for Kompromat. But amid a trade war, this jilting move is likely to make U.S.-China relations even rockier.

Facebook’s presidential foes are also customers

14 Mar 2019

Silicon Valley has become a political punching bag for Elizabeth Warren and other 2020 contenders. But their campaigns are big users of Facebook and other online platforms. It reflects the power of tech giants, and suggests that bashing them may not persuade voters.

Big Tech’s best bet is to friend U.S. regulation

11 Mar 2019

The push to rein in Silicon Valley giants is intensifying. Elizabeth Warren, a White House contender, wants to break up Amazon and others. Tougher rules protecting users and privacy could stave that off. Those fighting constraints rather than trying to shape them may regret it.

Facebook’s new privacy plan: Stitch wings on a pig

6 Mar 2019

Boss Mark Zuckerberg is extolling the virtues of small, closed networks, the antithesis of the behemoth he created. His manifesto borrows from Snap, WeChat and Apple, creating service-like revenue but jeopardizing advertising. It raises the question of whether he’s serious.

Tech giants get glimpse of watchdog’s M&A bazooka

27 Feb 2019

The U.S. FTC is creating a body to police anticompetitive behavior in Silicon Valley, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of breakups. While unwinding mergers would be extraordinary, the mere threat would be a useful weapon as the agency investigates Facebook’s privacy breaches.

Review: Old news guard beats back the grim reaper

22 Feb 2019

Google and Facebook have nearly destroyed the media business – venerable institutions and digital upstarts alike. In “Merchants of Truth,” Jill Abramson effectively draws upon BuzzFeed, Vice, the Washington Post and the New York Times to show that subscribers are key to survival.

Three digital ad giants are no better than two

20 Feb 2019

Google and Facebook’s combined share of U.S. online advertising is poised to fall for the first time this year. The reason: Amazon is taking a bite out of their slice. Even a muscular challenger does little to reduce the case for tighter regulation.

The Exchange: How Facebook takes away our humanity

5 Feb 2019

That’s the way early investor Roger McNamee describes what the social network – and Google – is doing without proper oversight. In discussing his book, “Zucked,” he explains why just changing Facebook management won’t solve its problems and why he remains hopeful of a solution.