Nico Grant
@nicoagrant
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Former reporter for @nytimes and @business
Joined June 2014
NEW: Samsung is considering dropping Google as the default search engine on its phones after more than a decade. The electronics giant may instead go with Microsoft Bing, a threat that has caused panic at Google in the last month.
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The remarks came during a conference call with analysts Tuesday, after Zoom reported surging sales:
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I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll start at the New York Times on May 16 to cover Google and its parent Alphabet! It’s a surreal honor to be joining a desk I’ve admired for years at a paper I’ve loved for decades.
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Russia began clamping down on access to international news, preventing citizens from seeing Google News after Russian generals accused a mercenary leader, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, of attempting a coup.
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Some of Google’s most essential workers, who keep its services online, are speaking publicly about a toxic workplace on their team that damaged their mental health, elicited suicidal thoughts and derailed their careers.
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After the release of ChatGPT from rival OpenAI, Google’s management declared a “code red.” Teams across the company were reassigned to work on AI products and prototypes from now until Google’s I/O conference in May. Story with @CadeMetz .
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YouTube once removed 2020 misinformation, fearing real-world harm. Now it’s amplifying and profiting from 2024 falsehoods.
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New: A Google employee who became the most visible opponent of a company contract with the Israeli military, Ariel Koren (@ariel_koko), said Tuesday that she would resign this week after claiming Google had tried to retaliate against her for her activism.
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Google’s Ethical AI research group lost two more employees, @alexhanna and @dylnbkr, adding to the turmoil at the unit studying an area vitally important to the technology giant’s business future and political standing. With @josheidelson.via @technology.
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Last month, Google released a chatbot, Bard. Weeks earlier, ethics experts recommended blocking the launch, saying Bard was dangerous and inaccurate. Their director changed the document, removing the recommendation and downplaying Bard’s risks. w/@KYWeise.
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Google’s Play Store case was the first test of how it might fare in the antitrust gauntlet it faces in the U.S.—and Google was routed. The loss could preview its fate in two bigger antitrust cases that could weaken the influential internet business in 2024
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In personal news, I left The New York Times last week. It was a difficult decision because I had one of the best jobs in the business. Working there was a dream come true, but now, it’s time to chase other dreams outside of journalism.
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Scoop: YouTube will soon announce the largest expansion to its partner program in years, letting more creators make money from the platform. It will also bring ads to Shorts, its TikTok rival, and give creators 45% of those earnings.
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🚨 In a major development, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have returned to Google headquarters several times in the last month to help assess the company's A.I. strategy, after ChatGPT emerged as the most significant threat to its search business in years.
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NEW: Inside Google's plan to stop Apple from getting serious about search. Google's fears grew in 2021 when it paid Apple around $18 billion for a default pact as the iPhone maker improved its Spotlight search feature. Then Google execs quietly plotted.
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Ego, Fear and Money: How the AI Fuse Was Lit. The people most afraid of AI's risks decided they should be the ones to build it. Then distrust fueled a spiraling competition. The first in our series, The AI Race. By @CadeMetz, @KYWeise, @MikeIsaac and me.
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Timnit Gebru says regulators need to provide whistleblowers working on artificial intelligence with fresh protections backed up by tough enforcement. @dinabass gets @timnitGebru's latest thoughts and plans on how to reform Silicon Valley.
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Despite concerns of a shaky ad market and growing competition in A.I., Google said it was aided by accelerating revenue from its search engine and YouTube in the second quarter.
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New: For more than a decade, Yelp complained that Google tilted the search market in its favor. After Google's landmark antitrust loss, it finally decided to sue.
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At Microsoft, an exec said it was a “fatal error” to worry about things that can be fixed later. The company has inconsistently followed its AI guidelines, @KYWeise found, and disintegrated its largest ethics team, which had warned of negative societal consequences of Bing’s AI.
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Zoom says it has reactivated the account of Chinese pro-democracy activists based in the U.S. The company earlier suspended the account after the advocates commemorated the Tiananmen Square protests, saying it was `complying with local laws.' $ZM.
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New: Google DeepMind is working with generative A.I. to act like a life coach, giving users life advice, ideas, planning help, tutoring tips. At least 21 personal and professional features total, some of them tasks Google researchers said should be avoided.
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Thrilled to be joining Bloomberg's @technology team today, covering enterprise software and the PC world!.
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New artificial intelligence technology is roiling Silicon Valley. For now, the most obvious ways to use it are in software suites from Microsoft and Google. With @KYWeise .
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It’s no secret Oracle has struggled to mount a credible challenge to Amazon’s cloud. For @BW, I take you behind the scenes, and hyperbole, into the tumult of Oracle’s cloud efforts: see-sawing hirings and layoffs, sagging morale and internal feuds.
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Google must open Android to other app stores and billing options, a federal judge ruled in the Google-Epic case. Google said once again that it would appeal to a higher court.
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Google full-time employees working from home get fancy and fast Cue Covid tests while contractors coming into the office receive home tests they must mail in — another example of different treatment of employees and contractors. With @mhbergen
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New: I did a deep dive into the cottage industry of YouTube automation--a term for farming out video production to freelancers. Influencers are hawking how-to courses on YouTube, promising riches to novices who fork over, and ultimately lose, thousands.
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Who used Google's Stadia? People like Jon Jameson of South Carolina, who's been on disability for a decade, and Gabe Maier, a dad from Maryland, who said when Google kills products, those it hurts "the most are the people most committed to the brand.”.
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Adobe is developing a new version of its Photoshop app that will run on the iPad for the first time. Expect it in 2019. Scoop with @markgurman
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This is one of several fresh examples of Google and Microsoft’s breakneck pace in the AI race, sidelining and overriding the will of researchers and internal watchdog groups meant to keep their technology safe and ethical.
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These whistleblowers, who include @Chewy_Shaw, Shari McHenry and Rajeev Ram, tried to receive help from Google HR to protect them from managers they say targeted and discriminated against them. Google kept the management team in place and promoted the team’s boss.
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Zoom became a major social network overnight, blindsiding CEO @ericsyuan and thrusting the conferencing app into controversy. For @BW, we take you inside Yuan's new life of sleepless nights and what comes next for the service the world is depending on.
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Alphabet, Google’s parent, reported strong revenue growth in its latest quarter from its search engine and video platform, YouTube, as its market-leading position in online advertising continued to reap rewards despite recent fluctuations in the industry.
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During a special townhall to discuss the song last Thursday, one white executive said he has an Asian-American wife. That evoked scorn from some employees, who took to Google's internal meme page to criticize the admission as beside the point.
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Here’s the definitive story on Oracle’s struggle to handle Mark Hurd’s illness over the last year and a half, when the software maker’s most accessible executive weaved in and out of the public eye. With @tsgiles and @valleyhack .
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Google's two antitrust trials are both having big days. In the San Francisco Play Store trial, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is about to take the stand, for the second time in two weeks.
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Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, who both grew up in London, feared a corporate rush to build artificial intelligence. Now they’re driving that competition at Google and Microsoft. By @CadeMetz and me.
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Speaking publicly about mental health is still difficult, but necessary. I’d like to commend and thank those who spoke for this story, who are brave and admirable people in so many ways. I hope you take a few moments to learn more about their experiences:.
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More details on what Google chose to pare back on inside: health care for clinicians, robotics, operational roles at Cloud, Fuchsia operating system engineers and others working in areas that have become less important as the company chases AI ambitions.
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Google rested its case in its second antitrust trial with the Justice Dept. Here’s how it defended itself against claims it rigged the ad-tech market to build a monopoly.
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Dysfunction on Google's Ethical AI team could have a broader impact — my latest newsletter reflecting on @alexhanna and @dylnbkr’s resignations this week. via @technology.
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As Google makes a fresh bid at working with the Pentagon, employees have been largely quiet — a massive shift from just a few years ago. Here’s why.
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We see the lengths Google goes to protect managers. In one instance, Google HR confirmed to Shari, who at almost 60 alleged ageism, that her boss had indeed been “inappropriate” for asking about when she would retire, but that he did not violate any Google policies.
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Google Maps contractors are resisting a plan to return to the office on June 6. Some say they simply can’t afford the trip.
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New: 15 Google employees posted audio testimonies to YouTube on Tuesday, to coincide with Ms. Koren's exit, asking the company not to work with Israel and criticizing Google’s treatment of Palestinians and its censorship of employees who support them.
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NEW: Google has started on an all-new AI search engine meant to offer users a far more personalized experience than its current search engine. And more details on AI changes coming to Google search next month--to protect the core business from OpenAI, MSFT.
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A disappointing quarter for Google's parent Alphabet would be a fabulous quarter for most other companies. It made $13.9 billion on $69.1 billion in revenue, below Wall Street expectations. Ad budgets getting tighter and the strong dollar made things worse.
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Marc Benioff's latest book, Trailblazer, became a national bestseller. His company, Salesforce, helped things along by encouraging employees to buy and expense a copy.
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If you'd like to add to the public's knowledge of this important topic, please be in touch. Emails in my bio, DM me for Signal, etc.
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New: The Justice Department sued Google today, alleging the company has abused its monopoly power in the ad technology market. It's the company's fifth antitrust lawsuit since 2020. @dmccabe .
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I’m heartbroken by the loss of Tyson Clark. I send my deepest condolences to his wife and children, the rest of his family, his colleagues at GV, and all those fortunate enough to call him a friend.
With great sadness, we share that Tyson Clark, our friend and GV general partner, passed away yesterday due to sudden complications from a health issue. We are shattered by this loss, and will miss him profoundly.
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A lot of people think Marc Benioff is a genius. Whether he is or not, he shares the quirks of people who use their "vision" to make decisions. The mystifying way he runs his company asks: How long can his winning streak last? Read my latest on $CRM
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It's official -- @Adobe announced Photoshop (CC) is coming to the iPad next year. Expect to see it in Apple promo shots near you. $ADBE
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Working on audacious, unprofitable, founder-driven projects like Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon’s Alexa used to be badges of honor. Now that the industry is cutting back, these jobs are a quicker route to being laid off. w/ @KYWeise @MikeIsaac
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These employees’ accounts are supported by Google memos, emails, presentations, employee survey data, and a video recording. Google provided three employees who said they had positive experiences on the team and said it strives for a safe, inclusive workplace.
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Alphabet's earnings results today highlighted Google’s enviable advantage as a gateway to the web for billions of people around the world, a position that cannot be dislodged quickly or easily.
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Workers recounted, in the audio testimonies and interviews with The New York Times, experiences of being admonished, punished and docked pay because they expressed support for the Palestinian people.
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If you're a Google user (and who isn't?) you may be interested to know what the company has been cooking up for you lately. Google's own AI version of a Duolingo language tutor, an image generator, chatbots for Chrome, Google Earth and so much more inside:
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New: YouTube ads on kids videos could result in advertisers tracking children across the web, according to new research from Adalytics. Senators Markey and Blackburn have called for an FTC investigation into YouTube and its parent, Google. w/@natashanyt .
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Looking forward to my next chapter in Los Angeles. More to come.
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Google showed how its aggressive work on AI had finally trickled into its search engine at its annual conference, GoogleIO.
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Ten software upstarts kicked off a public campaign Thursday knocking software titans, including Salesforce, Oracle and SAP, saying they keep clients trapped in subpar software suites, potentially shutting out smaller rivals with newer technology.
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Scoop: Amazon Web Services signed SAP and Symantec to new $500 million cloud deals over the next five years, beating back rivals. $AMZN $SAP $SYMC .
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I'm excited to embark on this new adventure with a roster of talented colleagues and editors. Hope you'll come along for the ride.
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Ms. Koren who is Jewish, opposed Project Nimbus because she was concerned that Google’s technology could help the Israeli Defense Forces surveil and harm Palestinians. Google said Nimbus will not be used for classified data.
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Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has settled into a period of stalled growth as economic uncertainty reverberates across Silicon Valley. Gone are the pandemic boom times, when the internet giant’s profit and employee head count soared. via @NYTimes
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Not a fun first Friday of the year for some Google employees, whose entire paychecks didn’t show up in their bank accounts. Naturally, they made memes to complain and laugh about the mistake.
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Two prominent Instagram leaders, Bangaly Kaba and Ameet Ranadive, are departing the company in the wake of the co-founders’ exits. Scoop with @sarahfrier $FB .
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ChatGPT has raised broader questions about Google’s future, and whether it can hold its entrenched position atop the search market forever. One Google exec described it as make or break for the company’s future. We explore Google’s challenges in fully deploying the latest AI.
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NEW: Antitrust investigators at the U.S. Justice Department have stepped up scrutiny of Google’s digital ad market practices in recent months, showing that the Biden administration is actively pursuing a probe that started under Trump.
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Google’s workplace has become a tinderbox of anxiety as employees gird themselves for the possibility of layoffs in the new year, 14 employees said. Execs say they cannot make promises on job cuts, prompting workers to try to read the tea leaves.
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Happy book birthday to @mhbergen’s Like, Comment, Subscribe! It’s deeply reported, elegantly written and now available everywhere. So honored to have read it earlier this year. A fascinating read. Congrats!
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The Samsung threat represented the first potential crack in Google’s seemingly impregnable search business, which was worth $162 billion last year. And it raises the stakes for Google to renew a similar search deal with Apple, worth an estimated $20 billion, later this year.
NEW: Samsung is considering dropping Google as the default search engine on its phones after more than a decade. The electronics giant may instead go with Microsoft Bing, a threat that has caused panic at Google in the last month.
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Deeply reported story from @Priyasideas on the stressful culture at meditation company Headspace includes:. - Employees started therapy because of their jobs there.- Workers cried together about not having time to eat or use the bathroom all day. Yikes.
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The Nimbus contract, currently in effect, has contributed to religious and political polarization among Google’s workforce — another source of conflict at a company increasingly known for its internal discord. Read more inside:
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Yes indeed, Google is paying these partners billions for these types of distribution deals. Bernstein estimates Google collects $70 billion in ad revenue from iPhones, and gives Apple a $20 billion cut.
This paragraph leaves me with impression these are the amounts of revenue at risk *for Google* but aren’t they the amount that *Google pays Samsung and Apple to remain the default search*? If so, that’s highly important context considering DOJ lawsuit that they’re doing it. 1/2
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Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s chief executive and one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley, said on Thursday that she was stepping down from her longtime role leading the internet’s most popular video service. via @NYTimes
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Google said its search engine will begin incorporating responses generated by A.I. at the top of results pages and allow users to ask follow-up questions at its IO conference. It also announced new AI models and rolled out AI features across its lineup.
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Google has also strongly denied Ms. Koren’s claim of retaliation, after a company and government investigation.
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I have the deepest gratitude to @BradStone, a world-class journalist and boss who’s been a constant source of inspiration, encouragement and support. The same is true of @tsgiles, @jillianannward and @sarahfrier. What a privilege it’s been to work with you all!.
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I’d like to thank @puiwingtam, @ellenjpollock1, @jimkerstetter, @josephplambeck, and all of the masthead editors for this incredible opportunity. I can’t wait to collaborate with the brilliant journalists on this desk and across the newsroom.
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Special thanks to @mhbergen, my former partner on the Google beat. Your talent is only matched by your generosity, and it was an honor to work alongside you. The same goes to Dina, Ian, Andy, Emily, Robin, Mark, and the rest of the Bloomberg tech crew.
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It is interesting that YouTube will take a bigger cut of the ad dollars from Shorts than long videos. It comes as YouTube's growth has slowed down, which may or may not be a coincidence.
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Tyson Clark, a GV general partner who became one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent Black VCs, is dead at 43. This is our obituary.
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In the absence of official information, Google employees are perceiving exec decisions, including an impending office closure, a project cancellation and efforts to ease budgets in planning meetings, as signs that more painful cuts could be in the offing.
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Other details on how Google is reacting to the threat and how it wants to incorporate the technology next inside:.
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Fantastic reporter and person. I’m so excited to call you a colleague again. Welcome!.
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Big Tech Muscles In: The 12 Months That Changed Silicon Valley Forever. ChatGPT’s release triggered a desperate scramble among tech companies and alarm from some people who helped invent it. The AI Race story 2 by @KYWeise, @CadeMetz, @MikeIsaac and me.
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I’m so grateful to @puiwingtam, @jimkerstetter, @ellenjpollock1 and the rest of the tech team and business desk. They’re world-class journalists and excellent people. Simply the best. I’ll never forget how fortunate I was to work alongside them.
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Thanks to all of you who helped me in my reporting career, especially my former colleagues @business.
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A mixed bag in Alphabet's second-quarter results. Revenue rose about as much as profit fell. Search fueled sales growth while YouTube disappointed. Shares are modestly up in late trading -- in recognition that things could have been much worse.
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Google alienated small business owners who were among its earliest email and app users, after demanding they pay for services they’ve gotten free for years. Some of the shops are recovering from the pandemic and felt Google was being “needlessly petty.”.
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New details here about Google's Project Drawbridge and Project Moat, efforts to bolster Google Cloud's reliability after high-profile outages. It turns out the global network that keeps Search running isn't always ideal for the cloud. In the next @BW issue.
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The internet was really the “Google web,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the packed courtroom, adding that Google could now use its advantage and scale to build tools to dominate the emerging artificial intelligence industry. -- @dmccabe @ceciliakang
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These steps, expected to be announced on Tuesday, are part of YouTube's bid to guard its role as the most popular place for video personalities -- amid the meteoric rise of TikTok. Other details on shopping & how music in YouTube videos will change inside.
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