Uber's China Rival Gets a Boost, and Spotify Takes a Step Toward Public Markets
Didi Chuxing secures a $4 billion investment from SoftBank and Mubadala, bringing its valuation to $56 billion. The latest funding round comes amid reports SoftBank is looking to invest in rival Uber at a significant discount to its last $68 billion valuation.
And Spotify will reportedly get approval to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, a step towards avoiding a traditional IPO. The company could be valued as high as $20 billion.
Plus, speaking of going public, Pinterest will reportedly delay its planned IPO until 2019, as the company expects to fall short of revenue forecasts for the year. The photo-sharing app will bring in sales of $490 million this year, according to The Information. That compares to early estimates above $500 million.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Skift Editor-In-Chief Sarah Kopit discusses how summer travel plans remain uncertain for most as many international travelers are leery to travel abroad. Watch!
Seth Schachner, Managing Director at Strat Americas, on Hollywood's latest blockbusters utilizing content creation. Plus, the future of YouTube and TikTok.
Ashley Gold, Axios' Tech/Policy reporter, discusses what the future of Google and search engines will look like after the tech giant faces an antitrust trial.