Uber is in advanced talks to sell its Uber Elevate unit to Joby Aviation, Axios has learned from multiple sources. A deal could be announced later this month.
Between the lines: Uber Elevate was formed to develop a network of self-driving air taxis, but to date has been most notable for its annual conference devoted to the nascent industry.
Large companies could spur a nationwide shift toward a circular economy, in which items are recycled back into supply chains for packaging and products, Bridget Croke, managing director of Closed Loop Partners, said Wednesday at an Axios virtual .
Why it matters: Several large companies committing to using recycled materials could substantial savings, as they move away from "spending billions of dollars throwing another multibillions of dollars of valuable materials in the trash," Croke said.
Discovery on Wednesday launched its new global entertainment streaming service discovery+ for $4.99 monthly. It will also include a $6.99 monthly ad-free tier in the U.S.
Why it matters: Discovery joins a very crowded field of entertainment streaming services vying for consumers' budgets.
UPS ordered drivers to temporarily stop accepting packages from Macy's, Gap, Nike, L.L. Bean and other large retailers this week, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an internal message confirmed to the Journal by UPS employees.
The big picture: Thanksgiving Day online sales reportedly hit a record $5.1 billion this year, while Americans spent $10.8 billion in e-commerce for Cyber Monday — the biggest U.S. online shopping day ever, per the Washington Post.
Companies have two basic choices when faced with an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department: Fight or flee. Visa plans to fight.
Driving the news: The credit card giant filed its legal response to DOJ's efforts to block its $5.3 billion purchase of fintech "connector" company Plaid. Its primary arguments are that regulators gerrymandered an industry definition and conjured competition.
As with most big deals in tech, the key question to ask about Salesforce's $28 billion purchase of Slack isn't whether the price is too high or low, but whether the combination makes sense.
Between the lines: Big Tech companies have plenty of their own cash and can easily borrow more, but only a finite amount of time to innovate before rivals capture their turf.
Antenna, a new streaming measurement company, has raised a $4.2 million seed round from Raine Ventures, the venture arm of The Raine Group, which has invested in high-profile media and tech companies like Soundcloud and Foursquare.
Why it matters: The transition to digital streaming and mobile phones has created an opportunity for new entrants to disrupt the media measurement industry.
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, one of two public companies that now bear the HP name, said Tuesday it's moving its corporate headquarters from San Jose, California, to Houston.
Why it matters: The move isn't financially huge, as HPE already had a significant number of employees based in Houston, the old hometown for Compaq, which merged with HP in 2001. But the symbolism of a Silicon Valley icon picking up and leaving is not a good look for the Bay Area.
Having at least 30% women on corporate boards "makes a key difference to climate governance and innovation," per new analysis of thousands of companies from the research firm BloombergNEF.
Why it matters: Companies worldwide are coming under increased pressure to curb emissions, adopt cleaner tech and disclose emissions data.
Two surveys of the U.S. manufacturing industry both showed strong readings last month, with data provider IHS Markit's reading touching its highest level since late 2014.
Between the lines: The headline numbers were reassuring, as were the report's details.
Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields jumped on Tuesday, as momentum pushed bond investors to sell and join the risk-on party in financial markets.
Why it matters: Bond investors have largely been incredulous about the prospects for U.S. growth and inflation — but recent good news on COVID-19 vaccines, global manufacturing data and U.S. holiday retail sales helped push yields on the 10-year Treasury note up by the most in nearly a month.
Joe Biden's economic teamfaces a daunting task helping the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or otherwise been financially ravaged by the coronavirus. But most of them have first-hand crisis experience, dating back to when Barack Obama inherited a crumbling economy when he took office in 2009.
Why it matters: Most of President-elect Biden's economic nominees served in the Obama administration, and wish that they could have gone biggerto help America recover from the 2008 financial crisis. But it's not going to be easy for them to push through massive fiscal spending in 2021.
Salesforce’s acquisition of work chat company Slack for $28 billion to better compete with Microsoft underscores just how hard it is for tech companies big and small to challenge today's dominant tech giants.
Flashback: Less than a year ago, Justice Dept. assistant attorney general for antitrust Makan Delrahim touted Slack’s trajectory from small VC-backed startup to publicly-traded software company as an illustration of a healthy, well-functioning market in which it's possible for newcomers to prosper independently.
