Jul 29, 2019

Ride-hailing giant Grab to invest $2 billion into Indonesian business

SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son (R) and Grab CEO Anthony Tan (L) during the SoftBank World 2019 conference on July 18, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab said on Monday that it will use $2 billion of its funds from SoftBank to invest in developing transportation and other services, like healthcare, in Indonesia over the next five years.

Why it matters: For Japan-based SoftBank, this is a way to get even deeper investment into the Indonesian market. Chairman Masayoshi Son also said he plans on investing more funds into the online marketplace Tokopedia and look for additional investment opportunities in the country.

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The polarized pandemic election

A Trump supporter protests Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order, during a May 15 rally outside the Capitol in Harrisburg. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images

President Trump is going all-in on pushing for a rapid, robust return to normal life, creating a visual, visceral contrast with Joe Biden and other Democrats who are more reticent to rip the masks off.

The state of play: Business friends have been urging Trump from the beginning to keep the lockdowns short. He's listening more and more.

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Tech's long hot summer of antitrust

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Google, Facebook and other tech giants face a summer of regulatory grilling as long-running investigations into potential anticompetitive practices likely come to a head.

The big picture: Probes into the power of Big Tech launched by federal and state authorities are turning a year old, and observers expect action in the form of formal lawsuits and potentially damning reports — even as the companies have become a lifeline for Americans during the pandemic lockdown.

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Palantir CEO hits Silicon Valley "monoculture," may leave California

Palantir is "getting close" to a decision on whether to move the company out of California, CEO Alex Karp said in an interview for "Axios on HBO."

The state of play: "We haven't picked a place yet, but it's going to be closer to the East Coast than the West Coast. ... If I had to guess, I would guess something like Colorado."

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