GM's autonomous driving unit, Cruise, will begin testing food delivery for some of DoorDash's San Francisco customers in March, the companies announced on Thursday.
Why it matters: After years of focusing on the technology, companies developing autonomous driving vehicles recently began turning their attention to business models.
Dan and Axios' Ina Fried discuss Apple's surprise earnings warning, and if it's more a story about China's economic slowdown or a saturated smartphone market.
There was a collective thud Wednesday as Apple warned that its holiday quarter revenue would fall billions short of expectations amid exceptionally weak business in China.
The backdrop: There are two important factors to consider when trying to make sense of the news: The problems Apple saw in China go far beyond just Apple. But Apple's iPhone problems extend far beyond China, too.
Google has quietly acquired Superpod, a startup that had built a question-and-answer mobile app, Axios has learned. Google paid less than $60 million to “acqui-hire” the founders and purchase some of Superpod's assets, according to a source.
The bigger picture: The search giant hasn’t been shy about its ambitions for Google Assistant, the voice-activated virtual assistant that it debuted in 2016. Superpod, which lets users ask questions and receive answers from experts, could help Google bolster its virtual assistant’s ability to answer users’ questions.
Apple warned Wednesday that revenue from its holiday quarter will fall short of prior estimates, a rare occurrence for the iPhone maker.
Why it matters: Apple is one of the world's biggest companies and a significant driver of the tech economy. The company said it now expects revenue of around $84 billion, down from a prior estimate of between $89 billion and $93 billion.
Given all the data Facebook collects and its barrage of data controversies in 2018, expect the social network to be under a microscope this year.
Background: Democrats have already signaled they’re serious about pushing some data privacy legislation as they take back the House this month. Republicans won't be sitting on the sidelines.
On Facebook's map of humanity, the node for "you" often includes vast awareness of your movements online and a surprising amount of info about what you do offline, too.
The big picture: Even when you're cautious about sharing, Facebook's dossier on you will be hefty. Facebook tackles its mission of "bringing the world closer together" by creating a map of humanity, and each of us represents a tiny node on this "social graph."
/2019/01/03/1546528145282.gif?w=3840)
/2018/12/31/1546220320357.gif?w=3840)