On Day One of the Code Conference, Jeff Bezos waxed philosophic about Amazon Prime, space, Donald Trump, Peter Thiel and more. Ford CEO Mark Fields talked about Ford's plan for a future where car ownership is less common, and Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann explained why the organization is trying to give mosquitoes STDs to fight the Zika virus. Up later today: Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Bill and Melinda Gates, Elon Musk and more.
[Recode Staff]
Since unveiling it at I/O in May, Google hasn't given a ton of detail on the tech specs of its Amazon Echo competitor, Google Home. A new report says that its innards are basically that of a Chromecast video streamer, but that Google is betting on the power of its voice recognition and artificial intelligence technology.
[Amir Efrati | The Information]
The music industry, which has previously anointed Spotify and Pandora as enemies number one, is now going after YouTube, claiming that the service doesn't pay them enough in royalties. The tactic: Putting heavy pressure on the federal government to change the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so platforms like YouTube fork over more cash.
[Ben Sisario | The New York Times]
Goldman Sachs has led a $1 billion deal to give Uber cash to lease cars to Uber drivers, and the service is becoming increasingly essential for drivers looking to join the platform.
[Eric Newcomer and Olivia Zaleski | Bloomberg]
Microsoft is selling a bunch of phone- and cloud-related patents to Chinese smartphone behemoth Xiaomi, with the goal of beginning a long-term partnership. The idea is for Xiaomi to get stuff that customers outside the U.S. will want, and for Microsoft to get its apps installed on Xiaomi phones.
[Ina Fried | Recode]
