WSJ Tech News Briefing

By The Wall Street Journal

Tech News

What's WSJ Tech News Briefing about?

Tech News Briefing is your guide to what people in tech are talking about. Every weekday, we’ll bring you breaking tech news and scoops from the pros at the Wall Street Journal, insight into new innovations and policy debates, tips from our personal tech team, and exclusive interviews with movers and shakers in the industry. Hosted by Zoe Thomas

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Crypto CEO on Volatility, O...

05.20.2022

Cryptocurrency values have been plummeting recently, raising questions about investors’ safety and regulations. At The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival, WSJ crypto editor Jenna Telesca spoke with Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder about how the crypto exchange is tackling ...

WSJ Tech News Briefing episodes:

05.20.2022 Crypto CEO on Volatility, Ownership and Regulation Cryptocurrency values have been plummeting recently, raising questions about investors’ safety and regulations. At The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival, WSJ crypto editor Jenna Telesca spoke with Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder about how the crypto exchange is tackling ...
05.19.2022 Where Is Augmented-Reality Tech Headed Next? Augmented-reality headsets are already being used in some workplaces. What will it take for them to be more widely adopted? At The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival, Senior Personal Tech Columnist Joanna Stern spoke with senior executives from ...
05.18.2022 Will ‘Instant Delivery’ Eventually Become Profitable? At The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival this week, Gopuff co-CEO Rafael Ilishayev spoke with WSJ tech columnist Christopher Mims about the challenges of ultra-fast delivery and whether robots and drones could help. Zoe Thomas hosts. Learn more ...
05.17.2022 Buffalo Shooter Live-Streamed Attack; How Platforms Reacted A mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday left 10 people dead and 3 others wounded. Nearly all the victims were Black, and authorities are investigating it as a racially motivated hate crime. The attack was broadcast live on the ...
05.16.2022 Tech Industry Warns Remote Work Could Hurt U.S. Competitiveness A lobbying group for the tech sector warns that remote work may mean highly skilled jobs are headed out of the U.S. Host Zoe Thomas is joined by Jennifer Young, CEO of the Technology Councils of North America, to discuss ...
05.13.2022 Why Bitcoin, TerraUSD and Other Cryptos Are Plunging The values of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and even some stablecoins, have been nosediving, leading regulators to speak out about the lack of oversight in digital currencies. WSJ markets reporter Caitlin Ostroff joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss what is ...
05.12.2022 Cyber Leaders on the Biggest Threats and How to Defend Against Them How are cyber leaders from the U.S. and U.K. tackling hacking and ransomware risks as the war in Ukraine continues? At The Wall Street Journal’s recent CEO Council Summit, WSJ Deputy Chief News Editor Gráinne McCarthy spoke with Lindy Cameron, ...
05.11.2022 SoftBank’s $100 Billion Bet on the Tech Boom Falls Behind Hailed by its leader as "a goose that lays golden eggs,” SoftBank's Vision Fund launched in 2017 with the goal of funding a whole generation of future tech giants. But five years into its experiment in what was once seen ...
05.10.2022 Inside TikTok’s Stressful and Secretive Work Culture TikTok has been adding users and growing rapidly. But employees say that growth is fueling an atmosphere of anxiety, stress and relentless pressure. WSJ reporter Georgia Wells joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the work culture at TikTok and what ...
05.09.2022 Can Social Media Be Fixed? New Platforms Aim To Change How We Connect Former employees from Facebook and WhatsApp are among those developing new social media platforms aimed at improving online discourse. WSJ reporter Deepa Seetharaman joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the different approaches those platforms are taking and how they hope ...
05.06.2022 Facebook Caused Havoc to Influence Australian Law, Whistleblowers Say Testimony from whistleblowers and internal documents from Facebook reveal that the company deliberately caused havoc in the leadup to the passing of a law in Australia that forces digital platforms to pay for news content. WSJ reporter Keach Hagey joins ...
05.05.2022 Smart Buildings Promise Happier Workplaces But Could Pose Cyber Risks Smart office buildings offer ways to reduce energy use, protect the health of employees and make going to work more pleasant. But once a building is essentially turned into a giant computer, what are the risks for personal privacy and ...
05.04.2022 Why Meta’s E-Commerce Plans Have Stumbled Facebook parent Meta hopes e-commerce will help the company offset revenue it lost after Apple started letting users share less of their data with app makers. But its e-commerce push has struggled with operational challenges and the departure of some ...
05.03.2022 Grindr Users’ Data Could Be Purchased Through Ad Networks The Wall Street Journal reports exclusively that the precise movements of millions of users of the gay-dating app Grindr were collected from a digital advertising network and made available for sale for years, before the company cut off the data ...
05.02.2022 Open-Source Data Shows Possible War Crimes. Can It Be Used in Court? Technology and social media have made it easy for everyday people in Ukraine to post images of potential war crimes. But that doesn’t mean the videos and pictures will be admissible in potential trials. WSJ reporter Ian Lovett joins host ...
04.29.2022 Why Autocorrect Sometimes Gets It Wrong Autocorrect is a staple of our digital lives. But the software sometimes picks the wrong word or even inserts grammatical errors. WSJ Senior Personal Tech Columnist Joanna Stern joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss what she learned when she dug ...
04.28.2022 Crypto Startups Keep Getting Hacked. Investors Keep Bailing Them Out. Despite hackers pulling off massive heists and robbing crypto startups and their users of record amounts of money, investors in those companies seem unfazed. WSJ Pro Cybersecurity reporter David Uberti joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why their faith hasn’t ...
04.27.2022 What Will Musk’s Twitter Acquisition Mean for Its Users and Employees? The news that Elon Musk is buying Twitter has been met with joy from some and anger from others. But what will the deal mean for the platform's millions of users and its thousands of staff? WSJ social-media reporter Salvador ...
04.26.2022 How Crypto Thieves Are Scoring Bigger Hauls Hackers are stealing record amounts of cryptocurrency this year, even though the number of attacks is on pace to match last year. WSJ crypto reporter Paul Vigna joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why the heists are getting bigger and ...
04.25.2022 How BeReal Is Winning Over Gen Z With Authenticity A social-media app with no filters and limits on how often you can post is gaining popularity with young users. BeReal aims to appeal to people who are overwhelmed by other social platforms. WSJ personal-tech reporter Dalvin Brown and personal-tech ...
04.22.2022 Sheryl Sandberg Pressured Daily Mail to Drop Story About Bobby Kotick Exclusive reporting by The Wall Street Journal reveals Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was part of an effort to push the U.K.’s Daily Mail to shelve a potentially damaging story about her then-boyfriend, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, in 2016 ...
04.21.2022 Russia Pushes Its Homegrown Social-Media Alternatives As part of its effort to control the narrative about the war in Ukraine, Russia is pushing its citizens to use locally developed social-media platforms. These apps adhere to Kremlin censorship while promising the same features as the Western versions ...
04.20.2022 How Ukraine’s ‘Internet Army’ Is Pressuring Western Firms Ukraine has recruited volunteers to mount social-media pressure campaigns aimed at getting Western companies like McDonald’s and Johnson & Johnson to pull out of Russia. WSJ reporter Patience Haggin joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the campaign’s tactics and how ...
04.19.2022 Are Stablecoins Backed by Algorithms All That Stable? Cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins are meant to give investors some reassurance of value in an otherwise volatile market. But critics say a more recent breed of stablecoins backed by financial engineering rather than real-world assets, known as algorithmic stablecoins, are ...
04.18.2022 Tech and the War in Ukraine: Your Questions Answered Since Russia invaded Ukraine, technology has played a key role on and off the battlefield. WSJ tech reporter Sam Schechner joins host Zoe Thomas to answer listeners' questions about how tech is being used in and around the conflict. Learn ...
04.15.2022 Will Twitter Accept Elon Musk’s Takeover Offer? In just two weeks, Elon Musk has gone from Twitter user to shareholder to prospective board member to corporate raider. The billionaire has submitted an offer to buy the social-media platform that he loves to use and loves to criticize. ...
04.14.2022 Digital Ad Market Faces Challenges After Record Year Last year was a record setter for the digital advertising sector. But the industry is facing changes around privacy and the way marketers place ads. Wall Street Journal CMO Today reporter Megan Graham joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the ...
04.13.2022 Cyberwar in Ukraine Could Be Entering a New Phase Experts expected hacking to be a key weapon Russia used in its war against Ukraine, but until now Russians’ persistent cyber strikes have had a modest impact. That could be changing as Moscow pivots its strategy. WSJ cybersecurity and intelligence ...
04.12.2022 What Elon Musk’s Latest About-Face Means for Twitter Elon Musk has changed his mind about joining Twitter’s board. So what are his plans now? And what will it mean for the social-media company going forward? WSJ Heard on the Street columnist Laura Forman joins host Zoe Thomas to ...
04.11.2022 How Is TikTok Changing Children’s Brains? Social media allows us to consume lots of short-form content, but how does that endless feed affect young children? WSJ Family and Tech Columnist Julie Jargon joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss what researchers are finding out about how young ...
04.08.2022 Covert Code Gathered Data on Millions of Android Users Data-harvesting software from a company with links to U.S. national-security contractors was found on dozens of apps in the Google Play Store. Google banned the apps containing that code. But how did it get there in the first place? WSJ ...
04.07.2022 What Does Elon Musk Have Planned for Twitter? Elon Musk has been an outspoken critic of some of Twitter’s policies. Now that he is joining the company’s board, what changes will he try to implement? And what will that mean for users and shareholders? WSJ tech reporter Sarah ...
04.06.2022 Amazon Plays Catchup in Satellite Internet Amazon is pushing forward with plans to enter the broadband satellite market. But the e-commerce giant is running behind SpaceX, the market leader. WSJ aerospace reporter Doug Cameron joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why Amazon is moving into the ...
04.05.2022 Elon Musk Goes From Twitter User to Twitter Shareholder The world’s richest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has purchased a 9% stake in Twitter, making him the company’s largest shareholder. What does that mean for Twitter and Mr. Musk, who had suggested he would start his own social-media platform? ...
04.04.2022 How a Key Microsoft Strategy Could Help Seal a $75B Deal Microsoft is looking to get regulators on board with its plans to buy video game publisher Activision. To do that, it's building relationships with lawmakers, a strategy spearheaded by the company’s president, Brad Smith. WSJ Microsoft reporter Aaron Tilley joins ...
04.01.2022 Apps Make Getting ADHD Drugs Easy. Some Say Too Easy. Digital-health startups such as Cerebral and Done Health seized on looser pandemic rules for prescribing ADHD drugs like Adderall. Some workers say they felt pressure to provide the medications. WSJ biotechnology reporter Joseph Walker joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss ...
03.31.2022 Driverless Cars Finally Start Losing the Drivers Waymo plans to set its fully autonomous vehicles loose on the streets of San Francisco. It marks the first time the company’s driverless cars will operate in a major city without a human behind the wheel. So where does that ...
03.30.2022 QR Codes Attract Scanners… and Scammers The pandemic made using QR codes ubiquitous, but does our unquestioning willingness to scan them put us at risk of scams? Authorities think so. WSJ contributor Heidi Mitchell joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why officials are raising concerns and ...
03.29.2022 Pro-Russia Hacking Group’s Inner Workings Exposed by Leaker A trove of leaked documents has revealed the inner workings of a ransomware group with ties to Russia. What role did politics and national pride play in the leak? WSJ cybersecurity reporter Robert McMillan joins host Zoe Thomas to unpack ...
03.28.2022 Tech Pushes for Supply Chains to Be Less Global and More Local The pandemic, trade wars and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have shown how fragile the global supply chain can be. Now tech companies are looking to upend that system. WSJ tech columnist Christopher Mims joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss so-called ...
03.25.2022 Uber Teams With NYC Cabbies as Old Foes Become Friends Ride-hailing once threatened to disrupt the taxi industry. But now Uber has reached a deal with New York City’s taxi alliance to list yellow cabs on its app. WSJ tech reporter Preetika Rana joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why ...
03.24.2022 An End to Passwords? Big Tech Says an Alternative Is Near. A tech alliance whose members include Apple, Google and Microsoft says it is readying a system that could let users ditch their online passwords. But how safe and easy to use is it? Reporter Katie Deighton from the WSJ’s CMO ...
03.23.2022 Banks’ Use of A.I. Raises Risk of Cyberattacks by Russia, Experts Say The U.S. has warned critical businesses to be prepared for cyberattacks from Russia. But experts say the growing use of artificial intelligence is raising the risks, particularly for financial institutions. WSJ Risk & Compliance Journal reporter Richard Vanderford joins host ...
03.22.2022 How War in Ukraine Is Interrupting Space Missions For decades, governments around the world have worked together to explore space and build a greater understanding of the universe. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions placed on it by the U.S. and its allies are disrupting ...
03.21.2022 Telegram Thrives Even as Russia Drops Digital Iron Curtain Russia has been taking steps to block news and social media amid its war in Ukraine. But the app Telegram has remained a place where both sides can still post freely in Russia. WSJ tech reporter Sam Schechner joins host ...
03.19.2022 Introducing ‘As We Work’ “As We Work” is a new podcast from the Wall Street Journal about the changing workplace and what you need to know to navigate it. Every week, we’ll speak with experts, Journal reporters, and you about how our jobs intersect ...
03.18.2022 Investors Want Green Startups to Deliver on Promises Clean-technology startups received billions of dollars in funding last year, but investors want to make sure they are delivering on the sustainability technologies they promised. WSJ climate finance reporter Amrith Ramkumar joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss how companies are ...
03.17.2022 Could Play-to-Earn Games Change How Online Ownership Works? Play-to-earn videogames are allowing gamers to make money by owning and selling NFTs. Some see this as the future of the digital economy, others as a way to take the fun out of gaming. WSJ tech reporter Sarah Needleman joins ...
03.16.2022 Private 5G Networks Power China’s Industrial Sites China’s ambitious 5G plans are helping fuel the use of high-speed networks by private businesses there, allowing them to rely more heavily on automation. WSJ Asia tech reporter Dan Strumpf joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss the impact of these ...
03.15.2022 Women Celebrities Take On Male-Dominated Crypto World Reese Witherspoon, Paris Hilton and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the celebrities pushing to see more women in the crypto space. But what kind of advice and education are they offering, and should their fans take this kind of promotion at ...

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