Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.
- Uber marketing employees described this week's 'bloodbath' to Business Insider, after the company laid off 400 employees in more than a dozen countries. Affected employees were told of the changes in an email early Monday from Jill Hazelbaker, the company's head of communications.
- Cloudflare, a cybersecurity company last valued at $3.2 billion, plans to go public in September, according to sources familiar with the company. The company confidentially filed an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier in the summer, one person said.
- IBM reportedly axed as many as 100,000 employees in the last few years because it wanted to appear "cool" and "trendy" like Amazon or Google. IBM has been hit by several age discrimination suits filed by former employees.
- Facebook is reportedly working on a new Portal video chat device, which also connects up to your TV and features streaming services. The company has approached Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon about putting their services onto the device, according to The Information.
- Google parent Alphabet has dethroned Apple as the world's cash king after a decade of dominance. Alphabet had $117 billion in financial reserves at the end of the most recent quarter, while Apple had $102 billion.
- Messaging services like WhatsApp face increased pressure from governments to let spies infiltrate private conversations, undermining the promise of end-to-end encrypted chats. The UK hosted the "Five Eyes" nations for a security summit this week, with UK home secretary Priti Patel and US Attorney General William Barr signalling that they had encryption in their sights.
- Lyft is halting its e-bike program in San Francisco after two bikes mysteriously erupted in flames. No injuries were reported, and Lyft is investigating the batteries and bikes for the cause of the fire.
- Some of the world's most influential celebrities and business moguls are reportedly flocking to a Sicilian seaside resort this week for Google's annual "meeting of the minds," known amongst attendees as "Google Camp." "Google Camp" discussions have ranged in past years from education to extending human longevity, but this year talks are expected to mostly focus on climate change.
- Fitbit shares tanked in after-hours trading after the firm posted weaker guidance for its third quarter, on weaker-than-expected sales of its Fitbit Versa Lite smartwatch. The firm posted a loss of 14 cents per share on $314 million in revenue.
- Deliveroo, a major Uber Eats rival outside the US, has made its second acquisition to date with software consultancy Cultivate. Cultivate helped build out and scale Deliveroo's payments system and will continue that work post-acquisition.
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