Recode Daily: Unlike AT&T, Verizon is more interested in owning pipes than content

Verizon is exploring a deal with Charter Communications that would create a phone, cable and broadband behemoth — a different strategy than AT&T, which is betting on a combination of distribution and media with the proposed acquisition of Time Warner. — [Shalini Ramachandran, Ryan Knutson and Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal]

President Trump’s border wall plan pushed U.S.-Mexico relations to a low point, as Mexico’s president canceled a meeting with Trump and the White House floated the idea of a 20 percent import tax to pay for the wall. Meantime, Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon labeled the media as “the opposition party” and said it should “keep its mouth shut.” — [Michael D. Shear, Binyamin Appelbaum and Alan Rappeport / New York Times]

Alphabet’s Q4 revenue beat analysts’ forecasts, but profits fell short, sending the stock down 2 percent. Microsoft’s sales and earnings topped expectations, thanks to growth in its cloud services and a modestly improving PC business. — [Tess Townsend / Recode]

Facebook is going to start rewarding video makers who create longer clips, part of a broader effort to increase users’ “watch time.” The longer a video can hold an audience, the more likely Facebook is to promote it. — [Peter Kafka / Recode]

China’s biggest online-payments company, Ant Financial, owned by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, has agreed to buy money-transfer provider MoneyGram for $880 million, giving it a foothold in the U.S. if the deal is approved by Trump administration regulators. — [Telis Demos and Rick Carew / Wall Street Journal]

On the latest episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask, Recode transportation writer Johana Bhuiyan says the earliest opportunity for most people to ride in self-driving cars may come from Uber and Lyft. — [Eric Johnson / Recode]

Top Stories From Recode

Sundar Pichai makes the case for Google versus Alexa

Google’s CEO says voice search is just part of the bigger search puzzle — and that Google has some real advantages.

Tesla is suing its ex-Autopilot director for allegedly poaching employees and stealing confidential information

Sterling Anderson was working with the former CTO of Google’s self-driving arm, Chris Urmson.

Alphabet’s health-tech company, Verily, is getting $800 million from a Singapore investment firm

The investment should take some weight off Alphabet to fund R&D for the medical business.

Twitter is replacing the Moments tab with a new Explore tab instead

Twitter wants to make it easier for you to find stuff on Twitter.

This Is Cool

America first, the Netherlands second

Dutch satirical news show “Zondag met Lubach” introduces the Netherlands to President Trump.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.