Whether it’s the family restaurant around the corner or the morning coffee run, Bay Area diners have long lost their sticker shock when it comes to paying the bill. The Bay Area is home to some of the most prestigious restaurants in the world, and the region’s food prices alone can be as much as 72 percent higher than the national average. And when it comes to actually eating at Michelin-rated names like Saison or The French Laundry, diners are lining up to pay — a lot. The average cost of a…

The former Microsoft CEO and his wife are funding an initiative that will make case-management software more accessible to nonprofits and social-service agencies.

Prominent Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch wants the Federal Trade Commission to open a new investigation into Google, saying the Alphabet Inc.-owned company could be abusing its dominant position in search and advertising. In a new letter to the FTC, Hatch (R-Utah) listed a number of “disquieting” allegations against Google, including its decision to ban certain types of ads, and allow third-party software developers access to the contents of emails on Gmail. “Although these reports concern different…

Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp. confirmed Friday that it’s considering buying San Jose chipmaker Integrated Device Technology Inc. in a deal that could be worth as much as $6 billion. While Renesas said no final decision has been made, it is reportedly interested in IDT’s expertise in chips for self-driving cars, a promising growth area. Shares of IDT jumped more than 11 percent ahead of the opening bell on Friday morning, valuing the company at more than $5.4 billion. IDT is headquartered on…

Have an opening in your schedule coming up soon? Take a look at the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s weekly calendar. Labor Day typically signals what most people consider the end of summer — though the official end is actually toward the end of September, not the beginning. After you give summer one last hurrah over the long weekend and come back to the real world, one event to note is the Minority Women’s Business Conference on September 6 in San Jose. Presented by the CalAsian Chamber of Commerce…

The first event was held in 1986 when the founder, Larry Harvey, gathered a group of friends at Baker Beach in San Francisco, where he torched an 8-foot-tall wooden man. Today, more than 70,000 attendees trek to the Nevada desert for a weeklong event that some say has lost its soul.