The World
US and Taiwanese companies sign Memorandum of Understanding to enhance co-operation and stabilise supply chains
…the subject technical fields include renewable energy and 5G communications. The agreement was struck in Washington.
Taiwan side businesses are: state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC), Quanta Cloud Technology, HTC Corp., TMY Technology Inc. and Edgecore Networks Corp US side businesses are: General Electric Co. (GE), Intel Corp., RingCentral, Inc., Lumen Technologies and DuPont.
Artificial Intelligence
Cambridge University Researchers say AI tools that purport to reduce bias for recruitment purposes don’t work
..the study noted that, out of 500 HR professionals, nearly one quarter used AI to acquire talent. In which case, it is quite concerning that AI cannot cut out bias. The researcher explained to the BBC “These tools can’t be trained to only identify job-related characteristics and strip out gender and race from the hiring process, because the kinds of attributes we think are essential for being a good employee are inherently bound up with gender and race”. If this is true, could it mean that bias can never be eliminated in a recruitment process?
BigTech/ Data / Platforms
Business
Microsoft promotes its Cloud Healthcare service to “Ease provider burden and help create customers for life”
…to support both patients and caregivers:
- Patient snapshot – optimises patient view summary
- Patient trends – insights about patient activities, for example, the number of days since the last appointment or the number of hospitalizations in the last year
- Missed appointment prediction – organisations can predict the likelihood that a patient will miss their next appointment
- Care plan management – view upcoming, completed, overdue activities, and modify the status of an activity
- Various Data management services
Challenge Amazon! TikTok proposes to start its own fulfilment centres in the US
… TikTok proposes to fulfil orders, by carrying out warehousing, delivery and returns. In Asia TikTok live shopping is big. Fancy that jacket that the influencer is wearing? Speculations are that [so it might not turn out to be true] you could be one click away from purchasing that item.
TikTok is also reported to be in talks with music labels to build out a music-streaming service, in a challenge to Spotify. Would it also make it easier for influencers to lawfully use copyright protected music on their posts I wonder.
Amazon challenges price comparison sites for home and contents insurance in the UK
…it will be called Amazon Insurance Store. Amazon is no stranger to financial services. It has a hand in offering insurance to SMEs in the UK (in partnership with Lloyd’s broker Superscript) and motor insurance in India and buy now pay later service in the UK with Barclays.
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) to buy controversial platform Parler – described as “uncancellable free speech platform”
…Ye himself is certainly not devoid of controversies, having had is account frozen by Twitter and Instagram for anti-Semitic expressions and other controversial comments. Both Musk (self-styled free speech absolutist) and Ye thereby have a common interest – the quest to possess a digital megaphone they can fully control. They understand the power of influence, and they’ll pay a pretty price to avoid the fate that befell Trump.
Such proposal comes amid New York governor and Attorney General’s calls to make platforms liable for violent criminal content posed on platforms. They say fringe online platforms, like 4chan, radicalized the Buffalo shooter (by whom 10 Black individuals were killed and three others were injured); livestreaming platforms, like Twitch, were weaponized to publicize and encourage copycat violent attacks; and a lack of oversight, transparency, and accountability of these platforms allowed hateful and extremist views to proliferate online, leading to radicalization and violence. They recommend changes to Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act (basically says platforms not liable for content uploaded by third parties) to increase accountability of online platforms and require companies to take reasonable steps to prevent unlawful violent criminal content from appearing on their platforms.
Uber to be more active placing ads
…expect more ads on Uber apps, displays with ads on back of front seats (with user being able to control sound level), ad-studded emailing campaigns. Drivers will be rewarded for displaying ads, which would help contain fares for passengers. Another way would be to offer passengers ads in relation to nearby shops (eg. coffee shops) with the passenger being able to buy coffee on the way, for example [a little bit like what Waze does]. If the passenger can get a discount for every purchase bought through the ad, even better.
Expect more advertising – Netflix has u-turned on its philosophy and has started offering ad-supported services at a lower price point. BBC’s services outside the UK is ad-supported for several years. The shift is inevitable, one journalist says, with Apple allowing users to opt out of third party tracking and Google due to pull the plug on cookies (which will prevent advertisers from being able to track users’ behaviour on websites).
Privacy
Texas Attorney General sues Google for collecting biometric data (face, voice etc) without consent and profiting from it
…collection is said to have been made through Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max. Google says there is an option to turn those functions off.
Crypto/ NFTs
Are NFTs securities? US SEC is investigating the best known and high value NFT collectible, Bored Apes
…to be precise, they are investigating the driver of Bored Apes, Yuga Labs. Yuga Labs have a string of businesses and celebrities as investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, FTX, Google Ventures, Adidas, Snoop Dogg, Mark Cuban, Steve Aoki, Tiger Global, Timbaland, Dez Bryant and Samsung.
The critical question reported to be at play, is whether the Bored Apes NFTs are Securities, and should be subject to securities regs. The apply to securities trading to prevent money laundering and to protect consumers. It is true that a lot of the NFTs are purchased because the buyer hopes to profit from it. But some people do that with art and wines, and they are not treated as securities. Same here, some people buy it because they think it’s cool – just like when Warhol started selling his prints and buyers flocked. Warhol prints were never considered as securities, although many purchasers may have bought them to sell on later. Bored Apes may be a tricky target in this respect because it has become such an iconic commodity and gives the buyer street cred, access to exclusive offerings, not just on Bored Ape related projects but publicly too. For example, no doubt it is much easier to get traction on Twitter if your profile was backed by an authentic Bored Ape NFT. But then again, you can buy NFTs from marketplaces, like a stock. It may be that if you have governance rights or access to revenues, the NFT is more likely to be treated like securities, says one SEC commissioner. The SEC is also reportedly looking into how ApeCoins, the Ethereum-based governance and utility tokens and issued by ApeCoin DAO, are used within the APE ecosystem – these might be closer to the bone.
Note
The U.S. Supreme Court has provided the four-prong Howey Test, which states that an investment can be regulated as a security if:
- There is an investment of money.
- The investment is made into a “common enterprise.
- The investors expect to make a profit from their investment.
- Any expected profits or returns are due to the actions of a third party or promoter.
Therefore, any type of investment could potentially be a security, and in some cases it is unclear.
According to one academic, Ether is liable to be treated as securities
…last month, the Ethereum blockchain changed the way in which it operated from proof of work to proof of stake. Under the proof of work system, those that are running the nodes of the network vied to calculate a complicated mathematical problem involving prime numbers as fast as possible. The calculation uses huge amount of compute power and consumes a significant amount of energy – so much so that the level exceeds the energy consumption of a small country. It also meant that the transaction costs were significant. Depending on how quickly you demand the transaction to be completed and the time of day, you could spend more than $10 to convert $10 worth of Ethereum into fiat currency for example. The node which won the maths competition are rewarded with cryptocurrency for the work.
Proof of stake is much cheaper. Those operating the nodes stake some Ether [Ethereum blockchain’s currency] as a collateral, which enable them to participate in a lottery. The probability of winning that lottery depends on the amount you have staked. The winner gets to solve a difficult piece of maths, and then be rewarded with cryptocurrency. Interestingly, the article says that because staking is a highly centralised business, the proof of stake mechanism will lead to centralisation of the blockchain – which goes against the philosophy of decentralised systems. Anyway, because the stakers pool the Ether together to profit from their stake, it is said that it could be treated as a security (see Howrey test above).
Turner prize winner and artist Damien Hirst invites buyers of his art to choose between a physical piece and an NFT, burns the physical artwork if NFT is chosen
… What is striking to me is that half the buyers chose physical art and the other NFT. Could Damien Hirst artwork be regarded as a security? If yes, what would be the status of the physical version of the artwork?
Cybersecurity
End to end encrypted messaging service Signal to phase out SMS
…Signal is phasing out SMS which had been offered in parallel to the encrypted messaging service because of lack of security and cumbersome billing in some cases.
Apple to argue its copyright case against security company over infringement of copyright in its iOS software
…Some time ago, Apple sued a cyber security company for selling virtual environments of the iOS to enable detection of bugs. The creation of the virtual iPhone was argued by Apple as entailing infringement of copyright. The defendant cyber security company said it was fair use and so did not constitute infringement. Apple lost on the copyright infringement claim (now subject to appeal) and the parties settled the claim that they violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by overcoming the anti-circumvention measures.
EVs/AVs
iPhone assembler Foxconn launches prototypes of two new EVs
…Foxconn already assembles a wider variety products, from smartphones (including iPhones, iPads and MacBooks), PCs, gaming consoles to industrial robots. It has partnerships with several car companies: Taiwanese carmaker Yulon for which Foxconn mass produces EVs, and a significant partnership with Stellantis in a venture to make auto chips and smart cockpit solutions. Recently it announced that it will start making chips in India with Vendanta, a natural resources conglomerate. It will not produce its own brand, but will make cars for others.
Sony Honda Mobility to start taking orders for their EVs in 2025 in the US
…surprisingly, ahead of Japan. I am assuming that is because the EV infrastructure is somewhat more developed in the US. The company said it will look to explore “new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse”. This will likely be subscription based. Sony has a head start with contents and an established gaming business. It is considered widely that consumers will choose cars on the basis of value adds such as software and entertainment. According to a Nikkei Article, Auto manufacturer Continental considers that around 30% of value of the car pertains to software. The unit that enables this is the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which controls high performance GPU and the software that processes the data units. In short, ECU will represent the cutting edge. Unsurprisingly businesses want as much ownership and control over it, and the venture will be no different in this respect.
VW Software unit Cariad to invest $2billion in Chinese technology firm Horizon Robotics
…the new venture will build autonomous vehicle solutions on a single chip, which will only be made available in China. Thereby, VW will get access to Chinese chip supply and perhaps forge closer ties with the Chinese government. The article notes VW’s positioning on chips in the US with a partnership with Qualcomm and in Europe, with STMicroelectronics, although these partnerships do not entail chip technology development. There is a trend – as noted Tesla embarked on this years before, and recently GM has said it will start developing chips. Chipmaker Horizon boasts Chinese auto majors such as BYD, Li Auto and SAIC as its customers as well as Audi (a VW company) and Continental. Horizon founder CEO is Kai Yu, founder and formerly head of deep learning at Baidu (China’s answer to Google). Horizon’s investors are interesting: chipmakers Intel and SK Group, major Venture Capitalist company Sequoia and carmakers including Tesla rival BYD, and CATL, the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker. This is an interesting development against the backdrop of US / China trade war that is heating up.
Russian and Chinese companies poise to extract Lithium from Bolivian resources
…the social Bolivian government is aligned with Russia and China.
Chinese carmakers aims to exploit supply chain weakness to break into German car market
…Great Wall Motor, Geely (owns Polestar and Lynk & Co), BYD and SAIC Motor have recently launched or planning to launch EVs in Germany. This is the moment – calculates the Chinese businesses. They have prioritised Germany amid production shortage meaning the wait time for these cars is only 3-5 months, compared to their European counterparts, 10-15 months. They come with good safety records. Price will also be a factor.
Fintech
Apple to provide high yield saving accounts – with the assistance of Goldman Sachs
…with the interest rate on the rise, this is a great time for Apple to do it. More valuable data to Apple too [which will lead to more ad revenues etc].
Metaverse / VR / AR / MR / XR
US Soldiers using Microsoft HoloLens suffer physical illness in field tests
…the issues are said to be light that is emitted from the Mixed Reality headset. You can see the physical environment but they add holograms to it, which you can interact with (hence HoloLens). The US Army has a 10 year contract with Microsoft for 120,000 HoloLens-based headsets. No doubt it would get sorted in due course.
India’s answer to Amazon – the eCommerce giant Flipkart to launch Flipverse, a shopping experience in the metaverse
…the company (in which Walmart has 77% stake – Walmart has also recently entered the metaverse) is offering “gamified, interactive and immersive” experience, enabling customers to collect loyalty points, or Supercoins, as well as digital collectibles from partner brands.
Google’s Starline technology – a more immersive, no headset version of video calls to be used by selected partners
…who are Salesforce, WeWork, T-Mobile and Hackensack Meridian Health. Looks impressive and will put an end to moonlighting during those video calls…
Semiconductors
Semiconductor makers all over the world significantly hit by US sanctions on Chinese chip industry
…all non-Chinese semiconductor players are ceasing support for Chinese fabs, pulling out staff from Chinese based chipmakers, presale negotiations, stopping all support services to China. Some companies, such as TSMC and SK Hynix have been given authorisation to extend business in China for an additional year.
One More Thing…
Stocking fillers anyone? Burnt Hair perfume by Elon Musk – worth a try for the man that has everything, if you happen to have $100 spare
…“Just like leaning over a candle at the dinner table, but without all the hard work”, “Stand out in a crowd! Get noticed as you walk through the airport” says the website, which describes the scent as “the essence of repugnant desire”. “With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business was inevitable – why did I even fight it for so long!?” said the entrepreneur, who has changed his profile to perfume salesman. He has managed to sell $1million worth in just a few hours.