Hello, hello! 👋🏻👋🏻
Welcome back to another edition of Tidbits covering all the recent things worth talking about in business, media, and technology.
🗺 World Affairs + Geopolitics
#1 Finland And Sweden Could Soon Join NATO, Prompted By Russian War In Ukraine
Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO, moves that would likely infuriate Moscow and that officials say would further underscore Russia’s strategic error in invading Ukraine.
NATO officials told CNN that discussions about Sweden and Finland joining the bloc have gotten extremely serious since Russia’s invasion, and US senior State Department officials said the matter came up at this week’s NATO foreign ministerial, which was attended by the foreign ministers from Stockholm and Helsinki.
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Public opinion in both countries about joining the defensive alliance has shifted significantly as Russia’s war in Ukraine wages on, with one former Finnish Prime Minister telling CNN the move to join “was pretty much a done deal on the 24th of February, when Russia invaded.”
Source: CNN
Putin is getting everything he doesn’t want including NATO expansion. Things are going surprisingly poorly for Russia with no easy off ramps. Russia has almost no leverage in any negotiations (and may even lose control of previously conquered territory like Crimea). With Russia doing so poorly, Ukraine also has no interest in compromising.
#2 Yellen to China: Help stop Russia’s war in Ukraine or lose standing in the world
China should help end Russia’s “heinous war” in Ukraine or face a loss of its standing in the world, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday, warning that those who seek to undermine Western sanctions face economic consequences.
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China’s reliance on state-owned enterprises and other practices has damaged U.S. national security interests, she said, adding that maintaining the current relationship required changes and Beijing’s cooperation.
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Yellen also called for more “friendshoring,” or shifting of supply chains to more trusted partner countries that are free of geopolitical conflicts.
Source: Reuters
Some sharp words.
#3 Biden Urges Modi Not To Step Up Indian Use Of Russian Oil
President Joe Biden asked India’s Narendra Modi on Monday not to accelerate the buying of Russian oil as the U.S. and other nations try to cut off Moscow’s energy income following the invasion of Ukraine. The Indian prime minister made no public commitment to refrain from Russian oil, a source of tension with the U.S.
Meeting by video call, Biden told Modi that the U.S. could help India diversify its sources of energy, according to press secretary Jen Psaki. Even though India receives little of its oil from Russia, it stepped up recently with a major purchase as other democracies are trying to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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At a separate State Department news conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pointedly suggested that Europe, not India, be the focus of Washington’s concern about energy purchases from Russia.
“I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,” he said.
Source: AP News
Some sharp words (even though India is increasingly an important part of US strategy to counter China).
#4 Exclusive: China’s Oil Champion Prepares Western Retreat Over Sanctions Fear
China’s top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd. is preparing to exit its operations in Britain, Canada and the United States, because of concerns in Beijing the assets could become subject to Western sanctions, industry sources said.
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“We cannot predict if the company or its affiliates and partners will be affected by U.S. sanctions in future, if policies change,” CNOOC said.
Source: Reuters
Increasingly we are telling China that they cannot have what they want. And even if they can buy things that they want, those things can be confiscated at any time.
Capital Flywheels thinks it’s important to think a few steps ahead. The logical conclusion and end to all of this is that China will eventually decide providing goods and services to the US in exchange for (mostly) unusable dollars is not a sensible bargain.
#5 Tim Cook Of Apple And Financier Ray Dalio Should Register As Agents For China, Us Panel Hears
Apple chief executive Tim Cook and financier Ray Dalio should register as foreign agents because of their operations in China, a US advisory body was told on Thursday, along with other drastic recommendations for trade and investment restrictions.
Speaking before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, witnesses also pushed for an “Economic Nato”, or ENato – a trading bloc that would be made up of democratic countries with free-market systems – and a crackdown on US investment in China.
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“Tim Cook knows, Ray Dalio knows, that if they get a little bit out of line with what Beijing wants, oh gee, the electricity could go off.”
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That, he said, showed the extent to which companies operating in China are beholden to Beijing in a way they are not to the US government.
Source: SCMP
Three years ago Capital Flywheels started worrying about the politicization of capital. It’s clear that these worries can no longer just be worries…increasingly, it is reality.
🤑 Economics + Markets
#6 U.S. Inflation Quickens to 8.5%, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Fed
U.S. consumer prices rose in March by the most since late 1981, underscoring the painfully high cost of living and reinforcing pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even more aggressively.
The consumer price index increased 8.5% from a year earlier following a 7.9% annual gain in February, Labor Department data showed Tuesday. The widely followed inflation gauge rose 1.2% from a month earlier, the biggest gain since 2005.
Gasoline costs drove half of the monthly increase, while food was also a sizable contributor, as Americans paid more for vegetables, meats and dairy products.
Source: Bloomberg
Inflation continued to rise in March. There are some signs inflation could be peaking (car inflation is cooling), but we have yet to see the full impact from China’s pandemic lockdowns, yet.
#7 Inflation Is Recasting Americans’ Relationship With Money — and Each Other
About 84% of Americans plan to cut back on spending as a result of higher prices, according to a nationally representative survey conducted by the Harris Poll for Bloomberg News. The biggest cuts involve eating out and impulse purchases, along with driving and experiences like concerts and sports.
With inflation now at 8.5%, the highest since 1981, consumers are having to make some tough choices. Although the job market and economy are on solid footing, wage growth isn’t keeping up with prices for everyday items, and consumers are getting pinched from all sides as the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates.
Source: Bloomberg
Not surprising that high inflation is changing behavior. What is surprising is that many people that don’t have issues paying are using inflation as an excuse to get out of certain purchases or activities.
#8 Surge in Treasury Yields Sends Ripples Across Global Markets
Ten-year U.S. yields climbed through 2.75% for the first time since March 2019 as investors priced in the impact of the Federal Reserve’s tightening plan and accelerating inflation. Traders are betting the Fed will enact about nine more quarter-point rate hikes by year-end, which would be the fastest policy tightening since 1994.
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Short-dated rates in the U.K. hit the highest in more than a decade as money markets ramped up bets on Bank of England rate increases by year-end. German yields rose to the highest in almost seven years.
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Markets in Asia also felt the impact of Treasury declines, which helped send the dollar past 125 yen for the first time since 2015. They also erased the premium that benchmark Chinese bonds held over their U.S. counterparts for more than decade, narrowing the spread between the two securities to the least since June 2010.
Source: Yahoo / Bloomberg
As Buffett likes to say, interest rates is like gravity. Most of the world’s assets are benchmarked either directly or indirectly against US Treasuries. And gravity is going up.
👻 Cryptocurrencies + NFTs
#9 How Jack Dorsey Quit Twitter to Become Bitcoin’s Spiritual Leader
Dorsey had lots to say about Bitcoin—in fact, a lot more than he had to say about either Twitter or Square, his payments company. He predicted Bitcoin would replace banks, bring economic opportunity to entrepreneurs in the developing world, and incentivize investments in renewable energy. “Bitcoin changes absolutely everything,” Dorsey stated matter-of-factly. “I don’t think there’s anything more important in my lifetime to work on.”
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Over the past two years, Dorsey, who declined to comment through a spokesperson, has fashioned himself as the currency’s unofficial spiritual leader and public defender, promoting it constantly from his Twitter feed and taking swipes at tech’s venture capitalists who are funding rival crypto projects. Last year, at a different crypto event alongside Elon Musk, Dorsey said he believed Bitcoin could bring about “world peace.”
Source: Bloomberg
Jack is such a fascinating character.
#10 Chris Dixon Thinks Web3 Is The Future Of The Internet — Is It?
Regular listeners to Decoder know I’m pretty skeptical of crypto. But I want to come by that skepticism honestly, so I talk to people who are actually investing in and building crypto startups and technology. There is a lot of money, attention, and energy — both literal and metaphorical — in crypto, and I think it’s important to ask the questions and really listen to the answers. We’ve done a few of these episodes now, but this episode is a conversation I’ve wanted to have from the very beginning.
Chris Dixon leads crypto investing at the storied Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. He’s responsible for leading funding rounds for Coinbase, which went public about a year ago, the NFT marketplace OpenSea, and Yuga Labs, which is behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, among others. He is also a prolific user of Twitter, where he posts lengthy threads about crypto and web3. He is at once one of the biggest investors in the space and its biggest booster.
Source: The Verge
Crypto skeptic interviews one of crypto’s biggest bulls. Good interview overall. The interviewer asks all the hard questions you’ve ever thought about.
#11 Pudgy Penguins, the Hot-and-Then-Not NFTs, Attempt a Comeback
The cherubic collection of NFTs sporting crowns, hats and bow ties was red-hot when released last summer, with $13.6 million worth of the cartoon creatures trading per day by mid-August as popularity soared, according to NonFungible. Then prices and demand collapsed in the fall as Pudgy Penguins holders grew dissatisfied with the way the founding team was developing the project. The virtual community eventually voted to expel the founders, leading them to put the project up for sale.
Now Pudgy Penguins have new owners. On April 1, the project was purchased for 750 Ether (about $2.4 million at current prices) by a group of mostly anonymous buyers.
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The group’s 58,900-strong Twitter account is leaving tantalizing hints of airdrops, or giveaways of digital goods, with the owners vowing a “new roadmap.” In an interview, Netz revealed ambitions for Pudgy Penguins-brand toys at Walmart, as well as branded clothes, games and a dance party on a Miami yacht.
Source: Bloomberg
The NFT space has fallen on hard times as transaction volumes decline while new projects continue to launch unchecked into a slowing market. Will be interesting to see if older projects like Pudgy Penguins that have lost momentum can regain it.
#12 ‘Jack Dorsey’s First Tweet’ NFT Went on Sale for $48M. It Ended With a Top Bid of Just $280
A non-fungible token (NFT) of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet could sell for just under $280. The current owner of the NFT listed it for $48 million last week.
Iranian-born crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi purchased the NFT for $2.9 million in March 2021. Last Thursday, he announced on Twitter that he wished to sell the NFT, and pledged 50% of its proceeds (which he thought would exceed $25 million) to charity. The auction closed Wednesday, with just seven total offers ranging from 0.09 ETH ($277 at current prices) to 0.0019 ETH (almost $6).
“The deadline I set was over, but if I get a good offer, I might accept it, I might never sell it,” Estavi told CoinDesk via a WhatsApp message on Wednesday.
Source: Coindesk
Gap between dreams and reality seems pretty big. But the owner doesn’t seem like he needs money. Sadly that may not be true of many people that were speculating in NFTs last year.
#13 Bitcoin Beach: How A Town In El Salvador Became A Testing Ground For Bitcoin
On the coast of El Salvador, about an hour from the capital is a town called El Zonte. Black volcanic sand gives way to warm water and an exceptional point break that draws surfers from around the world. But wander down El Zonte’s winding dirt roads and it’s easy to spot a different kind of tourist.
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Peterson and a team of community leaders got to work, creating the “Bitcoin Beach Initiative.” They used the anonymous donation to create dozens of much needed jobs in El Zonte. But they’d have to pay everyone in bitcoin.
Source: CBS
We first wrote about El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach back in Tidbits #46 (with a few subsequent follow-ups in later editions). Bitcoin Beach is a real-world experiment to create a Bitcoin economy from the ground up (in one of the world’s poorest economies).
60 Minutes investigated Bitcoin Beach with some good footage of the ups and downs so far.
#14 Forward Thinking On Tech And The Unpredictability Of Prediction With Benedict Evans
This is a pretty wide-ranging conversation about tech, but I did enjoy reading this section on crypto (and chuckled at a few points):
This gets you this kind of very intoxicating, very messianic, very religious vision that you could completely remake the whole internet on this entirely new platform. It’s just as religious as, of course, the early internet was and early open source was.
Early open-source people thought they were going to destroy Microsoft and no one would ever buy software again. And early internet people thought that this was the end of government, and there’d be no war again, because everyone would understand each other.
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The second challenge is, as you do that and you create all of that infrastructure and all of those abstraction layers on top, how do you do that without removing the whole point that it’s decentralized? Because it would be very easy to make all this stuff work really well if you just moved it into your own data center and controlled it. But then what would be the point? You just described SAP.
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Somebody I know in tech said, “All the dumbest people and all the cleverest people I know are all in on Web3.” Because you have this wave of noise, of bullshit, of argument, of people saying “It’s all a Ponzi scheme,” on the one side. On the other, people are saying, “This is going to end government and gold. And I need this in case the government steals my money and I need to move to Singapore. And it’s going to end trade. All trade unions will be built on the blockchain.”
There’s an enormous amount of noise that you have to try and pull apart and work out. But behind all of that noise, there’s this very, very powerful, interesting technology that lets you build internet applications, lets you build software in a different way. But right now, we don’t have that. We just have a lot of people building stuff that will let us have that in five years.
Source: McKinsey
🎭 Society
#15 Elon Musk Wants To Buy Twitter: Here’s Everything You Need To Know
On Thursday, April 14th, Elon Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share.
This is a huge story with a lot of fast-moving parts to it. It’s also a story that will likely stretch out over the next few months, maybe even longer. So we thought we’d put together a guide for you, our readers, that can be updated as things continue to unfold. Because, like Elon, we ❤️ you.
Source: The Verge
You’ve probably heard by now that the world’s richest man wants to buy the internet’s public square. The Verge has a good summary of all the twist and turns so far.
#16 Mexican Truck Drivers Block Major Us-Mexico Point Of Entry In Protest Of Texas Border Inspections
Commercial traffic at a major US-Mexico land entry port is “halted temporarily” due to an ongoing protest on the Mexican side of the border, with “no southbound movements by US carriers,” a US Customs and Border Protection official confirmed Monday to CNN.
The protest at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge follows a move by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office to enhance safety inspections at state border ports in response to Biden administration plans to end pandemic-related restrictions at the border.
Source: CNN
Recently I’ve started coming to the conclusion that the world is pioneering a new form of government, which I’ve loosely referred to as Democracy 3.0. Much of the world lives in an integrated ecosystem with supply chains and economies straddling multiple countries. Historically, countries were defined by national security, but increasingly, countries are defined by economy. Yet, no government has the authority to determine the laws across the entire economic chain. The US historically has been able to strong-arm other governments into submission, but as supply chains stretch into ever looser and looser localities, the US’ influence is declining.
These foreign countries do not have the ability to vote in our elections. But they are creating a new system of voting. In this new system of voting, rather than jam ballots into ballot boxes, you simply jam trucks into key economic arteries until the foreign government responds.
This tactic does not have to be inter-country. It can also be intra-country (or inter-state, depending on how you think about it).
BUT if you do it too much, the world will eventually deglobalize and seek self-sufficiency as foreign supply chain reliance declines. Within the past year, the US’ closest and largest trading countries, Mexico (#1) and Canada (#3) (China is #2), have all put up blockades.
#17 2022 Is the Year of the Political Traffic Stunt
On April 6, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed state troopers to ratchet up inspections of the thousands of commercial vehicles coming across the border from Mexico each day.
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Mexico responded quickly. At least 500 truckers south of the border mounted a blockade of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, shutting down traffic on April 11 at the border crossing that processes most of the produce entering the U.S. from Mexico. Some $33 billion in trade crossed through this bridge and nearby ports of entry in Hidalgo County in 2020, according to the state comptroller’s office.
The state’s agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller — like the governor, a Republican — surveyed this supply chain disaster and blasted the governor on April 12, decrying the new inspections regime as “catastrophic” and warning of spiking food prices and empty grocery store shelves. The bridge reopened on April 13, though delays continue. (The governor’s office did not return a call for comment.)
As traffic backed up along the border, Abbott also trumpeted a separate vehicular protest, this one in the nation’s capital. On April 13, a charter bus carrying people from Texas who entered the U.S. without permission arrived in Washington, D.C., fulfilling the governor’s pledge to deposit undocumented migrants on President Joe Biden’s doorstep. A second bus followed early the next morning. “Texas is bringing the border to him,” Abbott tweeted.
Source: Bloomberg
The world is increasingly engaged in economic warfare. This is one version of it. And not just between countries, but even within countries such as Texas’ promise to bring the border to DC.
I’ve seen many thoughtful analyses recently of the Canadian Freedom Convoy blockages. Many of these analyses claim it was wrong for the Canadian government to take strong actions against “peaceful protest”. While nobody is physically harmed, our lives are intimately intertwined with the economic sphere, and even more so as our lives become more and more financialized.
Can direct efforts to damage our economic lives truly be considered “peaceful”? Everyone should have the right to protest, but should everyone have the right to damage our access to income or food or work? If so, then why does Western media refer to China’s efforts to coerce unfriendly nations through economic embargoes (like the NBA fiasco not too long ago) “economic war”? Increasingly, conflict is carried out through the economic realm both domestically and internationally.
🔋 Energy
#18 South Korea Signals Nuclear Fuel U-Turn As Global Energy Crisis Looms
South Korea’s incoming government will reverse the country’s nuclear phaseout plan, which had been criticised for intensifying the east Asian country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
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“Energy security and soaring energy prices have come to the fore since the Ukraine crisis,” said Kim.
Source: FT
Countries are starting to rethink their nuclear phaseout plans since nuclear is one of the more efficient, non-carbon-emitting fuel sources out there.
#19 Energy Strategy: UK Plans Eight New Nuclear Reactors To Boost Production
Consumers are facing soaring energy bills after the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed gas prices even higher.
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The new strategy says the government wants to “lead the world once again” in nuclear power, reversing what it describes as “decades of underinvestment”.
The government announced that a new body called Great British Nuclear will be launched to bolster the UK’s nuclear capacity, with the hope that by 2050 up to 24 GW of electricity will come from that source – 25% of the projected electricity demand.
Source: BBC
💬 Media + Games
#20 Meta – Horizon Worlds New Monetization Tools
Zuckerberg in conversation with creators about Horizon Worlds.
Includes footage of what these creators are doing in Horizon Worlds. It looks a little more polished than I assumed…and I have to say, it feels weird to hear creators say nice things about Zuck. Haven’t heard anyone say anything positive about him for years.
#21 Meta Will Let Horizon Creators Sell Virtual Items
Meta is testing new features to let creators make money within Horizon Worlds, the company’s social metaverse platform for Quest VR headsets that is soon coming to mobile phones and possibly game consoles.
Most notably, a “handful” of Horizon creators will be able to sell virtual items and effects in the worlds they create for others to explore. The idea is that creators can sell everything from access to a VIP section of their world to virtual items like jewelry or a special basketball, according to Meaghan Fitzgerald, the product marketing director for Horizon.
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The Verge reported in February that Horizon Worlds hit 300,000 monthly users in VR during its first few months of availability, and the company has publicly announced that 10,000 worlds had been created. Meta didn’t have an update to share on usage numbers, but Sharma did touch on plans for expansion. The company is planning to bring Horizon Worlds to mobile phones later this year and is in “early discussions” about being on game consoles, Sharma says.
Source: The Verge
That’s quite a bit more monthly active users than I was expecting, especially since you still need a fairly niche device (Oculus).
One of the tectonic shifts between Web2 and Web3 appears to be the shift of power from developers to creators. In every prior era of tech, the biggest winners in tech have been the companies that control the most developers. Developers were the principle units of creation. This was Microsoft in the PC era, and Apple / Google in the mobile era.
But the future of tech is increasingly “no code”. What matters increasingly is the pure creativity of the ecosystem rather than the ability to turn ideas into code. What matters increasingly are creators rather than coders.
Who will win and who will lose as this shift plays out?
#22 Mark Zuckerberg’s Augmented Reality
In addition to Nazare [AR glasses], a separate, previously unreported pair of cheaper smart glasses codenamed Hypernova are also planned for 2024. Nazare is designed to operate independently of a smartphone, but Hypernova will pair with a nearby phone to show incoming messages and other notifications through a smaller, heads-up display, similar to the North smart glasses Google acquired two years ago.
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Perhaps the most futuristic aspect of the first versions of both Nazare and Hypernova is a wrist device Meta plans to bundle with the glasses for controlling them, hypothetically, with the wearer’s mind — something that will likely be the company’s next big privacy hurdle.
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Everyone I’ve talked to who has tried a prototype of the band Meta is working on says it’s one of the most impressive tech demos they’ve ever experienced. If it works at scale, the company thinks it could have the next mouse and keyboard. A focus has been getting the EMG to work through the display and other tech built onto the wristband. “If CTRL-Labs works, none of this other stuff needs to matter,” according to one former senior Meta employee.
In the nearer term, Meta is planning to debut its first-ever smartwatch as soon as this year. While the first and second versions won’t have CTRL-Labs tech built in, the plan is for the third generation to include it and tie up with the debut of Nazare and Hypernova in 2024.
Source: The Verge
We talked about CTRL-Labs back in Tidbits #37. The capabilities are very impressive. But Facebook has a lot of catching up to do before 2024. Apple is already far ahead on chips and already has hundreds of millions of users wearing a watch.
#23 Tiktok Launches Its Own AR Development Platform, Effect House
Last August, TechCrunch noted TikTok was working to build its own augmented reality (AR) development platform called Effect House, which would allow creators to build AR effects for use in TikTok’s video app. Today, Effect House has officially gone live. The platform has been operating in a close beta since last fall, where it’s so far been adopted by more than 450 creators who have gone on to publish their effects on TikTok, where they’ve been used in 1.5 billion videos gaining over 600 billion views globally, says TikTok.
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The launch will put TikTok in closer competition with both Snap and Meta, both of which already offer a range of tools that allow developers to build out AR experiences and effects for their own respective families of applications. Meanwhile, TikTok’s vast library of effects is a key part of what powers its video service today, and helps inspire creators to make videos. By allowing creators to build their own effects, TikTok will be able to prompt even more video creation.
Source: Techcrunch
#24 Chinese Gaming Stocks Jump As Regulator Approves New Titles After Months-Long Freeze
Chinese regulators have approved the first batch of video games for monetization since last July, ending a freeze that has hurt some of China’s largest technology firms.
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In China, companies need approval from regulators to monetize games. China’s National Press and Publication Administration gave the approval to 45 games on Monday. Titles from NetEase and gaming giant Tencent were not on the list, however.
Source: CNBC
Chinese tech stocks have been severely impacted for the last 18 months due to unpredictable regulations…Early signs that the regulatory storm is nearly over?
💰 Fintech
#25 Wework Reportedly Working On Apple Wallet Support For Company Access Cards
WeWork is reportedly working on Apple Wallet support for its company Access Cards. This feature was discovered by MacRumors through image assets and hidden code within the WeWork app’s code.
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The Office Keys feature allows users to securely access buildings with just a tap of their iPhone or Apple Watch. It doesn’t only work with office keys, it can also be used at some hotels and cars.
The World Trade Center is currently one of the first to replace its office keys with iPhones and Apple Watches. Employees who use this feature can simply add their corporate access badge to their wallet. They can then use their devices to access locations anywhere their corporate badge is accepted.
Source: 9to5Mac
One of the dominant tech strategies over the past decade is to expand into adjacencies. The ecosystem that encompasses the broadest use cases with the highest frequency wins. While Apple Wallet is behind many more popular digital wallets, Apple is expanding its use cases into areas that others are finding hard to follow (like into identity / access keys). Apple Wallet is not cross-platform…so there will always be a limit to its ultimate reach, but Apple increasingly looks to dominate digital wallets within its own ecosystem.
🛍 Commerce
#26 ByteDance’s TikTok Shop Enters Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia
Chinese media outlet ebrun reported on Friday that sources close to TikTok revealed that the company’s e-commerce unit is about to make a big push into Southeast Asia. At present, TikTok Shop has entered into Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
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A senior e-commerce insider pointed out: “In the past few years, the focus of competition in the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia has been on Shopee and Lazada. Nowadays, the entry of ByteDance may bring about tremendous changes.” Lazada focuses on highlighting brands, while Shopee started its business from the small-town and rural markets, which is suitable for small and medium-sized sellers. The advantage of TikTok lies in traffic as the platform has 240 million monthly active users in Southeast Asia.
Source: Pandaily
🍪 Semiconductors + Chips
#27 Inside Intel’s Strategy to Compete With Nvidia in the AI-Chip Market
Over the past year, under new chief executive Pat Gelsinger, Intel has added staff and introduced new AI software for its expanding lineup of chips to improve AI-driven chatbots, facial recognition and movie recommendations, among other applications.
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Intel’s strategy is to build a stable of chips and open-source software that covers a broad range of computing needs as AI becomes more prevalent. For instance, it could sell customers a package that would allow them to hand off some tasks to specialist chips that excel at things like image recognition, while handling other work on general-purpose chips.
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Ms. Prasad, who directly oversees the AI strategy, is leading a shift in focus she says is centered on using AI to reach customers’ business goals, rather than offering a menu of chips and letting customers figure out the rest.
Source: WSJ
The road ahead is long, but it’s going to be do or die.
🚀 Enterprise Software
#28 U.S. Private Equity Giant Thoma Bravo Is Acquiring Sailpoint For $6.9 Billion
U.S. private equity giant Thoma Bravo is acquiring SailPoint in an all-cash deal worth about $6.9 billion, the cybersecurity company announced Monday.
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SailPoint, founded in 2005, provides software for identity and access management to help organizations mitigate security risks. The company went public in 2017.
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It’s the latest in a string of acquisitions for Thoma Bravo. It follows its $10.7 billion purchase of Anaplan, an enterprise software firm. Last year, the company acquired cybersecurity company Proofpoint for about $12.3 billion. The company has 24 security-focused firms in its portfolio, including SailPoint, according to the company’s website.
Source: CNBC
Deals in software continue to heat up. This makes sense since valuations have reset significantly since late last year. They also expressed an interest in Twitter after Elon put Twitter in play.