1 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: From the heart of where innovation, money and power collive 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,879 Speaker 1: in Silicon Valley and beyond. This is Bloomberg Technology with 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Emily Jay. I'm Emily changing San Francisco, and this is 4 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Technology. Coming up in the next hour. Vacations are back, 5 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: at least at the happiest place on Earth. Disney Parks 6 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: have a blowout quarter and streaming subscribers beat with revenue 7 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: up from a year ago. And a new ad supported 8 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: tier is coming to Disney. Plus more on earnings in 9 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: a moment. Plus Musque sells more Tesla shares unloading nearly 10 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: thirty two billion dollars in Tesla stocks since November, and 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: he's pointing the finger at Twitter. I'll speak with one 12 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: of his longtime friends, David Sacks, who has been subpoenaed 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: by Twitter ahead of the trial. And a key metric 14 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: for Roadblocks and shares tumbling, overall bookings unexpectedly dropping in 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: the second quarter. What does that tell us about the 16 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: making of the metaverse. Later this hour, Roadblocks CEO Dave 17 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: Bazuki joins me one on one. All of that in 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: a moment, but first I want to dig into Disney's 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: results a little bit more. Now, bringing Ross Garber, CEO 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: of Garber Kawasaki, longtime Disney's shareholder, of course, So a 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: mixed bag adding fourteen and a half million new subscribers 22 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: to Disney Plus. The bulk of those came from India, 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: others from other countries, and just a hundred thousand new 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: subscribers from the US and Canada. What's your take, Well, 25 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: I don't look at this mixed bag at all. I 26 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: look at this blowout results. I mean you're looking at 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: Netflix struggling to add subscribers and the tremendous you know, 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: competition and the streaming business and Disney still growing tremendously, 29 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: not only Disney Plus, but Hulu as well and ESPN Plus. 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: So when you look at their streaming business, although it's 31 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: losing still lot of money, the future looks very bright 32 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: for that. And Disney was a great company before streaming. 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: And what's really exciting about the earnings report is the 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: parks are back with over two billion dollars of profits, 35 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: five million of it just from consumer products at the park. So, 36 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: you know, the operating results of this company have improved dramatically, right, 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: sort of a broad based recovery that we're seeing. We've 38 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: been listening into Bob J. Peck, the CEO on the 39 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: earnings call. Let's take a quick listen to some of 40 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: what he's had to say. And significant subscriber growth at 41 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: our streaming services, which added fifteen point five million subscriptions 42 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: in the quarter, including fourteen point four million Disney Plus subscribers, 43 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: of which six million were Core Disney Plus and eight 44 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: million were Hot Stars. As of the close of Q three, 45 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: we now have two hundred and twenty one million total 46 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: subscriptions across our streaming offering. Hot Star. By the way, 47 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: is that service that's offered mostly in India. What do 48 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,399 Speaker 1: you make of you know, the addition of this ad 49 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: supported tier. It's something that we were expecting. Netflix is 50 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: doing it as well. Does you know Disney potentially have 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: something on Netflix here when it comes to an ad 52 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: supported model. Um no. I think actually it will be 53 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: more benefits for Netflix the ad supported model because for 54 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: many reasons, but I think for Disney because they have 55 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: you know, networks and cable channels and stuff. So you're 56 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: sort of competing against yourself a little bit from the ads, 57 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: or you're spreading your ads on another property. It's a 58 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: little bit more complex for them, But it just allows 59 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: more consumers to watch the content they're making, which is 60 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: a net positive because they sell through so many other 61 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: things to the fans, whether it's going to the park 62 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: or products and such. So for Disney, the most important thing. 63 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: You know, I don't love Bob Chpeck, but he's proving 64 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: he's a great operator during difficult times. He's not an 65 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: exciting guy, but he's got the theme park, the profit 66 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: drivers of the business back, and the losses that they're 67 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: driving from Disney Plus will ultimately turned to gains over time. 68 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: So I think they're managing the business pretty well. And 69 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: and you know, there's no recession at Disneyland. I can 70 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: tell you that. So what are you looking for in 71 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: the coming quarter? Obviously, when it comes to streaming, it 72 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: all comes down to content. Of course, Disney has a 73 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: huge library, but you know, there's been some concern about 74 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: how much of the content will continue to appeal to adults, 75 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: something that Netflix, uh maybe doing a little bit better. 76 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: You know, how do you think about those two players 77 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: in a rapidly evolving streaming environment. So so I'm still 78 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: having trouble calling myself an adult, even though I'm one 79 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: and a half um and as an adult, I watched 80 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: Disney Plus the minute you know, Obi Wan was a 81 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: great show. I mean the minute they dropped anything Star Wars, 82 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: I watch it. I you know what am I supposed 83 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: to do? So I don't think they have a lot 84 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: of trouble. And they've got Hulu for for really adult content, 85 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: but they just recently dropped some R rated movies onto 86 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 1: Disney Plus like Deadpool, which are a great content. But 87 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: you know, it's really a high quality set of assets 88 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: on Disney Plus, and Hulu is much more like television, 89 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: So they really are appealing to lots of different demos 90 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: and I don't think they lose the older demo at all. 91 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: And parents like me absolutely trust Disney content with my kids. 92 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: And you know, just recently I took YouTube away from 93 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: them because YouTube shorts has become the garbage hole of 94 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: hell and I don't want my kids watching garbage whole content, 95 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: and if I put it on Disney Plus, there's nothing 96 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: they can watch that's bad. So I think parents really 97 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: trust the brand and and and that's starting to really 98 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: pay off for them. That's quite a way to describe 99 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: YouTube kids as a mom. Can you can you expand 100 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: on that I'm not YouTube kids, YouTube shorts. You know, 101 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: they can expand on that. Yeah. See what's happened is 102 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: all that the creators on TikTok are now posting on 103 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: on YouTube shorts and YouTube shorts is basically TikTok. And 104 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: what they're getting now is lower quality content that now 105 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: switches between so many different topics where you know, I 106 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: monitor my kids YouTube because they watch gamers and and 107 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: they'll watch Unspeakable and that's fine, but then it will 108 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: flip them to a video of you know, like a 109 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: Russian flame ly, you know, exploiting their children, throwing them 110 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: in the pool or something. I'm like, what do you 111 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: what are you doing? You know, so with shorts, I 112 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: can't monitor it, and in two minutes it's it's a 113 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: garbage horoll of content. It's just garbage, Ross Gerber, we 114 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: never disappoint provocative as always. Thank you so much, Ross 115 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: for sharing your thoughts with us. CEO Gerber Kawasaki now 116 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: to a bloomberg scoop. Apple is stepping up and spending 117 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: on original podcast The Tech Giant, signing an agreement with 118 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: a Pulitzer Prize winning studio and holding talks with other 119 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: companies about more deals. According to Bloomberg sources, that deal 120 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: with Futuro Studios will fund development and production of podcasts, 121 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: and in exchange, Apple will have the first chance to 122 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: turn any podcast into a film or television show. Shortly 123 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: after cheasing the possibility of share buy backs, Elon Musk 124 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: has sold nearly seven billion dollars in Tesla, stuck Tesla 125 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: and Twitter shareholders, appearing to welcome the news. It is 126 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: Musk's biggest sale ever, and he says it's to avoid 127 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: a last minute sell off if he's forced to go 128 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: ahead with the deal to buy Twitter. Musk says he'll 129 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: buy Tesla shares again if the deal doesn't close. Meantime, 130 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: a number of people in Musk's inner circle have been 131 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: roped into this legal fight, among them Oracles, Larry Ellison, 132 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: venture capitalist Mark Andreson, as well as my next guest, 133 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,559 Speaker 1: longtime tech investor and entrepreneur David Sacks of Craft Ventures. David, 134 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: good to have you back with us. So you got subpoena. 135 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: I know you said you were getting a lawyer to 136 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: try to make this go away. What's the latest on that? 137 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: Any update? Uh? No, no update there yet, but I 138 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: do have this very very large, very fraud subpoena. It's 139 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: probably the thickest subpoena I've ever gotten. And I'm I 140 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: know you're not supposed to talk about these things in 141 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: these situations, but I have to kind of wonder if 142 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: that's the point. Is I've been a vocal critic of 143 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: Twitter's management. Maybe they don't want me talking about these issues. 144 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: But look, I can just sort of save them a 145 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: lot of time and hopefully some some legal fees. Uh, 146 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: you know, I don't. I've never been in possession of 147 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: non public information related to their contract dispute with Ellen. 148 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: I've commented based on all the public information that's been 149 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: out there, and and I'm usually when I tweet, I'm 150 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: usually linking directly to that information that I'm commenting on. 151 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: So this is sort of a overly broad phishing expedition 152 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: and I look forward to hopefully being done with it soon. 153 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: So look, we all know you go way back with Ellen. 154 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: You work together at PayPal um, and you know you 155 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: have expressed support um for him, at least in the 156 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: last several months. When it comes to this Twitter deal. 157 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: Looking at some of your tweets, the big question is, 158 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: did you have any non public information. You talk about bots, 159 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: you talk about you, you suggest that Jack Dorsey masterminded 160 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: this whole thing. Is this all really just your opinion 161 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: or do you know something the public doesn't. No, I don't. 162 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: Um these look I'm a commentator. UM. You know I 163 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: do a paw that's I've been doing a pod for 164 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: a couple of years. I've been writing blog posts for years. Um, 165 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: I've been tweeting for years. I express my opinion on 166 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: these topics. This is all based on the public information, 167 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: which again in the screenshot that you're showing, I'm linking 168 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: to the public information that I'm reacting to. That was 169 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: a screenshot from a court filing that Elon's lawyers filed, 170 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:45,839 Speaker 1: and those are the facts that I'm siting. So I'm 171 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: just a public commentator on this issue. Um. And you 172 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: know Twitter and Ellen they have a fully integrated merger 173 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: agreement that was negotiated by some of the best lawyers 174 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: in the world. I don't know what the relevance is 175 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: of my public commentary on a on a contract dispute 176 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: between them. It just doesn't make any sense. But lots 177 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: of people were kind of roped into this. You saw 178 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: that Joe Lonsdale tweeted that somehow he was roped into it, 179 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: despite his only connection being a few snarky comments. So, 180 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: I think this is just a very overbroad fishing expedition 181 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: type subpoena. But when you, you know, multiplied by the 182 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: number of people that they're uh that they're basically subpoena 183 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: ng it, it kind of amounts to harassment. So I 184 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: hope that the court will will limit will limit the suit. 185 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: You mentioned your podcast, You and You're All In pod 186 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: crew actually interviewed Musk a few months ago. I believe 187 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: at your summit. Have you had communications with him over 188 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: the last several months, private communications, and if so, you know, 189 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: do any of them pertain to the deal and could 190 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: it be at all relevant? Well, you're referring to an 191 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: interview we did in public at the All In summit, 192 00:10:57,559 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: and it's on YouTube as you want to go see it. 193 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: I mean the news that that interview did make some news, 194 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: but you can just go watch it to see. Um. 195 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: You know, the question is do I have relevant information 196 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: that pertains to this um contractual lawsuit? I don't think 197 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: I do. UM, there's just nothing that that I know 198 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: about this that wasn't already in the public sphere. What 199 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: I've really offered our opinions, my own opinions, and they're 200 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 1: not at anybody's behest or instigation or anything like that. Well, 201 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: and I don't don't know. I don't know why that. 202 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: I don't I don't know why that would be hard 203 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: for anyone to understand, because, as you all know, Emily, 204 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: I'm a person who hasn't been shy about expressing his 205 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: opinions over the years. Absolutely, and right here on the show. Look, 206 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: one concerned that you know, Twitter, Twitter might have is 207 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: that Ellen has been texting all of his friends and 208 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: asking them to tweet about bots. Um. You know what, 209 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: what's your response to that, even though these people might 210 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: not necessarily know or have any expert data or you know, 211 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: spec show information about Twitter spot issues. No, I mean, 212 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,439 Speaker 1: like I said, none of this is at Elon's instigation 213 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: or behest Um. It seems to me that Twitter does 214 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: have a body issue based on my own users of 215 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: the site. I mean, I remember, in particular, when I 216 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: was tweeting about, for example, the Ukraine War, all of 217 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: a sudden, these brand new accounts that had just been 218 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: created with zero followers, they were you know, started in 219 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: whatever March of this year. There all of a sudden, 220 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: we're tweeting things back at me, and it felt like 221 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: all of a sudden they were trying to drown me out. 222 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: There's many examples like that. So you know, the information 223 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: I'm relying on is what's come out publicly, and what 224 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: got revealed is that the way that Twitter determines whether 225 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: it has a body issue is that they're sampling a 226 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: hundred accounts today. I mean, in my view, that does 227 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,719 Speaker 1: not sound sufficient. Now look, I'm not a statistician. This 228 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: is just my opinion. You know, I'm sure they'll call 229 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: sorts of expert witnesses, but in my in my view, 230 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: having operated companies before, if you have a serious issue 231 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: that could affect your company an excellential level, you do 232 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: more than just sort of statistically sample a hundred accounts 233 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: a day. That feels like a perfunctory exercise. So that's 234 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: basically when I tweeted, and you know, I linked to 235 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: the public information about this, and that's really all there 236 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: is to it. Elon Musk at a Tesla event last week, 237 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: had this to say about Twitter. Take a listen. I 238 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: do understand the product quite well, so I think I've 239 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: got a good sense of of where where to point 240 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: the engineering team Twitter to make it radically better. So 241 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: this is as he's still trying to get out of 242 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: the deal. What do you make of those remarks, Um, David. 243 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,079 Speaker 1: If he is, like, say, the court forces him to 244 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: buy Twitter, what do you think he does with it? 245 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: Does he turn around and resell it or does he 246 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: stick with it and try to quote unquote fix it. Well, 247 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: I've always hoped that Ellen would buy Twitter. I mean, 248 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: let's be clear, I'm so I've supported the deal and 249 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: the idea of this deal, and I wanted it to 250 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: go through because I think it would be a societal 251 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: good if Ellen restored Twitter to being a free speech platform. 252 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: That's been my main interest in this whole thing, is 253 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: that I'd like to see uh censorship restrained and free 254 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: speech restored on a major social network like Twitter. So 255 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: I've always hoped that this deal will go through. At 256 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: the same time, I've taken Ellen and his word when 257 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: he tweeted that there's this body issue, that that is 258 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: a serious issue, and you know, he has tried to 259 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: get to the bombom of it, and it seems like 260 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: Twitter hasn't been fully transparent about that, and so I 261 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: can understand that issue from his point of view. I 262 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: want to get your thoughts on another issue having to 263 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: do with social media. We've got this hashtag civil war 264 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: now trending on social media after the FBI searched Trump's 265 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: moral lago property. As you've you've talked about many times 266 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: on this show and in your writing, you are a 267 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: free speech advocate, a free speech advocate on social media. 268 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: But in this particular case, how do you think these 269 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: platforms Twitter, read It, et cetera should handle something like this. Well, 270 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: first of all, I would just if anyone is calling 271 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: for violence, I would condemn that, and in fact, you 272 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: could take down any post that is trying to incite 273 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: violence or a crime. The content like that is not 274 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: protected under the First Amendment. So even as a probe, 275 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: you think the hashtag in itself, like anything with that 276 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: hashtag should be taken No that that that The last 277 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: what I was about to go with this is is 278 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: saying is to say, look, first of all, you can 279 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: take down, um, you know, content that would seek to 280 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: incite violence and be consistent with the First Amendment. However, 281 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: I don't think that's what this hashtag is necessarily doing. 282 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: What I see is that people on the right are 283 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: criticizing this raid on our lago, on President Trump's private home, 284 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: in which thirty FBI agents who are dressed up as soldiers, 285 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: wearing body armor and carrying, you know, a R fifteen 286 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: weapons of war with their fingers just outside the trigger guard. 287 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: I mean, it looked like a raid of something like, um, 288 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: you know, Pablo Escobar's home. They're wondering whether this is 289 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: the whether this is the beginning of a civil war, 290 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: whether civil war is being declared on them, And I 291 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: think that's a legitimate question to ask, and you've got 292 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: to see it in the context of not just this event, 293 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: but things have been happening for the last nineteen months. 294 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you've had draconian COVID policies that have given 295 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: unelected bureaucrats ticutorial powers. Even here in California, Gavin Newsom 296 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: as still ruling in their state of emergency. You've got 297 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: the Department of Homeland Security, which is a law enforcement agency. 298 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: They redefined misinformation as terrorism, and then they hired a 299 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: Democratic Party operative to run a new agency, a sort 300 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: of Ministry of truth, devoted to defining what that misinformation 301 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: would be. And now you got this raid on President 302 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: Trump's home, which is utterly unprecedented. And you know, I 303 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,439 Speaker 1: think I don't know what ultimately this was about, but 304 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: I do think that these agencies deserve the public deserves 305 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,159 Speaker 1: an explanation from these agencies in terms of what they 306 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: were after and what they were doing. All right, well, uh, 307 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: once again you expressing your opinions. I should just underscore, um. 308 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: But David always appreciate hearing your thoughts here on the show, UM, 309 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: and will continue to follow h this Twitter story and more. 310 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 1: Craft Ncher's general partner, David Zaxs appreciate it. Coming up 311 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: much more of Bloomberg Technology. Stay with us. This is Bloomberg. 312 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: Another story we're watching. Samsung just unveiled the latest generation 313 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: of foldable phones. The new Galaxy Z Fold four and 314 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: Flip four, come with a suite of incremental upgrades. Upgraded cameras, 315 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: a more adorable display, a slimmer hinge. Samsung kept prices 316 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,719 Speaker 1: the same despite surging costs of materials and shipping. Prices 317 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: are going to go up though for Samsung's accessory Climer. Well. 318 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: Come back to Bloomer Technology. Emily changing in San Francisco. 319 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: I want to get back to earnings and shows of 320 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: Sons after hours, I'd let they're back with us, and yeah, 321 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: not good news. Sons down almost twenty percent, that's right, 322 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: and twenty percent in after hours. They cut their full 323 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: year of sales outlook to one point seven three to 324 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: one point seven six billion. They previously forecast one point 325 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: nine five billion to two billion dollars. And they're listing 326 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: every single thing we've already heard in this earning season 327 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: in terms of what's going wrong here. A stronger dollar 328 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: is hurting consumers in all kinds of markets around the world. 329 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: Inflation is putting off consumer spending. But they're also citing 330 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,640 Speaker 1: some elements of shifting consumer behaviors, CEO Patrick Spence saying 331 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: that they're seeing consumers spend less on goods, more on 332 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,199 Speaker 1: services and travel. They're also hurt by supply chain and 333 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,920 Speaker 1: a backlog. They basically had miss sales opportunities in the 334 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: quarter because the supply chain for their hardware has still 335 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: not fixed itself. So real severe reaction here and after ours. 336 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: I mean, this was a stock that has suffered anyway 337 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: down year to date, but there was some hope that 338 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: you know, at least on the supply side, so Nose 339 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: could have improved things. They also recently, for example, launched 340 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 1: their own version of Alexa and a voice recognition to 341 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: compete in that market. But as we know, they're very 342 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: sensitive to what Amazon is doing as well. This is 343 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 1: not good news for Sons. Really severe reaction after ours, 344 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: one will look at on Thursday as well. All right, 345 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: thank you. Meantime, as the pandemic has ammed, that means 346 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: less time playing games and add to that rising prices 347 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: and also less money being spent in game purchases, dressing 348 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: up avatars and such. That's left some game publishers, console 349 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 1: and PC makers struggling to maintain the surge and growth 350 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: seen during the pandemic. Enter Roadblocks, which just reported bookings 351 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 1: that were disappointing to some, but the company is still 352 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: growing and expanding into the metaverse. I want to bring 353 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: in Roadblocks CEO and co founder David Buzuki now for 354 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: more on that. David, great to have you back with 355 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 1: us in an exclusive interview. Look, there's no question the 356 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: macro environment has been tough for a lot of companies, 357 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 1: tech companies and gaming companies in particular. How are you 358 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: seeing these macro economic forces impact Roadblocks in particular. Hey, Emily, 359 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: thank you for having us on the show, and we 360 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: reach out to everyone who's having a tough time in 361 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: these economic times. Roadblocks just had our biggest month in 362 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: history as far as engagement, as far as users in 363 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: the US and Canada, around the world, and in all 364 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: age demographics, and we are not pointed at all. We 365 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: had an amazing July and a wonderful Q two. I 366 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: think what it highlights is that Roadblocks is not a game, 367 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: or maybe even not a game platform. It's a immersive 368 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: human experience platform where people come together to play, but 369 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: they come together to learn, they come together to go 370 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,360 Speaker 1: to concerts, and ultimately the type of technology we're working 371 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: on is almost more of a utility that people use 372 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: in their daily lives. Your fastest demographic in the US 373 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: and Canada at least is actually, you know, seventeen to 374 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,239 Speaker 1: twenty four years old, outpacing the younger kids. You know, 375 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,640 Speaker 1: my my son, as I've talked with you about, who's 376 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: in that younger cohort and loves playing Roadbox. What do 377 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: you think is driving that. We've always had the vision 378 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,200 Speaker 1: that Roadblocks is a civil platform for people of all ages. 379 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: It brings them together, allows them to connect authentically, to 380 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: do things together, whether it's playing, whether it dissecting a 381 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: frog in school, whether it's graduating from high school. And 382 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: I think what we're seeing is as the players on 383 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: Roadblocks get older, they're inviting friends. This is this growth 384 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: in seventeen through twenty four is driven by three three things. Really. 385 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,959 Speaker 1: One is amazing content. Almost half of the content on 386 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: Roadblocks is now played more by over thirteen players than 387 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: under third team players. Is driven by the core virility 388 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: of our platform as driven by constant technical innovation, new 389 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: amazing things around avatars, around immersive UM, layered clothing that 390 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: allows people to be more closely identified with who they 391 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: want to be, uh, spatial audio that we rolled out, 392 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,919 Speaker 1: higher fidelity materials. So it's is really a bunch of 393 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: things driving this growth. How is engagement and monetization different 394 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:59,360 Speaker 1: for a slightly older age cohort? Yeah, what is UM. 395 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: What's interesting is we've been monetizing very well across all ages. 396 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 1: One can imagine as we start looking at older demographics, 397 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: they do generally tend to spend more money online. And 398 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: some of the products we are working on right now 399 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: that we've hinted on including a visionary ad server product 400 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 1: that's immersive and native and actually feels fun rather than 401 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: getting in the way of our players. Those types of 402 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: things typically tend to monetize better with older players. So 403 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: there's really a huge future for our platform, not just 404 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: around the world, but as we get more and more 405 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: older players on the platform. Now you keet in on 406 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: the disappointment among some analysts and investors earlier, and you 407 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 1: have always talked about a grand vision, these seven big 408 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,919 Speaker 1: inventions that are going to take years and years potentially 409 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: to play out. How do you convince investors who might 410 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: have a shorter term time horizon to stick around. Yeah, Um, 411 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,400 Speaker 1: what's really interesting think of the engagement. July the biggest 412 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: month we've ever had, four point seven billion hours of 413 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: engagement on our platform. Fifty eight point five million daily 414 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: active users are thirteen and up. Cohort is growing at 415 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:26,360 Speaker 1: over thirty six percent year on year, and traditionally as 416 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: we grow engagement, we grow monetization. There's enormous space uh 417 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: in countries like India and Japan in the cohort for 418 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: older players for us to continue growing along to our 419 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: vision really of connecting a billion people with optimism and stability. 420 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: You've expressed frustration at times about being measured against these 421 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,480 Speaker 1: analysts estimates, And I'm curious given that you've waited so long. 422 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: I mean, Roadblocks was founded in the early two thousands, 423 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: you waited a long time to become a public company. 424 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: Do you have any regrets about going public or has 425 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: going public benefited Roadblocks? Yeah? Well, to be clear, I 426 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: don't think I've ever expressed any frustration at any analysts. 427 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: I think they're all trying to do our job. We 428 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: do keep optimistically talking about the size of the potential 429 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,360 Speaker 1: market here. We keep talking about the amazing people were 430 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: bringing on board. I just want to highlight our business 431 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: model is robust enough that we're continuing to hire amazing 432 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 1: people through the midst of what is for many people 433 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: a difficult time. And we have absolutely no regrets about 434 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: going public. We run our business exactly the same now 435 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: as we used to before we were public. Given the 436 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,439 Speaker 1: macro environment, how are you thinking about spending you know, 437 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 1: you know, I spoke to Apple CEO Tim Cookie used 438 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: the word deliberate. They're being very deliberate about spending, deliberate 439 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: about hiring. We're seeing layoffs and cutbacks at other companies. 440 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: Are you stepping on the gas or or or pulling 441 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: on the brakes? We are being consistent. We're hiring at 442 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: the same rate in the second half of the year 443 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: as we were in the first half. We're very We've 444 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: always been very deliberate about our spending because everything we 445 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: spend is money that does not go back to our 446 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: developer community. We have amazing people who innovate at a 447 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: very rapid pace. We have a very efficient infrastructure, we 448 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 1: have a very wonderful trust and safety team. But as 449 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: much as possible, we're trying to be efficient so our 450 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: developers UM can take a bigger piece of that pie 451 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,640 Speaker 1: and keep making amazing creations. You're planning to roll out 452 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: an immersive advertising system later this year. Can you give 453 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: us any more color on that. Yeah, this has been 454 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: a vision for a long time, the notion that when 455 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: we're together in a three D experience, we start to 456 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: see some of the interesting things like billboards or a 457 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: pop up store in the town square that UM we're 458 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 1: actually quite optimistic, based on the brands we work with, 459 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: that these will not feel like something that gets in 460 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: your way, but they will feel like something that's additive 461 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 1: to the Roadblocks experience. And the brands that that we 462 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,199 Speaker 1: work closely with tend to be fun interesting brands like 463 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: Gucci Town which dis released I think in March and 464 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,639 Speaker 1: had over thirty million visits, or Tommy Played from Tommy 465 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: Hill Finger, Wimbledon, Wimble World, Spotify Island. These are brands 466 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: is that we think actually enhanced the experience, and we'll 467 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:28,440 Speaker 1: integrate in with this submersive advertising system. Alright, Roadblocks CEO 468 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: and co founder David Puzuki. David, great to have you 469 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: back with us. Thanks, thank you. A bit busy earnings, 470 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: we can appreciate it. Okay, coming up crypto rallies on 471 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: the new CPI report, But is it to last? And 472 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: who are the leaders of the rally? We'll warn that 473 00:27:42,480 --> 00:28:04,160 Speaker 1: next Mrs Bloomer, It's time now for our crypto report 474 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: and cryptocurrency surge. After a softer than inflected expected inflation number, 475 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: with the CPI increasing eight and a half percent in 476 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: July from a year earlier, cooling from that nine point 477 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 1: one percent back in June which was the largest in 478 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: four decades, bloombergs Katie Greifeld here for more, Katie, any 479 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: crypto winners in this rally. Basically the whole space was 480 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: winning today. If you look across your crypt go screen 481 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: on the terminal, it all comes back to Bitcoin, of course, 482 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: the largest cryptocurrency out there, having a fantastic day, up 483 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: over three percent on Wednesday. Of course, that ties back 484 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: to the reaction we saw on the stock market. You 485 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: have the NASTAC one hundred up two point nine percent. 486 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: You can almost bet that Bitcoin is going to be 487 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: up as well, just given that very tight correlation, and 488 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 1: that all ties back to sort of wagers that the 489 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: Fed is going to have to be less aggressive than 490 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: maybe feared, and you saw that reflected in the bond 491 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: market as well. But Bitcoin, you're big one. You also 492 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: had Ethereum rallying very strongly, up almost nine percent again 493 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: on Wednesday alone. As you can see in that chart, 494 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: it has had quite the run over the past month 495 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 1: and a half or so. But there is some fundamentals 496 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: news there. Of course, as we await the merge, all 497 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: this coming up. As you say, ahead of the merge, 498 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: you know, how are investors bracing for this and is 499 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: it really gonna happen. It's a great question, a little 500 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: bit impossible to answer, so it's known as the merge. 501 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: It's a software update. Basically, we've been waiting for it 502 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: for a while. Theoretically it's going to happen in the 503 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: back half of this year. But what's important tonight actually 504 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: you're going to see the so called Girly tests, it's 505 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: a German word. It's scheduled to take place. It's basically 506 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: a test merge with the test network, and you have 507 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: analyst saying this is the final dress rehearsal before we 508 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: get to the actual merge. So that's what you're seeing 509 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: reflected in the price, just basically optimism that this test 510 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: will go well and maybe we'll get the actual merge 511 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: to follow soon. All. Katie Greifeld, thank you for that update. 512 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: I want to talk about Facebook now and how the 513 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: app was used recently in an abortion case. A woman 514 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: charged with two felonies related to an illegal abortion after 515 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: authorities discovered information about the pregnancy through private messages on 516 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: Facebook Messenger. This according to court documents, Jessica Burgess had 517 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: helped her seventeen year old daughter obtain abortion pills when 518 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: she was more than twenty weeks pregnant. Pregnant making a 519 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: termination of the pregnancy illegal in the state. Her daughter 520 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: also facing related charges. I want to bring in Bloomberg, 521 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: Sara Fryer now for more on this. So set the 522 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: stage a little bit here. What happened, Well, what happened 523 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: in the case, or what happened in in how do 524 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: they obtain these messages? Well, so this is not the 525 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: perfect case to look at when we're talking about whether 526 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: tech companies will give over dated to authorities. In the 527 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: post Row world, that has been a big concern. But 528 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: this case, actually the warrant for this information went out 529 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: to Facebook before the Row case, before Row was overturned, 530 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: and initially it didn't even ask or anything related to abortion. 531 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: It asked for these messages related to the improper treatment 532 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: of of skeletal remains. So that was really what was 533 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: what was at stake here. So Facebook, Facebook cooperated with that, 534 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: and then through that search they found these messages about 535 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: the abortion pill and then added those charges. Um so 536 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: so Facebook came up with the statement saying, listen, you know, 537 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: we didn't know this was about abortion. That statements seemed 538 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: to imply that, you know, they would have been hands 539 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: off if it was. I'm not sure that's the case. 540 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: So let's take a look at this statement. Um, this 541 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: is from Meta. The warrants concerned charges related to a 542 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: criminal investigation, and court documents indicate that police at the 543 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: time we're investigating the case of a stillboard baby who 544 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,720 Speaker 1: was burned and buried, not a decision to have an abortion. 545 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: Both of these warrants were originally accompanied by nondisclosure orders 546 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: which prevented us from sharing any information about them. The 547 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: orders have now been lifted. So, as you say, this 548 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: statement begs the question if they believe this did had 549 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: to have to do with an abortion, that Facebook would 550 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: have done something differently, would they have Well, that's where 551 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: I think they need to bring out some clarification, because 552 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: that is what if you read between the lines of 553 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: the statement, that's what it's implying. But I don't think 554 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: that that's what's going to happen. I mean, tech companies 555 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: do tend to comply with the law and states where 556 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 1: it is the law. Otherwise they can't operate their their 557 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: business comes under risk. And so I think we're going 558 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: to see many, many cases where it's not even clear 559 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 1: in the warrant that they're searching for abortion related data, 560 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: and it's going to be up to companies like Facebook, 561 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: and Facebook has come out and said this in the past, Um, 562 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: it's going to be up to them to make sure 563 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 1: that those requests are not overly broad, that they have 564 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: some sort of legal parameters that they're following, that it's 565 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: not just uh, you know, wild goose chase through Facebook 566 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: messages to try to find something to convictivity, and then 567 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: that they let users know when their data has been requested. 568 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: And so that's been the line from the company. They're 569 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 1: not coming out and saying either way whether they would 570 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: cooperate with authorities on abortion cases. Of my guess is 571 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: is a lot of the companies will end up having 572 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: to do that. So this um brings back the case 573 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: of the San Bernardino shooter back in December, Apple refused 574 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: to turn over the shooter's iPhone. This is twelve people. Um, 575 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 1: how do you compare this to that standoff? Well, I 576 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: think we haven't seen a lot of tech companies standing 577 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: up to law enforcement in the in the time since 578 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: they just put those parameters around like we don't want 579 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: to we don't want to use ors to you know, 580 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: we don't want to just have a back door to 581 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: all of the messages that they ever send, and the 582 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: tech companies have worked on things Apple included on encryption, 583 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: on making sure that there's a private way for people 584 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,839 Speaker 1: to send messages. So I think while this gets cleared up, 585 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,360 Speaker 1: the best advice for anyone using any tech product is 586 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: to use an encrypted messaging service if you're going to 587 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,239 Speaker 1: whether it's whether it's Signal or WhatsApp or so, right, 588 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: what's that better? That's it's better a messenger for the 589 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 1: most part. But Vestor does now have an option to 590 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: send encrypted messages. And the point from the companies that 591 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,359 Speaker 1: would be like, we can't give this message to law 592 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: enforcement because it doesn't exist on our servers. All right, 593 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 1: So a couple of things this this happened with Facebook before, 594 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: where was overturned um uh And a number of big 595 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:54,320 Speaker 1: tech companies, of course have a lot of information. You 596 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: think about your Gmail than everything. What are these companies 597 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:05,320 Speaker 1: do if law enforcement comes at them and ask for emails, texts, 598 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: the company's messages, search history, um buying history. The companies 599 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: have been mum on it because there hasn't been a 600 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: perfect case to rally around. And I think what's happening 601 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: with this case is people are looking at and saying 602 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 1: like oh abortion messages from Facebook, like Facebook's you know, 603 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: giving giving it up to law enforcement, endangering a woman 604 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,080 Speaker 1: who needs an abortion. But then when you look at 605 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: the details, it gets murkier because it's after twenty weeks 606 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: in the state where it's legal. There um, there was, 607 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,359 Speaker 1: there was, you know, burial of the body. I don't 608 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: know if I want to go into the details are 609 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,520 Speaker 1: a little too dark to even go into on air. Um. 610 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: But but I think that the the case is not 611 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,280 Speaker 1: the one that privacy advocates probably want to rally around. 612 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: It's it's not um, it is just it is just 613 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: an indicator of how murky each one of these things 614 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: is going to. There's never going to be a perfect, 615 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,560 Speaker 1: clean cut decision where you can say like this is 616 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: not an area where we're going to cooperate, or we 617 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 1: are definitely going to operate in every case. What's your 618 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,360 Speaker 1: sense of whether this Nebraska case could create a precedent 619 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: for what happens in these cases when these requests are 620 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,800 Speaker 1: made by law enforcement. Well, the problem is every state 621 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: is changing their laws in this moment. Right in the 622 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:29,280 Speaker 1: past few weeks, we've seen abortion get limited, restricted, um, 623 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,239 Speaker 1: criminalize people who help out with abortions in some in 624 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: some states, whether even it's just having knowledge that they exist, 625 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: it can be UM can lead people to legal liability. 626 00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:43,279 Speaker 1: So I think that it's opening up UM liability for 627 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,880 Speaker 1: users of these platforms beyond even just UM patients who 628 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:48,799 Speaker 1: might get abortions. So I do think that this is 629 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 1: a very big area that we need to continue to 630 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 1: look at because UM, if companies continues to just blanketly 631 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 1: comply with law, enforce wherever wherever, those UM users of 632 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: these platforms are going to get increasingly concerned about their 633 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:09,760 Speaker 1: privacy and UM their ability to conduct normal everyday business. Alright, 634 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: very complicated, nuanced issue. Sarah Fire, thank you for helping 635 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: us wade through all of that. I appreciate it. And 636 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,800 Speaker 1: that does it. For the edition of Bloomberg Technology coming 637 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: up Thursday, I'll be sitting down with the new CEO 638 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,839 Speaker 1: of pinter Us, Bill Ready, is joining us for an 639 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 1: exclusive conversation about his first month on the job. This 640 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 1: is Bloomberg