WEBVTT - The FTC Loses to Microsoft and Hollywood Actors Go on Strike 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:06.680 From Bahart where Innovation, money and power collie in Silicon Valley, Nbon. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:11.600 This is Bloomberg Technology with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlove. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:26.920 And Caroline Heind and Bloomberg's weldad quarters in New York. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.320 Ed Ludlow is in sun Valley, and this is Bloomberg 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.440 Technology coming up. The FTC losers its requests are temporarily 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.360 block Microsoft from closing at sixty nine billion dollar takeover 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:36.240 of Activision Blizzard. 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.560 But what about the UK? We'll bring in the details. 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:40.440 And Hollywood comes to a halt. 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.000 Actors join writers in their strike, bringing productions of films 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.680 to a standstill. Amid the first sultaneous walkout since nineteen sixty, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.479 Glass as General to AI takes the world by storm. 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:54.200 Governments are scrambling to regulate. We sit downward, DiDia rangers 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.360 European Commissioner for Justice discuss the steps that EU is 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.360 taking to rein in or just put god rails on 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.920 the technology. Now, everyone's a winner right now in the 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.400 stock market. And look when it comes to legality, none, 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.240 everyone's a winner again. The FTC losing its request for 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:12.040 a California judge to temporarily block Microsoft from actually closing 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.160 that sixteen nine billion dollar takeover of Activision Blizzard. That's, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.280 of course, while the agency appeals her initial ruling to 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:21.520 greenlight the deal. Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow joins us Now from 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.839 Sun Valley, you are helping break those scoops, not only 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.080 about what's happening in the UK, but just bring us 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.200 up to speed with the fact that look, this date, 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.479 her eighteenth is hurdling towards us. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:32.320 It is. 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:34.480 Yeah, there are lots of moving parts. I think the 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.160 big umbrella point is that sources tell Dina Basley and 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.720 Ilan and myself that there's a high degree of confidence 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:46.920 that this deal will close by or on Tuesday July eighteenth. 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.840 The development at the last hour is that the UK 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:54.840 Antitrust Appeals Court has called a hearing for Monday the seventeenth, 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:59.280 where they will hear Microsoft and Activisions appeal against the 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.120 original u KCMA decision. But remember that all they can 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.800 appeal is an issue of procedural impropriety. They can't challenge 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.639 the decision itself, just how they came to that conclusion. Now, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.840 what we reported last night is that what they're offering 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.000 to the CMA as an appeasement is to sell the 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.760 rights for cloud based gaming in the UK to a 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.680 third party, another media or telecoms company. One source suggested 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.200 private equity could be involved. And what we're hearing from 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.440 the merger ofs if that's it. If all they have 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:31.040 to do is go to the UKCMA and say, well, 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:33.440 we'll sell the rights for cloud in that country. It's 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.160 a small price to pay to get the deal done. 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:38.960 But to a large extent of course that yeah, they 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:44.880 don't want behavioral changes, they want actual sales or real impact. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.480 What about what's happening in the US, Because if they 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:49.520 do sell off those rights in the UK, well they 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.440 not have to replicate that elsewhere. And what will the 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.399 FDC continue to do in terms of its own appeals process. 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.040 It's just so strange how all of these different dates 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.680 and timelines running parallel. So what we're waiting on is 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:06.600 the ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.040 they put a stay on proceedings. Right, this is the 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.360 appeal the FDC made to the US District Court in 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:17.000 San Francisco. The decision made July tenth. But if that 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.240 stay doesn't come, the deadline in the US is midnight. 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:24.919 San Francisco time tonight or three am Eastern time Saturday morning. 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:27.399 So you could have a situation where the deal closes 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:31.399 technically here in the United States without any regulatory inhibition 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.640 or prohibition, and then still have the CMA process going 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:40.200 on in parallel beyond that. What I'm hearing here in 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.040 some valley is no one really gets what the FDC 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:43.560 is doing. And I think you've got a great guest 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:43.920 coming up. 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:44.800 You can ask for this. 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.400 Why are they picking a fight that many think they 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.040 can't win anyway? And so it's coming down to the wire. 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.600 But that's why we love this story. Yeah, things that 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:54.920 come down to the wire, Caroline, a. 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.480 Bit of drama. Ed, You're going to keep the drama 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.960 flowing from some valley. We thank you very much. Indeed, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.760 let's get to that great guest, of course, Marien Olahosen, 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.840 former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. She's now chairs 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.200 the Global Anti Trust and Competition practice at the law 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.520 firm Banka Bots And it's great to have some time 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.440 with you. Moyne, and boy, it's complex. Can you just 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:20.120 answer that initial perspective from Ed? Why is the FTC 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.200 appealing this? Why take these challenges that are very hard 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:23.480 to win. 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:30.480 The current leadership of the FTC has decided that they 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:35.120 want to try to move any trust law in a 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:40.359 different direction than the courts and the agencies have brought 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.479 the law for many years. Any trust in the US 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.640 is common lots into a ridd case like case, and 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.599 they've decided that they want to go in a kind 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.120 of a starkly different direction. So they keep bringing forward 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:57.159 cases with their aggressive theories, but the courts are not 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:01.520 finding them convincing. They're not finding them fencing on the 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.800 facts and sometimes and I think in the Microsoft that 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.400 division challenge on the law and certainly on the economics. 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.880 So I think the leadership feels that they want to 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.840 try to push the boundaries, but the courts are not 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:20.960 just simply not amenable to that. The courts look at 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.640 what's you know, what's the precedent, what's the case law, 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.800 what you know are the standards that are ready in place. 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:33.680 Ultimately, they're worried that these sorts of vertical deals can 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.000 ultimately end up just with companies having far too much 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:41.240 control and indeed monopolistic sort of outcomes. Do you have 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.159 any sympathy for that at all, whether or not we 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.680 see the law as it stands, being sympathetic to it. 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:54.600 If there is good evidence that a merger, whether it's 0:05:54.600 --> 0:06:00.000 a horizontal or vertical merger, may substantially lessen competition, they're 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.480 the strong basis in the law to block those deals. 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:04.960 Are to have remedies in those kinds of deals that 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.360 preserve competition. You know, when I was the chair, we 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:13.320 brought some vertical merger challenges and we had settlements in those, 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.960 but I do think there, you know. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:18.400 The law certainly prohibits it. 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.960 The question is do they actually have the evidence to 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:26.800 convince a court that the deal, whether it's horizontal or 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:31.240 horizontal or vertical deal, will actually meet that legal standard. 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.919 And the government bears the burden of persuasion. They have 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.479 to persuade the court that it would substantially lessen competition, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.160 and they just haven't carried that burden. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:44.400 What about Congress weighing in here more broadly, And some 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.440 have been saying, look, as it stands, the way in 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.880 which we interpret the law isn't right, and the way 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.080 in which we see competition is outdated. 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:53.840 Do you think that that's the case. Do you think 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:55.120 we would ever see. 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.720 The ways in which we judge the legality of such 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.720 deals being altered by Congress. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.000 There has been some interest in members of Congress in 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.680 changing the law, but it just hasn't gotten the support 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:14.720 of the broad membership of Congress to do that. Look, 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:19.920 anti trust law is not static, as economic learning, as 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:24.520 our understanding of markets. As markets themselves change, anti trust 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.800 law the case does need to change too, and it's 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.440 generally been done through case by case enforcement and we've 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.040 seen those developments. We've seen when I was at the 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:39.320 FTC winning cases before the Supreme Court that supported our 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:43.280 enforcement efforts. So it's not that the law, the current 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.280 law is totally static. But to make this sort of 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.960 big break from showing what's a substantial lessening of competition 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:55.400 or departing from the consumer welfare standard, which is really 0:07:55.440 --> 0:08:01.120 the load store for antitrust, would necessitate new law in Congress, 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.160 and we just haven't seen the momentum for such a 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:05.000 lot of pass now. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.200 No, your expertise is so important to us because you 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.400 were the acting head of the FTC under the Trump era, 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:13.840 But I'm interested in your perspective overseas. What do you 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:15.720 make of the UK and the way in which we 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.280 could see yet well further sales would be fools of 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.840 Microsoft and Activision in this particular instance. And ultimately would 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:25.320 that mean that would have to be done worldwide? 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.000 Well, it really depends. 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.840 You know, the CMAS the authority is only for impacts 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.960 in the UK, so that would be very sort of 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:40.600 facts specifican market dependent on whether you know some sort 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.840 of remedy that was limited to the UK would address 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.880 those concerns. But the CMA is kind of out on 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:51.520 a limb at this point right it's the European Commission. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:51.680 Cleared the DAL. 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.280 The US thus far has not a block the deal. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.200 It's been approved by regulators around the world, So I 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.760 think you know they're in a very position and is 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:07.080 there some sort of last minute remedy that will you know, 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.439 assuage their concerns and allow them to approve the deal? 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.280 I think you do is something that's under intent. I 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:18.000 assume is under intense discussion given given the state of play. 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.600 In your current role sharing the global antrusts and competition 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.080 practice at the Little fem Baker Votes, what are you 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.080 advising clients in this current well environment we currently in. 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.080 Do we think that deals have got harder to be 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:31.640 done or all? 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.560 It's kind of a twofold question. The process of getting 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.800 your deal done. The approval process is likely to be 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.120 more onerous and take longer. You may have to produce 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:49.000 more documents, you may have to, you know, sort of 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:54.360 engage in theories that weren't really strongly supported in the 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.760 case law. But if the regulator brings them up, you 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:58.640 have to talk about them, you have to address them. 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.679 But ultimately, what we're finding is if the deal makes sense, 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:07.559 if it's pro competitive, our recommendation is you should. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:08.160 Go forward with it. 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.760 The law itself has not changed, and that's I think 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:16.880 what we're seeing in these repeated failures of particularly the 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:22.440 FTC to win these challenges. So ultimately, for clients. 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:23.520 That's what they need to decide. 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:27.160 Are they willing to kind of go through a process 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:31.560 that has been made more onerous, specifically made more onerous, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.440 I think to try to deter some mergers even if 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.200 they can't win in court by saying they're any competitive. 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.880 But if a merging party is willing to go through that, 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.520 they have the same chance that they had in the 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.400 past of winning if there is an appeal, because the 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:53.160 courts are sticking to the case law and the you know, 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.800 the requirements that were already in place. They're not buying 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:57.880 these new theories. 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:02.080 Former acting chair or the f and indeed FTC Commissioner 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.439 wor own Oldhausen, thank you very much. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:05.760 Indeed some great expertise there. 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.680 Meanwhile, coming up, the court cases keep on coming, and 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.000 the loss is a federal court decision on a crypto 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:17.280 case involving Ripple Labs seen as potentially narrowing the SEC's oversight. 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.480 We're on that. Why next as a bloomberg. 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.200 Or it was long awaited, the ruling came in the 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.840 case for the SEC versus Ripple, and it's send crypto 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.520 Twitter into a frenzy in token prices soaring yesterday. The 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:43.880 ruling XLP the token associated with Ripple is a security, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:44.640 but when. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:49.120 Offered to institution investors, not the general public an emotion. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.199 Anibassek is here to break down what is a nuanced 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:54.120 ruling about four. 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:54.920 Different parts of it. 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.840 But the takeaway for many is that, look, the SEC 0:11:57.880 --> 0:11:58.720 perhaps doesn't. 0:11:58.480 --> 0:11:59.920 Have so many grounds to stand on here. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:04.120 Well, importantly, I think is that the individual investors means 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.120 a purchasing Ripple was deemed not a security through the 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.280 use of buying them through public exchanges. And so remember 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.920 when the SEC sued Ripple and its founder is here, 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.960 they were really suing on the basis of more than 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.040 one billion dollars worth of sales on about half of 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.200 that is covered as not a security by this lawsuit, 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.280 but the other half, the institutional sales part is also 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:24.120 worth looking at. 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:25.800 With the retail part. 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:27.959 It is interesting because when you look at all those 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.880 suits put together by the SEC, there are more than 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.320 a dozen tokens really listed here by the SEC as 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:35.520 alleged securities. 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:36.560 And so when you're. 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.120 Talking here about the idea that maybe the SEC doesn't 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.360 have so many grounds to stand on here, it's of 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.160 those nineteen or so tokens that we are talking about, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.640 are they securities? Aren't they securities? If they're listed on exchanges, 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:49.440 are they still securities? 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:50.480 That is the fight that's. 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.000 Going to keep on playing out. You saw coinbasi stock 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:57.400 yesterday react with twenty five percent jump almost here. That 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:02.439 has brought coinbases advance this year to almost two hundred percent, 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:04.240 And it is on the grounds that they are fighting 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.880 also the SEC on this idea that they had listed 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:12.520 all these unregistered securities, and so the exchange coinbase in 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.079 particular was very very quick to move on relisting XRP. 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.080 And you know in vain what the court head. 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:24.040 Said fascinating and we will continue to see the ramifications. 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.160 Solanas up a lot today on the finance token as well, 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.000 whereas perhaps we fade a little bit on Ripple's initial move. 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.040 Shnale is the busiest woman in the house. Of course, 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:34.760 she's just been doing all of the bank kernings and 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.960 still across as we thank her. And of course just 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.480 a note that my husband is a senior manager over 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.720 at Coinbase. Meanwhile, you want to stick on this storey, 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.520 You've got to stick with Bloomberg, because you want to 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.120 hear from the Ripple Lab CEO Brad garling House himself, 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.200 as well as Pat Toomey, former Senator of Pennsylvania, a 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.280 member of the Global Advisory Council over at Coinbase. Those 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:55.160 two conversations with our own Schcenali coming up in the 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:59.800 next hour. Meanwhile, turning to a loss in the tech community, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.600 entrepreneur Nick Hungford has died after a battle with terminal 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:08.000 bone cancer. Mister Hungerford co founded the successful investment platform 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.440 Nutmeg in twenty eleven. The idea was famously rejected forty 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.040 five times in a row by funders, but the business. 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:15.200 Was went on to strength. 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:17.600 To Strength was bought by JP Morgan in twenty twenty 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.720 one for reported seven hundred million pounds. Nutmeg said in 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.760 a statement that mister Hungerford was one of Britain's most 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:28.320 successful fintech entrepreneurs. Nick Hungerford was forty three years old. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.080 Major League Soccer, I mean, I call it football, but 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.280 you call it soccer, could be the next US sports 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.280 league to allow sovereign wealth funds to invest in its teams, 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:48.760 with the league's more board members set up to discuss 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.120 the topic in a meeting next week in Washington. As all, 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.200 according to the MLS Commissioner Don Gaba, who sat down 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:55.920 with their own ed Ludlow over there in some valley, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.600 they discussed this, how the league attracted learn On Messi 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.000 and their Apple TV ownership take a listen. 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:08.160 Obviously, an enormous amount of money that includes not just 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.680 what he gets paid, but the uniqueness of our league 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.240 having a partner in Apple that can share in helping 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:18.640 us attract someone like Messi, partnership with Adidas who can 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:20.320 come in and be part of that program. 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:21.080 Is that your idea. 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.680 It was our The league does all these unique things 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.440 where we've talked about David Beckham and the uniqueness of 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.640 that deal. We've got partners in the League office in 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.480 terms of how we're structured, and a very ambitious owner 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.480 in the Moss family in Miami, putting together a deal 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.920 that I think was more attractive to Messi and his 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.000 family than playing in Saudi Arabia. And we're going over 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:42.680 back to Barcelona, where he'd been before. 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:47.200 You mentioned that this was a competition between Saudi Arabia 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.200 understandings Barcelona are also thought to bring their son home. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.920 You won. What was the one biggest factor that brought 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:57.000 Messi to the MLS. 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.760 You know, America's a rising stock nation and our league 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.640 is driving a lot of that momentum. And you get 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.120 a generational player who has an opportunity to not just 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.200 have a legacy as the best player the goat, if 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:15.000 you will, but also be part of driving enormous momentum 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.600 for the years leading up to the World Cup. Copa 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.360 America will be here next summer, The Fiva Club World 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.040 Cup will be here in twenty five, US Canada, Mexico 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:25.320 will the Holts the World Cup in twenty twenty six, 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.200 and Messi will be the continual part of that narrative. 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:31.480 He'd make a lot of money in Saudi Arabia and 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.120 I'm sure that was attractive to him go back home. 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.680 As you said, a favorite rain is a great point though, 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.320 in that Saudi is so present in professional football soccer. 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.560 Have you met with the Saudis about investing in the MLS. 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.080 No, we haven't ed, but interestingly, years ago when they 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.000 were forming their league, we did the same with the Kataris. 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.200 We advise them. You know, MLS has a unique structure. 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.960 It was an emerging league that had to capture this 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:02.040 unique opportunity that Saudis are heavily invested in trying to 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.080 make their league more successful, more popular. The Saudi folk, 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.840 the people who live there are very passionate about the game. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.280 The Chinese have tried to do that with the president, 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:16.159 try to make football a big part of the unique 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.920 experience for fans. We'll see how it all plays out. 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:23.080 It certainly is an intriguing, disruptive part of what's going 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:23.400 on in. 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:29.200 Our broadly open to sovereign money investing at a franchise 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:30.440 level or in the league. 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:35.120 We are and beyond the uniqueness of our structure where 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.399 we have private equity investing in our league. Ari's Capital 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.119 invested in our Miami team just very recently, but the 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.480 NHL and the NBA have looked at having sovereign funds 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:49.320 and pension funds mls looking at the same thing very timely. 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.400 News will likely discuss that at our board meeting in Miami. 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.640 I'm sorry in DC next week at our All Star Game. 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.200 I'm an ESS commissioner Don Gama with our own at Badlaine. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.280 Now from sports to movies entertainment, Hay. For the first 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.199 time in six decades, Hollywood writers and actors are on 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:08.000 strike at the same time, cataclysm for hundreds of thousands 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.359 of film and TV workers. Bloomberg Technology executive editor Tom Jazz, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.000 I'm so pleased to say, joins me now to really 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:15.840 what we sort of saw coming. 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:16.879 It feels dramatic. 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.199 We had actors walking out of premieres for the latest 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:21.200 movie over in the UK. 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.080 Oh yeah, I mean, as you said, the first time 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:30.679 in six decades. This is all about how technology is 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:35.920 disrupting the way that films and television are produced and distributed. 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.800 Sixty years ago, it was all about this thing, this 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.920 new thing called TV, a relatively new thing called TV, 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.119 and what it meant for the distribution of films that 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.800 were traditionally shown just in theaters. Now it's all about streaming. 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:57.080 This is a question of our actors writers compensated adequately 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.400 when their work is streamed on all these new services. 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.800 Has been this proliferation over the last decade of different 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.800 ways that you can watch and save and distribute films 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.240 and television shows and pay structures the actors and writers 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.640 will tell us have not kept paid. 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:21.280 Yeah, I'm seeing some placards being held as we're currently 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.560 looking at our screens now, Tom, some of them mentioning AI. 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:26.720 You and I talking about AI left right center at 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.040 the moment. Why are the actors talking about it too? 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:31.160 Yeah? 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.479 I mean, is AI going to replace our jobs? We 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:40.119 think about it as journalists, right, Will the AI, you 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:43.720 know put us out of work? What actors and writers 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:47.160 are concerned about is the ways that studios might use 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:55.040 artificial intelligence to create create scripts to you know, even 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:58.760 the imagery around you know, can somebody's face be put 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:02.080 on a different body? How can we use this technology 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:07.920 to reduce the cost of writing, producing, getting these programs 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.359 out into the public, and is there a way that 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:16.399 it's going to kind of make actors' time actors they're 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:22.600 what they their their bodies, their faces in some ways obsolete. 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.920 These are all somewhat hypothetical at this point. There's a 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:30.280 lot of skepticism over exactly how far you can rely 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:35.080 on artificial intelligence to create this these products. Yeah, but 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:35.840 it's a concern. 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:37.800 Tom great speaking with you. 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.480 Thank you. Blueberg Technology Executive editor Tom Giles on the 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:53.160 drama in La from New York. There's a Bloomberg Technology. 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:57.120 Welcome back to Blueberg Technology. I'm Caroen Hid in New York. 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.159 This week's meta competitor to Twitter. Saw what one hundred 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:04.399 million users now on the Threads platform, but is it 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:04.960 here to stay? 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:07.800 We're still seeing that enthusiasm continue. 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:09.240 And please to welcome to the show launch and I 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:11.600 Push is vice president of corporate Development at Jennysmack, a 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:14.920 company focused on that profined content creators. Also your host 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:18.240 of the Creator Upload podcast and previously rank creative Partnerships 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:21.560 for Facebook. I'm also welcoming megst Alex Birinka, who can 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.719 perhaps first and foremost give us an update and what 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:25.600 it's like on Threads at the moment. There was so 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:28.240 much hype and enthusiasm last week. 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.600 Are we starting to see that dial back a little bit? 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.320 We're seeing maybe a little bit, Caroline, when I first 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:36.439 logged on, there was a lot of folks with a 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.119 lot of curiosity, and maybe those were curiosity sign ups 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:40.160 saying what's this all about? 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:42.200 I asked, what's the vibe? Right now? 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:44.000 The vibe seems to be in my thread A lot 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:46.159 of memes, not a lot of news, so a distinct 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.719 difference from what I see on Twitter. But just in 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.680 the last twenty four hours, we've actually gotten some data 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:54.920 from some data analytics firms like censor Tower and similar Web, 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.000 who are saying that maybe some of that initial curiosity 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:01.280 excitement has fallen off. They're saying that traffic has fallen 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.520 by about twenty percent from last week, that usage time 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.639 is down to eight to ten minutes from twenty minutes 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.919