WEBVTT - Tech News: Meta's Numbers are on the Rise Again 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.960 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.920 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.920 And how the tech are you. It's time for the 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:25.880 tech news for Thursday, April twenty eight, two thousand, twenty two, 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.760 and we're gonna start off with some news about Meta. 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.800 The company had its first quarter report and the results 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:38.080 gave new confidence to investors. Now you might remember that 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.440 we found out that by the end of last year, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.880 Meta had seen a decline in users for the first time, 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.080 and that, coupled with a couple of other tough pills 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:53.479 to swallow, ended up being a big shadow across the company. 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.920 And those tough bills included stuff like Zuckerberg acknowledging that 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.280 TikTok was far more effective at a tracting young users 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:07.160 than than Meta's properties were, including stuff like Instagram and Facebook, 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.640 and that Meta had been spending billions of dollars on 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.440 its Metaverse plans, but those plans are not gonna come 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.360 to fruition for several years. I mean, Zuckerberg himself said 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.720 it will be many years before this becomes a revenue 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:26.280 generating part of the business. This is literally us building 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:30.160 it out, and that meant that for a while folks 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.760 were kind of seeing doom and gloom for the company 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.800 because again, so much of our focus is on the 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.959 short term. But now Meta reports that they saw an 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.000 uptick in users this past quarter. There was actually an 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:48.280 increase Now The Verge reports that the growth in users, 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:53.440 while definitely being there, is still the lowest growth rate 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.000 in the company's history, with the Facebook app growing by 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:01.160 four percent in the first quarter. That company also revealed 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.240 that ad revenue is likely still going to be fairly 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:09.560 soft for the next few months, largely because of how 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.920 Apple updated iOS so that users can opt out of 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.360 some tracking data that Meta had been relying upon in 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:21.239 order to deliver targeted ads. Targeted ads have super high 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:27.000 value to advertisers, so without that guarantee, then Facebook, you know, 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.360 they can still sell ads, but the targeted ads were 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:33.040 the ones that we're bringing in the most money, so 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.239 it means having to sell kind of a lower tier 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:41.720 advertising because of this issue with Apple. Interesting to me 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.520 that investors appear to be responding more to the uptick 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.000 in user numbers than in the announcements that revenue might 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.880 still be a bit slow. Also, Zuckerberg indicated that the 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.399 company is going to ease back on some of its 0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:00.200 expenditures this year, probably because a lot of folks don't 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.360 really like thinking about long term investments and they prefer 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.400 to see numbers go up quarter over quarter. And Bloomberg 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.720 reports that the easing off is a is a relative thing. 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:15.120 Really that apparently the target spending for the year was 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:20.480 somewhere around us staggering nine five billion dollars and now 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.880 it's going to be somewhere closer between eighty seven and 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:28.200 ninety two billion dollars um, which I mean, again, that's 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.920 from the Bloomberg report, and that's just bonkers to me. Anyway, 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.639 it continues to astound me how the company's share value 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:39.240 can fluctuate dramatically over metrics that, at least to my eyes, 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:44.040 don't seem to indicate actual real success or meaningful growth, 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:46.880 like if it's not bringing in revenue, or if it's 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:52.040 not bringing in you know, a uh an equal amount 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.320 of revenue compared to the growth and users, I don't 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:56.120 see where the value is. But then I'm not a 0:03:56.160 --> 0:04:01.000 finance person, and I fully admit that I likely just 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.880 don't have a good enough understanding of investment. This is 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.200 a me problem more than say, a meta problem. I 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.440 guess now I do have another meta story, and this 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.200 is a positive one. And I know I'm surprised too, 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.479 But some researchers with Meta's AI division collaborated with researchers 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.599 at the University of Illinois Urbana Champagne to tackle a 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:26.080 hard problem that's a pun you just don't know it yet, 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.880 and that problem is finding ways to make concrete that 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.520 end up cutting way back on carbon dioxide emissions. There's 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:38.080 a huge carbon footprint in concrete production. Actually did an 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.080 episode about concrete not too long ago and talked about 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:46.080 how the production of cement is a really carbon intensive process. 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.799 Concrete production contributes about eight percent of all carbon dioxide 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:55.159 emissions globally each year. So finding ways to make concrete, 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:59.679 which is undeniably useful stuff, I mean, it's important while 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.440 also cutting back on CEO two emissions would be a 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.920 huge important component in our plans to achieve a carbon 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.240 neutral status in the future. But a huge challenge, a 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.560 huge problem is that there are multiple variables that you 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.880 can tweak when you're producing concrete. You could break it 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.839 down and say that concrete is essentially made up of 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.160 four things. You know, it's like water, aggregate, cement, and 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:31.640 typically some other substances that allow for the creation of concrete, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.360 which means that you can tweak those different factors, right 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.680 and uh in different measurements and determine all, right, well, 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.360 let's see if we put less cement in and more 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.320 of this other stuff in what happens. But because you've 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.960 got four variables, there are a lot of different ways 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.279 to play with that, and that is one of the 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.440 reasons why I can get really challenging, because you guys 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:54.640 spend a lot of time playing around with all these 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:59.440 different variables. So the researchers used AI to train a 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.760 model on one thousand different concrete formulas and then derive 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.279 what would be you know, likely to be the most 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:10.080 efficient approach that would still yield a strong and reliable concrete. 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.200 Because sometimes you can change this stuff up and you 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.919 will get concrete, but it takes too long to dry, 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.520 it's not as strong, and yeah, maybe it didn't create 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.800 as much CEO two, but it might not be useful. 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:26.440 So they fed all these formulas into the system, and 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.839 the system itself produced new formulas and the team picked 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.719 the five most promising ones to continue testing and tweaking, 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:39.120 and they modified the AI generated formulas slightly to improve them, 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.480 and ultimately the team created a new formula that could 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.200 replace up to half of the cement needed to produce 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:50.279 any given amount of concrete and instead use other materials 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.960 like fly ash and slag in its place. In addition, 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.880 the formula was supposed to exceed all strength metric requirements, 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.000 which it did, and that meant that the concrete produced 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.159 should be more than strong and resilient enough to serve 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:09.120 as concrete while that cement requirement is still reduced dramatically. 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.600 Meta then teamed up with a concrete company called Ozinga 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:15.760 to refine this formula even further and to move into 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.720 real world testing. Because it's one thing to say that 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.720 mathematically this is what it means. It's another thing to 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.120 actually find out in the real world. There's still more 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.360 work to be done, including finding out there's a way 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.520 to create this kind of concrete that drives a little faster, 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.480 because that would speed up construction efforts when you're making 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.440 use of this concrete. Otherwise, you have to wait for 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.720 it to to cure while uh, you know, before you 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.800 can start laying down more. Here's some elon musk Twitter 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.520 news that has nothing to do with him buying the platform. 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.520 So back in two thousand eighteen, the u S Security 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:54.480 is an exchange commission or SEC, charged Musk with fraud 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.800 after he tweeted that he had secured enough funding to 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:02.520 take Tesla private. Uh. The SECS allegations that Musk had 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.720 not actually secured such funding and that the announcement ended 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.040 up having a massive effect on Tesla's stock price, and 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.480 that Musk was essentially manipulating the stock market, which I 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.640 should add is a big no no. So there was 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:21.160 a lawsuit and ultimately Musk settled out of court, and 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.880 in the process he signed a document that required him 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:28.400 and Tesla to each pay twenty million dollars in civil finds. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.520 Plus Musk had to step down as chairman of Tesla's 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.319 board of directors, and from that point forward he was 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.319 supposed to seek pre approval for any tweets he was 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:41.760 going to send out that related to his businesses before 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:45.480 he actually posted them. Well, recently, Musk has been trying 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.440 to get that settlement thrown out, but a federal judges 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.360 said no, Dice, it stands the judge argues that the 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:56.480 SECS allegations were fair and warranted, and that Musk has 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.439 no evidence that he actually secured the funding he said 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.880 he had, and that he signed this settlement voluntarily, and 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.720 he must therefore abide by its rules. The judge also wrote, 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.679 quote Musk may wish it were otherwise, but he remains 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.120 subject to the same enforcement authority and has the same 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.079 means to challenge the exercise of that authority as any 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.400 other citizen. End quote. Right to repair advocates in the 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.839 United States can celebrate a victory. Apple has now made 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.920 self service repair for iPhone twelve and thirteen models available 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.360 in the United States. That means that Apple will allow 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:38.640 people to order repair manuals, proprietary tools needed to access 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:43.480 Apple products, and even official Apple parts through the self 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:47.200 service repair store. Now that's not to say that your 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.280 average iPhone user is really going to be able to 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.080 pop open the hood and change the air filter on 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.320 their phone or whatever. You get what I mean. Making 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.000 repairs will require a certain level of knowledge, skill, and expertise, 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.520 so it's far more likely that independent electronics repair stores 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.920 will make use of this offering, giving iPhone users options 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.920 when it comes to fixing problems with their phones. Apple 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:14.520 later plans to roll out similar offerings for Mac computers, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.840 and this is a pretty big step for Apple, which 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.760 for years has attempted to maintain a walled garden and 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.120 require users to go through Apple and Apple alone when 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.959 it comes to repairs. So good job Apple. We've got 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.240 a few more news items to get through. But before 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:40.640 we do that, let's take a quick break down under 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.120 Amazon has declined to acquiesce to the government's request to 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.760 take a look see at the company's product search system 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.920 and algorithms. So the government wants to see if Amazon 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:56.840 favors its own in house products over a third party 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:01.400 merchant products and other words, giving itself an unfair advantage 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.760 in the Amazon marketplace. So this is the same accusation 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.679 Amazon has faced in places like India and the United States. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.680 Amazon has refused to share that information, or at least 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.920 declined to send it to the Australian government, and the 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.400 company denies that it has ever given preferential treatment to 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.040 its own products. That's not likely to fly for the 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:29.800 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for the a c c 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:34.360 c H. Now, one thing that is very much different 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.520 in Australia compared to some other markets, like specifically the 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.080 United States, is that Amazon is still a relatively young 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.440 player in that country, and it's in fact, it's not 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.800 the largest online market in Australia. In fact, according to 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.320 the a c c C, Amazon brought in just one 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:57.240 quarter of the sales that eBay saw in Australia last year. However, 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:01.040 the a c c C is concerned about any platform 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.920 that engages in what it views as anti competitive or 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:09.360 unfair practices, even if that platform isn't as dominant down 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.000 there as it is here. Now, the only other thing 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.240 I know about Amazon in Australia is that the company 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.920 has seen a lot of returns of boomerangs. But then 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.559 I'm led to understand that's what they're supposed to do. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:27.360 Related to Amazon, let's talk about Twitch, because Amazon owns Twitch. 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:31.320 According to Bloomberg, Twitch is considering a couple of moves 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.760 that could dramatically impact streamers and the experience of watching 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.280 live streams on the platform. First is that it sounds 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.920 like Twitch wants to encourage streamers to run more ads 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.960 during live streams. Obviously, that would generate more revenue for 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:50.600 the platform, And another possible strategy is that Twitch will 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:54.440 change the amount of subscription revenue that streamers get to keep. 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.800 So right now, if you subscribe to a Twitch streamer, 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.199 let's say that you know, you've you chalk over six 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.960 bucks a month in order to follow a particular streamer. 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.600 The streamers keep se of the revenue generated from audience 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.280 subscriptions to their channel. But according to Bloomberg, Twitch is 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.280 considering dropping that down, so it's a fifty fifty split. 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.640 Fifty go to the streamer and the other fifty goes 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.360 to Twitch itself. That is probably not going to go 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.840 over so well with the streaming community at large, certainly 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.920 not for some of the more active streamers who really 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.880 depend upon Twitch for their livelihood. Now, whether this might 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:36.240 prompt an exodus from Twitch to other platforms like YouTube 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.440 remains to be seen. For some, like some of the 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.360 really big ones, they might be signed to exclusive contracts 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.240 that lock them into Twitch for a while. Um for 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.160 other ones, more moderate content creators, it may be just 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.040 a question they have to ask themselves. It also may 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.800 turn out that the company will reconsider these moves. They 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.200 haven't yet been implemented, so there's no you know, setting 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:04.360 stone Lan to go this way. Also in gaming, AXIOS 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.319 reports that far right extremism is growing in the gaming 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.920 space and that the systems present in games are not 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.880 up to the task of moderating players and addressing the problem. 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.320 Axis cites a couple of reports. One came from the 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:24.160 Extremism and Gaming Research Network and it published in December 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.520 two thousand one. UH. There was another report from two 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.520 thousand nineteen from the Anti Defamation League, and these reports 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.720 paint a pretty troubling picture. They show that more than 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.040 half of the people who have experienced harassment in online 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:42.400 multiplayer games believe that they were targeted because of things 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:46.120 like their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, and so on. 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.960 The two thousand twenty one report indicates that games are 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.040 sorely lacking when it comes to ways that they can 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:57.080 manage the problem. This sets them apart from platforms like Facebook, Twitter, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.040 you know, other social network platforms that have spent a 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.640 lot of money trying to deal with this problem to 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.920 varying degrees of success, but the gaming space in general 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.720 hasn't done that yet. UH. There are also indications that 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:15.640 white supremacist ideology is on the rise within the online 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.400 gaming world in general, so it does paint a pretty 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.480 troubling picture. It doesn't mean that you know games are 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.760 bad themselves, but rather there may need to be a 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:31.080 shift and how companies end up moderating their players in 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:36.080 their online platforms. In Michigan, several parties led by Ford 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:40.320 and Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners have raised one million dollars in 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.640 capital funding to develop a connected roadway for the purposes 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:49.280 of autonomous cars. So the roadway will connect Detroit to 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:53.960 ann Arbor, Michigan, and it was previously announced in twenty twenty, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.240 but the recent news marks the first time serious money 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.640 is being put towards this project. So the goal is 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:04.960 to create a dedicated roadway for self driving vehicles, and 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.440 the roadway will actually include hardware that will allow for 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:13.320 communication between the vehicle and the underlying infrastructure. And this 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.680 is something I'm really interested in. It's something that we've 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.280 been talking about for years now, and that's the most 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.200 self driving cars that we think about today. For the 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:26.680 most part, they are largely self contained systems. It's like 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.000 having your own PC, right and and not having it 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.560 connect to anything else. The PC is able to do 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:37.640 some incredible stuff, but it's restricted to its own abilities. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.840 So the car alone is responsible for operating the vehicle, 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.680 monitoring the surrounding environment, avoiding collisions and all that kind 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:49.600 of stuff. However, if you're able to pair an autonomous 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:53.200 vehicle with a smart infrastructure, while the vehicles on the 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.200 road can communicate with the road itself, and then also 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.760 by extension other autonomous vehicles, which can allow for faster traffic, 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.200 less congestion, safer operations because like everyone knows what everyone 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.280 else is doing already, right, all the cars are aware 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.040 of all the other cars on that infrastructure and can 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.920 operate at a higher rate of speed with a much, 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:21.560 much much lower probability of something going wrong apart from 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.359 things like you know, like a flat tire. Stuff like 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.760 that still obviously an issue, but that cars would be 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:32.880 able to react very quickly and collectively, so you wouldn't 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.520 have things like pile ups. Now, Obviously, building out infrastructure 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.600 is time consuming, it's expensive, and it's challenging, and we 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.800 already have tons of roads here in the United States, 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:47.879 and building out, replacing or upgrading existing infrastructure, that's a 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.800 that's a huge endeavor. Anyone who has lived somewhere that 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.080 had massive road work being done on a local Highway 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.240 knows that it can take an excruciatingly long time for 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:02.760 that work to complete. Ill if this project in Michigan 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.920 ends up being a big success, it could serve as 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.920 a model for future projects leading to a more safe 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:14.160 and effective autonomous vehicle ecosystem. Finally, over in the UK, 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.840 the government is revising laws regarding public service broadcasting and 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.960 these laws will now also cover streaming services like Netflix, 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.880 Apple TV and more that are operating within the UK. 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.880 So the rules will include a restriction on broadcasting quote 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:36.640 unquote harmful content. Now I'm not entirely certain what constitutes 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.639 harmful content, like what is defined as harmful content, but 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:45.040 if a streaming service is found guilty of broadcasting harmful 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.919 content within the UK, it can be fined up to 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.320 five percent of its revenue. And it sounds to me 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:55.800 as though the process is a viewer watches a streaming service, 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.160 see something on that streaming service that the viewer believes 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.560 is harmful. The viewer then contact the UK's communications regulatory 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.880 agency known as the Office of Communications but better known 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:11.200 as OFFCOM, and presumably OFFCOM would then review that material 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.680 to determine if it does in fact constitute harmful content. 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.880 And then take action, but I'm not entirely certain. I'll 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:19.960 have to keep an eye on it. And that's the 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.680 news for Thursday, April two thousand twenty two. Hope you're 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.879 all well. If you have any questions or suggestions for me, 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:28.879 send me a message on Twitter. The handle for the 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.880 show is text Stuff H s W. And I'll talk 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:40.679 to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.280 Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.800 visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.399 you listen to your favorite shows.