WEBVTT - Tech News: Elon Musk Agrees to Buy Twitter. . . . Again 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.400 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.480 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.079 And how the tech are you. It's time for the 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:25.439 tech news for Thursday, October six, twenty twenty two. And 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.680 I mentioned this first item briefly in yesterday's episode, but 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:33.839 on Tuesday, after I had already submitted my news episode 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.200 for the day. So this is the height of rudeness. 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.920 Elon Musk went ahead and switched gears yet again. Actually, 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.159 to be fair, he did that on Monday, but the 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:47.159 news broke on Tuesday. And what I mean by all 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:52.240 this takes us back to the sprawling, chaotic and messy 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:58.440 Twitter acquisition. All right, let's get a previously on segment 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.920 in here to really kind of sum arise what has 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:06.720 been going on with this whole saga back in April two. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.279 At this point, it feels like it happened an eternity ago. 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:15.160 Ellen Musk revealed that he had purchased, uh, let me see, 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.520 I think the technical term is a metric buttload of 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:23.520 Twitter stock, like just under ten percent. This was enough 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:27.880 to merit an invitation to join Twitter's board of directors, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.039 and Musk considered doing that, but then he saw on 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.000 the fine print that if he did join the board 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.080 of directors, he would have to agree to a limit 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:41.240 on how much stock he could own. Now, whether Musk 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:45.800 was already considering buying Twitter outright, I don't know, but 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.520 at some point it became clear that that was what 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.120 he decided he wanted to do. So. Musk then goes 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.480 on to make an offer on Twitter to buy out 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.800 all existing stock at fifty four dollars twenty since per share, 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.240 which would bring the total cost of acquisition to around 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:09.320 forty four billion with a B dollars. Must then win 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.000 about securing financing for this deal, which included a meeting 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:15.960 with investors who would put up some of the cash 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.320 to fund it, and also banks that would loan out 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:25.520 more money against Musk's considerable personal assets. Oh and um, 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.720 one really important part of this initial agreement is that 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:34.000 Musk agreed to waive due diligence, which I think a 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.920 ton of folks have said was a curious strategy, which 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.680 that's what the kind people are saying. Others are saying 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.960 it was just playing dumb. You wouldn't agree to buy 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.320 a house without first having an inspector walked through and 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.919 make sure you know the foundation is solid and all 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.880 that kind of stuff. But things seem to be set 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:57.640 in motion for a Musk acquisition of Twitter. The board 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.280 of directors were happy with this idea. Uh, there was 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.960 the requirement to hold a shareholder vote to see if 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.480 shareholders agreed, and that didn't happen until this past September, 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:13.600 but ultimately shareholders voted in favor of that too. However, 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.520 in July, so not that long after the wheels were 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:22.079 in motion, Musk appeared to have second thoughts about this acquisition, 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.360 and there's been a lot of speculation about this. Musk 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.359 was arguing that Twitter had misrepresented its value at the 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.560 early negotiations, and he claimed that the platform was absolutely 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:38.480 riddled with bought accounts. Twitter claimed that, based upon its 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.680 own process, bots made up less than five of all 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:47.720 monetize able accounts. Musk argued there was way way more 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:52.160 than that, possibly as much as nine, which seems absolutely 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.760 unrealistic to me. But then I also think the less 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.160 than five percent number is at least hard to believe. 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.520 It might be true through, but it's hard to believe. 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.559 Lots of folks suggested a hypothesis that the financial downturn 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:11.080 that we've seen this year meant that Musk's own assets 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.640 were worth way less than what they had been when 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:17.200 he first made the offer, and that it was possible 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.240 that he was also starting to hit some resistance with 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:24.160 financing As a result of this, plus, Twitter itself started 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.080 to look like a less valuable purchase, helped in no 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.000 small part by the fact that Musk himself was slagging 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.919 off Twitter pretty much at every opportunity. And he might say, ha, 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.200 that seems weird that you would bad mouth something you 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.520 were planning on buying, since you'd actually be creating a 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.880 larger gap between the price you had agreed to pay 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.200 and the value of the thing you were buying. But 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.360 then you're not the world's richest man, right, You just 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:54.440 don't see the big picture anyway. Twitter filed a lawsuit 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.560 against Musk in an effort to force him to go 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.560 through with the acquisition. Twitter was our guing that the 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.960 deal Musk signed didn't leave him the option to just 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:08.960 back out, and that's true. Musk can't back out of 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:14.840 the deal unless certain specific criteria are met. For example, 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:20.159 if Musk could legally prove that Twitter purposefully misrepresented its 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:24.960 value to a significant degree, he could potentially walk out 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.839 of this deal. The details get a little more complicated 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.039 than that, but that's the basic idea. But even then, 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.760 Musk would still have to cough up a billion dollars 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.160 just to walk away. Twitter's lawsuit is set to go 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.559 to court on October seventeen, so it's getting here soon. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.400 Musk's legal team had tried to push for a later date. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:48.640 They wanted it to happen as late as early, but 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.560 the judge wasn't having it. Twitter was arguing for it 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.800 to be earlier. In fact, so the October date, in 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.680 some respect was kind of a compromise between the two. Now, 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.840 the judge has largely been sighting with Twitter on pre 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.760 trial decisions, and that kind of brings us up to 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.120 this week's news. On Monday, Musk filed a letter with 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:12.799 the Securities and Exchange Commission Twitter recommending himself to acquiring 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.239 Twitter and the agreed upon terms that were made way 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.520 back in April of this year. But he did ask 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:25.880 that this happened uh on a couple of preconditions. One 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.480 of those conditions is that if his financing falls through, 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.400 he would be allowed to pay the billion dollar penalty 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.679 and then walk away. The other condition is that Twitter 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.919 could please drop its lawsuit please. The lawsuit was starting 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.160 to look like it was gonna get real ugly for 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.760 all involved. In fact, not starting the lawsuit was clearly 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.720 going to be ugly for both Elon Musk and for Twitter. Already, 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.640 Elon Musk's personal text messages have been entered into the 0:06:55.680 --> 0:07:00.640 court pre trial proceedings, which does not paint a good picture. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:05.279 Twitter's dirty laundry is ready to be put on display. Plus, 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.200 the pre trial stuff may have indicated to Musk's legal 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.720 team that the chances of winning the case were a 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.880 wee bit on the slim side, and that would mean 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.440 that if Musk lost the legal battle, he would still 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.440 have to acquire the company anyway, his punishments, he has 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.800 to go through the deal that he already agreed to do. Now. 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.760 So far, Twitter has not filed for a stay in 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:32.119 court action, and it's kind of understandable because I feel 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.080 like if Twitter did drop the case entirely, they might 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:40.000 not trust that Elon Musk will follow through on his 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.840 statement that he is in fact going to acquire the company. However, 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:48.320 Musk was originally scheduled to sit for a deposition today 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.480 and that has been postponed, so that part has been delayed, 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:57.000 at least temporarily. Also, Reuter's reports that some banks have 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:01.160 held talks with Musk about financing back in the summer, 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:05.160 but had since backed out, so it's not entirely clear 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.960 where all the different financing is coming from. Uh. The 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.520 ones that are remaining in place are in a potentially 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.760 really tough position because it's an economically risky time for 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.200 banks to get involved in large debt financing transactions. So 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.760 this could mean that the banks that are still involved 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:27.960 in this are in danger of losing a another buttload 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.360 of money. So what I'm saying is that this deal 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:36.160 is not a sure thing. It looks like it's heading 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.720 towards Elon Musk acquiring Twitter. That seems to be where 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:44.200 we are headed, but the details are still a bit fuzzy. 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.520 Um Oh. We also heard that before all of this, 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.200 Musk had been holding some talks with Twitter in an 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.560 attempt to negotiate a lower price than the one he 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.760 had previously agreed to. But you know, when the ink 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.760 is dry on the contract, it's pretty hard to come 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:03.960 up with a convincing argument to get the seller to 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.600 reduce the price. Anyway, now we are all caught up 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.680 until later today, probably in which case I'll have to 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.160 do another update next week. Well I might as well 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.480 put this story next because we're already talking about Elon Musk. 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.840 Tesla released an announcement stating that it will be shifting 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:29.520 to a camera only approach in its driver assist technology. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.800 That means the company is phasing out stuff like ultrasonic sensors. 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.360 It is already h taking out things like like LDAR, 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.360 So this is testas stripping out some of the technologies 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.240 that uses for computer vision really is what it comes 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:49.560 down to. Now. The ultrasonic sensors we're mostly used for 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:54.880 stuff like parking assist and collision prevention. And it's really 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.360 interesting to me because generally speaking, the trend you see 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.120 an autonomous vehicle company ease goes the opposite way. And 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:04.240 by that I mean most companies that are working in 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.920 that field are really building out a robust suite of 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.920 technologies to support computer vision. They're not relying on a 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:16.079 single one, but a whole array of different array is 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.760 almost a pun, but a whole array of different technologies 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:23.440 to try and provide computer vision for these complicated autonomous systems. 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.840 Tesla says, no, we're just gonna go pure optical camera. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.679 We're gonna we're gonna simplify things. So yeah, it's kind 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.440 of a it's kind of a reversal of what everyone 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.040 else is doing. As Tesla does this, the company says 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:42.480 drivers should expect certain features to be unavailable at first 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.400 when they purchase a new Tesla that is camera only. 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:49.280 So those features include stuff like park assist uh summon, 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.560 where you get your car to magically drive up to 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.880 wherever you are. Auto park is another one. So these 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.800 kind of things that the ultrasonic sensor was specifically designed 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:03.480 to handle, you know, to to maneuver a car without 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:07.280 having it bump into stuff that's close by. Those are 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.360 the things that will not be available initially as Tesla 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.920 moves to this camera only approach. Now, the company claims 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.600 that the features will return, but it will take time 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.480 because the company has to ensure that the camera only 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:26.560 version can complete these tasks as reliably and as safely 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:31.440 as earlier Tesla models that had ultrasonic sensors. Now, I 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.480 imagine this move could bring down the cost of production 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.640 of the vehicles, they won't need as many different components, 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.400 so it will probably mean that making a Tesla vehicle 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.960 will be less expensive, which could mean that we'll see 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:50.520 reduced sticker prices on future Tesla's, But with so many 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.320 complex economic factors at play, I wouldn't count on that, 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:59.720 just because we have other things like you know, inflation, recessions, 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.199 semiconductor shortages, all these kind of things play into that. 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.400 So I'm not saying that the Tesla's next year are 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.800 going to be cheaper than the ones this year. Okay, 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:13.320 I've got a lot more stories that have nothing to 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.960 do with Elon Musk coming up, but first let's take 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:29.000 a quick break. We're back on Tuesday, a fire in 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:35.400 Amazon's JFK eight warehouse in New York temporarily shut down operations. 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.840 Amazon sent the day shift home with pay while working 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.320 with the fire department, which Amazon says certified the building 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.440 is safe. Not too long after getting the fire put out, 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.120 and then they had the night shift come on as 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.480 per normal, And when the night shift got there, some 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.119 workers reported that there were still areas of the warehouse 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.680 that had enough smoke to cause problems, you know, like 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.400 it was hard to breathe that kind of thing. Now, 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:06.040 this is the same Amazon warehouse that voted to unionize 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.760 earlier this year. That's something that Amazon has yet to 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.560 formally recognize, although the National Labor Relations Board to here 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:17.000 in the US has sided with the Amazon workers on 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:22.000 this one, and about fifty workers staged a walkout in 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.000 protest of being told to work in an environment that 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:30.439 they felt was inherently unsafe. Amazon has subsequently suspended those 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.680 workers with pay. Now, I think that's an interesting choice 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.520 considering how other Amazon facilities are also getting close to 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.440 holding votes on unionization, because I feel like this kind 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.560 of press is more likely to encourage employees to organize 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.880 into a union, which obviously Amazon does not want to 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.200 have happened. So making a choice like this seems to 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:58.400 fuel the movements to organize. Anyway, Amazon is saying it's 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.439 investigating the matter and that it's going to resolve the 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.679 suspensions one way or another once that investigation is complete. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.680 A jury has found Uber's former chief security officer guilty 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:14.839 of attempting to cover up a massive hacker intrusion into 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.040 Uber's systems. All right, let's get some backstory on this. 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:24.000 So back in Joseph Sullivan became the chief security officer 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.120 for Uber. He would actually leave Uber in ten he 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.160 would start to work over at cloud Flare in the 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.840 same sort of role. Now, a year before Sullivan came 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:39.320 to Uber, in hackers penetrated Uber systems and they accessed 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:44.440 databases containing personal information for approximately fifty thousand Uber users 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.440 and drivers. Uber reported this to the US Federal Trade Commission, 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:52.480 or FTC, and this happened all shortly before Sullivan even 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.440 joined the company. But the FTC investigated Uber's security systems 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.120 and processes and essentially said, Yo, this ever happens to 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.160 you, you you need to let us know stat Now, this 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:07.120 was the environment into which Sullivan stepped as the new 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:13.320 Cso alright, So in twenty six a second hacker attack, 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.640 this one way bigger in scope, hit Uber. The hackers 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.720 access systems that contained data on around fifty seven million 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.680 Uber users and drivers. It included more than half a 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:29.840 million driver license numbers along with other information. Now, the 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.520 FDC had told Uber that the company has to report 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.760 these kinds of intrusions promptly, considering the massive effect they 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:42.240 can have on millions of people. But Sullivan allegedly chose 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.560 to cover the whole thing up. Oh and this hack 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:50.120 happened less than two weeks after Sullivan had just appeared 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.480 before the FTC to give an update on Uber's security 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.880 systems and practices. So Sullivan had just recently reassured the 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.360 FTC that Uber strategy was up today. Then he found 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.200 out that Uber was hit by this massive hacker intrusion. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.040 Then he decided to cover it up further. Uber would 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:14.240 later pay the hackers one thousand dollars in cryptocurrency because 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.160 the hackers claimed they would delete the information they stole 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.560 only if they were paid a ransom. Uber even found 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:24.080 out the identities of a couple of those hackers and 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.320 convinced them to sign non disclosure agreements about the breach, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.600 So instead of alerting authorities to these people, they're like, hey, 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.200 don't talk about this ever. All right, sign this deal, 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.200 you get your money, don't ever talk about it. Meanwhile, 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.680 these hackers were targeting other companies using very similar approaches 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:46.280 to what worked with Uber. So the FTC argued that 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.720 what Sullivan was effectively doing was covering for criminals who 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:54.560 were continuing to perpetuate digital crimes while also disguising the 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.200 fact that Uber had been hit by this. The whole 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.400 thing went to trial, and, as I said, a jury 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.160 found Soul have been guilty of a couple of different charges, 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:07.480 namely obstruction of justice and one called misprision of felony. 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.159 I was completely unfamiliar with that phrase, but it means 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:14.600 that he knew that a federal felony had been perpetrated, 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.640 and then he took steps to conceal that felony. While 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.800 he was found guilty, he has yet to be sentenced. 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.480 He could potentially face up to five years in prison 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.439 for the obstruction charge and three years for the misprision charge. 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.080 Fun fact, though before he started working in security roles 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.520 for tech companies, Sullivan was a lawyer with the Department 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:42.640 of Justice. Oh, how the turns have tabled. Yesterday, Intel 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.560 announced it is getting closer to a process that would 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:50.720 allow the company to scale up quantum computer production, specifically 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.280 chips for quantum computers, using a very similar approach to 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.480 how it designs chips for classical computers. Now, I've talked 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:03.320 about quantum computing before, how a sufficiently powerful quantum computer 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:08.080 paired with the right algorithm or program could potentially solve 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.639 very tricky computational problems in a fraction of the amount 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.760 of time it would take a classical computer to do 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.240 that same task. Now, this is not true for all 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:22.400 computational tasks, mind you. There's some things that a classical 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:27.080 computer can do much more efficiently than your typical quantum computer, 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.600 unless you were somehow able to build a truly massive 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.119 quantum computer that could compete with a classical computer for 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.560 those tasks, which would be very very hard to do. 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.760 For a subset of computational problems, however, including ones that 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:44.960 relate to our current encryption practices, a quantum computer could 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:50.440 potentially cause massive disruption. It's possible that with a powerful 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.240 enough quantum computer and with the right algorithm, you could 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:57.240 decrypt pretty much anything that has ever been encrypted in 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.960 a short amount of time. No more secrets. In other words, 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:06.120 So this has pushed research facilities and academic institutions and 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:08.960 various companies to work on developing the next generation of 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.200 encryption tools that would be able to withstand this kind 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:16.720 of computational approach. Anyway, For a long time, all of 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:20.600 this was largely in the realm of the theoretical because 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:25.000 early quantum computers were pretty puny, and they were more 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:28.440 of a demonstration of the principles of quantum computing as 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:34.240 opposed to a practical implementation, and scaling these quantum computers 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.440 is really hard to do. It's hard to build more 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.560 and more powerful quantum computers. It does happen, but it's 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.199 a very big challenge. They are incredibly expensive machines to 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.679 build and operate, and it's very very easy for stuff 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:52.840 to go wrong. But Intel's announcement indicates that this theoretical 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:58.240 reality may soon manifest as real reality, and not too 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:02.080 long from now. Granted, for all of this to really 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:05.360 be a problem, you also have to develop those algorithms 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.760 or you know, a series of instructions that a quantum 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:11.359 computer would follow to carry out a task like decrypting 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.880 stuff that we would otherwise think of as being practically untouchable. 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.560 It's not like you build a quantum computer and it 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:22.120 magically can decrypt things. You have to design an algorithm 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.760 that effectively leads the quantum computer to do this. But 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:27.760 there are people who are working on those algorithms and 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.600 improving them all the time. It's just that you have 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.879 to marry that with a quantum computer of sufficient power 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.400 to make it actually do the thing. You wanted to do. 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.280 But this really does mean we're on the precipice of 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:46.000 an enormous transformation in digital communication and encryption. And that's 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:51.840 just one possible quantum computing application. There are lots of others, 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:56.640 so very exciting. Also, you know, notably a little scary 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.800 because of the implications for things like encryption and the 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:06.440 idea that with the right machine and algorithm, all stuff 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:08.920 that previously we thought of as being private and safe 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:13.560 and locked away isn't. So that that is concerning. But yeah, 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.920 still also really exciting that this is happening and hopefully 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:21.920 things will turn out. Okay, all right, we're gonna take 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:24.920 another quick break while I calm myself down, and we'll 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:27.920 be back to conclude this news episode with a few 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:40.760 more stories. Okay, while looking at news articles for this episode, 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.840 I came across a headline titled social media use linked 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:50.440 to developing depression regardless of personality. Now, that headline reinforces 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:54.840 some preconceived ideas of my own, and it also mirrors 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:58.399 my own personal experience, so it seems to reinforce my 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:02.760 anecdotal experience. So my first reaction to this headline was, well, 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:05.440 of course, I'll go ahead and cover this, but I mean, 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.040 of course it does. However, then I thought, hang on, 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:12.960 I just did an episode about critical thinking. I should 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.400 use some critical thinking. I should really read about how 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:20.720 this study was performed and what it concluded. And once 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:23.280 I did that, and I to be clear, I just 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:25.320 read the press release. I have yet to read the 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.760 full study. I haven't taken enough time to do that yet. 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.080 But even just reading the press release, I tempered my 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:33.800 reaction significantly. Now this is not to say that I 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:39.080 think the headline is necessarily inaccurate, but rather that I 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:44.280 have more questions and I feel like there's some big 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.320 gaps in the reasoning here. Anyway, a group of researchers 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:53.639 from the University of Arkansas, Oregon State University, University of Alabama, 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:56.000 a couple of others. They took a sample of one 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:00.000 thousand US adults between eighteen and thirty years old. Uh. 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.240 Actually that sample was taken back in eighteen, so this 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:05.880 is four year old data. That's one thing we've got 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:09.639 to keep in mind. And they look to see how 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.920 depression correlated both with social media use as well with 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:18.879 certain personality traits, like are people who express certain types 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:22.080 of personalities? More likely to be depressed if they use 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:24.800 social media. That was kind of the question. Now the 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:29.200 press release says, quote, for each personality trait, social media 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:33.640 use was strongly associated with the development of depression. End quote. 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:36.880 Now that phrase has some wiggle room in it. Right, 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:42.480 strongly associated doesn't necessarily mean there's a causal relationship there. Right, 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:44.760 that you have an association, but it doesn't mean that 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:48.439 one causes the other. But in another part of the 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:53.000 press release, it says, quote, those with high neuroticism were 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:56.280 twice as likely to develop depression than those with low 0:23:56.359 --> 0:24:00.240 neuroticism when using more than three minutes of so show 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:05.240 media per day. End quote. Y'all that better be a typo. 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:08.639 Three hundred minutes of social media per day. Three hundred 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:13.440 minutes is five hours. That is a lot of time 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.200 on social media. I mean, I did a cursory search 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:19.159 to find out how much the average person spends on 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:22.080 social media in a day. The number I kept seeing 0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:26.040 was one forty seven minutes. This was on sites like Statista, 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:28.840 which some people have issues with, but I've seen it 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:30.840 reported in a couple different places. Of course, they could 0:24:30.840 --> 0:24:32.840 all be getting their data from the same source, but 0:24:32.920 --> 0:24:36.720 still one seven minutes is less than half of three 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:40.520 hundred minutes, right, So from what I was saying, the 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:43.480 average person spends less than half that amount of time. 0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:50.480 So if you're spending three hundred minutes of time per 0:24:50.560 --> 0:24:54.760 day on social media, you are well outside the norm. Also, 0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:57.240 we should point out that according to these sites they 0:24:57.240 --> 0:24:59.880 are saying a hundred forty seven minutes is average. That's 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:03.399 an increase of two minutes over one. So in other words, 0:25:04.119 --> 0:25:06.479 this keeping in mind that the data we're looking at 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:10.679 in this study is four years old, presumably the average 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:13.359 amount of time spent on social media back in eighteen 0:25:13.440 --> 0:25:16.239 was significantly lower than a hundred forty seven minutes. So 0:25:16.680 --> 0:25:19.840 three hundreds is a crazy outlier, is what I'm saying. 0:25:20.320 --> 0:25:23.800 And I'm also saying, if you're spending twice as much 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:28.000 time as the average person on social media, maybe there's 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:32.359 another factor at play that's contributing both to your depression 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:36.000 and the amount of time you're spending online. Also, I 0:25:36.000 --> 0:25:39.639 should point out, one people, that's a very very small 0:25:39.760 --> 0:25:43.120 sample size. It's hard to draw broad conclusions on such 0:25:43.160 --> 0:25:46.120 a small sample. Now, none of this is to say 0:25:46.160 --> 0:25:49.960 that the research is inherently bad or that the researchers 0:25:50.400 --> 0:25:53.920 all came to faulty conclusions. It's just that, based on 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:57.080