WEBVTT - Roblox CEO David Baszucki Talks Google Partnership, New Parental Controls

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Now, if you have children,

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<v Speaker 1>the chances of you knowing about Roadblocks are pretty high.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a virtual universe, of course, that allows users to create,

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<v Speaker 1>to collaborate nearly eighty five million daily active users. Roadblocks

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<v Speaker 1>is out with a slew of announcements, including a partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with Google, as well as new parental controls. Shares rallying

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<v Speaker 1>following the news and let's just unpack it all in

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<v Speaker 1>inexclusive conversation with Roblox CEO David Bazuki. David is great

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<v Speaker 1>to have you on the show, and I'm so interested

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<v Speaker 1>in what analysts are calling right now a smart strategic move,

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<v Speaker 1>this partnership with Google. What brands are responding to this

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<v Speaker 1>new partnership we've unveiled.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, great to be on the show and want to

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<v Speaker 2>highlight you know, we shared a really huge vision of

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<v Speaker 2>having ten percent of all gaming running on Roadblocks, which

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<v Speaker 2>is a really big vision. And you know, we feel

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<v Speaker 2>gaming is still in the prehistoric times as far as

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<v Speaker 2>how people consume and use gaming content. We have a

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<v Speaker 2>huge creator community who is already creating amazing businesses. This

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<v Speaker 2>partnership with Google is another way for those creators to

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<v Speaker 2>help build their business and monetize. And for our older users,

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to give our creators side by side virtual

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<v Speaker 2>currency and side by side subscriptions another way to help

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<v Speaker 2>build their business on roadblocks. We have many creators making

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<v Speaker 2>over ten million dollars a year on the platform and

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<v Speaker 2>some making over fifty million dollars a year. So this

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<v Speaker 2>is really sponsoring big emerging studios building on our platform.

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<v Speaker 1>It's about the ecosystem. I'm interested you say for older users,

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<v Speaker 1>who do you think the brands really want to expose

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<v Speaker 1>themselves to right now? In terms of generations? Is it

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<v Speaker 1>still all about gen z? Is it skewing upward?

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<v Speaker 2>We shared the vision once again of ultimately getting to

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<v Speaker 2>a billion daily active users on platform with this intermediate

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<v Speaker 2>step of ten percent of gaming, and in last quarter

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<v Speaker 2>we shared a lot of fun stats are seventeen through

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<v Speaker 2>twenty four age group is growing very rapidly. We've become

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<v Speaker 2>a platform where more of our users are over thirteen.

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<v Speaker 2>That seventeen through twenty four year old segment is really

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<v Speaker 2>hard to reach.

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<v Speaker 3>More and more of them are on roadblocks.

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<v Speaker 2>As we start to have amazing experiences, whether it's NFL

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<v Speaker 2>Universe dressed to dress to impress experiences where these types

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<v Speaker 2>of users are on our platform.

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<v Speaker 1>Dress to impress immediately makes me think about, well, obviously

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<v Speaker 1>the retail opportunity for brands, but also how it becomes

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<v Speaker 1>synonymous with physical well too, take us forward is what

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<v Speaker 1>really advertising will eventually be? For roadblocks?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, well, if we step forward, way forward in a

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<v Speaker 2>sci fi scenario, I can imagine, just like it's fun

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<v Speaker 2>to go shopping at the mall today, it's of course

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to go shopping with our virtual avatars. We're

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<v Speaker 2>going to be able to go to stores, see our

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<v Speaker 2>favorite brands. We're going to be able to try clothing

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<v Speaker 2>on and see how it looks on our avatar. We're

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<v Speaker 2>going to have a lot of fun doing it, and

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<v Speaker 2>when we want to buy the physical or the virtual item,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll be able to make that purchase. So we may

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<v Speaker 2>look back in ten or twenty years ago, Oh my gosh,

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<v Speaker 2>it was weird that all of our shopping on the

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<v Speaker 2>web was two D rather than jumping forward to a

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<v Speaker 2>future three D and ultimately four dimensional world. So someday

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<v Speaker 2>maybe we'll go virtual shopping together.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, advertisers are going to be excited buy it. The

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<v Speaker 1>analyst is excited by it because ultimately this will become

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<v Speaker 1>a bigger and bigger part of your business model. When

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<v Speaker 1>do you think you'll be able to break it out

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<v Speaker 1>and show just how much advertising is bringing to your

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<v Speaker 1>bottom line?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we once again on this journey to getting over

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<v Speaker 2>ten percent of the gaming market space. We've shared we

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<v Speaker 2>expect to be growing our bookings at over twenty percent

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<v Speaker 2>year on year continuously going forward while generating a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of cash. And we are looking forward to when we

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<v Speaker 2>break out the advertising revenue and the commerce revenue we

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<v Speaker 2>haven't shared.

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<v Speaker 3>When we will do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Come on the show, Dave, on the show. What you

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<v Speaker 1>got to break it for us on the show?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I can't break it on the show, but I'll

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<v Speaker 2>call you before we break it out and I'll let

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<v Speaker 2>you know.

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<v Speaker 1>I appreciate that nook more seriously for brands to really

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<v Speaker 1>commit here and to stick with it, for your users

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<v Speaker 1>to remain it's also all about safety. I know you've

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<v Speaker 1>been putting a lot of thought into that. You've got

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<v Speaker 1>new parental controls that you're announcing today for us, Dave,

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<v Speaker 1>talk us through them.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we'll take a step back even when we first

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<v Speaker 2>launched the platform very early on. Our goal was to

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<v Speaker 2>build the safest place on the Internet, and as a

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<v Speaker 2>Roadbox has become more embedded in our culture, we're constantly

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<v Speaker 2>shipping safety improvements. We're really trying to support parents to

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<v Speaker 2>make great decisions for their family. So we already preemptively

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<v Speaker 2>have screen time limits on Roadblocks. Parents can set that

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<v Speaker 2>with their family. We're announcing today more parental visibility. Parents

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<v Speaker 2>will be able to see where the people and their family,

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<v Speaker 2>the younger people at least, are playing on Roadblocks. They're

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<v Speaker 2>going to have more and more control of who their

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<v Speaker 2>kids are friends with, and they'll actually have control over

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<v Speaker 2>what experiences they might say is not appropriate for our family.

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<v Speaker 2>So this notion of focusing on safety and giving parents control,

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<v Speaker 2>in addition to all of the other safety work we do,

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<v Speaker 2>is really a big priority for us.

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<v Speaker 1>How does that fit with the kids actually experience, Dave,

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<v Speaker 1>And do you think in any way we'll start to

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<v Speaker 1>see less time spent on the product.

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<v Speaker 2>We once again there's something really cool about Roadblocks and

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<v Speaker 2>this form of social media. The form of social media

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<v Speaker 2>that Roadblox is really communication and connection. And when I

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<v Speaker 2>was a kid, sometime on rainy days I would pick

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<v Speaker 2>up the phone and that's how I'd hang out with

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<v Speaker 2>my friends. Roadblocks is less about sharing short videos and

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<v Speaker 2>watching them by myself or sharing images of myself. It's

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<v Speaker 2>about doing things with other people, and so I think parents,

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<v Speaker 2>working with the young people and their family will figure

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<v Speaker 2>out what's right for them.

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<v Speaker 1>At one point, you did suggest that if parents don't

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<v Speaker 1>trust the product, they should keep their kids off. What's

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<v Speaker 1>the reaction been to that, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I think there was a lot more context to that.

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<v Speaker 2>What we were talking about is comfort and the noes in.

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<v Speaker 2>We think parents should be comfortable with what the young

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<v Speaker 2>people are doing on their platform.

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<v Speaker 3>We do.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, safeties are our top priority. We're shipping safety

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<v Speaker 2>improvements every week and this is just one of many

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<v Speaker 2>many announcements. You know, one of the biggest things we

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<v Speaker 2>do on Roadblocks is try to keep people on our

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<v Speaker 2>platform so they don't go to other platforms where they

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<v Speaker 2>may share images or where they may chat with unfiltered texts.

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<v Speaker 2>So that quote I made was about parents should be

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<v Speaker 2>comfortable with what their family is doing.

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<v Speaker 1>How much can AI make them more comfortable?

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<v Speaker 2>So behind the scenes before we're in an amazing time

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<v Speaker 2>with AI right now, it's changing how we create. It's

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<v Speaker 2>changing ultimately how people create on roadblocks. And we think

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<v Speaker 2>what's going to happen on roadblocks is rather than maybe

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<v Speaker 2>the text world or the image world, which is the.

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<v Speaker 3>One D world or the two D world.

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<v Speaker 2>On roadblocks, we're going to be supporting the three D

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<v Speaker 2>world where people are building three D objects behind the scenes.

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<v Speaker 2>We've been building an AI platform for four years. We

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<v Speaker 2>have over two hundred models running on roadblocks. All of

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<v Speaker 2>the images that people use when they're creating, all of

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<v Speaker 2>the text, all of the voice on roadblocks runs through

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<v Speaker 2>some of these models, and so AA.

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<v Speaker 3>Has really been a foundation of what we've done.

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<v Speaker 2>We are our voice model is so good and so

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<v Speaker 2>efficient that we've shared it on hugging Face so other

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<v Speaker 2>companies can use it. I was just at the Game

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<v Speaker 2>Developers Conference. I ran into a startup and I said,

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<v Speaker 2>how are you going to do voice safety? And they said,

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to use your open source voice models. So

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<v Speaker 2>we're really trying to give back to the community and

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<v Speaker 2>these areas where we've got, you know, expertise, and we've

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<v Speaker 2>also joined a consortium to try to make this open

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<v Speaker 2>source for more small companies.

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<v Speaker 1>Now consortium roost Robust online open safety tools alongside Google

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<v Speaker 1>and discord just how collaborative is it with other platforms

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to or is there more collaboration needed day.

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<v Speaker 2>We're one of the founding members. We want to more

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<v Speaker 2>and more make open source. Some of the models we've

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<v Speaker 2>built for safety Voices is arguably one of the first

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<v Speaker 2>steps for that, and it's exciting to me that I'm

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<v Speaker 2>starting to hear of small startup companies who will simply

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<v Speaker 2>use our voice model. We've also made our three D

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<v Speaker 2>foundational AI model, the Cube model, also open source, and

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<v Speaker 2>we believe once again these foundational models, because we have

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<v Speaker 2>such an expertise in training and building them, can be

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<v Speaker 2>used by others.

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<v Speaker 1>I just go back to what you said at the

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<v Speaker 1>start there, Dave, that you wanted to build the safest

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<v Speaker 1>place on the Internet all the way back in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand and six. The world was such a different place

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<v Speaker 1>in two thousand and six, and yes, we might as

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<v Speaker 1>parents have been anxious about what our kids were doing

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<v Speaker 1>on the streets. But now we've got an anxiety level

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<v Speaker 1>around all of what could be going on the Internet.

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<v Speaker 1>And then you add AI on top of that, and

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<v Speaker 1>the moderation crisis that evolves of that have ever more

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<v Speaker 1>content that you have to oversee. Just what does it

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<v Speaker 1>feel like as someone who I know is a parent

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<v Speaker 1>has their nephew nieces using roadblocks is really thoughtful about

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<v Speaker 1>the future of Internet? Does it upset you or how

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<v Speaker 1>does it make you respond when the worst of humanity

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<v Speaker 1>creeps on it.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm surprisingly very optimistic, and I'm surprising, you know. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>optimistic because more and more, from the safety standpoint, AI

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<v Speaker 2>gives us enormous power and enormous tools to help moderate

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<v Speaker 2>both content as well as communication. On the creation side,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm very optimistic because I more and more people on

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<v Speaker 2>roadblocks are going to become creators, and people who feel

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<v Speaker 2>they could never have designed clothing, or could never have

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<v Speaker 2>designed a new house, or could never design a sports

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<v Speaker 2>car are going to start being able to design these

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<v Speaker 2>things by talking about them and not just design them

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<v Speaker 2>one time, but iterate on them, improve on them. So

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<v Speaker 2>just like digital tools like Photoshop replaced oil painting, I

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<v Speaker 2>actually feel AI is gonna make us all feel more

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<v Speaker 2>like creators and supercharged creativity amongst all of us.

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<v Speaker 1>So we love the low five vibes of roadblocks in

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<v Speaker 1>the past. How much is it going to become high

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<v Speaker 1>fidelity what we're currently seeing on our screens.

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<v Speaker 2>The long term spec for the product, and really one

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<v Speaker 2>of the most difficult specifications of any technical platform is

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<v Speaker 2>giving artists complete freedom. And with video right now, we

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<v Speaker 2>could argue that artists have freedom. We see animation, we

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<v Speaker 2>see anime, we see photorealistic, we see hyper realistic. We're

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<v Speaker 2>introducing more and more functionality, and we mentioned this part

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<v Speaker 2>of the the notion that we want to have ten

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<v Speaker 2>percent of the gaming space on our platform, so ultimately

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<v Speaker 2>artists can either go our traditional blocky style, a more

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<v Speaker 2>realistic style, or ultimately, with some of the cloud facilities,

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<v Speaker 2>we're building high res styles that they're used to in

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<v Speaker 2>some of the other types of games they see out

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<v Speaker 2>there in the market.

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<v Speaker 1>You talk about how you want to serve the market,

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<v Speaker 1>the ecosystem, the developers you've done. I mean, the value

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<v Speaker 1>creation that we've seen with one of the key developers

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<v Speaker 1>being Brookhaven, has been phenomenal. They sold out of oldex.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you know the sort of size of deal and

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<v Speaker 1>how many millions are going for those sorts of purchases.

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<v Speaker 3>I can't comment on the size of the deal.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm pretty sure the deals are starting to get into

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<v Speaker 2>nine figures, not eight figures. At the Roadblocks Developer conference

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<v Speaker 2>last September, one of my ten prognostications was, We're going

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<v Speaker 2>to see a billion dollar market value.

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<v Speaker 3>Deal for a studio on.

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<v Speaker 2>Roadblocks, and arguably we should see that happen. If we

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<v Speaker 2>keep pushing the technology for the gaming space, and if

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<v Speaker 2>we have ten percent of the gaming in the world

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<v Speaker 2>running on our platform, we're going to see more and

0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.240
<v Speaker 2>more of those studios start to show up.

0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.000
<v Speaker 1>Talking about gaming, but you're also talking about how this

0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.040
<v Speaker 1>is ultimately a social endeavor. Who is your competitor right now?

0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.880
<v Speaker 1>Is it eyes and minutes spent on TikTok and social

0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.600
<v Speaker 1>media or is it other gaming platforms.

0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:30.000
<v Speaker 3>It's an interesting metaphor it.

0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:35.760
<v Speaker 2>As we think about competition, we think more about this

0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.560
<v Speaker 2>vision we have in the company, and also what is

0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.720
<v Speaker 2>technically possible with today's technology.

0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.640
<v Speaker 3>We know it's technically possible ultimately.

0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.720
<v Speaker 2>For a young creator to build a really interesting experience,

0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:55.960
<v Speaker 2>have it immediately be live in any country, it be

0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:00.160
<v Speaker 2>within the policies of any country, have it automatically translated

0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.640
<v Speaker 2>to any language, and have it run either on a

0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:08.440
<v Speaker 2>very low end device, a two gigabyte RAM phone or

0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.520
<v Speaker 2>a super high end gaming PC and allow people to

0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:17.920
<v Speaker 2>join that experience instantaneously without a download. Because we know

0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.000
<v Speaker 2>all of this is possible and we're building it as

0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.680
<v Speaker 2>quickly as we can. We do sometimes think our competition

0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.320
<v Speaker 2>is our own ability to iterate quickly.

0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:32.800
<v Speaker 1>Some might say about TikTok being a competitor. We had

0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.400
<v Speaker 1>Jesse Tinsley on the show previously. He said, you're supporting

0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.040
<v Speaker 1>his bid for TikTok on a personal perspective? Are you

0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:38.760
<v Speaker 1>still day.

0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.240
<v Speaker 2>A high level I won't comment on what bid I'm supporting.

0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:47.320
<v Speaker 2>I do think there's one of the things we're highlighting

0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:52.320
<v Speaker 2>in our discovery system is transparency, and I think there's

0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:57.240
<v Speaker 2>an underlying theme of all of these bids. Whether the

0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.960
<v Speaker 2>algorithm is running in the US or at the lead,

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.760
<v Speaker 2>it's completely transparent. I think people all around the world

0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.000
<v Speaker 2>would like to see transparency in these algorithms. One of

0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:09.800
<v Speaker 2>the things we're doing more and more on roadblocks for

0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:14.120
<v Speaker 2>the creators who also our users find cool experiences on

0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.840
<v Speaker 2>roadblocks is being very transparent with how our algorithm is working,

0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.000
<v Speaker 2>so developers can can know how we're forwarding things to

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.680
<v Speaker 2>the user. But I do think whatever the bid on

0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:30.320
<v Speaker 2>TikTok is, we're going to see transparency of that algorithm

0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:34.480
<v Speaker 2>and arguably an air gap where that algorithm has to run.

0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.880
<v Speaker 1>In the United States, the administration pretty involved in the

0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:42.880
<v Speaker 1>TikTok bid. Now the administration, the current SEC now inheriting

0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.960
<v Speaker 1>a potential investigation into Roadblocks. How is that going day?

0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:48.440
<v Speaker 3>I can't comment on that.

0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.960
<v Speaker 2>I constantly say we run an extremely type ship and

0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:54.680
<v Speaker 2>we're very proud of everything we do.

0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.920
<v Speaker 1>Pride is something you want to make global. And you're

0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 1>talking about how people can create immersive world and immediately

0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.240
<v Speaker 1>go into any language, any country right here right now,

0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.080
<v Speaker 1>it's quite difficult to be a global country company when

0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:09.920
<v Speaker 1>based in the US. How do you feel about the

0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.000
<v Speaker 1>trade anxiety that's currently undergoing and what it means for

0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:13.600
<v Speaker 1>your business?

0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:19.880
<v Speaker 3>I was just in Emirates at the World Forum, and what.

0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:25.160
<v Speaker 2>Was interesting is in Emirates there are some top Roadblocks

0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.400
<v Speaker 2>creators who are are contributing code to some of the

0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.920
<v Speaker 2>top experiences on the platform, and also some top creators

0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.920
<v Speaker 2>who are are fashion creators who are doing quite well

0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:39.160
<v Speaker 2>in the virtual economy on the platform. I'm optimistic for

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:43.680
<v Speaker 2>platforms like Roadblocks where there's a demand for amazing content

0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.480
<v Speaker 2>more and more of our creators, whether they're in the USA,

0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.200
<v Speaker 2>whether they're in the Gulf region, whether they're down in Brazil,

0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:52.680
<v Speaker 2>where you.

0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.280
<v Speaker 3>Know, we have an enormous activity.

0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.080
<v Speaker 2>I'm really excited that we can offer a global economy

0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.080
<v Speaker 2>for these creators, and we see our top creators coming

0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.240
<v Speaker 2>from all around the world dressed to impress team.

0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:05.440
<v Speaker 3>For example, I believe.

0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:10.760
<v Speaker 1>Is in the UK your username is build Aman. Are

0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.280
<v Speaker 1>you still busy building a view that this is going

0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.000
<v Speaker 1>to be the metaverse that we're going to live in

0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.879
<v Speaker 1>that in the next few years? Is that what the

0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:20.080
<v Speaker 1>ultimate vision is here day?

0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.399
<v Speaker 2>The vision we have is humans are always trying to

0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.000
<v Speaker 2>find a way to communicate. And we used to use

0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:34.000
<v Speaker 2>the mail system, we use the phone system, we use texting,

0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:38.119
<v Speaker 2>we're on video, we're communicating on video, and we believe

0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.200
<v Speaker 2>three D communication is going to sit side by side

0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:41.479
<v Speaker 2>with that.

0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:43.920
<v Speaker 3>Three D communication is pretty interesting.

0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.760
<v Speaker 2>We can change our avatar, we can play Hide and

0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.639
<v Speaker 2>Seek together, we can go to a concert together. So

0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.399
<v Speaker 2>we're really optimistic about what we call this evolution to

0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.359
<v Speaker 2>three D and fort dy communication. We think it's going

0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.120
<v Speaker 2>to be big. We think this is a natural evolution

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:04.320
<v Speaker 2>of technology. We're in a great opportunity to help usher

0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.560
<v Speaker 2>this in in a safe and civil way. And when

0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.679
<v Speaker 2>we get back to building, we actually call our people

0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.879
<v Speaker 2>and our team with in Roadblocks builders, so that that

0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.120
<v Speaker 2>builder man idea has has really stayed with us.

0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.040
<v Speaker 1>David Zuki, great to have you on the show. Co

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.600
<v Speaker 1>founder CEO Roadblocks, Stay well,