WEBVTT - Tech News: LG Televisions and Targeted Advertising 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.760 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.360 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.200 and how the tech are you? It is time for 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.040 the tech news for Thursday, January twenty Twin D two, 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.120 the Journal of Public Health recently posted a study that 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:35.120 shows anti vaccination groups on Facebook we're sewing the seeds 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:39.120 of mistrust regarding COVID Night teen and COVID Night Team 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:44.080 vaccines before there was even an organized vaccine development program 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.280 from the United States government. According to the study, the 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.559 groups were circulating misinformation about COVID nineteen and vaccines for 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.120 COVID nineteen as early as February twenty twenty. And heck, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.400 that's before we started seeing lockdowns in various cities around 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.440 the world and in the United States. I was still 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.759 on vacation in February at the point where these stories 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.000 were starting to circulate, and in fact, I was starting 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.479 to wonder if I would ever get back home. But um, 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:17.120 but I did. Anyway. The researchers identified the anti vax 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.800 groups that were most active on Facebook at that time, 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.200 and they have some pretty remarkable names. You know, names 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:28.480 like National Vaccine Information Center, which makes it sound like 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.280 it's some sort of official agency that focuses on vaccines, 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.959 but in fact, it was a disinformation campaign designed to 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:43.200 promote conspiracy theories and anti vaxx messaging and undermine confidence 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.919 in vaccinations in general. Two of the other four anti 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:52.360 vax groups that the research report named have similar names 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.640 to that. One is a Vaccination Information Network and the 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.640 other is Vaccine Machine. And the four groups that the 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:03.120 researchers identified had posted around two thousand sixty times on 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:07.880 Facebook from February twenty to May, and about half of 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:12.839 those posts mentioned COVID nineteen. Uh, presumably the other half 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:17.000 were just kind of more generally anti vacs. The study 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.760 really pulls back the curtain on some important things. One 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:25.880 is that misinformation campaigns really got the jump on US 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:30.000 public health officials. Uh. Those deceptive posts came out well 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:34.840 before we started getting you know, reliable information from organizations 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.799 like the c d C, for example. Another is that 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.880 this is yet more proof of how Facebook facilitates the 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.560 spread of harmful information. I'm not saying that the platform 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.960 creates harmful information, but definitely facilitates the spread of it, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.160 and I know I'm beating a dead horse here. I 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.680 know I've talked about this countless times, but Facebook's entire 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.600 business model depends upon people spreading and engaging with content 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.360 on face Book. I mean that engagement is a commodity 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:09.280 that Facebook sells to advertisers, so it financially benefits Facebook 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.480 when these things happen, and it was really only after 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.639 massive pressure that the company indicated it would do anything 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.919 about it. In fact, that's what a lot of those 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.560 internal papers that Francis Hogan leaked to the authorities and 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.920 pressed indicated that when there were voices inside Facebook that 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:30.640 we're warning about stuff like misinformation campaigns, they were often 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:35.760 ignored or silenced. Anyway. The study is titled Faster than 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:40.200 warp Speed Early attention to COVID nineteen by anti vaccine 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:44.120 groups on Facebook. Warp Speed is a reference not to 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.680 star Trek, although I mean indirectly yes, but more directly 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:53.360 to the United States government's uh project to fast track 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.440 vaccine development for COVID nineteen. The big news and activision 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.080 blizzard this month has mostly been about how Microsoft announced 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.440 it was going to acquire the company by the end 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:07.800 of fiscal year twenty twenty three, assuming regulatory bodies around 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.800 the world don't throw the deal off track. But there's 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:14.280 more going on at that company than a big acquisition. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:19.800 Employees at Raven Software, which is a division within Activision Blizzard, 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:24.200 have formed a union. Specifically, the employees I'm talking about 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:28.040 our thirty four quality assurance or q A testers within 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.479 Raven Software. They are the ones who have unionized. Now. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.760 Part of the unionization process, which I've actually seen firsthand 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:41.279 now involves the union potentially reaching out to the company 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.520 and asking that the company formally recognized the union, like 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.960 essentially saying, hey, we have a threshold of employees who 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:55.360 want to unionize. Uh. And here's maybe some union cards 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.760 that people have signed that we were hoping that you 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:03.160 will recognize this as a union uh. And and this 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.520 can go a couple of ways. The company can choose 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:11.560 to voluntarily recognize the union uh, and that process isn't 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.960 necessarily straightforward. There's usually some back and forth between the 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.279 company and the union organizers to determine who's actually covered 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.560 by the union, etcetera. Or a company can choose to 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:27.320 not voluntarily recognize the union, and that's the way Activision 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:32.400 Blizzard chose. So now those QA testers at Raven are 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.440 going to have to file with the National Labor Relations 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.760 Board are in l RB in order to get permission 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.160 to hold a union election. So the election is a 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:46.280 more formal process. And ultimately what does is if the 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:50.359 election passes, If if a majority of employees vote in 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.160 favor of a union, that serves as evidence that they 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:57.800 do in fact want to unionize. And should the election pass, 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.360 then the n l r B will certify the union, 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.760 and that means that companies are going to have to 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.440 deal with union representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.960 for things like compensation and benefits and that kind of stuff. 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.520 Raven released a statement expressing disappointment that Activision Blizzard did 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.680 not voluntarily recognize their union, but expressed confidence that the 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.839 outcome will still be the same, that in fact, the 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.000 election will show that the employees wish to unionize. As 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:31.000 for what this means when Microsoft takes control of Activision Blizzard, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.960 assuming that deal goes through well, Microsoft is also not 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.960 known for being super enthusiastic about unionization. It's a kind 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.400 way of putting it, but anyway, I just want to 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.799 say I stand with the q A testers at Raven 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.920 you know, solidarity. Speaking of unions, organizers at Amazon's JFK 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.920 eight fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York have reached 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.760 the number of signatures they need in order to hold 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.640 a union election vote. The group A previously attempted this 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.360 last year, but they did not get enough signatures to 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.080 merit a vote on whether or not to form a union. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.479 Organizers need to secure the signatures of thirty percent of 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:14.200 the overall workforce that express interest in doing so. Unsurprisingly, 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.880 Amazon representatives have protested this whole move, and they question 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.000 if the signatures that have been gathered are even legitimate. 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.400 They argue that the previous attempt from last year shows 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.960 that workers at the fulfillment center are not interested in organizing, 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.320 and that besides, you know, quote, our employees have always 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.560 had a choice of whether or not to join a union. 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.000 End quote. Now part of my skepticism here, But Amazon 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.000 is also the company that got a slap on the 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.400 wrist in the wake of a different union vote, one 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.320 that took place at a fulfillment center in Alabama. And 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:49.600 in that case in which employees voted against forming a union, 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:54.360 and Amazon was you know, really happy about that. The 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:59.520 organizers alleged that Amazon reps had interfered with the election process. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.320 That action was sustained by the National Labor Relations Board 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.080 and they are n l RB authorized a new vote, 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.000 and that new vote has not yet happened. But essentially, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.840 you know, Amazon has a history that seems to indicate 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:21.280 that the company is very keen on discouraging unionization. And 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.480 on a related note, Amazon made headlines last year when 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:28.280 journalists reported that the company had launched an influence campaign 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.960 to make Amazon seemed like a super awesome place to 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.880 work and perhaps maybe as part of that too, you know, 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:40.679 kind of discourage dangerous ideas like unionization. Essentially, the story 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.360 was that Amazon was paying employees to post on social 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.920 media about how much they lived working at Amazon, and specifically, 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:53.000 folks at warehouses and fulfillment centers were encouraged monetarily, that is, 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:57.000 paid to post positive stories about their work experience. This 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.400 program began in two thousand eighteen, during a time when 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.400 folks were kind of scrutinizing Amazon's working conditions, which were 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:10.800 reported to range from not so great to degrading and inhumane. Like, 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.839 some of the stories were pretty awful. I mean, if 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.600 my employer set performance targets for me that I could 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:18.840 only meet if I were to pee in a bottle 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.440 rather than take a bathroom break whenever I needed to go. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.720 I would call that dehumanizing. And I work from home, 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.960 not in a warehouse, and yeah, that's the kind of 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.640 stuff that was being reported out of Amazon Fulfillment centers now. 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:36.840 The program of promoting Amazon as a great place to 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:41.120 work consisted of more than fifty online accounts on Twitter, 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:47.319 all using the appended title of Amazon FC Ambassador, and 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.480 many of them using similar or sometimes identical content inside 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.520 their posts, all of which position to Amazon is a 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.439 hunky dory kind of place to work, almost like Willy 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:02.080 Wonka's chocolate factory. The strategy did not work. Folks called 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.560 it out right away, and it now appears that Amazon 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.640 has completely scrapped the program by the end of last 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.760 year and then got to work essentially wiping away any 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.520 trace that it was ever a thing. On a related 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:16.760 note and a peek behind the scenes, I recently went 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.719 through some f c C and f TC training here 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.800 at work at I Heart, and that includes learning about 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:27.360 how the FTC and the FCC set out rules regarding 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:32.400 things like sponsored posts and and ads like content creators 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.640 were obligated to indicate when something is an ad or 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.520 a sponsored piece of content. We are not supposed to 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:42.960 pass it off as if it's our genuine thoughts, if 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.040 we wouldn't have done that otherwise. And you've probably seen 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.520 this in online places like YouTube and Instagram and that 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:51.760 kind of thing, where you're supposed to make it it's 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:56.600 explicitly clear if the content you're presenting is sponsored or 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.960 is an outright advertisement. Now I would not be surprised 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.640 of Eventually we see similar rules applied to companies that 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:08.359 are not directly associated with content creation, because what Amazon 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:12.240 did would be against the rules if it were to 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.560 happen on say a podcast or a radio show or 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.319 television show or online videos. So, in other words, if 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:22.240 I had done something similar to what was going on 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.040 at Amazon with this promotional program, and I did not 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:30.240 explicitly make it clear that this was a sponsored message 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:33.280 I was sending out, I could be reliable. I could 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.800 be fined an enormous amount of money, or my company 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.400 could be fined an enormous amount of money. And I'm 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.480 guessing that we will probably see a point where companies 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.480 in general will be held to that where they are 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.360 not allowed to run these kinds of campaigns without it 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.280 potentially resulting in fines. I wouldn't be surprised to see that. 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.760 And our last Amazon story for this episode is about 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:02.080 the Companies Sold by Amazon program. In that program, Amazon 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.200 partnered with third party vendors and then would promote and 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:09.680 sell products from those vendors would be sold by Amazon label. 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.600 So uh, the vendors would enter into an agreement with Amazon, 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.240 and that agreement would include a minimum payment rate for 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.199 stuff sold on Amazon, and then if sales went above 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:24.040 that minimum, then Amazon would start taking a cut of 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.920 the revenue. But the Attorney General for the state of 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:31.120 Washington launched an investigation into Amazon and concluded that this 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:36.319 practice was anti competitive and included illegal price fixing, and 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.080 that the program was meant to push Amazon sales numbers 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.360 up at the expense of independent third party vendors on 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.800 the platform. Amazon subsequently discontinued the program and will pay 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.840 a fee of more than two million dollars to the 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.480 office of the Attorney General, and reportedly that fine will 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.600 go to fund more anti trust enforcement efforts. We've got 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.920 a lot more stories to cover, but before we get 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:08.880 to that, let's take a quick break. Okay, we just 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.079 came back from ads and LG announced to advertising companies 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.000 this week that it would offer guaranteed outcome AD services 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.400 through its connected televisions. So once you start cutting through 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.560 the marketing speak, it appears that this really indicates the 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.880 LG is going to offer up stuff like targeted advertising 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.520 capabilities through its smart TVs. So if you buy an 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:36.559 LG television, then you should expect more targeted ads to 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.120 come through. Ads on smart televisions are not a new thing. 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.920 If you have a smart TV, you're probably familiar with this. 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.120 A lot of smart TVs will display an AD on 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.760 say the home screen for the television or within certain menus. 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.880 But LG has been particularly aggressive with ads and now 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.959 is looking to step up into that targeted ad game. 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:00.439 And according to digit A, LG will quote promise brands 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.640 that their CTV that stands for a connected television video 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:09.120 ads running on LG smart TVs meet campaign goals across 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:14.480 multiple kpi s. KPI stands for a key performance indicators 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.840 such as video completion rates. Buyers only pay if videos 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:23.760 are played in their entirety, demographic targets, reach and frequency 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:28.320 goals etcetera. Conversion metrics for mobile are also offered, but 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.920 elements including tune in web visits, physical location visits, etcetera, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.000 won't be available for another few months end quote. And 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.800 that starts to sound a bit scary to me. I 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:44.720 mean from that, I infer that eventually LG connected televisions 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.600 are going to share information with your smartphone, including any 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.560 location tracking that your phone uses, and share that information 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.280 with advertisers. So that let's say that you've got a 0:14:55.320 --> 0:15:00.480 company that advertises mattresses and that company then sees that 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.200 the targeted customers are actually visiting brick and mortar stores 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:08.160 that the company operates. Because the LG smart TV is 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:13.240 sharing that location data between apps on the smartphone, the television, 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.360 and the whole advertising campaign in the first place, starts 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:19.800 to get a little invasive. Also, if we're talking targeted 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:23.720 advertising that takes into account stuff like your browsing habits 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.480 that you know it's connected to an account that is 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.040 living on, say your computer or your smartphone, a lot 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.240 of other red flags pop up For me. It could 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.600 be a really big privacy issue. Just imagine for a 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:37.960 second that you're living in an apartment with a whole 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.840 bunch of roommates, and you might happen to own an 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.720 LG smart TV and you offer to have that be 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.680 the communal television in the living room space. So you're 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.760 living room TV is your smart LG TV. If that 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.240 television is connected to some sort of account on your 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:58.640 smartphone or laptop, it's possible that the ads that end 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.360 up being displayed are revealing information that you really didn't 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.280 want to share with your roommates. Maybe it's like medical 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.120 information or something. And that's just one hypothetical situation. I 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.760 can imagine where this is not a good thing, but 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.880 we'll have to see how it plays out. Today is 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:20.360 Holocaust Remembrance Day. It's the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.320 and today is also when the TikTok platform will begin 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:29.400 promoting a website called about Holocaust dot org. The World 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:33.800 Jewish Congress and UNESCO created that site to educate people 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:38.160 about the Holocaust and to fight back against misinformation and 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:44.840 denial campaigns, which unfortunately proliferate across the internet. Advocacy groups 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.560 have long complained that TikTok was not taking enough action 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.880 to curtail anti Semitic messaging on the platform, and Holocaust 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:57.360 denial in videos as well. In addition, several Jewish TikTok 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.760 creators have reported being the target of abuse. Sometimes they've 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:05.560 had their content mistakenly flagged or removed with no justification. 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.920 And according to see net, there have been some trends 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.440 on TikTok that I'm not even going to describe here 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:17.960 because I find them deeply upsetting and very sad. But 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.480 I will say they are trends that minimize or even 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:25.480 celebrate the Holocaust, which is it turns my stomach now. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.520 I think TikTok is taking the right actions to try 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.480 and push back against these trends on its platform and 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.040 to make sure that people visiting TikTok have the opportunity 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:39.000 to learn from reputable sources about the Holocaust and not 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.520 allow misinformation to run unchecked. Of course, it will remain 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.840 to be seen about whether or not these efforts are effective. 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:52.959 Do you remember way back in November two thousand nineteen, 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:58.240 when Tesla unveiled its design for the cyber truck. The 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:02.359 reaction to that unveiling was, I'll be kind, I'll say 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.640 it was mixed. Maybe part of that is because during 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:09.120 a demonstration to show how unbreakable. The truck's windows were 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:14.840 the windows broke? What sie? It also has a pretty 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.840 funky design, do it like? Some people just absolutely hated it. 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:23.320 A few people thought it was weird but kind of interesting. 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.800 I think it's interesting, but not It doesn't look practical 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.160 to me, But what do I know. I don't drive anyway. Um, 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.679 and we got reports late last year that an updated 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:36.520 design of the cyber truck was spotted driving around test 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:40.919 tracks in Fremont. Well, the cyber truck was supposed to 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:42.840 come out by the end of this year. Actually, I 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.840 think they were supposed to start shipping late last year. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.919 That didn't happen, and now it looks like it's not 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:53.240 gonna happen this year either, because in an earnings call yesterday, 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:55.400 Elon Musk revealed that the production of the truck has 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:59.159 been delayed until twenty three. He also said that the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.120 company would not be introducing any new models this year, 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.199 and he also dismissed the idea that Tesla would pursue 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:09.080 producing a low cost vehicle in the near future. He 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.880 said there were no plans to design a twenty five 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.800 dollar car, and he essentially said that the company doesn't 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.560 really need to make a low cost car, at least 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.640 not yet, because they'll end up selling every car they're 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.479 able to produce. Now, you could interpret that as being boastful, right, 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.159 Let's say like, oh, we don't need to have a 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.320 budget car in our lineup. We don't. It doesn't matter 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.520 what we charge, We're gonna sell every single car off 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.600 the line, which is kind of how Musk said it. 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.439 I guess, so we wouldn't be unfair to frame it 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.680 that way. However, I don't really think of it as boasting. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.199 I think of it more as an indication that Tesla 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:51.840 doesn't produce nearly as many vehicles as some of its 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:57.560 competitors do. For example, in one Tesla said that it 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:03.040 delivered nine thirty six thousand vehicles, so below one million, 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:07.959 but ninety six thousand. Toyota meanwhile produced seven point six 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.160 million vehicles at the end of their last fiscal year, 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.640 which was at the end of last March. So if 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:16.879 you're looking at that level of scale, to me, it 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.760 makes sense that that Tesla is not focusing on low 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.359 cost vehicles yet because it has not reached a scale 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.879 of production where it would merit. The move to making 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.239 low cost vehicles in fact, it might not even be 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:36.320 financially feasible to make low cost vehicles right now because 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.320 of those issues of the scale of production. Now as 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:45.000 Tesla grows, that can very much change. But I think 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:47.760 that's kind of what Well, that was my interpretation of 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:49.760 what Elon Musk was getting at. I could be totally 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:53.280 off base. Now here's a question. If a self driving 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.719 vehicle gets into an accident, whom do you find at fault? 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.159 Is it the car's owner, was it the person who 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.520 was in the vehicle? Was it the car maker? Well, 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.280 the Law Commission of England and Wales as well as 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.440 the Scottish Law Commission released a joint report that suggests 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:14.680 people who are you know, in an autonomous vehicle should 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:18.920 not be held responsible for road safety issues. Instead, the 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:23.480 car maker should be held accountable for any road safety 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:27.399 issues that that occur because of that car. And this 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:29.960 has been one of those areas of debate as engineers 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.080 get closer to producing what we might actually call a 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:37.880 truly autonomous vehicle. But the commissions also point out quite 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:42.120 correctly that there is massive confusion among the general public 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:45.840 as to what is and what is not a truly 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:50.000 self driving car. And we were just talking about Tesla, 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:52.320 so I'm going to use them as an example of 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.520 how the public can get confused. Tesla refers to its 0:21:56.119 --> 0:22:00.280 you know, basic driver assist suite of features as auto pilot, 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:04.600 and I would argue that sets an expectation that isn't 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:08.800 very realistic because the word autopilot seems to suggest, at 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.160 least to me, that the driver doesn't have to worry 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:16.080 about anything because the car is an autopilot. But arguably 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.879 worse than that, the company has uh the full self 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:23.320 driving mode, which is in beta. It's not a full 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:27.359 release yet, but I would say that's not really a 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.840 full self driving mode. Even though it's called full self driving. 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:33.240 I would say it's not full self driving. You still 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:37.159 have to have an owner prepared to intervene and to 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:39.240 you're not supposed to take your hands off the wheel, 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.600 You're supposed to maintain your attention. That to me does 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:47.639 not mean full self driving. So there's no wonder that 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:50.320 the average person might have an unrealistic expectation as to 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:54.680 what a self driving car can and cannot do. Anyway, 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:59.800 should the UK adopt the recommendations these commissions have suggested 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:04.920 and hold car makers accountable for any accidents that happened 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.320 with their their vehicles. We could see a precedent set 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:11.040 in which governments around the world agree that car makers 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:17.040 are the responsible ones if self driving vehicles get into accidents. Now, personally, 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:20.320 I think that's the most reasonable approach. Um. You know, 0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:22.320 you can even get more granular than that, if you 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:27.879 want to argue that the department in charge of whatever 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:32.600 part of the the self driving system was at fault 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:35.120 really takes the blame. But I think that the car 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:36.919 maker is the one that makes the most sense. And 0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:40.200 I think when we start talking about stuff like insurance, 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.119 that's going to have to play a factor as well. 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:45.879 Assuming we do get to a world where you know, 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:48.800 you might own a self driving car, keeping in mind 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:51.920 that most models I see suggest that self driving cars 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.800 will actually be owned by companies that are essentially right 0:23:54.880 --> 0:24:01.320 hailing companies, not necessarily sold to individual customers. Um, but yeah, 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:03.360 this could really set a legal precedent that we could 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:07.320 see spread around the world. And unless we're talking about 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:11.399 a case where a human is interfering with the autonomous 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:14.040 operations of a car, I think that that just makes 0:24:14.040 --> 0:24:16.439 sense if you are talking about something where somebody I 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:21.040 don't know, rests control of the car from the system. Uh, 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:23.399 then obviously you would be in a different case, and 0:24:23.520 --> 0:24:25.879 I don't think the car maker should be held accountable 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:29.119 in those instances. That's why I think a lot of 0:24:29.119 --> 0:24:31.199 car companies that have been kind of playing with the 0:24:31.240 --> 0:24:34.520 idea of autonomous cars have also floated the concept of 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:38.280 vehicles that don't have controls in them, right, because then 0:24:38.320 --> 0:24:41.600 you take away at least human accessible controls them. You 0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:43.880 take away the ability for a human to like turn 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.640 the wheels suddenly when it should be under the control 0:24:46.800 --> 0:24:49.560 of the car itself. Okay, we've got a few more 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:52.080 stories to cover, but before we get to those, let's 0:24:52.119 --> 0:25:04.800 take another quick break. Block Incorporated CEO Jack Dorsey is 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:09.880 probably sweating a little bit right now. Block inc Used 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:13.360 to be known as Square, which is its famous product 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:17.440 and service. You probably have encountered a Square dongle at 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:20.840 some point. These are typically it's a device that you 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:24.280 plug into something like an iOS device like an iPhone 0:25:24.359 --> 0:25:29.119