WEBVTT - Alphabet and Microsoft earnings, Neuralink's Brain Implant 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.240 We're from Marhart where Innovation, money and power. 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.680 Collie in Silicon Valley, NBN. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:11.080 This is Bloomberg Technology with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow. 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:26.720 I'm Caroline Heider Bloomberg's world headquarters in New. 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.400 York, and I'm Ed Lovelow in San Francisco. This is 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.120 Bloomberg Technology. 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:31.319 And big Tech. 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.519 It's on deck Alphabet, AMD Microsoft, it is time to 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:36.920 show the impact of AI will get you what you 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:37.239 need to know. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.880 Ahead of their earnings, Neuralink puts its brain implant technology 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.479 in its first patient. We have all the details on 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.199 a big step forward for Mus's company that aims to 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.000 let humans control computers with their minds and the. 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.840 Culture of crypto. How FOAM VC Chris Dixon sees the 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.480 current investment environment for the next era of the Internet. 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.240 This is day one of a massive week for the 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:01.280 megacat Tech earnings. 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.320 Car and We've got the perfect voice to just highlight 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.119 what we are expecting from these results from Alphabet Microsoft, 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.160 in particular, tech chants really, as we say, under pressure 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.480 to live up to that AI hype. Whither the breakdown 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.200 is Jackie devilas over there in Washington and Jackie just 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.479 how much we'd likely to see any sort of revenue 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:18.040 and profit being driven by this investment. 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.000 Thus far, it's a big show me the money moment, 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.560 and we're nearly a year into this AI boom. They 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.720 have to have some kind of evidence. There's a reason 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.880 it's a bit harder to quantify because AI is embedded 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.200 in so many different parts of the business. But there 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.679 are a few places where we can look to see 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:39.080 proof that their AI bets are paying off. For Microsoft, 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:43.399 it's that Office six three sixty five copilot product. They 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.959 made this widely available to more consumers and small businesses 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.920 earlier in January, but even before that, they launched it 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.920 in September and have really been amping up the hype 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.400 around how much it can impact productivity. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.800 Those subscription figures will be key. 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.120 For Google, it's a little bit more complex because they 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.080 have been a little bit slower to push this out 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.640 into their search tools and their productivity suite. So but 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.520 here we can look at the Google Cloud profit numbers. 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.560 We saw that hit a new product profitability level last 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.360 year on the back of that AI startup business that 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.440 they were capturing. But again, they don't have a clean 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:27.280 figure like Nvidia has. Their A one hundred Blockbuster chip 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.200 to really point to for that AI evidence. 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.400 You've you've set us up really well. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.800 In today's Tech Daily, I was looking at the EPs 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.359 forecast right, and it's a pretty big range, like Microsoft 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.040 fifty one percent EPs growth expected in the court gone. 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.480 Then you compare with sorry, nineteen percent of Microsoft fifty 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:48.120 one percent for Google. Alphabet the parent of Google, and 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.760 so let's shift to that Alphabet story, because we're super excited. 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:58.960 Caroline's excited, I'm excited, You're excited. Google is an advertising business, that's. 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.200 Right when you think about it, it's their juggernaut. They 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.600 have to be very strategic when it comes to how 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:06.760 they're deploying some of. 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:07.800 These AI features. 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.600 Unlike Microsoft, which is more than happy to boost its 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.960 being search engine only has three percent of the market share, it. 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:16.560 Don't really have much to lose. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.760 Google here has been looking to kind of take a 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:23.000 more experimental approach, and now that you have Gemini coming 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.839 out in September, investors are going to want to see 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:27.799 a plan for how this is making a difference. You're 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.120 also going to be looking at YouTube figures. Are AI 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.920 features yielding any fruit when it comes to you know 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:39.600 that search advertising and the YouTube engagement levels. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.760 Is that making a difference, But again. 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.320 It's a little bit early to tell from the Google front. 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:46.800 All right, in the few hours that remain before those 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.360 companies do post numbers, check out the preview that Jackiedavlos 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.560 wrote in that news letvel bling those JACKI Davelos out 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:52.920 at DC. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.480 Thank you. Let's keep it going. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.200 The conversation next is with Adam Benjamin for their disease 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.240 tech lead, and Adam, let's think about it a bit 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:02.640 more holistically. You know, if you go to the index 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.360 level S and P five hundred across that magnificent seven 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.880 bucket and let's strip out Tesla because it's been gone, 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.600 we see forty six percent EPs growth. Right, the only 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.200 comparable sector is utilities. So it's it's it is that 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:21.440 AI story on paper that's driving the gains. But do 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.960 you expect to see real terms contribution from AI products 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:26.880 this week? 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.400 Hi, good morning, thanks for having me. So look, I 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.200 think AI is obviously a big overarching trend that's going 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.400 to play out over many, many years, and we're really 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.719 early days in this in this evolution. So you know, 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.040 what I would say is clearly for your guests and 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.760 for your audience. You know, everybody's paying attention to what 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.400 this earning season is going to bring. But but this 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.200 is a journey, and what I would say is we're 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.040 at multiple phases of this. And you know how we 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.240 think about this trend, we've been tracking it for many 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.680 many years, is is really we're at sort of the 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.560 picks and shovels phase today in terms of the infrastructure 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.719 and compute that needs to get put in place to 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:12.040 train these models and eventually put these models in place 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:16.080 and for production like you mentioned Microsoft Copilot and to 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:21.400 get that productivity. So I think this is happening, but 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.279 it's taking time, Adam. 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.200 Earlier today we spoke with the chief of Norway's Sovereign 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.279 Wealth Fund and he reflected on what's been with the 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.880 AI contribution in the equities market and what's to come. 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:34.600 Have a listened to this. 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.720 We've had a huge rally last year and a very 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:40.600 large proportion of the returns we had in the fund 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.200 were from the top seven companies. Right now, if you 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.919 had just SMP for that, the return was something like 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.359 twelve percent instead of twenty six And you kind of 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:52.800 have to ask how long that's going to go on 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.960 for now, I'm a diehard believer in AI and the 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.200 effect it's going to have on our operations and the 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.120 world generally. But in terms of valuations of the companies, 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:01.920 that's a different question. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.680 So that's Nikolai Tangen, and that's his thesis. Right he 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.080 sees the impact on AI in the real world, but 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.120 right now he's questioning the valuation of those companies that 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:13.200 are driving the story. 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:14.400 Are you questioning it? 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.599 I think the way I'm thinking about it is last 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:23.480 year was pretty much AI basket, right, Everything that had 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.040 some exposure to AI was a winner. You had a 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.960 lot of stocks, especially even in Q four up forty 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:34.280 some odd percent. I think twenty four is really about differentiation, 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.039 and the fundamentals are going to have to come through 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.800 for certain companies that are really true AI winners, and 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.760 where some will be determined that they really aren't true 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.039 AI beneficiaries. I mean, last week, for example, we saw 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.919 Intel report numbers and guidance and it was, you know, 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.039 pretty disappointing relative to what the street was expecting. And 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:55.800 that was a stock that was up forty some odd 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.200 percent in Q four of last year alone. So you know, 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.640 I think we're going to are seeing that differentiation as 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.720 you go through earnings, but it won't be just this 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.719 earnings period of be multiple earnings as we go forward 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:07.440 throughout the year. 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.760 I want to ask about concentration risk, and of course 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.440 you are someone who is really one out on some 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.840 of the allocations. Of course, when you're managing overall funds 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.240 that are of course named things like Fidelity Advisor Technology 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.760 Fund or the VIP Technology Portfolio, Semiconductor's portfolio. 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.240 These are names that have one adam. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.880 But the quants over at JP Morgan, for example, are 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:29.680 really getting worried about concentration risk. 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:31.560 Is that something? Do you think these names. 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.280 Are vulnerable because they've just become so important to overall benchmarks? 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.320 Well, look, I mean I know a lot of people 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.640 focus on the MAG seven and they talk about the 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.920 concentration of technology. I have the benefit of being a 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:48.120 technology focused investment manager, and so I run, as you mentioned, 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.880 tech funds, just tech and then just semiconductors. So I 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.640 don't really really focus that much of the concentration as 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.120 it relates to tech, how it's concentrating the rest of 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.760 the market. What I would say is, you know, as 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.440 you look at the MAG seven, you know they're companies 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.720 that have a broad exposure. I mean, Tesla is focused 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.840 on the electric vehicle market. You know, Microsoft and AWS 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.640 and Google are overlapping in the cloud computing market, but 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.400 they're all different in terms of their core markets with 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.120 Google and search and so you know, really, I think 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.640 you got to look at them as independent companies that 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.440 have really amazing business models and that the overarching theme 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.640 is that they are benefiting and getting exposed to AI, 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.400 and in terms of how they're using that and how 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.440 they're going to change their businesses is super important. But 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.280 it's not just those companies that are gonna, you know, 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.440 adopt AI. It's everything in tech, and then it's every 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.800 company outside of tech, because if you're not adopting AI 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.160 and making your business more productive over time, you're probably 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:49.760 going to be a loser in your in market. So 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:51.840 I think it's it's this is the theme that's going 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.160 to touch all companies across all sub sectors of the market. 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.920 I mean, look just at ups today, twelve thousand jobs going, 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.280 but a real focus on generative AI coming from the 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:04.520 CEO Adam I'm interested. Therefore, when you're looking and anticipating 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.280 the calls, the analyst cools with CEOs. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:08.600 What is it you want to hear? 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:10.720 Is it more about subscribe growth, is it more about 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.080 number of customers and overall market penetration or is it 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:15.040 bottom line impact? 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:16.160 You want to see the numbers. 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.439 Yeah, I mean it depends on the company, so it's 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.880 hard to say definitively. But look, we're looking for you know, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.560 every ninety days. These are report cards for these companies, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:27.520 so it's you know, how are they doing on the 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.400 revenue growth? You know, how are they doing profitability wise? 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.280 Obviously last year was a huge year for efficiency for 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:36.720 some of these companies in terms of the pull forward 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.720 that they saw during COVID on onbacks. So you know, 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.040 we need to see revenue growth from here. And a 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.920 lot of stocks that we saw significant outperformance was multiple 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.680 expansion in twenty twenty three, So you're going to have 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.760 to see, you know, the true fundamentals actually drive these 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.280 stocks in twenty twenty four, as your guest, you know, 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.959 indicated earlier. So I think that's what I'm looking for, 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.520 and it'll depend on the company. But you know, really, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.000 you know, report card every ninety days and then you know, we're. 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:03.760 Long term investors. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.520 We're trying to find companies that are going to be 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.079 the winners over the long term, and those are companies 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.680 that we've been investing in multiple years. We've cited these 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.640 as big trends and we've been there for a while, 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.080 and you know, we'll see where things progress. But this 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.440 is this AI is not going to be you know, 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.760 snap your fingers. It's going to take time, and so 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.319 I think people need to be patient about it and 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:26.880 see where things are progressing. And as long as they're 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.680 moving in the right direction, I think people will be 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:31.040 encouraged about this theme. 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:31.720 See how the. 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.920 Execs can articulate it today, Adam Benjamin, really great to 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.560 have some time with you. We thank you so much. 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.480 Fidelities tech le there, we thank you. Meanwhile, coming up 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.320 look to talk about underlying technology. Neuralink has its first 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.160 ever human patient, bringing must startup that a little bit 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.040 closer to its goal of letting people actually control their 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:49.200 devices with their minds. 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:51.280 We'll be back with more in a moment, But ed, 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:52.040 what have you got. 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.080 Well, just based on what Adam is saying, here's a 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.440 new name for you, potentially super micro computer. Four percent 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.640 right now have been up as much as eleven percent. 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.840 It's a AI server maker think Rack Design, and they've 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:08.320 significantly updated their sales forecast for this year. But the 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:09.880 real reason I bring it up is this is a 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.960 stock that's up more than eighty percent in the last 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.800 thirty days, more than six hundred percent year to day 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.959 over or over the last twelve months, massively outperforming in 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.320 video as an example, but we don't really talk about it. 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.120 Twenty nine billion dollar market cap. One of the winners 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.560 of what's happening in the real terms infrastructure play for 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:46.920 AI this is Bloomberg Musk's Neuralink has given an implant 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.440 to its first ever human patient, bringing his startup a 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.199 step closer to its goal of letting humans control computers 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.679 with their minds. Bloomberg's Lin Don't has the details and 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.160 joins us from New York. I mean, Lynn, this is 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.200 the first step. But it's the step, right. We've been 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.200 waiting for your link to this for a little while. 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:08.480 What do we know about the procedure, the patient, and 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:09.680 what the point of this was. 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.760 Yeah, it is the first step for Neuralink. And I 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.520 don't know about you, but at this point in our 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:21.120 adventures into neuroprosthetics, I'm impressed by any kind of brain 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.200 interface implant. So I'll call this a win. What do 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.680 we know about the procedure. Neuralinks in particular involves a 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.880 robot that funnels its way into a person's head. Sounds 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:36.440 a bit terrifying, but it uses a robot to implant 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.160 a little chip that's about the size of a quarter, 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.520 and that chip is connected by thousands of wires and 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:47.840 electrodes to the human brain, and in that way it allows, 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.520 hopefully theoretically, the human brain to be able to control 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.559 electronic devices with just a mere thought. 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.480 And that's why those that have been the patients have 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.600 been recruited are those with qultropriigia, those who suffer from als. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.080 In fact, Musk wrote on his own social platform x 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.120 about sort of imagine Stephen Hawking being able to well, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.240 be able to communicate far faster than any. 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.360 Sort of speed type writer. But he's not alone. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.760 Neuralink isn't alone, and we sort of let it steal 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:14.600 a lot of the headlines. 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:15.840 But there are other companies doing. 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:16.680 This, that's right. 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:20.040 I was just talking earlier this morning about a company, 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.360 synchron who almost over a year now, announced that they 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:29.040 had done the first brain interface implant in the United States. 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.840 So certainly Neuralink is not the first company to enter 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:33.480 into this. 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.160 Era of actual implants. 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.240 Now, what some would argue is that it has more 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:43.240 advanced technology, that the devices themselves are more complex and 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.760 more capable than some of the others in the space. 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.520 Involves thousands of wires, Like imagine what that thing looks like, 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.120 a spider with thousands of legs versus some of the 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.400 other ones who may not make use of as many wires. 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:01.720 Once again, we'll see how telepathy as the continues to evolve, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:12.480 brilliant as always to have Lindo and joining us Volkswagen VW. Well, 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:14.720 it's feeling the pressure of a slowing ev market and 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.000 twenty twenty three's dim ipo landscape that's continuing into twenty 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.600 twenty four. They're going to hold off on plans to 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.240 seek outside investors for its battery unit. Now that's also 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.120 say the carmaker worries and we'll be able to make 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.720 its own batteries that the scale and is no longer 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.640 prioritizing stake sales or a potential listing of power COO 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:31.760 business this. 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:32.760 Year or indeed next. 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.800 Now this is fresh off Renao's similar decision to Ice 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.680 it's ev arm listing a mid market volatility. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.080 We're going to have a deep dive on the auto sector. 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:42.160 That's next end. What have you got. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.840 Yeah, there's a bigger conversation to have here. In sticking 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.240 with the EV market, Mazda posted its best sales year 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.280 since best sales year and third best year overall. Today 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.400 they announced the release of a new vehicle, c X seventy. 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.680 President and CEO of MUSDA North American Operations Tom Donnelly 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.160 joins us to walk through the results and the latest launch. Tom, 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.960 this is how I think about it. CX seventy brings 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.880 you to the mid size SUV. You have the full 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:13.280 spectrum of hybrid options. But that's where it's at. It's 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.360 a hybrid option. You're still not there with pure PLAYEV. 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.400 So in the context of CX seventy, what's the strategy here. 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.560 Yeah, So we're very excited about what CX seventy represents 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:26.720 for our brand and our portfolio. As you said, we 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:30.440 had our global reveal today. We look at, let's say 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:35.480 the electrification market as that of an intentional follower. If 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.280 I look forward through twenty thirty, we're going to have 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:42.440 a full suite of electrified vehicles, and we have a 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:47.440 three phased approach to how we're going to introduce plug 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:51.160 in hybrids and hybrid vehicles. So we talked about CX 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.600 seventy and the introduction today. Last year we introduced c 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:56.840 X ninety with a plug in hybrid and a mild 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.760 hybrid version, and later this year we're going to introduce 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.280 C fifty with a hybrid version as well. So we 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.239 feel like we've got the right technologies for the marketplace 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.840 today and again by twenty thirty, we'll have a full 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:11.760 lineup of electrified vehicles. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:14.880 Tom One of the questions from our audience on X 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.200 was what happens if long term the consumer just doesn't 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:21.160 go for EV that they do have a bias towards 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:22.720 hybrid and how would. 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:23.640 That impact your strategy. 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.800 I think about the comments from Toyota right where they 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.560 see this thirty percent cap on BEV and a future 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.640 well well into the future, multiple drive train formats. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:34.680 Yeah. 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:38.359 Again, I use the term multi solution approach, and that's 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.680 what we've been working for for a number of years, 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:46.080 where by having hybrids and plug in hybrids and then 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.440 a full suite of battery electric vehicles as well, we 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.240 think we'll be able to pivot to the market and 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:57.120 what consumer demands will will gravitate towards. So we feel 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.920 really good about our overall strategy right now. Again, we're 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.840 excited about c X seventy, the mild hybrid and the 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.840 plug in hybrid, what that represents, and it's a new 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.720 segment for us, it's an merging segment in the industry, 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.720 so we're really optimistic about the impact it's going to 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:13.439 have on our brand. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.600 I can kind of see why you're optimistic given your 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.240 sales number in December, record numbers. 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:20.600 I'm really interested as to what you're seeing from a 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:21.480 consumer right now. 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.240 Tom, We've just heard from Reno, as we're saying VW, 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.720 you've got, of course, GM being more cautious on out 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:27.480 and out evs. 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:28.439 What are you. 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.199 Seeing from a consumer adoption and desired to be spending 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.240 on big purchase such as new cars right now? 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.879 Yeah, the market's still as strong overall, I mean, the 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.400 industry is strong. There's definitely been a shift towards more 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:45.880 let's say affordability. So we've noticed from earlier in let's 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.840 say the calendar year. But you're right, we ended twenty 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.040 twenty three on a really high note of twenty three percent, 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:55.679 and I would say it's not just the quantity but 0:17:55.760 --> 0:18:00.119 the business quality for US as well. More specifically, we've 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:04.119 had our best customer experience results ever, our best owner 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.399 loyalty results ever. So while we're growing the brand at 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.439 a pretty impressive rate twenty three percent, this is on 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.240 the heels of again, really strong performance across the breath 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:16.960 of our business. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.080 And where is that brand really penetrating at the moment? 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.960 Is it about a US user, a European news and 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.240 more globally thinking about China and decompetition coming from there. 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.639 Well, my focus is primarily in the US market in 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.439 North America, and again we've achieved some really impressive results 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:38.520 over the last four years. Each of the last four 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:42.919 years we've gained market share, and obviously a very challenging 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:47.600 timeframe from COVID to supply chain issues, we've been able 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:53.520 to really be very nimble and improve our performance year 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.359 over year. And we're really optimistic about what twenty twenty 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.480 four represents. We think, if we execute our plan, we're 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.960 going to have our best year in the US market ever. 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.160 So we're really optimistic about the outlook. 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:10.800 Oh, we want to Thank you, Tom Donnelly. 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.800 Ending on our optimistic note, MASDA North American Operations President 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:23.520 and CEO, really seeing traction right here in the United States. 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.760 Welcome back to Bluemogo Technology. I'm Caroline had in New York. 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:28.919 Ed Ludlow in San Francisco. 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:30.440 Let's look at what's happening in the world a bitcoin, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.639 because it has been five straight months, well on nine 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.200 four of gains for this particular asset, like we haven't 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.320 seen that back since the heady days of COVID when 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:40.360 everyone was plowing in their money. In twenty twenty, we're 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.000 up fifty percent, you'll see over that course of six months, 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:44.399 and a lot of that is to do with the 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:45.440 Spot bitcoin ETFs. 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:46.720 We've had volatility of late. 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.159 Let's talk to Aphilia Snyder for her thoughts on it, 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:51.359 of course, president of twenty one Shares, which offers crypto 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.800 etfctps for institutional and retail investors, including that recently launched 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.280 spot product. Our twenty one Shares bitcoin ETF developed with 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:03.320 Kathy wood Ark, and we have overall seen excitement, exuberance, 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:05.240 perhaps a run up and then a fall as people 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.119 digest what really happens. But what have you seen in 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.000 terms of flows, and are they making you confident? 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.040 Yes, is the extremely short answer to that question. At 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:15.240 the end of the day, these flows have been really promising. 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.920 It's one of the best ATF launches of all time. 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.440 We've seen north of six hundred million dollars in assets 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:26.040