Speaker 1: From the herd of where Innovation, Money and Power Colne
Speaker 1: in Silicon Vallet, NBR. This is Bloomberg Technology with Caroline
Speaker 1: Hide and Ed Ludlow. I'm Ed Ludlow in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Caroline Hide off. This week this is Bloomberg Technology. Coming up,
Speaker 1: We'll bring you the latest headlines on the Trump indictment
Speaker 1: and break down the broader social media implications. We'll speak
Speaker 1: also to the head of Accenture's technology group for their
Speaker 1: outlook on generative AI as industry heavyweights call for a
Speaker 1: pause in developing the disruptive technology. Plus Huawei posting its
Speaker 1: first profit drop in a decade as US sanctions forced
Speaker 1: the China tech giant to invest in R and D.
Speaker 1: We discuss with Huawei chief security officer Andy Purdy. Let's
Speaker 1: bring you these markets when it comes to the technology sector.
Speaker 1: In the last day of what's been a constructive quarter.
Speaker 1: You look at the NAZAC one hundred by a percentage
Speaker 1: point ending this quarter higher, best quarter back since the
Speaker 1: second quarter of twenty twenty, second best quarter of the decade.
Speaker 1: Similar performance in the semiconductors. You look at the SOX,
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index Okay, four tenths of a percent higher,
Speaker 1: but actually again the best quarter for that index going
Speaker 1: back to June of twenty twenty, yield kind of pulling
Speaker 1: back a little bit three point five percent on the
Speaker 1: ten year risk on generally speaking, in bitcoin is certainly
Speaker 1: a part of that story. The main headlines are around
Speaker 1: former President Trump and his indictment, how that's playing out
Speaker 1: in the tech sector and in the equity markets. These
Speaker 1: are special purpose acquisition companies or spacks. Digital World up
Speaker 1: six and a half percent. This is the spack that's
Speaker 1: due to take true social public The idea here that
Speaker 1: the market's talking about is that the indictment of former
Speaker 1: President Trump puts a spotlight on more conservative social media platforms.
Speaker 1: Those more conservative social media platforms, including Rumble, for example,
Speaker 1: a video platform, are seeing money flowing to them in
Speaker 1: the equity markets this Friday. Let's get the specifics of
Speaker 1: what's happening from Laura Davison out in Washington, DC. Laura,
Speaker 1: where do we stand with the indictment of former President Trump. Well,
Speaker 1: he could be arraigned as soon as Tuesday of next week.
Speaker 1: You know, this is something that you know, people have
Speaker 1: been waiting for ever since Trump said recently that he
Speaker 1: could be arrested. But this, really, this announcement yesterday really
Speaker 1: took everyone by surprise, including trumpsall and lawyers, who weren't
Speaker 1: really expecting this to come and and certainly not expecting
Speaker 1: an arraignment next week. But you know, this is going
Speaker 1: to look very similar to any other type of arraignment
Speaker 1: that would happen in New York. Trump is going to
Speaker 1: have to get fingerprinted, to have his mugshot take and
Speaker 1: have to sit in the basement of the courthouse in Manhattan. Laura,
Speaker 1: have we heard from former President Trump on any of
Speaker 1: these platforms. Yes, he's been on true social really you know,
Speaker 1: going you know, a full force as he has known for,
Speaker 1: you know, his really bombastic language. In some cases. You know,
Speaker 1: some have suggested that he's almost seen mainly trying to
Speaker 1: start a riot, saying that we protest in the streets.
Speaker 1: There's increased security in Manhattan. This could really potentially be
Speaker 1: a problem for Trump. You know, it would not be
Speaker 1: unprecedented for judges to say that he can't go to
Speaker 1: social media platforms to try to incite violence or anything else.
Speaker 1: Blombosloy Davison out of DC, thank you. Let's stick with
Speaker 1: the conversation and more on Trump's influence throughout social media accounts.
Speaker 1: Jennifer Greigel, Syracuse University Assistant Professor of Communications. We started
Speaker 1: this program talking about investors buying in two stocks related
Speaker 1: to more conservative social media platforms. What's your interpretation of
Speaker 1: that reaction. Well, if we can look at history for
Speaker 1: a second, Trump wouldn't be the first ex president to
Speaker 1: the face of trial. We had Roosevelt actually here in
Speaker 1: Syracuse and back in the day early nineteen hundred and
Speaker 1: it true an intense media spectacle. Okay, So I don't
Speaker 1: know if people are focusing on these, you know, fringe platforms.
Speaker 1: I think they're missing the point that the people aren't
Speaker 1: just going to be talking about this and following this
Speaker 1: on social media. There will be legitimate media's interest. They'll
Speaker 1: want to read the news. So this could bring a
Speaker 1: spectacle like you would see with the OJ Simpson and
Speaker 1: things like that. Right, So, I think Trump knows how
Speaker 1: to manipulate the media too, and all eyes will be
Speaker 1: on that trial. It's if it reaches that point. Jennifer's
Speaker 1: point out, what is a first right a first former
Speaker 1: president to be indicted? But I hear your point on
Speaker 1: the news cycle. Twitter wants to be the place where
Speaker 1: the new cycle plays out. Do you think that's why
Speaker 1: it used to be? It used to be the place
Speaker 1: more where the news cycle, yeah, played out. But you know,
Speaker 1: I still think that that the platform is fundamentally changed
Speaker 1: since Must took it over. You still don't have the
Speaker 1: same type of user base there that used to see
Speaker 1: a lot of academics and journal as. Sure some people
Speaker 1: are out there still, but not like he used to.
Speaker 1: So people may follow more of the details, you know,
Speaker 1: almost like a reality TV show there, But I don't
Speaker 1: think the same types of influential media folks are on
Speaker 1: Twitter like they used to be. How strong a landscape
Speaker 1: two conservative voices have in social media right now? How
Speaker 1: strong are those conservative specific platforms. I think we need
Speaker 1: to look at it more collectively as those who are
Speaker 1: in power. I know there's a lot of attention on
Speaker 1: you know, what, is Trump trying to cause a riot,
Speaker 1: but he's also an ex president. I think we need
Speaker 1: to focus a lot more on the sitting president, on
Speaker 1: those in Congress, and again that crosses political parties, right
Speaker 1: and looking at the influence that they're exerting. Now. It's
Speaker 1: not just like is their voice being amplified more on
Speaker 1: this platform or that. But look at what's happening with
Speaker 1: TikTok okay in the ability to influence a potentially shutter
Speaker 1: that app here in the United States, and that is
Speaker 1: monumental and we are really not talking about that enough.
Speaker 1: So that's that's influence, and it cuts across you know,
Speaker 1: conservative to you know, right left. It's a collaborative effort
Speaker 1: as I see it right now between the White House
Speaker 1: hand Congress. So I'd be focused more on that if
Speaker 1: I was looking at investments, Jennifer. Have the risks to
Speaker 1: social media and use of social media changed since Trump
Speaker 1: left office? Yeah? I think again nothing has really changed
Speaker 1: when it comes to how presidents are using social If anything,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe they're exerting more influence on regulation and
Speaker 1: the ability to maybe shutter apps as I mentioned before.
Speaker 1: But like we have to keep in mind that censorship
Speaker 1: will look different here in the United States, and also
Speaker 1: just the increasing use of government social media. I just
Speaker 1: think that we need to to really address that as
Speaker 1: a country, not just here in the United States but
Speaker 1: around the world. So for me, it's a public We
Speaker 1: really want these platforms and our media environment to function
Speaker 1: and be safe regardless of po's in power. And and
Speaker 1: I really don't think that that risk has gone away
Speaker 1: under Biden or potentially future presidents, regardless of their party.
Speaker 1: So maybe some people are comfortable with, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of democrats steering some of the policy around social media
Speaker 1: right now, but we have to remember that they may
Speaker 1: not always be in power. So you really want your
Speaker 1: social media platforms, your media environment to be a healthy
Speaker 1: one that is just good for the public, good for discourse,
Speaker 1: good for democracy. And still I still see that that's
Speaker 1: right here today, Professor Jennifer Geigel of Syracuse, thank you
Speaker 1: for your time. Now. Sticking with social media, TikTok isn't
Speaker 1: the only social media company under bike Dance that's gone viral.
Speaker 1: US downloads of Lemonade are surging. It's a content sharing
Speaker 1: plat form similar to TikTok, but focusing on longer form
Speaker 1: lifestyle videos. Think of it as a mix of Instagram
Speaker 1: and Pinterest, but information about the app is murky. However,
Speaker 1: regulatory filings and various media reports suggest it is owned
Speaker 1: by Bike Dance. Eliminates ties with the Chinese company may
Speaker 1: expose it to similar scrutiny faced by the TikTok in
Speaker 1: the United States. I think there are different ways of
Speaker 1: viewing what we're asking for. I think the idea that
Speaker 1: you know, the CEOs of Microsoft and Google and deep
Speaker 1: Mind are going to read this and say, oh, sorry, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, we completely messed up, and we'll definitely stop
Speaker 1: right now. I don't think that's going to happen, but
Speaker 1: I hope that it at least begins a serious conversation
Speaker 1: about what would be necessary to develop systems that we
Speaker 1: can have confidence in. And there's two parts to that, right,
Speaker 1: Could we develop ways of testing the systems that we
Speaker 1: already have so that we can show that they do
Speaker 1: not present risks, that they will not help people to
Speaker 1: commit suicide and so go on, Or we change the
Speaker 1: way we design the system so that we can do that.
Speaker 1: And I actually think the latter is probably more likely.
Speaker 1: I would also say that legislators the European Union, for example,
Speaker 1: are close to passing the AI Act, which would require
Speaker 1: these kinds of steps as a matter of law, so
Speaker 1: that you could not put systems on the market unless
Speaker 1: you could satisfy the regulators that they were safe. That
Speaker 1: was Stuart Russell, Berkeley Computer Science professor an AI expern
Speaker 1: He was one of the signatories of the petition calling
Speaker 1: for a halt to AI development, and that's where I
Speaker 1: want to go more about generative AI the kinds of
Speaker 1: opportunities that it opens up in the world of technology.
Speaker 1: Paul Doughty, Excentious Technology Group, Chief executive, author of two
Speaker 1: books on the impact of AI and machine learning, particularly
Speaker 1: on jobs and work, Human Machine and his most recent one,
Speaker 1: Radically Human, How new technology is transforming business and shaping
Speaker 1: our future. Paul, welcome to the program. You heard there
Speaker 1: what Professor Russell had to say, The findings of your
Speaker 1: report about the outlook for AI contrast with what the
Speaker 1: industry is calling for right now. Yeah, I know, Stuart, Well,
Speaker 1: it's great to hear us comments. We do some work
Speaker 1: together in a deep respect for Stuart and hiss views.
Speaker 1: You know. Look, I think the open letter an AI
Speaker 1: was I think important attention to a real issue, which
Speaker 1: is getting serious dialog around the applications of AI and
Speaker 1: really responsible AI. You know, I would say that if
Speaker 1: an organization or a company is implementing AI and you
Speaker 1: don't have responsible AI policy and approach, is simply irresponsible.
Speaker 1: So I think this call to attention around how the
Speaker 1: impact the technology is having, guarding against bias, ensuring accuracy,
Speaker 1: looking at intellectual property, and all these issues are really important.
Speaker 1: But I don't think a pause is a step we need.
Speaker 1: I think what we need is more transparency and dialogue
Speaker 1: and more companies take steps you know that we've been
Speaker 1: working on for four or five years, which is actually
Speaker 1: having training policies, compliance programs and the like in our
Speaker 1: company and companies that we work with to make sure
Speaker 1: organizations aren't taking the right steps with artificial intelligence. You're
Speaker 1: plugged into hundreds, if not thousands of tech companies globally.
Speaker 1: Is a six month pause feasible? Can anyone actually make
Speaker 1: that happen? Now? I don't think it's the right You know,
Speaker 1: the pause is the right way to think about this
Speaker 1: is there's tremendous innovation and progress happening, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, there's I think there's approaches, many approaches and
Speaker 1: plays to look at how we use the technology in
Speaker 1: the appropriate way. So I think the right thing to
Speaker 1: do is to keep is to keep the experimentation, keep
Speaker 1: the innovation going, but increase the dialogue around you know,
Speaker 1: the gardriels that we need to have some place on
Speaker 1: some of the topics that I mentioned earlier. So that's
Speaker 1: the approach we advocate. We're working you know, with many
Speaker 1: organizations around the world, including some of the ones you mentioned,
Speaker 1: on putting the right gardials in place as we move forward,
Speaker 1: but we think the innovation experimentation actually helps contribute to
Speaker 1: that dialogue. The conclusion of your report and your survey
Speaker 1: is that AI is going to spark a pretty large
Speaker 1: wave of innovation right next generation technologies. How though, how
Speaker 1: does that manifest itself? AI really unleashes kind of a
Speaker 1: next level of capability for organizations, that's the way to
Speaker 1: think about it. And we had a launch of our
Speaker 1: annual Vision Report yesterday and on the launch we heard
Speaker 1: from everything from one hundred and twenty five year old
Speaker 1: company to a twenty five year old, you know, AI
Speaker 1: startup founder about the implications that it has on business,
Speaker 1: and ninety eight percent of executives in the research that
Speaker 1: we've done talk about the fact that they're going to
Speaker 1: invest in and believe generative AI in particularly will have
Speaker 1: a big impact on their organization and the impact that
Speaker 1: it will have its allowing organizations to do new things
Speaker 1: they couldn't do before. It's new new levels of creative
Speaker 1: capability powered by the foundation models that you hear about.
Speaker 1: It's new ways for work to be done, new ways
Speaker 1: to empower people, and essentially in essence, to give workers
Speaker 1: superpowers to do new things and work. You know, it
Speaker 1: expanded things with copilot type of capability powered by genderative AI,
Speaker 1: and I think it really creates a great opportunity for
Speaker 1: individuals to use technology in a different way and for
Speaker 1: businesses to look at how they how they make these
Speaker 1: big advances and how they compete, differentiate and grow. Well,
Speaker 1: that's got someone else's view on where we are in
Speaker 1: the AI cycle. This is what the Stability AI CEO
Speaker 1: had say in the last twenty four hours. This is
Speaker 1: bigger than five G or self driving. Cause we've had
Speaker 1: others on the show that say what's happening in artificial
Speaker 1: intelligence is akin from the shift to mobile for example.
Speaker 1: You are a technologist to agree with any of those statements. Yeah,
Speaker 1: What I've said is is that I believe what we're
Speaker 1: seeing now with foundation models and large language models is
Speaker 1: one of the three biggest innovations I've seen in my
Speaker 1: multi decade career working in technology. The first was when
Speaker 1: I used one of the first browsers and saw the
Speaker 1: potential and part of the Internet. The second was when
Speaker 1: I saw it the first iPhone come out and realize
Speaker 1: the power bringing that kind of access and technology of
Speaker 1: billions of people around the world in them. When I
Speaker 1: dove in with the foundation models and large language models
Speaker 1: of the transformer technology and saw the creative power that
Speaker 1: it had and the power to allow humans workers, you know,
Speaker 1: people to interact with technology at a whole new level.
Speaker 1: I think it is that type of breakthrough. Poul Accentia,
Speaker 1: your own company is laying off nineteen thousand staff across
Speaker 1: technology mass layoffs. What is your assessment of the reasons
Speaker 1: why layoffs are happening. Well, you know, we announced you know,
Speaker 1: really record growth in our business. We had record sales
Speaker 1: and the results that we just announced, you know, thirty
Speaker 1: five you know, at one point thirty five deals of
Speaker 1: over one hundred million dollars of war around technology, driven
Speaker 1: by a lot of what's happening with companies need to
Speaker 1: reinvent faster by applying technology. So we see and we
Speaker 1: see continued robust and strowing demand for technology. What we
Speaker 1: announced was really something we do every year in terms
Speaker 1: of looking at Howard positioned with talent for the growth
Speaker 1: that we have going forward. And the only difference this
Speaker 1: time is we we took a proactive step to get
Speaker 1: fit for what we see coming. But this is you know,
Speaker 1: kind of in the realm of what we do every year.
Speaker 1: And we think, you know, the market going forward, especially
Speaker 1: with somebody's dot technology companies needing this technology to operate
Speaker 1: more resiliently in the carpulicated world that they upbreading is
Speaker 1: going to continue. Drive now to maim all right, Paul Doherty,
Speaker 1: Accentires Technology Group Chief executive, Thank you, coming up, Uber
Speaker 1: going more and more green, how it's intensifying its efforts
Speaker 1: to electrify the vehicles on its network. And now as
Speaker 1: that one hundred, we've said it best quarter going back
Speaker 1: to the second quarter of twenty twenty, actually the second
Speaker 1: best quarter of the decade for this tech heavy index.
Speaker 1: Interesting story on Bloomberg about how insiders though are some
Speaker 1: of the sellers of technology shares, certainly worth checking out.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg time for talking tech. Alib and JD
Speaker 1: dot Com have begun preparations for a trio of the
Speaker 1: year's biggest Chinese debuts. Ali Baba's logistics firm Kanyell has
Speaker 1: kicked off discussions with banks for what may become the
Speaker 1: first of several IPOs by units of the e commerce giant,
Speaker 1: and on Thursday, two JD subsidiaries filed for first time
Speaker 1: share sales in Hong Kong. Those three listings could raise
Speaker 1: about five billion dollars between them, according to sources and
Speaker 1: Bloomberg reporting that Tesla is looking to build a battery
Speaker 1: plant in the US, which would likely be a controversial
Speaker 1: arrangement with China's dominant electric vehicle battery maker. Tesla discussed
Speaker 1: plans involving the company CATL with White House officials over
Speaker 1: the past few days. Sources told myself and colleagues Gabby
Speaker 1: Coppola and Jen Jacobs that this has been going on
Speaker 1: for a couple of months now now. Speaking of evs,
Speaker 1: Uber also has some news as Earth Month Fast approaches. Today,
Speaker 1: BP Pols and Uber announced a new global mobility initiative.
Speaker 1: The idea get the drivers in to the stations to
Speaker 1: charge their vehicles, joining us on the program now. Adam
Speaker 1: gramis the Uber's gloable head of sustainability policy. Interesting play.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to drive electric, Everyone wants to ride electric.
Speaker 1: Is this for the drivers or ultimately is this for
Speaker 1: the riders? Yes, good morning. First Uber wants to lead
Speaker 1: the ride share industry to an all electric, zero emission future.
Speaker 1: How are we going to do that? We made a
Speaker 1: pledge to reach one hundred percent of rides in evs
Speaker 1: and micromobility by twenty thirty in the US, Canada, and
Speaker 1: Europe and everywhere we operate globally by twenty forty. How
Speaker 1: do we do that? Working with drivers, helping them make
Speaker 1: the switch, working with consumers, make it easy, push a button,
Speaker 1: get a clean ride. And finally transparency because we need
Speaker 1: accountability and we know that we don't just earn it.
Speaker 1: This play is all about helping drivers, meeting drivers where
Speaker 1: they're at. When we talk to drivers, they say their
Speaker 1: top two concerns are the EV cost in EV charging.
Speaker 1: That's why this deal is so important. We're making deals
Speaker 1: like this with energy companies around the world. This deal
Speaker 1: with BP Pulse helps make it so that we can
Speaker 1: reach more drivers where they are in mini drivers today
Speaker 1: or at the pub. So on that point, a lot
Speaker 1: of drivers watch this program, so we ask them, what's
Speaker 1: holding you back from electrifying? These are the results. You
Speaker 1: can see them on the screen over there. Cost of
Speaker 1: evs fifty percent, respondents, lack of charging forty three percent.
Speaker 1: In San Francisco, it's pretty easy to get an electrified ride.
Speaker 1: Other cities it's not to Actually, drives need a bit
Speaker 1: more financial help than just offering the infrastructure. This corroborates
Speaker 1: with what we hear from drivers as well. These top barriers.
Speaker 1: For US, it's finding ways to leverage our marketplace, to
Speaker 1: leverage our scale, to find new ways to bring tools
Speaker 1: for drivers, supply for drivers through partnerships, and new innovations
Speaker 1: to make it easier to find the charging. For instance,
Speaker 1: just this week we expanded Comfort Electric. Comfort Electric is
Speaker 1: a push a button get an EV and not just
Speaker 1: in EV. You can get a premium EV, a Tesla,
Speaker 1: a Pulse, our Forward mark E. These are vehicles people
Speaker 1: want as evs, but there are also cars that people
Speaker 1: want to be And let's think about this blistically. What
Speaker 1: percentage of the total ride chef fleet in the US
Speaker 1: or globally is currently electric. Last year, we quadrupled the
Speaker 1: number of active drivers who are using evs on Uber
Speaker 1: in the US, Canada, and Europe to forty thousand. We're
Speaker 1: operating the largest all electric ridehail fleet outside of China.
Speaker 1: It's very exciting. In the US, we're seeing drivers switch
Speaker 1: to evs five to eight times faster than the general
Speaker 1: population if you compared to say EV registrations. And what
Speaker 1: we're seeing is that drivers on Uber in some markets
Speaker 1: like California and some markets like London are going even
Speaker 1: faster ten fifteen percent of miles served. So for this forward,
Speaker 1: I don't think any money changed hands between Uber and
Speaker 1: BP on this transaction money. What is your dollar commitment
Speaker 1: to driving this initiative. Ubers made a commitment to make
Speaker 1: eight hundred million in total resources available to drivers to
Speaker 1: help bing the switch. We talked about it at the
Speaker 1: beginning right driver's face a financial hurdle to get into evs.
Speaker 1: So we've made a commitment to eight hundred million dollars
Speaker 1: to make it available to drivers by twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: to help hundreds of thousands make the switch in the
Speaker 1: US that takes the form of a dollar trip in
Speaker 1: center from Uber. Disagreement with BP creates a global framework
Speaker 1: where we can create local besloke offerings right at meat
Speaker 1: drivers where they're at and tailor to the local market. Conditions.
Speaker 1: All right, Adam grammis Uber, global head of sustainability Policy
Speaker 1: here in San Francisco, Welcome back to Bloomberg Technology, ourmed
Speaker 1: lovelow in San Francisco. Huawei posted is first annual profit
Speaker 1: decline in more than a decade after years of US
Speaker 1: sanctions have all but obliterated the smartphone arm of the
Speaker 1: business and compelled the Chinese telecom gearmaker to wratch it
Speaker 1: up Research spending his talk about the outlook for Huawei
Speaker 1: is chief security Officer Andy Purdy. Andy, this is the
Speaker 1: direct results of US sanctions on your financials. That's right.
Speaker 1: It's great to be back on your show, and we're
Speaker 1: joining the new new time slot. Yeah. This is a
Speaker 1: major impact of the last couple of years, particularly decimating
Speaker 1: our consumer business, causing a drop of thirty billion in
Speaker 1: a year. But we are work through this. Our business
Speaker 1: is stabilized and our operations are steady, and we're leveraging
Speaker 1: our partnerships five G to business and our research and
Speaker 1: development historic numbers, and we see a path forward and
Speaker 1: that we are heartened and determined to move forward with
Speaker 1: a tremendous emphasis on innovation and partnership. Andy, what is
Speaker 1: your hope for the net result of spending on R
Speaker 1: and D to get out of the impacts of sanctions. Well,
Speaker 1: what we're seeing is working closely with partners finding new
Speaker 1: kinds of technological capabilities that can be enabled by five
Speaker 1: G and other technologies, so that when you look at
Speaker 1: ports and mining and healthcare manufacturing, it's clear that these
Speaker 1: R and D investments are going to help strengthen operations,
Speaker 1: create greater funding, greater efficiency, and it's going to drive
Speaker 1: increases in gross domestic product in those countries that do
Speaker 1: it and those businesses that do it. So we're also
Speaker 1: doing some hardcore research on some of the major problems
Speaker 1: in science, such as Shannon's a limit the amount of
Speaker 1: error free data that can pass through its channel. Because
Speaker 1: we have to start getting ready for five point five
Speaker 1: G and the amount of uplinking downlike capabilities, it's going
Speaker 1: to be necessary. It's going to be a gigantic problem
Speaker 1: that the hard truth of science may limit the benefits
Speaker 1: of unless we can overcome some of those hurdles. What's
Speaker 1: happening in Maitland, China is Ishuawei's push into five G
Speaker 1: for companies that are in China. How's that going and
Speaker 1: can you replicate what you're doing in that field outside
Speaker 1: of China and other jurisdictions. Well, I just got back
Speaker 1: from the mobile to Congress, one of the largest conferences
Speaker 1: in the world in Barcelona in late February early Mark,
Speaker 1: so I had an opportunity to talk to a lot
Speaker 1: of customers, a lot of partners, represented a number of
Speaker 1: governments around the world, talking about and sharing lessons learned
Speaker 1: about what are the use cases for these technologies, Where
Speaker 1: can carriers, where can enterprise benefits? The benefit to most
Speaker 1: from these new technologies to increase efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint,
Speaker 1: and bring new capabilities for monetization to carriers and to customers.
Speaker 1: And it's an exciting story. And frankly, as an American,
Speaker 1: i'nheartened that the investments we're seeing in the United States
Speaker 1: look to going to be increasing the amount of real
Speaker 1: five G between now and twenty twenty five. So the
Speaker 1: at and ts and Verizons and t mobiles of the
Speaker 1: world are investing heavily. So hopefully America is going to
Speaker 1: learn some lessons and going to drive forward with some
Speaker 1: important progress in these areas as well. Because it's not
Speaker 1: just about making money, although it's important, it's about supporting
Speaker 1: small and medium enterprises and bringing a greater quality of
Speaker 1: life to our citizens and our There is changes a
Speaker 1: foot within Huawei. Mang Yuanjo takes the rotating chair position
Speaker 1: starting next week, I believe. How does that impact management structure,
Speaker 1: how Huawei is rum what's her grip on this technology
Speaker 1: company right now? Well, it's an interesting situation and it's
Speaker 1: highlighted again. But I think with Huawei two and a
Speaker 1: half years and this concept of having a rotating chairman
Speaker 1: coming in every six months, the structure of the company,
Speaker 1: the organization of the company is not dependent on the
Speaker 1: particular individual that's the rotating chairman. We have these structures,
Speaker 1: we have these processes, we have these compliance systems. All
Speaker 1: those things are in place. So the particular tone, the
Speaker 1: particular priorities of the rotating chair can have an influence,
Speaker 1: but the company is organized in a way that this
Speaker 1: creates continuity and stability. Andy, there's a lot of focus
Speaker 1: right now in Huawei's activities within the chip space semiconductors,
Speaker 1: a lot especially on the software and design side. How
Speaker 1: is that going? Is it actually a material path to
Speaker 1: circumventing what the US is trying to do in terms
Speaker 1: of chip controls. Well, frankly, we're kind of at a
Speaker 1: position of new normal. We're not looking back on those
Speaker 1: things that we can't do. We know that certain aspects
Speaker 1: of the uncertainty looking forward we can't control. And frankly,
Speaker 1: as an American, I'm heartened by the fact that the
Speaker 1: US is investing in ship manufacturing. When I look at
Speaker 1: the efforts around the world to make up for the sanctions,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a little concerned about the potential impact
Speaker 1: on American jobs of the American suma conductor industry, and
Speaker 1: they're not allowed to sell and continue to not be
Speaker 1: allowed to sell nonsensitive chips to Huawei and other companies.
Speaker 1: But while it's going to be fine, I'm kind of
Speaker 1: concerned about the future for the United States and some
Speaker 1: of the things we aren't doing to improve our competitiveness.
Speaker 1: We saw China respond retaliate overnight, launching a cybersecurity review
Speaker 1: of Micron to specific case. But what's your interpretation of
Speaker 1: China's action there? Well, from my perspective with a somewhat
Speaker 1: of a cybersecurity and privacy background, given the nature of
Speaker 1: the cybersecurity threats in the last couple of years, it's
Speaker 1: been demonstrated, and there's not enough emphasis that in the
Speaker 1: solar wins of microstoft exchange server attacks that so called
Speaker 1: trusted suppliers are violated. So regarding cybersecurity and privacy, it's
Speaker 1: not about what company it is, it's not about what
Speaker 1: country it is. We have to have measures in place
Speaker 1: that are objective providing assurance. There need to be transparency,
Speaker 1: and there need to be accountability for companies and governments
Speaker 1: and individuals to do the right thing from a cybersecurity
Speaker 1: perspective and to protect their data privacy, because we're not
Speaker 1: doing nearly enough to protect data privacy in the United States.
Speaker 1: Huawei's USA chief security of Sandy Petty always grateful for
Speaker 1: your time and for answering the tough questions. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Let's stick with the world of chips, with Japan saying
Speaker 1: it will expand restrictions on exports of twenty three types
Speaker 1: of leading edge chipmaking technology. Tokyo's move follows months of
Speaker 1: lobbying by the US to get Japan to come on
Speaker 1: board in tightening shipments of semiconductor tools to China. Japan
Speaker 1: and the Netherlands had agreed in principle to join the US,
Speaker 1: but a sort to chart a middle road between the
Speaker 1: two superpowers. Coming up, we're going to talk about the
Speaker 1: state of fundraising in Silicon Valley following svb's collapse with
Speaker 1: the CEO of Portage Adam Feleski, and again recap last
Speaker 1: day of the quarter, last day of March. This is
Speaker 1: where we stand year to day, a very different picture
Speaker 1: in the banking sector. Can trust that with technology this
Speaker 1: is the impact of svb's collapse among regional banks and
Speaker 1: other financials year to day the complete opposite of what
Speaker 1: we see. Frankly in the technology sector. This is bloomberg.
Speaker 1: The digitalization and decoganization is eating up another larger share
Speaker 1: of GMP, and if you want an invest in growth,
Speaker 1: that's where you want to be. The dollar value going
Speaker 1: into climate related venture plateauing between twenty twenty one and
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, driven entirely by the decrease in the
Speaker 1: growth rounds in Europe. It's largely isolated in the UK,
Speaker 1: where sv IT was important, But I think it's interesting
Speaker 1: to see that there's been an explosion in venture that
Speaker 1: particularly last year. So I do expect to see a
Speaker 1: change in underwriting policies around what profile of companies can
Speaker 1: get debt and on what terms relative to what we
Speaker 1: were seeing in the past. For us, we're looking at
Speaker 1: how can we support our startups so that they don't
Speaker 1: have to continuously get into that kind of heydnastic silicon
Speaker 1: value treadmill of raising more and more corporate equity. I
Speaker 1: think founders have woken up to the reality that taking
Speaker 1: on more money at higher terms doesn't necessarily play to
Speaker 1: their benefit in the long run. Just some of the
Speaker 1: Bench Capital guests throughout the week on the program, Let's
Speaker 1: get a rap of all things VC and deals bringing
Speaker 1: Bloombers Katie Ruth. You forget it seems a lifetime ago.
Speaker 1: It was this week that First Citizens stepped in and
Speaker 1: took some of the SVB. This is what some of
Speaker 1: the venture community wanted. Yes, so they found a home
Speaker 1: for Silicon Valley Bank. It's in North Carolina, so pretty
Speaker 1: far from Silicon Valley, but at least you know, Silicon
Speaker 1: Valley Bank will live on. I've talked to some vcs
Speaker 1: who are cautiously optimistic about this. They don't know what
Speaker 1: the strategy will be for Silicon Valley Bank under First Citizens.
Speaker 1: They're hoping that, you know, it will be more of
Speaker 1: the same. They like Silicon Valley Bank. Before you know,
Speaker 1: the bank had good ventor debt terms and they're hoping
Speaker 1: that will continue. Yeah, the big story is Ali Baba
Speaker 1: spinning off units in Nabadabbi. They're IPOs, a tech IPOs back.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're back, but it's good to
Speaker 1: see a little bit of activity here. I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: was super quiet on the IPO fright by Ali Baba
Speaker 1: is you know, splitting into six different businesses so that
Speaker 1: they can focus on their core business and bring value
Speaker 1: to shareholders as separate units. And so the logistics unit
Speaker 1: which handles a delivery could go public before the end
Speaker 1: of the year in Hong Kong. I don't know that
Speaker 1: we're about to see a florry of IPOs and the
Speaker 1: new year term in the US, but certainly, you know
Speaker 1: we are seeing some spinoffs. The big tech IPO of
Speaker 1: last year was Intel spinning up Mobili Katie stay with
Speaker 1: us joining us now for a bit more on the
Speaker 1: benched side. Adam Fleski Portage CEO Portage Capital Solutions delivering
Speaker 1: flexible equity, capital and strategic resources help public and private
Speaker 1: later stage fintech in financial services business Adam, it's been
Speaker 1: hell of a week, to be honest with you, but
Speaker 1: just give me your broad strokes reaction to the saving
Speaker 1: of SVB in part well, let me start with saying
Speaker 1: that the market was really tight even before for this event.
Speaker 1: You know, there was really two factors at play. One
Speaker 1: was the broader private markets. We're starting to see challenges
Speaker 1: given the setback in public markets and the privates catching
Speaker 1: up to the valuation compressions that were happening there, and
Speaker 1: therefore private companies were really avoiding coming to market. And
Speaker 1: that was compounded by the fact that gps themselves were
Speaker 1: starting to get concerned about raising capital and their next
Speaker 1: funds and were slowing down their pacings. So the market
Speaker 1: was becoming very tight and actually relatively quiet, and many
Speaker 1: of these companies were using their their venture death facilities
Speaker 1: to extend their runways so that they could avoid potentially
Speaker 1: coming into a market that where scarcity was high. And
Speaker 1: this is just obviously exacerbated you know, those factors, and
Speaker 1: now we've got a situation where, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of companies are going to be in a tighter window.
Speaker 1: We call it the fundraising gauntlets of the fall, because
Speaker 1: they have potentially less flexibility than they Well, at any Adam,
Speaker 1: it's good that you it's good that you're with us
Speaker 1: because you can run that gaunt the icon. I'm not
Speaker 1: a vench capitalist. We're talking a lot about last day
Speaker 1: of the quarter and as that one hundreds going nuts,
Speaker 1: semiconductor index going nuts. When you're trying to benchmark your
Speaker 1: private company portfolio companies against what you're saying in public markets,
Speaker 1: why are those two competing ideas right now? Well, one,
Speaker 1: the public markets and multiples fell a lot faster and
Speaker 1: harder than the private markets. The private markets are are
Speaker 1: really just catching up. I think, you know, at the
Speaker 1: later stage, we're starting to see a flattening between the
Speaker 1: premium the private premium as you go further down the
Speaker 1: maturity curve into earlier stage. You know, the public and
Speaker 1: private markets always have a little bit of different equilibrium,
Speaker 1: but but I would say at the later stage, we're
Speaker 1: starting to see a little bit more balanced between the two. Adam,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a little bit about structured equity.
Speaker 1: I know your firm has some experience with that. Are
Speaker 1: you finding right now that a lot of these unicorns,
Speaker 1: or you know, some of the largely highly valued companies
Speaker 1: would rather save face and take new money at difficult
Speaker 1: terms rather than doing a down round. Look, it's not
Speaker 1: just a question for the management team, it's it's a
Speaker 1: question for all stakeholders. The you know, the management teams
Speaker 1: just one component. Their investor base is another. Obviously, it's
Speaker 1: a debate that these stakeholders have to have. I think
Speaker 1: it's a structured actually solution like that that we have
Speaker 1: on the offer does offer flexibility on valuation versus potentially
Speaker 1: a preferred security with some seniority and governance right, and
Speaker 1: everyone just has to weigh what are the different levers
Speaker 1: that construct the best outcome for both the company itself
Speaker 1: and the investor. And I think a structured equity solution
Speaker 1: just has more flexibility. If all you can do as
Speaker 1: investor is offer a preferred security or a common security,
Speaker 1: then you're going to be much more sensitive to the valuation.
Speaker 1: So are you guys busy right now? Are you finding
Speaker 1: that a lot of companies are about to raise more money?
Speaker 1: It's unbelievably busy. You know, in the last four months,
Speaker 1: we've entered into over two hundred NDAs at this point,
Speaker 1: you know our selection, we just close our first deal,
Speaker 1: so one deal versus two hundred companies that we've we've
Speaker 1: dug into is a small conversion rate. We expect that
Speaker 1: type of ratio to continue. So it's a really interesting
Speaker 1: opportunity and great time to deploy capital. U And and
Speaker 1: I think, you know, some people may think it's adversarial
Speaker 1: between stakeholders and US as capital and seeking a solution.
Speaker 1: It's quite different. I think everyone understands the market. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, if if the company performs, we're all aligned
Speaker 1: and the downside protections we see won't be necessary and
Speaker 1: it's a win win for everyone. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a very positive and quite frankly right now,
Speaker 1: an energizing market because we're having so many interesting conversations
Speaker 1: with great companies. Right hey, Adam, it sounds then that
Speaker 1: you at least are not staring into this kind of
Speaker 1: post SVB B A base deploying Capit's aware, as Fisher
Speaker 1: intelligence fintech, where are the opportunities. So we're very focused
Speaker 1: fund always have been for the last seven years. So
Speaker 1: everything we do is fintech, mostly banking, insurance and wealth management.
Speaker 1: There's opportunities in all of those verticals. I would say
Speaker 1: my insurance being down the most has some balance sheet intensity.
Speaker 1: We're seeing some great opportunities plays that are more balance
Speaker 1: sheet intensive or consumer facing. There's a lot of people
Speaker 1: that are concerned about the resilience, resiliency of the consumer
Speaker 1: and access to capital. We've got a lot of experience
Speaker 1: in both and we can price that risk. And as
Speaker 1: you say, if you've got capital and you can underwrite
Speaker 1: the risk, it's an amazing time to be in the market.
Speaker 1: Adam Volaskia Portage, bloom Bows, Katie Roof both with me.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your time. So in today's Going Viral,
Speaker 1: we're diving into the world of Hollywood and why are
Speaker 1: your favorite video games now turning into motion pictures. Take Tetris,
Speaker 1: for example, the addictive puzzle game from the nineteen eighties,
Speaker 1: or wasn't around then. It is part of Apple's for
Speaker 1: a in a tinsel Town. It takes viewers behind the
Speaker 1: scenes in the bowl over distribution rights to the game,
Speaker 1: part business biopic, part cold war spy thriller. The nearly
Speaker 1: two hour film is almost certainly the best ever made
Speaker 1: about international copyright negotiations. The smartphonemaker ramping up to spend
Speaker 1: over one billion a year on films for theaters and streaming,
Speaker 1: keeping most of its focus on movies that appeal to
Speaker 1: adult audiences. Speaking of games, by the way, Dungeons and
Speaker 1: Dragons new owner Hasbro has big ambitions for the fantasy
Speaker 1: role playing game. Bloomberg's Felix Gillette has the scoop on
Speaker 1: the game that's staging a comeback on the even but
Speaker 1: its fiftieth birthday, Dungeons and Dragons has never been more popular.
Speaker 1: The granddaddy of fantasy role playing games is currently enjoying
Speaker 1: a cultural renaissance, thanks in part to its prominent depiction
Speaker 1: and Netflix's hit series The Stranger Things. D and D
Speaker 1: has minted a new generation of dicelinging fans, D and
Speaker 1: D theme podcasts, twitch shows, and D and D influencers
Speaker 1: on YouTube and TikTok. While a few games have enjoyed
Speaker 1: the kind of multigenerational influences D and D, the corresponding
Speaker 1: business has often struggled over the years to live up
Speaker 1: to its potential, leaving in its wake not great fortunes,
Speaker 1: but instead a long legacy of infighting, litigation, and squandered opportunities.
Speaker 1: So night, we begin with a story about make believe
Speaker 1: adventure and real life violence and what some critics fear
Speaker 1: is a connection between the two in a game called
Speaker 1: Dungeons and Dragons. Throughout the nineteen eighties, evangelical Christian groups
Speaker 1: frequently accused D and D, with its spells of magic
Speaker 1: or neat beastiaries and horned deities, as being a plaything
Speaker 1: of the devil, making it difficult for the game's owners
Speaker 1: to turn it into a family friendly mainstream brand. Now, Hasbro,
Speaker 1: the giant toy company that owns D and D, is
Speaker 1: hoping that the business side of the game can finally
Speaker 1: catch up with its cultural prowess. Over the next year,
Speaker 1: Hasbro will be unleashing some major D and D brand extensions,
Speaker 1: aiming to rake in more money from D and d's
Speaker 1: swelling fan base. The streaming service Paramount Plus is currently
Speaker 1: developing a live action D and D series. In August,
Speaker 1: Balder's Gate three, the latest sequel in a popular series
Speaker 1: of video games based on D and D, is scheduled
Speaker 1: to go on sale, and sometime next year, Hasbro's expected
Speaker 1: to release one D and D, the next iteration of
Speaker 1: the classic game, this time with a whole new suite
Speaker 1: of digital enhancements. Most importantly on March thirty first, Hasbro's
Speaker 1: E one Studio and Paramount will be releasing Dungeons and
Speaker 1: Dragons Honor among Thieves, a big budget CGI Layden Hollywood spectacle.
Speaker 1: For the D and D movie to succeed, it not
Speaker 1: only has to produce big numbers in spring, but also
Speaker 1: spawn the kind of long living entertainment franchise that Hasbro
Speaker 1: has enjoyed with Transforms. Since two thousand and seven, the
Speaker 1: six Transformer films based on its Warrior Car toys have
Speaker 1: generated close to five billion dollars in theater ticket sense.
Speaker 1: Hasbro hopes that this time around, D and D fans
Speaker 1: will embreecee the movie and everything else coming down the pipeline.
Speaker 1: If they do, after fifty years, D and D may
Speaker 1: finally live up to its business potential. All right, thanks
Speaker 1: to Bloomberg's Felix to Let for that report. I know
Speaker 1: for you dungeon masters and halflings out there, it's a
Speaker 1: big Friday night You've got ahead of the movie theater
Speaker 1: that does it. For this edition of Bloomberg Technology catch
Speaker 1: us in an hour. I'm going to be doing a
Speaker 1: Twitter spaces and all things AI. It has been an
Speaker 1: astonishing week for the world of ours, Fishal Intelligence, and
Speaker 1: our very own Rachel Mets is going to be up
Speaker 1: with me. Lots to recap in the show, so to
Speaker 1: check out the podcast wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify,
Speaker 1: iHeart and of course on all the Bloomberg platforms. It
Speaker 1: is the last day of March. It is the last
Speaker 1: day at the Quarter Technology absolutely jumping first three months
Speaker 1: of this year, so much more to go. This is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg