WEBVTT - Midterms, Binance Buys FTX 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:05.480 From the heart of where innovation, money and power Colli 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:10.840 in Silicon Vallet and beyond. This is Bloomberg Technology with 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:28.760 Emily ja I remember only checking San Francisco, and this 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.200 is Bloomberg Technology. Coming up. In the next hour, mid 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.240 terms arrive as public trust in the election process is 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.159 being upended by misinformation and hate. We're talking about how 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.440 the outcome of today's vote will impact data privacy, big 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:46.199 tech regulation, and social media. Plus, California is voting on 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.239 Proposition thirty, which would tax the wealthy and fund the 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.000 adoption of electric cars. Lift President will explain why his 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.040 company is back in the effort despite Governor Gavin Newsom's 0:00:56.080 --> 0:01:00.880 campaign against it, while Uber is staying quiet and f 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.240 T excess Sam mag Mun Freed has been snatching up 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.720 crypto companies on the brink. Now he's getting bailed out 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.640 by Finances c Z. We'll explain how a feud between 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:15.880 the two founders ended in an unexpected acquisition. All that 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:17.480 in a moment, but first I want to dig into 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.880 those Disney results now and bloom bringing Bloomberg Intelligence media 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.120 analyst Keith rang rang and Athan with all the details. 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:28.399 Keether walk us through the main takeaways here. Yeah, thanks 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.000 so much, Emily. So I think the main takeaways here was, 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.360 you know, streaming. Everybody was a little bit worried whether 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.080 they were going to be able to sustain streaming subscriber momentum, 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:39.000 and yes they did. They came out swinging, you know, 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:43.400 thirty percent above consensus, more than twelve million subscriber ads 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.679 on Disney Plus. But I think where they really kind 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.520 of fell short was on the bottom line. So we 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.120 saw that streaming losses kind of came in um much 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.640 higher than expected. So it's more than four billion dollars 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.960 that they've lost in the director consumer segment for fiscal two. 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.880 They did, however, say that those losses are going to 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.000 improve going forward. This was peak losses according to them, 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.799 and we should we should expect them to break even 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.680 if in physical four. But for me, really the big 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.560 miss was in the park segment. Uh, you know, where 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:16.560 we were expecting them to come in with about one 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.000 point nine billion dollars in operating income. They came in 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.000 at about one point five. UM. Now, there's been a 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:26.320 lot of different things. They remember Shanghai Disneyland is closed. Um, 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:30.120 you know, we had a hurricane Ian in Florida, so 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.440 There've been a couple of different things. So I think 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.440 the question now is is it a demand problem or 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.360 is it a cost problem? Can you compare how Disney 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.240 Plus is doing. These are the Netflix, which of course, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.160 you know, suffered first subscriber loss in a decade earlier 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:52.840 this year, but then started regaining subscribers in the latest quarter. Yes, 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.200 so it's really been a tale of you know, kind 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.920 of to two different worlds really here in terms of 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.639 streaming subscribe mind. But remember these are two services that 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.280 are very different stages in their life cycles. So so 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:05.640 Netflix has almost a ten to twelve year head start 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.000 on Disney So they're they're already kind of expanded into 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:09.960 all those international markets, and they were kind of hitting 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.920 their wall a little bit earlier this year with Disney Plus. 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.960 They're still kind of really expanding into new markets. We 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:19.200 saw them go into about hundred million homes over this 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:23.160 summer in two and then right now they're really kind 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.160 of hitting that steady cadence of content. So we've seen 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.800 some really big hit series come out, whether it was 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.079 an End or whether it's a she Hulk, and they're 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.120 going to see much more kind of coming onto the platform, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.560 you know, once they release Black Panther of course, as 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.120 well as Avatar. Those are going to come on the 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.280 Disney Plus platform as well. So all of that kind 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.040 of tells us that there's a lot of momentum for 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.600 this company going forward. The question really has been that 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.080 profitability question, and it's not just for Disney's, for all 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:55.000 the players in the in the streaming space. Neflix Hastings 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.320 has said they're looking into sports rights. How big a 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:02.920 threat would that be to ESPN? Yes, So remember ESPN 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.600 spends about nine to ten billion dollars every year on 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:09.400 sports rights. I'm not so sure Netflix is going to 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.440 be able to make that big off a pet um, 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.000 you know. I think they're looking really more at, you know, 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.640 maybe second tier sports. They've they've looked at a few 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.480 different things. But I think one thing that they are 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.920 worried about though is, you know, uh, sports rights do 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.840 kind of have this huge inflationy competent attached to them. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.760 You know, they go up sixty every time new rights 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.520 fees have to be renegotiated. But the one good thing 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:33.320 that that you know, Netflix does have working in its 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.239 favor is they do have now this ad supported tier 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.359 and that is just perfect for sports because you have 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.240 a captive of audience, advertisers will be really interested. So 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.440 that if they are going after sports in a big way, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.400 I think they can still make it work. All right, 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.279 Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Keith Rock and Athan, We're gonna stay 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.440 tuned the headlines from the Disney call, but appreciate your 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.400 insights across all of it. Meantime, Lift reported weaker than 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:02.360 expected growth in writer leaving some investors concerned it's losing 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.120 ground to Uber. This after Lift said it would cut 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.599 of its workforce nearly seven hundred people in its second 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.160 round of layoffs this year. For more on this, I'm 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.599 joined by Lift co founder and president John Zimmer. So, look, John, 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:20.599 share sinking revenue, falling short of expectations, fewer riders than expected. 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:25.359 What's your response to the investor response? Here? Look, I 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.799 mean we take it seriously. We can say that revenue 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.200 in Q three was at an all time high for 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.279 the company. We guided into Q four of adjusted IBATA 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.479 at an all time high and again record revenue. Uh 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:41.320 you know, on on specifically on riders um the same 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.200 increase in active writers. Uh that uh we saw a 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.880 quarter of our quarter was approximately what we saw seasonality 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:55.000 wise in UH, so no big, big change there UM. 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.800 And then in October we can say that we saw 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.200 six percent month over month ride growth, which is actually 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:07.480 faster when compared to the same period in well. And 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:11.240 in addition to record revenue, you saw record revenue per rider. 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.080 But there are real concerns that you're seating ground to Uber, 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.760 are you if you look back on the quarter third 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.120 party data, so it's about one percent movement. Uh. And 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:26.640 we've actually seen share take up post quarter as we've 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:30.080 rolled out new products for our drivers, including up front pay. 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.520 It's been a narrative. You know, We've been talking about 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.640 this for a decade. We've been in the business of 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.640 Lift for a decade. UH. You know, people constantly asking 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:42.520 this question of what we're doing Lift versus Uber. UH. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:47.000 And we've consistently over that decade UH take in market 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.760 share UH and and we feel we feel comfortable where 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.680 we are and with the products that we added to 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.919 the market in the last few months, where we'll be 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.000 in the coming quarters. We've talked about this many times 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.080 over the last decade, so I appreciate you bear in 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:05.599 with me. John. How is drivers supply relative to levels? Uber? Said? 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:10.560 They're back. Yeah, so I can get more specific than 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.520 than they're back and say that quarter over quarter, active 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.120 drivers increased the most that it has in about a year. 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.680 So we are seeing a return on the driver's side again. 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.320 With the new products, we're seeing increased driver hours. I 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.160 think there's still a bit more opportunity to go to 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.200 get back to kind of pre COVID UH service levels. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.720 But we're the closest to those that we've ever been. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.280 So got to ask about Prop thirty. I went and 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:42.040 voted on it today. Lift is a huge backer of it, 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.960 this proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:49.200 for electric car rebates and charging stations. That said, after 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.360 you back this, Governor Gavin Newsom came out with a 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:57.320 flurry of ads saying to vote no. What happened there? 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.360 Why is list so for this, Why is the governor 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:04.120 so against it? And do you have any regrets? Uh? No, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.440 regrets won't speak to the governor's perspective, but I can 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.120 say that, you know, California has the highest some of 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:12.960 the highs have not the highest UH or lowest air 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:18.320 quality in the country. UH. And as you look at vehicles, 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:23.360 electric vehicles historically policies have centered on UH, people who 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.080 can afford an electric vehicle getting an incentive to buy 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:30.040 an expensive electric vehicle. What Prop thirty does, UH is 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.960 it really addresses lower income populations and make sure that 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.720 they can get an electric vehicle. UM, and we think 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:42.160 that's really important. It also puts money towards fighting wildfires. Still, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.319 the governor called it a trojan horse that puts corporate 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.720 welfare above the fiscal welfare of the entire state. And 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.440 Uber hasn't taken a position one way or another. I 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.800 ask actually asked our Causra Shah he why a few 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.719 days ago. Take a listen to what he had to say. 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:04.880 We feel like we're making the right investments. We are, 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.480 for example, lowering our own booking fee and making sure 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.920 that drivers can make more on a trip basis when 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.160 they move over to E vs UH, and in partnership 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:18.040 with both public and private we think California is headed 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.560 in the right direction, which is why you know we've 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:22.440 stayed out of Prop thirty one way or the other. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.600 M John, on the face, it seems like this proposition 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.160 would benefit Uber as well. Why why do you think 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:33.040 they didn't take a stand? UM, I can't comment on 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.000 why they didn't take a stand or haven't taken a 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.760 stand on other important issues of our time. But I 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.680 can tell you why we did again. We think it's 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.800 the right thing for the entire state in terms of 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.560 the environment, UH, in terms of the air quality, and 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.160 in terms of allowing any driver, not not just a 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.280 riot cheer driver, but any driver in the entire state 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:57.360 to get access to a more affordable electric vehicle. So look, 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.440 another question that I know I've asked you a few 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.760 time over the years, but folks are asking it again. 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.080 Given the recent quarter, Uber has seen success, you know, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.560 moving into food delivery, cross selling it to writers. Are 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.640 you thinking about that at all? Would you consider, for example, 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:16.360 strengthening the partnership with grub hub to potentially drive some 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.679 additional revenue. We've done some B two B delivery, so 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.520 not we have no plans, no interest in doing kind 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.520 of a consumer delivery that that competes with their eats 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.960 business or or door dash, But we do want to 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.120 find opportunities for drivers that that like driving on both 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:38.280 UH delivery as well as rideshare. That said, rideshare drivers 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:42.360 have historically always earned more than than delivery drivers on 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.640 average over the last several years. Uh And so we 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.880 think our focus particularly if we do head into a 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.720 recession where people typically spend less money on takeout or delivery. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.360 Uh and and where transportation is more resilient. You know, 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:57.240 I think we're still coming off the tails of a 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.360 pandemic where where that was very popular and it was 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.040 helpful to have both those. I think in a recession 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:10.079 or environment, we're comfortable and confident in focusing on consumer transportation. Meantime, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.720 the markets haven't been kind to most companies, especially tech companies. 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.000 Lift now has a you know, about a four billion 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:21.120 dollar market cap. Would you consider a sale or a 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.600 merger at this point? So we're we're focused on being 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.720 an independent, profitable business. Uh And we're gonna we're gonna 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:33.360 focus on on that. Uh and and stay the course. 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.480 All right, John, thank you so much for joining us. 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:39.680 And if you were listening to that conversation you're intrigued. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.640 Make sure you vote everywhere and definitely in California. Lift 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.800 co founder and president John Zimmer, thank you. Thank you. Okay, 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.520 coming up, how disinformation is creating a new era of 0:11:51.760 --> 0:12:08.079 US political unrest. That's next, This is Bloomberg. Americans remain 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.040 divided over the government's ability to conduct a free and 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.520 fair election. A CNN poll found forty percent of voters 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.640 think it is somewhat likely that elected officials will one 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.520 day successfully overturn the results of a US election because 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:26.000 their party didn't win. That issue fueled by misinformation. So 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.880 how can the country progress if both sides can't even 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.600 agree on the facts. Jory Craig is the head of 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.560 Elections and Digital at I s D Global Group focused 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:40.640 on finding solutions to extremism, hate, and disinformation, all major 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.640 major problems. Jory, how prevalent is misinformation in the election 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:49.240 that's happening right now? So misinformation which is misleading or 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:53.199 confusing information shared by accident, is somewhat prevalent. But what 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:55.880 we've seen in the months leading up to the election, 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:01.320 really nonstuff, is disinformation, so balter, misleading information intentionally put 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:05.040 into voters seeds to confuse them, to so doubt in advance. 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.079 So when election day come, they already have these preceded 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:11.560 false narratives in their heads and they're expecting activity to 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.960 have and that will confirm those narratives for them. So 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.040 how much of an impact do you think this miss 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.280 and disinformation will actually have on the votes, uh, that 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:26.160 that people decide today. So we're about to find out 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.560 in the next few hours. I mean, we have already 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:33.320 seen election officials, people running for office repeat disinformation claims. 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.640 We've been seeing that in the week's leading up. We've 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.000 been seating that already today. So the question will be, 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.640 you know, our voters going to buy this cyclical scam 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.400 that these election deniers are offering when they're repeating these 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.679 lives that have really been the same lice. Um, we 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.959 hope you know that voters are able to cast their 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.280 ballot and there are no challenges. We've seen things be 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.360 safe at the polls so far. So hopefully these election 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.800 deniers and these people seating these narratives won't have their way. 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:06.559 But we'll see. Uh. Time will tell. So there are 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:08.920 so many conspiracy theories out there that we don't want 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.280 to amplify here. But what can we regular people do 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.839 to mitigate miss or disinformation? Sure, so one thing that 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.080 everybody can do is slow down. We all passively scroll 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.360 through our feeds, uh, and it can be easy to 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.120 share something quickly without checking the source. We can all 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:27.920 slow down. Also, people think sometimes that if they want 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.560 to rebute something or say hey this is wilder, Hey 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:32.720 this isn't true, that they should re share it, but 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.360 actually they shouldn't. They shouldn't regive, you know, reshare or 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.760 give more amplification to the false post. And journalists really 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.760 have this bad habit to there trying to be you know, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.200 share breaking news. Uh, they can slow down and wait 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.640 till all the facts are collected or just post the 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.920 true information instead of resharing what's false. Also, talk to 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.160 your neighbors, talk to people who don use social media 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.280 regularly and help them understand that there are people out 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.400 there trying to push false narratives intentionally on social media 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.560 because it's a place that you go to see trusted sources, 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.720 your friends, your family, etcetera. You know, one of my 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.800 next questions was how can the mainstream media make this 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:13.640 better or worse? Yes, well, I think that the mainstream 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.480 media has a tough job. They're trying to provide breaking news, 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.360 relevant information, but unfortunately, with how fast things move on 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.720 social media, it means that often they're taking things out 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.120 of context. So we've already seen we've already seen today, 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:28.920 you know, journalists re sharing things that if they hadn't 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.440 shared it those narratives would have stayed in fringe spaces, 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.240 they wouldn't have been exposed to the mainstream public. So 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.040 journalists have a duty to be a little bit more responsible. 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.800 And remember that Twitter is not the majority of where 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:42.920 is not a place where the majority of Americans are 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.680 spending their time. Uh, And so you know, the reactions 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.760 they get on Twitter are keeping up with the Twitter stream. 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.560 It's not exactly uh, you know, the most responsible way 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:54.600 to be getting information out to everybody who votes. Well, 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:56.800 speaking of that, I'm curious what you make of Elon 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:00.320 Musk's approach at Twitter thus far. The right of free 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:04.480 speech is one thing. The right to algorithmic amplification a 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.040 free speech is another thing. Do you like what you're 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.440 saying or do you worry about the potential dangers? I 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.760 worry about the potential dangers. And there's just so many, 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.360 I mean, cutting resources like he did so close to 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:18.440 the election. You know, most people are going to be 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.400 thinking about content moderation because he keeps forcing this false 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.840 conversation about about free speech. But that's not really even 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.760 at the top of our list or even at the 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:28.920 bottom of our list of what we worry about. We 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.400 worry about how when trust and safety safety teams are cut, 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.280 we don't have the staff on hand. The platforms don't 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.760 have the staff on hand to respond to the threats 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.600 that we're seeing, to respond to law enforcement subpoenas, to 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.040 try to get the information of where someone's posting from 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.000 if they're posting an active thread. Uh. The back and 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.680 forth on free speech is the distraction from what we 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.400 know these platforms are focused on, which is growth. Their 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.840 product features are taking pieces of content and putting it 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.480 into more feeds than would otherwise see it. So people 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.400 who think that it's a question of free speech or 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.040 censorship don't realize that their feets are already curated, those 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.879 accurations already happening. They don't have a choice in what 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.680 they're putting in, in what they see in their feeds. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.720 It's just not something they have already. So it's a distraction, 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.280 and we're all worried about what Elon Musk is gonna do. 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.119 No one really has confidence in his ability to understand 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.359 how to make Twitter a safe place or even a 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.800 profitable place for those who are only concerned with the 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.760 money it's gonna make. So I'd say all around, it's 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.399 been bad news so far. So look, these are problems 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:33.639 that are going to persist even when the election is over. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.320 You know what happens over the next couple of weeks, 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:41.760 how do you expect misinformation disinformation to weigh on our 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.359 digestion of these results. It's going to be taxing, i'd say. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:50.040 I'd say that regardless of the results. We know that 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.720 the bad actors who are pushing to UM deny the 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.200 election results are likely to deny results in this election, 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.080 and they have a long game their eyes are on, 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.520 and so you can expect that whatever happens over the 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.720 next two weeks will be setting up for what they 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.320 want to carry into the elections, whether that's calling certain 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:12.440 locations or certain states the most prevalent locations for allegend 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.720 election fraud, whether that's denying election results, whether that's pursuing 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.160 litigation UM. All of this is leading up to four 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.880 where they hope to do their ultimate power grab and 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.680 restore what they what they had previously. So we'll see 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.680 their playbook for show in the next coming weeks, and 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.159 hopefully Americans will reject this narrative and not give it 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.879 more oxygen and we can all move on with the 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.639 actual results. Of the election based on what Americans choose 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:45.040 to say in this election. All right, Jerry crag Had 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.280 of Elections and Digital at I S T Global, thank 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.840 you so much for weighing in on all of these 0:18:49.840 --> 0:19:02.000 important issues today. Some other stories on our radar. Job 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.200 cuts in the tech industry now nearing levels last seen 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.280 in the early stages of the pandemic. In the last 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.520 few weeks, a number of tech companies have said put 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:16.000 hiring on hold or cut jobs outright. Think Twitter, Apple, Amazon, 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.080 Alphabet Now Salesforce just today cut hundreds of workers from 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:23.120 its sales team, and the Wall Street Journal says Facebook 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.120 parent Meta is set to cut thousands of employees this week. 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:31.440 Crypto Exchange Finance is buying rival f t X, led 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:34.879 by Sam Bankman Free. This means billionaire Chung Pung c 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:39.320 Z Saw, who owns Finances, crypto's richest man. It's now 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.600 consolidating power in the crypto world after a bitter few 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:47.119 between these two men, with cz actively undermining confidence in 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:50.560 ft X is financing helping spark an exodus of users 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:52.480 from the exchange. We're going to dive deeper into all 0:19:52.520 --> 0:20:05.880 of this in our Crypto Report later this hour. Let's 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:07.720 get back now to the mid terms and talk about 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:11.280 the impact the outcome of this election could have on 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.600 the fate of big tech policy. I want to bring 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.000 in Shoshanna Zooba for more on this. She is the 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.440 author of the Age of Surveillance Capitalism and a professor 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.880 emeritus at Harvard's Business School, and has so many insightful 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.080 things to say on this topic. So, look, whether it's 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.960 Republicans or Democrats in control after this election, how do 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:34.879 you think the votes cast today will impact the future 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:39.080 of the tech industry. Well, the answer to that question 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:43.040 and really, you know what I'm gonna say, Let's zoom 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.879 out a little bit and understand where we are. These 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:52.360 midterm elections are are pretty traumatic, but they are actually 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:58.200 one milestone in a two decade long social experiment in 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.879 which we are the guinea pigs. And that social experiment 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:06.720 began in the late nineteen nineties when our political leaders 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:14.080 are democratically elected leaders abdicated the new digital information and 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:20.000 communication spaces of the Internet to private companies. They told 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.840 the companies you lead will get out of the way, 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.919 there will be no law to constrain you. And two 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:34.680 decades later, we are paying the price of this social experiment. 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:41.800 You know, perhaps among the prices that we have paid 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.840 is the fact that Bloomberg did very extensive analysis that 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.359 found that candidates who propagated the big lie that the 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:53.600 election was stolen from former President Trump actually got more 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:57.679 engagement on social media, and that social media companies also 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:03.199 profited from that engagement. What can be done about that? 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.840 All right, so, but we're we're in a crazy situation. 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.959 So we let the companies take over these spaces. And 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.159 by the way, as everyone knows, this is the digital age. 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:20.240 We live in an information society. Never has information been 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:25.200 more essential to every single thing we do. And if 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:29.080 we ourselves are not represented as information, we no longer 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:34.879 even exist on society's atlas. It is absolutely crucial to 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:39.600 our lives as individuals and to our democratic society. But 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:46.080 what we have instead is avoid democracy advocated, and that 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:50.639 left avoid where democracy should have been figuring out, hey, 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:53.399 how do we run this Internet and how do we 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:58.600 take advantage of the vast new digital capabilities to advance 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.840 our values and prints sables to advance a democratic form 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:07.520 of government. We never had that conversation. We left a void, 0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:12.359 and it was surveillance capitalism that filled the void. And 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:16.360 what that means, Emily is this is not a hard 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:21.040 luck story about technology. We're not up against technology. This 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.200 is a bad story about economics because when they figured 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:30.280 out that they could invade our spaces, our personal spaces, 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:35.160 extract us as data, use that data to predict our behavior, 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:38.560 and really figure out that that was going to be 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:44.480 the new commodity business. Human data sold in process like 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:49.119 a commodity, just as if we were selling oil barrels 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:55.480 or tons of wheat, same deal. So they built systems 0:23:55.600 --> 0:24:00.520 for volume and speed, that's all that matter. Or get 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:05.000 the bulk of those data flowing through the AI, flowing 0:24:05.040 --> 0:24:08.320