[KC] DEBRIEF WEEK 43 FRIDAY 10/29
DIGITAL TITANS
_Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thurs. (Oct. 28) that Facebook is changing its name. What was formerly known as Facebook Inc., the parent company behind the namesake app, as well as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the virtual reality company Oculus is now called Meta Platforms Inc.
ALSO
_ Who’s Building Facebook’s Metaverse? Meet CTO Andrew Bosworth. As the embattled company prepares a pivot, Mark Zuckerberg has tapped a longtime deputy to lead the project.
ALSO
Facebook has laid out an aggressive strategy of building its own consumer hardware to lessen its dependence on Apple and Google. The seriousness of its ambitions is reflected in its headcount: Nearly 10,000 people are working in its group developing AR/VR devices, or nearly one-fifth of Facebook’s total global workforce. We put together an org chart showing key leadership in this group as well as over 100 other important executives at the company.
ALSO
Facebook. Messenger Announces ‘Group Effects’ To Make Video Conferences More Delightful Video calling is, as the last 18 months have proven, an essential way of keeping in contact in today’s world. So, of course, it’d make sense for one of the current biggest social media companies to keep building on this tool. Facebook has announced that there are going to be new augmented-reality (AR) additions to video calls, which will also be coming to Instagram soon. Is this all part of the plan to build the metaverse? Perhaps.Named ‘Group Effects’, the new feature aims to make AR filters a shared experience and enable “a more fun and immersive way to connect with friends and family.” At launch, a library of 70 effects will be made available, ranging from games—stacking a hamburger with its ingredients—to cute filters, cats entering everyone’s frames, and more. Users will be able to access these through the smiley face icon in any video call or Messenger Room to open the effects tray, where Group Effects can be found
_Twitter. Twitter buys chat app founded by a serial entrepreneur who sold his first start-up to Yahoo when he was 17. Incorporated in 2016, Sphere started out as a real-time question and answer app that involved micropayments before it pivoted to become more of a group chat app. It raised around $30 million over three funding rounds from investors including Index Ventures, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad and Sequoia venture capitalist Mike Moritz. “The Sphere team’s expertise and leadership’s passion for finding ways to help people connect will help accelerate our Communities, DM, and Creators roadmaps,” said Twitter’s vice president of engineering, Nick Caldwell. KC member David Bloom : “Twitter keeps picking up lots of little social-media companies that are expanding its technology and potential in areas such as group chat, newsletters, audio and more. Probably makes sense to diversify, because Twitter’s stock is getting hammered just like other ad-supported social-media services after Snap’s announcement last week of the impairments caused by Apple’s new ad-privacy policies.”
ALSO
Finally, the political discussion is beginning to shift to the question of who makes the algorithms, and what decisions do they make in creating those algorithms, which are not neutral, dispassionate automatons.
_Apple. Apple revealed its latest MacBook Pros on Monday, but we have still yet to hear from the company about its MacBook Airs. However, rumors are aplenty, and the latest set comes from reputable leaker, Dylandkt on Twitter. This includes a claim that the laptops will sport the next-generation M2 chip, which is a step up from Apple’s current M1—what the current MacBook Airs are running.
Unfortunately, though, it won’t come with the 120Hz Pro Motion display, SD card slot, or HDMI port. There also won’t be Face ID, but Mini-LED is “likely.” Rumors of release in mid-2022 appear to be confirmed by Dylandkt, as well as the possibility of Apple introducing new color options, similar to the range available for the new iMacs. Plus, the bezels and keyboards will now be decked in an off-white shade, which has also been a consistent rumor.
PEOPLE, MEDIA, CULTURE
_ This 69 Year Old is in OnlyFans Top 1% | My Life Online. In this episode of My Life Online, we get to know the 69 year old who is one of the top creators on OnlyFans. Unable to do any other work during the pandemic due to her heart condition, Michelle turned to OnlyFans. Now one viral video and a year later, she’s raking in more cash than she has ever made in her life—but the money isn’t just for her, her goal is to buy a house for her disabled son before it’s too late.
_ China’s ‘Lipstick Brother’ Livestreamer Sells Record $2 Billion of Goods in One Day. Livestreamer Li Jiaqi smashed the sales record of Alibaba’s annual shopping festival, selling nearly $2 billion worth of products ranging from lotions to Airpods. Li, who earned the nickname “lipstick brother” by trying on makeup products on his show, spent a marathon 12 hours enticing viewers to pounce on bargains for Singles Day, an Alibaba event that now lasts for three weeks. Li’s feat is a positive signal for consumer spending as China tries to shake off an economic downturn. It also shows his popularity is undented by a government crackdown on androgynous pop idols and “effeminate” men. Tap the link in bio to learn more.
_Global Landmarks Turned Sculptural Chairs That Can Be Traced Via Blockchain. In collaboration with artist Cosimo De Vita, Italian furniture and interior design firm Savio Firmino has created a collection of intricately designed chairs inspired by iconic buildings gracing city skylines worldwide. Described as “an imaginary journey” that takes place “between West and East” as well as “between tradition and contemporaneity”. Besides being fine works of art while doubling as functional furniture, the chairs also hold a high-tech twist: the materials and processes used to create these chairs can be traced and certified via blockchain. This, the company claims, is the first instance of blockchain tied into furniture design. It’ll make this a “perfect combination of manual production, craftsmanship… and cutting-edge technologies.” Of course, it almost goes without saying that there is an associated NFT with the collection. This takes shape as a video, which was made when the collection was exhibited at the 2021 Salone del Mobile. Instead of the token representing an item or image, as NFTs usually do, it represents the entire event—which is, in itself, unconventional.
_ The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will launch an investigation into the use of facial recognition software at several schools in North Ayrshire. It was previously revealed by The Financial Times that nine institutions had been using the technology to process payments for school lunches. The agency, which runs as an independent body protecting information rights in the country, will be speaking to the North Ayrshire council, and recommend a “less intrusive” way to receive payments. A spokesperson did remind the institutions that facial recognition technology had to be compliant with data protection laws throughout its use, and that schools should consider the effects of collecting students’ biometric data before implementing such software. “Organizations should consider using a different approach if the same goal can be achieved in a less intrusive manner,” the spokesperson added. The firm behind the software, CRB Cunninghams, told The Guardian that the technology is being used for safety reasons during the pandemic, since it offers cashless and contactless payment solutions. It also posited that, since its use, lunch lines at the schools have cleared up more quickly, with students only spending five seconds on each transaction.
_ Superplastic is building a Disney-esque metaverse for the age of NFTs. In 2019, when Paul Budnitz, the Burlington, Vermont-based entrepreneur behind the designer toy company Kidrobot, decided to create Superplastic, a new media company built around animated characters, he borrowed a page from Walt Disney and updated it for the 21st century.“ It was like, okay, what if, instead of doing what everyone else in the world has done, which is create some really cool characters, sell them to a studio, the studio may or may not ruin it before it actually gets out there, and then, when it is actually made, the studio will own the IP. . . .” Budnitz said over the phone recently. “Maybe it’s a punk rock attitude, but—fuck that. If we can control and own our own stuff, what if we just made our characters famous on social media and use that as our primary platform? Now we own the IP, tons of people know about it, and we can do all kinds of things.” So the world was introduced to Janky and Guggimon, a pair of badass, buddy-anarchists who combine an avant-garde Art Spiegelman-esque aesthetic with the colorful, graffiti vibe of street art. As predicted, the duo made waves on social media and have now garnered an audience of 8 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Discord. Janky and Guggimon toys followed (they sell out in minutes in limited-edition drops), along with a licensing agreement with Fortnite (where both have appeared), and a deal with Gucci (they’ve been models). There was even an auction of CryptoJanky NFTs last July through Christie’s—staged in a short, animated film as a heist, in which Janky and Guggimon broke into the storied auction house and stole art. Superplastic is building a Disney-esque metaverse for the age of NFTs
_ Galaxy Interactive Raises Another $325 Million Fund Focused On Games, NFTs, XR And Metaverse. Galaxy Interactive, the largest venture fund focused on the interactive game space, said today it had raised another $325 million from more than 70 limited partners to continue investing in the booming sector. General Partners Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim launched Galaxy Interactive, a unit of Galaxy Digital, in 2018 with a focus on funding companies at the intersection of content, finance, and technology, what it calls the interactive sector. Galaxy Interactive was an early investor in areas such as digital collectibles, now generally called non-fungible tokens built on the blockchain. It’s also invested in companies creating new kinds of AI-driven immersive experiences, components of the Metaverse, and more.
_Twelve-year-old Nyla Hayes’ inspirational story in the NFT world has garnered her a cover on TIME for Kids and the title of TIME Piece’s first Artist-in-Residence. On Thursday, TIME Piece shared the big news online and helped introduce the middle schooler to the world. Hayes made $3.4 million in digital currency with her Long Neckie Collection, a series of NFT pieces depicting diverse women with elongated necks inspired by her favorite dinosaur, the Brontosaurus, People of Color in Tech reports. At just 12 years old, Hayes is breaking ground and making history for Black girls in tech. She helps educate youths on NFT (non-fungible token) and even launched NFT Children’s Day to help other kids launch careers in the emerging tech space.“I started drawing at 4. When I was 9, my parents got me a smartphone to make digital art,” she told TIME for Kids. “I made drawings of people with long necks, which I call Long Neckies.” Now, as TIME Piece’s first Artist-in-Residence, Hayes will help develop “an intimate, focused collection of art” and work toward other initiatives featured in its Build a Better Future Genesis Collection. “These Artist-in-Residence collections will continue to allow TIME to bring art on to the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise,” the company said in a statement. “This extends TIME’s nearly 100-year tradition of highlighting great artists and photographers of a given era while leading the brand into new innovative spaces—in this case NFT’s and Web3.”Hayes’ collection will be released on Nov. 17, 2021, to TIMEPieces and TIMECats holders.
_Virtual Museums. Virtual Museums Challenge the Art World’s Status Quo. X STILL remembers the first time art knocked him on his ass. It was the late 1980s and 8-year old Semple was at the National Gallery in London, face to face with Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. “The painting leapt off the wall; it was like it was hovering. It totally overloaded my system. My mum said that I was shaking,” he says. “Looking back, I’d say it was a state of awe.”Since then, Semple has obsessed over ways to make that kind of museum experience available to everyone. He even knows the ideal place to build it. “The internet is probably one of the most powerful public spaces we have,” he says. “I've always believed that it will be a place that makes art accessible and brings people together.” A decade after he first beheld Sunflowers, in the age of dial-up internet, Semple built his first virtual gallery using Flash. Limited internet access and crippling load times made it almost impossible to use. Semple put the project to bed, but he never stopped dreaming of the virtual museum of the future.
BRANDS
_ Burberry Bridges NFT With Physical Limited-Edition Scarf Ahead Of Alibaba Singles' Day . Singles’ Day, China’s annual shopping phenomenon makes a return this year with new products and services to re-energize consumers’ appetite. In 2020, the Chinese e-commerce platform raked in $74 billion in Gross Merchandising Volume and is expected to achieve a sizeable revenue once again. Taking last year’s learnings powered by failproof livestreaming strategies and the new NFT (non-fungible token) trend, China is set to break another record success. Just shy of a month away from the cyber festival, Alibaba’s Tmall marketplace has kicked off its ‘Tmall Super Brand Day’. A mega-sale campaign driven to spotlight select brands for Chinese consumers, foreign brands flock towards the opportunity to cement their footprint in the lucrative China market and at the doorsteps of 1.4 billion consumers.
_FIFA. Nearly 30 years after launching the FIFA series, soccer’s global governing body has reportedly decided to walk away from its licensing deal with EA Sports. According to the New York Times, negotiations over the future of the video game franchise have hit an impasse, as FIFA has requested that EA double the current licensing fee of $150 million per year to $1 billion every four years. Meanwhile, EA has already registered a trademark for the phrase EA Sports F.C., an appropriate title should the gaming company continue the series once its deal with FIFA expires. In a statement released earlier this week, executive president and general manager of EA Sports, Cam Weber, hinted at permenantly cutting ties with FIFA.“As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games,” Weber said. “This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.”FIFA responded with its own statement, implying that it is looking to take the future of its games elsewhere.“FIFA is bullish and optimistic about its long-term future in gaming and esports following a comprehensive and strategic assessment of the gaming and interactive entertainment market,” the statement read.
_NBA. NBA has agreed to a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which will become the league's exclusive crypto partner. Coinbase will get WNBA, NBA G League, and USA Basketball branding, but the deal's terms were not provided. Bitcoin will most likely be sidelined given Coinbase's priorities with marketing and "crypto."The National Basketball Association has agreed to a sponsorship deal with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase ahead of its 75th anniversary, CNBC reported. With the agreement, the exchange has become the exclusive cryptocurrency partner of the NBA.
MMM OF THE WEEK
_ Ai-Da, a robot who can paint, was detained at the Egyptian border for 10 days ahead of a major exhibition in the country, the Guardian reported. Ai-Da was set to present her work at the foot of the pyramids of Giza, in what is being billed as the first-ever art exhibition held in that historical area.That show, titled “Forever is Now,” is an annual exhibition organized by Art D’Égypte, a multidisciplinary firm whose mission is to support the Egyptian art and culture scene. Ai-Da’s inclusion in the show was supposed to be the main highlight.
_ Facebook is planning to change its company name next week to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. (Update October 28th, 2:30PM ET: Mark Zuckerberg has revealed Facebook’s new name: Meta)
_ Tesla is now worth more than $1 trillion. Shares popped more than 12% Monday to close at about $1,025, boosted by two spots of good news: Hertz announced a record order of 100,000 Teslas for its fleet, and influential Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas recently raised his price target on Tesla to $1,200 a share. That hefty one-day gain put Tesla (TSLA) just over the $1 trillion mark. That market capitalization is less than half that of Apple (AAPL), the most valuable company in the world at $2.5 trillion, and No. 2 Microsoft (MSFT), which is worth $2.3 trillion. Other members of the trillion-dollar club include Google parent Alphabet (GOOG), worth $1.8 trillion, and Amazon (AMZN), at $1.7 trillion.Tesla is the second fastest company to hit the $1 trillion mark, reaching it just more than 12 years after its 2010 initial public offering. Only Facebook (FB), which needed just over 9 years from its IPO to reach $1 trillion, got there faster.
OFF TOPIC
_ Softboy culture hasn’t insinuated itself into the mainstream so much as overwhelmed it. K-Pop act BTS is the biggest band in the world right now; its seven members, with varying hair-dye shades, share Allure-worthy skincare secrets with their fans. In hip-hop, there’s Drake, the zillion-selling rapper who alternates his stock tough-guy persona with an aggressive sensitivity that’s emboldened countless other rappers to get in touch with their emotions. Uber-famous male ingenue Timothée Chalamet stars this weekend in Denis Villenueve’s “Dune,” the biggest “serious” blockbuster of the post-pandemic era to date. (There’s even, perhaps, our first softboy senator in Georgia’s Jon Ossoff, whose boy-next-door charm and general visage itself recall Styles and Chalamet.)