LT Weekly: Nov 29, 2024

Advertising/Ad Agencies/Ad Tech

• Canada’s antitrust watchdog is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in its online advertising biz. The Competition Bureau claims Google tied together its AdTech tools to maintain mkt dominance and is seeking to have Google sell its DoubleClick for Publishers and AdX services, plus pay a fine. The case will be heard by the Competition Tribunal. (CBSNEWS)

• Google proposed more changes to its search results in Europe. This comes after some smaller rivals complained about lower traffic to their sites resulting from previous tweaks by the Alphabet unit and as EU antitrust regulators consider levying charges against the Co under the Digital Markets Act, which prohibits Google from favoring products and svs on its platform. (CNBC)

 Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning

• A group of early testers released an unauthorized leak of OpenAI’s text-to-video generator, Sora, online, citing grievances over “unpaid labor” and exploitation of creative professionals. Access to this early version of Sora was shut down by OpenAI after three hours; however, many individuals had a chance to test it out and generate AI videos, which are now being shared online, including on X (formerly Twitter). (Newsweek)
• Alibaba’s Qwen team developed a new so-called “reasoning” AI model, QwQ-32B-Preview, one of the few to rival OpenAI’s o1. It’s also the first available AI model to download under a permissive license. It contains 32.5bn parameters and can consider prompts up ~32,000 words in length. It also performs better on certain benchmarks than o1-preview and o1-mini, the two reasoning models that OpenAI has released so far. (TechCrunch)
• Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude can now match user’s writing style and tone at work, making it easier for Cos to use AI while keeping their brand voice, a feature missing from ChatGPT and Google’s AI tools. The new “styles” feature, launching on Claude.ai, enables users to preset how Claude responds to queries, offering formal, concise, or explanatory modes. This development comes as AI Cos race to differentiate their offerings. (VentureBeat)
• Google is using its search remedies trial to subpoena OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft over their gen AI efforts. The subpoenas, sent in Oct, were made public on Nov 25 through legal filings from all four Cos. The disclosures came just hours after the Google ad-tech antitrust trial wrapped up closing arguments from lawyers representing Google and the US Department of Justice. (Digiday)
• Mistral, a European AI startup valued at $6bn, is expanding to Palo Alto, CA, to tap into the talent and customer pool of the Bay Area. French President Emmanuel Macron has highlighted Mistral as proof of Europe’s potential in the AI race dominated by the US and China. However, Europe may lack the talent and capital to retain such AI giants. Mistral is hiring AI scientists, engineers, and sales staff in the US. (SEMAFOR)
• SoftBank is set to acquire $1.5 billion in OpenAI shares, allowing employees to cash out their stakes. Employees have until December 24 to decide whether to participate. Driven by CEO Masayoshi Son, this move aligns with SoftBank’s AI focus and strategy to back top private companies. The deal is unrelated to OpenAI’s potential restructuring, reflecting SoftBank’s broader AI ambitions. (MOOMOO)
• The Philippines leads the world in AI adoption, and 86% of Filipino white-collar workers already use AI to “boost productivity, efficiency and creativity,” per the 2024 Work Trend Index created by LinkedIn and Microsoft. Two-thirds of BPO Cos that are members of the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines are already using AI or are piloting it, Dominic Ligot, said the association’s head of AI and research. (Rest of World)
• W/ law enforcement focused on reducing crime rates and budget pressures, while recruiting and retaining staff, tech Cos are having some early success selling AI tools to police depts, especially to ease the burden of administrative work. Axon was among the first Cos to introduce AI specifically for the most common police task: report writing. Its tool, Draft One, generates police narratives directly from Axon’s bodycam audio. (CNBC)

 Audio/Music/Podcast

• Drake alleges UMG and Spotify artificially inflated popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” Drake, via a biz entity called Frozen Moments LLC, filed a petition in a New York Supreme Court on Nov 25. The petition alleges that UMG “conspired with and paid currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us’ and deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.” (TechCrunch)
• Nvidia annc’d a groundbreaking AI music editor that can produce sounds never heard before, including a trumpet that meows. This innovative tool, named Fugatto, has the capability to generate music, sounds, and speech using text and audio inputs it has not previously encountered. A demo reveals Fugatto can compose music based on imaginative prompts, such as one involving a saxophone howling and barking alongside electronic music w/ dogs barking. (Economy Middle East)
• Spotify introduced a new set of tools for authors and publishers distributing their audiobooks on its platform with the launch of Spotify for Authors. Similar to its existing efforts, Spotify for Artists and Spotify for Creators (previously Podcasters), Spotify for Authors will allow writers and publishers to track insights and analytics about their audiobooks’ and catalog’s consumption on the svs and access a set of promotional tools. (TechCrunch)

Cable/Pay-TV/Wireless

• 5G Standalone (5G SA) and 5G Advanced are expected to be key focus for communications svs providers (CSPs) for the remainder of the decade. This comes as CSPs deploy new capabilities to create offerings centered on value delivery rather than data volume. Globally, 5G networks are expected to carry ~80% of total mobile data traffic by the end of 2030 – compared to 34% by the end of 2024. (VanillaPlus – The global voice of Telecoms IT)
• Altice USA’s Q3 results revealed a mixed financial performance w/ a 3.9% rev decline to $2.2bn, a net loss of $43mn, an adj EBITDA of $862.0mn (-5.8% yoy), and margin of 38.7%. Despite these challenges, the Co showed strong growth in its fiber and mobile segments, adding 47,000 fiber customers and 36,000 mobile lines. The Co is focusing on strategic initiatives, including expanding its fiber network and increasing operational efficiencies. (BUSINESSWIRE)
• An estimated 5.5bn people are online in 2024, an increase of 227mn individuals based on revised estimates for 2023, according to new figures from the International Telecommunication Union. In total, an estimated 2.6bn people are offline in 2024, accounting for 32% of the world’s population. This is down from the newly revised estimate of 2.8bn for 2023, which represents 35% of the population. (VanillaPlus – The global voice of Telecoms IT)
• Aramco Digital plans to invest $1bn in Mavenir, a US-based telecom service provider, as part of its strategic push into the telecommunications sector. The Saudi investment is expected to secure a “significant minority” stake in Mavenir, valuing the US co at $3bn. The funding will support Mavenir’s advancements in 5G technology and preparations for the 6G network rollout in the latter half of the decade. However, the deal is not yet finalized, a report said. (AGBI)
• Parks Associates’ latest Home Services Dashboard reveals that consumers who do not bundle their home svs reported an increase in their monthly spending from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024. The research firm’s consumer survey of 8,000 US internet households reveals that the monthly avg spend among consumers without bundles was $100 for mobile phone svs, $91 for traditional pay-TV svs, $71 for internet svs, and $53 on security svs. (Digital TV News)
• The collapse of the DIRECTV and Dish Network merger has left both satellite TV giants facing an uncertain future. W/ mounting debt and declining subscriber numbers, the cos must now navigate a challenging media landscape and explore alternate paths to survival. One possibility is for DIRECTV and Dish to attempt to renegotiate a new merger agreement that addresses the concerns of bondholders who rejected the previous debt swap proposal. (Cord Cutters News)
• The fate of the $8bn Universal Service Fund (USF) now lies in the hands of the Supreme Court, which has the power to determine whether the subsidy program is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will likely reach its verdict in summer 2025. The legality issue concerns the FCC’s choice to delegate the administration of USF programs to a private third party – the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). (Fierce Network)
• The merger of Dish DBS and DirecTV fell through as expected. Even before DirecTV terminated its merger w/ Dish DBS at 11:59 pm ET on Nov 22, EchoStar was contemplating a future where that transaction was not part of its immediate future. Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner told Fierce Network the deal “was just too much of a haircut w/ too much of an upside for Charlie Ergen.” (Fierce Network)

Cloud/DataCenters/IT Infrastructure

• CoreWeave is aiming for valuation of more than $35bn in its US initial public offering that is expected to occur next yr. The co is likely to target raising more than $3bn from its share sale, which could launch during the second quarter of 2025, the sources said, cautioning that the co’ plans are subject to market conditions and could change. CoreWeave had raised $12.7bn in equity and debt financing over the past 12 months, including a $7.5bn debt financing round in May. (Seeking Alpha)

 Crypto/Blockchain/web3/NFTs

• Texas’ utility regulator adopted a rule requiring crypto mining facilities connected to the state’s main electric grid to register w/ the state’s grid operator. The rule, mandated by lawmakers in a 2023 bill, requires crypto mining facilities that consume 75+ megawatts of power to tell the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Existing facilities must register by Feb 1 and renew their registration annually. (The Texas Tribune)

Cybersecurity/Security

• Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in US critical infrastructure and IT networks for a potential clash w/ the US. The executive director of US Cyber Command said Chinese linked cyber operations activities include gaining access to key networks to enable potential disruptions such as manipulating heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in server rooms, or disrupting critical energy and water controls. (The Economic Times)
• CrowdStrike issued a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast, disappointing investors who have been watching for signs that the Co has recovered from a flawed update that crashed computers around the world. Adjusted earnings will be 84 cents to 86 cents per share in FQ4, CrowdStrike said in a statement. Analysts were expecting 87 cents, according to Bloomberg-compiled estimates. (Insurance Journal)
• Starbucks said that a ransomware attack on a third-party software provider is hindering its ability to track baristas’ hours and manage their pay. The Nov 21 cyberattack targeted supply-chain mgmt software maker Blue Yonder, which lets Starbucks employees view and manage their schedules and allows the Co to account for their time at work. Blue Yonder didn’t disclose who was behind the ransomware scheme. (CBSNEWS)

eCommerce/Social Commerce/Retail

• Amazon finally resolved a long-running state aid case in the European Union. The European Commission confirmed it has closed its investigation into whether Luxembourg granted Amazon “selective tax advantages.” The case, which began almost a decade ago, saw the Commission initially conclude in 2017 that Luxembourg had given Amazon illegal tax benefits worth €250mn. However, EU judges annulled this decision on appeal. (TechCrunch)
• Amazon Japan has come under scrutiny as Japan’s Fair Trade Commission launched a surprise raid on the Co’s local office. The raid is part of an investigation into allegations of antitrust practices, w/ regulators looking into claims that Amazon is pressuring sellers to cut prices unfairly and steering customers toward preferred products through its platform. A particular focus of the inquiry is Amazon’s Buy Box program. (Firstpost)
• Comcast might be spinning off its cable networks but continues to test innovations for the assets remaining within the NBCUniversal house. NBC linear broadcast and Peacock are expanding shoppable elements timed to coincide w/ the start of Black Friday shopping this weekend as well as primetime holiday live sports programming, including through an expanded partnership w/ Walmart, that kicks off Thanksgiving. (StreamTV Insider)
• Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election could spell trouble for Chinese fast-fashion brands, particularly Gen Z-favorite budget brands like Shein and Temu. Trump said in a Truth Social post that he intends to slap China w/ an addt’l 10% import tariff, on top of any tariffs he already plans to impose. He said these tariffs were a punishment for China sending “massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl,” to the US. (Business Insider)
• IKEA’s CFO, Juvencio Maeztu, stated that tariffs planned by President-elect Donald Trump will make it challenging for IKEA to maintain low prices. Trump has proposed significant tariffs on imports from the US’s top trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and China, raising concerns among businesses reliant on global trade. Maeztu noted that 30% of IKEA’s products come from Asia, including China, and 70% from Europe. (New York Post)
• Nordstrom beat analyst expectations in several measures in Q3, and execs noted increases in traffic, customer count, and transactions at both its full-line and off-price Rack stores. Q3 net sales rose 4.6% y/y to $3.3bn, w/ total comps up 4% and e-commerce up 6.4%. The Co now expects rev, including retail sales and credit card rev, to be flat or rise 1% y/y, which includes a hit of 135bps b/c last yr had an extra week. (Retail Dive)
• Thanksgiving weekend has long been seen as the traditional start of the most important sales period for retailers, and so far, the indication is that we’re in for a strong holiday season for e-commerce. Salesforce is tracking activity in real time and said that Thanksgiving generated $33.6bn in sales online globally, up 6%. The US mkt alone was up 8% to $8.1bn. Europe was also a standout, growing 10%. (TechCrunch)
• UK retailers are hoping for a boost in sales this holiday season after a tough few weeks. Footfall has been dropping for the second consecutive month in Nov due to factors like the delayed Black Friday discounts, Storm Bert, and weak consumer confidence. According to recent Sensormatic data by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), high street footfall dropped by 3.7% in Nov, down from -3.6% in Oct. (Retail Gazette)

Electric & Autonomous Vehicles

• Governor Gavin Newsom plans to revive California’s EV rebate if Trump ends the federal tax credit. Newsom will propose creating a new version of the state’s successful Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding 594,000 cars and saving 456m gallons of fuel. Money for the new rebate system “could come from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program.” (Business Insider)
• Pony AI annc’d the pricing of its IPO of 20,000,000 American depositary shares (ADSs) at $13 per ADS. The ADSs will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PONY starting Nov 27. The Co has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 addt’l ADSs. Concurrent w/ the IPO, strategic investors have committed to purchase ~$153.4mn worth of Class A ordinary shares in private placements. (STOCKTITAN)
• Rivian Automotive received a conditional $6.6bn loan commitment from the Department of Energy, which will aid the Co to get its stalled electric vehicle factory project in Georgia back on track. The funds, through the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program, would help the Co resume construction of its $5bn Georgia EV plant, which was halted in March. (Utility Dive)
• Singapore is deploying more self-driving buses, freight vehicles, and street sweepers. On a recent visit to the resort island of Sentosa, a mother and son used the monorail, a bus, and the beach tram, saving the latest addition for the last: the Robobus. The self-driving minibus is the first autonomous vehicle accessible to Singapore’s public. Launched by China’s WeRide, the shuttle takes ~12 minutes to complete a 1.2km loop w/ four stops. (Rest of World)
• Tesla is looking to build out a teleoperations team as it gears up to launch a robotaxi svs in the coming yrs. Per a recent job listing, Tesla is hiring a software engineer to help develop a teleoperations system that will allow human operators to remotely access and control the Co’s upcoming robotaxis and humanoid robots. However, the posting doesn’t clarify whether Tesla is looking to grow an existing teleops team or build one from scratch. (TechCrunch)

Film/Studio/Content/IP/Talent

• Musicals aren’t the most successful genre at the box office, but song-and-dance films may be enjoying a newfound popularity w/ “Wicked,” Universal’s adaptation of Act One of the beloved Broadway show. The film collected $114mn in North America and an addt’l $50.2mn internationally, bringing its global tally to $165mn over the weekend. It’s a huge win for movie theaters (as ticket sales have been behind 2023 and pre-pandemic times) and Universal. (Variety)

FinTech/InsurTech/Payments

• Klarna reported its financial results, achieving net income of SEK 216mn in Q3, up 57% y/y. This marks the second profitable qtr, as the Co looks ahead to a strong holiday season driven by strategic launches alongside the rapid adoption of new digital banking products. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, said, “We’re back in familiar territory: profit and growth, just like the old days.” (KLARNA)

Handheld Devices & Accessories/Connected Home

• Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 6.2% y/y in 2024 to 1.24bn units, per the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This strong growth follows two yrs of steep declines and is fueled by pent-up demand for device upgrades. While 2024 marks a strong rebound, growth is expected to slow to low single digits from 2025 onward, w/ a 2.6% CAGR (2023-2028). (IDC: The premier global market intelligence company)

Last Mile Transportation/Delivery

• DoorDash Canada and Walmart Canada annc’d a nationwide collab, providing more Canadians across the country w/ on-demand access to grocery and general merchandise essentials. Customers shopping on DoorDash can now browse tens of thousands of unique items from Walmart, including private label brands like Great Value, Equate, and Mainstays. (BUSINESSWIRE)

Macro Updates

• Consumer confidence edged up in Nov to its highest level in more than a yr, driven by improved sentiment about both the current economic situation and future expectations. The consumer confidence index rose to 111.7 from an upwardly revised 109.6, the Conference Board reported. The main driver of the increase in confidence continues to be better labor mkt conditions, as respondents noted that new jobs were less difficult to find this month. (The Real Economy Blog)
• Donald Trump‘s Treasury Secretary pick Scott Bessent envisions a significant “global economic reordering” and aims to play a role in this transformation. In his first interview since Trump made the annc’mnt, Bessent outlined his policy priorities, focusing on fulfilling tax-cut promises made by Trump. Bessent, who will be replacing Janet Yellen after Trump’s induction, plans to implement tariffs and reduce govt spending. (BENZINGA)
• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are working with President-elect Trump to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency,” aiming to cut federal operations drastically. They’ve been meeting experts in Washington and Silicon Valley, lobbying for Russell Vought as a key ally to push reforms using broad executive power, signaling a shift from viral concepts to real-world implementation. (BostonGlobe.com)
• Elon Musk has been using his X to go to bat for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and promote his own preferred candidates, advocating for choices he views as change agents who will help remake the US govt. In several high-profile cases, however, Musk backed people who either lost out on the roles or withdrew from consideration, suggesting some early limits to the Republican mega donor’s influence. (The Business Standard)
• Federal Reserve officials expressed confidence that inflation is easing and the labor mkt is strong, allowing for further interest rate cuts albeit at a gradual pace, according to minutes from the Nov meeting. The meeting summary contained multiple statements indicating that officials are comfortable w/ the pace of inflation, even though by most measures it remains above the Fed’s 2% goal. (CNBC)
• President-elect Donald Trump promised that one of his first acts as commander in chief will be to impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all products imported from Canada and Mexico. Trump argued that the duty is necessary to get America’s neighbors to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Trump further pledged that he would slap China w/ an addt’l 10% tariff – on top of existing ones – for failing to curb illicit fentanyl exports. (New York Post)
• Trump annc’d he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his US trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy. Greer previously served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer. (CBS News)
• UK adults are spending an avg of 4 hours and 20 minutes each day online across smartphones, tablets, and computers in the U.K., according to figures from Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report diving into consumer digital habits. The figure is a big jump compared to 2023, when adults over 18 spent an avg of 3 hours and 41 minutes online, especially when the difference w/ 2022 was just 8 minutes. (TechCrunch)

Media Conglomerates

• In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, a seismic shift in cable news viewership has been observed, w/ MSNBC and CNN losing significant portions of their audience while Fox News experienced a notable surge. Per recent Nielsen ratings, MSNBC saw its total day viewership plummet by 38% since the election. CNN has fared slightly better but still suffered a 27% decline, bringing its daily viewership down to 367,000. (Cord Cutters News)

Satellite/Space

• Deutsche Telekom, Qualcomm, and Skylo, the pioneer in Non-Terrestrial Network communications, annc’d the successful completion of an end-to-end trial of SMS send and receipt over GEO satellite. It is the first time in Europe that an operator’s terrestrial mobile network has been integrated into a satellite network to enable texting based on the 3GPP Release 17 specifications for Direct-to-Handset (D2H) connectivity. (SKYLO)
• Starlink launched its direct-to-cell svs in five more countries after its successful rollout w/ T-Mobile in the US. According to a post shared by one of the Co’s engineers on X, a major telecom operator in Canada, Rogers, has been onboarded for the direct-to-cell svs. Other telecom operators onboarded include One in New Zealand, KDDI in Japan, Optus in Australia, and Salt in Switzerland. (Nairametrics)
• The FCC approved a license for T-Mobile and SpaceX’s Starlink to provide supplemental internet access to remote areas via satellite. This marks the first collab of its kind, aiming to eliminate dead zones by extending wireless network coverage. The partnership began in 2022, w/ the first satellites launched in Jan. The FCC supports such partnerships to enhance competition and connectivity. (Energy News)
• The UK Space Agency annc’d a funding call of up to £3.5mn to test innovative hybrid connectivity solutions in remote areas of the UK, as part of the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program. In collaboration w/ DSIT and the European Space Agency (ESA), the UKSA aims to bridge the digital divide through three projects to deliver satellite svs. (TECHUK)

Social/Digital Media

• A new analysis estimates that over half of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are AI-generated, indicating the platform’s embrace of AI tools has been a success. LinkedIn for business professionals has embraced AI, even offering LinkedIn Premium subscribers access to its own in-house AI writing tools that can “rewrite” posts, profiles, and direct messages. (WIRED)
• Australia’s govt said that it had dropped plans to fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online. The bill was part of a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown by Australia, where leaders have complained that foreign-domiciled tech platforms are overriding the country’s sovereignty, and comes ahead of a federal election due within a yr. (AOL)
• Australian lawmakers approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16, one of the world’s strictest controls. The ban targets platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit, but not YouTube. Platforms have one year to implement the age limit and face fines up to 50mn AUD ($33mn) for non-compliance. The move aims to address the negative impact of excessive social media use on children’s physical and mental health. (NBC News)
• Meta’s Threads has gained 35mn+ signups in November, including 20mn since November 14. The platform continues to average over a million signups daily. Meanwhile, rival Bluesky has grown to 22mn users, prompting Threads to introduce features like custom following feeds and tests for default follows-only feeds in response to Bluesky’s rising popularity. (The Verge)
• Meta’s Threads app is undergoing a significant transformation, adding features that enhance user control and overall experience. These updates come in response to growing competition from Bluesky, a decentralized platform that has seen a sharp rise in popularity, hitting 20mn users recently. Search functionality is being enhanced to include advanced filters, such as searching w/in a specific date range or posts from a single account. (The Washington Post)
• Meta’s Threads is losing users to Bluesky after Trump’s election. Bluesky’s daily users in the US and UK surged by 300% to 3.5mn as academics, journalists, and left-leaning politicians left X. Threads, initially more popular, is now only 1.5x larger than Bluesky. Meta reduced political content to avoid controversy, while X under Musk allows more freewheeling content. Meta also introduced custom feeds to compete with Bluesky. (Swipe Insight)
• Reddit is ramping up efforts to attract more users outside of the US, putting countries like India and Brazil in focus as it looks to unlock new advertising oppties. Reddit has historically been an English-language platform, but the Co is looking to expand its international reach w/ the help of AI translations. This yr, Reddit launched a feature that automatically translates its site into different languages. (CNBC)
• Teenagers are facing wide-ranging new restrictions over the use of beauty filters on TikTok amid concern at rising anxiety and falling self-esteem. Under-18s will, in the coming weeks, be blocked from artificially making their eyes bigger, plumping their lips, and smoothing or changing their skin tone. The restrictions will apply to filters such as “Bold Glamour”, that change children’s features in a way that makeup cannot. (the Guardian)
• The audience editor for Guardian Australia said that its posts to the new social network Bluesky delivered more referral traffic to the guardian. com in its first week on the platform than its posts to X have in any week in 2024. The editor added that Bluesky successor had also delivered at least twice as many visits as Meta’s microblogging platform Threads. The Guardian joined Bluesky a week after it annc’d it would no longer post to X. (Press Gazette)

Software

• Brazil’s antitrust regulator is set to fine Apple if in-app purchase restrictions aren’t lifted. Apple has only 20 days to open up in-app purchases, or it could face $43k in fines per day if it fails to comply w/ the Brazil antitrust regulator’s ruling. In 2023, an antitrust complaint by MercadoLibre was picked up in 2023 by antitrust regulator Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica, and a ruling has been handed out. (AppleInsider)
• Google Chat is adding an audio-first meeting feature called “Huddles” that are described as being “instant-on. ” The Google Chat version is accessed from the top-right corner of a (web) conversation. Huddles start an audio-first meeting, w/ a floating window displaying controls. They are available in direct messages, group conversations, and Spaces. Recipients will “see a chat chip in the message thread that says [user] has started a huddle.” (9to5Google)
• The US FTC opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft including its software licensing and cloud computing bizs, per sources. The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in Jan. The re-election of US president-elect Donald Trump, and the expectation he would appoint a fellow Republican w/ a softer approach toward biz, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air. (TAIPEITIMES)
• Zoom shares were down 4% in extended trading after the Co annc’d strong FQ3 results and gave quarterly guidance that was just slightly above expectations. In comparison w/ LSEG consensus, adj EPS of $1.38 beat estimates of $1.31, and rev of $1.18bn topped expectations of $1.16bn, growing ~4% y/y in the qtr, which ended on Oct 31. Zoom has increased rev in the single digits for two and a half yrs. (CNBC)

Sports/Sports Betting

• Fox benefited from a crowded sports calendar in Oct, as the Co hit its highest share of TV use in a year. W/ NFL and college football games, Major League Baseball’s playoffs and the first two games of the World Series on its properties, Fox claimed 8.4% of all TV usage in Oct, per Nielsen‘s monthly Media Distributor Gauge. That’s the highest mark for the Co in the 12 months Nielsen has compiled TV use data by distributor and up from 7.3% in Sept. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Starting January 1, 2025, WWE Network will cease as a standalone service, with WWE content moving exclusively to Netflix worldwide. Fans can access weekly shows, Premium Live Events, classic matches, and original programming on Netflix, marking a strategic shift for WWE to leverage Netflix’s global reach. The first live Monday Night Raw on Netflix airs January 6, featuring top WWE stars. (Cord Cutters News)
• The Las Vegas Grand Prix sequel was more exciting than the original, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a massive decline in US viewership. The Formula One race, which aired on ESPN on Nov 24 at 1 am ET and 10 pm local time on Nov 23 avg’d 905,000 viewers, down ~30% from 1.3mn in 2023. The viewership numbers also pale in comparison to other US-based F1 races, including the Austin Grand Prix in Oct and the Miami Grand Prix in May. (Front Office Sports)

Tech Hardware

• Dell forecast Q4 rev and earnings below Wall Street expectations, despite bullish commentary from the Co on AI sales growth. Dell said it expected between $24-25bn in rev during Q4, less than LSEG expectations of $25.57bn. The Co also reported Q3 earnings that beat analyst expectations for EPS but came up light on overall rev. EPS was $2.15 adjusted vs $2.06 expected, and rev was $24.4bn vs $24.67bn expected. (CNBC)
• The Biden administration plans to reduce Intel’s preliminary $8.5bn federal CHIPS grant, a move that follows the co’s investment delays and broader business struggles. Intel, the biggest recipient of money under the CHIPS Act, will see its funding drop to less than $8bn from the $8.5bn that was annc’d earlier this yr. The government’s decision to reduce the size of the grant follows Intel’s move to delay some of its planned investments in chip facilities in Ohio. (NYTIMES)
• The US Department of Commerce confirmed it has awarded $7.865bn to Intel under the US CHIPS and Science Act. The funding will go toward manufacture and advanced packaging (techniques to assemble and integrate multiple semiconductor chips into a single package) projects in Intel facilities across Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon. (TechCrunch)

Towers/Fiber

• Frontier, in partnership w/ the Fiber Broadband Association, published a new study that finds deploying fiber in the US could generate an estimated $3.24tn (€3.11tn) in economic impact by increasing housing values, lifting avg household income, and creating jobs. Per Frontier, the US currently lags behind most developed countries in fiber deployment, w/ ~62mn broadband serviceable locations, including 56mn households, lacking fiber access. (ADVANCED-TELEVISION)

Video Games/Interactive Entertainment

• Fortnite’s Chapter 6 Season 1 has seemingly started to leak online via promo artwork and images. If the leaks are accurate, which they seem to be, then Godzilla, as well as Baymax from Big Hero 6, might be arriving in Epic’s popular free-to-play shooter next month. Currently, Fortnite is in the middle of Chapter 2 Remix, a throwback season inspired by last yr’s OG mini-season. (Kotaku)
• Google is asking a federal appeals court to throw out a ruling in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games that would force the Co to overhaul its Play mobile app store. Google argued that US District Judge James Donato should have recognized that the Co competes w/ Apple in the smartphone market, as a different judge found when she concluded that Apple’s conduct toward Epic didn’t violate federal antitrust laws. (TECHXPLORE)
• Roblox is now offering users who buy its game currency, Robux, on the web and via gift cards 25% more than they would get if they purchased from an app store instead. In essence, the Co is encouraging users to purchase Robux from the web to avoid Apple’s and Google’s in-app purchase fee markups. The Co confirmed the move and said that it is looking for ways to provide more value to user and creator communities. (TechCrunch)
• Sony is currently making a new handheld gaming console that allows users to play PlayStation 5 games anywhere. Per Bloomberg, the console is being developed to compete against Nintendo and Microsoft in the portable gaming mkt and is likely “years away from launch”, if Sony decides to release it at all. Sony’s efforts to not be left behind would build on the PlayStation Portal. (The Verge)
• Sony launched a webpage revealing some interesting facts about the PlayStation’s history, including the long-speculated lifetime sales of the PlayStation 2, to mark the console’s 30th anniversary. The website confirms that the PlayStation 2 has sold 160mn+ consoles worldwide since it launched in 2000, making it the highest-selling console of all time. It’s followed by two Nintendo consoles: the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Switch. (IGN)
• Sony’s head of independent development at PlayStation and long-time game development leader for the console maker, Shuhei Yoshida, is leaving the Co after over three decades. He helped produce some of the PlayStation’s earliest hits before moving on to help lead the platform’s powerhouse first-party studios across multiple console generations. The exec is also well known for his own development experience and design sense. (Kotaku)
• Sony’s PlayStation 5 Digital Edition is available at a significant discount. Amazon is currently offering the console for a mere $374, down from its usual price of $499.99. This represents a whopping 25% savings, making it one of the most enticing deals we’ve seen on the PS5 since its launch. This price drop comes just in time for the holiday season, making the PS5 Digital Edition an even more attractive gift for gamers of all ages (Cord Cutters News)
• Video game console makers are having a hardware problem making a product which is much different from earlier models. While they have been fighting to make their products more powerful and better than their rivals, they end up with something that is more expensive and not really much different. For example, they can make something with an 8k resolution, but the human eye can’t really tell the difference between 4K. (FUDZILLA)

Video Streaming

• Apple will never stop thinking about making a TV. Bloomberg reports that Apple went as far as building full-scale prototypes with a large display that could also serve as a touchscreen Mac or iPad. But Apple eventually halted the project after examining the TV mkt and deciding not to compete in a low-margin biz where consumers rarely buy new products. Now, it is reported that a full-fledged Apple TV is once again on the table. (TechCrunch)
• Fox Entertainment and Hulu solidified their streaming partnership w/ a new multi-yr content agreement. This deal ensures that Fox’s popular programming, including hits like “The Masked Singer,” “The Simpsons,” and “Family Guy,” will continue to be available for streaming on the Disney-controlled platform. The agreement also includes an expansion of their existing marketing arrangement, reportedly valued at over $1.5bn over four yrs. (Cord Cutters News)
• Roku is making it easier to find and watch its programming on Google TV without jumping between apps. Users can soon search for content from The Roku Channel directly on Google TV, providing quick access to Roku’s library of 80,000+ movies and TV shows. New category tabs are coming to the Google TV home screen that will suggest recommended Roku content, alongside the ability to jump back into unfinished TV shows and movies from The Roku Channel. (The Verge)