Photo by inbal marilli on Unsplash
Privacy will continue to be a major issue for technology companies in 2020. We are a few weeks into the new year and Amazon already suffered a breach, but at least they weren’t hacked… employees just gave the data away.
Facebook got their collective teeth kicked in last year, but Mark Zuckerberg’s tone during his “2030 statement” makes me think has hasn’t learned from the experience and he thinks perhaps this will all blow over. Meanwhile there is a sentiment of “techlash” growing with students at college campuses.
Finally… the rumors of Google buying SalesForce continue.
Acquisitions/Investments
- On CRM: This Is What Google Should Consider Before Buying Salesforce
It’s no secret that Google’s cloud division – which is trailing far behind its rivals Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) – is looking to make a big acquisition in order to play catch-up ball. Now a new report from Business Insider claims that the company may be considering a purchase of Salesforce.com to fulfill this ambition.
Also:
Does Google understand that, like the fans of a baseball team that come to watch great players, swallowing up Salesforce and prioritizing cloud over CRM would – over time – ultimately sabotage the very reason that attracted them? How long would it take for Google to start watering down Salesforce’s brand and neglecting CRM as it brings other, unrelated applications and its own search and advertising tools to the cloud platform it acquires? If this happens Benioff, an iconic entrepreneur and philanthropist, would likely not stick around very long under a Google regime. Neither would the passionate community that he built which underscores the success of Salesforce’s cloud platform.
Artificial Intelligence/Robotics
- The “Robot Tax” Debate Heats Up
Bill Gates has called for a robot tax, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio detailed a plan for one in his short-lived presidential campaign. If the future means far fewer workers and far more machines, tax revenue could drop and the daily rhythms of steady employment could become erratic.
A robot tax could serve multiple purposes, slowing job-destroying automation while raising revenue to supplement shrinking taxes paid by human workers. It could take a few different forms. Lawmakers could limit or slow down deductions for businesses that replace humans with robots, or they could hit businesses with levies equivalent to the payroll taxes paid by employers and employees.
For the moment, massive job losses from automation and artificial intelligence are a largely theoretical worry. But tax economists and lawyers are thinking through the economic circumstances in which robot taxes might make sense and the tricky legal decisions and definitions needed to implement them.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-robot-tax-debate-heats-up-11578495608
- Medical Robotics Company Names Former Google Cloud COO As CEO
Bryant joins Neural Analytics after six months as Google Cloud’s chief operating officer, where she focused on scaling its Cloud platform against fierce competition from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. She worked at chip giant Intel for over thirty years, departing the company as a president of the company’s data center group.
Neural Analytics has developed a robotically assisted ultrasound system for the assessment of brain health, which is designed to measure and display information about brain blood flow, under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
In an email, Bryant said she had received three offers to serve as the CEO of companies in different industries, but was ultimately intrigued by the promise of Neural Analytics’ technology.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johanmoreno/2020/01/10/medical-robotics-company-names-former-google-cloud-coo-as-ceo/#6126a20a50cf
That headline should be less about her time at Google and more about her time at Intel
Security/Privacy
- Amazon fires employees for leaking customer email addresses and phone numbers
The email to customers sent Friday afternoon, seen by TechCrunch, said an employee was “terminated” for sharing the data, and that the company is supporting law enforcement in their prosecution.
Amazon confirmed the incident in an email to TechCrunch. A spokesperson said a number of employees were fired. But little else is known about the employees, when the information was shared and with whom, and how many customers are affected.
“No other information related to your account was shared. This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for you to take any action,” the email read to customers.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/10/amazon-employees-email-address/
Software/SaaS
- If you thought Zuckerberg would ever rein in rightwing demagogues, think again
Three of the five areas of focus are simply to continue working on Facebook’s major business aims (private messaging, e-commerce, and VR/AR); the personal challenge version of deciding that, screw the diet-book industrial complex, you’re beautiful just as you are. A fourth, entitled “New forms of governance” is to continue working on the “supreme court” of Facebook content moderation, another project already long in the works.
The fifth, which Zuckerberg entitled “generational change”, appears to encapsulate his desire to see more millennials take positions of power in institutions over the next decade. Considering that many millennials will be approaching their mid-40s by 2030, this is the equivalent of resolving to experience the passage of time.
So no, if you thought that Zuckerberg was going to spend the next decade grappling with the question of what Donald Trump, Narendra Modi and Rodrigo Duterte have in common, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Please join me instead in imagining Zuck in his bathroom, crooning to himself in the mirror: “You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, it’s true.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/10/2020-fixing-facebook-zuckerberg-election
Infrastructure/Hardware
- For Memory-Chip Makers, the Worst Appears to Be Over
The latest positive sign came from Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory-chip maker, which this week issued financial guidance that topped analysts’ estimates. That followed a declaration from rival producer Micron Technology Co. in December that its business was passing through a ”cyclical bottom.”
A big accelerant is the rollout of 5G mobile networks. The global deployment of the next-generation technology should re-energize smartphone sales and juice corporate investments in artificial intelligence, computing and data storage—all areas requiring significant memory capacity.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-memory-chip-makers-the-worst-appears-to-be-over-11578487758
- HP Wins $439 Million As Judge Triples Jury Price-Fix Award
HP Inc. was awarded $439 million in damages against Quanta Storage Inc. and its U.S. subsidiary after a federal judge tripled a jury’s 2019 award for damages caused by a widespread scheme to inflate the price of optical disk drives.
In October, a Houston jury ordered Quanta to pay HP $176 million in damages. U.S. District Judge David Hittner said Friday that Quanta hadn’t shown any reason why the jury’s findings should be set aside. He tripled the damages award, as authorized under antitrust law, to $528 million before deducting the $89 million in settlements paid by the other companies HP accused of participating in the price-fixing scheme.
Other
- With immigration under fire, visa uncertainty and wait times for foreign-born advertising employees
I was job hunting and talked to a bunch of really great creative shops. One that I really wanted to work at told me the visa is a really big hurdle for them because I’m mid-level and that they weren’t sure if it was worth it to sponsor someone who isn’t super senior. There’s no right time to bring up the visa. We typically don’t bring it up until after the interview and when there’s a follow up. There’s a sense that you’ll wow them so much in the interview that they’ll want to hire you even if you have the visa. Most people wait.
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I’ve talked to multiple people and recruiters are telling me that it’s harder to get approval now. Timelines are getting extended, it’s taking longer and there’s more scrutiny. [Overall, the immigration and visa approval process] completely messes with how agencies are today with project-work. No one is anticipating work needs eight months in advance so it’s hard to get those timelines to mesh with each other. Visas just don’t jibe well with flexible work models or project-work.
- Lime is laying off about 100 people and ceasing operations in 12 markets
“Financial independence is our goal for 2020, and we are confident that Lime will be the first next-generation mobility company to reach profitability,” Lime CEO Brad Bao said in a statement to TechCrunch. “We are immensely grateful for our team members, riders, Juicers and cities who supported us, and we hope to reintroduce Lime back into these communities when the time is right.”
That means Lime is shutting down in Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, San Antonio, Linz, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Lima, Puerto Vallarta, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.