FTI Consulting News Bytes – 13 December 2024

FTI Consulting News Bytes

We kick off this week’s edition with the unveiling of Google’s ground-breaking quantum computing chip, Willow. We then cover Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of Interpublic to form the world’s largest ad powerhouse. Elsewhere, the EU’s new tech chief, Henna Virkkunen, tells the Financial Times that she would not single out any Big Tech company accused of breaching EU rules. Next, we look at a significant development in the robotaxi market as General Motors halts its funding of Cruise’s autonomous vehicle unit. Finally, The Guardian reports that Paul McCartney has voiced concerns about AI’s ability to threaten income streams for music, news, and book publishers, ahead of Parliament’s debate on the data bill next week.  

This week’s news

Welcome Willow, Google’s ‘mind-boggling’ quantum computing chip 

Google has unveiled a ground-breaking chip which it claims takes five minutes to solve a problem that would currently take the world’s fastest super computers ten septillion – or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 – years to complete! Hartmut Neven, who leads Google’s Quantum AI lab, told BBC News that the performance of the chip, dubbed Willow, meant it was the “best quantum processor built to date”. But Professor Alan Woodward, a computing expert at the University of Surrey, has warned against overstating the importance of Willow’s achievement in a single test. Despite being in its experimental phase, Willow offers an exciting glimpse into a future where quantum computers could tackle real-world problems that are currently beyond our imagination. 

Omnicom and Interpublic merge to form world’s largest ad powerhouse 

This week, Omnicom made headlines with its announcement to acquire Interpublic Group, in a move that will create the world’s largest advertising company with a combined annual revenue surpassing $25.6 billion. The merger of these “two fierce competitors” signals a significant shift in the advertising landscape, driven by the need to cut costs and streamline operations, analysts at Moffett Nathanson noted after the Wall Street Journal broke news of the pending merger. The merger is set to complete in the second half of 2025, according to Bloomberg, and is anticipated to generate $750 million in annual cost synergies, setting the stage for a new era in advertising. 

EU tech chief extends olive branch to Elon Musk

The EU’s new tech chief, Henna Virkkunen, is striking a friendlier tone with Elon Musk. Unlike her predecessor, Thierry Breton, who was ready to wield sanctions, Henna insists that she would not single out any Big Tech company accused of breaching EU rules. Speaking to the Financial Times, she said “this is not personal. This is about online platforms and they will have equal treatment because everybody has to follow our rules.” Musk’s platform, X, has been under the microscope for spreading harmful content and deceptive practices.

The reality of the robotaxi? 

Back in October, we anticipated the dawn of the robotaxi, but it appears we may be waiting a little longer for their arrival. In a significant development this week, General Motors has decided to retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. According to Reuters, GM announced that it will instead focus on developing partially automated driver-assist systems and eventually fully autonomous vehicles. This shift comes after a series of challenges and incidents involving Cruise which have led to regulatory scrutiny and operational setbacks. That said, Tesla appears to be pushing forward with its robotaxi service, after Deutsche Bank revealed that the company-owned fleet will be backed up by human teleoperators for safety. 

Paul McCartney hits a high note on AI 

Next week, the UK parliament will debate amendments to the data bill that could allow creators to decide whether or not their copyrighted work can be used to train generative AI models. In response to the anticipated decision, Paul McCartney has voiced concerns about AI’s ability to threaten income streams for music, news, and book publishers. According to The Guardian, the former Beatle said it would be “a very sad thing indeed” if young composers and writers could not protect their intellectual property from the rise of algorithmic models. The debate represents a pivotal moment for the creative industry, underlining the confrontation between safeguarding intellectual property and the rapid rise of AI technology. 

Top Tweets of the Week 

• TechCrunch: “OpenAI’s Sora video generator includes a powerful feature that allows users to seamlessly add, remove, or edit objects within the video, offering new possibilities for customization and creativity.” 
• Robert Scammell, senior editor of VC, startups & tech at Business Insider: “Are AI improvements hitting a wall? What are companies doing to keep the wheels of AI progress turning? @BusinessInsider’s UK tech team spoke to a dozen people at the forefront of the AI boom to find out.”
• Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor: “Peter Thiel is possibly the most interesting and one of the most influential billionaires we have yet covered on Good Bad Billionaire. Find out how he went from PayPal to Gandalf like figure among Tech titans.”   

Number of the week

6.5% increase in the cost of the average Christmas dinner since 2023, according to The Independent