FTI Consulting News Bytes – 18th February 2022

This week’s news

EVs: challenges and opportunities

Britishvolt, the UK start-up that plans to build a gigafactory in Northumberland to power electric vehicles (EVs), secured a further £40 million in funding from Glencore, the mining and commodity trader, this week. According to the Financial Times, the funding valued Britishvolt significantly higher than previous investment in a sign of confidence in the EV market. Indeed, figures released by the International Energy Agency last week showed sales of EVs more than doubled in 2021 with 130,000 cars sold globally each week. At the same time, the UK car industry warned of a “growing regional divide” in the provision of electric car chargers. The disparity between the number of chargers and cars is growing faster in the north of England, as reported by The Guardian. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), “charge anxiety” may become a barrier to purchasing EVs.

The streaming wars continue

Paramount became the latest entrant in the UK streaming market as it announced this week that it would launch its Paramount+ service in the UK this summer. In an effort to compete with streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, Paramount+ is setting aside $6bn for its content budget by 2024, as reported by the BBC. While Tom Harrington at Enders Analysis questioned whether the large sums spent on content would be returned in subscriber fees, Paramount’s CFO emphasised that the service had “outperformed expectations” in the US since launching suggesting Paramount may still emerge as a serious streaming player.

Tech readies for regulation

The UK Home Office is reportedly pushing for changes to the upcoming Online Safety Bill that would make companies liable for “legal but harmful” content. This would mark a departure from the US and European models of internet regulation and risks deterring tech investment in the UK according to the Financial Times. In a sign that tech companies are proactively looking to bolster the safety of their platforms ahead of any regulation, Twitter this week launched a beta test of its “Safety Mode” – a tool that automatically blocks accounts for 7 days that are using harmful language or sending uninvited, repetitive replies, according to TechCrunch. Meanwhile, TikTok is reportedly hiring hundreds of content moderators in Europe as part of its rapidly expanding “trust and safety hub” in Dublin.

Google follows suit in ad tracking

Google announced this week that it would limit advertisers tracking users across its Android operating system in a bid to “raise the bar for user privacy.” Advertising IDs are special codes assigned to each Android device that allow marketers to track details about users.  The news comes as a significant blow to Meta (formerly Facebook) which suffered a $10 billion loss in revenue after Apple made similar changes to its iPhones and iPads last year, as reported in The Times. Google appeared to assure advertisers that it would take a gentler approach by supporting trackers for another two years and working with the advertising industry to create alternatives. With Google a dominant player in the advertising market, The Times noted that the changes are likely to invite scrutiny from regulators.

EU launches satellite internet system

The EU is gearing up to launch its own satellite internet system to reduce European reliance on Chinese built infrastructure according to City AM. The £5 billion project positions the EU as a challenger to Space X and Project Kuiper satellite internet services. The objective of the project will be to target not just Europe but also strategic areas of interest such as the Arctic and Africa to gain influence before China does so through satellite technology. The EU Commission is expecting the project to generate €17 billion to €24 billion and provide a back-up in case of cyber attacks on broadband networks. Thierry Brenton, the EU’s Commissioner for the internal market, told reporters on Tuesday that the project was of “central importance in terms of our strategic and technical sovereignty.”

Top Tweets of the Week

• Amy O’Brien, Sifted reporter – “There are only 23 female partners at the top 22 VC firms in Europe — and only two were made partner in 2021. But nine men were made partner at those firms last year. Why is it proving so hard to find female partners? Dug through the data here ”
• New York Times – “Google’s employees are called Googlers. Amazon’s workers are known as Amazonians. Now, Meta employees, formerly known as Facebookers, will be called Metamates.”
• Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC journalist and senior advisor at FTI Consulting on the doxxing of Bored Ape- “So to sum up, we’re making zillions from NFT nonsense but it’s unfair that we should have to reveal our identities like other company directors because….web3, decentralised, freedom, blah, blah…”

Number of the Week

112M – viewers of Super Bowl in 2022.

What’s happening next week?

• 23 February: RTS Television Journalism Awards; eBay Q4 results
• 24 February: Alibaba Q4 results; Coinbase Q4 results, WPP FY results

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