FTI Consulting News Bytes – 25th November 2022
This week, Amazon announces three new micromobility hubs in London and Manchester to accelerate it’s path to net-zero. Next, we look at whether you carry on your legacy with a digital avatar? That’s what MIT is exploring in its “Augmented Eternity” project with 25 participants exploring their digital immortality. Speaking of the eternal, the world of space travel has been opened up as the European Space Agency announced its first astronaut with physical disabilities. Elon Musk has ruffled feathers again in the Twittersphere with the closure of the Brussels office, leading to concerns over protection against online harms. Finally, we look at the CMA’s investigation into Apple and Google’s over their reported “dominance” of cloud gaming and mobile browsers.
This week’s news
Amazon gears up for net-zero
Reuters this week reports that Amazon has expanded its electric-cargo bike fleet and will make more deliveries on foot to accelerate the decarbonisation of the transportation network it uses to deliver packages across the country. On Thursday, Amazon said it would add two new micromobility hubs in London and one in Manchester for the extra bikes and walkers as part of a 300 million pound ($359 million) five-year investment in electrification and decarbonisation in Britain, which was announced in October. The article notes that Amazon is targeting net-zero carbon by 2040, and adds that the extra e-cargo bikes and walkers would carry 2 million deliveries a year.
Augmented Eternity: Life after death?
As part of the “Augmented Eternity” project run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Times report that 25 people looking to leave an eternal legacy behind are exploring their digital immortality. Training artificial intelligence with the immense volumes of data on social media, the project examines whether it’s possible to create a responsible digital replica that can live on beyond death. The participants range from CEOs to lawyers and terminally ill people. Hossein Rahnama from MIT commented, “I worked with a very well-known CEO of a Fortune 500 company, who [is] in his eighties and he really wanted to leave a legacy for his executive team and that project.”
Twitter ruffles feathers in Brussels
The Financial Times this week reports that the most recent move in Elon Musk’s sweeping Twitter takeover sees the full closure of the Brussels office, causing unease around the social media giant’s commitment to improving online safety. The news follows the departure last week of Twitter’s two digital policy heads in Europe, Julia Mozer and Dario La Nasa, who led efforts to adhere to the EU’s Digital Services Act and disinformation code. With its workforce now cut in half following Musk’s call for employees to adhere to a “hardcore working culture”, it remains to be seen if there will be ample resources to tackle online harms and disinformation.
More space for “parastronauts”
In a leap towards enabling people with physical disabilities to participate in space missions, the European Space Agency announced its first-ever “parastronaut” this week. Sky News reports that former British Paralympic sprinter John McFall was named as one of 17 new recruits for astronaut training, a significant move in improving the representation of disabled people in the space industry. Alongside McFall, the ESA will be looking at design changes in hardware to open up opportunities for more qualified candidates. “I think the message that I would give to future generations is that science is for everyone and space travel hopefully can be for everyone,” said McFall.
Apple and Google face gaming and mobile browser probe
BBC News reports that Apple and Google’s “dominance” over cloud gaming and mobile browsers will be investigated by the UK’s competition regulator. Last year, a “market study” by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded they had a “stranglehold” over operating systems, app stores and web browsers on mobile devices. Whilst both companies deny the accusations, if the 18-month investigation finds an adverse effect on competition, the CMA can impose changes. In response, Google said its Android operating system offered a greater choice of apps and app stores than any other mobile platform. It enabled developers “to choose the browser engine they want and has been the launchpad for millions of apps”. Apple said it “believes in vibrant and competitive markets where innovation can thrive”.
Top Tweets of the Week
- TechCrunch – About 90% of the planet has no cell coverage at all, and @sateliot raised a €10M ($11.4M) round of funding to change that. The company shared its pitch deck with us to take a deeper look. Here’s the good and the bad of this high-flying space deck. @Haje https://t.co/Oj2wt2FQAK
- Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern – More than 100 firms affiliated w/FTX are filing for bankruptcy.
- Amy O’Brien, Fintech Reporter at Sifted – Most startups born during European tech’s coming-of-age weren’t around to witness 2000 or 2008. But the last few weeks beg the q: are we heading for another dotcom moment? I asked investors who were on the scene in 2000 if they’re getting déjà vu. https://t.co/CUsb9tEzuL
Number of the Week
8.1m – The number of people who streamed England’s opening game against Iran at the Qatar Fifa World Cup on the BBC.
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