FTI Consulting News Bytes – 4th November 2022

This week’s news

Musk outlines Twitter premium subscription plan for $8 a month

Billionaire, Elon Musk, has kicked off his overhaul of newly acquired of social media giant, Twitter. Following his $44bn acquisition of the platform, Musk has started the shakeup by outlining an $8 premium subscription plan for users to get a blue tick,  The Financial Times reports. The world’s richest man shared that the subscription would give subscribers priority in replies, mention and search – as well as enable users to post longer video and audio clips, and view half as many ads. To many users surprise, the overhaul doesn’t end here. Musk plans to completely transform the verification process, whereby only high-profile celebrities (the parameters of what qualifies as ‘high-profile’ remain to be seen), politicians and journalists are given a blue tick for free, whereas all others will have to become Twitter blue subscribers. The announcement has already conjured controversy, with many users noting the paradox of the world’s richest man making users to pay to use the platform – to a certain extent.  Later today, Twitter is expected to announce “mass layoffs” – which is rumoured to cut as much as half of the workforce.

Instagram down: App stops working as users told their account has been suspended

This week, Instagram has been plagued by a global glitch which left users across the world with wrongfully suspended accounts. For those whose accounts remained, they found that their following count dropped significantly and their social reach abnormally capped. The issues come following a tough few weeks for Meta, with both WhatsApp and Facebook crashing effectively simultaneously recently.

Microsoft pledges €100 million to support Ukraine in ‘technological war’

At a press conference this week at Web Summit in Lisbon, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation spoke of “a technological war” being inflicted by Russia in Ukraine. As he spoke, he received a notification that a blackout had occurred back home – believed to be a Russian attack on energy infrastructure, highlighting the role of technology in the war. The Independent reported that as this all unfolded, Microsoft announced in the same press conference that a further $100 million aid package will be provided to create a “digital alliance” against Russia. Four months ago, Microsoft received a “Peace Prize” from President Zelensky for their efforts in providing financial assistance to Ukraine and free cloud service to their people.

UK confirms commitment to achieving net zero as investment in climate tech grows

According to Tech Nation’s Climate Tech Report 2022, UK climate tech is rapidly growing and is expected to buck the trend of a wider tech investment downturn. Investment into climate tech startups is on course to double in 2022 compared to last year according to the report. UK climate tech investment has already reached $7.5bn (£6.54bn) in 2022, compared to the $4bn (£3.48bn) the year prior. The UK is also on track to see climate tech firms raise around $20bn (£17.4bn) a year by 2030. It means the UK is now second only to the US for the number of firms addressing the climate crisis, and while US climate tech investments are slowing down, much like in Germany and Sweden, the UK is growing.

Daye Raises £10M in Series A Funding

UK femtech start-up, Daye, has raised £10m in a series A funding round to launch new gynae health services and kickstart its expansion into the U.S. Sifted reports. Founded in 2018, the gynaecological health start-up took the market by storm when it launched its CBD infused tampons, which are now used by 60k women and assigned female at birth individuals in the UK. Following its Series A funding, Daye announced its new product, the world’s first tampon-based at home vaginal microbiome screening platform. The kit tests for infections and disruptions, the results of which users can then access via Daye’s app, as well as book in-person or virtual appointments with a specialist. In spite of the uncertainty surrounding fundraising for a ‘taboo’ start-up during a time of economic turmoil, Daye found that their biggest obstacle was getting investors, both men and women, comfortable with discussing, and subsequently investing in, a brand dedicated to all thing’s menstruation. These difficulties forced Daye’s founders to invest 40 hours a week to pitching from January to August to secure funding.

Top Tweets of the Week

• Congress woman, Alex Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “lmao at billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan.”
• VICE World News tweeted this week how Apple workers in Australia have been inspired by the unionisation movement which has gathered pace amongst Apple staff in the US.
• Alex Stamos, computer scientist and Stanford professor, tweeted his thoughts on Elon’s ‘huge’ mistake in making himself the global face of content moderation at a critical moment of struggle with governments.
• Unwanted Bounties are officially out! The BBC tweets that Bounty bars have been removed from Celebrations tubs in a trial after finding 40% ‘hate’ the treat.

Number of the Week

71,033 – This year’s Lisbon Web Summit has been dubbed the world’s largest tech event reaching its full capacity of participants from 160 countries

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