fortune--2020-05-26--Coronavirus apps’ fatal flaw: Almost everyone has to use them or they won’t work

A team in Switzerland today became the world’s first to introduce a contact-tracing app built on a protocol jointly designed by Apple and Google.
The new SwissCovid app is now being tested by Swiss soldiers, hospital workers, and government employees before being rolled out to the wider population.
Contact-tracing apps work by automatically recording other nearby devices that have the same app installed. Users who later test positive for COVID-19 can use the app to automatically send alerts to those other people they were in contact with, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days or to get tested themselves.
Technologists see the new app as a breakthrough that may help Switzerland prevent a second wave of infections as it reopens its economy—while at the same time preserving citizens’ privacy. A Latvian team also says it will have an app out based on the Apple-Google framework within days. And these are just the first of some 22 nations and a number of U.S. states that have requested access to the Apple-Google framework.
But, unfortunately, there’s a hidden flaw in these contact-tracing apps—in fact, in all contact-tracing apps—that means they are unlikely to live up to their promise: To work effectively, they require adoption rates of well over half the population, which few mobile apps, even the most viral and fun, ever achieve.
The Apple-Google protocol is popular with civil liberties groups that fret about the Big Brother implications of governments collecting in a central database citizens’ location information and records of everyone they’ve met. The Apple-Google solution works without holding this information centrally.
The Apple-Google protocol also has some built-in technical advantages: The two technology giants, which make the operating systems that underpin most of the world’s smartphones, restrict mobile handsets from sharing certain kinds of data, like location information, with third-party developers unless the user keeps the app open. As a result, governments building their own contact-tracing apps may find their software won’t work unless users keep it open on their phones, which can more rapidly deplete battery power.
A number of European governments have bristled at those restrictions, arguing that they ought to at least have the option to track users’ locations and store data centrally. They also want more insight into exactly how the Apple-Google app works.
“The use of digital technologies must be designed in such a way that we, as democratically elected governments, evaluate it and judge it acceptable to our citizens and in accordance with our European values,” the digital affairs ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal wrote in a joint letter published in European newspapers Tuesday.
Europe is counting on contact-tracing apps from different countries being interoperable as a way to help revive the region’s devastated tourism sector. That way, a vacationer from Germany who travels to Spain but later tests positive will be able to automatically alert people she came into contact with while on holiday.
Yet all these debates may be moot because they largely ignore what the epidemiological models indicate: The apps make a big difference only if a large percentage of the population uses them.
A widely cited study by a team at Oxford University found that apps must be adopted by 56% of people to have a dramatic impact on coronavirus transmission rates. Once people under the age of 10 and over the age of 80 are discounted—since it is assumed they won’t have access to smartphones—that figure translates into about 80% of all smartphone users in most places.
Another model—from a joint British-U.S. team—came to a similar conclusion, with some reduction in transmission occurring with 53% coverage, but really dramatic declines in transmission rates occurring only with adoption higher than 80%.
The number of apps that have ever achieved these kinds of penetration rates can be counted on one hand: Messaging app WhatsApp is installed in about 80% of smartphones in its top markets. WeChat is used by about 79% of Chinese smartphone users. And rival Baidu’s Tieba and Tencent’s QQ messaging apps are within spitting distance. But it has taken these apps years—more than a decade in the case of WhatsApp—to hit those kinds of numbers.
The adoption rate “needs to be almost improbably high to really capture all of the contacts that might be relevant,” Allison Black, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Washington at Seattle, told Science magazine.
Technologist Ashkan Soltani recently coauthored an essay with Ryan Calo and Carl Bergstrom, professors of law and biology, respectively, at the University of Washington, in which they concluded that “even if we had 100% installation of these apps (which is extremely unlikely without mandatory policies in place), we would still only see a fraction of the total exposure events,” or cases where people are exposed to the virus.
A survey of U.K. citizens by professors at London’s Cass Business School did find that if configured in a way in which only the health service had access to the data for a period of 14 days, no location data was transmitted, and use of the app gave users priority in getting tested for the coronavirus, as much as 73% of the population may adopt the app. But that is not the app configuration the U.K. is currently testing on the Isle of Wight, a small island off England’s south coast. That configuration, the professors found, was likely to achieve at most 51% adoption.
Meanwhile, the highest penetration achieved by a contact-tracing app so far is Iceland’s official Rakning C-19 app, which has been downloaded by about 38% of the tiny nation’s 364,000 people. And, sure enough, the local official charged with coordinating contact tracing told M.I.T. Technology Review that the app “wasn’t a game changer for us.”
Singapore’s TraceTogether app, which was one of the first contact-tracing apps to premiere in mid-March, has been downloaded by only about 25% of the population there—even though the country’s Prime Minister has asked all residents to use it and the country is known for normally high levels of compliance with government recommendations and rules. “Adoption has always been one of TraceTogether’s weaknesses,” the app development team, part of Singapore’s technology agency GovTech, said in an online post.
Part of the issue may be that Singapore and most other governments have not made the use of the app mandatory. One of the few exceptions is India, where the government has required citizens to download the app and has made its use a condition for travel on trains and for admission to offices, with criminal penalties for noncompliance. But, despite the requirement, less than 10% of India’s 1.3 billion people have downloaded the app so far.
In many European countries, requiring citizens to download contact-tracing apps may be illegal. “To make use mandatory on current evidence would not only undermine public trust and confidence, but likely fall foul of human rights standards,” the Ada Lovelace Institute, a British think tank that researches issues related to artificial intelligence, data, and society, wrote in an April report about the use of technology to help fight the pandemic.
Assuming the app’s use can’t be mandated, privacy does become an important issue. If people are worried about the government having access to their location data and insights into their contacts, they will be less likely to download and use the app.
The British government’s tests of its contact-tracing app, which does collect data centrally, have been stymied by the fact that while it wanted to restrict its trial to just the 148,000 people who live on the Isle of Wight, many mainlanders have also downloaded the app.
Although it is facing a self-imposed June deadline to roll out the app to the wider population, the government is reportedly considering abandoning the whole effort in favor of a backup app being built on the Apple-Google protocol.


fortune--2020-05-26--‘Shockingly bad’: Critics pan Netflix’s ‘Space Force’ starring Steve Carell

The global liquor industry might not fully recover for another five years

When Netflix announced a new comedy series spoofing President Trump’s creation of the United States Space Force, hopes were high. Space Force is cocreated by Greg Daniels and Steve Carell—the team behind The Office—and featured an impressive cast with Carell in the lead role, along with John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz, Jane Lynch, and Lisa Kudrow, among others.
But when the review embargo on Space Force lifted Tuesday morning, it became clear that the comedy chops of its creators and stars somehow didn’t equate to enjoyable television.
As of Tuesday afternoon, reviews for the series sit at 52% positive according to popular aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with the critic consensus reading that “an all-star cast and blockbuster-worthy special effects aren’t enough to keep Space Force’s uneven blend of earnestness and satire from spinning quickly out of comedic orbit.”
The Daily Beast went a step further, calling the show “shockingly bad.” Time magazine questioned how a show created by the minds behind The Office could make “such a bust.” Variety wrote: “Given the talent and enormous machine behind it, Space Force should by all rights be better than ‘fine.’”
Rolling Stone critic Alan Sepinwall reminded viewers that the first season of The Office was not initially well-received; it wasn’t until Daniels adjusted Carell’s character, Michael Scott, that the show began to morph into a cultural touchstone. Now, Sepinwall writes, “Daniels and Carell apparently had to learn the original Michael lesson all over again, on a much bigger scale, rendering much of Space Force uncomfortable to watch at best.”
It’s not yet clear what the budget for Space Force was, but The Hollywood Reporter reported that Carell’s salary—including cocreator and executive producer fee—set a new overall record for television talent, “likely topping the $1 million per episode paydays that the cast members of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory previously netted.” Critics also noted elaborate production design throughout the series’ 10 episodes.
Despite the negative consensus, Space Force wasn’t universally panned. Vanity Fair had a mixed but leaning positive review, praising Carell’s and Malkovich’s performances. “On Space Force, everything looks great—the show has incredible production values,” critic Sonia Saraiya wrote, before adding, “but there’s rot in the foundation.”


fortune--2020-05-26--The Coronavirus Economy: The cookbook author writing a book on working alone

Following up seven cookbooks—many covering the cuisines of Portugal, Greece, and Turkey—writer and TV presenter Rebecca Seal is preparing to publish her next cookbook, Happy Fast Food, for the British restaurant chain Leon on May 28. And this spring, while under lockdown in London, she completed her first non-food book. Solo: How to Work Alone Without Losing Your Mind centers on functioning as a freelancer, and it will be released early next year.
It’s no understatement to say that it’s a timely topic. While millions of workers might be experiencing working at home for the first time, Seal says global lockdowns have not dramatically changed her view on what it takes to function—and be happy—while working on your own. One key piece of advice: Take a break.
Fortune spoke with Seal for a new series, The Coronavirus Economy, on writing about working alone while under lockdown, and how her income and family life have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Fortune: Tell me about the origin of the book you’re just finishing up now.
Seal: I’ve been “solo” freelance for almost 12 years now. And I kind of really hit a wall about seven years ago, where I was kind of outwardly, technically, successful, and I knew people viewed it as I was living a really great life. But I was miserable. Really miserable.
I was working at least six days a week, I was working very, very long hours, and I was never shutting off from work. It was very rare for me to see my friends. My husband and I—we weren’t married then—but we were really just not taking holidays, and any of the trips we were doing were for work purposes. Also, we were also going through infertility diagnoses and IVF, which was fun. And I was just so confused as to why I was having all the things I wanted, and making more money than I’ve ever made, before or since, and just—completely blown apart by the experience.
And so I went looking for a book, which is what I always do. I always go looking for words, to help me figure out my perspective on a problem. And there wasn’t one. There were lots of things on how to do your taxes if you’re self-employed, there were sort of freelancing handbooks. But I didn’t feel as if there was anything about how to cope with being on your own all the time, and having to set your own visions of success, and your own rhythms and routines and parameters. And everything being on you. And very often being on your own in a context where there was no capacity or appeared to be no capacity to expand your team. I’m a freelance writer; I’ve come to understand that I have a team of my own—but that’s about a perspective shift. I’m never going to be in a position to have five people working for me. So there wasn’t particularly [a feeling] at the time as if there was any way to make myself less alone. And that felt very…sticky. So I thought, “Wow, there’s no book. I should write the book.” Because if I feel this way, other people feel this way.
And I started talking to all sorts of other freelance workers in all sorts of fields and understood very quickly that they felt the same way, or versions of the same way. There was a big portfolio of issues that solo workers face that not many of us knew how to deal with, or how to access support for, if indeed support existed. So, that was the beginning.
Seal has written seven cookbooks, and an eighth will be published this week, including a series of cookbooks for the British fast-casual chain Leon. Photo care of Rebecca Seal.
Can you give me some sense of what lessons you’ve taken away from writing this book?
Oh, my God, so many. My main message in the book, as a whole, is figuring out how to move work out of the dead center of your life, which is very hard—particularly because we’re often told to think about work in terms of “passion.”
I want to help people work more effectively in the hours that they do work, so there’s a bit of stuff about focus, productivity, creativity. What I’ve come to understand is, in order to do that, you have to be kind to yourself. You have to give yourself regular breaks during your day. You have to have time off. You have to not consistently work really long hours. Obviously, it will happen now and then. But you have to have a sense of the start and the end to your day, so you don’t start your day looking at emails and end your day looking at them. Because that means you’re effectively “on” as a freelancer for up to 65 hours a week, research has shown.
I want to help people work better, so they don’t have to work as long. And by not working as long, you free up more of your life for life that’s not work, and you allow your brain—this is scientifically based—to recharge and recover, and thus work well the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and avoid burnout—and have a long career. And enjoy it, while you’re doing it.
This constant overworking—do you feel that it is coming from financial insecurity, or a product of the culture, or is it the personalities that sometimes thrive [in freelance]?
I think it’s very much about all of those things. One of the chapters is about the problem of money, and the way that money again muddles our thinking. And often we think that by working really long hours [as freelancers], we will earn more. When actually, the data shows that you can send your productivity into reverse, by working a longer week. Some data showed that a 70-hour week [produced no higher productivity] than a 50-hour week [according to Stanford economist John Pencavel.] You can actually make it negative, because you damage the work that’s gone before, as well as not doing good work on the last day. And the data also shows that this damage can last for up to two weeks after a long week.
So there’s the misunderstanding. We feel financially insecure so we think we have to work really long hours to make ourselves as financially secure as possible, because we apply a kind of unitary monetary value to each hour of work that we do. But actually, that’s false logic. It doesn’t work like that. You don’t earn per hour, and after a certain hour, you can mess up so badly, or make a terrible mistake—you can send your productivity into reverse. That’s even without thinking about the harm long hours do in terms of your career as a long-term whole.
Then there’s business as a status symbol. There’s loads of data that shows we use “busyness” to show how successful and important we are. We’ve got to a point where we actually view extreme work as a status symbol, which is beyond messed up, right? That is not a good way for a society to operate, nor is it a good way for any individual human to live.
Seal has been freelancing for over a decade, while running a photography studio for food photoshoots with her husband near their house in London.
How has the process of writing a book about working alone while working alone—in a pandemic—been personally?
I would say my brain has melted, on a couple of occasions. It has been simultaneously advantageous and really hard.
On the one hand, I had this period of time where my husband had no work, so he could do the lion’s share of the childcare, and I could be on my own, writing, in these intense bursts of time. And my emails weren’t going—nobody else wanted me to do anything! I’m a journalist, I’m a cookbook writer, and I’ve got this other book on the go. Back in December, I was really struggling to keep all the balls in the air. But then the pandemic happened, and all the balls disappeared. Financially, not so fun, but useful—from a book-finishing point of view.
It was harder because it was just harder to focus. We were all really ill at the beginning; we think we’ve had it, and one of my daughters was really ill, and that was frightening. Obviously during that period, I didn’t work at all. My parents nearly got trapped in Australia, my sister is in Australia with a newborn baby. I’ve got elderly relatives who are on their own, the same as everybody.
The capacity to think big thoughts—and make sense of them at the moment, or in the past few weeks—has been really, really, hard. So the opportunity was better, but the process was harder.
Like you said, you’re a journalist, you’re a cookbook writer, you have a photography studio. What’s the impact been on all the other parts of your business?
The photography studio is closed. We’re following government guidelines to tentatively reopen for very small photo shoots. I’ve bought so much sanitizer, I can’t even tell you. The impact there has been really big—no income from that part at all.
And my husband is a food photographer, and he primarily [shoots for] cookbooks, brands, and for chefs. And that is not happening at the moment. Slowly, slowly, things are starting to pick up. And he has some interesting challenges, where people said, “Is there anything you can do on your own? Can you do any solo shoots?” So he’s learned to make stop-motion films for this.
We’ve also done some shoots together. We’ve done some funny things where I’ve cooked the food, and run back to look after the kids, and he has run up the road [to the studio] to photograph the food, and I’ve run back again to make the next dish.
So we’ve come up with some creative solutions. Because people are quite happy to work with couples. Although we decided to stop working on shoots together six or seven years ago because we decided that we probably wouldn’t survive as a couple if we did. So there’s always this, “Should we do this?” But at the moment it’s like, “Yeah, okay, sure, we’ll do it!”


fortune--2020-05-26--What crisis? Nasdaq nears all-time highs, defying toll of economic shutdown

While we may not see a V-shaped recovery in the economy coming out of the coronavirus crisis, investors are certainly seeing a V-shaped rebound in the Nasdaq.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on markets, the tech-heavy index, which holds 100 top names including Amazon and Alphabet, soared higher on Tuesday morning, only 2% off from its all-time highs reached in February this year. The Nasdaq Composite (the widely-followed index for the Nasdaq) saw a similar jump, and as of midday Tuesday was less than 4% from its February highs.
In fact, the Nasdaq has recovered over 30% from market-wide lows in March, as markets rose last week despite volatility over the past month. The Nasdaq 100 is up 6% for the year, versus a drop of 7% for the S&P 500.
Stocks have been buoyed by optimism around a possible new vaccine, states slowly starting to reopen, and continued support from the Fed. Yet the rapid rise is making some analysts antsy.
Partly the rise has been fueled by a few giant names. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook make up roughly 20% of the S&P 500 and a similar chunk of the Nasdaq 100. The dichotomy between “winners” and “losers” has become even more apparent, analysts say, because, “in a market where there’s quite a bit of uncertainty, investors almost always…are on the hunt for growth and certainty—that’s the magic combination,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s senior global market strategist Sameer Samana recently told Fortune. That sentiment has benefited big tech names that have thrived as working from home, shopping online, and streaming have all accelerated during the pandemic.
One person eager to cheer the rally? The President took to Twitter, referencing the fact that the S&P 500 broke the 3,000-point mark for the first time since early March.
Stock Market up BIG, DOW crosses 25,000. S&P 500 over 3000. States should open up ASAP. The Transition to Greatness has started, ahead of schedule. There will be ups and downs, but next year will be one of the best ever! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Some of the stocks in the Nasdaq 100 seeing a rally early Tuesday were United Airlines, up over 13% in early trading, and Expedia, up roughly 10% Tuesday morning.
Other market observers struck a note of skepticism. One neatly captured that sentiment in one chart:
Ladies and gentlemen I present: The greatest economic crisis in our lifetime. pic.twitter.com/qCjePWGU2B — Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) May 26, 2020
More must-read finance coverage from Fortune:
—Saving lives vs. saving the economy is a false tradeoff, economists say
—Real unemployment rate soars past 24.9%—and the U.S. has now lost 33.5 million jobs
—17% of unemployed workers aren’t looking for work—and that’s warping the official unemployment rate
—Does Apple’s stock buyback strategy make sense in this market?
—Goldman Sachs doubts there will be a Round 3 of PPP loans for small businesses
—Listen to Leadership Next, a Fortune podcast examining the evolving role of CEOs
—WATCH: Why banks were ready for the financial impact of the coronavirus
Subscribe to How to Reopen, Fortune’s weekly newsletter on what it takes to reboot business in the midst of a pandemic.


fortune--2020-05-26--The U.K.’s lockdown is making the country’s electricity grid greener—for good

As the U.K. went into nationwide lockdown this spring, the words “unprecedented” were trotted out to explain everything from pubs being closed to national clap-alongs for health care workers.
But for the National Grid, the country’s electricity operator, “unprecedented” meant blowing through one record after another, often years ahead of schedule: max solar capacity in the energy system, lowest-ever carbon intensity—just this Sunday—and longest stretch without coal.
That record was still in place on Tuesday, with the country’s system now on its 46th consecutive coal-free day—over 1,000 hours—and counting. As of midday Tuesday, the country’s grid was 53% carbon-free, with the remainder comprising supplies of gas, biomass, and a small proportion of energy imports.
This sudden shift to a dramatically lower-carbon energy system isn’t an unexpected development inside National Grid—the goal is to completely decarbonize the country’s electricity system by 2025. But the lockdown has produced a kind of testing ground that will outlive the pandemic, giving a taste of how a mix of new energy sources will impact National Grid’s operations in the coming years. This will give rise to new challenges: periods of ultralow demand, negative pricing, and how to manage the delicate balance of an energy system dependent on the fluctuations of wind and sun.
The lockdown drop
When the U.K. went into lockdown in late March, the impact on energy consumption was immediate: Demand dropped about 20% across the system, according to the National Grid.
While domestic demand increased sharply as people stayed home and ran TVs and washing machines all day, that increase was offset by the much sharper decline in industrial consumption. But other than that drop, the patterns of demand didn’t look as different as you might expect: People used more energy in the mornings as they got ready for the day (they just tended to get up a bit later, as commuting was taken out of the equation), and again in the evenings as they cooked and watched TV.
But rather than making the electricity system easier to manage, a drop in demand at that scale makes it harder, says Kayte O’Neill, head of markets at National Grid. A demand drop requires fine brushwork, to ease the system’s voltage down in tandem and keep the entire system in balance, while managing the imports and exports of energy to neighboring Ireland and mainland Europe. Not keeping the system perfectly aligned means risking blackouts.
National Grid turned to programs it had been considering as part of the long-term strategy to decarbonize the whole grid: arranging for one of the U.K.’s nuclear stations to turn down its output, and entering discussions to turn up or down supply by the kinds of smaller renewable producers—mini solar farms or systems installed in industrial parks, for example—that otherwise wouldn’t be significant enough to have an impact on the larger grid.
“What this lower-demand period has done has accelerated those changes,” O’Neill says. Work that was expected to be rolled out over years was suddenly done in as little as five to 10 days, she says.
In this low-demand world, coal is a natural casualty. While a “typical, high-demand” day would draw on the full range of energy sources, O’Neill says, sources of demand are drawn into the grid in order of cost—and coal is the most expensive. With less demand and record supplies of solar power, in particular—a sunny spring has helped—coal is simply too expensive and not necessary, says O’Neill. That’s part of a longer-term trend: in 2019, coal fell to just 2% of electricity generation overall in the U.K., according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), while renewables provided 40%.
A National Grid control room in 2015 shows coal making up more than 33% of the system’s electricity generation. Last year, coal made up just 2% of power generation—and the U.K. is now into its second month without any coal in the electricity mix. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Simon Dawson—Bloomberg/Getty Images
That hit to coal demand has been a feature of lockdowns around the world, according to the IEA. Coal demand is expected to drop 8% this year. With demand falling, renewables—which are more highly represented in energy grids, because they are easier to decarbonize than, say, airplanes—have come to make up a larger part of the total energy pie. That’s good for emissions, but it comes with its own operational challenges, largely in making sure that there are always reliable backups (frequently in the form of hydropower or nuclear) to underpin stable supply, the way coal has in the past.
Managing the careful process of keeping the energy system in balance has also required other, creative measures—how to make sure that enough control room engineers would remain healthy in order to run the grid itself. That required planning, with some workers during the lockdown living at work—in pods—and not seeing their families for weeks at a time.
That drop in demand has also produced bizarre market distortions, in some cases: In the U.K. as well as other European countries, power markets have become so oversupplied that prices have repeatedly dipped into negative territory in recent months—effectively requiring utilities to pay consumers to use energy. This kind of energy-dumping phenomenon will continue to be a problem until efficient energy storage technologies can be developed and deployed.
How to reopen the grid
Even after Boris Johnson announced slight easing measures to the country’s lockdown earlier this month, energy demand remained low, says O’Neill. While people can now spend longer outside, nonessential shops—for example—won’t be opened until mid-June, the government has said.
But a return to “normal” energy demand isn’t the concern.
“As demand goes up, if anything the system becomes easier to manage,” O’Neill says, adding that National Grid was still waiting to see whether potential long-term shifts caused by COVID-19—less commuting, more working from home, for example—would markedly shift the country’s electricity consumption patterns.
Either way, the National Grid has been preparing for a “low-demand summer”; keeping in place the measures it has used throughout the lockdowns. New precedents have also been set.
The pandemic showed that every sector of the U.K. is capable of working together in closer cooperation, O’Neill says—and that it may be possible for major decarbonization milestones to be hit far sooner than expected.


fortune--2020-05-26--Inside ‘On the Record’ and the sexual assault accusations against Russell Simmons

Relief, sadness, hope: These are some of the emotions that Drew Dixon, Sil Lai Abrams, and Sheri Sher each say they’re feeling as On the Record, a documentary detailing their sexual assault allegations against music mogul Russell Simmons, finally becomes available to a larger audience.
The documentary, which arrives on HBO Max on May 27—the same day the streaming service launches—was a subject of controversy when it lost Oprah Winfrey as its executive producer, which in turn lost it Apple TV+ as its original distributor. But the documentary still premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, to multiple standing ovations, before HBO Max eventually picked it up.
“It’s a relief that it’s finally going to find an audience,” Dixon tells Fortune. “I hope other survivors whose abusers aren’t famous, who may be in industries that have nothing to do with entertainment…hopefully will see their own story and experience affirmed in some way by some of the things that we have gone through.”
Drew Dixon’s story is at the center of “On the Record,” the HBO Max documentary detailing her—and other women’s—accusations of sexual assault against music mogul Russell Simmons. HBO Max
Winfrey, who emphasized her support of the women when she backed away from the film, said in a January interview that her decision was one tied to creative differences. Filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick (The Invisible War, The Hunting Ground) don’t seem to have any regrets.
“It was a really wonderful and successful, and I think up until end, extremely healthy and productive collaboration,” Ziering says. “We had nothing but good feelings and were grateful…The film would not be where it is and would not have achieved what it has without [Winfrey, Harpo Productions, and Apple TV+’s] support, input, and effort.”
The film follows Dixon’s journey as she struggles over coming forward with her story about being sexually assaulted by Simmons—during her time as an executive at Def Jam Recordings, which Simmons cofounded—in the 1990s, which was detailed in a December 2017 article in the New York Times. Abrams, an activist and author who briefly worked at Def Jam, and Sher, of pioneering all-female hip-hop group Mercedes Ladies, also describe being assaulted on separate occasions by Simmons in the documentary. The three of them are among several women who have spoken in recent years of assaults by Simmons.
“I was literally in the clutches of somebody who has practiced this again and again,” says Dixon of hearing other women’s accounts. “I’ve now met so many of us.”
Sher, who largely kept silent about her own alleged rape for three decades, revealed details of the encounter in a book based on her life. She opted not to use real names, so the book was released as a novel “based on a true story,” she says. “I looked at a lot of these women’s stories, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ The things that they were saying were so similar to what I wrote in my book, and my book was written years ago.”
The film also briefly delves into Dixon’s time working at Arista Records, where she says L.A. Reid retaliated against her professionally when she didn’t return his sexual advances, opting not to sign new artists—like Kanye West—when she tried to bring them on board.
Simmons, who stepped down from his businesses after a November 2017 guest column in the Hollywood Reporter by screenwriter Jenny Lumet accused him of sexual assault, has maintained his innocence. “While I have never been violent, I have been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades, and I sincerely apologize,” he said in a statement after stepping down. Reid, who left Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic Records in 2017, reportedly did so after allegations of harassment by a female employee.
On the Record notes that neither Simmons nor Reid chose to comment or participate in the documentary. (A legal representative for Simmons did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.) Ziering and Dick, who say they haven’t heard from either camp ahead of the documentary’s streaming debut, are confident in what is shown on-screen.
“We undergo just a very rigorous fact-checking process when we make any of our films. And then of course we vet it ourselves, and then we have it vetted by our attorneys,” says Dick, who points out that HBO attorneys were also involved, while the three women’s stories had been reported on before. “So, we were very very confident that we had examined and corroborated their stories completely.”
Kirby Dick, Sil Lai Abrams, Drew Dixon, Sheri Sher, and Amy Ziering attend the “On the Record” premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 25 in Park City, Utah. Dia Dipasupil—Getty Images
Dixon, Abrams, and Sher all had their own reasons to keep quiet about who they say assaulted them, but Simmons’s power in the hip-hop community was a huge factor, they say, as was what he meant to the subculture as a whole. (“He was like the god to the culture of hip-hop,” Sher says.) As black women, they also had their own perspectives and societal expectations to grapple with.
“We were all known as nurturers in the community from where I grew up in the Bronx,” Sher says. “Women were known as the nurturers, and so for decades of seeing the black man being beat down, arrested for nothing, and through that whole phase of living in the Bronx, of what I witnessed, to come out and [say] you got assaulted…It was more like a ‘How dare you do this to us? We already being beat down.’”
“Black culture was already a subculture of the mainstream culture in the way it was perceived, in the way men were targeted, in the way black people in general were targeted, criminalized, marginalized, infantilized,” says Dixon. “And then hip-hop within the black culture was at the bottom of the totem pole, culturally [in the ’80s and ’90s]. Artistically, there was this idea that it was a passing phase.
“The last thing that I wanted to do was undermine in any way this genre that I loved, that was trying to push itself into the mainstream,” she says, adding that she also didn’t want to call “attention to one man who happens to be violent and dangerous, in a way that I knew would have consequences across the board for so many black men and boys who are innocent.”
“As a feminist, I don’t subscribe to the idea that I need to protect those who harm us. I believe they need to be called out,” says Abrams. “On the flip side, I’m fiercely protective of my people and cognizant of the way in which we are perceived, and not wanting to…add to that by coming forward. But at the same time, I’m very resolute that this is just.”
Going public has had mixed results. The women say they’ve received supportive texts or direct messages on social media from people who seem stunned by what happened to them. But some of those same people will then like posts on Simmons’s public Instagram account, where he continues posting about the music industry, meditation, yoga, veganism, and more.
“They’re hearting it, they’re prayer-hands-ing, emoji-ing it, and they think I don’t know. And I know,” says Dixon, adding that Simmons remains a powerful influence in many areas of entertainment, including television, where he made his mark with Def Comedy Jam.
“I’ve been doing the advocacy work for almost 14 years. People know I’m a survivor. I’ve been on TV, I’ve been on college campuses, I’ve written about it, I’ve done the whole thing. But nobody knew who it was,” says Abrams. “Now it’s different—now they know. ‘Oh, it’s Russell.’ And then you get to see how it’s like the lights go on, and the cockroaches scatter. And it hurts.”
The women are glad to see the film released and believe they are lucky to have their stories told.
“We’re privileged in our own way,” says Abrams. “There are a lot of black women whose stories are never going to be heard, and that’s unfortunate.”
But neither Dixon nor Abrams feel much has changed since they spoke out.
“Nothing that’s happened so far in the world of the entertainment industry that I came from has changed at all,” says Dixon, who left the music business in 2002. “Maybe people are more clandestine about their behavior, maybe they’re less brazen about it, but I have no reason to believe that there has been a shift in behavior or a shift in the tolerance level for it.”
“There have been advances—but for every advance, we see a step back,” Abrams adds.
Still, Dixon says the film’s existence does give her some hope: “It is literally just the beginning of a conversation that we have to have about the music industry and about sexual violence in general and about the vulnerability of black women and the way we are not protected with the kind of reciprocity that we show our men and the way we protect them.”
Sher agrees: “I think this film is going to bring awareness and light.”


fortune--2020-05-26--Facebook rebrands cryptocurrency wallet ‘Calibra’ to ‘Novi’

Facebook announced on Tuesday morning it has renamed a key component of its ambitious cryptocurrency project known as Libra. Henceforth, the company’s digital wallet, which it hopes to launch late this year, will be known as “Novi” rather “Calibra.”
David Marcus, a former President of PayPal who now heads up Libra, stated in a Facebook post that “the old name was a little too close to the name of the Libra.”
The wallet service in question is a critical part of Facebook’s plan to create a new global payment service based around blockchain technology. While the Libra network is being developed in such a way that anyone can build a compatible wallet, the Calibra/Novi wallet will be the default offering—meaning that it will be the one likely embraced by Facebook’s billions of users.
Facebook announced the Libra network last June with hopes of launching its cryptocurrency in 2019, but the project soon became mired in political and regulatory controversy, leading a number of high profile partners—including Visa, Stripe and PayPal—to cut ties.
More recently, Libra has regained some momentum, adding e-commerce giant Shopify to its list of partners. Facebook appears also to have partially placated regulators by changing Libra from a single global currency to a series of national cryptocurrencies. It has also stepped back from its initial plan to turn Libra into a decentralized network akin to Bitcoin, and instead pledged to make it more tightly controlled.
The move to rebrand Calibra also follows complaints in 2019 by a banking startup called Current, which pointed to notable similarities in the logos of the two brands. In the case of Novi, which Marcus says is a portmanteau of the Latin words “novus” (new) and “via” (way), its logo is clearly distinct from both Current and Calibra:
Court records suggest that Facebook and Current settled a legal case over alleged trademark infringement earlier this month.
In response to a query from Fortune, a Facebook spokesperson did not address whether the name change was informed by trademark issues. Instead, the spokesperson said the new name was intended to avoid confusion between Calibra and Libra.
This story was updated to reflect the state of the Facebook and Current trademark litigation.


fortune--2020-05-26--Self-driving car companies hit the pandemic speed bump

The road to fully autonomous cars is less like a well-maintained freeway and more like a dirt path.
Just three years ago, enthusiasm about self-driving cars was approaching delusional, with one financial analyst making a “conservative prediction” that there would be 10 million self-driving cars on the road by 2020. The combination of advances in artificial intelligence, the declining costs of sensors, and billion-dollar investments by old-school car makers and Silicon Valley hotshots led many to assume that people would soon be able to nap while their cars shuttled them around town.
Obviously, that didn’t pan out. As The New York Times recently said, “the technology is still far from ready, and many investors are wary of dumping more money into it.”
Austin Russell, the CEO of Luminar, a startup that specializes in the Lidar tech that helps self-driving cars detect objects around them, acknowledged to Fortune that “the assumptions didn’t come true.” The expected timeline for widespread use of self-driving cars was off and the cost of developing the complicated tech was severely underestimated.
But progress in autonomous automobiles hasn’t stalled, Russell explained. His company, for instance, recently partnered with auto-giant Volvo (also a Luminar investor) to use its technology in future vehicles. The hope is that by 2022, Volvo will start selling lidar-equipped cars that will drive themselves on freeways (not city streets), allowing people to watch movies, read books, or snooze while in the driver’s seat, he said.
Russell thinks other car-makers will follow Volvo’s lead, and by 2025, there will be several brands of self-driving cars “you can buy on dealer lots.” He also believes that traditional auto companies will more likely lead the autonomous push, rather than tech startups.
Auto giants have the cash to invest billions of dollars, unlike startups, which have more limited funds. Indeed, Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, the CEO of the now-shuttered self-driving truck company Starsky Robotics, attributed the “exponential increases” in the cost of improving the necessary artificial intelligence systems as one of the reasons his company collapsed.
Still, Russell may be a self-driving car expert, but he’s no soothsayer. Yes, auto giants pursuing autonomous vehicles like Volvo, General Motors, and Ford have big pockets, but they aren’t immune from events out of their control—the coronavirus pandemic being one such example. Earlier this month, GM’s Cruise self-driving car subsidiary reportedly laid off nearly 8% of its workforce to cut costs amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“In this time of great change, we’re fortunate to have a crystal clear mission and billions in the bank,” a Cruise spokesperson said in a statement. “The actions we took reflect us doubling down on our engineering work and engineering talent.”
Companies creating the future for autonomous automobiles are likely to get car sick on the way.
Jonathan Vanian
@JonathanVanian
jonathan.vanian@fortune.com
A.I. IN THE NEWS
Cuts come to IBM’s A.I. and Watson groups. IBM laid off an unspecified number of workers in its Watson and A.I. unit, reported tech publication The Register. IBM told the publication that it isn’t releasing specific numbers about its layoffs "for competitive reasons." From the article: The question therefore remains open as to whether the layoffs are focused on IBM keeping costs low to cope with post-pandemic economic woes, doubling down on cloud, managing the decline of its services business, cutting staff from AI-driven initiatives that aren't doing well, or all of the above.
Sizing up the new A.I. chips on the market. Nvidia and Intel are heavyweights offering new A.I. chips, according to tech publication ZDNet. From the article: In fact, Nvidia's software and partner ecosystem may be the hardest part for the competition to match. The competition is making moves too, however. Some competitors may challenge Nvidia on economics, others on performance.
Protecting humanity. CNBC explored the work of Professor Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute to research A.I. that doesn’t negatively harm people. From the article: Asked if he is more or less worried about the arrival of superintelligent machines than he was when his book was published in 2014, Bostrom says the timelines have contracted. “I think progress has been faster than expected over the last six years with the whole deep learning revolution and everything,” he says.
Automation at half-speed. The New York Times highlighted research from computer scientist Ben Shneiderman of the University of Maryland about the potential impact on automation on workers and humankind. Shneiderman is one of several experts urging software engineers building powerful machine-learning technologies to keep humans “in the loop” in their overall design. From the article: Dr. Shneiderman has challenged the engineering community to rethink the way it approaches artificial intelligence-based automation. Until now, machine autonomy has been described as a one-dimensional scale ranging from machines that are manually controlled to systems that run without human intervention.
Open-sourcing equality. LinkedIn’s testing software that’s used to measure inequality across its products is now availablefor free in an open source model. For a deep look at LinkedIn’s testing tools used to gauge how the company’s products could potentially negatively impact minority groups, check out Jeremy Kahn’s article in March.
EYE ON A.I. TALENT
Google hired Matt Pancino to be the search giant’s Asia Pacific director of industry solutions, reported tech publication IT News. Pancino was previously the chief technology officer of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The city of Los Angeles picked Jeanne Holm to be its chief data officer, Techwire reported. Holm was previously the senior technology advisor to L.A.’s mayor Eric Garcetti.
Creighton AI hired Ryan Willson to the company’s partner and head of North America, reported financial publication Hedgeweek. Wilson was previously the CEO of Lateef Investment Management.
EYE ON A.I. RESEARCH
A.I. and the future of healthcare. Medical journal The Lancet published a paper about A.I. and the future of healthcare authored by researchers from the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in New York; Spark Street Advisors; and the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The paper overviews various peer-reviewed A.I.-related healthcare papers to assess how cutting-edge machine learning is projected to impact the delivery of healthcare services, particularly to low-and-middle-income communities, or LMICs. As the authors write, “AI does not need to be held to a higher standard of research; however, its unique complexities, including the requisite use of large datasets and the opaque nature of some AI algorithms, will require approaches specifically tailored to interventions and consideration of how efficacy and effectiveness are assessed.”
From the paper: Although most AI investigators report necessary approvals by institutional review boards, indicating that the studies were all done ethically, only a few described how the research teams addressed issues of informed consent or ethical research design in tools that used large datasets and electronic health records. Reporting on ethical considerations would help future researchers to address these complex yet essential issues.
Similarly, only a few studies reported on the usability or acceptability of AI tools from the provider or patients’ perspective, despite acknowledging that usability is an important factor for AI interventions, particularly in LMICs.
FORTUNE ON A.I.
Facebook makes a bigger push into shopping with new online storefronts for businesses—By Jeremy Kahn
Uber’s new plan: Slim down to get ahead—By Danielle Abril
The boss in your bedroom: As workplace surveillance spreads, what are your rights?—By Jeff John Roberts
Amazon was built for the pandemic—and will likely emerge from it stronger than ever—By Brian Dumaine
BRAIN FOOD
Grading A.I. Artificial intelligence expert Kai-Fu Lee has written an essay in Wired about A.I.’s potential impact on healthcare and grades how A.I. has been doing during the coronavirus pandemic.
From the article:
Truth be told, AI has not had a particularly successful four months in the battle of the pandemic. I would give it a B-minus at best. We have seen how vulnerable our health care systems are: insufficient and imprecise alert responses, inadequately distributed medical supplies, overloaded and fatigued medical staff, not enough hospital beds, and no timely treatments or cures.
A.I. is so far a B-minus student that’s made some impact in a few areas like spotting initial coronavirus outbreaks. I wish Lee would have explained why the hyped technology was not able to address the problems he laid out after grading the tech. It appears he’s laying the blame on the inadequacies of our current health care system rather than any particular shortcoming of current deep learning technologies. Ultimately, the optimistic Lee believes that “AI will help ensure we will be better prepared for the next pandemic,” and said that he can “see a clear roadmap of how AI, accelerated by the pandemic, will be infused into health care.”
Update: Tuesday 12:45 PM PT. Essay updated with statement from Cruise spokesperson about its layoffs and clarifies GM's role.


fortune--2020-05-26--How rapid can coronavirus tests get?

How rapid can coronavirus tests get?

Last week, High Level, a town of approximately 3,000 in northwest Alberta, Canada, received shipments of coronavirus test kits, manufactured by U.S. company Cepheid and Italy’s DiaSorin, from the province’s public health authority. The kits will enable High Level hospitals to deliver COVID-19 test results in as little as 30 minutes.
Before last week, residents of High Level, like other remote areas in the province, had to wait days for coronavirus test results, as samples had to be transported 455 miles to the nearest lab in Edmonton.
Testing speed is a crucial factor in outbreak management. Knowing whether a patient has the coronavirus means health care workers know how to act: what treatment to provide; where to place patients in a hospital, especially in communities with dedicated COVID-19 wards; and whether medical staff seeing the patient should conserve or deploy personal protective equipment.
“The ideal [test] is something right at the bedside, or the person wheels up and in a few minutes you can tell them if they have [coronavirus],” said Byron Berenger, a medical microbiologist who works at Alberta’s public health lab in Calgary.
But that ideal is far from the norm. The most reliable tests for the coronavirus detect the presence of the virus’s RNA (its genetic material), a process that takes more time than tests that detect, say, the presence of a hormone, such as in a pregnancy test.
The speediest test on the market is Abbott Laboratories’ ID Now test at five minutes for a positive result, but it’s been dogged by claims of inaccuracy. Cepheid and DiaSorin, whose tests were sent to High Level, have shown promise in striking a balance between speed and accuracy, but have other hang-ups.
Private companies and public labs racing to develop faster tests face obstacles like a high rate of false negatives, manufacturing limitations, and inexperience, leaving medical workers and patients to wait hours or even days for results, a lag that can impede containment strategies.
A rapid test is “better for the person, it’s better for managing them as a patient, it’s better for outbreak detection,” Berenger said. But “the important thing is diagnosing accurately, and then second is getting a quicker result that people can act on.”
Speed vs. reliability
In March, U.S. President Donald Trump stood before reporters on the White House lawn and unboxed the ID Now coronavirus test kit from U.S.-based Abbott that, according to the firm’s website, delivers negative results in 13 minutes and positive results in five.
President Trump gestures toward an Abbott Laboratories ID Now COVID-19 test kit during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference on March 30, 2020. Abbott’s point-of-care test got emergency-use authorization from the FDA as the fastest product to detect COVID-19, but it’s since been linked to inaccurate results. Michael Reynolds—EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images
That turnaround time makes ID Now the fastest coronavirus test on the market, but its reliability is questionable. In mid-May, New York University researchers found the test produced false negatives almost half the time. Abbott defended its test and criticized the NYU study’s methodology. Still, the Food and Drug Administration later issued an alert about “possible accuracy concerns” with ID Now.
Some degree of tradeoff between speed and accuracy is to be expected, says Mike Catton, deputy director of the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne. “Generally, the most rapid tests make some degree of sacrifice, mainly in the sensitivity of detection,” he notes. “It’s a balancing act that scientists are incredibly cautious of.”
Gold standard
The most reliable test is the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which Catton calls the “gold standard detection method” for the coronavirus. Many companies and most public labs use RT-PCR.
The tests have a 96% accuracy rate for negative samples and a 100% accuracy rate for positive samples, according to researchers at the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, a global health nonprofit.
But it takes time.
Extracting virus RNA from the sample—a necessary step for RT-PCR—eats up 30 minutes, says Matthew Lalli, a postdoctoral research scholar at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The extracted RNA is mixed with a cocktail of reagents and heated up, which takes 15 minutes. Then it goes through signal amplification: 45 one-minute cycles of PCR, which makes billions of copies of the original specimen and provides a large enough sample to detect the virus.
The high sensitivity of the test depends on the amplification process; cutting that step would mean potentially compromising the chances of detecting the virus, and, therefore, the test’s accuracy.
Alberta’s PCR test takes 90 minutes, start to finish, but the time it takes to collect the sample, transport it to the lab, and accumulate enough individual specimens to start one round of the machine, which runs in bulk batches, results in an 18-hour turnaround at Berenger’s Calgary lab, the scientist says.
Striking a balance
The Cepheid and DiaSorin tests sent to High Level are promising in that they automate or eliminate certain steps required for the standard test, saving time. Cepheid’s test takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, and DiaSorin’s test takes “a little more than an hour,” its website says; it forgoes the “traditional RNA extraction steps” in RT-PCR, which shaves off 30 minutes.
They’re accurate too: Studies have found the Cepheid and DiaSorin tests to be at least 95.8% and 89.3% accurate, respectively.
But two factors keep the tests from being a silver bullet; price and supply. One of Cepheid’s PCR machines costs $17,500, not including the price of the cartridges needed to run them, according to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics. And they’re scarce; the manufacturers haven’t been able to keep up with the global spike in demand, Berenger says. Neither company responded to Fortune’s requests for comment.
Faster tests also tend to have a lower throughput capacity, meaning they can’t simultaneously process as many samples as the slower RT-PCR tests. Abbott’s ID Now processes one sample at a time, as does the 45-minute Cepheid test, while standard RT-PCR tests feature well plates that can process 96 or 384 samples at once.
Amped up
Lalli is one of several researchers working on another testing method called loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) that is similar to PCR but does not require the resources of a centralized lab.
Lalli and his colleagues are building a portable device that would let patients process a coronavirus test in a clinic or at home and would deliver results within an hour. The LAMP test is “most similar” to Abbott’s ID Now, Lalli says, but “we are taking great efforts to improve the sensitivity of viral detection.” Lalli’s research is still in the preliminary stage, a preprint of the paper notes, but the results are “promising.”
LAMP saves around 30 minutes compared with RT-PCR, Lalli says. The reverse-transcription and the amplification happen simultaneously. Plus, the reaction is isothermal, meaning it occurs at a constant temperature rather than cycling between heating and cooling, a process that adds time in the standard PCR procedure. The ID Now test is also isothermal.
Some companies are developing tests that look for the presence of antibodies (immune response proteins) or antigens (virus proteins) instead of nucleic acid, which is what the conventional PCR tests, LAMP, ID Now, and the rapid test kits all detect.
Antibody and antigen tests are typically run as lateral flow immunoassays, says Lalli, and—like pregnancy tests—come as a dipstick. Using a blood or spit sample, they give a visual indication of whether the person has the coronavirus. They’re easy to use and deliver results in five to 10 minutes.
But they have shown “really poor sensitivity” compared with PCR, Berenger says. “We’re talking under 80% [accurate]…So you’re missing 30% to 40% of cases sometimes.”
The lateral flow method skips the vital amplification process of the PCR, which saves time at the possible expense of sensitivity, Lalli says. There are antibody and antigen tests with signal amplification (a method called ELISA), but these take one to two hours.
Lax regulations
Regulations for diagnostic tests are relatively lax in most parts of the world, meaning there are “hundreds on the market” that haven’t gone through regulatory approval, Berenger says, and many manufacturers are not experienced in making tests for respiratory viruses.
The FDA barred 29 antibody test manufacturers from selling their products in the U.S. last week, a change of tack from April, when the FDA said it would allow manufacturers to market their antibody tests, including those it had not yet reviewed. Also in April, the U.K. paid $20 million to two Chinese companies for antibody tests that didn’t work.
There are more reliable antibody tests, but they measure if you’ve had the virus and recovered, so they aren’t helpful in detecting active carriers of the disease who could be passing it on to others.


fortune--2020-05-26--Six Flags reopening: What you need to know

Summertime without a theme park visit? Seemed inconceivable—until the novel coronavirus pandemic virtually shut down the globe.
More than two months after Six Flags Entertainment closed the doors on popular destinations including Six Flags Magic Mountain (outside Los Angeles) and Six Flags Over Georgia (outside Atlanta), the theme park operator says it is beginning to reverse course.
Six Flags Frontier City in Oklahoma City will reopen on Friday, June 5, the company announced Tuesday—at “reduced attendance levels” and “in a preview mode June 5–7 for members and season pass holders only,” it added.
The company believes its sprawling outdoor parks pose a “significantly lower risk of exposure” than its indoor waterparks because guests aren’t confined in one area for long periods of time. “Because our parks cover dozens or even hundreds of acres, we can easily manage guest throughput to achieve proper social distancing,” Six Flags president and CEO Mike Spanos said in a statement.
Not that the company isn’t taking extra precautions. Thinking of taking the family, local laws permitting? Here’s what you should expect:
Online reservations. Expect scheduled entry and staggered arrival times to minimize exposure to other guests.
Face masks. A no-brainer, and yet: All guests over the age of 2 and all employees will be required to wear face masks covering the nose and mouth. (Accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis for persons with disabilities, health concerns, religious restrictions, or other circumstances.) If you forget yours, you can purchase one at the front gate.
Temperature checks. Six Flags will use thermal (infrared) imaging sensors to screen the temperatures of guests and employees prior to entry. Expect to be asked if you’re healthy and to acknowledge the new health policies.
Touch-less bag checks at security.
Social distancing everywhere. Six Flags will add distance markers to all park entry, ride, restroom, store, and restaurant lines. Dining areas will be spaced out. Guests will be separated by empty rows or seats on roller coasters, rides, and attractions. Capacities at indoor venues will be reduced to meet social distancing requirements. Viewing areas will be spaced out.
More mobile food ordering, so you don’t have to handle menus and payment. Condiments, cutlery, and napkins will be provided with each meal. Self-service buffets and salad bars will be overhauled.
Lots of sanitization. High-touch points get extra attention: public seating, tabletops, counters, doors, trash cans. Rides, restraints, and handrails will be cleaned during the day. Restrooms stalls and sinks will too. Hand-washing and hand sanitizer dispensing stations will be installed throughout the park.
The company didn’t offer any indication when it would reopen its other parks in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, New York, and other locations—though all are subject to their own state and local health regulations pertaining to the pandemic.
For the company’s part, Six Flags is hoping that these safety steps—plus the gradual reopening of the 26 theme parks in its portfolio—will help revive its business before high season kicks in across North America.
The Grand Prairie, Texas, operator said last month that it saw 27% fewer guests (to 1.6 million) and recorded a 20% decrease in revenue (to $26 million) in its first fiscal quarter compared to the same period in 2019. Before the company suspended operations on March 13, it was on track to increase its attendance by 19% from the year prior. Seven-figure losses in sponsorship and partnership revenue only added to the pain.
Six Flags withdrew its earnings guidance on April 8 and boosted its credit facility by $131 million (and then closed a private offering of $725 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes) as it worked to reduce operating expenses and free up cash for the long haul. Its stock price slid from about $38 per share to about $10 between February and March; it has since rebounded slightly, and now trades around $25.
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Warner Music Group prepares for $1.8m IPO
—When will Universal Orlando reopen? A date is set
—The ‘Justice League’ Snyder cut is coming to HBO
—What you need to know about Disney streaming chief Rebecca Campbell
—Why Spotify’s Joe Rogan deal could change the podcasting business


fortune--2020-05-26--The U.K. may soon change its mind about Huawei, delighting hawks like Trump

Earlier this year, the British government rejected U.S. pressure to cut all ties with China’s Huawei in the buildout of its telecom networks. It was one of those rare moments in which a spat over telecom equipment rose to the level of a foreign policy crisis between two powerful allies.
In a move that infuriated President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration in February all but ignored the U.S.’s warnings, saying Huawei equipment could be used in up to 35% of the noncore parts of the U.K.’s 5G networks.
Now, Johnson’s government looks set to reverse its stance. Over the weekend, the Telegraph reported that Johnson had instructed officials to make it so Huawei—the world’s biggest network equipment supplier—would have no involvement in the country’s telecom infrastructure at all, just a few years from now.
The next day, the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)—a division of its GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) signals intelligence agency—announced it would be conducting a fresh review of Huawei’s involvement in British networks.
So what changed? A hardening American stance and, at least one analyst argues, the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After COVID-19, everybody knows telecoms infrastructure is probably the most vital infrastructure we have in a society,” said John Strand, of Copenhagen-based Strand Consult. “COVID-19 has actually raised the numbers of questions about how dangerous is this, if we are dependent on companies from countries that don’t share our values.”
The explicit prompt for the new NCSC review—the organization previously concluded that it was possible to mitigate the security risks of Huawei’s equipment in a 5G network deployment—was the Trump administration’s recent launch of toughened sanctions against Huawei.
The U.S. government had already banned the sale of American parts and software to Huawei, but earlier this month it said that as of September Huawei would not be allowed to use American software and technology in the manufacturing of its products. This creates a serious supply chain problem for Huawei, as it has an impact on its use of chips sourced from factories that are located outside the U.S., but that use U.S. machinery.
Trump’s argument that Huawei poses a security threat fell largely on deaf ears. But the administration may have found a winning hand by squeezing the Chinese telecom firm’s supply chain, a move that could essentially scramble the 5G market and open the door to Huawei’s competitors. The U.S. has made no secret of the fact that it favors the likes of Ericsson and Nokia over Huawei.
Huawei heatedly responded to the White House’s latest move, saying it “threatens to undermine the entire [telecom] industry worldwide.” Huawei chairman Guo Ping even went so far as to say the company now has to “work hard to figure out how to survive.”
This of course raises the stakes for governments and operators looking to roll out 5G based on Huawei gear: Security concerns are one thing, but the continued viability of the vendor is quite another.
“Following the U.S. announcement of additional sanctions against Huawei, the NCSC is looking carefully at any impact they could have to the U.K.’s networks,” the organization said Sunday. Asked Tuesday whether the focus would be on security or supply chain issues, an NCSC spokesperson said: “A bit of both.”
“It’s very difficult to know what the impact of U.S. supply restrictions will be without doing a teardown of [Huawei’s network equipment],” said William Webb, the former head of British telecom regulator Ofcom and current CEO of the Weightless SIG, a standards body for the Internet of things.
“The reports I have seen suggest it may be material, at least for a while until Huawei manages to find alternative supplies,” he said. “In that case, yes, there is clearly a risk for U.K. operators that if they continue to rely on Huawei there will be shortages of equipment. I would have thought this would only really impact network expansion and 5G upgrade—as opposed to running existing networks.”
Webb said security fears about Huawei equipment were likely “overdone,” and suggests the ongoing furor over the firm is more about geopolitics. But Strand, a notable hawk on Huawei within the analyst community, sees the two as inseparable.
Referring to China’s ban on Norwegian salmon following the award of a Nobel Peace Prize to human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, and China’s threat to retaliate against the German auto industry if Germany rejected Huawei’s 5G equipment, he said President Trump had “opened governments’ eyes around the world and said, ‘Is it smart if a modern Western society becomes dependent on equipment [from] a company from a country which threatens countries if they don’t accept the bad things the Chinese government is doing?’”
Huawei had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.


fortune--2020-05-26--Bankruptcy attorneys may have the hottest job in the downturn

Bankruptcy attorneys are the new rock stars in the legal world, an ignominious consequence of the coronavirus pandemic decimating the economy.
Consider this: Openings for bankruptcy attorneys have tripled since January on online job board ZipRecruiter, while postings across all industries have fallen 48%. Meanwhile, big corporate law firms like Dorsey & Whitney and Paul Hastings are adding lawyers to their bankruptcy teams in preparation for a deluge of business restructurings.
“We definitely anticipate a surge of bankruptcies,” says Amy Quackenboss, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. “The big question in the crystal ball is how many, and how soon.”
The current economic chaos has already triggered high-profile bankruptcies by the likes of J. Crew, J.C. Penney, and Neiman Marcus. Overall, commercial Chapter 11 filings in April rose 26% year over year, and May is unlikely to be any better.
The legal industry will have to shift gears to meet the demand. Law firms have been shedding bankruptcy lawyers for nearly a decade, as Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 filings steadily declined because of the strong economy that followed the 2008 financial crisis.
To fill the shortage, Quackenboss says some firms are making do with younger attorneys who have limited experience and attorneys who have experience in other business-related specialties. Lawyers who normally work in mergers and other big financial transactions, which generally slow during a recession, are well positioned to switch to bankruptcy work, she says.
The cyclical nature of bankruptcy work—high during economic downturns, and low during economic booms—is nothing new. But the suddenness of the coronavirus shock makes the current period stand out.
Jay Westbrook, a bankruptcy professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, says that during a sharp recession in Texas in the 1980s, he was hired by a big law firm to give its real estate lawyers a crash course in bankruptcy. Similar refresher bankruptcy courses for lawyers from other fields are “exploding” in number currently, he says.
But that doesn’t mean converts will be instant virtuosos. “You want to be working with someone who’s an expert,” says Angela Littwin, who also teaches bankruptcy at UT–Austin. “You can get in trouble very quickly.”
Big corporate law firm King & Spalding says it has held internal trainings to help more than 430 partners and associates “retool” to handle aspects of bankruptcy work. But it emphasizes that retrained lawyers will be supervised by bankruptcy veterans.
The downturn promises to have a major impact on newly minted lawyers. Graduating third-year law students in the U.S. generally had jobs lined up before the crisis hit, and Westbrook says he hasn’t heard of University of Texas students losing those jobs. But current second-year law students are likely looking more seriously at specializing in bankruptcy.
“Our [course] enrollments will shoot up substantially over the next couple of years,” says Westbrook.
But the boom—or, depending on your perspective, the bust—won’t last forever. “Students, unfortunately, tend to be relatively shortsighted on this,” says Littwin. “A career is a long time.”
That means many lawyers who are now shifting to bankruptcy work will, in a year or three, switch to other specialties, such as civil litigation and contract law. A few, says Westbrook, will find bankruptcy interesting enough to stick with it.
They’ll need good people skills on top of their legal chops. “The best bankruptcy lawyers have to have compassion and empathy,” says Ike Shulman, cofounder of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. “They have to be good listeners and capable guides. You have to find a way to communicate to clients and have them hear.”
Oddly, personal bankruptcies were down almost 50% in April compared with the same month in 2019, according to American Bankruptcy Institute data. Stuart Gold, a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and cofounder of the specialty firm Gold, Lange & Majoros, says this is likely due to federal relief programs that have provided cash to many people in financial trouble.
As relief programs wind down, Gold expects personal bankruptcies to rise dramatically. “We anticipate we’re going to be ratcheting up and hiring in the third and fourth quarters,” Gold says, “because of the deluge of filings.”
An even thornier problem could be filling vacant bankruptcy judgeships, says Quackenboss, the American Bankruptcy Institute chief. Two professors from Harvard and Brigham Young University this month estimated that the U.S. needs to double the number of sitting bankruptcy judges to cope with the surge. A group of scholars has urged Congress to take action on the issue.
“That’s something people are concerned about, that the courts might be deluged,” says Quackenboss. “But it takes a year [to install a judge]. You don’t just snap your fingers.”


fortune--2020-05-26--Warner Music Group prepares for $1.8 billion IPO

Warner Music Group Corp. reignited its plans for an initial public offering, becoming the latest music company to cash in on a streaming boom that’s only accelerated in the coronavirus era.
Backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, shareholders of the New York-based record group behind artists such as Cardi B, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars plan to sell 70 million shares of its Class A common stock priced between $23 and $26 a share — raising as much as $1.8 billion — according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The offering consists entirely of secondary shares to be sold by Blavatnik’s Access Industries and certain related selling stockholders, the filing said. Warner Music won’t retain any of the money raised.
Music sales have surged in recent years thanks to the growth of paid streaming services from Spotify Technology SA and Apple Inc. That’s boosted the value of music companies and enticed investors back to the record industry.
Warner Music initially filed for the IPO in early February, then shelved the plan in March as markets plunged in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. But as painful as the crisis has been in lost lives and broad economic disruption, it has also brought winners — including streaming companies. Spotify shares, for example, have risen 36% since Reuters reported that Warner Music would delay the offering.
Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-American, has a net worth estimated at $22.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He bought Warner Music for $1.3 billion in 2011, when the music industry was in the depths of a 15-year decline. Warner Music sales have climbed by 50% since 2015. The company reported net income of $258 million in fiscal 2019 on revenue of $4.48 billion.
Warner Music’s investors aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the industry’s resurgence. Vivendi SA agreed last year to sell a minority stake in Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, to a group led by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. That transaction valued the business at 30 billion euros ($32.9 billion).
Warner markets its music through labels such as Atlantic Records, Warner Records and Parlophone. It also owns Warner Chappell, a music publishing business. While the labels work with recording artists, publishers represent songwriters. Songwriters signed to Warner Chappell include Lizzo and Katy Perry. Recorded music made up 86% of Warner Music’s sales last year, but publishing is a stable, profitable business.
Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are acting as joint bookrunners and as representatives of the underwriters for the offering.


fortune--2020-05-26--It survived the Great Depression and World War II. The coronavirus pushed it to bankruptcy

It survived multiple financial crises. But late Friday, Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection as the pandemic razes the travel industry and cripples the company’s ability to pay off a massive pile of debt.
The pandemic decimated a large part of Hertz’s revenue that depended on rentals at airports. While U.S. airlines have managed to avoid bankruptcy by brokering billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. government, Hertz and its car-rental brethren were left to fend for themselves.
Other car-rental companies such as Enterprise and Avis are facing the same crisis, but Hertz’s heavy debts and acquisition strategies have left it most exposed to the coronavirus. In 2010, the rental car company sought to expand outside of its business traveler core and into the leisure market by acquiring Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for $1.2 billion. Hertz eventually paid $2.6 billion following a protracted bidding war. Now, its bankruptcy petition lists roughly $25.8 billion in assets and $24.4 billion in debts.
What’s worse: In a financing move meant to lower the cost of debt, Hertz issued bonds with cars as collateral following its spin-out from Ford in the early 2000s. But used car values have dropped sharply during the pandemic, making repayments even more acute.
The used-car market might feel reverberations. Hertz could be forced to liquidate much of its fleet of over 500,000 in the U.S. as it seeks to repay its debts, adding to other used-car sellers doing the same in a widespread move that analysts fear could drive down prices even further.
One bright spot: Used-car sales are expected to come online faster as lockdown restrictions lift and wary consumers eschew public transportation.
Never waste a crisis: Tech-focused private equity fund Silver Lake has been actively picking up downtrodden companies during the coronavirus—sprinkling a couple hundreds of millions on bets including Airbnb and Expedia. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, known for its recent bets in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, has also been stepping on the pedal: PIF has picked up stakes in Live Nation, a U.S.-based live entertainment company, and a 7.3% holding in Carnival, the cruise-liner. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Read more.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com
VENTURE DEALS
- MissFresh, a Beijing-based meal kit delivery company, is close to closing on $500 million in new funding, Bloomberg reports citing sources. Tencent, Goldman Sachs, and Tiger Global back the company. Read more.
- Apeel Sciences, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company focused on food waste, raised $250 million in funding. GIC led the round, and was joined by investors including Viking Global Investors, Upfront Ventures, Tao Capital Partners and Rock Creek Group. Oprah Winfrey and Katy Perry also joined.
- BigBasket, an Indian online grocer, is planning to raise around $150 to $200 million. Alibaba backs the firm. Read more.
- insitro, a San Francisco-based machine-learning driven drug discovery platform, raised $143 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, and was joined by investors including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, T. Rowe Price Associates, BlackRock, Casdin Capital, HOF Capital, and WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund.
- Bolt, an Estonia-based rival to Uber, raised €100 million ($109 million) in convertible notes, valuing it at €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion). Naya Capital Management is the investor.
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Cambridge, Mass.-based fusion energy startup, raised $84 million in Series A2 funding. Temasek led the round, and was joined by investors including Equinor and Devonshire Investors.
- Scandit, a Zurich, Switzerland-based platform for mobile computer vision and augmented reality, raised $80 million in Series C funding. G2VP led the round and was joined by investors including Atomico, GV, Kreos, NGP Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Swisscom Ventures.
- Exscientia, a U.K.-based AI drug discovery company, raised $60 million in Series C funding. Novo Holdings led the round and was joined by investors including Evotec, Bristol Myers Squibb, and GT Healthcare Capital.
- Platform Science, a La Jolle-based trucking software maker, raised $42 million in Series B funding. Prologis led the round and was joined by investors including Daimler, 8VC, NewRoad Capital Partners, Schematic Ventures, and Cambridge Capital. Read more.
- Medwing, a German job matching platform for healthcare workers, raised €28 million ($30 million) in Series B funding. Cathay Innovation led the round and was joined by investors including Northzone, Cherry Ventures, and Atlantic Labs.
- Oncology Analytics, an Atlanta, Ga.-based data analytics platform for oncology, raised $28 million in Series C funding. Baird Capital led the round and joins existing investors Oak HC/FT, McKesson Ventures, and The Blue Venture Fund.
- Milkman, a Milan, Italy-based logistics platform, raised €25 million ($27.3 million) in funding. Investors include Poste Italiane, P101 sgr, Italia500, Vertis and 360 Capital. Read more.
- Attest Technologies, a London-based market research platform, raised $15 million in funding. The round was led by a confidential investor with participation from NEA.
- CalciMedica, a La Jolla, Calif.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company treating acute and severe inflammatory diseases, raised $15 million in Series C funding. Valence Life Sciences led the round and was joined by investors including Bering Capital, Mesa Verde Venture Partners and existing investor Sanderling Ventures.
- Fundbox, a San Francisco-based B2B payment and credit network, raised $15 million in extended Series C funding from MUFG Innovation Partners. Fundbox has raised nearly $200 million in Series C total.
- Statespace, a New York-based gamer training platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Khosla led the round, and was joined by investors including June Fund, FirstMark Capital, Lux, and Expa. Read more.
- Thriva, a London-based at-home blood-testing startup, raised £4 million in extended Series A funding. Target Global was the investor. Read more.
- Curu, a Denver, Colo.-based solution for lenders to find leads for loans, raised $3 million in seed funding. Vestigo Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Harlem Capital, Matchstick Ventures, Carolina Fintech Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Holt Accelerator, Chingona Ventures, and Upscale Fund.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- CVC invested £116 million ($141 million) in the PRO14 league, a rugby union, per the Wall Street Journal citing sources. That would give the rugby union a value of roughly £415 million ($453 million). Read more.
- RedBird Capital Partners is in talks to acquire 85% of Toulouse, a Ligue 1 soccer club. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Read more.
- Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group Founder Guy Laliberte says he is planning to invest in the company three months after selling his remaining stake. TPG and Fosun back the firm. Read more.
- Naspers and an investor group backed by Axel Springer SE are among those seeking to acquire EBay Inc.’s classified-advertising business, per Bloomberg citing sources. Axel Springer has reportedly teamed up with KKR. Read more.
- Fortress Investment Group, backed by Softbank, acquired Krystal Restaurants, an Atlanta, Ga.-based quick service restaurant chain. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
OTHERS
- Tencent is acquiring a 20% stake in Marvelous Inc. (TYO:7844), a Japanese games studio, for about 7 billion yen ($65 million).
- The valuation of Monday.com, an Israeli productivity startup, jumped to $2.7 billion, per Bloomberg citing sources, following trading in secondary markets. It represents a 42% increase. Read more.
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals plans to repurchase $5 billion of its shares from Sanofi, without altering their partnership. Read more.
- EagleClaw Midstream, backed by Blackstone, is suing Energy Spectrum Capital, the former owners of Caprock Midstream, alleging they failed to disclose tens of millions of dollars of liabilities during acquisition talks. EagleClaw acquired Caprock for $950 million. Read More.
IPOS
- Burning Rock Biotech, a Chinese precision oncology and early cancer detection company, filed for an $100 million IPO. Northern Light Venture Capital (13.7% pre-offering), Sequoia Capital China (9.1%), and CMB International (8.8%) back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “BNR.” Read more.
- Daimler AG plans to invest in Farasis Energy's planned $480 million IPO, per Reuters citing sources. Farasis is a Chinese EV battery maker. Read more.
BANKRUPTCIES AND BREAKUPS
- Russia’s central bank is seeking to reverse a $1.45 billion deal that sold Lukoil diamond-mining business, Arkhangelskgeoldobycha, to Otkritie Holding. Read more.
- Renault and Nissan shelved plans to push towards the full merger, Reuters reports citing sources. Read more.
- LATAM Airlines Group SA, Latin America’s largest airline, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.
- Tuesday Morning, a Dallas-based discount retailer, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, per the WSJ citing sources. Read more.
EXITS
- Aurora Capital Partners agreed to acquire FMG Suite, a San Diego-based advisor marketing platform, from K1 Investment Management.
- Compass Group acquired Feedr, a London-based deliverer of personalised meals to office workers. Read more.
- Roche (SIX: RO) acquired Stratos Genomics, a Seattle.-based, early-stage sequencing technology company. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Stratos previously raised venture capital from Fisk Ventures and Roche Ventures.
- The backers of Voodoo SAS, a French mobile game developer, are seeking to sell the company in a deal that could value it at over 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), per Bloomberg. West Street Capital Partners VII backs the firm. Read more.
F+FS
- Searchlight Capital raised over $3 billion for its third fund. Read more.
- Realterm closed Realterm Logistics Fund III at its hard cap of $370 million.
- UBS Group is setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars of its own money to invest in fintech companies, Bloomberg reports citing sources. Read more.
- Chicago Ventures is raising a $75 million third fund. Read more.


fortune--2020-05-26--Why taking those customer satisfaction surveys actually works

This is the web version of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.
I replaced a broken kitchen cabinet hinge this weekend, a small triumph for a not-exactly-DIY guy. I bought the hinge after some misstarts that included having it sent to the wrong Home Depot store. (User error; don’t ask.) Then I used the store’s curbside pickup option, which a bot texted to me when my order was ready. It was an outstanding experience all around—except for my inability to phone customer service to have the delivery redirected in the first place—and I was happy to tell Home Depot that when they emailed me a survey before I returned home.
At the end of the survey, “powered” by the SAP unit Qualtrics, was a simple question: “What is the likelihood of you recommending Home Depot’s In-Store Pickup service to a friend or colleague?” I rated the experience a 10 out of 10.
This makes me, as I know from reading Geoff Colvin’s enlightening feature story in the current issue of Fortune, a “promoter,” according to a metric developed nearly two decades ago by a Bain consultant. It is called the Net Promoter Score, or NPS, and it is one of the most important tools in business.
I was a skeptic when I first learned about NPS. It felt too simple and too easily gamed. I learned from Colvin’s article that both instincts are valid. The tool is simple, and really ought to be only part of a surveying methodology—which is just how Home Depot used it with me. NPS also is susceptible to manipulation, like the car seller who pleads for a good score to keep her or his family well fed.
But simple tools used correctly are powerful. NPS gives providers of goods or services a solid directional understanding of customer satisfaction. It also is a landmark example of an inventor sharing intellectual property as a means of getting its product out into the world rather than hoarding it. Though Bain has an NPS practice, it lets anyone use the tool, much the same way Google cleverly provided Android mobile software for anyone to build phones—and to drive up mobile Internet usage, a benefit to Google ads. Bain’s innovation gained tremendous validation by having the rest of the world use it.
***
QUICKLY: The California ballot initiative that would exempt Uber, Lyft, Doordash and other contractor-drivers from a law that would classify them as employees has qualified for the November election … The New Yorker has weighed in on homelessness in San Francisco, a theme I wrote about in February; it’s still a problem … Have you wondered how and why ExxonMobil has fare so poorly in recent years? I have. Bloomberg BusinessWeek explains it well here.
Adam Lashinsky
@adamlashinsky
adam.lashinsky@fortune.com
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman.
NEWSWORTHY
Missed it by that much. While SpaceX's first human launch into orbit is coming up tomorrow, Virgin Orbit failed its small satellite demonstration on Monday. Virgin's converted 747 flew the payload to 35,000 feet as planned but the rocket that was then supposed to carry the satellite to orbit suffered "an anomaly" and the mission was terminated. Meanwhile SpaceX CEO and provocateur-in-chief Elon Musk talked to Bloomberg about the SpaceX launch and other topics. “Assuming it’s successful—I don’t want to seem presumptuous—then it will be an incredible moment for humanity,” Musk said. Also on the Musk beat, the CEO and artist Grimes changed their baby's name to include Roman numerals instead of the number 12, possibly to comply with California law.
Cheaper by the dozen. Most of the new crop of 5G phones cost $1,000 or more, in part because of the high cost of 5G modem chips. That should change soon. Samsung announced a new low cost 5G chipset called the Exynos 880, which debuted in a phone from Vivo that went on sale in China this week for under $300.
What could possibly go wrong? After complaining about bias online, President Trump may do something about it. The administration is considering establishing a new commission or tasking an existing agency like the FCC to address “left-wing bias in the tech world," a White House official tells the Wall Street Journal.
Someone left a cake out in the rain. Private equity firm Advent International is dropping its planned $2 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Forescout Technologies, but Forescout is suing to try to force its buyer to complete the deal. Advent says Forescout suffered an "adverse material event" as its finances declined during the pandemic.
I want a goose and I want it now, daddy. Sorry summer shopper, Amazon's annual Prime day sale is likely to be pushed back from its usual July occurrence to sometime in September.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Is the Internet destroying media or enhancing it? New York Times columnist Ben Smith argues both in a piece about new services to monetize individual newsletters and other digital content.
Is this good news? The rise of these new companies could further shake our faltering institutions, splinter our fragmented media and cement celebrity culture. Or they could pay for a new wave of powerful independent voices and offer steady work for people doing valuable work — like journalists covering narrow, important bits of the world — who don’t have another source of income. Like the whole collision of the internet and media, it will doubtless be some of both.
ON THE MOVE
Speaking of space companies, space startup Relativity Space hired Zach Dunn, who was senior vice president of production and launch at SpaceX, as its vice president of factory development...The head of Intel's connectivity group and the former CEO of Barefoot Networks, Craig Barratt, has left the company to pursue an as-yet undisclosed other opportunity...VC firm Section 32 hired Sarah Larson, former chief HR officer at Third Rock Ventures, as its new chief people officer and Google alum Alice Cheung as head of talent.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
What it’s like to fly with new pandemic guidelines: Heightened anxiety and not enough masks By Jake Meth
What do workers fear most about going back to the office? Each other By David Z. Morris
Goodboy’s data-driven approach to pet health care By Rachel King
Work from home, get a $1,000 bonus. The tech industry’s new perk By Robert Hackett
The Coronavirus Economy: A surge in demand for food delivery has changed how this DoorDash courier works By Danielle Abril
VPN demand in Hong Kong reveals a new fear: China weaponizing the Internet By Grady Mcgregor
(Some of these stories require a subscription to access. There is a 50% discount for our loyal readers if you use this link to sign up. Thank you for supporting our journalism.)
BEFORE YOU GO
How does that line from Ghostbusters go? Cats and dogs sleeping together? Well, always-carrying-a-big-bag-of-books Bill Gates is out with some recommendations for what to watch on TV. He's enjoying A Million Little Things, This Is Us, and Ozark. He's also, it turns out, a big fan of one of my favorite Robert Redford movies, Spy Game. Worth a watch.
Aaron Pressman
@ampressman
aaron.pressman@fortune.com