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Logo Woes and More Trouble at Twitter (Or X?) - Boardroom

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By Michelai Graham
Boardroom's Tech Reporter
July 30, 2023
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Tech Talk is a weekly digest by Boardroom’s Michelai Graham that breaks down the latest news from the world’s biggest tech companies and the future of industry-shaping trends like AI.

Snoop Dogg is bringing his Bored Ape brand deeper into his business endeavors with the launch of Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, and I assure you all I will be heading to WalMart to grab some Tropical Sherbert Swizzle asap.

A peek into today’s edition: 

  • Logo woes at Twitter
  • Tech earnings from Meta, Alphabet, and more
  • Beyoncé’s tech scholarship award in Detroit

Logo Woes and More Trouble at Twitter (Or X?)

Elon Musk officially changed Twitter’s logo from the iconic blue bird to X to align with the platform’s parent company owned by him. This is the biggest push we’ve seen to rebrand Twitter to X. Even after launching the new X logo that, the design changed a few times before Musk landed on one he liked. Aligned with Musk’s plan to make his social media network the “everything app,” Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino shared in a thread of tweets that “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity,” promoting the platform as a global marketplace “centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking.”

Despite the urgency to rebrand, police intervened to stop the Twitter sign removal at the company’s San Francisco HQ because Musk failed to acquire a permit to do so. Also, Musk straight up stole the @X handle from the rightful owner, who said the social media platform didn’t even reach out or ask to acquire it ahead of its rebrand. San Francisco-based photographer Gene Hwang held the @X handle since 2007, yet the company contacted him via email to offer him a new handle, X merch, and an exclusive visit to X’s HQ. Woo hoo.

I expected more from you, Musk.

Big Tech Earnings From Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Snap

Earnings reports from some of the top tech companies dropped this week, and all signs point to AI. Here’s a snippet of the important things:

  • Meta posted $32 billion in revenue for Q2, boosting its stock up 6% following a positive earnings report. The tech giant is trading at its highest since Jan. 2022, with much success coming from a renewed interest in online advertising.
  • While Microsoft’s revenue hit $56.2 billion, which is up 8% year-over-year, shares dipped after investors expressed widespread disappointment regarding the rollout of its latest AI tech and investment.
  • After some steadfast growth across its cloud computing sector, Google parent company Alphabet’s shares rose by as much as 7%. Alphabet generated $74.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7% year-over-year.
  • Snap’s stock fell as much as 17% after the social network reported lower-than-expected financial guidance numbers. Still, Snap’s shares are up 18% compared to this time last year, and the company brought in $1.07 billion in revenue for Q2.

Amazon and Apple earnings drop mid-next week, and I’m eager to see how Apple shakes out with its AR headset launch on the horizon.

Check out a rundown of some more key highlights in Boardroom’s latest Big Tech Earnings Roundup.

OpenAI's Sam Altman Officially Launches Worldcoin

Sam Altman will be splitting his leadership time between OpenAI and Worldcoin following the official launch of his digital identity and eye-scanning crypto payments project on July 24. Worldcoin has raised $250 million in venture capital and has been in development for over three years. Ahead of its launch, the company reported that 2 million users completed iris scans in beta to use its tech and offerings, which include a digital ID, a crypto token, and an app that enables digital asset payments, purchases, and transfers.

Altman tweeted that one person is getting verified every eight seconds on Worldcoin’s platform, with lines of people down the street across the world.

Netflix's AI Product Manager Can Make $900K

Netflix opened applications this week for its new machine learning platform product manager, a role with an annual salary range of $300,000 to $900,000. The job listing eludes that the person hired for this role will use AI for content creation, amongst other tasks, which is an interesting job to hire for in the middle of one of the largest writer and actor strikes in the entertainment industry’s history. Netflix’s machine learning platform has historically been used to personalize recommendations for users, but it wants to expand its use of AI beyond that.

Netflix is also looking to hire a generative AI technical director to work out of its gaming studio. This role comes with a salary range of $450,000 to $650,000.

IN OTHER NEWS

  • As part of her Renaissance World Tour performance in Detroit earlier this week, Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD Foundation awarded $100,000 in scholarship funding to the Detroit School for Digital Technology.
  • The latest Threads update includes an option to view posts in a chronological feed, notification filters, and a new follow button. Still no update on when a web version of the new platform will launch.
  • No surprise here, but the majority of generative AI job postings come from companies located in Silicon Valley, LA, New York City, Boston, and Seattle. It is a shock that not a lot of AI jobs are remote-friendly.
  • Scoot over SpaceX. Amazon is spending $120 million on a new internet satellite facility in Florida to support its Project Kuiper initiative, the e-commerce company’s master plan to sell internet access from space.
  • The big tech giants are linking up across two new partnerships. Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon launched an open-source mapping project for third-party developers, and Microsoft also synced with Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI to launch a forum focused on promoting responsible AI.
  • Superplastic, a Web3-focused 3D character studio backed by Amazon, announced a partnership with Virgin Music to launch a music division and record label. Its first signees, 3D animated hip-hop duo Ghost Kidz, performed at Rolling Loud Miami alongside Vince Staples.

I’m going to bet that Xbox will end up selling its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-inspired pizza-scented controllers after Aug. 13. For now, fans can only grab one as part of a marketing campaign to promote Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem film.