Surprise CFO shuffle: Will Amazon break itself up on its own terms?
Meanwhile, Google takes the lead in the malfeasance sweepstakes once again
Somebody’s going to get broken up.
Hatred of Big Tech now flows freely from Washington DC to Los Angeles as a stunning 81% of U.S. adults believe the potential risks of data-mining products and services outweigh any convenience or other benefit. And don’t expect Wall Street to object — they’ll cheer the “unlocking of shareholder value” and pocket the transaction fees. : waves to Goldman Sachs 👋 :
The question: Which tech giant is the low-hanging fruit?
Facebook and Google continue to actively work to be that choice, with Google inching ahead this week: News today that the company continues to acquire patient data illegally; scathing indictments from insiders continue to flow; and (in a true kiss of death in Silicon Valley) GOOG has turned itself into a value stock.
Meanwhile, Amazon is hinting it may break itself up on its own terms. The company just moved its corporate Chief Financial Officer into its cloud business… the most obvious spinout in the company’s portfolio.
Related: Both Google and Amazon are under antitrust fire from media darling Sonos. In comments supporting a lawsuit filed this week against Google, the Sonos CEO said both Google and Amazon are guilty of anti-competitive behavior, but he “can’t risk suing both companies at once.”
TODAY IN…
Deep Tech:
This is what fearless journalism looks like: Our picks for worst products and services of 2019 🙌
Remember what we said Monday about new tech taking 10 years to go mainstream? IBM admits to the Wall Street Journal that many calculations now performed in quantum computing labs can still be done much faster with traditional computers in a story that throws cold water on continued hype:
Media & Telecom:
Smart predictions here for telecom, wireless and adjacent technologies in 2030 from Dean Bubley.
Advertising tracker Kantar compared the top-spending brands of the past decade:
Healthcare Tech:
The LA Times and Kaiser Health Foundation are out with major pieces questioning the safety of the way AI is being applied to healthcare. This as the National Academy of Medicine joins the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and patient advocates at the National Center for Health Research calls for stronger attention to how AI is implemented. Related: Medical AI has a big data quality problem.
Citing inaccuracies in test results, the Pentagon tells military personnel not to use at-home DNA kits
Finance:
The SEC's patience is running thin with the “contributed margin” accounting measure of which WeWork, Uber, and Peloton are fond
BlackRock's $1.7 trillion bond chief on new barriers to saving for retirement
Public Policy:
A new study finds a $1 increase in the minimum wage equates to a 3.4 to 5.9% decrease in suicide among those with a high school education
The White House issued “regulatory principles” for artificial intelligence and expects all Federal agencies to follow them
And finally, your Tweet o’ the day…