Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Bloomberg Technology 20240711 : vi

BLOOMBERG Bloomberg Technology July 11, 2024

Gods of silicon valley. Plus, amazon launches a digital pharmacy that includes discounts and deliveries for prime members. It promises to upend the pharmacy business as we know it and may smell may spell trouble for thousands of small pharmacies across the country. Plus, what are your children watching . A new study finds if it is childrens content on youtube, it is probably littered with ads promoting violence and providing no educational content. New cases ofrge in covid19 and lockdown measures. Pharmacy stocks took a beating after amazon announced it is getting into the pharma business. Markets generally and the day down but it was a big update for amazon. How much influence did that have . Abigail lots of great headlines that you were mentioning. It was a fairly quiet day. It started risk off and ended mildly risk off with the s p 500 index down about half a percent. Betweenaq flipflopping gains and losses. At the end of the day, a very small loss. At the end of the day, amazon up just slightly, but on that news that they are opening an online pharmacy. The possibility of this has been out there for quite some time but, to my knowledge, the news seemed to come out of surprise. Health,likes of cvs walgreens, others in the drugstore supply chain really given a eating on the day that the Worlds Largest ecommerce giant getting into the pharmacy space. If they are delivering drugs to your home at a discounted price, it could create the need to never really go to a drugstore again. It is not proven right now how this will work but in concept, it does seem it could be disruptive to the space and you see that with pharmacy stocks down. Emily meantime, the nasdaq outperformed the s and p, in part because of tesla. Commonsla will be a stock linking the two in the future. What trend is did you see their . Abigail such a fun story. I know that you broke it yesterday when that news came out. This has been long anticipated. It means that any manager that has an index fund linked to the s p 500 index will have to buy tesla. At the end of the day, up about 8 . It had been up almost 14 at the highs, its best day since july. The company is so big that they may actually break it into two pieces. They are not sure how they will exactly move it into the s p 500 index. Adds morey just credibility to tesla. Two or three years ago, there were times when folks were wondering if tesla was going to be a growing concern. A real feather in the cap of elon musk and also in his wallet, quite frankly. Other tech names on the day, twitter and facebook, of course those ceos testifying. Twitter upwn 1. 4 , slightly. Both saying they are open to some section 230 reforms. Jack dorsey of twitter said they feel there was a bit of a mistake with how they handled that one story relative to the posts. Yesterday, facebook was up twitter was down. It seems like we are seeing a little bit of reverse action on the day. Emily that seems to be a typical reaction after these hearings. Abigail doolittle, thank you for rounding that up for us. The ceos of both facebook and twitter today, content moderation at their role in political discourse. Againstpeech and bias conservative voices. The hearing came less than a month after both jack dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg appeared a long alongsidepeared Google Ceo Sundar Pichai in a hearing last month. Kurt wagner was tracking the hearing for us today. Second time in less than a month on the same topic. Was this time any different . Kurt it was a little bit different. I felt that the tempers were a little bit lower. Perhaps postelection, there was a little less animosity. And i think there was a little bit of discussion about potential changes to that section 230 argument. While i dont think we walked away with any clear picture of what happens next, i do feel conversation was a little bit more productive. There were still issues from both sides of the aisle of senators who took their time to chastise these companies. But for the most part, i think we had a little bit more substance than in october. Emily there was definitely some filibustering on both sides. Jack dorsey kicked off the hearing talking about how he does not believe there is enough transparency in the way that twitter handles the actual operation process involved. Lets take a quick listen. Onour policy is focused misleading information around the election and the civic process to provide greater context so people can make decisions around what is happening with the election. That is three phases. The runup to the election coming election day im a andy phase we are in right now, postelection. On policies are focused providing more information and context to people in those three phases. Here is Mark Zuckerberg talking about election interference from foreign actors, namely russia. We cant stop countries like russia from trying to interfere in an election. Government can really push back with the appropriate leverage to do that. But we have built out systems to make sure that we can identify much faster when they are attempting to do that. I think that should give the American People a good amount of confidence heading into this election. Emily just a flavor of the tote of both ceos. They have said in the past they would be open to regulatory changes. They said today they would be open to regulatory changes. Kurt what they seem to be suggesting is more transparency. You heard jack dorsey kind of talk about it there. There is this idea that these companies are making decisions without giving people information as to why they are making a certain decision. Today, Mark Zuckerberg said he thinks may be companies should be held to a certain standard around how much context how much content they take down and how much they do proactively. Should they be held to a certain standard . There is a reason he has suggesting this. Facebook already does this. They have quarterly reports where they show, here is the things we have taken down. Here is how much was not automatically and here is how much was done with human review. They have kind of been arguing for this more transparent approach and they figure, we can continue to police the way we do but give people more of an idea of how we are doing in and maybe that can be the solution to this problem. These i wonder if some of , especially republican lawmakers, will be satisfied with what they heard. I will be speaking to Marsha Blackburn later in the show. She referred to the employees of these companies as acting like the gods of silicon valley. What would you want to hear from her as someone who would be potentially involved in encouraging the government to take stronger action . And it seems like senators congressmen and congresswomen from both sides agree that section 230 needs to be reformed and that these companies seem to have to much power as the current laws and regulations work. But they are coming at it from different angles. Republicans are saying, youre taking too much down. Democrats are saying the exact opposite. What i would want to know from thats how realistic is it they could come to a conclusion around changing a law like this if their outcomes are totally opposite. If one group wants more stuff taken down, even if you agree the rules dont work as written today, can you come up with a solution . My guess is no. But i would be interested if someone making this decision thinks that there might be a middle ground where they could come to some kind of agreement . Emily i will ask senator blackburn about that later in the show. Thank you so much for your analysis. Amazons newest venture. How the ecommerce giants newest announcement has sent shockwaves through drugstore chains and distributors. This is bloomberg. Emily amazon is making its biggest push into selling prescription drugs. The Worlds Largest online retailer is launching a digital pharmacy. Prime members who dont use their insurance are eligible for discounts on the site, or at about 50,000 pharmacies. To discuss, we are joined by spencer sober. It is called amazon pharmacy. You can order your prescriptions online, get them delivered at home. How exactly will this work . This is what a lot of people have been waiting for. A coupleht pill pack of years ago. Now, they are putting it under the amazon banner. You have to log into your amazon account, punching the drug you are looking for. Au would need to submit prescription. If you are in short, amazon would have to coordinate with your insurance company. Ultimately, you would get your prescription in the mail. When you need a prescription, you generally need it now. Sometimes, you would prefer to have in two hours rather than two days. How efficient will this be in practice . Ofncer think about a lot maintenance medications. If you go to the emergency room ,nd have some kind of infection this will not be the answer. There are people who take a lot of regular maintenance medications. It is going to be more for them. People who are constantly renewing these things and there is a cycle to it. This is where it will be advantageous for amazon. It would be something consumers would want. Into how does this fit jeff bezoss overall strategy. Obviously, youve got other Pharma Companies shaking in their boots. A number of stocks plunging today. Talk to us about the ambition here. When you think about pharmacy, you cant just think about somebody going to the pharmacy to get their bills. You have to think about the overall basket. Walgreensnto a cvs or , all of the other products in there. All of these trips are potentials to purchase other things. It is a sticky thing. Often, people on these maintenance medications are getting medications once a month or so. It is another thing to get them in your establishment, your store, potentially buying other things. It is about those regular touch points with the customer. They want to be able to provide things that people buy with high frequency. Be thewhat are going to Biggest Challenges . The pharmacy business is obviously incredibly complicated. Of entrenchedt competitors. There are questions about how amazon will verify these prescriptions. Drug addiction is a huge problem in this country. How will they handle all that . What they are offering here is not exactly new. There are other folks already doing this. The question is, will amazon size and trust factor, will that pull people into the fold . One of the companies that got clobbered today, group rx. Million, 90bout 80 million prime members in the u. S. And those are households. If we see a big shift in prime members who count on amazon for more and more of their daytoday needs, if we see customers go to them for drugs, if amazon moves and if they are able to deliver. Just the hassle of changing. It is easy to go on amazon and start buying general products. But, to switch your prescription from a traditional pharmacy to amazon, you have to call your doctor, amazon has to contact your insurance company. There is some friction. That will be the hold up. 90ly we will be watching million prime members all getting prescriptions on amazon. Sounds like quite a challenge. Filed to, airbnb has go public on the nasdaq. We will look at the companys journey to the market next. This is bloomberg. Has filed for its ipo even as it outlines widening dropping revenue amidst a pandemic. But, when the economy does recover, the airbnb listing is set to be one of the biggest of the year. We are joined by kathleen smith, the cofounder of renaissance capital. We have all been wondering what airbnbs numbers look like. Now we have a glimpse into their financials and how hard he hit they took during the pandemic. What are your takeaways now that you have seen the numbers . This company has been able to and produce year positive cash flow because bookings are paid upfront. The company has had a pretty good financial picture historically. Then they took the big hit this year. In the september quarter, we saw a drop of 70 . 70 in revenue. So, the company was really hit hard by the shutdown. But, it is starting to recover. They cut 25 of their workforce and significant he cut their marketing spend. I think it may be a Better Company, a more efficient company, and is going to benefit as the economy opens up. That otheready see stocks in its group such as booking holdings and expedia have all had some very strong trading as the market is anticipating the improvement in results for all of these companies once we get beyond the athome phase and everyone gets out to traveling and booking. As airbnb went through this restructuring, they pulled back on a lot of experimental things. Hotels, flights. They are still working on experiences. The ceo said it is very much going back to home and apartment sharing. Is it as exciting a company and big of a Growth Prospect without all those bells and whistles . Or is it perhaps a Better Company without those . We think that without the bells and whistles, the company will have a better focus. There is no reason they cannot get back on the growth trajectory and expand further in ing business internationally. Took about a 20 share of the rental market. The existing market, very good opportunity. Obviously, you want to expand in an efficient way. We expect this company to be fullfocused and not to be than around so much with investments that may not make sense. Airbnb, whate of companies are you watching as we round out 2020. We are expecting some other potentially big ipos. Doordash, a firm, swift. The market has been so good for investors who have been investing in the segment. Index is upnce ipo almost 80 so far this year. That means that the companies that are going public are doing well. More returns beget more ipos. We have any rush of ipos. 2020, a record year in a long time for ipo reissuing. A big number of Companies Lined up. Billiondollar ipos, as you mentioned. Doordash, we think will be a 2 billion or so ipo. It is a segment that has really run up during the pandemic with the Restaurant Delivery business. It is the leading player in Restaurant Delivery. We are seeing, as you mentioned, a whole lot of others. Swift, ecommerce site. Ecommerce loan site. A number of them. On the calendar this week, there cked ipos. Er of pe ba there is a big rush to get it done before the end of the year. It is a good time to take a look at the ipo market. 2021, do we go into you think this wave continues into the beginning of next year, or do things slow down . We think it continues as long as the returns hold up. We expect it to continue. It should be a good year for issuance. Put it on the map for 2021. Emily all right. Always good to hear your predictions. Kathleen, thank you as always for joining us. Coming up, we will hear from a senator who grilled jack dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg today and accused their employees of acting like the gods of silicon valley. Senator Marsha Blackburn of tennessee will be my guest. This is bloomberg. Businesses today are looking to tomorrow. Adapting. Innovating. Setting the course. But new ways of working demand a new type of network. One thats more than just fast. You need flexibility to work from anywhere. And manage from everywhere. Advanced technology. With serious security. And reliable coverage, nationwide. Forwardthinking enterprises, deserve forwardthinking solutions. And thats what we deliver. So bounce forward, with comcast business. Welcome back to bloomberg technology. Im emily chang in san francisco. The ceos of twitter and facebook were grilled by senators on contact policies. Joining us now to discuss more of the hearing is senator Marsha Blackburn of tennessee. Senator blackthorn, he so desires senator blackthorn, you criticized them for acting like the gods of silicon valley, which i thought was too explosive not to repeat. This is your second time hearing from them in less than a month. Were you any more or less satisfied with what they had to say this time around . Mr. Dorseyckburn was more prepared today. As you remember, he kind of resembled tom hanks in the movie castaway the last time. He was more prepared today. But i felt like there was an evasiveness from each of them on taking responsibility for the way their content moderators, whether that is by algorithms or human beings, the way they subjectively apply section 230. And the definition within that law to frame objectionable content. As you heard, mr. Zuckerberg said today that there needed to at,more specificity in th which is exactly what we are doing in the Viewpoint Diversity act. We are going to clarify the utilizations for Liability Protection and preserve it for new market entrants and smaller bing, parlor in the social media space, all these new interests, and be more specific in the language of objectionable content, and the reasonableness standard that will have an application through the legislation, then also quite a bit of discussion today over who was a publisher, who was a content creator, who is a new outlet. And what is social media supposed to be . They are supposed to be the new public square. We are going to define a content creator in the legislation and hopefully it will help them to stay within the guardrails that they are given, it will help them to be able to explain why they are taking down certain posts. Why they are blocking, why they are putting notes on posts and questioning the validity of posts. You know, if this is something that was equally applied to liberals and democrats, you could say that is their business model. That is not what is happening. Tosee it happening conservatives, christians, entertainers, the list goes on. President is still using these platforms to claim voter fraud. There is still no evidence of that. Shouldnt these companies have a role in policing misinformation . Even if it comes from the president of the u. S. . Senator blackburn one of the things that i thought was very interesting with mr. Dorsey, he world leadersay have access to this platform. Theas never censored ayatollah for shouting death to america or has he censored xi utin, but he has censored donald trump repeatedly. Now, he can dispute what he wants to and have an opinion about the elections and how the elections played out, or if there was fraud in the elections, with some of the way the ballots were mailed out, harvested. He can have an opinion, but you know what . People are going to express that opinion. I say regularly. I may not agree with you, but im going to protect your right to be able to express your opinion. And this is called free speech. So, they kind of jump the shark a few times, if you will, when they rush to take down something. Thisned this and in the hearing

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