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☆ Panera Bread tests Amazon's palm-scanning technology in St. Louis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A sign is posted on the exterior of a Panera Bread restaurant on November 09, 2021 in Novato, California. Panera Bread is piloting Amazon's palm-scanning technology in St. Louis to offer customers a faster way to connect to their loyalty program and pay. The bakery-cafe chain, which has long been considered a leader in restaurant technology, is the latest restaurant to use what the tech giant has dubbed Amazon One. Panera has more than 2,000 locations and its loyalty program has more than 52 million members, representing a big expansion opportunity for Amazon One. To use them, customers need to link their loyalty program accounts to Amazon One, which they can do at home or inside the restaurant.

☆ 2 charts show how Disney+ is outpacing Netflix and HBO Max with ad-supported tier signups as streamers battle for new subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

By its third month, 36% of new subscribers to Disney+ chose its ad tier, versus 19% for Netflix in its ad tier's third month. Disney+ launched an $8-per-month ad-supported tier, Disney+ Basic, on December 8, after Netflix rolled out a similar offering, Basic with Ads for $7 per month, on November 3. Antenna data compares Disney+, Netflix, and HBO Max signups in their early months. Disney+ and Netflix have much smaller proportions of their subscribers on the ad tier than other streamers, per Antenna data. AntennaThe shares of Disney+ and Netflix subscribers choosing the ad tier were still small — 3% and 1%, respectively, Antenna found.

☆ Venture Capital Investors Are Trying to Take Over Pandemic Response
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

Private capital has been eyeing public health for years. Several founders and investors told me that the failure of Kleiner's fund made Silicon Valley wary of investing in pandemic preparedness. Venture investors love that kind of thing. Public health and private industryWhen COVID hit, Charity Dean was the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health. In the end, almost every pandemic-related product created by Silicon Valley will ultimately require the government as a primary customer.

☆ SVB rivals pounce, pitching startups on moving their money away from the struggling bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ben Bergman | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With Silicon Valley Bank in crisis, rivals pounced, publicly encouraging tech clients to move their money. SVB lends money to startups and keeps their cash deposits, so they can pay staff and other expenses. If startups are worried the bank can't give them all their money back from their bank accounts, then they might pull their accounts. The banker described their phone ringing off the hook Thursday with panicked startup founders and CEOs desperate to move their money away from SVB. "We also left our own money in SVB," Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures tweeted Thursday.

☆ AI bot that lets you chat with Jesus, Hitler is latest GPT-3 controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

But this week, it sparked viral controversy online over its inclusion of Hitler, his Nazi lieutenants and other dictators from the past. Historical Figures, which also uses GPT-3, launched the first week of January, and as of Wednesday, it had about 9,000 signups, app creator Sidhant Chadda said in a phone interview. “People expect these historical figures to be truthful, but in reality, people are not always 100% honest,” he said. Asking a question costs one coin, and the app charges extra to get access to high-profile historical figures. The possibility of digitally re-animating historical figures has been gaining ground ever since, from the “The Simpsons” to holograms of dead idols such as Buddy Holly and Whitney Houston.

☆ Oscar Health CEO Mario Schlosser shares how the health-insurance upstart plans to finally turn a profit after years of losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Oscar Health has bled money since it was founded more than a decade ago. Oscar Health, the 10-year-old health insurer, has never turned a profit. In an interview with Insider in November, Schlosser said Oscar had already done the legwork to turn a profit. Oscar is doing a better job at lowering patients' medical costs and is raising the prices of its health plans, he said. In 2013, Oscar met with outside actuaries to price its first health plans, Schlosser said.

☆ Twitter alternatives like Mastadon see downloads plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Downloads of the iOS app have grown 290,000% to 1.5 million since Oct. 24, with daily users up 660,000% to 321,000, according to Apptopia data.

☆ Netflix's new ad tier plan appears to be working
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lucia Moses | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of subscribers in its first month, new Evercore research found. Evercore believes the ad tier is driving incremental subscriber growth for Netflix. The firm upgraded its rating on Netflix in September based on its ad-supported tier and plan to crack down on password-sharing, which are expected to drive earnings and share price. Netflix's ad tier entered a crowded field of streaming services, including ad-supported versions, from Disney's Hulu to Comcast's Peacock to Warner Bros. Netflix's ad tier was followed close behind Disney+ with Ads launching in December, and Warner plans to launch a combined Discovery+-HBO Max app in spring with an ad-supported tier.

☆ Netflix's ad tier drove 13% of subscriptions in its first month, new survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lucia Moses | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of subscribers in its first month, new Evercore research found. Evercore believes the ad tier is driving incremental subscriber growth for Netflix. Netflix's new ad-supported tier accounted for 13% of the streamer's subscribers in its first month, with about half being new or returning users to the streamer, according to new research from Evercore ISI. Netflix's ad tier entered a crowded field of streaming services, including ad-supported versions, from Disney's Hulu to Comcast's Peacock to Warner Bros. Netflix's ad tier was followed close behind Disney+ with Ads launching in December, and Warner plans to launch a combined Discovery+-HBO Max app in spring with an ad-supported tier.

☆ Twitter alternatives that got traction after Elon Musk takeover are suddenly seeing downloads plunge. Which has staying power and who is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Yet, it has maintained more than 500,000 daily users.

☆ The 'Knives Out' sequel 'Glass Onion' could have been a box-office hit — if Netflix had let it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Analysts say Netflix's "Glass Onion" could have been a box-office hit with a bigger release. Last year, Netflix scooped up the rights to two "Knives Out" sequels for over $400 million, Deadline reported at the time. The streaming service released the first sequel, "Glass Onion," in 600 theaters over the weekend, and it will play for one-week only, before debuting on Netflix on December 23. During its latest earnings call in October, co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended Netflix's release strategy, downplaying the potential that it expands its theatrical output. "We're in the business of entertaining our members with Netflix movies on Netflix," he said.

☆ White House keeping a 'close eye' on misinformation on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A member of the Secret Service walks along security fence installed around the White House days after supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it was monitoring social media platform Twitter, now under the stewardship of new Chief Executive Elon Musk, for misinformation. "This is something that we're certainly keeping an eye on," said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about Twitter becoming a vector for misinformation. "We're all keeping a close eye on this," Jean-Pierre told reporters at the White House. "Social media companies have a responsibility to prevent their platforms from being used by any user to incite violence, especially violence directed at individual communities."

☆ Twitter CEO Musk says user signups at all-time high, touts features of "everything app"
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has said that new user signups to the social media platform are at an "all-time high", as he struggles with a mass exodus of advertisers and users fleeing to other platforms over concerns about verification andhate speech. Signups were averaging over two million per day in the last seven days as of Nov. 16, up 66% compared to the same week in 2021, Musk said in a tweet late on Saturday. Reported impersonations on the platform spiked earlier this month, before and in wake of the Twitter Blue launch, according to Musk. Advertisers on Twitter, including big companies such as General Motors, Mondelez International, Volkswagen AG, have paused advertising on the platform, as they grapple with the new boss. read moreHundreds of Twitter employees are believed to have quit the beleaguered company, following an ultimatum by Musk that staffers sign up for "long hours at high intensity," or leave.

☆ See the slides Elon Musk used for his company talk on Twitter 2.0, including graphs saying signups and active minutes are at an all-time high
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk on Saturday shared slides he said were from a Twitter company talk he delivered. Musk shared a series of slides he said were from a Twitter company talk he delivered. The slides also listed features and goals Musk has for Twitter 2.0, including long-form tweets, encrypted DMs, and "advertising as entertainment." Musk and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment or additional details about the company talk he said the slides were used for. He previously shared some details of his vision for Twitter 2.0, which he described as "extremely hardcore," Insider's Kali Hays reported.

☆ Elon Musk predicts 'Twitter 2.0' will have 1 billion users a month by 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said the number of users signing up to Twitter was at a record high. By 2024, he predicted that the social media platform would have a billion users a month. A leaked document showed Twitter was losing its most active "heavy tweeters," Reuters has reported. One of the graphs the Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared showed signups and active minutes were at a record high. Another slide that Musk shared stated that Twitter was now recruiting after mass layoffs and resignations.

☆ John Malone says he's skeptical of ad-supported content as Netflix, Disney roll out ad tiers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told CNBC he's doubtful that adding commercials to long-form streaming content would help media companies be successful in the long run. Malone thinks that the important ingredient in achieving profitability is for streamers to move users from lower-priced tiers to higher-priced ones. The media magnate said Apple is focused on maintaining its high quality brand, while Amazon is still figuring out the optimum role that it can play as a bundler and as a promoter. But they want to make sure it doesn't damage their extremely high quality brand," Malone said. They're trying sports, they're trying content, they're trying ad supported content."

☆ Elon Musk is threatening to 'thermonuclear name and shame' advertisers that press pause on Twitter. It's a dumb thing to do to your biggest customers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Jake Swearingen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

After advertisers paused spending, Musk went on the offensive, tweeting that advertisers were causing a "massive drop in revenue," He continued: "Extremely messed up! Per a Standard Media Index report, total advertising spending was down by 5% year-over-year in September. Other advertising giants like YouTube and Meta reported year-over-year declines in advertising revenue, with YouTube down by 2% and Meta down by 4%. Brand advertising relies highly on "brand safe" outlets where ads won't appear near objectionable content like violence, pornography, or hate speech. To replace the $40 million in lost monthly revenue, Twitter would need to sign up a little over 5 million Twitter Blue accounts paying $8 a month in its first month.

☆ This app will warn you before an earthquake hits the West Coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Thousands of California residents were alerted ahead of Tuesday's magnitude 5.1 earthquake in the Bay Area, thanks to the MyShake app. Since Tuesday's alert, signups for the app have surged, with over 2 million registered phones, according to the app's data page. Anyone can download the MyShake app, but the system is only fully operational in California, Oregon and Washington. You should receive alerts regardless of whether your phone is on "Do Not Disturb," but the app will only let you know if a 3.5 magnitude earthquake or above is detected. Here's how to download and use it.

☆ Netflix's new ads plan could drive $3.5 billion in revenue by 2027, but it may not stop the streamer from bleeding subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix is rolling out an ad-supported tier later this year for a reported $7-$9 a month. But some analysts expect the ad tier to cannibalize existing subscribers, particularly in the US and Canada. Netflix's decision to build a cheaper ad tier for its service marks a reversal from the company's longtime stance against advertising. It came as the streamer's stock has tanked, subscriber growth in the key North American market has slowed substantially, layoffs have shaken morale, and Netflix's creative decision-making has become more "fear based," according to insiders. MoffettNathanson isn't the only firm that expects the new ad-supported tier to cannibalize existing subscribers, particularly in the US and Canada.

☆ Even as inflation bites, consumers are still turning to Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A spate of fresh data this week showed consumers are feeling the sting from high inflation. But those figures were not adjusted for inflation, indicating that consumer spending on retail actually fell last month. But while consumers are tempering their discretionary budgets this holiday season, Amazon remains their shopping platform of choice, according to Baird. In a separate note Thursday, Cowen said its shopping survey of Gen Z and Millennials showed Amazon to be their "most preferred" shopping website. An Amazon Prime truck is pictured as it crosses the George Washington Bridge on Interstate Route 95 during Amazon's two-day "Prime Early Access Sale" shopping event for Amazon members in New York, October 11, 2022.

☆ Democrats are getting a boost from an unlikely source: Laid-off tech workers with more free time
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Like many tech workers and investors, she moved to San Francisco from elsewhere — Michigan, in her case — and still feels invested in the politics of her home state. Whether there’s a tech expertise gap between Democrats and Republicans is difficult to measure. The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect Republicans at the state level, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Some tech workers are in their third election cycles as volunteers, giving them a base of experience to work from. Given its size, Tech for Campaigns can test different messages and tactics across states.

☆ Amazon’s prudent Prime sales event kicks off holiday shopping
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Club holding Amazon (AMZN) is attempting to ease the inflation burden ahead of the holiday season by offering fresh deals during its second Prime sales event of the year this week. "Given the current macroeconomic environment we know that savings are even more important," Amazon Prime Vice President Jamil Ghani told CNBC Wednesday . The current event comes on the heels of Amazon's Prime Day in July , which generated record purchases. Back in 2005, when the company launched Amazon Prime, it was focused on fast-and-free shipping. Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale is on through Oct. 12 to boost sales among cost-conscious consumers who are expected to start their holiday shopping even earlier this year.

☆ Apple TV+ is about to have its first major sports moment with Yankees-Red Sox
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's streaming on Apple TV+. Currently, users only need an Apple ID — an account — but don't need to pay $5 per month for Apple TV+. Apple has never revealed subscriber numbers or viewers for any of its shows or broadcasts on Apple TV+. In a break from its historical preferences, has made Apple TV+ apps for several non-Apple platforms, including Roku, Amazon's Fire TV, Google TV, and game consoles, allowing its broadcasts to reach a wider market. As CNBC previously reported, Apple has bid for NFL Sunday Ticket, a package of rights to out-of-market NFL games, competing against Amazon and ESPN parent Disney.

☆ Amazon averaged 13 million viewers for its first 'Thursday Night Football,' Nielsen data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon Prime averaged 13 million viewers for its debut broadcast of "Thursday Night Football," according to Nielsen figures released by the company. "By every measure, Thursday Night Football on Prime Video was a resounding success," Jay Marine, global head of Amazon's sports division, wrote late Monday in a memo to staff. Amazon also partnered with DirecTV in a multiyear agreement for the satellite TV provider to air Thursday night games in more than 300,000 bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Amazon's game stream provides viewers with the company's so-called next-generation statistics as well as the play-by-play stylings of former "Sunday Night Football" announcer Al Michaels and college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Fans can pay $14.99 for a full Amazon Prime subscription or $8.99 for a Prime Video subscription to view the games.

☆ Amazon memo says 'Thursday Night Football' drew record number of Prime signups for a 3-hour period
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon's first broadcast of "Thursday Night Football" attracted a record number of new Prime signups over a three-hour period, more than during similar periods on Prime Day or other big shopping days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, an executive said in a memo viewed by CNBC. Amazon is spending about $1 billion per year to exclusively stream Thursday Night Football through 2023, CNBC previously reported. "By every measure, Thursday Night Football on Prime Video was a resounding success," Jay Marine, global head of Amazon's sports division, wrote late Monday in the memo to staff. Amazon has said there are 80 million active Prime Video households in the U.S. It's beefed up its Prime Video content in other ways to hook viewers and new subscribers.

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