March 15, 2022

Image: Stamen Design / Open Street Map / Protocol
Good morning! It seems like every few years tech entrepreneurs decide they’re fed up with San Francisco’s high cost of living and “flee” in “droves” in search of greener — and cheaper — pastures. But once again, the data tells a different story. I’m Caitlin McGarry, and for some reason I feel compelled to admit that I can’t stop listening to Grimes.
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Austin. Miami. Denver. Each has cultivated a thriving tech scene and plenty of buzz. Miami has become a destination for the crypto community, and Austin has Elon Musk (and, obviously, Grimes). But new reports indicate that the tech hubs of yore still dominate the industry.
It’s unlikely that any city will ever overtake the Bay Area. When it comes to the concentration of technology investment, employment and innovation, Silicon Valley has everyone beat.
We’ve seen the hype around the search for the next Silicon Valley fizzle before. I covered downtown Las Vegas for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2012 when Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos, committed $350 million to turning downtown Las Vegas into a thriving tech startup scene.
So which city will be the next “tech hub”? By one measure, it might be in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is the destination of choice for college kids post-graduation, according to a new Axios poll. New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Boston round out the list.
But still, even among the college students looking to move to Seattle after college, only 12% want to find careers in tech. The gravitational pull of the Bay Area for tech workers remains unmatched.
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From fraudsters to hackers, the web has its share of bad actors. Aura’s all-in-one digital protection keeps them at bay, so you can do what you love to do online—safely. Sign up for your free trial to experience how our powerful security fits seamlessly into your life.
Eric Schmidt said the war will help tech understand the importance of national security:
DocuSign's Dan Springer said he didn't realize how much a waning pandemic would impact sales:
Robert Iger is a new board member for Genies, which makes avatars for celebrities for the metaverse.
Arm is laying off about 1,000 people. The company is regrouping after the Nvidia deal fell apart, and before its planned IPO.
Frank Klein is Rivian’s new COO. Klein was the head of carmaking at Magna International.
La’Naia J. Jones joined the CIA as CIO. Jones most recently oversaw IT investments and acquisitions as the National Security Agency’s deputy CIO.
Sarah Cannon is joining Coatue as a general partner. Cannon was previously at Index Ventures.
P.J. Linarducci joined Thumbtack as chief product officer. Linarducci spent nearly a decade at Meta and worked at PayPal before that.
The people spoke, Twitter listened. Users can make the feed default to chronological order after people complained about its algorithmic “Home” feed.
The future of transportation is getting more expensive. Tesla raised its prices thanks to supply chain issues, and Lyft joined Uber in adding fuel surcharges to cope with spiking gas prices.
iOS 15.4 will let you unlock your phone with Face IDwhile wearing a mask, even if you don’t own an Apple Watch. The update also includes improved safety warnings for AirTags, a gender-neutral voice for Siri and some new emoji.
HBO Max and Discovery+ are becoming one big streaming service. Until that happens, there will be a single sign-on process for both platforms.
Ukraine is reportedly using Clearview AI’s facial recognition tech to help vet people of interest.
Shenzhen’s lockdown is affecting several large tech companies. Foxconn was forced to stop production at a couple of sites, and Huawei, Tencent and Oppo are headquartered in the city.
The EU won’t cut out crypto. The European Parliament voted to move a crypto-assets bill known as MiCA forward without banning proof-of-work-based crypto.
Foxconn wants to build a factory in Saudi Arabia. The $9 billion facility would make microchips, EV components and more.
Dust off your Sony Discman: CD sales increased last year for the first time since 2004, according to a report from the Recording Industry Association of America.
The resurgence of CDs isn’t surprising, since vinyl sales have also grown over the past decade and the overall collectables market has taken off.
But why now? Maybe CDs are like NFTs: There’s something to owning something outright. And with CDs, you can actually hold them in your hands! But even better: CD collections are significantly less expensive to maintain than an NFT collection.
From fraudsters to hackers, the web has its share of bad actors. Aura’s all-in-one digital protection keeps them at bay, so you can do what you love to do online—safely. Sign up for your free trial to experience how our powerful security fits seamlessly into your life.
Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to sourcecode@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.
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