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Meet Boz, Facebook’s metaverse CTO

Good morning! This Thursday, Boz takes over as Facebook's CTO, Coinbase is hiring, Tim Cook hates leakers, and Elizabeth Holmes' private text messages go public.
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Facebook is getting ready for the metaverse. The company's decision to replace outgoing CTO Mike "Schrep" Schroepfer with hardware SVP Andrew "Boz" Bosworth is not only a signal that the company is committed to AR and VR for years to come; it also shows that Facebook execs see the metaverse as a foundational technology, with the potential to eventually replace current cash cows like the company's core "big blue" Facebook app.
Bosworth made his name at Facebook through hardware, leading the company's AR/VR and consumer device efforts. (He's also been with Facebook since 2006 and is among Mark Zuckerberg's closest allies, which can't hurt.)
But Facebook's ambitions are larger than devices. The company doesn't simply want to build and sell a couple million AR and VR headsets. Instead, it plans to launch the next big platform — something it arguably missed out on when mobile first emerged, forcing it to be just another app maker in Apple's and Google's stores.
In fact, its vision is building the metaverse. Zuckerberg has been beating the drums about the metaverse being Facebook's future for months now, even telling investors that it will require "very significant investment over many years."
And Facebook wants to be the metaverse company, for some good reasons. Usage of its core Facebook app has stagnated, and executives have long warned that the stream of advertising that has made mobile social networking such a cash cow is ultimately going to slow down. With the metaverse, the company is now betting on the next big thing. With Bosworth as CTO, it wants to have the right man for the job.
Still, there are some open questions — and no, not just about the viability of the metaverse, which we may not get real answers on for many years. Instead, we're left to wonder:
That's a significant departure from the soft-spoken Schroepfer — and it could lead to a lot more conflict down the line.
This year, China will become the first country where ecommerce sales will outpace brick-and-mortar transactions. U.S. businesses are using Alibaba's platforms to sell to 900 million digitally savvy consumers in China and untap new opportunities for long-term growth.
Smartphones are the most important device in modern life. But over the last few years, it feels like not much has changed, and as if the industry has instead moved toward wearables, AR glasses and whatever else comes next.
Are smartphones really over, though? Join Protocol's David Pierce for a conversation about the future of the smartphone with Drew Blackard, vice president of mobile product management at Samsung, and Christina Cyr, CEO of The Cyrcle Phone, next Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 11a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. RSVP here.
Tim Cook wrote that Apple is trying to identify employees who leaked company information, according to a, uh, leaked memo:
On Protocol | Policy: Senators got pretty frustrated with answers from Facebook's Steve Satterfield at a hearing, and Sen. Mike Lee vocalized that impatience:
Steve Ballmer has become really fond of toilets:
Toss your Chinese phones, Lithuania's deputy defense minister, Margiris Abukevicius, said:
Qxpress is reportedly considering an IPO. A U.S. listing could value the shipping services provider at between $500 million and $1 billion.
eToro is pushing its IPO to the fourth quarter because of regulatory delays. The online trading platform originally planned to go public during the third quarter.
Chelsea Macdonald is joining Clubhouse as head of entertainment partnerships. She last worked at Community as director of entertainment partnerships.
Gee Rittenhouse is leaving Cisco after five years as security SVP. Shaila Shankar is stepping up to lead the company's Security Business Group.
Jessica Kane is joining PRO Unlimited as chief client officer. Kane is a former senior managing director at Accenture.
Peter Thiel was an early Facebook supporter (and still sits on the company's board), co-founded PayPal, and is a fan of Donald Trump. He's also bet on a floating city, and called Silicon Valley a "one-party state."
And there's plenty more to Peter Thiel, which you can read about in Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Max Chafkin's new book, "The Contrarian." It gives details on his upbringing, his years at Stanford, the founding of PayPal and Palantir, and his relationships in Silicon Valley. A good weekend read to learn about one of the most powerful — and perhaps controversial — people in tech.
The future of retail is digital, experiential – and happening now in China. U.S. businesses are going digital and using Alibaba to create immersive experiences to sell to the 900 million Chinese consumers on Alibaba's ecommerce platforms.
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