Source Code: Your daily look at what matters in tech.
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.
indexindexauthorShakeel HashimNoneNeed to dive deep into the financial movements that matter to tech? Get Shakeel Hashim's newsletter every Friday.f11fbe35a3
April 20, 2020
As coronavirus continues to ravage the global economy, this quarter's earnings season stands to give us a fascinating insight into the fortunes and future of the tech industry.
Tech earnings season kicks off in earnest this week, with Netflix, IBM, Intel and Snap all reporting results in the coming days. Many other big names will follow next week.
- There will be big differences between how companies perform, from Netflix enjoying a potential boost from us all being quarantined at home, to Apple struggling as a result of its supply chain problems in China.
We're going to focus on what the results can tell us about the wider tech industry. Here are some of the big trends that we'll be looking out for:
- Companies' Q2 guidance will be incredibly useful. With three weeks of data in already, they've got a decent sense of what the economy's like right now — and whether the worst is behind us or yet to come. As StockTwits wrote, "it will probably be a great quarter to listen to the earnings conference calls and a poor one to attend to earnings numbers."
- We'll get clarity on China's supply chain issues, particularly in Apple's earnings. That has huge ramifications across the industry, particularly in the hardware space.
- Cloud's big boost will be quantified when the larger providers report their earnings. And chipmakers, which also report this week, could give a sense of whether cloud companies are preparing for further growth in demand this year.
- We'll find out how much ad revenue has dropped by. Analysts expect the biggest hit to be in Q2, but there was likely some pullback toward the end of March, when average daily ad spending fell over 20%, according to Pathmatics.
- And we'll see if consumers are still spending. Some analysts expect Netflix and Amazon to report an uptick in demand from quarantiners: JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth said last week that Netflix is a "a clear beneficiary of stay-at-home." But a tanking global economy and soaring unemployment could lead consumers to cut back on spending. We'll get our first sense of that soon.
Stay tuned here to keep track of tech earnings as they're reported over the coming days and weeks.
Shakeel Hashim
Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.
Microsoft wants to replace artists with AI
Better Zoom calls, simpler email attachments, smart iPhone cases and other patents from Big Tech.
Turning your stories into images.
Image: USPTO/Microsoft
January 24, 2021
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
January 24, 2021
Hello and welcome to 2021! The Big Tech patent roundup is back, after a short vacation and … all the things … that happened between the start of the year and now. It seems the tradition of tech companies filing weird and wonderful patents has carried into the new year; there are some real gems from the last few weeks. Microsoft is trying to outsource all creative endeavors to AI; Apple wants to make seat belts less annoying; and Amazon wants to cut down on some of the recyclable waste that its own success has inevitably created.
And remember: The big tech companies file all kinds of crazy patents for things, and though most never amount to anything, some end up defining the future.
<h3>Alphabet</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10887548&IDKey=EEF3B7984CE3%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D81%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dgoogle.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fgoogle%2526RS%3DAN%2Fgoogle" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Making Zoom meetings a little nicer</u></a></p><p>Even after nearly a year at home, some people have still not figured out the best way to set up their digital meetings. They're either too close to the camera or so far away they might as well not be there. Part of the problem lies in the cameras they have available, as many webcams are too wide-angled: No one needs to see what's 8 feet to either side of you on a Zoom call. But this recent Google patent might help; it involves the meeting platform being able to gauge how far you are from the camera (by measuring the proportions of your face) and zooming in on you when you're speaking, hopefully making everyone look a little more uniform. The patent also included this wonderful diagram to explain it, which appears to have been made in Microsoft Paint: </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
</div>
</div></p><p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/2ZK0yTSkP4yE0nf5UBKwHsNu3eoS1BfhMPzivzm43jOAQ7jtOLKAMRV0MJzA9MZzH-cyVGVUsQGTlxpJwHV3kDhw3oKJB2OElrO38NikIae6v-IBnyo1sWXGs7pB8S_Qzc84eMzK"></p><h3>Amazon</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10891879&IDKey=9A6594CF1637%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D45%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Damazon.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Famazon%2526RS%3DAN%2Famazon" target="_blank"><u>Reusing Amazon boxes</u></a><br></p><p>Everyone is shopping online far more than ever before, meaning ever-more cardboard boxes are littering our homes and recycling facilities. Amazon's new patent aims to help rectify this by creating a system that allows customers to easily reuse boxes that products come in. It's trying to remove all the steps usually found in shipping — such as weighing your package, getting a price to ship and bringing the package to a shipping facility — and replacing them with software. You'd scan the box you have and what you're trying to send, and Amazon's app would recognize what it is and estimate how much it'll cost to ship. You then pack it up and a courier comes to retrieve it. Now your friends and loved ones will never be without their Bad Monkeys.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
</div>
</div></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUxNjQ3MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDI2ODY5M30.EkwGsay63N-lFWpfMh7KInjiCf9ev5vsL_htdvnjk1g/img.png?width=980" id="ddd43" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="174cb26e99641a035a7e3e603522692a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p><br></p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=49&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=amazon.ASNM.&OS=AN/amazon&RS=AN/amazon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Choosing music based on BPM</u></a></p><p>If you're making a playlist to work out — or perhaps you're a spin class instructor looking for songs with specific tempos — this idea might be for you. Amazon's patent suggests creating a way to search music to download based on songs' beats per minute. If you want a mix of slow songs to cool down with and uptempo ones to rock out, this could be useful (and is similar to something Pandora offers today). Or if you want a playlist that includes the fastest music ever to help you write faster, this could help. Or maybe that's just me. </p><h3>Apple</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10887260&IDKey=F5990016F873%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D86%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522Apple%252BInc%252522.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Auto-returning attachments</u></a></p><p>Have you ever been sent a PDF that you're supposed to download, print, sign, rescan and email back, and then you lost the file in your downloads, opened up an old version and had to hunt down for the right one before you sent it back? Maybe you're not as scatterbrained as me, but Apple's new idea for a system that allows you to just interact with an attachment that needs to be sent back to your correspondent without leaving the email program sounds like a dream. A better dream, though, would probably be to get rid of random attachments altogether. </p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10889261&IDKey=0F2DEC21FBE3%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D73%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522Apple%252BInc%252522.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Seat belts that move based on where you sit</u></a></p><p>If you've ever been the third person on a road trip and wanted to sit in the middle seat in the back, you've probably gotten stuck with a seatbelt that's a bit too small; the middle seat isn't <em>quite</em> as large as the other two. This new design from Apple would essentially recognize where you sit in the backseat and move the entire seat belt machinery along so that you would be comfortably strapped in wherever you're sitting. It would also automatically reveal the buckle, so you wouldn't have to spend time hunting for where it's gone. This all sounds like it would make losing out when someone calls "shotgun" a little more bearable.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
</div>
</div></p><p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1ljUJhG2G4iQ-v0kSWKki6Z4wg7E_fFCQ03urRM92hO9IbjnRZwUeiqar4l3VLf0tpDYKwpmyU--A-gFUDmYyTRJUPZOcLln-syyOm6vka2a71oqTvcQDgtwi-3O6WJ7e1Qklyqn"></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10892625&IDKey=A689AD279428&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D49%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522Apple%252BInc%252522.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522Apple%252BInc%252522" target="_blank"><u>Cases for your AirPods, stylus and iPhone </u></a></p><p>Apple hasn't been without Jony Ive for very long, but it seems it's going ham on truly zany design concepts in his absence. In this patent, Apple explores various ways to combine a holder for AirPods and a stylus into a folio-style case for an iPhone that could also charge your peripherals and potentially display messages on the exterior. If Apple could pull this off in a way that didn't lead to a giant lumpy mess in my pocket, I'd potentially be interested, but the drawings in the patent are … less than promising: </p><p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/0fbpPZ0ZDVCff0oNBktt-yaJYXoqyEz1rqXRPPbaaS1pHp5KSeO5LZm3vG8FsmdBu9Ms5s6QihhQVTWadTfWvGNn5h01dv2y1yiFfcVuRgHNvWteHNcRYb_rBPmAz03PctjwU4_A"></p><h3>Facebook</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10885693&IDKey=D4DB683187A2%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D48%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dfacebook.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Ffacebook%2526RS%3DAN%2Ffacebook" target="_blank"><u>Animating digital avatars with VR headsets</u></a></p><p>Facebook is still pushing hard to make interacting in VR the future of … interacting … and this patent might help things feel a bit more natural. It suggests using cameras mounted on a VR headset pointed back at you to map real human facial expressions onto your digital avatar. Most VR programs with avatars either have faces that don't move when you're speaking or they just flap their mouths wildly; a system like this could make talking to someone dressed as a wizard or an elf or whatever else they've chosen to represent themselves online feel at least a little more normal. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
</div>
</div></p><h3>Microsoft</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10896455&IDKey=507447D630AA%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D14%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D1%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" target="_blank"><u>Cortana for your car</u></a></p><p>Microsoft is apparently looking into application-specific virtual assistants, such as one designed for use in a car. It's a Car-tana, if you will. The assistant would be designed to provide specific insights about driving and how you could be saving money. That would include things like preemptively letting you know when a part might need servicing, how many miles it's been since you last fueled up or that your electric car's charge is low and chargers are nearby. It could announce these things over the car's stereo system, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.</p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10891928&IDKey=28C797030461%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D50%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D1%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" target="_blank"><u>Computer-generated songs</u></a></p><p>Who needs musicians? Microsoft's new patent seems to want to make them obsolete. It suggests a system that can take an input, like a picture or some text, and turn it into a song. It can identify elements in the input, like the sentiment of the words or aspects of the image (like if people are outside or in a crowd) and build a melody and lyrics off of that. Sadly, as this is just a written document, there are no examples of this concept's potential output, if Microsoft has even built something like this. But if it does prove to be possible, I've got <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOck0kPtlfk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>the perfect robot</u></a> to perform this system's songs. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
</div>
</div></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10891969&IDKey=2B298D9FF592%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D48%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D1%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Turning speech into images</u></a></p><p>Microsoft is really on the art-generating bandwagon this week. This patent outlines a similar idea to the last one, envisioning a system that can take what someone is saying and turn it into images. The system could even string together generated images into a sort-of picture book: You could narrate a day you've had to the AI, and it generates something like a series of Instagram Stories based on what you say to it. Though it'd probably just be easier to actually take photos of what happened, honestly. <img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/YiHWGhgP3yGoWZ_QImFlegpqjzeVfS3SxBB2LcXH0Ap5oMwIMtDJdzzw4iPRsFgYlGPT2v4Jl5o3ueTFWJcQlw4nMwehlG7Y2jytW7QDFNq1fzPJUScU69UflhoMV-GJbdWNSezS"></p>
Keep Reading
Show less
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
The current state-of-the-art quantum computers are a tangle of wires. And that can't be the case in the future.
Photo: IBM Research
January 15, 2021
Dan Garisto is a freelance science journalist who specializes in the physical sciences, with an emphasis on particle physics. He has an undergraduate degree in physics and is based in New York.
January 15, 2021
The iconic image of quantum computing is the "Google chandelier," with its hundreds of intricately arranged copper wires descending like the tendrils of a metallic jellyfish. It's a grand and impressive device, but in that tangle of wires lurks a big problem.
"If you're thinking about the long-term prospects of quantum computing, that image should be just terrifying," Jim Clarke, the director of quantum hardware at Intel, told Protocol.
<p>The problem is scale. When your quantum computer is <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/noisy-intermediate-scale-nisq" target="_self">based on just a few dozen qubits</a>, it's fine to designate one or more wires to each qubit in order to send and receive signals. But quantum computers are growing, and they will need to reach <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/next-steps-advances-in-quantum-computing" target="_self">thousands, if not millions, of qubits to truly be useful</a> for <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/machine-learning-ai-quantum-computing-move-beyond-hype" target="_blank">companies and organizations</a> — at which point, using wires is going to become a literal knotty problem. </p><p>"It's no longer sufficient to just be able to make a qubit device and talk about the properties of a qubit," said David Reilly, a quantum researcher at Microsoft. "It's all about scale. And it's all about the infrastructure that you need to get there."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
</div>
</div></p><p>Multiple companies investing in quantum computers are now looking toward this future, and trying to develop better methods of controlling their qubits. These quantum control chips are similar to the silicon wafers produced using CMOS technology, with a few alterations to make them work at ultracold temperatures and with qubits. </p><p>In December, <a href="https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-debuts-2nd-gen-horse-ridge-cryogenic-quantum-control-chip/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Intel announced</a> its Horse Ridge 2 control chip, which builds off its predecessor to perform more specific applications, such as manipulating and reading qubits. Research <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.01299" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">soon to be published</a> in Nature Electronics looks at Microsoft's quantum control chip, which operates at the coldest temperatures yet: a tenth of a degree above absolute zero. But Microsoft and Intel aren't alone; other companies have also been developing quantum control chips. In 2019, Google debuted <a href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2019/02/on-path-to-cryogenic-control-of-quantum.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">its own</a>.</p><p>The goal is to help build the <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/next-steps-advances-in-quantum-computing" target="_self">infrastructure required for a future quantum computer</a> that has actual applications for corporations and research institutes, not just one that can <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/supremacy-google-debatable-milestone" target="_self">out-speed classical supercomputers in proof-of-principle tests</a>. </p><h3>Going wireless
</h3><p>Quantum computers rely on unsettling properties of the quantum world, such as superposition: the combination of states exemplified famously by Schrödinger's feline, which can be neither dead nor alive, but exists in some superposition of both states. Quantum effects like superposition are fragile, and tend to collapse out in our noisy, warm, macroscopic world. To preserve the qubits' delicate quantum states, they are kept extremely cold, usually below 1 Kelvin (about -457 degrees Fahrenheit)</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
</div>
</div></p><p>To achieve those temperatures, qubits are kept in dilution fridges, which use liquid helium to keep their contents ultracold. Those devices have limited internal space and limited cooling power, both of which are hampered by a nest of wires. To explain the impetus for better quantum control, Clarke uses an analogy. </p><p>"Imagine that you are in charge of 100 dogs, and you have to take them for a walk," Clarke says. "Do you take them on 100 separate leashes? Or do you have one leash that fans out and do it more efficiently?" </p><p>In classical computers, control chips are small silicon wafers with some input and output pins that connect to billions of transistors. This CMOS technology is well-known, so it's tempting to slap a classical control chip onto a quantum computer, but it's not feasible. There are two main problems: First, quantum control chips have to operate at extremely low temperatures, so circuits must be designed to dissipate far less heat. Second, quantum control chips require alterations to interface with qubits, which are far more finicky than their classical counterparts. </p><p>Solving both problems entails reworking control chips: though hopefully not so much that they can't still be fabricated at scale, with traditional silicon manufacturing techniques.</p><p>Intel claims its Horse Ridge series (named for Horse Ridge, one of the coldest places in Oregon) operates at 4 K — above the temperature of the qubits it can control — and seeks to build on the company's preexisting expertise with semiconductor technology. While Horse Ridge 1 was designed for a wide variety of qubits, the recently unveiled Horse Ridge 2 focuses on expanded applications for spin qubits, Intel's preferred choice in <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/nobody-agrees-on-how-to-build-quantum-computer" target="_self">the qubit wars</a>. The goal, according to Clarke, is to "customize these low-temperature control chips for different applications." </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
</div>
</div></p><p>Google's control chip is similar, operating at 3 K, but is designed for yet another type of qubit, called a transmon. The chip has been tested on a few qubits, but not the 53-qubit Sycamore device that <a href="https://www.protocol.com/manuals/quantum-computing/supremacy-google-debatable-milestone" target="_self">made headlines</a> in 2019. <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=8865458" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Research from Google</a> has focused on reducing heat dissipation from the quantum control chip. Where a classical control chip outputs about one watt of heat, Google's dissipates less than two thousandths of a watt. "Getting power down is going to be very important for any of these approaches," Joseph Bardin, an engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a researcher at Google, wrote in an email to Protocol. </p><p>Microsoft's quantum control chip relies on similar semiconductor technology, but it is designed to work with topological qubits, though it can be adapted for other qubit architectures. (Worth noting: Topological qubits are theoretical, and have not actually been demonstrated.) </p><p>Where it really departs from Intel's and Google's designs is temperature. Microsoft's quantum control chip can dissipate less than a millionth of a watt, allowing it to stay at a chilly 0.1 K, about the same temperature as the qubits themselves.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
</div>
</div></p><h3>Is it hot in here?</h3><p>The companies insist on the advantages of their own approaches.</p><p>"What is really unique is that our signals are generated at low temperature," Intel's Clarke said. By putting its classical CPU — which sends signals to the control chip — with the control chip at these temperatures, Intel hopes to avoid the noisiness inherent to signals generated by CPUs at high temperatures. Microsoft's Reilly disputes this claim of uniqueness, and notes that Microsoft has generated its signals at temperatures as low as 1 K. </p><p>For Reilly, running the control chip at 3 or 4 K — as Google and Intel do — is much too hot: Though the difference between 0.1 K and 4 K may sound small, it's also the difference between the quantum world and the classical world. By operating the quantum control chip at the same temperature as the qubits, Reilly hopes to avoid the bottleneck between shuffling information from quantum to classical or vice versa. </p><p>"If their control system is at 4 Kelvin, then you still have this I/O bottleneck," Reilly said. "You still have a bird's nest of cables that run from four Kelvin to the millikelvin stage where the qubits are." One possible solution to that would be to bring the qubits up to 4 K — and there is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2170-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">some progress</a> in that direction.</p><p>All three companies will be presenting updates at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which will be <a href="http://isscc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">held virtually</a> Feb. 13 through Feb. 22.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
</div>
</div></p><p>For now, though, no one has remotely enough qubits to necessitate these quantum control chips, let alone determine which of those compromises is preferable. Testing is still done on a few qubits, or devices that model qubit behaviors — not even the full ensemble of dozens of qubits that make up the current cutting-edge of quantum computers.</p><p>At any rate, quantum computing is still in its heady early days, where firsts are being made, and — despite some corporate jousting about progress — demonstrating the possibility of the technology often takes precedence over long-term plans to make it practical. And at this stage, we don't even know what all those roadblocks might be.</p><p>"Wouldn't it be ironic if it turned out that making the qubits turned out to be a little bit of a challenge?" Reilly asked. "And the real roadblocks were in the systems integration and the construction of cryogenic control at scale?"</p>
Keep Reading
Show less
Dan Garisto is a freelance science journalist who specializes in the physical sciences, with an emphasis on particle physics. He has an undergraduate degree in physics and is based in New York.
People
Inside tech’s efforts to invest in Black banks
Tech companies are facing escalating calls to go beyond deposits.
Yelp is the latest company to announce it will be depositing $10 million across three Black-owned banks, including Carver in New York.
Photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Getty Images
December 21, 2020
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
December 21, 2020
Aaron Mitchell, the director of HR for Netflix Animation Studio, had already been working for months on a proposal to address the racial wealth gap when the killing of George Floyd rocked the country in May. Suddenly, it seemed like every company was coming out of the woodwork with pledges to invest and diversify and do better.
On May 27, Mitchell sent an email to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings asking him what he thought of a plan to invest $100 million in Black banks, a unique strategy to funnel more capital back into Black communities struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, no other corporation had made a similar public commitment. Mitchell said the $100 million was an arbitrary amount of money with symbolic significance: It was the same amount that Netflix spent on "House of Cards," a flashpoint in the company's history.
<p>"I said, 'What do you think about this as an action? There's a lot of angst, a lot of people calling for action, and I think we have something that might work,'" Mitchell told Protocol. "His answer was yes, let's work it out."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
</div>
</div></p><p>Within 30 days, Netflix became the first large tech company to declare that it would deposit up to 2% of its holdings with Black-owned and Black-serving banks, an effort to put real money toward the fight to end the racial wealth gap.</p><p>In the months since, tech companies have become some of the most aggressive corporate players to dive into the reinvigorated "Bank Black" movement, depositing millions of dollars in financial institutions and funds serving majority-Black populations amid escalating public pressure. Netflix, Twitter, Square, PayPal and Uber have entered the fray with their own slightly different plans to invest, pledging — in widely-circulated press releases — to do their part in creating economic equality. Yelp last week became the latest company to announce it will be depositing $10 million across three Black-owned banks: Carver in New York City, Broadway in Southern California and Citizens Savings Bank in Memphis.</p><p>"We were inspired by other companies' examples of doing this and the question that almost every leader in our company is asking themselves: 'What can I personally do … from my station inside the company?'" said Miriam Warren, Yelp's senior vice president of engagement, diversity and belonging.</p><p>"Putting some money into deposit in a bank is not a crazy, radical move," Warren added. "This is something that makes sense and is obvious and, frankly, why haven't we thought about this before now?" </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
</div>
</div></p><p>In typical Silicon Valley fashion, the process has become almost competitive, with each company touting its strategy as the best model for others to follow. Some, like Yelp, are putting cash directly into Black-owned banks, while others are investing money in funds that have broader reach. One example: Twitter has committed $100 million to launch the Finance Justice Fund with the Opportunity Finance Network, which will invest in a network of community financial development institutions across the U.S. Twitter said it hopes its partnership will develop into a model that other companies will follow. </p><p>There's some mistrust of the Silicon Valley companies as they elbow their way into the space, considering their less-than-stellar track record on racial justice and diversity issues. And leaders in the "Bank Black" movement, including bank owners and advocates, say tech is only skimming the surface if their intention is to make a real difference in closing the country's deeply entrenched racial wealth gap, which has left white families with an average net worth that is nearly 10 times higher than the average Black family's. </p><p>"I don't think it's enough to say we're going to move deposits over, which is a great step," said Ryan Williams, the CEO and co-founder of real estate startup Cadre, who has been pushing for tech to partner more closely with Black-owned banks. "There also has to be a more holistic view on how else we can accelerate the growth and multiplication of capital these institutions are able to deploy among their communities." </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
</div>
</div></p><h3>Different models</h3><p>Netflix was the first and largest tech company to choose to put money in Black-serving financial institutions this year. So far, the company has deposited $10 million with the Hope Credit Union and $25 million in financing for a new fund, the Black Economic Development Fund, which injects capital into Black-led banks, anchor institutions and business transactions. (The Black Economic Development Fund is run by Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a nonprofit.)</p><p>Last Monday, Enterprise Community Partners announced that Netflix committed $25 million toward its "Equitable Path Forward" fund, an effort to support historically marginalized housing providers. </p><p>Shannon Alwyn, Netflix's director of treasury, said more announcements are coming. She's working with a small team at Netflix to figure out where they'll put the rest of the money, in consultation with dozens of outside experts and organizations. </p><p>"When we started, we knew nothing," Alwyn said. "As I got a little more sophisticated in this, I see there's this spectrum in things you can do. On the one side it's something you'd think would be very easy, which is depositing money, which is what we did. Then the other side is creating a fund to tackle exactly what you want to do." </p><p>Each of the companies involved in the growing movement has its own model, typically using a mixture of direct deposits and investments with mission-driven funds, which provide an extra layer of distance between the companies and their money. A Twitter spokesperson said, while capital infusions directly to minority-owned banks can be beneficial, there are often limits to how much they can accept, so the Opportunity Finance Network is better equipped to handle large capital infusions. (Most community banks are not prepared to deal with an influx of millions of dollars.) </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
</div>
</div></p><p>In September, Square committed $25 million in direct deposits with CDFIs and minority deposit institutions, or MDIs, as well as $50 million more to separate outside funds (as well as $25 million "reserved for future investment into social impact projects"). PayPal created a $500 million economic opportunity fund and has so far committed $50 million to early-stage Black and Latinx venture funds, $50 million in LISC's Black Economic Development Fund, and $50 million to Optus Bank, which has a stated commitment to ending structural racism. </p><p>Dominik Mjartan, the CEO of Optus Bank, said he was skeptical of PayPal's announcement when it first came out over the summer. "I really was suspicious of these big announcements coming because I've seen for years how community development banks, and particularly minority-owned banks, get used for PR stunts or for purposes that may not be aligned with the genuine needs of our communities," Mjartan said. But ultimately, he reached out with an offer to talk and found himself on the phone with PayPal executives within a few days. He said PayPal's commitment is not "just noise."</p><p>To Mjartan and others, the key now is keeping up the momentum and continuing to push for the best models possible to actually make a difference. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
</div>
</div></p><p>"I think it's a good first step — and it's very incomplete," said Rodney Foxworth, CEO of Common Future, a network that pushes for economic equality. </p><h3>Calls to go further</h3><p>Ultimately, it's not particularly onerous for a tech company to switch a small percentage of its deposits from one bank to another. It's not a donation, so the company isn't parting ways with any money, and it doesn't put its cash at risk. "Deposits and this drive to deposit money into Black-owned banks or community development banks is a great start, but you cannot solve 400 years of systemic disparities with those deposits," Mjartan said. </p><p>So Black business leaders are pushing for more: equity investments. Mjartan said equity investment was one of his initial proposals to PayPal, and he's been advising other tech executives to follow the same route, though he hasn't found much success yet. Brian Betts, the president and chief financial officer of Operation Hope, which is partnering with Twitter, said he made the same suggestion to Twitter during initial conversations, but he recognizes it's a much tougher ask. </p><p>"The easiest way [to invest] is to put deposits in, but they're less impactful," Betts said. "The longer you commit to that deposit, whether it's five or 10 years, that does improve the ability to make more of an impact. And then, of course, equity's going to be the biggest bang for the buck. It's going to make the biggest impact."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="6">
</div>
</div></p><p>Equity investments are a much riskier and longer-term commitment, and there's often hesitance from companies' treasury departments to tie up capital for years. Netflix's Alwyn said the company realizes "that is the ultimate need," but buying shares in particular banks proved outside of the company's investment policy. "We weren't ready to make that full change as of yet," she said. </p><p>Experts agreed equity investments could become the next frontier in supporting Black financial institutions — as long as companies are willing to take the plunge. "It's my sense that that's a very unfamiliar place to the treasury departments of these tech firms," Foxworth said. </p><p>In the interim, leaders of Black banks and economic justice nonprofits are adapting to this new reality. Tech companies are cautiously forming new relationships on the ground within the movement, including with the banks and funds they're investing in, to see where the momentum will ultimately take them. </p><p>And of course, there's fear, even among some of the people partnering with tech, about the staying power of this movement and whether the powerful companies will pull their money or abandon their relationships with local banks as the public's attention wanes. </p><p>"We are making business decisions based on this movement," Mjartan said. "We are counting on this support that then allows us to lean in more than we would have otherwise. And if we lean in and they cut the ropes, we're going to crash. And that's my fear." </p><p>Cadre's Williams said companies should act aggressively now. "If we revert to the status quo and pretend there aren't real and growing disparities, five or 10 years from now, there's going to be another version of what we saw this past year," he said. "And you're going to be forced to reckon with, 'Why did you not do anything? What was the justification for inaction?'" </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="7">
</div>
</div></p>
Keep Reading
Show less
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Power
Microsoft wants to use AR to see through fog and smoke
Apple autonomous cars, AI coffee orders, emailing help and other patents from Big Tech.
See what isn't there.
Image: Microsoft/USPTO
December 13, 2020
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
December 13, 2020
It's beyond dark out at 5:30 p.m. these days, so perhaps, as you're stuck at home with nowhere to go, you're tempted to log off your bad screen and onto your good screen a little earlier than you should. Perhaps that's what happened over at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as this was a bit of a fallow week for patents from Big Tech.
That being said, there were still a few neat ones out there: Microsoft is looking into using AR to actually augment what you see; Apple is hard at work on autonomous vehicles; and Facebook, for some reason, is very concerned about the longevity of magnetic tapes.
<p>And remember: The big tech companies file all kinds of crazy patents for things, and though most never amount to anything, some end up defining the future. </p><h3>Alphabet</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=23&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=google.ASNM.&OS=AN/google&RS=AN/google" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Determining what's newsworthy</strong></u></a></p><p>There have been absolutely no problems with using algorithms to program the content that people see on their social feeds, so I can't see any issue with this patent idea. Essentially, the patent outlines crawling the web for new videos posted to sites and blogs online, and using a corpus of knowledge about the topic at hand, determining whether someone interested in that topic would find this new video interesting, and then alert them to it. It's not entirely clear how this system would moderate what it's finding and showing to people, but I can't imagine how that would be an issue. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
</div>
</div></p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/zu-KbFV9PD2FsHJg5gyhUxCoY63Fd7QWFXujNkPhmfNQKkU_ugeCbTLO2RVwumWGn2EHTWyVZp11zCMUndhaEeOf6nwips_QCC7KM9fM0m5tpTUkdbGGhjoGbtr4qUgVtwFhZx8_"></p><p><br><br></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10857963&IDKey=533B0027C8E8%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D2%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dwaymo.ASNM.%2526OS%3DAN%2Fwaymo%2526RS%3DAN%2Fwaymo" target="_blank"><u><strong>Encasing passengers in airbags</strong></u></a></p><p>This reminds me of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKqdgvsbfFQ" target="_blank"><u>inflatable bubble thing</u></a> James Bond used to save his life in "The World Is Not Enough." Waymo's patent outlines several different ways of automatically encasing passengers in something safe in the event of a crash, ranging from a netting and curtain design that would just hold the passengers in place to a full-on squishy safety bubble. If a self-driving car with me in it has to crash (I hear a lot of talk about Trolley Problems or some such), I hope I'm in the squishy kind. </p><p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/iSpVxtimzP4sorP9WAnx4dASv8vCL3XPrIfqG21DV4uRhrEumGeyX6J47m3m9uvPFvaHc4MWJs5Yen8-OWe99XL9GgohCeS9S5xtrDjwKHycRi4zYBM5jCbhwJUvMaKSbmmtgZsW"></p><h3>Amazon</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=16&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=amazon.ASNM.&OS=AN/amazon&RS=AN/amazon" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making sure you're emailing the right person</strong></u></a></p><p>Have you ever had one of those mortifying moments when you meant to email John Smith at Microsoft and you accidentally emailed John Smith at Apple? It's awkward, to say the least. But Amazon is apparently looking into helping you pick the right email addresses. Using a combination of understanding what the email writer is saying and who they've picked as the recipient would help Amazon's system determine whether they meant to choose who they have. As the patent itself says, "'Stephen is a terrible manager' is probably acceptable to send a friend in a personal interaction, but sending 'Stephen is a terrible manager' to Stephen is probably not okay."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
</div>
</div></p><h3>Apple</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860034&IDKey=1F7FB7AB7355%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D63%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3D%252522apple%252Binc%252522.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522%2526RS%3DAN%2F%252522apple%252Binc%252522" target="_blank"><u><strong>Autonomously finding barriers</strong></u></a></p><p>Apple reportedly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-08/apple-shifts-leadership-of-self-driving-car-division-to-ai-chief" target="_blank"><u>reorganized</u></a> its vehicle project to report to the company's AI chief, John Giannandrea, and this sounds like the sort of work his team would be useful for. The patent covers the sorts of detections that autonomous vehicles will be doing as they venture out into the world, mapping static objects like barriers, fences, walls and the like, and determining that unlike people, vehicles or animals, they likely won't be moving into their path — and if they do, there's probably a bigger issue at play. </p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=55&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&s1=%22apple+inc%22.ASNM.&p=2&OS=AN/%22apple+inc%22&RS=AN/%22apple+inc%22" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making dragging and dropping on iPad a little easier</strong></u></a></p><p>Apple is slowly acknowledging the fact that, on the iPad, doing complicated stuff with a mouse and keyboard is often easier than with your fingers. But dragging and dropping content from one app to another still leaves a bit to be desired. This patent outlines a future iPad operating system where users could use multiple fingers to drag multiple images (or other files) from one program to another. It also seems to suggest a future where you can have more than two or three programs onscreen at once — rather like windows on a computer. But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-whats-a-computer-ad-sparks-anger-2018-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>what really is a computer</u></a>?</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
</div>
</div></p><h3>Facebook</h3><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=26&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=facebook.ASNM.&OS=AN/facebook&RS=AN/facebook" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Making magnetic tapes last longer</strong></u></a></p><p>This probably isn't the first area of innovation that you'd expect a young tech giant to be researching. Facebook's new patent revolves around magnetic-tape data storage systems for archival purposes. Physics and entropy being what they are, these tapes tend to degrade over time, especially with continual use. This patent outlines ways to check on the health of the tapes, how often they're read and written, and to flag to administrators if they're failing. It also includes, according to the patent, a "predictive analysis method used to predict a future health status of the archival tape." Or you could, you know, just stop using tape. </p><h3>Microsoft</h3><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860587&IDKey=563855505624%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D51%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u><strong>Using AI to get your pumpkin spice latte</strong></u></a></p><p>Microsoft has a new patent about designing a conversational AI assistant that would actually be somewhat enjoyable to talk to; think the assistant in "Her," but more about selling you more stuff than achieving singularity. In one of the examples given, the user wants to know how long pumpkin spice latte season will last at their favorite cafe, BigCoffeeChain. The AI tells them it lasts well into the new year (those must be some resilient pumpkins they over there!), and uses context later in their interaction with the user to provide them with a coupon for a PSL, and later, a few questions about one of the chain's locations. It's a smart way to get more data out of customers in a rather unassuming fashion. At least there's cheap PSLs involved. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
</div>
</div></p><p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Oha5E4L8ci7IL503tnbUida4aJJjFeWu8q0ifmOSSTaV0MirTxs7VhrP80k9X0bps7fT9vQiGJZsQlCXY4a9b5T9-oX8p0m2kWXCeksitvs60BdISR2xKATW5M_z_gIHiBqEFfuL"></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=10860100&IDKey=43C0020DED14%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D71%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526s1%3Dmicrosoft.ASNM.%2526p%3D2%2526OS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft%2526RS%3DAN%2Fmicrosoft" target="_blank"><u><strong>AR glasses that can see through fog</strong></u></a></p><p>A lot of work in augmented reality seems to focus more on adding things on top of reality rather than actually … augmenting it. But this patent has some interesting ideas on how to augment the real world: It outlines using AR glasses to, among other things, see through things that impede the vision of our mere mortal eyes. Small particulates, like those in smoke, dust or fog, could be filtered out by a digital vision system, and the clearer picture could be overlaid onto the wearer's glasses. This could be useful for your average jogger or commuter, but could be life-saving for emergency services personnel. </p><p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/URzhfe1Kk4iS1HX-WcXwsCEBTAtYpGw0Qp6__24aEypBzSJhRqPfJ3YfLAsHFM6tWyzeyQAysQHU_vAcAocNXcyxPNVXpzNGYemE9c5UG_Cdrw1YAA_-US6886DMwU5rcwOYgIot"></p><p><a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=28&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=microsoft.ASNM.&OS=AN/microsoft&RS=AN/microsoft" target="_blank"><u><strong>Auto-detecting out of office</strong></u></a><br></p><p>Sometimes, when it's late on a Friday and a much-needed vacation is staring you in the face, the last thing you remember to do before leaving the office is turn on your out-of-office message. Who wants another moment in Outlook when the beach is calling? Microsoft seems to be working on a solution to this with its patent. It describes a system built into your email that could detect whether you're likely working that day or not. It would see if your usage matches how much you check your email on the weekend, and if it's about the same, it could flag to colleagues who email you that you're not likely to respond. It could also do the same thing if you forgot to turn off our OOO when you're back at work, tan and rested and still thinking about the daiquiris from last week. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
</div>
</div></p>
Keep Reading
Show less
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
People
Tom Siebel takes a victory lap after C3.ai’s blockbuster debut on Wall Street
C3.ai raised $651 million in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
C3.ai shares closed at $92.49 on Wednesday.
Photo: NYSE
December 10, 2020
Joe Williams is a senior reporter at Protocol covering enterprise software, including industry giants like Salesforce, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. He previously covered emerging technology for Business Insider. Joe can be reached at JWilliams@Protocol.com. To share information confidentially, he can also be contacted on a non-work device via Signal (+1-309-265-6120) or JPW53189@protonmail.com.
December 9, 2020
Tom Siebel strikes again.
Shares of C3.ai, the company he founded in 2009, just went gangbusters on the company's first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Living up to its ticker "AI," the firm offers catered solutions that help clients like Shell and the U.S. Air Force, among others, predict when their machines may need maintenance.
<p>It's part of a booming industry to arm enterprises with the latest and greatest AI technology. Alongside startups that offer industry-specific applications, AWS, Google and the other tech giants of the world also stack AI-based products on top of their bread-and-butter cloud computing software. </p><p>But to Siebel, there are no competitors. In fact, he thinks no one is remotely close to offering what C3.ai can. SAP and Oracle? Siebel says they have "nothing but white papers" when it comes to enterprise AI. Salesforce? A laggard when it comes to innovation that only offers AI to suggest the next step in the sales process. AWS and Microsoft? Go-to-market partners that can't match the sophistication of C3.ai's offerings, but still play a critical foundational role. (Microsoft is a key ally and <a href="https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/shares-tom-siebel-c3-ai" target="_self">now shareholder of C3.ai</a>.) </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
</div>
</div></p><p>"Every company in the world would like to be in the enterprise AI business," Siebel told Protocol. "Right now, I think we have a free run at it. I don't know where the competition is going to come from." </p><p>The secret weapon, according to Siebel, is what he calls "model-driven architecture," a form of software development that Siebel claims he's <a href="https://c3.ai/c3-ai-receives-u-s-patent-for-advanced-data-processing-methods-for-enterprise-ai-applications/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">protected with a patent</a>. </p><p>"If you want to use a model-driven architecture, which is our secret sauce, you get to call 1-800-C3 and you license it from us," Siebel said. "If Microsoft thinks they can deliver it tomorrow, why would they be partnering with me? And if they want to build it, I can assure you we own the intellectual property rights to the idea." </p><p>Some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-shape-shifting-startup-tom-siebel-c3-ipo-2020-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">criticism has been levied at C3.ai</a> and its products, but Siebel brushes it aside, instead touting that companies are paying upwards of "$80 million and euros over time to license this technology from us." </p><p>"Every company is using me with one of Azure, AWS or Google," he added. "If they already have this stuff, why would they be paying me scores of millions of dollars?" </p><p>It's tough to bet against Siebel, a legend in the enterprise software world who was also <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/07/11/siebels-second-act/?sh=59209e7664d2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">infamously attacked by an elephant</a> in 2009 (he's since recovered). It could get even harder following such an impressive public debut. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
</div>
</div></p><p>Back in 1995, Siebel created the customer relationship management industry with t before selling the company to Oracle for roughly $6 billion. Now, the company most identified with the software is Salesforce. But Siebel is charging hard at Marc Benioff's brainchild, <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/2020/10/26/c3-ai-microsoft-and-adobe-combine-forces-to-re-invent-crm-with-ai/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">launching a new partnership</a> with Microsoft and Adobe to sell AI-backed CRM software.</p><p>While Siebel will quickly attack any attempt to compare C3.ai to Salesforce, the company does offer AI capabilities in the form of Einstein — which Salesforce says <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2020/11/24/einstein-now-delivers-80bn-predictions/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">churns out over 80 billion predictions each day</a>. The key difference, according to Siebel, is that while Salesforce's Einstein only analyzes information included in a company's CRM system, C3.ai, Microsoft and Adobe's products will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-siebel-adobe-microsoft-c3ai-salesforce-crm-ai-2020-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">also include valuable information from external sources</a>, like analyst reports and social media feeds. </p><p>"I've interviewed everybody who is a senior manager in Einstein, and I have a pretty good idea what they are doing," said Siebel. "I don't think there's anybody there who knows what AI is." </p><p>Now, armed with $651 million in new capital, Siebel is looking to capitalize on what he labels as demand that, until now, was outpacing C3.ai's ability to deliver. And 2021 is going to be all about "sales capacity, service capacity, and more people working with our market partners."</p>
From Your Site Articles
Keep Reading
Show less
Joe Williams is a senior reporter at Protocol covering enterprise software, including industry giants like Salesforce, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. He previously covered emerging technology for Business Insider. Joe can be reached at JWilliams@Protocol.com. To share information confidentially, he can also be contacted on a non-work device via Signal (+1-309-265-6120) or JPW53189@protonmail.com.
Latest Stories
See more
Most Popular
Bulletins
January 25, 2021 05:59 EST
January 22, 2021 11:32 EST
Get Source Code in your inbox
David Pierce's daily analysis of the tech news that matters.