Hello again, friends. Jordan Parker Erb here, bringing you the last newsletter before the weekend. Today we've got the deets on how Microsoft won Netflix, and why some drivers are ditching their Teslas.
Let's get straight to it.
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Brian Smale/Microsoft via Getty Images
1. Microsoft's partnership with Netflix is the biggest ad prize of the year. This week, Netflix chose Microsoft as the tech and sales provider for its new ad-supported streaming service — snubbing the presumed winners, Google and NBCUniversal parent Comcast.
- The move came as a shock to the ad industry, but Netflix needs to grow revenue fast and Google's offer came in too low, a source close to the process said.
- Plus, Microsoft came armed with adtech unit Xandr and a global ad sales force. With its recent moves in video gaming, it could also help Netflix advance its video game ambitions.
- And unlike Google with YouTube, and Comcast with Peacock and Xumo, Microsoft doesn't have a streaming service that would compete with Netflix for TV ads.
How Microsoft won Netflix — and why Google lost it.
In other news:
CHIME/MIT News
2. An object 1 billion light-years away is sending out a "heartbeat" radio signal from deep space. Fast radio bursts are intense, but brief, flashes of radio waves that originate millions to billions of light-years away from Earth. What astronomers know — and don't know — about the mysterious burst.
3. Employers are using AI to catch candidates who lie or cheat in interviews. As the hiring process goes remote, job-candidate fraud is on the rise — so some employers are fighting back with AI-powered tools designed to identify and catch cheaters. How AI identifies fraudulent candidates.
4. Amazon has handed over 11 Ring doorbell videos to police without owners' consent this year. A US senator's probe found that Amazon sometimes shares videos after determining there is "imminent danger of death or serious physical injury." Here's what the probe found.
5. New York state is investigating Getir's employment practices. Current and former employees have told Insider that the startup, which set up shop in the US in November, has shorted their paychecks and paid workers under the table. What we know about the investigation so far.
6. Some drivers say they're ditching their Teslas over Elon Musk's politics. Multiple drivers told CNN they've backed out of purchasing a Tesla because of Musk's recent behavior on Twitter, with one saying "I don't want Tesla cars to become the new MAGA hat."
7. Insiders say former Disney CEO Bob Iger was unhappy about the transition of power to Bob Chapek. The transition didn't roll out as Iger had planned, and he remains unhappy with how it was handled, said one person closely familiar with his thinking. Here's what else they told us.
8. NFT marketplace OpenSea laid off 20% of its staff. In a message shared with staff and posted to Twitter, CEO Devin Finzer said "we have entered an unprecedented combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability."
Odds and ends:
Courtesy of Walmart
9. Walmart has a fresh new fleet of electric delivery vans. The pill-shaped EVs, which are expected to hit the streets in 2023, were created by electric vehicle startup Canoo. See a video of the electric vans.
10. See inside a new 1,550-square-foot 3D-printed home in Virginia. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home, which is the first 3D-printed house in Richmond, sold for $235,000. Check it out here.
The latest people moves in tech:
- Andrej Karpathy, Tesla's head of AI and Autopilot, is leaving the company after five years.
- Gap's CEO, Sonia Syngal, resigned from the retailer this week.
- Evan Williams stepped down as CEO of Medium.
- Rideshare helicopter platform Blade hired Roisin Branch as its first chief marketer.
- Instacart is making major changes to its executive leadership. Here are all the executive moves.
- A senior Alphabet exec left for Goldman Sachs.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.