Meta is blocking news in Canada after another law requiring Aggregators to pay for links; it’s still an upsetting idea. Then, a brief primer on LK-99, the potential superconducting material.
Daily Update
Archive of Daily Emails for Stratechery Members
Personal Day, and Two Podcasts on Facebook
Announcing a personal day and two recent Stratechery Plus podcasts on Facebook.
Meta Earnings, AI in Meta’s Business, Reality Labs Reality
Meta is already reaping the benefits from AI, even as its metaverse investments seem harder than ever to justify
Microsoft Earnings, Google Earnings, Snap Earnings
Three sets of earnings, in which AI played a bit of a role, but a less important one than the company’s core products.
X, Musk’s Motivation, Beats and Big Tech
Twitter has a new name, and it’s past time to wonder why any of us should care.
Netflix Earnings, Netflix’s Coming Price Increases, Netflix and the Strike
Netflix’s earnings were ambivalent about the impact of the password-sharing crackdown, and point to upcoming price increases
Streaming Residuals and Spotify, Llama 2 Open-Sourced, Llama’s License
Streaming residuals might end up looking like Spotify. Then, Meta makes Llama 2 open source — mostly.
Bob Iger on CNBC, The End of Linear TV, ESPN and Strategic Partnerships (and Apple?)
Bob Iger teased what might be next for Disney in an expansive interview, including the end of linear TV and hints about the future of ESPN.
Microsoft-Activision Updates; Reader Follow-Up; Free Speech, the Government, and Scale
An update on Microsoft-Activision, and then a response to a reader upset at my take, weaved in with commentary about free speech in the context of last week’s ruling about social media moderation.
Microsoft Can Acquire Activision, The FTC vs. the Record, The FTC’s Failed Vendetta
Microsoft didn’t just win its case against the FTC: the totality of its victory calls into question the FTC’s legitimacy, and may lead to more acquisitions in the future.