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The World
Most of the world’s big banks, its major investors and insurers, and its financial regulators have for the first time signed up to a coordinated pledge that will incorporate carbon emissions into their most fundamental decisions. The lenders and investors say they will help fund a shift that will reduce carbon emissions by businesses and spur the growth of industries that can help limit climate change. Regulators are putting in place new rules to oversee the shift. The United Nations’ Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero says financial groups with assets of $130 trillion have committed to its program to cut emissions. That is enough scale to generate $100 trillion through 2050 to fund investments needed for new technologies, and enough reach to impose pathways for corporations and financial institutions to restructure themselves. (Wall Street Journal)
A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that climate change is fueling more frequent and intense wildfires in the western U.S. The study’s researchers report that, based on the rate that dry air sucks up moisture, climate change is essentially two-thirds to 88% responsible for the conditions driving the region’s wildfire woes. And that estimate is a conservative one, study authors say. (Los Angeles Times)
Top climate scientists are skeptical that nations will rein in global warming: Many authors of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report are anxious about the future and expect to see catastrophic changes in their lifetimes. Ninety-two of the 233 living IPCC authors responded to an anonymous survey by Nature. About 60% of the respondents expect the world to warm by at least 3 °C by the end of the century, compared with what conditions were like before the Industrial Revolution. That is far beyond the Paris agreement’s goal to limit warming to 1.5–2 °C. Most of the survey’s respondents — 88% — think global warming constitutes a ‘crisis’, and just under half said that global warming has caused them to reconsider major life decisions, such as where to live and whether to have children. (Nature)
Facebook plans to shut down its decade-old facial recognition system this month, deleting the face scan data of more than one billion users and effectively eliminating a feature that has fueled privacy concerns, government investigations, a class-action lawsuit and regulatory woes. Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Meta, Facebook’s newly named parent company, said that the social network was making the change because of “many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society.” He added that the company still saw the software as a powerful tool, but “every new technology brings with it potential for both benefit and concern, and we want to find the right balance.” (New York Times)
Yahoo said it was pulling out of China, citing an increasingly challenging business and legal environment, the latest foreign company to be caught up in Beijing’s toughening rules for businesses. Yahoo said it had ceased to offer its services from Nov. 1, becoming the second well-known U.S. technology firm to downsize China operations in less than a month following the closure of Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn social-networking site. (Wall Street Journal)
Foreign businesses in South Korea have warned that a new workplace safety law due to come in force next year will undermine the country’s appeal as a destination for overseas companies. The American, European and British chambers of commerce in Seoul said the Severe Accident Punishment Act, which will take effect in January, has exacerbated longstanding concerns about criminal penalties for even minor regulatory infractions. (Financial Times)
What people around the world like — and dislike — about American society and politics: People in other publics find much to admire about the U.S., but they see many problems as well. Americans, for their part, also see both strengths and weaknesses in their society. The most positive elements of America’s image are tied to some of its most famous exports, with the U.S. receiving considerable praise for its technology and popular culture. When asked to compare American technological innovations with those of other developed nations, respondents give the home of Silicon Valley favorable reviews. Across the 16 publics polled outside of the U.S., a median of 72% say U.S. technology is the best or above average. The U.S. is also widely recognized for its military strength, with a median of 45% across 16 publics describing the U.S. military as above average and a median of 26% saying it is the best. In addition, American universities are largely praised (43% above average, 16% the best). However, views about American living standards are mixed. In most countries, pluralities say that, compared with other developed nations, the U.S. standard of living is average. The U.S. health care system gets poor reviews: A median of 48% say it is below average and 18% consider it the worst among developed nations. (Pew Research Center)
Economy
Female-founded startups are breaking records for money raised and exits: Venture dollars invested in female-founded companies, defined as VC-backed startups with at least one woman co-founder, dropped 3% in 2020, even as overall deal value increased 16%. Now such firms are staging a furious comeback. In the first three quarters of 2021, they raised $40.4 billion across 2,661 deals, shattering a previous record of $23.7 billion in 2019. Women are also more likely to dole out VC money than before. In 2019, 12% of U.S.-based checkwriters were women. In 2021, that share hit 15.4%. An especially bright spot in the Pitchbook report is data on the exits of female-founded firms. In this regard, “2021 was a banner year,” the report says. In 223 liquidity events (an uptick of 12% from full-year 2020), the value of exits reached $59 billion through the third quarter of 2021, more than doubling the previous annual record (and the year isn’t over yet). When it comes to exits, female-foundered companies are outperforming the market, with their value rising 143.6% from 2020, compared to an overall increase of 101.5%. Exits of female-founded firms are also happening quicker—6.7 years versus 7.7 years overall—a data point that reflects the “superior business performance” of the companies. (Broadsheet, Pitchbook)
Tesla went into a sudden reverse on Wall Street after Elon Musk said that a deal to sell 100,000 cars to Hertz, the American rental business, had not yet been signed. Shares in the electric carmaker fell back as soon as the market opened, in stark contrast with advances made last week after Tesla announced its largest order thus far, when investors piled in. (The Times)
Fintech is displacing traditional finance around the world, but nowhere are the changes as striking as in Latin America. Nubank is seeking a valuation of about $50 billion in its IPO — a sum that would make it more valuable than Lloyds Banking Group, Nordea or BBVA. If Nubank hits that mark, it could signal broader lessons for other neobanks as well as conventional banks trying to match their nimble nature. While American fintechs are talking up their super-app plans, fintechs abroad are making the vision of a do-it-all financial app a reality. There's Revolut in the U.K., Paytm in India, Alipay and WePay in China, and Nubank in Latin America. (Protocol)
A new generation of delivery startups is competing for investor cash and the loyalty of impulse buyers—promising groceries in as little as 10 minutes. The pandemic helped push online grocery shopping into the mainstream, revolutionizing a swath of the $2 trillion-a-year global grocery market. Now, new players are banking on a business model derived from the one that propelled online food delivery world-wide. The new fast-delivery startups use small warehouses known as “dark stores” staffed by fully employed personnel. Executives say that employing a dedicated staff to deliver their companies’ own inventory of products allows them to offer faster delivery times and a more consistent quality of service compared with existing delivery companies, which typically employ gig workers to ferry products sold by third parties. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Metaverse for Microsoft… and Oprah?: Microsoft is integrating its Mesh platform with Teams in 2022, which will see support for new 3D avatars come to Teams across PC, mobile, VR headsets and the HoloLens. Meanwhile, Meta’s (Oculus) Quest 2 landed on Oprah Winfrey’s annual holiday gift guide. Winfrey’s written endorsement notes that she used the Quest 2 to go on a virtual visit to the Louvre, but good luck to any shoppers trying to figure out which app she used. (The Information)
Enterprise tech promised a grand vision for the future of work. The reality is messier. Enterprise tech providers are marketing their software as magical solutions for hybrid work. Their customers haven't decided on a winner yet. (Protocol)
Social media giants are sprinting towards the live shopping market that's long been dominated by traditional television networks like QVC and HSN. Tech firms have spent years building algorithms to get people to click on ads, but now they're finding that the real purchasing power on social media lies in live product reviews. Pinterest on Monday launched Pinterest TV, a video platform with live series and original content featuring Pinterest creators hawking goods. Instagram, TikTok, Amazon and Snapchat have all rolled out livestream shopping features in the past 18 months. For tech companies grappling with instability in the advertising market, shopping and ecommerce offers a new lifeline. (Axios)
Fantasy and sports betting providers, FanDuel and DraftKings, are among a number of companies that have submitted bids to buy sports news site The Athletic. The subscription-only sports news site recently tapped LionTree to explore a sale of all or part of its business after talks with The New York Times Co. and separately with Axios failed. The Athletic is seeking a valuation of more than $750 million. (The Information)
‘We are the media company’: Sportsbooks are spending millions on media deals, but publishers should hedge their bets. (Digiday)
After first testing mobile gaming in a few select markets, Netflix added games across all of its markets. Mobile games are being distributed via the company's Android app, and don't require any additional purchases or subscription fees. Games are being integrated directly into the Android app, where they will be treated like any other type of content, complete with the ability to restrict kids from accessing these titles. (Protocol)
Most consumers aren’t sold on the metaverse yet: 68% said that, based on what they know, they’re not interested in using Meta’s virtual and augmented reality project. The strongest interest in the metaverse comes from men and younger generations, as well as adults who live in urban areas. (Morning Consult)
Smart Links
DOJ sues to block Penguin Random House’s Simon & Schuster deal. (Wall Street Journal)
Zillow exits the home-buying business and cuts staff by 25%. (Protocol)
For-profit hospitals had more COVID-19 admissions in Q3. (Healthcare Dive)
Which tasks are best for teams and which should be tackled solo? (Quartz)
Why you shouldn't hire your old teammates. (Protocol)
There are now over 850 unicorn companies. (Pro Rata)
These countries have the most startup investment for their size. (Crunchbase)