Intersections is published by Junction House - the home for today’s leading thinkers working across business, government, and technology. We explore the myriad ways in which these spheres overlap and impact society. If you’re interested in learning more about Junction House and how to join, subscribe to stay in the know.
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Tech x Society
💰Private equity firm Ethos Capital has announced it will acquire the Public Interest Registry (NYT $), the non-profit that operates the “.org” domain, for $1.1bn. This notably surprises most people who didn’t know that this was even something that could be acquired. For those in the know, it’s sparking heated debates about who gets to own part of the internet’s address book (read this insightful post from the Mozilla Foundation).
Aside from the dissonance of a PE firm owning a non-profit ruffling some feathers, those opposing the deal claim that Ethos could be up to some dirty tricks. They could, for instance, accept payment to shut down websites that wealthy companies, individuals, or governments don’t approve of (“censorship-as-a-service”). Ethos founder has tried to temper reactions by pointing out investment in the infrastructure is needed (there are 4x as many .org addresses today as when the non-profit started), promising to uphold the integrity of .org, limiting price increases, and opening a dialogue for conversation (👏👏). Many still plan to protest before the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), who still has to approve the deal. Interestingly, Ethos Capital was formed in May 2019 and this splashy acquisition is its first.
🔒As the Iowa caucus acts as cannon fodder for those who claim pen and paper is the safest voting technology, Microsoft has come up with a new plan. The company has developed a hackproof voting software that it is giving away to the US. Microsoft claims to have tracked nearly 800 cyberattacks on US polling stations in this election cycle alone. Today about 30% of registered voters live in areas without auditable paper trails, something Microsoft deems an unacceptable risk. The software will get its first real-world test as Wisconsin residents use it to vote for their Supreme Court.
Related: A bill appropriating $600m for election security has passed the House but is being held up in the Senate
Also: Forget peer reviews, sharing data to fight coronavirus COVID-19. Keep Alexa from listening to your conversations with jewelry. Lab grown breast milk is coming to your supermarket. Indian politician uses deep fakes to bolster votes.
Government x Tech
👩💻As big tech and big government continue to duke it out, the latest round came between Facebook and the EU. The EU recently released new guidelines on regulating AI (which have been criticized for being weak due to walking back a previous ban on facial recognition technology), but Facebook apparently had some ideas of its own. Via an FT op-ed and his own company’s website, Mark Zuckerberg put forth an alternative set of rules as to how Facebook and other big tech companies should be regulated. The EU didn’t take kindly to that (“It’s not for us to adapt to this company, it’s for this company to adapt to us”). It’s worth noting that many of Facebook’s recommendations are for the EU to enforce the same rules on other tech companies to which Facebook already complies.
This tension brings up a broader question over how AI should be regulated and who is best placed to make those decisions - lawmakers or those who created the algorithms in the first place? Unable to help himself, Elon Musk popped up from Tesla’s AI woes to once again call for government regulation of AI. Another AI Chief Executive writes in Forbes that many of these regulatory efforts are, in fact, overengineering a problem that might not exist.
🤯 The US government has laid public relations waste to Huawei over enabling Chinese spying, but now it seems the tables have turned. A Washington Post report has now uncovered that a company selling encryption systems to foreign governments (over 120 of them) was secretly owned by the CIA, enabling the US to spy on allies and enemies for nearly half a century. WaPo reported Greg Miller believes this is not a unique event by the CIA or any government, for that matter. Rumors still exist not only about Huawei & China, but also Russia & Kaspersky and UAE & ToTok.
"I think that it's inevitable that we'll look back on this moment at some point in the future and be confronted with evidence that companies or devices that we assumed were secure were not, they were penetrated and compromised by someone." - Greg Miller, Washington Post
Also: Intangible goods like software and data are confounding monetary policy. Google denies requests for information relating to anti-competitive practices. Is JEDI happening or not? Crypto’s just getting started in Sweden. The US might be creating a data protection agency.
Business x Society
“This welcome halt in emissions growth is grounds for optimism that we can tackle the climate challenge this decade ... We now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth” - Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director
📉 Global CO2 emissions were flat in 2019, surprising most after continued global growth in 2017 and 2018 (read full report here). According to IEA, this is largely due to a sharp decline in emissions from the power sector in advanced economies, particularly as renewables, gas, and nuclear energy oust coal. However, emissions among developing nations continue to rise. This news comes on the back of several more companies, such as power provider Dominion Energy and media company Sky, committing to net zero carbon emissions in various timelines. Two notable promises come from BP and Delta.
BP’s announcement is an aggressive goal and a strong departure in corporate posture from new CEO Bernard Looney. They’re the first among the oil majors to declare such a goal and have drawn flack from energy experts on how this meshes with BP’s exploration and drilling efforts.
Delta’s promise comes as consumers grow increasingly aware of and hostile toward pollution caused by air travel. The plan, however, requires technology that’s not yet proven. Either this means that Delta is willing to pay to bring these to market and an entrepreurial door has just opened (glass half full) or Delta isn’t willing to pay for this and they’re making a promise they know is impossible (glass less than half full).
This FT author doesn’t believe these companies (or us for that matter) that any of this is possible, saying we’re trying to have our cake and eat it too.
Also: Jeff Bezos commits $10bn to climate change. McDonalds and Starbucks trial reusable cups. Industrial cattle farming will be obsolete by 2035. 4 day work week, comin’ through.
The dinner table: We welcome discourse and feedback. The nature of the intersections we explore means friction and disagreement exist. The only way forward is through constructive conversation, and we want to facilitate that.
We’re happy to engage in a conversation, facilitate connections, or publish your opinions and work if that’s what you’d like. Our community doesn’t have soap boxes, only dinner tables. Simply reply to this email.
Thanks to Shannon from DC for writing in response to the Harper’s essay on news!
“I really loved the Harper essay on the news and what it represents. I get concerned with the ad-driven news stories and publications. I was heartened to see this article (paywall - how appropriate!) on a new news outlet that prides itself on good journalism and doesn’t hesitate to charge for it.
What else we’re reading
Why are we so polarized? Don’t blame social media, says Vox Editor-At-Large Ezra Klein. Unfortunately, the roots are much deeper and more complex.
In that vein, an unsettling new theory has emerged: there is no swing voter.
GOP: The “G” stands for “Green.” Republicans have drafted a climate bill they are trying to fast track through Congress + Mitch McConnell wants the US to go carbon neutral. Cleantech innovation will be difficult with President Trump’s recent cuts to Department of Energy’s R&D budget and, predictably, the EPA. However, MIT Technology Review says Democrats would be silly to ignore this effort.
We leave you with this: our future on the Capitol’s steps from @golightly