This is the web version of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.
It is evening in Guangzhou, China, and the neon lights of this glimmering megalopolis are just starting to flicker. For the third consecutive year, Fortune is hosting its Global Tech Forum, and the first day was packed with a blast of data and opinions centered on the key question preoccupying attendees: What is the future of U.S.-China relations? Some key moments:
- Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are all the rage this year, partly because there is now an agreement among China watchers that the People’s Bank of China will issue a digital currency to pre-empt any fledgling move by Facebook to launch its ambitious-if-hobbled Libra project. What I learned is that while a so-called “digitized RMB” (the shorthand for China’s currency) is highly probable, it will check few of the boxes of libertarian crypto dreamers who love bitcoin. Instead, it will take control away from the likes of Alibaba and Tencent, whose Alipay and WeChat Pay currently are the “rails” for digital currency in China, and centralize it with the Chinese government.
- Paul Scanlan, a top technologist (and able salesman) for Huawei, claimed that “5G has nothing to do with speed. It is all about money.” His wry assertion is based on the observation that the countries that invest most heavily in 5G (read: China and locations that allow their phone companies to buy from Huawei) will reap huge financial and societal benefits from the faster speeds the latest mobile networks will provide.
- There is a consensus that while the trade war between the United States and China may be cooling down, the battle over technology will not. “The trade war is really a tech war,” says Gan Jie, a professor of finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. She sees China continuing to leverage its advantages in engineering talent, supply chain, and market size to get closer to technological parity with the U.S.
- Investor Enita Pu of Sequoia Capital China made an interesting observation about the “post-cloud” world enabled by 5G networks. Her point was that powerful devices enabled by rapid networks represent a new investment and technology opportunity, one beyond the current phase of using the cloud primarily for centralized software applications. Just as mainframes gave way to PCs, data centers in the cloud will lead to supercharged devices at the “edge.”
I’ll be back tomorrow with concluding thoughts from our Fortune Global Tech Forum.
Watch Fortune.com for complete coverage of the Fortune Global Tech Forum. And, if the time zone suits you, the entire event will be livestreamed.
Adam Lashinsky
Twitter: @adamlashinsky
Email: adam_lashinsky@fortune.com
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman.
NEWSWORTHY
A legacy of spies. A former Twitter employee was arrested on Wednesday, and two other people were also charged, in what prosecutors say was a Saudi Arabian spying effort. Ahmad Abouammo was detained in Seattle. He is accused of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government for grabbing personal info about Saudi critics on Twitter. The other two men involved are believed to be in Saudi Arabia.
The constant gardener. Airbnb took additional steps on Wednesday to improve security and safety in the wake of the Halloween party shooting that resulted in five people killed at one of its rental properties. All homes listed on the service will be verified and listings will be checked for accuracy, while reservations will be screened to uncover "high risk" situations.
The little drummer girl. As the streaming wars heat up, Netflix is going all out to remain on top, CEO Reed Hastings said on Wednesday. The company has already bet $15 billion a year on content and “we’re planning on taking spending up quite a bit,” Hastings said.
Smiley's people. The board of Google parent Alphabet has formed a special committee to review claims about sexual harassment and misconduct. David Drummond, Alphabet’s chief legal officer, is among the executives under investigation over sexual relationships with fellow employees, according to a report by CNBC. Elsewhere at the Googleplex, the company is considering tightening its political ad policies, perhaps by banning some advertising targeted towards small audience groups.
Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy. On Wall Street, Roku was a bit of a puzzler. The company said revenue increased 50% to $261 million, better than analysts forecast. But Roku's high-flying stock, previously up 360% (not a typo) this year, dropped 14% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Square said its third quarter net revenue increased 44% to $1.3 billion, better than expected. Square's stock, up only 9% in 2019, gained another 2% on Thursday morning. Qualcomm said its revenue shrank 17% to $4.8 billion, but that wasn't as bad as analysts had feared. The stock, previously up 49% this year, gained 6% pre-market.
(Headline reference explainer, if you need one.)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
First lauded for founding one of the most successful tech companies of all time, the CEO then became villainized for unfairly destroying competitors. That could describe Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at one time, but also, more recently, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Nick Bolton in Vanity Fair explores whether Zuck could evolve and refresh his image as Gates has.
My guess is that Zuckerberg is too far down the road to turn back. Even if he follows the Bill Gates path, one day quits running the company he started, and spends every waking hour taking on the world’s biggest challenges, I doubt anyone will want to watch Inside Mark’s Brain: Decoding Mark Zuckerberg. Unlike Gates, who reached a crescendo and then seemed to spiritually evolve as a human being, Zuckerberg still seems laser-focused on growing Facebook’s bottom line—no matter the social cost. As someone who once worked with Zuckerberg at Facebook told me, this is just who he is. “Zuck is the most driven person I have ever met. No matter what he decides to do, he will be the absolute number one at it; it’s just the way he’s built,” the person said.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
These Brain Specialists Have Built Ear Pods to Help You Tune in, Boost Workplace Productivity By Adam Lashinsky
China Wants Its Own Bay Area to Take on Silicon Valley. But It Needs Smarter Infrastructure First By Eamon Barrett
Apple Teams Up With VA to Let Veterans Access Health Records Via iPhone By Sy Mukherjee
ClassPass Turns to Corporate Wellness for Growth By Emma Hinchliffe
Yesterday, Shareholders Bailed on Uber. Today, Insiders Got Their Chance By Erik Sherman
How 5G Will Transform the Electric Vehicle Industry By Fortune Editors
BEFORE YOU GO
It's probably the most famous painting in the world, but few would argue that the Mona Lisa is one of the best, or even one of the best by Leonardo da Vinci. With Paris's Musee du Louvre overrun by crowds of people only wanting to see the Mona Lisa, New York Times art critic Jason Farago has a partly tongue-in-cheek, partly serious proposal to move the painting to its own building. "Let Paris’s millions of future visitors enjoy the art, the shopping, the sweets and the selfies at the Sheikh Zayed-Louis Vuitton-Samsung Galaxy-Ladurée Macarons Mona Lisa Pavilion," Farago jokes, guessing at possible sponsors. "Then let them rediscover the Louvre as a museum."
Aaron Pressman
On Twitter: @ampressman
Email: aaron.pressman@fortune.com
If You Like This Email...
Share today’s Data Sheet with a friend.
Did someone share this with you? Sign up here. For previous editions, click here.
For even more, check out Term Sheet, Fortune's daily newsletter on deals and dealmakers. Sign up here.
