Activist Investors Call on Apple to Address Youth Phone Addiction
Apple under fire after two Apple investors urged the company to step up and play a bigger role in managing smartphone overuse and addiction. David Benoit, Activism Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, was with us to discuss why Jana Partners has decided to push Apple to develop tools and research the effects of smartphone overuse by young people.
Benoit says the investors aren’t saying its necessarily Apple’s responsibility to monitor phone usage. Instead, he thinks they believe that Apple could play an important role in acknowledging that they aren’t sure what the impact of all this phone usage will be, but could score points by giving parents the option to monitor usage.
Activist investors typically focus on things like buybacks and acquisitions. Benoit says this move by Jana Partners to take a stance on corporate responsibility is very different. He thinks following Jana's advice could help protect Apple from potential backlash on teen iPhone usage. In addition, Benoit says goodwill could help drive future sales if consumers feel Apple made a phone that is safe for kids.
Ari Redbord, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, discusses how Binance, Coinbase and Kraken's decision to not unilaterally ban all Russian users from their platforms could put a dent in the West's plan to economically punish Russia.
One of Europe's leading micromobility providers, TIER mobility, is expanding into North America after acquiring the micromobility operator, Spin. Ford Motor Company previously owned Spin but is now selling the company to TIER Mobility, which says the deal will make it the largest multimodal micromobility operator in the world in terms of the number of cities it operates in and the number of vehicles in its fleet. Lawrence Leuschner, CEO of TIER Mobility, and Ben Bear, CEO of Spin, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Digital consulting company Publicis Sapient has its sights set on the Metaverse. The subsidiary of the French advertising giant Publicis Group is announcing a new partnership with NFT auction house Portion in an effor to help brands deliver experiences in the metaverse, including the sales of products. Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. "In the context of our collaboration with Portion, the first experience that we created was with Decentraland, which is a virtual world," he said. "And car manufacturers in this metaverse, in terms of their buyers, can interact with a virtual person, (and) they can view quality NFTs. They can examine a virtual vehicle, be inside the car, rev an engine, open doors, all without leaving their homes."
Identity and access management company ForgeRock looks to use pattern recognition and artificial intelligence to ease secure access for users as an alternative to just password management. CEO Fran Rosch joined Cheddar News to discuss how the company's services work. "I mean, who likes to set up and use a new password? And they're also really bad security because a lot of people repeat the same one and use it everywhere and use the simplest one possible," he said. "We're trying to really create a smarter better identity system where we can find different ways, smarter ways, of recognizing you as a user and giving you access to what you need by really eliminating the password altogether."
Ford announced today that it will be separating its electric vehicles business from its internal combustion engine vehicles in two divisions named Ford Model E and Ford Blue, respectively. Ford Motor Company CFO John Lawler joined Cheddar to discuss the decision-making behind the restructuring. "When you think about the expertise that Ford has in like body structural engineering, chassis engineering, manufacturing at scale, there isn't an EV startup company out there that wouldn't love to have our capabilities in that space," he said.
Amazon is confirming it’s closing all of its physical bookstores as well as its 4-star shops and pop up locations as the online behemoth reworks its physical footprint.
Vittorio Assaf, co-founder of Serafina, joins Cheddar News to discuss two new concepts from Serafina Restaurants in NYC: Cafe Serafina and Serafina To-Go. Assaf also talks about the company's new cookbook.
Maude Okrah, co-founder of Black Beauty Roster, joins Cheddar News to discuss how her company is working with WarnerMedia to provide diverse makeup and hair stylists for actors of color on set.
As energy costs soar, labor shortages continue, and supply disruptions sweep the nation, the annual inflation rate accelerates to the highest since 1982. However, some corporations are finding some silver linings. Paul Constant, the writer at civic ventures and cohost of "Pitchfork Economics" podcast, joins Cheddar News.
