［新連載］ドットコム・バブル崩壊の再来、日本企業は直視せよ

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Rivian pushes back deliveries of its R1S SUV once again

Early buyers of Rivian’s latest electric SUV are facing another delivery delay. A number of customers who pre-ordered Rivian’s R1S SUV received an email this week informing them that an expected June or July delivery window has been pushed back several months. According to Auto Evolution, customers posted on Rivian’s forum that their delivery window had been updated to August or September 2022, or as late as October through December 2022. The EV maker first debuted the seven-passenger vehicle — which has a starting price of $72,500 — back in November 2018, and has pushed back deliveries multiple times, citing production delays and supply chain issues. Deliveries of the first batch of R1S SUVs were originally slated for August 2021.

The company in its email chalked up the latest delay to ongoing supply chain issues and its limited service infrastructure. It said that it would prioritize deliveries to areas that are close to Rivian service centers. Rivan currently operates service centers in only 14 states, so customers in other areas will likely have an even longer wait.

“As we continue to assess our supply chain and build plans, we want to provide an update on your estimated delivery window,” wrote Rivian in its email to customers. It stated that the customer’s updated delivery window was based on three factors: their preorder date, delivery location and current configuration. But a number of early customers seemed puzzled at how Rivian calculated the new delivery window. One customer noted that they pre-ordered the R1S SUV back in November 2019, yet was assigned to the later delivery window of the fourth quarter of 2022. Many customers who lived in especially remote areas or in a state without a Rivian service center also reported later delivery windows. “The irony of an off-road adventure vehicle delivered only to major cities,” wrote one Rivian customer on the company’s forum.

Rivian has struggled to scale up production of its vehicles amidst a global parts shortage, including semiconductors. The Tesla competitor isn’t able to rely on existing relationships with parts suppliers, which traditionally prioritize the larger, more established car companies, the Wall Street Journal noted.

Coinbase cuts roughly 1,100 jobs amid fears of a ‘crypto winter’

Coinbase is still struggling with a worsening cryptocurrency market. The exchange has announced that it’s laying off 18 percent of its workforce, or about 1,100 jobs, to help weather difficult economic conditions. There’s a “crypto winter,” according to company chief Brian Armstrong, and the move is purportedly necessary to keep costs down during this dark period.

Armstrong also saw this as a response to excessive optimism about crypto’s future. Coinbase felt it had to grow rapidly in 2021 to compete across numerous sectors and take advantage of crypto’s value surge, but it’s now apparent the company “over-hired” while the market was strong. The exchange started 2021 with 1,250 employees, and will still have roughly 5,000 people employed by the end of the current quarter.

The layoffs have been abrupt. Coinbase cut affected employees’ system access at the same time as the announcement to prevent “rash decision[s]” by outgoing staff. The firm is promising at least 14 weeks of severance pay, four months of US health insurance and help finding new work, but the decision comes after multiple attempts to avoid cutting jobs. Coinbase first paused hiring, and later rescinded accepted job offers as economic conditions soured.

Coinbase isn’t alone in dealing with the effects of crypto’s collapse. Binance is facing a lawsuit over the failed TerraUSD stablecoin, while major lender Celsius has frozen withdrawals to help stabilize assets and honor obligations. The plunge in Bitcoin prices following Celsius’ move led Binance to halt its own withdrawals for several hours. Crypto is very fragile at the moment, and it doesn’t take much for the technology’s largest supporters to suffer.

Binance sued over the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin

A Utah resident has filed a lawsuit against Binance US and its CEO, accusing them of falsely advertising TerraUSD as a safe asset backed by fiat currency. The plaintiff named Jeffrey Lockhart alleged that because Binance isn’t registered as a securities exchange with the US government, it has limited obligation to disclose information about assets traded on its platform. “Crypto exchanges made massive profits by flouting securities laws and causing real harm to real people,” the law firm representing Lockhart said, according to Reuters.

A Binance spokesperson told the news organization, however, that the exchange is registered with the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and complies with all applicable regulations. “These assertions are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” they said. 

If you’ll recall, TerraUSD’s value collapsed in May, causing massive losses for investors who trusted its classification as a stablecoin that’s supposed to maintain its value of $1 per coin. Unlike other stablecoins backed by real-world assets, though, TerraUSD is an “algorithmic” stablecoin that’s not backed by fiat currency. Instead, it’s backed by a cryptocurrency called Luna and has a mechanism in place to restore its value to $1 if it ever falls. Investors were enticed to invest their money into TerraUSD due to the opportunity to make money with the Anchor lending program, which promised annual yields of 20 percent for deposits of the coin. Terra’s mechanism failed to protect its value, however, and it’s currently being traded at less than one cent. 

Lockhart is hoping for his lawsuit to be registered as a class action on behalf of all investors who purchased Terra from Binance. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange also paused bitcoin withdrawals for a few hours yesterday due to a “stuck on-chain transaction.” That came days after reports emerged, claiming that Binance had become a hub for fraudsters and drug traffickers and had helped launder $2.35 billion in illicit funds.

Google may let rival ad platforms run commercials on YouTube

Google will allow other advertising intermediaries to run ads on YouTube, according to Reuters. The company currently requires advertisers to use its Ad Manager to place ads on YouTube, which has caught the attention of European Union antitrust officials.

The European Commission opened a probe into Google’s ad tech in 2021 after two years of informal consultations. Competition officials also cited concerns about potential restrictions on how rival ad platforms can run YouTube ads and the fact advertisers need to use the Display & Video 360 and Google Ads services. The investigation centers around whether Google, a division of Alphabet, gave itself an unfair advantage in the digital advertising space by limiting the user data that advertisers and rival ad platforms can access.

Reuters reports that Google’s concession could help allow it to settle the case and avoid a fine of as much as 10 percent of its global turnover. Alphabet generated revenue of $257 billion in 2021. However, it’s believed that Google will need to address other concerns to resolve the investigation.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is also looking into the company’s ad tech practices. In the US, senators last month filed a bill with bipartisan support that would break up Google’s ad business were it to become law. 

“We have been engaging constructively with the European Commission. We don’t have anything further to share at this stage,” a Google spokesperson told Engadget. “As with the Privacy Sandbox initiative, we are committed to working with regulators and the wider industry to achieve the best possible outcomes.”

Update 6/13 10:52PM ET: Added Google’s statement.

Microsoft formally agrees to respect Activision Blizzard unionization efforts

Microsoft has formally agreed to respect the right of Activision Blizzard workers to unionize in a pact with the Communications Workers of America. The agreement will be applied 60 days after Microsoft closes its acquisition of the video game publisher. The $68.7 billion takeover requires approval from regulators in various markets and is expected to close by the end of June 2023.

“This agreement provides a pathway for Activision Blizzard workers to exercise their democratic rights to organize and collectively bargain after the close of the Microsoft acquisition and establishes a high road framework for employers in the games industry,” CWA president Chris Shelton said in a statement. “Microsoft’s binding commitments will give employees a seat at the table and ensure that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard benefits the company’s workers and the broader video game labor market. The agreement addresses CWA’s previous concerns regarding the acquisition, and, as a result, we support its approval and look forward to working collaboratively with Microsoft after this deal closes.”

The agreement follows Microsoft announcing a set of “principles for employee organizing” earlier this month that did not contain much in the way of actual substance. The CWA pact is legally binding and centers around five core provisions. Microsoft laid those out as follows:

  • First, Microsoft will take a neutral approach when employees covered by the agreement express interest in joining a union.

  • Second, covered employees will be able to easily exercise their right to communicate with other employees and union representatives about union membership in a way that encourages information sharing and avoids business disruptions.

  • Third, employees will have access to an innovative technology-supported and streamlined process for choosing whether to join a union.

  • Fourth, employees can maintain confidentiality and privacy of that choice if they wish.

  • Fifth, if a disagreement arises between the CWA and Microsoft under the agreement, the two organizations will work together promptly to reach an agreement and will turn to an expedited arbitration process if they cannot.

“Earlier this month, we announced a set of principles that will guide our approach to labor organizations, and the Activision Blizzard acquisition is our first opportunity to put these principles into practice,” Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith said. “We appreciate CWA’s collaboration in reaching this agreement, and we see today’s partnership as an avenue to innovate and grow together.”

Microsoft and the CWA also agreed to explore other forms of collaboration. Among those are “joint opportunities for the US workforce to benefit from new technology and skill building programs that will enhance the country’s competitiveness.”

The arrangement formalizes much of Microsoft’s rhetoric about Activision Blizzard workers’ attempts to organize. Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox chief Phil Spencer reportedly said in an all-hands meeting in late May that “we would absolutely support [an] employees’ organization that’s in place.” Microsoft corporate vice president Lisa Tanzi previously said the company “respects Activision Blizzard employees’ right to choose whether to be represented by a labor organization and we will honor those decisions.”

The pact may also help Microsoft placate the Federal Trade Commission and antitrust regulators in other key markets as it tries to secure approval for its Activision Blizzard takeover. The publisher’s shareholders approved the proposed buyout almost unanimously in April.

Last month, quality assurance workers at Activision studio Raven Software voted to form the first union at a major video games company in North America. Activision Blizzard did not formally challenge the result of the election with the National Labor Relations Board. The company affirmed last week it would enter negotiations with the CWA, which is representing the workers.

Activision Blizzard is bound to conduct good faith negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement, though CEO Bobby Kotick warned that “may take some time to complete.” The company, which the CWA hasaccused of union busting, said in April it would hire 1,100 QA workers as permanent employees with higher minimum pay and benefits. However, it did not extend the same offer to the Raven workers who have organized as the Game Workers Alliance.

Google pays $118 million to settle gender pay discrimination lawsuit

Google has agreed to pay $118 million to settle a lawsuit first launched in 2017 over gender-based wage discrimination, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Three former female employees accused Google of segregating women into lower paying jobs that curbed advancement, while similarly-qualified men didn’t face those obstacles. 

The lawsuit was expanded to class-action status in 2021 and the settlement covers around 15,500 female employees who worked in Google’s California offices after September 2013. It includes a clause that independent experts must review Google’s hiring practices and pay-equity studies, according to the law office representing the plaintiffs. However, Google admitted no wrongdoing as part of the deal.

“While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone, and we’re very pleased to reach this agreement,” Google spokesperson Chris Pappas told the WSJ.

Google ran a pay-equity analysis to see if salaries, equity awards and bonuses were fair since 2013. The co-counsel for the plaintiffs said that the settlement would be “precedent-setting” for the industry. 

“As a woman who’s spent her entire career in the tech industry, I’m optimistic that the actions Google has agreed to take as part of this settlement will ensure more equity for women,” said one of the original three plaintiffs, Holly Pease, in a statement from law firm Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein. “Google, since its founding, has led the tech industry. They also have an opportunity to lead the charge to ensure inclusion and equity for women in tech.”

Google is far from the only tech company to face complaints over gender-based pay. Riot Games recently paid $10 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit while Microsoft, Uber and other firms have faced pay equity accusations. The gender pay gap in the US didn’t improve last year, according to the labor group SHRM — March 15 is still Equal Pay Day, the date that represents how far into 2022 women have to work to earn what men earned by the end of 2021.