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00:00LOSING ITS LUSTER MORE BROADLY. HERE TO DISCUSS, THE CEO AND COFOUNDER OF AN AI STARTER, ALSO AN ADVISOR AT VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM GENERAL CATALYST. WHEN IT COMES TO APPLE, IS IT ALL BAD NEWS? > > I CERTAINLY DON ' T THINK SO. IT ' S KIND OF MIXED. APPLE IS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC AND GLOBALLY INTEGRATED COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, SO IT WILL BE PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISRUPTION AND POLITICS. EMILY: WHAT ' S THE GOOD NEWS? > > IT REALLY FEELS LIKE APPLE IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY, SO TO SPEAK, IN TERMS OF THEIR PUSH TO PRIVACY, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM FACEBOOK AND TWITTER AND GOOGLE BECAUSE APPLE ' S FUNDAMENTAL BUSINESS MODEL WAS THEY JUST WANT YOU TO BUY MORE OF THEIR HARDWARE. PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO BUY EXPENSIVE PHONES MORE IF THEY ARE AGITATED AND NERVOUS. APPLE HAS NO INTEREST IN STIRRING UP ANXIETY. THEY JUST WANT PEOPLE TO BE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS SO THEY CAN BUY THEIR PRODUCT. IT ' S ALL ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE TO ENGAGE AND CLIC K AND HEIGHTENED EMOTIONAL SPACE. BIG PICTURE, APPLE IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THAT FIGHT. EMILY: LET ' S TALK MORE ABOUT APPLE AND THEN MOVED TO FACEBOOK. THIS IS A COMPANY TRYING TO SELL $3000-PLUS PHONES IN CHINA GET TRANSITIONING TO A SERVICES MODEL. GROWTH IN THOSE SERVICES DEPENDS ON PEOPLE BUYING IPHONES. > > YES, AND THEY HAVE NOT HAD A MAJOR NEW TYPE OF PRODUCT -- LIKE, THE IPHONE WAS A MAJOR ADVANCE -- SINCE THE IPHONE, AND IT ' S OVERDUE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. IT ' S ONLY SO LONG THEY CAN KEEP RIDING THE SAME PRODUCT. THIS IS THE FAMOUS DEFINITION OF WHAT AN INNOVATIVE COMPANY IS, WHICH IS WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THEIR PRODUCT DID NOT EXIST FIVE YEARS AGO? FIVE YEARS AGO, APPLE WOULD HAVE FIT THAT DEFINITION, BUT NOW IT ' S A LITTLE BIT LESS SO, SO THEY NEED TO START COMING UP WITH SOME INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. NEW CATEGORIES SO THAT FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, A LOT OF THE REVENUE COMES FROM PRODUCT -- EMILY: YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE APPLE WATCH, BUT IT ' S NOT GOING TO BECOME THE IPHONE ANY TIME SOON OR EVER, RIGHT TACKLE -- RIGHT? > > I THINK THE PRODUCTS ARE FINALLY FULFILLING THEIR POTENTIAL, THEIR PROMISE, SO I EXPECT SALES TO REALLY PICK UP OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. THE APPLE WATCH IN PARTICULAR IS THE FIRST MAINSTREAM GENERATION OF WHAT I THINK OF AS THE WEARABLES 2.0 MARKET. THESE ARE MEDICAL DEVICES OR DEVICES THAT HAVE REALLY GOOD HEALTH APPLICATIONS THAT, UNLIKE THE 1.0 VERSIONS, ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING USEFUL. I THINK ALL THE HARD STUFF IN THE NEW APPLE WATCH IS FUNDAMENTALLY IMPORTANT AND THERE ' S PROBABLY OTHER STUFF COMING THAT WILL BE MEDICALLY TRANSFORMATIVE FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. I THINK THERE ' S GOOD NEWS ON THE DEVICE FRONT AS WELL. EMILY: YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE MAY BE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY, SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE BUSINESSES? > > I LIKE TO LOOK AT HOW A LINE THE COMPANY MONEY MISSION IS WITH ITS BUSINESS. APPLE WANTS TO MAKE AND SELL YOU DESIRABLE PHONES AND PRODUCTS, BUT AMAZON IS FAIRLY ALIGNED. AMAZON WANTS YOU TO BUY STUFF FROM AMAZON. FACEBOOK IS PRETTY UNALIGNED AT THIS POINT HERE THEY MAKE MONEY EXCLUSIVELY BY TRYING TO COLLECT AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU AS POSSIBLE, INFORMATION MOST PEOPLE DO NOT ACTUALLY WANT COLLECTED ABOUT THEM, AND USE THAT INFORMATION TO SELL YOU ADS. THAT IS A BIG DISCONNECT. I THINK FACEBOOK IS GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME REMAINING AT ITS CURRENT SIZE IN TERMS OF MARKET CAP AND HAVING ALL OF THE BUSINESSES IT HAS LUMPED TOGETHER. I THINK THERE IS A GOOD QUESTION ABOUT IF THE BUSINESS IN THE DATA BUSINESS -- THE AD BUSINESS AND DATA BUSINESS AND MESSAGING BUSINESS BELONG IN THE SAME COMPANY BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL BACKED UP AND THAT MAY JUST BECOME POLITICALLY UNTENABLE. EMILY: FACEBOOK OF COURSE ALSO HAS INSTAGRAM, BUT DO YOU THINK EITHER OR BOTH WILL BE CHALLENGED BY AN UPSTART SOCIAL NETWORKING TERMS OF USAGE? > > THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS. IT IS RARE FOR A COMPANY TO STAY FASHIONABLE FOR DECADES, SO, YES, AND I THINK WE ARE ALREADY SEEING THINGS IN CHINA THAT ARE MORE ABOUT SHORT FORM VIDEO FORMAT THAT IS REALLY STARTING TO CHALLENGE THE ESTABLISHED SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS. I THINK WE WILL SEE DISRUPTION OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. EMILY: ALL THESE COMPANIES USE AI AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO EXPORT . > > WE ' RE GOING TO MAKE THE TRANSITION WHERE PEOPLE SEE REAL, UNDERSTANDABLE PRODUCTS, WHICH WE HAVE NOT SEEN UP TO NOW. IS A LOT OF DEEP TECH, AND A LOT OF TALK ABOUT GENERALIZED AI BECOMING SUPERSMART AND TAKING OVER THE WORLD AND A LOT OF THAT IS BECAUSE THERE IS THIS VACUUM OF ACTUAL THINGS PEOPLE CAN POINT TO AND SAY THIS IS A SMART PRODUCT THAT IS GREAT AND WE UNDERSTAND WHY IT EXISTS, AND I THINK YOU ARE GOING TO START SEEING A LOT OF THOSE THIS YEAR, SO AI WILL INTEGRATE ITSELF INTO THE FABRIC OF PRETTY MUCH ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS AND STOP BEING A THING. JUST LIKE DOT- COM STOP BEING A THING. EMILY: THERE HAS BEEN TALK ABOUT THE AI HYPE CYCLE BEING OUT OF CONTROL AND THAT AI IS NOT DELIVERING ON ITS PROMISE. > > MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE PROMISE IS. MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE TAKE A COMPUTER THAT IS SMARTER THAN A PERSON, BUT THAT IS A WEIRD PROMISE. LIKE, WHY IS THAT A GOOD THING? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF IT? WHO REALLY WANTS THIS? WHAT AI IS DOING IS MAKING A GENERATION OF PRODUCTS THAT ARE EASY TO UNDERSTAND POSSIBLE THAT WERE NOT POSSIBLE BEFORE. EMILY: YOU MAKE AI PRODUCTS . WHAT KIND OF AI-BASED PRODUCTS ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT, AND HOW WILL THEY CHANGE OUR LIVES? > > ALL THE PRODUCTS HAVE TO BE EXPLAINABLE IN ONE OR TWO SENTENCES. EMILY: WE LOVE THAT. > > FOR VIMPLECOM ONE IS CALLED SPOT, AND IT ' S AN AI FOR WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION REPORTING BECAUSE WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AND DISSEMINATION SUCKS TO REPORT. -- AND DISCRIMINATION SUCKS TO REPORT. IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BUILT WITHOUT THE AI TECHNOLOGY, BUT IT ITSELF IS A FUNDAMENTAL, SYNTEL -- SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND, SIMPLE TO USE PRODUCT. WE FOCUS ON AI PRODUCT THAT SOLVES PHARAOH PROBLEM, EASY TO EXPLAIN. EMILY: ALWAYS GREAT TO HAVE YOUR THOUGHTFUL ANALYSIS HERE ON THE

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