Meta and the Form of Digital Markets – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

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On that word, right here had been a number of of our favorites this week.

1. Three Eras of Fb. President Invoice Clinton as soon as mentioned that China’s efforts to censor its home Web could be like “attempting to nail jello to a wall,” and, effectively, some takes age higher than others! However, Clinton’s imagery remains to be nice, and I used to be fascinated about nailing jello to a wall as I learn Ben’s Tuesday Replace on market definition within the FTC v. Meta case. The trial to probably break up Meta, Instagram and WhatsApp started Monday, and as a part of its case the FTC has to outline the related market by which Meta has illegally wielded monopoly energy. That process turns into a lot trickier when the marketplace for social media has shape-shifted a minimum of thrice in 15 years, and at present options credible competitors for market share from, sarcastically, a Chinese language firm. Ben’s piece on Tuesday is trenchant evaluation of a threshold situation in what might be a landmark case, and if you wish to go deeper, we mentioned all of it in a free episode of Sharp Tech on Thursday. — Andrew Sharp
2. The GOAT and the Playoffs. The playoffs are one of the best time of the NBA yr, and the Best of All Discuss is — in my biased opinion! — one of the best NBA podcast there may be. There’s no higher time to hop on board and observe together with Andrew Sharp and the Washington Publish’s Ben Golliver: twice every week, all yr lengthy, they produce nice hoops conversations, and their chemistry makes for one essentially the most pleasurable podcasts you’ll discover on any topic. I’m fairly pessimistic about my Bucks, however optimistic that you simply received’t remorse giving GOAT a strive. — Ben Thompson
3. Keep in mind the CHIPS Act? Within the shadow of a US-China commerce battle with dozens of vectors, and within the midst of ongoing U.S. anxieties about domesticating manufacturing in dozens of industries, there stays one trade, and one vector, that’s most important to American nationwide safety and prosperity. To that finish, Ben’s interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan, two alums of the Commerce Division who helped implement the CHIPS Act, was a helpful window into round the clock work that’s been performed to cultivate chipmaking, holes in U.S. coverage that stay, and what needs to be performed over the following a number of years. After two exhausting weeks monitoring bond markets, it’s a refreshing grounding within the realities of constructing bodily, and significant, American infrastructure. — AS

Stratechery Articles and Updates

• An Interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan About CHIPS — An interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan about their work distributing CHIPS program cash, and why they’re optimistic about U.S. industrial coverage going ahead.
• Nvidia H20 Restricted in China, The Huawei CloudMatrix 384, Whither Chip Controls — It seems that Nvidia won’t ever be allowed to promote AI accelerators to China once more, even crappy ones, whereas Huawei makes its personal supercomputer with outdoors assist.
• Meta v. FTC, The Three Fb Eras, Video Slop and Market Forces — The FTC’s case towards Fb doesn’t make sense as a result of it conflates three distinct Fb eras, and at present’s period could be very a lot outlined by competitors.
• ChatGPT Reminiscence, Boundaries and AI Companions, Auren — ChatGPT’s reminiscence characteristic is fairly fundamental, however it’s the kind of product characteristic that may construct a moat, significantly if it’s prolonged to different use instances.

Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber

Asianometry with Jon Yu

Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Invoice Bishop

Best of All Discuss with Andrew Sharp and WaPo’s Ben Golliver

Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson

This week’s Sharp Tech video is on Apple’s AI disaster and what was misplaced after Steve Jobs.