GM, which side you on: Team Pete or Team Kanye? 

If you don't know what we're talking about, consider yourself lucky. Now, let's get into it. 

SEMICONDUCTORS

Intel finds its foundry footing

From getting lapped by TSMC to getting dropped by Apple, Intel has been in the business of taking Ls recently. In its latest effort to claw back to the top of the semiconductor game, the company is buying Tower Semiconductor, an Israeli chipmaking company that focuses on making specialty products, for $5.4 billion.

What’s the thought process?

Intel wants to boost its foundry business aka the side of the business that makes custom chips for other companies. Here’s how the process usually works: A tech company designs a chip, then contracts out manufacturing to a foundry, usually TSMC or Samsung. 

The deal for Tower, in theory, will boost Intel’s Foundry Service division. But some analysts don’t think that’s the case. 

• Evercore ISI analyst C.J. Muse is concerned that the foundries Tower owns are not all that advanced and that “this acquisition in no way helps Intel become a foundry at the leading edge.” 

There are also geopolitical considerations at play

The US doesn't want to face another chip shortage like it did when supply chains got Euphoria-level messed up during the pandemic. Intel has committed $20 billion towards a US manufacturing plant to help ensure that doesn’t happen again. 

But it may be too little too late. TSMC, already the largest chip manufacturer in the world, also pledged to spend $100 billion over the next three years to expand its chip capacity. 

Zoom out: The US has been losing ground in the chip wars over the past few decades—In 1990, the US accounted for 37% of all semiconductor manufacturing but last year it was down to 12%. Intel, even with Tower in tow, has a long road ahead to try and regain the lost ground. 

REBRAND

Facebook is doing weird stuff again

We’d love to see Zuck’s Wordle streak recently because it appears he’s all in on name games. The latest example: Facebook is rebranding its news feed. Going forward it will just be known simply as “Feed” to better reflect “the diverse content people see on their Feeds,” according to a company spokesperson. 

Why is this newsworthy?

In some ways, it’s not. But the rebranding does speak to the messy relationship Facebook has had with distributing n ews stories in recent years, the Verge writes. 

• Misinformation gets more engagement on the platform, according to Facebook’s own research, which has led to documentaries, think pieces galore, as well as regulators sniffing around its algo.

New names aside, Facebook is running out of users to attract—DAUs fell for the first time in the company’s history last quarter—which has prompted Zuck to begin to reorient the company towards the still ill-defined metaverse. He also announced that Meta employees would now be known as “Metamates” which certinaly shows his commitment, but is objectively dumb sounding. 

Bottom line: Depending on your faith in Zuck, you can look at the renames as a sign of fear or a genuine commitment to a new business line. Take your pick.

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: New research suggests that 74% of all money made through ransomware attacks in 2021 went to Russia-linked hackers. Sounds like a new Bond movie title: From Russia, with Bugs.

Startup: Recycling isn't as useful as you may think—only 9% of the world’s plastic waste ends up actually being recycled. While traditional upcycling programs convert plastic back into fossil fuel, Novoloop is working on a different path by breaking down polyethylene (the most common type of plastic) into high-performance chemicals and high-value materials found in footwear, automotive, electronics. More here.

Rabbit hole: Google search is dying

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• ViacomCBS also got in on the renaming game, officially changing its name to Paramount to reiterate its focus on streaming.

• Bolt chairman Ryan Breslow is at it again.

• CD Projekt finally released Cyberpunk for next-generation consoles.

• Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink denies that researchers abused monkeys.

• Microsoft told workers to prepare to return to the office later this month.

• Airbnb beat earnings and revenue estimates in Q4 and has overall bounced back in a big way from the impacts of the pandemic.

• Roblox did not.

GOOD ADVICE

Cool method for testing out your product ideas. 

GAMES

True or False?

We'll give you a fact, you tell us if it's true or false. 

1. On an average work day, a typist’s fingers travel about 12.6 miles.

2. A barber named Don Bolt invented the electric chair.

3. Although GPS is free for the world to use, it costs $2 million per day to operate. The money comes from American tax revenue.

4. Spam mail got its name from the canned meat after a Monty Python skit that made fun of Spam as tasting “horrible and being ubiquitous and inescapable.”

TID BITS

What's old is new again: 1) Someone rebuilt an old iPod with more storage, a new casing, and more battery life, 2) Blue's Clues is getting a movie, and 3) NYC was a beaut in the old days

You are not alone: If you ever feel alone in how you think, you're probably not. Read this thread on pluralistic ignorance. 

GAMES ANSWER

1. True

2. False

3. True

4. True