Welcome back to Lately, The Globe’s weekly tech newsletter. If you have feedback or just want to say hello to a real-life human, send me an e-mail.
In this week’s issue:
📵 Ottawa orders TikTok to shut down Canadian business
🤷🏻 So, Trump was re-elected. What does that mean for tech?
📈 Bitcoin’s very big week
🎨 How artificial intelligence is affecting freelance artists
🎙️ Lately podcast: The masculinity industry that shaped the U.S. election
SOCIAL MEDIA
Ottawa orders TikTok to shut down Canadian business
The federal government is ordering TikTok to close down its Canadian business, citing national security risks, but will not ban the app outright. TikTok plans to challenge the decision in court. A company spokesperson said the shutdown would affect hundreds of local jobs and “is not in anyone’s best interest.” Ottawa has already banned the app on the phones of public servants, but this decision marks an escalation that has baffled some media experts. Down south, the app’s future is also uncertain. The U.S. passed a bill that would ban TikTok unless its parent company ByteDance sells to a non-Chinese owner by early 2025. Donald Trump, however, has said he would save the app if elected.
CRIME
Crypto CEO kidnapped for ransom in Toronto
Toronto police are the investigating the kidnapping of the CEO of cryptocurrency company WonderFi Technologies Inc., who was allegedly abducted in downtown Toronto on Wednesday evening. The suspects, whose identities are unknown, forced Dean Skurka into a vehicle and demanded money. He was later found safe and uninjured in Etobicoke, about a 23-kilometre drive west. Skurka was first identified by the CBC, which reported that a $1-million ransom had been paid electronically.
U.S. POLITICS
Elon Musk's big bet on Trump paid off.Carlos Barria/Reuters
So, Trump won again. What does that mean for tech?
Donald Trump is heading back to the White House and his return will have ripple effects through the whole tech industry. Trump already has a cozy relationship with Elon Musk – one of his biggest donors – and said during the campaign he’d put Musk in charge of a new “department of government efficiency” focused on cutting the federal workforce. Trump’s win could also benefit Tesla, whose shares surged postelection, and SpaceX, which the president-elect praised in his victory speech. If you want to read more about the relationship between Musk and Trump, head over today’s Morning Update newsletter.
On Big Tech, Trump has held a longtime grudge against Google, saying that it’s “rigged” for not showing more positive stories about him and in his first term supported efforts to break up the company, while he’s also pledged to save TikTok from a potential ban in the United States. And although Trump was once skeptical of crypto, he’s now an enthusiast and may order the government to drop some investigations into crypto companies.
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Bitcoin hits record high
Speaking of cryptocurrency, the price of bitcoin reached a new high on Wednesday, the day after Trump’s win, climbing above $75,000 and smashing its previous record set in March. Dogecoin, a favourite of Elon Musk, also felt the Trump boost: it rocketed as much as 18 per cent. Super PACs focused on crypto poured millions into the U.S. election, supporting both Republicans and Democrats who favoured softer regulations for the sector. The Biden administration spent years cracking down on crypto companies for violations of securities law. On the flip side, during the campaign, Trump proclaimed he wants to turn the United States into the “the crypto capital of the world”, create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin, and even launched his own crypto venture.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
How AI is affecting freelance artists
In the past few years, a ton of new AI tools have popped up that can write university-level essays, generate animated videos and impressive special effects, and produce photo-realistic images. (Some are so impressive, that many of us truly believed Pope Francis did wear a Balenciaga style puffer coat.) As tools such as ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney makes us all poets and auteurs, professional creatives are already feeling the effects of AI on their livelihoods. My colleague Joe Castaldo reports that freelancers have seen their rates drop, or in some cases, clients are opting for AI-generated work instead. It’s hard to know exactly how much generative AI is affecting employment, but a recent study found that in the eight months after ChatGPT launched in late 2022, job postings for work that are prone to being automated by AI, such as writing, declined 21 per cent, and related jobs related to image generation, was down 17 per cent.
What else we’re reading this week:
Big Tech wants you back in the office (WIRED)
AI startup Perplexity to triple valuation to $9-billion in new funding round (The Wall Street Journal)
World’s first wooden satellite launched into space (DW)
Soundbite
I have been studying the wellness industry for decades and I was largely focused on women, but to see the lens shift to men is fascinating. It’s using the same strategies that women were subjected to: create insecurity, create grievance, create anxiety, and then sell products.
— Professor Timothy Caulfield, host of CBC documentary Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, on this week’s episode of the Lately podcast.
Adult Money
SLEEP TECH
Could this be me, blissfully asleep and oblivious to U.S. politics?Andre Stringari/Supplied
Muse S headband, $399
If you’re like me and spent way too much time this week scrolling headlines deep into the night, perhaps you will also be intrigued by the plethora of expensive gadgets that promise to give you a good night’s sleep. Sleep tech is a massive industry including everything from smartwatches, wristbands and headbands to rings with tiny sensors that collect droves of biometric data. This headband from the Toronto-based company InteraXon tracks brain activity, heart rate, breath and body movement overnight, and also provides personalized music clips meant to boost relaxation. If you’re struggling with sleep, these gadgets may help you gain insights into the problem. But experts also warn about the potential of developing another issue: orthosomnia, the obsession over sleep scores and modalities that ironically leads sufferers to sleep less.
Culture radar
VIRAL ANIMALS
Moo Deng, Moo Who? Here's Haggis.Laura Moore/The Associated Press
There’s a new adorable baby pygmy hippo on the scene: Haggis
This summer, a baby pygmy hippo in Thailand named Moo Deng won the hearts of people around the world with videos showing her eating fruits and veggies, taking a bath and cuddling with her mom. Now, a new calf is vying for the most viral hippo on social media: Haggis of the Edinburgh Zoo. Haggis made her debut on X earlier this week, but visitors will need to wait a bit longer to see her in person as the zoo is keeping her enclosure off-limits for now. Pygmy hippos are endangered and incredibly rare, with only an estimated 2,500 remaining in the wild.