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This week in data, we've got a 20x increase in Zoom's daily users, a $50M raise at a $2B valuation, and ocean conservation stats. Check it out below.

1M+ cases: Global Covid-19 cases surpassed 1M cases this week. The pandemic has already reshaped societies, economies, and industries — with a knock-on effect on investment in startups. We recently analyzed how the coronavirus is affecting seed-stage startup investing,  corporate venture capital investment, and fintech funding.    

$2B: Notion Labs, which offers an online workspace platform, raised $50M at a $2B valuation. A number of startups that aim to help companies function remotely are gaining attention. Virtual reality-based employee training company Strvir, for example, closed a $30M funding round this week. We dig into the rise of remote work, and the emerging tech enabling it, in our 2020 Tech Trends To Watch report. 

1B vaccines: Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson announced that it is testing a Covid-19 vaccine candidate. It’s also partnering with the US Department of Health to scale up its production capabilities with the aim of making 1B doses to distribute. The US Federal Communications Commission separately proposed funding of $200M for telehealth initiatives to help slow the spread of the virus. Clients can check out  12 startups using telehealth to help fill gaps in pandemic care.

$3.99: Apple bought weather app Dark Sky for an undisclosed amount. The app, which costs $3.99 in the US, was quickly pulled from Android-serving stores. This is not the first time that Apple has bought an app popular on its platform — in 2017, it acquired music identification app Shazam for $400M. We map out Apple’s biggest acquisitions in this infographic. 

$35B: Xerox backed off from its $35B hostile takeover attempt of computer maker HP, citing the market uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, T-Mobile completed its $26B merger with Sprint this week, a move that could transform the US market for 5G. Learn how the new connectivity standard could reshape industries from supply chain management to retail to healthcare in this report. 

$3.5B: SoftBank pulled out of a $3B tender offer to buy additional WeWork shares — part of a broader $9.5B bailout package for the office rental company announced last year — citing concerns about ongoing probes into WeWork and the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes just days after satellite-based internet startup OneWeb, a SoftBank-backed company that had raised almost $3.5B, declared bankruptcy after failing to secure new funding. The UK-based company attributed its financing challenges to market volatility caused by the pandemic.

57 video games: Google-owned DeepMind developed an AI that has learned to play 57 Atari video games, showing much more adaptability than previous AIs of its type. DeepMind used deep reinforcement learning alongside systems for assessing the benefits of various strategies — an approach that may help AI algorithms become more versatile in the future. From neural architecture search to quantum AI, we look at how AI is evolving in this report. 

$100B: VC firm Tiger Global Management has built up a stake in China-based TikTok parent company ByteDance over the last 21 months, according to the Financial Times. ByteDance’s shares have reportedly been traded on the secondary market at a valuation of up to $100B. Clients can see where the VC firm sees opportunity in   our report on the future according to Tiger Global Management.

20x: Social distancing measures are having a significant impact on people's lives — beyond confining many to their homes and causing job losses. Reports this week include that alcohol consumption is up 42% in the San Francisco Bay Area, applications for divorces are up significantly in China, an estimated 40% of tenants in New York could struggle to make April’s rent payments, and daily users of video chat platform Zoom have reportedly increased 20x since December. 
 

30 years: Ocean life and ecosystems could return to sustainable levels by 2050, according to a study published in Nature. The researchers found that many conservation efforts had been successful and that overfishing was decreasing. However, the report also warned that an expansion of these efforts would be needed and that climate change poses a key threat to marine life. We look at some of the proposed geoengineering measures that proponents think could help climate change mitigation efforts in this report.

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Is work morale low? Now you can invite a goat to your next Zoom meeting. 

Sweet Farm, a non-profit animal sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, California, is offering virtual field trips to its farm. “Goat 2 Meetings” is open to schools, corporations, or individuals looking to introduce new faces to meetings.

Sweet Farm is home to 125+ rescued animals, including Stella the sheep, Juno the goat, and roosters Steve, Dan, Gregory, and SuSu. The non-profit aims to raise awareness about the impact of factory farming.