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Blink twice if it's really you
Hi there,
A regular reminder that we don’t do briefings with startups or investors.
If you want to get into our research, market maps, etc., update/submit your profile here.
Shut up and drive
Do you have an autonomous vehicle strategy?
What?
You don't?
We rounded up 46 automakers, big tech corporates, telcos, and more that are investing heavily in AV technology.
Truly, madly, deeply
Deepfakes are spreading through online communities, and people are having a hard time telling the difference between what’s real and what’s not.
If you need a refresher, deepfakes are videos that use machine learning to superimpose famous people’s faces onto other people’s bodies to make it look like they’re doing or saying things that they wouldn’t normally do or say.
We wrote about deepfakes and information warfare here.
According to FastCompany, researchers at SUNY Albany have found a very simple way to help you tell if you’re watching a fake video: blinking.
Healthy adult humans blink every 2-10 seconds, with a single blink taking one-tenth to four-tenths of a second. You would see this if you were watching a normal video of a person talking, but not if you were watching a deepfake video.
The deepfake algorithms are trained on pictures of people’s faces, and there aren’t many pictures of people with their eyes closed — even for the most frequent victims of paparazzi.
Without training images of people blinking, the algorithms have a hard time creating videos where people blink normally. Using machine learning, the SUNY researchers were able to identify deepfakes based on infrequent blinking.
Deepfake technology will inevitably evolve, so this isn’t a permanent solution, but it is a start. Check out Fast Company's article in The Blurb.
Stay woke.
You can take that right to the bank
As blockchain technology gains momentum, the traditional banking industry will need to adapt — or risk being replaced.
From payment transactions to fundraising to securities, we take a look at how blockchain could disrupt banking.
Muah ha ha
Finally, a good cold email pitch from someone who understands CB Insights’ end-game.
 Go on, take it
From IoT-enabled mall kiosks to mobile coffee shops to vending machines for workout gear, we take a look at the trends reshaping grab-and-go retail. Clients can check them out here.
Raise your spirits, no booze needed
Alcohol consumption in the US dropped for the third year in a row in 2017, and global consumption saw only a 0.01% increase the same year.
Alcohol companies are moving into non-alcoholic alternatives. From liquor-free spirits to cannabis-infused drinks, we see where they're placing their bets.
Hold the server
Serverless computing is more popular than many other much-hyped cloud services. It grew from 12% adoption in early 2017 to 21% adoption early this year, making it the fastest-growing cloud service.
Clients can read our breakdown of how serverless computing works and why it's so popular here.
How do you pivot from build to buy?
Corporations often prefer building new products instead of buying them.
The decision to build vs. buy is something we'll be discussing at the upcoming TRANSFORM Conference.
One of the leaders we'll be talking about this with is ADP's chief strategy officer Don Weinstein. Don recently oversaw ADP's acquisition of WorkMarket — but before the deal, ADP had tried to build the product in-house.
We'll be reviewing the case study of this acquisition and how Don and ADP ultimately made the call to build vs. buy.
Join us for the conversation at TRANSFORM.
Buy a ticket here before ticket prices go up on September 7.
(Note: no vendors permitted at TRANSFORM. Only practitioners.)
The Industry Standard
CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.
CNN. Julia Horowitz (@juliakhorowitz) discusses how SoFi is working to get back on track after a year of scandals and quotes CB Insights analyst Max Ambramsky (@mabramsky22).
Forbes. John Mauldin (@johnfmauldin) writes about tech trends that will drive future economic growth and refers to CB Insights research.
Food Dive. Emma Liem (@emma_liem) discusses M&A in the coffee market and cites CB Insights research.
I love you.
Anand
@asanwal
P.S. On September 13, we'll be discussing the rise of smart cities. Register for the briefing here.
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