Last week Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s much-anticipated prototype of its first humanoid robot, Optimus. Taking the stage at the brand’s yearly jamboree, the steely skeleton juddered around for a bit, then broke into a dance move which demonstrated as much rhythm as Theresa May. Motor skills aside, it’s an impressive start - prompting some to speculate Optimus will change the world, signalling a new era for robotics.
The Tesla prototype shows that big tech companies are staring down a big problem. The booming business models responsible for their dominance in the 2010s won’t keep them at the top for another decade. Tesla, as well as Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet, (MAAMA makes a pleasing acronym), are all casting about wildly for the next big thing. Those that don’t make successful inroads can look forward to the same fate as Compaq.
Meanwhile, there is a greater awareness of such companies’ more nefarious approaches. Techniques range from ad targeting, to user experience that encourages addiction. This sort of thing is contributing to a so-called ‘techlash’ where the public rail at the corrosive effect of these behemoths on our society.
Tech prospectors
The most pressing issue at hand is the fast-evolving nature of the sector itself. Consider how Nokia lost its position as an unassailable provider of mobile handsets by failing to anticipate the emergence of the smartphone. Now MAAMA are looking for the device that’s likely to supplant the iPhone or Galaxy, and all have alighted on VR.
The migration from smartphone to mixed reality is bad news for insurers apparently. UK insurer Aviva reported a 31 per cent increase in home contents claims involving VR headsets last year as people destroy their living rooms while reeling around the metaverse. While VR represents an inevitable step in how people use technology, the broader sector offers a dizzying array of horses for MAAMA to bet on. Quantum computing, Web3 and AI are just three hotly contested areas of future tech.
I’ve got IRL problems (but a switch ain’t one)
As new company divisions are spun out to investigate the potential of emerging digital frontiers, big tech is running into the sort of problems that are usually associated with conventional business titans that are more rooted in the physical world.
For instance, companies operating in Europe will by March 2023 be bound to a Digital Markets Act, a rulebook created by EU lawmakers designed to bring MAAMA to heel when it comes to anti-competitive practices. This will cause headaches for tech companies that have been used to operating with impunity. Last month, Margrethe Vestager, the official tasked with drawing up the bloc’s digital policies, managed to slap Google with the biggest antitrust fine ever for a European competition authority: even for a company with cash reserves as deep as Alphabet, $4.34 billion is an eye-watering sum.
Community corps
While MAAMA wrestles with antitrust rules and the ratcheting up of competition in the sector, our research at Bulbshare shows that consumers have a conflicted relationship with big tech. For instance, 61 per cent of our global insight community do not agree that big tech founders have society’s best interests at heart, and 71 per cent think that MAAMA companies have grown too large.
With the runaway capitalism that has come to categorise the biggest tech brands, it is little wonder that 70 per cent of our community think that it has a problem with ethics and sustainability too. But here’s the rub: 77 per cent of people we surveyed said that big tech makes life better. And 64 per cent think that companies like these make them feel happier. An overwhelming majority (84 per cent) said that big tech needs to give back to communities.
Elon Musk wants to sell you a future version of his Optimus robot for less than it costs to buy one of Tesla’s cars. Bringing the invention to market will take a significant vault in AI nous. While he and his MAAMA contemporaries are fighting over market share in emerging tech, they should consider the stat above. People care less about what they make, than how it contributes to their world - even if that thing is as impressive as a metal manservant to fold their laundry.
