| | | | | Last week, the most influential leaders in tech gathered at the Terranea Resort for the third edition of Code Conference. It was an incredible three days of conversations and connections, and we're already looking ahead to Code 2017. Here are highlights from the week, and we encourage you to visit Recode for detailed coverage and full videos of the interviews. You can also subscribe to Recode Replay to listen to Code sessions on the go. | | | FROM AMAZON TO SPACE Will we build factories in space in order to " save Earth?" In a rare interview, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos joined Walt Mossberg onstage for a far-reaching conversation that covered topics from the growth of artificial intelligence and the company's voice-controlled Alexa platform to its experiments with brick-and-mortar stores and controversial workplace culture. Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, weighed in on the Peter Thiel-Gawker fight (his advice: " develop a thick skin"), and made it clear that he's not scared of taking on Donald Trump, saying that Trump should expect — and welcome — press scrutiny as an American presidential candidate. | | | INTERNET TRENDS Wednesday kicked off with a Code Conference tradition: Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends report. The entire 213-page deck is available on Recode, and is well worth reviewing in detail. Three major themes emerged from the wide range of topics Meeker covered: First, the internet is seeing slowing global growth. Second, in the next five years, 50 percent of all searches will be done by either image or speech. And third, with context and time, messaging apps could rival the smartphone's home screen as the place for interaction. Here are more key takeaways. | | | CISCO PERSPECTIVES
The only thing more impressive than the speakers at Code is the fast pace of change and innovation being driven by the companies and organizations they represent. Like many of us that attended the conference last week, Cisco is working on solutions that will help our customers transform their businesses and industries. Based on last week's Code sessions, those challenges are huge, and have the potential to truly change the world, whether it is smarter machines, self-driving cars, space travel, gender equality and education for all, or long-sought cures for disease. Each year at Code, we are amazed at the ways connectivity and collaboration can inspire visionary ideas. Thank you to the Code Conference team. We look forward to next year's discussion.
| | | MAKING PHILANTHROPY INNOVATIVE Bill and Melinda Gates made a special onstage appearance together to talk with Walt Mossberg about their philanthropic work, and how they apply what they've learned in the business world to their efforts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Melinda explained why she's " all-in on family planning" and improving women's access to voluntary contraception. Bill discussed his commitment to eradicating polio globally, which he hopes will happen as early as 2017. Switching gears to talk about artificial intelligence, one of his other passions, Bill said " the dream is finally arriving," though he acknowledged that the rise of AI presents unique challenges, such as the elimination of existing jobs, and the need and desire for humans to remain in control. | | | INSIDE THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg and CTO Mike Schroepfer joined Kara Swisher onstage Wednesday to talk about how the tech giant is handling recent controversies, like the allegation that Facebook has a liberal bias that influences its "Trending Topics" selections, a charge the social network denies. Regarding Facebook board member Peter Thiel's involvement in the Gawker lawsuit, Sandberg said Thiel wasn't using company resources, so it's not an issue for Facebook. Looking ahead, Schroepfer described three key areas Facebook is focusing on: Extending the reach of the internet to all people, researching and developing artificial intelligence; and building virtual and augmented reality experiences. | | | TELLING THE TRUTH IN PUBLIC Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared onstage together to share the story of how they met in Ferguson, Missouri, during the 2014 protests that followed the shooting of Michael Brown by police, and to discuss Twitter's role in enabling movements like #BlackLivesMatter. Asked by Peter Kafka if the platform has to be neutral, Dorsey defended the idea of all voices being free to be heard, even if some of them aren't positive. McKesson agreed, and said he remains a loyal Twitter advocate, despite having blocked more than 19,000 Twitter followers, "one at a time," some of them because of death threats. His focus is on how to "invite more people into the conversation" to promote greater diversity. | | | GOING INTO ORBIT Walt and Kara had plenty to talk about with Elon Musk, who runs both Tesla Motors and SpaceX. On competition in the autonomous-car market, Musk acknowledged that Google has done a great job showing the potential of self-driving vehicles, but said he doesn't see the company as a threat to Tesla. And Earth is only the beginning for Musk: He wants humans to be a multi-planet species, and is confident that SpaceX can play a role by launching a rocket to Mars by 2018. As far as his own plans for space travel, he said he can see himself going into orbit in the next four to five years — not quite the same as making it to Mars and back, but he'll keep working on that. PS: For a look at the full Code 2016 program, check out our Code Digital Companion. |
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