🔮 Aliens like us; nCov; GAFA smackdown; peak car; creative AI; vegans, libraries & email++ #255
Hi, I’m Azeem Azhar. I explore how our societies and political economy will change under the force of rapidly accelerating technologies and other trends.
💬 EV members can register to attend our new series of conversations on tackling the climate crisis. EV’s senior advisor, Diana Fox Carney, is bringing together a tremendous group of experts who will present and discuss energy, agriculture, technology innovation, and mental health with us over the next few months. Read more and register to attend here.
The near future
⚙️ The major tech firms announced results this week. Three things stood out, and they tell us where we are in the tech cycle. Phones are done, cloud is getting started, and consumer subscriptions matter.
Amazon and Microsoft are winning the battle for cloud computing. AWS, Amazon’s cloud business, hit a $40 billion run rate. It is a high margin business, and represents two-thirds of Amazon’s overall income. Microsoft’s Azure cloud business grew 62 per cent, and is at a …