1. This year's Super Bowl was the first to be hosted in a state with legal sports gambling, and while the Kansas City Chiefs won on the field, sportsbooks performed just as well during the game. FanDuel, owned by Flutter Entertainment and Fox Corporation, averaged 2 million active bettors on its online sportsbook throughout the event, accepting 50,000 bets per second at its peak. In Las Vegas, MGM's BetMGM sportsbook experienced not only its most successful Super Bowl but its highest-bet game ever. | |
2. Viewers watching this year's Super Bowl might have noticed the absence of automakers during commercial breaks. In 2022, the automotive industry was the largest segment for Super Bowl ads, with eight car brands spending $99.3M on commercials during the event. This year, as automakers focus on investing in their EV projects and preserving cash to prepare for an economic downturn, only GM, Kia, and Stellantis were willing to pay millions for an advertising slot during the Big Game. Q: Were you surprised by the lack of car commercials during this year's Super Bowl? Let us know at Inside.com. | |
3. Twilio will lay off 17% of its workforce, or 1,500 employees, as it restructures its business into two units — Twilio Data & Applications and Twilio Communications — according to a blog post by CEO Jeff Lawson. The layoff is Twilio's second in the past few months, as the company cut 11% of its workforce in September, leaving it with 8,992 employees. Q: Will Twilio conduct further layoffs in the next few months? Share your thoughts on Inside.com. | |
4. Ouster and Velodyne, two powerhouses in the LiDAR industry, have completed their merger of equals, forming a new entity that will keep the Ouster name and trade under OUST. The combined company will have 350 employees, 850 customers, and an estimated $315M in cash. LiDAR is a critical technology for many self-driving cars, but cooling enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles has led many LiDAR firms to consolidate or shut down. | |
5. Today, Meta announced that its Chief Business Officer, Marne Levine, will step down after 13 years with the company. Levine was appointed to the C-suite role a few months before Meta rebranded from Facebook and has been a strong proponent of its focus on the metaverse. She will step down from her role on Feb. 21 and remain an employee with Meta until she departs the company in the summer. | |
6. Ford Motors will move forward with plans to open a $3.5B electric vehicle battery plant in collaboration with Chinese-based partner Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), despite rising tensions between the U.S. and China. Under the partnership, Ford will control the plant through a wholly owned subsidiary and license the lithium iron phosphate technology from CATL. The facility, expected to open by 2026, will be located in Michigan and employ an estimated 2,500 people. Q: Should U.S. automakers stop relying on Chinese companies for EV battery technology? Tell us what you think at Inside.com. | |
7. After nearly two decades of operation, data analytics firm Palantir has posted its first profitable quarter. Palantir reported a net income of $31M on a GAAP basis for Q4, causing its stock to jump 20% in after-hours trading. |