The CEOs of Boeing and Airbus Americas have asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to delay next month's rollout of 5G services for phones, citing interference that could impact planes' ability to fly safely. AT&T and Verizon are planning to launch their C-band 5G wireless services in large cities on Jan. 5, though aviation officials have warned that it could result in massive flight delays during storms and cloudy weather. More: - In a letter, Boeing CEO David Calhoun and Airbus Americas CEO Jeffery Knittel said the 5G rollout could have an "enormous negative impact on the aviation industry."
- Critics note that 5G deployment could interfere with commercial planes' safety systems like radar altimeters, which help pilots land safely in poor visibility.
- During a Senate hearing last week, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said 5G deployment is the company's No. 1 concern in the near term.
- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby forecasted that 5G rollout would impact ~4 % of all flights, seeing them delayed, diverted, or canceled for thousands of passengers in 2022. “It would be a catastrophic failure of government,” he added.
- Earlier this month, the FAA issued an order outlining possible restrictions for systems used for landing in bad weather due to potential 5G interference.
GIZMODO 
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McDonald's has agreed to sell technology startup Dynamic Yield to Mastercard for an undisclosed amount. The fast-food chain acquired Dynamic in 2019, integrating its suggestive and personalized ordering tech in drive-thrus and digital kiosks in North America, Australia, and the U.K. More: - Dynamic uses data and machine learning to help businesses tailor services and digital promotions to their customers.
- Its SaaS platform takes into account factors like times of day and page views to make individualized product recommendations to customers in retail, banking, travel, and other industries.
- Mastercard said the acquisition will allow Dynamic to scale its technology to other businesses. McDonald's will remain a customer.
- The deal is expected to close in H1 2022. At that time, current CTO Ori Bauer will take over as CEO.
- In 2019, McDonald's also acquired voice-automation company Apprente in a bid to bring AI conversational technology to its drive-thrus. Both acquisitions were part of the company's "digital transformation" at the time.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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AT&T is selling its Xandr adtech division to Microsoft Corp after exploring a sale for over a year. Microsoft said the acquisition will help it speed up its "digital advertising and retail media solutions for the open web." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More: - Xandr, an online advertising platform, was formed when AT&T acquired AppNexus in 2018 for $1.6B.
- In 2020, Xandr was folded into AT&T's WarnerMedia, which is currently planning to merge with Discovery in a $43B deal expected to close in 2022.
- Microsoft plans to combine Xandr’s data-driven platform with its own technology and audience intelligence, it said.
This story is developing; check back later for updates. AXIOS
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 Credit: Xiaomi Xiaomi said it will unveil its flagship Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro smartphones in China on Dec. 28. The phones, the successors to last year's Xiaomi Mi 11, are set to launch globally in Q1 2022. More: - The phones are the first to be powered by Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.
- Xiaomi's marketing GM shared an image of the phones on Twitter, showing a central punch-hole selfie camera on the front of each phone, though not much else.
- According to reports, Xiaomi’s 12 series lineup could feature at least five phones, including a 12X, 12 Ultra, and 12 Mini.
- The Xiaomi Mi 11 series was revealed in December 2020 and launched worldwide in February 2021, suggesting a similar timeline for the 12 series.
- According to the IDC, Xiaomi claims a 13.4% share of the global smartphone market, ranking third after Samsung and Apple.
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Countries participating in United Nations talks failed to reach an agreement on how to regulate lethal autonomous weapons, also known as "killer robots." The U.S., Japan, Australia, South Korea, India, Russia, and Israel currently oppose efforts to establish a "legally binding instrument" that could ban the weapons. They have agreed to "intensify" discussions in the future. More: - Lethal autonomous weapons systems, or LAWS, are technologies that can operate, select, and potentially kill targets without any human intervention.
- Regulators have faced pressure to regulate them after a UN panel confirmed this year that the first autonomous drone attack without human interference took place in Libya in 2020.
- Last week, representatives convened during the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons but failed to reach a consensus on a ban. The meeting occurs every five years and has led to restrictions on incendiary weapons, land mines, and other weaponry.
- At least 30 countries have voiced support for a full ban. Similarly, China has called for a limited set of restrictions on military AI.
- The U.S. supports a non-binding "code of conduct" rather than a blanket ban, saying it's the best way to "help states promote responsible behavior and compliance with international law."
- From 2016-2020, the U.S. budgeted roughly $18B for autonomous weapons systems.
WIRED
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 Social gaming platform Rec Room raised $145M in a funding round led by Coatue Management, placing its valuation at $3.5B. The startup says the funding will allow it to hire additional employees and grow its platform for user-created experiences, which are accessible through PCs, mobile, consoles, and virtual reality headsets. More: - "Rec Room" launched in 2016 as a free PC VR app where users create rooms and sell their own items through in-game currency.
- It has since added support for Meta Quest, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox One, Steam, and, as of August, Android.
- Expanding to other devices has helped its lifetime users more than double in the last year, from 15 million to 37 million currently.
- In March, Rec Room said it had raised $100M at a $1.25B valuation, making it the first VR software startup to reach "unicorn" status
- Another contender for the metaverse, Roblox, went public in March, giving the user-created gaming platform a total market cap of $38B.
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- EV company Nikola has agreed to pay the SEC $125M to settle civil charges that it defrauded investors by misleading them about its tech advancements, reservations, and business prospects.
- Jack Dorsey said he believes bitcoin will replace the U.S. Dollar. The Block CEO and Twitter co-founder was responding to a tweet from rapper Cardi B.
- Concept creator Ian Zelbo shared new artistic renders of Apple's forthcoming AR/VR headset, which are based on reports citing internal images of the device due out in late 2022.
- Meta Platforms Inc. is spending $60M to buy the trademark assets of U.S. bank Meta Financial.
- TikTok will partner with Virtual Dining Concepts and GrubHub to launch delivery-only "TikTok Kitchens" across the U.S.
- Researchers from MIT Media Lab and partners developed an open-source pipeline for creating realistic digital characters using AI.
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 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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