 Alphabet's quarterly revenue jumped 32%, to $75.3B, as the company benefited from last year's growth in digital advertising. Q4 marked the third straight quarterly sales record for the Google parent company, which continues to dominate the industry through sales of online search, YouTube, and internet ads. By the numbers: - For all of 2021, Alphabet reported a 41% YoY jump in revenue, reaching $257B.
- Despite supply constraints, it announced a quarterly sales record for its Pixel smartphones.
- In Q4, Google Cloud revenue grew 45% to $5.5B. Its losses dropped to $890M from $1.24B the year prior.
- Alphabet hired 6,500 employees last quarter, reaching a total workforce of 156,500.
More: - On Wednesday, Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which takes effect on July 15 and will make its shares more affordable.
- During the quarterly earnings call this week, CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged Web3 and said Alphabet is "definitely looking at blockchain."
- Facebook parent Meta will report its quarterly results later today, followed by Snap on Thursday.
THE VERGE 
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 Daniel Ahmad Sony PS5 shipments continue to fall short of demand amid the chip shortage. The company sold 3.9 million PS5 units during the last holiday quarter, an upswing from the previous quarter but still behind comparable PS4 sales. More: - As of last quarter, the company had shipped a total of 17.3 million PS5 consoles overall, below the 20.2 million PS4 units that sold during the same time period.
- Revenue in Sony's gaming division was down 8% for the quarter YoY, driven by the lower PS5 sales.
- However, its operating profit grew 12.1%, in part because the $399 Digital Edition PS5 still sells at a loss. Sony no longer sells the $499 PS5 at a loss.
- Sony expects the PS5 shortage will continue, particularly during the first half of 2022.
- The company has now lowered expected PS5 shipments for the entire fiscal year to 11.5 million, from 14.8 million.
- Sony's financial year ends on March 31.
ENGADGET
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India plans to launch a blockchain-based digital version of the rupee before April 2023. A central bank digital currency will provide a "big boost" for the digital economy and lead to a cheaper and more efficient currency management system, according to India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. More: - India's central bank plans to launch a digital rupee in the 2022-2023 financial year, which starts on April 1.
- The official virtual currency will be "based on "blockchain and other technologies," Sitharaman said.
- She also announced plans for a 30% tax on income from digital assets, placing profits on crypto and NFT trades in the highest tax bracket.
Background: - The announcement comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized cryptocurrencies, linking them to money laundering and terrorism financing.
- Late last year, India's government released a bill seeking to ban cryptocurrencies as a payment method.
- That bill has was not presented before Parliament and the government later said it's looking at how other nations plan to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Zoom-out: - Many country's central banks are pursuing central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, which differ from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
- China leads the way in its plans for a digital yuan, which it's been working on since 2014.
- Trials of the digital yuan are ongoing in major cities. It's also one of three payment systems for athletes at this month's Beijing Winter Olympics.
- In the U.S., the Federal Reserve just released a paper exploring the risks and benefits of a digital dollar. It has yet to issue an opinion on the idea but is taking public feedback.
COINTELEGRAPH
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 Michigan plans to debut a road that will wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they are traveling in real-time. The one-mile stretch in Detroit will be open to public drivers starting in 2023. More: - Michigan's Department of Transportation (DoT) just awarded a contract for the project to Electreon, an EV solutions company based in Israel.
- Electreon will build the inductive in-road charging system, which is considered a pilot project, in 2023.
- While the exact location is yet-to-be-announced, the road will be near the Ford-owned Michigan Central Station in Detroit, where Ford is planning a "mobility innovation district."
- Electreon will also work with NextEnergy and Jacobs Engineering Group on the project, which is sponsored by Ford, DTE Energy, and the city of Detroit.
- The project is mostly funded by $1.9M through Michigan's DoT and an undisclosed sum from Electreon, which has other pilot projects in Sweden, Germany, and Italy.
CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
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 A message from AXONIUS The software as a service (SaaS) model was a major paradigm shift in the history of IT — and has since become a go-to for many organizations. After all, SaaS models offer unquestionable benefits, like increased flexibility, accessibility, and cost savings. But as SaaS adoption continues to skyrocket, it's creating more complexity for IT and security teams. Tasks like gaining visibility into SaaS apps, monitoring spending, managing configuration, and licensing can feel complicated. Impossible, even. In this new white paper, Axonius explains why a modern, comprehensive approach to SaaS management — one that challenges what we think we know about the process — can help. Download "Navigating the Complexity of SaaS Management" and learn: - The top SaaS challenges — including shadow SaaS and SaaS spend — and how it impacts IT and security teams
- Current approaches to SaaS management — and their limitations
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 Companies in North America spent nearly $2B to buy 40,000 robots in 2021, a 28% jump from 2020, A3 data shows. The uptick highlights the growing use of industrial robots to perform simple tasks at factories and warehouses as the labor shortage continues. More: - Historically, automakers have purchased the most robotic systems to help manufacture vehicles at their facilities.
- That trend changed in 2020, when other industries collectively surpassed the robot orders of automakers.
- The e-commerce, metals, and consumer goods industries have reported the fastest growth in robot purchasing.
- There are also more "cobots," or those that work alongside humans, than ever before.
- Last week, logistics giant DHL announced a $15M investment to bring Boston Dynamics' box-moving Stretch robot to its North American warehouses.
- Elon Musk said Tesla's upcoming bipedal robot would get its start by moving parts around company factories.
REUTERS
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 Softbank's tech-focused Vision Fund invested $1.35B in autonomous driving company Cruise, which has now launched public robot taxi rides in San Francisco. A waitlist is now available for the free ride-hailing service, which has no backup safety drivers in the vehicles, a first for the city. More: - SoftBank invested the $1.35B following its initial $900M investment in GM-backed Cruise in 2018.
- The latest funding will help Cruise scale its technology across San Francisco and into other cities.
- In SF, the initial schedule during which the public would be able to use the service is 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Cruise has received permits required by the DMV for self-driving and is awaiting approval by the California Public Utilities Commission to be able to charge for rides.
- GM CEO Mary Barra has said the automaker could offer personal autonomous vehicles to consumers "later in the decade." Cruise is targeting a fleet of 1 million by 2030.
TECHCRUNCH
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- Ford plans to increase its spending on EVs by $10B-$20B, in addition to the $30B it is set to invest by 2025.
- Crisis Text Line, a mental health texting service, has stopped sharing its anonymized user data with for-profit sister company Loris.ai after complaints.
- Clearview AI secured a patent for its facial recognition tool that scrapes the web for publicly available photos and matches them with suspect photos using a proprietary algorithm.
- Shared e-scooter company Superpedestrian raised $125M as it prepares to launch a safety system that detects unsafe riding behaviors.
- We all know stocks are a great way to grow your money. But they're not the only way. That's why we've been reading the Alts newsletter.*
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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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