Plus: Wells Fargo plans to roll out tokenized deposit service for corporate clients. And Anduril considers shipyard investment to build drone boats. Imani Moise hosts.
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[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_00] Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, August 4th. I'm Imani Moise for The Wall Street Journal. Spotify technology continues to grow its user base, hitting 777 million monthly active users at the end of June. But the cost of keeping those users around is increasing as well. The music streaming service reported second-quarter operating expenses rose 19% from a year ago.
[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00] The company cited increased marketing costs as well as cloud and AI-related spending for new app features. It recently rolled out listener-generated AI-powered podcasts and is developing an AI tool that lets music fans make remixes and cover songs within the app as a paid add-on. We exclusively report Wells Fargo plans to launch tokenized deposits for corporate and commercial clients this fall, the latest sign that big banks are embracing blockchain technology.
[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00] The fourth largest U.S. bank by assets said clients will be able to transfer, program, and settle funds around the clock through tokenized deposits, which are traditional funds represented as digital tokens on a blockchain. Wells Fargo chief financial officer told the journal that tokenized deposits will initially cover U.S. dollars and British pounds for cross-border payments. The bank will expand them next year into more countries and currencies based on demand.
[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00] And in another exclusive, we report Anderil Industries is in advanced talks with a Maryland port to build out a production site for the company's drone boats. That's according to people familiar with the matter. The Southern California-based defense startup has signed a memorandum of understanding with the operators of the historic Sparrows Point Yard in Baltimore County. Anderil's investment in building out a portion of the site for unmanned surface vessel production could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,
[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00] though it hasn't signed a lease and deal talks could still unravel. Anderil has steadily expanded into nearly all facets of defense contracting, from jets to submarines and counter-drone systems. And that's your TNB Tech Minute. We'll be back this afternoon with more.