Crypto News: At aviation’s Wimbledon, not a lot of deals

Today, Benedikt Kammel takes us to the Farnborough International Airshow, where one big name will be somewhat scarce: Boeing. Plus: Why parents should be cautious about Roblox, and why a grocery store is suddenly trendy. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up.

Nestled in the British countryside an hour's drive west of London, the town of Farnborough could be described as the Wimbledon of aviation. Like the home of the posh tennis tournament, this leafy backwater doesn't see much happen in normal times. Then, every other July, the piercing sound of jet engines awakens the town as tens of thousands of executives, exhibitors and kerosene-loving gawkers descend on the Farnborough International Airshow, the aviation industry's biggest showcase for all things wings.

It's where some of the biggest aircraft purchases are sealed, fighter jets perform acrobatic stunts and archrivals Boeing Co. and Airbus SE face off with their latest offerings. But not this year. Boeing has already said it isn't bringing any planes over from the US, and the torrent of orders that has been the hallmark of shows past risks receding to a trickle.

Boeing has been severely hamstrung, and arguably humbled, since a near-catastrophic accident—remember when that panel blew out of the side of a plane?—threw it into crisis in January. The company has been turned inside out, management and all, as it tries to fix its manufacturing.

Airbus, meanwhile, is encountering its own (less dramatic) turbulence. The European planemaker simply can't get its hands on the millions of parts it needs to build its aircraft. Many of its bestselling jets are stuck on the ground with engines that need fixing.

It's not like there are no buyers. Ordering 100 jets or more in one fell swoop is the norm these days as a collective sense of FOMO grips the global industry. But neither of the dominant players in civil aviation can provide planes in the quantities airlines are demanding. Looking to buy one of those popular Airbus A320s? Call us in 2030. If you're lucky, we might have something.

Some airlines are going down the experimental route, snapping up diminutive electrically powered aircraft bristling with battery-powered overhead propellers, like drones on steroids. Farnborough will be full of them, their manufacturers trying to convince prospective buyers that the future—much like in the car industry—is electric.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operated by Qatar Airways, at the air show on Monday. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

But the biggest, fuel-guzzlingest jets will draw the loudest cheers from spectators and get the most attention at the event. Although Boeing isn't bringing over any aircraft of its own, it can count on corporate friends for some moral support. Qatar Airways will swoop in with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, as well as a Gulfstream G700 for those who prefer to travel in private jet mode.

And the carrier plans to reveal its latest business-class offering. While details are scarce, Qatar is sure to double down on opulence: Think cocooned suites padded out with pillows as soft as clouds, more movies than you'd need for multiple round-the-world trips, and Champagne flutes that never run dry. Who knows, there might even be strawberries and cream. It is, after all, the Wimbledon of aviation.

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Illustration by Elliot Gray

Roblox, the multibillion-dollar gaming platform, was launched in the early 2000s under the premise that games were the next frontier for education software. Kids could design multiplayer online enclaves using a set of building blocks and a simple coding language. Unlike other companies' complex, graphics-intensive games, Roblox's were the kind of thing kids might imagine during recess, like Experience Gravity or Work at a Pizza Place. The platform's weird, whimsical ethos attracted thousands, then millions of kids, who moved through its worlds as Lego-like avatars with frozen smiles and beady eyes, spending Robux to spruce themselves up with virtual wigs, clothes, dragon tails or wings. Eager to access young eyeballs, big brands crafted their own games, such as Gucci Town and Nikeland. Developers received a 30% cut of any sales, and Roblox took the rest. Bookings last year, mostly from Robux, reached $3.5 billion.

With 78 million daily active users today, Roblox has become social media for the youngest generation. Every second, according to Roblox, it processes more than 50,000 chat messages—Hey loser, cute outfit, let's be friends—through its moderation protocols, a combination of artificial intelligence technology and human workers that the company says scans all user content, including audio and text. Roblox has about 3,000 moderators, significantly fewer than TikTok, which has three times the number of daily users but employs 40,000 moderators. (Roblox says the number of moderators isn't an indicator of quality.)

Unlike other mass-market social media apps, which bar kids under 13 or shunt them into sanitized versions, Roblox was made for children. More than 40% of its users are preteens, and with that market come special hazards.

Since 2018, police in the US have arrested at least two dozen people accused of abducting or abusing victims they'd met or groomed using Roblox, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Businessweek. These predators weren't just lurking outside the world's biggest virtual playground. They were hanging from the jungle gym, using Robux to lure kids into sending photographs or developing relationships with them that moved to other online platforms and, eventually, offline.

Roblox's chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, calls safety and civility "foundational" to the company. He notes that the platform's moderation systems scan all chat and other digital content, bleeping out inappropriate words and blocking players from sending images. Those systems, which can intervene in under a minute, are even more restrictive for kids under 13, Kaufman says.

He rejects the idea that Roblox has a systemic problem with child endangerment and describes the issue as industrywide. "Tens of millions of people of all ages have a safe and positive experience on Roblox every single day," he says.

But Olivia Carville and Cecilia D'Anastasio interviewed a number of people who've worked for Kaufman who say Roblox is on its back foot in its battle against predators. Read more from the investigation here: Roblox's Pedophile Problem

Erewhon focuses on niche, locally produced, organic foods. Photo: Alamy

The rumors are true: Everyone who shops at Erewhon, the notorious mini-chain of luxury organic grocery stores in Los Angeles, is hot. Or at least it certainly looks that way when you enter the company's stores, propelled as you are directly into a scrum of young, beautiful Angelenos queued up to buy tubs of takeout, $20 smoothies designed by Hailey Bieber or Kendall Jenner and tote bags emblazoned with the Erewhon logo. When I visited outposts at the Grove and Venice Beach earlier this year, everyone was with a friend, a dog or both. All were wearing little tank tops and big pants and having the kind of relaxed weekday afternoon that suggested many of them had the types of careers Hollywood bequeaths on the preternaturally beautiful: actor, DJ, TikToker, nepo baby.

Erewhon has only 10 shops, all situated in Los Angeles County's toniest neighborhoods, but following an infusion of investor cash in 2019, its specter has fallen on the food business far beyond Southern California. The company caters to a clientele disproportionately flush with cultural influence. Phil Lempert, a longtime grocery industry analyst, described owners Tony and Josephine Antoci—who bought the 58-year-old company in 2011—as newly minted "grocery royalty." Muscling onto its shelves requires passing muster with Josephine, who casts a strict eye over every product's ingredient list and sourcing. Her approval or lack of it has become a make-or-break moment for up-and-coming food and wellness brands. "Erewhon has been made out to be a trendsetter, but we don't identify that way," she told me in an email.

Amanda Mull visited the trendiest grocery in America to see firsthand what makes it so special. The answer is more normie than you'd think: The Real Reason Erewhon Is a Cult Brand

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