Hi there,

Dating in 2020 is wild.

Yesterday we talked about the billionaire who’s looking for a life partner to travel to the moon with him.

But if you’re stuck on Earth and in a long-distance relationship, this one’s for you. 

You can now buy pairs of electronic bracelets that send light vibrations and a blink of colored light to let your partner know that you’re thinking about them. The bracelets are connected to an app that shows info about your significant other’s time zone, weather, etc.

The goal of the bracelets was initially to simulate random gestures of affection from far away, but users say they’ve become more of a method to communicate when they don’t have access to their phone. 

How romantic.

Give it to me straight, bot
 

Advances in robotics are making prosthetics lighter, more affordable, and more connected to the brain. But that’s just 1 example of how robots are changing the face of medicine. 

From bionic limbs to microbots that you can swallow, read more about these advances here. 

Free, but at what cost?

Help.

Mo' money, mo' Gs

Yesterday, US senators introduced a bill to pump $1B+ into domestic 5G development. Huawei spent 15x that in 2018.

We dig into what 5G is and why it's so important in our explainer. Check it out here.

Mad about Plaid

Visa’s $5.3B acquisition of Plaid reflects its broader interest in obtaining a slice of the $700B fintech market.
 

From transaction rationale to the financial infrastructure landscape, we break the deal down in our client-only brief. 

Bloomberg. Julie Verhage covers Visa’s Plaid takeover and references CB Insights’ Q3’19 fintech report.

Fast Company. Ruth Reader (@RuthReader) reports on Cigna's new video-based primary care service and quotes intelligence analyst Marissa Schlueter.

P.S. Another 7 speakers were just added to the lineup for Future of Fintech (June 14-16, SF). Check them out here.

P.P.S. We're hiring a senior product designer. Does this sound like you? We'd love to chat.

The fourth pillar of democracy. Is “the media” too tough on tech? 

Margins

Yum, in-vitro burgers. More sustainable food could soon come from unicellular life. 

The Guardian
 

Silicon Valley to Wall St: “OK Boomer.” Banks want tech entrepreneurs' wealth, but techies don't trust the "old guard."

Bloomberg

Google is already my doctor. Google is expanding its effort to collect health data on millions of Americans.

Wall Street Journal

A clear danger. Glass buildings are responsible for 1B bird deaths in the US annually.
New Republic