66 TIME April 11/April 18, 2022
TITANSIBMTaking climate
into account
IBM and CEO Arvind
Krishna have been using
their expertise in artificial
intelligence to help other
companies navigate the cli-
mate crisis. For instance, its
new Environmental Intel-
ligence Suite offers AI-
powered dashboards, maps,
and alerts that help compa-
nies in industries like agri-
culture and aviation prepare
for storms or measure their
own emissions. IBM also
recently acquired Envizi,
a software firm that mea-
sures environmental impacts
across supply chains. “It’s
about making sure we can
use sustainability informa-
tion to impact day-to-day
operations,” says Kareem
Yusuf, general manager of
IBM AI Applications.
—Don SteinbergMETAMainstreaming the metaverse
Appearing as a cartoon avatar in an Octo-
ber keynote, then Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg made two huge announce-
ments: his company would rename itself
Meta, and it would focus from that point
forward on building the “metaverse,” a vir-
tual realm that believers say heralds the
future of the internet. The move immedi-
ately mainstreamed the concept, pressured
rivals like Microsoft and Google to trumpet
similar efforts, and sparked an investment
frenzy in companies working on anything
perceived as even remotely metaverse-
adjacent. But investors have since cooled
on the idea, and Apple’s ad-targeting
clampdown didn’t help either—by March
2022, Meta’s value was nearly half of the
$1 trillion peak it hit in June 2021.
Moreover, concerns remained about
whistle- blower Frances Haugen’s revela-
tions that the company knew more than it
had previously revealed about Facebook’s
detrimental effects on users’ mental health
and global democracy. —Billy PerrigoBYD CO. LTD.
CHARGING UP CHINA
While U.S. automakers like Tesla are
making gains in China’s EV market,
the Shenzhen-based BYD Co. Ltd. is
becoming a domestic power player
in its own right. Under CEO Wang
Chuanfu, the company sold almost
600,000 all-electric and plug-in hybrid
vehicles in China—the world’s largest
auto market—last year, a 232% annual
increase. BYD’s EVs can also be found
everywhere from Brazil to Australia. The
company, backed by Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway, moreover provides
a range of other environmentally friendly
solutions in more than 50 countries and
regions, from electric buses, forklifts,
and sanitation vehicles to rail systems
and batteries. —Amy Gunia
MARK ZUCKERBERG