>> live from pier three in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west." i'm emily chang. oculus vr ceo speaks exclusively to "bloomberg west" outside of the videogame conference in l.a. the facebook deal went from handshake to signed agreement in less than a week. uber was the target of massive protests in europe today. taxidrivers are upset that uber drivers are not subject to the same rules and regulations they are.

uber responded and is allowing london's black cabs the ability to use the uber apps. elon musk shows off his new dragon capsule to lawmakers in washington. musk lobbied lawmakers to put in a good word about space x over at the pentagon. to our lead story of the day, virtual reality may be the next big thing in the videogame world, with companies ranging from facebook to sony believing in the potential of this technology. this week at the annual video gaming expo in l.a., sony showed off a virtual reality headset that it calls project morpheus, and facebook shocked many early this year when it announced the $2 billion deal to buy oculus vr, whose headsets of not even hit the market yet.

oculus has had a big presence at e3. jon erlichman is standing by with oculus ceo and cofounder for an exclusive interview. jon? >> thanks a lot. the oculus story is an incredible one. just a couple of years ago, the ceo was trying to figure out, should i join this company. thanks for joining us. when you think back over the last couple of years, it was here at e3 that people got a taste of what oculus might be. >> it has been an incredible ride. the community is a big part of this as well. everybody got behind it. launching on kick starter crowd funding is something you could not do in the past. it is something we were able to take advantage of technology today.

within 24, 48 hours, $1 million of pledging came in. the company was off to the races, and has been an awesome ride since. >> some people still fascinated by facebook's interest in oculus. you'd been swapping messages with mark zuckerberg and got him to come to headquarters. he tried out the technology and said what? >> i want to help. when mark wants to help -- he's a powerful guy, and a smart guy, and he shared the vision we have. we all got together, and mark zuckerberg just shared the same vision. that is something we started

the company foundation on, how do we get into as many living rooms and homes and hands and eyes as possible. >> you were saying to me you got to facebook headquarters for the first time since the deal was announced recently? >> it was a pretty wild way to do a deal. it was the best experience i've had. this is my third company. they did the deal on a handshake to the signing of the agreement within a week, and really within four days or so. we did not sleep much. it was interesting going back and having the memories of the all nighters to get this deal done. it showed passion. it was incredibly fun to get that done. >> we are at a big gaming event. you have a gaming background. surely oculus has strong ties to the future of gaming. in your positioning of what oculus could be, especially as part of facebook, you talked about communication and the evolution of things like face time and skype. how are you balancing the time and energy and focus of the oculus team, which you told me

is growing quickly? is it 50% focused on gaming, 50% focused on everything else? >> we are really game developers at heart. the team is largely based on game developers. we have the guys who brought us quake one. we have a lot of the biggest names in the industry. these legendary engineers and top talents have come together. we are really focused on the game market. a lot of people say, it will go to communications and these other areas, and now oculus is part of facebook and they will not be focusing on gaming as much. that's not true. we are focusing on gaming. the foundation is built on a game engine, a 3-d theme you have to render in real time at

an incredibly high frame rate, which is what developers do best. >> sony has its own technology, project morpheus, it is focusing on at e3. have you tried the technology? >> not yet. i'm hoping to at the show. there is positive feedback. we are happy to see other companies getting into vr. it validates that the whole industry will be very big, very fast. >> but they will be a competitor of yours? >> we don't look at them as a competitor. we have a closer relationship to sony than to just about any other company, with them being in the vr space as well. they are a company that is very focused on their console. we are very focused on vr. the unique side of oculus is that we are now well over 100 people. some of the smartest and best engineers in the industry have joined with a single focus, vr core tech, vr platform. jason rubin, the founder of

naughty dog, brought us those great console games in the early days. >> right now we think of that headset experience. give us a timeframe of being able to pull out sunglasses and experiencing this technology. what is the pricing of this? is it something facebook might give away to users because they want them to be enjoying the experience? what will happen over the next couple of years? >> we don't know. we got into it with a duct tape, hot glue gun prototype. in less than two years, we are getting really close to that consumer experience. internally at oculus, we do have the consumer prototype. have a consumer prototype that is significantly less weight. you barely feel this on your

head. it has a lot of core technology in it where you can do six degree freedom tracking. the prototype -- i think we have had hundreds of people in, and a handful of people have complained about this disorientation. the elephant in the room of what about motion sickness is behind us. we are focusing on what will be the magical content in vr that brings us life and attracts millions. in the future, like you said, hundreds of millions of people with sunglasses. that is something we got together on with the vision. really looking at how to get to one billion people in vr. huge focus on gaming. ultimately, it will bring this next-generation, final generation of face-to-face communication. you will be able to sit there and have this conversation with each other.

that face-to-face communication will be a kind of longer horizon driver. >> exciting times. thanks a lot. brendan iribe of oculus. the latest from e3. >> jon, we will see later in the show. you have a lot of great interviews coming up. taxi drivers in europe hit the brakes in protest over uber. we are headed to the scene of one of the biggest protests in london. ♪

>> welcome back. i'm emily chang. protests over uber have caused a

traffic standstill in europe. more than 30,000 taxi and limo drivers have taken their caps off the streets in protest of the ride hailing app. in trafalgar square, a major rally took place. olivia, what is the latest on the ground? >> up until about an hour ago, the area was a two-mile radius from here to trafalgar square. the center of london was essentially traffic come to a standstill. complete gridlock, several thousand taxi drivers came out of their cars and turn off the engines. there were several hundred policeman trying to keep the order. things did go quite smoothly. there were no reports of arrests that i heard of. taxi drivers are angry here. they say uber is operating illegally. they say the app functions as a [indiscernible] itself. uber said, as of this morning you can order a black cab

through huber. that caused a lot of commotion as well. i spoke to the chairman of the london cab club, and his response was that uber can stick it. he thinks are ever's will move on to wilbur. he thinks if they did, they would be [indiscernible] he said, are you losing business to uber? he said, no. he said, it is a very heavily regulated industry, and they're angry for the municipal authority letting one company operate without going through all the legal channels they had to go through, training for years to become black cab drivers, and paying to get these licenses. here comes this upstart, making just as much money without doing. >> uber is saying that app sign-up shot up 850%. if this backfiring on cab drivers?

>> the winner in all of this is going to be uber. up 850% today versus last wednesday. an enormous spike in traffic. i talked to people today, they were booed and it was pretty uncomfortable. there is a sense that londoners resent the black taxi drivers for bringing the city to its knees. it is a similar scene in paris, where the two airports were almost blocked off for several hours. madrid, milan, berlin -- everywhere the drivers' issue is different. this a manifestation of frustration that this disruptive startup technology is shaking up this regulated industry. they are saying their livelihoods are threatened. >> we will check in on paris right now. olivia sterns in london. for more on uber's reaction, i'm joined by the regional general manager for uber, who oversees

uber's operations in paris and other parts of europe. pierre, what are the demonstrations like there? in the past they have cracked windshields, traffic chaos -- what is going on there? >> what we're seeing is pretty simple across europe. taxis are trying to bring cities at a standstill, while uber is working around-the-clock to continue to bring safer, more reliable ways for people to move around. >> overnight you guys launched uber taxi in london. what is the state of uber taxi and the rest of europe? >> actually, we don't offer at the moment our technology to taxi drivers outside london in europe. this is something we do in markets across the world. the focus should be on how the technology can make the assets of the city better, utilizing

interests of consumers. >> consumers seemed to have made it clear that they want uber. sign-up shot up 850% overnight. >> we have similar trends across europe. in barcelona, sign-ups were multiplied by 11. across the rest of europe, the sign-up trends were pretty much the same, multiplied by six to eight x. >> you discounted trips 50% when riders split the fare with others to cut down congestion. how do you see these protests and other regulatory issues you are facing impacting your expansion plans in the rest of europe? what's the plan? >> we have seen a ton of support from riders and drivers. we have continued to expand the products.

just coming back on that promo you mentioned, the job for us today is to make sure that after a tough day like this one we can move as many people as possible around the city. this is what we're putting in place on promo to get people to share the assets on a day like today. >> uber does have pricing power in london. black cabs are historically quite expensive. how does uber pricing play out in the rest of europe? is it that much cheaper everywhere else as well? >> it must have a market. we offer a range of offers. some of them are more expensive than taxis, or a typically high-end service. on the other end of the spectrum, we offer uber pop, a ridesharing product. typically 60% below taxi

pricers. >> olivia was speaking earlier about cabdrivers refusing to change over to uber. in san francisco, i know that many uber drivers are former taxi drivers. do you see a lot of people fleeing the taxicabs to come work for uber instead? what is that process been like? >> it's actually a great point. we do see across a number of markets, driver switching over. uber is bringing them an opportunity they did not have before, the opportunity to start their own business and make a living out of their own work, and have the flexibility and times when they want to work, organize their work how they want to. uber's european regional manager. thank you. >> coming up, big day for the gaming industry. microsoft announces a slew of new games for its xbox console. phil spencer, next on "bloomberg west." ♪

>> back to the e3 gaming expo in l.a. now it's focus is all on gaming. jon erlichman back with us now from l.a. how does the strategy seemed to be shifting out there? >> there are a lot of gamers at e3. xbox wanted to focus on that group. phil spencer is a guy who outside of e3 spends a lot of time in l.a. there is an original tv series

focus on the xbox game. >> i love l.a. good show for us here at e3. >> the fact that this year is really about the gamers -- give us context on how much game-playing takes place on the xbox console. how many hours per day or per week, just to try to understand why you guys are so focused on that. >> one of our focuses is with xbox one was to put it at the center of all of your entertainment. we are looking now at xbox one's in the home. we will have 5, 6 hours a day that that box is used. using voice. we have had over a billion voicecommands on xbox one since launch.

>> we are kind of at that point now in the release of xbox one where the real xbox enthusiasts have their hands on it. now comes the next leg of the broader appeal, broader group of potential buyers. what role do the gamers, the people who will be commenting on everything you are showcasing here play in helping to extend the sales of the xbox franchise? >> critical. those early adopters in any consumer categories are the people giving you feedback on things you will try to do. every year we will try to win that core gamer, not just because of the great audience -- also somebody who will give you feedback on the new things you are doing. a lot of the new things impact the broader audience over time. grade winning that core gamer year after year is a core focus at xbox.

>> halo is -- you are already looking ahead to the next chapter of that story. you got a lot of kudos from the fact that you are taking previous versions of that franchise and making them available on one disc through xbox one. how come you guys did not do it sooner? >> you would have thought the beginning of the xbox one generation -- our first full holiday coming up this november, you will have the halo master chief collection -- all four of those on one disc available for $60. >> last year at e3 there was a big focus on the television initiative. there was the discussion about steven spielberg doing a halo tv show. there were some reports of possibly teaming up with showtime on that? any light you can shed? >> we are not announcing anything around that opportunity here. what we are talking about here is part of the master chief collection, we have halo nightfall, a collaboration with ridley scott. halo is one of those stories that can transcend games. we have seen great success in books and video. we will continue to look at how we can make more people fall in love with the halo universe. >> thanks a lot. phil spencer of xbox one. >> we will be right back with more "bloomberg west." ♪

>> you are watching "bloomberg west." here is a check of your top headlines. amazon is in a contract is good with another company, this time blocking pre-orders of certain warner bros. movies. they are still available for digital download. they are also in a contract feud with a publishing company. and the u.s. shopping website that features specialty stores and project not available at

major retailers. shopping is supposed to open soon and will be by invitation only. all this comes as alibaba prepares to go public later in the year. go pro will seek a valuation of $3 billion when it goes public. they intend to sell 17 million shares. they are also pitching themselves as a media company that distributes video. we head back to the videogame conference in l.a. jon erlichman is live. what do you got next? >> we want to talk a little bit from the game developers' side. electronic arts is a company we cover closely. last year we were talking about who would be the next ceo.

they went inside. andrew wilson has played a key role over the years. listen, you were announced as the ceo late last year. what has been the priority for you? what would you say you have been able to accomplish so far? >> i have grown up in this company. it's a great company. we have fantastic people who come to work every day. it was just that maybe we weren't doing all we could. my objective number one was to re-instill a player first culture inside the organization. if you look at the games we are showing this week, i feel i have been making real progress. the feedback has been really positive. >> let's elaborate on that.

that is the message. you say, game players, we are here for you. you let them know what the feedback is early in the process? >> when you think about player first, it a lens you look at the world through. it's the way you make the decisions. we made a decision to move need for speed up. we moved it out of here and got more time. you saw at our press briefing we showed games that aren't going to be out for three years. we open ourselves up. we invite the gamers and say,

tell us what you think. >> what about the marketing opportunity? world cup is something you have always been passionate about. are there any tieups? >> for sure. there was a time i grew up making fifa games. we released the world cup. we have fifa in china. they have world cup content coming through. we have really tried to harness the enthusiasm at the world cup this year so players can have fun with it. >> let's shift from sports to star wars. disney is hard at work on the next star wars gnome. it has been clear what you guys are doing doesn't have to mix

with the same storyline. yet i believe the timing is relatively early next year. what should we think about with strategy? >> the star wars universe is an amazing universe. many of us grew up with this universe. we want to use this interactive media to immerse themselves. it is true to the star wars fiction that gives lawyers a chance to interact in a different way.

our objective is to give you a way into the universe. it's to give you a way to step into the star wars universe. >> you feel more than ever the hollywood model of depending on the franchise. >> i want to move into the live service is. if you think about star wars, i want to be part of the experience. we have seen people play the sims for five years. our goal is to deliver you an experience you play across platforms. >> we spoke with the head of oculus. a lot of us around virtual

reality. >> we have the great fortune of working with some of these partners. a lot of things are coming in behind the scenes i will not announce today. i believe the concept is going to be something gamers want. you put the goggles on and go to a different place. that is what we do. we have a series of teams prototyping and saying, how do we deliver something that isn't

a gimmick and how can we deliver the inspired service? >> we will send it back to you. >> a picture worth a thousand words. immigration reform is potentially tied to the tech community. that is next.

>> this is bloomberg west. eric cantor was shockingly defeated in last heights virginia primary and will stop down as house majority leader in late july. the congressman was pushing for immigration reform, a cause that many ceos support. take a look at this ad run by cantor's

opponent. >> he represents corporations. >> the photograph of cantor with mark zuckerberg, sheryl sandberg, and mark andreessen. was it immigration reform that brought down the congressman? what does it mean? voter turnout was low, but was immigration reform his downfall? >> immigration reform had a lot to do with his downfall. this issue of documenting illegals does not play well with middle america.

this is what led to it. i don't think comprehensive immigration reform ever had a chance. what happened last night showed it. >> what kind of immigration reform does stand a chance? you still think there is hope for some measures. >> i have and saying we should focus on low hanging fruit. i don't think any american would say we don't want job creating entrepreneurs coming here and creating new companies. the churches and most americans would open their heart and they, yes, we need to legalize these children. if we had focused, we could get the majority of immigration reform through. instead we got caught up on providing a path to citizenship. that's a no-go for the american public because they haven't dealt with this issue. we learned it the hard way.

>> the tech community has been lobbying for high-skilled workers to get more engineers in this country. as it stands, how much hope is there to reform on that measure this year or in the next congressional term? >> i leave it to the president to take the leadership. if they break up immigration reform there is hope some legislation will get through. it has to be done piece by piece. let's provide more green cards to the millions of skilled workers stuck in limbo. they are not taking jobs away. they are already here. let's give them their paperwork. let's go through the other issues one by one solving them rather than trying to solve everything at the same time and getting a complete mess, which is where we are headed.

>> in the united states, is there really a dearth of engineers? paint a picture of a person visiting who has these skills but can't get a job and can't pay. >> there are a lot of people who are highly skilled who cannot get jobs. in silicon valley they are starved for talent. google is not doing this because they cannot get cheap labor. they don't care about labor costs. they are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and all they care about is getting the best people to join them. best people to join them. they have moved to silicon valley. you have a tough situation. this is a part of these battles. they should be able to hire anyone they need. it shouldn't need that you have some parts of america dragging

down the most innovative parts of america. this is a lose lose battle we are in right now. >> what about ford? a just announced a $250,000 ad campaign before eric cantor's loss. how big a blow is this? >> this is a blow to anyone endorsing immigration. this is our loss as much as it is anyone else's. >> what can they do? >> we have to start going to the president and our congressmen and saying it's not all or nothing. don't hold us hostage because you are trying to get more votes. what we need to boost the economy and help the economy is to solve our problems. we need to divide and conquer and get the things we need.

there are things we would support like the dream act. let's provide temporary residence. they don't care about citizenship. they want the right to be able to come and go as they please. this is what we need to come to the bottom of. they need to push for the right things. >> you think other republicans are going to move to the right now that cantor has suffered this loss? >> i don't think republicans are the problem. republicans are even more sensitive than the democrats

are. i had a debate with the representative of the spanish lobby, so this is what the heart of this problem is. let's acknowledge the problem. let's fight the right battles. >> it is a debate we will continue to follow. thanks so much. elon musk goes to washington, trying to sway lawmakers to give lucrative military contracts. was he successful? we will hear from him next. ♪

>> they have just announced a $550 million fund to support investment in the united states. the firm has had companies that

include king digital and orista. is it getting too easy? i asked if some of the valuations are justified. >> it's very tricky to interpret numbers like this on a one-off basis. what all these numbers tell you is they get big numbers. it means the market has high expectations. they will adjust upwards or downwards. there has been a big adjust ment downwards. uber is a terrific company. dropbox is a terrific company. could they be the next walmart? they could be.

>> more on that later. and the latest spacecraft. peter cook caught up with musk himself. this is basically a sales trip. >> that's right. the rockstar ceo brought with him a very important point. him a very important toy. that's the new dragon capsule. this is the one he hopes can convince nasa they should send astronauts up to the internationals waystation. he had a big event that included members of congress. they were given the chance to sit in the seats and get a feel for what it feels like to be in a spacecraft itself. it was a real show.

i caught up with him during the course of the event, asked him some questions about the capsule and efforts to reach out and the level of confidence going into this. >> i think we have done everything we can to have this be a good design. we have been a supporter in the past. we wouldn't be where we are today without nasa. i think we have shown we can do a good job and hope fully that make the difference. >> they have done cargo deliveries but nothing with manned spaceflight so far. boeing is also competing. it should get awarded in august.

we could see two out of the three companies win. they are hoping to push them over the line. >> they have also ruffled some feathers by suing the air force over another contract for military satellites. any update on that fight? >> he was asked about it last night. this is where he has thrown some elbows. he has ruffled the feathers of the air force. he has challenged them on the hill. he did it last night. take a listen to some of the comments about lockheed and boeing. >> they have tried to stamp on

us. i think we have a shot of prevailing. we are certainly a small up and comer going again giants. >> the air force stands to be their biggest customer. he said he doesn't have any regret. he was forced into it. >> we were speaking about eric cantor earlier and all the tech lobbying in washington. do you think we are going to see more of it? >> there is no question. the issue about immigration going forward for people like elon musk are front and center. we should be seeing more of the tech community coming here if they are game for the fight. >> peter cook, thank you so much for that up to it.

thanks for watching this edition of bloomberg west. you can get the news all the time at bloomberg.com. ♪ [cheering]

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