…and Substack yields to pressure from creators
| OMW to build a Sam Altman bot (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | |
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Yesterday's Market Moves | | Dow Jones
37,711 (+0.04%) | S&P 500
4,780 (-0.07%) | Nasdaq
14,970 (+0.00%) | Bitcoin
$46,416 (-0.55%) |
| Dow Jones
37,711 (+0.04%) | S&P 500
4,780 (-0.07%) | Nasdaq
14,970 (+0.00%) | Bitcoin
$46,416 (-0.55%) |
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Hey Snackers, US stock markets will be closed on Monday to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. It's a time to honor his devotion to equality, nonviolence, and unity. Speaking of, listen to one of history's greatest speeches. Stocks were muted yesterday after December's US consumer-inflation report came in hotter than expected. Prices were up 3.4% from a year ago and 0.3% month over month, driven largely by housing/rent, which investors worry could lead the Fed to delay rate cuts. 🧠 Quiz me more: Join the thousands of Snackers taking our weekly Snacks Seven Quiz. See if you can ace it, starting with the first Q: 💌 P.S. We'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday after the holiday. | |
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OpenAI doubles down on monetization, opening a custom-chatbot store | Open(AI) for business… OpenAI opened its GPT Store this week, where subscribers can create, browse, and use customized ChatGPT-powered bots (no coding experience necessary). Like regular apps, GPT chatbots are designed for specific uses. Just a few examples out of the 3M+ custom bots that've been created: there's one for movie recs, one for flirting help ("Rizz GPT"), and several for making AI-generated text sound more human (good luck, teachers). Bot creators will be rewarded based on engagement. Gotta figure out how to make $$ on this thing… The GPT Store is part of OpenAI's effort to turn its viral chatbot into a viral moneymaker. As of last spring, running ChatGPT cost about $700K/day, and might be even costlier now. The GPT Store could encourage more sign-ups for paid subscriptions (which include perks like faster response times). This week OpenAI also launched a paid tier for small teams. Eventually, the GPT Store could start raking in dough the same ways Apple's and Google's app stores do. |  | THE TAKEAWAY |
| More money, more problems… The more bank OpenAI earns by monetizing its model, the more it could be on the hook if things turn sour. The GPT Store opens a Pandora's box of content-moderation challenges and potential legal issues (which, btw, OpenAI already has plenty of). The New York Times sued the company over copyright-infringement claims last month, which could mean billions in damages if OpenAI loses. | |
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Substack starts to tighten its lax policies as creators flex power over platforms | News about newsletters… in a newsletter (#meta). Substack, a hub for independent writers to publish email newsletters, booted five accounts following backlash for hosting newsletters that touted pro-Nazi views. The limited ban may be too little, too late for many of the platform's writers. Some of Substack's biggest stars threatened to peace out, including author Margaret Atwood and Platformer's Casey Newton, and potentially taking myriad subscribers with them — and the 10% cut Substack skims off paid subs. Substack's POV: Substack has said that demonetizing or banning radical accounts would censor free expression. Called out: Newton called out Substack's stance as unusual, since most mainstream platforms ban or restrict violent organizations and extremist content like pro-Nazi posts.
Uprising at the content factory… more like dis-content. Creators have become more vocal against a variety of platform changes. 7K+ Reddit forums (including biggies like r/funny and r/aww) went dark temporarily after the site said it would charge third-party apps more to access its content. Twitch streamers with millions of followers called for a boycott over changes to how creators monetize (it worked: Twitch backtracked). X users ditched the site for smaller competitors like Mastodon following numerous policy changes under Elon Musk — and advertisers left in their wake. | | THE TAKEAWAY |
| Creator pressure can make a company fold… Substack has typically taken a loose approach to content moderation, and it took the company weeks to boot a handful of controversial accounts after an Atlantic article stoked backlash. But even Substack's small concession shows a crack in its resolve, setting a precedent that it can be pressured to change when big names threaten to bail. | |
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| 🤖 Techy… Spot bitcoin ETFs began trading yesterday, after a decade-long push by the crypto industry (and years of opposition from regulators). BTC enthusiasts hope the seal of approval will draw in institutional and retail investors. 🌶️ Spicy… X axed NFT profile pics, stripping paid subscribers of the ability to link NFTs to their pages. As the biz's ad revenue plummets, Elon Musk has said he wants to turn X into the "everything app" — everything but NFTs. 🪙 Coins… Solana meme coin bonk's price has sunk as much as 70% after a wild Q4 that saw it pop 1,000% (other solana tokens also plunged). In December, the blockchain's NFT sales volumes topped ethereum for the first time. | |
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What else we're Snackin' | TeamsOut: Google laid off hundreds of workers to slash costs as it invests in AI. It's the latest in a series of job cuts by big names like Amazon, Duolingo, and BlackRock. ChaBing: Microsoft yesterday briefly dethroned Apple as the most valuable company. As Apple faces slowing iPhone sales, Microsoft's AI integrations (and its $10B OpenAI investment) have fueled excitement. Knock: KB Home shares slumped after the US homebuilding giant said its profit margins would shrink this year. But as rate hikes stall, demand's heating up: KB's new-home orders more than 3x'd from a year earlier. Lot: Car-rental OG Hertz is selling 20K of its EVs (and buying more gas-guzzlers) as demand hits the brakes. It's another blow as US EV sales slow and new rules have made dozens of models ineligible for tax incentives. Drill: Chesapeake Energy plans to merge with rival Southwestern Energy in a $7.4B deal and become the US's largest natural-gas producer. Oil M&A has been hyperactive, with leaders like Exxon and Chevron buying up gassy peers.
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Snack Fact Of the Day | The "I have a dream" part of MLK's famous speech was improvised | | |
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Friday | Earnings expected from Bank of America, BNYMellon, BlackRock, Citigroup, Delta, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and UnitedHealth
Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and ethereum and shares of: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Delta, Exxon, and Microsoft
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more | |
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