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A university in Buffalo, New York, hired an AI humanoid bot named Sophia to impart life advice to graduating students at commencement. For some reason not everyone was stoked. Stocks served up a fresh record yesterday, continuing a rally that's bumped the major US indexes up at least 5% this month. Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said inflation appears to be easing and that further rate hikes were unlikely, but added that several more months of reassuring data were needed before any cuts. |
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ScarJo's voice ain't the only drama… More turmoil is brewing at OpenAI after two of the ChatGPT maker's top safety execs resigned. OpenAI chief scientist and cofounder Ilya Sutskever announced his departure on X last week, and research leader Jan Leike followed suit within days. Both led the company's "superalignment team," which was dedicated to preventing smarter-than-human AI "from going rogue." OpenAI, which thinks that superintelligent AI could arrive this decade, said the risks could include "disempowerment of humanity or even human extinction." |
- On that note… The superalignment team itself has been dissolved. OpenAI said its work is being redistributed, but it's unclear who (if anyone) will lead on safety.
- Beef's been brewing: Last year, a boardroom revolt led to the surprise (short-lived) ouster of boss Sam Altman. The board was reportedly concerned that Altman was moving too fast.
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The safety rift… The recent exec departures have raised concerns over OpenAI's internal safety practices. After Altman's temporary firing, a split appears to have emerged within the company: those who think it's moving irresponsibly fast and those (like Altman) who think it should be doing more to grow its biz. In his resignation post, Leike said he'd reached a "breaking point" with OpenAI leadership over the company's priorities. |
- Leike wrote: "safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products." Perhaps products like the Scarlett Johansson-sounding voice assistant, though that may be the least of our concerns…
- Another safety employee who left OpenAI said he'd lost confidence that the company would behave responsibly if it ever reached its goal of creating AI that can outperform humans (aka: artificial general intelligence or AGI).
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Capitalism doesn't like to go slow… OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 with a mission to build safe AGI "for the benefit of humanity." Three years later, OpenAI announced a "capped profit" structure (though it's still governed by a nonprofit). But after a $10B investment from Microsoft and a viral product, it's moving a lot more like a regular business. As shown in its splashy demo this month, OpenAI has been racing to release new tech to one up competitors like Google and was quick to monetize its products through CGPT subscriptions, licensing deals, and the GPT Store. |
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| Masterworks is giving new users $100 to celebrate nearing $1 billion AUM |
For a limited time, the nearly $1 billion AUM art investing platform Masterworks is offering new users $100* when they sign up — all you have to do is create an account, and complete your onboarding call. It's that simple. With this offer, there may never be a better time to discover why Masterworks users have invested almost $1 billion with the platform in just a few years. How does it work? Masterworks buys a painting, and files an offering with the SEC so that anyone can invest. Then, once a painting sells, shareholders in that offering can earn a profit. So if you've heard of Masterworks but never took the time to learn more, now's your chance to get paid for doing it. Just use this link to get started.** |
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Masterworks is giving new users $100 to celebrate nearing $1 billion AUM |
For a limited time, the nearly $1 billion AUM art investing platform Masterworks is offering new users $100* when they sign up — all you have to do is create an account, and complete your onboarding call. It's that simple. With this offer, there may never be a better time to discover why Masterworks users have invested almost $1 billion with the platform in just a few years. How does it work? Masterworks buys a painting, and files an offering with the SEC so that anyone can invest. Then, once a painting sells, shareholders in that offering can earn a profit. So if you've heard of Masterworks but never took the time to learn more, now's your chance to get paid for doing it. Just use this link to get started.** |
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Midas markets… Metals have majorly rallied this year. On Monday, gold and copper hit record prices, while silver soared to an 11-year high. Gold's up 17% this year to over $2.4K/ounce, while silver and copper have surged 30% as buyers look to their shiny industrial outlooks. Copper's used in electrical wiring and machinery, while silver's integral to semiconductor chips (so hot right now) and other hardware like that used in phones and laptops. Both are big in renewable energy (also hot right now). |
- 24K magic: Gold's different. Most of it is used to make jewelry and bullion (high-purity bars and ingots that investors and central banks stock up on).
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Gold-bar Costco haul… Analysts estimate Costco's selling up to $200M worth of gold each month as everyday investors buy bullion as a safe haven, an asset expected to retain its value during volatile market cycles and economic downturns. As geopolitical tensions rise and Americans look ahead to an election that's sure to ruin some Thanksgiving dinners, metals can seem like a more solid bet. China has piled into gold as its real estate and stock markets stumble (it's also trying to reduce reliance on US dollars). China overtook India as the top gold jewelry-buying nation last year. |
- Other perceived safe havens include Treasury bills; "defensive stocks," which are known to pay stable dividends; some currencies (like the Swiss franc); and, increasingly, digital currencies (mainly bitcoin).
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Uncertainty is bullish for bullion… In frothier markets, investors are more willing to make riskier bets for the chance of greater returns (see: 2021's meme-stock frenzy). But when uncertainty is high, investments that are one step above stuffing money in the mattress look extra shiny. |
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| - Bundle: Comcast's new Netflix, Apple TV, and Peacock bundle will cost $15/month for the cable co's subscribers. Streaming bundles are trending as sub churn rates have tripled since 2019.
- Slowes: Lowe's sales and profit fell as customers shied away from big makeovers. The home-improvement biz's CEO said sticky inflation and high rates have stung larger DIY projects.
- Bites: Nestlé is releasing frozen foods aimed at folks on weight-loss meds like Wegovy. It's the latest biz to catch the weight-loss wave, with GNC, Costco, and WeightWatchers all selling GLP-related items.
- Bloomies: Macy's beat quarterly earnings expectations as its turnaround effort continued. It's shuttering 150 Macy's stores and opening higher-end Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury spots.
- GigWheel: California's highest court heard a challenge to CA's law allowing Uber and Lyft to classify drivers as contractors. Ride-hail apps are facing more roadblocks: Minnesota just passed a 20% driver-wage bump.
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- Existing-home sales
- Fleet Week New York begins
- Bitcoin Pizza Day
- World Goth Day
- Earnings expected from Nvidia, Target, TJX Companies, Synopsys, E.l.f. Beauty, and Williams-Sonoma
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Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber |
Advertiser's disclosures:
*User will receive $100 via check after completing a call with an advisor. Terms and conditions apply. Please review complete details here. **The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk. See important Reg A disclosures and aggregate advisory performance: masterworks.com/cd. |
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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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