🗞️ Publishers’ AI problem

“Just Bard it”…. not as catchy. Last week Google released its ChatGPT rival, Bard, as the chatbot race heats up (#AI-of-the-tiger). But Google expressed caution with the release, warning “things will go wrong,” and hasn’t integrated Bard into its search engine (unlike Microsoft, which launched a new CGPT-fueled Bing and 365 apps). Google’s cautiousness may be warranted: media publishers are gearing up for a showdown with Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI over their bots, The Wall Street Journal reported.

• Facebook = no longer media’s biggest threat. In 2019, half of Americans got their news from FB, and publishers wanted compensation for lost ad revenue and traffic.
• Now it’s AI bots. As you’ve probably heard, large language models are trained on a massive amount of text data. That includes copyrighted articles from the web.
• Media execs are demanding compensation for use of their content in AI-generated responses. CGPT has been known to plagiarize and tweak human writing.

CGPT feels a connection… Last week OpenAI announced that CGPT can now browse the web to pull info from after 2021 (in some cases). That could pose an existential threat for news outlets. Publishing execs have started examining how much their content has been used to “train” bots, and are said to be exploring legal options, led by the publishing trade group News Media Alliance.

• News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said, “Clearly, they are using proprietary content — there should be, obviously, some compensation for that.”
• “Fair use” law allows portions of copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain cases (think: news reporting, scholarly reports).
• In the past, techies like Facebook and Microsoft have struck deals to pay publishers for news featured on their platforms. While OpenAI has leaned on fair use, it said it has also paid for rights to certain content.

TikTok on the (congressional) clock… Last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew spent five hours being grilled by Congress to defend the app. President Biden has supported a bill that would give him the power to ban (or force a sale of) TikTok in the US, and urged Congress to pass it over national-security concerns. TikTok, the world’s fastest-growing app, has 150M+ US users. China said it would “firmly oppose” a forced sale of the app. A Tik ban would be a dream come true for Meta, Snap, and Google’s YouTube.

All's not wells… Coinbase is lacing up its gloves for a potential fight with regulators. The crypto exchange said it had received an SEC Wells notice saying that the commission is likely preparing to sue it over its coin listings and staking service. Coinbase has denied it lists securities and said it'd go to court if necessary. If this does go to court, a decision over whether cryptocurrencies are securities could force exchanges to delist some coins and reshape the crypto industry.

Sporting $100 leggings… from Shanghai to the Champs-Élysées. Lululemon’s stretching its presence overseas in search of fresh $$. Last quarter the athleisure icon’s sales and profit jumped, while revenue from China soared 70% as the country reopened. Lulu plans to triple stores in China, which it expects to be its second-largest market by 2026. In the US, Lulu’s “experiential stores” (see: hot-yoga class next to the yoga-pants rack) have boosted foot traffic. Analysts also expect hot earnings when Lulu reports tomorrow.

Stuck in the middle with two… political parties. Walgreens is set to report tomorrow as it finds itself at the center of the abortion-pill debate. The pharmacy recently said it wouldn't sell the pill in 20 GOP-led states, including some where abortion’s still legal. In response, California said it wouldn’t renew a $54M contract with Walgreens — a drop in the chain's $132B annual sales, but a symbolic move. Meanwhile, Walgreens’ sales were down at the start of the year as Covid-test sales trailed off and vaccinations slowed.

• Juice: Ford’s EV unit lost $2B+ last year as the F-150 maker splurged to boost electric production, but its OG biz was profitable. Ford’s “hybrid” structure could keep it charged until its EV biz catches up.

• Handy: Panera is teaming up with Amazon’s biometric tech to let customers pay by scanning their palm. The bread-bowl icon hopes to make soup-and-salad habits easier (and stickier) for its 52M loyalty members.

• Play: Netflix's ad tier hit 1M subs as more Americans pivot to cheaper streaming options. But with a password-mooching crackdown looming, the streamer is betting on blockbusters and video games to lure new subs.

• Valid: Looking to escape the desk-job life, Gen Zers are dipping their toes into home ownership. Armed with tech expertise and lessons from 2008, some real-estate influencers flex 36-unit portfolios.

• Stock: It’s not just Adderall: drug shortages hit a five-year peak last year for everything from flu meds to common antibiotics and diabetes treatments. Market consolidation and high demand are leading to short supply.

• Thorough: For true self-care radicals, there’s the “everything shower,” a trend that has some folks taking hour-long showers and using dozens of products for, well, everything. Cue: hair-product sales grew 22% last year.

• Monday: Earnings expected from Carnival and BioNTech
• Tuesday: Earnings expected from McCormick, Walgreens, Dave & Buster’s, and Lululemon
• Wednesday: Earnings expected from Cintas, Paychex, and Planet Labs
• Thursday: Earnings expected from Blackberry and Neogen
• Friday: Consumer sentiment index

Authors of this Snacks own shares: of Amazon, Blackberry, Google, Planet Labs, Snap, and Microsoft

ID: 2813209