Hey Snackers,
A Beijing restaurant where US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently dined is going viral for a menu that features the dishes she ordered. Hollywood celebs get branded smoothies at Erewhon; economic icons get the “God of Money” menu in China.
Stocks ticked up yesterday, led by the Dow, which snapped a three-day losing streak. Investors have eyes on tomorrow’s US consumer-inflation report and the start of Q2 earnings season.
Sarah Silverman sues Meta and OpenAI, alleging their language models ripped off her book
“Write a joke in the style of Sarah Silverman”… The comedian is suing OpenAI and Meta, saying they infringed on the copyrights of her book, “The Bedwetter,” in a case that could spark unfunny consequences for AI companies. Silverman, along with authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, say OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s LLaMA were “knowingly and secretly trained” using illegally obtained copies of the authors’ books.
Exhibit A: The lawsuits’ claims include summaries of the authors’ works that they say ChatGPT churned out when prompted, as well as a document trail suggesting that LLaMA was trained on a “shadow library” site called The Pile, which the complaint says contained illegally copied full works.
Payback: The authors seek payment and other damages, and the suit says thousands of other scribes could be plaintiffs in the case.
When imitation ≠flattery… Generative AI has created a legal obstacle course for copyright law. Getty Images sued StabilityAI earlier this year, accusing its image generator of using copyrighted pics without permission. And Hollywood actors and writers are seeking protections against AI ripping them off in studio-contract negotiations. Meanwhile, major news publishers may be prepping for a case to force Microsoft and Alphabet to compensate them for using their articles in AI search results.
Law and AI order: Last month the EU passed a draft of its “AI Act,” a historic law that would make AI companies create safeguards against illegally generating content.
Cite your sources: It would also require companies to disclose any copyrighted materials used in training their models (which critics say is technically impossible).
AI is a two-headed beast for creators… Not only are AI programs trained on original works, but they also use those works to churn out new content. AI has the potential to make pre-existing works less valuable while stealing future opportunities from human creators. Yet some argue AI programs are just another tool that creators can leverage (think: photographers editing in Photoshop).
Disney parks see thinner crowds as family travelers seek bargain experiences
The Mouse House has rooms for rent… Travel season’s in full swing, but the “Happiest Place on Earth” may be feelin’ a summer slump. Disney's US amusement parks are said to be seeing thinner crowds and shorter ride wait times. Disney World, whose Magic Kingdom puts on a special fireworks show every July Fourth, saw its lightest Independence Day attendance in nearly a decade. Execs have said they’re expecting weaker US earnings this year.
Losin’ the magic… Despite Disney’s fantasy-land park stylings, attendance may be dropping for earthly reasons. Disney has in recent years upped pricing across the board (tickets, merch, food) and nixed some freebies. Last year Disney raised ticket prices twice, with hikes of up to 14% at Florida’s Magic Kingdom. The goal: squeeze more $$ out of fewer customers. Higher prices appear to be giving would-be visitors pause, and not just in Disney parks:
More-lando: Orlando, Florida (home of Disney World and Universal Orlando) is one of the priciest family-vacay destinations. On average, a weeklong trip will cost a family of four $7.3K.
Adding up: Travel costs more broadly are up 16% from prepandemic times.
Experiential spending enters the discount phase… Demand for “revenge travel” shows few signs of slowing, but it may be shifting as experience-seeking vacationers try to spend smarter. In Europe, families are opting for cheaper summer destinations (picture: Costa Brava over the Canaries, Albania over Italy) or delaying trips to shoulder-season September. Cooling attendance suggests Disney’s magic may have a price cap too. In May, Disney said it would close its “Star Wars” hotel. The cost of a two-night stay for a family of four: $6K.
What else we’re Snackin’
Threats: Threads, Meta's Twitter rival, became the fastest-growing app ever with 100M users in five days (it took TikTok nine months to do that). And Twitter usage appears to be taking a hit.
AI-pply: NYC’s AI hiring law (one of the US’s first) went into effect last week, mandating that employers who use AI for hiring must inform applicants and submit to audits to show their systems aren’t biased.
Covered: Medicare agreed to cover the Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, which recently got FDA approval. In a clinical trial, it was shown to slow cognitive decline by 27% in early stages of the disease.
Plug: Mercedes Benz said it’ll adopt Tesla's EV-charging standard, allowing its cars to use Tesla’s 12K superchargers in North America next year. Ford, GM, and Rivian have also hopped on the Tesla bandwagon.
Wired: Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the FDA to investigate KSI and Logan Paul’s Prime energy drink, which has grown popular with the influencers’ young fans — and contains the caffeine equivalent of six Cokes.
Tuesday
- Earnings expected from América Móvil
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Disney, GM, Tesla, and Microsoft