Dell’s $6bn “gift”, OpenAI’s code red, Costco as moral center, and proxy advisors say no to a director

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Business Pants

Free Float Media Inc.

298 episodes

1 day ago

Pick the headline that best describes the story: Venezuela Trump’s Hint to Oil Executives Weeks Before Maduro Ouster: ‘Get Ready’ Maduro overthrow could help these U.S. oil companies recover assets seized by Venezuela Trump makes it clear shocking Venezuelan regime change is largely about oil: ‘They stole our oil … We’re going to make a lot of money’ US oil giants mum after Trump says they’ll spend billions in Venezuela US oil companies gain after capture of Venezuela's Maduro A group of about 20 US investors is already planning a trip to Venezuela in March Maduro falls, Bitcoin rises: The 1,671% surge that hit before Wall Street woke up AI-generated content spreads after Maduro’s removal — blurring fact and fiction Elon Elon Musk’s X faces probes in Europe, India, Malaysia after Grok generated explicit images of women and children Elon Musk’s X faces regulatory probes in Europe, India and Malaysia after its Grok chatbot began generating deepfake explicit images, some depicting child sex abuse. Elon Musk After His Grok AI Did Disgusting Things to Literal Children: “Way Funnier” Elon Musk's Grok AI faces government backlash after it was used to create sexualized images of women and minors Musk's xAI faces backlash after Grok generates sexualized images of children on X Woman felt 'dehumanised' after Musk's Grok AI used to digitally remove her clothes Elon Musk plans 'high-volume production' of Neuralink brain chips and says he wants to automate the surgical procedure Tesla Loses EV Crown to BYD After Second Annual Sales Drop AI Children Tech Giants Pushing AI Into Schools Is a Huge, Ethically Bankrupt Experiment on Innocent Children That Will Likely End in Disaster Children Falling Apart as They Become Addicted to AI OpenAI’s child exploitation reports increased sharply this year Psychosis Doctors Say AI Use Is Almost Certainly Linked to Developing Psychosis Woman Suffers AI Psychosis After Obsessively Generating AI Images of Herself Man Describes How ChatGPT Led Him Straight Into Psychosis AI Godfather Warns That It’s Starting to Show Signs of Self-Preservation Disturbing Messages Show ChatGPT Encouraging a Murder, Lawsuit Alleges OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT “Prioritize” Advertisers in Conversation Billionaires The world's richest people just had their best year yet AI boom adds more than half a trillion dollars to wealth of US tech barons in 2025 There are more self-made billionaires under 30 than ever before—11 of them have made the ultra-wealthy club in the last 3 months thanks to AI Jamie Dimon made $770 million last year. 2026 could be even better for banks Easing rules and a rebound in dealmaking are reshaping the landscape for U.S. banks, with bigger profits likely ahead Threat of California Billionaire Tax Draws Criticism From Ultrawealthy Bill Ackman slams California wealth tax as ‘expropriation’ of private property Bill Ackman Blasts Ro Khanna For Defending Billionaire Tax: 'Lost His Way' Peter Thiel and Larry Page are preparing to flee California in case the state passes a billionaire wealth tax, report says Tech billionaires threaten to flee California over proposed 5% wealth tax Bari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy Speed Round Dumb or Good Rating (1-10) Dumb 2 former Hinge execs are building an app to make it easier to plan hangouts with your friends 10 Boeing (BA) CEO “is a Nonsense Guy,” Says Jim Cramer 2 Some men may downplay climate change risks to avoid appearing feminine 0 New research provides evidence that men who are concerned about maintaining a traditional masculine image may be less likely to express concern about climate change. The findings suggest that acknowledging environmental problems is psychologically linked to traits such as warmth and compassion. These traits are stereotypically associated with femininity in many cultures. Consequently, men who feel pressure to prove their manhood may avoid environmentalist attitudes to protect their gender identity. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. CEO of local public company to step down after nearly 10 years 9 Malcolm Gladwell tells young people if they want a STEM degree, ‘don’t go to Harvard.’ You may end up at the bottom of your class and drop out 6 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he is ‘envious’ of Gen Z college dropouts who have the ‘mental space’ and time to build new startups 9 This 22-year-old college dropout with an AI powered YouTube empire makes $700,000 a year and works just 2 hours a day 1 Trump Mobile says its first-ever smartphone is delayed, and the government shutdown is to blame 3 The college-to-office path is dead: CEO of the world’s biggest recruiter says Gen Z grads need to consider trade jobs with no degree required 4 ChatGPT gets ‘anxiety’ from violent user inputs, so researchers are teaching the chatbot mindfulness techniques to ‘soothe’ it 7 Good? Minimum wage just went up in 19 states—workers in one state are getting a $2 an hour raise 8 Judge says Trump administration must continue funding consumer watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 5 Angry town halls nationwide find a new villain: the data center driving up your electricity bill while fueling job-killing AI 8 Bernie Sanders and Ron DeSantis speak out against data center boom. It's a bad sign for AI industry 9 Mitt Romney says the U.S. is on a cliff—and taxing the rich is now necessary ‘given the magnitude of our national debt’ 7 Microsoft CEO Begs Users to Stop Calling It “Slop” 10 Man Operating Robot Accidentally Makes It Kick Him Directly in the Nutsack 9 MATT1 WE MISSED THE PREDICTIONS: Crypto: Tom Lee Predicts $250K Ethereum Price as BitMine Adds to $13 Billion Stash, Grayscale Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach New All-Time High by March 2026 Stocks: Every Wall Street Analyst Now Predicts a Stock Rally in 2026 - EVERY! AI: ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton predicts 2026 will see the technology get even better and gain the ability to ‘replace many other jobs’, Amazon’s Alexa chief predicts an end to doom scrolling: the next generation is ‘going to just think differently’, In 2026 CFOs predict AI transformation, not just efficiency gains As millions of Gen Zers face unemployment, CEOs of Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald’s say opportunity is still there—if you have the right mindset - I PREDICT NOT HAVING A JOB IS YOUR OWN FAULT Oily oil: Oil experts predict slight rise in gas prices as global tensions mount Blowhards: Elon Musk predicts double-digit US growth by 2026, Treasury Secretary predicts historic merger could make 2026 a ‘very good year’ Trump advisor predicts Miami will dethrone NYC as financial capital under new progressive mayor OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman says in 10 years’ time college graduates will be working ‘some completely new, exciting, super well-paid’ job in space

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Dell’s $6bn “gift”, OpenAI’s code red, Costco as moral center, and proxy advisors say no to a director

Business Pants

55 minutes 25 seconds

1 month ago

Dell’s $6bn “gift”, OpenAI’s code red, Costco as moral center, and proxy advisors say no to a director

The Giving Tree Michael and Susan Dell to donate $6.25 billion to fund 'Trump accounts' for 25 million U.S. kids Lyft CEO: This Giving Tuesday, I’m matching every rider’s donation David Risher: $78M in 2023 Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combatting homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’ The wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in Venice is estimated to have cost between $46.5 million and $55.6 million MacKenzie Scott’s $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works Fighting back! (Stakeholders Rule!) New York City Council passes landmark AI oversight package The New York City Council unanimously passed a collection of bills that are designed to provide a heightened level of oversight for the city's use of artificial intelligence tools. Bernie Sanders and Mamdani joined the Starbucks picket line in Brooklyn More than 1,000 Amazon employees sign open letter warning the company’s AI ‘will do staggering damage to democracy, our jobs, and the earth’ Costco sues Trump administration over tariffs, seeks full refund Costco filed a lawsuit at the U.S. Court of International Trade on Friday, saying the administration’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful. The 1977 law has historically been used to impose sanctions against other nations. Exxon bid to dismiss Connecticut climate lawsuit fails A judge moved the case closer to trial after rejecting the company’s request to toss it out. OpenAI Completed Its Conversion. A New Ballot Initiative Seeks to Reverse It A coalition that tried and failed to block OpenAI’s conversion earlier this year is back with a new tactic: a California ballot initiative aimed at reining in the startup’s power. The planned initiative, dubbed the California Charitable Assets Protection Act, was filed Monday with California’s attorney general. It doesn’t mention OpenAI by name, but calls for the creation of an oversight board empowered to review and potentially reverse conversions to nonprofit organizations engaged in scientific and technological research that have happened in the state since January of 2024. Starbucks to settle with over 15,000 New York City workers for roughly $35 million Starbucks will pay about $35 million to more than 15,000 New York City workers to settle claims it denied them stable schedules and arbitrarily cut their hours. The company will also pay $3.4 million in civil penalties under the agreement with the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. It also agrees to comply with the city’s Fair Workweek law going forward. Fighting back! (Shareholders Rule!) Michael Burry calls Tesla ‘ridiculously overvalued’ and knocks tech industry for a widely used practice The post is critical of Tesla and the technology industry as a whole for its use of stock-based compensation and then ignoring it as a legitimate expense. Burry said Tesla share dilution should continue following shareholder approval of CEO Elon Musk’s historic pay package. Second proxy adviser calls for vote against Westpac director over ASX stint A second influential proxy adviser has recommended institutional investors vote against re-electing Westpac non-executive director Peter Nash, citing his six-year stint on the board of the troubled Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). CGI Glass Lewis said in a new report on Tuesday that investors should vote against Nash who joined the Westpac board in March 2018 and chairs the board's audit committee. Norway wealth fund to back call for Microsoft human rights report at AGM Microsoft AGM takes place on December 5 Norway wealth fund is Microsoft's eighth-largest shareholder The fund also said it would vote against the re-appointment of CEO Satya Nadella as chair of the board, as well as against his pay package. Potpourri OpenAI declares ‘code red’ as Google catches up in AI race In the memo, reported by the Wall Street Journal and The Information, Altman said the company will be delaying initiatives like ads, shopping and health agents, and a personal assistant, Pulse, to focus on improving ChatGPT. This includes core features like greater speed and reliability, better personalization, and the ability to answer more questions, he said. Corporations say they prioritize people. So why do so few chief people officers become CEOs? Only 16 of the CEOs at the 1,000 biggest companies have HR experience. Stephanie Mehta is CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Inc. and Fast Company MATT Uplifting stories: Costco sues Trump admin seeking tariff refunds before Supreme Court rules if they’re illegal Why it’s uplifting: Costco is the retail bulwark against stupidity - and they’re getting paid for it with persistent quarterly growth Costco board member defends DEI practices, rebukes companies scrapping policies Costco Under Fire in 19 States for Taking Stand Against Trump Second proxy adviser calls for vote against Westpac director over ASX stint Why it’s uplifting: This IS NOT AN ACTIVIST DRIVEN VOTE, and it isn’t about attendance! This is purely driven by conflict of interest - an ASX listed company using an ASX board member, a board member who up until 6 years ago lead KPMG in Australia - and KPMG is now Westpac’s auditor The move is underway - ISS/GL were never going to vote against directors in the US first, but Australia is much easier to target Google’s data centers could actually be going to the moon Why it’s uplifting: While we couldn’t solve the climate crisis for the sake of HUMANITY, we WILL solve it for the sake of AI: one hundred trillion times more energy than we produce in all of Earth today The space pitch arrives when Earth is starting to look like a bad long-term landlord for the AI build-out. A 2024 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report found that U.S. data centers already chew through about 4.4% of the country’s electricity, and that share could climb to as much as 12% by 2028 as GPU farms multiply. McKinsey puts a price tag on the race to scale data centers: roughly $6.7 trillion in global data center capex by 2030, about $5 trillion of that aimed at AI-ready infrastructure extraterrestrial data centers could cut emissions by a factor of 10 compared with their earthbound cousins Also, GTFO!

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