🧠🤖 Microsoft BOOMING on OpenAI Optimism
Happy Wednesday all,
AI and Microsoft are back making headlines after OpenAI’s conference drove hype toward the software through the roof (again). I’m looking forward to what the OpenAI app store will provide. There are some really creative and skilled people out there, so hopefully, we get some outstanding developments out of there.
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
👀 Eye-Catching Headlines
🤖 Elon Musk debuts ‘Grok’ AI bot to rival ChatGPT, others (CNBC)
🚗 S&P warns about subprime auto bonds from Flagship, CarFinance (Bloomberg)
⚡️ EV makers turn to discounts to combat waning demand (WSJ)
📱 Apple delays work on next year’s iPhone, Mac software to fix bugs (Bloomberg)
📚 Auto chip makers try to avoid a pileup (WSJ)
💥 Google’s Waze will now warn you about roads prone to car accidents (CNBC)
🏣 Turning empty offices into apartments is getting even harder (WSJ)
✈️ Flights to Europe are becoming cheap again (WSJ)
👴 Millions of retired Americans aren’t coming back to work as predicted (Bloomberg)
The Weekly Brief
1. Microsoft Closes ATH On OpenAI-related Optimism (CNBC)
Microsoft closed today delivering its ninth straight day of positive returns, a streak it hadn’t been on since January 2021.
On Monday, Microsoft’s strategic AI partner, OpenAI, held a conference and spoke on the following topics:
Price cuts and plans to allow people to make custom versions of the ChatGPT chatbot
GPT-4 Turbo, the latest AI model, provides answers with context up to April 2023
OpenAI’s very own app store, which will allow people to download versions of ChatGPT that others have made
Developers will be able to get to market quickly by deploying their software on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure
Earlier this year, Microsoft expanded investment in OpenAI, adding another $10B.
OpenAI was most recently reported at a valuation between $27B and $29B
As recently as last month, however, OpenAI was reportedly in talks to close a deal that would lead to an $80B valuation
2. BlackRock’s $100B Model Makers are Betting on Megacaps (Bloomberg)
The team responsible for BlackRock’s model portfolios, which are followed by asset managers and financial advisors, are favoring megacap tech and growth-oriented names
According to a BlackRock strategist, it’s because the company is seeing positive earnings revisions and balance-sheet strength in larger-cap than smaller-cap companies
BlackRock’s model portfolios have about $100B tracking them
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is about 40% higher in 2023, fueled largely by the likes of Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla, which have, alone, driven the S&P 500 ~14% higher this year
3. YouTube is Getting Serious About Blocking Ad Blockers (The Verge)
The last few weeks, users with ad blockers have seen the pop-up from above before watching videos
Back in June, YouTube confirmed it would disable videos for users with ad blockers
A YouTube representative reiterated that the use of ad blockers violates the platform’s terms of service and added that ads support creators
YouTube added ad features this year, including 30-second unskippable ads to its TV app in May, and experimented with longer, less frequent ad breaks on TV too