Podcast: One way to fix AI’s image problem

Plus more great stories from Businessweek ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Welcome to the Saturday edition of Businessweek Daily, featuring the Everybody’s Business podcast. Let us know what you think by emailing the editor. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. For years, artificial intelligence executives have boasted about the huge economic shifts their software will bring. They’ve promised greater productivity, drastically lower labor costs, and unimaginable wealth and power flowing to anyone who enthusiastically embraces their technology. Sometimes these promises sound more like warnings, especially to the people who might be on the wrong side of those lower labor costs. So, it’s not a surprise that the backlash against AI has gotten stronger over the past year: Polls show that more and more people are skeptical of AI’s potential benefits and opposed to the data centers the industry says it needs to continue the march of progress. This week on Everybody’s Business, we look at one of the stranger ways the AI industry is trying to fix its image problem: fashion. Palantir and OpenAI recently released clothing lines. For enthusiasts of the controversial surveillance company, there’s the $239 chore coat (aka “the most confusing jacket in America”). For those who prefer OpenAI’s ChatGPT, there’s a quarter-zip fleece with the word “research” on it for some reason and, even more confusingly, a $70 basketball, which the company says is a “physical reminder that creativity doesn’t just live on our screens.” Not to be outdone, Anthropic ran an AI-themed coffee shop last year, giving out vintage-looking hats with the word “thinking” printed on them. (Apparently you can advertise your thoughtfulness while having Claude do your thinking for you?) Also this week, we discuss the disconnect between consumer sentiment (which is very bad) and the economy (which, according to US government statistics, is pretty good) with Ruchir Sharma, chairman of Rockefeller International and the author, most recently, of What Went Wrong With Capitalism. Sharma says much of the problem boils down to economic concentration, where much of the wealth is accruing (via the stock market) to a small percentage of companies owned by a small percentage of the population. Listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, iHeart and the Bloomberg Terminal. Everybody's Business The Economic Odyssey More Weekend Reads Prediction markets are minting a new type of insider trader. How Christopher Nolan transformed an ancient Greek poem into a box-office smash in the latest screen adaptation of The Odyssey. The Bitcoin slump is crushing companies that stockpiled tokens. Diplomatic momentum to end the Iran war is moving in the wrong direction. IBM was making a comeback until AI tools put a stop to it. As more Europeans and Americans get on the wagon, a sluggish beer industry is turning to developing markets like Vietnam. Online insults and gags are drawing customers to small industrial enterprises in China. Why Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is worth a read as you contemplate the new Trump tariffs. Van Leeuwen’s CEO says ignoring food fads helped catapult his local ice cream business into a dessert giant. Bloomberg Investigates: What Trump’s USAID Cuts Left in Their Wake Play Alphadots! Our daily word puzzle with a plot twist. Today’s clue: Project for Ryan Gosling? Play now! We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us fine-tune your experience by reporting it here. Follow Us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Businessweek Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. Unsubscribe Bloomberg.com Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 |