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☆ Inside homebuilding heir Bill Pulte's battle against a Twitter troll who turned out to be an executive at his former company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Bill Pulte, the grandson of one of the homebuilding industry's most successful founders, has built a Twitter following of 3.2 million. He's such a believer in Twitter that the Pulte family office participated in Tesla CEO Elon Musk's bid for control, with an investment he says in the "millions of dollars." Pulte alleges that Jones used Twitter bots to harass him and the larger Pulte family with damaging, incendiary accusations, including that his father, Mark Pulte, was an arsonist. Additionally, he said Sheldon's account appeared to have interacted with at least one of Jones' Twitter accounts. With his suspicion that multiple executives were involved in the Twitter harassment, Pulte's digging in his heels.

☆ Elon Musk says his Twitter misadventure has only helped Tesla. Wall Street isn't buying it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Wall Street analysts feel otherwise: They're bullish on Tesla, but think Musk is too distracted. Musk's tweets have gotten him in trouble with shareholders and the courts. Wall Street thinks Twitter is a costly distractionMusk is not wrong in that he and Tesla are reasonably popular on Twitter. But how many of Musk's and Tesla's followers converted to sales based on the content coming from those accounts? As in most things, there's always more to the story — but you can't deny the impact of Musk's Twitter habits, either.

☆ Twitter, ad verification firms team up to give advertisers tweet-level analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc will team up with digital ad verification companies Integral Ad Science (IAS.O) and DoubleVerify Holdings Inc (DV.N) to provide advertisers tweet-level analysis on content appearing next to their ads, the companies said on Wednesday. IAS and DoubleVerify, who have both previously partnered with Twitter, use technology to independently verify that digital ads are viewed by real people. Advertisers use the services to ensure the ads they pay for are seen by potential customers and not automated bots. Musk has been fighting to retain clients as many companies, including General Motors (GM.N) and United Airlines (UAL.O), had paused or pulled back from advertising on the platform. Many advertisers including Dyson, Mazda, Forbes and PBS Kids suspended their marketing campaigns or removed their ads from parts of Twitter because their promotions appeared alongside tweets soliciting child pornography.

☆ Student who tracks Elon Musk's jet blasts sale of flight-tracking site he uses to keep tabs on aircraft
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Taylor Rains | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jet-tracking student Jack Sweeney is calling for people to boycott ADS-B Exchange. Sweeney uses the site to share flight data on celebrities, including Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Aviation data company JetNet said on Wednesday that it bought ADS-B Exchange, a free website that tracked thousands of commercial aircraft around the world. Sweeney uses ADS-B to follow certain aircraft, like those owned by Musk, Donald Trump, and Taylor Swift. He said he's looking for alternatives to ADS-B Exchange, like creating his own version or using another tracking websites, like Open Sky Network and airframe.io.

☆ Companies Tap Tech Behind ChatGPT to Make Customer-Service Chatbots Smarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Businesses hope the artificial-intelligence technology behind ChatGPT can turn ordinary chatbots into impressive fonts of information, potentially transforming customer service. But customer-experience executives said overreliance on such AI models could lead to companies dishing out incorrect information to customers online without knowing they are doing so. Some executives hope the technology that drives ChatGPT might also improve customer-service chatbots. But companies should exercise care when dealing with the new AI, Mr. Truog said. Nice is also working on building OpenAI’s language models into chatbots, Mr. Willcutts said, adding that the company plans to run more tests and fine-tune more models before selling its own take on ChatGPT to clients.

Berchtold will argue that enforcement of the BOTS Act, a 2016 law aimed at improving online ticket sales, is lacking and call for new legislation. According to the written remarks, Berchtold will also comment on "unprecedented demand" for Taylor Swift tickets and bot traffic that was "three times" higher than it has experienced in the past. Bot traffic is typical for ticket sales, especially during popular events like Swift's highly anticipated tour. "While the bots failed to penetrate our systems or acquire any tickets, the attack required us to slow down and even pause our sales," Berchtold is expected to say. As we said after the onsale, and I reiterate today, we apologize to the many disappointed fans as well as to Ms.

☆ Live Nation exec will face lawmakers about Taylor Swift concert tickets fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,” Swift wrote on Instagram in November. The mergerCriticism of Ticketmaster’s dominance dates back decades, but the Swift ticketing incident has once again turned that issue into a dinner table discussion at many households. Concert promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster, two of the largest companies in the concert business, announced their merger in 2009. ‘Customers are the ones that pay the price’While irate fans were left scrambling to wade through the Swift ticket confusion, their collective anger caught lawmakers’ attention. To me, what happened with the Swift concert tickets was not necessarily the result of Ticketmaster being the dominant player in the industry,” he said.

☆ It's a terrible time to be a sneaker reseller
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Lois Sakany | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Adidas' messy breakup with Ye is the latest in a series of complications for sneaker resellers. Sneaker resellers have felt the effects of the end of the stimulus check and the rise of inflation. Sneaker resellers saw a bot crackdownWhile not as lucrative as Nike in the aftermarket, it was easier to buy Yeezys in bulk on Yeezy Supply using bots. The loss of Yeezy sales then combined with Nike's crackdown on bots. I'm working to expand my team to accommodate the online customer, walk-in customer, and sneaker customer," Falcon said.

☆ Disney’s Bob Iger and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff are the latest high-profile execs to come under pressure from activist investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Billionaire activist investors are putting pressure on top CEOs who were previously thought to be untouchable. Leaders of beloved brand names are coming under fire — and Marc Benioff of Salesforce and Disneys' Bob Iger are the two latest execs to feel the heat, as my colleague Matthew Fox writes. That means activist investors, moguls they may be, still face an uphill battle in winning over shareholders and management teams. What's your take on this burgeoning wave of activist investors? US stock futures fall early Tuesday, as investors brace for the next wave of high-profile earnings and despite growing hopes for a mild recession.

☆ Live Nation president apologizes to Taylor Swift and her fans for ticketing fiasco and says the industry is still competitive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Live Nation president and CFO Joe Berchtold apologized to Taylor Swift and fans for the ticket debacle. Berchtold said that the company faced bot attacks during the Swift ticket sale, impacting service, and apologized to Swift and fans. This power over the entire live entertainment industry allows Live Nation to maintain its monopolistic interests over the primary ticketing market," Groetzinger said. "This is all a definition of monopoly, because Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn't even need to exert pressure," Klobuchar said. Lawrence, who's written for the New York Times on Live Nation and its impact on artists, said Live Nation often functions as three different things: promoter, venue, and ticketing company.

☆ Ticketmaster-parent exec to blame 'industrial-scale ticket scalping' in testimony
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The president of Ticketmaster parent Live Nation (LYV.N), Joe Berchtold, is expected to testify on Tuesday before Congress that "industrial-scale ticket scalping" was to blame for the company's problems late last year in managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. Ticketmaster, which has been unpopular with fans for years, has drawn fresh heat from U.S. lawmakers over how it handled ticket sales for Swift's "Eras" tour, her first in five years. Experts say that Ticketmaster commands more than 70% market share of primary ticket services for major U.S. concert venues. In November, Ticketmaster canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public for Swift's tour after more than 3.5 billion requests from fans, bots and scalpers overwhelmed its website. A previous Ticketmaster dispute with the Justice Department culminated in a December 2019 settlement extending the consent agreement into 2025.

Amy Edwards demonstrates against the live entertainment ticket industry outside the U.S. Capitol January 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Senate Judiciary Committee slammed concert giant Live Nation on Tuesday, calling on activists and artists to speak to competition in the ticketing industry following a botched sale of Taylor Swift tickets in November. Opponents intensified their complaints in November when presale tickets for Swift's Eras Tour were plagued by disruptions and slow queues. Live Nation was supposed to open up sales for 1.5 million verified fans ahead of general public ticket sales. The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into Live Nation's practices, however, that probe predates the Swift ticket sale fiasco.

☆ It's the perfect time to start your sneaker collection
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Inflation and high inventory have created the perfect environment for new sneaker collectors. Sneakers are easier to getMost shoes have become relatively easy to get, said a sneaker collector who goes by Sockjig and is the host of the "Sockjig Sneaker Podcast." Sneakerheads new to the Snkrs app might have a better chance of getting one of those "unicorn" shoes, Sockjig said. Saucony is a popular brand among sneaker collectors following casual-fashion trends. And they've placed the emphasis on the Snkrs app," Burns said.

☆ Ticketmaster under fire: 6 takeaways from hearing over Taylor Swift concert fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The venues controlled by Live Nation set fees that are “consistent with the other venues in the marketplace,” he said. Entertainment industry pushes back at Ticketmaster’s dominanceMembers of the entertainment industry and one rival spoke out against Ticketmaster’s dominance in the industry. Andrew Harnik/APClyde Lawrence, a singer-songwriter on the witness panel, explained how the company acts as a promoter, a venue and the ticketing company, which eats into performing artists’ revenues. Artists, he said, have no leverage over Live Nation. Lawmaker says Ticketmaster merger should ‘be on the table’Lawmakers repeatedly questioned the US government’s past handling of the Live Nation merger with Ticketmaster.

New research conducted by a professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that the AI-driven chatbot GPT-3 was able to pass the final exam for the school's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Prof. Christian Terwiesch, who authored the research paper "Would Chat GPT3 Get a Wharton MBA? Terwiesch’s findings come as educators become increasingly concerned that such chat bots could inspire cheating. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, on Sept. 28, 2022. Experts who work in both artificial intelligence and education have acknowledged that bots like ChatGPT could be a detriment to education in the future.

☆ Live Nation CFO to testify in Senate after Taylor Swift ticketing woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Live Nation Entertainment is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidWASHINGTON (Reuters) -Live Nation Entertainment President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold will testify at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday after its Ticketmaster’s unit had problems managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets, the committee said. Live Nation did not immediately comment. “As Live Nation leverages its power across the concert ecosystem to increase its profits, concertgoers see higher prices, and artists experience challenging touring dynamics,” Lawrence wrote in a New York Times essay last month. In November, Ticketmaster denied any anti-competitive practices and noted it remained under a consent decree with the Justice Department following its 2010 merger with Live Nation.

☆ Live Nation CFO defends Ticketmaster, blames bots for Taylor Swift debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Live Nation Entertainment is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2019. Ticketmaster has come under harsh criticism from fans and lawmakers, accusing it of having too much control over the market for concert tickets. Berchtold’s testimony said Live Nation has invested over $1 billion over the years to improve Ticketmaster. “Whether it meets the legal definition of a monopoly or not, Live Nation’s control of the live music ecosystem is staggering.”Ticketmaster has denied any anti-competitive practices and remains under a consent decree with the Justice Department following its 2010 merger with Live Nation. Live Nation included letters of support with its testimony including one from singer Garth Brooks who asked” My question is, as a country, why don’t we just make scalping illegal?

☆ Microsoft is backing up the money truck and pouring billions into ChatGPT creator OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft is making a 'multi-billion dollar investment' in OpenAI. It put in $1 billion into the ChatGPT maker in 2019, and was reportedly planning a $10 billion investment. OpenAI, the company behind the popular large language model bot ChatGPT, is getting billions and a longer term boost from Microsoft. OpenAI has described itself as a "capped-profit" company, meant to help raise funding by giving investors a piece of the profits, according to the company. OpenAI is also working on getting users to pay for certain ChatGPT features.

☆ 'Stalin' said he disagreed with Putin's invasion of Ukraine. We 'spoke' to dead historical figures using a new AI chatbot that experts are sounding the alarm over.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Bethany Dawson | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider "spoke" to bots acting as Princess Diana, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Stalin, and Fred Trump. AI 'Fred Trump,' Donald Trump's father, isn't impressed with his son's politics. But AI Fred Trump "said" that he's "very proud" of his son, describing him as a "successful businessperson" and an "amazing father." An AI chatbot acting as Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father. AI Stalin called for the two countries to "find a peaceful solution."

☆ Marines fooled a DARPA robot by hiding in a cardboard box while giggling and pretending to be trees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former Pentagon policy analyst Paul Scharre discusses global power and AI in his upcoming book. He writes that Marines trained the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's robots. The robots, trained to identify humans, were fooled by Marines doing somersaults and hiding in boxes. In the passages, Scharre details how, at the end of their training course, the Marines devised a game to test the DARPA robot's intelligence. Another took branches from a fir tree and walked along, grinning from ear to ear while pretending to be a tree, according to sources from Scharre's book.

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing on Jan. 24 on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry after Ticketmaster's problems managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is titled "That’s The Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment." "We will examine how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industries harms customers and artists alike." Consent decrees are often used to prohibit potentially anticompetitive practices or impose other requirements as a condition of merger approvals. A previous Ticketmaster dispute with the Justice Department culminated in a December 2019 settlement extending the consent agreement into 2025.

For users with a lot of followers, Twitter has been a place to network with professionals in their chosen field, build successful businesses and share breaking news. In October 2022 the account hit 550,000 Twitter followers, she said. Before Musk, Nelson said he communicated with Twitter staff, who engaged with the platform’s top creators to share new features and get insight. Prominent Twitter users said they have also noticed the quality of discourse on the platform declining, including more hateful messages being sent to them in direct messages and replies. It catalogs tweets from and about Musk, including reporting on the disruption to Twitter’s staff, previously suspended accounts that Musk restored and major moments on Musk’s Twitter.

☆ Elon Musk is still a big fan of 'The Battle of Polytopia,' a video game where the goal is world domination
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis are both fans of "The Battle of Polytopia," per Hassabis. "Polytopia" is a strategy game where players can direct their "tribe" to colonize territory. Some Tesla cars even used to have a feature allowing the game to run during drives. An email to Musk's Tesla email address by Insider didn't immediately receive a response on Tuesday morning. The goal is to compete with other tribes, which can be controlled by bots, to fight for control over territories.

☆ I performed magic tricks for Elon Musk at a PayPal reunion party. Here's what went down.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chan performed tricks for PayPal's 20th IPO anniversary last year, with Elon Musk also attending. Two decades later, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to perform magic tricks for my old company at PayPal's 20th IPO anniversary party in August. The invitation said it would be a "tricked-out PayPal reunion party" and I was very excited in the build-up. Daniel ChanMost of the PayPal founders, known as the "PayPal Mafia," were there, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, David Sacks, and Max Levchin. I fooled Elon Musk.

☆ If you still aren't sure what ChatGPT is, this is your guide to the viral chatbot that everyone is talking about
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Open AI, the AI company behind the AI art generator DALL·E, released the viral bot Chat GPT. Other researchers seem to be taking more measured approaches with generative AI tools. He told Insider he's helping to experiment with a chat bot called "Rentervention," which is meant to support tenants. Linna said he's experimenting with Chat GPT to help "Rentervention" come up with better responses and draft more detailed letters, while gauging its limitations. "I think there's so much hype around Chat GPT, and tools like this have potential," said Linna.

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