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☆ Striking Hollywood Writers Disrupt TV’s Major Ad Event
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( John Koblin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Other major media companies — including Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Still, media executives have been anxiously awaiting the fallout from the prospect of hundreds of writers assembling on picket lines. Negotiations between the major Hollywood studios and the Writers Guild of America, the union that represents the writers, broke down on May 1, and 11,500 writers for television and film immediately went on strike. But the writers are not just demonstrating outside the major studios. They have gone far afield as well, setting up pickets outside productions in Maplewood, N.J., Chicago and Philadelphia.

☆ NBC takes a swipe at Twitter after Elon Musk hired away a top exec: They 'just let all the crazies back in.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

NBCUniversal took a dig at Twitter on Monday, saying the platform "just let all the crazies back in." Last week, Linda Yaccarino resigned as NBCU's ad chief to join Twitter as CEO, to replace Elon Musk. NBCUniversal took a swipe at Twitter on Monday — just days after NBCU's top ad chief resigned to join Elon Musk's social media platform. Twitter may seem like the place to begin, but Twitter just let all the crazies back in," according to Axios media reporter Kerry Flynn, who reported from the event. Its ad chief, Linda Yaccarino, who'd been at the company for nearly 12 years, resigned last week to join Twitter.

☆ Americans’ debt surpasses $17 trillion for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

To this point, credit card debt has been rising at the sharpest pace of any debt covered in the report, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate. Last year, 39% carried debt month to month. Increases in credit card debt can be a either sign of confidence or struggle, he added. “For the foreseeable future, we’re stuck with high credit card rates, high balances, and more people carrying debt,” he said. “My advice would be to pay down credit card debt, as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

☆ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway adds Capital One and these other stocks to holdings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made a slew of changes to its massive equity portfolio last quarter, including adding a financial stock during the latest banking crisis, according to a new regulatory filing. The Omaha-based conglomerate built a new stake in Capital One Financial in the first quarter, worth more than $950 million, the filing showed. Apple, Activision and more Berkshire hiked its two biggest holdings - Apple and Bank of America - slightly in the first quarter. Buffett said at Berkshire annual meeting that "it's not good news when any company passes its dividend, or cuts its dividend dramatically." Outside of top holdings, Berkshire added a small stake - worth about $40 million - in Diageo , a British alcoholic beverage company.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden regulation, saying it aims to encourage migrants to enter using legal pathways. U.S. asylum officers hurried to figure out the logistics of applying the new asylum regulation. COVID EMERGENCY ENDS, ASYLUM BAN BEGINSTrump first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 as COVID swept the globe. The order allowed American authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico or other countries without a chance to request asylum. Migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes repeat crossers.

LIVERPOOL, England, May 13 (Reuters) - The grand final of Eurovision 2023 kicked off on Saturday with last year's winner Kalush Orchestra performing on video in Ukraine and live in Liverpool, the northern English city hosting on behalf of the country that is fighting Russia's invasion. The 26 acts that qualified for the grand final span musical styles from ballads to heavy rock to rap, starting with Austria's Teya & Salena performing "Who The Hell is Edgar? [1/6] Mimicat from Portugal performs during the grand final of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, Britain, May 13, 2023. Pam Minto, a 37-year-old support worker from Liverpool, said she was proud of her city and hoped it was doing Ukraine proud. Ukrainian Anastasiia Iovova, a 31-year-old teacher who is currently living in Leeds, northern England, said Liverpool felt like home abroad.

☆ BlackRock is wrestling with who could succeed Larry Fink. Here's who's now in the running.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Investment giant BlackRock has been planning for CEO Larry Fink's succession for years. Leadership has discussed BlackRock cofounder Susan Wagner as someone who could succeed Fink if the board does not have a clear candidate. For years, BlackRock has been planning for Chief Executive Larry Fink's succession, a torch-passing the industry has long speculated over. BlackRock has become shorthand for the intense backlash from primarily Republican lawmakers over sustainable investment strategies that Fink has championed as CEO. Goldstein, 49, is a BlackRock lifer and has been chief operating officer for nearly a decade.

☆ Bernie Sanders doubled his income last year by writing a best-selling book that condemns capitalism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote a book called "It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism." Per new disclosures, he made $170,000 in book royalties in 2022, nearly as much as his $174,000 salary. Coupled with another $170,000 royalties payment from publisher Penguin Random House in 2020, Sanders has so far made $340,000 from the book. Sanders, a two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination and a proponent of Democratic Socialism, has long drawn scrutiny for the wealth he's managed to amass while in office. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a fellow progressive and 2020 presidential candidate, made even more than Sanders in book royalties in 2022, according to her own recently-filed financial disclosures.

☆ 'Ted Lasso' co-creator Bill Lawrence's No. 1 rule on set: 'Don't be an ass----'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

"Ted Lasso" became a global sensation in 2020 partly because of the kindness of its main character. But behind the scenes, being nice wasn't just a suggestion — it was a rule. In his commencement address to Sarah Lawrence College graduates on Friday, "Ted Lasso" co-creator Bill Lawrence broke down the No. 1 rule he gives every new actor and writer he hires: "Don't be an ass----." Lawrence, who also created "Scrubs," told the class of 2023 that he is blunt with his employees about the expectations he has for the way they treat each other, as well as other people, on set.

☆ Microsoft Won’t Raise Salaries for Full-Time Employees This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Joseph De Avila | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft said last month that its growth remained subdued in the first three months of the year. Photo: Ted S. Warren/Associated PressMicrosoft said it won’t raise salaries for full-time employees this year, the latest sign of tech companies’ belt-tightening amid concerns about a slowing economy. The software company, which is in the midst of embracing new artificial-intelligence tools that could revolutionize work and learning, said it plans to offer promotions, bonuses and stock awards to full-time employees this year.

☆ Ted Cruz accused JD Vance of empowering 'the radical Green Movement' by aligning with Democrats on a bill to prevent rail disasters like the East Palestine crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, proposed the Rail Safety Act in March. "All of us were moved by the testimony of the witnesses" from East Palestine, Cruz said. "We cannot undo the psychological, economic, and physical toll of the derailment in East Palestine," Vance noted, but "there will be another East Palestine in this country if we do not pass the Railway Safety Act." "I earnestly hoped that we would reach a bipartisan consensus," Cruz said, but "this bill is overly and needlessly prescriptive." Nonetheless, Cruz doubted the bill would pass the Senate with 60 votes, let alone the House.

☆ Striking Writers Find Their Villain: Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( John Koblin | Nicole Sperling | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just over a week after thousands of television and movie writers took to picket lines, Netflix is feeling the heat. Late Wednesday night, Netflix abruptly said it was canceling a major Manhattan showcase that it was staging for advertisers next week. Instead of an in-person event held at the fabled Paris Theater, which the streaming company leases, Netflix said the presentation would now be virtual. He was scheduled to be honored alongside the “Saturday Night Live” eminence Lorne Michaels. In a statement, Mr. Sarandos explained that he withdrew because the potential demonstrations could overshadow the event.

☆ Your credit card debt is probably about to get more expensive—here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve's latest interest rate hike means your credit card debt will likely get more expensive to pay off if you carry a balance month to month. However, it's rare that you'll receive a credit card with that interest rate. Typically, credit card interest rates are much higher to account for the costs incurred by the card issuer and the risk of some cardholders not paying back their debt, Rossman says. Currently, the average credit card annual percentage rate (APR) is about 22% for new offers and 20% for existing accounts, according to WalletHub's "Credit Card Landscape Report." Tips for tackling credit card debt

☆ OpenAI CEO to testify in US Senate next week amid questions about technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will make his first appearance before a Senate panel next week as the U.S. Congress grapples with how best to regulate artificial intelligence as the technology becomes more powerful and widespread. Altman will testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law on Tuesday on what laws might be needed to safeguard Americans as government and companies begin to use AI in everything from medicine to finance to surveilling workers. Altman was part of a White House meeting on AI last week that discussed how to ensure regulatory safeguards. "Artificial intelligence urgently needs rules and safeguards to address its immense promise and pitfalls," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, chair of the panel. "This hearing begins our Subcommittee's work in overseeing and illuminating AI’s advanced algorithms and powerful technology."

Notably, Trump refused to plant a flag in the sand on a potential federal abortion ban. Trump is vague on federal abortion banTrump repeatedly ducked questions about whether he would sign into law a federal abortion ban, as well as after how many weeks into a pregnancy abortion should be made illegal. He touted the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade’s federal abortion rights as “such a great victory” – and one made possible by his appointment of three conservative justices. But Trump also recognized splits within the GOP over whether to impose a federal abortion ban, and what the conditions of such a ban should be. “We now have a great negotiating ability, and I think we’re going to be able to get something done,” Trump said.

☆ The $31 trillion debt-ceiling fiasco could punish markets and it's complicating an already complex economic outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In any case, one outcome that many hold with a high degree of certainty is that financial markets are going to feel pain if the "x-date" bell tolls. This $31 trillion debt ceiling argument "comes at the worst possible time," according to Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee. "Many past instances of debt limit standoffs have been resolved without significant market fallout," the strategists wrote in a recent note. That's according to LPL chief global strategist Quincy Krosby — she says it boils down to these three reasons. With recession risks climbing, Bank of America analysts slashed their 2023 outlook for oil prices.

Follow for live updates on the Trump CNN town hall meeting. Those objections intensified on Tuesday after Mr. Trump was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll. And foes of Mr. Trump will cringe at seeing him on air at all. He is backed by David Zaslav, the Warner chief executive, who has batted away objections to Wednesday’s Trump town hall. There is the awkward fact that Mr. Trump still has a pending $475 million defamation lawsuit against the network.

☆ ‘Ted Lasso,’ Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Colin’s Moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Christopher Orr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking of Jack, it appears that particular subplot has already run its highly unnecessary course. But even I’m a little taken aback at how casually the show has discarded a once semi-central story line. Keeley and Jack had one fight, Jack slammed the door like Nora in “A Doll’s House” and now (unlike Nora) she has relocated to Argentina. (Has anyone else noticed that Richmond seems to alternate between long winning and losing streaks without ever being, you know, average?) Later, Isaac refuses Colin’s invitation to get a beer with a curt, angry “No.” Next, before the game with Brighton & Hove Albion — I’m with Ted; sounds like a law firm — Isaac leaves Colin’s attempted fist-bump un-bumped.

☆ Elon Musk is escalating his beef with Mark Zuckerberg, claiming WhatsApp 'cannot be trusted' and saying the Meta CEO seems 'extremely partisan'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk slammed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, saying he seemed "extremely partisan." Elon Musk is amping up his beef with Mark Zuckerberg this week, saying the Meta CEO seems "extremely partisan," and blasting WhatsApp over privacy concerns. And on Tuesday, Musk moved on to criticizing WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta. And when Zuckerberg questioned Musk's negativity toward AI as "irresponsible" in 2017, Musk tweeted that the Meta CEO's "understanding of the subject is limited." Musk and Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Migrants have been amassing in Mexico this week as thousands crossing into the U.S. have strained border cities. The Title 42 restrictions allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel many non-Mexican migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek U.S. asylum. Biden's new regulation restricting asylum access at the border resembles similar measures implemented under Trump that were blocked by U.S. courts. Some Democrats and immigration advocates have said the regulation undercuts the ability to seek asylum at U.S. borders as required by U.S. law and international agreements. The officials also said they expected Mexico to step up immigration enforcement this week, including in southern Mexico.

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to testify before Congress for the first time next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will testify before Congress for the first time next week as lawmakers are urgently seeking to figure out how to regulate rapidly advancing artificial intelligence tools. The hearing, entitled "Oversight of AI: Rules for Artificial Intelligence," will also feature IBM Vice President and Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery and New York University Professor Emeritus Gary Marcus. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who is co-hosting the dinner, told NBC News it's meant to "educate members" and that more than 50 lawmakers had already RSVP'd. Last week, Altman joined other tech CEOs for a meeting at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss risks associated with AI. WATCH: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on the ChatGPT boom and the need for regulation

☆ Temple University now offers a porn-studies course. In the class, students talk about things they 'don't even discuss with their closest friends.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Annalise Mabe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Temple University started its first porn-studies course this semester. Pollitt hopes the course will help students understand sex and sexuality better. Professor Jennifer Pollitt, the assistant director of gender, sexuality, and women's studies at Temple University, teaches the class, which garnered a lot of attention from students. The class often has deep discussions about sensitive material that students "sometimes don't even discuss with their closest friends," Pollitt said. Evelyn Andromeda, a third-year undergraduate student at Temple University, said she went into this class not really knowing what to expect.

☆ House lawmakers to host bipartisan dinner with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Scott Wong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrive to the White House for a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris on artificial intelligence, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in Washington. WASHINGTON — House Democrats and Republicans will hold a dinner at the Capitol next week with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which developed the popular artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, according to an invitation obtained by NBC News. The goal of the Altman dinner is to "educate members," said Lieu, who shared the invitation with NBC News. The dinner will be one of several appearances on Capitol Hill for Altman. And top lawmakers are warning that if Congress doesn't act soon, the U.S. will fall behind China, which is already moving ahead with proposed regulations for AI.

☆ How Biden's $369 billion sell to the climate tech industry is luring Europe's hottest startups to the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

President Biden's $369 billion climate sell is attracting some of Europe's biggest startups. Battery maker Northvolt and carbon removal firm Climeworks are both lining up US expansions. President Biden's $369 billion play to make the US the new hub for climate-friendly companies caused consternation among international allies. Europe's EV battery darling Northvolt is set to announce its highly anticipated US expansion in the coming weeks while carbon removal company Climeworks has already revealed plans to scale up Stateside. The company is also watching Europe's efforts to create a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon dioxide removal (CDR).

Researchers have also sought to quantify fairness and bias in AI models through various socio-ethnic parameters. For example, Stanford University's artificial intelligence index report scores for bias across AI models. It found a "counterintuitive" correlation between fairness and bias: models that scored better on fairness metrics demonstrated stronger gender bias, and less gender-biased models were more toxic. Driving AI technology advancements — being a "key player or enabler across the AI ecosystem to make businesses and society better." Some investors believe AI itself can help investors monitor and track ESG efforts by companies.

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