(Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images) |
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Duolingo’s owl used to be the lightning rod for customers’ anger at the company, until AI showed up and asked the mascot to hold its beer. Then CEO Luis von Ahn said the language-learning app would become an “AI-first” platform and replace staff, which sparked backlash. Now, in a new interview, von Ahn said hiring is still happening at the same pace as before, but that the AI strategy is helping customers’ “emotional energy.” The start of the week was a relative snoozer, with the amount of money changing hands across US exchanges the lowest since the holiday-shortened session on July 3. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 each closed less than 0.1% away from where they ended last week, while the Russell 2000 rose 0.3%. |
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With only a few months to go before the eagerly anticipated final season of “Stranger Things” is released, Netflix has a talent retention problem. Over the last few days, rumors have circulated that the Duffer Brothers — who have overseen their hit sci-fi series grow from a still large ~$6 million budget per episode newcomer in 2016 to a whopping ~$30 million per episode phenomenon by its fourth season — are signing a major deal to make exclusive film and television content with recently merged media group Paramount Skydance. |
- According to reports, the Duffer Brothers have been put off by Netflix’s hard-line theatrical release policy, since the streamer often avoids giving tentpole movies significant time in cinemas before launching on the platform.
- The approach has already been a point of contention with other Hollywood heavyweights.
- Losing two of the biggest fish in its original content talent pool could be a knock in an area where Netflix is already struggling to find success: making high-budget blockbusters that draw praise from fans and critics alike.
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It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that the exact same week Netflix loses the Duffers over theatrical release issues, the company announces that, sure, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” movie can get a tiny little limited theatrical release, if you insist. |
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Few of the streamer’s high-budget movies have garnered much acclaim from audiences, nor overly positive reviews from critics (with the notable exception of Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated epic “The Irishman”). The platform’s priciest original production, “The Electric State,” had an eye-watering budget of $320 million yet was also the worst critically received on the list. Whether or not Netflix is able to continue to convince creators to shoot what are essentially TV movies will have a big impact on its ability to compete with increasingly sturdy competition. |
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The Big Problem In The $5B Mining Tire Market... And The Company That Might Just Solve It |
Mining trucks can burn through $7M in tire costs over their lifespan. GACW offers airless, suspension-integrated wheels that last a vehicle's lifetime, potentially cutting costs by up to 60%! After 9 years of R&D, 75+ patents, and many field tests, GACW’s tech earned global recognition including TIME’s Best Inventions of 20231. GACW targets a Q4 2025 commercial launch into the $5B mining tire market before planning to disrupt the $262B global tire industry.2 Learn more about GACW in our upcoming webinar with Kevin O’Leary3, and join 4,000+ investors across all offerings and invest in GACW on StartEngine.4 |
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As the old saying goes, it takes money to make money, and Big Tech companies are having no issues spending bucketloads of cash to fund their AI super-ambitions: Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google spent nearly $90 billion on capex last quarter, and investors largely seem to be very happy with this outsized spending. There is one outlier that’s worrying Wall Street, however: the amount being spent on talent. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta especially has been throwing seven- to nine-figure compensation packages at AI experts as it attempts to poach employees, including reportedly floating a $200 million package to snatch away one top OpenAI worker. The thing to note is what’s wrapped up in a “compensation package” and the three-letter acronym that’s raising alarms: SBC. |
- That stands for stock-based compensation, and during Meta’s latest earnings call, it was already a concern. After AI capex spend, employee compensation is expected to be the “next largest driver of expense growth in 2026,” CFO Susan Li said, even as overall headcount declined at Meta.
- SBC labor costs in particular are up at Broadcom and Microsoft as well, Morgan Stanley reports, which calls it a trend that investors should be paying attention to, warning of “shareholder dilution.”
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Ultimately, this trend is creating a strange situation where companies are spending more on people now to hopefully spend less on headcount later, as AI adoption fosters a reduction in workforce. |
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In the AI arms race, every company can throw money at data centers and chips, but there are only a few AI superstars with the skill set to take all that investment and win the race for artificial general intelligence. And stock-based compensation gives these highly valued employees some serious skin in the game, as if they do produce an AI breakthrough, the company’s stock will rise — and so will their own fortunes. |
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Per yearly figures from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, domestic migration rates are hovering near all-time recorded lows, with just 7.9% of Americans switching towns or cities last year. There are a lot of reasons people move, as noted when we charted where Americans moved to and from in 2023, but there are a couple of obvious reasons as to why people are staying put these days, too. Read more. |
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The biggest risk when it comes to trading options… |
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Yesterday’s Big Daily Movers |
- Dayforce was the top performer in the S&P 500 after Bloomberg reported that private equity giant Thoma Bravo is in advanced talks to acquire the HR software provider
- TeraWulf rose on news that Google’s stake in the bitcoin mining infrastructure company increased to 14% from 8%
- First Solar and Sunrun shone as fresh IRS guidance largely preserves 2030 tax credits for the industry
- Novo Nordisk shot up after its blockbuster weight-loss shot Wegovy was approved by the FDA to treat liver disease
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- Earnings expected from Home Depot, Medtronic, Keysight Technologies, and Jack Henry & Associates
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Advertiser's disclosures:
1 See more details on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023 award here. 2 The global tire industry market size estimate includes automobile, military, and other types of tires. 3 Kevin O'Leary is a paid spokesperson for StartEngine. See his 17(b) disclosure on StartEngine. Kevin O’Leary is not endorsing GACW as an investment in this webinar; he is merely expressing his private opinion while interviewing companies raising funding on StartEngine. 4 The minimum investment is $502.50. Please read the offering circular and related risks at GACW’s StartEngine Page.This is a paid advertisement for GACW’s Regulation CF Offering. This Reg CF offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. This was a paid for ad. Sherwood Media has been compensated for this ad by the GACW Reg CF Campaign hosted on StartEngine. |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more |
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