What we’re reading (4/25)
“Department Of Justice Drops Criminal Probe Into Fed Chair Powell” (Semafor). “The Department of Justice has ended its criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a move likely to thaw the frozen nomination process of President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Powell, Kevin Warsh.”
“The Stock Market Is In La La Land” (American Enterprise Institute). “One has to suppose that if Keynes were alive today, it would come as no surprise to him that the US stock market today is priced at close to record levels, practically unchanged from where it was some eight weeks ago at the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. Nor would he be surprised that today’s stock market trades at a historically very high valuation, despite a geopolitical situation where all the clues are pointing to the likelihood of a severe economic fallout.”
“United’s Card-Counting CEO Made A Huge Bet—And It’s Paying Off” (Wall Street Journal). “Before he started in the airline industry, and long before he was the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby was a serious gambler. He taught himself to count cards, raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas. To this day, he brags about getting kicked out of casinos all over the world. He’s still on the banned list in hotels up and down the Vegas Strip. A few years ago, he walked into the Bellagio during Super Bowl week and headed for the high-limit poker table. To set up a line of credit, Kirby handed over his ID. As he waited for his chips, a manager approached. The chief executive of one of the world’s largest airlines was told that he was welcome to spend his money on poker or any other casino game—but not blackjack. ‘It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve played,” Kirby said. “But I’m in the database.’ These days, Kirby doesn’t have to be in a casino to place a bet.”
“Meta To Cut 10% Of Staff As It Pours Billions Into AI” (CNN Business). “Meta said on Thursday it plans to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 people, the latest in a string of tech industry layoffs fueled in part by artificial intelligence.”
“Sam Altman’s Next High-Wire Act: Getting OpenAI To Make More Money” (New York Times). “OpenAI remains a leading A.I. lab that has raised more than $122 billion over the past year, is valued at $852 billion and has struck a series of deals with industry giants like Amazon and Nvidia. Its revenues have ballooned to an ‘annual run rate’ of $24 billion, which is an estimate of long-term revenue based on short-term data, and more than 900 million people regularly use its ChatGPT app. But others have caught up. Google has placed A.I.-powered features at the forefront of its widely used products. SpaceX, which aims to build A.I. data centers that ‘orbit the Earth,’ said this week that it was working with Cursor, an A.I. start-up, to improve its A.I. models.”
