Café AI lait

Summerween is here: Spirit Halloween teamed up with Chipotle on unitards inspired by its burritos, to-go bags, and napkins. The guac’s not the only thing that’s extra.

Stock moves were muted yesterday as investors held their breath ahead of today’s big jobs report, which could influence traders’ bets on the size of a Fed rate cut in September. If August job #s come in weak, it could boost hopes of a bigger cut.

👔 Quizness casual: Roll up your casual-Friday sleeves and try to ace our Snacks Seven quiz. Here’s the first q:

NaNoWriMayhem… The nonprofit behind National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) — a yearly challenge in which half a million writers try to draft the first 50K words of a novel — has stirred up a heated AI controversy. NaNoWriMo said that condemning AI’s use in writing ignores “classist and ableist issues.” It added that AI tools help even the playing — er, typing — field for writers with different educational, cognitive, and financial backgrounds. “Some brains and ability levels require outside help or accommodations to achieve certain goals,” NaNoWriMo said. There was a ton of backlash from the writing community on social media, plus:

Reading between the lines… Many took issue with NaNoWriMo’s stance that criticizing genAI use in writing could be discriminatory and the suggestion that certain writers need AI tools. One NaNoWriMo critic said, “Generative AI empowers not the artist, not the writer, but the tech industry” because AI tools are trained on writers’ content. Last year a group of Pulitzer-winning authors sued OpenAI and its major backer, Microsoft, saying they violated copyrights by training tools with their books. While authors worry AI companies are stealing their work, OpenAI’s said to be raking in $2B annually from 200M weekly ChatGPT users.

AI is a hornet’s nest… and creative orgs that poke it are getting stung. Critics slammed Adobe in June after its updated terms of service led people to believe it would train its AI on users’ work (it later said it wouldn't). And when a genAI picture won a Sony photography contest last year, chaos ensued. With a lack of clear rules around the generative tech, AI copyright lawsuits are booming.

Makin’ a splash… Ripple’s CEO said Wednesday that his crypto juggernaut plans to launch a US dollar-pegged stablecoin within “weeks.” Ripple, known for its cross-border payments tech, said it was already testing the new stable on the ethereum blockchain. FYI: stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency pegged to real-world assets, like the US dollar, and are designed to maintain a stable value. They’re a critical part of decentralized finance, helping traders carry out complex trades without the volatility associated with crypto.

Looking to strike it big… Ripple’s not the only biz hoping for a stablecoin payday. As the Financial Times reported, ecommerce group Mercado Libre, lender Banking Circle, crypto co Paxos, and even the state of Wyoming have all recently released stablecoin plans. And digital-payments titan PayPal intro'd its own stablecoin last year. Likely driving the stampede: the industry’s hefty margins. Many stablecoin companies keep their reserves (aka: what they use to back their coins) in US Treasuries and pocket the interest. With rates over 5%, that could translate to serious $$. Tether, which reported that as of June 30 it held nearly $81B in US Treasuries, said it made $5.2B in profit in the first six months of the year.

It’s hard to shake up a stable market… Ripple is entering a market with solidly entrenched players. Tether, which started a decade ago, has dominated the stablecoin space for years. Its top spot was solidified by the depegging of Circle’s USDC last year. Because even big players like PayPal have struggled to find their footing, Ripple could find the market a little too stable for its liking.

Off the charts: What are folks doing more often during the middle of the day? (Answer here.)

Read more.

📸 Flashy… Pro-Democratic PAC Future Forward said it would accept crypto donations for VP Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The crypto industry has warmed to Harris.

🤔 Sus… Insiders of a crypto project teased by the Trump family are reportedly set to gain 70% of the project’s token allocation (far above the industry norm).

⚖️ Judgy… The CFTC said it settled with Uniswap over claims the decentralized exchange illegally offered leveraged crypto trading.

Over half of the fresh fruit consumed in the US is imported

Authors of this Snacks own ethereum and uniswap and shares of: Microsoft

Advertiser's disclosures:

* A filing for FDA approval is no guarantee of an actual FDA approval.

** This is a paid advertisement for Monogram Technologies Series D Preferred Stock offering. A prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before making any investment, you are urged to read the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus carefully for a more complete understanding of the issuer and the offering. 

The securities offered by Monogram are highly speculative. Investing in these securities involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. There is no existing public trading market for the Series D Preferred Stock. Monogram does not intend to apply for listing of the Series D Preferred Stock or the common stock purchase warrants on a national securities exchange or quoted on an over the counter market.  

DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.

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