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Business

Open Call: MacKenzie Scott announced a $640M donation to 361 non-profit organizations last week. The donations were made after an open call for applications, and initially, Scott was only planning on giving away $250M. Most of her donations fund equity and justice, health, education and economic mobility. “She’s been able to show other billionaires, ‘Hey, if you really want to give away a lot of money, it’s not that hard…You can just add a zero to all those checks,’” said David Callahan, founder and editor of Inside Philanthropy. Scott has already given away $17BN, and her fortune remains at $36BN. Strangely, we’ve heard of someone else who could use a sum that high and has also been asking the billionaires, with no apparent luck…

Apple gets the iLawsuit: The DoJ has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of monopolizing the smartphone markets to ensure iPhone’s dominance (in the US, Apple has a 58% share, but worldwide, Android has 70%). The lawsuit focuses on the iPhone's central role in Apple's ecosystem, the lock-in effect created by iMessage, and the contentious App Store developer fees. Walt Mossberg, iconic tech journalist, had some interesting concerns about the lawsuit: i) that Apple doesn’t have an actual monopoly (see stats above), but just a monopoly maybe with the rich; ii) that Apple’s business model is unique in that it is vertically integrated unlike its competitors, and this is what makes it differentiated, and iii) that having a blue bubble is a right (Apple’s software is proprietary, and we all can still text on it). The EU is also suing Apple, mostly going after the walled garden of the App Store, and has already fined the company $2BN. We’re mostly on the side of Walt, but we suspect the EU will put on the pressure, since we don’t expect any regulation out of the US Congress any time soon.

Politics

Wales Makes History:  Vaughan Gething, a member of the Labour Party, has been elected as the First Minister of Wales, making history as Europe's first Black head of government. His leadership comes at a time when Wales faces several challenges, including managing the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing economic issues, and navigating its relationship with the UK government. Gething’s elevation, means that for the first time, “none of the governments in the United Kingdom will be led by a white man. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain is of Indian descent, and Humza Yousaf, the first minister of Scotland, is of Pakistani descent. Michelle O’Neill became first minister of Northern Ireland last month, the first Catholic to hold that position.”

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park: The new monument and sculpture park will open this month in Montgomery, Alabama. The centerpiece of the park is a monument with 122k names that come from the 1870 census - “the first time formerly enslaved people could claim a name that would be recognized by the government.”

Technology

Moonshadows: Set your calendar: the next total solar eclipse on April 8 will be visible across North America, and we won’t have a better view until 2044. Remember to wear your eclipse glasses (or sunglasses), or just don’t look up.

NASA is otherwise occupied: NASA is still attempting to figure out what went wrong with Voyager 1, so that they can understand the radio transmissions it has been sending. The satellite is over 15BN miles away, and since last year its signal hasn’t been sending usable data. Unfortunately, it takes close to 24 hours to transmit and another 24 hours to receive data, so this game of phone tag could take some time.

AI Scare: The directors of the film Late Night with the Devil are facing criticism from horror fans for using AI-generated art in their movie. The movie is about a talk show in the 1970s, and only uses 3 (very obviously AI-generated) stills as cards for commercial breaks in the talk show. Indie horror fans seemed of two minds about the movie - concerned about the use of AI especially so close to the Hollywood strike, and giving the film strong reviews for its thrills and surrealism. The movie opened to a rather strong box office, reporting $666,666 on Sunday for a $2.8M weekend.

Meanwhile, in Hollywood: OpenAI is actively pursuing partnerships in the movie industry by meeting with Hollywood studios, media executives, and talent agencies in Los Angeles. The company aims to promote the integration of its new AI video generation tool, Sora, into filmmaking processes. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, attended parties in Los Angeles during the Oscars weekend, signaling the company's strong interest in establishing a presence in Hollywood. This follows Tyler Perry’s halt to his planned $800M studio expansion in February, after Sora’s and LTX Studio’s unveiling.

YouTube Honesty Policy: YouTube has introduced a new feature that requires creators to label their videos if they contain AI-generated or synthetic material, as part of an effort to enhance transparency and prevent misinformation. Creators must disclose if their content includes altered or synthetic elements that appear realistic, such as using deepfake technology to alter voices or creating realistic-looking scenes that never happened. The enforcement of this policy relies on the honor system, requiring creators to be honest about their use of AI-generated content, as YouTube acknowledges the challenges in detecting AI-generated material. What could possibly go wrong?

Synthetic Stereotypes: Here is something to ponder now that several tech companies have announced some unique humanoid robots…What is a female robot? If we assume that being female means we have the ability to reproduce, then what makes a robot female - just the fact that it is wearing makeup, a skirt, or acting like our girlfriend? The author argues that by gendering robots, we showing are hand and our biases.

Living Energy: Light Bio has created a bioluminescent petunia: “the only plant you see when the lights go off.” The goal of the plant, besides either creeping you out, or saving your electricity bills, is to challenge our perceptions of plants, and remind us that they are complex and even conscious beings. Personally, we can’t keep a cactus alive, so we can’t imagine the guilt of growing a glowing a plant.

Trimming the Herbs: Nintendo has announced that it will be shutting down Wii U’s servers on April 8, and sadly this will bring an end to Super Mario Maker. Unfortunately, as of 2017 there were 85k “uncleared” levels in the game, so a group of diehard fans have gathered online to try and beat the machine and the timeline. Now, there is only one level left - a notoriously difficult one called “Trimming the Herbs.” Let’s-a-go!

Streaming with the Oldies: We aren’t big fans of gaming, but now we have a new hero and a new life goal: 75-year old grandmother, Cath Bowie. Bowie has teamed up with one of the world’s most famous Fortnite players, and amassed a devoted, streaming fanbase. Bowie started playing Fortnite in 2017 after watching her grandson, and once she grew some confidence, she joined teams with older players. Bowie plays with civility, and her unique perspective an sense of humor have given rise to her popularity. Age is just a number - especially online.

Culture

Brie Afraid: Apparently there is a common belief that if you eat cheese before bedtime, it will cause nightmares (so that’s why!). Researchers are putting this tale to rest, finding that it’s more likely the result of just eating late at night which can result in vivid dreams. However, eating fatty foods before sleep can lower your sleep quality and increase dream recall, so take your pick over which decadence you prefer: shut-eye or snacking.

Six Degrees of Let’s Dance: The kids are at it again, but this time they have convinced Kevin Bacon to come back to prom. Parts of Payson High School, the school in Utah where scenes from the original Footloose was filmed, is going to be demolished later this year, so the students campaigned to bring Bacon back. The move also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the film’s release, and the students have committed to supporting Bacon’s charity with a fundraiser. Skinny ties and walkmans not required.

The Juice is Loose: If 40 years of Kevin Bacon doesn’t make you feel old, the official trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has just been released, and honestly, Wynona Ryder, Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara haven’t aged a bit.

Jenny’s on the Wrong Block: JLo got herself into some hot water again on social media after posting a clip on TikTok, where she sits in the gym and says, “It reminds me of when I was 16 in the Bronx. Running up and down the block.” Immediately, the clip went viral for all the wrong reasons - the lack of authenticity and the ability to relate to anyone who is actually not a multi-millionaire.

Plane Snacks: We are particularly careful about making sure we have plenty of snacks before we board a plane, especially on a long haul (we don’t have a fear of flying, but a fear of being stranded and hangry). So we are intrigued by the new Truffle ATM at New York’s JFK Airport. The vending machine is stocked with truffle-flavored treats like chocolate bonbons, sauce, oil, potato chips and mixed nuts, and of course, truffles themselves. If you aren’t landing in Concourse B, you can find the fresh concoctions at Urbani Truffle Lab on the Upper West Side.

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