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Tyler Perry is raising the alarm about AI... February 26, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [EnergyX]( Good morning. Does the US have too many Springfields? Some are saying yes after a [tragic mixup]( last week involving two different Springfields and Trader Joe’s. On Thursday, a newspaper in Springfield, MO, wrote that a Trader Joe’s was opening in the city after a TJ’s spokesperson confirmed “plans to open a new store in Springfield.” But shortly after, the spokesperson had to apologize, saying she thought the paper was in Springfield, VA, where the store is actually opening, in a major disappointment to the Missouri Springfieldians who had long requested a Trader Joe’s. This saga offers an opportunity to point out that Springfield is not the most common city name in the US. That would be Franklin, followed by Clinton, Madison, and Washington in a three-way tie for second, per the USPS. —Neal Freyman, Dave Lozo MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE Nasdaq $15,996.82 +8.34% S&P $5,088.80 +7.29% Dow $39,131.53 +3.76% 10-Year 4.260% +31.4 bps Bitcoin $51,856.24 +22.69% Novo Nordisk $123.45 +20.90% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 11:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: The US stock market has the “Magnificent Seven.” In Europe, they have the “[Granolas]( a term coined by Goldman Sachs to describe 11 ascendant European companies that lifted European stocks to a record last week. The corporations—GSK, Roshe, ASML, Nestlé, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, L’Oréal, LMVH, AstraZeneca, SAP, and Sanofi—have contributed 50% of the increase in the Stoxx Europe 600 index in the past 12 months, per the FT.  TECH [Will Wall Street bet on Reddit?]( [In this photo illustration a Reddit logo is seen on a mobile phone screen in front of WallStreetBets (WSB) logo of a subreddit where participants discuss stock and options trading.]( Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The company that helped create meme stocks is becoming a stock. Reddit [filed to go public]( last week in an IPO that will resemble the platform itself—unusual, chaotic, and reliant on its opinionated users. Planned for next month, Reddit’s public listing will be the first social media IPO since Pinterest in 2019 and the first major tech IPO of the year. What’s so unusual about it? Reddit reportedly plans to offer 75,000 of its power users the opportunity to [buy shares]( at the IPO price, a privilege not normally afforded to individual investors. Companies going public typically sell IPO shares to professional investors, who are expected to hold the stock for long periods and lower the potential for massive swings in the share price. It’s an attempt to reward unpaid moderators Reddit depends on a volunteer army of 60,000 moderators (aka “mods”) to manage its communities, known as subreddits. Though the mods are unpaid, Reddit would descend into chaos without them, and CEO Steve Huffman hopes that by giving them skin in the game, they’ll feel more like owners in the company. Early signs indicate the mods are not appeased. Reports from [Wired]( and [The Verge]( show that the Reddit IPO is being poorly received on Reddit, with the No. 1 comment on a news article of the IPO predicting, “The beginning of the end.” They’re probably not excited about Reddit’s financial prospects. While it’s one of the most-visited websites in the US, Reddit has struggled to make money compared to other social media platforms. In its IPO filing, the company said it’s been unprofitable since it was founded in 2005 and pulled in $804 million in revenue in 2023 (X is projected to have made $2.5 billion last year). Its list of “risk factors” is [longer]( than Facebook’s and Twitter’s combined when they filed to go public, Bloomberg Opinion’s Dave Lee noted. Could AI help boost sales? Reddit, which makes most of its money through ads, aims to tap a new revenue stream—licensing its vast number of messages to train AI models. Last week, it announced a reported [$60 million per year deal]( with Google for AI training, and it could look to ink similar partnerships with other tech companies.—NF   PRESENTED BY ENERGYX [The next gold rush]( [EnergyX]( Lithium is essential for batteries in electric cars, renewable energy storage, and even smartphones. That’s why demand for lithium is projected to grow 20x by 2040. So when [EnergyX]( revealed that their technology could extract 300% more lithium than traditional methods, investors everywhere took note—General Motors included. GM is the lead investor in EnergyX’s $50m funding round. [And you can join them](. That means you have the unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a company just as they’re set to unlock the US lithium supply. EnergyX’s stock price just increased, thanks to growing demand and their first acquisition of lithium resources in Chile. [Don’t miss your chance to share in their growth as an EnergyX shareholder](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Donald Trump pumping his fist]David Becker/Getty Images Donald Trump defeats Nikki Haley in her home state. Trump [romped]( in another presidential primary, securing 60% of the South Carolina vote compared to just 40% for Haley, the former SC governor. The victory kept Trump undefeated during primary season to date, having secured 44 of the 50 delegates available after similarly comfortable wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the US Virgin Islands. Haley said she has no intention of dropping out of the race, despite it looking like a foregone conclusion that Trump will nab the GOP nomination and set up a rematch with President Joe Biden in November. Volodymyr Zelensky reveals death toll in war with Russia. In a rare acknowledgment of losses, Ukraine’s president [announced]( that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died in the war, as the world marked two years since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion. Zelensky is anxiously awaiting a decision from the Republican-led House on $60 billion in aid that he said was needed within the month. Zelensky emphasized that US assistance was not “financial support” but weapons for Ukraine’s military, such as the $1.5 billion Patriot air defense system. He said that the upcoming US elections would be a “tipping point” for how the war would end, with Trump-allied Republicans opposing more support to Ukraine. Progress reported in Israel–Hamas cease-fire deal. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan suggested on CNN that a temporary cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas could be reached “[in the coming days]( that involves the freeing of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was more tempered, telling CBS that Hamas would have to abandon their “crazy demands” for a deal to be finalized. Elsewhere in the Middle East, US and UK forces carried out [another round of strikes]( on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the militant group’s attacks on commercial shipping. ENTERTAINMENT [Tyler Perry shelves $800m project over AI concerns]( [Tyler Perry]( Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images Never has [two dogs recording a podcast]( created this level of existential fear. Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry said he was [halting plans]( for an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta movie studios after seeing the capabilities of Sora, OpenAI’s jaw-dropping text-to-video model that debuted on social media less than two weeks ago. The sight of [dolphins riding bicycles]( compelled Perry to sound an alarm about the future of filmmaking in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “This will touch every corner of our industry.” Perry sees advantages to leveraging AI in his work—less travel, fewer sets to build, more exotic locations built through text—but they don’t outweigh his concerns for everyone in the moviemaking business, from actors to crew members to transportation employees. These worries are not new: The use of AI was one of the big [sticking points]( for striking writers and actors last year, who negotiated guardrails into their new contracts. Is it too soon to panic? Many filmmakers are [saying yes]( now. The technology as it exists is, at best, a replacement for stock footage, and OpenAI says it will reject requests to replicate celebrities in its videos. But even industry leaders who don’t share Perry’s level of concern for Sora concede that text-to-video technology will likely cost people their jobs in the future.—DL   TOGETHER WITH BETTERMENT [Betterment]( Need a li’l wallet wisdom? Betterment’s got you covered. They’re the [automated investing and savings app]( that makes your money hustle. All from the comfort of your own phone. [So let’s put your money to work](. CALENDAR [The week ahead](#) [Image of the Supreme Court]Saul Loeb/Getty Images SCOTUS will hear arguments today that could change how social media operates. After major social media platforms barred then-President Donald Trump’s account following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Florida passed a law preventing the banning of political candidates, and Texas passed a similar law that said political content can’t be removed. Industry organizations sued to block the laws, arguing social media companies are allowed to police their platforms under the First Amendment. Now, the [issue]( goes before SCOTUS: If the justices side with the states, it could lead to the government forcing social media platforms to carry content against their will. Michigan primary presents a big test for Biden. While Donald Trump is expected to continue his roll in the Republican race, [how much support]( the unopposed Joe Biden receives in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in the swing state of Michigan could serve as a litmus test for the general election. Arab American and Muslim community leaders in Michigan are [urging Democratic voters]( to vote “uncommitted” on their ballots to protest Biden’s handling of the Israel–Hamas war. Mobile World Congress starts today in Barcelona. If you hear your American tech friends pronouncing it Barthelona, it might be because they’re in town for [this week’s MWC](. The trade show known for the launches of smartphones and wearables will likely feature a glimpse into the future of how generative AI will pair with mobile technology. Everything else… - It’s the Golden Corral of earnings weeks. An endless variety of companies will report their Q4 results, including Macy’s, Domino’s, Zoom, Birkenstock, Salesforce, AMC, and Cava. - Leap Day is on Thursday. Happy birthday to all the leap babies, aka the only people excited that February is longer than usual. - Get your [inappropriate popcorn bucket]( ready—Dune: Part 2 hits US theaters on Friday. - The Formula 1 season begins on a Saturday with the Bahrain Grand Prix. The switch from the traditional Sunday race day is to accommodate the start of Ramadan. - Wanna feel old? Justin Bieber turns 30 on Friday. GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [South Korean fans cheering on their soccer team]Clicks Images/Getty Images Stat: Dudes don’t often find themselves outnumbered at sporting events—except in South Korea. Women [account for 55% of fans]( for pro sports there, per a 2022 estimate from the Korea Professional Sports Association, compared to less than half in the US and a quarter or less in Britain and Australia, the NYT reported. Analysts say the high share of women fans can be explained by a family-friendly environment at venues and the country’s high-octane fan culture, where K-pop musicians and athletes are glorified as national heroes. Quote: “Charlie never sought to take credit for his role as creator but instead let me take the bows and receive the accolades.” In his annual shareholder letter released Saturday, Warren Buffett honored his longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, who died last year at 99, as the “[architect]( of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett also issued a warning about his business’s growth, writing that his $905 billion conglomerate had become so large, and there exist so few tasty investment opportunities, that Berkshire has “no possibility of eye-popping performance.” You can [read the entire letter here](. Read: The 52-part saga “Who TF Did I Marry?!?” that’s taking over TikTok. ([Reesa Teesa]( ([Explainer here]( NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [AT&T]( said it will issue a $5 credit to “potentially impacted” wireless customers following its hourslong outage on Thursday. - [Intuitive Machines]( said its Odysseus spacecraft was “alive and well” but spent the weekend on the moon resting on its side. The most relatable moon lander ever? - [BYD]( is taking luxury EVs to new levels with its Yangwang U9, which it introduced Sunday with a sticker price of $233,450. - [Flaco]( NYC’s celebrity owl that was freed from his cage by a vandal in Central Park Zoo last year, died after colliding with a building on the Upper West Side. - [The Florida Man Games]( took place over the weekend. Men in tank tops and jorts competed in events that included wrestling while holding pitchers of beer and running from the police in an “evading arrest” obstacle course. RECS [Monday to-do list image] Relate: Seven tips on [becoming a supercommunicator](. Watch: Ever wonder how a shovel is made? [This video]( takes you inside a shovel factory. Learn: All the English words that can be [synonyms for “drunk”]( (there are more than you think). Radiate: This [YouTube channel]( explores nuclear weapons, technology, and disasters. Build: Learn how to come up with great business ideas and get them off the ground in our free workshop. It’s happening tomorrow, so [sign up today](. Go clear: Get unparalleled clarity with [hear.com’s IX hearing aids](. These game-changing devices’ unique dual-processing technology doubles the power and conversation clarity. [Try ’em risk-free for 45 days]( *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Turntable: Turntable is a game with no time limit, so you’re encouraged to start it now, then return to it whenever you want a little break over the next few days. [Get started here](. What’s in a place name? Below is a list of places around the world that share a specific thing in common. What ties them together? La Brea Tar Pits Sahara Desert Minnehaha Falls Lake Tahoe Mississippi River Milky Way Galaxy SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( ANSWER They are tautological place names, which means that two different parts of them are synonyms, or redundant. For example, Mississippi comes from “misi-sipi,” an Ojibwa word for “[big river]( So it’s technically “big river river.” And “la brea” means “the tar” in Spanish—giving you “the tar tar pits.” [See a full list here](. Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: jorts, which means “shorts made of denim fabric.” Thanks to Lisa from Denver, CO, for the suggestion. [Submit another Word of the Day here](. ✢ A Note From EnergyX This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX’s Regulation A+ offering. Please read the offering circular at [(. Written by [Neal Freyman]( and Dave Lozo Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. 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