Sony Cancels Zee Merger 💔, Starbucks Expands 🏪, OpenAI vs AI Girlfriends 🤖

Catch up on the latest in tech, business and startups - all in 5 minutes. [Newsletter Banner] Daily News Roundup Welcome to today's edition of the NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include Sony's cancelled Zee merger, Starbucks' expansion in India, and OpenAI's fight against AI girlfriends. 📰 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Apple Music incentivizes artists with higher royalties for Spatial Audio tracks - Apple Music will pay artists up to 10% more in royalties for tracks available in Spatial Audio, starting from January’s payouts. - Artists can earn the bonus even if users don’t listen in Spatial Audio, as the metric is based on the proportion of Spatial to Non-Spatial Available plays. - The incentive is seen as a reward for higher quality content and compensation for the additional effort required to mix in Dolby Atmos. Alphabet reduces workforce at X moonshot lab, plans restructuring - Alphabet is laying off dozens of employees, primarily support staff, at its X moonshot lab, following CEO Sudar Pichai’s warning of further downsizing. - The company is restructuring X to facilitate the creation of independent startups, backed by external investors. - The restructuring aims to focus on inventing breakthrough technologies to address global challenges, while also increasing efficiency and profitability. Mastering Difficult Conversations: Insights from Expert Negotiator Chris Voss [NBW Newsletter Ad]( From his experiences in high-risk, high-stakes situations, Voss emphasizes the significance of emotional intelligence, active listening, and understanding the other party’s viewpoint in successful negotiations. Save time. Get the #BigIdeas from this conversation [Read 🚀]( OpenAI battles against proliferation of AI girlfriends on GPT Store - OpenAI’s GPT Store is being flooded with romantically oriented chatbots, violating the company’s usage policies. - Despite initial efforts to ban these chatbots, new ones continue to appear, with some even containing sexually explicit content. - The issue is not unique to OpenAI, as the Replika AI companion chatbot faced similar issues, leading to its ban in Italy. AI automation of jobs too costly, says MIT study - A study from MIT reveals that most jobs are currently too expensive to automate with AI, with only 23% of workers’ wages for such jobs being cost-effectively replaceable. - Despite AI’s capabilities, its installation and maintenance costs, along with its struggle with tasks requiring intuition and emotional intelligence, make human labor more economical. - While AI is impacting many industries, the narrative of ‘machines stealing jobs’ is currently exaggerated, according to the study. Be the smartest thinker in the room with BigIdeas app (delivers bite-sized ideas from world's best podcasts, books.) [App Store]( [Google Play]( MrBeast earns $263K from X video, labels the payout as ‘misleading’ - MrBeast, a popular YouTuber, earned over $263,000 in ad revenue from a video posted on X, a platform taken over by Elon Musk. - Despite the substantial earnings, MrBeast referred to the payout as ‘a bit of a facade’, suggesting the video’s ad revenue per view was inflated due to its popularity. - Concerns were raised about the video being treated as an advertisement on X, potentially boosting engagement and revenue, leading to MrBeast’s claim of the payout being misleading. Gmail’s AI helper may soon allow voice prompts for drafting emails - Google is reportedly working on a ‘Draft email with voice’ feature for Gmail’s Android app, enabling users to dictate emails to the AI helper. - The feature, which was added in October 2023, is not yet publicly available and the timeline for its rollout to all Workspace Labs users is unclear. - This voice-composing capability could revolutionize quick messaging and facilitate drafting emails between meetings. Investigation launched into AI-generated robocalls using Biden’s voice in New Hampshire - The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is investigating robocalls that used an AI-generated voice resembling President Biden’s to dissuade voters from participating in the state’s presidential primaries. - The robocalls, which were sent out on January 21, falsely claimed to be from a political committee supporting Biden’s write-in campaign. - The Biden campaign is discussing additional actions, while a Trump campaign spokesperson denied any involvement. First batch of Apple Vision Pro pre-orders now en route for February 2 release - The initial Apple Vision Pro orders have begun shipping to customers who pre-ordered. - Despite Apple’s website showing the status as ‘preparing to ship’, customers can track their order’s progress via the UPS website. - Apple ensures that pre-orders are delivered no earlier than the official launch day, which is February 2 for the Vision Pro. Sony cancels $10 billion Zee merger, demands $90 million termination fee - Sony Group Corporation has terminated its proposed $10 billion merger with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), seeking a $90 million termination fee due to alleged breaches by ZEEL. - ZEEL has refuted these claims and plans to take legal action and contest Culver Max and BEPL’s claims in arbitration proceedings. - The merger’s cancellation comes after disputes about leadership and a delay in the merger, with ZEEL seeking a deadline extension that was not agreed upon by the January 21 deadline. Gautam Adani pledges to sponsor 14 PhDs in Indology following Ram Mandir ceremony - Gautam Adani, post the Ram Mandir ceremony, announced his company’s initiative to sponsor 14 PhDs in Indology. - Adani believes this will promote the study of Indian culture, languages, and literature, giving global recognition to India’s soft power. - The announcement was made on X (formerly Twitter) during the consecration of Ayodhya Ram Temple, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries. Starbucks and Tata joint venture plans to expand to 1,000 stores in India by 2028 - Tata Starbucks aims to open a new store every three days, targeting tier-2 and tier-3 cities. - The expansion plan includes doubling its workforce to 8,600 employees and increasing its presence in drive-thrus, airports, and 24-hour stores. - The company also plans to empower women by providing vocational skills training for those seeking careers in the F&B retail industries. Regulatory authority issues guidelines to curb misleading ads by IAS coaching institutes - The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has drafted guidelines to prevent misleading advertisements by IAS coaching institutes. - The guidelines prohibit institutes from making false claims about success rates or selection numbers, and require them to provide detailed information about successful candidates. - The CCPA has previously issued notices to 31 institutes for misleading ads and imposed fines on 9 of them. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](