Awkwafina AI

Meta enlists the A-list for its AI chatbots, Jaylen Brown launches a sneaker brand, and pop stars launch into the film awards season

Happy Thursday, fam. Yesterday, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and the right-hand person to FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to two years in prison for her part in FTX’s industry-shattering fraud. Why such a lenient sentence when SBF was given 25 years? She spilled all the tea on her former boss/boyfriend to investigators. It’s safe to say that they’re never ever getting back together.

DAILY TOP TRENDS

Meta’s Chatbots Hit Celebrity Status

Celebrity chatbot // Illustration by Kate Walker

Meta announced some starry updates to its AI chatbots — licensed celebrity voices from A-list Hollywood talent.

The Big Picture: It’s not the first time that Meta turned to famous people to give its chatbots some familiar voices. But after the first experiment failed because the celebrities were voicing characters, the tech giant hopes that simply programming the chatbots to be the celebrities themselves makes the technology stickier for users.

Behind the Scenes: At the Meta Connect event yesterday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg bantered with a chatbot voiced by Awkwafina in front of a live audience.

  • Awkwafina joins actors like John Cena, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, and Keegan-Michael Key, who have struck deals with Meta to voice its new AI assistant that will roll out this week across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

  • The actors were paid millions of dollars to record their voices and to license their likenesses.

  • WSJ reports that the negotiations acted as a test case for how generative AI deals could be done for talent, bringing up issues of control over their appearance, what the chatbots could say, and who would be liable if chatbot responses went off the rails.

The Future: Hollywood has a very complicated view of AI, with top talent especially not liking it when tech companies seem to pull a fast one to rip off their likeness (literally the thing actors monetize). By making sure deals are done above board, Meta may set the stage for a gold rush in Silicon Valley for celebrity NIL rights.

The Other Side: Don’t think Meta is totally off the hook when it comes to AI — a judge declared that Zuckerberg can be deposed in an ongoing copyright-infringement lawsuit from several authors.

Together with Masterworks

Banks Invest In A Surprising $2.1 Trillion Asset Class

Bank of America. UBS. JPMorgan.

They’re all building (or have built) investments in one $2.1 trillion asset class (UHNWIs’ art and collectible wealth), but it’s not what you think.

Not AI equities or crypto, but art.

Why?

Certain segments’ appreciation has outpaced traditional investments. Take blue-chip contemporary art — even with the market slowdown, it’s still outpaced the S&P by 64% over a longer horizon (‘95-‘23).*

Masterworks has given 65,000+ investors the opportunity to invest in this unique asset class. From 23 exits so far, investors have realized representative annualized net returns like +17.6%, +17.8%, and +21.5% among assets held over one year.

*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. See Important Regulation A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd
The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice.
“Net Annualized Return” refers to annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and expenses, calculated from the offering closing date to the date the sale is consummated. For additional information regarding the calculation of IRR for a particular investment in an artwork that has been sold, a reconciliation will be filed as an exhibit to Form 1-U and will be available on the SEC’s website. Masterworks has realized illustrative annualized net returns of 17.6%, 17.8%, and 21.5% on works held longer than one year (not inclusive of works held less than one year and unsold works).
*Contemporary art data based on repeat-sales index of historical Post-War & Contemporary Art market prices from 1995 to 2023, developed by Masterworks. There are significant limitations to comparative asset class data. Indices are unmanaged and a Masterworks investor cannot invest directly in an index.

Jaylen Brown Ties His Own Shoes

Images courtesy of Boston Celtics, 741 Performance // Illustration by Kate Walker

Jaylen Brown, the NBA star who helped lead the Boston Celtics to a championship win last season, is launching his own footwear company instead of signing a deal with an established sneaker brand.

Why It Hits: Signing an endorsement deal with one of the major athletic shoe labels, like Nike, Adidas, or Puma, is seen as the pinnacle of brand deals. With Brown striking out on his own, more pro athletes may start to embrace that they have the access and reach to be more entrepreneurial.

Between the Lines: Jaylen Brown’s issues with established sneaker brands (especially Nike) are well-documented. So, he’s putting his money where his foot is.

  • Brown is launching 741 on October 22nd at select retailers, and he’s already hyping his signature shoe by wearing them during offseason training.

  • He’s making affordability a major aspect of the brand, saying that his shoes will cost 40% less than those of competitors… well, at least when it comes to kids’ sizes.

Closing Thoughts: According to Complex, Brown has allegedly turned down $50 million in endorsement deals from the major shoe brands, so this is very much about ownership and building something rather than money. Brown says that he was also inspired by Kobe Bryant, who was thinking of launching his own brand before passing. If 741 takes off, expect a lot more athletes to follow his lead… and shake up the sneaker industry in the process.

Together with Prompts Daily

Why suck at using AI?

Now you don’t have to with Prompts Daily.

They provide the latest tools, news, and trends so you can keep up with all that’s happening in the world of AI. Their perspective is fresh, and they deliver all their info through bite-sized content. So, it’s a quick (and free) read.

DEEP DIVES

  • Read: Forbes chats with the captain and financier of the historic Polaris Dawn mission, billionaire Jared Isaacman, about how it felt to be the first non-governmental astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

  • Listen: Rapid Response interviews Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson about how he’s leaning on new community-driven technology to reach more users.

  • Watch: Hello World host Ashlee Vance explores whether spending time in a VR flight simulator can really prepare you to fly an actual helicopter.

Do you have a mixed view of AI?

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60% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do you like haunted houses?

“I’ve never seen the attraction… just not fun for me!”

“Don’t like rollercoasters or scary movies either.”

“They were great when I was in middle school, but as an adult, I’m not that interested in horror flicks or haunted houses.”

“LOVE them. I’ve created my own haunted houses since I was 12. I even had a haunted woods.”

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QUICK HITS

→ Entertainment / Media

🥊 UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere was the highest-grossing event for both the fighting league and the cutting-edge venue.

🙅‍♂️ Disney+ is launching a password-sharing crackdown with a new program that lets users pay a fee to share their account with a different household.

🎤 Pop stars take Hollywood: Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande may all be competing for film awards this Oscar season.

→ Fashion / E-commerce

🏈 Kith is gearing up the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, and New York Jets with a new collection.

💵 Fanatics was all the rage among alternative-asset investors during the pandemic… but it’s losing favor with its own investors.

💳 The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa aimed at its power over the debit card market.

→ Creator Economy

🔍 Former MrBeast staffers have some thoughts about his leaked “success on YouTube” document.

🤖 A survey by affiliate marketing platforms Awin and ShareASale found that 70% of creators in the US, UK, and Germany are worried about AI disrupting their jobs.

📷 Fujifilm’s X100V camera went so viral on TikTok in 2022 that the company still can’t keep up with demand.

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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.

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