A Japanese ice cream companyâs new flavor gained the honor (?) of being the worldâs most expensive at $6.7k per serving. Ingredients include rare white truffles, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and sake lees â but it doesnât come with a waffle cone, so what are we even doing here?
In todayâs email:
To the limit: The debt ceiling has the US one week away from possible disaster
The persistence of forgery: Oh-so-many Salvador DalĂ fakes
Such revolutionaries: Boston leads the way on AI in government
Around the Web: Epic birding, a zombie survival game, an online exhibit of Buddhist shrines, and more
Till debt do us part
Weâve gotta talk debt ceiling â and youâre already asleep
This federal spending talk can be painless, we promise.
2023-05-25T00:00:00Z
Ben Berkley
We get it â most of the population sees âdebt ceilingâ and their eyes roll back so hard, itâs a wonder their peepers donât shoot out the back of their skulls.
But with America one week out from a critical deadline, itâs time for everyoneâs collective heads to get in the game.
The debt ceilingâŚ
⌠is a cap set by Congress limiting how much money the US government can borrow to pay its bills.
Still awake? Great.
If the limit isnât raised, the Treasury Department says itâll run out of money and start defaulting on payments as soon as June 1.
A federal default hasnât happened before. What would it mean? To start:
Social Security checks and tax refunds may be halted.
Federal employees (including active military) may not be paid.
Stock markets may panic.
The only time-tested way to make all that not happen? Congressional action.
Oh, them? Not good
Debt ceiling negotiations have become increasingly politicized.
The tense 2011 cap-extension standoff lost taxpayers $1B and downgraded US credit; bipartisan deal-making hasnât exactly improved since then.
How worried should you be?
Medium worried, at least. President Biden and Speaker McCarthy continue to negotiate, but Wall Street is getting jittery.
If lawmakers canât reach a consensus, some secondary maneuvers could temporarily extend the deadline â but in a hyperdivided Congress, those tricks arenât certain to work.
If nothing happens and the feds default, the real-life impacts would be massive:
Retirement funds may plummet.
Medicare and Medicaid may see disruptions.
Credit card interest rates may rise.
Mortgage rates may improveâŚ
⌠Nah, theyâd somehow get even worse; just making sure youâre still awake.
In other words, debt ceiling news ainât sexy, but itâs worth engaging with.
Good news for loners: Twister Air is a new AR version of the party game that lets you play solo. Thereâs no mat; players instead match ankle and wrist bands to dots on a screen. Oh, and thereâs⌠a song.
SNIPPETS
TodAI in AI: The Ringerâs Bill Simmons says Spotify is developing tools that use AI versions of popular hostsâ voices to produce targeted podcast ads (that weâll all just fast-forward through, anyway).
Meanwhile, ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned that AI poses an âexistential riskâ if governments donât take steps to protect against its misuse, including in cyberattacks.
Netflix and bill: As part of its password-sharing crackdown, Netflix will charge members $7.99/month per user outside of their household. Therapists are licking their chops as members decide if their distant loved ones are fee-worthy.
Go Figure: AI robotics startup Figure and its humanoid bots are both literally and financially standing tall after eight, uh, figures â $70m â in new funding.
Abercrombie & Rich: Abercrombie & Fitch stock surged 30%+ after a surprisingly profitable quarterly earnings report left investors sniffing out a potent blend of cologne and cash.
Robocops: Avid Telecom is being sued by 48 state attorneys general, plus DCâs, over billions of illegal robocalls, some impersonating companies or government agencies.
Virgin Obit: Two months after bankruptcy declarations, Richard Bransonâs space company Virgin Orbit is officially over. Now, it will sell its assets to other space companies.
Feeling overwhelmed at work? Learn to empower your employees while reducing your workload by delegating.
Video
âDalĂ detectiveâ Bernard Ewell shows us the difference between original and fake DalĂs.
Watch: Why Salvador DalĂ is the most faked artist in the world
In a career spanning 50+ years, DalĂ produced a vast number of paintings, etchings, lithographs, and sculptures, along with a mustache to behold.
But in the â80s, amid an art investment bubble, experts believe hundreds of thousands to millions of fake DalĂs began to circulate, leading to $625m-$1B in US sales. Worldwide, fraudulent sales may have hit $3B.
The fraud led to prison sentences for unscrupulous art dealers and gallery owners, sunk the value of many authentic DalĂ works, and continues to have hobbyist art collectors twirling their âstaches to this very day.
Boston leads the way on local government AI adoption. Will anyone follow?
2023-05-25T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
When you think of your local government, the term âhigh-techâ might not be the first to spring to mind (we were thinking âfax machineâ).
But Boston is proving us wrong. Last week, it became the first city to introduce official guidelines on government use of generative AI, per Wired.
In addition to making Google Bard available to all city employees, the guidelines:
Offer example prompts and scenarios in which AI could assist city officials
Explain how AI can help translate between languages
Encourage the use of AI for summarizing long pieces of text
The documents also warn employees to fact-check all AI-generated content, disclose if theyâve used AI in their work, and not share any private information when writing prompts.
Not all cities are on the AI bandwagon
Officials in New York City, Los Angeles Unified, Seattle, and Baltimore School Districts have either banned or blocked access to generative AI tools, fearing the ramifications for plagiarism and critical thinking.
Italy even banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns, the first Western country to do so.
But some are already coming aroundâŚ
⌠with New York City recently announcing its reversal of the generative AI ban in schools.
In a memo, NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks wrote that âthe knee-jerk fear and risk overlooked the potential of generative AI to support students and teachers.â
Now back to important things: Will Bostonâs next AI breakthrough speed up the line at Dunkinâ?
Only time will tell.
AROUND THE WEB
đŤ On this day: In 1977, Star Wars (now known as Star Wars: Episode IV â A New Hope) debuted in the US, kicking off one of the biggest entertainment franchises in history.
đ´ó Łó Žó ľó ´ó ż Thatâs cool: âSacred Spacesâ is an online exhibit of Tibetan Buddhist shrines. Visit the Shrine Room to learn about objects and how theyâre used in practice.
đŚ Thatâs interesting: Peter Kaestnerâs epic quest to become the first birder to see 10k different species.
đ§ Cure boredom: Collect resources to survive the zombie hordes.
đ Aww: And now, an amazing feat of video editing.
media.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Critical_Template_Imagery/logo_glow.png?upscale=true&width=1000&upscale=true&name=logo_glow.png 500w” sizes=”(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px”>
media.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Critical_Template_Imagery/eye.png?upscale=true&width=280&upscale=true&name=eye.png 140w” sizes=”(max-width: 70px) 100vw, 70px”>
media.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Critical_Template_Imagery/laptop_icon.png?upscale=true&width=320&upscale=true&name=laptop_icon.png 160w” sizes=”(max-width: 80px) 100vw, 80px”>
media.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Daily%20Newsletter%20Images/May%2025%2C%202023/meme_5_25.png?upscale=true&width=2000&upscale=true&name=meme_5_25.png 1000w” sizes=”(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px”>
media.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Critical_Template_Imagery/amb.gif?upscale=true&width=2400&upscale=true&name=amb.gif 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px”>
