The CQ: OpenAI Launches GPT Store & Taylor Swift's Le Creuset Campaign
The Forerunner Team's Top Read of the Week
The CQ is Forerunner’s weekly newsletter rounding up the most pressing consumer news and analysis, plus some bonus musings from our investment team. Subscribe now to get the latest edition in your inbox every Saturday.
By Forerunner
What We’re Talking About on Slack:
OpenAI has launched an online “GPT store” that lets subscribers share and sell custom versions of AI chatbots. According to the company, more than 3 million bots have been created by users since announcing the GPT Builder program in November. The store will highlight different GPTs weekly and has plans to introduce a revenue sharing program with GPT creators.
Time rounds up the top 10 global risks for 2024. Not surprisingly, the list includes the U.S.’s ever-deepening political divide and heightened strife in Gaza and Ukraine, but it also points to the dangers of ungoverned AI, the fight for critical minerals, and El Niño further disrupting the climate. Another issue? “High interest rates caused by stubborn inflation will slow growth around the world, and governments will have little scope to stimulate growth or respond to shocks, heightening risk of financial stress, social unrest, and political instability.”
On the bright side, The Wall Street Journal shines a spotlight on recent innovations in artificial intelligence and medicine that offer glimmers of hope for the future. The FDA approved a breakthrough drug that slows the effects of Alzheimer’s as well as the first cell-based gene therapies for sickle-cell disease, while Ozempic and similar drugs have radically transformed obesity treatment. What’s more, these therapies can lead to treatments of other medical issues. For instance, Ozempic may be able to cure addictions to alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, or opioids—and this is something that AI can help pinpoint, finding proteins or genes that have the potential to combat diseases out of tons of data. “That is why the reported decline in life expectancy is misleading; children born today will almost certainly live longer than any other children in history.”
A new rule may qualify gig workers as employees. The rule proposed by the Biden administration will go into effect in March and may have a major impact on different industries from healthcare to restaurants and construction as well as ride-share and food delivery app-based companies that depend on crews of independent contractors. Because independent contractors don’t receive federal protections like minimum wage, workers’ compensation, or unemployment benefits, this regulation would determine if companies are falsely classifying workers based on whether they are permanent or temporary or how integral their job is to the business. Over the years, Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have fought to keep their workers as independent contractors and in 2020, Uber won a California vote to maintain that status, informing voters that a change would increase ride prices 20% to 120%.
According to Fast Company’s survey of economists, executives, and workers, this is what’s in for workers in 2024: more contract work (one expert predicts we will experience “a golden age for the gig economy in 2024” despite the new legislation mentioned above) and AI-powered hiring with more applicants turning to ChatGPT to write resumes and cover letters and employers relying on AI tools to recruit and assess candidates. And here’s what’s out: noncompete agreements and constant headcount growth. One reason for the onslaught of layoffs in 2023 “may be that many organizations had hired quickly in 2022. Another possible reason is that shareholders love it when companies cut workers.”
The Wall Street Journal asks, can retirees keep splurging? Don’t count on it. Last year older consumers saw an 8.7% cost-of-living increase in their Social Security incomes—the highest in four decades—which gave a nice boost to their spending power over other age groups. This year, the Social Security benefit will only increase by 3.2% so recipients’ spending is expected to slow. That may impact retailers whose customer base skews older, such as Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart, and Dollar General.
Welcome to the new digital dark age. When AI-generated content and misinformation are becoming more and more prevalent and social platforms are limiting researchers’ access to data, online trust will reach an all-time low, argues Wired who says this will pose a particular problem during elections as there is little way to keep manipulation, inauthentic behavior, and harmful content in check. “Changes in data access by social media platforms, as well as the explosion of generative AI misinformation, means that the tools that researchers and journalists developed in prior national elections for monitoring online activity won’t work.”
The secret to living longer starts with menopause. Scientists are discovering that it may be possible to slow down the aging of a woman’s reproductive system—this could extend a woman’s childbearing years as well as improve women’s overall health including lessening the symptoms of menopause. Research has shown that women who go through menopause later in life tend to live longer, however women are also more likely to experience poor health as they get older, usually dealing with several chronic conditions. “The ovary has this protective benefit. It’s lost when menopause begins,” says the director of the Columbia University Fertility Center. While it’s not yet understood why ovaries age quickly, uncovering this fact can be the key to learning why aging occurs.
No, that’s not Taylor Swift peddling Le Creuset cookware. Recently ads using the pop singer’s image and her cloned voice created through AI have been appearing on Facebook offering free giveaways of cookware. While Le Creuset had nothing to do with the promotion, the ads sent consumers to convincing knock-off media sites of the Food Network and others that featured fake news coverage of the giveaway and testimonials from made-up customers. Once people agreed to pay the $9.96 shipping fee, they were subject to hidden monthly charges and never received the product. Taylor’s not the only celeb who’s been the victim of a deepfake AI scam: Tom Hanks, Gayle King, Luke Combs, and MrBeast have all had their unauthorized likenesses used in ads. “These tools are becoming very accessible these days. It’s becoming very easy, and that’s why we’re seeing more,” says a computer science professor who claims it takes less than 45 minutes to make a “decent-quality video.”
Why parents struggle so much in the world’s richest country:The Atlantic explains the many harsh realities that American parents must deal with, from the lack of a social safety net if they can’t juggle work and a family on their own and having to protect their children from the prevalence of gun violence to fulfilling the high academic expectations of preschoolers and beyond. “The task of raising a child is always uncertain and daunting, even under the best of circumstances. But when you sign up to be a parent in the U.S., you are signing up to navigate threats to kids’ safety and your family’s financial stability that you would not have to consider if you lived in any comparable country. There’s no opting out of these stressors; they’re part of the job.”
Portfolio Highlights:
Built In names Chime as one of the 100 best places to work for 2024.
AdAge covers Away’s spoof of Jeremy Allen White’s Calvin Klein ads.
Hims and Hers’ Chief Medical Officer, Patrick Carroll discusses the future of digital health on The Seamless Connection podcast.
TechCrunch reports on the “Humane touch,” detailing how more MVNOs are having a moment, with quotes from a Humane spokesperson.
Shan-Lyn Ma, co-founder and co-CEO of Zola, visits WhoWhatWear’s Second Life podcast to talk about how her company revolutionized the wedding industry.
Annie Agle, Cotopaxi’s senior director of sustainability and impact, is quoted in Modern Retail discussing what brands need to know about new B Corp certification.
WWD reveals 2023’s top brands by media impact value growth on TikTok vs. Instagram with Necessaire ranking #3 on TikTok.