Good Morning!

Today’s article is brought to you by: 95% human and 5% AI

Market Update

📊 Markets were mostly flat yesterday as investors sit tight for more Macro data around labor and inflation. The February employment report drops Friday 🔥🔥🔥 

🟢  ON Semiconductor rose 5.6% after Bank of America upgraded the stock, lifting the entire chip sector with it.

🔴  Norwegian Cruise lines fell 4.3% because its a debt-filled cruise line.

Banger Tweet of the Day

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Wage Cage.

Spotify wants you in their App For Longer, Right? Yeah no duh, Mr. Market Byte Writer. So Does Every Other App.

Sorry for the long title. Still working on my copy.

Anyway, Spotify rolled out a TikTok-esque feature to help users discover new music & podcasts.

Previews: The new feature, “Previews”, allows users to swipe on short clips showing new content recommendations.

The clips, which are designed to hook users onto new content, can either be the catchy part of a song or an interesting part of a podcast

Foreground Discovery: Spotify is all in on being the place where users hear new audio for the first time, as they say its a key advantage to retaining users long term. “We don’t only want to rely on other platforms to do the foreground discovery”, said Spotify’s Chief Product Officer.

We’re Not TikTok: While Spotify acknowledged the feature will look similar to a TikTok or reels style, they said they ultimately want the product to be used only briefly as it should lead users into their longer-form content.

The audio giant also released its AI DJ last week, which I must say I’ve been a big fan of. I hate picking music. Just play me some shit.

Business Bytes

🤳 TikTok Commits $1.3 Billion to Build European Safeguards (WSJ)

• In effort to calm European lawmakers fears over data privacy, TikTok is committing $1.3 Billion to build data centers in Ireland and Norway.

🤖 ChatGPT is being used to write emails, companies are embracing it (CNBC)

• Both Microsoft and Salesforce have began integrating AI-writing tools into their software products. Salesforce “EinsteinGPT” helps customers write Marketing emails, Benioff tweeted a demo:

💰️Humane, the AI startup founded by ex-Apple employees, raises another $100M for their Series C (Techcrunch) 

• Humane has raised $230mm total to build an “integrated device and cloud services platform”

• The company has been very guarded since inception, but the founders have promised a product reveal this Spring.

🧑‍⚖️ US Regulators Probe Tesla Model Y After Steering Wheels Fall Off (WSJ)

• The Title speaks for itself.

🎵 Spotify crosses half a billion users (Reuters)

Adidas has a Yeezy Hangover

Adidas reported a brutal fourth quarter as they deal with the business impact from dropping Kanye and the Yeezy brand.

By The Numbers: The company missed revenue and profit estimates while guiding to a slower 2023.

• 1% revenue growth in Q4, after originally projecting 20% growth.

• 83% decline in profit, dropping to €254 million Euros.

• Guided to a single-digit-percentage decline in revenue for 2023

• Slashed its dividend by 80%

Write-off: The company is still not sure what to do with its unsold Yeezy inventory, but have already taken a €700 million write off to reflect the lower value.

One option Adidas mentioned was to sell the remaining sneakers and donate the earnings to a good cause.

Moving on: Adidas lost a significant profit pool in Yeezy but is looking to fill the gap with other celebrities, noting they have collaborations with the likes of both Beyonce and Pharrell Williams (the new Louis Vuitton Creative Director).

Today’s Challenge: Tell your mother you love her. Also, my mom keeps asking for a shoutout, love you mom.

Thanks for reading, go out and make today a great one.

Much Love,

Andrew (and AI)