Silicon Valley’s Hail Mary moment

Plus, we’re also covering:

• Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger weighed in on Elon Musk.
• An obituary for the Metaverse — the latest fad to join the tech graveyard.
• The trendiest thing that adds value to your home. Hint: it has to do with pizza.

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Carroll, China, & Russia

• Testifying against Donald Trump, rape accuser E. Jean Carroll cried. But she also displayed her “dark” humor. More from the trial.
• It’s riskier than ever to be a foreign business in China, as evidenced by a series of recent sanctions, detentions, and an updated anti-espionage law. Read our story.
• Ukrainians with cellphones and machine guns are forcing Russia to change how it launches its drone attacks. Read our story.

Tech’s Hail Mary

As soon as it was clear that ChatGPT was a cultural hit, it was off to the races — and nearly every other major tech company is scrambling to cash in on the craze.

But AI-driven products are not bringing in the big bucks yet, even though the concept is already pumping valuations. As one AI startup consultant said, at this point the hype around AI is more of a billionaire ego brawl than a real revolution in technology.

That is what makes the hype cycle a Hail Mary: Silicon Valley is hoping and praying that the enthusiasm for AI, no matter how premature, can keep customers and investors distracted until their balance sheets can bounce back.

Metaverse, Berkshire Hathaway, & more

• The Metaverse is dead. If AI is the hot new star of the tech world, then the Metaverse is the tossed off has-been, Ed Zitron writes. But even as it heads to the graveyard of fads, the Metaverse’s short life offers a glaring indictment of the industry that birthed it. Read more.
• Elon Musk dreams big and tackles impossible problems; Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are happy to aim lower. “We don’t want that much failure,” Munger said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, explaining why they take fewer risks than Musk. Our dispatch here.
• Tucker Carlson’s “pillow fight” questions. A newly leaked video shows Carlson asking a Fox News makeup artist about what women do in the bathroom. That includes wondering about whether women actually powder their noses. Check it out.
• A Frontier passenger flew internationally without a passport. She planned to fly from Philadelphia to Jacksonville, Florida. But a series of accidents resulted in her landing in Jamaica. See how it played out.
• A former cop’s lucrative ATM side-hustle. Paul Alex originally wanted a more stable income, so started researching side hustles. But his ATM business became so successful that he quit being a cop — and made $12 million within three years. Here’s how he did it.
• “Recession is a done deal.” Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards, who predicted the dot-com bubble, warns that a recession has already started. Although unemployment rates suggest a healthy economy, he’s looking at other indicators. Get the outlook.
• Want to add value to your home? Install a pizza oven. Homes with pizza ovens have the potential to sell for 3.7% higher than those without, Zillow said. And these ovens tend to add more value than they cost (though pricier models can reach $11,000). More here.

Economy vs. business

Royal campers

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