A NOTE FROM OUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ALYSON SHONTELL

Speakers ranged from former Vice President Al Gore to athletes Lindsey Vonn and Andre Iguodala to infamous WeWork founder Adam Neumann.

I led discussions with three leaders across varying sectors: Vishal Shah, Meta’s VP of Metaverse; Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Bryan Johnson, the Braintree founder who is seeking eternal youth.

A.I. infiltrated each discussion. For Shah, A.I. is foundational to his work on the metaverse—he can’t build it or lure creators onto the platform without continued advancements there.

Johnson feels we are on the cusp of “superhuman intelligence” thanks to A.I. He predicts it will enable us to create genius-level inventions much more frequently than we have in the past.

Prabhakar is focused on mitigating the risks of A.I. by creating future-proof guidelines and values. She also said it’s a “global race to get A.I. right,” and that multinational agreements with like-minded nations are critical.

“When you have this kind of powerful capability, every nation, every company, everyone on the planet is trying to use A.I. to create a future that reflects their values,” she said. A.I. regulation that is well-designed is “sort of like having brakes on a car…[it] actually lets you go faster, once you know that you’re in control.”

For more takeaways from Brainstorm Tech his week, you can watch clips from the conference here or read more below.

FEATURES

Too many CEOs don’t know what their workers need. Employee ‘engagement’ surveys can make the problem even worse

CEOs and managers are increasingly out of touch with their workers, and employee surveys may be doing more harm than good.

FINANCE

Morningstar makes a bold call that housing market affordability will be restored by 2025. Here’s how

Morningstar expects mortgage rates to plunge to 4.00% by 2025.

There’s a recession red flag hidden in the latest jobs report, according to two top economists

Once you strip out the growth in government jobs, the private job creation numbers are feeble, and getting more so.

Big Finance is taking over Big Sports. From Josh Harris to Steve Cohen to David Blitzer, here are the 120 ‘alt’ power players entering the field of play

An analysis by Fortune shows that roughly 120 private equity, VC, and hedge fund execs have amassed stakes in big-time sports franchises.

Infant formula startup Bobbie raises $70 million to acquire 26-year-old brand Nature’s One

The 2022 infant formula shortage inspired Bobbie’s CEO to look for ways to expand.

SUCCESS

Harvard and other ‘Ivy Plus’ colleges are failing low-income students, Goldman Sachs says—but underfunded HBCUs don’t

After the affirmative action and student debt decisions, the investment bank just wrote a scathing report on the landscape of higher education.

Gen Z is so lacking in soft skills after lockdown that Big 4 consultants are offering classes to help new hires fit in at work

Lockdowns left a generation that’s just kinda…awkward.

If you want to encourage creativity, don’t brainstorm. There’s a better way to come up with good ideas

How the “rules” of brainstorming throttle real innovation.

LEADERSHIP

‘Vulnerability is not a universal prescription for all circumstances’: Signs you’re being too open at work and what to do about it

Being too vulnerable can make people lose confidence in their leader, creates an undercurrent of instability, and looks unprofessional.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon chides managers who work from home: ‘I don’t know how you can be a leader and not be completely accessible to your people’

Calling himself a work-from-home “skeptic,” the banking chief said he doesn’t believe remote work is good for management teams.

Shopify has put a price on employees’ pointless meetings with a 30-minute chat costing up to $1,600

But experts warn any short-term productivity gains may be outweighed by “significant long-term risks.”

A.I.

Wharton professor says ‘things that took me weeks to master in my PhD’ take ‘seconds’ with new ChatGPT tool

Code Interpreter might be the most useful application for A.I. so far, says Ethan Mollick.