In today’s big story, we’re looking at a real-estate trend that’s leading landlords to try and rebrand themselves.

What’s on deck:

• Markets: China’s latest economic data isn’t pretty.
• Tech: A leaked doc details Amazon’s new AI security initiative.
• Business: Companies are shelling out as much as $900,000 for AI talent.

Don’t say ‘landlord’

This arrangement is nothing new, but you wouldn’t know that from watching TikTok and YouTube. Influencers tout the practice as “living for free” and “the simplest way to become a millionaire.”

There’s just one thing missing from this age-old idea.

Don’t, under any circumstances, call them “landlords.”

As Insider’s James Rodriguez reports, the internet is flush with people touting success stories of renting out homes or apartment buildings they live in.

A major selling point of the trend is its low cost of entry. With a loan from the Federal Housing Administration, buyers can put down as little as 3.5% of the purchase price as long as they stay at the property for at least a year.

But these aspiring real-estate moguls have been reticent about one aspect of the job. Many don’t want to be called landlords, opting for a friendly term: “house hackers.”

A landlord might raise your rent, evict you, or hold your security deposit after you move out. All things, presumably, a “house hacker” would never do, as they are too busy “hacking” the real-estate market. (Whatever that means.)

If all this sounds like utter nonsense, understand the rebranding of “landlord” is for real. One rental housing economist called the term “archaic, offensive, and divisive.”

However, the landlord-to-house-hacker transition hasn’t been going smoothly, with critics commenting terms like “leech” and “parasite” on videos detailing this repackaged real-estate strategy.

Of course, just because you’re not a fan of a profession doesn’t delegitimize it. No one likes getting a parking ticket, but that doesn’t mean parking enforcement officers simply shouldn’t exist.

The issue with house hackers is that they want to have their cake and eat it too. They’d like to enjoy the monetary benefits of renting out their property without the baggage of being known as a landlord.

But perhaps renters should take a page out of landlords’ house hackers’ book with their own rebrand.

It’s not renting; it’s housing-as-a-service. And your rent isn’t late; you’re just Musk-ifying your housing situation.

3 things in markets

1. China’s economic data falls short again. From industrial production to retail sales, China’s July report card fell below analyst expectations after a brutal miss in its second-quarter report last month. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of spillover risks in the US from China’s slowdown.
2. All eyes are on Nvidia’s upcoming earnings. Firms led by world-class investors, like Dan Loeb and Paul Tudor Jones, piled into the company over the past quarter. The chipmaker at the center of the AI frenzy will release its results on August 23, and it could swing the entire stock market.
3. Gas prices are on the rise, and that’s bad news for inflation fears. US gas prices surged to their highest level since October 2022, another sign of stubborn inflation.

1. Leaked documents: Amazon’s new AI security initiative. The program is dubbed “Maverick,” and one of its main goals is to build automation tools for AI security. Uber’s former chief information security officer is one of the project’s four executive leaders.
2. OpenAI is reportedly trying to hide that ChatGPT was trained on Harry Potter books. Companies like OpenAI are under scrutiny for training their technology with copyrighted work. But a new research paper suggests that OpenAI is trying to obscure what material it used to train ChatGPT.
3. Amazon’s Virginia data centers use as much energy as a major city. The tech giant is in the midst of $87 billion worth of data center development in the area. Documents obtained by Insider suggest that the power footprint for Amazon’s northern Virginia data center portfolio will amount to at least 2.7 gigawatts, which is 35% more than the entire power grid of the company’s hometown city of Seattle.

1. Companies are paying up to $900,000 for generative AI talent. There aren’t enough AI experts to fill the demand. So major companies like Amazon and Meta are paying big money for top talent.
2. Before-and-after photos of home-flipping. A couple has flipped several homes over the past few years, yielding tens of thousands in profit. They shared 15 before-and-after photos of their renovations.
3. “I was put on a PIP in my director-level job.” In response to being put on a performance improvement plan, John Garvens said he quiet quit at his agency for three months — before leaving. He said that he pushed back on unrealistic deliverables and prioritized his well-being, and nobody noticed.

Asteroids, Parade, & more

• A ranking of the four criminal cases former President Donald Trump is facing from least to most threatening.
• Gen Z’s favorite underwear startup Parade has been sold to a lingerie manufacturer, and its CEO told staff that she’d be forced to leave.
• A 300-mile-wide formation under Australia might be the largest asteroid impact crater on Earth.
• Leaked photos reveal rat-chewed products at a Dollar General store.
• We compared products from Amazon, Shein, and Temu — one was a big disappointment, while another was surprisingly stylish.
• Music fans are trying to stay environmentally conscious with their bold, sparkly concert outfits.
• Meet the stay-at-home dads dropping out of work, skipping college, and fueling a shift in gender norms.

Netflix, baseball, & earnings

• Netflix releases a three-part documentary series on Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial. The series “Depp v. Heard” examines the role that truth plays in modern society.
• Earnings on deck today: Target, Cisco, and more.
• The Little League World Series kicks off today in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The youth baseball competition features 10 US teams and 10 international teams. Games will be broadcast on ESPN, and the tournament runs until August 27.

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