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Apple was long perceived as lagging on the AI front compared to its competitors. The iPhone maker lost its title of world’s most valuable company to Microsoft, which invested $10 billion into OpenAI.
But in welcome news for investors, Apple unveiled its new generative AI features for iPhones, including direct integration of ChatGPT. When Siri detects that ChatGPT will be helpful in answering a query, for instance, it will ask permission to share the question and provide the answer back to the user.
To utilize these AI features, iPhone users will have to wait until the iOS 18 operating system becomes available later this year. Apple shareholders, however, saw a near-immediate impact as the tech giant’s stock hit an all-time high Tuesday.
Let’s get into the headlines,
FIRST UP
General Motors said it will invest an additional $850 million into Cruise, its beleaguered self-driving division that has faced an ongoing existential crisis since an October 2023 incident, where one of its autonomous cars dragged a woman 20 feet after she’d already been hit by a car. Paul Jacobson, GM’s chief financial officer, said the new funding would “buy us time” to conduct a “strategic review” on the division’s future. To date, the automotive giant has already invested and lost over $8 billion on Cruise.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk withdrew a lawsuit against OpenAI that accused the company of breaching its fiduciary duty and founding mission, the latest development in ongoing tensions between the world’s wealthiest person and the artificial intelligence company. Musk pulled the lawsuit one day before OpenAI’s dismissal request was going to be heard by a judge, Bloomberg reported.
BUSINESS + FINANCE
Shares of Paramount Global fell nearly 8% just before market close Tuesday after the media conglomerate’s parent company National Amusem*nts scrapped merger discussions with Skydance Media, bringing an end to a months-long negotiation process. National Amusem*nts owner and controlling Paramount shareholder Shari Redstone will likely look to sell off National Amusem*nts without merging Paramount with another company, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While it’s widely expected that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged after their June meeting comes to a close today, a fresh batch of inflation data from May is expected later this morning and could help indicate if and when cuts will occur in 2024. The CPI report is expected to deliver reassurance that concerns about surging inflation earlier this year were overstated.
TECH + INNOVATION
Since Monday’s announcement of its new AI technology powered by OpenAI, Apple stock has surged. On Tuesday, shares rose more than 7% to $207 by the end of normal trading hours, reaching an all-time high and crossing $200 for the first time ever, adjusting for stock splits. This rally, which added about $215 billion to Apple’s market capitalization, helped reverse premarket losses and a modest selloff in Monday’s afternoon trading during and after Apple’s keynote event.
Perplexity AI is under scrutiny for its new tool that generates knockoff articles without proper attribution, and republishes original reporting across web and video. When questioned about a “story” that was eerily similar to an article published by Forbes, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said the new product feature had some “rough edges.” As Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane writes, “it’s the perfect case study for this critical moment,” highlighting the ethical challenges in generative AI and how its misuse threatens the integrity of journalism.
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, will begin automatically hiding users’ likes, owner Elon Musk confirmed Tuesday, saying it’s “important to allow people to like posts without getting attacked for doing so!” Users will still be able to see who liked their posts and like counts, X senior software engineer Enrique Barragan previously clarified, but they will not be able to see the people who liked another user’s post or other users’ liked tabs.
MONEY + POLITICS
A Delaware jury convicted Hunter Biden of three federal felonies Tuesday for unlawfully purchasing a gun while he was addicted to drugs in 2018, making him the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime. The three charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. Still, legal experts say it’s unlikely he will be sentenced to prison in the case.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, recently testified in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial that Arnold Schwarzenegger once owned part of his tabloid empire, which paid to bury negative stories about the actor. Forbes reviewed hundreds of documents to try to figure out whether Schwarzenegger was, in fact, an owner or more like a celebrity endorser, but the answer proved elusive.
Donald Trump on Wednesday said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that he wants all remaining bitcoin to be mined in the United States, weaponizing cryptocurrency as a fresh line of attack against President Joe Biden as the former president further embraces the digital sector after years of skepticism. Trump warned bitcoin, which is obtained through a computational process known as mining, “may be our last line of defense against” a Central Bank Digital Currency.
SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT
The world’s 10 highest-paid golfers earned an estimated $678 million this year before taxes and agents’ fees, a 10% decline from 2023. That’s primarily because LIV Golf—which in its brief history has guaranteed payments of at least $1 billion to entice the world’s best golfers to join the Saudi-backed tour—isn’t spending like it used to.
Mike Keiser turned a patch of coastal Oregon into Bandon Dunes, the unlikely home of some of the world’s best golf courses. Now the elite golf resort is drawing so many visitors each year that Keiser is expanding it. Forbes estimates Bandon Dunes had just shy of $125 million in revenue last year and turned a profit of north of $31 million, valuing the resort at $350 million.
WORLD
Hamas officials responded Tuesday to the three-phase cease-fire proposal Israel previously presented, reportedly asking for some “amendments” to the deal but keeping the possibility of an agreement on the table. Hamas was facing increased international pressure to accept the proposal—which President Joe Biden previously called “a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages”—after the United Nations Security Council voted to adopt the cease-fire plan.
TRENDS + EXPLAINERS
People are increasingly returning to the office, and new data shows just how much: Work-from-home levels in the U.S. have dropped to their lowest point since the spring of 2020, with employees working only 26.6% of their full paid days from home in May. But it varies by industry, as the information and technology sector had the highest share of work-from-home employees, while employees in retail and hospitality had low work-from-home rates.
DAILY COVER STORY
Trump Shifts Nearly $5 Million Of Campaign Money Into His Private Business
TOPLINE Donald Trump, who is worth an estimated $6.4 billion, has not donated a penny to his 2024 presidential campaign, opting to raise funds from supporters around the country instead. Meanwhile, his businesses have continued to charge his political operation for food, transportation and facilities. As a result, Trump has moved $4.6 million of campaign money into his business empire, according to a review of the latest data from the Federal Election Commission.
The bulk of that cash, some $4.2 million, has flowed to one of Trump’s aviation companies, Tag Air. The Secret Service, which has to travel with Trump, has paid more than $800,000 for airfare to his campaign, perhaps contributing some of that $4.2 million. The former president owns a 1991 Boeing 757, which required a $4 million engine overhaul around the time he left the White House. After speaking with six aviation experts, Forbes estimates the plane is probably worth about $12 million.
Trump’s businesses have long charged his campaign for various services, though never under quite the same circ*mstances. During the 2016 race, Trump invested $66 million of his own money into his campaign, far more than the roughly $13 million his campaign paid his business—leaving him with a net loss. In 2020, the former president gave nothing to his campaign while continuing to collect money, thereby moving about $3 million of donor funds into his business.
This election, he’s set to collect far more, as he flies around the country on his own plane rather than Air Force One, allowing him to transform his private jet into something of a charter service.
On top of the airfare, Trump’s 2024 campaign has spent $332,000 at Mar-a-Lago, the private club that doubles as Trump’s personal residence. The former president announced his current White House bid from the club in November 2022, and the campaign forked over $68,000 the next month.
WHY IT MATTERS “Trump supporters around the country have been chipping in to support Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, hoping to put the billionaire back in the White House,” says Forbes senior editor Dan Alexander. “They may not realize that Trump has so far donated none of his own money to the campaign. In fact, he has done the opposite —moving a chunk of the campaign's cash into his private business.”
MORE Trump Trial Showed Just How Cheap Former President Is
FACTS + COMMENTS
Sixteen-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut will not participate in the July 4 competition this year after reportedly choosing to be represented by rival plant-based food giant Impossible Foods:
66: The number of hot dogs Chestnut ate in 10 minutes in 2007 to unseat Japanese phenom Takeru Kobayashi, a record at the time
Eight: The number of consecutive years Chestnut has taken the title in the competition in Coney Island, New York
-4,000: The moneyline for Chestnut to win in 2023, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, which he ultimately did
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
If you’re a leader who is unhappy with your organization’s culture, your personality might be to blame. For instance, if you’re the type of leader that avoids conflict and dislikes bad news, your team might not raise issues promptly, allowing problems to fester. To overcome this, seek honest feedback from colleagues and employees and surround yourself with trusted team members who will tell you the truth.
QUIZ
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that key elements of a state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors and similar restrictions for adults are unconstitutional. Which state is it?
A. Arkansas
B. Texas
C. Florida
D. Wisconsin
Check your answer.
ACROSS THE NEWSROOM
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