#FINANCIAL_LITERACY

AI Insider… OpenAI will pay media powerhouse Axel Springer (Business Insider, Politico) to use its news content in ChatGPT answers and training. The multiyear licensing deal will let the chatbot summarize news stories from Axel Springer’s myriad media brands. ChatGPT will include links to the OG sources to give the sites credit and clicks. The partnership’s expected to bring in big bucks for Axel Springer. FYI: OpenAI also made a deal with AP in July, allowing it to use the news org’s archive for training.

• Interesting timing: Since August, over 500 news publishers (including The New York Times, Reuters, and The Washington Post) have installed software to block their articles from being collected and used in ChatGPTraining.

• Playin’ defense: This year there’ve been several reports that major news publishers were prepping for a case to force AI companies like Alphabet and Microsoft to compensate them for content. Licensing deals could help avoid copyright-infringement suits.

From Jodi Picoult to Getty Images… Big names are getting involved in AI legal battles, which have piled up since ChatGPT’s rollout. In September, famous scribes including John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, and Jodi Picoult sued OpenAI over copyright infringement. In July, Sarah Silverman and others sued OpenAI and Meta. It’s not just books: Getty Images sued Stability AI, alleging it “unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright” without a license. Coders are suing AI companies, too, accusing them of “software piracy.”

• Big law: The EU just reached an agreement on its “AI Act,” a historic law that would make AI companies create safeguards against illegally generating content.

Catch a wave before it crashes… By negotiating with news publishers, OpenAI may be trying to preemptively set a precedent before lawsuits set a legal precedent. If courts find that AI companies infringed on copyrights, the financial fallout could be huge. News publishers, who learned a lesson from all the traffic and $$ lost to sites like Facebook and Google, may also be eager to set a precedent in which they have a financial gain.

Fast (and furious) fashion… Temu, a US subsidiary of Chinese ecomm giant Pinduoduo, intensified its rift with rival Shein with a new lawsuit. In October, both online retail giants agreed to drop previous suits that accused each other of antitrust and copyright issues. But this week WhaleCo (which operates as Temu in the US) filed a 100-page suit accusing Shein of using “mafia-style” tactics — including intimidating and illegally detaining merchants, stealing usernames and passwords, and violating IP rights.

• Hate-click: Temu’s suit says it uploads 100K images to its site daily and gets 170 copyright takedown requests — 63% of those from Shein.

• American dream: Both cos have aggressively vied for a bigger slice of the US online shopping pie as cash-strapped consumers snatch up $5 tanks and $15 foyer rugs.

Clash of the ecomm titans… Shein’s had an astronomical rise since its 2017 US debut, and now makes up half of all fast-fashion sales (more than H&M and Zara combined). Last month Shein reportedly filed for its long-anticipated US IPO, seeking up to a $90B valuation — but Temu’s hot on its track. Less than a year after its US launch, Temu became the most downloaded app in America after its Super Bowl ad in February. Temu surpassed Shein in transactions for the first time in May, Bloomberg data showed, and last month it tripled Shein's US sales.

Competition isn’t the biggest problem… Temu and Shein see each other as threats to US growth (hence: the spicy legal beef), but they may have greater obstacles. US lawmakers are looking to halt Shein’s IPO unless it can show it doesn’t use forced labor. Plus, the company’s been accused of copyright infringement from fashion brands and indie designers. Last month, Temu was sued over allegations it “aggressively” stole customer data through its app.

 Policy… An accounting rule set to take effect next December could benefit companies with crypto on their balance sheets, including Tesla, Block, and MicroStrategy. Bitcoin bulls say the change could encourage corporates to hold BTC.

 Quirky… Former US President Donald Trump’s latest NFT collection is embracing the phygital. Collectors who buy 47 of the $99 digi tokens (picture: cartoons of a buff Trump) will also receive a small piece of the suit he wore in his infamous mugshot.

 Spicy… The legal architect behind Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense said the former crypto mogul may be the “worst person” he’s ever seen on the stand. After being found guilty, SBF is scheduled to be sentenced in March and faces a max sentence of 100+ years.