Dear valued client,
Markets continued their lackluster month of September with another week of slight losses amid a backdrop of a looming U.S. government shutdown, a weakening labor market, and consumer headwinds. On a positive note, the revised U.S. GDP for the second quarter of 2023 came in at 2.1%, showing the economy continued to expand despite stricter monetary policy.
OpenAI revealed an update to ChatGPT this week that enables the large language model to respond to your questions with spoken words. This means you can essentially have a two-way conversation with your computer. Digital assistants like Alexa and Siri are only programmed with responses to a narrow set of questions. This update, in contrast, allows ChatGPT to have a free-flowing dialogue with its human counterpart. (Sounds eerily like Her.)
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) levied a sweeping lawsuit against Amazon this week, accusing the largest e-commerce company of being an illegal monopoly. The allegations consist of Amazon abusing its power by punishing sellers if they offered lower prices on different platforms, a practice that ultimately led to higher prices for consumers. Sellers were also allegedly coerced to use Amazon’s logistics and advertising services. If they didn’t, their products would have reduced visibility in the virtual marketplace. The FTC may look to break up Jeff Bezos’ giant, as it has attempted in the past with Google and Facebook.
JP Morgan, one of the most well-reputable banks in the U.S., agreed to settle a sex trafficking lawsuit for $75 million. The Virginia Islands accused the bank of its complicity in Jeffrey Epstein’s schemes to bring underaged girls to his private island. This comes after an agreement to pay $290 million to Epstein’s victims in a separate suit. In retrospect, the price was not worth the cost of having Epstein as a client.
For all you golf fans, enjoy the Ryder Cup! The Europeans are already in the lead.
“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” – Christian Lous Lange, historian.
Have a terrific weekend,
PW
