Apple temporarily passed Microsoft to once again become the world’s most valuable company, though Microsoft entered today back on top. But you know none of that matters, right? We’re all simply marking time until Impossible Foods harnesses the full power of its new spokesman, American hero Joey Chestnut, and becomes the business juggernaut of our time.
In today’s email:
Why?: We don’t need AI beauty pageants. Thanks, though.
Errands: Running from grocery store to grocery store to grocery store.
Weird patents: The life-expectancy watch of our nightmares.
Around the web: Bumper stickers for phones, a weird underground market, a big cuddler, and more.
👇 Listen: Oh, just another Blade Runner-tinged dystopian nightmare.
The Big Idea
What’s the point of an AI beauty pageant?
Miss AI is the world’s first beauty pageant for virtual women.
2024-06-13T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Rylah
Miss AI is down to 10 finalists, none of whom are real. Fanvue — a subscription service for creators of all kinds, including adult content and AI influencers — is hosting the world’s first beauty pageant for virtual women.
But they’ll be judged not just on their digitally rendered looks, but also the tech used to build them, and the clout they maintain on social media. The winning developer will win $5k, and the top three will receive PR services and AI mentorship.
But… why?
The first modern pageant came from Phineas T. Barnum — yeah, the circus guy — who just seemed to enjoy a good judging. He held contests for dogs, flowers, and children, perPBS.
Today, the appeal for typical, human contestants is the opportunity to gain experience and connections, and to win scholarships, cash, or other prizes. The same potential exists for AI creators — and really isn’t different from any other competition.
It’s only jarring…
… because it’s AI — but it’s not particularly interesting otherwise.
All of these “women” are beautiful, youthful, and thin, mirroring the unrealistic beauty standards that have led to criticism of both pageants and social media. They even talk about diet and exercise, despite not having physical bodies.
They discuss details of their well-curated fake lives and mostly uncontroversial social justice issues. There’s nothing risky about them.
In fact, Mohammad Talha Saray said his contestant, Seren Ay, was developed to model his jewelry over human influencers because she’s cheaper and has no demands. That may work out: 46% of Gen Zers say they’d be more interested in a brand that works with AI influencers.
There’s definitely something larger to unpack about making a bunch of fake hot women you can control or how much attention we’ll give to people we don’t know, real or fake.
But Miss AI is — much like influencer culture itself when it gets too inauthentic — kinda boring.
Free Resource
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The latest US inflation data brought good news overall: price increases slowed in May. Some price tags on the decline include gas, airfare, clothing, and car insurance. On the other side, the cost of tobacco, used cars, hospital services, restaurants, and rent ticked up.
SNIPPETS
Elon Muskwithdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI after accusing the company of breaching its founding agreement by prioritizing profit. Musk hasn’t yet said why he backed off, but we all know the late-night explanatory tweet is coming, right?
… But life still sucks for OpenAI’s legal team: A consortium representing 99% of Danish media outlets is threatening to sue Sam Altman and Co., alleging the AI leader used their content to train its models without compensation.
More heat out of Denmark: The nation’s food agency recalled several Samyang ramen products for being too spicy. Authorities said the capsaicin levels in one ramen packet were high enough to cause “acute poisoning.”
YouTuber Jake Paul is launching a new men’s skincare line, W, at Walmart. The body wash, body spray, and deodorant are priced under $10 and will also be sold on Amazon.
Another recall: Waymo is recalling and updating the software for all 672 of its driverless vehicles after an error “assigned a low damage score” to a telephone pole, leading a robotaxi to crash itself into one.
Metallica’snext venue is “Fortnite,” where musicians including Ariana Grande and Travis Scott have played. Fans can check out the metal band’s virtual concert on June 22-23.
The Better Meat Co., which makes high-protein ingredients from fungus, announced that it can now reduce production costs by 30%, allowing it to compete with beef prices.
Bird flu is now present in dairy cows in 12 US states, with Wyoming reporting the latest case. Iowa officials have asked the USDA to compensate farmers for related losses.
Jason and Travis Kelce are many things: brothers, NFL legends, objects of fascination within the Taylor Swift fandom — and now, co-owners of light beer brand Garage Beer.
Sony Pictures Entertainmentacquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, becoming the first Hollywood studio in 75+ years to own a movie theater. Studios grew so powerful in the 1940s, they were barred from owning theaters between 1948 and 2020.
Don't miss this...
How to write (and pitch) better taglines, as told by an experienced copywriter. Wisdom and Mad Men references abound.
Data Point
“Can you stop at the grocery store on your way home from the grocery store?” Domestic life is getting more annoying, but hey, that’s the cost of saving some moolah. Between March 2023 and February 2024, American consumers purchased groceries from an average of 20.7 different retailers, perThe Wall Street Journal, a 23% increase over the last four years.
What’s going on here? Shoppers are trying to survive high grocery prices (up 21% over the last three years) however they can. That means shop-hopping: traveling to less hoity-toity ZIP codes, maximizing loyalty programs, and taking advantage of each grocer’s strong suit — think: Whole Foods for produce, Trader Joe’s for frozen goods, Costco for meats.
Every store’s the same to us, just another venue for our lifelong battle against self-checkout machines. We know, we know — “unexpected item in the bagging area.” Get over yourself.
Fit the bill
There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
Clue 1: The most-liked YouTube video ever is the music video for “Despacito,” the Luis Fonsi song featuring Daddy Yankee. This company makes money on each view.
Clue 2: A June 1, 2008, fire at one of its vault facilities destroyed ~500k precious recordings, a “loss of artistry” worth $150m.
Clue 3: This company sits atop its industry’s “Big Three” with some of pop culture’s most beloved holdings, including Abbey Road Studios, Capitol Records, Motown Records, and Def Jam Recordings.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
Weird Patents
Great expectations: Life is stressful. You know what could help? Checking your watch to see your life expectancy ticking away — or so that’s what David Kendrick of Berkshire, New York, thought sounded like a good idea. He patented a “life expectancy timepiece” in 1991 for “monitoring and displaying the approximate time remaining in a user’s life.” Users manually enter health-related data, such as lifestyle choices, health conditions, and family history, and a microprocessor spits out exactly when you should die. Terrifying, or the best excuse ever to end a Zoom call?
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1966, SCOTUS established the Miranda rights, named after a suspect who confessed to a crime because he didn’t know he had the right to remain silent.
💩 That’s interesting: Inside the underground poop market.
