Real Estate

Home prices will remain steady despite lower interest rates

Who wants a cheaper house anyway? As the Fed’s interest rate cut earlier this month starts to affect mortgage rates, which are steadily decreasing, new data shows that current and soon-to-be homeowners are submitting a record number of refinancing and loan applications.

Low rates, high prices

While federally insured mortgage rates have dropped under 6%, long-term notes have plunged to the lowest levels since 2022. Last year, the average rate on a 30-year loan almost shot up to 8%, but as of Thursday, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 6.08%.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said that since the data came out:

• Applications for mortgages surged 11% last week, while applications for refinancings soared 20.3% from the previous week.

  • Both achieved the highest numbers in more than two years.

As the downward trend of rates continues, spurring refinance activity, it will give “opportunities for many homeowners to trim their monthly mortgage payment,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

But, this doesn’t translate to lower home prices: Since the average home price climbed 50% in the last half-decade, homeowners who secured 3% mortgage rates during the pandemic undoubtedly don't feel like moving.

This has led a large group of young people—who are looking to become first-time home buyers—to compete with other buyers for a limited number of properties, which will only shoot home prices higher.

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI restructures from non-profit to moneymaker

This is just the next step for OpenAI to become IRL Skynet. The notoriously non-profit AI innovator and ChatGPT creator, OpenAI, declared last week that it will be transforming the company into a for-profit model.

Initially founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, OpenAI has always boasted about how being non-profit allows it to pursue its objective to "benefit all of humanity." Despite transitioning to a for-profit benefit company (an entity that pursues profit but is committed to social and public good), it is left to be seen if the new model will derail the startup’s original mission.

Why change?

As the herald of the AI revolution, OpenAI has increasingly needed more money to fuel its objectives to create “advanced digital intelligence,” and a non-profit nametag isn’t necessarily appealing to investors. Changing the structure opens the company to greater investment, which has already had an effect.

• A recent $6.5 billion funding round raised the company’s valuation to $150 billion.

  • According to Bloomberg, investors wanted to pour even more money into the company, but OpenAI wasn’t ready for all the VC cash.

Under the new changes, the non-profit board will no longer control the company and instead will get a minority ownership position. Additionally, CEO Sam Altman will receive an equity stake of ~7%, worth roughly $10 billion.

To grow is to change

Many believe transitioning to a for-profit company contradicts the startup’s primary goals and intentions, so much so, that only two of the original 11 members have stayed at OpenAI (one of which is Altman).

• Three key players—CTO Mira Murati, CRO Bob McGrew, and research vice president Barret Zoph—announced their departure last week.

• A number of programmers and researchers left OpenAI earlier this year due to concerns that the company was putting profit ahead of safety.

Bird’s eye view: The transformation, according to some analysts, is a reaction to what happened in 2023, when the nonprofit board abruptly fired Altman due to a lack of trust in his leadership, only to have him reinstated at the request of its largest shareholder, Microsoft.

People are really scared of Meta AI

As the years go on, Instagram is turning into Facebook. Hundreds of thousands of people were subject to an Instagram hoax earlier this week that warned Meta would be taking users' photos to train the company’s AI, starting a digital wildfire shared by boomers across the platform.

The "Goodbye Meta AI" post, which asserts that Meta has no right to use user posts and images as training material for Meta AI, has already been shared by close to 600,000 users. Nevertheless, the company added that making a public declaration does nothing (besides make you look a little dumb).

Even celebs fell for it: Stars like Ashley Tisdale, Tom Brady, and James McAvoy reposted the bogus post. Last week, it was made public that Kristen Bell (who published an earlier version of the post this summer), is among the celebrities who have partnered with Meta AI to utilize their voices in the company's new virtual assistant. Ironic.

Does Meta actually use your posts?

Last year, Meta gave a detailed explanation of how and why it uses data for AI while announcing its new generative AI features.

The company claims that it gathers information for AI from publicly accessible sources, like databases and search engines, as well as from users' posts (only public ones) and their interactions with AI features. So short story long, the answer is yes.

AI fear is at an all-time high: Though many seem to be experiencing a broad sense of fear about the impending AI revolution, Meta appears to be moving forward at full speed.

• AI-generated content was one of the main topics of discussion at its most recent MetaConnect conference, along with other innovative features that involve the technology.

Can you stop Meta from using your posts? Yes and no. You can prevent it from using new ones by making your profile private, however, the tech giant has already been using anything you’ve posted publicly (on Instagram and Facebook) to train its AI since 2007.

Grab Bag

Starlink satellites are not making astronomers happy

Starlink is essentially putting space scientists in the nosebleeds, at least according to astronomers. Earth's "view" of the universe is being gradually obscured by radio waves from Elon Musk's ever-growing fleet of Starlink Satellites, according to researchers.

The satellite internet industry has allowed hundreds of millions of people around the world to have broadband internet access when it would otherwise be impossible, but astronomers say it comes at a cost.

Sun block[ed]

The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, or ASTRON, says Starlink is blocking their view of the cosmos, a problem that has only gotten worse since early 2023:

• Each Starlink satellite can generate 10 million times more electromagnetic waves than the faintest signal that ASTRON's telescope can recognize.

  • This prevents researchers from making some observations, although it doesn’t block everything.

• However, the newest Starlink generation, or V2 satellites, give off over 32 times more radiation than the previous generation.

Starlink is by far the largest provider of satellites with roughly 6,500 in orbit. However, they are certainly not the only offender, especially in an industry that is rapidly growing:

• OneWeb, the second largest provider, has over 1,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit.

• Amazon is hoping to emerge into the field and launch over 3,000 satellites in the next few years as well.

• By the end of the decade, the number of satellites in orbit is expected to go past 100,000.

Looking ahead: Professor Dempsy, the director of ASTRON, said that simply shielding the battery on satellites could help astronomers see what they need to in order to conduct research and want SpaceX to lead the way in reducing its emissions.

Buttons are making a comeback

In the age of digital screens, buttons are becoming as uncommon as ever. However, they might just be making a comeback. One such case has to do with Apple (even though they put us in the dark age that is the buttonless era), and the release of the new iPhone.

More buttons you say?

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to the late 2000s when Apple released the iPhone. The nearly buttonless device virtually extinguished its competitors (like the button-heavy Blackberry and Razr flip phone), by replacing them with the digital touch screen.

• Now, when customers get their hands on the new iPhone 16 they’ll find not one, but two brand-new buttons.

According to the WSJ, the tech giant’s newfound interest in physical controls is the most recent example of how businesses are paying attention to consumer complaints regarding increasingly intrusive touch screens.

It’s a universal want

With the rise of touch screens and cutting-edge technology being implemented into most facets of our lives, even auto brands are going back to buttons:

• BMW, Kia, Mercedes, and Volkswagen have all responded to screen-sick customers by adding new buttons and physical controls.

The resurgence of buttons in vehicles isn’t just for the customer’s preferences either. According to a 2017 AAA Foundation study, drivers typically need more than 40 seconds to finish an action involving a touch screen, which invites safety hazards.

• Earlier this year, the European New Car Assessment Program said that starting in January 2026, cars must have physical controls for specific features in order to receive a five-star safety certification.

Buttons are making a comeback in several industries, but in order to go full circle we need to bring back the Blackberry. Who’s with me?

Fast Facts

Moon Migration: A school bus-sized space rock was drawn into Earth's gravitational pull on Sunday. The "mini-moon" will circle the globe for the next two months before breaking free and retracing its course around the sun.

Hurricane Helene: As of Monday, over 130 people have died as a result of Hurricane Helene, and roughly 7 million people still don’t have power. The damages from the storm are expected to total over $110 billion.

Switching Schools: According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, the percentage of Northerners attending Southern universities has increased 84% over the previous 20 years, and risen by 30% from 2018 to 2022.

Art Anarchy: Two Just Stop Oil climate activists received jail time after hurling soup at a Van Gogh painting. A few hours later, two more of the painter's pieces were drenched in soup by JSO protestors.

Stock Stimulus: Chinese stocks just finished their best week in over a decade after the government rolled out a $114 billion stimulus effort to boost the struggling market.