Business

The UAE may be making oil deals during the UN Climate Conference

The Middle Eastern country is balancing advancing climate goals with scoring oil deals. Ironic? COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who’s also the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), allegedly planned to initiate climate proposals to international leaders attending the UN conference, according to leaked docs seen by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) and the BBC. His critics are flabbergasted by what seems to be a brazen conflict of interest.

What a juxtaposition

The leaked briefing notes for Al Jaber’s meetings (pre-conference) with officials from at least 15 countries mention fossil fuel deals. Talking points mentioned in the notes mention the following:

• Telling China’s representatives that Adnoc wants to expand its $15 billion natural gas partnership with the country.

• Advance Adnoc’s interests in Brazil and signal to Egypt that it can count on the company to keep supplying petrochemicals.

CCR confirmed that Adnoc’s potential deals were discussed with at least one country. COP28 staff deny any UAE oil industry influence on the summit.

COP28 attendees will determine how well the world is doing in achieving its goals to slash carbon emissions. Organizers hope to create some consensus on the role of fossil fuels going forward and prioritize clean energy emissions, while concurrently persuading rich countries to finance climate-change-related relief efforts.

Amazon is delivering more than anyone else

The biggest delivery business in the United States isn’t UPS or FedEx, it’s Amazon. Last year, the company delivered more packages to US homes than UPS, which it surpassed for the first time, and FedEx, which it has beat since 2020.

Amazon expects to deliver even more boxes this year… it’s estimated to be 5.9 billion, up from last year’s 5.2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. But the US Postal Service still carries the most packages, in part because the classic service handles hundreds of millions of parcels for UPS, FedEx, and Amazon.

Amazon wasn’t always on top

In 2018, Amazon launched a service that allowed other entrepreneurs to start their own franchises delivering Amazon packages — for as low as $10,000. This helped the company rapidly accelerate the number of packages it was able to deliver each day, with about 200,000 drivers at the ready.

They capitalized off the pandemic too. Amazon opened hundreds of new warehouses, sorting centers, and other logistics facilities, almost doubling the size of its network between the start of the pandemic and late 2021. By regionalizing its logistics network, Amazon further optimized its speed and profitability, according to the WSJ.

These AI startups are using the technology for something grave

AI is increasingly being used for weird things, but this one might just take the cake. The newest tech sector, grief tech, is trying to capitalize on your attachment to passed loved ones.

According to Vox, tech startups are using AI-powered technology (aptly called “ghostbots”) to help those dealing with loss and grief.

• Replika lets users create an “AI companion who cares,” providing chats, video calls, and coaching sessions on its site.

• HereAfter AI lets users record answers to interview questions and upload photos while they’re still alive, leaving behind a virtual version of themselves.

• StoryFile also needs to be prerecorded: Users can record videos of themselves that are turned into AI-powered, interactive conversations for loved ones.

• After inputting basic information, users can chat with the passed using Seance AI’s ghostbot.

The risks are inherent to AI

A recent study points to the ethical issues around such AI applications, like the dead not being able to give consent, the psychological risks concerning dependency, and harmful or biased language. And we’ve already seen ethical debates transpire around deepfakes of deceased people, with states mandating regulations for postmortem publicity rights (though guidelines focus on celebrities, for now).

Law

One of the rap industry’s biggest artists just started their trial

Young Thug’s RICO trial is kicking off, and it might be a slugfest. The trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug finally began yesterday in Fulton County, Georgia, more than a year after District Attorney Fani Willis indicted the artist for allegedly leading a criminal street gang via his record label, YSL. The case could have big implications for the use of rap lyrics in court, among other things.

Young Thug, or Jeffery Lamar Williams, is charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, participating in gang activity, and committing drug and firearm crimes. Williams has pleaded not guilty to all counts. Five other co-defendants face the same charges.

• If RICO charges sound familiar, it’s because former president Trump and his codefendants are also facing RICO charges in Fulton County for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Earlier this month, the judge ruling over the trial made the controversial decision to allow prosecutors to use some Young Thug song lyrics, including the one above, as evidence that he led his alleged gang to commit murder and other crimes.

Young Thug claims the lyrics are all fictional. Critics claim introducing them as evidence is a biased and racist violation of his freedoms of speech and expression since experts say rap lyrics are most often used against defendants of color.

The YSL trial is expected to last up to a year and could call famous witnesses to the stand, such as rappers Lil Wayne, T.I., and Killer Mike.

The subject of one of your favorite true crime documentaries was just sentenced

Alex Murdaugh was a global talking point due to the infamous murder of two of his family members. And now, he faced a fraud sentencing. Convicted murderer and former lawyer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to 27 years in a South Carolina state prison yesterday as part of a settlement for stealing from 18 of his former clients.

The 55-year-old will serve the time concurrently with his double life sentence for the 2021 murder of his wife and son, the central event of a tragic family featured in podcasts and the hit Netflix TV series.

Prosecutors originally charged Murdaugh with 101 finance-related crimes, which was reduced to 22 as part of a September plea deal. By using the long-established credibility and reputation of his family’s law firm, Murdaugh defrauded almost two dozen of his clients (who were usually seeking injury compensation) of roughly $12M over a decade by skimming large amounts from their settlement or insurance payouts.

• Several victims or their relatives gave testimony at the hearing yesterday, as did Murdaugh, who expressed remorse.

Murdaugh, who has been in custody since 2021, is challenging his murder conviction, claiming a court clerk tampered with the jury.

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Grab Bag

Holiday decorations are getting increasingly popular

In the same way Christmas songs creep their way into the early fall months, so are Christmas decorations. The National Retail Federation forecasts holiday spending to reach a record $957.3B to $966.6B this year, a 3%-4% increase from 2022.

And it’s not just Christmas… decor for everything from Halloween to Easter is hitting stores earlier and harder, per The Washington Post.

Why the new surge?

Supply chain issues during COVID have led people to order their decorations earlier than they typically do, and that’s kept up through last year. Another reason is people just want a distraction from their usual routine, and I don’t think we can blame them. And don’t tell me seeing all the decorations up doesn’t get you in the festive mood.

A recent Deloitte survey found that shoppers are putting more money toward non-gift holiday purchases, with 82% saying they plan to spend on items like decorations. Plus, this year’s consumers are expected to spend an average of $1.65k on holiday-related purchases, which is up almost 15% from last year.

Sports Illustrated is in hot water over using AI-generated stories

After Sports Illustrated reportedly published articles by (allegedly) nonexistent writers. Nice one, SI. On Monday, a report by Futurism showed that some SI writers’ profiles used AI-generated headshots (don’t look at me, I didn’t want to pay $200 for professional headshots), while quite a few articles had writing that sounded eerily like AI.

One such writer, Drew Ortiz, was found by Futurism to have poorly written articles, ridden with errors, along with no internet presence whatsoever. Anonymous sources told Futurism that the content is “absolutely AI-generated, no matter how much they say that it’s not.”

The damage has been done

As SI had no disclaimers that their content contained or was generated with AI (which they have since changed), it has damaged the reputation of what was once one of the sports world’s most respected media outlets.

Current and former (actually human) journalists at the publication have cited their dismay at SI’s use of AI and its parent company, Arena Group, which has been criticized for publishing AI-generated content in the past.

Snippets

Tenuous Travel: TSA screened more than 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, making it the busiest day ever recorded at US airports. Glad I didn’t have to deal with that.

Good News: The 41 trapped construction workers in India are finally free after surviving in a collapsed Himalayan road tunnel for more than two weeks.

Business Behemoth: Mark Cuban sold the Dallas Mavericks for around $3.5 billion after buying the team for $235 million in 2009 — and he will still be in charge of all basketball operations. He may be the Shark with the sharpest teeth.

Dog Delight: TSA released its 2024 Cute canine calendar. It’s paws-itivley delightful.

Forklift Frenzy: A child stole a forklift and led police in a (rather slow) chase.

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