quote:

OpenAI to announce an ‘AI-Powered search engine’ next week — Here’s what we know
Published on May 11, 2024

OpenAI will reportedly announce an artificial intelligence-powered search engine for its flagship chatbot ChatGPT on Monday, a much hyped and speculated feature that would ratchet up competition with search giant Google as startups and Big Tech alike race to cash in on the tech world’s latest gold rush.

OpenAI will announce its new AI search product on Monday, a day before Google is expected to announce plans for its Gemini AI products at its annual I/O developer conference, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

According to The Verge, OpenAI’s machinations include “aggressively trying to poach Google employees” for a team working to ship the product

skooma512 posted:

https://twitter.com/rcbregman/status/1786331219715616890

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

It really is

skooma512 posted:

https://twitter.com/rcbregman/status/1786331219715616890

Mustached Demon posted:

lol 1981

Mustached Demon posted:

lol 1981

WampaLord posted:

throw it on the pile of "graphs where poo poo gets bad" that all have a massive uptick/downtick when Reagan hosed up everything

Homeless Friend posted:

lol its not just EV's

biden coming up behind solar industry to finish the job

quote:

Apr 25 2025
US solar panel makers seek import tariffs to protect new domestic factories
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-solar-panel-makers-seek-new-tariffs-protect-domestic-factories-2024-04-24/

Apr 24 2024
Solar manufacturers petition U.S. to impose tariffs on imports from four Southeast Asian nations
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/24/solar-manufacturers-petition-us-to-impose-tariffs-on-some-imports.html

Mar 5 2024
First Solar CEO says tariff exemptions threaten U.S. efforts to ramp up domestic solar manufacturing
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/05/first-solar-ceo-says-tariff-exemptions-threaten-us-efforts-to-ramp-up-manufacturing.html

Feb 6 2024
US Solar Manufacturing Climbed During Tariffs, Trade Panel Finds
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/us-solar-manufacturing-climbed-amid-tariffs-trade-panel-finds

Sep 20 2023
First Solar Urges US to Get Tough on Trade as Module Prices Sin
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-21/first-solar-urges-us-to-get-tough-on-trade-as-module-prices-sink

IRA 45X Tax Credits: https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/federal-tax-credits-solar-manufacturers

Mark Widmar First Solar CEO Testimony: https://www.finance.senate.gov/download/03122024-widmar-testimony

Senate Solar Tariff Memo: https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/sens-ossoff-brown-rubio-rev-warnock-urge-increased-tariffs-on-imported-chinese-solar-products/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-solar-inc-announces-first-200200221.html

Morbus posted:

ops my bad

skooma512 posted:

https://dallasexpress.com/business-markets/buy-now-pay-later-phantom-debt-mounting-wall-street-warns/


‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Phantom Debt Mounting, Wall Street Warns



New purchasing options available to consumers are leading to short-term debt accumulation that Wall Street is struggling to track.

Retailers are increasingly offering “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) options. This short-term financing solution allows consumers to make a purchase immediately and pay for it in installments over time.

While the programs can vary, they are typically short-term in nature, with fixed payments and no interest. Commonly, the payment plan is divided over four periods, hence the nickname for the product: “pay in four.” The first payment is often due right away, with the three subsequent payments due every other week.

The actual magnitude of the short-term financing program is unclear but is likely substantial, according to one expert.

Tim Quinlan, a senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co., said the program is driving a growing “phantom debt” in the U.S. economy. This is largely because the major players in the space, Affirm Holdings Inc., Klarna Bank AB, and Block Inc.’s Afterpay, are not required to report BNPL loans to credit agencies.

Even without official figures, surveys of consumer usage point to a rising and largely untracked bucket of U.S. personal debt.

Last year, The Dallas Express reported that one in five Americans planned to use a BNPL payment plan to make purchases over the holiday season, according to a report by Adobe Analytics. In another survey, Bankrate found that 8% of respondents intended to use BNPL to finance holiday travel.

While the loans do not charge interest, consumers are still at risk of being hit with late fees for missed payments. Adobe Analytics estimates that in the first quarter of 2024, $19.2 billion was spent using BNPL, representing a more than 12% rise from the same quarter the previous year.

One estimate predicts that the opaque “buy now, pay later” market will reach nearly $700 billion globally by 2028. This could spell trouble, as a recent Harris Poll survey conducted for Bloomberg News found more than four out of 10 respondents who owe money to BNPL services were past due on payments.

The survey, conducted in April, found that dividing payments encourages consumers to overspend, with over half saying BNPL enabled them to buy more than they could afford.

For nearly a quarter of respondents, BNPL spending was deemed “out of control.”

Simon Khalaf, Chief Executive Officer of Marqeta Inc., a firm focused on assisting payment processing for BNPL providers, says the hidden debt may be so large that it could have broader economic implications.

“They’ve reached a certain scale that they could impact economists’ assumptions about their economic outlooks,” said Khalaf, per Bloomberg.

The major players in BNPL blame credit agencies for the lack of transparency, saying they cannot handle their information. They also claim disclosure could harm customer credit scores.

For their part, the big three credit bureaus say they are prepared to manage the financing details, and VantageScore Solutions and Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) similarly say they are prepared to assess how BNPL products affect their credit scores.

the popes toes posted:

poo poo trickles down, is that what you're saying?

Rectal Death Alert posted:

what the gently caress? where the gently caress did you learn economy?

The way number works is that profit can only ever increase. Decreasing profit is the same thing as zero profit.

This means prices can never be cut, they can only increase forever. Layoffs can only continue. quality can only be cut. Profit only increases.

And you think you can just operate a successful business only making massive hoards of profits ...that don't grow exponentially forever?!?!

WampaLord posted:

throw it on the pile of "graphs where poo poo gets bad" that all have a massive uptick/downtick when Reagan hosed up everything

Beached Whale posted:

I love audiophile stuff. As we all know the electricity coming out of your wall is far too noisy to truly replicate the dulcet tones of Steely Dan. In order to clean the filth that the electric company tries to send to your receiver and salvage your listening sessions, RME has just the technology for you.

https://www.rme-usa.com/lni-2-dc.html

I found this on an audiophile forum where they were having a vigorous debate about how well this thing worked. It costs $650

anonumos posted:

I've used Affirm to finance car repairs. I'm actually not paying on credit card and personal loan debt to negotiate settlements, but I kept paying the Affirm loan.

Twerk from Home posted:

I am utterly confused by the vehicles that people use for gig work. I don't take Ubers often, basically only to get to the airport, but my last Uber airport pickup was a guy in a Jeep Wrangler on huge mud tires. What really takes the cake though was this week when I saw someone delivering McDondalds for Doordash in a very new Toyota Land Cruiser.

Shageletic posted:

You can negotiate down credit card debt? Against big banks?

Shageletic posted:

You can negotiate down credit card debt? Against big banks?

Oglethorpe posted:

as far as i'm concerned AI as it exists has one role and one role only - augmented suggestions in limited scope based on best-of-class scenarios, written by people, for a human doing A Thing.

the outputs can never be as good as the inputs but if you're in the middle of a project and need some help, sure it might be useful. but using AI as an all-in-one solution is laughable

Paradoxish posted:

Anything is possible if you're willing to burn down your credit score in the process. It's usually easier to do once your account gets sold to a collection agency, but the big banks will also negotiate lower settlements if it's clear that you'll never pay off your debt. That's how those debt relief companies work: they negotiate settlements and then sell you a personal loan (ideally at a lower rate) for whatever the consolidated settlement amount happens to be. It's usually still a lot better than bankruptcy if you can't afford to make your minimum payments, though.

Credit card companies will actually try to force you into settlements sometimes by lowering your limit just above your balance and other shady poo poo so that the card effectively becomes unusable. These tactics can really obliterate your credit score even if you never once miss a payment.

Nonsense posted:

Germany is to start conscription lmao

skaboomizzy posted:

we're watching the world's dumbest billionaire do the "it's not rocket science, it's just brain surgery, how hard could it be?" bit in real life

what a time to be alive (until we aren't)

the popes toes posted:

poo poo trickles down, is that what you're saying?

Nonsense posted:

Germany is to start conscription lmao

Rip Testes posted:

Woman found living in Michigan grocery store sign, complete with computer and Keurig, for months


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmZCXoPLcuA

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

gently caress you, McDonalds!

Nitevision posted:

Twerk from Home posted:

grocery store bar

gently caress COREY PERRY posted:

Xaris posted:

lmao i missed Roku, demanding ever more profits, is now shovelling ads onto their Smart TV interface poo poo

ads are always valuable to the viewer, thank you mr ceo

Nonsense posted:

Germany is to start conscription lmao

Popoto posted:

wtf. source?

Popoto posted:

wtf. source?

Nonsense posted:

Germany is to start conscription lmao

Paradoxish posted:

I'm not super familiar with German politics, but I thought they never technically ended their compulsory military service, just paused it indefinitely like 10-15 years ago?

double nine posted:

are they doing it, most I find contain weaselwords like "should" and "we might" etc