In partnership with

Greetings N2K reader!

Vote on the winner of this week'’s world famous News Haiku™ competition in today’s poll!

Also, we have a quick correction, courtesy of Janet Barton. Two days ago in our post about the Louvre heist I said Queen Hortense was Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife. In fact she was his sister-in-law as well as his step-daughter. Off with my head! Or did that come later? Thanks for your sharp eyes, Janet.

We also heard from a diamond expert, Michael Fried, who tells me the combined value of the stones in the “priceless” jewels taken was only about $5 million:

That’s something you really needed2know, right? Now let’s talk about the news you need to know!

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

• Starbucks introduces AI barista

• Tesla’s profit fell in third quarter even as sales …

• Can sound rewire your mind?

• What Americans think about the environmental impac …

• Are theme parks determining Disney and Universal’s …

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 0.38% ) $DJI ( ▲ 0.75% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.94% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$SBUX ( ▼ 1.18% )  $TSLA ( ▲ 2.1% )  $DIS ( ▼ 0.5% )  $UVV ( ▼ 1.46% )  

Starbucks introduces AI barista

Starbucks $SBUX ( ▼ 1.18% ) is stepping into the future with its new AI-powered assistant, “Green Dot,” which promises to revolutionize how customers order coffee (and, you know…save on labor costs). Announced by CEO Brian Niccol at Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event, the AI technology is designed to help baristas anticipate a customer’s order, creating a faster and more personalized experience. Or at least, that’s Brian’s story, and he’s sticking to it. Amazon aims to replace 600,000 workers with robots, the New York Times reported yesterday. So, sure. Green Dot is there to help people. Not replace them.

Niccol described Starbucks’ mission to become the “world’s greatest customer service company again” through innovations like Green Dot. Acting as a “barista assistant,” this tool will streamline the coffee-making process while improving order accuracy. Piloted in select locations since June, the system is now rolling out across more stores. Despite its technological focus, Niccol reassured customers that Starbucks isn’t replacing its human employees. “We’re not near that right now,” he said, emphasizing the desire to deliver a “great, not robotic” experience.

Right now.

The AI features will also extend to the Starbucks app, allowing customers to order by voice. Imagine saying, “Hey, I need my Starbucks order. I’ll be there in 10 minutes,” without needing to touch your phone. This is the kind of world-changing breakthrough AI was developed for. Right?

Song of the day: Alison Brown, Steve Martin, Jackson Brown, ‘Dear Time’

GRAMMY Award-winning banjoists Steve Martin and Alison Brown have released their debut collaborative album, “Safe, Sensible and Sane.” The title, issued on October features guest appearances from the likes of Jackson Brown (right, above), who sang my favorite song ever, “The Pretender.” This one is really rather good, too. Enjoy!

Tesla’s profit fell in third quarter even as sales rose

Tesla’s $TSLA ( ▲ 2.1% ) third-quarter earnings report revealed a mixed bag of results, with profits dropping for the fourth consecutive quarter despite a rise in sales. The company’s earnings fell 37% to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents per share, compared to $2.2 billion, or 62 cents per share, in the same period last year. Tesla’s shares reflected investor concerns, falling 3.5% in after-hours trading.

Despite the revenue increase to $28.1 billion from last year’s $25.2 billion, analysts warn that part of the surge was fueled by customers rushing to take advantage of a $7,500 federal EV tax credit before its expiration on October 1, potentially cannibalizing sales from the current quarter. Garrett Nelson of CFRA Research noted, “It’s a positive that they are increasingly diversifying from the auto business, but our primary concern is demand for EVs. There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

Elon Musk, however, remains optimistic about diversifying Tesla’s offerings beyond EVs. On a call with investors, Musk highlighted ventures like the driverless robotaxi service, its AI products, and humanoid Optimus robots. Predicting a “robot army,” Musk called it “the biggest product of all time.”

Perhaps they can “assist” those baristas at Starbucks?

Today on the ‘gram: Save your Taylor Swift jokes

Post of the day: Don’t gamble, kids.

Quote of the Day

Can sound rewire your mind?

Achieving deep focus can feel like an uphill battle. But what if music itself could be engineered to enhance your concentration? That's the premise behind Brain.fm, a company at the forefront of neuroscience and sonic design, as explained by their Director of Neuroscience, Dr. Kevin Woods — who I think is actually a real doctor!

"Brain.fm is music that is designed to change the patterns in your brain to help you do things, right? Whether it's focus, relax, sleep, meditate," Dr. Woods told us, emphasizing that most users turn to Brain.fm for focus. He candidly admits his initial skepticism: "I was skeptical at first, as anybody must be, if you hear about music that's gonna change the patterns in your brain...Let me run my own experiments." His conviction came through data, leading him to join the company full-time.

The core idea, he explains, is that "most music is made to distract you." Brain.fm, however, "starts from a foundation of saying, ‘Hey, what if we did this differently and tried to build music from the ground up with people's intentions in mind?’" The platform personalizes the experience with a quiz, understanding individual brain needs. "The stuff that my sister listens to to focus drives me crazy. I could never work to it," he said, totally throwing his sister under the brain.fm bus.

Brain.fm offers various modes like "deep work," "motivation," and "creativity," each subtly different. A standout feature is "ADHD mode," a "knob that you can turn that changes the level of stimulation in the music." This allows for "stimulating without distracting," a testament to their research-backed approach, including collaborations with Northeastern University and a paper published in Nature Communications Biology. Brain.fm aims to guide users into a "flow state," where the music fades into the background, and productivity soars. You tell me. Does it work?

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Yes.

What Americans think about the environmental impact of AI

Many Americans are growing increasingly concerned about AI’s environmental impact. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago reveals that worries about AI’s environmental toll have surpassed those about the effects of cryptocurrency, meat production, and even air travel.

The concern stems from the massive amount of energy required to power AI. According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity consumption from data centers is expected to more than double by 2030, with the U.S. leading the surge. Aidan Collins, a New York Democrat, voiced frustration to the Associated Press: “[AI uses] an absurd amount of energy...contributing to climate change in a bad way, it all just seems very awful to me.”

Some Americans are also troubled by other resources AI demands, like water, which is needed to cool data centers. Aaron Gunnoe from Ohio criticized the lack of clean energy initiatives, saying, “They haven’t done anything in the way of offsetting it cleanly. They just keep building more and more.”

Opinions remain divided, however, with James Horner, a Republican from South Carolina, believing AI can solve its own burden. “I think it will show how clean energy can be built in an efficient, profitable way,” he said.

On the other hand, it can produce erotic content now. See the poll below.

Are theme parks determining Disney and Universal’s film slates?

This is the latest in a weekly series on the business of film by Grant Keller.

Why would you make a third “Tron” movie? The first two, despite their groundbreaking technology that revolutionized the film industry multiple times over, bombed at the box office. Making a third from a business standpoint is a horrible decision, unless you have a theme park ride that costs somewhere in the nine-figure region that you need to promote.

For companies like Disney and Universal, the actual film division is little more than a rounding error when compared to their theme park revenues. Disney didn’t spend $4 billion on “Star Wars” just so they could run the film series into the ground; it’s because their toy sales are more valuable than some countries. Where better to sell toys than a place themed after the toy? These companies aren’t so much film studios — they are theme park companies, at least if you go by some of their recent filmmaking decisions...

Poll of the day: Haiku of the week!

We asked you to write a haiku about the news that OpenAI will soon offer erotic content, and you certainly rose to the challenge.

Poll of the day: Trust issues

We asked: "Buy bitcoin, buy cryptocurrency, close your eyes for five years, and I really do believe you're gonna be rewarded in a massive, massive way." Agree or disagree?

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Agree! I believe in it massively. Big time. Huge. (13)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I believe in it, but only as part of a well-diversified portfolio. (165)

 🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Meh. I do not believe in it, but only a tad. (223)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Disagree. It's very bad. It's wrong. Bad. (417)

818 Votes via @beehiiv polls

Need2Know is covered by Cheddar’s Terms of Service.