Good morning. Some corporate announcements yesterday: - Google revealed its answer to ChatGPT: an "experimental conversational AI service" called Bard that's currently in testing mode.
- Microsoft (which invested in ChatGPT) announced its own surprise event scheduled for later today in order to "share some progress on a few exciting projects."
- Chinese tech giant Baidu confirmed it's on track to introduce its AI chatbot, known as "Ernie Bot" in English, in March.
Let the AI Games begin… —Jamie Wilde, Sam Klebanov, Max Knoblauch, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman | | | |  | Nasdaq | 11,887.45 | | | | | S&P | 4,111.08 | | | | | Dow | 33,891.02 | | |  | 10-Year | 3.645% | | | | | Bitcoin | $22,806.53 | | | | | BBBY | $5.86 | | | | *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00am ET. Here's what these numbers mean. | | Markets: Stocks trended downward yesterday as investors remained skittish about the Fed's next move. But meme-stock lovers were all in. Flailing retailer Bed Bath & Beyond saw its value nearly double, while GameStop and AMC stocks both rose. Maybe the home goods chain's faithful are onto something: After the day's trading ended, the company announced a plan to stave off bankruptcy with a $1 billion share sale. | | | | Hannah Minn Crypto is out and alcohol is in this year during the best part of the Super Bowl: the ads. Fox announced yesterday that all commercial airtime for Super Bowl LVII is booked up, having sold on average at $6 million for 30 seconds, according to the head of ad sales at Fox Sports—and a lot of those pricey slots went to alcohol companies. The booze biz has been waiting 33 years for this Anheuser-Busch (parent company of Budweiser, Stella Artois, and even Natty Light) relinquished the exclusive Super Bowl alcohol advertising rights it held since 1989, and now other brands are keen to get in front of the Super Bowl's 100 million viewers—many of whom are likely cracking cold ones as they watch. - The global VP of marketing for the Miller brands at Molson Coors told Bloomberg that after hearing the news, "It took us less than 30 seconds to decide that we wanted to buy an ad."
- Heineken, Rémy Martin, and Crown Royal have spots lined up, too.
Anheuser-Busch will still run ads in the game, and will be joined by other familiar (non-booze) brands, including Doritos, Pepsi, and Netflix and GM (it's a joint ad). Who's not making it to the big game? Crypto was the QR code-bouncing star of last year's commercial breaks, but this year celebrities will promote crypto for exactly zero seconds. That's because Larry David was unintentionally right when he predicted that crypto company FTX wouldn't make it…in his Super Bowl ad last year for the now-bankrupt FTX. Though several crypto companies had ads in the works this year, according to a Fox exec, they all pulled the plug after FTX's collapse dragged the rest of the industry down with it.—JW For more coverage of Super Bowl ads, subscribe to Marketing Brew. | | Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Death toll climbs to more than 4,000 in Turkish earthquake. Rescuers searched the rubble in Turkey and Syria for survivors yesterday in the wake of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by another 7.5 magnitude quake in southern Turkey. Rescue teams have found thousands alive, but the number of victims will also likely increase as their work continues. In addition to the devastating loss of life, ancient sites in the region were damaged, including the Gaziantep Castle in Turkey, which collapsed, and the Aleppo Citadel in Syria.
 Two arrested in "racially motivated" power grid plot. Federal authorities announced yesterday that they stopped an alleged plan to bring down Baltimore's power grid using assault weapons. A neo-Nazi leader and a Maryland woman were arrested last week for allegedly conspiring to attack electrical substations in the area—an act that they purportedly believed would "destroy" the city. Assaults on the power grid are on the rise: There were 171 disturbances traced back to people last year, compared to 99 in 2021, Department of Energy stats show.
 Past Chinese spy balloons escaped detection at the time. The 200-foot-tall suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down by the US on Saturday is not believed to be the first to enter US territory in recent years, but it now appears to be the first the US knew about while it was there. General Glen VanHerck, the head of NORAD (which, in addition to tracking Santa, monitors and protects North American airspace) said yesterday that a "domain awareness gap" allowed three others to float on by during the Trump administration that were only discovered by the intelligence community after the fact.
| | TOGETHER WITH RAD DIVERSIFIED | | It's no secret that economic times are a li'l tough right now. What might be a secret, though, is a certain smart investment that's well-equipped to handle these hard times: REITs (aka real estate investment trusts). RAD Diversified is a nontraded, SEC-qualified public REIT that is *unaffected* by the stock market. They invest in residential, commercial, and multifamily properties (and even income-producing farms) all over the US. That's how RADD is ready to handle any economic era. And they've got the numbers to prove it: RADD made a 35.35% return in 2021, and RAD Diversified REIT stock value has increased by 122.2% since October 2019. Start investing smarter here. | | Anadolu Agency/Getty Images FTX is flouting the first rule of gift-giving—no take backs. The bankrupt crypto exchange is telling recipients of its political donations to return the cash they got from its employees by the end of the month or wait for the judge to order it back. That's not a small amount: The company's ex-CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was once the second-largest Democratic campaign donor (though he has said he quietly gave just as much funding to Republicans as well). - Over a third of lawmakers in the current Congress have some FTX-associated donation on their campaign ledgers, including heavyweights like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to CoinDesk.
- It's estimated that FTX-related political donations add up to as much as $93 million in total.
Where is the money now? After FTX was revealed to be allegedly defrauding investors and customers, counting it among one's donors became more toxic than swimming in a pool of nuclear waste. Many lawmakers chose to wipe their hands by donating the contributions elsewhere. Only five members of Congress had returned the money to FTX as of mid-January, while several others said they were standing by for further instructions. Looking forward...all of FTX's donation recipients could eventually be forced to hand back the funds, but courts tend to work much more slowly than election cycles.—SK | | TOGETHER WITH THRIVE CAUSEMETICS | | An eye-opening change. This is your sign to try those viral products all over your social feeds. Specifically Thrive Causemetics' bestselling makeup that's made with 100% vegan, cruelty-free, skin-loving ingredients. Use this foolproof trifecta for an instant "I got 8 hours of sleep" look. Here's an exclusive 15% off  . | | Francis Scialabba AMC already knows you come to their place for magic. Now, you can go there to replicate the energy of shuffling through the Delta first-class cabin with a stale bagel on your way to seat 38E (bathroom adjacent). The theater chain is introducing a tiered ticket-pricing scheme based on your seat location, similar to airlines, sporting events, and concerts. AMC is hoping that charging a bit extra for the middle seats will help boost revenue in a more consistent way than just waiting for new Avatars to come out. The seating tiers, part of a program called Sightline, will reflect the demand patterns you can observe in any theater: - Value: Generally bad front-row seats (for a discount)
- Standard: Common seats (for the traditional ticket price)
- Preferred: The good middle seats that fill up first (for a premium price)
While the location of your seat will soon impact your ticket price, what movie you're seeing won't. The chain can't vary prices of individual films because tickets are priced by a contract between studios and theaters. Pricing by demand has also been avoided, since it would require more complex monitoring and cost theaters money. Looking ahead…AMC plans to roll out Sightline at some locations in New York, Chicago, and Kansas City this Friday, and is aiming to expand nationwide by the end of the year.—MK | | The Bachelorette/ABC via Giphy Stat: One in 10 US adults who have paired off romantically met their partner through a dating site or app, according to Pew Research. But not everyone swiping is looking for The One. Some are just searching for Mr./Ms. Right Now: 44% of app users over the past year said they wanted to meet a long-term partner, while 40% wanted to date casually. No word on what percentage of those lived out the rom-com cliche of finding true love when you least expect it, though. Quote: "You don't have a recession when you have 500,000 jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years." Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took to the morning show circuit yesterday to reassure us she sees a path forward for inflation to come down without stirring up an economic apocalypse. And while Yellen works for the president, she's not the only one who's starting to see the possibility of a recession becoming less likely—economists at Goldman Sachs lowered their estimate on the possibility of a recession in the next year from 35% to 25%, thanks to the strong labor market. Read: How a Vietnamese refugee became America's first hot sauce billionaire. (Forbes) | | - The National Enquirer will be sold to a joint venture that involves a former MoviePass exec who's been charged with securities fraud. The tabloid has been seeking a buyer for about four years.
- Dell is laying off 6,650 people (about 5% of its staff) after demand for PCs plunged last year.
- The Grammys drew in 12.4 million viewers. That's 30% more than last year and the biggest audience the award show has gotten since 2020.
- President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address tonight against the backdrop of his likely bid for reelection, a heated debt ceiling fight, and the drama over the Chinese spy balloon.
| | Do you like money? Well, we have great news. The Brew's brand-new Get-A-Raise Toolkit is officially available for purchase. This customizable, downloadable digital toolkit provides the knowledge, templates, and resources that will help you do effective market research, build your case, and actually get that raise you've been dreaming of. Shop now. | |  Learn something new: Here's the right way to pronounce the company names you've been saying incorrectly for years.
Tech tip: Don't delete the photos you look good in. A new tool lets you replace your ex (or anyone else) with anything from a baguette to a snake. Travel tip: Sail right through passport control without spending an hour in line when you get back to the US with this free government app. But, if your next trip is only happening in your imagination, go big and picture yourself in space. Do good: Lots of organizations are accepting donations to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Next-gen or nah: Is data mesh right for your org? Attend this AWS webinar to scope out the tools you need to govern data efficiently—and find the right AWS Marketplace partners. Register today.* Bear in mind: Markets have been grizzly lately, but there's still honey to be found. We've teamed up with The Motley Fool to give you the lowdown on investing in bear markets. Read more.* *This is sponsored advertising content. | | Brew Mini: Neal sped through today's puzzle in 32 seconds. Think you can beat that time? Try it here. Periodic table trivia To celebrate National Periodic Table Day, here's a question about everyone's favorite poster hanging in the science classroom. There is only one letter in the alphabet that is not found in any symbol on the periodic table. Can you name it? | |  Offboarding should be streamlined, consistent, and tailored to your business. HR Brew explains how to get it right.
 Stuck in meetings from 9–5 and don't have time to do your actual work? The Brew's Take Back Your Time Toolkit gives you all the techniques you need to RSVP "hell no" to the next pointless meeting. It's only $29—buy yours today.
 Understanding today's consumers is no easy feat. Join Retail Brew for a conversation about tactics that'll keep your customers engaged and coming back for more.
| | | J. Yes, there is a Q in the abbreviation for the element Ununquadium ("Uuq"). But that is a temporary name, and once this element gets an official name, Q will disappear from the periodic table and be as elusive as J. | | |
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