The news fix

All aboard the AI hype train! 2024 is going to be the “year of artificial intelligence,” or at least that is what investors are saying with their money. Look at Microsoft, which has toppled Apple as the most valuable company in the world, at least temporarily. This week, it rose past $3 trillion in market value, as investors bet on the company’s AI products and strategic investment in ChatGPT to generate huge returns.

Most of the other Big Tech stocks that are part of the “Magnificent Seven” also rallied, including Nvidia, which designs semiconductors used to power AI programs like ChatGPT. (Please remember: The stock market is not the economy.)

Can the craze keep up its momentum? Advocates preach AI will transform daily life as we know it, but there are lots of skeptics, including those who predict an “AI Winter,” in which interest and investment in the tech wanes. Some analysts warn that the unrestrained economic optimism around AI — what former Federal Reserve Board Chair Alan Greenspan might describe as “irrational exuberance” — is setting unrealistic growth expectations. Regulation could also temper growth; the Federal Trade Commission announced an investigation yesterday to find out whether Big Tech AI partnerships, including Microsoft’s, have limited innovation or undermined fair competition.

Plus, not everything “AI” is new — or even AI. That was clear at the Consumer Electronics Show, where many companies rebranded old tech as AI. Many companies selling AI products also don’t have data or evidence to prove their products are more than marketing gimmicks. As we reported this week, it may be cheaper for companies to keep paying human workers rather than buying into new tech.

Smart in a shot

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown seems to be paying off. The streamer reported Tuesday that it had scored 13 million new subscribers in the last three months of 2023. And these new customers are likely to stick around. 

Even as other streaming services have improved the breadth of films and shows in their catalogues, they’re still struggling to compete with Netflix’s first-mover advantage. Business Insider looked at data on subscriber churn, which measures how many customers quit their streaming subscription every month. Netflix’s churn rate, at 2%, was far lower than Max, Hulu, Peacock and others.

But as the prices of many streaming services go up this year, so too could the numbers of “serial churners,” people who get a subscription to watch the new season of a specific show, and then cancel after watching it. 

(For the aspiring churner, check out this tool from Axios, which allows you to input your favorite shows and get suggestions on when to subscribe and when to cancel to save money.)

The numbers

Whether you’re single or partnered up, dating is another part of our lives that is not getting cheaper. Let’s do the numbers.

$159

The average date night for two in the U.S. — dinner and a movie — cost $159 in 2023. Just drinks out cost an average of $48. Perhaps this will surprise you: Married people spend more on dating than single folks, some of whom blame finances for a less-active dating life than they’d like.

63%  

Higher costs haven’t stopped most people from dating. When The Hustle surveyed its readers, the publication found 63% of respondents said they were still going on dates, despite inflation.

$200

Want a budget-friendly date? Yeah, a lot of people do. Applebee’s Date Night Passes sold out in less than one minute after they were made available for purchase online. The pass costs $200 for up to $1,520 of food and nonalcoholic beverages. (Even if you failed to snag a pass, there are other economic and social reasons to visit Applebee’s.)

None of us is as smart as all of us

Tell us what’s making you smarter at smarter@marketplace.org. We’d love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.

Early bird special

Reporter Matt Levin is reading a Bloomberg op-ed about how introverts have taken over the U.S. economy (gift link). Americans, especially young ones, are going out less, and even when they do, they’re going home earlier.

The “de minimus” loophole

Producer Nic Perez is reading an article from The American Prospect about how Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein are using trade loopholes to export cheap clothing to the U.S. without tariffs, fees or inspections.

Highly marketable sick people 

Producer Dylan Miettinen is reading a Vox article about end-of-life social media influencers who create content and share stories about their fatal or life-threatening illnesses.

This story was originally published as a newsletter for Make Me Smart. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at marketplace.org/smarter.