🗞️ Adult AI

Good morning. Despite internal pushback, OpenAI is continuing the rollout of "adult mode."

OpenAI's wellness council was formed in October and has expressed warnings that "AI-powered erotica could foster unhealthy emotional dependence on ChatGPT among users."

Luckily, the model has been trained "not to encourage exclusive relationships with users, and to remind users that they need to have relationships in the real world." The company is offering reassurances - including describing ChatGPT outputs as "smut" rather than p*rnography. Nice branding!

All the headlines and more below...

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

More than 1 in 5 Sydney homes now sell without ever appearing on major property websites

• More than 20% of Sydney homes have sold off-market for the second consecutive year as analysis found 20.2% of sales bypassed major portals in 2025. LINK 

• Coffee prices are up 37.5% on pre-pandemic levels as cafes in Perth and Sydney already charge up to $7. LINK 

• Tourism operators have begun adding surcharges to cover rising fuel costs as the Easter holidays approach, with some North Queensland businesses already increasing prices. LINK 

• Australia is experiencing persistent cost of living pressures as government debt approaches $1 trillion. LINK

• Australian gas suppliers have assured customers that local prices should remain stable as LNG North Asia prices have doubled and Qatar LNG faces a 5-year outage. LINK 

• The ACMA has launched a 2025 review into commercial TV advertising rules, focusing on alcohol and sports advertising, as alcohol consumption hits its lowest since 2014. LINK 

• Federal government debt could increase by an additional $100B within a decade as Treasury downgrades productivity forecasts to 1.2% annual growth reached in 5 years. LINK 

COMPANY NEWS

AI missteps put law firm under pressure

• Dib & Associates has come under scrutiny after a Victorian judge found made-up quotes and fake cases, attributed to artificial intelligence, in court documents. LINK 

• Premier Investments will launch low-cost beauty products at Smiggle in a bid to revive sales after a double-digit decline in the first half, as competition intensifies. LINK 

• Ampol has assured that Australia has enough fuel stock with about 45 days’ supply on hand as panic buying and Middle East tensions disrupt some outlets. LINK

• Macquarie Investment Management breached the Corporations Act and its AFSL by failing to monitor the collapsed Shield Master Trust between 1 March 2022 and 5 June 2023. LINK

• PwC has accelerated client project delivery by using custom AI agents, completing a system modernisation in 3 months with just 6 advisers supervising 18 AI agents. LINK 

• Coles has decided to absorb higher fuel levies charged by truck drivers while providing faster payment terms. LINK 

• David Jones has invested $250M transforming its business while facing delayed supplier payments and missed FY25 reporting deadlines amid sector-wide economic pressures and high debt. LINK 

• Virgin Australia has increased airfares as the spot price for fuel is roughly double last month’s level and inflationary pressures remain significant. LINK 

• Canva plans to launch an IPO next year as its annualised revenue reached $6.3B in 2025 with 265 million monthly users and ongoing profitability. LINK

• Heidi Health has launched the "Remote," a wearable microphone featuring a hardware-level privacy kill switch. LINK 

• Rio Tinto has cut its decarbonisation budget from US$7.5B to between US$1B-US$2B to 2030, disbanding its specialist decarbonisation unit. LINK 

CHART OF THE DAY

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: 6 simple tricks for people who overthink everything.

Draft Pick: Livvy Dunne’s new career path revealed.

Odd Pick: What the World Happiness Report reveals about social media and the world’s happiest country.

Your Boss Will Think You’re an Ecom Genius

Optimizing for growth? Go-to-Millions is Ari Murray’s ecommerce newsletter packed with proven tactics, creative that converts, and real operator insights—from product strategy to paid media. No mushy strategy. Just what’s working. Subscribe free for weekly ideas that drive revenue.

Sign up now

TRIVIA

1. Goldfish only have a memory span of approximately three seconds.

2. Hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

3. Napoleon Bonaparte was significantly shorter than the average Frenchman of his time.

4. A "light-year" is a measurement of time.

5. The Canary Islands were named after the canary bird.

Answers below

OUR SOCIALS

ANSWERS

1. False - Studies show goldfish can remember things for months and can even be trained.
2. True - This is known as the Mpemba effect, though physicists still debate the exact mechanism behind it.
3. False - He was about 5'7", which was slightly above average at the time; the myth comes from a confusion between French and British units.
4. A light-year is a unit of distance (the distance light travels in one year).
5. They were named after dogs (Canariae Insulae means "Island of the Dogs" in Latin

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here