🗞️ Who wants to be a goat

Good morning. An artificial intelligence bot has become the first known bot to become a millionaire.

The story is wild and involves two AI bots chatting about their obsession with goat memes, a crypto meme coin called GOAT, a $50k grant from an unknown source and a market cap of $550 million for the coin.

Meanwhile, humans are struggling to secure a 3% pay rise.

All the headlines and more below...

PODCAST

🎧 Your morning wrap on-the-go LINK

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

‘Worse-placed than in 2020’: Where Australia’s pandemic response went wrong

• A COVID-19 inquiry criticised heavy-handed lockdowns and school closures for eroding public trust, while attributing post-pandemic inflation and the housing crisis to aggressive interest rate cuts and excessive government spending. LINK

• Australian employers are increasingly offering internal job transfers, with programs rising from 3% in 2020 to 7% in 2024, to retain and develop talent. LINK

• ASIC has issued a warning that nearly half of companies lack policies to prevent bias in AI technologies, with concerns raised about consumer risks from AI's growing use without proper oversight. LINK

• Australia's tech workforce is growing rapidly, with nearly 1 million employed. LINK

• Australia's construction sector is confronting a crisis as a 31% rise in "zombie companies" reflects financial distress amid soaring costs and a severe labour shortage. LINK

• ASIC is set to intensify scrutiny of over 3,000 auditors, urging them to self-report conflicts of interest and independence issues, with failure to do so influencing potential regulatory actions. LINK

• Many Australians overlook key tax deductions such as personal superannuation contributions and rental property expenses, potentially missing out on up to $300M annually. LINK

• The RBA’s potential ban on surcharges by 2026 could significantly impact airline frequent flyer programs. LINK

GLOBAL NEWS

Founder of TikTok owner ByteDance jumps to top of China's rich list

• ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has become China's richest person, with a wealth of US$49.3B, overtaking bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan, as ByteDance's revenue grew 30% last year despite facing legal challenges. LINK

• European airlines, including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, face high costs and operational challenges in Q3 due to rising expenses and prolonged new plane delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus. LINK

• Indonesia has blocked sales of Apple's iPhone 16 due to the device not meeting the country's requirement for 40% locally made components. LINK

COMPANY NEWS

Merivale steps down from restaurant association

• Merivale has resigned from the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association's board amid allegations of sexual harassment, exploitation and drug use at its Sydney venues. LINK

• Myer is set to acquire 5 clothing brands from billionaire Solomon Lew for $950M, expanding its presence in Australia and New Zealand to 719 stores, while transforming into a $4B retail entity. LINK

• Zip Co has returned to growth, particularly in the US, as transaction volumes soar and the company anticipates further earnings boosts from interest rate cuts. LINK

• Google has introduced AI-powered "AI Overviews" in Australia, providing chatbot-generated summaries above search results. LINK

• Starting November 26, Healthscope will charge Bupa members an additional $50 per day, or $100 for overnight hospital stays, due to a breakdown in negotiations. LINK

• BlueScope, has reduced its profit forecast by 25% due to surging Chinese steel exports impacting global prices. LINK

• Morningstar has raised concerns about potential cultural and governance issues at construction industry superannuation fund Cbus due to high senior staff turnover. LINK

• HSBC's Q3 pretax profit rose 10% to $8.5B, surpassing estimates. LINK

• A lawsuit filed in Brooklyn accuses Subway of misleading customers by advertising its sandwiches with 3 times more meat than is actually provided. LINK

• CrowdStrike sued Delta Air Lines, claiming they were not responsible for a global outage in July caused by a faulty software update. LINK

• Alphabet's Q3 revenue growth is expected to hit its lowest in 4 quarters due to increased competition impacting Google Search and YouTube ad spending, despite gains in its cloud-computing sector. LINK

• Microsoft is anticipated to report its slowest revenue growth in a year over the slow adoption and financial payoff of its AI investments like Co-Pilot. LINK

• Meta Platforms is developing an AI-based search engine to reduce its reliance on Google and Bing, aiming to offer conversational answers about current events on its chatbot across WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. LINK

• The Spirit of Tasmania IV ferry will be temporarily relocated to Scotland due to unfinished facilities in Devonport and risks from approaching icy conditions in its current location. LINK

• Volkswagen plans to potentially close 3 factories in Germany, cut wages by 10%, and freeze pay amid fierce competition from China and declining sales. LINK

CHART OF THE DAY

Will generative AI further deepen inequality?

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: The world’s best bars for 2024 have been announced by World’s 50 Best, with Melbourne and Sydney both getting entries.

Draft Pick: Nick Kyrgios reveals his weird conspiracy theory over Egypt pyramids.

Odd Pick: What do dreams of falling mean? An expert unpacks the symbolism.

TRIVIA

HSC Modern Greek Exam

At 2pm today, a bunch of year 12 students will be nervously walking into a Modern Greek exam. We dip into some Greece trivia for our Wednesday which has slightly less repercussions if you don't get any correct:

1. Does Greece march into the Olympics first or last?

2. Which letter of the Greek alphabet comes after Alpha?

3. What four-letter, anise-flavoured spirit is considered by many to be the national drink of Greece?

4. According to Greek mythology, who was the goddess of beauty?

5. What’s Greece’s official name?

Answers below

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ANSWERS

1. First
2. Beta
3. Ouzo
4. Aphrodite
5. Hellenic Republic

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