The great singer Tony Bennett died this morning at 96. One fun fact about the legendary crooner: All but 2 of his 19 Grammys came after he turned 60. Nobody’s called him the Colonel Sanders of jazz, but it’s right there. If you want a smile on this Friday morning, check out this duet with a blue-haired Lady Gaga. Or if you’re pre coffee cup 2, here’s his Amy Winehouse duet.

In today's edition:

• US ends funding to China’s WIV

• NYC is monitoring subways with AI

• 20 Questions

 🔑 Key Stories

US Bans Wuhan Lab Funding

Federal health officials officially suspended US funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)

• In 2014, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a grant to a US nonprofit for research on “bat coronavirus emergence.” That nonprofit then diverted some of that NIH grant money to the WIV

• From then until 2020, WIV received $1.4M through that. It stopped receiving US grant money in July 2020 amid speculation about Covid’s origins

• This week, the Biden administration officially cut off funding to the WIV, saying it didn’t observe proper safety measures and poses a threat to public safety

Dig Deeper

• The WIV can appeal the US’ suspension and potential disbarment within 30 days; it has not commented on the development. China criticized the US’ decision and claimed the US is peddling conspiracy theories

Who Should Write This?

Google is developing an AI model that can write news stories. It has pitched it to The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal’s owner, the New York Times (NYT) reports

• Per the NYT, the model, called Genesis, can be fed information and generate news content based on it

• Google says the tools will help journalists save time: “These tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating and fact-checking their articles”

• News Corp., which owns the WSJ, praised Google’s efforts. Other media execs were less enthusiastic

Dig Deeper

• Several news outlets have already begun using AI to write articles. The Associated Press uses it to generate stories about earnings reports; NYT, Insider, and NPR have told journalists they are experimenting with it

Netflix Crackdown Pays Off

Netflix added 6M subscribers between April and June following a crackdown on password-sharing

• To boost falling subscriber numbers, in May Netflix began limiting how many people can access an account. Those who get kicked off an account must pay for their own or to be added to another

• On Wednesday, Netflix released data for the second quarter of 2023, showing the policy’s impact

• The data revealed that Netflix added 5.9M subscribers in the quarter, vastly exceeding investors’ consensus estimate of 2M. “The cancel reaction was low,” Netflix said in a statement

Dig Deeper

• Netflix still missed investors’ revenue targets by a relatively wide margin, causing its stock price to decline ~8% on Wednesday. Analysts generally attributed that to new subscribers buying cheaper subscription plans. Still, Netflix reported $1.5B in net income, making it one of the only profitable major streaming platforms

AI Monitoring Subways

New York City has deployed AI software to several subway stations to determine how many people are evading fares, NBC reports

• NYC’s public transit agency – MTA – accounts for 40% of all US public transit. MTA estimates that 16% of subway riders don’t pay fares, and that fare evasion cost MTA $690M+ in 2022

• An MTA recently-made-public contract detailed how MTA is using AI to reduce fare evasion. Per that, MTA software analyzes camera feeds to see how many people are skipping paying and how they are doing so

• MTA has never identified the program by name but has acknowledged its existence. An MTA official said data from it aren’t shared with police but didn’t specify if that could change

Dig Deeper

• Several privacy groups have criticized the initiative as violating riders’ privacy. Some social activist groups also oppose it, arguing it targets the city’s poorest residents and allocates money to enforcement instead of policies that make transit more affordable

• The software’s defenders say the technology will help prevent fare evasion, saving MTA funds that could be reallocated to improve riders’ experiences and keep costs low

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• One small step for…: President Biden has reportedly been using a shorter set of stairs to board Air Force One. When asked why, his office said, “There’s not one hard and fast rule” for which stairs are used

• Lion of Berlin: A suspected lioness was on the loose near Berlin, Germany. After 100+ police were deployed with helicopters and thermal cameras to capture it, it turned out to have just been a wild boar

• $800,00 McNugget: A jury awarded $800k to an eight-year-old girl who received second-degree burns from a hot Chicken McNugget. She’s named the resulting scar “Nugget”

Wildcard

• Parties Over: Nearly half of US voters would be open to supporting a third-party candidate in 2024, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds

• AppleGPT: Apple is developing its own generative AI model to rival ChatGPT and others. It’s reportedly codenamed “Ajax”

• Shooting and Soccer: The Women's World Cup began in Australia and New Zealand with record crowds, although a shooting in New Zealand just hours before the opening match left three dead

👇🏻 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Just 20 Questions!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🗣 20 Questions

Every Friday, we ask the Roca readers 20 questions, then feature our favorite answers the following week.

Given that today’s dual-release of Barbie and Oppenheimer has set up one of the all-time box-office battles (or so the marketing agencies have convinced us), we have a special edition of 20 Questions: Movies: Head-to-Head Edition.

We’ve given 20 pairs of classic movies/movie series; your task is to pick the one that’s better.We hope you have a great weekend. We’ll be checking your answers as we wait 40 minutes between the end of Oppenheimer and the start of Barbie.

Here’s the link and have fun. See you on Monday!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Congressmembers should…

Not be allowed to own any stock: 43%
Be allowed to own stocks in a blind trust: 18%
Be allowed to own only own mutual stocks: 25%
Be allowed to trade stocks normally, if they report it: 14%

Yesterday's Question:

Should military service be voluntary or compulsory?

Naty (a proud veteran/military mom and military spouse) from Annandale, Virginia: "I think 2yrs mandatory in any of the active services/peace corps or 4 yrs reserves or 2yrs of some type of community/non profit work (for those that can’t serve) would do wonders for everyone’s attitudes. There will be little isolation and people will meet others from different backgrounds and belief systems making for more tolerance and understanding among us all. The Mormons require it. Why can’t the military?!”

Becky (retired Air Force) from Kansas: “Military should always be voluntary, but people need to understand that what keeps our country safe from other countries (China, Russia, North Korea to name a few) is having a strong military force. If the current trend continues the government may have no choice but to make service compulsory.”

John (proud USAF retiree) from Cleveland, Ohio: "I’m retired military, one of my daughters is medically retired from the military and my grandson is currently serving. I think, unless a graduating senior has a plan IE college or the trades, they should enlist in the military for 2 years. If nothing else, it will teach them how to get up in the morning, make their own bed and respect authority.”

Natalie from San Francisco, California: “Voluntary. Joining the military means increasing your potential of being killed and experiencing PTSD forever. No-one should be able to tell you what to do with your body (cf abortion rights).”

A from New York:" “I am undecided. The draft killed how many sons and husbands and fathers in Korea and Vietnam, and for what? At the same time, I feel the experience could build discipline and character if it were for a limited time, as in countries such as Israel.”

Last Week's 20 Qs Responses:

Two weeks ago, we brought you 20 Q: Regional slang edition. After many requests, last week we gave you 20 Q: Regional Slang, International Edition! We gave you two options and asked you to pick the one most familiar to you.

1. Flat or Apartment?
   Flat: 7%
   Apartment: 93%

2. Lift or elevator?
   Lift: 7%
   Elevator: 93%

3. Queue or line?
   Queue: 15%
   Line: 85%

4. Reach or arrive?
   Reach: 11%
   Arrive: 89%

5. Trunk or boot?
   Trunk: 91%
   Boot: 9%

6. Biscuit or cookie?
   Biscuit: 7%
   Cookie: 93%

7. Bathroom or loo?
   Bathroom: 96%
   Loo: 4%

8. Chips or fries?
   Chips: 8%
   Fries: 92%

9. Chips or crisps?
   Chips: 96%
   Crisps: 4%

10. Football or soccer?
    Football: 48%
    Soccer: 52%

11. Petrol or gas?
    Petrol: 95%
    Gas: 5%

12. Nappy or diaper?
    Nappy: 4%
    Diaper: 96%

13. Torch or flashlight?
    Torch: 4%
    Flashlight: 96%

14. Lorry or truck?
    Lorry: 3%
    Truck: 97%

15. Barbie or barbecue?
    Barbie: 4%
    Barbecue: 96%

16. Jumper or sweater?
    Jumper: 5%
    Sweater: 95%

17. Capsicum or bell pepper?
    Capsicum: 3%
    Bell pepper: 97%

18. Cilantro or coriander?
    Cilantro: 87%
    Coriander: 13%

19. Closet or wardrobe?
    Closet: 92%
    Wardrobe:8%

20. Bar or pub?
    Bar: 85%
    Pub: 15%

🧠 Final Thoughts

Thanks for another week of riding the Roca Wave. We hope you have a great weekend. If you see Barbie or Oppenheimer, let us know what you think. We may feature some reviews next week.

Do those 20 Questions, and see you on Monday!

—Max and Max