Stocks Churn Until Traders Return

We all knew copyright law would be a key issue at the heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, but we didn’t know when. Well, the time has come. ⌛

Today, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing them of infringing copyright and abusing the newspaper’s intellectual property. In its court filing, the publisher said it looks to hold the two companies accountable for the “unlawful copying and use of The Times’s uniquely valuable works,” claiming billions in statutory and actual damages.

While The Times told CNBC it recognizes the power and potential of GenAI for the public and for journalism, it noted that material used for commercial gain should receive permission from the original source. It continued, saying, “Settled copyright law protects our journalism and content. If Microsoft and OpenAI want to use our work for commercial purposes, the law requires that they first obtain our permission. They have not done so.” 📰

Ultimately, The Times joined several other media publishers in accusing Microsoft, OpenAI, and their competitors of creating a business model based on “mass copyright infringement.” 

Until now, OpenAI and other companies creating generative AI models have been operating under the premise that if they get large enough, the sins they made along the way would ultimately be forgiven. That’s very much like the model Uber and other disruptive companies used, skirting rules and regulations until they became so ingrained in society that regulators had no choice but to retroactively apply fines and punishments that hurt but did not kill the company. 🤠

With The Times enlisting the help of the litigation firm that represented Dominion Voting Systems in its $787.50 million defamation suit against Fox News, many expect this to be the case that sets the tone for the industry going forward. 🧑‍⚖️

Suppose these companies must follow copyright law and get permission from the creators/owners of the assets they’re using to train their AI models. In that case, the industry is likely to grow at a much, much slower pace than initially anticipated. That said, this controversial debate will likely take significant time to work through the courts.

Meanwhile, Apple is taking a different approach. It’s reportedly exploring a deal with news publishers worth at least $50 million to train its generative AI systems on their articles. The consumer tech giant has taken a more conservative approach toward AI, keeping toward the back of the pack and learning from others’ mistakes. 🤝

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. But clearly, the stakes have just been raised for the AI space, with copyright owners showing they’re not going down without a fight. ⚔️

It was a slow day out there, but several commodities caught traders’ eyes. Let’s see which ones. 👀

First up is sugar futures, which have experienced a nearly 30% decline since the beginning of November. While its major decline is one reason to be on people’s radars, technical traders say prices have reached the 20-20.50 area that served as an inflection point over the last two years.

They’re looking for prices to dig in here and potentially retrace some of this steep decline over the coming days and weeks. 💵

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, we’ve got gold futures trying again to break out above resistance near 2,090. The precious metal gave it a go earlier this month, but was unable to close above that level it failed at several times over the last few years.

With volumes being lighter during this holiday trading period in the markets, some traders say this is a great opportunity for buyers to step in aggressively and complete this breakout. 🐂

We’ll have to wait and see how these play out. But in the commodities space, these two charts are some of the most widely talked about in our community. 💬