 U.S. factory activity decreased for a sixth consecutive month in April, marking the longest manufacturing contraction since 2009. Higher interest rates, lower demand, and rampant inflation are some of the factors that contributed to the drop, according to Bloomberg. More: - The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its manufacturing activity index rose to 47.1 last month, up from 46.3 in March.
- This is the sixth consecutive month that the index remained below the 50-point threshold, indicating that manufacturing activity is shrinking but the data shows that the contraction is slowing.
- Factory employment increased in April and ISM said that manufacturers are anticipating "growth in the late summer/early fall period."
- The drop in manufacturing activity last month could also be linked to higher commodity prices, including oil, the report said.
Zoom Out: - U.S. manufacturing was negatively impacted by lower demand during the pandemic lockdowns.
- Supply chain disruptions and high energy prices also hurt the manufacturing sector in recent years.
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 The Chinese province of Guangdong has proposed sending 300,000 unemployed youth to rural areas to alleviate youth unemployment. The announcement comes after President Xi Jinping in December urged urban youth to seek jobs in the countryside to "revitalize the rural economy." More: - The unemployment rate among 16-24-year-olds in urban areas in China is 19.6%.
- The job market is set to become even more competitive, as almost 12 million people are expected to graduate from college this year in China.
- The government's restrictive Zero Covid policies, which were lifted in late 2022, and regulatory hurdles for internet and real estate companies may have contributed to an economic slowdown and lack of work opportunities for the youth.
- George Magnus, an associate at Oxford University’s China Centre said the policy proposal could seek to prevent unrest among "disaffected youth."
- Chinese state media, however, has accused young graduates of being "too picky" and not wanting to do manual labor.
Zoom Out: - Between the 1950s and 1970s, Mao Zedong launched the “Down to the Countryside Movement,” sending tens of millions of urban college-educated youth to work in agricultural areas.
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 OpenAI has raised $300M from venture capitalists at a valuation of between $27B and $29B. The investors include Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and K2 Global. More: - According to Techcrunch, outside investors now control 30% of OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT AI chatbot.
- Microsoft has reportedly invested a total of $10B in OpenAI and aims to introduce the highly popular AI tool in many of its applications.
- ChatGPT became the fastest app in history to reach 100 million monthly users, achieving the feat in two months.
- For comparison, it took Instagram 2.5 years to reach 100 million users. Other companies such as Facebook (4.5 years), WhatsApp (3.5), and Twitter (5) took even longer.
- ChatGPT had over 1 billion visitors in February 2023.
Zoom Out: - Tesla founder and Twitter CEO Elon Musk has criticized OpenAI for changing its structure from a nonprofit to a commercial business and recently terminated a deal that allowed OpenAI to harvest Twitter data.
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 GOOD NEWS: A 13-year-old boy in Michigan prevented a crash when the driver of his school bus passed out. Dillon Reeves, a student at the Lois E. Carter Middle School, rushed to the front of the bus when he realized the driver had lost consciousness. The boy then hit the brakes and grabbed the steering wheel. More: - "Someone call 911. Now. Someone should call 911. I don't care! Someone call 911!" Reeves urged his schoolmates after he steered the bus to safety.
- None of the children were hurt but the driver, a 40-year-old woman, was taken to the hospital for examination and is in a stable condition.
- School superintendent Robert Livernois described Reeves' actions as "an extraordinary act of courage."
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 A 38-year-old man accused of killing five people, including one child, in a shooting in Texas is still at large. Before the shooting on Friday, neighbors asked the suspect, Francisco Oropeza, to stop firing his gun in his yard. More: - Neighbors in Cleveland, north of Houston, often unwind by shooting rounds into the air, sources told the Associated Press.
- When people asked the alleged shooter to stop firing his gun, he responded by saying that he would not do so because he was on his property.
- He then crossed the fence separating the two properties and entered his neighbor's home, where he opened fire.
- The youngest victim was eight and the oldest was 31. They were all believed to be from Honduras and belonged to the same family.
- Two of the fatal victims used their bodies to shield two young children, who were uninjured.
- The FBI said agents were tracking Oropeza's phone until Saturday, when the suspect purportedly abandoned his phone along with clothes and other personal belongings.
- Oropeza is believed to be carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon.
Zoom Out: - There have been at least 185 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting is defined as a shooting that injures or kills four or more people, not including the shooter.
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 Four weeks after its release, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" reached $1B in box-office earnings worldwide, Universal Pictures said, becoming the 10th highest-earning animated film of all time. The film made $40M in the U.S. and Canadian theaters last weekend. More: - With a budget of $100M, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is the highest-grossing film released this year.
- It's also Universal's seventh highest-grossing movie of all time and has managed to get a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score from audiences.
- "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is part of Nintendo's efforts to reinvent itself as a modern-day entertainment company.
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QUICK HITS - The company behind these surgical robots is planning to list on Nasdaq. Last day to fund your investment is on 5/10.*
- Horizon Capital has closed a $254M fund to invest in tech companies in Ukraine and Moldova. The company manages $1.4B worth of assets.
- The Chino Valley Unified School District in Arizona is building 10 tiny homes for teachers in a bid to attract educators. The district will charge teachers $550 a month, well below the market rate.
- The Saudi National Bank, previously the largest shareholder in Credit Suisse, will have a 0.5% stake in UBS Group AG once the two Swiss banks complete their merger.
- The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings 120-100 in game seven of the Western Conference playoffs. The Warriors, led by Steph Curry, who scored 50 points, have now advanced to the second round.
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 Water Lilles by Claude Monet
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 |  | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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