🙏 X’s adpology

…and McDonald’s pulls the plug on AI   X-plaining (Marc Piasecki/Getty)   Sponsored by Yesterday’s Market Moves   Dow Jones 39,135 (+0.77%) S&P 500 5,473 (-0.25%) Nasdaq 17,722 (-0.79%) Bitcoin $65,001 (+0.09%) Dow Jones 39,135 (+0.77%) S&P 500 5,473 (-0.25%) Nasdaq 17,722 (-0.79%) Bitcoin $65,001 (+0.09%) Hey Snackers, Zelda’s finally going to be the main character (...she’s not the MC in previously released “The Legend of Zelda” games). Nintendo [said]( the princess will get her own game this fall. Our suggestion: title it “The Legend of Link.” The S&P 500 briefly crossed 5.5K yesterday but [ended the day]( lower as tech stocks lost steam. US home construction sagged last month to the slowest pace in four years. 🎶 My first quiz: went a little like this. Test your biz-news know-how with this week’s [Snacks Seven]( quiz after trying the first Q: - What movie had the biggest opening weekend of the year so far? ([Check your answer]( RATIO Elon Musk changes his tune on advertisers as X deals with a colossal cash problem I want you back… Less than a year ago, Elon Musk told advertisers pulling their ads from X to “go f— yourself.” This week, Musk [traveled]( to France for the Cannes Lions ad festival to say actually, nevermind. Musk seemed to suggest that he’d only intended his November message for advertisers who were departing X at the time (like Disney, Apple, Comcast, and IBM) and he said that X might be “worth trying out” again. The pivot comes as new documents [revealed]( the state of X’s finances since Musk took over. - Doing #s: The documents show that X lost $456M in Q1 of last year, compared to a $513M gain the year prior (before the $44B Musk-quisition). Revenue was down about 40% on the year in the first half of 2023. - Ad break: X has made efforts to nudge advertisers back to the platform, including half-off discounts for premium placements and $500 credits for $250 ad spends. - Wings clipped: This year Fidelity slashed the value of its stake in X, suggesting the platform’s value had plunged 73% since Musk’s takeover. X’s iOS app downloads trail all major rivals except Pinterest and LinkedIn. A crowded room… While the digital ad market has rebounded from an abysmal 2022 (#adpocalypse), it’s getting harder to meet advertisers’ expectations. Businesses selling ad space are racing to create “premium” spots to contend with marketers that’ve grown wary of “made for advertising” sites and tactics like clickbait. Meantime, retailers like Kroger and Walmart are [building out]( their ad businesses to win over advertisers hungry for their customer data. Retail media (picture: ads on Walmart self-checkout screens) is expected to make up 20% of global digital ad spend this year. THE TAKEAWAY Ads are where the money is… X’s ad biz has in the past made up over 90% of its revenue, but the company has made several attempts to diversify (including paid subscriptions and possible plans for a Venmo-esque payments feature). Musk’s tone pivot at Cannes could be seen as an admission that, for now, digital businesses need advertisers more than advertisers need them. [Read this online]( Sponsored by Miso Robotics Remember When Humans Did That? Elbow grease… Working the local burger joint’s fryer is a tough job. Between grease burns and low wages, it’s getting harder and harder for fast-food restaurants to staff their kitchens. In fact, around 3M jobs will go unfilled in the US alone. Oiling the wheels… [Miso Robotics]( has the solution: their AI-powered robot, Flippy, has mastered the deep fryer. That’s exactly why White Castle and Jack in the Box turned to Miso to automate their kitchens and help boost profits up to 4X higher. Want AIs with that? Now, after being selected by NVIDIA to collaborate on integrating state-of-the-art AI vision technology into Flippy, Miso is ready to scale in a major way – potentially boosting industry profits up to $24B a year. To fuel their growth, Miso’s opened a funding round for investors to get in on the automation of the $1T fast food industry. [See why 34,000 investors have already joined them by checking out the Miso investment offering today]( McBot McDonald’s is scrapping its AI drive-thru tests as fast foodies try to perfect the tech International Burger Machines… McDonald’s is pulling the plug on its AI drive-thru assistant. The Big Mac master [launched]( the automated tech in partnership with IBM in 2021, testing it in 100+ of its locations. The AI-powered voice system greeted customers and took orders. McD’s had hoped the tech would speed up its drive-thru lanes, which are available in nearly all of its US locations. - AI to-go: McDonald’s said it’d shut down the automated order takers by the end of next month, but that it still believes AI drive-thru is part of its future. - McBotched: While McD’s didn't give a reason for ending the tests, viral TikTok videos showed the drive-thru tech duplicating orders or adding extra items (like: a dozen ketchup packets). Automated appetite… For years, food chains have been [racing]( to automate drive-thru and takeout, with innovations ranging from futuristic sounding “Chipotlanes” to Sweetgreen’s salad-making bots. Now, AI’s playing a bigger role in fast food’s push to get faster: Wendy’s expanded its partnership with Google Cloud last year to launch “Wendy’s FreshAI,” a chatbot designed to speed up drive-thru orders. Panera, Arby’s, and Popeyes added AI startup OpenCity’s voice assistant (“Tori”) to some of their to-go lanes. Meanwhile, White Castle said it plans to bring AI voice bots to 100+ of its locations by the end of the year. THE TAKEAWAY Not all AI delivers a happy meal… Automated experiments don’t always have tasty results. Analysts say operating costs are high and order accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Presto Automation — whose AI drive-thru ordering tech has been used by Del Taco, Hardee’s, and Carl’s Jr. — once said that 95% of its chatbot orders were taken without human intervention. But this year Presto said that its most advanced voice bot required human help at least 70% of the time. [Read this online]( CRYPT-BRO The Crypto Catch-Up… 🪙 Coins… MicroStrategy said it [bought]( nearly 12K bitcoin for about $786M. The enterprise software biz holds 226K BTC valued at $15B, and the company’s stock has been viewed as a proxy for exposure to the OG crypto. 🌶️ Spicy… Blockchain analytics biz Arkham said there’s “definitive evidence” that convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli (aka: “Pharma Bro”) [created]( a viral Donald Trump-themed memecoin. Shkreli had supported unverified claims that it was tied to the Trump campaign. 🤔 Sus… Former President Trump made waves last month when his campaign announced it would accept crypto donations. Now, scammers have [targeted]( his supporters with look-alike websites and domains to steal coins. What else we're Snackin' - [Broeken]( A Boeing employee said the biz misplaced hundreds of faulty parts and possibly installed them on new 737 Max jets. The plane maker is facing investigations by several gov’t agencies, including the DOJ. - [Breadstick]( Darden Restaurants said resto sales were mixed last quarter, with Olive Garden seeing declining #s but LongHorn Steakhouse tucking into growth. Darden’s CEO said diners are feelin’ inflation’s sting. - [NoSale]( North American car dealerships ground to a near halt on Wednesday after a cyberattack shut down CDK Global management software, which is relied on by nearly 15K dealerships. The disruption was ongoing yesterday. - [Soured]( Apple reportedly told a supplier that it had halted work on its next high-end VR headset. Sales of the $3.5K Vision Pro have sagged, but Apple is said to be working on a lower-end (read: less expensive) model. - [WFH]( A record number of Americans with disabilities have entered the workforce over the past three years. Experts say the pandemic-fueled rise in remote work and flexible hours contributed to the uptick. Snack Fact Of the Day Nvidia is worth more than the French and British stock markets [Read more]( Friday - Earnings expected from CarMax and FactSet - Existing-home sales - Take Your Dog to Work Day - International Day of Yoga Authors of this Snacks own bitcoin and shares of: Alphabet, Apple, Comcast, Disney, Nvidia, and Walmart Advertiser’s Disclosure: *This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at [invest.misorobotics.com](. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck. Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... 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