🕵🏽‍♀️ Emoji evidence

Plus: Our latest video, AI news, the oldest billboard, some good beef, a dating app idea, and more. [View Online]( [The Hustle] Are you a frequent flier who has ever attained “elite” or preferred status? We want to know about the steps you’ve taken to maintain your status, including whether you’ve ever gone on a trip purely for the mileage. Fill out [our survey here](! In today’s email: - Energized: Oil-and-gas’s record 2022. - Video: The insane resurgence of vinyl records. - Exhibit A: Emoji are popping up in court cases. - Around the web: The oldest billboard, a movie game, cheap flights, and more. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast]( to hear about oil-and-gas’s record year, innovation in the cereal industry, an AI news roundup, Meta’s earnings, and more. The big idea [gas pump]( Oil-and-gas saw record profits in 2022 Here comes the scrutiny. 2023-02-02T00:00:00Z Jacob Cohen Last year, President Biden [slammed]( Exxon Mobil for making “more money than God.” That moment underlined a sharp turnaround from 2020, when the pandemic slashed oil prices and ground energy companies to a near-halt. That year, Exxon posted a $22B loss — its first in decades. Last year, though — as global demand skyrocketed while supply remained tight, especially amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the industry boomed. Exxon Mobil generated $56B in profit, a record that equates to ~$6.3m every hour. Here comes the scrutiny The record profits have sparked renewed pressure on the industry, which has plowed ahead with tens of billions of dollars in dividends and stock buybacks, per NPR. On Tuesday, the White House called out oil companies for this, and President Biden has previously threatened higher taxes on energy companies that don’t reinvest money into increasing supply. Interestingly, Europe has imposed a 33% tax on “surplus profits” from energy firms to redistribute to consumers. Exxon sued to block that tax, which it estimates would cost ~$1.8B for 2022. What about renewables? Some oil giants are [reportedly]( scaling back renewable energy plans as they look to maintain high-performing legacy oil-and-gas businesses, per The Wall Street Journal. But that doesn’t mean companies aren’t transitioning away from gas in the long term. BP has said it plans to reduce fossil-fuel production by 40% from 2019 levels by 2030, though it’s also considering dialing back investments in solar and wind. Along those lines, this week, Cathie Wood’s asset management firm Ark Invest [released]( its popular “Big Ideas” report for 2023. The group forecasts that by 2030, with the rise of EVs, oil demand for cars could dip 30%. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Oil-and-gas+saw+record+profits+in+2022%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F02022023-Oil-and-gas%3Futm_campaign%3DThursday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D02022023-Oil-and-gas%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDING [eyeball wearing a hat] Beyonce will tour for the first time since 2016. Due to the [T-Swift debacle](, ticket releases will be [staggered](. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady swears he’s retiring [for real]( this time. SNIPPETS Meta shares got a whole lotta likes after the company [reported]( Q4 revenue that beat expectations. The company’s family of apps now boasts 3.74B monthly users. D2C cereal brand Magic Spoon is [expanding]( to 6.8k+ stores across the US, including Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons. TodAI in AI: Microsoft [could soon]( integrate GPT-4 into its Bing search engine, OpenAI launched the $20/mo. [ChatGPT Plus](, and Google is [testing]( its own ChatGPT competitor. More importantly, there’s now a [CatGPT](. A KFC in Bakersfield, California, [installed]( solar panels on its drive-thru canopy, which is expected to reduce energy costs by $11k in its first year. NBCUniversal has [axed]( Peacock’s free-with-ads membership tier, requiring new customers to subscribe for $4.99/mo. with ads, or $9.99/mo. without. Elsewhere in streaming, we now have [more details]( on Netflix’s password-sharing restrictions. Good news: Australian officials [found]( the dangerous radioactive capsule that fell off a truck last month. It was located ~6.5 feet from the road. JP Morgan bought a forest. The bank’s asset management arm [bought]( 250k acres of Pine Belt woodlands for $500m+, which it’ll manage for wood and carbon capture. Beefing: Walmart [tweeted]( that Amazon Fresh delivery — which now only offers free delivery for orders of $150+ — is “looking pretty stale.” Walmart’s free delivery starts at $35. Pedal to the metal: Peloton stock jumped 20%+ on a Q4 [revenue beat](, growth in its subscription business, and a net loss that narrowed YoY, despite eight straight unprofitable quarters. ADHD at work: ADHD can be a superpower at work and in entrepreneurship if individuals are given the right resources. We’ve put together some [tips]( to help. Video [vinyl records sales]( Video: The insane resurgence of vinyl records 2023-02-02T00:00:00Z Long before the days of Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, vinyl records were all the rage. In the 1970s, vinyl sales [peaked]( at 530m units/yr. and accounted for 66% of all music format revenues. Every kid worth his or her weight had bulky copies of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Rumours,” and “The Dark Side of the Moon.” But as new formats emerged, the vinyl market virtually evaporated. Revenue fell from $2.5B to just $10m/yr. And by the ‘90s, vinyl sales dipped to <10m units — a mere 0.1% of market share. In recent years, though, something odd has happened: Vinyl has made a small but mighty comeback. Fueled largely by under-35 millennial hipsters, the old, outdated format has risen from the dead. But how exactly did vinyls get their groove back, and are they here for a long time — or just for a good time? [Watch the quick video. →]( Free Resource Free SEO tracking template for sprucing up websites The truth is, most scrollers never make it past the first page. If you want any of that sweet organic growth, then you’ve got to sow some seeds. Get started with this simple [SEO template]( made by the experts at Search Engine Journal and HubSpot. SEO from scratch: - Organize your on-page SEO strategy - Audit your pages and keywords - Track changes and results together - Access more beginner-friendly resources… … like a free SEO ebook and crash course. Up your discoverability. [SEO tracking template →]( Winky Face [emojis]( All rise: Emoji have entered the court Emoji messages are being entered as evidence in court, but interpretations vary. 2023-02-02T00:00:00Z Sara Friedman If we wrote, “[👁️]([❤️](🍔,” would you know what it meant? According to the US court system — maybe. Emoji are showing up as evidence in court cases more frequently than ever before, per [The Verge](. Law professor [Eric Goldman](, who’s been tracking [references]( to “emoji” and “emoticon” in US court opinions since 2004, says mentions skyrocketed in 2018. Where things get complicated: - Emoji are subjective and leave space for multiple interpretations. - Depending on what device or [platform]( you’re using, they can look very [different](. That makes it harder for emoji to serve as indisputable evidence, the way written communication might, but they can still provide helpful [context]( in court cases. For example: In a Bay Area case that followed a prostitution sting, prosecutors argued that a man was guilty of pimping charges. Among the evidence: Instagram DMs to a woman reading, “Teamwork make the dream work” alongside high heels and money bag emoji. The prosecutors said the message proved a working relationship between the two individuals. Defendants said it could simply be flirtatious. Since emoji specialists don’t exist (*adds to list of dream jobs*), an expert in sex trafficking was called to testify in the case. His take: The high heels and money bags supported the charges. All we know is that, after looking through those court records, the winky face better lawyer up. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=All+rise%3A+Emoji+have+entered+the+court%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F02022023-emojis%3Futm_campaign%3DThursday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D02022023-emojis%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🏝️ On this day: In 1709, sailor Alexander Selkirk was [rescued]( after spending four years shipwrecked on a South Pacific island. His ordeal likely inspired Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. ❓ That’s interesting: The Dholavira signboard may be the world’s [oldest billboard](, but it’s unclear what it says. 🎥 Cure boredom: [This game]( challenges players to find the shortest path between two movies. ✈️ No brainer: Going scours the web for the best rates on airfare. 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