James Altucher:

OpenAI Calls for Robot Taxes, Public Wealth Fund To Cushion AI Job Losses

OpenAI published today a policy blueprint calling for robot taxes, a public wealth fund, and trials of a four-day workweek as part of a broad set of proposals designed to cushion the economic disruption expected from artificial intelligence (AI). 

The document, "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First," calls for Americans to receive an ownership interest in the gains produced by AI under one of the document's more sweeping proposals – a nationally managed public wealth fund. Contributions from AI companies would help capitalize the fund, which is envisioned as holding stakes across both the AI sector and the wider range of industries adopting the technology.

Tax policy proposals in the document include charges tied to the use of automated workers and a restructuring of the sources of government revenue – moving the emphasis away from wages and toward investment returns and corporate profits. Underlying the tax proposals is the concern that widespread automation could erode the employment-based income streams that fund Social Security, Medicaid, and SNAP.

Workers would see AI productivity improvements translate into shorter hours rather than higher output under another proposal, which calls for government-backed experiments with 32-hour schedules that maintain current pay levels.

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Ray Blanco:

Artemis II Is Going So Well That All We’re Left To Talk About Is Frozen Urine

The Orion spacecraft is now much closer to the Moon than Earth on its 10-day journey into deep space and back, and overall everything is going smashingly well.

Things are going so well that there’s just not that much to talk about (yet). So the discourse keeps coming back to, of all things, the toilet on board Orion.

During the initial checkout of spacecraft systems, Orion’s toilet was supposed to be “wetted” with water to prime the pump. Not enough water was introduced, so the pump was non-responsive. Once more water was added, it began functioning fine.

By Friday night there was another problem. Urine is collected in a small tank, about the size of an office trash can. However, flight controllers noted that astronaut pee had frozen in the tank. There were no issues with using toilet no. 2, but no. 1 was a no-go.

It is worth noting that space toilets are difficult. The Apollo astronauts simply used bags. The toilet on the space shuttle broke. In other words, the Astronauts aboard Orion could have it much, much worse.

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Greg Guenthner:

Strategy Reports More Than $14 Billion Unrealized Loss As Bitcoin Remains Stuck in Tight Range

Strategy (MSTR) reported in an 8-K filing today a $14.46 billion unrealized loss in its first quarter, following bitcoin’s descent over the past three months.

This didn’t deter Strategy from stacking more bitcoin: It also announced acquiring 4,871 more coins, bringing its total to 766,970.

Bitcoin briefly crossed $70,000 early Monday morning, its highest level since March 25, but fell back to the $69,000 range shortly after, a level it’s spent a lot of time at lately.

Meanwhile, bitcoin ETFs recorded $22.34 million in inflows last week, the smallest weekly inflow on record, reflecting tepid and cautious institutional demand.

Timothy Misir, head of research at Blockhead Research Network, said that with bitcoin trapped in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, “the market is not starved of narratives. It is starved of a clean catalyst.”

Misir said the crypto tape still looks hesitant, and macro pressure remains intense. While events last week, such as the Labor Department proposing wider access to alternatives in 401(k)s and Coinbase’s conditional approval for a national trust company charter, are positive, price action is “less enthusiastic,” he said.

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