Fantasy Football Promotions & Big Tech's AI Shuffle 🏈 💫

Fantasy Football: Your Secret Career Playbook? 🏈 

It’s a little late to jump into this, but who knew fantasy football could be a career move? A recent Yahoo Sports survey reveals that taking part in fantasy football could be a great career move. 1,000 fantasy players were surveyed, and a surprising 47% believe that their league performance could influence their work reviews, while 42% think it might help land them a promotion.

And of course, we have to mention the "Taylor Swift Effect"! This season, her boyfriend, Travis Kelce became the #1 desired draft pick. With 59% of those surveyed saying they were going to “draft Kelce no matter what.” But perhaps more interesting is how fantasy football serves as a social glue: 83% say it keeps them connected with distant friends, and 81% credit it for maintaining friendships with people different from them. Maybe next season will be the season where I make my fantasy debut… 👀 

Tech Pulse: AI's Latest Moves 💾 

• Next week, Nvidia will be part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Intel. 26 years ago, Intel was part of the class of growth stocks (including Home Depot, Microsoft and SBC Communications) that replaced four stagnant companies (Chevron, Goodyear, Sears and Union Carbide), and oh how the tides have turned!

• What’s the State of AI in 2024? If you have time to read 213 pages, this is a great report (written by venture capitalists). A few highlights: (1) gone are days when companies shared all of their AI research because as the competition heats up, so does the need to be a bit more secretive (2) AI labs will have to move from building the models that are driving the advancements in AI research and development, to designing products (3) If you want to understand what data protections may look like, it’s always good to look at what Europe is doing (re: GDPR), and now they seem to be leading in AI regulations, but the cost? Some AI products (including Apple Intelligence) are delaying expansion to the EU.

• Speaking of which, Apple Intelligence is here! Or at least if you have an iPhone 16. Some features will be more useful than others (like message summaries, phone call transcripts and recording, and AI photo cleanup), but this is just the beginning of Apple’s major entrance into generative AI. (CNET - Apple Intelligence Early Review: What I Liked and Didn’t Like)

• Another company riding the AI wave? Reddit. After complaints that LLMs were using Reddit data to train their models (it’s a prime source for understanding how users interact in written form for almost every category/niche), they’ve decided to license that data instead. The result? Their first ever profit.

By the Numbers: Ohtani's LA Story ⚾️ 🧢 

Career Corner: Skill-Building in the Age of Tech Layoffs 🌟 

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Tech Jobs Have Dried Up—and Aren’t Coming Back Soon“. But if the recent and seemingly never-ending tech layoffs have taught us anything, it’s the need to be adaptable. So if you’re in a field that’s less technical, brush up on those skills. And if you’re an engineer, scientist, analyst? Focus on improving your soft skills, including communicating… Perhaps, data storytelling? *Shameless plug for my new online course that I created to tackle this exact issue

Beyond the Data 🪩 

• 👗 Fashion & music go hand in hand at times but I didn’t expect the Louis Vuitton SS 2025 show’s soundtrack to rule my daily playlist! It’s that good.

• 🌍️ These images from the 2024 Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition will have you appreciating how beautiful Earth and our universe is.

• 🏟️ Some homeowners want skyline views, others are demanding aerial views of baseball and concert stadiums.

• 🗳️ If you’re reading this I hope you’ve voted early or have a plan to vote on Tuesday! And if you voted by mail, you might not have thought about the thousands of volunteers/poll workers who make sure that your vote is counted. CNN followed one volunteer and it’s such an inspiring piece:

@cnn

CNN's Marshall Cohen got exclusive access to ride along with Detroit election workers as they pick up ballots from a dropbox in the city. ... See more

Hope you all have a great week! And if you’re based in the US, remember to make your voice heard if you haven't already voted. I'll be back in your inbox on Thursday with a special edition!

— Kere