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AI meets lucid dreaming. Here’s a funky thing for you to mull over on this fine Thursday. If you’ve ever tried lucid dreaming or dove into Reddit rabbit holes on the topic, you’ll know two of the biggest dream checks are to see if your hands are weird and if text and clocks are readable. Isn’t it interesting those are also two of the things AI-generated art struggles with the most?
In other news… Pharrell’s soaring Black Ambition, moviegoers may want an intermission, and AI sets its code on healthcare.
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BUSINESS
Spreading the wealth // Illustration by Kate Walker
Pharrell’s Black Ambition props up a new generation of entrepreneurs
The Future. Non-profit Black Ambition is three years into investing in businesses founded by Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. Founders Felecia Hatcher and the ever-busy Pharrell Williams believe the companies they’ve seeded and mentored could pull in $1 billion in VC money by 2030… potentially making Black Ambition the next Y Combinator.
Billionaire Boys Club
Since 2020, Black Ambition is making business dreams come true.
So far, the organization has invested more than $10 million in over 100 early-stage companies in “high-growth” industries like tech, healthcare, design, and consumer goods.
Those companies have gone on to raise more than $100 million in venture capital and make a combined $27 million in revenue.
During its Demo Day last week, the organization awarded another 30 companies with a total of more than $3 million, kicking off another cohort of entrepreneurs.
CEO Felecia Hatcher described the organization’s mission statement as “a return on investment for our ancestors’ sacrifice.” Hatcher and Pharrell have stated they want to be at the forefront of building up their community, because they can’t rely on others to.
Case in point: after the death of George Floyd in 2020, the top 50 largest public companies came together and pledged to give nearly $50 billion to minority initiatives to tackle racial inequity. $5.1 billion was given in 2021… which immediately dropped to $2.3 billion in 2022.
That’s a precipitous dip… one Pharrell said made the pledges feel like “marketing.”
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ENTERTAINMENT
Cut and run // Illustration by Kate Walker
Moviegoers may need an intermission
The Future. With movies getting increasingly longer, the debate over including intermissions (so people can go to the bathroom and stretch their legs) has entered the cultural conversation. Ultimately, it continues to be at the discretion of filmmakers and studios… but for those who simply can’t hold it, apps like RunPee may help plan the perfect time to step out without missing key scenes that would ruin the experience.
Butt endurance
In the past year, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Babylon, Avatar: The Way of Water, and even Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour clocked in at over three hours.
KOTFM was especially long at three hours and 26 minutes, which prompted some theaters in the US and UK to add ten-minute intermissions.
That was quickly quashed by Apple and Paramount because theaters aren’t allowed to make any alterations to movies (as part of exhibition deals) — which include intermissions.
But not every country has those rules, with Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Iceland, and India all regularly having intermissions.
India, which often produces very long movies, makes creative use of intermissions by adding cliffhangers before them. Last year’s three-hour-and-seven-minute RRR concluded a major action scene by flashing “inteRRRval” across the screen.
While many American filmmakers would likely rather have audiences watch their movies in one sitting (Martin Scorsese said if you can binge-watch shows, you can sit through long movies), some have embraced the intermission. Quentin Tarantino’s roadshow version of his 2015 epic, The Hateful Eight (three hours, seven minutes), had an intermission to harken back to the Golden Age of cinema.
So, your bladder may be at the mercy of creative expression.
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You work hard — getting paid should be easy, right?
Not exactly. Cashflow can get complicated fast for solopreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners.
That’s why Hopscotch is so rad. It’s the stress-free invoicing and bill-pay solution that helps you manage all of your financial operations — in one place.
Here’s what you can do with Hopscotch:
Pay and get paid on your terms (with zero transaction fees)
Auto-generate invoices that match the look and feel of your brand
Say yes to more clients by accepting multiple forms of payment
Spend less time on admin tasks and more time generating revenue (dreams do come true)
HEALTHCARE
Courtesy of Forward Health
Forward Health rolls out vitals vending machines
The Future. Forward Health’s new CarePods are, according to co-founder and CEO Adrian Aoun (former head of special projects at Google), like “walking into a giant iPad” that can do everything from routine check-ups to heart health monitoring. The goal is to both scale medical access and make health monitoring more routine. At $99/month and without an insurance requirement, CarePods could become the go-to way for freelance workers to finally schedule that physical.
Slip in and check up
CarePods are all-in-one mobile health booths that use body scanners and smart sensors to do things like draw blood, swab throats, and conduct organ health screenings.
They’re staffed with an attendant to answer questions, but screening results are reviewed in real-time by a doctor, who can prescribe medication or recommend next steps via a mobile app.
Speaking of results, CarePods are powered by a proprietary AI system that’s “trained to find the latest research papers and extract the clinical protocol,” per TechCrunch.
And when it comes to broader human oversight, the company employs 100 primary care physicians and has a five-doctor medical board.
Bolstered by nearly $700 million in funding, Forward Health is rolling out 25 CarePods next year in locations like the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. The firm hopes to get up to 3,200 new units annually, across places like gyms, offices, and malls.
Soon, getting a check-up will be as simple as picking up dry-cleaning.
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6 things to do if you’re barely scraping by financially
You’ve got just enough money in your bank account to last until Friday, but then Monday rolls around, and you’re in the same situation. Again.
Food. Bills. Rent. Gas. They dry up every bit of your take-home pay.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. With these few smart moves, you could supplement your income — without doing much extra “work” or even getting a second job.
FinanceBuzz put together a list of legit ways to actually supplement your income.
Check it out and start earning cash today.
POLL OF THE DAY
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Jimmy Kimmel is stepping up to host the Oscars… for the fourth time (granted, he’s great at it). Read more → variety
Disney will potentially bring back 2D animation after the positive notices for its upcoming movie, Wish (which is 3D-animated but looks 2D). Read more → thedirect
The Gwyneth Paltrow ski-crash trial is getting mounted on the London stage. Read more → deadline
Fashion & E-Commerce
Karlie Kloss’ Bedford Media is acquiring fashion publication i-D Magazine from Vice Media. Read more → hypebeast
Amazon is selling its $2,350 Astro Robot to businesses as a mobile security guard. Read more → bloomberg
Giorgio Armani, still cool at 89-years-old, has drafted a succession plan that really only takes effect after his passing — this guy has no intention of retiring. Read more → bof
Tech, Web3, & AI
In partnership with Mode Mobile
SpaceX is reportedly planning to spin off Starlink late next year… but Elon Musk is trying to ground those rumors. Read more → forbes
Uber is taking on TaskRabbit by rolling out a chores-based service with initial tests in Fort Myers, Florida, and Alberta, Canada. Read more → theverge
Microsoft has debuted a full-fledged deepfake creator, dubbed Azure AI Speech (there’s no way this won’t go sideways, right?) Read more → techcrunch
From our partners: All eyes are on Mode’s pre-IPO offering as the cutting-edge smartphone innovators continue with a series of impressive raises, likely spurred by Apple’s recent $3 trillion valuation. Mode saw 150x revenue growth from 2019 to 2022, making them one of America’s fastest-growing companies, thanks to their “Earn Phone.” Invest before Mode shares fully sell out. Get 60% bonus shares today for $0.16/share.*
Creator Economy
Snapchat is bringing ecommerce capabilities to its famous AR makeup filters. Read more → theverge
TikTok is preparing a massive marketing campaign for its Live feature that’ll span 50 countries. Read more → tubefilter
Dorothy Wiggins, 98-years-young, proves it’s never too late to become a bonafide social media star. Read more → nyt
JOBS OF THE WEEK
Explore a weekly curated list of the latest and greatest opportunities in business, tech, and entertainment. For more listings, check out the complete job board.
DataAnnotation
AI Content Writer
Remote
NVIDIA
Senior PTX Compiler Engineer
Santa Clara, CA
Lucid Motors
Intern, Global Manufacturing Finance, Summer 2024
Casa Grande, AZ
United Wholesale Mortgage
Processor Assist Specialist
Pontiac, MI
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Melody Song. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.