1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: This is What the Flux. 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 2: I'm Brett and I'm Justin and it's Friday's seventeenth of October. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: Josy boy, the RBA is facing a bit of a 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Melbourne Cup conundrum. Yep. The RBA was expected to pause 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,080 Speaker 1: rates at its next cash rate announcement on November the fourth, 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: But the latest jobs data is in and it is 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: not pretty like. Data by the ABS showed the highest 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: unemployment rate in four years at four and a half percent. 9 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: So now, financial markets, you reckon the RBA may be 10 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: considering an unexpected cut. 11 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 2: Interesting, not what I expected today, a man buck Sam, 12 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 2: can you believe We've done over fifteen hundred episodes of 13 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 2: What the Flux in the last five years. 14 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: That's a whole lot of business chat and we're only 15 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: getting started. 16 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 2: And while we love breaking down the biggest stories each week, 17 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 2: we also love hearing from the people behind those businesses. 18 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: So we are launching a brand new miniseriies called What 19 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: the Flux. In Conversation, We'll be sitting down with some 20 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: of the Australia's most interesting business leaders and experts talking 21 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: all things business, but also not business. These conversations will 22 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: give you a real insight to how these leaders think 23 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: about their roles in their companies and reflections on what 24 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: has helped to make them so successful. 25 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 2: Think of it as your front row seat how the 26 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 2: people running the show actually think. 27 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: So keep your eyes and your ears peeled. What the 28 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: flux in conversation drops soon? Cannot wait for our first. 29 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: YouTube and Instagram have announced new safety features for kids 30 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: and teens ahead of Australia's social media ban. 31 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 2: Guess you could call this a new feature. Alert me, man, 32 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 2: Tell me more so. 33 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 1: Meta, the owner of Instagram, and Alphabet, the owner of Google, 34 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: are two of the world's biggest tech companies. 35 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 2: Meta are the owners of social media platform Instagram and Facebook. 36 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: While Google is the owner of video sharing platform YouTube 37 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: and the Man. 38 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 2: Instagram has approximately fourteen point three million users in Australia. 39 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: More than half of the Aussie population. 40 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 2: Alert Yeah will YouTube has more than twenty point nine 41 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 2: million newses in Australia. Douzy boid. 42 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: From the tenth of December this year, the Australian government 43 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: is imposing a ban on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and 44 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: YouTube for kids under sixteen. 45 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 2: To protect their well being and mental health. 46 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: Now Meta and Google are rolling out new safety features 47 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: for their teenage users. 48 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 2: On Instagram, teenagers will now be restricted to PG thirteen 49 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 2: level images and videos by default. On YouTube, there'll be 50 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 2: a dedicated row of mental health videos whenever teen search 51 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 2: up topics like depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders. 52 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: And this is just one of the many ways big 53 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: tech companies are evolving to fit new regulations. 54 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 2: So what is the key learning here? 55 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: When new industry regulations are introduced, big tech companies try 56 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: to get ahead of the curve. 57 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 2: Pre Emptive feature rollouts help the companies position themselves as 58 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 2: being proactive and helps reduce friction when the law actually 59 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 2: takes place. 60 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: We've seen this move before within the buy now, pay 61 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: later industry, haven't. 62 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 2: We just exactly remember when there was a whole lot 63 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 2: of pressure on those companies who had taken advantage of 64 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 2: loopholes in the credit regulation. 65 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: In anticipation of the new laws, companies like afterpains It 66 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: created the buy now, Pay Later Code of Practice in 67 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, and the. 68 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 2: Goal was to show regulators, hey, we're committed to consumer protection. 69 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: And similarly, Instagram and YouTube's recent safety features can help 70 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: improve brand image and potentially public trust. Ye. 71 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 2: So despite Meta and Google pushing back on the proposed 72 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 2: youth ban, introducing these new safety features show they're also 73 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 2: playing the long game. 74 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: The more they play fair now, the less chance of 75 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: even more tight regulations in the future. 76 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 2: For our second story, mcquarie Group has sold one of 77 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 2: its data center businesses for sixty one billion dollars in 78 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 2: the largest global data center buyout ever. 79 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: Talk about data turning into Dalar's juzzy boy, Tell me 80 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:24,639 Speaker 1: more so. 81 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: Mccuari Group is the Sydney based global investment bank and 82 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 2: asset manager too. We are talking over eight hundred billion 83 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 2: dollars under management here and b Man McQuary's asset management 84 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 2: business brought into a data center business in April twenty eighteen. 85 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 2: The name was Aligned Data Centers, the great name, and 86 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 2: at the time it had just two data center facilities 87 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 2: in Dallas and Phoenix, USA. Since then, it's grown into 88 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 2: a major data center platform. We're talking fifty data centers 89 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 2: in the US, in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, and. 90 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: Now just seven years later, mcquarie Asset Management has sold 91 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: Aligned Data Centers to AI powerhouses for sixty one bill. 92 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: And who are these powerhouses you speak of? 93 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: We'd be talking a consortium of Nvidia, Microsoft, black Rock 94 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: and also Temaset and the Man. 95 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 2: It seems like all big institutional investors and AI companies 96 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 2: are scrambling to get their bands on data centers. 97 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: Interesting called juzzy Boy. So what is the key learning here? 98 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 2: AI isn't just reshaping how we work, it's reshaping what 99 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 2: investors build and buy. Yep. 100 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,239 Speaker 1: We know there's been a massive global push for artificial intelligence. 101 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 2: And this has pushed huge demand for physical infrastructure that 102 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 2: helps power the AI. 103 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: We'd be talking renewable energy systems, AI chips, and of 104 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: course data centers. In fact, by Man Morgan Stanley estimates 105 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: that Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet will spend around four hundred 106 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: billion US dollars on AI infrastructure this year alone, and 107 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: as a result, data center owners and investors are cashing in. 108 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 2: For our third and final story, Elon Musk's AI company 109 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: Xai has launched two raunchy chat bots, Annie and Valentine 110 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 2: to drive more engagement on its AI chatbot. 111 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: One of the stranger stories we've had on the plot, 112 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,080 Speaker 1: juzzy Boy, Black Mirror vibes, tell. 113 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 2: Me more, okay. So Xi was founded by Elon Musk 114 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three to rival open ai and Meta 115 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 2: in the AI arms race. Remember, Elon was one of 116 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 2: the co founders of open Ai, but walked out on 117 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 2: the company in twenty eighteen after major disputes with the 118 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 2: leadership team. Elon Musk having disputes and being controversial by man, 119 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 2: it seems a bit unlike him. 120 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: But now Muskie Musk has gone controversial one more time 121 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: with his latest announcement. 122 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 2: Yeah. Xai is announced sexually explicit chatbot companions as part 123 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 2: of its groc chatbot. 124 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, there are two sexualized chatbots named Annie and Valentine 125 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: who flirt with users of any gender and b man. 126 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 2: This announcement has raised some serious eyebrows with the regulators 127 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 2: in the US, but Elon reckons his chatbots will actually 128 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 2: increase the global birth rate. Yes, he actually made his claim. 129 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: But many are concerned that these raunchy chatbots blur the 130 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: line between what AI could be used for and what 131 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: it should be used for. And emotional AI tose that 132 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: line very very closely, So what's the key learning here? 133 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: Emotional AI refers to technology designed to recognize, stimulate, and 134 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: respond to human feelings. Companies like Xai are building systems 135 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: that don't just answer questions for you, they actually bond 136 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: with you. 137 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: Laquin Phoenix in her Eat Your Hardhouse. 138 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: But jozieboit. The logic is quite simple. The more emotionally 139 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: connected a user feels, the longer they stick around on 140 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: this app, and the. 141 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 2: Longer they stick around, the more data and profit the 142 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 2: company can generate. 143 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,239 Speaker 1: But jozieboy in. A study that was run by MIT 144 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 1: in the US showed the negative effects of emotional AI. 145 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 2: YEP researchers tracked nearly one thousand people three hundred thousand 146 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 2: messages chatting with an AI chatbot. 147 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: The research found that users with high daily usage of 148 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: chatbot services correlated with higher loneliness, beater emotional dependence on 149 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: the AI, and lower socialization with real humanoids. 150 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 2: So for Elon Musk, emotional AI could be the next 151 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 2: billion dollar industry. 152 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: For everyone else, it's a bit of a reminder that 153 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: feelings and algorithms don't always mix so well. 154 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 2: But dam if you're key to win fifty bucks kicking 155 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 2: off the weekend, you can do it. It's all in 156 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 2: the Fox app with our weekly quiz quick Stix. If 157 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 2: you are the winner, we're giving away fifty bucks. If 158 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 2: you're the fastest person answering three business or finance questions 159 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 2: to download the Fox app. Turn your notifications on your chance 160 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 2: to win. 161 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,679 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Monday.