The Best One Yet - 💀 “I talk to famous dead people” — Chat(bot) with anyone. Israel’s startup threat. Carnival’s IOU cruise.

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

What if you could chat with Abe Lincoln, Super Mario, and Nikki Minaj? The latest $1B AI startup lets you have conversations with famous people… alive or dead, fictional or non-fictional. Israel erupted in protests because of the government’s moves on the Supreme Court — And that could kill Israel’s innovation power. And Carnival Cruises just enjoyed its best quarter of bookings ever, so why’s its stock at a record low?$CCL $NCLH $GOOGFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, March 28th. And today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. But first, congratulations to Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank, walk on down, Jack. What's going on over at SVB?

Most of that bank just got acquired by First Citizens Bank. Silicon Valley Bank, you've been partially acquired. That's all we got to say about that. Jack, what's our first story for today's pod? If you could have dinner with one famous person, Any famous person, who would it be? Character.a.I. They are the new $1 billion chat bot that lets you talk to famous people.

Even dead people. Even famous dead people. For our second story, last week it was protests in France. This week, it's protests in Israel. Yet he's the most unseen risk in business is political risk. And our third and final story is Carnival Cruises. They just had their best quarter ever. But it's not quite at all you can eat shrimp buffet on that picture.

Dick. But yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix. Just a wonderful mix of stories today, Jack. I love this mix. Nick and I actually know where you're going on vacation. So Jack and I can actually predict your next holiday, baby. According to American Express, a majority of us, Senals, travel based on television shows. Yeties, ipso facto, you decide your destination based on your binging. Hear us out. According to Amex's survey,

52% of travelers under 40 aren't using a travel agent, a guidebook, or even a map. No, no, no, no, no, no. 52% of you are planning your vacationing based on your streaming. That's right. HBO? It's travel and spout. Jack, can we say Netflix is Jetflix? Let's rewind to White Lotus Season 1. It was in Hawaii, right? Yes, it was in Hawaii. It was a delight, Jack.

And web traffic to that four seasons hotel from the show in Maui, it surged 425%. in the wake of the female. But Jack, now let's fast forward to White Lotus Season 2, which took place in Sicily. That took place in Sicily, right, Nick? Yes, it did. We happened to visit that hotel. And now, I don't think we could afford it. That hotel in Taramina is now booked for the rest of the year and probably next year, too.

Oh, you want to go? It's not the possible right now. Now, Yeti's entertainment-inspired travel, that's not something totally new. No, if you tell your parents this story, they're going to be like, Lord of the Rings, we visited New Zealand 25 years ago, dude. Yeah, Timmy, there's a reason we all booked a flight to see Frodo. But yet, here's the problem. Right now, this entertainment traveling has hit a whole new level.

You watched Emily in Paris, you spring break in France. Oh, you enjoyed Bridgeton? We assume you just went to Bath, England. But what are your plans for Memorial Day weekend? Jack, I'm glad you asked. It kind of depends on episode two of succession. That's right. My travel agent, it's Shiv Roy and cousin Greg.

Hey, Logan Roy, you want business class? Yeties, for this T-Boy Tuesday, we want you to hit us up at T-Boy Pod. Where would you go based on a show? At T-BoyPod, let us know. Where would you vacate based on a movie? Action, that's a cut. Let's hit our three stories. And we're rolling.

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the bad need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. T-boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more So just start the show

Start the show For our first story Character.AI just hit a $1 billion valuation for a very different kind of artificial intelligence Character.AI lets you talk Not to a bot

But to anyone on earth Alive or dead, real or fake Yet is the number one tech story of 2023. What is it, Jack? We just got to say what it is. It's chat GPT. It's chat GPT. But there are other AI chat bot

making big moves to. Interesting story, Jack and I noticed over the weekend. These other AI chatbots are getting big funding and they're getting that funding for some funky things. There is a 16 month old company called character.aI. Last week, their chatbot got a $150 million venture capital financing. Yeah, they just hit a $1 billion valuation. They don't have any revenues, but they have nine zeros in their valuation, Jack. Zero revenues. Yeah. 9 zeros. Now, Character.AI was founded by 2x Googlers, and already they are getting 100 million visits every single month. It's a website, character.aI, you can check it out. Now, here's the difference with Character.com.A.I. With chat GPT, you're having a conversation with like a boring, basic, computery chatbot. It's mundane.

It has no soul, literally. But with Character.A.I, you can have a conversation with anyone in the history of the world, and it will feel like they have a soul. We repeat and let this one sink in, Yetis. We are talking living or dead, fictional or non-fictional, real or fake. It doesn't matter who they are, where they are, where they lived. You can talk to them. This chat bot will read all the work, all the texts they've ever published, and answer as if they are that person.

Now, Jack, when you get to a dinner party and you want to make an impression, and so you want to ask that one, I know you want to ask trivia, but if there's one question you asked to get the conversation going, what is that question? If you could have dinner, Any one person, historical, present, dead or alive, fictional or non-fictional? Yes. Who would it be?

And why? Well, Yeties, the way Jack and I see it, this company character.a.I, it's basically the answer to that question. Don't say Gallum. It'll freak the person out what you're talking to. For example, Jack, let's say you want to chat with, I don't know, Abraham Lincoln. What would happen? If you type in Abraham Lincoln to this website, the bot will read. all of Abe's work from his personal papers to his Gettysburg address.

That chatbot has consumed all of the books, all of the biographies, all of that key material that has been written about Abe and about Abe's personality. So the chatbot isn't Abe Lincoln expert. It basically is Abe Lincoln. Yeah, so you can ask the chatbot, aka Abe Lincoln, hey Abe, what's your favorite beer? And it will tell you. Hey, Abe, what's your best career advice for someone like me? Or, hey, Abe, who would you endorse in the 2024 presidential election in the United States? States. All right, Nick, let's jump over to the fictional side of the AI library here, okay?

All right, Jack, let's say you want to have a conversation with, I don't know, Super Mario. Oh, wait, we just did. Well, this chatbot has read all of the comics, all of the video games, all the material, all the reviews ever written about Super Mario. So when we asked it, who's your favorite character in Super Mario, your game? What did it say, Jack? Luigi. Jack, when we asked this chatbot, who is Super Mario, what is your favorite food?

What did it say? Pizza, Hawaiian. It actually said pizza with a fork, which we thought was just cute. And then we asked Super Mario, if you weren't a plumber, what would be your dream job? And you know what Super Mario said? He said he wanted to be a chef because that's how much he likes that pizza. Not that remarkable example, but it was pretty fun talking to Super Mario. It was honestly our first ever conversation with a fake character.

But get this, Yeties, it doesn't have to be just historical figures or video game characters. Uh-uh, character AI is also doing real, alive, Today, people too. You can chat with a simulated Elon Musk on this website. You can chat with a simulated Billy Elish. Or Joe Biden. Or Nikki Monash. Yes, Yadis, there's some potential for misinformation here.

Yes, there is. But VCs are writing checks first right now, asking questions later. But in the meantime, Jack and I are having a lot of fun chatting with Mario along the way. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at character.a? Artificial intelligence could turn brands into voices. Now, yeties, if you hit us up at T-Boy Pot on Instagram, it's either Jack or it's me who's going to get back to you. Like Jack and I get back to all your DMs.

Right. We have no system to it. It's either Nick or Jack and like there's no rhyme or reason why. Jack Nick, that's it. But here's the question for character.a.i. If they can scale the voice of a person or a franchise, can they not also scale a brand's voice? This company hasn't made any money yet. But we think it could monetize as the social media manager of a brand or an influencer.

For example, this AI could channel the idea. idea of just do it and become the voice of Nike's tweets. This AI could channel Ronald McDonald's and do every McDonald's Instagram comment. And honestly, it's kind of sad to say, but this AI could maybe try to do the best Nick and Jack impression that's out there. It'd be a bummer, but we could outsource responding to DMs and comments to character.a. Couldn't we? Character AI, they're never going to whip up a takeaway like Jack, but I don't know, maybe they

could respond to a DM or two. Now, to be clear, yet he's Nick and I have no plans of artificial intelligencing ourselves out of work. But we think the future of character.a.I may be turning brands into voices. For our second story, Israel is on the verge of what's being described as a possible civil war, all because of a debate on judges. And that debate threatens Israel's unique startup culture. All right, so yet, he's Jack and I were preparing today's pot, and we were realizing for the second straight week, a major Western economy is at a standstill, all because of a mass protest. Last week,

it was in France because people were trying to stop the increase of the retirement age to 64. Well, this week, the country with trash piling up and people hanging out in the streets is Israel. Yesterday, Israel's largest union was on strike. Their international airport in Jerusalem was closed. Hospitals were not seeing patients yesterday. Yeties, imagine I-95, the 405 101. Imagine them not full of cars, but highways full of people with banners.

That was the scene yesterday. with the protests going on across Israel. Well, last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the quote-unquote possibility of a civil war as the reason he decided to delay a vote on a controversial bill. This is the controversial bill, the one that caused all these protests. Yes, it does make the question, Jack. What is the controversial bill that is causing all of this madness? The controversial bill, which Netanyahu's government proposed, would basically remove the Supreme

Court of Israel. We repeat, Yetis, this controversial bill would make the Supreme Court of Israel a puppet of politicians. Now, you might see this described in the press as a judicial overhaul. It's exactly how I happen to see it described, Jack. It does two key things. First, it would let the politicians in power handpick the judges for the Supreme Court. So basically, the party that has the majority in Israel, they would control the committee that then chooses their Supreme Court. Right. That's part one. Here's part two. This new law would let parliament overrule the Supreme Court. Yeah.

Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? I'm pretty sure, Jack, it's supposed to be the other way with the Supreme Court. In the United States, this would be like if one party, the party that controls the presidency in Congress, could just change all nine Supreme Court justices in one move. And then on top of it, if they didn't like the decision the Supreme Court came to, they could just overrule it. With a simple majority vote. Now, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his allies, they say they're pushing this change because they think

their Supreme Court is too isolated, not representative of enough people of Israel. But yet is Israel has fundamental laws, just like we do with our Constitution, and those laws focus on checks and balances. Well, judges are like one main pillar of those checks and balances, aren't they, Jack? Judges are a key pillar to stop like overzealous politicians from going too far. However, if this bill passes, the courts will pretty much be powerless to stop the party in control. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our business buddies over in Israel. This judicial overhaul would threaten Israel's startup culture. Now, Yeti's, Jack and I almost didn't cover this story. It was a big story in the news, but we couldn't find a business angle. And then we noticed this theme. There's an overwhelming

amount of opposition from the business community to this bill. You know who is most against this bill? Jack, talk to us. It's bank chiefs, economists, CEOs, venture capitalists, and founders. Let's bring a little more context here, Jack. Israel has one of the best per capita to track records for business in the entire world. Israel is a tiny country that packs a big punch on the world markets. Israel built ways, which sold to Google. And so to stream. Which sold to Pepsi.

And mobile I. Which sold to Intel. You're curious about some cybersecurity? You may want to look over at Israel. Yeah. And how did all those innovators thrive in Israel? Yeah, Jack. It wasn't just the Chutzpah.

Yeah. It was the stability and the clear rule of law. If this overhaul happens in Israel, judges won't enforce constitutional. constitutional rules, they'll enforce rules set by that day's president. And that would be a huge political risk for Israeli startups. That political risk could kill Israel's startup scene. Now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. Jack and I can count a dozen movies about time travel.

That one with the time traveling hot tub or the one with the crazy hair guy in the car. Well, all those are all fictional films, aren't they, Jack? There's one real life move that might make you okay with not having a time machine. Yeah, saving for your retirement. Around 60% of Americans wish they had socked away more for retirement, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. That's why Robin Hood created the only IRA with a 1% match for eligible contributions every year. So maybe you don't need a time machine.

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For our third and final story, Carnival Cruises is partying like it's 2019 with record bookings and record tourism dollars. But Carnival's huge mortgage will take years to pay off. Now, Jack, I feel like you jumped in T-boy style to this story like 20 years ago, didn't you? Thanks to my nana. When I was 13 years old, my nana took me on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

with my family. Okay, okay. Now, what was your favorite part? Actually, can I guess what your favorite part was? Go ahead. Was it the shrimp cocktails? I didn't eat seafood at that time. Was it the all-you-can-eat oatmeal buffet? Was that a thing? I was a bacon and eggs guy at the time. Was it a bacteria-infested hot tub waterfall slide? Nick, it was the DIY soft-served creaming machines on every floor of the chef. This is before the cookie crisp era. Yeties. Yesterday, Carnival announced earnings that felt honestly like an ice cream party. Yeah. Last quarter, Carnival's passenger cruise days

tripled from the year before. Okay, get this. Capacity on Carnival's 24 cruise ships is 95% back to their 2019 normal levels. Not too shabby. Even better news, bookings for future cruises are better than 2019. There are all-time high records.

Yeties, you're not going to Disney. Take me on the cruise. Yeties, more people than ever are giddy about their cruise. they're going to take this summer or winter. More people than ever are sunning themselves topside while chocolate and vanilla swirl melts all over their topless stomachs. More anything?

More everything. But yeties, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. There's a strange thing going on with Carnival. Carnival stock fell yesterday by 5% to its lowest levels ever, to levels lower than the Titanic. Too soon on that one? I think we're in the clear. Yeties, it's weird. But boom times for Carnival are translating

into losses. Carnival just had a record quarter for bookings, but Carnival also lost $700 million in that record quarter. Oh, you know what else is strange about this? Carnival expects a loss this year, too. The only one not having fun at Carnival right now is the people who own the stock. No, they're not. Jack. Where is Carnival stock? Speaking of the stock? The stock right before the pandemic was $52 a share. Now it's $9 a share. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over? at Carnival. To survive the past, Carnival mortgaged away its future. Now, Yeties, when the pandemic hit, Carnival cruises revenues fell by 99%. Like literally by 99%. That's right. Due to COVID rules, it was illegal to take a cruise with Carnival. It was totally forbidden. And yet, Carnival wasn't

eligible for certain bailout funds or government stimulus money. And why was that jack? Because they were based in Panama for labor law and tax reasons. Oh, that's unfortunate. Well, with no other options available, Carnival Cruises took on debt. A lot of debt. So much debt. Too much debt. Today, Carnival's 26 ships are worth $39 billion. Not too bad. Not too shabby. The Carnival has taken on $33 billion in debt to pay for them. Ifso facto to stay afloat during the pandemic, Carnival Cruises became 10 times more indebted. Investors see all that interest, Carnival owes, and they're literally jumping shit. Yeah, because to survive the past, Carnival mortgaged away its future. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Character.AI can impersonate historical figures, but it could impersonate brands too. Yeties, this AI could turn brands into voices. For our second story, Israel's government moved to take away the Supreme Court's power and

independence. That would threaten Israel's unique, special startup culture. And our third and final story is Carnival Cruises. They just announced record bookings for future trips, but it's still losing money. To survive the past, Carnival Cruises mortgaged away its future. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Bill Jackson from lovely St. Louis, Missouri. Push and play. Here we go.

William E. Metzger, old Billy M. is credited with opening the first modern car dealership in Detroit in 1897, and it's safe to say he was ahead of his time. While most people still took their horses to the Old Town Road, Mezger recognized the potential of the automobile and decided to make a business out of it. It must have taken some real courage and vision to start a car dealership back then, especially considering how little folks knew about cars at the time. With nearly 17,000 new car dealerships in 2023, dealers are expected to sell nearly 16 million cars this year.

Cheers to William Metzger for his early development of the car dealership model. You know, Nick, our favorite thing about car dealerships. Talk to me, Jack. I think I know what you're going to say. Their willingness to give away their personal belongings, if you find a better deal in town. Well, this ain't built up. I'll give you my three kids if you take away this F-150. I'll literally give you the keys to the store.

Jack, what limb do I got to give you to get you to whip up a takeaway for us over there? Nothing. Just ask me. Yeties, you look fantastic today. And remember, for T-Boy Tuesday, if there is a place you would go based on a show, hit us up at T-boy Pot. Yeties, if there's a place you would vacate based on a movie at T-boy Pot. Let us know. Yeti's happy T-Boy Tuesday, Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

And before we go, congratulations to Yeti's Nina and Chris Gerd, a couple that T-boys together and just got married in Denver, Colorado. Big happy birthday to Mike the Man Panzer, huge Caps fan from Washington, D.C. And Bree Platt, happy birthday for the 23rd year in a row in San Jose, California. And Nick Goodner down in Orlando, he's starting his day right. He's walking his puppies, Francis and Doddy, for a stroll. And it's his birthday. Not too shabby. And a happy birthday to Yeti Stark Hayden down in Georgia, who also happens to be the next Avenger superhero. And happy birthday to Chris from Marston's Mills,

Massachusetts. Not easy to say, but it's just outside Boston. And a happy birthday to Jackson, Thomas Houser. It's a first birthday, so a special birthday in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Netflix, and Nick and I both own stock of Robin Hood. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. They say cash is king. But most cash doesn't live like a king. It lives like a pawn. Most cash does nothing. It's just sit in there earning no or hardly any interest. So how do you make your cash more royal? Well, Robin Hood offers 4.15% APY on your uninvested cash with Robin Hood Gold. You can earn 4.15% APY with Robin Hood's $5 a month membership. That's how you make cash feel like royalty. To get started, go to Robinhood.com slash T-boy and get your first stock for free. That's

Robinhood.com slash TBOY. Certain limitations and terms apply. Rate is subject to change and all investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC, Robin Hood is not a bank. I don't think people are going to get that shrimp buffet. The only thing I envision on a cruise is like an all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet. Never been on a cruise, but I just feel like there's like a serious amount of shrimp available at all times.

I didn't have a single shrimp on the whole week long. voyage. Well, that's how they get you. What do you think is in the ice cream chat?