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Good morning. Travis Kelce scored the ultimate podcast guest last night in his girlfriend, Taylor Swift. During the nearly two-hour episode, the singer spoke about the Eras Tour, her Easter eggs, and her new album. More than 8 million people have already watched it — but if you’re not one of them, read BI’s seven big takeaways.
In today’s big story, employees are treating ChatGPT like their new office besties. But there are risks, and some of their human coworkers feel weird about it.
What’s on deck:
Markets: Corporate bankruptcies are blowing past pandemic-era highs.
Tech: One of AI’s hottest startups is seeking a fresh round of fundraising.
Business: Why your favorite celeb is suddenly hawking cellphones.
But first, the rally continues.
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The big story
Your new office bestie
Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI
The model coworker: Always on. Stays focused. Learns fast. No ego. No attitude. No pulse?
You know AI chatbots can be great tools to optimize your work — but this goes deeper. People are swapping office besties for bots, and it could spell disaster for real human connections.
For Nicole Ramirez, it began with using ChatGPT to draft emails. Then came more complex tasks. Before long, ChatGPT felt like a trusted coworker, even listening to her vent about real clients and colleagues.
She’s named it Deborah, by the way.
More and more Americans are developing human-like relationships with AI, even romantically. For $69.99 a year — which BI’s Katie Notopoulos reasoned is cheaper than a few “real-life” dates — you could essentially purchase a romantic partner from Replika.
The appeal of building human connections with AI can be overwhelming. The potential dangers, too.
“Like junk food, it’s efficient when you need it, but too much over time can give you relational diabetes,” says Laura Greve, a clinical health psychologist in Boston. “You’re starved of the nutrients you need, the real human connection.”
BI previously spoke with four professionals — a sociologist, a psychologist, a digital etiquette coach, and a sex therapist — to explore how the rise of AI is changing how we see each other and ourselves and disrupting our manners and intimate lives. The findings? ChatGPT is making us weird.
MIT researchers found that overindulging in AI in the workplace can result in the weakening of critical-thinking skills. You may see yourself start procrastinating more, becoming lazy.
Then there’s how others may see you. Your colleagues might view you as dependent on the technology, less creative, and lacking growth potential, says David De Cremer, a behavioral scientist.
In a world where one-third of US workers would rather clean a toilet than ask a colleague for help — yes, it’s a real statistic — it’s no surprise that some are turning to chatbots instead. The risk arises when they start turning to them for everything else as well.
The workers who spoke with BI about using chatbots say they still interact with their human peers, just less often than they did before.
3 things in markets
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
1. US bankruptcies are surging past 2020 pandemic levels. Though the economy seems to be on solid footing, a peak in corporate bankruptcies signals pain beneath the surface. Beloved 1990s and 2000s brands like Forever 21 and Joann’s are among those that have filed.
2. Less BLS, more alternative data sources. Trump’s shake-up of the Bureau of Labor Statistics means macro investors may start leaning more heavily on non-governmental data sources. Those include the ADP jobs report, MIT’s Billion Prices Project, and more, macro traders told BI.
3. An easy way to make more money on your money. Many Americans are missing out on high-yield savings, according to a recent Vanguard survey. Here’s how to make sure you’re not missing out on any gains.
3 things in tech
Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images
1. Perplexity is raising another round of funding. This time, the AI search engine is seeking a $20 billion post-money valuation, according to an email sent to prospective investors seen by BI and a source with knowledge of the raise. Perplexity’s business has been surging lately, but that valuation still doesn’t come close to the surprise $34.5 billion bid it recently offered to buy Chrome.
2. Is Sam Altman a weak CEO? The OpenAI founder introduced GPT-5 and told everyone they’d have to get rid of the old versions of ChatGPT they’d been using. Then, after people complained, he reversed course. BI’s Peter Kafka argues that makes him a flexible CEO, not a weak one.
3. xAI is losing one of its cofounders. In a farewell post on X, Igor Babuschkin, who co-founded xAI with Elon Musk in 2023, said he’s leaving to start Babuschkin Ventures. In the post, Babuschkin recounted helping Musk build xAI from scratch — and said he learned two major lessons from him.
3 things in business
Michael Steele/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
1. Why cellphones became the hot, new celebrity side hustle. Telecom is the new tequila, and everyone from Ryan Reynolds to Jason Bateman and Donald Trump is cashing in. The hope is that they can leverage the clout they have with existing fanbases to get people to switch mobile networks. (Whether that bet will pay off, however, is a different story.)
2. Not everyone loves Cracker Barrel’s modern makeover. Some of the chain’s locations are losing the decor that lent it a nostalgic feel, a change that diners are divided over. However, some said Cracker Barrel needs to focus on what they’re putting on the table, not the walls.
3. The protein bros have won. After four and a half years of being vegan, Manhattan restaurant Eleven Madison Park announced it’s reintroducing meat to its menu. The restaurant’s chef said the vegan menu “unintentionally excluded some people” and caused financial difficulties. The decision also aligns with the country’s current protein obsession.
In other news
What’s happening today
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO in court on sex trafficking charges.
Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave).
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