As the job market has worsened, more workers are turning to the gig economy to make ends meet.
A report from Goldman Sachs found that the number of hours worked on gig platforms has jumped this year despite slowing payroll growth. But workers who participate in the gig economy also take a pay cut, earning about 50% to 65% of their hourly compensation from a more traditional role.
Federal jobs numbers have been delayed because of the government shutdown, but in an indication of the labor market slowdown, more Americans filed for unemployment from mid-September to mid-October than expected, new data shows.
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FIRST UP
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Meta emerged victorious from its antitrust case, with a federal judge ruling it does not hold a monopoly over social networking after purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014. Meta noted new competition from platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that “the landscape that existed only five years ago when the Federal Trade Commission brought this antitrust suit has changed markedly.”
The Senate passed a measure Tuesday to force the release of documents linked to the Justice Department’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, sending it to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign the bill after he initially opposed the files’ release. But a provision could allow the Trump administration to use its new investigation into Epstein’s ties to top Democrats to keep some files concealed.
BUSINESS + FINANCE
Fears of an AI bubble appear to have sent major stock indexes down, led by stalwarts Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia. Investors are also less hopeful that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December, and a Bank of America survey released Tuesday revealed that 45% of investors viewed an AI bubble as the top risk.
Almost two-thirds of small and mid-size business owners say they plan to increase prices next year as they wrangle with inflation hitting their operations, a Bank of America report finds, though many owners still expect higher revenue and plan to expand in the year ahead. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates small businesses will face $202 billion in annual tariff tax.
WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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Cari Tuna and her husband, billionaire Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, cofounded Open Philanthropy to give to causes likely to create the greatest impact per dollar, rather than the issues they were most passionate about—and now, it’s rebranding as Coefficient Giving. It’s part of a broader trend among the wealthy toward pooled funding, and the group has received more than $200 million in commitments to its initiatives this year.
TECH _ INNOVATION
We’re on the way to a cyber world where AI is constantly battling AI, and researchers warned that hackers are using large language models to develop attacks on AI systems, then using those hacked AI systems to target other AI machines. Israel-based Oligo Security found evidence of mass software exploitation designed to help developers manage AI projects called Ray, finding over 230,000 Ray servers that were online despite the company’s warning.
The AI boom has sent stocks to new highs and is jamming bond markets, but the buildout comes with risks: Analysts at JPMorgan estimate that AI-linked investment grade bond issuance alone could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030. While tens of billions of dollars a year in AI loans may be manageable, says Gil Luria, head of technology research at investment firm D.A. Davidson, hundreds of billions would start to crowd out other borrowers.
MONEY + POLITICS
As President Donald Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he downplayed his family’s business ties with Saudi Arabia, though Forbes reported that the president’s family has secured at least nine deals with Saudi investors since the end of Trump’s first term. The president’s comments come less than a day after the Trump Organization announced it is partnering with Saudi-based developer Dar Al Arkan to license its name to a luxury hotel in the Maldives.
MORE: Saudi-backed LIV Golf threw money at the sport’s biggest stars to lure them from the PGA Tour, but it took very little to get Trump on board. If each of the seven LIV tournaments Trump has hosted generated similar amounts, his total take would add up to roughly $6 million over four years.
DAILY COVER STORY
Elon Musk Can’t Legally Sell The Tesla Cybercab As Promised
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Minutes after winning Tesla shareholder approval for his unprecedented $1 trillion pay package at its annual meeting, a beaming Elon Musk took to the stage at the Austin, Texas plant to cheers from investor fans and board members to lay out his plans for the next couple of years. While they include selling humanoid “Optimus” robots, he also touted Cybercab, a two-door car that’s poised to be Tesla’s next EV model.
Unlike its top-selling Model Y crossover, Model 3 sedan or even the Cybertruck, the new car will be sold exclusively as a self-driving vehicle, without standard controls, according to Musk. He’s also said it would likely be priced below $30,000, making it the company’s most affordable model.
Whether Tesla is ready to sell a vehicle that’s truly capable of safely driving itself, as Waymo robotaxis do hundreds of thousands of times a week for paying passengers in multiple U.S. cities, is debatable. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently conducting an extensive probe of Tesla’s so-called Full Self-Driving system owing to numerous accident reports.
An even more basic challenge is federal vehicle safety rules that require certain types of equipment on passenger vehicles, including mirrors, pedals, steering wheels, windshields and wipers. There’s an effort to update those rules for autonomous vehicles, which don’t use those components, but they’re not on track to be enacted prior to Musk’s planned production date for the new car.
Though Musk wants the company to pivot to robotaxis and humanoid robots, cars remain Tesla’s biggest source of revenue, and it needs a hit product—particularly following its Cybertruck flop. But it’s questionable whether Cybercab would result in substantial new sales volume because of a key design feature: It’s a two-door car, which is not as popular.
WHY IT MATTERS “Musk’s promise that the company is ready to start selling a fully autonomous vehicle, one that requires a federal exemption that Tesla doesn’t seem to have requested yet, is at best overly optimistic,” says Forbes senior editor Alan Ohnsman.
“Even if the car goes into production in April as he claims it will, a more basic issue is that Tesla’s EV sales are falling and it’s far from clear the two-door Cybercab—whether it’s sold with a steering wheel or not—is a product that can reverse the slump. Musk wants to pivot Tesla’s business to robotaxis and humanoid robots, but EVs are its core moneymaker for now and that business needs help.”
MORE Amazon’s Robotaxi Unit Launches In San Francisco Without Steering Wheels—Or Fees
FACTS + COMMENTS
You’ll soon be able to ask ChatGPT for help with filing your taxes, as Intuit, the company behind TurboTax and Credit Karma, announced a multiyear partnership with OpenAI to integrate its financial apps into the chatbot. It’s the latest effort to incorporate third-party apps into ChatGPT:
Over $100 million: The amount the tax software provider will pay OpenAI annually
More than 2%: The surge in Intuit shares as trading opened Tuesday, before paring back the gains
$20 billion: What OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expects the firm’s estimated annualized revenue to reach by the end of the year
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
Many workers feel the pressure to be “always on” even while taking time off around the holidays—but it’s important to set boundaries. Have a conversation with your boss about when you’ll be available, and prepare detailed handoff documentation, including key projects and contacts. Importantly, stick to the boundaries you set: Being able to disconnect and recharge is important to your well-being.
VIDEO
QUIZ
The GOP-led redistricting effort ahead of next year’s midterm elections hit a setback Tuesday, with a judge blocking a state’s new map. Which state was it?
A. North Carolina
B. Georgia
C. Texas
D. Missouri
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
