Startup Stash - Bête Noire, Bugaboo & Self-Battles 🤕

If the relentless competition of the modern world doesn’t already have your conscious nerves on edge, get ready for a painful life of hustling even in your sleep. 

A tech startup named Prophetic is working on creating a headpiece (image below) called the Halo, which the company says could one day allow users to control their dreams. Of course, most of you must have already heard/read about the concept of lucid dreaming — a state between wake and sleep, where an individual is aware they’re dreaming and able to change things in the dream to escape danger or a nightmare.

The company believes that if their tech could help individuals harness lucid dreams, they would — in theory — be able to induce them on demand and use that time productively (e.g., on a work project, writing code, or learning a new skill).

According to a coverage by Fortune, the headband releases sound waves into the region of the brain responsible for lucid dreams. The beams will then activate parts of the brain that control our awareness and decision-making. Prophetic has already raised $1m+ to create this device.

The product’s tech is based on ongoing research from the Donders Institute in the Netherlands.

Prophetic might seem quite an ironical name for a company that wants you to work in your sleep, but there is a demand for such tech. 

Inducing lucid dreams has been attempted before. There are a handful of products — headbands, eye masks, and supplements — that promise to give you control of your dreams.

Enthusiasts believe lucid dreams can help people solve complex problems and access untapped creativity.

**Cries in nightmares**

On Rank 1, and no surprises there, is ChatGPT. 

Generative AI dominated the 2023 news cycle, with top stories that included cool possibilities, worry over job loss and singularity, and serious leadership drama at OpenAI, the field’s biggest player. 

While only 5.9% people were considering purchasing the Plus version of the product in January, 16.4% were considering in October — marking a 10.5-point growth.

In comparison, Facebook saw only a 6.4-point rise from 34.7% to 41.4%. Despite a low growth, Facebook, and its social media companions - Instagram, Reels, and YouTube Shorts, all made it to the fastest growing brands list of 2023. (Image below by Morning Consult)

When it comes to fashion, Shein and Dollar General saw rising interest among budget-conscious millennials - thanks to economic uncertainty and inflationary woes.

For the eco-conscious millennials and Gen-Z, Kraft bested all brands. The Harris Poll found Kraft’s favorability among young consumers jumped due to sustainability initiatives in packaging. 

Trust in Zelle increased 12 points in 2023 as it educated consumers on how to avoid scams.

The European Union clinched a deal on Friday on the world's first comprehensive artificial intelligence rules, promising to transform everyday lives of people everywhere.

The AI Act focuses on governing the practical uses of AI rather than the technology itself. Some basic applications, such as content recommendations or spam filtering, would only follow light transparency rules. But the riskier an AI application is, the stiffer the rules get. 

What is banned:

The Act bans some AI uses altogether because they're deemed to pose an unacceptable risk. These include;

• social scoring systems that govern how people behave, some types of predictive policing and emotion recognition systems in school and workplaces.
• AI-powered remote “biometric identification” systems and facial recognition, except for serious crimes like kidnapping or terrorism.
• Cognitive behavioural manipulation of people or specific vulnerable groups

What is not banned: 

The export of these risky AI technologies that can harm human rights — including for use in social scoring — has not been banned. Which means while EU companies can’t use the AI system themselves, they can definitely make millions selling it outside the EU. And there’s no guarantee that the buyers of such technology won’t use it to profile or spy on EU citizens. 

Violations of the Act could draw fines of up to 35 million euros ($38 million) or 7% of a company’s global revenue.

🧘‍♀️ Therapy Cheers - A recent survey found that 53% of people prefer dating profiles that mention being in therapy. 

🪢 No Italian Ties - Italy dropped out of the China Belt and Road initiative because it failed to deliver on its promises. 

🎤 The Old Taylor - A look at Taylor Swift’s bare-bones 2002 website, before she was a megastar.

🦾 More Popular Than Taylor - Wikipedia’s ChatGPT page garnered nearly 50 million visitors this year as of Nov. 28, making it more popular than even Taylor Swift and Barbie. 

🤱 Millennial Mom Dread - It's a cultural phenomenon described as a mix of social pressures and overwhelming expectations that makes modern motherhood seem less achievable.