This is what the flucks.
I'm justin and I'm hashteeve and it's Monday, the twentieth of May.
AG. We spoke last month about the ato's latest crackdown on tax debts owed by businesses, and it seems like the ATO is pretty serious. According to the latest Starter, corporate insolvencies over the past year are fifty percent higher free COVID and the main reason the ATO chasing down their debts flux spam.
We are entering winter, or at least it's definitely starting to feel that way. In the floodstap we've covered five tried and tested ways to manage your energy bill, so make sure to check it out and save some money on your bills this winter.
Three warming stories to the AHG.
Let's get into it for our first.
Pizza Hut Australia has been fined two and a half million dollars for spamming customers with ten million hit delicious messages without their consent.
That is a whole lot of discounts on garlic, bread and pizzas and tell.
Me more so. Pizza Hut is the global pizza franchise that first expanded into at in the nineteen seventies and.
In Australia, the Pizza Hut franchise has been through a lot of owners, but since.
June last year it's been owned by a US franchiser operator called the Flynn Restaurant Group.
But Jazz. Before this new owner came in, Pizza Hut Australia was busy telling anyone who'd listen about its.
Surf and turf pizza or maybe the Bolonaise pasta pizza.
Yeah, it sent nearly six million texts and emails between January and May twenty twenty three to customers who had unsubscribed or not consented.
On top of that, it's sent out more than four million marketing emails without an option for their customers to unsubscribe.
So now the Australian Communications and Media Authority have fined Pizza Hut two point five million dollars for these spamy marketing messages, and respect for consumer privacy is becoming the top of akma's hitlist.
So what is the key learning here?
While the cost of sending emails and texts is pretty cheap, the cost of breaching these laws is becoming very costly.
You see, email campaigns can cost a few cents per email or sometimes even for free.
So companies are often tempted to send major email blasts.
But because of the ease of sending these emails, Akma has been actively cracking down on the practice for the past eighteen months.
Get this, Akma has issued more than fifteen million dollars in spam and marketing penalties just over the past eighteen months.
We're talking companies like ticketech opsm kmart, DoorDash and Combank as well.
It can really hurt their reputation.
And maybe customers might think twice about sharing their details with pizza art again, even if it means missing out on a SpongeBob Sweet Chili pizza.
Yeap, those really exist.
For our second story, Sony Music has sent a warning shot to AI companies, accusing them of stealing its artist's content without permission.
This is taking me back to that viral Drake and the Weekend song that was actually made by AI. Tell us what's going on here?
Okay? So, Sony Music is the world's second biggest record company over by Sony Entertainment, and.
It's worked with hundreds of artists worldwide, including Billy Joel, Celin, Dion and Beiance.
And now Sony has sent out a letter to over seven hundred AI companies warning them not to train their AI model on its content without permission.
Sounds strict. That content includes everything from audio recordings to music compositions, lyrics and.
Cover art, and actually in that letter, Sony asked the AI companies to either confirm they haven't used any of Sony's content without permission.
Or disclose exactly how that content was being used in AI training.
Because Sony wants to then discuss licenses. Sony then wants to discuss licensing deals with AI companies. You get compensation for the content that's been used because.
It ain't no AI touching texas hold them without Beyonce's approval.
Absolutely not. This is sounding a little bit familiar though, looking at you New York Times.
So tell me what is the key learning here?
When one industry identifies a big revenue opportunity, the rest often follow you.
See, Sony's letter has come hot on the heels of rising tension between media publications and AI companies.
YEP. Last year we saw the New York Times see open AI and Microsoft for copyright infringement.
They claim that their content was used in training these AI models. So this movement, which was started by media companies, has pushed other industries to take action too.
Yeah, and in the music industry it ain't just sony.
Artists like Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj have told AI companies to stop and I quote this assault on human creativity.
And actually this could now influence other creators like photographers, designers, filmmakers and more to push for compensation.
Two your move AI companies.
For our third and final story, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has finally revealed the mystery business that he is in business six point seven billion US dollars into and at share price jumped eight percent on the news.
Buffett's got that midas touched for seventy years, so it's no surprise to see the price jump. Tell me more.
Warren Buffett is one of the most famous investors in the whole wide universe.
He started investing under the Berkshire Hathaway name with his mate Charlie Munger.
He's ninety three and still very involved well. Charlie was still operational in the business until he passed away at ninety nine.
Now Berkshire Hathaway is known to be particularly patient with its investments.
Ain't going to make an investment just because it's got a heap of cash.
In fact, Berkshire Hathaway had one hundred an eighty two billion usd in cash in March this year.
But now Berkshire Hathaways announced its investment of six point seven billion US dollars in a new company, Sharp Insurance.
And sort off shares in Apple, which was their largest investment.
Got to say that really hurts Apple being traded out for a pretty bland insurance company.
But after the investment announcement, the share price in Chub Insurance jumped eight percent.
And it seems like Buffet's really got a thing for insurance businesses because of its float.
So what's the key learning here?
Some industries are inherently positioned for success thanks to their unique financial structures.
Take the insurance industry, for example, Insurers collect premiums from customers now, but claims aren't paid out until later, or.
More likely never.
This is called the float. It acts as a free loan for the insurer.
And insurers can invest this float money in the in between time for their own benefit, like in.
Other companies like Coca Cola or American Express heard of them.
Before, I think maybe once or twice, and a she Berkshey Hathaway's floats across its insurance businesses has grown to over a hundred dudred and sixty four billion US dollars.
And this idea of the flow is why Berkshire Hathaway has significant investments in four large insurers.
There's Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance, there's Geico, there's General Reinsurance, and now they've welcomed Chub Insurance into the fold too. I read that article on how to save money on my electricity and energy this winter, and I'm very much looking forward to putting that in practice. So fox Ham, if you want to know the top five things to do to reduce your energy bell this winter, make sure to download the Flux app and check it all out.
Thanks for listening and we'll see you on Wednesday,