TechEquity

It's Friday! Which means it's time for the things you need to read this week to understand tech’s impact on our economy with TechEquity Founder and CEO Catherine Bracy:

1) Despite eyeing an almost trillion-dollar valuation, OpenAI allegedly lost $39 billion in 2025. So what’s their plan to get out of the red? Get users hooked on ChatGPT, then up the fees. This is a company that wants us to trust them with our savings. https://ow.ly/VxbJ50Zejf9

2) Meanwhile, a Michigan pension fund is accusing Microsoft of engaging “in a scheme to deceive the market” by hyping up its AI products and inflating its stock price last year. https://ow.ly/frBY50Zejf7

3) In corporate consolidation news, the US Department of Justice has approved Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. before career staffers even had the opportunity to object. https://ow.ly/U0MM50Zejf6

4) Journalist Marché Arends talks to the AI supply chain workers facing the fallout of Big Tech’s layoffs. https://ow.ly/7qT750Zejf8

5) Amid a nationwide heatwave, a software update to some Amazon delivery vehicles automatically turned off the air conditioning if the driver was not in their seat for more than a few seconds. https://ow.ly/lskM50Zejf5

That's it for this week. Leave your in the comments, and follow us for more news about tech's impact on the economy.

OpenAI Is Taking the "Crack Co***ne" Approach to Pricing Critics suggest OpenAI may be acting like a drug dealer, getting users addicted, only to spike the costs later.

Be aware of any viral content you like and share around the NBA finals—you may be accidentally promoting prediction markets.

Knicks Run Is New Front in Kalshi-Polymarket Marketing War As crowds gathered outside Madison Square Garden, two viral fan moments drew scrutiny after it emerged both had prediction-market ties.

The federal government is once again attempting to restrict state AI legislation and enforcement through the Great American AI Act. This bill wraps good ideas around the freeze in an attempt to sneak through without scrutiny.

That’s why we signed a letter alongside over 130 other organizations urging congressional leaders to kill the legislation. Check out this The Boston Globe article for more context and a link to the letter:

Who is, and isn’t, sweating the rise of AI - The Boston Globe A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll out this week found that a plurality of Massachusetts voters are more intrigued than intimidated by the rapidly evolving technology.

A WIN AGAINST ALGORITHMIC PRICE FIXING: California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a $7 million settlement with LivCor, one of the property management companies named in AG Bonta’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against software company RealPage.

While price-fixing has been illegal for decades, it’s been difficult to enforce when competitors collude through algorithms rather than backroom agreements.

But enforcement like this, plus Governor Newsom’s decision to sign the TechEquity Action-sponsored Preventing Algorithmic Price Fixing Act (AB 325) last year, shows that California is up to taking on that challenge. We hope to see even greater accountability for algorithmic price-fixing as AB 325 eases the path to enforcement.

https://ow.ly/fIal50Zesa0

Economic Security Project Action

OpenAI wants more money to expand its research and development of AI systems. What have they done with the money they’ve already gotten, including from when they were a nonprofit?

It's complicated... If their initial public offering (IPO) is approved, your savings could soon be tied to a company fraught with legal and ethical concerns.

That’s why the coalition recently submitted a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to highlight the risks in OpenAI’s IPO. Read the full letter here:

To the SEC: Don't let OpenAI IPO put people's savings at risk - TechEquity Collaborative EyesOnOpenAI Coalition has sent a letter to the SEC highlighting the major, unprecedented risk to investors posed by OpenAI's IPO.

Uber increased its take of driver pay over the past 9 years, according to a small study. While Uber disputes this claim, it still won’t share what exactly its take rate is.

Uber now keeps most of the fare from your ride in some cities, according to a new driver study Uber's take rate rises above 50% in some cities, impacting driver earnings, as it expands into new business areas, study finds.

Now that OpenAI has taken the first step toward becoming a public company, the EyesOnOpenAI Coalition has sent a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlighting major, unprecedented risks to investors.

At the heart of the concern is OpenAI’s structure: a non-profit, legally beholden to prioritize its charitable mission over profit, that owns a for-profit whose incentives are driven by investors’ unrelenting desire for maximum returns.

Read the letter to learn more: https://ow.ly/UjLp50ZcPmj

Over 30 years ago, a farming family deeded their property to their city on the condition that it be turned into a public park. But now it’s becoming the site of a massive data center.

https://ow.ly/7f7O50ZcOVQ

The gig economy just got a new product line. Workers didn’t get a vote.

Uber, DoorDash, and LinkedIn are all testing or launching programs in which workers are being asked to complete digital tasks for AI and robotics training between gigs, with little visibility into what they are building or who it is for.

That’s why we recently launched Version 2.0 of our Data Work Landscape—a map of the companies, investors, and client relationships powering the data portion of the AI supply chain.

The hidden workforce behind every AI tool you use: Announcing the data work landscape 2.0 - TechEquity Collaborative Announcing our Data Work Landscape 2.0—a map of the companies, investors, and clients powering the data portion of the AI supply chain.

Could a ruling in Germany mean the end of Google’s controversial, sometimes inaccurate, occasionally sketchy AI overviews?

https://ow.ly/SYq550Zcnpa

Nobody needs AI to search the Internet, court says in ruling against Google Google AI Overview court loss in Germany could spell doom for AI search industry.