Pope Francis Calls For Regulation Of AI

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Good morning,

There’s plenty of discussion about how younger generations are transforming the workplace, but the fastest-growing demographic in the workforce is actually people 75 and older, according to a new Pew Research Center report.

All Baby Boomers will reach the age to retire before 2030, but that doesn’t mean they’ll do so. Nearly one in five Americans age 65 and older were employed this year, almost double the percentage who were working in 1987.

Of course, for many it’s an economic necessity, due to inflation, changes in pension systems and “less generous” Social Security benefits, according to Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center and co-author of the report. But employers are also increasingly expanding perks for older workers, like phased retirement, paid grandparent leave or menopause benefits, to encourage them to stay longer.

BREAKING NEWS

Global demand for coal hit an all-time high in 2023, the International Energy Agency reported, and the agency projected we may have reached peak consumption of the dirtiest fossil fuel. The IEA said it expects global coal demand to “drop in 2024 and plateau through 2026,” but to keep up with the goals of the Paris Agreement, “the use of unabated coal would need to fall significantly faster.”

The U.S. Naval Academy can continue to consider race when admitting students, a federal judge ruled, despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning affirmative action at other colleges. The judge found that the anti-affirmative action group, Students for Fair Admissions, failed to show that it would likely prove the academy’s consideration of race in its admission processes was discriminatory and a violation of equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment, Reuters reported.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high this week, and the gains in the market’s nearly two-month-long rally were spread across a diverse group of stocks. Intel, Boeing, Salesforce, Goldman Sachs and Home Depot were the Dow’s best performers during the historic runup, according to FactSet data, while the “magnificent seven” massive tech stocks that drove much of the early 2023 rally have seen fairly muted returns.

Moderna’s stock soared nearly 15% Thursday morning after the pharma giant announced that its new mRNA vaccine reduces the chance of relapse or death from skin cancer by half, when paired with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda. Moderna has bet big on mRNA technology, which was used to create the Covid-19 vaccine, and yesterday’s gains come after more sluggish performance recently amid waning demand for those vaccines.

TECH + INNOVATION

Pope Francis called for an international treaty to regulate the development of AI and its use Thursday, after an AI-generated image of him went viral this year. The pope specifically warned against the use of AI as a weapon—adding to voices of world and tech leaders calling for more government regulation of the technology. Pope Francis said tech and science progress “leads to the betterment of humanity” but also gives humans “unprecedented control over reality,” which can include risks “to our survival and endanger our common home.”

MONEY + POLITICS

The European Union on Thursday unanimously agreed to open membership talks for Ukraine to enter the 27-member bloc, despite years-long opposition from Hungary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the decision as a “victory” in what could be a blow to Russia, as its invasion of Ukraine nears the two-year mark.

In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives passed an $886 billion defense policy package, agreeing to omit a host of contentious issues—including GOP-backed culture war provisions and reforms to an intelligence surveillance program—in the interest of funding the military. President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law the legislation that includes a 5.2% pay increase for military members starting in January, the largest bump since 2002.

The U.S. wants Israel to scale back fighting in Gaza to a smaller, more targeted campaign in the upcoming weeks, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan…