Why The New York Times Company Plunged This Week

Meta's AI app Muse, led by Alexandr Wang, became the top free app on U.S. and Canadian app stores, with 2.8M downloads in two weeks. Investors fear it may disrupt sectors like financials and travel. Meta's stock rose 13%, while financials and travel stocks fell. Shopify and PayPal also gained after partnering with Muse.

Five news publishers, including The New York Times, filed a court brief accusing Microsoft and OpenAI of copyright infringement, citing internal messages describing their AI models' use of publishers' content as theft. The brief alleges copying at five stages, including data acquisition and training, and argues that fair use does not apply.

Microsoft's internal documents, revealed in a lawsuit, show executives admitting AI models steal content from media companies, creating a 'doom loop' that harms both AI performance and the web. CEO Satya Nadella noted AI chatbots reduce traffic to original sources. OpenAI is accused of bypassing paywalls for training data.

The New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveals claims of large-scale content collection for AI training. Microsoft data suggests AI search could reduce Times website traffic by 93%. The filing argues AI poses an existential threat to publishers, with paywalled content allegedly scraped. OpenAI's datasets reportedly contained millions of Times documents, with projects like Mango exchanging training material. The case may set precedents for AI's use of copyrighted content.

Berkshire Hathaway's cash decreased from $397B to $366B in Q2, investing $31B. Major investments include Alphabet (now its 3rd-largest holding), Delta Air Lines, Macy's, Lennar, and The New York Times. It also repurchased $4.5B of its own shares and sold $3.7B in equity holdings. The company's cash deployment reflects strategic, patient investment decisions.

The Trump administration supported OpenAI in copyright lawsuits filed by publishers like The New York Times and Ziff Davis, arguing that ruling against OpenAI could hinder AI development and U.S. competitiveness. The government stated that AI models help others compete with large media corporations. The publishers argue that OpenAI's use of their content without permission or compensation undermines creators and AI developers.