> OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, months ahead of schedule, as part of its plan to secure $40 billion in funding this year, DealBook has learned. Back in March, OpenAI announced its ambitious funding plans, with SoftBank committing to provide $30 billion by year-end.
How much UX superiority is due to the shorter lines? I definitely prefer self-checkout at Walmart, but if their cashiers were as efficient as e.g. ALDI it wouldn't be as valuable
ALDI gets me through the checkout faster than I could do it myself at the other large grocery chains, primarily because they have put in place efficiencies throughout the whole supply chain. Eg the Barcode is as long as the side of the box it's on for most items, and the PoS machine is simple with highly optimised lookups so you can scan a hell of a lot of product quickly. My local self serves need time to think between my lazy scanning, and then time to think about every other step along the way. I'm almost convinced a study or three have suggested that the slower the software the more chance I'll purchase the chocolate next to the machine.
ALDI and Trader Joe's* have both moved into my area in the past decade or two. Neither has self-checkout. Only ALDI has the big barcodes.
What I notice is that both seem to have "customer checkout MUST be fast" as a C-suite priority. Vs. big American stores love their "something went wrong again, so now we all stand and wait while the cashier and manager try to figure this out" delays. Or have several idle employees hanging around while one hard-working cashier has a dozen+ customers waiting in line. Or have "Special Offers" which require the cashier to stop and handle paperwork for several minutes. Or...
*ALDI and Trader Joe's have closely related, German management & ownership:
I was the same way when I was a beginner, I didn't really "get" python classes until years later and using other programming languages. I recommend SICP if you want a more first principles understanding: https://web.mit.edu/6.001/6.037/sicp.pdf
When accounting for negative externalities such as "unpriced natural capital consumption", it seems only fair to also include positive externalities, such as "food/energy availability"
How are those positive externalities? The person who burns the fuel gets the benefits, everyone else has to live with the pollution without benefitting.
A farmer that burns fuel to produce food gets paid for the food that burning the fuel enabled. There is no positive externality that needs to be compensated here.
If you wanted to make an argument about positive externalities you would talk about farmers leaving the soil in better condition than they arrived i.e. regenerating natural capital instead of burning it.
This is awesome, thanks for sharing so much detail. Btw one thing I noticed, the link to "Determinate Systems" was broken. I think this is the correct link: https://determinate.systems/posts/qemu-fix
Another big draw to me is that the checkout process is fast and efficient. Take a look at the packaging and you will notice the barcodes are massive to facilitate rapid scanning.
What is super interesting is that Aldi only moved to barcode scanners very late (past 2000). Before that cashiers entered the product codes manually - they knew them for each product and were super fast at it. The conveyor band never stood still, and they were entering codes the same thing it moved. It was super impressive.
A lot of things at Aldi are structured to make work efficient and need for staff minimal. Supposedly they pass the savings onto the customer in the form of lower prices. The staff often don't have a phone to answer either.
You'd be surprised but some people want to call the grocery store and ask questions. Ask if X is in stock, if they can rent a rug doctor, if they can buy propane, if they can go there to pay this or that bill, what hours they're open, do they renew vehicle registration, etc.
There is a distinction in drug development between the biologics (large proteins, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adalimumab, molecular weight ~144kDa), and small molecules
For most of human history the population growth rate was limited by the food supply. Currently in most developed countries it is limited toby individual decision-making. How long can that realistically last? Surely any genetic factors influencing decisions to have (more) children are being strongly selected for.
1. “Leaders must always set the highest standard. In a summer campaign, leaders must always endure their share of the sun and the heat and, in winter, the cold and the frost. In all labors, leaders must prove tireless if they want to enjoy the trust of their followers.”
2. "There is small risk a general will be regarded with contempt by those he leads, if, whatever he may have to preach, he shows himself best able to perform."
> OpenAI has raised $8.3 billion at a $300 billion valuation, months ahead of schedule, as part of its plan to secure $40 billion in funding this year, DealBook has learned. Back in March, OpenAI announced its ambitious funding plans, with SoftBank committing to provide $30 billion by year-end.