DALL-E 2, the image generator that took the internet by storm after gifting us masterpieces like ‘raccoon playing tennis’ and ‘medieval pizza festival,’ has become more widely available.

Catch-up: Launched by OpenAI this past April, DALL-E 2 uses AI trained on ~650 million web sources to skillfully edit images or generate them from a simple user prompt.

What happened: OpenAI is now fast-tracking the application waitlist so DALL-E 2 can hit  one million users within a few weeks—with a new pricing plan to start bringing in revenue.

• Previously, anyone was free to join the waitlist for this sci-fi tech, but access was only granted to researchers, developers, artists, content creators, and journalists. Now the door is open for more average joes.

Those with access can now also use the AI-generated images in commercial projects (like artwork you can sell) instead of just for research or (non-monetizable) artistic expression.

Yes, but: This whole thing is creating a ton of legal uncertainty since the technology makes it easy to create (and then sell) content that might be copyrighted—as evidenced by how many DALL-E 2 users love putting Homer Simpson in strange situations. 

• By (basically) making copyright infringement much easier, DALL-E 2 could start generating litigation as frequently as it generates sweet images.
   
• One IP expert told TechCrunch that rights-holders could potentially ask to collect licensing fees for images OpenAI uses to train their systems.

Why it matters: As OpenAI tries to ramp up access to its technology, there are still questions about the ethics of image generation technology that might be alarming in an internet world already overrun by so many fake things passing for real.

Crashing digital ad revenue has us thinking lately… will billboards embrace the moment?

What happened: Snap shares fell 35% yesterday after the company reported lacklustre growth and revenue results, despite an increase in daily active users of 18% to 347 million. 

• Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said user growth alone was not enough, and that Snap’s financial results (for the second quarter) do not reflect the company’s ambition.

Social media companies are feeling the impacts of rising inflation, a slowing economy, and Apple’s relatively new privacy updates that have made it more difficult to target advertising.

• Dips in advertising spending couldn’t come at a worse time, as competition from other platforms (TikTok, mostly) for younger audiences increases.
   
• “TikTok’s strong engagement and rapid monetization growth are having an outsized impact on Snap’s business,” JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a note.

Why it matters: Snap’s performance as of late has set off distress signals for the social media industry at large, which means you can expect the competition for your attention to heat up, and fast. Just this week, Meta announced a round of Tik-Tok-like feed updates.   

• Similarly, Twitter saw its revenue decline for the first time since 2020 after struggling to attract advertisers and push through a deal with a certain famous billionaire.   

Big picture: US social-media companies saw nearly US$80 billion wiped from market value yesterday, with Meta, Alphabet and Pinterest, falling 5.9%, 2.8 and 9.7%, respectively. 

Eat a cold, sweet treat in celebration of National Vanilla Ice Cream Day. Purists will tell you it's the only true flavour and, we must admit, nothing cools you down on a hot summer day quite like it. Check out this ranking of grocery store vanillas to find your new fave. 

Read about how women helped build grunge music. One of the 1990s’ most popular genres (and still hugely influential) has an overwhelmingly male image, but women were instrumental in its creation, as detailed in this splendid article by writer Lisa Whittington-Hill.

Watch “NOPE,” the new film from Jordan Peele in theatres now, about a California ranch that encounters an alien force. If you trust the critics, Peele (who made “Get Out” and “Us”) has conjured up another hit with his unique social thriller style. Check out the spooky trailer.  

Listen to something light but informative with the Financial Times ‘FTWeekend’ podcast. The 134-year-old outlet might have a stuffy rep, but this podcast presents its best stories in a digestible way. Recent topics include living forever and the lives of pigs. Stream it on Spotify.

Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement to reopen three key Ukrainian ports for the shipment of grain, in an attempt to avoid plunging the globe into a catastrophic food crisis.

Catch-up: Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked by Russia's military since the war began, halting ~90% of Ukrainian grain exports and causing global prices to skyrocket. 

What happened: The agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkey (perhaps the only country friendly with Russia and Ukraine), will restore grain shipments to their pre-war capacity. 

• Ukraine’s ports are expected to be fully operational within a few weeks and will stay that way for at least 120 days, before the deal is up for renewal.

Ukraine’s ships will be closely monitored by a base in Istanbul and granted safe passage on their way to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait, before setting sail for global markets.

Why it matters: Ukraine is responsible for 10% of the world’s wheat and (in conjunction with Russia) 12% of all calories exported—shuttered ports have had an outsized impact on global hunger (in the last two years, the number of food-insecure people has more than doubled). 

Bottom line: The UN’s secretary-general said last month that there is “no effective solution to the global food crisis without reintegrating Ukraine’s food production.”

🏡 $18,000. How much an average Canadian’s yearly income has had to have gone up over the past four months to afford a standard mortgage on a new home. 

🔎 40%. Percentage of Gen Z’ers who say they prefer to use TikTok or Instagram to search for things as opposed to Google Search or Maps, according to research from Google.

🎶 60%. Percentage of Canadians who have listened to music on the radio in the past week. It’s still the preferred way to listen for those over 35, while younger adults prefer streaming. 

• Good and bad news about that video of a robot dog firing a gun.
   
• The countries expected to have the fastest shrinking populations in the near future.
   
• The biggest snack trend from the year you were born (starting in 1940).
   
• Need some new music recs? How about an expertly-curated 155-hour Spotify playlist.
   
• Watch: A time-lapse of growing an oak tree from an acorn.
   
• Long read: Why are US presidents so obsessed with ketchup?
   
• Fact check: Octopus don’t have tentacles, they have arms.