Business

(NEW YORK) — The culture wars, fought nationwide in school board meetings and college classrooms, have entered a new arena: Wall Street.

A sharp political divide has emerged over environmental, social and governance investing, or ESG, a type of investing that takes into account non-financial information about a company, such as its climate impact and staff diversity.

Prominent Republican politicians, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have assailed ESG as “woke” capitalism that prioritizes liberal goals over investor returns, harming U.S. companies deemed insufficiently progressive and, in turn, hindering the wider economy.

Supporters of ESG, including financial firms that manage trillions in assets, have said considerations beyond the bottom line deliver the best financial gains. In weighing the economic threat posed by climate change, for instance, investors ensure the long-term health of their portfolio.

“There’s some risk that we could have red and blue banks, red and blue supermarkets,” Witold Henisz, faculty director of the ESG Initiative at The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, told ABC News. “America is more and more polarized.”

Here’s what to know about ESG and the political backlash against it:

What is ESG investing?

For decades, prevailing corporate wisdom held that companies face a choice between actions that are socially beneficial and ones that maximize shareholder value, said Alison Taylor, a professor of business at New York University who focuses on corporate responsibility and ethics.

ESG, by contrast, is an approach to investing that examines a company’s social or environmental impact precisely because it considers non-financial information useful for determining whether the company would deliver strong investor returns.

“The business would do good for the world and make more money,” Taylor told ABC News.

Depending on a given investor or policy, ESG takes into account a range of business practices, such as the release of carbon emissions or pollution, the treatment of employees and the presence of minorities within a company’s leadership.

Sustainable investment based on ESG criteria has grown to a $35.5 trillion industry, according to a study from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance in 2020.

How has ESG risen to prominence on Wall Street?

Over roughly the past 15 years, ESG has shifted from an upstart financial trend to a mainstream strategy touted by industry titans, experts said.

The rise of ESG has been propelled by growing awareness about the negative effects of some corporate practices, in part due to the rise of social media, said Taylor of New York University. She also credited a young generation of investors, which has brought a focus especially on the role that companies play in exacerbating climate change.

Financial leaders have also taken up the cause. One major promoter of ESG, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has highlighted for years the importance of non-financial information in assessing investment opportunities.

“Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics,” Fink said last year in a letter to CEOs. “It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not ‘woke.’ It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper.”

The surge of ESG adoption has also coincided with a slew of studies that demonstrate its effectiveness in yielding stronger returns than traditional investing, as well as a host of findings that question its comparative benefit, Taylor said.

“There have been thousands of studies,” she said. “The jury is out on whether ESG delivers higher returns.”

Why have some Republican officials criticized ESG investing?

Republican politicians have criticized ESG because they say they consider it an effort to use financial tools for the purpose of advancing liberal political goals.

In some cases, Republicans have condemned the investing approach as a departure from free market capitalism, since it takes into account non-financial factors.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year, former Vice President Mike Pence said, “The woke left is poised to conquer corporate America and has set in motion a strategy to enforce their radical environmental and social agenda on publicly traded corporations.”

“For the free market to thrive, it must be truly free,” he added.

In response to such attacks, proponents of ESG reject the notion that they’re deviating from investment fundamentals, since looming threats like climate change will have a profound impact on how the economy operates, Taylor said.

“Whether you’re on the left or right, you’re currently making the argument that you’re the rational capitalist and your opponent is the partisan hack,” she said.

Criticism leveled at ESG has not only come from the right, however. Progressives have criticized the practice for imposing vague or weak standards on companies, offering the imprimatur of virtue without the requirement of substantive action.

“Everybody hates ESG,” Taylor said. “The left hates ESG because they say we should not just think about issues when they have an impact on a company’s bottom line. There’s an imperative to address racism and climate change.

In response to criticism of ESG, BlackRock told ABC News in a statement: “Over the past year, BlackRock has been subject to campaigns suggesting we are either ‘too progressive’ or ‘too conservative’ in how we manage our clients’ money. We are neither. We are a fiduciary.”

“We put our clients’ interests first and deliver the investment choices and performance they need. We will not let these campaigns sway us from delivering for our clients,” the statement added.

What have Republican officials done to oppose ESG?

So far, attacks on ESG have primarily arisen at the state level, where some Republican-led states have divested their pension funds from firms that engage in ESG investing, while others have put forward legislation that would ban any public entity from carrying out financial business with such firms, including routine local policy decisions like raising money through selling bonds.

In August, 19 state attorneys general sent a letter to Fink criticizing the firm’s use of ESG criteria in overseeing state pension funds. That month, DeSantis approved a resolution that eliminates the consideration of ESG from decisions used in managing Florida’s pension investments.

On Monday, DeSantis took the effort further, proposing a set of measures that prohibit the consideration of ESG criteria by financial institutions in Florida, as well as banning the use of such criteria in all investments made at the state and local level, among other provisions.

“By applying arbitrary ESG financial metrics that serve no one except the companies that created them, elites are circumventing the ballot box to implement a radical ideological agenda,” DeSantis said in a statement on Monday.

Republican states face financial consequences for such measures, Henisz said, noting the higher fees charged by smaller financial institutions that forego ESG investing. Texas cities will pay between $303 million and $532 million in additional interest on $32 billion in bonds due to the state’s ESG ban, a Wharton School of Business study found in July.

“The cost to the taxpayers in these states will limit how far they go,” Henisz said. “It’s more rhetoric than reality in terms of how divided the financial services sector gets.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Tesla plans to open a portion of its U.S. charging network to competing electric vehicle makers, the Biden administration said on Wednesday.

The carmaker plans to open about 7,500 charging stations across the U.S. before the end of 2024, officials said on Wednesday.

The update from Elon Musk’s car company comes as the White House rolls out new measures to expand EV charging across the country.

The Biden administration announced it had partnered with Tesla and other companies — including General Motors and Hertz — as part of a two-year project that aims to use “private funds to complement federal dollars and putting the nation’s EV charging goals even closer within reach.”

Tesla plans to install about 3,500 new stations on highways across the country, the White House said. Those new charges are expected to be open to other vehicles.

“All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website,” the White House said. “Additionally, Tesla will triple its full nationwide network of Superchargers, manufactured in Buffalo, New York.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Romance scammers raked in big bucks in 2022, deceiving almost 70,000 people out of $1.3 billion, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission.

According to the FBI, romance scammers create an online identity to gain a person’s trust and affection and then use that relationship to steal or manipulate them.

Last year, romance scammers stole from tens of thousands of victims with a median reported loss of $4,400 each, the FTC said.

Romance scammers use dating apps to target people, but are more likely to send people a private message to establish a relationship, according to the FTC.

Approximately 40% of people who lost money in 2022 said scammers contacted them on social media, while 19% said it began on an app or a website, according to the FTC. The FTC noted that popular messaging apps such as Google Chat, Telegram and WhatsApp were used to continue conversations.

According to the FTC report, romance scammers often use specific lies to scam people.

Approximately 24% of romance scammers tell potential victims that they or a loved one is “sick, hurt, or in jail;” 18% offer to teach how to invest; another 18% say they’re in the military; and 12% use lies surrounding getting married, according to the FTC.

The FTC said that last year 24% of people reported paying scammers using gift cards, 19% paid in cryptocurrency, and 14% paid using a bank wire transfer or payment.

Over 60% of reported losses stemmed from bank wire transfers and cryptocurrency payments, the latter making up the largest reported dollar amount in 2022, according to the FTC.

Last month, a Florida woman was arrested for planning a years-long romance scam that defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

According to federal prosecutors, Peaches Stergo stole $2.8 million over four years from the victim, whom she met on a dating website.

“Stergo deceived an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, maliciously draining his life savings so she could become a millionaire through fraud,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

The FTC does provide ways to spot a romance scammer in action:

• Nobody legit will ever ask you to help — or insist that you invest — by sending cryptocurrency, giving the numbers on a gift card, or wiring money. Anyone who does is a scammer.
•  If someone tells you to send money to receive a package, you can bet it’s a scam.
• Talk to friends or family about a new love interest and pay attention if they’re concerned.
• Try a reverse image search of profile pictures. If the details don’t match up, it’s a scam.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the Easter season nears, with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 22, fast-casual restaurant chains have released specialty seafood-forward menu items ideal for practicing Christians during Lent.

For those unfamiliar, Lent is the six-week period between Ash Wednesday and Easter during which many Christians abstain from eating meat on the holy days of obligation and Fridays. Traditionally, it has marked a period or reflection, fasting and penitence, with many giving up specific things in the weeks leading up to the Easter holiday.

For years, McDonald’s has been a popular Lent option for its Filet-O-Fish sandwich, and now more competitors are wading in.

Below, check out some of the Lent-friendly menu items that are available now nationwide:

Lent 2023 food specials

Popeyes

The fast food spot known for its fried chicken has brought back two fan-favorite seafood offerings for a limited time: the Flounder Fish Sandwich and the Shrimp Tackle Box.

The Flounder Fish Sandwich, first introduced in 2021, now comes in both classic or spicy varieties. It’s made with a light, flakey flounder fillet marinated in Louisiana herbs and spices, dusted in crispy coating and fried, served on a warm, buttery toasted brioche bun with pickles and classic tartar sauce or spicy spread.

The $6 Shrimp Tackle Box comes with eight crispy butterfly shrimp seasoned in Louisiana herbs and spices, served crispy in a Southern breading, paired with a regular side, a hot buttery biscuit and classic tartar sauce.

From Valentine’s Day through Feb. 19, customers can buy one sandwich combo and get another a la carte sandwich for free on the Popeyes app and online for mobile orders.

Long John Silver’s

The seafood-centric fast-casual chain announced new savings for seafood-loving families with three seasonal specials through April 23.

Shrimp fans have three varieties to choose from for $6 shrimp baskets: a six-piece grilled shrimp basket served on a bed of savory rice with a side; six-piece batter-dipped shrimp served with a choice of one side and two hushpuppies; or crispy breaded popcorn shrimp served with one side and two hushpuppies.

All three of the above shrimp preparations are also available in a $10 shrimp sea-shares box, which includes 15 pieces grilled or battered, or the popcorn shrimp.

Long John Silver’s is also offering a fish and shrimp family feast with 12 batter-dipped shrimp, eight hand-battered, wild-caught Alaska pollock fillets, two family-size sides, and eight hushpuppies.

7-Eleven

For a limited time 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes are offering rewards members a “fin-tastic” deal with $2 fish sandwich Fridays.

The garlic herb Wild Alaska Pollock fillet is topped with American cheese and tartar sauce and served on a warm brioche bun, made in partnership with the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After a summer in the sun, Jessica Auriana said she felt like her hair was left dry and brittle.

Looking for a refresh, the 44-year-old said she turned to her hairstylist, who suggested the Olaplex hair care line as a possible solution to her problems.

Auriana said she purchased a shampoo, conditioner and clarifying shampoo from the brand and used the products for two months, and claims she suffered hair loss.

“I think by that point I had probably lost 20% of my hair,” Auriana told Good Morning America. “I’m outside daily … I started to feel the wind and air on my scalp in places that I’ve never felt it.”

Auriana is now part of a lawsuit against Olaplex, a hair care line popular with influencers and some celebrities that promises to restore “damaged and compromised hair by repairing from the inside out” leaving users with “healthy, beautiful, shiny, touchable hair,” according to marketing materials on the company’s website and social media.

Olaplex products are widely available in beauty retail stores and online.

In the lawsuit, filed on Feb. 9 in California, Auriana and more than two dozen women across the country claim they have been left with hair that is worse off than before they used Olaplex products.

They claim in the lawsuit that Olaplex hair products they used left them, in some cases, with bald spots, allergic reactions, open sores and hair that is “dry, brittle, frizzy and dull.” One plaintiff claims in the lawsuit the treatments made her hair look “as if it were cut with a weedwhacker.”

Collectively, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Rachel Bentley, co-counsel on the lawsuit, said the monetary damages are “for the injuries our clients sustained.”

She told GMA, “We are seeking punitive damages to deter Olaplex from engaging in the any further wrongful conduct.”

Olaplex has not recalled any of its products.

The company has denied the claims made in the lawsuit, telling GMA in a statement, “Olaplex products do not cause hair loss or hair breakage. Olaplex products are safe and effective, as millions of our customers can happily attest.”

The company also stated it has gone “above and beyond industry beauty standards” by publicly releasing test results from “independent third-party laboratories” on its website.

“We have full confidence and believe in the safety and efficacy of our products,” the company continued. “There are a wide variety of reasons for hair breakage or hair loss, as medical and scientific experts have publicly stated, including lifestyle, various medical conditions and medications, the aftereffects of COVID, skin conditions and more. Anyone experiencing consistent hair breakage should consult their stylist and dermatologist to best understand their unique hair and skin needs.”

“Complaints like the ones referenced in this article are, sadly, a fact of life in our industry, and have been made against other brands in the category for years,” Olaplex said. “We are prepared to vigorously defend our Company, our brand, and our products against these baseless accusations.”

Experts say consumers should consult their stylists or a dermatologist if they’re experiencing hair loss to help determine the cause.

The attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit say consumers should do their “due diligence” when it comes to choosing beauty products.

“Do your research,” Amy Davis, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. told GMA. “Do your due diligence and make sure that you are protecting yourself as a consumer when you’re buying beauty products.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices rose 6.4% last month compared to a year ago, continuing a months-long slowdown of price increases despite blockbuster job growth that revealed an economy running hotter than expected, government data on Tuesday showed.

The data marked the seventh consecutive month of smaller price hikes. In December, year-over-year inflation was 6.5%.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak but is more than triple the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

The Fed earlier this month imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.

So far, the economy has largely defied an anticipated slowdown.

The economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January, more than double the employment growth a month prior and well above the breakneck pace of some 400,000 monthly jobs added on average last year, according to government data released earlier this month.

In turn, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank’s fight against inflation has “a long way to go,” citing the jobs data.

Speaking at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Powell said the “extraordinarily strong” job figures took the Fed by surprise.

“It kind of shows you why we think this will be a process that takes a significant period of time,” he added.

Still, the Fed has transitioned to a slower pace of rate hikes in recent months, suggesting confidence that the central bank has begun to tame inflation.

Over the next three years, consumers expect inflation to fall to 2.7%, hovering just above the central bank’s target, the New York Federal Reserve found in a survey released on Monday.

The combination of strong hiring and easing inflation has buoyed hopes among some economists that the U.S. could avert a recession.

A report released by the International Monetary Fund last month predicted that U.S. economic growth would cool to 1.4% this year from 2% last year, but it found the U.S. could avoid a downturn.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected recession fears in an interview last Monday with ABC News’ Good Morning America, saying the economy remains “strong and resilient.”

Many consumers, however, remain pessimistic.

Four in 10 Americans say they’re worse off financially since Biden became president, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month. The figure marks the highest share of discontented respondents since the outlets began conducting the poll 37 years ago.

Home sales fell for the 11th consecutive month in December, reaching their lowest rate since November 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell in December, ending the typically busy holiday shopping season with a whimper.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Inflation data set for release on Tuesday will show whether the U.S. continued a months-long streak of easing price increases despite blockbuster job growth last month that revealed an economy running hotter than expected.

Forecasters predict that year-over-year inflation stood at 6.2% in January, which would mark the seventh consecutive month of cooling price hikes. In December, year-over-year inflation was 6.5%.

The data amounts to a significant slowdown from a summer peak but is more than triple the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

The Fed earlier this month imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.

So far, the economy has largely defied an anticipated slowdown.

The economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January, more than double the employment growth a month prior and well above the breakneck pace of some 400,000 monthly jobs added on average last year, according to government data released earlier this month.

In turn, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank’s fight against inflation has “a long way to go,” citing the jobs data.

Speaking at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Powell said the “extraordinarily strong” job figures took the Fed by surprise.

“It kind of shows you why we think this will be a process that takes a significant period of time,” he added.

Still, the Fed has transitioned to a slower pace of rate hikes in recent months, suggesting confidence that the central bank has begun to tame inflation.

Over the next three years, consumers expect inflation to fall to 2.7%, hovering just above the central bank’s target, the New York Federal Reserve found in a survey released on Monday.

The combination of strong hiring and easing inflation has buoyed hopes among some economists that the U.S. could avert a recession.

A report released by the International Monetary Fund last month predicted that U.S. economic growth would cool to 1.4% this year from 2% last year, but it found the U.S. could avoid a downturn.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected recession fears in an interview last Monday with ABC News’ Good Morning America, saying the economy remains “strong and resilient.”

Many consumers, however, remain pessimistic.

Four in 10 Americans say they’re worse off financially since Biden became president, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month. The figure marks the highest share of discontented respondents since the outlets began conducting the poll 37 years ago.

Home sales fell for the 11th consecutive month in December, reaching their lowest rate since November 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell in December, ending the typically busy holiday shopping season with a whimper.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Robots holding platters of plantains and shrimp zoom between tables at Sergio’s, a Cuban restaurant in Miami, where the waist-high machines use artificial intelligence to evade strollers, toddlers and even each other.

The restaurant brought in the androids after the pandemic struck, said Carlos Gazuita, the CEO of the chain restaurant.

People had flocked to Florida, bringing a surge of customers. Waiters though quickly suffered burn out, he said. Sergio’s was struggling to retain staff while an infection could leave Gazuita short a server for as long as two weeks. He said he had to close off sections of some restaurants.

“It was out of desperation,” he said.

The extra help has allowed Gazuita to cut wait staff by as much as 20%, while lightening the load for waiters relieved of carrying food and dishes, he said. The move has also delivered savings, he added, since the robots cost about $2 per hour.

Gazuita said he hopes to add more robots, eventually supplementing dishwashers. He acknowledged, however, the anxiety among some staffers that AI could take away much-needed jobs.

“Could you lose jobs? Maybe,” he said. “But could you pay more to the employees? The balance might overall help people.”

Sergio’s is hardly alone. Coinciding with the tightest U.S. job market in more than a half century, business adoption of AI surged during the pandemic but did not cause job losses, experts told ABC News. While data on the scale of displacement remains limited, they said, anecdotes confirm that the technology cut some positions while creating others.

Still, AI is expected to displace more and more jobs going forward, they added, citing buzzy language bot ChatGPT as a breakthrough that could threaten even white-collar positions. AI will enhance productivity and increase compensation for some jobs but it risks leaving out workers who fail to keep up, they said.

“We’ve seen an increase in AI-related displacement and redefinition of work accelerated during COVID,” Anu Madgavkar, the head of labor market research at the McKinsey Global Institute, told ABC News. “We would expect this to rise going forward.”

“The shift in the demand for work into higher-paid, better-skilled jobs could result in inequality,” she added.

So far, however, AI has fallen short of the disruptive, job-killing force that some observers feared, David Autor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in technological change and the labor force, told ABC News.

He pointed to the near-historic tightness of the job market. Jobs are plentiful despite high-profile layoffs at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter and Goldman Sachs. Last month, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.

As of December, the U.S. economy had 11 million unfilled job openings, government data showed.

“I don’t think there’s been a lot of job displacement yet,” Autor said. “There’s evidence firms are starting to do that. In aggregate, I haven’t seen any direct evidence that it comes to a lot or is even detectable at this point.”

The lack of significant job losses owes to a delay between the discovery of a technology and its effect on the way businesses operate and employees work, he said. The technology needs to advance far enough to reliably improve production, he added, noting that the sector where its impact has been most pronounced — tech — employs relatively few workers.

“There’s usually quite a lag between when a technology exists in the lab and when it has a very big effect on the way that we work,” he said.

But the pandemic turbocharged the adoption of AI, said Madgavkar of the Mckinsey Global Institute.

Companies were forced to adapt to the disruption brought about by health fears, social distancing and supply chain bottlenecks.

“Because of COVID, where you had all sorts of constraints around delivering work in the traditional way, companies and employers got focused on how you automate,” she said.

Artificial intelligence could displace roughly 15% of workers, or 400 million people, worldwide between 2016 and 2030, according to a McKinsey study. In a scenario of wide AI adoption, the share of jobs displaced could rise to as much as 30%, the firm found.

While such dire predictions haven’t materialized yet, the technology poses an imminent threat to the prevalence of accessible, high-quality jobs, said Autor. As AI heightens the demand for workers with advanced training and skills, he added, the technology risks creating a bottleneck with more high-paying jobs at the top but fewer good positions for everyone else.

“The thing we shouldn’t be worried about at present or for quite a while is the quantity of jobs,” he said. “We should be worried about the quality of jobs.”

Rockwell Automation, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based $32 billion company that offers AI products for manufacturers, saw demand spike during the pandemic since supply chain disruptions prompted countries like the U.S. to expand manufacturing within their borders, Dave Vasko, the company’s senior director of advanced technology at Rockwell Automation, told ABC News.

“No doubt, demand has gone up,” he said, noting a shortage of available workers in the manufacturing sector. “Companies are trying to make existing workers more productive.”

Vasko called fears of AI-induced job losses “overblown,” rejecting concerns that the technology could, for instance, make blue-collar jobs in manufacturing unavailable to workers who lack a college degree.

“These are really incremental skills,” he said.

Another company that saw a spike in demand in recent years is Bear Robot, the Silicon Valley-based maker of the robots carrying plates of food at Sergio’s.

Founded in 2017, the company has raised $120 million and employs 250 people, with robots active in roughly 3,000 restaurants, hotels and casinos, said Juan Higueros, a co-founder and chief operating officer.

At the outset of the pandemic, millions of hospitality workers were sent home amid widespread shutdowns. As the industry reopened, many didn’t return. The industry has about two million unfilled positions, government data showed.

Worker shortages have bedeviled the hospitality industry for years, Higueros said.

“When COVID hit, it got tremendously worse,” he added. “It’s a very tiresome and very hard job.”

He said the robots function primarily as a “sidekick” for waiters but acknowledged that they allow managers to staff fewer employees on a given shift, such as overnight, when slow customer traffic may not warrant a large workforce.

Rather than hurt waiters, the robots help make their job easier, Higueros said. No longer required to lift heavy trays of plates and lug the empty dishes back to the kitchen, the servers can focus on providing affable service to a larger number of tables, ensuring the workers more tips, he added.

The robots will make restaurants more profitable and careers in hospitality more sustainable, leading to job creation, Higueros said.

“People will look back and say, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe how we used to do things,'” he said.

In a sense, the purported effect of AI robots on wait staff aligns with a best-case scenario described by Autor: artificial intelligence makes jobs more productive, and in turn more lucrative.

But the adoption of AI throughout the economy — and the adjoining need for skilled jobs — may push a flood of workers without those skills to professions like hospitality, where a glut of applicants could drive down pay, Autor said. At the same time, the tech sector could drive growth in highly paid jobs.

“It becomes very polarized,” he said.

Still, education and skills programs could help workers make the transition, spreading the fruit borne by greater productivity to a larger number of workers. Society will determine how AI gets implemented, Autor said, and, in turn, what it does to the workforce.

“It’s not up to the technology to choose this,” he said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — That old laptop, cellphone and TV remote may have a newfound purpose: powering the next generation of electric vehicles.

Luxury brand Audi recently partnered with Redwood Materials, a battery recycling startup, to collect rechargeable batteries found in everyday consumer devices — phones, hearing aides, electric toothbrushes and video game controllers. At least 10 Audi dealerships in the U.S. have so far opted into the burgeoning program, with more expected to join in the coming months.

Devices dropped off at dealerships are shipped to Redwood’s Nevada facilities for the sorting, recycling and remanufacturing of cobalt and lithium — two minerals required for EV battery production.

Audi is the first automaker to partner with Redwood to “support the collection of household lithium-ion batteries alongside larger EV battery recycling efforts,” according to a spokesperson.

Five percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. last year were EVs, a percentage that will rapidly increase as less expensive models arrive on the market and Americans become more familiar with charging. Growing interest in EVs has accelerated the push for valuable minerals like cobalt, nickel and lithium that are extracted from overseas mines at heavy environmental and humanitarian costs.

Recycling of consumer batteries can reduce the forced extraction of precious minerals and create a domestic supply that meets the government’s and automakers’ EV goals, according to Alexis Georgeson, Redwood’s vice president of government relations and communications.

“The U.S. is one of the largest consumers of lithium-ion devices,” she told ABC News. “Consumers are itching to get rid of these devices. There’s a tremendous opportunity for recycling.”

According to Redwood’s data, Americans throw out 150 million phones each year and less than 5% of devices containing lithium-ion are recycled. Historically, consumers had to pay to ship their used devices to recycling centers, resulting in the “abysmal” recycling rate, Georgeson said. (Redwood offers free shipping but does not reimburse consumers for the cost of the device.)

Redwood says its “technology can recover, on average, more than 95% of materials like nickel, cobalt, copper, aluminum, lithium and graphite in a lithium-ion battery. These materials can then go directly back into the supply chain to make batteries for new electric vehicles and energy storage products.” The company announced on Thursday that it had secured a $2 billion Department of Energy loan to expand its campus and scale domestic battery cell production in the U.S.

Redwood also recycles “end-of-life” battery packs from automakers like Toyota, Ford, Volvo, Volkswagen and Audi. Lithium, nickel and cobalt are extracted and remanufactured into cathode — a core component of an EV battery. Tesla battery supplier Panasonic has partnered with Redwood for remanufactured anode foil — which Redwood makes from scrap taken from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada.

“There is increased demand for automakers to get recycled content into their vehicles,” said Georgeson. “The new EV tax credit is contingent on automakers having domestically sourced their metals — whether that’s mined domestically or recycled domestically. The devices collected could end up back in a new Audi.”

The battery is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, accounting for 30% to 40% of the cost, according to Arun Kumar, a managing director at consulting firm AlixPartners. Raw materials needed for an EV can total $6,719 compared to $2,423 for internal combustion vehicles.

According to a recent AlixPartners survey, 97% of battery electric vehicle (BEV) owners are likely to buy another one.

“Once people buy EVs the loyalty rate is off the charts,” he told ABC News. “There’s no chance these consumers are going back to vehicles with internal combustion engines.”

The U.S. does not want to depend on foreign nations like China to satiate its green ambitions, he argued, adding that it would be “bad” if the U.S. lags in battery capacity and minerals as sales of EVs take off. Recycled materials, however, can only meet 20% of the global demand for cobalt and lithium, Kumar noted.

China owns the largest share of lithium and nickel, according to AlixPartners data, and also controls mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for three-quarters of the world’s mined cobalt supply.

“We have to find mines locally in North America,” Kumar said. “The whole earth has enough materials to support growth in EVs. The extraction of minerals can be safer — we don’t want to degrade the environment.”

Boosting ownership of EVs and building out the nation’s charging infrastructure have become top priorities for the Biden administration. In August the president signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivizes automakers to buy batteries and materials from domestic suppliers and U.S. allies. Half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 will be zero-emissions cars and trucks, according to Biden’s target.

Automakers like Mercedes, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are now investing billions of dollars in battery factories in the U.S. The industry is planning to spend an estimated $1.2 trillion through 2030 to develop and build new battery-powered vehicles, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

Gernot Wagner, a climate economist and professor at Columbia Business School, applauds Redwood for trying to tap into this “large reservoir” of old devices and helping Americans “Marie Kondo” their homes and apartments to better the environment.

“There’s so much demand for these metals right now. Companies are looking anyplace for them,” he told ABC News. “It’s certainly true that many of us have too many old electric devices sitting around that we no longer use and don’t really know what to do with.”

Whether other companies adopt Redwood’s business model will depend on two factors, Wagner pointed out.

“If it pays, there will surely be new entrants. If it doesn’t — or this company is so successful to corner the entire market — there won’t be others,” he said. “Moving from internal combustion engines to EVs is fundamentally a good thing. We’ve got to make EVs work while also minimizing other impacts on the planet. It’s better to recycle than mine from scratch.”

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(NEW YORK) — Outside his packed resume of movie and television credits, Ben Affleck has become famous in meme form with his hands full of Dunkin’ iced coffee, doughnuts and more.

The Quincy, Massachusetts-based coffee chain, beloved by the Boston-raised actor, starred in a Super Bowl ad after weeks of hinting of an upcoming cameo — but a surprise appearance from Jennifer Lopez made the commercial all the better.

Affleck surprised Dunkin’ customers by working the drive-thru, helping local Bostonians get their caffeine fix: “Welcome to Dunkin’, we’re a very friendly establishment. America runs on Dunkin’. This is the Dunkin’ run partner. What do you need?”

In a twist, Lopez, who married Affleck last year, pulled up to the window.

“What are you doing here? Is this what you do when you say you’re going to work all day?” she asks in the commercial.

Earlier this week, the coffee brand posted a close-up shot of a Dunkin’ iced coffee with on-screen text that that read, “Something’s Ben Brewing” and Sunday’s date for Super Bowl LVII.

“Feelin’ like we could all use some Dunkin’ today,” the caption read.

Instagram users filled the comments with a range of ideas as to what it meant, with Affleck the resounding guess by many fans.

A representative for Dunkin’ told ABC News and Good Morning America that the teaser posts were all they could share ahead of the big game.

“We’re airing our first-ever Super Bowl ad this year, but you’ll have to tune in on Sunday to see what’s ‘Ben’ brewing,” Jill Nelson, chief marketing officer, said in a statement.

In the meantime, a photographer snapped a shot of Affleck sporting the black Dunkin’ t-shirt and matching visor complete with a headset as he leaned out the drive-through window of a Boston Dunkin’ location on Jan. 10.

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