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(NEW YORK) — When Tori Mccun found out that her father had suddenly died in June, grief and stress sapped her resolve to write a eulogy, she said. Despite the misgivings of her three sisters, Mccun turned to ChatGPT.

Mccun, 31, a data management specialist at Bloomberg, prompted the textbot to ask questions about her dad, eliciting memories from her and her siblings which she fed back into ChatGPT for a draft speech, she said. After some fine-tuning, Mccun delivered the eulogy and received a glowing response.

Her sisters are still uneasy about the decision to use ChatGPT, Mccun said.

“Engaging something so non-human in such a human moment is hard for people to comprehend,” said Mccun, who lives in New York City.

The disagreement between Mccun and her siblings exemplifies a wider cultural moment. ChatGPT has exploded over the past year, and using the technology has tested norms and raised questions around the importance of authenticity for some of life’s emotional moments, such as wedding vows, apologies and eulogies, according to experts in technology and ethics who spoke with ABC News.

In the coming years, AI could reshape conventions around emotionally charged messages, the experts said.

Generative AI, a category of digital tools that create written or other content, has surged in use since the release of ChatGPT to the public a year ago. The chatbot now boasts more than 100 million weekly users, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Monday.

To be sure, generative AI tools are open to the internet with few guardrails and users who input content into them, including details about loved ones, potentially open themselves up to false information and identity theft.

ChatGPT scans billions of pieces of digital text and uses an algorithm to string words together in response to a human prompt. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The use of ChatGPT for sensitive messages has occasionally stoked controversy. In February, Vanderbilt University apologized for the use of ChatGPT to compose an email to students about a mass shooting at another university.

When venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told 600,000 followers on X last month that he had used ChatGPT to write a rap song for his daughter’s wedding, the post drew both praise and derision.

The phrase “ChatGPT apology” has become social media shorthand in reference to apparently inauthentic expressions of public remorse.

The individuals ABC News spoke to for this story, who said they used ChatGPT for these types of emotional messages, said the technology allowed them to overcome the anxiety induced by a blank page and the expectation of eloquence in high-pressure moments. Startups have launched customized AI tools that help compose intimate notes such as wedding vows.

Melissa Buckley, the owner of a cosmetics business in Reading, Pennsylvania, said she used ChatGPT last month for help writing the script of a 3-minute video congratulating her stepson on his marriage.

“I was really busy at the time because we were moving offices,” Buckley told ABC News. “I just didn’t have the mental capacity to sit down and think about what I wanted to say.”

After providing ChatGPT with details about the task and her stepson, Buckley said the tool produced an AI-written speech from which she pulled out key points and recited them in her own words, she said. The video, she noted, was well received.

“There’s a little bit of stigma that I shortcutted it but it really wasn’t a shortcut,” Buckley said. “ChatGPT is only going to give you what you put into it. If you give it more specifics, that means you personally took the time to put the thought into it.”

Andrea Lynch, who sells eulogy-writing kits with advice for the use of generative AI, said she considers the technology an aid rather than a replacement. She advises clients to adapt the AI-written draft with their own speech patterns.

“I’ve realized that it’s not a substitute for a human being,” Lynch told ABC News. “I think if somebody is really searching for a way to communicate a sentiment and struggling to find the right words, particularly in times of high emotion, they sometimes could use some help.”

But one study suggests that the use of AI in personal messages draws skepticism from recipients. Researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel found that the use of AI for help writing apologies is perceived as less authentic and reduces the likelihood that the author will be forgiven.

The researchers presented participants with a scenario in which a colleague who speaks a different first language uses AI tools, such as translation or sentence completion, to help compose an apology. When given identical apologies, participants who were told that the writer had used the AI tools were less likely to believe that it conveyed genuine emotion.

Omri Asscher, a co-author of the study, said he suspects that the same perception of phoniness would apply to other messages like eulogies and wedding vows.

“The machines are perceived as less capable of doing that emotional work,” Asscher said. “They’re perceived to be faulty in terms of their moral authenticity.”

Differing opinions about the use of ChatGPT for intimate messages touches on a tension between two competing objectives fulfilled by them, Alice MacLachlan, a philosophy professor at Toronto-based York University who specializes in the ethics of apology, told ABC News.

Such communications are expected to be heartfelt expressions of direct emotion but also carefully crafted pieces of writing replete with rhetorical flourish, MacLachlan said.

“On the one hand, if I’m asking AI to write an apology for me, it’s not from my heart — it’s from the mixed-up word salad of a generative language collector,” MacLachlan said. “On the other hand, there’s a sense that an apology is something we craft. We want to do a good job of it.”

Ultimately, generative AI could reshape the way we view intimate communications, just as it has made college professors rethink what they glean from student essays, MacLachlan said.

While using these tools for heartfelt speeches may cause rifts between loved ones, it could also allow less-adept writers to better articulate their deepest feelings, she added.

“It’s unclear anymore how much we can use authored text as a measure of something, whether it’s a learning objective, a change of heart or a declaration of love,” MacLachlan said. “But I like the idea that language has power and that power might be shared more equitably.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden called for unionization across the auto industry and embraced the broader labor movement in an address to members of the United Auto Workers at a car plant in Illinois on Thursday.

Biden, who wore a red T-shirt emblazoned with the UAW logo, hailed the union workers for carrying out a 46-day strike against the automakers that ended with tentative deals last month.

“These deals are game-changers not only for UAW workers but for all workers in America,” said Biden, who in September became the first U.S. president to join workers on a picket line when he visited a UAW protest in Michigan.

“I want to thank you for your commitment to solidarity,” he told the workers on Thursday. “You’re changing the face of the country economically.”

The tentative deals, which must be ratified by union members at each of the respective carmakers, resolved an at-times contentious work stoppage that thrust UAW President Shawn Fain into the national spotlight and drew overwhelming support in public polls.

Tentative agreements struck with Ford, Stellantis and GM each called for a roughly 25% raise over four years, as well as significant improvements on pensions and the right to protest the closure of plants.

The event arrives roughly a year before the 2024 presidential election, which polls suggest is likely to be a repeat of the 2020 contest between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The economy and inflation are top issues for Americans, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

Republicans are more likely to be trusted to do a better job on these two issues, according to the poll: Americans trust Republicans to do a better job handling the economy over Democrats (35%-25%). On inflation, they trust Republicans to do a better job (35%-21%).

As part of its tentative contract ending the strike, Stellantis agreed to reopen the assembly plant in Belvidere, where Biden spoke on Thursday.

Roughly 1,300 workers at the plant lost their jobs when the factory idled in February. Ultimately, the deal to reopen the plant could create 3,000 jobs in Belvidere.

During contract negotiations, Biden said he called Stellantis officials to emphasize the importance of the Belvidere facility. “I got on the phone and let them know personally,” the president said.

Biden commended Fain for his leadership throughout the six-week strike. “Shawn, you’ve done one hell of a job, pal,” Biden said.

“When I called Shawn to congratulate him on this historic deal with the Big 3 automakers, he told me the credit goes to the workers,” Biden added. “It doesn’t hurt to have a leader with a backbone like a ramrod.”

Speaking on Thursday before Biden’s remarks, Fain shared his embrace. He praised Biden for the role his administration played in negotiations between the union and the carmakers. Fain and Biden met privately before speaking at the rally.

“I’m honored to be here today with the president of the United States,” Fain said on Thursday. “I’m grateful for the work shown by the White House throughout this fight.”

“This is a team effort,” Fain added. “They went to work with us and the companies.”

Biden sought to focus on the economy with the friendly crowd at the auto plant but faced a protester at the outset of the remarks who called on the White House to back a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

In recent days, Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a three-day humanitarian pause but has declined to back a cease-fire. Israel agreed to daily four-hour pauses in the fighting, the White House said on Thursday.

“President Biden, you need to call for a cease-fire in Gaza,” a crowd member yelled.

A chorus of boos rose up from the audience in response to the protest, but Biden called on the crowd to remain calm. “Let her go,” he said. “It’s OK.”

Chants from the crowd then drowned out the protest. “We love Joe,” they said. “We love Joe.”

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(NEW YORK) — WeWork, the office-sharing company that experienced a dazzling rise and sudden decline that came to symbolize the excesses of business startup culture, filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

In 2019, the company was valued at $47 billion. By last week, that figure had plummeted to $45 million, with shares of WeWork’s stock falling more than 98% since the beginning of the year.

Creditors holding 92% of the company’s secured debt agreed on a restructuring plan that would include cutting back its portfolio of office leases, WeWork said in a statement on Monday.

“Now is the time for us to pull the future forward by aggressively addressing our legacy leases and dramatically improving our balance sheet,” WeWork CEO David Tolley said in the statement.

Popularized by a charismatic co-founder and fueled by an era of cheap borrowing, WeWork expanded the old-fashioned business of commercial real estate into a vision of transforming the way people work, replete with chic offices offering free beer on tap.

The company met its undoing, however, when a debt-fueled spending spree on leasing office space ran up against insufficient demand from businesses and freelancers, experts told ABC News. The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many office employees worldwide to work from home, only made things worse.

Here’s what caused the WeWork bankruptcy, and what its implications could be.

What is WeWork’s business model?

WeWork’s business model rested on the proposition that the company could lease and refurbish office space, and then rent the properties to companies and freelancers at marked-up rates, Samuel Rosen, a professor of finance at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, told ABC News.

“WeWork is kind of a middleman,” Rosen said. “They take out a giant portfolio of real estate leases, rent it out and make a profit.”

The company currently offers office space at 660 currently open or soon-to-come locations in 119 cities worldwide, according to its website.

As part of its appeal to tenants, WeWork gained a reputation for lavish spending on stylishly designed spaces with worker amenities such as free kombucha and beer, hammocks, and rock-climbing walls.

What’s behind WeWork’s collapse?

WeWork took on tens of billions of dollars in debt to amass its large portfolio of leased office space. As of 2021, Japanese venture firm SoftBank had invested $17 billion in the company, Bloomberg reported.

However, demand for shared office space never reached the level necessary to match the large acquisition WeWork made. That lack of tenants in turn meant WeWork couldn’t offset those losses or make their sizable rent payments on the office space they’d leased, Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan who has studied WeWork, told ABC News.

“They mistakenly thought that signing leases gave them tons of assets,” Gordon said. “There’s tons of empty office space, so having nailed down office space made no sense.”

Since WeWork had taken on debt to fund its lease portfolio, the underperformance gradually pushed the company into bankruptcy.

“It’s the combination of a business model that wasn’t as profitable as originally projected, and a lot of debt,” Rosen said.

What are the implications of WeWork’s bankruptcy?

The bankruptcy of WeWork offers a cautionary tale regarding a period of low interest rates in the 2000s and 2010s that spurred a flood of investment into startups as investors sought novel ventures that could deliver high returns, Gordon said.

When borrowing expenses are low, he added, investors bring less scrutiny to where they put their money.

“It’s a testament to how damaging near-zero interest rates are to the market mechanisms that allocate capital,” Gordon said. “Near-zero interest rates make capital get allocated stupidly.”

Since last year, however, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates at the fastest pace in more than two decades, making borrowing more expensive for businesses and consumers alike.

Christopher Kayes, a professor of management at the George Washington University School of Business, said in a statement: “The fall of WeWork signals that the excesses of the last decades are being put to rest.”

“The cheap money that enabled the financing of companies like WeWork to thrive was the match in the powder keg,” Kayes added.

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(NEW YORK) — Starbucks will raise the hourly pay of U.S. retail employees by 3% at the outset of next year, the company announced on Monday.

The Seattle-based coffee chain operates roughly 17,000 stores in the U.S., providing employees between $15 to $24 per hour in wages and a full benefits package that reaches as much as $27 an hour, Starbucks said.

Starting on Jan. 1, hourly retail employees will receive a raise of at least 3%. Further, workers with two to five years of employment at the company will gain a 4% raise and those with more than five years of experience will earn at least a 5% raise, the company said.

“Investing in our partners is what drives our success,” Sara Trilling, executive vice president and president of Starbucks North America, said in a statement on Monday. “It’s what makes us all partners. And an important way we do this is by investing in our partners’ journey, to bridge to a better future at Starbucks and beyond.”

In addition to the pay increase, Starbucks will reduce the minimum number of days an employee must work in order to qualify for paid vacation benefits, the company said.

The minimum pay raise of 3% falls short of the annual pace of inflation, which stands at 3.7%.

The announcement arrives amid an ongoing union campaign at Starbucks stores nationwide. Since 2021, a union called Starbucks Workers United has organized more than 350 stores employing roughly 9,000 workers.

Alex Yeager, a worker at a Starbucks store in Albany, New York, who belongs to the union, said in a statement to ABC News that he expects the company to provide the raise only at non-unionized stores.

“Once again, Starbucks is responding to our bargaining demands, but they’re implementing them in nonunion stores and denying these new benefits to workers in stores that are unionizing or already voted to join the union,” Yeager said, noting that the union has filed charges with the federal government over previous instances of such conduct by the company.

“This is against the law, and there are already several consolidated charges from the National Labor Relations Board for benefit packages Starbucks has denied union workers — such as credit card tipping — since we started our campaign,” Yeager added.

A labor board judge ruled in September that Starbucks had illegally provided previous pay increases and benefits to non-union employees without offering them to unionized workers. Bloomberg first reported on the ruling.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment about the union’s allegation that the pay increase would only be provided to workers at non-union stores.

In its announcement on Monday, Starbucks said: “The company recognizes changes to wages, benefits, and/or terms and conditions may not be unilaterally implemented for partners in stores with organizing underway and may be subject to collective bargaining in good faith for partners in stores with certified union representation.”

In recent months, Starbucks and the union have publicly clashed over a host of issues, including the Israel-Hamas war.

The company sued Starbucks Workers United last month after the labor organization posted a since-deleted message on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressing solidarity with Palestinians. The message from the union triggered calls to boycott Starbucks, when some appeared to mistake the union’s position for that of the company.

Weeks later, the union posted an additional statement on X standing with Palestinians while condemning the deaths of innocent civilians.

“We are opposed to violence, and each death occurring as the result of violence is a tragedy,” the statement said. “We absolutely condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia.”

The union also filed a countersuit against Starbucks, calling its lawsuit an attempt to damage the union and undermine its organizing efforts.

“We strongly disagree with the views expressed by Workers United, including its local affiliates, union organizers and those who identify as members of ‘Starbucks Workers United’ — none of these groups speak for Starbucks Coffee Company and do not represent our company’s views, positions, or beliefs,” Sara Kelly, executive vice president and chief partner officer at Starbucks, said in the statement.

 

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(NEW YORK) — Tyson Foods is voluntarily recalling almost 30,000 pounds of its dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets due to possible contamination of foreign materials, specifically metal pieces, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Saturday.

The specific items subjected to the recall are for 29-ounce plastic bag packages containing “fully cooked fun nuggets breaded shaped chicken patties” with a best by date of Sept. 2, 2024, according to the USDA. The products were distributed and sold in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin and bear establishment number “P-7211” on the back of the package.

Tyson alerted USDA after receiving complaints from consumers who found small metal pieces in the products, said the agency, which added there has been “one reported minor oral injury” associated with consumption of the food, but no other additional injuries reported so far.

Tyson Foods did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Officials from USDA expressed their concern that some consumers may have some of the chicken nuggets stored in their freezers and are urging them not to consume the products, return the items to the place of purchase or throw them out.

In a press release posted on its website, Tyson Foods said some of its consumers reported they found “small, pliable metal pieces in the product” and the company decided to recall the products “out of an abundance of caution.”

The company also advised purchasers to cut the UPC and date code from the packaging, discard the product and call or text 1-855-382-3101.

Last year, Tyson Fresh Meats recalled about 93,697 pounds of raw ground beef products, saying the items may be contaminated with “extraneous materials, specifically reflective mirror-like material,” USDA announced. At the time, the agency and company told consumers not to eat the contaminated ground beef, however, there were no confirmed reports of injury or illness from the recalled beef.

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(NEW YORK) — Despite a gradual slowdown in investment opportunities for Black businesses, Daymond John is determined to rewrite the narrative through Black Entrepreneurs Day.

John, CEO of FUBU and co-star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” started Black Entrepreneurs Day in 2020 to celebrate innovation and enterprise in the Black community. Black Entrepreneurs Day, which held their annual event Wednesday, says it has awarded more than $750,000 in business grants since 2020.

“The need for resources and community support for our Black businesses remains paramount. I salute our partners who year after year, support our mission to educate and inspire Black entrepreneurs around the globe,” John told ABC News.

In 2020, following George Floyd’s death, Black founders raised a record $4.3 billion in venture capital and corporate investments. However, amid increased market uncertainty, financing for Black businesses dropped by 45%, outpacing the 36% decline in overall VC funding in 2022, CNBC reported.

Nine entrepreneurs were selected to win $25,000 each during Black Entrepreneurs Day’s star-studded event at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. New York City Mayor Eric Adams presented John with an official Black Entrepreneurs Day proclamation.

The winners, representing industries ranging from food to financial services and lawn care, won more than $200,000 through the NAACP Powershift Entrepreneur Grant. Applicants were required to share their visions for their businesses, describe the challenges they’ve faced so far, and explain how they plan to use the grant funding in full.

Ashley Sutton, the Salesforce-sponsored recipient of a $25,000 grant, said she has big plans to revolutionize the greeting cards industry.

“I wanted to dive in headfirst with something that had a personal meaning to me. I wanted to disrupt this $7 billion industry that hasn’t been innovated since pop-ups and music,” Sutton told ABC News.

Sutton created Hustle & Hope in 2019 to do just that. Sutton said her love for greeting cards bloomed through her family’s tradition of giving her special notes for every occasion.

Using her 13 years of marketing expertise, she came up with the idea to merge the digital and physical experience by embedding downloadable guides into her inspirational cards through QR codes. The resources cover a wide range of topics including celebrations, self-care strategies, and dealing with rejection– something Sutton said she is very familiar with as a full-time entrepreneur.

This investment will allow her to expand the Hustle & Hope team and hire an intern, Sutton said.

‘”If I kept track of every ‘no’ I’ve ever gotten, I could probably fund my business,” Sutton said. “But it’s just this unwavering belief in myself. And holding on to this quote from my mom, ‘No means next.’ That keeps me going.”

Lawrence Phillips, another recipient of Black Entrepreneurs Day, said burnout led him to take a risk and quit his lucrative consulting job to travel the world at the height of his career. While navigating 30 countries across seven continents, he said he often found himself nervous about visiting certain areas as a Black man.

“I really could never find a platform that would tell me, from city to city, what it would be like traveling while Black,” Phillips said to ABC News.

By 2018, he launched Green Book Global, a travel platform where users can book trips, read and write reviews, and join a premium membership with discounts and cash-back rewards. Phillips said he drew inspiration from “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” a critical Jim Crow-era guide designed to help Black travelers find safe places accommodations, restaurants, and other services in the United States.

Green Book Global was handpicked by Hilton to receive a $25,000 prize. With this grant, Phillips is all set to overhaul the Green Book Global mobile app and website to make the user experience more seamless.

“Our goal is to increase the confidence and reduce the anxiety of black travelers,” Phillips said. “People don’t always have that many vacation days. They have maybe one or two big trips a year. They don’t have time to have a bad experience. They’re probably going to spend a lot of money, so they want to be sure whatever they encounter is a positive experience.”

He’s excited to build out the company’s community features so users can directly message each other and grow stronger bonds over their excitement for travel.

“It’s empowering, and it adds life to the reviews when you get to know the people behind the posts,” said Phillips. “It’s our hope to drive the company forward and [we] can’t do anything without our community.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC and ABC News.

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(NEW YORK) — A gangbusters job market showed pronounced signs of a slowdown last month, a government report on Friday showed. The fresh data elicited predictions from some economists that hiring could stall by the middle of next year.

The U.S. economy added 150,000 jobs in October, which amounts to solid growth, but only half of the jobs gained during the previous month, the data showed.

Even placed within a wider context, the hiring gains marked a significant drop from the monthly average over the past year.

The unemployment rate last month clocked in at 3.9%, an increase of half a percentage point from a recent low in April. Since that month, an additional 850,000 people are out of work, the report found.

“The job market slowed meaningfully in October,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said in a statement on Friday, adding that the assessment was backed by “all of the key indicators.”

The new data “explains why job seekers and new hires are feeling more stressed out than they have in over a year,” Pollak noted. “Rising financial strain, paired with declining worker leverage, are taking their toll.”

A slowdown in job growth took hold across wide swathes of the U.S. economy, including leisure and hospitality as well as professional and business services.

The apparent loss of momentum applies to the months preceding October, government data showed, noting a downward revision of the hiring estimates for August and September by more than 100,000 jobs.

Lydia Boussour, a senior economist at consulting firm EY, dubbed the job market’s recent performance an “autumn chill.”

The trend will extend beyond fall, Boussour said, predicting that the unemployment rate would jump to nearly 4.5% by the end of next year.

Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar, said he expects the 34-month streak of U.S. job growth to end by the middle of 2024.

The slowdown in hiring last month still amounts to robust job gains. Moreover, in some key sectors, such as health care and government, jobs added in October exceeded the average monthly gains over the past year.

Plus, the overall cooldown in October owes in part to a major auto workers’ strike that remained active last month, accounting to more than 33,000 job losses reflected in the data released on Friday.

Some economists said it remains unclear whether the significant slowdown last month is a one-off blip or a wider trend.

“One tepid jobs report does not a trend make,” Jason Schenker, president of research firm Prestige Economics, said in a statement.

Still, Schenker described the jobs report on Friday as “disappointing,” saying that he expects “more weakness likely lies ahead.”

The jobs data arrives two days after the Federal Reserve opted to leave interest rates unchanged despite stubborn inflation that has fallen from a peak last summer but stalled in recent months at level well above the central bank’s target.

Since last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate at the fastest pace in more than two decades, seeking to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and reducing consumer demand.

In theory, the economy should eventually falter as it becomes more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow. But the economy has largely resisted a cooldown.

Gross domestic product data released last week showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a 4.9% annualized rate over three months ending in September. That breakneck pace more than doubled growth over the previous quarter and reinforced other recent indicators of sturdy performance.

Observers, however, point to a rapid rise in U.S. government bond yields over recent weeks as evidence that the Fed’s rate hikes have elevated long-term borrowing costs for consumers seeking mortgage loans and corporations pursuing funds to expand their businesses.

Pollak, of ZipRecruiter, attributed the cooldown in hiring to the interest rate increases and the spike in borrowing expenses.

“The good news is that this slowdown is not due to economic fundamentals, but rather due to careful orchestration by the Fed,” Pollak said. “If it turns out that the Fed and bond markets have gone too far, the Fed holds the keys to turning that around.”

 

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(NEW YORK) — A jury has found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on all charges in his federal fraud and conspiracy trial.

The jury deliberated for a little over four hours before reaching a verdict on Thursday.

“We will have decorum in the courtroom when the verdict is announced,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said before the reading.

Bankman-Fried, 31, sat motionless at the defense table in an ill-fitting grey suit. He was made to stand and face the jury for the reading. He showed no emotion.

Bankman-Fried was charged with seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in what federal prosecutors have described as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”

He was accused of using customer deposits on the crypto trading platform FTX to cover losses at his hedge fund, pay off loans and buy lavish real estate, among other personal expenses.

He pleaded not guilty to all counts. With the conviction on all charges, he could face a sentence of up to 110 years in prison. His sentencing was scheduled for March 28, 2024.

As he exited the Manhattan federal courtroom Thursday night, he turned to look at his parents. His mother put her hand over her chest in a farewell gesture, while his father put his arm around her.

With his head down, Bankman-Fried appeared overcome with emotion as he stood between his lawyers, who seemed to comfort him. He nodded slightly as defense attorneys Marc Cohen and Chris Everdell spoke quietly in his ear.

Cohen said in a statement that Bankman-Fried “maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him.”

“We respect the jury’s decision. But we are very disappointed with the result,” Cohen said.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the verdict sends a message “to every single fraudster out there who thinks that they’re untouchable.”

“Those folks should think again. And if they don’t I promise we’ll have enough handcuffs for all of them,” Williams said.

Judge Kaplan said a second trial of counts that had been severed is currently scheduled for March 11, 2024.

“I would tell the government to let me know by Feb. 1 whether that’s going to proceed,” the judge said.

Bankman-Fried stepped down from his role at FTX in November 2022 amid a rapid collapse that ended with the company — once valued at $32 billion at its peak — declaring bankruptcy. Prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried the following month with an array of alleged crimes focused on a scheme to defraud investors.

During the month-long trial, the prosecution laid out the case that this was an elaborate and intentional fraud, while the defense tried to deflect blame for the FTX collapse and characterized Bankman-Fried as a naïve math geek.

While testifying in his own defense, Bankman-Fried conceded on the witness stand that he made mistakes but said he committed no fraud.

Bankman-Fried also testified that he only learned two months before FTX collapsed into bankruptcy that Alameda had spent $8 billion of FTX customer funds.

Caroline Ellison, the former co-chief executive of Alameda and Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend, previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges and testified under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. She has testified that she committed fraud with Bankman-Fried and at his direction.

Ellison additionally testified that Bankman-Fried believed in utilitarianism and thought rules against lying or stealing inhibited his ability to maximize the greatest benefit for the most people.

FTX co-founder Gary Wang also admitted to committing wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud with other people, including Bankman-Fried, during his testimony. Wang agreed to testify under an agreement with the government after previously pleading guilty to fraud charges.

ABC News’ Mark Guarino contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The cost of doing business in California could soon be slightly more expensive with minimum wages set to increase in April. But what does that mean for menu prices at fast food restaurants that employ hourly workers?

A spokesperson for Chipotle confirmed to ABC News Thursday that as of now, the company has “not made a decision to raise prices in California to offset the anticipated labor increase in California next year.”

However, on the company’s most recent earnings call, CFO Jack Hartung addressed that labor cost changes will impact Chipotle’s margins.

“We’ve been studying that… it’s going to be a pretty significant increase to our labor,” he said.

“We haven’t made a decision on exactly what level of pricing we’re going to take, but to take care of the dollar cost of that and/or the margin part of that, we haven’t decided yet where we will land,” he continued. “It’s going to be a mid to high single digit price increase, but we are definitely going to pass this on. We just haven’t made a final decision as to what level yet.”

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, meanwhile, addressed the same issue on his company’s Q3 earnings call Monday, saying it “is an impact that’s going to hit all of our competitors” and that McDonald’s will explore other areas outside of raising prices to offset increased labor costs, which is ultimately at the discretion of franchisees, and can vary by location.

“There is going to be a wage impact for our California franchisees. I don’t think, at this point, we can say exactly how much of that is going to work its way in through pricing,” Kempczinski said. “Certainly, there’s going to be some element of that, that does need to be worked through with higher pricing. There’s also going to be things that I know the franchisees and our teams there are going to be looking at around productivity.”

He added that in longer term discussions with franchisees, McDonald’s sees this as “an opportunity for us to gain share.”

“We believe we’re in a better position than our competitors to weather this. And so let’s use this as an opportunity to actually accelerate our growth in California,” Kempczinski said.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s told ABC News this week, “The assertion that raising prices is the only way the company is responding to wage increases is inaccurate.”

The wage legislation in question, AB 1228, was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in late September, and “authorized the Fast Food Council to set fast-food restaurant standards for minimum wage, and develop proposals for other working conditions, including health and safety standards and training.”

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(NEW YORK) — DoorDash is testing a new notification it hopes will encourage customers to leave a tip for delivery drivers.

The delivery giant is rolling out a message to some of its app users that states, “Orders with no tip might take longer to get delivered — are you sure you want to continue?”

“While the vast majority of customers do leave a tip, offers that don’t include a tip can be seen as less desirable — this impacts our entire community, leading to longer wait times for customers, orders sitting longer at merchants, and less value for Dashers,” the company said in a statement.

“I think DoorDash should pay their drivers more and meet their customers, their clientele in the middle,” David Slyder, who has been a DoorDash driver for nearly three years, told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “We use our own vehicles. We put our own gas.”

The move comes four months after a viral video showed a former DoorDash delivery man who was offended by a tip and yelled an expletive at the customer at her home.

Tipping has increased in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that left restaurants reeling for every penny following the government shutdowns; expensive safety protocols and changes; rising food costs; supply chain hurdles; and other factors that raised the overall cost of eating out.

Square, a financial services platform developed by Block, Inc., previously told ABC News that tipping has skyrocketed across the board during the COVID-19 pandemic with tips up over 25% at restaurants and nearly 17% at quick service establishments in 2022.

But even as tip and fee fatigue has grown for some consumers, tipping prompts are popping up in more places.

“COVID caused people to be willing to tip more — but that increase in tipping kind of communicated to businesses, ‘Hey, consumers are willing to tip more. Let’s start asking for it,'” Mike Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University, told GMA.

DoorDash also reiterated that service fees and tips are separate.

“Those fees are shown to the customer before they decide what to tip. It varies by order. Our fees won’t change based on whether a customer does or doesn’t tip, separate thing entirely,” the DoorDash representative said.

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