ChatGPT recently passed the Turing test, a remarkable experiment devised to test whether humans can tell a computer apart from a human being through conversation alone. And with the rate technology is progressing, it won’t be too long before you won’t be able to tell a real person apart from an android soon, either — although progress is still in the “creepy” stage at the moment. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Putting skin in the game" comment="subhead" text="Putting skin in the game">Putting skin in the game</cmsannotation> <keyword id="22204691" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-skin" source="keywords">Artificial skin</keyword> has been the holy grail for robotics, considering that scientists and sci-fi artists have a weird urge to make robots appear more human-like. However, the challenge has always been ensuring this skin stays put. Previous attempts such as the usage of "anchors" resulted in unsightly lumps under the skin, compromising the robot's appearance. However, we might have a new game-changer now. Japanese researchers have pioneered a method where the robot's skeleton is peppered with tiny holes. Into these holes, the artificially grown skin extends V-shaped hooks, keeping it snugly in place while maintaining a smooth and flexible surface. This ingenious solution prevents the skin from sagging and retains its lifelike appearance. <div type="Youtube" id="Arh-fkTMkn0" title="Smiling robot face is made from living human skin cells" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Arh-fkTMkn0/mqdefault.jpg"><url><![CDATA[https://youtu.be/Arh-fkTMkn0?si=LawuhRCI_ox8zdpi]]></url></div> Further, the robot’s skeleton is treated with water-vapour plasma to make it hydrophilic, attracting the skin's gel deeper into the holes for a firmer attachment. And yes, this means a robot probably has a better moisturising routine than you. This way of attaching the skin to the robot not only makes the skin more lifelike but also self-repairing — just like our skin! When the skin sustains a cut or scrape, the cultured skin cells can regenerate, mending the damage without external intervention. As a result, minor tears are autonomously repaired, maintaining the robot's smooth and lifelike appearance, and significantly reducing the need for manual maintenance. While the speed of this self-healing process is yet to be quantified, the potential benefits are enormous. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A spooky demo" comment="subhead" text="A spooky demo">A spooky demo</cmsannotation> In a fascinating yet eerie demonstration, researchers recreated the subtle changes in human skin when smiling. By connecting the artificial skin to a robotic face with a silicone layer beneath, they achieved “inflating cheeks,” mimicking the natural movement of human muscles. The skin seamlessly fitted the 3D mould of a face, with no protruding bolts or hooks. However, more challenges exist. "Firstly, we need to enhance the durability and longevity of the cultured skin when applied to robots, particularly by addressing issues related to nutrient and moisture supply," explained study researcher Shoji Takeuchi. "This could involve developing integrated blood vessels or other perfusion systems within the skin." Improving the mechanical strength of the skin to match natural human skin is also critical. This requires optimising the collagen structure within the cultured skin. Additionally, future artificial skin will need to convey sensory information such as temperature and touch and resist biological contamination. The implications of this research extend beyond creating <keyword id="22204698" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lifelike-robots" source="keywords">lifelike robots</keyword>. Understanding how facial muscles convey emotion could drive breakthroughs in treating facial paralysis and expand capabilities in cosmetic and orthopaedic surgery. The future of robotics looks more human than ever, and it’s a future that’s closer than we think. The findings of this research have been published in Cell Reports Physical Science and can be accessed <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/fulltext/S2666-3864(24)00335-7?utm_campaign=Press%20Package&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8dGvAdSt0-OYX3KAk9bxxoOAsD9WdZTQmtsNR76Hj4j0I8dNvnePecPlvdpBB_5kqAdbM7ttDxYiNv3j7dgbU65vgtT0QiiqQeQtgBXmpNCbjzk8g&amp;_hsmi=312632330&amp;utm_content=312632330&amp;utm_source=hs_email">here</a>.

Scientists have created robo-skin out of living human cells that can make expressions — and the results are creepy

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53d02cf4ecad043c2863f4c7-1200-924/senior-elderly-soccer-players-2.png" border="0" alt="senior elderly soccer players" />REUTERS/Mariana BazoSenior soccer players take part in a match at a soccer field in Miraflores, in Lima, June 19, 2014. Senior players, aged from 60 to 90, play weekly in a program organized by the municipality to promote activities for older adults. Picture taken June 19, 2014. </div></div></div>FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.
<a href="http://live.wsj.com/?category=barrons-mostrecent&amp;mod=BOL_hp_video#!1974CBB9-514E-4FFA-93B7-CF3FEA2544ED">Investors Should Look For Managers With Skin In The Game</a> (Barron's)
In a video interview with Barron's Jack Otter, Chris Davis, chairman at Davis Funds explained his philosophy on investing in businesses rather than stocks, such as Bank of New York and Google.
"When we buy a business, we aren't thinking 'What's our exit strategy?" or "Are we going to find a greater fool to sell this business to at a greater price?" We're thinking about our return being driven, determined, by the cash flows produced by that business," Davis said. "Imagine buying an apartment building for $1 million and it produced $70,000 of income. You'd say, 'I've got a 7% return.' Now, a few years later, that was up to $100,000, you'd say 'I'm getting a 10% return.' You wouldn't debase your return on what you could sell the apartment building for every day. You'd look at the cash to generate the return. And that's how we look at the businesses we invest in."
Davis said another bad idea is to entrust your investments to a fund manager that has no skin in the game. "Can you imagine a client giving us money to invest and our investing it in companies where the CEOs didn't own any stock in the companies that they're entrusted to manage? And yet just like you say, 47% of domestic equity managers don't have a single dollar in the funds that they manage. And by the way, only 12% have more than a million dollars invested alongside their clients," Davis said.
"We want to be with owner operators, we want managements that have skin in the game, we want our incentives to be aligned. That's a critical tenet when we look at companies, why shouldn't that be a critical tenet when we look at an investment manager," David said.
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/voices-kevin-clark-on-helping-clients-manage-their-401-k-s-1406127045">How Advisors Can More Easily Advise Clients On Their 401(k)s</a> (Wall Street Journal)
Advising clients on their 401(k)s can be cumbersome, however, a Schwab study showed that almost 60% of clients with a defined contribution plan are seeking advice. Kevin Clark from Quintessential Retirement Services wrote in the WSJ that it's important for advisors to take responsibility for these needs.
"So I think that advisers have a choice, really: they can simply surrender to those robo-advisers or find a way to automate the 401(k) advising process with technology of their own," Clark said. "There are a host of powerful software options out there that are helping advisers deliver information to clients more efficiently. Many allow you to load in your allocation strategy, and using their algorithms and fund information, the programs tailor advice to clients' individual 401(k)s. That means no more pie charts or time-consuming research."
"Advisers need to be far more active in the 401(k) advising space and now, with this kind of technology available, there's really no reason for them not to be. Clients are asking for this advice and it's only reasonable that it be available from someone they not only trust, but someone who also understands the role of their 401(k)s in the context of their larger financial picture," he said.
<a href="http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20140723/FREE/140729961">Money Fund Reforms Passed By The SEC May Not Be Enough</a> (InvestmentNews)
The SEC has passed reforms on money market funds in an attempt to strengthen the financial system and increase transparency. "Among the reforms, which passed on a 3-2 vote, money market funds that serve institutional clients and invest in private debt will now be required to let their share price fluctuate from $1 a share," wrote Trevor Hunnicutt at InvestmentNews. But some industry experts are skeptical about the reform's impacts.
"Many investors use money-market funds as a way to park cash they don't want to invest in risky assets but near-zero interest rates have depressed the yields on the funds. That, combined with the reform efforts, have led some fund firms to start pitching other products, like very short-term debt funds, as alternatives to money market funds," Hunnicutt said. 
"In an interview after the commission meeting, Jerome M. Schneider, a portfolio manager for the Pacific Investment Management Co., said that interest in the firm's actively managed short-term debt products has been driven in part by institutional investors reconsidering their allocations to money market funds since the Reserve Primary Fund "broke the buck" in Sept. 2008. He said the firm may consider other products as a result of the change to a floating net asset value," Hunnicutt wrote.
<a href="http://www.financial-planning.com/news/iras_401k/supreme-court-cuts-bankruptcy-exemption-2689883-1.html">How To Protect The IRAs Your Clients Pass On To Their Heirs </a>(Financial Planning)
Under a June Supreme Court ruling, inherited IRAs are not protected in bankruptcy. This means that your clients' heirs could lose their IRAs if they run into financial problems. Ed Slott from Financial Planning gave a couple suggestions on how to protect these IRAs once they are passed on.
"For clients in states with no inherited IRA protection, there are other approaches that advisors might use. Perhaps the most obvious, especially in situations where bankruptcy or general creditor protection for your clients' beneficiaries is a major concern, is to name a trust as the IRA beneficiary," Slott said. "If a trust is drafted properly, it can help shield assets from the trust beneficiaries' creditors, while still allowing the trust to stretch distributions from the inherited IRA over the life expectancy of the oldest trust beneficiary."
"If your clients do not need all or a portion of their IRA for retirement purposes, another option is to use some of the IRA money to buy life insurance and leave the insurance to a trust. Life insurance is, for a host of reasons, a much more trust-friendly asset than an IRA or Roth IRA, and life insurance proceeds are generally tax free - reducing the impact of the trust tax rates," he said.
<a href="http://wealthmanagement.com/college-planning/raid-your-kids-college-savings-sometimes-it-ok">When It's Acceptable To Dip Into Your Child's College Savings</a> (Wealth Management)
With the costs of college rising, parents need to plan ahead for their children's education. However, Chris Taylor from Reuters wrote that dipping into 529 plans isn't always a horrible thing, and is preferable to spending from a retirement account. "With non-qualified distributions, in most cases you are looking at a 10 percent penalty on earnings. Withdrawn earnings will also be treated as income on your tax return, and if you took a state tax deduction on the original money, withdrawn contributions often count as income as well," Taylor said.
"Not ideal, of course. But if your other option for emergency funds is to raid your own retirement accounts, tapping college savings is a last-ditch avenue to consider. Not only because you do not want to blow up your own nest egg but because it could make relative tax sense. As the saying goes, you can borrow money for college, but not for retirement," he said.

Investors Should Look For Fund Managers With Skin In The Game

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="30859" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="loneliness">Loneliness</keyword> can trigger cravings for social interaction in your brain just as hunger causes cravings for food, according to new research from MIT.</li><li>Researchers found for an isolated person, a picture of people laughing together caused the same areas of the brain to light up as when a hungry person looked at a big plate of pasta. </li><li>Some people were more susceptible to loneliness than others, according to the study. </li></ul>As pandemic precautions have forced many to cancel their Thanksgiving plans, you may find yourself craving companionship as much as that pumpkin pie. That's because parts of the brain respond to loneliness much like they react to hunger, according to a study published this week in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00742-z">Nature Neuroscience</a>. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Salk Institute scanned the brains of 40 healthy, social young adults after 10 hours of either fasting or social isolation. They found that after being alone, participants' neurological responses to social cues were similar to hungry people reacting to food — that is, certain areas of the brain linked to cravings were activated.For an isolated person, a picture of people laughing together caused the same areas of the brain to light up as when a hungry person looked at a big plate of pasta. That suggests that our brain considers social interaction to be a basic need, just as our bodies need food to survive, said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of <keyword id="6363047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="psychology">psychology</keyword> and neuroscience at Brigham Young University who was not affiliated with the study. "Just like hunger is this unpleasant sensation but it motivates you to seek out food, and thirst motivates you to seek out water, that loneliness is a biological need that motivates us to reconnect to others," Holt-Lunstad told Insider.<h2>Lonely people may crave company more than food</h2>Researchers were surprised to find that people deprived of socializing became much more focused on that need, and less reactive to hunger. As their loneliness increased, they became less responsive to images of food.That was unexpected because previous research has found both people and animals will sometimes 'substitute' unmet needs with other forms of reward. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29334694/">One recent study</a>, for instance, found that isolated rodents tended to eat more, possibly using the positive effect of food to compensate for a lack of social interaction. Research suggests this may also explain why <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17470919.2019.1694580?journalCode=psns20">people in isolation can be more vulnerable to addiction</a>. These latest findings suggest that the relationship between food and loneliness might be more complicated than we thought, despite the popular notion of stress-eating to cope with social isolation. More research is needed to understand the complex ways people deal with loneliness. Perhaps less surprisingly, though, this latest study also found that hungry people were less responsive to images of socializing. That suggests being 'hangry' (a combination of hungry and angry) is a real thing, since people really do become anti-social when they need a snack. <h2>Some people may be more vulnerable to loneliness than others</h2>There are some limitations to this type of research. Loneliness is subjective, and some people may be more prone to it than others. In this study, several participants reported not feeling lonely after 10 hours of isolation, whereas nearly everyone experienced some form of hunger craving after 10 hours of fasting.That may have to do with participants' unique social habits. People who reported having a more active social life had a more severe response to isolation that those who were more accustomed to spending time alone. In this study, participants were also aware that their isolation would end after the 10 hours, so it's also hard to tell what these findings mean for longer or more severe bouts of social isolation. Real-world loneliness is difficult to quantify, and it can be difficult to mimic in studies for ethical reasons, since long periods of isolation can have negative <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-loneliness-affects-your-health-2019-2">effects on physical and mental health</a>. Older adults have an especially <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.html#:~:text=Older%20adults%20are%20at%20increased,the%20amount%20of%20social%20contact.">high risk for loneliness,</a> and many of them are living through the pandemic in social isolation. Senior living communities have gotten creative to promote safe social contact, with solutions <a href="https://www.abc27.com/news/new-jersey-mom-creates-hug-wall-for-loved-ones-during-pandemic/">like a "hugging wall"</a> made of a clear, plastic shower curtain.<h2>Solving loneliness isn't as simple as having a snack</h2>While studies like this one can help scientists understand how the brain processes loneliness, and possibly mitigate the negative consequences, people are unique and need varying levels of social interactions to meet their needs.So, while loneliness may be similar to hunger, fixing it isn't as easy as serving someone a hearty dinner. But science is trying. Researchers are now studying whether virtual interactions, such as Zoom calls, can help satisfy social cravings. Holt-Lunstad has also observed a wave of technologies designed to combat loneliness, from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2020.1758906">fuzzy robo-pets</a> to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/this-pale-sweaty-robot-hand-wants-to-take-romantic-walks-with-you/">disembodied hands</a> that squeeze back. These interventions have had varying degrees of success in improving wellbeing, but they all demonstrate a collective need for connecting with others, she said."Right now, it feels like we are all very thirsty, and yet the water is not safe to drink."Read more:<a href="https://www.insider.com/people-less-lonely-if-they-have-empathy-compassion-wisdom-study-2020-9">People are less lonely when they embrace uncertainty and feel empathy, a study found</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/people-have-skin-hunger-after-months-without-touching-anyone-2020-6?utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=sf-bi-science&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;fbclid=IwAR2s2_Ib1wlTi6Ygb9ddthZSgihIufVW_c9O-XjBNNmXWnOMQGO5gMdoiHgMQGO5gMdoiHg">People are experiencing 'skin hunger' after months without touching anyone</a>

When you're lonely, your brain craves social interaction like it desires food, according to new research

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Insider asked vets to answer common questions about <keyword id="1310971" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="hamsters">hamsters</keyword>.</li><li>Hamsters will eat their own babies if frightened.</li><li>They can fit almost a quarter of their body size in their cheeks.</li></ul>Hamsters may be tiny, but they're hugely popular <keyword id="6358374" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pets">pets</keyword>.These little rodents can make ideal companions for people with small spaces and families with children, but caring for them isn't always straightforward.Here are the <a href="https://www.insider.com/vets-answer-questions-about-cats-you-are-afraid-to-ask">answers to common questions</a> about hamsters, <a href="https://www.insider.com/important-things-every-pet-owner-should-know-according-to-vets">courtesy of veterinarians</a>:<h2>Will startled hamsters really eat their own young?</h2>Veterinarian <a href="http://www.gregrichdvm.com/">Gregory Rich</a> of the Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital of Louisiana told Insider that hamsters do kill or eat their young in certain situations. "Both male and female hamsters have been known to kill or eat their pups if the parent feels they are in danger or that the nest is being bothered too much," said Rich. This aggressive behavior can be triggered by the presence of larger pets or unfamiliar humans, so it's important to keep nesting hamsters isolated from loud noises and curious visitors.<h2>Are <keyword id="1254263" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hamster">hamster</keyword> balls and wheels actually safe and enjoyable for hamsters?</h2><div type="image" title="Running hamster in wheel" height="2074" width="2766" msid="83753656" hostid="261"></div>"Hamster balls are an extremely safe and fun way for hamsters to get exercise and stay fit," said Rich. "If the cage is big enough, hamster wheels are also beneficial."Rich added that it's important to make sure the ball or wheel is designed specifically for hamsters, and not other rodents like guinea pigs or mice. <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-every-dog-owner-should-be-doing-for-their-pets-vets">When shopping for a ball or wheel</a>, make sure it's large enough for your hamster to use without severely arching its back.<h2>Do you need to trim your hamster's nails? </h2>Overgrown hamster nails can interfere with normal grooming, eating, and mobility.Rich told Insider that hamsters with fast-growing nails may need to have them clipped. However, hamster manicures are best left to the pros. "Since their toes and feet are so small, their bones can be easily broken," said Rich. "I'd recommend asking a veterinarian familiar with small mammals to perform a nail trim."If you do decide to trim your hamster's nails yourself, consult with your veterinarian to learn the best way to do it safely.<h2>Is it okay to leave your hamster alone for a day or two? </h2><div type="image" title="Hamster alone in cage/" height="2265" width="3020" msid="83753658" hostid="261"></div>If you're considering an overnight trip or a weekend away, you may be wondering whether it's okay to leave your <keyword id="6360916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pet">pet</keyword> home alone. "Hamsters do just fine being left alone for one or two days," said Rich. "If you'll be gone longer than that, I'd recommend having a friend or neighbor look after your hamster." It is vital to make sure your hamster's water supply won't be compromised while you're away. Water bowls can be knocked over or stuffed with bedding, and bottles can malfunction or drip constantly until they are empty.<h2>How can you tell if your hamster is overweight or underweight? </h2>If a hamster takes in too many calories or doesn't get enough exercise, it can become overweight. "One clue that your hamster is overweight is that they aren't able to ball up to sleep comfortably," Rich told Insider. On the other hand, a sick or underfed hamster will often look emaciated."If a hamster's eyes appear sunken or the rib cage can be easily seen, that's considered evidence of unhealthy weight loss," said Rich.<h2>Do hamsters need regular vet visits? </h2><div type="image" title="Hamster in cage." height="4284" width="5712" msid="83753669" hostid="261"></div>Just like larger pets, hamsters benefit from regular wellness checks. "Yearly to semi-annual veterinary visits are highly recommended for hamsters and other rodents," said Rich. "Hamsters are prone to tumors and dental problems, so it's important to have them regularly examined."Veterinary checks for hamsters generally involve examining the position of the incisors, palpating the abdomen for tumors, and assessing their skin and coat for evidence of ringworm or mites.<h2>Are some hamster breeds friendlier than others?</h2>A hamster's breed affects more than its size and coat color. "Some breeds are actually more friendly than others," said Rich. "Teddy Bear and Robo hamsters tend to be the most tame, but some Chinese and Syrian hamsters can make very sweet and attentive pets."The most popular pet hamster breeds include Syrian or Golden, Chinese, Campbell's Russian, Winter White, and Roborovski. Talk to a veterinarian or pet-shop employee for guidance on which breed might be right for you.<h2>Can you keep two hamsters together in the same cage? </h2><div type="image" title="sleeping hamsters" height="2448" width="3264" msid="83753679" hostid="261"></div>Hamsters may be small, but that doesn't mean they don't appreciate having personal space. "Two hamsters can sometimes get along, but two males or two females in the same cage often fight as a form of territorial behavior," said Rich. According to <a href="https://petopedia.petscorner.co.uk/syrian-hamsters/">Petopedia</a>, Syrian hamsters, in particular, prefer to live alone. It's also important to remember that keeping hamsters of different sexes in the same cage will likely result in a litter of hamster pups. <h2>Can you feed your hamster leftover vegetables or fruits?</h2>The bulk of a hamster's diet should be hamster food. But giving your hamster a nibble of your leftover salad is usually okay. "Hamsters can and will eat leafy greens, carrot slices, apples, nuts, and other salad-type food," said Rich. When offering fruits and vegetables to hamsters, make sure they are fresh and thoroughly washed. <a href="https://www.insider.com/mistakes-youre-making-when-feeding-your-pets-according-to-vets-2019-12">Do not feed</a> your hamster <a href="https://hamsters101.com/hamsters-dangerous-foods/">onion or garlic</a>, as these foods contain a substance that can interfere with a hamster's red blood cells. Hamsters should also never be given food with sauce, spices, or dressing.<h2>Can you keep a hamster in a cage with another type of rodent?</h2><div type="image" title="Hamster peeking out of cage." height="1936" width="2581" msid="83753685" hostid="261"></div>Veterinarian Sara Ochoa, consultant for <a href="http://doglab.com/">DogLab</a>, told Insider that it's a bad idea to place your hamster in the same cage as a rabbit, guinea pig, rat, or other rodent. "Different rodents have different dietary and habitat needs," said Ochoa. "Keeping two different species together may result in aggression and injury."Rich also noted that rats and mice may carry viruses or bacteria that can be passed on to hamsters, so keeping your small pets in separate habitats is a safer choice.<h2>How much food can a hamster keep in its cheeks?</h2>Hamsters are famed for their ability to pack their cheeks with seemingly endless amounts of food. "Hamsters can actually store about 20% of their body size in their cheeks," said Ochoa. Those cheeks are more than just roomy - hamsters have special <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-hamsters-stuff-so-much-food-in-cheeks-2018-5">retractor muscles</a> in their cheeks that help them reorient food inside their mouths, allowing them to pack in as much as possible. <h2>What do you do if your hamster's teeth grow too long? </h2><div type="image" title="Hamster biting on cage." height="3077" width="4103" msid="83753695" hostid="261"></div>Hamsters love to chew, and this constant gnawing normally helps keep their teeth at a healthy length. But if your hamster's teeth get too long, Ochoa said, you should never try to trim them at home. "Hamster teeth should only be trimmed by a vet," she told Insider. "Doing it yourself can cause the tooth to split vertically and may cause a lot of dental problems."<h2>Do hamsters actually bond with their owners?</h2>Like many rodents, hamsters have relatively poor eyesight. Despite this, they may be able to differentiate between people. "Hamsters do recognize people in the family and know which human handles them the most," said Ochoa. "This is probably due to scent rather than recognizing faces."Thanks to their sensitive hearing, a hamster may also be able to <a href="https://www.insider.com/vets-reveal-how-can-i-tell-if-my-dog-likes-me-signs">recognize the voice of its owner</a>.

Vets answer 13 questions about hamsters you've always wanted to ask

Hello, and welcome to this Wednesday's edition of the Insider Tech newsletter, where we break down the biggest news in tech.<h4><a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Get Insider Tech straight in your inbox by subscribing here.</a></h4><h2>This week: Good news turns tech upside down as <keyword id="191583" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jeff-Bezos">Jeff Bezos</keyword> looks for new friends</h2>In just a few days, the sunny land of tech has been jolted by a series of destabilizing forces. Just as tech investors were sorting out the implications of a Joe Biden presidency, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-pfizer-vaccine-90-percent-efficacy-rate-extraordinary-2020-11">Pfizer's November surprise</a> of a coronavirus vaccine turned everything upside down.Suddenly, the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/zoom-video-stock-price-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-success-telework-zm-2020-11-1029781479?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">champions of the stay-at-home era</a> — from Zoom to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/netflix-stock-price-at-home-stocks-dive-positive-vaccine-news-2020-11-1029782305">Netflix</a> to <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> — looked less invincible. And the dogs of the pandemic came out of hibernation, ready to party.<ul><li>Yelp, whose business depends on people going to restaurants, saw its stock surge more than 19% on Monday.</li><li>Lyft, which offers ride-hailing but not food deliveries, enjoyed a 26% pop in its share price.</li></ul>Even if the celebrations of Pfizer's vaccine results prove premature (the results are based on an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/unanswered-questions-about-pfizers-coronavirus-vaccine-what-we-dont-know-2020-11">ongoing trial with plenty of unanswered questions</a>), some of the major trends and assumptions that have shaped the tech market are now in flux.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eu-antitrust-complaint-amazon-marketplace-jeff-bezos-fines-2020-11">The European Commission's antitrust charges against Amazon</a> filed on Tuesday represent the most significant regulatory threat the e-commerce giant has faced in its 26 years.<ul><li>If Amazon loses the case, it could be fined 10% of its revenue, which would be about $28 billion. More importantly, Jeff Bezos' "Everything Store" could see its influence and power in commerce severely constrained.</li><li>With Amazon under threat in Europe, Bezos needs a friend: After years of clashing with Trump, Bezos <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-congratulates-joe-biden-kamala-harris-victory-2020-11">rushed to congratulate Biden</a> on winning the election — but it's not at all clear that Biden has the same <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-joe-bidens-tax-plan-could-mean-for-big-businesses-2020-11">warm, fuzzy feelings for Bezos or Amazon</a>. (The president-elect has blasted both, saying they don't not pay enough in taxes.)</li></ul><div type="image" title="China phone" height="2000" width="3000" msid="79177453" hostid="261"></div>China's decision to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-ant-group-ipo-jack-ma-alipay-2020-11">put the kibosh on Ant Group's $37 billion initial public offering</a> presaged what appears to be a larger clampdown by China on its homegrown tech companies.<ul><li>This week, China <a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3109188/china-drafts-new-antitrust-guideline-rein-tech-giants">published draft antitrust guidelines</a> directed at reining in tech platforms like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com. It's a surprising turn of events given China's history of protecting its tech companies.</li><li>What does it mean for the ongoing US-China tech Cold War? If nothing else, China is now in a similarly awkward position as the US, cracking down on its tech companies on the home front, while fighting for their interests abroad.</li></ul>And <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-apple-macbook-event-november-live-blog-apple-silicon-mac-2020-11">Apple's newly unveiled M1 microprocessors</a> carry a symbolic power that could resonate beyond the Mac computers that house them.<ul><li>Apple's chip switch underscores the shake-up happening in the silicon industry that powers all our gadgets and apps. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arms-president-nvidia-merger-same-business-model-2020-10">Nvidia is about to acquire Arm</a>. And for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-amd-nvidia-chip-manufacturing-moores-law-fabless-2020-11">Intel, the onetime king of the chip realm</a>, there's no more denying the need for a corporate reinvention in the vein of Satya Nadella's Microsoft reboot.</li></ul><h2>Tech-tonic shifts</h2><div type="image" title="Larry Page Eric Schmidt" height="2557" width="3835" msid="79177459" hostid="261"></div>On the block: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-might-sell-boston-dynamics-robot-dog-spot-hyundai-2020-11">SoftBank is looking to sell Boston Dynamics</a>, the maker of those four-legged robo-dogs, according to Bloomberg. <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> had acquired Boston Dynamics <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-softbank-bought-boston-dynamics-google-alphabet-robots-2017-6">from Google in 2017</a>.On the move: <keyword id="51897" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Eric-Schmidt">Eric Schmidt</keyword>, the former CEO of <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword>, is in the process of getting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-schmidt-google-cyprus-citizen-passport-for-sale-2020-11">a passport from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus</a>, according to Vox. The move will make Schmidt a Cypriot.On lockdown: A former Microsoft engineer was sentence to nine years in jail for stealing $10 million worth of digital currency from the company. <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2020/ex-microsoft-engineer-gets-9-years-prison-using-digital-currency-scheme-buy-1-6m-lakefront-home-160k-tesla/">According to GeekWire</a>, the Ukrainian-born engineer used a "bitcoin mixing service" to cover his tracks — apparently not well enough. <h2>Snapshot: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-unveiled-a-robot-with-the-same-gaze-as-humans-2020-11">Disney's Magic Kingdom goes Westworld</a></h2>Theme parks <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-layoffs-theme-parks-disneyland-disneyworld-2020-9">have seen business plunge</a> during the pandemic, so it's no surprise that Disney is eager to show off its latest attractions.But you have to wonder if these new animatronic robots are the best way to attract back wary visitors.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-unveiled-a-robot-with-the-same-gaze-as-humans-2020-11"><div type="image" title="Disney Research robot gaze" height="1365" width="2500" msid="79177463" hostid="261"></div></a>The nightmarish fellow pictured above belongs to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-unveiled-a-robot-with-the-same-gaze-as-humans-2020-11">the new generation of Disney's animatronic robots,</a> bearing all the features of a human face, such as eyelids, a nose, and teeth with gums. Disney says the robot can mimic humanlike actions such as rapid eye movements, blinking, breathing, and tilting its head. In particular, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-unveiled-a-robot-with-the-same-gaze-as-humans-2020-11#given-the-importance-of-gaze-in-social-interactions-as-well-as-its-ability-to-communicate-states-and-shape-perceptions-it-is-apparent-that-gaze-can-function-as-a-significant-tool-for-an-interactive-robot-character-the-study-states-4">robot's gaze can convey various humanlike emotions</a> and nonverbal cues during interactions.Presumably these robots will have a friendlier skin covering their mechanical skeletons when they're set free in the parks. No matter how cuddly the final version looks, though, the robots' lifelike traits might strike some visitors as creepy enough to make them wonder if they bought a ticket to Disney World <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/westworld-science-questions-theories-2016-10">or Westworld</a>.<h2>Attention political-news junkies:</h2>Insider is launching a new morning newsletter called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/newsletter-sign-up-10-things-politics-today-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 Things in Politics You Need to Know Today</a>. As the name suggests, the newsletter will bring you a daily roundup of the top news and analysis from Washington, DC, and beyond. <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/10-things-in-politics">Sign up here!</a><h2>Recommended Readings:</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/videogame-wagering-platforms-raise-worries-about-kids-gambling-2020-11">Kids are losing tens of thousands of their parents' money betting on video games like 'Fortnite.' Here's a look inside the secret underworld.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disinformation-trump-twitter-cybersecurity-election-facebook-censorship-2020-11">Trump's refusal to concede the election is creating an opening for cybercriminals to mount attacks on American companies, experts say</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-teams-zoom-webex-meetings-2020-11">Leaked documents show Microsoft is pegging some employee bonuses to helping the Teams chat app 'win against Zoom and WebEx in meetings'</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-amd-nvidia-chip-manufacturing-moores-law-fabless-2020-11">How Intel went 'off the rails,' as rivals like AMD and Nvidia take advantage of its stumbles to chip away at the juggernaut's dominance</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-siebel-adobe-microsoft-c3ai-salesforce-crm-ai-2020-11">Billionaire Tom Siebel is taking on Salesforce and throwing punches at its AI product: 'It's all marketing and very little technology'</a><h2>Not necessarily in tech:</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-fox-news-as-the-networks-seem-to-turn-against-trump-2020-11">Insiders at Fox News wonder what's next as they try to acknowledge Biden's victory without turning away Trump voters</a>OK then, that'll do it for this week. Thanks for reading, and if you like this newsletter, <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">tell your friends and colleagues they can sign up here to receive it</a>.— Alexei

Good news turns tech upside down as Jeff Bezos looks for friends

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="60958" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="hugging">Hugging</keyword> is good for your <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">health</keyword>, but it's a risky gesture during the pandemic.</li><li>Weighted blankets and stuffed animals can provide a similar physical comfort when you're on your own.</li><li>Interacting in virtual worlds may also help you feel closer to friends.</li><li>If you miss caring for another creature that can cuddle back, pet ownership and plant parenting provide alternative opportunities to nurture something.</li></ul>The holiday season is usually a time of close reunions with family and friends, punctuated by welcome-home hugs and New Years Eve kisses. For many people, this year was different - and some might be experiencing the effects of hug deprivation as a result.Craving a hug might feel like a purely emotional need, but touch does affect physical and mental wellbeing. Hug deprivation is most noticeable at either end of the age spectrum, said Suzanne Degges-White, chair and professor of counseling and counselor education at Northern Illinois University."We need that connection to other people," Degges-White said. "It's part of what helps us develop and grow when we're infants. And then as adults, hugging is kind of like a magic potion. It's a protectorate, and it's also a cure."<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~sswang/ASD/rutter_oconnor99_Romanian-orphanage-early-privation-quasi-autism.pdf">Infants who were touch-starved</a> have been found to have stunted development, and hugs and physical touch can promote longevity through the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/advance-article/doi/10.1093/geronb/gbaa134/5897310">reduction of inflammation</a> in the elderly. Hugging also <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifetime-connections/202011/skin-hunger-touch-starvation-and-hug-deprivation">calms the nervous system</a>, stimulates the production of the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin, and increases the circulation of feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin.Evolutionarily, it makes sense that hugging brings many people a sense of comfort. Humans, like all mammals, evolved to stay warm by getting close to each other - so the instinct to cuddle up to a friend is deep-rooted, said psychologist James Coan, director of the Virginia Affective Neuroscience laboratory."Feeling the press of another person is the water we swim in," Coan said. "It's our ecological niche. It's our habitat."While the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-tells-americans-to-stop-hugging-as-coronavirus-rates-soar-2020-12">World Health Organization has recommended against hugging</a> anytime soon, there are ways to mimic the physical sensation of an embrace and the emotional bond it represents. Degges-White said these substitutes are a bit like cauliflower rice when you're on a diet - maybe not quite as satisfying, but close enough to the real thing that you can pretend.Here are some hug substitutes to get you through the lonely winter. <h2>If you crave physical comfort, cuddle up with a weighted blanket or stuffed animal</h2>If the warmth and pressure of a hug are what you miss most, you can get a similar feeling from snuggling with an inanimate object.Products like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-weighted-blanket">weighted blankets</a>, body pillows, and stuffed animals can give you something to hug even if you're socially isolated. Versions with a little extra weight or heat - like these <a href="https://warmies.com/">plush creatures</a> with lavender-scented heating packs inside - mimic the sensations that make a hug so comforting.Researchers think <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/anxiety-and-stress-weighing-heavily-at-night-a-new-blanket-might-help">weighted blankets could relieve anxiety and insomnia</a> for the same reason swaddling soothes babies: because the pressure is so similar to a calming hug. However, more studies need to be done to back up these claims with science.There are also some physically relaxing practices you can incorporate into your life without buying anything new. Degges-White said warm or hot showers and self-massages can provide a sense of calm, and even drinking a cup of hot tea can have a comforting effect.<h2>Try using games like Minecraft and Animal Crossing to express your love virtually</h2>Some of the benefits associated with physical touch stem from the relationship that underlies the gesture. For instance, in <a href="https://insights.ovid.com/pubmed?pmid=28406804">studies of hand-holding</a>, Coan found that holding the hand of a spouse had a stronger calming effect than doing the same exercise with a stranger."It's not only about just the tactile qualities of the hand you're holding," <a href="https://www.insider.com/robot-is-designed-to-hold-your-hand-when-youre-lonely-2020-12">Coan said</a>. "It's also a lot about whose hand it is, and what your experience is with that person."Virtual worlds like Animal Crossing and Among Us have served as representational social spaces during the pandemic, allowing people to "hang out" with friends even when required to stay at home, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/22163356/2020-pandemic-video-games-social-animal-crossing-fall-guys-twitch">Taylor Lyles wrote for The Verge last month</a>. Coan said he's noticed a similar phenomenon when watching his daughters play Minecraft with friends. "It matters to them that they know the person whose mind is, in a sense, occupying the avatar that they're walking around in that weird little Minecraft world," he said.That being said, there are more low-tech, physically distanced ways to represent your relationship with a person. Degges-White said she uses the sign language gesture for "I love you" to show her kids she cares even when she can't get close to them.<h2>If you miss interacting with another living thing, get a pet or a plant</h2>While a weighted blanket can't hug you back, there are non-human creatures that can reciprocate your affection.If you're in a situation where getting a pet would make sense (and you haven't gotten one already), animals can help people feel socially connected while providing health benefits. A review published in <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005554">Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes</a> found that dog ownership is associated with a lower risk of death.Nursing homes and other senior living settings have brought in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/health/coronavirus-elderly-isolation-robot-pets.html">robo-pets for residents who can't manage pet care</a> on their own. The animatronic creatures can bark, purr, and wag their tails, and some even have a simulated heartbeat, providing an interactive, tactile antidote to <keyword id="30859" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="loneliness">loneliness</keyword>.If <keyword id="6387511" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Plants">plants</keyword> are more your speed, tending to a fiddle-leaf fig tree or a succulent garden can feel like a relationship in its own way."They say if you don't have kids, you have plants," Degges-White said. "There's an emotional connection to some kind of living creature where you are required to show up."Degges-White said people could even get a level of satisfaction from kneading dough - after all, yeast is a living creature that will push back with time. Perhaps nurturing a sourdough starter was part of the appeal that made <a href="http://insider.com/most-searched-recipes-of-2020-sourdough-bread-disney-cookies-ikea-meatballs-dalgona#the-one-recipe-home-cooks-searched-for-the-most-this-year-was-for-sourdough-bread-6">baking bread such a popular quarantine hobby</a>.Read more:<a href="https://www.insider.com/robot-is-designed-to-hold-your-hand-when-youre-lonely-2020-12">This robot is designed to hold your hand when you're feeling lonely</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/people-have-skin-hunger-after-months-without-touching-anyone-2020-6?utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=sf-bi-science&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;fbclid=IwAR2s2_Ib1wlTi6Ygb9ddthZSgihIufVW_c9O-XjBNNmXWnOMQGO5gMdoiHgMQGO5gMdoiHg">People are experiencing 'skin hunger' after months without touching anyone</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/how-to-deal-with-anxiety-loneliness-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-3">How to deal with anxiety and loneliness during the coronavirus outbreak</a>

Things you can do if you need a hug but you're socially isolated

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cd46bd6021b4c444c551404-2400/5cd2f0c2021b4c0ea2312619.jpg" border="0" alt="Uber London strike, May 8, 2019" data-mce-source="Henry Nicholls/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Uber strike" />Henry Nicholls/ReutersUber and Lyft drivers around the world went on strike Wednesday, protesting low pay.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/uber">Uber</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/lyft">Lyft</a> and their investors should be worried about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-strike-locations-where-drivers-are-protesting-new-york-los-angeles-london-2019-5">the strike Wednesday by the app-based taxi companies' drivers</a>.</li><li>The labor action highlights a fundamental problem with the companies' businesses - they're losing lots of money in spite of paying their drivers poverty wages and have no easy way to solve the problem.</li><li>The conundrum is likely to get only more intense - both Uber and Lyft are now public, and public shareholders don't generally tolerate ongoing losses.</li><li>But attempts in New York to raise prices to pay drivers more have hurt both companies' businesses.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-uber-drivers-go-on-strike-around-the-world-2019-5">strike</a> Wednesday by Uber and Lyft drivers should serve as a warning to the companies and particularly to their investors.That's not because the labor action likely harmed Uber or Lyft's business that day in any significant way. Instead, the strike is important because it points to the fundamental flaw in their businesses.The two companies have built their services around paying their drivers pitifully low wages. That fact was at the center of Wednesday's strike; drivers are indicating through that action and through other means that they aren't going to continue put up with the poor pay.But it's not at all clear whether Uber or Lyft can afford to give them a raise. The two companies are burning through cash hand over fist - in spite of giving drivers such poor compensation. And they're likely to come under increasing pressure to staunch those losses, even as drivers demand a raise.How they can solve that conundrum is anyone's guess. I think there's a good chance they simply can't, and both drivers and investors are going to lose out as a result.<h2>Uber and Lyft drivers earn poverty wages</h2>Drivers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-strike-drivers-explain-why-theyre-protesting-2019-5">cited several reason for going on strike</a>, safety concerns and a lack of transparency over how the companies calculate their compensation and the factors they weigh when deciding whether to remove drivers from their services. But the overriding issue behind the driver action was anger over low <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-strike-protests-where-driver-earnings-fell-the-most-in-united-states-2019-5">and falling</a> compensation.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cafa6a8cf22db32ad5918d7-2000/2018-09-05t181648z891698738rc149ab090c0rtrmadp3uber-ceo.jpg" border="0" alt="Dara Khosrowshahi" data-mce-source="Carlo Allegri/Reuters" />Carlo Allegri/ReutersUber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will lead his company to its initial public offering this week.</div></div></div>It's not hard to understand why. The average Uber driver makes just $11.77 an hour after deducting the company's fees and the driver's vehicle expenses, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/uber-and-the-labor-market-uber-drivers-compensation-wages-and-the-scale-of-uber-and-the-gig-economy/">the Economic Policy Institute estimated</a> in a study last year that focused just on the biggest ride-hailing company. But as low as that wage is - it's <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines">below the poverty line for a family of four</a> - it's actually overstating their real earnings.Because Uber doesn't classify drivers as employees, the drivers are considered to be self-employed. That means that in addition to the part of the payroll tax that all employees - self-employed or not - pay, they also have to pay the part that employers normally cover. It also means that they don't get health or retirement benefits from Uber, so they have to pay for those out of their own pockets. If you take into account those costs - the employer side of the payroll tax and the cost of modest health and retirement benefits, the average Uber driver made just $9.21 an hour, the EPI found. That's below the poverty wage for a family of three.Wednesday strike followed <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Lyft-drivers-protest-exposes-ride-hailing-13715265.php?mod=article_inline">one in March by drivers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego</a>. And there are other signs of increasing driver discontent.The average Uber driver only works for the company for three months, the EPI study found, meaning that few see it as a sustainable long-term job. And as the economy has improved, attrition among Uber and Lyft drivers and other so-called gig-economy workers has spiked, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-a-tight-labor-market-gig-workers-get-harder-to-please-11556942404">the Wall Street Journal reported</a> last week. In some cases, attrition levels may be hitting an astounding 500% a year, the Journal reported, citing the chief operating officer of a job placement firm that works closely with such companies.<h2>The companies could have a tough time offering raises</h2>Uber, Lyft, and their cohorts could likely staunch such attrition and driver discontent by giving drivers and other gig workers a raise. But the ride-hailing companies could find that difficult to do, even if they were inclined to do it. Despite the minuscule compensation they give their drivers, neither company has been able to generate consistent profits, much less become self-sustaining.Last year, Uber burned through $2.1 billion in cash from its operations and and its investments in property and equipment. Lyft, meanwhile, consumed nearly $350 million from its operations and such capital investments.Read this: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-amazon-comparison-flawed-and-potentially-harmful-2019-4">Uber is telling the world it's just like Amazon: Here's why the similarities are only skin-deep</a>Such red ink hasn't been much of a problem to date, because both companies were private and their venture investors were willing to subsidize their losses in the hope of having a big payoff when the companies went public.But as of Friday, neither company will be protected and succored by private investors anymore. Lyft <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/lyft-initial-public-offering-lyft-set-to-begin-trading-2019-3-1028070496">held its initial public offering in March</a>, and Uber <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/initial-public-offering-uber-pricing-expected-at-midpoint-or-below-2019-5-1028183231">made its public market debut on Friday</a>. Unlike venture investors, public shareholders tend to be far less tolerant of ongoing losses; they won't subsidize them ad infinitum. So both companies are sure to come under increasing pressure to stem the red ink.It's hard to see how they can do that and pay drivers more, unless they raise prices on consumers. But the intense competition between the two companies - and the continued existence of alternatives such as traditional taxis and public transit - makes it difficult for either to hike prices significantly.<h2>New York shows how wage and price hikes can hurt</h2>New York is a case in point. The city <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-sets-minimum-wage-for-uber-and-lyft-drivers-2018-12">put in place new rules</a> at the end of last year that require Uber and Lyft to pay drivers a minimum wage of $17.22 an hour after expenses. In response, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-01/uber-raises-prices-in-new-york-city-citing-new-minimum-wage-law">both companies hiked their prices.</a> But they both reportedly <a href="https://qz.com/1607604/uber-ipo-investors-should-pay-close-attention-to-new-york-city/">offset those hikes with generous customer discounts</a>.The end result was that both companies' business in the city suffered. In <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000119312519120759/d647752ds1a.htm">the document</a> Uber filed in advance of its IPO, it warned that the new regulations, including the wage hike, "had a negative impact on our financial performance in New York City in the first quarter of 2019 and may have a similar adverse impact in the future."In a <a href="https://blog.lyft.com/posts/2019/3/16/tlc-rules-impact-on-lyft-and-our-driver-community-1">blog post</a>, Lyft said that the regulations had a "negative impact on driver earnings," which almost certainly meant that they affected its business as well. The company essentially ran a test on two separate days in which it didn't offer customer discounts to offset its price hikes and found that the prices customers paid rose 24% and the number of rides fell 26%.In other words, the companies' services aren't nearly as competitive or attractive to consumers if the companies have to pay their drivers fair wages.<h2>Both companies are hoping robo-taxis will save them</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c50bcd62bdd7f671103a66b-1024/gettyimages-1061811620.jpg" border="0" alt="Waymo Mountain View" data-mce-source="Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)=" data-mce-caption="Close-up of self driving minivan, with LIDAR and other sensor units and logo visible, part of Google parent company Alphabet Inc, driving past historic railroad station with sign reading Mountain View, in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California, with safety driver visible, October 28, 2018" />Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)=Lyft customers will soon be able to get rides in self-driving Waymo vehicles in suburban Phoenix.</div></div></div>Both companies have indicated they believe the long-term solution to the problem is to move to driverless vehicles. If they had robo-taxis instead of human driven ones, they wouldn't have to worry at all about driver compensation. Lyft took a step in this direction this week when it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lyft-waymo-self-driving-robo-taxi-partnering-phoenix-arizona-2019-5">announced a deal with Waymo</a> whereby its customers will be able to order a ride in one of the latter's self-driving vehicles in suburban Phoenix.But the idea of fully replacing human Uber and Lyft drivers with self-driving cars may be a distant dream.I've spoken with numerous investors lately who focus narrowly on the self-driving car space. It's in their interest to promote the market and for their investments to pay off sooner rather than later. Their general assessment is that the technology is not mature enough to be used outside of suburban, or fixed, environments right now. Vehicles capable of autonomously and safely navigating the dense urban environments where Uber and Lyft have gotten the most traction are still years - and maybe decades - away.So I'm not sure how Uber or Lyft solves this conundrum. What I do know is it's not going away. And if the strike Wednesday is any indication, the problem may get much worse before Uber or Lyft solves it.Got a tip about Uber, Lyft, or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/troywolv/">@troywolv</a>, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6"> contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-salary-total-compensation-45-million-in-2018-2019-4" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Uber gave CEO Dara Khosrowshahi $45 million in total pay last year, but it paid its COO even more</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lux-capital-shahin-farshchi-believer-autonomous-vehicles-despite-tragedies-2019-4" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">It's 'inevitable' that a self-driving car will kill someone. Here's why a VC thinks we should be investing in them anyway.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-research-and-development-self-driving-cars-augmented-reality-2019-3" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Apple is now one of the biggest investors in research and development, and critics are wondering what it's getting for its money</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dual-class-stock-structures-facebook-lyft-snap-2019-2" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The era of the all-powerful tech CEO has only just begun, even though Facebook and Snap show why that's a bad thing</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/ai-101?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=appsandplatforms&amp;itm_campaign=ai-101"><img src="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7e48a3be59f1d008b46e5" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The AI 101 Report by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/5g-high-speed-internet-cellular-network-issues-switch-2019-4">5G networks will be 10 times faster than 4G LTE, but we shouldn't get too excited yet</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/4qNVO3hA-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

The Uber strike should worry investors and the company because it points to a fundamental problem with its business model

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560ee635bd86ef15008bed85-2400/elon musk, 2x1.jpg" alt="Elon Musk" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Danny Moloshok" />REUTERS/Danny Moloshok</div></div></div>Finance Insider is Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/newsletter/wall-street-career-advice">click here</a>.The rise of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-passive-investing-2016-8">passive investing</a> is the money management world's biggest trend of the last generation.Earlier this year, Business Insider<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/index-fund-assets-under-management-2016-1"> highlighted data from Vanguard</a> that showed that money parked in funds seeking to meet rather than beat a benchmark index had risen to $4 trillion in 2015 from $11 million 40 years ago.Analysts at Bernstein led by Inigo Fraser-Jenkins, however, argue forcefully in a new note to clients that the rise of passive investing presents some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bernstein-marxism-is-better-than-the-rise-of-passive-investing-2016-8">seriously dangerous real-world barriers to the efficient allocation of capital in the economy</a>.In related news, one brutal table explains everything <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/active-fund-managers-underperformance-2016-8">that is going on in money management right now</a>.Elsewhere on Wall Street, the smart money is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-streets-smart-money-is-making-big-bets-on-crude-oil-again-2016-8">making big bets on the energy sector</a>, and a wave of activist <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-wave-of-activist-hedge-funds-are-shaking-up-japan-2016-8">hedge funds are shaking up Japan</a>.In more macro news, a "potentially significant market shift" <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fhfa-house-price-index-june-2016-2016-8">is happening in housing</a>, Saudi Arabia is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-is-facing-a-squeeze-2016-8">facing a 'squeeze,'</a> and these <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/these-3-trends-are-a-guide-to-chinas-future-2016-8">3 trends are a guide to China's future</a>.There's a lot of news on Tesla and Elon Musk to get through. Here are the highlights:<ul><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-announces-p100d-battery-for-tesla-model-x-and-model-s-2016-8">Tesla announced a huge upgrade for the Model S and Model X</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-s-p100d-ludicrous-fastest-car-in-production-2016-8">The upgrade made Tesla's Model S the fastest new car you can buy</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-s-p100d-fast-electric-car-2016-8">It may not be enough to save electric cars</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-teslas-musk-buying-over-half-of-solarcity-bond-offer-filing-2016-8">Elon Musk is personally buying over half of SolarCity's $124 million bond offering</a>.</li></ul>In other news, an MIT trained-engineer and hedge fund trader is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mavericks-is-simplifying-skincare-2016-8">trying to get men to finally take care of their skin</a>, and a VC firm <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charles-river-ventures-puts-fck-trump-on-website-2016-8">redesigned their website to say "F*ck Trump.</a>"Finally, this feature in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rolls-royce-phantom-starlight-headliner-2016-8">Rolls-Royce Phantom blew us away</a>.Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-partners-with-betterment-to-help-drivers-invest-for-future-2016-8">Uber has handed a hot finance Wall Street startup a huge boost</a> - Uber has struck a deal with one of the largest independent robo-advisers in the world to help its drivers better manage their money.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-costcos-disaster-credit-card-switch-2016-8">Furious Costco customers are still threatening to cancel memberships over a credit card 'fiasco'</a> - When Costco began transitioning from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/costcos-credit-card-swap-is-a-disaster-2016-6">American Express to Visa</a> as its exclusive credit card partner in June, delays and confusion had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/costcos-credit-card-swap-is-a-disaster-2016-6">customers threatening to cancel their memberships</a>.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fintech-ceos-talk-brexit-blockchain-hype-and-the-lendingclub-crisis-2016-8">VIDEO: Top fintech CEOs talk Brexit, blockchain hype, and the LendingClub crisis</a> - Anthemis, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/anthemis-group-closes-inaugural-fund-2016-8">a fintech VC and strategic advisory firm with offices in London and New York</a>, recently held its fifth annual "Hacking Finance Retreat," a get together of fintech founders, big institutions, regulators, academics, and more.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lloyds-ceo-antonio-horta-osorio-memo-to-staff-on-affair-2016-8">'Mistakes will be made:' Here's the memo the CEO of Lloyds sent to staff over extra-marital affair claims</a> - Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds Bank, told staff of his regret for being the source of "adverse publicity" that could damage the bank's reputation, following media reports of his extra-marital affair.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-nigeria-central-bank-suspends-nine-banks-from-fx-market-sources-say-2016-8">Nigeria's central bank suspended 9 banks from the FX market</a> - Nigeria's central bank has suspended nine banks from the interbank currency market for failing to remit money owed to the government.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-iconic-hotel-bars-across-america-2016-8">30 iconic American hotel bars everyone should have a drink at</a> - Once a watering hole of last resort filled with business travelers and tourists, the hotel bar is back with a vengeance.

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