Three news to start your week: June 20
Hunter Biden hit with federal tax and firearm charges
(Financial Times)
Just days after his father, Joe Biden, staged the first rally of his campaign for the 2024 presidential election, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to criminal tax crimes.
According to a court filing submitted on Tuesday, Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of willful refusal to pay federal income tax.
He also consented to sign a "pretrial diversion agreement" concerning a further charge that he had illegally or habitually had a handgun while abusing a "controlled substance." Defendants are often directed to community services under such agreements to avoid repeat offenses.
JPMorgan sued by American Dream Mall builder for unpaid Work
(Bloomberg)
To recoup more than $30 million in unpaid work and accrued interest on the project, the construction manager for the troubled American Dream mall and entertainment complex in New Jersey's Meadowlands has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co.
According to the lawsuit submitted on June 15 in a New York federal court, Denver-based PCL Construction Services claims that JPMorgan, which arranged a construction loan and acts as administrative agent for American Dream's developer, Ameream, is liable to pay the bill if the developer doesn't.
Ameream is currently experiencing financial hardship, according to PCL Construction Services' complaint. "Agent now has a contractual obligation to advance the amounts due and owing that Ameream failed to pay as they became due. Yet, agent has failed to do so."
Generative A.I. can add $4.4 trillion in value to global economy, study says
(The New York Times)
One of the more optimistic forecasts regarding the economic implications of the quickly developing technology is that "generative artificial intelligence" will increase the value of the global economy by up to $4.4 trillion yearly.
The paper by McKinsey Global Institute claims that generative A.I., which includes chatbots like ChatGPT that can produce text in response to commands, can increase productivity by freeing up 60 to 70 percent of workers' time through the automation of their work. According to the estimate, between 2030 and 2060, automation will replace half of all labor.
A previous prediction by McKinsey stated that between 2035 and 2075, 50% of all work would be automated. However, the strength of generative A.I. tools, which blasted into the tech scene last year, has expedited the company's prognosis.
