The daily business briefing: July 24, 2023

1. OpenAI CEO's Worldcoin cryptocurrency project launches

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's cryptocurrency project, Worldcoin, launches Monday, offering WorldID to ensure only real humans can get accounts. To open an account, customers will have to do in-person iris scans using Worldcoin's "orb" devices. Two million users have already signed up in the project's beta period, but at launch Worldcoin plans to scale up to offer orb scans in 35 cities in 20 countries. Customers signing up in some countries will bet Worldcoin's cryptocurrency token WLD as an enticement. The blockchain can store WorldIDs, which can be used to distinguish between real people and AI bots online.

Reuters

2. Anchor Brewing open to buyout offer from employees

Anchor Brewing spokesperson Sam Singer said over the weekend that the pioneering craft-beer company would "gladly consider" an offer by employees to buy it if they make an offer with "a verifiable source of funds." A spokesperson for the union representing employees sent the company an email saying "workers of Anchor Brewing have met, discussed, and decided to launch an effort to purchase the brewery." A group of employees, not the union itself, is working together on the proposed purchase. The company announced on July 12 it would close, saying its business is "no longer sustainable." The union workers don't have much time. With no firm offer on the table, the company is moving forward with plans to liquidate in early August.

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SFGate.com The Associated Press

3. 'Barbenheimer' pulls off biggest weekend of pandemic era

"Barbenheimer" — the one-two box office punch of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" — drove the biggest weekend of movie-going in the pandemic era and the fourth biggest weekend in history, providing a key boost for the summer movie season. "Barbie" — a fantasy comedy about the iconic doll — brought in $155 million in its opening weekend, giving Greta Gerwig a record for a woman director, surpassing 2019's "Captain Marvel," co-directed by Anna Boden, at $153 million, and 2017's "Wonder Woman," directed by Patty Jenkins, at $103 million. "We have a pink unicorn here," said Jeff Goldstein, the president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" — about the father of the atomic bomb — added $80.5 million.

Variety The Washington Post

4. Stock futures tick up ahead of Fed meeting, earnings

U.S. stock futures rose slightly early Monday ahead of more corporate earnings reports and the start of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were up 0.3%. Investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates another quarter percentage point when their meeting concludes on Wednesday. They will closely watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for indications of what the central bank's policy makers plan next as they try to raise borrowing costs enough to reduce inflation without tipping the economy into a recession.

CNBC

5. NBA governors approve Jordan's $3 billion sale of Hornets

The NBA Board of Governors has approved basketball legend Michael Jordan's plan to sell the Charlotte Hornets for about $3 billion, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Jordan, the professional basketball league's only Black majority owner, sealed the deal to sell the team to a group headed by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall in June, but the board must approve all team sales. Plotkin has been a Hornets minority stakeholder since 2019. Schnall is part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks but had to sell his stake. Jordan won six NBA titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls, but the Hornets have never approached that kind of success, going 423-600 on his watch.

The Associated Press