Marketplace Tech

If you have a debt, you may get a call, a letter or a text prodding you to pay it back. Now, that call could come from an AI agent.

The AI debt collection market is expected to reach $16 billion by 2034, according to the Kaplan Group. Kate Nibbs of Wired has been reporting on this and said these bots are not as effective at getting people to pay back the money they owe.

There is growing demand for time with GPUs, the chips that power artificial intelligence. AI companies need those chips in order to keep their models up and running. And to do that, they can reserve time with a GPU.

Now, there’s interest from Wall Street in creating a futures market for this AI compute time, essentially treating it like a commodity.

Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Liz Hoffman, business and finance editor at Semafor and host of the “Compound Interest” podcast, who recently wrote about this.

The price of oil has gone up significantly since late February, when the US invaded Iran. And when oil prices see a crazy rise, it makes other sources of energy look more attractive. But we’ve been here before - back in the 1970s, oil prices skyrocketed, and people started to turn to alternative or renewable energy sources. But, for a few reasons, it didn’t stick. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes explores why.

This week, rideshare drivers in Massachusetts unionize; plus, Robinhood lets AI agents trade on behalf its customers.

But first, there’ve been hints for a while that Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX are planning to go public in the near future. Last week, SpaceX filed its initial public offering prospectus, also known as an S1, which is meant to help investors understand the company’s business model, including the risks it faces. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED, to learn more.

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Everything we talked about today:

“Tech titans prepare for blockbuster IPOs in new front of AI race” from The Hill

“SpaceX Listed Grok’s ‘Spicy’ Mode as a Risk in Its IPO Filing” from Wired

“Your AI agent can now trade for you on Robinhood. And buy stuff with your credit card too” from CNBC

“Rideshare drivers union in Mass. says it's the 1st to be recognized in the U.S.” NBC Boston

Like the name suggests, plug-in solar panels can be plugged into an electrical outlet just like you would your toaster. But instead of using electricity, they send power back to be used elsewhere in the home.

In most of the country, plug-in solar is neither illegal nor legal. But energy policy consultant Bentham Polis, who's also a senior researcher with the Clean Energy States Alliance, says a growing number of states are passing laws to help spell out the rules around the technology.

Discussed in this episode:

Instagram video from The Garbage Queen

“How do plug-in solar panels work and how are they installed?” from The Independent

“What States Need to Know About Plug-In Solar” from Clean Energy States Alliance