Daily LInks
1. Hermes Can Surpass Vuitton as Luxury’s Biggest Brand, Citi Says. The Birkin bag maker’s sales are set to hit the “symbolic” €20 billion level by 2027 or before, Thomas Chauvet wrote in a note dated April 12 – a milestone that the Louis Vuitton fashion label reached in 2022. Hermes generated group revenue of €13.4 billion in 2023. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. AI-generated models could bring more diversity to the fashion industry — or leave it with less. Modeling agencies and companies may be taking advantage of models by using their photos to train AI systems without their consent or compensation. – Read More on the AP
3. Apple denies violating US court order in Epic Games lawsuit. The Apple filing criticized what it called an attempt by Epic to make Apple’s “tools and technologies available to developers for free.” Epic, it said, wanted the court “to micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.” – Read More on Reuters
4. Retail sales rose sharply in the first quarter — and could boost U.S. GDP. Sales at retailers rose a robust 0.7% in March and outlays in the prior month were also stronger than previously reported, indicating the economy got a boost from consumer spending in the first quarter. – Read More on MarketWatch
5. Investors are growing increasingly wary of AI. Both private investment — that is, investments in startups from VCs — and corporate investment — mergers and acquisitions — in the AI industry were on the downswing in 2023 versus the year prior. – Read More on TechCrunch
6. RELATED READ: A Running List of AI Funding and M&A. Not limited to having an impact in Silicon Valley, alone, generative AI is bringing with it the potential “to change how everything from the written word to art is created.” – Read More on TFL
