It’s been a rough week or so for headlines on generative AI. OpenAI was accused of copying Scarlett Johansson’s voice, while Google was mocked for AI-powered search results that included advice to put glue in pizza sauce.

Now, though, OpenAI has some news it actually wants to share: PwC will license ChatGPT Enterprise for 100,000 employees in the US and UK, making it OpenAI’s largest customer for the B2B version of the chatbot. Not just that, but PwC will also offer it to clients as a reseller, the first such deal and one that gives a Big Four imprimatur to OpenAI’s campaign for wider and deeper adoption across the corporate world.

PwC and OpenAI didn’t share how much they’d be paying the other for licenses or reselling, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal, but PwC’s top executive for products and technology did say that the deal is part of its plan, announced in April 2023, to invest $1 billion in generative AI over three years.

Keep reading here.—GD

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In 2023, The Home Depot was one of several major retailers to call attention to the growing cost of retail theft. In the first and second quarters, the home improvement chain highlighted that elevated levels of shrink were squeezing margins and driving up operational expenses.

But the second part of the equation—the higher operational costs that come with mitigating retail theft—is arguably a less-picked-over topic than the cost of shrink itself.

As Home Depot pointed out in its recent annual report, “While we have a number of initiatives underway to address shrink, minimize theft, and maintain safety in and around our stores, these efforts require operational changes that may increase costs and reduce margins…”

• Operating expenses already increased 2.7% year over year in 2023, and they were up around 5% from 2021.

Home Depot’s public financial documents do not provide a breakdown of how much shrink contributes to that increase, but Scott Glenn, VP of asset protection for Home Depot, told Retail Brew that the problem has changed the firm’s thinking around the financial cost and investment needs of theft prevention.

Keep reading Retail Brew’s story on investing in loss prevention, click here.—AV

In the face of inflationary pressures, the discounter is performing well across age groups and income brackets, TJX Companies CEO and President Ernie Herrman said during a May 22 earnings call. TJX Companies—which operates TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods stores—saw its net sales for the quarter rise to $12.5 billion, up 6% from this quarter last year. It raised its EPS guidance for the full year to $4.03–$4.09, up 7%–9% over last year.

TJ Maxx and Marshalls’ same-store sales grew in areas with incomes both above and below the $100,000 household income level, EVP and CFO John Klinger said. Herrman noted that stores are attracting “more new customers that are skewing to a younger age,” a trend the retailer’s noticed for several quarters now. He’s also seen an increase in customers choosing to shop at TJX stores for holidays in the first half of the year, like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

Ross, which serves lower-income shoppers, also had a strong first quarter.

Keep reading here.—CV

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