Good morning. OpenAI’s management chaos in November could have long-lasting effects on its business as some of the company’s customers say it was a wake-up call about the risks of being too reliant on one company’s tech.

• What's the issue? Executives at companies that use OpenAI’s software say they are increasingly looking to also use others’ technology to protect themselves from the risks of problems at any one. OpenAI’s competitors are using the opportunity to sign up wary customers.
   
• A potential shift away from OpenAI? Companies aren’t outright dropping their deals with OpenAI. But even moving some of their future work to competitors could start to erode OpenAI’s dominance as rivals—from Google and other giants to fellow startups such as Anthropic—are working to take away some of its momentum.
   
• Previous SEC warnings: Government officials, particularly those overseeing the highly regulated financial services space, have in the past raised concerns about potential over-reliance on a limited number of AI providers. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, whose agency is probing investment advisers’ use of AI, has cautioned that firms’ turning to a few vendors could create financial instability and “drive us off an inadvertent cliff.”
   
• OCC head suggests caution: Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, in a recent conversation with Risk & Compliance Journal, said banks should be taking a supply-chain mindset to look into their own AI vendors, who themselves might be relying on third parties.

For more on AI see: 

• Nvidia’s New China Pickle: Customers Don’t Want Its Downgraded Chips

One way to spot red flags in companies’ financials.

There is a powerful tool for identifying potential red flags that could give auditors, regulators and investors a road map to address and avoid financial misstatements, according to new research.

How it works: Researchers say Google Trends, which is easy to use and free, is useful for auditors in sussing out potential financial misreporting because it tracks consumers’ online searches about retail products in real time. The researchers find that the top-selling retail products also typically generate the most Google searches, so when search volume and revenue growth are misaligned, there’s a good chance that a company has misrepresented its sales figures.

The crypto industry holds its breath in anticipation of the first spot bitcoin ETFs.

Bitcoin has rallied for months ahead of the expected launch of the first U.S. exchange-traded funds to hold the cryptocurrency. Skeptics say it is nearly out of room to run.

The Securities and Exchange Commission could approve the funds, known as spot bitcoin ETFs, as soon as next week. Approval would mark a watershed moment for the industry, allowing investors to purchase bitcoin in their brokerage accounts as easily as stocks. (Funds that track bitcoin futures are already on the market.)

• The slot machine operator formerly known as Lucky Bucks is suing members of its former management and their affiliates, seeking the return of approximately $200 million and accusing them of defrauding the company, according to our colleagues at WSJ Pro Bankruptcy (subscription required).
   
• A Russian billionaire’s suit against Sotheby’s shines a light into secretive finances in the art world’s elite tier.
   
• A global gold mining company said it ousted its longtime chief executive officer after a board probe into a $5.9 million payment he authorized.
   
• Wayne LaPierre, the embattled longtime leader of the National Rifle Association, is resigning from the nation’s largest gun-rights group on the eve of a civil trial in which the New York attorney general is seeking his ouster, as well as financial penalties, for years of alleged corruption at the nonprofit organization.
   
• The bad news keeps coming for China Evergrande and its investors. A top executive of the beleaguered property giant’s electric-vehicle business has been detained as part of a criminal investigation, adding to Evergrande’s mounting problems.

Boeing is back in the spotlight—this time over a MAX 9.

The last thing Boeing needed was more trouble with its 737 MAX jet. That is exactly what it got to start the new year.

The company had just started to regain its footing after years of tumult around the popular but troubled line of narrow-body jets when a MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines had a structural failure Friday night.

• FAA Orders Grounding of Some Boeing 737 MAX 9 Jets After Emergency Landing
• A Key Clue in the Alaska Airlines Blowout Turns Up in a Backyard
• One Plane Breaks Apart, Another Burns: Air Travel’s Rough 2024 Start

Elon Musk has used illegal drugs, worrying leaders at Tesla and SpaceX.

Elon Musk and his supporters offer several explanations for his contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics. They’re an expression of his creativity. Or the result of his mental-health challenges. Or fallout from his stress, or sleep deprivation.

The concerns. In recent years, some executives and board members at his companies and others close to the billionaire have developed a persistent concern that there is another component driving his behavior: his use of drugs. And they fear the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive’s drug use could have major consequences not just for his health, but also the six companies and billions in assets he oversees, according to people familiar with Musk and the companies.

• Militants in Lebanon launched about 40 rockets into Israel on Saturday—one of the largest such barrages in recent months—as the Biden administration’s top diplomat arrived in the region to defuse an escalating Middle East crisis resulting from the war in Gaza.
   
• An attack that killed dozens of people in Iran this week showed the potency of Islamic State and its ability to inflame tensions in the Middle East and Central Asia.
   
• China’s Zhongzhi Enterprise Group has declared bankruptcy, following a calamitous year in which it sparked fears that the world’s second-largest economy was facing a “Lehman moment.”
   
• The good news: the U.S. is headed for growth this year, not recession. The bad news: there is as yet little prospect growth will be any better than before the pandemic.
   
• Eurozone inflation rebounded in December, but by less than expected, potentially fueling further speculation that the European Central Bank could soon signal its readiness to cut interest rates.
   
• To compete with its biggest geopolitical rivals, the U.S. government is looking toward small nuclear reactors.
   
• America’s offices are emptier than at any point in at least four decades, reflecting years of overbuilding and shifting work habits that were accelerated by the pandemic.
   
• For many Americans, getting insurance for both their cars and homes has gone from a routine, generally manageable expense to a do-or-die ordeal that can strain household budgets.

• Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal on Sunday setting a roughly $1.6 trillion federal spending level for the year, but the pact drew quick criticism from some conservatives and it remained unclear whether lawmakers would be able to quickly pass legislation averting a government shutdown.
   
• The Pentagon’s No. 2 official didn’t learn that her boss was hospitalized Jan. 1 until four days after she had assumed some of his duties, U.S. military officials said Sunday, deepening the mystery of why Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized.
   
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken is discussing with Arab and Turkish leaders how the Gaza Strip will be governed after the war there ends, an effort to win regional cooperation amid a bloody conflict that is rattling the Middle East, U.S. officials said.
   
• Kim Jung-soo’s life seems torn from the pages of a South Korean drama. She married into the Samyang conglomerate family, then she abruptly joined the instant-noodle company after it declared bankruptcy in the late 1990s. She faced legal woes that necessitated a presidential pardon. Now, she is CEO.
   
• Tibet is no longer “Tibet,” not in China anyway.

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