Issue #81

Millionaires move to Montenegro, ChatGPT-5 criticized, Chinese youth pretend to work, and more.

News from 7 August - 14 August 2025

Millionaires Move to Montenegro

Montenegro has experienced a 124% increase in millionaires over the past decade, making it the world's fastest-growing hub for millionaires, according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2025. The Balkan nation now hosts 2,800 millionaires, all attracted by its flat income taxes and lack of inheritance tax.

This comes after a record 142,000 millionaires planned to relocate globally this year amid geopolitical instability and trade wars. The UAE leads in absolute numbers, expecting to net 9,800 millionaires, while the UK faces the largest exodus, with 16,500 departures worth $91.8 billion. 

Millionaires are also leaving other European powerhouses, with a 114% increase in alternative residence options among German millionaires between 2023 and 2024. Next year could see 165,000 wealthy individuals migrate as political risk increasingly influences investment decisions. Henley & Partners' Dominic Volek: "This trend suggests a broader erosion of confidence among Europe’s wealthy elite.”

Source

‍ChatGPT-5 Criticized

OpenAI's highly anticipated GPT-5 launched to widespread criticism after users complained about increased hallucinations, inconsistent performance, and serious security vulnerabilities. The company was forced to restore access to the previous GPT-4o model following user backlash.

The new model switches unpredictably between different AI versions mid-conversation and has demonstrated an alarming propensity to fabricate presidential history and manipulate users. Security firms SPLX and NeuralTrust found GPT-5 easily circumvented safety guardrails, providing bomb-making instructions through simple jailbreaking techniques. 

This comes after CEO Sam Altman's "death star" social media post hyping the launch. Reddit user: "GPT-5's main purpose appears to be lowering costs for OpenAI rather than pushing the boundaries of the frontier, and Altman's death star post was really about the size of his ego."

Source

Chinese Youth Pretend to Work

Young unemployed Chinese adults are paying 30-50 yuan ($4-7) daily to sit in fake offices and pretend to work amid 14% youth unemployment. Companies like Pretend To Work in Dongguan provide mock workstations, computers, meeting rooms, and colleagues for those unable to find real employment.

Thirty-year-old Shui Zhou sends office photos to his parents to reassure them and stays until 11 pm, building friendships with other attendees. Graduate Xiaowen Tang used fake office photos as internship proof for her university diploma while writing online novels for pocket money.

The trend has spread to major cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nanjing. Owner Feiyu says 40% of customers are graduates needing internship evidence, while 60% are freelancers and digital nomads seeking workplace structure. Pretend To Work Company owner Feiyu: "What I'm selling isn't a workstation, but the dignity of not being a useless person.”

Source

Bulletin Board

• British Adults Buy Lots of Toys. UK toy sales have risen by 8% this year after a 4% decline in 2024, driven primarily by "kidults" aged 18 and over. These “kidults” now account for 18% of purchases totalling $2.7 billion. The fastest growth came from Pokémon trading cards, Lego building sets, and action figures. Adults across five European countries increased toy spending by 10% in the 12 months to March, fuelled by anime merchandise, Marvel collectables, and Formula One items linked to recent blockbuster films. Source
• Starbucks Bans South Koreans With Printers. Starbucks banned customers from bringing desktop computers, printers, and partitions into cafés after remote workers began establishing full office setups that limited seating for other patrons. The crackdown targets Korea's "cagongjok" culture - café workers who occupy seats for hours after purchasing single drinks. Since the pandemic accelerated working from home trends, tensions have risen between coffee shops trying to balance casual dining with customers complaining about electricity freeloading and seat hogging. Source 
• X Plans Ads Inside Grok. Elon Musk announced X will introduce advertisements within Grok chatbot responses to fund expensive GPUs. This comes after former CEO Linda Yaccarino's departure left the platform's advertising business struggling. Marketers will be able to pay to appear in AI suggestions when users seek problem-solving advice. Musk: “We’ll turn our attention to how we pay for those expensive GPUs.” Source
• Companies Merge IT and HR. According to a survey by Nexthink, 64% of IT decision makers at big companies think their HR and IT functions will merge within 5 years. Companies like Moderna and Covisian have already completed the transition, appointing a single leader to help redesign workflows and embed AI into everyday processes. Bunq chief strategy officer Bianca Zwart: “In any company, people need to understand that they need to work in a completely different way moving forward. AI will be taking away the repetitive tasks so they can focus on the more complex problems." Source
• Crabs Destroy a Robot Crab. University of Essex researchers put ‘Wavy Davy’, a robot crab, on a Portuguese beach to study the mating behaviour of crabs. Wavy Dave mimics how male fiddler crabs compete over females by waving a singular oversized claw in the air to attract them. The male crabs broke Davy apart by removing its claw. Researcher: “The females realised he was a bit odd.” Source

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