How McDonald's, Chipotle, Starbucks are preparing for the fast-food worker battles to come in 2024 - CNBC   

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There will be no fooling California fast-food workers come April 1. That's the day they can honestly believe the minimum wage in the Golden State will jump to $20 an hour from $16, and only in that sector.

The pay raise exclusive for that workforce, estimated at more than 500,000, is the centerpiece of Assembly Bill 1228, a compromise law hammered out last summer by fast-food companies, the Service Employees International Union and Governor Gavin Newsom's administration. All three sides hailed the negotiated outcome, though the industry knows the alternative could have been calamitous.

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As we travel into new AI world in 2024, it's the same old internet privacy tradeoff for consumers - CNBC   

All the dominant technology companies are integrating generative AI into their online services, from Google to Meta, Microsoft and Apple.

Google's recent integrations of Bard, its chat-based AI tool, with a host of Google apps and services is one example of moving generative AI more directly into consumer life via text, image, and voice interactions. Bundled with everything from Gmail, Docs, and Drive to Google Maps, YouTube, Google Flights and hotels, Bard has the potential to act as a super-charged version of Google Assistant, culling enormous amounts of data online but personalizing responses to individual user data, all while working in a conversational, natural-language mode. Summarizing emails, booking trips, creating shopping lists — anything that might be done by a personal assistant — for people who don't have a personal assistant.

After 2023's major leap in the public consciousness about generative AI, next year individuals and businesses will be making even more decisions with AI at the center. One good example: how people travel. Generative AI will move from a behind-the-scenes driver of efficiency to the foreground, with the concept of an intelligent concierge changing consumer searches, payments, and decisions. "It will make trips more accessible, with fully voice-enabled chatbots offering instant translation and acting on behalf of a traveler," said Eduardo Schutte, senior vice president at Amadeus, a global travel technology company.

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41-year-old spent $120,000 launching a frozen food restaurant—now it brings in $4.5 million per year - CNBC   

Dumpling Daughter CEO Nadia Liu Spellman didn't grow up in your average family-owned restaurant.

Her parents ran Sally Ling's, a popular fine-dining Chinese restaurant in Boston. For decades, she watched her mother and father serve and host celebrities like Julia Child and Yo-Yo Ma.

That upbringing taught Liu Spellman the value of sharing authentic Chinese cuisine and inspired her to open her first Dumpling Daughter storefront in 2014. Based on her family's recipes, she now sells dumplings, which are made in a factory and frozen fresh, in her restaurants and grocery stores.

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These are the boldest bitcoin predictions for 2024 — one calls for a 1,000% rally to $500,000 - CNBC   

Bitcoin had a huge rally in 2023, with the digital currency up some 152% for the year.

And a number of commentators CNBC spoke to — both inside and outside of the cryptocurrency industry — expect the rise to continue.

After hitting a record high in 2021, bitcoin had a rough 2022, which was marked by the collapse of high-profile projects, liquidity issues and bankruptcies.

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