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• ChatGPT’s viral success has caught the eye of big tech companies and investors.
• Microsoft is working to integrate the bot into its search engine, while Google is scrambling for alternatives.
• Here’s what the AI chatbot’s popularity could mean for tech stocks.

ChatGPT has taken the stock market by storm, massively boosting the value of companies like Buzzfeed who say they’ll incorporate its technology into their business.

The intelligent language tool – which can write cover letters, produce dating app messages, and even offer up generic investing advice – has become a buzzword in the world of finance, while some venture capitalists predict it’s the “next platform shift” in tech.

But it’s raised eyebrows among some market analysts, who’ve drawn comparisons with companies’ short-lived and unsuccessful pivot to the metaverse in 2021.

Major tech names like Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, and Chinese tech giant Baidu have all taken steps in recent weeks to show they’re trying to harness the technology underpinning OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Here’s what their efforts to integrate the chatbot into their businesses could mean for investors.

Microsoft

Microsoft said in January that it would pour $10 billion into ChatGPT creator OpenAI as part of a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar” investment. It had already provided $1 billion in backing in 2019.

The tech giant on Thursday released a version of Teams premium that uses OpenAI technology, and it’s reportedly planning to launch a version of its search engine Bing powered by ChatGPT.

Getting ChatGPT into the little-used Bing is likely to give Microsoft a considerable edge over its Big Tech rivals and lift its share price, analysts have said. Shares have jumped 7.6% year-to-date, although investors’ expectation of interest-rate cuts later this year has helped most tech stocks to rally in 2022.

“Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI will translate to significant underappreciated upside,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said in a research note last month.

“Longer-term, incorporating ChatGPT into Bing may provide Microsoft with a once-a-decade opportunity to unseat Google’s Search dominance.”

Alphabet

Some analysts believe that Google parent Alphabet under threat from the rise of ChatGPT, because the AI bot is a potential rival to its search engine.

In December, the company’s management issued a “code red” about the bot’s launch. Google is reportedly already testing out potential rivals to OpenAI’s tech, including a homegrown chatbot called “Apprentice Bard”.

But analysts say that the bot’s rise won’t weigh on Alphabet’s share price in the longer-term. That’s because ChatGPT’s only unique feature is that it’s available to the public already, and Google is likely developing a stronger alternative in-house.

“ChatGPT has truly revolutionized many types of information queries and other types of tasks,” Saxo Bank’s top equity strategist Peter Garnry said in a recent research note.

“But it remains very doubtful that it could be a replacement for Google, nor a new phase of the internet.”

Alphabet shares have jumped just under 21% in 2023 – suggesting its shareholders aren’t too worried about the rise of ChatGPT either.

Baidu

It’s not just US big tech  Chinese search giant Baidu is also working on developing a rival to ChatGPT to use in its services, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Shares jumped 3.2% the day of the report, lifting Baidu to a 22% gain for January. 

But just as analysts said ChatGPT was unlikely to threaten long-term dominance of incumbent big techs, they generally expect Baidu’s share-price bounce to prove short-lived. That’s because its competitors are lining up similar AI.

“There has been fervent pursuit of the ChatGPT concept in China, one of the countries that are most active in championing AI, with many large companies preparing to launch similar products,” said Shen Meng, director at Chanson & Co in Beijing. “The rally may fade after a short-term run.”

Read more: If you still aren’t sure what ChatGPT is, this is your guide to the viral chatbot that everyone is talking about

• Insider’s Zahra Tayeb asked ChatGPT what traits make for a good stock investor. 
• The buzzy AI bot chucked out 6 virtues that lead to investor success, including patience and discipline. 
• Its advice mirrored that of top investors like Warren Buffett, but failed to identify other key traits vital to investor success. 

ChatGPT, the new buzzy chatbot developed by artificial intelligence company OpenAI, is the world’s latest obsession for its human-like responses. 

The bot, which bagged a $10 billion investment from Microsoft, has shown a capacity for a range of tasks such as writing stock stories, layoff emails, and even dating-app messages. The craze around it has even boosted investor appetite for AI stocks, sending shares in names like Nvidia and Ambarella soaring. 

Earlier this week, I put the human mimic-like tool to the test to see what all the fuss was about. I enjoyed its conversational tone and was grabbed by the ease at which it churned out content, but its lack of empathy or decision-making skills ultimately made it easy for me to remember it’s just a robot. 

As a frequent writer on the US equities market, I sought out to ask the AI tool what character traits make for a good stock investor. Here’s what it chucked at me. 

ChatGPT’s 6-part tip on traits that make for a successful stock investor

1. Patience: Investing in the stock market often requires a long-term perspective and the ability to withstand short-term volatility.
2. Discipline: Developing and sticking to a well-thought-out investment strategy can help investors avoid impulsive decisions based on emotions.
3. Objectivity: Being able to separate personal opinions and emotions from investment decisions can lead to more rational and informed investment choices.
4. Perseverance: Investing in the stock market can be a challenging and sometimes frustrating experience, but having the determination to stay the course and stick to a strategy can lead to long-term success.
5. Open-mindedness: Keeping an open mind to new information and being willing to adjust your investment strategy in light of new developments can help you stay ahead of the curve.
6. Attention to detail: Careful research and attention to detail can help investors identify the best investment opportunities and avoid costly mistakes. 

ChatGPT then cautioned none of its advice can guarantee success. “Having these traits does not guarantee success in the stock market, but they can help investors make better decisions and navigate the ups and downs of the market more effectively,” it said. 

The bot’s tips impressed me, given it mirrored the advice of top investors like Warren Buffet and “Big Short” fund manager Michael Burry. Like ChatGPT, Buffett says self-discipline and keeping emotions in check is key for investors.

The Berkshire Hathaway CEO – often considered a role model in the investing world – has also showcased the virtues highlighted by ChatGPT, according to the “Richer, Wiser, Happier” author William Green. Green noted that Buffett’s phenomenal success was steeped in qualities like patience and having an open mind.

He gave the example of Buffett, who for decades brushed off technology as outside of his circle of competence, then injected $36 billion into Apple between 2016 and 2018. Its stake has blown up in value to about $134 billion today. 

Meanwhile, Gabriel Colominas, a buy-side equity analyst at Gesiuris Asset Management and a Burry expert, has said the investor showcased virtues like perseverance through his ability to withstand pressure and possess the deep conviction needed to stay the course.

He used the example of Burry’s iconic bet against the mid-2000s housing bubble, which was mocked by Wall Street, only for the legendary investor to be proven right. 

However, chatGPT didn’t have all the answers. For instance, the bot failed to identify other key traits underpinning Buffett’s success like dedication, humility and simplicity. 

David Shayer, CEO of Vantage Markets UK, told Insider that while ChatGPT picks up on specific personality traits of successful investors, it misses others.

“I think there are some characteristics missing here, which ChatGPT, or perhaps AI in general, doesn’t yet understand fully when it comes to the human psyche,” Shayer said. 

“ChatGPT has missed the more daring side of a good stock trader’s personality, or attitude to risk. They have to be willing to be speculative and have a certain amount of intuition on where markets might go. However, similar to ChatGPT’s discipline, they also tend to be highly independent individuals. There’s a lot to learn in trading and it can get complicated, so they have to be proactive in learning,” he added. 

• 71% of employees blame passive aggression for their lack of effort at work.
• Workplace passive aggression can appear as sarcasm, the silent treatment, or spreading gossip.
• To combat it, keep lines of communication open and reflect on your own behavior regularly. 

The way that employees communicate has changed significantly as companies migrated to remote work during the pandemic. Online culture became the norm and companies were forced to rethink how to maintain employee engagement and community. However, the sudden shift from in-person interactions to online communication has led to numerous issues, including an increase in passive aggression. In fact, research conducted by my company Go1 shows that seven out of ten Americans are experiencing higher levels of passive aggression in the workplace compared to before the pandemic.

Passive aggression’s destructive power

Over the past year, there have been several employee-driven movements in the corporate world. “Quiet Quitting” has been gaining popularity and can be linked to the rise of passive aggression in the workplace.

Toxic behaviors like passive aggression can not only lead to turnover but can also create a culture where employees feel unmotivated. This has also had further impacts on employees’ attitudes and led to a decrease in productivity. So much so, that 71% of employees blame passive aggression for their lack of effort at work. If left unchecked, these behaviors can create a negative feedback loop that further harms the company’s culture and workforce.

To build a healthy culture and maintain employee engagement, it is important to break this cycle. Here are four key tips to help combat passive aggression and transform toxic workplaces back into healthy ones.

1. Identify the cause

Workplace passive aggression can manifest itself through a number of different behaviors, such as sarcasm, giving someone the silent treatment, or spreading gossip. Rather than simply focusing on the negative behaviors, it is important to ask why these behaviors are occurring in the first place.

Reflect on any recent organizational changes or major projects that may have caused tension or conflict in the workplace. Additionally, consider any personal factors that individuals may be experiencing outside of work that are affecting their behavior. Performance reviews and exit interviews are great ways to gather this information.

Was there a ‘bad’ manager who practiced favoritism? Did your company produce an always-on culture that blurred work-life balance?

Once the root cause of passive aggression has been determined, collaboration with different departments can help develop solutions that address the specific underlying cause. For example, this may involve providing leadership training for the manager who is not treating their colleagues equally or implementing an updated PTO policy to help employees unplug and recharge while setting boundaries.

2. Look into soft-skills training

More than half of Americans revealed passive-aggressive coworkers would benefit from appropriate soft-skills training. Educating your workplace on how to improve their communication, time management, and problem-solving skills is the key to preventing passive-aggressive behaviors before they happen.

In 2022, major tech companies made headlines for their handling of difficult news such as layoffs. Communication-skills training could have played a role in teaching both managers and employees how to voice their concerns and handle these difficult conversations without being passive aggressive. The University of California, Berkeley recently introduced a course that focuses on role-playing these exact conversations, which have already seen great results. Many of the students who reported being conflict-avoidant before taking the course now believe practicing these conversations led to building trust and intimacy.

For workplaces looking to reduce passive aggression in the workplace, it is important to create a culture of trust. Companies with high levels of trust typically have higher productivity and avoid micromanagement. This allows managers to trust that employees know how to prioritize their tasks, and employees to trust that managers know how to delegate tasks effectively to prevent burnout.

3. Create an open line of communication with HR specialists

It is crucial for employees to feel comfortable and confident communicating openly with HR leaders within their company. These individuals have an influence on a company’s culture and ways of working — they can implement and share resources to reduce passive-aggressive behavior and in turn, create healthier work environments.

One way to implement this change is to increase the frequency of check-ins with HR. The specific interval at which these check-ins occur (e.g. quarterly or biannual) will depend on the size of your company. Larger companies may require more frequent check-ins, while a smaller company may be able to hold them less often.

Having these check-ins provide more opportunities for employees to voice any concerns and frustrations directly to HR, rather than harboring negative feelings or expressing them indirectly through passive-aggressive behavior.

HR leaders can also provide guidance and support to employees on communicating effectively and assertively, which can help prevent misunderstandings and conflicts that can lead to passive aggression.

4. Be accountable and reflect on your own behavior

It is common for people to engage in passive-aggressive behavior out of frustration, so the fact that nearly 70% of Americans admit to being passive-aggressive should not come as a surprise. Entrepreneurs are not immune to passive aggression, but by holding yourself accountable and taking responsibility for your actions, you can set a positive example for others to follow.

You don’t have to make a big announcement every time you behave passive-aggressively. Instead, you can show accountability by simply acknowledging to the person on the receiving end of your behavior that you were reacting out of emotion. This could be as simple as sending them a direct message apologizing for your behavior and reiterating that you’ll communicate better in the future. This simple gesture can go a long way in building trust and improving communication within your team — motivating others to follow suit and express their thoughts and feelings directly.

As business leaders, it’s important to recognize the impact your work culture can have on your team and your bottom line — especially considering that toxic work cultures can cost businesses more than $44 billion each year, with one in five employees leaving due to this issue.

Marc Havercroft is president of the corporate e-learning solution company Go1.