🫘 Bean there, sniffed that

Q: OpenAI Codex system prompts bizarrely ban any mention of goblins, gremlins, and other creatures unle

OpenAI Codex system prompts bizarrely ban any mention of goblins, gremlins, and other creatures unless directly relevant to a user's query.

Q: Waymo self-driving cars are being reported by emergency responders as a public safety hazard, includ

Waymo self-driving cars are being reported by emergency responders as a public safety hazard, including blocking a fire station and delaying an ambulance at a shooting scene.

Q: Spotify will introduce 'Verified by Spotify' badges to differentiate real human artists from AI-gene

Spotify will introduce 'Verified by Spotify' badges to differentiate real human artists from AI-generated music personas.

The Hustle·Friday, May 1, 2026·6 min read

Technology Business Culture

Share𝕏 in

AI Summary

The Hustle newsletter covers several tech and business stories including OpenAI Codex's unusual system prompts banning goblin talk, emergency responders reporting issues with self-driving Waymo vehicles, and Amazon's new AI-hosted podcast discussing product reviews. Additional briefs cover Google Photos' AI virtual closet feature, Spotify's verified artist badges, and a Hasbro animatronic Baby Yoda product launch.

Key Facts

✓OpenAI Codex system prompts bizarrely ban any mention of goblins, gremlins, and other creatures unless directly relevant to a user's query.

✓Waymo self-driving cars are being reported by emergency responders as a public safety hazard, including blocking a fire station and delaying an ambulance at a shooting scene.

✓Spotify will introduce 'Verified by Spotify' badges to differentiate real human artists from AI-generated music personas.

Author Takes

BearishThe Hustle

Amazon AI Podcast

Amazon's AI-hosted product review podcast is potentially 'one of the funniest, closest endpoints to human civilization,' with bots that often can't answer basic product questions.

Contrarian Angle

Wall Street Coffee Grader as a Licensed Profession

The Intercontinental Exchange employs licensed coffee graders who professionally drink, smell, and rate coffee to inform commodity market pricing.

Drinking coffee is an obscure but formal Wall Street profession tied directly to commodity exchange valuations.

10+ Income Streams Earning $100k/Month as a Creator

Marina Mogilko built 10+ diversified income streams including Avon rep, souvenir selling, UGC creation, and YouTube to reach $100k/month without a single dominant source.

Anti-niche play — deliberately diversifying across unrelated income streams rather than focusing on a single channel or product.

More from The Hustle

Why you'll buy an item for $4.99, but not $5.00

This newsletter explores the history and psychology of charm pricing — the practice of ending prices in non-zero digits like .99 — tracing its origins

May 3

🧪 A startup’s sperm solution

The Hustle newsletter covers a mix of tech and business news including a startup campus in Austin called Proto-Town, Ikea's revived inflatable furnitu

Apr 28

The booming business of men's volleyball

Small and mid-size U.S. colleges facing enrollment crises are adding niche sports like men's volleyball to attract students and stay financially viabl

Apr 26