A Fake CEO Made One Phone Call. A Hospital Lost $4.8 Million.

Today's stories share one thread: trust. Someone allegedly faked a CEO's voice to move $129 million, investors are suddenly less sure about trillion-dollar AI price tags, and hackers keep getting in through the oldest door there is, a weak password. Here's what happened and what it means for your business.

GURU kicks off Nov 12. Join the 29,000+ marketers who showed up last year, 100% free and virtual.

GURU Conference, powered by Constant Contact, is back November 12–13. It's 100% virtual and 100% free, and it's packed with tactics you can use right away on newsletters, deliverability, design trends, AI, and what NOT to do with email.

What to expect:

Last year, 29,000+ marketers joined us. This year is even bigger, and spots are limited.

Save my free spot

What happened: Prosecutors in New York unsealed an indictment this week against three men, according to The Next Web, which reported on the case brought by the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan. Prosecutors say the scheme ran from 2024 to 2026. Callers allegedly used AI to mimic a company's CEO and asked an employee for help with a "secret deal." The employee was then sent to a "lawyer," played by another member of the group, who supplied bank details for a large transfer. Named victims include a Missouri hospital system (about $4.8 million), a UK fintech (about $11.6 million), a Rhode Island bank, and a Florida pet food company. These are allegations, and the men are presumed innocent.

Why it matters to you: This wasn't a hack. It was a phone call that sounded like the boss. If you have an employee, a bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant who can send money, this exact setup can be aimed at you, and a familiar voice is no longer proof of anything.

What to do about it: Make a simple rule today: any request to move money or share bank details gets confirmed by calling back on a number you already have, no matter who sounds like they're asking.

What happened: Bloomberg reported Friday that potential buyers in Anthropic's IPO see a valuation as low as $1.1 trillion, compared with the roughly $2 trillion investors expected a month earlier, as TechCrunch noted. Separately, Heatmap's read of Anthropic's filing shows the company warning that delays in securing energy and water for its data centers could slow it down. It also says its voluntary commitments to offset data center impact on local communities "have increased, and we expect will continue to increase, our operating costs."

Why it matters to you: If you pay for Claude or build any workflow on an AI tool, the long-term price depends on these companies being able to afford the power and buildings behind it. Nothing here says your service is about to change. It's a reminder that the AI you rely on runs on very expensive infrastructure, and the money behind it is getting pickier.

What to do about it: Don't build your whole business around a single AI vendor. Keep your key processes simple enough to move.

Most AI events send you home with a notebook full of ideas and a to-do list you never finish. The Epic Marketing Summit is built to do the opposite. It's a 2-day live event in Miami where you build a working AI-powered sales funnel and vibe code your own AI app on site, so you walk out with a finished asset instead of notes.

It's made for business owners who want their sales process to run as a system instead of running on their own time and energy. Last year's event sold out, and it's back for January 2027 with a bigger AI focus. I wasn't there personally last year, and I had major FOMO about it. I know a lot of the trainers, and they weren't talking theory. They had actually done the work. I'm going in January, and if you're serious about building leverage into how you sell, I'd like to see you there too. Seats move as January gets closer, so don't wait on this one. Grab your spot here

What happened: OpenAI has reportedly raised $11 billion so far in a new round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, per TechCrunch, which was summarizing a Bloomberg report. The round hasn't closed, and Bloomberg says it could reach about $20 billion in the coming weeks. In late September, Bloomberg had reported OpenAI was looking to raise $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation. These figures come from sources, and OpenAI hasn't confirmed them. OpenAI is widely expected to go public in 2027.

Why it matters to you: Both of the biggest AI labs are now running into investors who want more proof before paying trillion-dollar prices. That doesn't mean the tools are going away. It does mean the era of unlimited cheap AI, funded by endless investor cash, is being tested.

What to do about it: Favor month-to-month plans over big prepaid annual deals with AI startups until the money picture settles.

What happened: Security firm Censys found more than 800 deployments of Artex sitting on the open web with no password, according to TechCrunch. Artex is an open-source, Chinese-made tool that uses AI agents to probe systems for weaknesses automatically. It was released in July and has been linked to attacks on South Korean financial companies in September and, per Microsoft, to break-ins at customers of IT support firm ConnectWise in early October. Censys notes not every exposed copy is malicious, since many are used by authorized testers. Many of the attacks worked because of weak or known passwords and missing multi-factor authentication.

Why it matters to you: Attackers are automating. A tool that used to need a skilled hacker can now run mostly on its own, which means small businesses with weak logins get tried just as fast as big ones.

What to do about it: Turn on multi-factor authentication for your email, bank, and any IT provider or software portal this week.

What happened: Google released Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash, its AI video model, according to Runtime Wire, which cites Google's own announcement. Clips can now run a native 15 seconds, priced at $0.07 per second at 720p, and it's available through the Gemini API and Gemini for business. You can also edit a clip by chatting with it, such as changing the background, instead of starting over. The article notes the claims about keeping faces and products consistent are still unproven in real-world use.

Why it matters to you: At that price, a 15-second product video costs about a dollar to generate at 720p. That makes testing a few short ad ideas cheap, even if the finished result still needs your judgment.

What to do about it: Try one clip with your own product photo before putting any ad budget behind it, and add your own headline and price afterward so you control the wording.

Here's a different kind of recommendation. I've been a member of the Ignite Mastermind for over 3 years, and it has been a vital part of how I've grown my business. Some of my closest friends, and a few real business partners, came directly out of being in that room.

Ignite is an annual membership for entrepreneurs who are still under $1 million a year in revenue and want help getting past it. You get 6 to 8 live virtual workshops a year, tickets to 2 in-person multi-day live events, and weekly calls with Perry Belcher and his team. There's also an all-in-one marketing software suite that replaces over $5,000 a month in separate tools, plus a peer community where real partnerships happen. And I add my own bonus: monthly accountability and business development calls with me personally. If you're looking for a mastermind to move you to your next milestone, this is where I'd point you. See how Ignite works here

What happened: OpenAI added GIF creation and editing to ChatGPT alongside a new image model, Images 2.6, as The Next Web reported. You can make a GIF from a text prompt or an uploaded photo, then change its speed, edit single frames, and share it. OpenAI says it's rolling out to all ChatGPT users on web, desktop, and mobile. The article doesn't give limits on GIF length or usage, and image generation is also faster with the new model.

Why it matters to you: This is a fun tool, not a business revolution. For a small business it means quick animated posts or product teasers without hiring anyone, but expect your feed to fill with everyone's version of the same trick.

What to do about it: Try one with your logo or a product photo, and only post it if it looks like your brand.

Look at the thread running through today. A voice on the phone can't be trusted on its own anymore. A trillion-dollar valuation can lose hundreds of billions in a month without the product changing. A hacking tool can run itself, and still the way in is often a password someone never fixed. The rollercoaster keeps climbing and dropping, and the noise is loud. Your job stays boring and effective: confirm before you send money, lock down your logins, keep your tools flexible, and run small cheap tests instead of big bets. Stop the rollercoaster by controlling the few things that are yours to control.

Forward this issue to one person who'd rather get the plain-English version of AI news. If someone forwarded it to you, subscribe so tomorrow's issue lands in your inbox.

Talk tomorrow,
Mark Shilensky

Follow me personally on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkShilenskyPage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markashilensky/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@markashilensky
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shilensky/
X: https://x.com/markshilensky
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark.shilensky
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/markshilensky.bsky.social