A special perk for Costco Wholesale's highest tier of cardholders has some members in an uproar -- but it's put smiles on the faces of management and investors.

For the last three years, the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has captivated the attention of Wall Street and investors. In Sizing the Prize , the analysts at PwC pegged the potential global impact of AI at $15.7 trillion by the turn of the decade. Numbers this large are bound to garner the attention of investors.

But this sky-high estimate from PwC still significantly lags the worldwide addressable opportunity for the retail industry by 2035. Market Business Insights is projecting a 4.44% compound annual growth rate for the global retail industry through 2035, which would peg its addressable market at $52.7 trillio

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