Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, President Trump just signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The move will change the game for medical access, research, and cannabis-business tax deductions, although it stops well short of full legalization. Next, IPOs are surging, with 2025’s $75B haul blowing past last year and 2026 looking stacked with mega-deals. SpaceX, Anthropic, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Trump just signed an executive order that sets a course for a national AI policy framework (vs. the growing patchwork of state AI laws). Until federal laws are passed that preempt state laws, however, state-level fragmentation will be discouraged using DOJ litigation and federal funding. Next, Australia is now the first country to enforce a nationwide ban on social-media accounts for children under 16. With le...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, China’s AI progress is being deployed in manufacturing systems, with some dramatic cost reductions being reported. Chinese open models’ share of downloads has overtaken US open models, and industry watchers are calling China’s models “palpably close to the frontier.” Next, Netflix’s $83B deal to buy WBD’s libraries, studios, and HBO Max is shaking up the entertainment industry. It’s a big swing – if it can cle...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Gemini 3 marks a real turning point for Google, which is clearly the AI player to beat right now. The new flagship model is strongly topping leaderboards for Text, Vision, and WebDev, rolling out on Day 1 in the Gemini app and Search (at least for subscribers). Next, AI is going industrial – and Jeff Bezos is back in a CEO seat. Project Prometheus aims to bring AI to engineering and manufacturing in industries...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Visa and Mastercard have proposed a sweeping settlement that could upend credit-card rewards as we know them. The $38B deal would let merchants refuse premium rewards cards and allow them to tack on card-specific surcharges. Next, OpenAI dropped a faster and more conversational GPT-5.1, with adaptive reasoning that can assess the complexity of a query and allocate an appropriate amount of processing time to ge...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, prediction markets are heating up fast, with trading volumes now topping $2B weekly and a dizzying web of brokerages, exchanges, and crypto and sports-betting players jumping in. Kalshi and Polymarket are leading in a race that’s set to reshape more than one market. Next, big brokerages are pulling open the door to private assets. Schwab is acquiring Forge Global, and Morgan Stanley is buying EquityZen – two o...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, there’s been a steady stream of white-collar layoff announcements from companies like Amazon, Meta, YouTube, Goldman Sachs, and Target. If we dig down, however, into why these companies are laying off white-collar workers, the rationales are nuanced. Next, OpenAI has officially completed its for-profit conversion. One of the most notable ramifications of the conversion is that it will allow OpenAI to go public...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, AI web browsers are officially a thing. This week saw the long-awaited debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas browser, followed quickly by Microsoft’s “Copilot Mode” in Edge. That’s on top of recent launches from Google, Anthropic, Perplexity, Opera, and others. The browser is fast becoming the new battleground for data, distribution, and user trust. Next, Amazon is aiming to automate 75% of its warehouse operations,...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, retail trading has hit an inflection point – and this time it’s not just meme stocks. For the first time, a majority (54%) of working-class Americans earning $30K-$80K hold taxable investment accounts – with more than half of those entering the market within the past 5 years. Next, OpenAI is stacking up chip deals – signing big agreements with Oracle, Nvidia, CoreWeave, SK Hynix, Samsung, AMD, and Broadcom, an...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Apple is letting developers use its local AI model for free, and the app updates are rolling in fast. The model may be just 3B parameters but it runs locally, preserves privacy, and, most importantly, costs nothing, which is hard to beat. Next, Stripe just launched a new stablecoin issuance platform, letting any business spin up its own USD-backed coin with just a few lines of code. The move into stablecoin is...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Trump’s $100K H-1B visa has companies and workers scrambling. While the $100K fee won’t apply to renewals or existing H-1B holders, the administration is signaling that H-1Bs will be fewer, more expensive, and skewed toward higher-paid roles. Next, the US deal for TikTok looks like it’s actually happening. Under Trump’s executive order, TikTok US will spin off into a JV with majority-US ownership and board. Or...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Google’s Gemini elbowed past ChatGPT to become the #1 app in Apple’s App Store globally, boosted by the viral breakout of the Nano Banana image-editing model. Google is lately intent on expanding Gemini’s distribution, with integrations into Chrome, likely Siri, and more. Next, the first pill-based GLP-1 treatments for weight loss could be on the market by next year, with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly leading the...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Robinhood is aiming to be a financial superapp with the launch of Robinhood Social. The social network’s idea generation and signal-to-noise ratio will rely on Robinhood’s ability to verify profile identities through KYC and validate traders’ real performance Next, a coalition of publishers, social platforms, and CDNs is backing the open RSL Standard for AI-era content licensing. The protocol uses the robots.t...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, remedies in the Google search antitrust case have dropped – and Google has come out relatively unscathed. While Google is barred from exclusive distribution agreements and tying its products, it will not have to divest Chrome or Android. Next, businesses are shifting focus away from SEO and towards GEO (generative-engine optimization). AI referrals are surging and companies are racing to optimize for the post-...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, the Fed signaled a policy shift last week, with Powell framing a recalibration of the Fed’s inflation strategy away from prolonged overshoots over 2%, while hinting at a rate cut. Powell is giving with one hand but providing the Fed with cover to take it back if needed. Next, recent reports are indicating a bifurcation among entry-level jobs – with both winners and losers. The difference appears to come down t...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Google’s new Gemini-powered hardware is tempting iPhone users to cross over. Gemini for Home is a major smart-home upgrade, and the Pixel 10’s “Magic Cue” proactive surfacing of relevant information is painting a picture of what ambient, pervasive AI will look like. Next, hackers are rebuilding the business operations of cybercrime around AI. AI tools purchased on the dark web are letting hackers spin up...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, Amazon is expanding same-day fresh grocery delivery to 1,000+ cities, with plans to more than double that by end of 2025. With Prime members now able to get groceries delivered within hours for free, Walmart and other rivals’ stock prices have tumbled in the wake. Next, Trump signed a new executive order aiming to reduce regulatory barriers for the commercial space industry. This will mean streamlining license...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, OpenAI dropped GPT-5 this week, along with its first open-weight models in a long while. While GPT-5 might be the best all-around model (or hybrid “unified” system) today, the open gpt-oss family – which can be downloaded for free, customized, and run on a laptop or phone at low cost – might be even more exciting. Next, ElevenLabs revealed Eleven Music, a text-to-music generator that can produce studio-quality...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, enterprises now prefer Anthropic’s Claude over OpenAI, according to Menlo Ventures. Anthropic is the new leader in enterprise AI with 32% of the market (in compute), while OpenAI’s share has fallen from 50% to 25% in just over a year and a half. Next, the EPA has formally begun its repeal of the 2009 “endangerment finding” – the legal basis for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions in the US. The EPA’s pro...
Hi everyone – welcome to your 3 Shifts Edition [AI-generated audio version]. First, smart jewelry is suddenly one of the hottest fronts in the AI device race. Amazon just acquired Bee’s always-listening bracelet, Meta is working on gesture-control wristbands, Samsung is exploring more smart jewelry, and OpenAI’s hardware team (led by Jony Ive) is working on a new form factor altogether. Next, Uber and Lyft are adding new ways for riders to customize their ride, from opting for female drivers ...