🥕 Musk’s trillion-dollar carrot: Tesla’s board dangled a “bribe Dad to stay home” pay package that could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, but only if Tesla’s value jumps from $1.1T to a wild $8.5T. If it works, he pockets 423M shares worth $143B today, plus keeps steering Tesla into robotaxis and humanoid robots.
$27,500
The likely sticker price for Slate’s “Blank Slate” pickup. The first trucks from the Bezos-backed company are expected to hit the road late 2026 or early 2027, just ahead of Ford’s $30K EV competitor. Already, 100,000+ people have put down a reservation (it costs $50) for this no-frills entrant into the EV truck game.
🏈 Fantasy football goes AI: This season, fantasy nerds are swapping gut calls for algorithms. They’ve built custom AI agents that crunch real-time data from ESPN, track injuries and even “scout” rivals by analyzing past moves (paywall link). Hey, this could be the start of smarter drafts and fewer Sunday meltdowns … if the bots actually deliver.
📱 Talk to the dead: By 2030, visiting graves will be outdated. A Cambridge researcher predicts AI avatars of dead loved ones will be in our phones, ready for conversation 24/7. From Replika chatbots to funeral apps that let you “attend” your own service, the “digital afterlife industry” is creeping in. Btw, I’m going to share a story about this with you here on Sunday and ask for your advice.
🤖 Murder chic: Shein accidentally used an AI model that looked exactly like accused murderer Luigi Mangione to sell shirts. The listing sold out before Shein yanked it offline, blaming a “third-party vendor.” Yikes.
Feeling left behind? Download NetSuite’s free knowledge drop, “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.” No matter what you do, you should know more about AI. It’s not going anywhere.
Denial as a service: Medicare’s new WISeR program will pay AI firms a share of money saved by denying “wasteful” care. That’s right, AI companies are turning into health care mercenaries. Just 12 procedures targeted at first, but it’s a slippery slope. Six states (NJ, OH, OK, TX, AZ, WA) start the experiment in January.
📦 Shipping crackdown: Amazon’s dialing back some Prime benefits; you’re not allowed to share your Prime free shipping with people unless you live together. From Oct. 1, outsiders must pony up a discounted $14.99/year for the first year, then $14.99/month. Amazon Family still works, but only if everyone’s under the same roof. No more long-distance toothpaste subsidies.
⚡ ChatGPT gets babysat: OpenAI’s finally adding parental controls to ChatGPT three years after launch. Parents can link accounts, set “age-appropriate” rules and get alerts if the AI thinks their kids are in crisis. The bot will also tap into a global physician network for mental health referrals. Basically, Mom just joined a group chat that was long overdue.