Good morning. Today is both National Small Business Day and National Shrimp Day – one of the only days where it’s socially acceptable to carry shrimp + cocktail sauce through a local clothing boutique while blasting indie rock on your phone speakers.

Or in our words: “Just another Friday.”

In today’s edition:

• 🤖 Companies are “resurrecting” deceased loved ones using AI
• 🌶️ Sriracha’s OG brand is facing another shortage
• 🧠 Neuralink’s first human trial has needed some troubleshooting

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.25-minute read (1,391 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

–Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

In yet another example of Black Mirror-turning-reality: A growing number of people who have suffered the loss of a loved one are turning to AI to preserve, animate, and interact with their deceased friend or family member.

These so-called “deadbots” are particularly popular in China, where at least a half-dozen companies have launched competing products and driven the price of a digital “resurrection” down from ~$2,500 to a few hundred dollars over the past year.

How it works: Deadbots are essentially AI-produced deepfakes that function similar to current technology used to replicate a living person. Machine learning is used to generate a realistic personal avatar that can move and speak, with integrated large language models generating the conversations.

• The more data these AI models can access about someone’s life – drawn from photos, videos, audio recordings, and text messages provided by the client – the more closely the avatar will mimic that person.

Yes, but… Many experts have warned that interacting with AI replicas of the dead could actually be an unhealthy way to process grief, citing recent scientific research that shows the presence of deadbots can cause significant damage by short-circuiting the normal mourning process. They have also raised questions about whether dead people can officially consent to having their likeness recreated digitally.

Zoom out: In the US, many smaller AI companies have launched chatbots that are explicitly designed to provide companionship to humans, with some executives arguing that AI friends or significant others can help address America’s ongoing loneliness epidemic.

• However, none of the current leading AI labs – including OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others – are focused on companionship, with company leaders deeming it too risky to let users form emotional connections with their chatbots.

📊 Flash poll: Would you personally be open to the idea of having an AI companion and/or a “deadbot” replica of a loved one?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure/other

Wearing the same pair every day can be dull. As your passions, preferences, and personality evolve, your eyewear should too. Customize any time at a fraction of the price with Pair’s magnetic top frames.

• 😎 Browse prescription eyeglasses & sunglasses for men, women and kids
• ✨ Choose from hundreds of classic and seasonal top frames at just $25-30 each
• 🚚 All orders come with free shipping and returns

Pair even has collections with partners like the NBA, Star Wars, and Harry Potter so you can sport your faves everywhere you go.

Get 10% off your first pair of base frames with Pair with code M6ATB36907N1.

🌍🎤 Americans are flocking to Europe to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The European leg of the Eras Tour kicked off yesterday in Paris, France – and a significant number of US fans made the journey across the pond to attend. Swift’s concerts are projected to bring 5x more US luxury travelers to Paris than the upcoming Summer Olympics, with the surge in visitors largely attributed to cheaper European concert tickets ($350 vs. $2,600 at Swift’s remaining US stops).

🇲🇾 Malaysia announced a new “orangutan diplomacy” program. Malaysia said its new initiative, inspired by China’s 1,000+-year-old panda diplomacy program, will give out orangutans to countries that agree to buy palm oil from Malaysia, including major importers like China, India, and the EU. The apes, which are native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, have become critically endangered in recent years due to agricultural expansion – particularly for palm oil plantations.

🇮🇷 Iran sentenced an award-winning film director to eight years in prison. Mohammad Rasoulof was arrested on Wednesday ahead of his upcoming trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where his latest film about political unrest in Iran is set to debut next week. His arrest came after Cannes officials received pushback from Iranian authorities, who urged them to pull Rasoulof’s film from competition. Rasoulof has been arrested several times since 2010 over his anti-government public statements and films.

Huy Fong Foods, the iconic rooster-bottle sriracha brand whose creation dates back to the end of the Vietnam War, has halted production on all of its products – so, if you can, get it while the getting’s good.

A common theme

In a letter to wholesale buyers obtained by USA Today, Huy Fong Foods disclosed that its production halt is due to supply issues related to red jalapeño peppers, a key ingredient in the hot sauce.

Per the company, its latest pepper harvest is too green – meaning it’ll have to wait until after Labor Day, when the next chile season occurs, to resume production.

This is a story consumers have seen before (much like the ending of every new superhero movie):

• Huy Fong only used one pepper supplier for decades: the California-based Underwood Ranches. But in 2017, the partnership fell apart over a financial dispute; a jury later determined that Huy Fong breached its contract with Underwood Ranches and committed fraud, awarding Underwood $23.3 million.
• This dispute led Huy Fong to partner with other suppliers… and it hasn’t gone great. The company has experienced shortages in 2020, 2022, 2023, and now, 2024.

Other brands aren’t facing the same supply issues. Meaning sriracha should still be on grocery shelves aplenty. But if only Huy Fong will do, there’s always the secondary market – where prices ranged from $20–$150 per 17 oz. bottle during last year’s shortage.

Summer fun should be accessible for everyone- and with NoNetz, it can be. Say goodbye to the chafing, digging, and irritation caused by traditional activewear, and hello to soft, stylish, and sustainable solutions.

Check out their awesome swimwear collection…

• 🩱 Womens’ one-piece bathing suit made from corn leaves
• ♻️ Mens’ slim-fit swim trunks made from recycled water bottles
• 🩳 Boys’ anti-chafe swim trunks designed to combat texture sensitivity

Better yet, every NoNetz order supports the removal of non-recyclable plastics from our oceans, so we can all enjoy summer fun for years to come.

Save 15% on your NoNetz order with code DONUT15.

Neuralink, the brain implant startup founded by Elon Musk, began its first human trial in January. And, while it’s seen a string of successes, the trial has also encountered some issues.

What happened: In January, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident in 2016, had Neuralink’s brain implant installed. Since then, using just his mind, he’s been able to browse the internet, use his computer, and play video games like Chess, Civilization VI, and Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch, according to a blog post from Neuralink.

But if this brain-implant trial was peanut butter, it’d be the mildly chunky version – because not everything has gone smoothly.

• Neuralink’s device is about the size of a quarter, and designed to be fully implanted on the skull. The device uses 64 ultra-thin threads with tiny electrodes to pick up neural signals from the patient.
• In Arbaugh’s case, an undisclosed number of threads have somehow retracted from his brain, leading to some data loss. Neuralink says it’s troubleshooted this issue by modifying the recording algorithm to be more sensitive and increase the flow of data.

👀 Looking ahead… Brain implants have the potential to restore function to millions living with spinal cord injuries. US regulators in September gave Neuralink the go-ahead to recruit humans to participate in clinical trials, and the company has set a goal to implant 10 people with its device this year.

💬 Quoted: “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”

• Apple issued an apology yesterday after a commercial meant to showcase its new iPad Pro drew widespread criticism online and among the creative community. The company’s “Crush!” commercial showed symbols of human creativity – including musical instruments, paint cans, and an ‘80s-style arcade video game – being crushed by a hydraulic press before forming into the latest iPad Pro, which Apple describes as its thinnest product ever. In a statement, the tech giant said it didn’t mean to cause offense among its creative audience, and indicated that Apple no longer plans to run the ad on TV.

🗣️🎶 Stat of the Day: Who’s winning the Kendrick vs. Drake beef? Let’s peep the numbers. Last weekend, streams for Kendrick's discography excluding his recent Drake disses increased by 49%, compared to a 5% decrease for Drake’s back catalog, per Billboard. However, the Toronto-based rapper still outpaced Kendrick significantly in overall weekend streams (100.7 million vs. 50.6 million).

🤔 Did You Know? US children aged 8-18 spend an average of 7.5 hours/day in front of a screen for entertainment, 4.5 hours of which is spent watching TV, per data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

📰 Worth a Read: How next-gen data analytics is changing American football → (Knowable Magazine)

• ☝️ The most expensive home in Boston recently hit the market with an asking price of $29.9 million; the 10,600-square-foot home includes six bedrooms and an elevator to navigate all five floors.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Headway

• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.5%; Dow: +0.9%; Nasdaq: +0.3%); the Dow rose for its seventh straight session.
• 💼 US unemployment claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 231,000 last week, the highest figure since last August. | 📈 S&P 500 companies that reported Q1 earnings as of Monday have disclosed $181.2 billion in share buybacks, up 16% from the same period last year.
• 🏋️ Planet Fitness is raising its base-level membership prices for new customers for the first time since 1998, to $15/month; current members will continue to pay $10/month. | 🚗 GM is retiring the Chevy Malibu at the end of this year to make room for more EV production.

*From our partners: 😎 Become the most interesting person in the room with the #1 book summary app… Headway lets you grasp key ideas of nonfiction best-sellers in just 15 mins. Save 50% on your first month of Headway PLUS get a free personal development plan using this link.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺🤞 Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will offer a streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and Max to US customers starting this summer. | 🌋💍 Speaking of WBD: The entertainment giant announced a new Lord of the Rings movie scheduled for release in 2026, with Peter Jackson as producer and Andy Serkis (aka Gollum) as the director and star.
• 📱 TikTok will start labeling AI-generated images and videos using a digital watermark known as Content Credentials.
• 📡 Sinclair, one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the US, is reportedly looking to sell more than 30% of its 185 stations.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Paleovalley

• 🪐 NASA’s James Webb telescope detected the first-ever signs of a rocky planet outside our Solar System that contains an atmosphere, a trait considered essential for harboring life; however, the planet’s conditions are inhospitable to life as we know it (unless you actually are built different).
• 🧊☕ Scientists in Australia developed a method for producing cold brew coffee that cuts the required time from 12-24 hours to just a few minutes; the study’s author said he plans to license the tech to coffee-makers.
• 🧠🔬 Researchers at Harvard and Google imaged a tiny, sand grain-sized fragment of the human brain in unprecedented detail, uncovering 57,000 cells and 150 million neural connections.

*From our partners: 🍖 Paleovalley now offers Chicken and Venison Sticks for a nutrient-dense snack… Featuring a whopping 7g of protein per serving, they make the perfect on-the-go source of clean protein. Made with zero synthetic ingredients. Save 15% sitewide at Paleovalley using this link.

MISCELLANEOUS

• ⛈️🌪️ Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected millions of Americans in the Southeast US yesterday; the same storm system contributed to three deaths in Tennessee and North Carolina on Wednesday.
• 🇺🇸 The reigning Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned from the pageant organization days apart this week, citing mental health reasons and differences in personal values, respectively.
• ⚖️ Stormy Daniels concluded her testimony as a key witness in the criminal hush-money trial of former President Trump. (Read more)

CLICKBAIT

• 🏆🇺🇸 Ranking the best states in 2024, per US News & World Report.

A pair of mysterious portals have popped up in New York City and Dublin, connecting the two cities via live stream to allow people to interact in real-time across the pond. 

🌎 Connecting cultures... The project's founder, Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, said the portals "are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is – united and one." 

Our weekly news quiz is live. In just two minutes or less...

Find out how your news superpowers stack up against the team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Olive oil
• Onion chopped
• Garlic
• Ground beef
• Red pepper
• Yellow pepper
• Tomato paste
• Taco seasoning
• Salt & pepper
• Rice
• Chicken broth
• Chunky salsa
• Black beans
• Sweet corn
• Shredded cheese
• Cilantro

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Yukon gold potatoes
• Butter
• Leeks
• Smoked salmon
• Eggs
• Salt
• Fresh dill
• Heavy cream

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Sugar
• Cornstarch
• Salt
• Eggs
• Whole milk
• Vanilla extract
• Heavy whipping cream
• Butter
• Honey
• Bread flour
• Yeast
• Sliced almonds

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

☝️ Recipe #1: Mexican beef and rice skillet

✌️ Recipe #2: Smoked salmon potato leek torta

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Bee sting cake