Good morning. In this edition:

• 🤖 US teens + AI companions
• 🌐 New internet speed breakthrough
• 🥤 The mysterious origin of 7UP

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.36-minute read (1,159 words).

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“Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.”

–Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

A growing number of US kids are having very real conversations with their imaginary friends.

AI companions, defined as "digital friends or characters you can text or talk with whenever you want,” have reached near-ubiquitous levels of usage among Americans aged 13-17, according to a survey published yesterday by Common Sense Media.

By the numbers

The vast majority of US teens (72%) say they’ve had at least one interaction with an AI companion, Common Sense found. Over half of teens (52%) qualify as regular users who interact with AI companions at least a few times per month, per the survey, with daily users making up 13% of the teen population.

• On the whole, however, teens don’t really trust the bots—and still prefer the company of people.
• 80% of AI companion users say they spend more time with real friends than companion bots, while 67% find AI conversations less satisfying than human conversations.

That’s probably a good thing: AI companions—which have been linked to potentially dangerous interactions with minors, including recent lawsuits claiming the bots bear some responsibility for two separate incidents where teens took their own lives—are unusually effective at grabbing and holding users' attention, even compared to other AI-based apps. The average number of user sessions for companion AIs is over 10x that of models for general assistants, content generation, and messaging, according to data from Andreessen Horowitz.

To help in the gold rush for user attention…Elon Musk's xAI launched AI companions for its flagship Grok model earlier this week, while AI companion app Tolan recently closed $20 million in new funding. And don’t forget about what Sam Altman and Jony Ive are cooking up.

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One of the biggest first-world probs—a slow internet connection—could soon be a relic of the past, thanks to a new breakthrough from Japanese researchers.

Scientists recently transmitted 125,000 GB/second of data over a distance of 1,120 miles, more than doubling the previous world record for fastest internet speed, according to research presented at a recent conference in San Francisco.

• The figure is ~4 million times the average US broadband performance (289 mbps), and would allow someone to download all of English-language Wikipedia ~5,000 times per second.

But while the number itself is remarkable, scientists say the novel method they used is the truly exciting part.

How it happened

The researchers developed a new form of optical-fiber cable that squeezes 19 separate fibers into a diameter of just 0.005 inches—the same thickness that most existing single-fiber cables use today.

• This means the Japanese researchers’ new optical fiber has 19x more data transmission capacity compared to standard technology.
• It also means their new cable can easily integrate into existing fiber-optic infrastructure across the world.

Looking ahead…The researchers’ next goal is to refine the method so that it can be incorporated by telecommunications providers. If implemented widely, the cables would make downloading movies and large files near-instantaneous. Or put another way: you could download The Flash in a…really short amount of time.

Beware: winter is coming, and the Unsigned are massing like the Unsullied. As NFL teams prepare to kick off their respective training camps before the end of the month, 30 of the league’s 32 second-round draft picks still remain without contracts.

It’s all because of the *Cajun voice* gar-on-tees

The only two second-rounders that have inked deals so far are the #1 pick of the round, LB Carson Schwesinger (with the Browns), and the #2 pick of the round, WR Jayden Higgins (Texans).

Both of their contracts are fully-guaranteed, a first for second-round picks in the latest collective bargaining agreement—which put rigid financial guidelines in place around each draft slot, but left guaranteed money up for negotiation.

The push and pull: Since the league‘s average career lasts about as long as a phone battery, second-round holdouts are using these two examples as an opportunity to push for more money effectively up front, while owners are trying to resist paying those who likely won’t stick around. Only ~64% of NFL second-round draft picks stay with a team through the length of their initial contract, according to data from Over The Cap.

It’s not just rookies…NFL veteran contract guarantees have also been a hot topic, like that store at the mall we all make fun of but secretly love. A report published in June claims that the league encouraged teams to reduce the guaranteed dollars in veteran contracts, citing an independent arbitrator’s findings.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🗣️ President Trump says he doesn't plan to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, though mentions potential removal for cause; the president has previously raised issue with a $2.5 billion office renovation undertaken by the central bank.
• 🥤 Canadian retailer Couche-Tard, operator of Circle K, withdraws $47 billion takeover bid for 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings, citing lack of constructive engagement.
• 🏦 Goldman Sachs posts strong quarterly results, as its trading division generates $840 million more in revenue than analysts expected. | JPMorgan is now worth more than its three largest rivals combined.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with InVite Health

• 🏀 NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discusses league expansion, the aprons, and a streaming future following NBA's board of governors meeting.
• 📺 Fox Sports reportedly finalizing TV deal with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports.
• 🏌️ Oakmont Country Club bans golfer Wyndham Clark from its property for damaging his locker after missing a cut at last month's US Open.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🫁 Researchers 3D print biomaterial that mimics living lung tissue; advancement could allow development and testing of treatments for lung diseases without requiring living patients.
• 🤖 Scale AI to lay off 14% of its workforce, or ~200 employees; move comes one month after Meta took a multibillion-dollar stake in the AI startup and hired its CEO and other staff. | Cognition AI to buy AI coding startup Windsurf; move follows Google's $2.4 billion acqui-hire deal for Windsurf last week.

🪧 Largest piece of Mars on Earth fetches $5.3 million at Sotheby’s “Geek Week.” | Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton goes for $30.5 million at the same auction.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Four Leaf Rover

• 🏛️ President Trump criticizes MAGA supporters who oppose his admin’s decision to not release more material from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation; defends Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the case.
• 🚨 Former interim NYPD Commissioner files federal lawsuit alleging NYC Mayor Eric Adams and top police staff run the NYPD as a criminal racketeering enterprise.
• ✈️ New details from last month’s deadly Air India crash indicate a senior pilot turned off fuel to the engines prior to crashing.

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☝️ Astronomers recently captured the first-ever images depicting the birth of a new solar system, per a study published yesterday in Nature.

🤔 Did You Know? Nobody is entirely sure where the name for the beverage 7UP comes from—not even the company itself—since inventor Charles Leiper Grigg died before sharing the secret.

📰 Worth a Read: The pants cost $20. They explain $86 billion of Costco sales

🖱️ Clickbait: These states are America’s worst for quality of life in 2025

Yesterday we covered the battle over former President Biden’s use of autopen while in office, and Republican critics who claim that Biden’s aides took advantage by using it to sign decisions in his name.

❓ Our question to you: In general, how do you feel about the use of autopens by US presidents?

• It should be widely allowed: 17%
• It’s OK for less important stuff, but not more important decisions: 54%
• It should be banned: 20%
• Unsure/other: 9%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,206 votes and 241 longform responses.

Can you name all the US states that start with the word “New?” (One is pictured above)

❤️ Four years ago, the Sheraton Wilmington South hotel in Delaware went up for auction; it's since reopened as the Hope Center, a fully functioning ecosystem offering housing, childcare, computer access, career coaching, and a fully functioning medical center, all free of charge.

+Note: This story previously appeared in a Oct. 2024 edition of Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

1. New Jersey
2. New Hampshire
3. New Mexico (pictured)
4. New York

+Clue for the Games newsletter: Be brave for today’s Conjoiner sequence. It involves car chases, and chasing dragons.