Good morning. In this edition:

• 🤖 AI + cyberattacks
• 💼 Massive Amazon layoffs
• 👟 Nike exoskeleton for everyday use

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.70-minute read (985 words).

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“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

For decades, Americans have been sitting on an energy jackpot buried beneath their feet. But Mother Earth hasn’t exactly made it easy to harness.

Geothermal energy, or capturing the intense heat of the Earth’s core to use as energy, is the one renewable source that even politicians on opposite sides of the aisle can agree on, thanks to its low-carbon footprint and mostly domestic supply chain.

However, projects attempting to harness geothermal energy have consistently failed or fallen short over the years, largely due to cost overruns and the fact that previous tech would only work with existing, naturally occurring underground reservoirs of hot water.

Things are now poised to change

Decades of research by the US Department of Energy has laid the groundwork for scientific breakthroughs that are now making geothermal energy a serious contender.

• Unlike past projects, the new generation of geothermal plants don’t require water to be naturally present beneath the surface.
• Instead, they use locally supplied water that’s pumped a mile underground—deeper than ever before—where it absorbs the Earth’s heat, then brings that energy back to the surface to spin turbines and generate power.

Startups like the Bill Gates-backed Fervo Energy are able to drill that deep thanks to new fracking-style techniques and diamond-encased drill bits. Fervo plans to start sending power to the Utah grid next year.

It doesn’t stop there. Another startup, Quaise Energy, is taking things even further, using microwave technology to drill down deep and reach rocks so hot that water pumped down there becomes a fourth state of matter. This strange stuff can theoretically produce 10x more energy compared to conventional hot water from beneath the Earth, per Quaise CEO Carlos Araque.

Looking ahead…Experts say geothermal tech could soon be far cheaper than natural gas in terms of total cost per unit of energy, and could also eventually be less expensive to set up as well.

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The same tech that helps clear out your email backlog is also being used for more nefarious purposes.

As generative AI continues to progress, hackers are taking advantage to boost the effectiveness and output of their operations.

• OpenAI and Anthropic have both already found evidence of nation-state adversaries and cybercriminals using their models to write code and research their attacks, while Google says it’s also seen similar activity.
• In particular, Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and North Korean hackers are using AI tools to enhance their operations, several security executives told Axios.

The tech is a useful tool. AI-automated phishing emails achieved 54% click-through rates over the past year, compared to a 12% rate for messages that didn’t use AI, per a recent Microsoft report. The company predicts AI automation can eventually increase the profitability of such attacks by up to 50x.

But there’s room for hope

The same next-gen AI technology is also helping to defend networks from malicious attacks. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and CrowdStrike are deploying AI tools that spot unusual behavior, block malicious links, and respond automatically to attacks, sometimes in minutes instead of weeks.

• More than 80% of major companies are currently using AI to beef up their own cyber defenses, according to a survey by AI-powered cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct.

Looking ahead…Experts say hackers are just months away from building AI tools that can automate their entire process, from spotting vulnerabilities to launching customized attacks on companies and organizations.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 Amazon to lay off as many as 30,000 staffers across its corporate workforce (~9%) starting today, per multiple reports; it represents Amazon’s largest corporate workforce cut in history.
• 🥤 Keurig Dr Pepper secures $7 billion from private-equity firms to finance its beverage and coffee businesses, which will eventually separate into two public companies.
• 🏦 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirms list of five candidates Trump will choose from to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term ends next May. See the list.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏈 LSU fires head football coach Brian Kelly following 5-3 start to the season; Kelly’s $54 million buyout represents the second-largest in CFB history, if paid in full.
• 🎶 Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl notches third straight week at No. 1 on both Luminate’s album chart and the Billboard Hot 100.
• 🏀 The NBA is reportedly reassessing its measures on legal sports betting; move comes days after veteran G Terry Rozier and Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were indicted in a federal investigation into gambling schemes involving sports betting and poker.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏃 Men need to exercise about twice as much as women to achieve the same reduction in coronary heart disease risk, according to researchers.
• 🏥 Stillbirths in the US are higher than previously reported, affecting ~1 in 150 pregnancies instead of 1 in 175 as the CDC states, per new study.
• 🦠 Nearly 20% of UTI infections may be caused by E. coli strains transmitted through contaminated meat, new research finds.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🌀 Hurricane Melissa is projected to hit Jamaica today as a Category 5 storm, potentially the strongest to ever hit the country.
• 🌊 Navy helicopter and fighter jet crash in separate incidents in the South China Sea ~30 minutes apart, officials confirm; all crew members involved were rescued.
• 🇦🇷 Argentina midterm elections see the right-wing party of President Javier Milei win plurality and remain the largest party; election is widely seen as de facto referendum on Milei’s term nearly two years in.

☝️ Nike last week unveiled Project Amplify, which it describes as “the world’s first powered footwear system.” The company says its new tech is aimed at people who run 10-to-12-minute miles by giving them more power for everyday movement.

🤔 Did you know? On the Russian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, it’s common for audiences to intentionally provide the wrong answer to contestants, making them wary of ever using that lifeline.

📰 Worth a read: How to build a memory palace

🖱️ Clickbait: People in the happiest relationships have 5 things in common with their partner

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Yesterday we covered recent data that tells a conflicting story about how the US economy is performing, with strong economic and stock growth combined with a weak jobs market and persistently high inflation.

❓ Our question to you: To all working professionals: would you consider the growth outlook in your industry/sector of the economy to be positive or negative over the next 12 months?

• Positive: 39%
• Negative: 53%
• Unsure/other: 8%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 705 votes and 54 longform responses.

❓Trivia: Which two ancient Mesoamerican cultures used cacao (cocoa) beans as a form of currency?

🎓 True or false?…Chameleons change color primarily to blend into their surroundings.

🤔 Riddle me this…I’m taken from a mine and shut in a wooden case, from which I am never released. Yet, I am used by almost everyone. What am I?

💙 A Belgian zoo hatched a rare Spix’s macaw chick after 100 failed attempts, reviving hope for a species currently declared extinct in the wild. The bird, nicknamed “Chick 101,” could help rebuild the world’s tiniest parrot population.

❓Trivia: The Maya and Aztecs

🎓 T/F: False; they mainly change color to regulate temperature and communicate

🤔 Riddle: Graphite (aka pencil lead)

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