Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤖 It’s easy to hack chatbots
• 🧠 “Age 25” brain myth
• ❄️ Major nor’easter

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.04-minute read (1,074 words).

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"If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."

–Zig Ziglar (1926-2012)

All that’s needed to trick the world’s leading AI chatbots is 20 spare minutes and a runaway imagination.

That’s according to a new report from the BBC’s Thomas Germain, who set out to see how hard it really is to fool the bots.

He spent about 20 minutes creating a completely fake article called “The Best Tech Journalists at Eating Hot Dogs,” which featured a list of names based on the imaginary 2026 South Dakota International Hot Dog Championship.

• Within 24 hours, top AI chatbots including Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT were repeating the article as fact, though Claude’s Anthropic reportedly wasn’t fooled.
• It still works on Google’s AI Overview as of late last night, even after several articles were published explaining the ruse.
• Germain later tried the same experiment with a made-up list of hula-hooping traffic cops, and it worked in a similar fashion.

It’s more than just a one-off incident

Germain says he reviewed personally dozens of examples where AI tools are being coerced into promoting businesses and spreading misinformation, and cited data that suggests this method is happening on a massive scale.

Search engines like Google have spent the last quarter century fighting spam. But experts say AI tools have undone a lot of the tech industry's work to keep people safe, reopening the door to a “Renaissance for spammers.”

• Google says its AI built into Google Search uses ranking systems that "keep results 99% spam-free,” while OpenAI says it’s also taken steps to disrupt covert influence attempts on its tools.
• However, both leading AI companies openly admit that their tools "can make mistakes."

Big picture: Back in October, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that 800+ million people—roughly 1 in 10 humans on Earth—now use ChatGPT each week, and experts estimate a similar number likely use Google’s AI tools on a weekly basis.

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26-year-olds, rejoice: you’ve got a few more years to blame your brain for your questionable life choices.

A recent study suggests the human brain keeps maturing for seven years longer than scientists previously believed—with the “adolescent” phase lasting until around age 32, not 25.

Some quick context: The age-25 guidance was always more of a rough estimate, rather than a hard rule. Much of the early neuroscience research in this area focused on participants between the ages of 4 and 20, with only extrapolated data for higher ages.

But newer research suggests brain development follows a longer—and more complex—timeline than previously thought.

A head of schedule

Researchers analyzed 12 different measures of brain organization to map out a more up-to-date picture of brain development. What they found:

• The first phase of development runs from birth to ~9 years old.
• Then comes adolescence, an extended stretch of rapid brain rewiring that can last until about age 32. During this period, the brain is still refining its connections and figuring out which neural pathways to strengthen, and which to prune.
• After age 32, the brain enters adult mode and hits a turning point. Instead of building new connections at high speed, it starts reinforcing the ones it uses most.
• The final two stages, “early aging” and “late aging,” occur at 66 and 83 years, respectively, when structural and cognitive decline tends to accelerate.

Why it matters: Many mental health disorders tend to emerge during adolescence. If that window actually extends into our early 30s, it could reshape how researchers think about prevention, diagnosis, and support.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US stocks fell across the board yesterday amid worries around tariffs and potential AI disruption to various industries (S&P: -1.0% | Dow: -1.7% | Nasdaq: -1.1%)
• 🏘️ Average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rate falls below 6%, matching its lowest level since 2022 (5.99%); rates stood at 6.89% this time last year.
• 💉 Novo Nordisk says its next-generation obesity treatment failed to outperform Eli Lilly’s Zepbound in a head-to-head study; the Danish drugmaker’s stock fell ~16% on the news.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⛷️ US skiing legend Lindsey Vonn says she nearly lost her left leg following a frightening crash in the women’s downhill Olympic event; Vonn, 41, was competing on a torn ACL in her left knee suffered less than one week earlier.
• 🎮 Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer, who helped launch the original Xbox in 2001, retires after 38 years at the company; Asha Sharma, head of Microsoft’s CoreAI division, replaces Spencer.
• 📺 BBC apologizes for not editing out a racial slur from its BAFTA Film Awards coverage after an 84-year-old white guest with Tourette's syndrome shouted the N-word when two black actors—Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo—were onstage.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🐢 Galápagos National Park releases 158 juvenile hybrid giant tortoises on Ecuador’s Floreana Island; hybrid species carries 40%-80% of the genetic makeup of giant tortoises, which went extinct 150 years ago.
• 🐴 Horses produce a unique combination of high- and low-pitched sounds when they neigh by whistling with their voice box, new study reveals.
• ✍️ Early modern humans were using structured symbols to communicate as far back as 40,000 years ago, though the script isn’t complex enough to qualify as writing, according to new research.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🇲🇽 Mexico’s military kills the country’s most powerful drug kingpin, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, with the help of US intelligence; the killing sparks a wave of violence from cartel members, who burn cars and block roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states. | British police arrest Peter Mandelson, the UK’s former ambassador to the US, on suspicion of misconduct in public office; it comes amid investigation into allegations Mandelson leaked market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein.
• ❄️ Major nor’easter hits the US East Coast, causing widespread travel disruptions and dumping up to two feet of snow; airports in Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, and Newark all largely shut down for the day, with ~40 million Americans under blizzard warnings.
• 🗣️ President Trump’s first formal State of the Union address of his second term is tonight at 8 pm CT; he’s expected to outline his admin’s priorities and legislative agenda for the year ahead.

👆 Next-gen humanoid robots caused a major stir at China's annual Spring Festival Gala last week, after exhibiting human-like movements and performing flawless kung-fu and dance routines

🤔 Did you know? Human bones are as strong as steel, but ~50x lighter in weight. They’re also ~4x stronger than concrete, on a pound-for-pound basis.

📰 Worth a read: The hockey goalie who saved Team USA—and won America a gold medal

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• A single gene may determine ‘good’ and ‘bad’ dads
• This common bedtime routine greatly improves sleep, study find
• Not on TikTok? They're tracking you anyway

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Yesterday we covered the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 decision to strike down the vast majority of President Trump’s tariff agenda, which has raised major questions over potential refunds and the future of US tariff policy.

❓ Our question to you: Do you agree or disagree with SCOTUS’ decision to strike down the vast majority of President Trump’s tariff agenda?

• Agree: 77%
• Disagree: 17%
• Unsure/other: 6%

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

+Note on sample size: We received 773 votes and 85 longform responses.

❓ Trivia: What unusual item did President Andrew Jackson keep in the White House that became famous during his presidency?

📖 True or false?…The first Harry Potter book has a different title in the US versus in the UK.

🤔 Riddle me this: I have a head and a tail, but no body. What am I?

🦭 A sea lion pup recently wandered 1.5 miles from water at a California farm before being rescued. The adventurous pup journeyed through a canal, across a road, and down a farm path before help arrived.

❓ Trivia: A 1,400-pound block of cheese

🎓 T/F: True; the "Sorcerer's Stone" (US) vs. the "Philosopher's Stone" (UK and most of the world)

🤔 Riddle: A coin

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