#29 The Weekend Download – Catching Up on What Matters
Essential insights you need to stay ahead
📩 Issue #29 – 06/09/2025
⚡ Quick Hits – What You Need to Know
🔧 OpenAI to make its own chips
OpenAI plans to mass-produce custom AI chips with Broadcom next year, attempting to reduce its reliance on chip giant Nvidia.
Read More (Financial Times)
⚖️ Google antitrust: remedy, not breakup
Google avoids breakup, but has been ordered to relinquish exclusive default placements for Search, Chrome, and Assistant; a technical committee will oversee relief for six years.
Read More (TechCrunch)
🇮🇳 "When the chips are down, count on India"
India’s chip push gathers steam, with three chip projects are slated to start pilot production this year
Read More (Bloomberg)
🔥 Top Insights
💡 AI adoption, literacy & the “magic” effect
People with lower AI literacy may be more willing to try AI, novelty can drive experimentation while familiarity narrows to practical use.
Read More (WSJ)
🚀 Space medicine’s Earthside payoff
From bone loss to radiation and mental health, Mars-class problems are driving research that could transform everyday healthcare.
Read More (Vox)
🪩 Gen Z is still partying, just differently
Sober-curious, social, and selective: Gen Z is trading clubs for rooftop hangs, daytime raves, and natty wine.
Read More (New York Times)
📊 Numbers to Watch
💸 Gen Z’s financial squeeze
New reports show many Gen Z are dipping into retirement funds, skipping meals, and selling belongings just to get by.
Read More (Fortune)
🏝️ Anguilla’s .ai gold rush
The tiny Caribbean island is cashing in on the AI boom, raking in $39M last year from .ai domain sales (nearly 25% of its government revenue), with $49M expected in 2025.
Read More (Semafor)
👟 Wall Street interns love Hoka and Aritzia
Morgan Stanley’s interns survey reveals what Gen Z is carrying, wearing, and working out – luxury brands and big logos are losing appeal.
Read More (Business Insider)
💡 Something to Think About
🧘 Harnessing “good stress”
A practical guide to using small doses of challenge – and real recovery – to boost focus, performance, and resilience.
Read More (Financial Times)
🎴 How anime took over America
An interactive piece on the rise of anime/manga, from Pokémon to Demon Slayer, and what that means for modern IP and fandoms.
Read More (New York Times)
📅 Reunions aren’t dead
Despite social media, high-school reunions have rebounded as IRL spaces for reflection and reconnection.
Read More (The Atlantic)
🌀 Offbeat & Unexpected
🎨 Commuters as co-creators
Bangkok turned a 43-meter tunnel into a giant colouring book, an urban micro-pause that invites play and calm in the rush hour.
Read More (TrendWatching)
🐶 Pupper + popcorn
Dog-friendly cinema screenings are on the rise in the UK, and reportedly calmer than you’d expect.
Read More (The Guardian)
🏫 Microschools, Silicon Valley-style
Tech moguls are backing boutique, AI-tutor-heavy schools as school-choice incentives expand, pushing microschools further mainstream.
Read More (WIRED)
✌ Why kids flash the peace sign in photos
Gen Alpha’s go‑to photo pose is the peace sign, thanks to anime, kawaii aesthetics, and the need to strike something cute (and comfortable).
Read More (Vox)