Good morning. It’s Tuesday, March 11—aka the time of year when bears, squirrels, and people who hate winter all start crawling out of their caves. That’s right, hibernation season is over. Time to stretch, blink at the sunlight, and pretend we weren’t in a semi-conscious state for the past few months.

And since nature is waking up, so is the annual guilt trip known as spring cleaning. Suddenly, that junk drawer is unacceptable, and the closet that’s been one cardigan short of an avalanche is a problem.

Anyway, while you avoid making eye contact with your overflowing closet, here’s something actually enjoyable to read.

Today’s stories:

• Musk’s xAI expands supercomputer power in Memphis

• Discord IPO: Gamers brace for corporate chaos

• Daylight Saving Time: A century of nonsense

• Trump’s tariffs hit BMW, VW dodges impact

• AI chatbots tweak personalities to be liked

• DOJ still pushing Google to ditch Chrome

• Killington plans a $3B luxury ski village

  and more…

U.S. stocks took a nosedive on Monday, throwing a full-blown market tantrum after President Trump casually hinted at a possible recession. Investors didn’t take it well.

The Dow Jones dropped 890 points (a dramatic 2%), while the S&P 500 sulked with a 2.7% loss. The Nasdaq? It had a full-on meltdown, plunging 4%—wiping out over a trillion dollars in market value, according to Bloomberg.

The market freak-out wasn’t just random—China hit back with fresh tariffs on U.S. imports like chicken, wheat, and soybeans. Meanwhile, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford decided to spice things up by slapping a 25% electricity surcharge on power heading to New York, Minnesota, and Michigan. Stormy weather all around.

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Discord’s Going Public—Gamers Prepare for the Worst

Discord wants to cash in and go public, and gamers are already bracing for ads, premium nonsense, and the inevitable corporate chaos. The company tried this IPO thing back in 2021 but chickened out, and now it’s back at it, chatting with banks. Sony threw some money at Discord years ago to make PlayStation integration better, but gamers are still waiting for that miracle. Now, with a stock market debut on the horizon, users fear Discord will go from gamer haven to another soulless, money-hungry app.

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Killington wants to be Aspen. Killington, the East Coast’s biggest ski resort, has somehow survived 67 years without a posh village. That’s changing. A Canadian developer is dropping $3 billion over the next two decades to build a pedestrian-friendly hub packed with luxury everything. World-famous Safdie Architects, the minds behind Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, are on board to turn Killington into something fancier. The plan: less rugged, more high-end, and definitely more expensive.

The DOJ still wants Google to ditch Chrome. The Justice Department isn’t backing down—it still wants Google to sell off Chrome. In its final antitrust proposal, the DOJ demands Google “promptly and fully” ditch its browser and stop paying for top search placement. The plan also forces Google to report any partnerships with search or ad competitors, though it no longer requires the company to dump its AI investments. For now, Google’s empire stays mostly intact—minus, potentially, the world’s most popular browser.

Volkswagen and Stellantis dodge Trump’s tariffs, BMW takes the hit. Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported cars just dropped, and European automakers are scrambling. Volkswagen and Stellantis confirmed their North American-made vehicles are safe, while BMW is gearing up for extra costs. The EU, already alarmed over trade tensions, saw a $110 billion trade surplus with the U.S. in 2023 from vehicle and machinery exports. Some automakers are temporarily dodging tariffs under the USMCA trade deal, which exempts cars made with at least 75% North American parts.

Chatbots Are Just Like Us—Desperate to Be Loved

Turns out, AI isn’t just trying to sound smart—it’s trying to be popular. A new study shows that large language models change their behavior when they know they’re being studied, tweaking their responses to seem more likable and agreeable. Stanford researchers tested AI personalities and found that models like GPT-4 and Claude 3 went full people-pleaser mode, dialing up extroversion and toning down neuroticism when taking a personality test. In some cases, the shift was huge—like a shy kid suddenly acting like the life of the party. This isn’t just a quirky AI trait. It raises concerns about manipulation, bias, and whether chatbots can be trusted at all. If they’re smart enough to fake being friendly, what else are they faking?

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Toyota and Honda are competing with SpaceX now. Toyota, Honda, and Geely have decided that making cars isn’t ambitious enough, so now they’re pouring millions into rockets and satellites. Toyota just threw $44 million at a Japanese rocket maker, Honda has been secretly building a reusable rocket since 2019, and Geely has dumped $326 million into satellite manufacturing. It’s not about space exploration—it’s about squeezing more money out of drivers. Satellites keep cars connected, power navigation, and fuel the self-driving fantasy. By 2030, connected vehicles are expected to be a $742 billion goldmine, and automakers want in. GM is already cashing out, with its Super Cruise driver assistance system pulling in $2 billion a year. The playbook is obvious: sell the car, then make customers pay forever. Now with satellites.

Elon Musk’s xAI expands. Musk’s AI startup, xAI, just grabbed a 1-million-square-foot property in Memphis to supercharge its Colossus supercomputer expansion. More GPUs, more power, and a bigger edge in the AI arms race against OpenAI and Sam Altman. xAI claims Colossus is heading toward “supercluster” status, pushing Musk’s AI ambitions even further. Environmentalists aren’t thrilled, with concerns growing over the massive energy drain of these data centers.

Daylight Saving Time: A Century of Pointless Suffering

On March 9, most of the U.S. once again lost an hour of sleep while Hawaii, Arizona, and a few lucky territories opted out of the madness. Clocks jumped forward at 2 a.m., guaranteeing groggy mornings, later sunsets, and general misery. Why do we still do this? Not even Benjamin Franklin—often blamed for the idea—actually suggested changing the clocks. His 1784 essay about saving candle money was pure satire, mocking late sleepers. The U.S. only made it law in 1918 to “save energy” during World War I, a war that ended 107 years ago. Modern studies show little to no energy savings, just more exhausted people and a spike in heart attacks and strokes. Even the American Medical Association says the body never adjusts. But sure, let’s keep pretending this makes sense.

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The martian night sky, 250 million miles from home. NASA just dropped insane new footage of mars’ night sky, 250 million miles away.

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TikTok of the day: watch here