Happy Friday.

Somehow it’s already June 19, which means we're somehow halfway through the year despite January lasting approximately 14 months.

The FIFA Club World Cup is happening. The Knicks are apparently winning things. AI is replacing jobs, creating jobs, and applying to jobs at the same time. 

So grab your coffee. Ignore your inbox for at least a few more minutes. And let’s get into it.

Today’s stories:

Stocks rebounded Thursday after investors shrugged off the Fed’s warning that another rate hike could still be on the table later this year.

The S&P 500 rose 1.08%, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.91%. The Dow added a more modest 72 points, or 0.14%.

Chip stocks led the rally after President Trump said Intel and Apple would partner on designing chips in the U.S. Intel surged 10.6%, while Nvidia gained about 3% and Micron climbed nearly 9%. The broader semiconductor sector joined the party, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF jumping more than 6%.

Apparently, one day after panicking about rates, Wall Street remembered it still really likes AI.

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OpenAI just took a major step toward going public. The company behind ChatGPT confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO that could value the business at more than $850 billion, making it one of the largest stock market debuts in history. In a surprisingly self-aware announcement, OpenAI admitted the filing will probably leak anyway, so it decided to tell everyone first. The timing remains unclear. OpenAI says there are still advantages to staying private, but filing now gives the company the option to move quickly if conditions are right. It's a remarkable milestone for a company that started as a nonprofit research lab in 2015. Ten years later, it may become one of the most valuable companies on Earth.

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Boston's new airport hack. The TSA just launched America's first remote airport security terminal in Framingham, Massachusetts, about 25 miles from Boston Logan Airport. Eligible Delta and JetBlue passengers can clear security there, board a secure shuttle, and get dropped off directly at their gate. In other words, airport security has become a field trip. The goal is shorter lines and less airport stress. If it works, future travelers might start their journey in an office park long before they ever see a runway.

Taylor Swift is now worth $2 billion. Taylor Swift's net worth has officially reached $2 billion, according to Forbes. The biggest driver is the Eras Tour, which generated a staggering $2.2 billion in revenue and became the highest-grossing concert tour in history. Her growing fortune was also fueled by new albums, re-recorded releases, and one of the smartest business moves in modern music: reclaiming ownership of her catalog. In just two years, Swift's net worth doubled, making her the richest female musician in history. At this point, calling Taylor Swift a singer feels slightly incomplete. She's a musician, media company, cultural institution, economic force, and occasionally the reason Ticketmaster servers stop functioning.

Elon Musk is now worth $1.4 trillion. Elon Musk's net worth has climbed to a staggering $1.4 trillion after another surge in SpaceX shares. The company's stock has jumped nearly 35% since its public debut last week, pushing SpaceX's valuation to roughly $2.77 trillion and officially making it larger than Amazon. To put that into perspective, Musk is now worth more than $1 trillion more than the world's second-richest person. At this point, the numbers are becoming less "wealth" and more "small-country GDP." The rally also puts SpaceX within striking distance of Microsoft in the rankings of the world's largest companies, trailing only Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, and Nvidia. As if that wasn't enough, SpaceX also announced plans to acquire AI coding startup Cursor's parent company for $60 billion, because apparently building rockets, satellites, AI systems, and internet infrastructure wasn't keeping everyone busy enough.

Hollywood's megamerger hits another plot twist. The Justice Department approved the $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Unfortunately for the companies involved, that wasn't the final boss. California and New York are still investigating the deal and could sue to block it, arguing that combining two of Hollywood's biggest studios would reduce competition and give too much power to a single company. If approved, the merger would unite iconic film studios, major streaming platforms, CBS News, CNN, and a huge collection of entertainment assets under one roof. Not everyone is excited. More than 5,500 actors, writers, producers, and directors have signed a letter opposing the merger, warning it could mean fewer jobs, fewer buyers for creative projects, and higher costs for consumers. Hollywood has spent the last decade turning every successful movie into a franchise. Now it's trying the same strategy with the studios themselves.

Google has asked the U.S. government for permission to release up to 32 million mosquitoes across California and Florida. Before you panic, these are male mosquitoes, which don't bite humans. The plan is surprisingly clever. The mosquitoes carry a naturally occurring bacteria that prevents them from producing offspring with wild females. Fewer baby mosquitoes means fewer disease-carrying mosquitoes over time. In other words, Google wants to fight mosquitoes with... more mosquitoes. The project is part of Alphabet's long-running "Debug" initiative, which sounds like a software program but is actually focused on preventing diseases like dengue, Zika, and West Nile virus. Perhaps the most 2026 part of the story is that Google is using AI and computer vision to sort male and female mosquitoes before release.

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The next big wearable tracks hormones. Most wearables can tell you how many steps you've taken, how badly you slept, and that your stress levels are "elevated." Now startup Clair wants to tell women what's happening with their hormones. The company just raised $11.6 million ahead of launching a wrist-worn device this November that continuously tracks key hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, helping users better understand everything from menstrual cycles to perimenopause and menopause. More than 25,000 people have already joined the waitlist. Women's health is becoming one of the most competitive areas in wearable tech. Apple, Oura, and a wave of startups are racing to move beyond generic health data and tackle issues that have historically been under-researched and underfunded. For years, women's health features felt like an afterthought. Now entire companies are being built around them.

The internet just discovered Google's secret game. For nearly two decades, Google quietly hid a flight simulator inside Google Earth. Now it's available directly in your browser for free. The game isn't trying to compete with Microsoft Flight Simulator. There are no missions, achievements, rankings, battle passes, premium skins, or 47 different currencies to buy digital airplane fuel. You simply pick a location on Earth, take off, and fly. Google says the feature is part of a broader effort to bring more professional tools to Google Earth. But let's be honest: most people are going to spend five minutes pretending they're a pilot before crashing into a mountain. And that's exactly how it should be.

The sun just beat coal. For the first time in U.S. history, solar generated more electricity than coal. In May, solar supplied 12.8% of the country's power, edging out coal at 12.2%. Solar also became America's third-largest source of electricity, behind only natural gas and nuclear. The milestone comes at an interesting moment. Just last week, the Trump administration announced nearly $700 million in support for the coal industry, arguing that coal still has a major role to play in America's energy future. Meanwhile, the sun continued its campaign of showing up every morning and being free. The bigger story is where investors are placing their bets. As electricity demand surges thanks to AI, data centers, manufacturing, and electrification, solar remains the fastest-growing source of new power generation in the country. Politics may change every four years. The economics of cheap energy tend to stick around a little longer.

Midjourney's next product is not what you think. Remember when Midjourney was making surreal images of cats in space? Now it wants to scan your entire body. The AI image company just unveiled "Scanner," a futuristic full-body ultrasound machine that promises MRI-like imaging in under 60 seconds. The concept sounds like something between a medical device, a spa treatment, and a science-fiction movie. Users stand on a platform and slowly pass through a ring containing half a million ultrasound sensors that create a detailed 3D map of the body. Midjourney says the long-term goal is to make preventative health scans as routine as getting a massage. The company plans to open its first scanning spa in San Francisco next year and hopes to deploy 50,000 machines worldwide by 2031.

The New York Knicks are officially NBA champions, and New York City has completely lost its mind. Hundreds of thousands of fans packed Broadway for a massive ticker-tape parade before the team arrived at City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented them with the keys to the city. For many fans, this wasn't just a championship. It was the end of a decades-long emotional support group. People showed up before dawn, climbed scaffolding, paid line-sitters hundreds of dollars, and treated a glimpse of Jalen Brunson holding a trophy like a religious experience. The city deployed more than 10,000 police officers for the celebration after some fans got a little too enthusiastic following the Finals win. And by "enthusiastic," we mean setting things on fire. The Knicks last won a championship in 1973. Which means an entire generation of New Yorkers spent their lives believing this day might never happen. Turns out hope was not a scam after all.

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Skip the Visa line for $750. The U.S. State Department is launching a new "premium" visa service that lets tourists and business travelers pay an extra $750 to secure an interview appointment within 10 days. That's on top of the standard $185 visa fee. The pilot program will run from July through December at select U.S. embassies and consulates. It's the latest sign that the modern economy has found a way to monetize virtually every inconvenience. Airlines did it with seats. Ticketmaster did it with concerts. Now immigration is getting its own premium tier. Coming soon: Visa Plus, Visa Pro, and Visa Premium Max Ultra.

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TikTok of the day: watch here

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