Good morning. On this day in 1984, Apple gave us the Macintosh 128K, the first computer with a mouse and a graphical interface. Sure, it had the brainpower of a goldfish, but it paved the way for all those pretty gadgets we now can’t live without.

It’s Friday, and the weekend’s your chance to reset and recharge. Enjoy today’s stories and go be better than 1984 tech. You’ve got this.

Today’s topics:

• Tumblr TV is back—now trying to be a TikTok rival

• Instagram will pay creators $50K to leave TikTok

• Netflix raises prices in the US and Canada

• No more cellphones in NY schools

• JetBlue now accepts Venmo

• NASA’s new nuclear rocket

  and more…

On Thursday, U.S. stocks hit their first all-time high of 2025, as Wall Street recaptured some of last year’s record-breaking momentum. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, breaking its previous peak from early December, while the Dow climbed 0.9% and the Nasdaq edged up 0.2%. Overseas markets stayed mostly steady, even as China made another push to prop up its stock market.

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17 Million EVs Sold in 2024

Electric car sales rose 25% in 2024, passing 17 million worldwide. December marked the fourth month in a row with record sales. China kept growing fast, and Europe managed to hold steady. Britain overtook Germany as Europe’s top EV market. Government incentives and emission rules pushed electric cars forward, leaving gas cars further in the dust.

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Instagram’s $50K offer to creators to leave TikTok. Meta is back with its wallet wide open, offering TikTok creators up to $50,000 a month to post Reels on Instagram instead. To cash in, creators have to upload to Instagram first—no cheating with TikTok. It’s not the first time Instagram tried this stunt. Back in 2021, they offered up to $35,000 per post to pull creators over to Reels, but by 2022, payments mysteriously started shrinking. By 2023, the whole thing fizzled out.

Microsoft loses exclusive OpenAI deal. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor and main cloud partner, is no longer the exclusive provider of computing power for the AI startup. They’ll still get first dibs when OpenAI needs more capacity, but it’s clear the monopoly days are over. The shift comes as part of Project Stargate, a massive AI infrastructure plan announced by Donald Trump, involving OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, and Microsoft. 

JetBlue lets you pay for flights with venmo. JetBlue just became the first airline to accept Venmo for booking flights. For now, it’s only available on their website, but the option will hit their mobile app “in the coming months.” This move is part of JetBlue’s effort to spice things up and make more money as it struggles to compete with bigger airlines offering budget options.

MrBeast wants to buy TikTok. YouTube and TikTok superstar MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is throwing his hat in the ring to save TikTok from being banned. After jokingly tweeting, “Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned,” it turns out he’s actually serious—his lawyer confirmed it. Donaldson, along with a group of investors, is bidding to buy TikTok as the platform scrambles to find a non-Chinese owner before the clock runs out on a 75-day deadline.

Netflix raises prices after subscriber boom. Netflix added 19 million subscribers last quarter, the biggest jump in its history, hitting 302 million users worldwide. Naturally, they’re celebrating by raising prices in the US and Canada. The boost came from the Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match, which drew 108 million viewers, and two Christmas Day NFL games that broke football streaming records. 

AI Stocks Spike After Trump’s $500 Billion Stargate Announcement. AI stocks went wild Wednesday after Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion plan to build AI infrastructure in the U.S. Big names like SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and some UAE cash (MGX) are footing the bill, with Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia pitching in on the tech side.

The news sent stocks flying. Arm shot up 16%, SoftBank jumped 11%, Oracle gained 6.7%, and Nvidia and Microsoft climbed around 4%. Guess throwing half a trillion at AI really gets Wall Street excited.

Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Won’t Sit Still

The magnetic North Pole just got an official update, continuing its slow escape from Canada and edging closer to Siberia. Scientists from NOAA and the British Geological Survey released a new World Magnetic Model, used to recalibrate navigation systems on ships, planes, and compasses. While the geographical North Pole stays put, magnetic north is always on the move thanks to shifting iron and nickel inside Earth’s core. For centuries, it drifted lazily around Canada, but over the last 20 years, it’s been racing towards Siberia at speeds up to 50 kilometers per year—before suddenly hitting the brakes and slowing to 35 kilometers per year recently. The new map should work for five years, assuming the pole doesn’t get bored and decide to move again.

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NASA’s nuclear rocket could get us to Mars in 45 days. NASA just tested a nuclear propulsion fuel that could cut the trip to Mars from six months to just 45 days. This breakthrough, developed with General Atomics, uses nuclear thermal propulsion to drastically increase speed and efficiency. Unlike traditional rockets that burn fuel like glorified fireworks, this system splits uranium atoms to heat hydrogen, turning it into a high-speed gas for thrust. The result is a spacecraft that’s two to three times faster than anything we’ve got now. Faster travel means fewer safety risks, easier logistics, and a serious step forward for deep-space missions. Mars, we’re coming for you—sooner than expected.

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Oscar Nominations 2025

Leading the pack with 13 nominations is “Emilia Pérez”, a wild musical about a drug lord who swaps guns for gender-affirming surgery. Right behind it are “The Brutalist”, a historical epic about immigrants, and “Wicked”, because Broadway hits never miss, both with 10 nods.

Other top contenders include “Conclave”, a pope election thriller, and “A Complete Unknown”, where Timothée Chalamet morphs into young Bob Dylan. Both scored eight nominations and are in the best picture race alongside indies like “Anora”, “Nickel Boys”, and “I’m Still Here”, the creepy “The Substance”, and blockbuster powerhouse “Dune: Part Two”.

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Tumblr resurrects Tumblr TV. Almost 10 years after launching as a random GIF tool, Tumblr TV is back—now trying to be a TikTok rival. With all that TikTok’s U.S. ban drama, Tumblr finally decided it’s time to get in the game. The feature is front and center for new users, while old ones can turn it off if they’re not impressed. Tumblr says downloads jumped 35% and Communities got 70% more sign-ups after TikTok’s troubles.

NY Governor declares war on cellphones at school. Starting next fall, New York students might have to say goodbye to their phones during school hours if Gov. Kathy Hochul gets her way. Her proposal would ban phones in class, during lunch, and even in hallways. Hochul says the plan will help kids focus and improve mental health. Sure, it might, but good luck telling teenagers they can’t text or scroll for eight hours straight. 

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TikTok of the day: watch here