Good morning.

It’s Thursday, December 18 — a day that accidentally produced two completely different cultural icons. Steven Spielberg was born today, the man responsible for your fear of sharks, aliens, dinosaurs, and the ocean in general. He’s made over 30 films, and won multiple Oscars. Respect.

Also born today: Billie Eilish. She dropped her first hit as a teenager, and made whispering into a microphone a global phenomenon. She’s won your Spotify Wrapped without even raising her voice.

New York is currently cold, festive, and pretending it’s not completely checked out for the year. Enjoy the read, coast into the weekend, and remember: commitment is optional until January.

Today’s stories:

• PayPal wants your money… permanently

• Scientists rewire Down syndrome brains

• Musk becomes a $600 billion economy

• Science finally fixed brussels sprouts

• ChatGPT becomes your personal DJ

• AI is running holiday shopping now

• Facebook starts charging for links

• The Oscars are going full YouTube

• NYC officially becomes Vegas lite

• Instagram wants your couch too

• Mariah Carey joins the Olympics

• Oracle’s $10B AI bet wobbles

  and more…

U.S. stocks slid Wednesday as investors parsed fresh data for clues on the Fed’s next move — and as renewed AI trade anxiety hit tech hard. The Nasdaq sank 1.8%, sliding into a late-session selloff after Oracle dropped on reports its $10B data-center project lost backing from Blue Owl Capital.

The S&P 500 fell just over 1%, dragged down by tech’s reversal, while the Dow slipped around 0.5% after Tuesday’s mixed finish. Under the hood, worries are growing about how much debt and financial engineering is being used to fund AI infrastructure — all while demand questions refuse to go away.

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Elon Musk’s Net Worth Breaks $600 Billion

Elon Musk just crossed $600 billion in net worth. Thanks to a new SpaceX valuation of around $800 billion, Musk’s fortune jumped to nearly $638 billion, according to Bloomberg. SpaceX is now the most valuable private company on the planet. Musk owns about 42% of it, which puts his SpaceX stake alone at roughly $317 billion after discounts. Casual. This is the first time Bloomberg has ever calculated a single person worth more than $600 billion. For perspective, Musk was worth $4.8 billion in 2013. In 2020, he crossed $100 billion. Then things escalated. The SpaceX deal happened through an insider share sale, not a public IPO yet. That’s scheduled for 2026. Until then, Musk continues collecting zeros at a private-company pace. At this point, Musk’s wealth is less “rich person” and more “small economic system.”

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PayPal wants to be a bank now. The company just applied to launch PayPal Bank in the US, filing paperwork with the FDIC and Utah regulators. Europe already let them do this. America is next on the list. PayPal says it’s serious about money. It has already handed out over $30 billion in loans and working capital to more than 420,000 businesses worldwide. The pitch is very small-business friendly and very corporate at the same time. The company says becoming a bank will help it move faster, lend more, and support small businesses across the US. Translation: cut friction, keep more control, and stop relying on traditional banks. If approved, PayPal Bank would be based in Utah and offer interest-bearing savings accounts. Your PayPal balance is slowly turning into a checking account with commitment issues.

Oracle stock drops after $10B data center drama. Oracle stock slipped 5% after reports that a $10 billion data center deal fell apart. Blue Owl Capital reportedly backed out of funding a massive Michigan data center tied to OpenAI, spooking investors immediately. The plan involved a 1-gigawatt facility in Michigan. According to reports, Blue Owl walked away over worries about Oracle’s growing debt, heavy AI spending, and how the repayments were structured. Local politics slowing construction did not help either. This sparked bigger nerves about the AI data center boom. Investors are starting to notice that some tech giants are leaning on private equity instead of paying upfront, then locking themselves into long-term lease deals that could get uncomfortable fast. Other AI stocks took a hit too. Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, and CoreWeave all slid, proving panic travels in packs.

AI is taking over holiday shopping. More people are using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity to find gift ideas, compare prices, and discover new brands. Instead of scrolling endlessly, they just ask and buy. Joy restored. Sanity preserved. The money follows the behavior. Salesforce says AI will drive $263 billion in global online holiday sales this year, about 21% of all holiday orders. Adobe says traffic from AI tools to US retail sites jumped 760% in November alone. Shoppers coming from AI are more likely to buy, stick around longer, and spend more per visit. Retailers love this. Traditional search engines are sweating quietly. AI is also helping smaller brands get noticed. About half of one shopper’s gifts came from brands she had never heard of before. The algorithm has taste now. Holiday shopping is no longer about browsing. It’s about asking nicely and letting the robot decide.

Instagram Reels Are Coming to Your TV

Instagram is coming to your TV. Meta is testing an Instagram for TV app on Amazon Fire TV in the US, letting people watch Reels on an actual big screen. The app is basically Reels, but larger. Vertical videos, algorithm-picked, creator-made, now playing in your living room like that was always the plan. TikTok and YouTube are clearly the targets here. Meta says this is about “experience,” not ads. For now. The company wants to make sure scrolling on a couch feels intentional before figuring out how to monetize it properly.

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ChatGPT gets Apple Music and faster image generation. ChatGPT just got another upgrade and somehow found more things to do. It’s adding Apple Music integration and rolling out a faster, smarter image generator. Soon, ChatGPT will recommend songs and playlists based on your taste, then send you straight to Apple Music. It’s officially stepping into its DJ era. The integration isn’t fully live yet, but it’s coming. Images got a glow-up too. Generation is up to 4x faster, and edits no longer destroy the whole picture. You can change one detail while keeping faces, lighting, and overall vibes intact. A small miracle. It’s better at text in images, layouts, and actually following instructions. Some styles like anime took a step back, and large group photos are still messy, but the older image model is still there for anyone feeling nostalgic.

Meta starts charging for Links on Facebook. Meta is testing link limits on Facebook, and yes, it involves paying. Some users can now post only two links unless they subscribe to Meta Verified, which starts at $14.99 a month. More links now come with a price tag. The test affects creators using professional mode and Facebook Pages. Regular posting is fine, but link-heavy content is suddenly a premium feature. Affiliate links, comments, and links to Meta’s own platforms are still allowed. Shockingly generous.

Missing molecule helps rewire Down syndrome brain circuits. Scientists found a way to fix faulty brain circuits linked to Down syndrome in adult mice. The key was restoring a missing molecule called pleiotrophin, which helps brain cells form and adjust connections. In mice with Down syndrome, levels of this molecule were low. When researchers added it back, brain circuits improved, synapses increased, and learning-related brain regions became more flexible. And this worked in adult mice, not just during early development. This matters because most past approaches only worked during narrow windows in pregnancy. This study suggests the brain may be more adaptable later in life than previously thought. The research is still far from human treatment. It was done in mice, using engineered viruses to deliver the molecule safely into brain cells called astrocytes. No miracles yet, but a real proof of concept.

Science made brussels sprouts less offensive. Brussels sprouts are no longer the villain of Christmas dinner. They used to taste bitter because humans evolved to detect poison, and sprouts accidentally fell into the danger category. Tough luck. Fast forward to now. Sprouts have been rebranded by science, farming, and selective breeding. Sales are up, and nearly two-thirds of people now say they actually like them. Character development. Part of the problem was biology. Some people carry a gene that makes sprouts taste extra bitter. Another part was history. Older varieties really were harsher, and childhood trauma did the rest. Farmers and crop breeders have spent decades breeding bitterness out of sprouts while focusing on looks, disease resistance, and yield. Flavor improved along the way. Frost also helps. Cold weather makes sprouts produce natural sugars, which means sweeter taste and fewer complaints. The modern Brussels sprout is calmer, sweeter, and better behaved. The vegetable changed. People just needed time to forgive it.

Mariah Carey to Open the 2026 Winter Olympics

Mariah Carey is heading to the Olympics. She will perform at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 6 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. The Milan Cortina 2026 Foundation says Mariah represents the “emotional atmosphere” of the Games. Translation: big voice, big feelings, dramatic buildup. Exactly on brand. Mariah confirmed the news on Instagram with a casual “See you in Milan,” as if she doesn’t own half of December and now apparently February too.

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Oscars is moving to YouTube. The Oscars ceremony is leaving TV and moving to YouTube. After airing on ABC since 1976, the ceremony will switch to YouTube starting in 2029. Broadcast television gets four more years to emotionally prepare. Disney will still air the Oscars through 2028, including the 100th ceremony. After that, the show goes fully digital, streaming live and free on YouTube worldwide, with YouTube TV handling the US audience. This isn’t just the main event. YouTube is getting everything. Red carpet coverage, nominations, behind-the-scenes content, honorary awards, student Oscars, technical awards, interviews, podcasts, and film education content. Basically, if it has an Oscar logo, it’s going online. The Academy made about $150 million last year mostly from TV rights. Now it’s betting that the future of prestige cinema lives next to makeup tutorials and conspiracy podcasts.

NYC approves three casinos. New York just approved three casinos, because apparently we needed more ways to lose money faster. The state gave final approval to three Vegas-style casino projects, officially bringing full-blown gambling to NYC. The winners are Steve Cohen and Hard Rock with an $8.1 billion casino near Citi Field, Genting’s Resorts World at Aqueduct Racetrack, and Bally’s casino planned for Trump’s former golf course in the Bronx. The state says these casinos will bring billions for the MTA and education, plus tens of thousands of jobs. Every major announcement now comes with the same three promises and a straight face.

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TikTok of the day: watch here

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