🐶 Did Your Dog Make the List?
👋 Welcome! This issue is packed: AI agents are getting smarter, the job market’s tightening, and wellness retreats are booming. We’re also breaking down why nearly half the country isn’t investing — and how to change that. Plus: brain health tips, standout job listings, and the official top dog breeds of 2025. Let’s dive in.
AI & TECH
Congress wants an AI regulation freeze. GOP adds a budget clause that seeks to ban state-level AI model regulation for ten years.
OpenAI is benchmarking AI in healthcare. HealthBench, released by OpenAI, is a tool that evaluates medical AI models using 5,000 doctor-patient transcripts.
Copilot Agent Mode boosts productivity. Microsoft’s Copilot Agent Mode lets developers describe coding tasks in plain English. The AI autonomously plans, edits, debugs, and invokes tools within Visual Studio Preview, smoothly iterating until completion and freeing developers to focus on higher-level design work.
AI models gain working-memory ability. Sakana unveiled Continuous Thought Machines, a new AI architecture designed to mimic step-by-step human reasoning. These models give AI working-memory and planning ability, helping them solve multi-step problems with minimal external instruction or prompting.
TikTok makes photos talk using AI with its new “AI Alive” tool. This image-to-video feature animates still selfies into short clips with synced lip movements, facial expressions, and natural-sounding voiceovers. Designed for simplicity, AI Alive caters to casual creators eager to transform static images into dynamic videos. It reflects a broader trend of AI-first creative media apps democratizing storytelling. Why it matters: effortless AI animation expands creative possibilities, letting anyone craft engaging narratives from their photos and share memorable moments.
NVIDIA will to sell AI chips to Saudi labs. NVIDIA has committed to sell 18,000 GB300 Blackwell processors to Humain, a Saudi Public Investment Fund–backed AI venture, marking an international deal for its most advanced AI hardware. These chips will power research clusters and train AI models at national scale. Announced at the Saudi–U.S. Investment Forum amid a White House–led trade mission, the agreement underscores that access to cutting-edge hardware underpins AI leadership—and that control of next-gen chips could decide global dominance.
CAREER & WORK
Microsoft is cutting thousands of jobs. Microsoft announces 6k job cuts — the plan will slash 3% of its workforce to streamline operations in a push for efficiency.
Nissan announces major workforce cuts. Nissan will cut over 10,000 jobs worldwide as sales slow in China and the U.S., bringing total layoffs this year to around 20,000 and signaling global restructuring for the Japanese automaker.
How to ace a tough job market. In a ‘low-firing, low-hiring’ landscape—where both layoffs and hiring are at multi-year lows—CNBC reports that job seekers face stiff competition, and long-term unemployment is rising. Experts advise creative networking, leveraging internal referrals, tailoring resumes with role-specific keywords, quantifying achievements, targeted reskilling, and prompt follow-ups. Why it matters: In today’s tight labor market, small strategic moves can be the difference between landing an interview and getting overlooked.
ECONOMY & FINANCE
JP Morgan scales back recession odds. JP Morgan cuts recession odds after a temporary U.S.-China tariff deal improves the economic outlook.
The Fed opts for patience on rates. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady for now; easing trade tensions and cooling inflation have officials signaling patience before any policy shifts.
Tech rally lifts S&P 500 back to positive. During Tuesday’s session, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, erasing its 2025 losses, fueled by Nvidia’s 5.6% gain on upbeat forecasts. Semiconductors, software, and cloud stocks also climbed amid optimism around AI chips and easing recession fears, and this week’s gains reflect renewed AI optimism. Why it matters: Tech’s outsized influence on the index highlights how AI‐driven sentiment can sway broader market performance. The Nasdaq added 1.8%, officially entering a new bull market.
LIFESTYLE
2025’s top dog breeds revealed. Newsweek ranks Labs to doodles based on temperament, popularity, and Google search trends.
Wellness travel booms globally. At Organic Spa Media’s recent event, industry experts said wellness tourism—spanning spa retreats, fitness getaways, and mindfulness trips—is the fastest-growing segment of the $5.6 trillion global wellness economy, offering personalized, health-focused travel experiences.
Sedentary time tied to accelerated brain shrinkage. A 7-year Vanderbilt-Pitt study of 404 adults aged 50+ used weeklong wearable trackers to link ten-plus daily sedentary hours to significant gray matter atrophy and cognitive decline—even among exercisers. APOE-e4 carriers showed the strongest associations. Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the findings highlight modifiable lifestyle impacts on neurodegeneration. Why it matters: Regularly breaking up long sitting periods with movement could help preserve brain health and reduce Alzheimer’s risk in aging populations.
BIG THINK: Why So Many Americans Miss the Market
Imagine half the country sitting out on the long-term engine of wealth creation. According to Janus Henderson’s “Risky Business?” report, 48 percent of U.S. adults hold no investment assets whatsoever—no stocks, mutual funds, or retirement accounts.
Who’s in the Market?
The Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts show that the top 10 percent of households own 89 percent of all U.S. stocks. Wealth gains have been stark: from January 2020 to June 2021, the richest 1 percent added $6.5 trillion in equities, while the bottom 90 percent saw $1.2 trillion in gains. Racial gaps compound this: 61 percent of White households own stocks, compared with 31 percent of Black and 28 percent of Hispanic households.
Gender and Generational Divides
A NerdWallet survey finds that 48 percent of women invest in the stock market versus 66 percent of men. Women also report greater anxiety about investing (29 percent vs. 22 percent) and are more likely to rely on someone else to manage their portfolios (66 percent vs. 55 percent). Janus Henderson notes generational splits: one-third of Gen Z non-investors never intend to invest, yet 22 percent plan to start within three years.
What Holds People Back
Janus Henderson highlights key barriers: 30 percent cite lack of knowledge, 38 percent prefer liquid cash, 30 percent are burdened by debt, and 28 percent say they lack means to begin. Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report adds that 19 percent of Americans have no emergency savings at all, underscoring the fragility that keeps many on the sidelines.
The Upside
Over the past four decades, the S&P 500 has returned an average of about 10 percent annually. Historical returns suggest even modest participation could transform long-term outcomes—narrowing wealth gaps, funding home purchases, and building stronger retirement cushions. For example, a $5,000 investment in the S&P 500 30 years ago would be worth roughly $87,000 today.
Getting Started (For 19–35-Year-Olds)
Learn the basics: Watch Investing Basics: Stocks on YouTube for a clear, 5-minute primer.
Experiment small: Try $5–$10 in a micro-investing app or use Wall Street Survivor to practice with simulated funds.
Think like an owner: Stocks represent business ownership; focus on key fundamentals—revenue trends, profit margins, market position and brand strength—to choose companies whose success becomes your gain.
By starting small, educating yourself, and treating early investments as learning tools, young professionals can gain confidence and gradually tap into the market’s proven power to grow wealth over time.
OPPORTUNITY — Create your own AI Agents 👨🏭👩🏭**
When: Thursday, May 15th at 10 AM EST
Where: Virtual — 🎟️ Save Your Seat
By: AirCampus
Most people are juggling tabs. A few hand it all off.
Not to assistants— to AI agents that act.
Picture waking up to a cleared inbox, content already posted, and a perfectly organized calendar— all on autopilot.
In this Masterclass, you’ll learn to build AI agents that automate your busywork across 40+ tools and free you to tackle your top priorities.
50 seats free. No replay. When they’re gone, they’re gone. Ready to upgrade how you work? 🎟️ Save Your Seat
JOBS
Have a role to share? Post it here (login, post, set to “Global”) — we will highlight a few jobs each week.
* Startups have a 🚀 next to them. Many startup jobs are equity only so look closely.
🚀 Marketing & Growth Specialist | Part-time | Remote
🚀 Founding CTO | Part-time | Boulder, CO
Arts Editorial Intern | Full-time | San Francisco, CA
THE NUMBER:
The number of consecutive months of record-breaking global heat the earth endured from June 2023–Aug 2024.
FOR NO REASON
A Scottish snack shack offers “seagull insurance”: if a bird steals your sandwich, they’ll replace it. Just £1 for peace of mind
WISDOM
“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”