Good morning. Don’t let anyone get you down this week — especially if it’s 6 feet under. That was the case for 82-year-old Ned Johnson who was declared dead last month by the Social Security Administration while he was very much alive. While Johnson got a new lease on life, he’s not the only one who’s had to correct such a mistake: ~9k living people are erroneously reported dead by the SSA each year.
On the pod: How did the once-popular 23andMe implode — and what’s next?
NEWS FLASH
Not so shocking: 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend and its CEO, Anne Wojcicki, stepped down in hopes of buying the company herself. The genetic testing company, once valued at $6B, has struggled through months of uncertainty and concerns over the handling of sensitive customer data. In 2023, hackers targeted the company’s data — specifically, that of its Jewish and Chinese customers — and gained access to nearly 7m user profiles. The breach was followed by a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company failed to notify targeted customers. As if that wasn’t bad enough, seven independent directors resigned from the company’s board in September.
Hallow, a prayer and meditation app, is surging in popularity thanks to endorsements from celebrities including Gwen Stefani and Mark Wahlberg. It’s now the world’s No. 1 Catholic app, perScreenshot Media, and has been downloaded 18m+ times and used by 500m+ people across 150+ countries. It’s also raised $55m+ in investments. Prayer may be free and Hallow is, too — unless you want to unlock more content. Then it’ll cost you ~$70 a year, or ~$120 for an annual plan that includes six users.
Can’t make this stuff up: Paul Roberts, the CEO of AI adtech firm Kubient, pleaded guilty to fraud and faces one year and one day in prison, perArs Technica. Prosecutors say his scheme involved ~$1.3m in fraudulent revenue statements to boost Kubient’s IPO and overselling its AI tool, but the whole thing is especially eyebrow-raising considering Kubient was advertised as being “committed to solving the growing problem of fraud.” Kubient was set to merge with ad platform Adomni in 2023, but the latter canceled the merger mere months later.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Eat your veggies. McDonald’s Canada is rolling out the McVeggie — a burger featuring a patty made with a blend of vegetables — at select restaurants. This is the second time the chain has tried to pry the beef back from customers: It launched a plant-based Beyond Meat patty in 2019.
New York City’s congestion pricing raised ~$52m in toll revenue in February, bringing the program’s total to $100.6m for its first two months of operation.
Hyundai announced plans to invest $20B in the US, including a $5.8B steel plant in Louisiana expected to produce an annual 2.7m+ metric tons of steel and create 1.4k+ jobs.
YOUR BEST BOT
Choose the right chatbot
Here’s the gist:
Need facts? GPT 4.5 has a “super low” 19% hallucination rate.
Need logic? GPT 4o still crushes step-by-step reasoning.
The snippet to bring back to your boss: Recent improvements make 4.5 king for coaching, conversations, and storytelling, while 4o remains stronger at coding, math, and long-form tasks.
The future of transportation is in the sky, apparently, but there’s something to keep in mind while soaring with the birds…
… It can be really annoying for everyone on the ground.
Studying the Blade
In New York, the Blade app has simplified the experience of chartering a chopper, perBusiness Insider.
It’s so common among the Big Apple’s elite that “Blading” has become a verb.
It’s sometimes cheaper and faster to take a Blade than an Uber.
Especially with Blade’s $95 trips from Long Island and New Jersey into Manhattan, which avoid tolls, parking fees, and the city’s congestion pricing.
A Blade may sometimes be cheaper than an Uber, but a regular taxi is also often cheaper than an Uber, and a train is even cheaper than a taxi.
BI notes that Blade’s $95 trip into the city would cost you less than $3 on a train.
Like air taxis, the problem being solved here has already been solved by trains.
But there’s a greater cost…
… and the Bladers aren’t paying it. Helicopters are loud, and when you have lots of helicopters buzzing over a city that is already densely packed and noisy, it becomes very loud.
In just two years, helicopter noise complaints in NYC jumped from ~3.3k in 2019 to ~26k in 2021. That’s a 678% increase.
Loud noise can be detrimental to physical and mental health.
The city has tried to help by closing and restricting heliports, but only the FAA can restrict air traffic.
Many heliports moved to New Jersey, but flights over New York didn’t stop.
That said…
… if you regularly default to helicopter travel over a car or train, you probably couldn’t care less about what the people on the ground think.
RECOMMENDED READING
Getting ghosted sucks — but it especially stings when prospects and clients do it. Here are six reasons for the radio silence and what to do about it.
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
The best age to buy your first home, per a recent Pew Research Center survey of 3.6k American adults about traditional life milestones.
Before you have a sad chuckle while thinking about all the young people locked out of the housing market due to rising costs and stagnating wages, know this: That’s only the best age among respondents who thought there was one — 50% said there was no ideal age to purchase a home or get married, so no pressure.
The average first-time homeowner was in their late 20s in the 1980s, but milestones have been shifting older and older. Today, the median age of first-time homeowners is 38, with 62% of Americans ages 18-34 renting. According to the National Association of Realtors, the typical repeat US homebuyer is 61 years old.
AROUND THE WEB
On this day: In 1993, Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas earned his GED at age 60, 45 years after dropping out of high school.
Haha: “The Imperial March” but you can only hear it from Darth Vader’s chest panel.
That’s interesting: How Josephine Cochrane invented the dishwasher.
Looking to go viral? Musa Mustafa, a viral marketing strategist and AI content hustler, recommends the “sad hot dog” method, which prioritizes quantity over quality when making content for platforms like TikTok — specifically, producing a bunch of AI slop over high-production content.
Financially speaking, Mustafa told 404 Media that for content creators in 2025, pushing low-grade AI-generated videos pays off a lot better than trying to be the next Mr. Beast, comparing social media algorithms and users’ appetites to that of a hungry person looking for a snack late at night, when almost anything will do. And frankly, we believe him — that sad-looking hot dog really do be slapping at 2am.
SHOWER THOUGHT
There are women named Summer, Autumn, and even Winter, but you never see someone named Spring. You do however see people named April, May, and June.SOURCE
NYC’s chopper chaos
Good morning. 
Not so shocking: 23andMe 
Hallow, a prayer and meditation app, is surging in popularity thanks to endorsements from celebrities including Gwen Stefani and Mark Wahlberg. It’s now the world’s No. 1 Catholic app, 
Can’t make this stuff up: Paul Roberts, the CEO of AI adtech firm Kubient, pleaded guilty to fraud and faces one year and one day in prison, 
On this day: In 1993, Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas 
Haha: “The Imperial March” but you can only hear it from Darth Vader’s 
That’s interesting: How Josephine Cochrane 
Haha: 
Aww:
Chinese tech stocks near correction