đ Good morning. You made it to the gym once this week? Congrats. But the four crew members of SpaceXâs Fram2 mission outdid you. The spaceflight is the first human mission to circle Earth over its poles, and the crew members will be conducting 22 experiments on board â from growing mushrooms to X-raying the human body â while taking in the views.
đĄ Last chance:Our pitch competition closes tomorrow. Record a 60-second video, send it our way, and you could win $5k in cash and get your Big Break.
NEWS FLASH
Meta gets in the ring: TKO Groupâs UFC reached a multimillion-dollar, multiyear sponsorship deal with Meta to integrate the mixed martial arts league across the Big Tech companyâs products and platforms. In return, Meta will be UFCâs âofficial fan technology partnerâ and have its branding displayed in the Octagon ring for UFCâs events. If youâre up to date on your Zuck lore, the partnership isnât out of nowhere: The Meta founder practices mixed martial arts, attends UFC events, and, lest we forget, said that corporate culture would benefit from more âmasculine energy.â Meta might not be on the same page â the company noted its CEOâs affinity for combat sports as a potential risk factor in its annual report.
đ The end: NaNoWriMo is calling it quits after 25 years. It broke the news in an email to its community, which stated that like many other nonprofits, it has struggled to find funding. The organization also grappled with at least two recent scandals, one involving a content moderator for its Young Writerâs Program who was accused of grooming minors, and community backlash after it said condemning the use of AI in writing was âclassistâ and âableist.â Regardless, if you still feel compelled to churn out a novel this November â or any other month â nobodyâs stopping you.
đŽ Finally: Nintendoâs Switch 2 has a release date: June 5 in the US, with pre-orders starting April 9. The new device is slightly larger than the Switch, has 256GB of storage (8x the OG Switch), and will retail for $450 or $500 when bundled with the new âMario Kart World.â Itâll also have a new button to launch GameChat, which lets Switch Online subscribers use its built-in microphone to talk to other gamers online. Nintendo took its time with this one â the original Switch debuted in 2017.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
TikTok has a new competitor. Skylight, a Mark Cuban-backed short-form video platform, launched this week. Like Bluesky, itâs a decentralized app operating on the AT Protocol.
Zelleshut down its app on Tuesday, but you probably didnât notice. Zelle users sent $1T in payments in 2024, but made just 2% of transactions using its standalone app â most use their bankâs app.
Uber will offer its Abu Dhabi customers the option to take a lift in self-driving vehicles through its partnership with Chinese startup WeRide. Initially, theyâll have safety drivers, but the companies hope to offer fully autonomous rides later in 2025.
FROM OUR FRIENDS AT MINDSTREAM
What happens when AI research goes behind closed doors?
Google DeepMind is staying more private than it has in the past, a strategic move to keep competitors from sneaking a peek at its progress.
Researchers say the company deployed stricter rules and longer wait times on studies.
Papers that highlight flaws â or could help rival AI companies â are often delayed or even blocked.
While it sure is a good way to stoke curiosity, the company is likely making changes as it shifts to a product-first approach rather than pure science.
What else is going on inside the DeepMind vault? Read on to find out.
THE BIG IDEA
When brandsâ April Foolsâ pranks actually work
Brands love April Foolsâ Day more than the rest of us stuck groaning about bogus products no one wants, like an Olipop-Hidden Valley Ranch soda collab.
Many people profess their hatred of April Foolsâ Day, so why do brands participate in it every year? And when does it pay off?
Brands love attentionâŚ
⌠and enough buzz can drive people to take real actions, like signing up for a trial.
Duolingo and Carnival Cruise Line announced a five-year language cruise as a joke, but when you attempt to âbookâ it online, youâre offered a free month-long trial of Super Duolingo and a discount on a real cruise.
BodyArmorâs prank was a Sports Performance Shampoo that led to a real sweepstakes for Stanley Cup tickets. BodyArmor is the NHLâs âofficial sports drink.â
And sometimesâŚ
⌠people actually want the prank.
This yearâs real April Foolsâ products included Dbrandâs âTouch Grassâ skins â essentially Astroturf for your devices â and GMKâs CYL Any Keys caps for your keyboard. Useless, but fun!
Perhaps more exciting, however, is the opportunity to see if consumer demand merits actually delivering on a prank:
In 2020, underwear retailer Journelle announced lacy menâs lingerie on April Foolsâ only to find customers were interested. It later launched a real lingerie line, which became a best-selling category.
Kraft Heinz released a limited-edition, pickle-flavored canned cocktail in 2023 after joking about such a concoction the year prior.
Niantic Labsâ wildly successful âPokĂŠmon Goâ was inspired by Googleâs 2014 prank about using Google Maps to catch the critters. Niantic Labs was owned by Google at the time.
Using April Foolsâ Day as a testing ground for a zany idea isnât entirely unlike Coca-Colaâs Freestyle fountains, which offer valuable data about what flavor combos customers like and might purchase if Coke sold them.
Also, we kinda really want Reeseâs chocolate-infused bread for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
BTW: We know you want to hear about an April Foolsâ fail. In 2016, Googleâs Gmail âMic Dropâ joke added a Minions GIF to emails, then blocked the conversation. Unfortunately, the buttonâs placement led several people to accidentally hit it in serious communications, leading to intense backlash.
Even Spider-Man needs help sometimes. A VP behind Tom Hollandâs NA beer brand shares lessons learned from launching a new company.
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
Pounds of avocados used by Chipotle across its 3.7k locations in 2024.
Thatâs a lot of guac. The chain estimates it purchased ~5% of all the avocados consumed in the US last year, perThe Wall Street Journal.
And since roughly half of customer orders include the avocado-based dip, Chipotle has been working to diversify its avocado sourcing to ensure a consistent supply â previously, 85% of the companyâs avocados came from Mexico.
Now, Chipotle sources avocados from Colombia, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Guatemala.
Should Mexican imports get hit with a 25% tariff, the chain estimates its costs will increase by tens of millions of dollars annually. Holy guacamole.
AROUND THE WEB
đ On this day: In 1996, FBI agents arrested Theodore Kaczynski, AKA the Unabomber, at his cabin in Lincoln, Montana.
đď¸ Newsletter:JoinTheAI Report â trusted by 400k+ professionals from OpenAI, NASA, and more â for free daily AI insights, tools, and strategies.
A valid fear â though not a realized one (or really a relatable one), lucky enough for Eddie Huang. The celebrity chef and author co-hosted a private auction of personal items in NYC Tuesday night, where his well-loved, Knicks-branded boxers sold for $60.
The April Foolsâ Day event, sponsored by Substack and dubbed âHow Bad Do You Want It?â, saw several other questionable keepsakes hit the block, including a used toothbrush, an empty medicine bottle, and a signed bottle of laxatives, which sold for a whopping $500. One manâs trash, as they sayâŚ
SHOWER THOUGHT
Aliens watching skateboarders would be a lot like humans watching cats always land on their feet.SOURCE
Today’s email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman, with help from Singdhi Sokpo and Kaylee Jenzen. Editing by: Ben âDonât take my guacâ Berkley.
