🌎 $4 Trillion Club

US meets with officials over Greenland deal

This will make a great Instagram post. On Wednesday, Danish and Greenlandic officials met with top US leaders in Washington, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss President Trump’s renewed push for the US to gain control of Greenland.

How did the talks go?

In the past few weeks, Trump has ramped up pressure over the Denmark-controlled autonomous territory, saying that the US would not accept “anything less” than full control of the island.

However, non-US officials had something to say about that:

• Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that a “fundamental disagreement” remains between Denmark and the US regarding Trump’s approach.

• Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt emphasized that the world’s largest island is not for sale and should remain part of Denmark.

Why go after Greenland? Trump said the US “needs” the island due to its strategic placement in the Arctic Circle, which is key for national security purposes like missile defense and early warning systems.

Looking forward: Both sides agreed to form a high‑level working group to figure out how they can address US security concerns while also respecting Danish “red lines” on control over its territory.

🌎 Why should you care? American leaders have long been interested in acquiring the territory, so Trump’s push is nothing new. If a deal is made, the US’s access to Greenland’s rare minerals and Arctic shipping routes could impact the cost of electronics, the pace of clean energy jobs, and which industries grow in the coming decade.

Alphabet officially enters the $4 trillion club

And they were promptly rewarded with four trillion-dollar bills. Google’s parent company surpassed $4 trillion in value on Monday, a rare milestone achieved through its increasingly competitive AI business.

Trillionaire triumphs

The turning point came soon after Apple announced it would rely exclusively on Google’s Gemini to power the iPhone’s upcoming (and long-awaited) AI features, including a revamped Siri.

Funnily enough, the reveal propelled Alphabet ahead of Apple to become the second-most valuable publicly traded company in the world, trailing only Nvidia in global market cap:

• Apple and Microsoft briefly crossed the $4 trillion mark last year, while Nvidia is the only tech company to stay firmly above the threshold.

How did Alphabet get here? The tech giant’s climb to $4 trillion reflects strong investor confidence, largely thanks to its streak of AI successes and renewed leadership in the industry.

In the last year, the company had a blockbuster stretch:

• Alphabet saw its stock skyrocket over 65%, reported surging cloud revenue in October, debuted a chip to compete with Nvidia in November, and released Gemini 3, which critics loved, in December.

Even the Oracle of Omaha noticed: Alphabet’s momentum was strong enough to win over even Warren Buffett, who bought more than $4.3 billion of the stock in the third quarter despite his usual tech skepticism.

🌎 Why does this matter? Alphabet joining the $4 trillion club isn’t just a financial flex, but a testament to how AI is reshaping Big Tech and pushing the tools you use every day (like Google Search, YouTube, and soon Apple’s Siri) into smarter, AI‑powered versions, which could influence everything from job trends to the future of work and consumer tech you rely on.

New hires are now older than ever

Just to clarify, early 40s isn’t old (at least relatively so). A new analysis shows that the average age of people starting new jobs in the US rose to 42 last year, as companies look for experienced workers in the age of AI.

Bring on the boomers

The analysis from workforce data firm Revelio Labs (see here) didn’t just show that more older Americans are entering the workforce, but also that young professionals are increasingly leaving it:

• The share of the workforce that’s 25 and younger has dropped sharply over three years, from nearly 15% in 2022 to just 8.8% in 2025.

• Since 2019, hiring for workers 25 and under has plunged more than 45%, while hiring for those 65 and older has surged nearly 80%.

Revelio chief economist Lisa Simon told The Washington Post that, unlike usual tight labor markets where younger workers are hired, companies are now favoring experience as AI reshapes the workplace.

Customer service is dominated by older hires: Since 2015, the typical worker in sales, real estate, and office support roles is about two-and-a-half years older, reflecting a shift toward older employees in customer-facing jobs.

🌎 Why is this important? The shift means younger workers, especially Gen Z graduates, are facing tougher job prospects as older employees stay in roles longer, limiting entry-level openings. Many are stuck in longer job searches or taking internships and side jobs while employers increasingly prioritize experience and soft skills over training new hires.

In partnership with Gladly

Your competitors are already automating. Here's the data.

Retail and ecommerce teams using AI for customer service are resolving 40-60% more tickets without more staff, cutting cost-per-ticket by 30%+, and handling seasonal spikes 3x faster.

But here's what separates winners from everyone else: they started with the data, not the hype.

Gladly handles the predictable volume, FAQs, routing, returns, order status, while your team focuses on customers who need a human touch. The result? Better experiences. Lower costs. Real competitive advantage. Ready to see what's possible for your business?

See it in action

China exported a record amount of goods last year — despite tariffs

Give Shein and Temu some HOF jerseys. On Wednesday, China reported a nearly $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025, a record haul despite ongoing trade tensions with the US.

How did China do it?

Many economists expected high tariffs and US trade tensions to cripple the nation’s export machine and shrink its trade surplus, but instead, China posted the largest surplus ever recorded:

• China exported $3.77 trillion worth of goods and imported around $2.58 trillion, leaving a roughly $1.2 trillion trade surplus.

• Overall, the nation’s exports spiked 5.5% from 2024, according to China’s customs agency.

Despite exports to the US dropping over 20% for the year, the world’s second-largest economy more than made up for it by shipping plenty of goods to other nations across the globe:

• Last year, China increased exports to Africa by 26%, Southeast Asia by 13%, the EU by 8.4%, and Latin America by 7.4%.

Not all that glitters is gold… The IMF warned China’s economy is now too large to depend mainly on exports, while economists say its weak housing market and sluggish consumer spending could affect the global economy.

🌎 Why this matters: Since China is selling more goods to countries than it buys from them, it helps keep the price of things like phones, clothes, and gadgets low for us; however, it also makes US manufacturing jobs less stable, so further trade tensions could mean higher prices or fewer job opportunities down the line.

Microsoft promises its data centers won’t raise your electric bill

Well, this was rather unexpected. In an unusual announcement not tied to products or profits, Microsoft said it will absorb higher power costs when building new data centers so residents don’t see their utility bills rise.

Overcoming opinions

In an era of political division and online echo chambers, Americans seem to disagree on just about everything… but opposition to massive data centers in their backyard is becoming common ground.

Microsoft wants to change that. The tech giant announced a five-point plan that addresses a lot of the main concerns people have with increasingly expanding AI infrastructure. That includes:

• Paying for higher energy costs so that residential electric bills in host communities don’t rise.

• Working with local authorities to reduce the amount of water used (and replenish more water than its centers consume), as well as add any grid upgrades required.

• Invest in local training programs and jobs, and refuse tax breaks that would reduce its contribution to the local economy.

The damage control considerate proposal for the widely unpopular AI infrastructure comes as Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, recently said that Microsoft plans to double its data centers within the next two years.

🌎 Why does this matter? Since exponential AI growth is already vastly increasing electricity demand, it could contribute to higher utility costs and strained local resources. If you happen to live near a data center, Microsoft’s new initiative could help keep living expenses more stable and create new work opportunities in your local area.

Catch up on this week’s weird news

 > Canadian authorities arrested a suspect in the country's biggest gold heist in history, where 6,600 gold bars worth nearly $15 million were stolen from Toronto's Pearson International Airport in 2023.

 > Credit score declined in all 50 states from 2024 to 2025, with Missouri posting the largest decrease while Utah had the lowest.

 > A new analysis of moon dust indicates the lunar surface was chemically altered by an ancient massive impact, helping explain why the nearside is smooth and dark while the farside is lighter and heavily cratered.

 > Newly discovered hidden growth rings found in Tyrannosaurus rex bones suggest the ancient creatures reached their full size of ~16,000 pounds at around age 40, not 25 as previous research indicated.

 > A 10-year-old took the top prize in the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s mullet contest, winning first place among 150 other competitors.

 > Repeated same-sex sexual activity was observed in dozens of nonhuman primate species, suggesting that the behavior evolved to strengthen social bonds and reduce conflict.