🌎 Hot Take

TikTok won’t be leaving your phone anytime soon

Yes, very good. More brainrot. After delaying the ban of TikTok for a fourth time on Wednesday, final details are being worked out in a US-China deal that would finally allow the app to operate in the US permanently.

What’s the deal?

On Monday, the US and China reached a “framework” for a TikTok deal that would keep the app on the phones of over 170 million Americans, though details were scarce.

However, just one day later, some specifics of the agreement were leaked:

• TikTok’s US operations would be separated into a new, US-based company, according to a report by the WSJ.

• US investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, would control about 80% of the new company, while ByteDance (TikTok’s Chinese parent company) would retain under 20%.

The company’s board would largely be comprised of Americans, including at least one seat appointed by the US government, and US user data would be hosted and managed by US cloud giant Oracle.

Your feed might look a bit different: As part of the new deal, US users may be moved over to a new version of the app (which is already in testing), and TikTok’s content algorithm could be licensed or rebuilt entirely.

Why is all of this happening?

The main driver behind all of this is national security concerns. US lawmakers and regulators have long worried that ByteDance (and potentially the Chinese government) could access US user data or influence content through its algorithm.

This led to the Biden administration passing a law in 2024 that required ByteDance to sell the app to a US entity or face a nationwide ban in January of this year.

• On Wednesday, President Trump extended the deadline (for the fourth time) until December 16, 2025, hoping to make a deal with ByteDance and keep the app online in the US.

Looking forward: President Trump said he will close the deal when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping later today.

The Fed cut rates for the first time since last year

This week was basically Christmas for economic policy enthusiasts. The Federal Reserve finally made a move on Wednesday, cutting interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point—the lowest they’ve been in almost three years.

Why now?

The cut, which is the first since December 2024, was widely expected after government data revealed just 22,000 jobs were added last month, suggesting the economy could use a much-needed boost.

While inflation remains a key issue, Fed chair Jerome Powell said the sluggish labor market is a more pressing concern:

• That includes slowing payroll growth, increasing unemployment (which reached its highest point in four years), and a decline in hours worked.

• Additionally, the US economy lost 911,000 jobs (on paper) between March 2024 and March 2025, per revised data from the BLS.

The cut marks a shift in priorities for the Fed, as worries over the weakening job market outweigh inflation, even though it is still above its 2% target. Despite that, the spotlight was on Jerome Powell’s speech, which hinted that two more rate cuts are coming by the end of the year.

Why is this a big deal? A rate cut means lower borrowing costs for small businesses and people with credit cards, and potentially lower mortgage rates (see overview). If more cuts follow, buying a home could become a bit more affordable, a key issue among young people.

Meta unveils its even smarter smart glasses

Give it another year and they’ll solve world hunger. During Meta’s annual Connect event on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the company’s latest AI-powered smart glasses, marking its newest collaboration with Ray-Ban.

They’re pretty cool (when they work)

Building on the success of its original Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which sold millions of pairs in collaboration with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, the company introduced brand-new features for its next-gen glasses:

• The new model, called the Meta Ray-Ban Display, has a built-in digital display on the right lens for apps, alerts, texts, directions, and even live translations.

• They’re controlled by the Meta Neural Band, a wristband that detects subtle hand gestures, though it awkwardly failed during the demo.

Alongside the new Display model, which will be available to purchase later this month for $799, Meta unveiled the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 smart glasses and an Oakley model designed for sports enthusiasts.

Looking forward: The launch marks the company’s continued push into AI and wearable tech, an ever-expanding market that Meta hopes will provide a seamless interface between the real world and the digital one (when it doesn’t glitch).

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The US economy depends more than ever on rich people

No, buying two NFTs doesn’t count. At a time when most Americans are being budget-conscious, high earners now account for a record high percentage of all consumer spending in the US.

Rich taste

A recent analysis of Federal Reserve data shows the richest 10% of Americans (those making more than $250,000 a year) now account for nearly half of all consumer spending.

• That’s a record high, and a sharp increase from three decades ago, when the top 10% were responsible for around 36% of spending.

The shift reflects heavier discretionary spending (luxury goods, travel, high-end services) among the wealthy, even as most other Americans are dealing with inflation, higher costs, and tighter budgets.

What about the rest of Americans?

Much like a high schooler’s Facebook relationship status, it’s complicated. Everyday Americans, unlike the top 10%, haven’t seen any meaningful growth in spending for the last half-decade:

• After adjusting for inflation, households earning under $175,000 have barely increased their spending since the pandemic.

Despite that, sales were strong across most categories last month, showing most Americans are becoming extreme couponers continuing to spend a little here and there. In the past year:

• Spending at US retailers jumped 0.5%, restaurants saw a 1.2% increase in spending, and online shopping spiked 1.8%, according to government data released this week (see here).

What does this mean for the economy? While strong retail sales are a good sign, the economy is still mainly reliant on high earners, which has its implications. If the top 10% of consumers cut back amid market shifts or layoffs, the US could be pushed toward a recession.

Fyre Festival’s next event will be hosted by… LimeWire?

Surprise! Livewire still exists. In a rather strange move, LimeWire, the once-popular music streaming platform, has purchased the rights to the infamous Fyre Festival for $245,000, shocking the entertainment world.

A new chapter?

The tool you used to illegally download The White Stripes album in 2001 has since turned into an NFT platform and outbid Ryan Reynolds’ production company on eBay for the notorious failure that was Fyre Fest.

Have you heard a more 2025 storyline? Probably not.

But the deal does kinda make sense. Both LimeWire and Fyre Fest are looking for some reputational redemption after having their fair share of controversy:

• Despite attracting 50 million monthly users eager to access pirated music in the 2000s, copyright trouble forced the platform to shut down.

• Fyre Festival famously collapsed in 2017 during a failed music event in the Bahamas. Its organizer, Billy McFarland, was convicted of wire fraud in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison, though he was released early in 2022.

On a livestream reacting to the final sale price of $245,000, McFarland expressed his disappointment, saying, “This sucks. It’s so low.” Though LimeWire didn’t seem to care, as it immediately announced plans to host a series of promotional events leading up to the new festival.

What will a new Fyre Festival look like?

LimeWire says it plans to bring “Fyre Festival into the 21st century” and revamp the festival concept, aiming for a more organized and technologically advanced experience.

• The company hasn’t yet released full plans of what exactly that means, but industry experts suspect it involves integrating its software into the event somehow.

The deal has drawn mixed reactions: Supporters argue it’s a risky opportunity to profit from Fyre Festival’s infamous history, while critics are unconvinced that such a controversial brand can be resurrected. Guess we’ll find out.

Catch up on this week’s weird news

 > Wild African chimps drink more than the equivalent of two standard alcoholic drinks per day by ingesting ethanol from native fermented fruit, according to a new study.

 > The Britannic, Titanic’s lesser-known sister ship, sank in the Aegean more than 100 years ago. Now, divers have recovered artifacts from its wreck nearly 400 feet below the surface.

 > Kodak shrank its iconic camera into a $30 keychain version, dubbed the Charmera, which weighs one ounce, shoots photo and video, and holds up to 128 GB of storage.

 > The 2025 Toy Hall of Fame finalists were recently announced, which include games like Battleship and Connect Four, as well as cultural icons like Elmo and the Lightsaber.

 > The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was ranked the number one airport in the country for the second time in three years; it also ranked highest in traveller satisfaction for the second year in a row.