🌎 Nostalgia Bait

The US government could end its shutdown today

We might just see the most expensive “Sorry, we’re closed” sign in history. The federal government shut down on Wednesday after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a seven-week spending package, marking the first shutdown since 2018.

Later today, lawmakers will meet again and continue voting on proposals to (hopefully) reopen the government.

Why is the government offline?

Well, it’s the usual story… Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree.

On Tuesday, the Senate failed to pass a proposal to keep the government up and running:

• Republicans first proposed a spending bill that would have maintained government funding at this year’s level through November 21, allowing more time for negotiation and averting a shutdown.

• Democrats said they wouldn’t pass the short-term bill unless Republicans reversed Medicaid cuts and extended Obama-era Affordable Care Act tax credits (which are set to expire this year).

However, the two parties couldn’t agree on a compromise, effectively shutting down the federal government until further notice.

What happens during a shutdown?

Essentially, a bunch of government services simply stop during a shutdown. But what stops and what doesn’t stop depends on whether the service is considered essential or not.

• For example, anything related to national security or safety, including the military, law enforcement, the FBI and CIA, TSA, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and more, will remain mostly unaffected.

• Essential workers have to work without pay, though they will receive back pay once the shutdown is over.

On the flip side, most nonessential services (like national parks and museums) will close, and government services will significantly slow down. Because of this:

• Around 750,000 federal workers are currently out of work, impacting several industries (see more).

• Things like passport renewals, grants, loans, or anything requiring federal paperwork will take forever (not that it was fast before).

The US has now seen 20 shutdowns since 1976 (see overview), with the most recent one, spanning late 2018 into early 2019, lasting 34 days and setting the record for the longest shutdown in American history. See what else happens during a shutdown here.

Looking forward: Senators will return to the office today to keep voting on proposals to reopen the government, though some Senators expect the standoff to last until next week. Click here for live updates.

Meta’s AI isn’t just listening… it’s selling

I think Meta accidentally said the quiet part out loud. Meta announced earlier this week that anything you say to its AI chatbot will soon be used to personalize ads, content, and other features across its platforms.

Conversation observation

If you start seeing posts or ads that are eerily personal, it’s probably because of a conversation you had with Meta AI on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, or Messenger, because they’re always listening:

• For example, if you ask Meta AI for fishing tips, you’ll start seeing more ads for tackle boxes, posts related to angling, and groups that claim to have the best spots to catch a biggin’.

The recommendations will apply to all Meta platforms, and voice recordings (including those from the company’s new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses) will also be used for ad and content targeting.

There’s no way to turn it off. Once the update rolls out later this year, users cannot opt out of having their AI chat data used. However, Meta said “sensitive topics” like religion, politics, health, sexual orientation, or race and ethnicity will not be used for ad personalization.

Looking forward: As AI chats, something previously viewed as private, turn into a data signal for marketing, Meta could see pushback from regions with strong privacy laws over concerns about surveillance and transparency.

Trump strikes deal with Pfizer to lower US drug prices

Dude, where’s my Tylenol? Pfizer, the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world by revenue, agreed to terms with President Trump on Tuesday to lower drug prices in the US and invest $70 billion in domestic manufacturing.

Will we actually get cheaper drugs?

It seems so. Under the agreement, the White House will establish a new government-run website called TrumpRx, which will allow consumers to buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers at discounted rates.

So how does Pfizer fit in? I’ll explain:

• The company will offer many of its drugs on the platform at extremely steep discounts (50% off on average, with some up to 85%).

• Pfizer’s drugs will also be available to Medicaid at the new pricing standards, allowing consumers (not just those with insurance) to get discounts by cutting out middlemen.

• In addition, Pfizer’s new drugs entering the US market will be priced in line with international levels.

Why is this a big deal? Mainly because drugs have always been expensive in the US. Prescription drug prices in America were nearly three times higher in 2022 than in other developed nations, per a 2024 report.

What’s in it for Pfizer? The pharmaceutical company will get a three-year exemption from certain import tariffs, as long as it keeps its pledge to invest $70 billion in US drug manufacturing.

When does TrumpRx launch? The administration says the site will launch early next year and will act as a “convening portal” that redirects users to manufacturer sites so they can buy prescriptions.

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Want this little guy to be your DoorDash driver?

If you say no please unsubscribe. This week, DoorDash officially rolled out Dot, the food company’s first in-house fully autonomous delivery robot.

Adorable delivery

The deployment of the cute little food butler is DoorDash’s first step into ground-based autonomous delivery, a space where many have struggled to manage busy streets and, well, displeased pedestrians.

However, the food delivery giant thinks its clanker is up for the task:

• Dot is designed to smoothly navigate busy roads, bike lanes, parking lots, sidewalks, and driveways to bring customers their food.

• It’s capable of carrying up to 30 pounds of cargo (space for around six pizzas) and can travel at speeds of up to 20 mph.

At about five feet tall and 350 pounds, Dot is basically an NFL running back bulky enough to hopefully deter people from harassing it or stealing food, which is a common issue with food delivery robots (watch video).

DoorDash says Dot will be worked into its Autonomous Delivery Platform, an AI dispatching system that decides whether an order should be delivered by a human driver, robot, or drone, based on different factors.

Where can you find Dot? The robo-dasher is first being deployed in Tempe and Mesa, Arizona, under an early access program but is set to be released to other major cities in the near future.

McDonald’s is bringing back its Monopoly promotion… without the scams

I give it three days before someone finds a way. After spending nearly a decade away from the Golden Arches, McDonald’s is finally bringing back its popular Monopoly game for a limited time… but with a modern twist.

Golden opportunity

The promotion begins on Monday and runs through November 2. Overall, the core of the game works similarly to how it did before. In case you missed the first promotion:

• Players can find peel-off game pieces on eligible menu items, some of which offer instant prizes, like free food and rewards points.

• Players can also collect property pieces, which can be collected to complete sets and unlock bigger prizes, including a $1 million cash prize and a 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Each game piece also unlocks a Bonus Play opportunity in the app, so participants get a second chance at rarer prizes.

This time around, however, there’s a digital twist. In order to play, players are required to register on the McDonald’s rewards app, where they have to scan the physical stickers that are collected for them to count. Participants will also find digital game pieces scattered throughout the app.

Stealing McMillions

The last time the Monopoly promotion was run, it was the subject of a huge fraud scandal involving the FBI, employees, and tens of millions of dollars:

• In the early 2000s, investigators uncovered an insider scheme that stole nearly $24 million in McDonald’s Monopoly prizes.

• The FBI investigation, later detailed in HBO’s McMillions, found the operation was run by a former cop who funneled winnings to a criminal network instead of everyday players.

Now, McDonald’s promises that there are new safeguards and security measures to prevent cheating.

Nostalgia bait: McDonald’s last revived its Monopoly promotion in 2013, attributing a 5% sales bump that quarter to the campaign as it brought in adults who were eager to relive some childhood core memories.

Catch up on this week’s weird news

 > A team of MIT geochemists found 541-million-year-old “chemical fossils” that indicate sea sponges may have been the first animals to live on Earth.

 > OpenAI officially launched a social media app that lets users share AI-generated video content in a bid to compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels.

 > Chunk, a 1,200-pound brown bear known for his broken jaw, was voted the winner of Fat Bear Week, finally securing the top spot after coming close in past contests.

 > 75-year-old Kate Evert is set to compete in the World Masters Powerlifting Championships, just a few years after taking up the sport after turning 69.

 > Scientists created early-stage human embryos by fertilizing sperm with DNA modified from skin cells, which could eventually help overcome infertility and allow same-sex couples to have biologically related children.