On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a measure directing President Trump to either end US involvement in the conflict with Iran or get approval from Congress to continue it.

While the resolution is symbolic (since many presidents have largely bypassed it), if a similar one also passes in the Senate, it could push Trump to end the war. The House vote came hours after an alleged Iranian attack:

At the same time, Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire contingent on the militant group Hezbollah ending its attacks on Israel and withdrawing north of the Litani River. The ceasefire lasted hours:

As for the US-Iran war: Iranian officials said Wednesday that "no tangible progress" has been made in negotiations to end the war. Iran is reportedly maintaining lines of communication with the US but warned that any attack by Israel on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, would trigger a "full-scale resumption" of the conflict with the US.

We’re tracking this issue live on NextGen+. Click the button below to see its status, momentum, and other key developments.

As Gen Z navigates a historically tough job market, a new study suggests that remote work has actually made youth unemployment worse than artificial intelligence has.

Before you claim that AI tech giants are paying off NextGen News (if they were I wouldn’t be in this business), consider the following study conducted by the New York Federal Reserve:

What’s the correlation? Excluding the pandemic, the unemployment rate in remote-friendly jobs climbed by 1% for younger people since 2017, but it actually dropped among workers aged 29 and older. For non-remote jobs, there was no difference.

Much of workplace learning occurs informally (like overhearing conversations, getting spontaneous feedback, etc.) rather than through structured training programs, according to the study.

Since it’s tougher for younger workers to learn, gain experience, and develop skills without in-person guidance:

However, the researchers aren’t suggesting everyone return to the office. Rather, they argue that its benefits and drawbacks differ by career stage, as experienced workers typically already have professional networks and key knowledge in place, while younger employees are still developing both.

Google and Meta each unveiled new ways to bring in cash this week as the tech titans look to help finance their rapidly growing AI spending bills.

As competition intensifies in the AI race, tech companies have dramatically increased AI-related spending on data centers, chips, and power infrastructure in an attempt to keep up.

Analysts say it starts a circular pattern:

That might be a problem: While Wall Street has largely rewarded companies for aggressively investing in AI (just look at any tech stock), it remains to be seen when those investments will actually start to pay off.

Google has been embedding more AI features into paid products and experimenting with new ways to put ads in its AI-powered search engine. However, the best way to make immediate money is to…

…sell a bunch of stock:

Meanwhile, Meta recently launched paid subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp (see previous briefing) and is looking at selling AI agents to businesses for the first time ever:

More revenue means more investment: The four largest AI-hyperscalers in Big Tech, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, are now projected to spend a shocking $7.6 trillion on computing power, data centers, and energy from 2026 to 2031, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst.

We’re tracking this issue live on NextGen+. Click the button below to see its status, momentum, and other key developments.

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Your grocery bill may soon feel the effects of the protein boom. Suppliers are struggling to keep up with demand for whey powder as food companies increasingly add it to everything from chips to ice cream.

Many Americans have been swept by the newest nutrition trend of maximising protein intake, while millions of Americans taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are also being encouraged to increase their protein intake to preserve muscle mass. It has caused consumer demand for whey to skyrocket.

As companies race to secure inventory, the US Department of Agriculture says some suppliers have already sold out for the year. The rush has shot up prices drastically:

The price surge is already reaching consumers: A tub of whey protein powder that cost around $40 on Amazon half a year ago was selling for over $54 last month. Bloomberg also reported that one supplement company recently stopped all whey product sales after its costs rose by more than 300% in the last three years.

How long will the shortage last? Not to worry, gym rats. The dairy industry is pouring billions into new production capacity, which could help ease the shortfall since the protein source is generated during the cheese-making process.

Just as it’s rolling it out to businesses, too. Nice. This week, researchers discovered a vulnerability that allowed hackers to take over Instagram accounts by manipulating Meta’s AI customer support chatbot.

Apparently, it was pretty easy. The hackers just had to exploit weaknesses in the chatbot’s decision-making processes:

It’s not clear how many accounts were breached using this method, but victims appear to include the Obama White House account, a top US Space Force official, and a former Meta employee.

No need to deactivate your account: Meta says it addressed the vulnerability and put additional safeguards in place to prevent similar attacks.

> Researchers found that mosquitoes can be conditioned to ignore and even approach DEET, the active ingredient in many bug sprays, instead of avoiding it.

> The New York Public Library has partnered with a local brewery to recreate George Washington’s "small beer" recipe found directly inside his private military notebook in 1757.

> A group of crested ibises (see photo) was released in Japan after the species had gone extinct in the country decades ago, largely thanks to international breeding programs.

> Researchers discovered a new immune cell called a “ruptoblast” that helps flatworms fight infection and repair damage, potentially shedding light on future regenerative medicine treatments.

> NASA has officially ended the MAVEN Mars mission after six months of silence from the spacecraft, concluding over a decade of research studying the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

> As more affluent families worry about raising entitled heirs, more luxury “life skills” retreats are emerging, charging tens of thousands of dollars to teach purpose, resilience, and responsibility to the children of the ultra-rich.