🌎 Trillion Dollar Baby

Nvidia became the most valuable company in history

This is the perfect opportunity to flex some trillion-dollar bills. On Wednesday, chipmaking giant Nvidia briefly became the world’s first $4 trillion company as the AI boom fuels demand for its tech.

Trillion-dollar baby

Shortly after the market opened on Wednesday, shares of Nvidia’s $NVDA ( ▼ 0.34% ) stock soared 2.8% to reach a record high of $164 each, pushing the company’s total value to just over $4 trillion.

In case you don’t understand how crazy that is:

• If Nvidia were a country, its valuation would make it the world’s fifth richest nation by GDP, just under Japan (see comparison).

• Additionally, its value could buy nearly half of the S&P 500 and is roughly 10 times the net worth of the world’s richest person, Elon Musk.

Things happened fast: The historic milestone comes less than two years after Nvidia notched the $600 billion mark, driven by surging demand for its AI chips that power many of today’s most advanced technologies.

Against all odds

Earlier this year, Nvidia’s outlook was pretty bleak. The company’s shares dropped as much as 37% from January to April, and few expected the chip giant to hit the $4 trillion mark first… especially since Apple started the year at $3.9 trillion.

But, as privacy concerns and tariff fears eased, Nvidia bounced back hard:

• Overall, the stock is up about 18% for the year and has increased 10x since early 2023.

Don’t expect it to slow down anytime soon… Market forecasts suggest the company could climb to $5 trillion within 18 months and $6 trillion in the next three years, per investment firm Loop Capital.

Amazon bet big on its prolonged Prime Day

Much like the birthday celebrations of teenage girls, Amazon’s Prime Day event was stretched to four days this year. However, the prolonged timeframe may be paying off, as Adobe projects the four-day event to pull in $23.8 billion, roughly the equivalent of two Black Fridays.

Crunching the numbers

Despite early estimates saying this year’s Prime Day would be a wash, it already looks to be a win for consumers and e-commerce, smashing sales records and showcasing new tech-infused shopping habits.

Numerator crunched the numbers on this year’s Prime Day—here’s what stood out the most:

Spending & Orders:

• So far, the average household spent $139.71, and 58% of them placed over two separate orders.

• 67% of items sold are priced under $20, and only 3% exceeded $100.

Top products:

• Dawn Platinum Powerwash took the crown, with Liquid IV hydration packets placing second, and Premier Protein Shakes third.

• The most popular categories are apparel and shoes, household essentials, and home goods.

Consumer behavior:

• Nearly all knew it was Prime Day before shopping.

• Around 66% were highly satisfied with current deals.

• Over 50% compared Amazon's prices with other retailers like Walmart (49%) and Target (37%).

While items are flying off the shelf screen, Amazon is discounting far fewer items than before, as only around 16% of products are discounted this year versus roughly 40% last year.

Extended timeline

Amazon’s Prime Day event has served as a powerful barometer of spending trends and retail strategy for years, but it’s only gotten better as time has passed. Adding two extra days has certainly helped:

• US shoppers spent $7.9 billion on Prime Day’s first day, up 10% from 2023.

• Experts expect the e-commerce giant to ship out 60% more packages this year thanks to the elongated timeframe.

• Analysts predict $12.93 billion in sales for the four days, up from $8.95 billion for the typical two-day stretch.

Amazon isn’t the only one chasing shoppers this week: Walmart launched a six-day sale both online and in stores, while other retailers like Best Buy, REI, and Dollar General rolled out their own promotions in the lead-up to Prime Day.

Measles cases surge to 33-year high in the US

One of the world’s most contagous diseases has struck the US yet again. US measles cases have reached their highest level since 1992, before the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.

Spreading sickness

The US has seen 1,288 confirmed measles cases so far in 2025, spreading across 38 states, per CDC data. At least 155 people have been hospitalized, with three confirmed deaths—two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico.

• Around 92% of cases are in those who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.

• The largest outbreak centers in West Texas (over 750 cases), but smaller clusters are appearing across multiple regions (see map).

Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, mainly due to over 95% vaccination coverage nationwide. However, immunization rates have fallen to around 92–93%, dipping below the threshold needed for herd immunity.

How deadly is it? Roughly 0.2% of measles cases result in death, mainly in children, but in 10% of cases, patients experience ear infections that can lead to hearing loss.

In partnership with inFlow

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TSA officially ends its shoe removal policy

Turns out, Al-Qaeda wasn’t hiding in your Crocs after all. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has ended its long-standing rule requiring air travelers to remove their shoes during security screenings.

Shoe security

The TSA policy, which will start effective immediately across all US airports, has been in place since 2006, ending almost two decades of the most annoying part of airport security.

• However, your shoes will still have to be taken off if you’re selected for an additional screening.

This policy shift aims to streamline passenger flow and reduce wait times, which currently average around 27 minutes, without sacrificing safety. TSA said it was able to make the change due to improvements in screening technology, although it hasn’t identified specific advancements.

Why did it start in the first place? 

The policy dates back to December 2001, when Richard Reid, a British national trained by al-Qaida, attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes (see photos) on a flight from Paris to Miami.

• Five years after the incident, the TSA instituted a nationwide rule mandating shoe removal at all airport checkpoints, a policy few other nations have adopted (see overview).

TSA PreCheck might lose its appeal: Depends on how much you hated taking off your shoes. The change is expected to lessen the value of its PreCheck program, which offers expedited screening, including exemption from shoe removal, for $85.

Microsoft and OpenAI form AI training academy for teachers

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic have teamed up with the US’s second-largest teachers’ union to launch an AI training academy, intending to equip educators with practical AI skills.

Back to school

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has partnered with the three tech giants in opening the National Academy for AI Instruction this fall in New York. The $23 million initiative should be a boon for educators:

• The academy plans to train 400,000 K–12 teachers, which is around 10% of teachers in the US, by 2030.

• They’ll be offered workshops, hands-on modules, continuing education credits, and support from AI experts and seasoned teachers.

The education won’t stop at the academy: All 1.8 million union members will gain access to free online training—partly supported by Microsoft’s five-year, $12.5 million commitment and OpenAI’s five-year, $10 million pledge—which will also help fund the creation of additional training hubs across the country.

Switch up

Since the start of the AI boom, teachers at every grade level have grown increasingly concerned about students using AI for schoolwork. But now, it seems teachers are using it even more than their students:

• Around 60% of educators across the US have used AI to prepare lessons, grade work, and personalize feedback, per a recent survey.

• Those who used AI weekly said the technology saves them up to six weeks of time per year.

While AI saves a lot of time and effort, critics worry that Big Tech’s growing role in education could blur academic priorities, raising concerns about AI bias, data privacy, diminished critical thinking, and increased corporate influence in schools.

FAST FACTS
Catch up on this week’s weird news

AI Imposter: The US State Department confirmed an imposter is using AI to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio, targeting at least three foreign ministers, a governor, and a member of Congress.

Suspicious Suicide: Russia’s Transport Minister, Roman Starovoyt, reportedly died by suicide just hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him, according to state media.

Plastic Particles: A groundbreaking Nature study estimates around 27 million tons of nanoplastic particles—smaller than the width of spider silk—now float throughout the North Atlantic, rivaling or surpassing all larger plastic debris combined.

X-It: Linda Yaccarino is stepping down as CEO of X after two years under Elon Musk, officially announcing her departure following growing friction and an AI-linked scandal involving the Grok chatbot.

Fast Finish: Christian Horner has been dismissed as Red Bull Racing's team principal and CEO after serving in the role for two decades and leading the team to multiple championship wins.