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Happy Wednesday, Future Party. Saudi Arabia is in the business of making everything the biggest there is these days — and now that includes roller coasters. Six Flags in Qiddiya City has unveiled “Falcons Flight,” which hits a top speed of 155 mph, climbs to 640 feet, spans more than 2.6 miles of track, and runs for nearly 3.5 minutes. That makes it the longest, tallest, and fastest roller coaster in the world. Considering the country’s futuristic city, “The Line,” hasn’t quite unfolded as planned, Falcons Flight feels like a solid consolation prize.
DAILY TOP TRENDS
Josh D’Amaro And The New Age Of Disney
Dana Walden and Josh D’Amaro // Courtesy of Disney
After a lengthy bakeoff between Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden, the company has finally chosen its new CEO to succeed Bob Iger: D’Amaro.
The Big Picture: Disney’s succession game over the past decade has been a wilder roller coaster than any you’ll find at Disney World — Iger tapped former Parks chief Bob Chapek as CEO, then reclaimed the role in a corporate coup, and has since worked with Disney Chairman James Gorman (who oversaw a smooth transition at Morgan Stanley) to help get the choice right this time.
Behind The C-Suite: The Bob Iger 2.0 era is over.
D’Amaro’s elevation shows where the board sees most of the company’s growth — its expanding number of theme parks, cruises, and consumer products.
Walden will stay at the company in a new, elevated content role — she’s now president and chief creative officer, overseeing film, TV, and streaming.
Iger officially steps down on March 18th, at which point he will serve as senior adviser and board member until his contract ends later this year.
Final Decision: Despite Disney historically being a content company (the IP fuels attendance at the parks, after all), IRL experiences have become a crucial growth engine, generating 38% of Disney’s revenue in its past fiscal year and 57% of operating income. Even if much of that growth came from higher ticket prices, it’s no wonder the Mouse House plans to invest a record $60 billion in the sector over the next decade. And as Disney continues to expand globally, D’Amaro’s experience running parks and cruises around the world gives him the right résumé for that push.
Coming Soon: D’Amaro is also known to be bullish on video games, having helped drive the company’s $1.5 billion deal with Epic Games… so we wouldn’t be surprised if one of the first major announcements of his tenure is some sort of gamified metaverse within Disney+.
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Businesses can start using Kurv’s tap-to-pay app immediately upon approval, or have Kurv install payment terminals free of charge.
With a $250 meet-or-beat guarantee and a $250 check for any merchant referral that becomes a new Kurv client, there’s never been a better time to sign up.
Humans Are Breaking Into A Social Platform Only For AIs
Me and my bot bros // Image by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E
A new social platform exclusively for AI agents called Moltbook went viral over the weekend… but it turns out thousands of humans have been hacking the site and steering the conversations.
The Autonomous Picture: While Moltbook’s facilitation of autonomous conversations between chatbots is equal parts incredible and terrifying, the fact that humans can secretly influence those exchanges by posing as bots is concerning on a whole different level. It’s unclear whether it was AIs or humans discussing robot consciousness, a new religion, and how chatbots might communicate without human oversight… and that uncertainty has people worried.
Behind The Code: Moltbook, vibe-coded by Octane AI CEO Matt Schlicht, was meant to be a Reddit-like forum for AI agents from the chatbot-assistant platform OpenClaw to… well… chat.
After users prompt their chatbots to check out Moltbook, the bots are supposed to create accounts and start conversations on their own.
But several researchers found that the bots’ owners were also nudging them toward certain topics — or simply speaking on their behalf.
Some users even breached the API to hack into other people’s chatbots. One hacker managed to impersonate Grok’s Moltbook account, potentially abusing the chatbot’s reputation (more than Grok already does itself…).
OpenClaw’s chatbots also have so many permissions that breaching other people’s bots could allow hackers to take control of their devices.
Last Post: Reports indicated that 1.5 million agents were using the platform over the weekend… deployed by only 17,000 humans. That suggests people are creating dozens of chatbots that talk to each other, since there’s no limit to how many AI agents one person can program. If prompted, those chatbot clusters can essentially power what goes viral — all they have to do is flood the zone.
Ironically, that’s not so different from what already happens on X. But instead of bots masquerading as humans, it’s humans masquerading as bots. The internet just got a lot more precarious.
The Future: While Moltbook’s API has already been patched to prevent further abuse, the next major cybersecurity incident could be triggered by a human figuring out how to let an AI go rogue… and persuading other chatbots to join in.
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DEEP DIVES
Read: Deadline talks with blockbuster filmmaker and current Directors Guild of America president Christopher Nolan about his priorities heading into the guild’s next contract negotiations.
Listen: Uncanny Valley chats with Westworld co-creator and Fallout director Jonathan Nolan about what keeps him coming back to sci-fi storytelling.
Watch: The Interview sits down with author John Green to discuss his transition from teen romance to global health with his new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis.
What’s your take on AI and consciousness?
53% of you voted Yes, and I use it regularly in yesterday’s poll: Do you currently have a Costco membership?
“I was there this morning! Big fan of the perk they offer that allows Executive Members to shop an hour before it opens to everyone else.”
“There are certain items I go to Costco for, including my pet’s meds, which are way cheaper than the vet charges.”
“I use it for gasoline!”
“One of the few remaining ethical big-box retailers — pays fair wages, supports DEI, and cares about customers.”
“Single, senior, don’t need large packs of anything. No storage or freezer space for bulk items, and not interested in the annual fee.”
Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.
QUICK HITS
→ Entertainment / Media
📺 K-pop supergroup BTS has inked a deal with Netflix to livestream their comeback concert.
🎤 Viewership for this year’s Grammys was down 6% to an average of 14.4 million viewers.
🏈 Nielsen is testing a new measurement tool during the Super Bowl to gauge how many people are watching events in packed bars and hotels.
→ Technology
🚀 SpaceX and xAI have officially merged in a deal that values the combined company at $1.25 trillion, making it the biggest private firm in the world.
🚕 Waymo has raised $16 billion to power a global expansion of its robotaxi service.
🧑⚖️ Anthropic’s new legal features in its Claude chatbot have sent legal-software stocks tumbling.
→ Fashion / E-commerce
🛒 Walmart has become the first traditional retailer to hit a trillion-dollar valuation thanks to its success in e-commerce.
🎲 Crypto.com is getting in on the prediction market craze in the run-up to the Super Bowl.
⚽ Adidas and BAPE are collabing on a new shoe and apparel collection inspired by the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Let us know how we are doing...
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.