Requiem For A Robot

PRESENTED BY ROSETTA STONE

Happy Wednesday, Future Party. It’s possible that we may have reached peak brand weirdness. White Castle announced that it has teamed up with Heelys (yes, the sneakers with the wheel on the bottom) on a new pair of shoes called the “Slider Riders,” and Oscar Mayer has joined Fox Sports to launch the “Wiener 500” — a race between six of the brand’s iconic Wienermobiles in the run-up to the broadcaster’s coverage of the Indianapolis 500. Companies are really doing anything to stand out.

Darren Aronofsky, the mind behind films such as Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream, has launched an AI studio called Primordial Soup in partnership with Google’s AI research lab, DeepMind.

The Big Picture: Aronofsky is easily the biggest filmmaker so far to personally get involved in AI production, joining the likes of Natasha Lyonne in designing movies that are made with the same human resources as a typical production, but also ethically enhanced with AI tools. That openness to experimentation (in a way that doesn’t trample on human labor or IP law) could kickstart a new era of filmmaking.

Behind the Scenes: Aronofsky is hoping that AI can be used to unlock human creativity, not replace it.

Generating Credits: The partnership between Primordial Soup and Google represents a growing trend of tech giants partnering with Hollywood talent or companies to get a leg up in developing their AI tools. Meta teamed with Blumhouse on a slate of short films, Runway linked up with Lionsgate, and James Cameron joined the board of directors of Stability AI. It’s only a matter of time until OpenAI recruits a filmmaker to become an ambassador for Sora.

Prediction: Tensions are running high in Hollywood over the use of AI, meaning there soon could be a split between two classes of filmmakers — those willing and those unwilling to use the tech in the movies.

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TikTok is turning into a crash course in how to survive a financial apocalypse (whether real or simply vibes), with several spending-focused challenges taking off on the platform.

Why It Hits (Our Wallets): As Americans wrestle with tariff-related price increases, the soaring cost of living, and underemployment, they’re looking for ways to save money — Gallup found that 57% of Americans are worried they won’t be able to maintain their standard of living, and Bankrate found that 43% face mental health challenges due to the strain. Maybe TikTok can add some motivation for redoing that budget.

Behind the Hashtags: A study by Intuit Credit Karma found that 83% of consumers expect their financial situation to worsen over the next few months.

Some TikTok trends are hoping to help people weather the storm.

The Future: The goal of these trends is to give people some get-frugal-fast hacks… or at least stop people from “doom spending,” per CNBC. And while it might seem silly to let social media trends heavily influence your buying decisions, H&R Black found that 68% of Gen Z consumers actually do consider them. One third of them even actively search social media for financial advice. Heck, there’s even a bunch of creators who are now making money by complaining about money. Not a bad gig.

Prediction: While these trends may not last, don’t be surprised if Gen Z learns some crucial financial principles that get their budgets in check better than millennials ever did.

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50.4% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do you ever feel anxious when you’re without your phone for a long time?

“I cut the dependence on it some time ago. It is always in another room when I am working.”

“I prefer being without it. I rarely carry my phone with me and don’t think to listen for calls or check for texts. My husband bought me a connected watch, so my arm gets buzzed when someone is trying to reach me.”

“I have a wife and child. It’s extremely stressful to be ‘offline’ for even short stretches in case there’s an emergency. That said, I did just buy a smartwatch to help me go hands-free more often.”

“Bad habit left over from my corporate days and always needing to be available.”

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.

📺 Market research firm Antenna found that ad-supported streaming subscriptions have jumped to 46% of all subscriptions — 33% more than last year.

🎮 Grand Theft Auto developer Take-Two Interactive announced a $1 billion stock offering… likely due to the fallout of pushing GTA VI yet again.

💻 After what feels like an endless saga, Fortnite is finally back on iOS.

🤖 Google is rolling out its AI Mode — a Search interface that allows people to ask complex, multi-part questions — to US users.

🧑‍💻 Apple is opening its AI models to developers, hoping that they’ll kickstart app creation.

😬 Oops: the Chicago Sun-Times was caught recommending summer activities and books that don’t exist in its flagship newspaper.

👖 Levi Strauss is selling Dockers to Authentic Brands Group for $311 million.

💪 Fanatics is debuting Fanatics Games — a competitive challenge between teams of 50 athletes and 50 fans for $2 million in prizes — at Fanatics Fest NYC 2025.

🍕 Papa Johns is giving its free pepperoncinis a starring role in its new marketing refresh. Is it the Year of the Pepper?