Texas’ Silicon Valley

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Happy Thursday, Future Party. And an especially happy day to anyone with a record deal at Universal Music Group. UMG recently announced it will sell half of its stake in Spotify, worth roughly $1.4 billion. Thanks to a clause Taylor Swift secured in her 2018 contract, UMG committed to sharing a portion of any Spotify stake sale with its signed artists — and, unprecedentedly, on a non-recoupable basis, meaning artists receive the money even if they still owe their label. It’s the kind of provision that likely wouldn’t exist without a superstar like TSwift using her leverage to make it happen. Way to look out for the little guy, Taylor.

A campus in Texas called Proto-Town is becoming the go-to mecca for startups seeking the freedom, flexibility, and space to test cutting-edge (and potentially dangerous) inventions.

The Big Picture: While California’s Bay Area is where software reigns supreme, a growing number of tech companies in aerospace, energy, robotics, and other “hard tech” sectors are heading to Texas, where there are fewer regulations. Proto-Town could become ground zero for a sequel to Silicon Valley.

Between The Camps: Founded by 20-somethings Josh Farahzad and Merle Nye — along with Texas politician John Cyrier — Proto-Town is attracting startups from across the country.

Final Plans: The WSJ says that getting the opportunity to join Proto-Town is “a bit like rushing a fraternity.” Startups go through a trial period before the town’s leadership decides if they’re a good fit for the community… which involves embracing the mentality of building what they call the “American Shenzhen.” (Shenzhen is a city in China known for its manufacturing might.)

Seems like VC Marc Andreessen’s 2020 screed, “It’s Time to Build,” may be Proto-Town’s constitution.

The Future: In a best-case scenario, Proto-Town could be this generation’s answer to Bell Labs — a hotbed of R&D that laid the foundation for much of the technology we use today.

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AI is changing the way people shop in physical stores, turning them into final destinations where they can pick up exactly the product they want without wasting time… and maybe have a cool experience along the way.

Why It Hits: It turns out people love using AI to help narrow down what they want to buy… but don’t love using it to actually make a purchase. In fact, Coveo’s 2026 Commerce Relevance Report found that only 16% of consumers would let an AI agent shop for them — which could explain why OpenAI backed away from checkouts within ChatGPT. As a result, stores now face added pressure to have exactly what their customers want in stock.

Between The Aisles: According to Axios, AI may have killed store browsing.

Checkout: Outside of having what customers want conveniently ready on the rack or optimized for pickup, brick-and-mortar retailers are realizing they need to step up the experience they provide. Giving customers something memorable that only an in-person visit can offer is how stores can differentiate themselves from digital shopping…

…and may even prompt them to pick up another product they didn’t intend to buy.

Next Purchase: If in-person retail becomes more specialized and experiential, expect the types of people hired to work in stores to change as well. That could be bad news for high-school and college-aged employees.

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79.1% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever used Letterboxd?

“Never heard of it until today.”

“I don’t contribute, but it’s become my most trusted source for movie ratings (and the most popular reviews are usually hilarious).”

“My daughter got me into it. Now she shares all the independent movies I wouldn’t have considered, and I share the ’80s classics with her.”

“Gen Z here — I love it! It’s so fun to see what movies my friends are watching, and when we watch something together, we pull out the app to rate it.”

“Letterboxd rules — I log all my watches there and love seeing what my friends think of movies I’ve also watched!”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, 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.

⚽ FIFA is struggling to sell World Cup tickets for US home games because they’re so expensive.

📺 New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has firmly decided not to spin off ESPN.

🚴‍♀️ Peloton’s guided workouts are coming to Spotify through a new partnership.

👜 According to the influential Lyst Index, Chanel is the hottest brand of the year so far.

👙 Shopping platform LTK has struck a deal with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit to make its products shoppable online.

🎮 Video game developer Square Enix is opening a dedicated merch shop and café.

📱 Jack Dorsey’s reboot of Vine, dubbed “Divine,” is now open to the public — watch out, TikTok.

📖 TikTok is rolling out an official monthly #BookTok bestseller list.

🍾 Due to age-verification tech, TikTok is opening the floodgates to alcohol ads on the platform.