Story of the Week (DR):

Sneaker Company Allbirds Plans to Pivot to A.I. Yes, A.I. MM

After selling its business for $39 million last month, the company said it planned to buy powerful computer chips and rebrand itself NewBird AI.

Allbirds is ditching years of clean and green street cred

Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote on each proposal and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes on each proposal

Classified: one Class I director to hold office until the 2028 Annual Meeting

AI/technology experience on board: ZERO

Voting power

Cofounder/former CEO/director Joseph Zwillinger (24%)

VC dude: B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research; M.B.A. Wharton; director since 2015

Cofounder/former CEO/director Timothy Brown (27%)

Former soccer player: B.S. in Design; M.Sc. in International Management; director since 2015

Director Dan Levitan (33%)

VC dude: B.A. in history from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard; director since 2016

Lead independent director and “effective chairperson” Dick Boyce (4%)

VC dude; B.S.E from Princeton and M.B.A. from Stanford; director since 2016

2 whole women

Also

Snap blames AI as it lays off 1,000 workers

Starbucks launches beta app in ChatGPT to fuel new drink discovery

US Army Builds First AI Chatbot for Troops, Trained on Live Conflict Data From Iran and Ukraine, Built on Reddit-Style Forums

Meta is making an AI Mark Zuckerberg to talk to employees, report says

‘AI Is Our Friend,’ Morgan Stanley CEO Says

Trump administration taps automakers to boost weapons production in WWII-style push

Senior U.S. defense officials have held talks about producing weapons and other military supplies with top executives of companies including

General Motors

CEO/Chair Mary Barra has spent 2025 and 2026 "cozying up" to the administration. In recent shareholder letters, she has explicitly thanked Trump for his support of the industry and praised his tariff policy for "leveling the playing field."

Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GE Aerospace, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals.

Two weeks prior to his resignation as CEO, a scathing independent review outlined the 14-year delay, 19x budget overrun ($800M), and numerous human errors made by Northrop Grumman in the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope, which led to Wes testifying before congress

GM donated $1 million to the 2025 inauguration and supplied the official presidential motorcade vehicles, continuing their long-standing tradition

Ford Motor

CEO Jim Farley has been described as a frequent caller to President Trump. In January 2026, Trump was caught on a live mic during a Michigan factory tour claiming Farley calls him "all the time" to push for the repeal of environmental "garbage" (EPA regulations).

Chair William Clay (Bill) Ford Jr.: has maintained what he calls a "great relationship" with President Trump since the 2024 election. In January 2026, he personally hosted Trump at the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn, where they toured F-150 production lines.

Ford Motor Company was one of the first major corporations to "line up" for the 2025 inauguration. The company donated $1 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and provided a fleet of vehicles for the ceremony's transportation needs

Director Jon Huntsman Jr. served as Trump’s Ambassador to Russia during his first term.

GE Aerospace

CEO/Chair Larry Culp has a very direct win-win relationship with the administration. In May 2025, Culp accompanied President Trump on a high-stakes trip to the Middle East.

During that trip, Trump helped broker a $96 billion order from Qatar Airways for Boeing jets, which will be powered exclusively by GE engines.

Culp was seen side-by-side with Trump in Doha celebrating the deal.

Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GM, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals.

Oshkosh

Director David Perkins: a retired 4-star General and former commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)

U.S. tech companies ramp up government lobbying amid Iran war uncertainty

Netflix Chair Reed Hastings to Leave Board in June

The founder is stepping aside to focus on his philanthropic efforts

Sarandos or Peters or Hoag?

Average Frequency 2004: approximately 5 to 6 discs per month per subscriber

Today: Monthly Average: This adds up to about 31 to 32 hours per month.

The "Browsing" Tax: Interestingly, data shows that the average user spends about 18 minutes per day just scrolling through the menu before actually hitting "play." If you...

Allbirds’ pivot, Illinois’ AI law allows nuclear war, Amazon’s dead worker, Reed Hastings steps off