📺 “🟩🟨🟩” — Wordle’s Game Show. Cowboy’s rocket race. China’s AI Bane translator. +Baby Name Disruptors

Summary

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The Best One Yet — May 12, 2026

Episode: “🟩🟨🟩” — Wordle’s Game Show. Cowboy’s rocket race. China’s AI Bane translator. +Baby Name Disruptors

Overview

In this lively TBOY episode, hosts Nick and Jack cut through the headlines to deliver three pop-biz stories you can brandish at brunch:

1. Wordle’s transformation from viral word game to TV phenomenon.
2. The Robinhood co-founder’s new startup, Cowboy Space, facing off with Elon’s SpaceX.
3. Viral Bane-style AI translation masks in China—and what they reveal about AI attitudes globally.
   Before diving in, they also riff on the evolving world of baby names.

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[00:50] 1. Wordle Levels Up: From Viral Game to NBC Game Show

Key Points

• Wordle is coming to TV: NBC is launching a primetime game show called “Wordle Games,” hosted by Savannah Guthrie and produced by Jimmy Fallon. Teams will compete for prizes in a battle of word wits.
• Casting call madness: NBC has reached out for teams, so “if you and your buddies got an A plus in AP Spelling, I’d sign up right now.”
• Why Wordle wins: Its viral growth stemmed from “zero friction”—no app, no signup, and a share-your-score mechanism using green and yellow emoji tiles.

Business Insights

• NYT's power play: “The New York Times is really a gaming company with a news hobby.” [00:56]
• The NYT acquired Wordle in 2022 for low seven figures… “basically for the price of a one-bedroom pied-à-terre, the New York Times bought its most lucrative asset ever.” [08:48]
• Enormous ROI: Wordle brought “tens of millions of visitors” and NYT calculated $1B in value from Wordle-driven traffic. “That is an ROI that makes Andreessen jealous.” [09:09]
• Now, NYT’s most popular products are Games & Cooking, not the news.

Takeaway Quote

“The New York Times is a game company with a kitchen and a news hobby.” — Jack [09:56]
“They're funding journalism with Wordle and beef Wellington.” — Nick [10:19]

Memorable Moments

• Their playful “Wordle Team Name” riff: “The Willamette Wordsmiths vs the San Jose Syllables… unless the Dallas Dictionary catch up.” [07:10]
• Stunning stat: NYT’s digital subs up 16%, profits up 54%, thanks to games/recipes. [11:00]

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[11:25] 2. Cowboy Space vs. SpaceX: A Rocket-Powered Rivalry

Key Points

• Cowboy Space lands $275M: Co-founded by Robinhood’s Baiju Bhatt, now valued at $2B. Aims to put solar-powered data center satellites—and their own rockets—into space.
• Pivot and rebrand: Former “Aetherflux,” the startup initially planned to beam wireless electricity from space to earth. Pivoted to focus on running satellite data centers with space-generated solar power.
• Direct SpaceX competition: “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” [01:07, 14:31]
  • Not only building satellites, but also planning launches “with their own rockets.”
• Hiring the best: Cowboy's edge is hiring “monopolumni”—talent from leading rivals (former Blue Origin propulsion engineer, ex-SpaceX launch director).

Business Insights

• Market landscape: SpaceX controls 84% of the rocket market, with Blue Origin a distant #2.
• Strategic hack: To crack a monopoly, “hire the monopolumni”—what Tesla/Rivian did in the EV space, Cowboy Space is trying in rockets.

Takeaway Quote

“The best way to crack a monopoly? Hire the monopolumni.” — Jack [14:53]

Memorable Moments

• “We went from stocks to starships, from payments to payloads, from GameStop to the moon… the actual moon.” — Nick [12:07]
• Movie moment references: “Setting up the biggest underdog battle in space since Matt Damon tried to plant potatoes on Mars.” [14:36]

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[18:45] 3. China’s Viral Bane Mask: AI, Language, and Global Tech Mindsets

Key Points

• The Bane Mask Boom: In China, viral “Bane-style” AI translation masks help parents train their kids in English. Speak into the mask in Chinese, it instantly outputs in English.
• Cultural Differences in Tech:
  • In the US, parents are told to “limit kids’ screen time”—but in China, tech that boosts kids’ skills is embraced even in “wearable” form.
• AI Brand Gap:
  • US: AI has “the worst brand in the country”—Americans fear job loss.
  • China: The government tightly controls the AI narrative (no “viral AI doomer” threads) and emphasizes practical, offline AI applications—robotics, self-driving, AI medical support.

Real-World Impact

• Super utility vs. superintelligence:
  • US is fixated on “winning” superintelligence (most powerful AI).
  • China is using AI for “super utility”—tackling practical problems, from rural health to language learning.

Takeaway Quote

“We are winning the race to superintelligence, but we're losing the race to super utility.” — Jack [21:53]
“China's AI position is to control what it says, but unlock what it does.” — Jack [22:30]

Memorable Moments

• Full immersion: “If you went trick or treating back in 2012, you… saw someone in a Bane mask. If you go to China today, you see people wearing Bane masks—but not as a costume.” [19:06]
• Movie riffs: “McConaughey will never be an underdog.” [14:47]

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[00:34] Bonus: Baby Name Disruptors

Highlights

• Liam & Olivia still reign as America’s most popular baby names (7th year); but the baby-name landscape is shifting rapidly, with “baby name consultants” charging parents to predict the hot names.
• Fastest risers: Girls’ names show the most volatility: “Sienna surged by 46 spots… Elainey up 87 spots.” [02:47]
• Historical trivia: “Mary was the number one girl name for 74 years, until disrupted by L in the 1950s… Every millennial has an Aunt Linda.” [03:00-03:12]
• Hosts' playful challenge: Predict the next “Linda” (trendsetting name that dominates for decades).

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[23:29] Quick Hits: Headlines You Might’ve Missed

• Middle East Tension: Gas prices surge to $4.52/gallon; potential federal gas tax suspension amid Strait of Hormuz instability. [23:46]
• Dunkin’ IPO: Dunkin' (and sister brands like Sonic, Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings) prepping to go public as a bundled offering. [24:10]
• Dua Lipa vs Samsung: The pop star sues Samsung for $15M after her image was used on TV boxes without consent—fans even cited her endorsement as influencing their purchase. [24:31]

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Notable Quotes

• “There are more people doing New York Times crosswords and cooking couscous with New York Times cooking app than reading the New York Times columns.” — Jack [10:24]
• “Cowboy Space is competing with SpaceX in both satellite data centers and now with rocket launches.” — Nick [14:25]
• “The typical American is worried about what AI will take from them; the typical Chinese person is excited about what AI will provide for them.” — Jack [21:34]
• “We subsidize news with Sudoku and salmon recipes.” — Nick [11:11]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Section | Start | |---------------------------------|----------| | Baby Name Disruptors | 00:34 | | Story 1: Wordle Game Show | 06:19 | | Takeaway: NYT is now a game co. | 09:56 | | Story 2: Cowboy Space vs SpaceX | 11:25 | | Takeaway: Monopolumni hiring | 14:53 | | Story 3: AI Bane Translation | 18:45 | | Takeaway: US vs China AI Mentality | 21:53 | | Quick headlines | 23:29 |

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Tone & Style

Playful banter, fast-paced delivery, irreverent metaphors, and accessible explanations blend with sharp business analysis.

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For First-Time Listeners: Why It Matters

If you want to know why NYT makes more money from “games & kitchen” than news, how ex-Robinhood founders are escalating a space race, or how China’s AI approach differs from America’s AI culture war, this episode distills the pop-in-business news of the day with fun, facts, and flair.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

This is Nick, this is Jack.

[B]

It's Tuesday, t boy. Tuesday, May 12th. And today's pod is the best one yet. And this is a T boy, the

[A]

top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[B]

I'm sorry, can I pause the pod and brag about my co host for a second here? Podcasting with a man who just shot a hole in two.

[A]

Eighth hole, par three, 125 yards. I completely duffed my tee shot. Like, I looked down and the divot is not where the divot's supposed to be.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So then the park rangers like, why are you hitting the ball right next to the tee box? You're supposed to hit from the tee box. I hit it in the hole. Hole in two, baby.

[B]

Besties. If you don't count the first shot, then Jack just got a hole in one.

[A]

It's either the best birdie of all time or the worst birdie of all time.

[B]

But Jack, three fantastic stories for the best show in business. What do I got on the T boy?

[A]

For our first story, wordle isn't just a game anymore. It's becoming a game show on NBC

[B]

because the New York Times is really a gaming company with a news hobby.

[A]

For our second story, the co founder of Robinhood just launched a SpaceX rival called Cowboy Space Corp.

[B]

Cowboy. But to quote every western movie ever, this town ain't big enough for the both of us.

[A]

And our third and final story, President Trump is heading to China today with 16 of America's top CEOs.

[B]

But besties, if you want to understand China and AI then you have to look at one crazy new AI toy

[A]

because it's inspired by Christopher Nolan.

[B]

Where is she?

[A]

But yeah, please, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[B]

What a mix of stories. And podcasting with a hole in wonder. What a mix.

[A]

For the seventh straight year, Liam and Olivia are the number one baby names in America.

[B]

That's right. According to the Social Security Administration. Once again, Liam beat Noah, Oliver, Theodore,

[A]

and Henry, while Olivia crushed Charlotte, Emma, Amelia, and Sophia.

[B]

Those besties, those are the top five names for boys and girls in the year of 2025.

[A]

Although Jack's hanging in there at number 15 and Nicholas number 112. Not bad, man.

[B]

I've fallen pretty far. But besties, Liam and Olivia, they can't be stopped. So J, Zach and I jumped in T boy style to the data, so

[A]

we actually follow on Instagram a baby name consultant who forecasts what future baby names will be.

[B]

That's right. And she charges $5,000 to coach you on what baby name to choose and what'll be popular next.

[A]

She thinks this year was the final year for Liam and Olivia because baby

[B]

names are getting disrupted faster than you can spell.

[A]

Gabriel for boys, Archer jumped up 17 spots this year to the top 100.

[B]

Emiliano jumped 19 spots last year.

[A]

The fastest growing boy name, though, was at Shout out to our jingle. It popped 26 spots into the top 75.

[B]

But, Jack, how about for girls? Because the girl data, oh, it is way more volatile, man.

[A]

Naturally, sienna surged by 46 spots last year.

[B]

Elainey jumped 87 spots to number 14 on the list.

[A]

Don't ask us how to spell or pronounce Elainey, by the way.

[B]

But, Jack, could you sprinkle on a little more naming context for us, please?

[A]

The goat of American baby names is still Mary.

[B]

It was the number one girl name for 74 years, starting back in 1880,

[A]

until Mary got disrupted by L in the 1950s.

[B]

Which is why besties, if you're a millennial, you have an Aunt Linda 100%.

[A]

Oh, Aunt Linda's picking up bagels for all of us. It's going to be great.

[B]

Oh, she's picking up bagels for Susan and Patty, Jack. We all know them.

[A]

So the T boy trivia. Actually, it's more of a question.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Not who's the next Mary, but who's the next Linda?

[B]

Besties. What boy and girl names will take the crown from Liam and Olivia?

[A]

Will it be Carter and Kinsley? Or Anton and Athena?

[B]

We see you, Juniper. We see you, Jennifer.

[A]

Extra credit if the winning guest comes

[B]

from someone named Linda, not Susan. Jack, let's hit our three stars.

[C]

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack.

[B]

Nick.

[C]

That's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T boy city on your at Liz. If you know, you know. Cause we read to go. We can't wait no more so just

[B]

start the show Start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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That's kind of my R2D2 voice.

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[B]

never going to be able to guess how many accounts Jack has linked to Monarch. 31. Are there even that many like financial products out there? Yetis, he's got credit cards, checking accounts, brokerage Accounts, Retirement Accounts, 529 College savings

[A]

accounts for each kid and my nieces and nephews. Nick.

[B]

Okay, I'm rounding up. Does that get us to 31? Where are we?

[A]

Don't forget my mark, my house, the car I own. They're all linked. And all their values in Monarch, you see, besties.

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Jack actually linked everything to Monarch one year ago during a little bit of spring cleaning.

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[B]

That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code T. Boy, for our first story, Wordle is becoming a TV game show. Jack, what's a five letter word for surprise?

[A]

I'm totally drawing a blank blank. The wordle show coming to NBC explains how the New York isn't even a news company anymore.

[B]

Yetis, the six question five letter one minute to play online game. It is Gettin the Bob Barker treatment, baby.

[A]

Savannah Guthrie will host this new show called wordle Games. And Jimmy Fallon is actually a producer.

[B]

Debuts next year only on NBC.

[A]

And Nick, this is gonna be a team sport that you'll see on tv.

[B]

Like the national wordle League. Is that what you're talking about, Jack?

[A]

No. Regional squads are gonna go head to head for a cash prize.

[B]

So we have like the Continent Crushers versus like the Vowel Vixens.

[A]

Right, or like The Willamette Wordsmiths vs. The San Jose Syllables.

[B]

I mean, not unless the Dallas Dictionary catch up. They're jumping in the rankings these days, Jack.

[A]

So NBC just put out a casting call asking for team. So if you and your buddies got an A plus and AP Spelling, I'd

[B]

sign up right now. Yeah, not our buddy Timmy, but if you got a friend who has a thesaurus on their bedside table. Yeah, you want to add them to the team?

[A]

The audition videos are going to be way less exciting than those for Survivor. We should point out.

[B]

But besties paused the pod for a sec because. Jack, who's getting the M o N e Y in this situation?

[A]

That would be the New York Times. Yetis. We would call the New York Times acquisition of wordle one of the top five acquisitions of all time.

[B]

When you jump into the numbers, the ROI is C, R, a, Z, Y.

[A]

Please stop spelling, Nick. Thank you. In 2021, Peak Pandemic, a software engineer named Josh Wardle built this letter game to impress his girlfriend.

[B]

No app, no account, no notifications needed,

[A]

and no word yet if his girlfriend accepted his marriage propos, it was just

[B]

a website that defied the laws of gamification.

[A]

Now, this was key. There was zero friction to play this daily word game. You could open it on any word browser.

[B]

Plus it became instantly shareable thanks to this one particular growth hack.

[A]

You could share your score, your wordle score, in a text message with little yellow and green tile emojis it would automatically generate for you so that you could brag without spoiling the answer.

[B]

Exactly. So the New York Times, they were losing crossword customers at that moment. And what did they do? In an ambitious crazy move, within three

[A]

months, they acquired wordle for a price in the low seven figures.

[B]

Basically for the price of a one bedroom pied a terre, the New York Times bought its most lucrative asset ever.

[A]

Because since then, wordle has driven tens of millions of visitors to the New York Times.

[B]

And based on last week's New York Times earnings, since the average New York times subscriber spends 10 bucks a month on the platform. Jack, what kind of numbers we looking at?

[A]

We're estimating a billion dollars in added value just from the visitors who came from wordle.

[B]

Like we said, besties. That is an ROI that makes Andreessen jealous.

[A]

J. I guess you said you wouldn't

[B]

spell another word, but I incorrectly spelled another word, Jack. So in terms of value growth, add it all up and Jack and I would put the New York Times deal with wordle up with Facebook's acquisition of Instagram.

[A]

Zuck spent a billion dollars to buy IG in 2010, and now it's worth over $100 billion.

[B]

Well, the new York Times got a similar or better multiple in value from buying wordle just four years ago.

[A]

Haters thought that wordle would be a fad and die out in weeks like Words with Friends did.

[B]

But instead, the New York Times launched wordle, the board game with Hasbro. And now they're getting a with NBC wnbc. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy? Honestly, world needs a talent agent. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Times?

[A]

The New York Times is a game company with a kitchen and a news hobby.

[B]

Yetis. You know, the news industry is struggling these days, and yet the number of New York Times journalists just hit an all time high. 2,300 of them.

[A]

And Nick, how's it paying for all those journalism majors with premium lifestyle content building daily habits according to their earnings?

[B]

Can I get a translation on premium lifestyle content, Jack?

[A]

Yeah. Games and cooking recipes.

[B]

That's right. The New York Times is funding journalism with wordle and beef Wellington.

[A]

We're not exaggerating. There are more people doing New York Times crosswords and cooking couscous with New York Times cooking app than reading the New York Times columns.

[B]

And that flip happened last year. There are now more single product subscribers to New York Times games New York Times cooking, New York Times wirecutter than there are to New York Times news. Only the New York Times will get

[A]

sued by the White House for coverage they don't like and have to hire a bunch of lawyers to defend themselves in court.

[B]

Jack, how's the Times going to pay for all those lawyers defending journalists with

[A]

30 new salmon recipes that you must try before Mother's Day.

[B]

Honey, have we put the miso in the teriyaki?

[A]

So the New York Times stock, it actually hit an all time high last month.

[B]

Digital subscribers up 16%. Profits up 54%. 13 million total subs the gray lady is in the black, baby.

[A]

The New York Times funds their Journalism with crossword puzzles and cooking recipes.

[B]

They subsidize news with Sudoku and salmon recipes. For our second story, the co founder of Robinhood now has a $2 billion startup called Cowboy Space.

[A]

And the plan? No big deal. Build rockets to launch solar powered data centers into a galaxy far, far away.

[B]

Just kidding.

[A]

The galaxy's actually not that far away.

[B]

Now, I know what you're thinking. Is that exactly what SpaceX does? The answer is yes, and that's the point.

[A]

But besties. Nick and I met Baiju Bhatt at Robinhood's headquarters in the summer of 2018. I'm actually wearing a pair of sneakers that Baiju gifted me. Me, I'm acting like I'm all special. He gifted them to all the employees of the company.

[B]

Wild summer, wild experience. The whole office was speaking native rocket ship emoji, thanks to Baiju.

[A]

Now, Baiju, whose father immigrated to the United States to work for NASA, studied physics himself at Stanford University.

[B]

So with his Robinhood IPO money, he launched a space company back in 2024.

[A]

We went from stocks to starships, from payments to payloads, from GameStop to the

[B]

moon to the actual moon.

[A]

And yesterday, he changed the name of that startup to Cowboy Space Corp. Nice.

[B]

Rebrand also announced a fundraise to match that New Frontier Mojo.

[A]

$275 million raised at a 2 billion dollar private valuation.

[B]

It's like a third of a lift. But most ambitious of all, Baiju announced he's challenging SpaceX by building his own rockets. Yetis this is what we find fascinating to quote Ross, Rachel, and basically our favorite episode of Friends Pivot. You see, Cowbo is going from energy grid in space to an energy grid and data centers in space. And here's the interesting part.

[A]

Cowboy used to be called Aetherflux and their business model was Starlink, but for electricity instead of Internet service.

[B]

Picture something from the Jetsons. The idea was satellites decked with solar panels that would wirelessly beam electricity to precise locations on planet Earth.

[A]

The original idea was basically a giant wireless iPhone charger, like a targeted lightning

[B]

bolt, but it wouldn't hurt you. And it would go from space down to like a US military base or

[A]

an area suffering from a natural disaster whose power plants had knocked off service.

[B]

Maybe one day they could even send it to your mother's home.

[A]

But with yesterday's announcement and rebrand, they're not planning to beam electricity down to planet Earth anymore.

[B]

No, they're not, Scotty. Instead, they're going to use space solar energy to power data centers. That are also up in space.

[A]

Because some of the best opportunities in business are to provide what we're running out of. And right now, we're running out of compute and power.

[B]

Oh, yeah. So Cowboy Space is targeting both by bolting giant solar panels and 800 GPUs onto each satellite they build like laser beams on sharks.

[A]

Except instead of the laser beams killing you, the laser beams would answer the prompt that you just typed into ChatGPT.

[B]

Precisely, Jack. So, besties, the first thing we thought when we heard this. Wow, that is exactly what SpaceX plans to do, Right?

[A]

Elon is ipoing this June to fundraise data centers in space.

[B]

But pause the paw, Jack, because what are we just learning?

[A]

Quick update, Nick. Cowboy is also going to launch these satellites with their own rockets.

[B]

Their own rockets? They're making rockets?

[A]

Baiju announced yesterday. The launch capacity simply is not there. So we're standing up our own rocket program. No big deal, besties.

[B]

Cowboy Space is competing with SpaceX in both satellite data centers and now with rocket launches.

[A]

To quote every western ever, this town ain't big enough for the both of us.

[B]

No, it ain't, partner. No, it ain't.

[A]

So this is setting up the biggest underdog battle in space since Matt Damon tried to plant potatoes on Mars.

[B]

Or is it when McConaughey was crying in Interstellar?

[A]

McConaughey will never be an underdog.

[B]

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our bud? Is over at Cowboy the best way

[A]

to crack a monopoly? Hire the monopolumni.

[B]

You see, Eddies, besides SpaceX, there are only a few companies that are actually able to launch things into space.

[A]

Bezos has Blue Origin is one of them. So is Boeing and Rocket Labs and a few other startups in the business of rocket launches.

[B]

SpaceX has 84% of the market, and Blue Origin, they're the clear number two. They're taking up a lot of space up in space.

[A]

And reality check, we're talking about rocket science. There is no product harder to launch than to launch rockets.

[B]

So here's what Jack and I are thinking. Like in sports, if you want to know who will win a game, you gotta first look at the roster.

[A]

So yesterday, Cowboy announced that they had hired the former propulsion engineer from Blue Origin and the former launch director at SpaceX.

[B]

And Cowboy says their competitive advantage is to focus on one data centers in space and a novel new rocket design.

[A]

But to neutralize SpaceX's competitive advantage, which is a huge head start and vastly more resources, it is hiring SpaceX alumni.

[B]

Interestingly and ironically, that is what happened at Elon's other companies before this.

[A]

The head of every car company's electric car division from GM to Toyota to Rivian, it's Tesla alums.

[B]

So besties, add it all up and this is a moonshot. Literally. They are taking on the hardest industry, dominated by a monopoly.

[A]

But the hack to compete against a monopolist is what Cowboy is doing. They're hiring Monop alumni.

[B]

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Definitely don't notice that from my voice, but I will tell you that every morning I wake up with an uncomfortable back of my neck situation. So I preemptively foam roll to try to fix my bad neck. I know I'm gonna have.

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No, we've been avoiding hiring someone to

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Especially the Von D. Because hiring and training can take forever.

[B]

Well, Brad, to say that we are hiring right now at T boy and this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs.

[A]

Because sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed are 95% more likely to report a hire than non sponsored jobs.

[B]

So besties spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results when

[A]

you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs.

[B]

And listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com, so just go to Indeed.com

[A]

podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.

[B]

That's indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. For our third and final story, a Batman inspired Bane style translation mask has gone viral in China because it teaches kids kids how to speak English.

[A]

This viral product shows how differently the Chinese see the technology compared to us.

[B]

All right, he's quick break from our usual programming for a Christopher Nolan movie quote moment.

[A]

Oh, you think darkness is your ally.

[B]

Doesn't take any practice. I don't know how you pull that off that. Amir. I'm amazed. Jack.

[A]

I'm blown away. Lots of practice actually.

[B]

Besties. Look, if you went trick or treating back in 2012, you absolutely definitely saw someone wearing a Bane mask on your block.

[A]

Our buddy Timmy, he. But if you go to China today, you'll see people similarly wearing bay masks, but not as a costume.

[B]

And why is that? Jack?

[A]

They're worn by Chinese speaking parents to help their kids practice speaking English Ladies, it's wild.

[B]

We're told to limit kids exposure to screens in America. You know, trade iPads for wooden blocks and hope the kids play with those instead.

[A]

But in China, parents are strapping on instant translating mouth masks where you speak something into it in Chinese and a speaker comes out in English instantly.

[B]

They're wearing these Bane masks to tell Lullaby so that when their babies grow up. She is fluent in the international language of business English.

[A]

But yetis, why are we talking about Bain AI translating masks for babies in China?

[B]

Why are we talking about that exactly? Jack?

[A]

Because President Trump is heading to China today for a huge summit and he's

[B]

bringing 16American CEOs to China with him, including Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook.

[A]

It's the dream team of America's gdp, the biggest market cap, corporate off site of all time, guaranteed.

[B]

We're talking the CEOs and presidents of China and America talking and trade tariffs and AI in one meet and greet moment.

[A]

Maybe they'll do a trust fall if

[B]

they have time but besties. This is why it's all fascinating. Because according to public opinion polls, AI has the worst brand in the country.

[A]

We Americans fear AI more than we're excited by it. And it's the opposite in China.

[B]

That's right. And there are a couple of reasons that explain this stark difference between our two countries.

[A]

First is censorship. The Chinese government controls the narrative when it comes to AI.

[B]

That's right. If you log into Baidu in China, you're not going to see any viral AI doomer threats threads about it taking your job.

[A]

The second reason the Chinese are more bullish on AI is the goals in China for AI.

[B]

Because of the censorship we just mentioned, the focus of China's AI has not been on chatbots or autonomous agents.

[A]

Chatbots might go off script and tell you something about Tiananmen Square that President Xi doesn't want you to know about.

[B]

Yes, China has developed the deep Seq chatbot, but most Chinese AI is offline applications to improve your life on a daily basis. And it's happening right now.

[A]

Self driving cars are far more common in China than they are here, as are robotics, which reduce the price of the stuff that Chinese people need to buy.

[B]

Oh, also AI hostesses, AI waiters, AI doctors. That's all happening right now.

[A]

Coming soon to a Chinese hospital or restaurant near you to deal with their labor shortage.

[B]

Add it all up. Besties. And the typical American is worried about what AI will take from them.

[A]

The typical Chinese person is excited about what AI will provide for them.

[B]

Like a Batman looking mask that translates languages for your kids. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies looking at this AI moment and meeting in China?

[A]

We are winning the race to superintelligence, but we're losing the race to super utility.

[B]

Oh, Geddes America number one world power. Our national policy is to defend that by winning AI because the leaders of

[A]

AI here believe that whoever gets to superintelligence first will be the next world power.

[B]

But over in China, they have a shrinking population and a stark rural urban inequality divide.

[A]

They see AI as a key policy tool, a critical solution to filling that human resource gap that they have.

[B]

Like by selling Bain style AI translation masks, teach kids new languages, or deploying

[A]

AI doctors to farm communities that don't have access to healthcare.

[B]

You see, besties. China's AI position is to control what it says, but unlock what it does.

[A]

We may be winning the race to superintelligence, but we may be losing the race to super utility.

[B]

Or as Bain would put it, Jack,

[A]

we're merely adopting it. China was molded by us.

[B]

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T boy Tuesday, the

[A]

New York Times is doing a deal with NBC for a primetime wordle show hosted by Savannah Guthrie.

[B]

And it's official. In the numbers. New York Times journalism is subsidized by Salmon and Sudoku. It's a gaming company with a news hobby.

[A]

For our second story, the co founder of Robinhood's new company Cowboy Space is taking on Elon SpaceX head on.

[B]

But to defeat the monopolist, it's hiring monopolumni.

[A]

And our third and final story. Chinese parents are wearing instant translation masks to help their kids learn English bane

[B]

style because China's interested in super utter. Not superintelligence, but besties.

[A]

This pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[B]

The new trade motto on Wall street we told you about last week, Nacho. Not a chance. Hormuz opens.

[A]

Trump says that Iran's peace plan is totally unacceptable and that he's going to China this week in part to talk about it.

[B]

He says that the ceasefire is barely hanging on at the moment. It is a day by day situation.

[A]

But with gas prices up 50% to $4.52 a gallon on average, the push now in Congress is to suspend the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax

[B]

because Norden, a major shipping company, assumes its stuck ships are going to remain stuck in the Strait of Hormuz for all of 2026.

[A]

Second, Dunkin, formerly Dunkin Donuts, confidentially filed to IPO on the stock market.

[B]

A large regular IPO.

[A]

Dunkin used to be a publicly traded stock. We covered it all the time, but it got acquired by private equity in 2020.

[B]

Okay, but get this. Now this private equity firm also owns Sonic Jimmy John's RB and Buffalo Wild Wings. And they're gonna IPO all of that with a side of Dunk.

[A]

So when Dunkin goes public again, it won't be a pure play coffee and donut stock.

[B]

And finally, Dua Lipa is suing Samsung for 15 million bucks for using her face to sell TVs without her permission.

[A]

So here's the deal. A professional photograph of her was taken at a concert. Pretty standard. It's owned by Dua Lipa. It's probably got watermarks on it, like, you shouldn't use this, it's not yours.

[B]

But Samsung stuck it on their TV boxes, sold millions and never paid her a dime.

[A]

Dua Lipa's lawyers even even found posts from fans saying, I'm so obsessed with Dua Lipa. I will buy this Samsung TV because she's promoting it.

[B]

So now they're trying to make this lawsuit go away like Houdini. Now time for the best fact yet, which at the last minute I am pivoting in honor of Jack because of that almost hole in one you got. Here's the simple fact. How many hole in ones are hit in America on a daily basis?

[A]

I'm just going to say 17 per day.

[B]

It's actually 50,000 hole in one. 137 hole in ones a day.

[A]

I was in the ballpark.

[B]

You're close. Yetis, you're looking fantastic today. Jack, you're looking awesome. Liam, Linda, Mary, Olivia, you all look wonderful as well.

[A]

Besties, if you love today's episode, drop it in your group chat or put it on Instagram stories.

[B]

Tell your buddy Timmy. H y H T B o y.

[A]

Have you had the best one yet?

[B]

That's how we grow the show. Jack and I will see you for ceviche Wednesday. And before we go, a happy birthday to Thomas and finicky legendary Eddies turning nine in lovely Los Angeles, probably on their way to water polo practice with their brother Graham.

[A]

Happy birthday to Jackie Soderbergh from Yellowknife in the northwest territories of Canada and

[B]

Javier Rosario over in the Dominican Republic. Happy birthday. Make it a T, boy.

[A]

Happy birthday to Joey G in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[B]

Michael Ley over in Austin. Happy birthday.

[A]

Happy birthday to PJ in New York City.

[B]

And a happy 35th birthday to UNKIT Bodilla over in San Francisco.

[A]

Happy birthday to Dennis Kalina in Vestal, N.Y. couldn't make it to the live show, but new happy we wish we could have seen and we'll get you next time.

[B]

Gotcha then. And Cade Allen is the retail legend of Omaha and is celebrating four years sober. Congratulations, Kade.

[A]

And to anyone else celebrating something today, including a hole in two naked teapot, celebrate the win. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robinhood. Wait a second, did you just say where is she? As in president she? Yeah, that is next. That's Christopher Nolan. Inception. Next level.

[B]

Jack, this podcast is playing chop chess, baby, not checkers.

[A]

The drop by GNC yetis the wellness

[B]

space moves fast every day. An influencer is pumping some new product which is ironically named pump product and

[A]

it'll get you huge even if you don't lift yet.

[B]

There's creatine in the colostrum in the protein.

[A]

GNC actually has experts who cut through all of that and hand pick what's worth your attention the new ingredients, new

[B]

formulas and new brands and health and nutrition you need to know about.

[A]

The Drop is the section of GNC that curates the newest product products to share with you what actually works.

[B]

We're talking trending ingredients, breakthrough formula stuff that's actually going to move the needle

[A]

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[B]

So think of it as the VIP section of the supplement world. You're not waiting for something to blow up on TikTok to find out about it. You're already there.

[A]

Get a sneak peek at the newest formulas, flavors and brands coming soon to gnc.

[B]

New drops launch regularly so there's always something exciting to discover.

[A]

GNC.com TheDrop is the destination to discover something new to try today.

[B]

Get the facts you can trust on what's new and trending.

[A]

Plan what's next by browsing the Coming soon calendar of Drops at gnc. Com.

[B]

Drop the protein in the colostrum.