Monday has arrived, FutureParty people. Have you ever wondered what Taylor Swift’s legs cost? Probably not, but insurers at firms like Lloyd’s of London have been known to issue policies on very famous body parts in case of accidents… Heidi Klum’s legs are insured for $2 million, Bruce Springsteen’s voice is insured for $6 million, and Gordon Ramsay’s tongue is insured for $10 million. Swift’s legs may take the cake, though — it’s rumored they were insured for $40 million back in 2015. Wild.

In other news… Hawaii thinks of the youths by going zero carbon, Amex acquires Tock to firm up your dinner reservations, and Kevin Costner cancels on Yellowstone.

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• YouTube – A Real Pain

• X (Twitter) – Val Kilmer 

• Google – Prince William

• Reddit – Woody Harrelson 

• TikTok – “No contempt” - Lelo

• Spotify – “Cherry Blossom” - Empire Of The Sun

.CLIMATE.

Hawaii settles a youth-led climate lawsuit with a decarbonization promise

The Future. A group of young people in Hawaii is behind the first youth-led climate case to score victory in decarbonizing a state’s transportation sector, successfully arguing that Hawaii’s state constitution guaranteed its citizens the right to a clean climate and the protection of its natural beauty and resources. Expect similar lawsuits to now be filed, too, or at the very least reach parity with the timing of Hawaii’s new sustainability roadmap.

Think of the children
As part of the settlement, Hawaii will…

• Develop a plan to achieve zero emissions for its ground, sea, and inner island air transportation systems by 2045 (which is when the state was planning to become carbon neutral).

• Create a volunteer youth council to advise the state’s Transportation department and a team within the department focused on decarbonization.

• Set aside $40 million to expand the state’s public EV charging network by 2023 and improve pedestrian, biking, and public transportation systems.

The case, which was filed in 2022 when the kids were between the ages of 9 and 18, was set to go to trial today, but a favorable ruling in Montana — which focused on empowering regulators to consider the climate impacts of new fossil fuel-powered projects — set a precedent that favored the kids’ case.

A judge in Honolulu said current laws required that the state be “timely” in its actions to address climate change… and the current pace of development was hurting these kids’ future.

74.1% of you voted Dangerous in Friday’s poll: Artificial superintelligence: beneficial or dangerous?

“Ever heard of The Terminator?”

“I think AI will become too self-aware.”

“As with all new advancements, it will be both beneficial and dangerous, depending upon who is driving the usage.”

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Kevin Costner, after a year of heated negotiations, has officially decided that he won’t be returning to Yellowstone, the biggest show on cable. [Read More]

• Sphere Entertainment Co. announced two new experiences outside of its cutting-edge venue in Vegas, dubbed the “Exosphere” — “XO Audio” and “XO Stream.” [Read More]

• A federal jury has convicted the five founders of the illegal streaming service Jetflicks — which had more content than Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Prime Video combined — of criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Bye-bye, Airbnb: Barcelona plans to outlaw all short-term rentals for tourists by 2029. [Read More]

• Italian footwear brand Golden Goose has postponed its planned IPO in Milan due to struggling luxury fashion stocks in Europe. [Read More]

• PayPal is planning a major comeback after its stock has nosedived over the past couple of years and lost market share to competitors like Apple Pay and Alipay. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• Apple may not roll out Apple Intelligence in the EU due to concerns that it could run afoul of the region’s Digital Markets Act. [Read More]

• Stability AI, the troubled startup behind Stable Diffusion, appointed former Weta Digital CEO Prem Akkaraju as its new CEO and is getting an injection of funding from an investor group led by Napster co-founder Sean Parker. [Read More]

• CarbonCapture Inc. has revealed the first direct-air carbon capture machine that can be mass-produced. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• TikTok is trying to become the ultimate Swiftie platform with a new, 11-week-long Eras-Tour scavenger hunt that lets fans unlock exclusive content. [Read More]

• Meta’s customer service is apparently so slow that users locked out of their Facebook or Instagram accounts are increasingly turning to small-claims courts to solve the issue. [Read More]

• Magician Justin Flom now has the most-watched YouTube Short after a video of his wife Anna quick-changing dresses notched over 1.58 billion views. [Read More]

.BUSINESS.

Amex acquires Tock for restaurant reservation perks

The Future. American Express announced that it’s acquiring restaurant reservation platform Tock for $400 million from Squarespace. With hot restaurant reservations facing a Ticketmaster-like bot problem that puts tables in the hands of opportunist scalpers, having an Amex card may soon be the quickest and easiest way to score an open spot at exclusive eateries.

Members only
Amex believes that scoring a table at a cool new restaurant may now be the trendiest perk for young customers.

• Tock handles reservations, table management, and event ticketing for 7,000 restaurants and entertainment destinations, with a focus on high-end establishments.

• It’ll “complement” Amex’s Resy business, according to Bloomberg.

• Additionally, Amex separately acquired mobile payments company Rooam.

Howard Grosfield, Amex’s president of US consumer services, said that restaurant spending accounted for a massive $100 billion in transactions last year, so finding a way to reward customers will only fuel spending in the category… especially among wealthier users.

And now that Gen Zers and millennials view Amex cards as status symbols, restaurants may soon see a bump in reservations from younger diners.

• Watch: Filmmaker Shawn Levy talks with Deadline about several projects he’s worked on over the past couple of years, including Deadpool & Wolverine, All the Light We Cannot See, Stranger Things, and a mysterious new Star Wars movie.

• Listen: The Future of Everything speaks with top NASA climate scientist Gavin A. Schmidt about how the agency is collecting Earth’s climate data from space.

• Read: Bloomberg lays out a theory of how a four-day workweek could be implemented in the US in a way that doesn’t hurt productivity.

When you love a movie at 10 years old, you love it for life.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Larry Fitzgibbon, the co-founder and CEO of Tastemade. Tastemade is an independent media company that creates award-winning video content and original programming in the food, travel, and home & design space.