Here’s a midweek power-up, FutureParty people. The US is the first country to win a total of 3,000 Olympic medals to date, according to the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage. So far, during the games in Paris, Team USA has already scored four gold, 11 silver, and 11 bronze medals… and counting. Talk about winning.

In other news… Friend wants to be your digital buddy, Adele gets an arena that fits her star power, and Meta unfriends its celebrity chatbots.

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• YouTube – Greedy People 

• X (Twitter) – Beyoncé 

• Google – Coco Gauff

• Reddit – Oscar host search

• TikTok – “Bye Bye Bye” - *NSYNC

• Spotify – “Long Dark Night” - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Friend wants to be your always-there AI buddy

The Future. As young people wrestle with a loneliness epidemic, tech entrepreneur Avi Schiffmann believes that carrying an AI around with us could provide some much-needed companionship — specifically, a device called “Friend.” If enough people give the device a try, it could spark an industry of AI-companion devices that market themselves by what kind of friend you’re looking for.

usOS
Friend (formerly called Tab) is a glowing, circular device that you can wear around your neck or on your person, containing a microphone that can record ambiently or just when you talk to it.

• Powered by Anthropic’s Claude 3.5, the device is meant to simply be a friend that provides encouragement, validation, and support.

• It responds to users via messages to the Friend app instead of through voice — which Schiffmann believes is more “natural and familiar.”

• None of your conversations are stored in the cloud, so if you lose the device, you lose the data — almost like an AI Tamagotchi, says The Verge.

• The device, which is still in the prototype phase, will cost $99 and won’t have a monthly subscription fee (your move, AI Pin). 30,000 are expected to ship in January.

Schiffmann points to the clear success of platforms like Character.AI and Replika as examples of the “digital relationships economy”... even if they’re sometimes taken to extremes. Friend provides a similar service but puts the technology on the go.

And with researchers noting that most people only have an average of three to five friends, Schiffmann believes that, one day, AI could be one of them.

44.4% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Would you move down South for work?

“Too conservative.”

“I have lived there, and it’s too hot for my liking.”

“It’d be hotter than where I currently live, but the sweet tea could be worth it...”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT NIKE.

SALE: 25% off Nike shoes + gear

This is not a drill, people.

Nike just dropped a massive 25% off sale on select styles.

For a limited time, you and the whole fam can load up on…

• Kicks: Air Jordans, runners, Dunks, kid’s shoes

• Clothes: graphic tees, hoodies, leggings, pants

• Must-have accessories: socks, duffels, backpacks, etc.

… all for 25% off.

(You can thank us later.)

Smash this button to see the 25% off sale — it ends soon.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• NBCU’s broadcast of the Paris Olympics is averaging 34.5 million viewers across its linear channels and streaming services — 80% more than the Tokyo Games in 2021. [Read More]

• AMC is back in the concert-movie distribution game with Usher’s Usher: Rendezvous in Paris, slated for release on September 12th. [Read More]

• RZA has partnered with Iconic Artists Group and Rock the Bells to expand the footprint (and brand) of Wu-Tang Clan. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Amazon is expanding into rural areas of the US to provide full last-mile delivery services throughout the country. [Read More]

• Blackbird, a blockchain-based loyalty and payment platform for the restaurant industry, is launching a program that allows customers to share dining data in exchange for perks. [Read More]

• Nicolas Puech, the heir to the Hermès fortune, has seen his $13 billion fortune disappear after what he alleges is theft by his former wealth manager. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• Meta was fined $1.4 billion by the state of Texas for violating its facial-recognition laws. [Read More]

• AI is reshaping how meteorologists report on the weather, giving them the ability to predict new weather patterns in minutes instead of hours. [Read More]

• Perplexity is hoping to clean up its plagiarism reputation with a new program to share ad revenue with publishers. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• The Senate overwhelmingly passed two major, kid-focused social media bills, sending them to the House of Representatives. [Read More]

• Meta is rolling out the ability for all its users to create AI chatbots, including ones that are deepfake versions of themselves. [Read More]

• Speaking of Meta, the company is discontinuing its short-lived feature that allowed users to chat with celebrity chatbots after it proved to be unpopular. [Read More]

.MUSIC.

Adele is popping up an arena in Germany

The Future. Adele didn’t want to tour, so Germany is erecting a massive temporary arena for her to perform a ten-day concert series that’s already gearing up to be a huge hit. Its success could inspire other major artists to make personalized venues a part of their tour to provide something totally unique for fans in far-flung locations.

Concert circus
Adele is so popular that Live Nation is making her a personalized arena for a series of upcoming concerts.

• The temporary arena, built on a fairgrounds in Munich, will accommodate 80,000 fans each of the 10 nights that Adele will play next month.

• It’ll be outfitted with a massive 721 x 98-foot LED screen and an English pub dubbed “Adeleworld,” which was created specifically for her show.

• The arena cost $130 million and was built in just 30 days. After the series of shows, most of the materials used to make the building, stage, and seats will be recycled or reused.

• Munich is expected to generate about $542 million from the shows.

The tickets will include passes for public transit since the venue won’t have enough parking to accommodate concertgoers — a model that will decrease the emissions inherent in fans traveling to see live music. 80% of attendees are estimated to travel by train to see the shows.

It’s amazing there will be a show of that size and potentially very little road traffic.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT MASTERWORKS.

Billionaires wanted it, but 54,578 everyday investors got it first… and profited

When incredibly rare and valuable assets come up for sale, it’s typically the wealthiest people who end up taking home an amazing investment. But not always…

One platform is taking on the billionaires at their own game, buying up and fractionalizing some of history’s most prized blue-chip artworks for its investors. In just the last few years, its investors have realized annualized net returns of 17.8%, 21.5%, 35%, and more from these opportunities.

It’s called Masterworks. Their nearly $1 billion collection includes works by greats like Banksy, Picasso, and Basquiat, all of which are collectively owned by everyday investors. When Masterworks sells a painting — like the 16 it’s already sold — investors reap their portion of the profits.

It’s easy to get started, but hurry. Offerings can sell out in minutes. However, TFP readers can skip the waitlist to join with this exclusive link.

^{*Past performance is not indicative of future returns; investing involves risk. See disclosures masterworks.com/cd}

• Listen: The Town chats with Disney’s chief brand officer and president of marketing, Asad Ayaz, about how the studio successfully marketed its first R-rated superhero movie, Deadpool & Wolverine.

• Watch: Wired’s Lauren Goode interviews Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about all things generative AI at SIGGRAPH 2024.

• Read: Forbes details the bonuses countries pay when athletes podium at the Olympics.

We’re looking forward to the inevitable sequels — Hot Twister Summer, Halloween Hunk: Trick or Twister, and A Very Merry Twister.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Andrew Kenward, the President and COO of Almost Friday Media. Andrew was an agent at WME in the digital media department at WME before being brought into the Almost Friday universe in 2021. We chat with him about his career, his goals for the brand moving forward, and what it's like working in media today.