Gen Z Is Broke

PRESENTED BY COLLEGE AVE

Happy Thursday, Future Party. But it’s the happiest Thursday for the over 100 kids across 12 countries that Telegram founder Pavel Durov has sired… because he’s leaving a piece of his $13.9 billion fortune to all of them when he dies. 40-year-old Durov officially has six kids from three mothers, but he’s been a longtime sperm donor, which is why he has more children than maybe anyone on Earth. They’ll each get about $132 million, so expect Durov to be hit with an unwieldy number of paternity-test requests.

AI startup Delphi has raised a $16 million Series A round to empower experts in various fields to create chatbots based on their body of work.

Why It Hits: While Meta has rolled out celebrity-inspired chatbots and CharacterAI has sparked controversy with its AI companions, Delphi is taking a different approach — focusing on real-world experts to build AI extensions of their knowledge, accessible to anyone, anytime.

Behind the Code: Delphi doesn’t want to build clones of experts… it wants to craft “digital minds.”

The Future: Co-founder and CEO Dara Ladjevardian stresses that Delphi’s mission is not to create deepfakes of creators but to accurately capture how they “reason about things.” That gives Delphi the ability to offer creators’ “personalized advice,” which “can be predictive of what [creators] might say in new situations.”

Prediction: If Delphi takes off, AI-powered, personalized TED Talks could become a thing.

Don’t let them fall short.

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Gen Z has run out of money this year, resulting in decreased spending across various retail, product, and service categories.

The Big Picture: There’s nothing more desirable to brands than young consumers — the generation that drives trends and builds lifelong customers. When they stop spending, it can have a ripple effect across culture.

Behind the Curtain: Gen Z’s new motto may be, “murky job prospects, empty wallets, can’t spend.”

Closing Thoughts: Due to the cash-and-credit crunch and endless rounds of layoffs, several people who spoke with WSJ say they’ve cut back on streaming subscriptions or even eating three meals a day. They’re also not hitting the town on a Friday night as much as they used to, opting instead for gathering with friends at home and ordering takeout. It’s the diet version of recreation.

Prediction: Austerity might become the coolest thing among Gen Zers… and brands that offer high-quality, communal experiences at bargain prices may find a generation of excited customers.

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58.6% of you voted Prediction markets in yesterday’s poll: Which method do you trust more to predict future events?

“Polls don’t seem as accurate as they used to be. Especially in recent elections.”

“Prediction markets monitor trends and odds. Polls monitor people or prevailing thoughts. In a world of thought, the majority thought will rule the day.”

“Usually, you can compare and evaluate polls that report sample sizes and who was actually polled. Salt is still the best seasoning for prediction.”

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

🎥 Filmmaker Aaron Sorkin is returning to Facebook with The Social Network Part II, which he’ll write and direct for Sony Pictures.

🍸 Boardroom, the media company founded by Rich Kleiman and NBA star Kevin Durant, is launching a membership club.

🏂 X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom has set Google vet Josh Gwyther as CEO of Owl AI — Bloom’s sports-judging AI startup.

🛰️ Space startup Lux Aeterna has come out of stealth with $4 million in pre-seed funding to build reusable satellites.

⌚ Watch startup Barrelhand has developed a timepiece called “Monolith” that is expressly designed for space exploration.

🐴 Motorcycle giant Kawasaki is creating a robotic horse that can be ridden on rough terrain, with plans to make it available at the end of the decade.

🚀 Investment platform Republic will offer “digital tokens” that correspond to private shares in SpaceX. Wild.

🛒 Walmart is opening “dark stores” that will only be used to fulfill online orders.

🛍️ A new startup called Daydream wants to give personal shopping an AI-powered agent makeover.