Prime Robot

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Happy Friday, Future Party. So, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and President Trump, the world’s most-powerful politician, have gone from besties to arch rivals — a drama that’s played out both offline and online, has shaken markets, and has pitted Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., against each other. Oh, and that was over the course of just a single day. Talk about a messy breakup.

Amazon is reportedly developing a humanoid robot that will be able to do the most customer-facing aspect of the company — deliver packages.

Why It Hits: The robot race is in full swing, with Tesla, Agility, Google, Nvidia, and so many others working on humanoids. Yes, everyone is trying to recreate I, Robot in an effort to build a never-tiring workforce. You’ll soon be competing with bots for blue-collar jobs.

Between the Orders: Humanoid delivery robots would be quite the update to Prime.

Last Mile: The big question at the center of this development is “what happens to Amazon’s massive workforce of delivery drivers?” To no one’s surprise, the company is not eager to address that question, although The Information says it’s possible that humans could theoretically still operate the truck, while the robots hop on and off to make deliveries. Or they could work in tandem with humans to deliver more packages in an area more quickly — a similar ambition to Veho’s partnership with RIVR.

Prediction: Considering that Amazon is also heavily invested in autonomous-vehicle startup Zoox and already has robots working in the warehouses, the company’s shipping operation could one day become a bot-only enterprise.

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Meta is making some serious outreach (and money offers) to Hollywood studios and major production companies to make content for the tech giant’s next-generation VR headset.

The Big Picture: Narrative VR content almost had a moment ten years ago, thanks to a handful of ambitious startups… but the tech ultimately wasn’t up to snuff yet. But after billions of dollars in R&D from the biggest companies in the device space, that moment seems close once again — mainstreaming a form of entertainment that seems like the biggest intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

Behind the Lens: Meta backed out of Hollywood in 2023 with the closure of the film-and-TV-focused Facebook Watch.

But it wants to repair that relationship with a push for VR content.

The Future: The content push is to support Meta’s new VR headset that it plans to release next year, which is internally dubbed “Loma.” The headset is reportedly a large pair of eyeglasses connected to a puck users can put in their pockets.

The device is expected to be priced at $1,000, which is $300 more than Meta’s Quest headset (the most popular VR device on the market) — but far less expensive than Apple’s competing Vision Pro.

Prediction: With Apple having released an immersive film with Conclave-helmer Edward Berger and Google tapping The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman for an “immersive spatial film,” it’s possible that making VR content could be one of the biggest paydays in Hollywood.

Home repair costs have surged in recent years due to inflation and supply-chain issues, making unexpected breakdowns a financial burden for homeowners.

Fortunately, a home warranty could help cover the repair and replacement of your home appliances and systems for a reasonable monthly fee.

Check out Money’s list of the Best Home Warranties and start protecting your essential appliances.

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63.7% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever practiced any kind of fasting?

“Fasting periodically is good for the body, mind, and spirit. Not to mention the waistband and budget!”

“16/8 is great — only eating during an 8-hour window, fasting for 16 hours.”

“Only to get blood work done!”

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.

🪂 Tom Cruise was awarded a Guinness World Record for doing the most burning-parachute jumps ever while filming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.

🎞️ Blumhouse is close to acquiring an ownership stake in the Saw franchise from Twisted Pictures, which would give director James Wan ownership in his breakout creation.

🍿 Actor Idris Elba hopes to build a cinema chain across the African continent.

🚗 Tesla shares have sunk 16% after Elon Musk and President Donald Trump engaged in a war of words yesterday.

🖊️ The Washington Post is allowing non-professional writers to submit opinion columns with the help of an AI writing coach called “Ember.”

🤖 X changed its terms and agreement to bar AI companies (except for xAI, of course) from scraping its platform.

💸 USDC-stablecoin issuer Circle saw its stock pop 168% in its IPO, valuing the company at $18 billion.

👜 Sotheby’s is set to auction the original Hermès Birkin bag, which was created for actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1984.

👕 Japanese streetwear brand niko is collabing with Netflix on a capsule collection for the upcoming season of Stranger Things.