Zuckerberg Ghosted Musk on a $97B Deal 🤝💸

Biz Analyst Club Newsletter

by The Business Model Analyst

Hello, Biz Enthusiasts!
Mark Zuckerberg just hit pause on his AI talent shopping spree (after dropping $14B+ like it was Black Friday), Elon Musk tried to convince Zuck to co-buy OpenAI (spoiler: Zuck left him on read), and MIT says 95% of AI projects are burning cash, not making it. Meanwhile, reading for fun is in freefall (sorry, book clubs), and factories are quietly proving that AI does work—at least if you’re fixing machines instead of making memes.
Let’s dive in before Musk sends Zuckerberg another “u up?” text. 🚀

Hot Takes 🚀

1. Musk Asked Zuck to Buy OpenAI Together… and Got Ghosted 🚀🙅‍♂️
Court filings reveal Musk asked Zuckerberg to help fund a $97.4B takeover of OpenAI. Zuckerberg said “nah.” Musk is now suing everyone in sight while OpenAI calls his bid a “sham.” Tech’s best soap opera continues.
👉 See the Musk vs. Zuck plot twist

2. Disney Wants Gen Z Boys Back 🎬🎮
With Marvel and Star Wars fading, Disney is begging creatives for new “treasure hunt” films to lure young men. The studio knows it’s losing the demo to gaming and TikTok.
👉 Disney’s boy problem explained

3. Wall Street Freaks Out: 95% of AI Projects Lose Money 📉🤯
MIT’s new “GenAI Divide” report says only 5% of AI pilots actually make real money. The other 95%? Just fancy science projects burning budgets. Stocks tumbled—Palantir dropped 9%.
👉 Why the AI gold rush is fool’s gold (for now)

4. Meta Slams the Brakes on $100M AI Hires 🛑🤖
Meta was poaching AI talent with signing bonuses up to $100M, then suddenly hit pause. The company says it’s “restructuring,” but Wall Street smells nerves. Even Zuckerberg’s “TBD Lab” (yes, that’s the real name) is on hold.
👉 Why Meta’s AI spree stopped mid-sprint

5. Landline Phones Are Weirdly Back ☎️👧
Parents are installing corded phones so kids can call friends without smartphones. Retro chic or parenting hack? Either way, the “who’s calling?” surprise is apparently fun again.
👉 Why families are reviving landlines

Strategy Deep Dive

Quick Hits 📰

• Reading for Fun Collapses 40% in 20 Years 📚😬: Only 16% of Americans read for pleasure daily now, down from 28% in 2004

  👉 See why fewer people are reading

• Prairie Robotics’ AI Trucks Expand 🚛♻️: Recycling trucks now spot trash contamination in real time and send postcards to sloppy recyclers.
  👉 See how AI is cleaning up trash habits

• Sports Wearable Startup Gets €650K 🏉👂: Dublin’s Sports Impact Tech raised cash for its behind-the-ear sensor to detect concussions in real time.
  👉 Meet the concussion-detecting earbud

• iOS 26 Sneak Peek 📱✨: Apple’s new iPhone software brings redesigned lock screens, better spam filters, smarter screenshots, and new privacy tricks. Siri’s big AI update? Delayed until 2026.
  👉 See what’s coming with iOS 26

• AI Giants Hunt for Real-World Data 🌍📊: OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are cutting deals to grab shopping and user data they can’t scrape online.
  👉 Inside AI’s new data land grab

• North Korea’s IT Army Infiltrates Fortune 500s 🕵️‍♂️💻: Fake résumés and LinkedIn profiles are landing NK hackers jobs inside big companies.
  👉 See how they’re hacking the job market

• The GPS Backup Race Is On 📡🚀: With GPS jamming rampant, startups and governments are scrambling for alternatives.
  👉 Why GPS is suddenly vulnerable

• ESPN Copies TikTok With New Feed 🏈📱: The sports giant is launching a scrollable video feed, hiring TikTok creators to hook Gen Z.
  👉 See ESPN’s TikTok clone in action

• Steve Jobs’ Billion-Dollar Pixar Bet 🎥🚀: Jobs made his first fortune not at Apple, but through Pixar’s Toy Story + IPO magic.
  👉 How Pixar made Jobs a billionaire

• Oracle’s $1B Gas-Powered Data Center ⚡🔥: Oracle is reportedly spending a billion a year to run an AI data center on gas generators. Green? Not so much.
  👉 Inside Oracle’s pricey AI power play

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