Allbirds’ pivot, Illinois’ AI law allows nuclear war, Amazon’s dead worker, Reed Hastings steps off

What this episode covers

Story of the Week (DR): Sneaker Company Allbirds Plans to Pivot to A.I. Yes, A.I. MM After selling its business for $39 million last month, the company said it planned to buy powerful computer chips and rebrand itself NewBird AI. Allbirds is ditching years of clean and green street cred Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote on each proposal and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes on each proposal Classified: one Class I director to hold office until the 2028 Annual Meeting AI/technology experience on board: ZERO Voting power Cofounder/former CEO/director Joseph Zwillinger (24%) VC dude: B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research; M.B.A. Wharton; director since 2015 Cofounder/former CEO/director Timothy Brown (27%) Former soccer player: B.S. in Design; M.Sc. in International Management; director since 2015 Director Dan Levitan (33%) VC dude: B.A. in history from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard; director since 2016 Lead independent director and “effective chairperson” Dick Boyce (4%) VC dude; B.S.E from Princeton and M.B.A. from Stanford; director since 2016 2 whole women Also Snap blames AI as it lays off 1,000 workers Starbucks launches beta app in ChatGPT to fuel new drink discovery US Army Builds First AI Chatbot for Troops, Trained on Live Conflict Data From Iran and Ukraine, Built on Reddit-Style Forums Meta is making an AI Mark Zuckerberg to talk to employees, report says ‘AI Is Our Friend,’ Morgan Stanley CEO Says Trump administration taps automakers to boost weapons production in WWII-style push Senior U.S. defense officials have held talks about producing weapons and other military supplies with top executives ​of companies including General Motors CEO/Chair Mary Barra has spent 2025 and 2026 "cozying up" to the administration. In recent shareholder letters, she has explicitly thanked Trump for his support of the industry and praised his tariff policy for "leveling the playing field." Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GE Aerospace, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals. Two weeks prior to his resignation as CEO, a scathing independent review outlined the 14-year delay, 19x budget overrun ($800M), and numerous human errors made by Northrop Grumman in the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope, which led to Wes testifying before congress GM donated $1 million to the 2025 inauguration and supplied the official presidential motorcade vehicles, continuing their long-standing tradition Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley has been described as a frequent caller to President Trump. In January 2026, Trump was caught on a live mic during a Michigan factory tour claiming Farley calls him "all the time" to push for the repeal of environmental "garbage" (EPA regulations). Chair William Clay (Bill) Ford Jr.: has maintained what he calls a "great relationship" with President Trump since the 2024 election. In January 2026, he personally hosted Trump at the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn, where they toured F-150 production lines. Ford Motor Company was one of the first major corporations to "line up" for the 2025 inauguration. The company donated $1 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and provided a fleet of vehicles for the ceremony's transportation needs Director Jon Huntsman Jr. served as Trump’s Ambassador to Russia during his first term. GE Aerospace CEO/Chair Larry Culp has a very direct win-win relationship with the administration. In May 2025, Culp accompanied President Trump on a high-stakes trip to the Middle East. During that trip, Trump helped broker a $96 billion order from Qatar Airways for Boeing jets, which will be powered exclusively by GE engines. Culp was seen side-by-side with Trump in Doha celebrating the deal. Director Wesley G. Bush: the former CEO of defense giant Northrop Grumman also sits on the board of GM, acting as a major link to the administration’s military expansion goals. Oshkosh Director David Perkins: a retired 4-star General and former commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) U.S. tech companies ramp up government lobbying amid Iran war uncertainty Netflix Chair Reed Hastings to Leave Board in June The founder is stepping aside to focus on his philanthropic efforts Sarandos or Peters or Hoag? Average Frequency 2004: approximately 5 to 6 discs per month per subscriber Today: Monthly Average: This adds up to about 31 to 32 hours per month. The "Browsing" Tax: Interestingly, data shows that the average user spends about 18 minutes per day just scrolling through the menu before actually hitting "play." If you include that, people are "using" the app for nearly 40 hours a month Populist math time: that’s 6570 minutes=109.5 hours=4.6 days According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for March/April 2026, the average hourly wage in America is: $37.38 per hour=$4093.11 Average US minimum wage is $11.60=$1270.20 IBM folds to Trump anti-DEI push, admits no misconduct but pays $17M penalty 3 (of 14) women with 11% total influence: no leadership positions 21 execs/5 women: 3 are Assistant General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Legal Officer White House study says DEI policies cost US economy by promoting unqualified managers Goodliest of the Week (MM/DR): DR: Oil prices may be falling, but for the wrong reason: ‘Demand destruction’ throttling global consumption European Airlines Face Fuel Shortages Within Weeks DR: Karen S. Carter Named Dow CEO; Number Of Black Women Running Fortune 500 Companies Now At 2 MM: Big grid batteries are finally on a roll in New England Assholiest of the Week (MM): There is one asshole of the week - protection from liability. Here are the incarnations. Security: We're in a new era of heightened CEO safety measures, security pros say Starbucks Mandates CEO Private Jet Use After Security Review Meta spends more guarding Mark Zuckerberg than Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet do for their own CEOs—combined Friday's attack on Sam Altman's house underscores a growing worry for some CEOs: safety at home Snap paid $2.8 million for CEO and cofounder Evan Spiegel's personal security Alphabet paid $8.3 million for CEO Sundar Pichai Musk = $2.4m Huang = $2.2m Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we all be worried? Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, has talked about "apocalypse insurance". Security costs are directly correlated to how much we hate the CEOs - this is not a mistake, literally these people are the ones who take advantage of employees and customers, ruin the free world, destroy everything they touch and make billions doing it I never need to make an asshole list again - I just need to identify what company pays the most for security for their CEO Damion’s prediction of a corporate nation state is close - small armies, bubbles and islands, no accountability? Social Media: Meta vows appeal of 'landmark' social media verdicts, warns of free speech erosion So now Meta is arguing that the teen in California was harmed by the content, which is protected by section 230, so Meta can’t be liable. But the teen argued that the DESIGN of Meta social media was the problem, NOT the content, and that’s how they won Meta and Google lost because of content recommendations, not content - the recommendations are entirely in the control of Meta and Google Meta is effectively now arguing that algorithmic delivery is free speech - but they talk out of the other side of their mouths when coddling Trump and conservatives, because if algorithm is free speech here, it means content moderation IS ALSO FREE SPEECH since the algorithm IS MODERATION If Meta wins on appeal, it means that the social media companies can never be liable for anything - not the product design, not the content - it is the ultimate coup, there would be nothing you could possible sue them for New study shows just how Facebook's algorithm shapes conservative and liberal bubbles Legislation: Bill Cunningham, Illinois State Rep DR OpenAI Backing Law That Protects It When AI Causes Mass Deaths and Other Mayhem Anthropic Opposes the Extreme AI Liability Bill That OpenAI Backed Provides that a developer of a frontier artificial intelligence model shall not be held liable for critical harms caused by the frontier model if the developer did not intentionally or recklessly cause the critical harms and the developer publishes a safety and security protocol and transparency report on its website. Provides that a developer shall be deemed to have complied with these requirements if the developer: (1) agrees to be bound by safety and security requirements adopted by the European Union; or (2) enters into an agreement with an agency of the federal government that satisfies specified requirements. Sets forth requirements for safety and security protocols and transparency reports. Provides that the Act shall no longer apply if the federal government enacts a law or adopts regulations that establish overlapping requirements for developers of frontier models. "Critical harm" means the death or serious injury of 100 or more people or at least $1,000,000,000 of damages to rights in property caused or materially enabled by a frontier model, through either: (1) the creation or use of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapon; or (2) engaging in conduct that: (A) acts with no meaningful human intervention; and (B) would, if committed by a human, constitute a criminal offense that requires intent, recklessness, or negligence, or the solicitation or aiding and abetting of such a crime. Headliniest of the Week DR: Amazon Accused of Hiding Worker’s Death for a Week, Making Employees Keep Working as Corpse Lay on Floor DR:374Water Reappoints Richard "Rick" Davis to the Company's Board of Directors AND CMC Announces Appointment of Michael 'Mike' Dumais to Board of Directors AND Regis Corporation Announces Appointment of William “Bill” Charters as Independent Director MM: ChatGPT’s “Honest Reaction” to a “Song” Composed Entirely of Gas-Passing Noises Will Make You Question Whether It’s Honestly Evaluating Your Other Brilliant Ideas Who Won the Week? DR: Wesley Bush MM: Anyone who wants to cause “critical harm” to society Predictions DR: Wharton creates two new MBA courses inspired by Allbirds: MKTG 655: Consumer Gaslighting & The Algorithmic Pivot and MGMT 910: Advanced Failing Upwards MM: In 2027, Reed Hastings will be elected as an independent director at Netflix