Weekend Briefing No. 598
Anti-Woke AI Ban -- Why Saying “No” Will Advance Your Career -- The Story of Enron
Welcome to the weekend.
Prime Numbers
200,000,000 — Ozzy Osbourne's "Back To The Beginning" farewell concert in Birmingham raised over $200 million for charity, making it the highest-grossing charity concert of all time and far surpassing the $100 million raised by this year's FireAid shows in LA.
8,200,000 — The Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums will increase by an average of 75% next year due to the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating that 8.2 million people currently covered will become uninsured over the next decade as a result.
28 — Hollywood is increasingly relying on reboots, remakes, and sequels due to industry financial pressures, with studios finding it safer to revisit established franchises like Jurassic World: Rebirth and 28 Years Later rather than risk investing in original content that might fail.
Anti-Woke AI Ban
The fight against AI bias could become the biggest source of AI bias yet. This week, the White House drafted an executive order banning "woke AI" from government contracts, aiming to eliminate ideological manipulation in artificial intelligence, specifically targeting diversity and inclusion concepts in model training. The policy requires AI systems to demonstrate "truth-seeking" and "ideological neutrality" to secure federal funding, potentially reshaping how tech companies develop their models. However, experts warn that true objectivity is impossible since language itself carries inherent biases, and the order may simply replace one form of ideological influence with another. Companies like xAI's Grok, despite its own controversial outputs, appear best positioned to benefit from contracts worth up to $200 million each. TechCrunch (8 minutes)
Why Saying “No” Will Advance Your Career
The most successful executives aren't drowning in meetings — they're strategically saying “no” to almost everything. An executive coach's two-year study of 47 C-suite leaders reveals that those who guard their time most fiercely advance fastest, with one VP earning a promotion within six months of stopping after-hours emails and declining misaligned meetings. This isn't about work-life balance; it’s about recognizing that in a world where 48% of employees are productive less than 75% of the time, focused strategic thinking has become the scarcest and most valuable commodity. The framework involves three key practices: aligning every commitment with quarterly priorities, treating deep work time as sacred as client meetings and reframing rejections as resource allocation decisions rather than simple refusals. Fast Company (7 minutes)
The Story of Enron
How did Enron look so good to Wall Street while being fundamentally rotten? The company convinced regulators to let them book 20 years of future cash flows as immediate revenue, transforming a pipeline company into a $100 billion "trading giant" that existed mostly on paper. The scheme relied on off-balance-sheet partnerships requiring only 3% outside capital to hide $34 billion in actual debt, while executives like Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling extracted $500 million in personal stock sales. When their stock price collapsed post-9/11, the correlated risk unraveled everything — the same shares used as collateral for their hidden debt structures were suddenly worthless, triggering margin calls that exposed the fraud. The real tragedy wasn't just the $63 billion bankruptcy but that most of this wealth extraction happened through perfectly legal accounting loopholes that Sarbanes-Oxley later closed, proving that regulatory capture often enables the biggest frauds in plain sight. Acquired Briefing (11 minutes)
Melting Rock for Energy
What if we could drill to Earth's core by literally melting our way down instead of grinding through rock? Quaise Energy is pioneering millimeter-wave drilling technology that uses gyrotrons — devices typically used in fusion reactors — to blast, melt and vaporize rock at temperatures reaching 100 million degrees Celsius. This breakthrough could unlock geothermal energy anywhere on the planet by drilling 10–20 kilometers deep, accessing super-hot rocks that contain enough energy to power civilization for hundreds of thousands of years. The company is transitioning from lab tests to real-world trials, aiming to drill at 3–5 meters per hour while building their first commercial plant in Oregon by 2028, though significant technical and financial hurdles remain. MIT Technology Review (7 minutes)
Robot Delivery
Rush hour just got more crowded as robots now compete for subway seats alongside human commuters. In Shenzhen, China, 41 autonomous delivery robots successfully navigated the metro system to stock 7-Eleven stores, using AI logistics algorithms and lidar technology to board trains, ride elevators and complete deliveries during off-peak hours. This breakthrough could revolutionize urban logistics by bypassing traffic congestion and parking limitations that plague traditional ground-based delivery trucks in dense metropolitan areas. The initiative represents China's broader push to normalize robots in public spaces, though similar efforts in the U.S. have faced resistance from privacy advocates and technical challenges ranging from navigation failures to outright vandalism. Popular Science (6 minutes)
Lessons from Les Schwab
Les Schwab built a billion-dollar tire empire from an $11,000 investment in a failing shop, despite never having changed a tire in his life. What if giving away 50% of your profits could make you billions richer than keeping 100%? Schwab revolutionized business incentives by offering store managers half of all profits but with a crucial twist — they couldn't withdraw a penny until their investment equaled his, forcing long-term thinking over quick cash grabs. This counterintuitive approach created such explosive growth that his smaller half became worth more than his previous whole, while ensuring zero manager turnover and maximum commitment. His unconventional wisdom extended beyond profit-sharing to three other breakthrough principles: working the hours nobody wants (running paper routes before dawn while peers slept), reversing traditional hierarchy by paying frontline managers more than executives and refusing billion-dollar buyout offers because some things matter more than money. Farnam Street (8 minutes)
Behind the Tiny Desk
The world's most famous office desk holds more celebrity DNA than a Hollywood crime scene. NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series transformed from a simple blog feature in 2008 into a global music phenomenon that strips away concert production to reveal raw artistry. The magic lies in its authentic intimacy. Artists perform mere feet from NPR staff in a cramped office space, leaving behind personal artifacts that become treasured relics on surrounding shelves. This behind-the-scenes tour reveals how maintaining the series' humble, unpolished charm has become the secret ingredient that attracts A-list performers and millions of viewers worldwide. Architectural Digest (4 minutes)
Should We Work Together?
Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.
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Weekend Wisdom
Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. - Jenny Han
Love your Weekend Briefing. Full of fascinating insights.