Cultural Exports, AI Takeovers, and 2x New Kings of Europe

??? The big stories this week:

First World Problem$

AI news continues to spike this week, largely thanks to Elon Musk's attempt to take control of Chat GPT owner, OpenAI. And with a $97bn offer on the table, many may bulk. Not current CEO, Sam Altman. In fact, as the The Economist suggests, even this mouth watering sum of money could be nothing more than a 'nuisance' to Altman as Tesla’s boss becomes increasingly willing to use whatever 'means he can to hobble his opponent': https://www.economist.com/business/2025/02/11/elon-musks-97bn-offer-is-a-nuisance-for-sam-altmans-openai

Cultural Exports

Here's a great take on the Super Bowl and its growing role as a US export. Did you know, the NFL is the fastest-growing sport in the U.K., with a fanbase that has jumped 49% since 2021, adding an additional 2.8 million new fans over that time period(!?), according to Andrew Milnes and the 尼尔森 Sports team, this from Reuters : https://www.reuters.com/sports/nfl/us-exports-spirit-america-with-global-super-bowl-watch-parties-2025-02-07/

Civ 7 Heaven

TechRadar 's Jake Green takes us inside one of most hotly anticipated game launches of year, as the classic strategy game, Civilization, returns with its first title in nine years: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/consoles-pc/civilization-7

The Kings of €urope

Spain has become the fastest growing economy in Europe, outpacing Germany and France. Spurred by a resurgence in tourism, Guy Hedgecoe takes a look at how Madrid has become the envy of Europe, post-Covid: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7jmlyx02o

UCL TV

A big shift in the media rights for the UEFA Champions League which returns this week. Martin Ross take us inside the deal which sees Relevent enter into an exclusive period of negotiation for the 2027-33 cycle: https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/team-era-over-as-relevent-enters-exclusive-uefa-talks/

AI Friends of Foes?

The US-Chinese AI tech war rumbles on, with sides and battle plans being drawn daily. This week, Tech Crunch examines one of the latest twists in the saga, as Apple reportedly partner with Alibaba after rejecting DeepSeek for its Chinese AI launch: https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/11/apple-reportedly-partners-with-alibaba-after-rejecting-deepseek-for-china-ai-launch/

Sustainability deadlines missed

With the North Los Angeles countryside still smouldering after weeks of devastating wild fires, Seth Borenstein of the LA Times covers how nearly 200 nations missed Monday's deadline to file what the United Nations’ climate chief calls “among the most important policy documents governments will produce this century”. Essentially, those nation's plans on how they will cut emissions: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-02-10/nations-miss-deadline-climate-change

?? Now for some inspiration

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?? Something to make you look clever

Here's a couple of links to stories a little more random, but which will equally make you the most clever in the room... If not, you're probably in the right room.

Tokyo Drift

Like Paris, in the mind of the would be tourist, Tokyo conjures a sense of wonder and imagination. In reality, is that facade drifting? https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/feb/07/tokyo-drift-what-happens-when-a-city-stops-being-the-future-podcast

Say Cheese!

An excellent piece by 'Sapiens' author, Yuval Noah Harari, who takes a look at surveillance, the new norms of society, and the world we've inherited after coronavirus: https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75

Don't sweat the small stuff

It's good to just look up sometimes. And today, scientist image 3-million-light-year-long 'cosmic web' ensnaring 2 galaxies for the first time. Truly remarkable. What better way than to realise your problems aren't that ... big: https://www.space.com/cosmic-web-two-galaxies-image