In space, no one can hear you scream… about how great your business venture is going!

What happened: Airbus is teaming up with space-tech start-up Voyager in a bid to replace the International Space Station (ISS), which is set to be decommissioned by 2031.  

“Four-score and seven years ago, I snagged a great deal on Marketplace!” 

That’s our best guess at what Meta’s new AI Abraham Lincoln chatbot will say as we peruse for online deals. The company is rolling out a new suite of AI chatbots as soon as next month to retain, assist, and collect data on the ~3.9 billion users across its platforms. 

Move over soccer and pickleball (especially you pickleball), the title of fastest-growing sport in Canada belongs to cricket. 

Driving the news: The Global T20 Canada (GT20), an international cricket competition featuring several of the world’s biggest cricketing stars, wraps up in Brampton this weekend. 

Sorry to break the news, Barbie fans, but not everything about plastic is fantastic. 

Driving the news: Per Wired, a study into the release of plastics from food containers has found that microwaving can blast millions of bits of plastic, called microplastics, and even tinier nanoplastics, into your food—and the hotter the conditions, the more plastic leaks in. 

Have you heard the news? Maybe not, since Meta is making good on its promise to pull access to the news in Canada. 

What happened: Meta has started the process of ending news availability in Canada in response to the Online News Act, a law requiring digital platforms to pay local news outlets.

Talks to recruit soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé may have fallen flat, but at least Saudi Arabia's foray into golf, gaming, and now, critical minerals mining is taking off.

What happened: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, and state-owned mining company Ma’aden struck a US$2.6 billion deal with Brazilian mining giant Vale for a 10% stake in its base metals business—one of the world’s top suppliers of copper and nickel. 

Is your ‘type’ an accomplished tech professional with a six-figure salary? Then you might have to battle it out with Canada’s immigration office. 

What happened: Canada is moving away from its points-based system for immigrant selection to pursue people with work experience in the tech sector, per The Globe and Mail. 

In the world of science, just like in infomercials, if something seems too good to be true, there’s a good chance it is. 

Driving the news: Some scientists are sounding the alarm over fishy details and inconsistencies in research papers published by a South Korean team claiming the discovery of a room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor, per Scientific American. 

The Associated Press might’ve been the first news outlet to cut an AI licensing deal, but they made sure they weren’t giving OpenAI an early-bird discount. 

What’s happening: Associated Press (AP)—the first news publisher to strike a content licensing deal with OpenAI—has built-in safeguards to the agreement that reflect the uncertainty of news content’s value in a future with powerful AI platforms, per the Wall Street Journal. 

A new train system launching today in Montreal is set to reshape how people get around the city—and could become a proof of concept for a new way of building infrastructure elsewhere in the country. 

Catch up: The first phase of the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) will whisk riders from the suburb of Brossard to Montreal’s central station—a trip that takes up to 40 minutes in rush hour traffic—in just 18 minutes. 

Our recommendations for what to eat, read, watch, and listen to this weekend.

On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Jay Rosenthal to discuss the challenges facing major cannabis players, and what’s next for the industry.

In Central America, El Salvador’s president has become more popular than the Pope—and no, it’s not because he decided to make Bitcoin legal tender back in 2021.

What happened: The country once known for having the world’s highest murder rate has locked away over 70,000 accused criminals in the last year (part of a sweeping campaign to crack down on powerful gangs) and cut the homicide rate by 92% from 2015 levels.

Aliens: Terrifying threat from beyond the stars… or untapped economic opportunity? 

Driving the news: This week, a former US intelligence officer told Congress while under oath that the US government has been hiding UFOs from the public view for decades, including a wreckage that included "non-human" biologics (an alien, he means an alien). 

Like a friend trying to get you to the wildest party when it’s well after midnight, Tesla is facing accusations of over-exaggeration. 

Driving the news: A new bombshell exposé from Reuters alleges that Tesla had rigged its dashboards to show more optimistic driving ranges, starting about a decade ago. 

Inflation is cooling across the Western world, but don’t grab your party hats just yet. 

Driving the news: Over the last month, the Bank of Canada, US Federal Reserve, and European Central Bank (ECB) each raised their respective key interest rates by 0.25 of a percentage point, bringing the cost of borrowing in Western markets to 22-year highs. 

Canada’s top high-end winterwear brand (named after an aggressive northern waterfowl) is tapping into the growing consumer desire to get thrifty.

What happened: Canada Goose (CG) has launched a resale platform in Canada that lets people exchange their used apparel for gift cards worth up to 60% of the item’s retail price. 

As the demand for experiences like travel, movie passes, and concert tickets soars, companies are taking advantage by leaning into ‘dynamic pricing.’ 

Driving the news: Last weekend, some Cineplex locations charged $1 more for tix to see blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer than other older releases, per The Globe and Mail. 

According to a new TD Economics report, Canada's historic population growth risks exacerbating the country’s biggest problem areas.

What happened: With Canada on track to welcome over one million permanent and temporary residents in 2023—between immigrants, students, temporary workers, and refugees—economists from a Big Five bank are urging the feds to pump the brakes.

As of yesterday, almost 80% of Canada’s ministers are new or in a new role… all with the hopes of making a dent in the country’s most pressing issues ahead of the next election. 

What happened: Following what former Liberal minister Catherine Mckenna called a “bonkers Cabinet shuffle speculation," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau almost completely overhauled his front bench with a renewed focus on housing, defence, and public safety.