Happy New Year!
2025 was a year of massive change.
We saw huge changes with AI, H1B Visas, and tarrifs.
Personally, I moved to a new city, started investing daily, changed my business model, streamlined expenses and income streams.
I bet you had big changes too!
2026 will be no different.
AI agents, robotics, offshoring will impact us in unprecedented ways.
So, how do we survive the change?
People.
This is more than just “networking”. It’s about proactively reaching out and staying connected.
In a world that is moving quick, it’s going to be about WHO you know.
Take a few moments today and call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Remember, no matter how bleak, you can’t have a testimony without the test.
-Mark
TRENDING
META BUYS CHINESE-FOUNDED AI STARTUP FOR BILLIONS
Meta Platforms agreed to buy the AI startup Manus for more than $2 billion, making it one of the largest AI acquisition deals this year.
Manus, originally founded in China and now based in Singapore, builds a general-purpose AI agent that can perform tasks like research, coding, data analysis and résumé screening with minimal human input.
Meta confirmed that all Chinese ownership and operations will be fully cut off after the deal, and Manus will continue to operate from Singapore while its technology gets incorporated across Meta’s products.
Read more here.
The Update:
Meta shares rose on the news as some investors interpreted the acquisition as adding AI agent capability sends a strong signal.
Could Manus be the AI acquisition equivalent to Instagram?
PROMPT AWARENESS
Reflecting on 2025 with an AI assistant
Pop open Chat GPT
Put into voice mode
“Help me reflect on progress I’ve made in the past year. Ask me questions about major shifts in my life professionally and personally, and help me find grains of wisdom to help me set goals and expectations for 2026”
MUSK’S XAI ACQUIRES THIRD BUILDING TO SCALE COLOSSUS
Elon Musk’s xAI has acquired a third building for its Colossus AI data center complex near Memphis, Tennessee, as part of plans to approach roughly 2 gigawatts worth of computing power.
The new facility will join the existing Colossus sites and support a projected goal of hosting at least one million graphics-processing units.
Read more here.
The Update:
This expansion anchors xAI’s infrastructure at one of the largest AI compute footprints in North America and may indirectly influence sentiment for hardware-related stocks.
While Tesla stock is not directly tied to xAI’s data center ownership, Musk’s growing focus on AI investments continues to be monitored by some investors as part of the broader narrative around technology leadership and capital allocation across his companies.
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Critical decisions are made verbally and rarely documented.
AI COULD WIPE OUT 27% OF TEEN JOBS BY 2030
A recent labor analysis shows that AI automation could eliminate about 27 percent of jobs held by teenagers in the United States by 2030, hitting part-time roles such as cashier and basic customer service first.
Teen employment has traditionally provided early work experience, references, and earnings for students.
Read more here.
The Update:
If this trend holds, schools, families, and employers will need to have alternatives such as apprenticeships, verified skills gigs, or paid short-term projects.
Typical entry-level jobs may no longer be widely available.
Teens (and adults) will need to adjust and embrace the gig economy.
OPENAI ADVERTISES “HEAD OF PREPAREDNESS” AT $555,000
OpenAI published a job listing for a new position titled Head of Preparedness with an annual base salary around $555,000 plus equity, for the person who will lead efforts to evaluate and address emerging risks from advanced AI models.
CEO Sam Altman described the role as highly demanding, with responsibility for building and coordinating evaluations and mitigations for threats across areas such as cybersecurity and biological risk.
Read more here.
The Update:
This opening reflects how AI companies are creating senior roles focused on safety and risk evaluation that pay at the top tier of tech executive compensation levels.
Last Time the Market Was This Expensive, Investors Waited 14 Years to Break Even
In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked. Then it took 14 years to gradually recover by 2013.
Today? Goldman Sachs sounds crazy forecasting 3% returns for 2024 to 2034.
But we’re currently seeing the highest price for the S&P 500 compared to earnings since the dot-com boom.
So, maybe that’s why they’re not alone; Vanguard projects about 5%.
In fact, now just about everything seems priced near all time highs. Equities, gold, crypto, etc.
But billionaires have long diversified a slice of their portfolios with one asset class that is poised to rebound.
It’s post war and contemporary art.
Sounds crazy, but over 70,000 investors have followed suit since 2019—with Masterworks.
You can invest in shares of artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.
24 exits later, results speak for themselves: net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.*
My subscribers can skip the waitlist.
*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.
Quick Hits
European regulators propose mandatory AI risk disclosures for financial firms — new rules could affect hiring and compliance teams.
Tech companies expand cloud jobs even as automation reduces entry level roles — demand for cloud engineers remains high.
AI training programs surge in community colleges across the U.S. — ambition is to replace lost teen job opportunities.
Leading banks adopt AI for back-office automation — headcount pressure remains in reconciliation and reporting lines.
“You can’t have a testimony without the test”
Mark Savant
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