• Markets: Stocks managed to eke out a win yesterday, following a week with more drama than Days of Our Lives, in which bonds hit their highest yield since 2007 after the Fed decided to keep rates steady without tipping its hand about what comes next.
• When it comes to Big Tech, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet added close to $1.5 trillion in combined market value this week after reporting strong cloud growth. But Apple, Meta, and Tesla fell this week. Apple, in particular, plunged yesterday after delivering a lackluster forecast and concerns about memory shortage.

OWN GOAL

Marvin Ibo Guengoer/Getty Images

Like a ref after reviewing the VAR, FIFA President Gianni Infantino changed his mind mid-game yesterday, officially recalling his proposal to sell a 20% stake in future World Cup profits to private equity after resounding condemnation of it from inside and outside the sport.

After delivering a highly successful and lucrative North American World Cup, Infantino seemed poised to coast into a fourth consecutive term as FIFA’s president. Now, he’s hoping to hang onto his job after unveiling a plan on Tuesday that would have:

• Spun off the money-making parts of FIFA—including proceeds from tournaments like the World Cup, broadcasting deals, and hospitality—into a new subsidiary distinct from FIFA’s nonprofit mission.
• Valued that subsidiary at $20 billion to sell a 20% stake to a private equity group led by Joshua Kushner (brother of President Trump’s son-in-law) for $4.2 billion.

Forced to play defense

The backlash came fierce and fast once Infantino revealed the proposal to FIFA’s 211 member nations. On Thursday, it reached a fever…pitch when UEFA, the European soccer body, vowed to boycott all FIFA events unless the plan went the way of the dodo bird.

Still, Infantino began Friday defiant. Yesterday morning, FIFA released a statement that said “nobody is selling football” and blamed “erroneous reporting in the media” for the proposal’s negative reception.

Un-friendly Friday: But then, the Asian Soccer Federation, known as AFC, announced it was standing with the North American, Central American, and Caribbean soccer federations in denouncing the plan.

And internally, Infantino’s advisor Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker, quit his role at FIFA, calling the plan “a bad deal.” And FIFA’s COO all but dared Infantino to fire him, telling the Associated Press that the org’s president had “deceived” the staff with the sell-off plan, calling it “the project of one person.”

That one person, Infantino, then announced yesterday evening that FIFA was backing away from the deal. “Our purpose has always been—and will always be—to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed,” he said. It remains unclear if Infantino will be backing away from FIFA.—HVL, DL

      

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World

Tour de headlines

Getty Images

⚖️ NY sues Kalshi, saying it runs an “illegal gambling operation.” If you wagered that the state of New York would sue prediction market platform Kalshi and accuse it of being a gambling operation that’s not licensed by the state gaming commission, you’re in luck. The state lodged a suit yesterday, seeking the forfeiture of allegedly illegal gains, restitution to customers, and fines, which could total $36 billion. It’s the latest move in a battle over the regulation of prediction markets—which unlike traditional sportsbooks are overseen federally by the CFTC. Kalshi, which is headquartered in New York, called the suit “political theater” and said, “States can’t just shut down a federally licensed exchange.”

🌍 Hamas agrees to disarm—but only after Israel withdraws from Gaza. A day after President Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to a deal for “complete disarmament,” the group confirmed that it had agreed to the deal. That would be a major breakthrough for the stalled peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, but Hamas and Israel appeared at odds yesterday over how this might happen. Hamas said it would begin disarming only after Israel withdrew from Gaza and agreed to the creation of a Palestinian state, while unnamed Israeli officials told news outlets that Hamas would need to disarm before the withdrawal.

💬 The Fed officials who voted to hike rates say action is needed on inflation. When the Fed opted to leave interest rates unchanged this week, three officials dissented, marking the first time since 2016 that three members of the rate-setting committee have dissented in the same direction. And yesterday, they explained why. The trio issued separate statements that noted inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for five years and said a rate hike is needed to address it. The statements came after financial markets reacted badly to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh not saying much during his press conference on Wednesday about the rationale for the rate decision or what actions the central bank might take going forward.—AR

bot ban

VCG/Getty Images, Roomba

The tiny little robot getting trapped under your couch while attempting to suck up balls of cat hair is now being banned from entering the US as a national security threat. The FCC issued a ban this week on new, foreign-made humanoid robots, quadrupeds (like those robot dogs), and a broad swath of bots that can recognize their surroundings—including robovacs and sidewalk delivery robots.

In response, China threatened retaliation, claiming the ban “severely damages China–US economic and trade stability,” according to a statement translated by CNBC. The ban doesn’t actually name China, but you’d be hard pressed to find another country that churns out as many sophisticated, inexpensive robots or robot parts. The country currently controls about 85% of the global humanoid robot market, according to a recent research report by Barclays cited by the Associated Press.

Besides Terminator-level destruction, what is there to fear? The Trump administration cited privacy concerns related to the technology collecting sensitive data in homes and public spaces, as well as foreign-made robots threatening US supply chains. While your Roomba may seem harmless, there have been cases of robot vacuums and robot lawn mowers getting hacked.

Security concerns are very real, but…The Verge noted that the ban doesn’t target specific companies or do much to curb data collection. Instead, it creates a blanket ban that many US-based robotics companies—which rely on Chinese parts—are nervous will obliterate their own supply chain.—MM

      

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ICYMI

Have you heard...

Here’s everything that didn’t make it into this week’s newsletters but we immediately sent to the group chat.

➡️ ABC reported on a phenomenon known as tanmaxxing, a trend where people are encouraged to soak up as much sun as possible. Tanmaxxing sounds silly, but it’s better than the original name: “skin cancer-maxxing.”

➡️ DraftKings and Delta partnered to launch SkyPicks, a free in-flight contest where passengers can answer questions on their devices about sports events happening during the flight. As fun as that may sound, it will never be better than the hands-down, no-question-about-it, most entertaining thing to look at on a screen during every flight: Map.

➡️ A new ranking by US News crowned Utah the best state in the US. The standings were based on three very important criteria—number of Tabernacle Choirs, salt volume, and minutes of basketball played in the state by John Stockton.

➡️ A co-founder of an AI startup apologized after the company offered job interviews at a networking event to anyone who got a company tattoo on the spot. You hate to see young people making rash decisions to disfigure themselves with something that could follow them around forever. And if working for an AI startup isn’t bad enough, a tattoo can be regrettable, too.

➡️ The predominantly male-driven prediction markets are pushing to get more women to join the platforms with ads that say users can bet on Love Island contestants. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made,” that’s probably not what she meant.—DL

News

What else is brewing

• Most of the 60,000 migrants who crossed from Morocco into the small Spanish territory of Ceuta voluntarily returned yesterday, the Spanish government said. At least 57 people died trying to make the initial crossing into Ceuta.
• Anthropic said its AI models hacked three outside organizations during testing. This makes it the latest AI company with models to break free after OpenAI’s did so last week.
• Exxon and Chevron reported profit windfalls as the Iran war drove up energy prices.
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already swung a box-office record after making $72 million in previews—besting the previous record of $60 million that Avengers: Endgame took in during previews in 2019.
• The CFTC ordered former Rep. and Cameo star George Santos to pay $35,000 for allegedly betting on Kalshi on attendees at the State of the Union—including himself.

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Community

Crowd work

Last week, we asked, “What’s your favorite local event that happens near you?” Here are some of our favorite responses:

• “Every summer at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI, there is a historic baseball league that plays the game as it was played in the 1800s. You pitch [underhand] catering to the batter, no gloves for catching, and whenever there’s a good hit, we all shout ‘well struck, sir.’ It’s my absolute favorite way to watch baseball. There really is nothing like sitting on a picnic blanket, watching people catch hard-hit baseballs with their hands, and waving at the train as it goes by shouting ‘hip, hip, huzzah!’”—“Still a Michigander at heart”
• “The Greasy Pole in Gloucester, Massachusetts! Nothing quite like it. Every year, the last week of June as part of St. Peter’s Fiesta, there’s a three-day competition where participants attempt to walk across a slippery, 45-foot-long pole extending over the water to retrieve a flag at the end. The best part is when someone gets the flag, they get swarmed by everyone in the water. It’s quite the event!”—Donna Sue from Gloucester, MA
• “Blobfest!! Every July, we celebrate the 1958 release of [the horror film] The Blob, which was filmed in my town. All of the shops on our Main Street have a window decorating contest, so the entire town is immersed in gooey, red ‘blobness!’ We end the night with a screening in the very theater that was featured in the movie, and recreate the scene where everyone runs out screaming. It’s a total blast!”—Katie from Phoenixville, PA
• “Last February, torrential rains on Maui opened a large sinkhole on a main road through town. Repairing it, of course, required detailed planning, so it sat untouched for several months. This prompted an adjacent Mexican restaurant to celebrate ‘Sinkhole de Mayo,’ which was a huge success! But when this restaurant posted a new sign that said, ‘Please join us for Sinkhole de Mayo ’27,’ the Maui County Planning Commission probably wasn’t amused.”—Jim from Maui, HI

This week’s question

What’s a movie you never tire of rewatching?

Sam’s answer to get the juices flowing: “Every New Year, I rewatch the iconic 1976 Soviet holiday rom-com, The Irony of Fate, about a man who accidentally boards a plane blackout drunk and then goes to sleep in an apartment at his own street address, but in the wrong city. Hilarious and poignantly wistful without being schmaltzy, it recently inspired a terrible American remake.”

Submit your response here.

recs

• Take a peek at the most charming main streets in the US.
• A quiz that determines just how weird you are.
• Watch the moment Ben Affleck won a million dollars (for charity).
• Feel like a billionaire with this scented candle in your home.**

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Play

Brew Crossword: Your sample clue from our biggest puzzle of the week is “Who hearer.” Play the Crossword here.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that can see the vision of what a home could truly achieve with colors other than gold and white. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Today’s two-story house is in Santa Ana, CA, and while the interior might have the decor of a 2009 Charlotte Russe, the outside is pretty charming. Amenities include:

• 3 beds, 2 baths
• AI smart toilet in the basement
• Bedroom ceiling flatscreen

How much for your California dream home?

Answer

$1.1 million

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: poignantly, meaning “in a sharply felt manner.” Thanks to Jake from Bristol, UK, and several other readers, for the heart-piercing suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.