Hello, N2K’ers!

We now have (checks notes) 50 very good entries in Cheddar’s world-famous News Haiku™ competition. The rules? Send me a haiku by today at noon ET right here. I’ll pick three and let you vote for your favorite tomorrow. We’ll announce the winner on Monday!

I am also amazed that 17 people claiming to be “doctors, surgeons, lawyers, or other people who shouldn’t really be using AI for work tasks” confessed to doing so in yesterday’s daily poll. You cheeky monkeys! 🙈

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Did you grow a virtual garden yet?

• Fed holds interest rates steady, much to Trump's chagrin

• Will Starbucks' "Green Apron Service" plan help?

• Don't buy a competing company, steal their staff

• Google embraces E.U. AI rules while Meta balks

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.22% ) $DJI ( ▼ 0.29% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.14% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter*

 $RBLX ( ▲ 10.62% )  $SBUX ( ▼ 3.11% )  $HUM ( ▼ 4.4% )  $EA ( ▼ 2.07% )  $SBUX ( ▼ 3.11% ) OpenAI $MSFT ( ▲ 3.98% )  $GOOGL ( ▼ 2.42% ) Windsurf Cognition $META ( ▲ 11.2% )  

*We’re mentioning private companies here now, too.

Millions are growing virtual gardens in teen-made Roblox app

A humble gardening game has taken the gaming world by storm. Imaginatively named "Grow a Garden," the Roblox $RBLX ( ▲ 10.62% ) app created by a 16-year-old in just a few days has become a cultural sensation with record-breaking player counts. Logging 216 million concurrent players in late June, it surpassed Fortnite’s previous record of 152 million. Its meteoric rise has cemented Roblox’s place in pop culture and proven that simpler “cozy games” can captivate the masses.

The premise of "Grow a Garden" is as simple as its name. Guess what it is. You got it right!

Players cultivate virtual plots, grow plants, raise animals, and trade resources. With low-stress gameplay, classical music like Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca, and an aesthetic reminiscent of Minecraft, the game offers a “chill” alternative to high-stakes or competitive video games.

Becky “I’m the Bozz” Bozdech, editorial director at Common Sense Media, highlights the game’s unique appeal. “The word I keep hearing over and over to describe this particular game is that it’s ‘chill,’ which is just such a nice alternative. I get a lot of that Animal Crossing vibe from it,” she told the Associated Press. Bozdech also pointed out that the game lacks big objectives, making it ideal for players who just want to relax and “hang out.”

Ultimately, “Grow a Garden” isn’t just about virtual plants—it’s a therapeutic space that offers a reprieve from the chaos of daily life. Or, as Bozdech aptly put it: “It’s hitting a nerve. People need an escape from the world. I think we all do.”

You can also grow a real garden without needing to go on the Internet one single time.

Song of the day: Yoshika Colwell, ‘In Bloom’

Yoshika Colwell’s debut album “On The Wing” came out last week. ‘In Bloom’ is the lead track, described by Colwell as “the most hopeful song on the album.” The track, a “bouncy, upbeat kind of country song,” explores the intriguing concept of “sunny nihilism,” Colwell told an interviewer. “It’s about acknowledging that everything ends, but trying to find the beauty and freedom in that. It’s a song about inevitable death and trying to enjoy your life & the people you love whilst it’s all happening.”

Hopeful indeed.

Fed holds rates steady, stock market also holds

U.S. financial markets showed resilience as the Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged yesterday, a decision that was widely anticipated by Wall Street but may frustrate President Donald Trump.

According to an initial estimate, the economy also grew at an impressive 3% annual rate in the spring — far higher than economists predicted. However, deeper economic trends tempered the optimism.

“Cutting through the noise of the swings in imports, the economy is still chugging along, but it is showing signs of sputtering,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

The Fed’s decision comes as inflation risks loom amid Trump’s tariff policies. On Wednesday, the President announced a 25% tariff on imports from India, alongside additional tariffs related to India’s purchase of Russian oil. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the need for more data before making the next move, explaining, "We want to see how tariffs are affecting inflation and the broader economy before rushing into policy changes."

Two members of the Fed board dissented, saying they want a rate cut. That’s a record level of division for a board whose hallmark is its unanimity.

Elsewhere, corporate earnings drove stock movements, including bumps for Humana $HUM ( ▼ 4.4% ) and Electronic Arts $EA ( ▼ 2.07% ) .

Today on the ‘gram: [Insert ‘Down Under’ joke]

Post of the day: The life we all want

But do you imagine yourself as Jeremy Irons or as his dog?

Quote of the Day

Starbucks debuts ‘Green Apron Service’ plan

In the early 2000s I worked for Starbucks $SBUX ( ▼ 3.11% ) , training baristas in London on customer “service.” I will tell you that getting London-based baristas to even smile at their customers was a challenge. It was more of a challenge getting them to care about their customers’ orders. It was even more of a challenge getting them to keep the cafes clean. My key takeaway was that most Starbucks baristas hate being Starbucks baristas.

Starbucks claims its ambitious new “Green Apron Service” program will revolutionize the cafe experience by delivering warmer customer interactions and faster service. On the surface, the plan sounds thoughtful: Baristas are being trained to create engaging connections with guests, backed by new staffing models and so-called “Smart Queue technology” that promises consistent service quality. But amid sluggish sales and repeated attempts to revive growth, one has to wonder — can a smile and a Sharpie doodle truly save Starbucks?

Remote-working CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” strategy emphasizes hospitality and the human touch during cafe visits. According to chief operating officer Mike Grams, the goal is simple: “When you walk through that door, you’re greeted with a smile. You are greeted again at handoff, a perfect cup of coffee... and you’re met with that connection.”

It’s not rocket science, is it? And let’s be honest: Most people aren’t flocking to Starbucks for emotional fulfillment. Starbucks has now logged six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales, trailing behind the broader market's performance. While Niccol argues his turnaround of the company is “ahead of schedule,” Wall Street remains unimpressed, as Starbucks shares have grown a measly 2.7% this year compared to the S&P 500’s 8.6% gain.

Niccol also made an interesting 6,666 times that of the average Starbucks employee last year according to a new report. Try smiling about that next time you’re serving me an Americano, kid!

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Sure! It should be about where it was on Friday.

Don’t buy a competing company, steal their staff

The landscape of tech acquisitions is shifting, particularly in the cutthroat world of AI talent. Gone are the days when traditional company buyouts were the only game in town. As Ben Sherry, a staff reporter at Inc. Magazine, explained, a new strategy is gaining traction: the "reverse acquihire," a tactic that sees companies poaching entire teams rather than purchasing the entire entity.

This innovative approach came to light with the recent Windsurf-OpenAI-Google saga. OpenAI's attempt to acquire Windsurf for $3 billion hit a snag due to its contract with Microsoft $MSFT ( ▲ 3.98% ) which stipulated sharing all tech. This "didn't sit well with either Windsurf or OpenAI," leading to the deal's collapse. Enter Google, which swiftly executed a "reverse acquihire." As Sherry describes, Google $GOOGL ( ▼ 2.42% )  "didn't want to wait for regulatory scrutiny... We just want to take these guys that we like and then get them working for us immediately." This involved wooing 40 to 80 Windsurf employees, including their CEO, Varun Mohan, and paying a “licensing fee” to make investors whole.

While Google's move was swift, it left many Windsurf employees in a "pretty tight spot," financially disenfranchised due to unvested shares. Conversely, Cognition, another player, adopted a more employee-centric approach after acquiring the remaining Windsurf team. Sherry notes that Cognition "structured this deal to accelerate all of the employees' equity so that they all get paid out for this." 

In the fierce battle for AI prowess, acquiring talent is paramount, and companies are finding novel, if sometimes ethically murky, ways to get it done. Personally I think they all need to wear green aprons and smile more often. How about you?

Google embraces E.U. AI rules while Meta balks

Google will sign the European Union's voluntary guidelines for artificial intelligence (AI), in stark contrast to Meta’s $META ( ▲ 11.2% ) refusal to endorse the framework, citing concerns over innovation and competitiveness.

Google’s Kent Walker, president of global affairs, expressed optimism about the guidelines, suggesting they could drive AI adoption and benefit Europe significantly. “Prompt and widespread deployment is important,” Walker said, notng that embracing AI could boost Europe’s economy by an impressive 1.4 trillion euros ($1.62 trillion) annually by 2034.

Despite this endorsement, Google acknowledged concerns about potential drawbacks. “We remain concerned that the AI Act and Code risk slowing Europe's development and deployment of AI,” Walker warned, citing risks related to copyright law departures, prolonged approval processes, and exposure of trade secrets.

Meta, on the other hand, rejected the framework outright, with Joel Kaplan, Meta’s global affairs chief, calling it an overreach. “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” Kaplan said, arguing that the code introduces legal uncertainties and stifles innovation. Kaplan has strong Republican ties.

Since the guidelines are voluntary, why not just sign them and ignore them, Meta? Surely that’s what Google plans to do, after all?

Poll of the Day: Digital gardens: 👍️ or 👎️ ?

Poll Results: Some of you are using AI for work

We asked: Have you used AI for work tasks?

You answered:

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Hell, yes! (233 votes)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Hell, no! (291 votes)

524 Votes via @beehiiv polls

We also asked:

Supplemental question for those who answered "yes" above...are you, by any chance, a doctor? Or a surgeon? Or, like, you know...a lawyer? Or someone who really shouldn't be using AI for work tasks?

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Hell yes! (17)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Hell no! (194 votes)

211 Votes via @beehiiv polls

I do note that almost half of you are using AI for work, and that 17 doctors, surgeons and lawyers just purportedly told us they are using AI for work, too! I just hope you don’t use it for my hip replacement when I’m 70, guys. Or to sue anybody on my behalf, because then I would need to hire a robot to sue you back.