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Pick a winner in this week’s world famous News Haiku^TM competition in today’s poll below. Now let’s talk about today’s news you Need2Know, shall we?

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• IRS furloughs nearly half its workforce

• Google pulls back on working remotely

• Government shutdown hurts businesses

• Fed minutes: Most officials supported further rate …

• Why AI “actress” Tilly Norwood is no threat to Hol …

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.28% ) $DJI ( ▼ 0.52% ) $NDX ( ▼ 0.08% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$GOOGL ( ▼ 1.26% ) $MSFT ( ▼ 0.47% ) $AMZN ( ▲ 1.12% ) 

IRS furloughs nearly half its workforce

The Internal Revenue Service is furloughing nearly half its workforce, halting numerous operations as the ongoing government shutdown deepens its impact. Over 34,000 employees are now in furlough status, leaving just over 39,000 workers to manage critical tasks.

I mean, obviously it’s terrible. On the other hand, there’s less risk of your taxes being audited. Sooooooo.

Key functions like taxpayer services, call centers, and non-automated tax collections have been suspended, signaling mounting challenges for taxpayers nationwide.

“Today, due to the government shutdown the American people lost access to many vital services provided by the IRS,” said Doreen Greenwald, National President of the National Treasury Employees Union. She warned that taxpayers should brace for “increased wait times, backlogs, and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues.”

Oh so it’s bad, then. Okay.

Despite the widespread disruption, the IRS will maintain operations related to preparing for the 2026 tax-filing season and implementing President Donald Trump’s recently passed GOP tax cuts — including exemptions on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security taxes. These cuts are central to Republicans' hopes for boosting next year’s midterm elections.

Song of the day: Gatlin, ‘If She Was A Boy’

Here’s a song about being gay and religious in Florida by a 19-year-old woman discovering her fears and feelings. She’s 26 now and over the hump. Despite the single’s serious subject matter, sonically “If She Was A Boy” is bright and groovy, writes one critic. Bass, synths, and drums create a light soundscape to contrast the feeling of fear that is present in the lyrics. Enjoy…

Google pulls back on working remotely

Google $GOOGL ( ▼ 1.26% ) is scaling back its popular "Work From Anywhere" (WFA) policy, originally introduced during the COVID pandemic. The policy, which allowed employees to work from locations outside their main offices for up to four weeks per year, now has stricter limits. Changes include counting any remote work – even for just one day in a given week – as a full WFA week.

“Whether you log 1 WFA day or 5 WFA days in a given standard work week, 1 WFA week will be deducted from your WFA weekly balance,” stated an internal document shared with employees earlier this year.

The shift aligns with broader industry trends, as tech giants like Amazon $AMZN ( ▲ 1.12% ) and Microsoft $MSFT ( ▼ 0.47% ) roll back pandemic-era remote work policies. John Casey, Google’s vice president of performance and rewards, clarified the rationale during a recent all-hands meeting, emphasizing that WFA was “meant to meet Googlers where they were during the pandemic.”

As employees adapt to tighter rules, many questions about flexibility remain. One employee asked why remote work for one day counts as a full week.

Maybe someone should Google “why remote work policies are good for your business.”

Today on the ‘gram: For the love of God, nooooo

Post of the day: I’ve got the conch!

Quote of the Day

Government shutdown hurts businesses

Just one week into the U.S. government shutdown, its economic impact has become evident across the nation. From delayed contracts to workforce disruptions, many businesses are grappling with uncertainty as they await government action.

Small businesses that rely heavily on federal contracts are among the hardest hit. Brian Butler, owner of Vistra Communications in Lutz, Florida, had to lay off five of his 80 employees after a federal stop-work order. “That’s a very scary place to be in as an entrepreneur,” Butler — whose firm generates 75% of its revenue from government contracts — told the Wall Street Journal. If more stop-work orders come through, Butler fears he may not be able to support additional employees.

The ripple effects extend to various industries. Vivani Medical, a medical-device company in Alameda, California, had to postpone the spinoff of its brain-implant subsidiary because the SEC is not processing registrations. “No new business now means no money in two, three or four months,” said Rachel Klein, owner of Fire Starter Studios in California, which relies on federal contracts for half its revenue.

The shutdown’s effects on the broader economy are also worrying. Nancy Vanden Houten, an economist at Oxford Economics, notes, “The longer it goes on, the more of that hit to growth won’t be recovered.” For businesses left in limbo, the stakes get higher every day.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Yes. It hit new records yesterday.

Fed minutes: Most officials supported further rate cuts as worries about jobs rose

The Federal Reserve is grappling with a balancing act as economic uncertainty grows. According to minutes from its September 16–17 meeting, most policymakers supported a quarter-point rate cut — lowering the Fed’s key rate to approximately 4.1% — to address mounting concerns about potential job losses. “The risk unemployment would rise had worsened,” according to the minutes; inflation concerns seemed to have diminished, creating a clear rationale for the cut.

Rate reductions by the Fed are designed to lower borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to business loans, encouraging spending and hiring. However, the discussions highlighted tensions within the Fed’s 19-member committee. “There are no risk-free paths now,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell remarked post-meeting. “It’s not incredibly obvious what to do.”

While some Fed members pushed for keeping rates steady, including recognition of “merit” in such a strategy, others like Stephen Miran dissented, calling for an even larger half-point cut. Miran argued that inflation is poised to decline, citing falling rental costs and tariff revenues reducing the budget deficit.

Yet skeptics remain, particularly in light of stubborn inflation. Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Kansas City Fed, insisted, “Inflation is too high,” advocating for keeping rates elevated to prevent further economic overheating.

Why AI “actress” Tilly Norwood is no threat to Hollywood

—Here’s the latest in an ongoing Friday guest feature on the business of movies by Grant Keller.

Tilly Norwood, the AI “actress” that has tinsel town talking, is nothing to fear. Here’s why...

Norwood was created by the production company Particle6. Tilly is fully synthetic, designed to star in films, commercials, and other media. Critics, including actors’ unions like SAG-AFTRA and Equity UK, argue that Tilly threatens the livelihoods of real performers by using AI models trained on the work of human actors, effectively appropriating their contributions. There are also copyright issues, questions about consent, and fair compensation for actors whose data may have been used without explicit approval.

Not many people remember an earlier computer generated character called Aki Ross, the lead character from the forgotten 2001 film “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”. Despite being played by not one but two actors, she was billed as a movie star in her own right. She even got a Maxim magazine photoshoot, which I recommend looking up for the sheer absurdity of it.

Producers frothed at the mouth for this “actress” while actors feared the loss of their jobs. However, all of that noise proved fruitless as Aki Ross’s debut film flopped so hard at the box office, it shuttered the studio that produced it, and all the character’s files were deleted.

Even if the movie was a success, Aki was an empty puppet. At the time of “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,” Tom Hanks believed these computer generated “actors” were an imminent threat. These same sentiments are being echoed today by people like June Squibb about Tilly Norwood, but they are wrong.

The most famous movie about AI is “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” and it proclaims there is “no fate but what we make.” I believe that’s true. These artificial creations are not the future if we don’t want them to be. Thanks to the wonderful work of SAG-AFTRA, Norwood will never be in a real production, which makes Tilly less than a footnote compared even to Aki Ross. At least Aki Ross was in a movie.

—Grant Keller

Poll of the day: Haiku of the week

This week’s world famous News Haiku^TM competition is based on the news that the jobs numbers are delayed because of the government shutdown. Pick a winner!

Poll of the day: You’re broke, it seems

We asked: Where are you putting your money these days?

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Betting on Polymarket (10)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Hoarding gold (43)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Buying Taylor Swift albums (10)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Becoming a paid Need2Know subscriber (at need2know.cheddar.com/upgrade) (9)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Drugs, prescription or otherwise (38)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ All of the above (18)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 None of the above: What money? (368) 

496 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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