Today is Thursday, June 5, 2025.
It is the 156th day of the year.
209 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: A (not really) AI company goes bust.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN’s fate is now in the jury’s hands retrial and BLAKE LIVELY’s request is granted by a judge. More in SHOWBIZ.
“Snow White” heads to Disney+. Details in CASTING CALL.
MEGHAN SUSSEX’s latest business proclamation makes eyeballs literally roll out of their sockets in ROYALS.
###
ELON MUSK anticipates that SPACEX will earn more than $15 BILLION in revenue this year, as private companies and foreign governments increasingly outsource commercial space services.
By comparison, NASA runs on about $1.1 BILLION a year – and they even rely on SpaceX for most of their launches.
Last year, the company shattered a record for the most launches in a year by any space-faring organization, with 134, mostly for satellite deployments. This year, it estimates 170 launches, mostly with its Falcon rocket system. That’s a pace of a launch just about every other day. [via New York Post]
BY THE WAY: Based on 2022 pricing, SpaceX could deploy a small, 110-pound satellite for about $275,000, or deliver a larger dedicated payload of up to around 50,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit for $67 MILLION.
###
One of the less controversial initiatives piloted by the Trump administration is the development of a new air traffic control system – and now the Department of Transportation has opened up the bidding process for a company to lead the charge.
Next week, contenders will have the opportunity to meet with DoT and FAA officials to review the needs of the new system, in support of creating bids to get the job done. They’ll also be able to provide insights into how they would approach the project.
The new system will overhaul and replace core infrastructure for radar, software, hardware, and telecommunications networks, according to an official statement. [via DOT]
###
An artificial intelligence startup that pulled in more than $450 MILLION in investment money, promising to automate the coding and development of apps, has filed for bankruptcy – after it was revealed their A.I. program was actually an army of 700 coders and engineers in India doing the work manually.
Builder.ai pulled off the con for eight years, peaking at a valuation of $1.5 BILLION, including investment from Microsoft. When investors realized they were duped last month, they were able to freeze about $37 MILLION in funds. [via Binance]
###
Vietnam’s government has abolished its barbaric two-child policy after facing consecutive years of declining birth rates. Between 2021 and 2024, the birth rate has fallen 10%, from 2.11 children per woman to 1.91 last year.
The policy is a remnant of communist North Vietnam’s laws and has never been as brutally enforced as China’s population control rules. Violators faced fines or public shaming enforced by local municipalities. [via Xinhua]
WORTH NOTING: The “replacement rate” for a population is 2.1 children. The United Nations estimates that the global replacement rate is 2.2, perilously close to a catastrophic global population collapse. In the United States, it’s been under 1.8 the last few years.
###
A hungry elephant stopped by a grocery store in Thailand after escaping from a nearby national park this week.
The huge animal, known as Plai Biang Lek, snatched some snacks from the counter as park employees attempted to get him out of the store.
He eventually did leave -- with snacks in his trunk -- and only some damage left behind, including mud on the floor and the ceiling. [via Fox26]
###
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Morning Martini to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.