Everyone is looking for a side hustle. Meta is planning to sell its excess AI computing power and AI models to boost cash flow, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The plan to get into the cloud business comes as Meta has made hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of investments in AI that it hasn’t yet shown will pay off.

It’s hard to know whether Meta’s AI plans are panning out: Meta doesn’t separate its AI revenues from broader earnings, and the company hasn’t released many noteworthy features compared to other AI companies. But it has committed to spending $182.9 billion on AI infrastructure, including the construction of giant data centers, over the next few years. Plus, it’s offered eye-watering salaries to win over top AI talent—like a $14 billion pay package to woo Alexandr Wang from Scale AI—even as it has conducted mass layoffs.

We do know that it’s got computing power to spare, which other AI companies are willing to pay a premium for. That’s handy as Meta seeks new business opportunities to help cover all that AI spending.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg first floated the idea of introducing a cloud business last year, adding at the company’s May shareholder meeting that, “We haven’t done that yet because we think we have a use for the compute,” but that if it overbuilt, selling extra compute power would be an option.

The real AI winners are the infrastructure providers—and this could make Meta one of them. Despite wildly high speculative valuations for flashy AI companies, cloud providers like CoreWeave, AWS, and Nebius Group (along with chipmakers) are delivering the biggest returns. Elon Musk’s SpaceX made a similar cloud move earlier this year after it struck billion-dollar deals to rent out its Memphis data center to Anthropic and Google.

It’s not the only new thing Meta is trying now that Facebook is passé: The company just released a new line of AI glasses (including a Kylie Jenner edition) and, according to the NYT, is floating its own prediction markets app.—MM

President Trump made $1.2 billion from crypto last year. Financial disclosures released yesterday show that Trump made $500+ million from his World Liberty Financial business’s sales of crypto products and $600+ million from CIC Digital’s sales of memecoins bearing his face, according to the AP. That means that as the president pushed for crypto-friendly regulation, his crypto investments paid off even more than his family real estate empire. Ethics groups have criticized the president, saying that the growth of Trump’s businesses while in office presents a conflict of interest. Trump brushed off concerns yesterday, saying the stock market was going up and, “We’re all profiting. I’m profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash.”

The US declined to renew a trade deal with Canada and Mexico. Though the treaty will remain in effect for ten years (as long as no country tries to leave it), the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will now be subject to annual reviews, after a deadline passed yesterday with the US not opting for a longer-term renewal. This could lead to renegotiations of major parts of the USMCA, which President Trump signed during his first term. The decision adds new uncertainty for businesses that move goods across the busy borders, including many in the auto, farming, retail, and energy industries.

You can now own a piece of AOL and other old internet brands. Bending Spoons, the company that’s been buying up brands you used to rely on, like AOL, Eventbrite, and Vimeo, made its public debut on the Nasdaq yesterday. The Italian firm soared nearly 40% in its first day of trading, giving the company a market value of $25.7 billion after it raised $1.68 billion in its IPO. The post-IPO bump for a company valued at $11 billion last October comes as the market for new stocks remains hot.—AR

If you need a little help paying for four years of beer pong higher education, getting it could be more challenging. New rules that began yesterday will cap the amount you can borrow and increase some monthly repayments.

Here’s some of what’s changing for borrowing:

• Parents borrowing on behalf of undergraduate students will be limited to $20,000 annually and to $65,000 total.
• Graduate school borrowing is capped at $100,000 over the course of the program, down from $138,500, but the limit for those pursuing professional degrees, like medicine or law, was raised from $20,500 to $50,000 per year. The Education Department’s plan to exclude some professional fields from the increase, like nursing and accounting, is on hold pending legal challenges.

A bad RAP? For repayment, new borrowers must choose between the Tiered Standard Plan and the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)—monthly payments for the latter will be 1%–10% of a borrower’s income. Experts say borrowers will pay more under RAP than similar income-based repayment plans. The approximately 7 million people enrolled in the SAVE plan, which expired yesterday, must switch to RAP or another plan within 90 days.

On Tuesday, a judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing a rule that would deny public service workers access to student loan forgiveness if their employers had a “substantial illegal purpose.” The challengers argued it would allow Trump to target groups he disfavors, like those that support immigration rights and transgender ⁠healthcare.—DL

Like a retired Frisbee player cleaning out their garage, Sony is getting rid of the discs. Beginning in January 2028, new PlayStation games will only be available as digital versions sold through the console’s online store or other retailers, Sony announced yesterday.

“This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” the company wrote in a blog post.

To Sony’s point, digital downloads outpace physical video game sales across the industry. And some premium console games have gotten too big to fit on a single disc: The Call of Duty franchise, for example, went from requiring 1.4 gigabytes in 2003 to 100+ gigabytes in more recent installments.

On the other hand, Sony critics noted that digital-only gaming surrenders game ownership to corporate whims and prevents fans from sharing and reselling games…right when price points are pushing $100. One gaming journalist called Sony’s move a “body blow to consumer rights.”

It’s not just PlayStation. Microsoft is working on a feature that would let Xbox owners digitize their physical games, The Verge reported yesterday. Meanwhile, the most anticipated game of the year century, Grand Theft Auto VI, will only be released digitally.—ML

The online world can be a beautiful yet confusing series of tubes. On Thursdays, the Brew’s Molly Liebergall untangles them for you.

All press may indeed be good press. A Los Angeles surf shop/café co-founded by a contestant on this season of Love Island USA, Gal Tshnieder, is leaning into the internet’s distaste for his recent antics on the reality dating show.

ICYMI: In Monday night’s episode, Tshnieder reassured the woman he’s coupled up with, Jen Terry, that “everything is so fine” after she raised concerns that he wasn’t interested in her. Soon after, he backtracked, said he wanted to talk to other women, called her reaction “aggressive,” and ended their relationship.

The next day, Tshnieder’s café, Saba Surf, put on its proverbial “I’m With Her” shirt:

• The shop announced free drinks for customers named Jen in a TikTok that got 2.7+ million views.
• A tongue-in-cheek marketing brainstorm posted on Saba Surf’s Instagram Story listed “Throw drinks in gal’s face (taste testing)” and “manipulation matcha” as ideas.

The Love Island USA subreddit seems to like the café’s response, with many commenters bashing the idea of fans taking their anger toward Tshnieder out on his business.

Meanwhile…the café was already capitalizing on Love Island buzz. It garnered 11+ million views on a TikTok showing the staff’s reaction to Tshnieder’s appearance on the show. Saba Surf has also been hosting watch parties, with sponsors including Goop Kitchen, Poppi, and Olipop.—ML