đ Stand tall this week, like the 114-foot, 7-inch hotel in the Philippines that was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest building in the shape of a chicken. Intrigued? Lucky for you, it has 15 bookable rooms inside.
đ§ On the pod: Inside a billion-dollar berry brand that uses AI to improve fruit.
NEWS FLASH
â€ïž Tap your heels together three times, and get your auction paddle ready. A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939âs The Wizard of Oz will be up for auction at Heritage Auctions in Dallas ~20 years after being stolen. The slippers, which were lifted from their display case at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, are one of only four remaining pairs. And the museum wants them back for good: Minnesota lawmakers have allocated $100k to reclaim the slippers, since thereâs really no place like home.
⥠Catch a charge: AT&T and startup Voltpost are partnering to turn streetlights in Michigan into EV chargers. Voltpost retrofits lampposts into internet-connected charging platforms, which it says is a cheaper, faster way to bring curbside and parking lot chargers to cities. Voltpost also has plans to install chargers in New York and Illinois in the future.
đź Good news for gamers: Nintendo confirmed that the Switch 2 will have backwards compatibility, meaning current games will be playable on the new device and that customers will be able to carry over their Nintendo Switch Online services. Nintendo, which has sold 146m Switches and 1.3B+ software units, claims that âmore software has been played on Nintendo Switch than on any other Nintendo hardware.â
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
ItalyComunica, a communications company, is selling sealed 13.5-ounce cans of Lake Como air. The company says the $11 cans contain âpure air from the most beautiful lake in the worldâ and are a âluxurious souvenirâ for when tourists need a whiff of their past vacation.
The Mozilla Foundation, Mozillaâs nonprofit arm, laid off 30% of its employees amid a reorganization and removed two major divisions â advocacy and global programs â from its structure.
The EU is investigating Corning â the US maker of Gorilla Glass, a break-resistant material used in most smartphones â alleging it squashes competition by forcing manufacturers into exclusive agreements.
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You may not think of a fruit as being a high-tech operation, but one company is all about it, integrating hardware, software, and AI wherever it can.
And itâs paying off. Agrovision Corp. is an LA-based agtech company that sells blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries under its Fruitist and Big Skye brands at stores including Costco, Trader Joeâs, and Whole Foods. It reached a $1B valuation in August.
Its blueberries â larger and crunchier than many others youâd find in stores â retail for $6-$8 for a 9.8-ounce package, perBloomberg. That may be slightly pricier than other brands, but co-founder and CEO Steve Magami told The Hustle he views them as a premium snack.
AgrovisionâŠ
⊠started with blueberries due to their global appeal, longer shelf life, and affordability. The idea was to end âberry roulette,â offering only high-quality berries in every package â no mushy or spoiling ones.
Agrovision is vertically integrated, and doesnât outsource production, instead overseeing farms in microclimates in locations including Peru, the US, and Morocco. It also implements technologies including:
R&D programs that breed berry varietals for flavor, nutrition, climate resilience, and shelf life.
AI algorithms that predict planting and harvesting timelines, perform QA, and schedule seasonal workers.
Vacuum storage chambers that preserve freshness for up to 12 weeks through a partnership with RipeLocker.
In the future, Agrovision plans to incorporate more AI and expand its product lines with offerings like seedless cherries or blueberries even richer in antioxidants.
âThe ultimate satisfaction for me is when kids walk in the store and they go to the produce aisle. That will tell us that weâve truly succeeded,â Magami said.
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Because Fido is family... Donât miss out on the $2.4B pet supplement market, and three other lucrative opportunities in keeping our fur babies healthy.
DATA POINT
In the past five years, over 90% of homeowners made home renovations, spending for which reached a record $487B in 2023.
That was good news for the building-products industry, but bad news for most renovators: 74% were left with regrets, according to a recent survey of 1k US homeowners via Fortune, with ~50% saying they liked their pre-remodel home more.
The most common regret was going over budget, with ~66% of renovators reportedly taking on debt to fund their projects (though, weirdly, just 16% considered that a regret).
Regret is a wasted emotion â that is, unless you learn from it, and it doesnât seem most homeowners will: Although home renovation spending slumped this year for the first time since 2008, analysts predict falling interest rates will help it rebound to record levels in 2025 â with 44% planning to spend even more next year.
AROUND THE WEB
đ On this day: In 1885, Canada completed its first transcontinental railway, stretching 2.8k+ miles.
đŠ Thatâs interesting: Why spelunkers are looking for a mythical cave in Colorado.
Yesterday, we asked how youâd feel if the person interviewing you for a job wasnât a person at all.
The majority still expect a human recruiter, with 63% saying theyâd be upset if faced with an AI bot and would think less of the company.
A quarter said the concept is so strange they donât know how to feel, 11% wouldnât mind either way, and 2% said theyâd actually prefer to interview with a bot.
In defense of the bots, many said that theyâd be helpful in interviews if they were able to effectively eliminate biases.
But one reader made a solid argument against them: âThe point of an interview is for both sides to meet each other and see if theyâd be a good fit. How can a candidate have any idea of what sort of organization theyâd be working for if theyâre talking to a robot?â
SHOWER THOUGHT
If bugs had a society like ours, their daily routine would be nonstop funerals.SOURCE
