Google’s frontier AI lab had a major leadership shakeup last week. But the fault lines were visible well before then.
In 2023, Google merged DeepMind and Google Brain, its two premier AI research operations, into Google DeepMind, as it scrambled to keep up with competitors OpenAI and Anthropic. Deepmind founder Demis Hassabis ran the combined division from London, while chief scientist Jeff Dean remained in Silicon Valley.
But it quickly became clear that the center of gravity had shifted toward Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. And while the company says it remains committed to London, one former employee based in the U.K. called it the “America-fication” of DeepMind.
This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here. First Up
- Genomics powerhouse Natera’s stock gained 21% on Friday after what one analyst described as “blowout volume” for its cancer-detecting blood test, minting the company’s executive chairman and co-founder Matthew Rabinowitz a billionaire.
- Elon Musk’s net worth surpassed $800 billion again on Friday as SpaceX shares spiked amid a tech stock rally that also included Palantir and Microchip.
The Economics of Concerts Is Squeezing Fans—And Artists
BTS performs in Seoul, South Korea.
Getty Images
Fans are shelling out hundreds of dollars to see their favorite acts on tour this summer, from BTS to Noah Kahan. But how did live music become so expensive?
The average concert ticket cost just under $133 in 2025, according to data from Pollstar. That’s slightly below 2024’s peak, but well above 2019’s average of $96. And the price of admission to movies, theaters and concerts has risen by nearly one-third since the beginning of 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slightly outpacing inflation overall.
But as ticket prices climb, it’s not just concertgoers being squeezed: The cost of putting on a tour—from labor to lighting, audio and trucks—has surged since the pandemic, explains Joe Sanchez, CEO and founder of 1826 Group, a global experience agency whose clients include A$AP Rocky and My Chemical Romance.
The shift from record sales to streaming has increasingly pushed artists to rely on live performances for their income. While the top touring artists, like Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, BTS, Ed Sheeran and AC/DC, grossed nine figures between mid-November and mid-May, according to a Pollstar report, others have canceled tours or scaled back, like the Pussycat Dolls and the Black Keys.
“It’s increasingly harder and harder and harder for anyone but the top 25 grossing tours of the year to make money for anyone,” Sanchez tells Forbes Daily.
States and federal regulators have also taken issue with Ticketmaster’s role—and in April, a jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as an illegal monopoly. The states that pursued the case continue to push for a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
The jury determined Ticketmaster had been overcharging consumers in 22 states by $1.72 per ticket, a seemingly insignificant figure that Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School, says is “not really reflective of the anti-competitive behavior here.”
“You have to think about … a world in which there was strong competition for all of these different products,” she tells Forbes Daily. “We do know from economic theory and experience that the more competition there is, the lower these prices are.”
Wealth + Entrepreneurship
Indiana Pacer’s Hall of Fame owner Herb Simon
Getty Images
Herb Simon, the billionaire co-founder of Simon Property Group and majority owner of the Indiana Pacers, is suing the family of his deceased nephew David Simon, alleging his relatives secretly shifted away assets and dissolved a three-decades-old sister company without his permission. The company is one of the nation’s largest mall developers with more than 250 properties, and at the center of the dispute is an entity set up to hold the family’s interests in certain real estate properties that did not become part of Simon Property Group at the time of its IPO in 1993.
With many retirees seeking income from their investments, there is a proliferation of funds with “income” in their name and offering double-digit payouts. But many of these funds are in effect handing investors their own capital back, and Forbes’ William Baldwin instead recommends investments like the 5% yield on the Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Index ETF.
Tech + Innovation
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $942 million for its handling of child safety on its social media platforms. The judge’s ruling noted that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram implemented platform features designed to “optimize engagement” that are “harmful to teenagers,” and it failed to “adequately” communicate the risk to its users.
Money + Politics
A federal appeals court blocked the construction of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, a decision that Trump said his administration will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn. The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues the administration unlawfully began the project without congressional approval, though the president called the court’s ruling “politically motivated.”
Sports + Entertainment
Tom Holland at the “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Los Angeles Premiere.
Variety via Getty Images
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” grossed an estimated $145 million at the domestic box office in its second weekend in theaters following a record-breaking opening. The nine-figure gross makes it the third biggest second weekend in domestic box office history, as the superhero blockbuster has now grossed over $1.67 billion worldwide.
Science + Healthcare
An OpenAI artificial intelligence model invented more than a dozen new bacteria-infecting viruses after scientists at Stanford University trained the model to recognize patterns of DNA structure in nature and rewrite them to create never-before-seen viral genomes. While scientists say the ability to design new viruses could lead to breakthroughs in treating antibiotic-resistant superbugs, biosecurity scholars and public health officials have raised concerns about the speed of AI’s progress in the world of biology and the lack of regulatory frameworks.
Daily Cover StoryTwo Divorces, Ten Children And A $2 Billion Fortune: Meet The Utah Couple Behind An E-Commerce Empire
David Wright (right) and his co-founder and wife Melanie Alder celebrate Pattern’s IPO.
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
A decade ago, the husband-and-wife cofounders of e-commerce company Pattern, Melanie Alder and David Wright, were reselling fridge magnets online from Adler’s living room. Today, they’re Utah’s newest billionaire couple.
Since the company’s IPO in September, Pattern’s stock price has nearly doubled, with a four-month-long surge starting in March pushing the company’s market cap above $4 billion. In July, when Pattern’s stock hit a record high of $29, CEO Wright’s net worth reached $1.7 billion and chief strategy officer Alder’s climbed to $1.1 billion.
Though Pattern’s stock has dropped since, the couple, who together own 55% of the company, have a combined $2.2 billion stake as of August 7, plus nearly $90 million in cash from selling some of their shares shortly after the IPO.
The core of Pattern’s business is to relieve consumer brands of the major headache that comes with trying to figure out the lucrative but overly complicated online marketplaces such as Amazon, says Scott Needham, a former reseller and founder of Amazon market research firm SmartScout. Pattern buys a brand’s products in bulk, handles the entire selling process from setting up online storefronts to delivery logistics, and profits from selling the products at a markup.
That playbook has helped fuel revenue growth of more than 40% every quarter since Pattern went public. But hefty expenses from buying up all that inventory and handling shipping and returns for retailers makes Pattern’s financials look more like a clothing or restaurant business than a hot tech company.
WHY IT MATTERS
Despite the capital-intensive nature of the business, Pattern has beat earnings expectations every quarter and is slowly putting its name on the map. That’s helped the little-known company garner interest from public market investors and double its stock price since March, multiple software analysts told Forbes.
MORE OpenAI Considers Delaying IPO To 2027 After SpaceX’s Rocky Debut, Report Says
Facts + Comments
Amazon announced last week that its pharmacy would distribute popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to eligible Medicare patients for just $50 a month, making the medications much more accessible. The pharmacy’s new pricing is part of the federal Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program, which covers costs for patients with obesity:
$1,200 to $1,500: The monthly cost for drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound when they first hit the market
About $300 million: How much the new price reductions will save customers, according to Amazon
72%: How many adults age 20 and older are overweight or obese, according to CDC data from 2023
Strategy + Success
Job seekers are increasingly turning to AI while on the hunt for work. But how much is too much? Forbes’ Courtney Connley-Hampton spoke with AI experts and hiring managers, who recommend using the technology to research prospective employers and learn more about what they do and the kinds of people they hire. But avoid relying on AI to write your entire resume or cover letter. Instead, draft your materials in your own voice, then use AI to catch grammatical errors and improve readability.
VideoQuiz
One of the wealthiest women in the world announced over the weekend she would self-publish a new novel for free on Substack serially throughout August. Which billionaire is it?
A. Jacqueline Mars
B. MacKenzie Scott
C. Alice Walton
D. Abigail Johnson
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.