Good morning readers. Wikipedia’s most-viewed pages of 2023 is a digital snapshot of our world's pulse (get it). Topping the charts is OpenAI's ChatGPT, a sensation with over 49.4 million page views, reflecting the world's infatuation with AI innovation. Cricket fever grips the internet with the 2023 Cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League. In the realm of entertainment, India's Bollywood outshines Hollywood, with movies like "Jawan" and "Pathaan" eclipsing western blockbusters in Wikipedia page views. And then there's the blend of the celebrated and the notorious. Figures like Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, and Lionel Messi dazzle in their fields, attracting vast digital footprints.

Check out the full list here for an in depth review.

Let’s jump into today’s storylines.

In today’s digest:

• NCAA Division 1 athletes can get paid while playing

• Headline Hustle: FTC investigates Exxon’s $60 billion acquisition, Meta and IBM form AI alliance with 50 other companies, Putin makes rare visit overseas

• How the US might pull off a soft landing

• Pulse Points: What’s Trending

SPORTS

The NCAA’s proposal to pay its Division 1 athletes

In a move that could make the NCAA's rulebook more exciting than a March Madness bracket, NCAA President Charlie Baker has thrown a curveball straight into the heart of collegiate sports tradition. After 117 years of staunchly championing amateurism, the NCAA is flirting with the idea of schools directly paying their athletes, an idea about as welcome as a foul in the final seconds of a tied game.

What’s changing?

Gone are the days when an athlete’s biggest payoff was a pat on the back. Baker's proposal is all about endorsement deals, trust funds, and educational benefits for Division I athletes. We're talking about a new subdivision where the big guns (wealthier programs) would stash at least $30,000 annually into trust funds for half of their athletes.

Why the sudden change of heart? Flexibility, says Baker. It’s like realizing that one-size-fits-all tracksuits don’t fit everyone after all. But this isn't just about the Benjamins; it's a play for fairness, especially in gender equity. Since endorsements kicked off in 2021, it's been the men’s game. The new rules, under the watchful eye of Title IX, could level the playing field.

Of course, it's not all slam dunks and high-fives. The NCAA's navigating a minefield of legal challenges on athlete compensation. And let's not forget, implementation's more complex than a full-court press. We're talking feedback rounds, no set timeline – the whole nine yards. Experts are weighing in, viewing this as the NCAA finally catching up with the times – aligning practices with the legal and economic playbook of today. The themes? Adapting to new views on amateurism, tackling financial disparities, and managing the complexities of a diverse league.

Looking ahead…if Baker's play goes through, we could be looking at a whole new ball game in college sports. From recruitment strategies to the very experience of being a college athlete, everything's up for a revamp. But as with any game-changing play, it’ll take time, strategy, and a whole lot of teamwork to see it through. Let the games begin.

Headline Hustle

🔍️ FTC investigates Exxon’s $60 billion deal for Pioneer. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is scrutinizing Exxon Mobil's proposed $59.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, potentially the biggest oil-and-gas deal in two decades. This investigation, part of the FTC's mandate to prevent anticompetitive mergers, might affect Exxon's ambition to become the largest producer in the Permian Basin. While Exxon argues the merger represents a small fraction of U.S. oil production and wouldn't harm competition, the FTC's recent aggressive stance on mergers, especially under Chair Lina Khan, raises questions about the deal's approval. The outcome could signal the FTC's approach to future large-scale energy mergers.

🤝 Meta and IBM launch an AI alliance. The AI landscape is getting a major shakeup with the formation of the AI Alliance, a coalition of over 50 entities including tech giants like Meta Platforms, IBM, Intel, and Oracle, alongside academic powerhouses like Cornell University. This alliance is championing an "open model" of AI, setting its sights on disrupting the current market dominated by closed, proprietary systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT. The alliance, pooling resources for "open innovation and open science," is a response to concerns about the concentrated power and influence in AI development, especially in the generative AI sector. IBM and Meta's collaboration aims to diversify AI's narrative, moving away from the spotlight on a few major players.

🇷🇺 Putin seeks closer ties with Middle East in rare overseas visit. In a strategic Middle Eastern tour, Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to fortify alliances and challenge U.S. influence. Visiting Saudi Arabia and the UAE, he seeks to deepen ties and discuss oil markets amidst Western sanctions. This rare overseas trip, set against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict and Middle East tensions, signals Russia's intent to remain a key regional influencer, leveraging oil politics and diplomatic prowess to reshape power dynamics.

FINANCE

Can we pull off a ‘soft landing’? Latest jobs data says we just might

Picture the U.S. economy as a giant airliner, with the Federal Reserve in the pilot's seat, trying to land this behemoth without a bump. That's the 'soft landing' we're all buzzing about. It's the Goldilocks scenario for the economy – not too inflation-hot, not too recession-cold.

Recent labor data is giving us hints that we might be on track. The Department of Labor reported the lowest job openings since March 2021, a sign that could point to taming the inflationary beast without pushing us into a recessionary pit. The Fed has been aggressively raising interest rates, the highest since 2001, aiming to cool down the economy and labor market, thereby controlling inflation.

A history lesson in economic maneuvering. Soft landings are like finding a unicorn in the wild – rare. Since 1965, in the 11 times the Fed's tightened its monetary policy, we've only nailed it once.

The labor market is crucial in this context.

• The post-pandemic reopening saw a heated labor market with high job openings and significant wage growth. However, this did not lead to a feared wage-price spiral.

Recent labor data shows encouraging signs.

• Job openings have declined but without a corresponding increase in layoffs or decrease in hires.

• Layoffs are below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting employers' inclination to retain workers.

Economists are giving a cautious thumbs-up to these developments, suggesting that the U.S. might just pull off this soft landing. It's all about that delicate balance – cooling inflation without freezing job growth.

Big picture: If we manage this feat, it means we've controlled inflation without sending the job market into a nosedive. It impacts everything from how much your paycheck grows to the overall health of our economy.

SNIPPETS

Pulse Points

• Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is seeking to raise $1 billion as per a recent SEC filing.

• The Supreme Court seemed reluctant to significantly restrict Congress's authority to tax income, with justices from both conservative and liberal backgrounds hesitant to disrupt established federal tax code norms.

• Elon Musk is advancing his vision to transform the company previously known as Twitter, now X, into an "everything app" with its payment system, recently gaining money transmitter licenses in South Dakota, Kansas, and Wyoming, totaling 12 states for such operations.

• Rafael Nadal, a 22-time major tournament winner, is set to make a comeback from injury for a final tour in the pro circuit next month in Australia, concluding the first year of his career without competitive tennis since childhood.

• Apple's market capitalization reached approximately $3 trillion at close for the first time since August, following a 2% increase in share price to $193.42 on Tuesday.

• Kraft introduces "Kraft NotMac&Cheese," a plant-based, dairy-free alternative to its classic Mac & Cheese, available soon in two flavors at $3.49 per box.

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