It’s that time of year when VIPs head to college campuses, secretly hoping to join Steve Jobs and David Foster Wallace in the commencement address Hall of Fame. This year, CEOs and celebrities are seeking to inspire and uplift the class of 2026 graduates by addressing the thing that keeps many of them up at night (besides partying): AI.

AI, ever heard of it?

This week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang insisted Carnegie Mellon grads should run, not walk, toward AI, which he said is making the present moment a historically opportune time to start a career. The king of AI chipmaking reassured grads that the tech won’t replace them, but could instead enhance their professional capabilities—as long as they embrace it and don’t get left behind. Similarly, basketball star Magic Johnson advised Stillman College and Tuskegee University grads to grind hard and master AI.

But the most important commencement lesson appears to be the importance of reading the room, which real estate development executive Gloria Caulfield learned the hard way:

• She was booed by grads of the University of Central Florida’s College of Arts and Humanities after calling the rise of AI “the next industrial revolution.”
• One UCF student told the New York Times that Caulfield’s optimism fell flat because young creatives are worried that AI is replacing them.

In contrast, Delta CEO Ed Bastian knew how to please an AI-anxious crowd. Emory University grads applauded after he told them that he produced a draft of his speech using AI, only to find that it lacked “soul or warmth,” so he put pencil to paper instead.

AI got no mention…from country singer Eric Church, who went viral and made one newsletter writer shed a tear with his “six strings” speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Church used a guitar metaphor (and an actual guitar) to outline the importance of harmonizing the “strings” of a fulfilling life: faith, family, marriage, community, ambition and resilience, and personal authenticity.—SK

US–China summit concluded without major deal announcements. Both US and Chinese leaders spoke in positive terms about President Trump’s trip to China to meet with Xi Jinping, which ended yesterday, but no major deals have been touted. Xi hailed a new relationship of “strategic stability” between the two countries, but few details have emerged. Trump said major deals had been struck, but apart from an order for 200 Boeing planes, deals involving the delegation of top executives who traveled with the president haven’t been announced. And while both countries expressed that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened, no firm commitments were made public. Meanwhile, Trump said he was still deciding on the US’ latest arms sale to Taiwan, which Xi opposes.

Mistrial declared in Harvey Weinstein trial. The New York judge overseeing the retrial of the former Hollywood executive on third-degree rape charges declared a mistrial yesterday, after the jury found itself deadlocked following three days of deliberation. It was the third criminal trial against Weinstein in New York, and last year, a different jury also deadlocked on the same charges. Prosecutors now have 30 days to decide whether to retry the case. Either way, the mistrial doesn’t mean the former film mogul, who has denied wrongdoing, will walk free, as he was previously convicted of other sex crimes in New York, as well as in California.

Someone paid $9 million to have lunch with Warren Buffett. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but luckily, they don’t all cost as much as the $9,000,100 an anonymous bidder spent at a charity auction for the chance to dine with the former Berkshire Hathaway CEO, basketball star Steph Curry, and his wife, entrepreneur Ayesha Curry, in Omaha. The eBay auction benefited the Glide Foundation, a group supported by Buffett’s late wife that provides aid to homeless people in San Francisco, and Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which offers resources for students in Oakland, CA. Buffett will match the donation to each charity. Unlike the cost of most things, the price of this lunch has actually gone down—the last time Buffett participated, which was in 2022, it went for $19 million.—AR

Not since Hobbs & Shaw teamed up has there been this kind of buzz about an unlikely pairing. A new pocket watch from Swatch and Audemars Piguet (you decide which one is The Rock) is out today after a week of anticipation that included long lines and hype created by AI photos.

The collection is called Royal Pop, which sounds like a game you will never download despite the 40-second ads for it everywhere. It can be worn around the neck like a pendant, comes in eight bright color combinations, and Audemars Piguet hopes that, at ~$400 apiece, the luxury watchmaker can reach a broader, younger audience.

Swatch needs a hit, too: The company saw a 6.75% drop in sales and a 55.6% decline in operating profit in 2025, which is why an activist shareholder is applying pressure.

Twisted-wristers: Buzz and endless lines outside stores were created when pictures of wristwatches “leaked,” but turned out to be fake AI images. The real pocket watches were a disappointment to some, although one expert said they could be worth as much as $2,500 on the resale market.

But…vendors in Singapore and China are already working on manufacturing wrist straps that can house the timepiece and will be ready within weeks of today’s release.—DL