Hello!

Welcome to OUT OF SCOPE, the C-Suite cheat sheet for the week ahead.

Last night, we finally got our Super Bowl contenders. The Chiefs beat the Bills 32-39, and the Eagles defeated the Commanders 55-33, making it another Chiefs/Eagles match-up. This is huge news for two groups of people—the Kelce family and the “nothing ever happens” hive.

The Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl again; nothing ever happens.

**THE CHEAT SHEET

three things to bring up in your meetings this week:

1. Money can’t buy you everything. Or so they say. Elon Musk has achieved massive political influence, kind of unlike anything we’ve seen from a private citizen in the modern United States. Helming his own government agency, shaking up legislation in Congress, and causing a stir in the D.C. real estate market, he’s entered the world of government with vigor. In tandem, journo Max Read is asking, “What the hell is going on with Elon Musk?”.

2. Are Americans arguing just to argue? In the wake of one of the most divisive elections in history, the nation remains divided in more ways than one, forcing Americans to get comfortable with the mass of confrontational, argumentative, and altogether rowdy content circulating the internet. In the eye of the storm stands Jubilee Media, a company that turns difficult discussions into clickbait content, with headlines like, “Can 1 Woke Teen Survive 20 Trump Supporters?”. The rise of forums like YouTube, TikTok, and podcasting serving as unregulated hubs for controversial discourse is presenting a challenge to traditional media.

3. “Tradwives” aren’t just baking bread – they’re earning it, too. “Tradwives” have taken over the internet, capturing content centered around traditionally feminine roles (cooking, caretaking, etc.) in often unrealistic backdrops – featuring everything from luxury kitchen appliances to designer clothing. While at surface level they represent a return to more conservative gender values, these women also boast brand partnerships with some of the most prominent companies in the world – and securing a lucrative income as a result.

**OUT OF OFFICE

one weekend news story in-depth: AI’S SPUTNIK MOMENT

DeepSeek hit No.1 on Apple’s App Store this weekend. The Chinese-founded AI company has shaken up the AI marketplace following the release of its latest reasoning model last week, which is already performing comparably to OpenAI’s latest offerings.

It’s AI on a budget. Although progress in model development isn’t always earth-shattering news, given the rapid pace of AI innovation in recent years, this one stands out for how cost-effective the project has been. Reportedly, the model took less than $6 million to build and train and runs on reduced-capability chips that are supposedly inferior to the Nvidia industry standard. The app is also free to use for consumers, and the company charges much less for access to its API than OpenAI.

As a result, AI investors are scrambling. Given the attention-grabbing nature of the DeepSeek news, AI-related stocks are down. Nvidia stock fell 12.2%, Broadcom fell 12.1%, and Advanced Micro Devices fell 4.5% this morning, signaling the announcement is more than just another news moment and might have actual ramifications for the industry ahead.

Love him or hate him, Marc Andreessen knows how to brand an idea. Technology financier and guru Marc Andreessen called the DeepSeek news “AI’s Sputnik Moment,” referencing the satellite from the Soviet Union that beat the United States into space in 1957. Andreessen predicts this will be a landmark moment that questions the West’s dominance in AI moving forward.

**POWER LUNCH

five quick consumption recs for the time between meetings:

1. New Year’s resolutions are stupid – until they’re life-changing. This past week’s iteration of GQ’s 2025 resolutions series might make you, too, want to delete your food delivery apps.

2. The kids are all right. Bloomberg did a great deep-dive on the political influence of prominent YouTubers on young men.

3. Attention Please: There is a new global currency. ICYMI— in today’s digital world, our attention has become a valuable commodity. Journalist Chris Hayes has some ideas about reclaiming it.

4. Author? Marketer? Why not both? As Substack newsletters continue to rise in popularity, there is a growing opportunity for the platform’s writers to profit from their own ad revenue.

5. Oscars race and industry politics. Matt Belloni broke down the industry narratives and bigger-picture industry pressures that are shaping the conversation following the announcement of this year’s nominations for the Academy Awards.

We’ll see you online and on LinkedIn. Thanks for reading!

HL