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Good morning. It's Thursday, May. 15, and we're covering, Boeing Create Record Of $96B Deal With Qatar Airways For Up To 210 Jets, YouTube To Insert Ads After ‘Peak’ Moments Using AI, Putin, Trump Bow Out Of Ukraine Peace Talks In Turkey, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here.

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MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $3.29 Trillion, a 2.36% decrease in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $120.71B, which makes a 18.11% decrease.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $23.76B, 19.68% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $113.67B, which is 94.17% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 61.71%, an increase of 0.60% over the day.

eToro Stock Surges 40% In Delayed Nasdaq Debut

Israeli trading platform eToro soared 40% on its Nasdaq debut (ETOR) on May 14, after pricing its IPO at $52 per share. The stock opened at $69.69 and peaked at $74.28, giving the company a market cap of $5.64 billion. After abandoning a $10.4B SPAC deal in 2021 and delaying its IPO due to recent global trade tensions under President Trump, eToro finally went public, raising up to $620M by offering 11.91M shares. (Read Deeper)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Boeing Create Record Of $96B Deal With Qatar Airways For Up To 210 Jets

Boeing has secured the largest widebody aircraft order in its history, signing a deal with Qatar Airways for up to 210 planes—130 787 Dreamliners, 30 777-9s, and options for 50 more. The agreement was inked during President Trump’s visit to Qatar and is valued at $96 billion by the White House. Qatar Airways also signed a separate record-breaking deal with GE Aerospace for over 400 engines—the biggest engine order in GE’s history.

Why It Matters: Boeing scores a massive win after years of turbulence—no profits since 2018 and continued scrutiny over safety and quality. The deal is expected to support hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs and boost Boeing’s South Carolina facility. Qatar Airways aims to build a younger, cleaner, more fuel-efficient fleet using the Dreamliner and 777X. (Read Deeper)

Databricks To Acquire Neon For $1B To Build AI-Native Database Infrastructure

Databricks is acquiring open source database startup Neon for $1 billion, aiming to supercharge its AI infrastructure stack. Neon offers a cloud-native, serverless Postgres alternative that scales automatically and supports powerful developer tools like branching and point-in-time recovery—key features for fast-moving AI agents. Databricks says a whopping 80% of Neon databases are spun up by AI agents, not humans, showcasing the shift to automated, agent-driven workflows.

Why It Matters: Databases built for bots, not just humans, Neon supports how AI agents actually operate. Serverless Postgres that branches and recovers instantly is a game-changer for AI development. With $19B raised and a $62B valuation, Databricks is investing big to own the future of AI tools. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

YouTube To Insert Ads After ‘Peak’ Moments Using AI

YouTube is rolling out a new AI-powered ad format called “Peak Points” that places ads immediately after emotionally charged or highly engaging moments in a video. Announced at its Upfronts in New York, the platform is using Google’s Gemini AI to identify these “peak” moments to increase ad impact and recall—essentially turning viral engagement into a trigger for monetization.

Takeaways: The approach resembles emotion-based targeting, leveraging the psychological momentum of viewers to enhance brand memory. Gemini AI is now not just generating content, but influencing monetization strategies at scale. Interrupting emotional highs may create backlash among users already fatigued by mid-roll ads. (Read Deeper)

Perplexity Partners With PayPal To Power Instant Purchases

Perplexity AI has struck a new partnership with PayPal to enable seamless in-chat purchases using PayPal or Venmo. Launching this summer in the U.S., the feature will allow users to buy products, book travel, or get tickets with a single query, no passwords, no redirects. It’s part of Perplexity’s push into agentic commerce, where AI doesn’t just suggest options but also completes transactions.

Why It Matters: The integration will tap into PayPal’s 430 million+ users across nearly 200 countries, streamlining payments and receipts invisibly in the background. This marks a leap from AI search to AI-driven commerce, with payments fully handled by the bot. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

Putin, Trump Bow Out Of Ukraine Peace Talks In Turkey

Hopes for a breakthrough in the Ukraine war were dimmed as neither Vladimir Putin nor Donald Trump will attend the proposed peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday. Though Russia offered to meet without preconditions, it will send top aides instead of Putin. Trump, who previously hinted he might join, is now confirmed to skip the talks as well. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had demanded Putin’s presence, saying he would only attend if the Russian leader showed up.

Why It Matters: The absence of both leaders significantly lowers expectations for the first potential direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv since 2022. Still, talks will proceed, with Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. represented by senior diplomats and advisers. (Read Deeper)

TikTok Star Gunned Down On Livestream In Mexico

Tragedy struck in Mexico as Valeria Marquez, a 23-year-old TikTok beauty influencer, was shot dead during a livestream at her salon in Zapopan. Marquez had just opened a parcel, a stuffed piglet and smiled at her audience before being gunned down by a male intruder. Her killing is being investigated as a suspected femicide, Her death follows the killing of a female mayoral candidate in Veracruz, also during a livestream, and has reignited urgent calls for justice and protection for women in the country.

Why It Matters: According to official figures, 847 femicides were reported in Mexico last year, with 162 cases already in 2025. Investigations are often slow and incomplete, and rights groups continue to criticize authorities for failing to prosecute offenders adequately. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Max Is Now HBO Max Again, WBD Brings Back Prestige Branding

In a move that reverses a 2023 rebrand, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that its streaming platform Max will return to its previous name: HBO Max. The company said the decision aims to highlight its most prestigious content, particularly HBO's decades-long legacy of premium programming. The change was announced during WBD’s Upfront presentation, with executives calling the streaming landscape “cluttered” and likening it to “fast fashion.” (Read Deeper)

Jacobo Ramon’s Last Goal Delays Barcelona’s La Liga Title Party

Real Madrid’s dramatic 95th-minute winner against Mallorca kept their faint La Liga hopes alive, and postponed Barcelona’s title celebrations. Mallorca took a surprise lead through Martin Valjent, but goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jacobo Ramon flipped the result. Ramon’s close-range volley came in stoppage time, just as Barcelona were poised to clinch the league without playing. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• How to retire with millions (and pay $0 taxes): Achieving a tax-efficient, multimillion-dollar retirement requires early planning, disciplined saving, and strategic tax management. (Listen)

EXTRA BREVITI

• Waymo Recalls 1,200 Robotaxis After Low-Speed Crashes With Gates and Chains.(Read More)

• More than 1,000 U.S. parents named their baby “King” last year — but in New Zealand, that name is officially banned. (Read More)

• Cassie Received $20M Settlement in Lawsuit Against Diddy, Trial Reveals. (Read More)

• Elon Musk’s Grok AI Glitches, Spams X Users With ‘White Genocide’ Claims. (Read More)