🥔 “Surge Potato Pricing” — Instacart’s personalized pricing. Utah’s for-profit football. Australia’s teen insta-ban. +In-N-Out’s 67.

What It Covers

Instacart faces backlash for AI-powered personalized pricing that charges different customers different amounts. University of Utah sells athletic department stake to private equity. Australia becomes first country to ban social media for teens under 16.

Key Questions Answered

• •AI Personalized Pricing: Consumer Reports investigation reveals Instacart charges customers up to 23% different prices for identical items at the same store, using AI experiments to test price tolerance and showing false original prices to inflate perceived savings.
• •College Sports Monetization: University of Utah creates for-profit corporation valued at over $1 billion, selling minority stake to Otro Capital for $500 million. Private equity will manage player salaries (currently $21 million annually) and optimize revenue streams across athletic department operations.
• •Social Media Age Verification: Australia's ban requires apps themselves to verify user ages and face fines for violations. The law only restricts logged-in experiences where algorithms create addiction through endless scrolling, notifications, and personalized content, not passive viewing.
• •Regulatory Whataboutism: US social media regulation stalls despite majority support because critics raise endless objections about VPNs, app store responsibility, privacy concerns, and unintended consequences. Australia overcame these objections with 77% public support to implement their teen ban successfully.