Not since Alexander Payne’s 2017 movie have we seen downsizing upset so many people. Yesterday in bankruptcy court, WeWork asked landlords representing nearly $3 billion of the failed company’s debt to please, please, pleeease be open to renegotiating and canceling its leases.

The SoftBank-backed, short-term office space rental company that heavily overused the word “community” and plunged from a $47 billion valuation in 2019 to ~$44.5 million now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday evening. The company hopes to restructure its balance sheet and get out of numerous expensive commercial leases while keeping some locations open and operational.

WeWork’s shrinking floor plan is everyone’s problem

A few years ago, landlords scrambled to get the hot company to move its cool coworking tables and nitro coffee taps into their buildings. But many who succeeded will now be lucky if they only lose a couple million bucks. The building at 149 Madison Avenue in Manhattan sold in February at a $10.7 million loss after WeWork, its main tenant, left in 2020.

WeWork plans to break at least 69 leases out of its 600+ locations nationwide as part of its restructuring plan.

• Forty-one of those are in New York City—at its height, WeWork was the city’s biggest office tenant. WeWork’s planned closures would push 1.57 million square feet of office space back into the city’s already bloated commercial real estate market.
• The Big Apple, Boston, and San Francisco are all expected to be walloped, as roughly 42% of WeWorks properties are in those cities.

It couldn’t come at a worse time: Finding office tenants is about as difficult as finding a friend to give you a Friday afternoon ride to the airport. More than 20% of office space in the US is vacant right now, according to real estate services company JLL.—MM

A device that can read nerve signals? Today’s capable tech is the size of a suitcase.

But not for long: Autonomix has been able to generate 3,000x-more-sensitive nerve detection utilizing a tiny microchip. And for something so small, the medical implications may be gigantic.

Think of it as a potential GPS for the nervous system. By placing this microchip at the end of a catheter, Autonomix is developing technology that doctors can potentially use to detect a wide range of disorders. This could place the company at the core of an estimated $100b market opportunity.

They’re also planning a Nasdaq listing with the ticker “ATX”—and they’re inviting you to become a shareholder.

Invest in Autonomix today.

The actors strike is over. Your favorite show might finally start production on its new season: SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative deal with Hollywood studios last night to end its strike, paving the way for the TV and movie industry to get back to work. Hollywood has been at a standstill since writers walked off the job in May (they made their own tentative deal in September), and actors joined them on the picket line in July. More details on how the actors union resolved thorny questions such as the use of AI likenesses are expected to emerge tomorrow after the union’s national board meets to discuss the agreement, which will have to be approved by the union’s members.

⚕️ FDA approves Eli Lilly weight loss drug. The agency signed off on Zepbound, a version of the company’s popular diabetes medication, Mounjaro, specifically to treat obesity. In one study sponsored by the company, patients taking Zepbound lost an average of 22.5% of their body weight. It’ll be a competitor to Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster Wegovy in the growing weight loss drug market, which analysts predict will be worth $100 billion by 2030. Lilly expects to begin selling the drug by the end of the year for $1,060/month.

Disney plans steeper cost cuts. Disney reported its earnings yesterday, and Bob Iger showed why the company wanted him back to rule the kingdom: Disney posted better-than-expected profits (though ad revenue was down) and narrowed its streaming losses. Iger said the wins mean Disney can “move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our business again.” Still, Iger wants to get even more aggressive in cutting costs and shave off an additional $2 billion of expenses.

A decade after gamers first galavanted through the high-resolution streets of Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto V, we’re finally about to get a peek at the powerhouse franchise’s next installment.

The first trailer for the new Grand Theft Auto video game—which people have dubbed GTA VI—will drop at the beginning of December, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of GTA-maker Rockstar Games, the company’s president announced yesterday. Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software, Rockstar’s parent company, rose on the news, closing up 5%.

What’s the big deal? GTA V is the second best-selling videogame ever (Minecraft reigns supreme). Analysts predict similar success for GTA VI and a higher price ($70), which could spell a heist-level payday for investors and retailers:

• Back in May, Take-Two said they project “groundbreaking titles” to boost sales by $8 billion next year, hinting at a 2024 release for GTA VI. The company’s stock is up almost 31% this year, driven partly by GTA VI buzz, Reuters reported.
• In 2013, GTA V did $800 million in global sales on its first day and drove a 43% increase in GameStop’s quarterly new software sales. Ten years later, millions of copies are still being purchased.

No spoilers: A teenager was recently convicted in London for hacking into Rockstar’s servers and leaking 90+ videos and images from GTA VI in 2022.—ML

As the sun rose in California yesterday morning, so, too, did a new airship backed by Google co-founder and dirigible fanatic Sergey Brin.

Pathfinder 1 flew its first test flight on Wednesday after 10 years spent developing the next-gen airship full of “blood, sweat, and tears,” according to LTA Research CEO Alan Weston. With funding from the billionaire Brin, LTA (“Lighter Than Air”) has claimed huge breakthroughs in modernizing the old-fashioned technology.

Longer than three Boeing 737s, the electric aircraft could usher in a new, greener era in flight:

• LTA’s airships could eventually carry 200 tons of cargo each—roughly 10 times as much as a Boeing 737, according to Weston, making them a viable alternative to freight planes, ships, and trains.
• Weston and Brin want to use the airships for humanitarian relief missions since the aircraft doesn’t require much infrastructure to take off or land.

Looking ahead…Pathfinder 1 has a long journey of tests before it can fly irl. The plan is to move the operation from Cali to Akron, Ohio, where LTA is already planning to make a larger version of the craft. The airships will be among friends—Akron serves as the headquarters of Goodyear and its dwindling fleet of advertising blimps.—CC

Quote: “We knew that this day would come. It’ll take us a while, but life will go on here at the zoo.”

Zookeepers expressed their sadness yesterday as they helped load the National Zoo’s three giant pandas onto a plane bound for China, which recalled the animals as the loan agreement for them expired, leaving Washington, DC, panda-less for the first time in 23 years. For the 19-hour journey, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji rode on a FedEx cargo jet dubbed the Panda Express, tricked out with a giant panda decal and filled with bamboo as an in-flight snack. It’s unclear whether China will offer the zoo new pandas in a continuation of a diplomatic tradition that goes back to the Nixon administration.

Stat: Despite the panda pullback, things actually appear to be getting less tense between the US and China. Last month, a Morning Consult poll found that 48% of people in China considered the US an enemy or unfriendly, compared to more than 80% responding to the same question in April 2022. More than 75% also said they were concerned about US–China tensions, an issue that President Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping will likely address when they meet this weekend in San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Xi also plans to dine with US business leaders.

Read: The strange history of the world’s most cultish grocery store. (The Cut)

Watch: Why Kirkland gives you a reason to go to Costco (besides $1.50 hot dogs).

Compare: CT scans of fake AirPods vs. the real thing.

Hit the gym: Beat the January rush and learn the basics of weight training now.

Get ready to disinfect: The trailer for Peacock’s Monk movie is here.

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