The Great Travel Migration
About 55 million Americans travel for Thanksgiving — basically the entire population of Italy hitting the road at once.
Americans are eating LESS turkey
Alibaba’s new AI Smart Glasses just dropped
AI is banning most minors (finally)
1. Turkey Is Having an Identity Crisis
Welcome to Thanksgiving 2025 — where the deals are cheap, the turkeys are massive, and people kind of… don’t want turkey anymore.
Here’s what’s happening:
Walmart, Aldi, and Kroger are fighting over the $40 Thanksgiving meal like it’s Black Friday.
Retailers are selling turkeys at a loss just to get shoppers in the store.
Wholesale turkey prices are up 40% this year, thanks to avian flu and production hitting a 40-year low.
Turkey consumption has fallen 25% since the ’90s — people prefer chicken, beef, and pork.
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Meanwhile, the birds themselves?
They doubled in size since the 1960s.
The average store turkey is now 32 pounds, thanks to decades of selective breeding.
Big bird energy… literally.
The problem:
Bigger birds = more fragile, more disease-prone, harder to breed.
Between shrinking demand and huge, hard-to-raise turkeys, the industry is basically hitting a crossroads.
Turkey’s biggest enemy wasn’t inflation…
It was vibes.
2. Apple Maps Ads — The Local Business Revolution
While you’re carving turkey, Alibaba dropped its first pair of AI-powered smart glasses — and they’re actually pretty interesting.
Here’s the quick take:
Two models: S1 (~$536) and G1 (~$268)
Much cheaper than Meta’s $799 Ray-Bans
Clear display lenses, cameras, mics, and swappable batteries
Uses Alibaba’s Qwen AI models
Voice-controlled, hands-free, made for everyday use
Expected AI-glasses shipments to double by 2026
In short:
Alibaba isn’t just China’s Amazon anymore — they’re pushing into wearables, AI hardware, and trying to steal Meta’s thunder.
If Meta sparked the fire…
Alibaba brought gasoline.
3. Teens Are Losing Their AI Friends
Character.AI — the site where millions of teens talk to anime characters, fake boyfriends, assassins, and imaginary friends — is banning minors from its chatbots.
What’s going on:
The company sees 184M monthly visits globally
Over half of its U.S. users are 18–24, but tons are underage
Teens visited 26 times per month, spending ~18 minutes each time
Some teens are devastated — losing the characters they talked to daily
Safety concerns, unhealthy attachment, and even linked deaths pushed the company to clamp down
Teen users get a short grace period — after that, they lose access to open-ended character chats.
This is a big statement for the AI world:
Companies are finally treating AI relationships like something serious… not just toys.
AI can imitate friendship so well that even the companies making it are hitting the brakes.
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
💭 Closing Thoughts
Times are moving fast. It’s important to stay up to date with new tech and new habits coming around. I hope I can help with that 😄
Take a moment today:
Slow down, breathe, and actually enjoy the people at your table.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Keep your purpose in motion. 🦃
