Hey, happy Friday. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison was briefly the richest man in the world this week, after a blockbuster earnings report sent shares in his company soaring. Oracle’s stock is up 75% this year as of Friday morning, so why is the tech giant shedding staff? We’ll dig into the finer points of the  artificial intelligence spending boom this week.

Later, we'll explore how tariffs are hitting your online shopping habit and a prestigious indigenous art fair. Plus, how much is too much for a birthday gift? Something to ponder this weekend. — Tony Wagner, newsletter editor

The companies riding the highest on the artificial intelligence wave, and getting rewarded handsomely by the stock market, are also making some of the deepest staffing cuts. And no, it’s not just because of AI coding. Turns out, even the richest companies in the world have to prioritize.

“I think what you're seeing with these layoffs is really more of a strategic realignment based on resource constraints,” Mobile Dev Memo analyst Eric Seufert told Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino. “The more attractive the opportunity, the more aggressively you want to pursue it.”

Even if it means sacrificing other parts of the business. Oracle has scaled back its health division, Microsoft cut gaming, and Meta trimmed the Metaverse. It’s normal for a business to pivot to new opportunities, but the cost to play the AI game is on a whole new level.

“There's physical data centers, there's real estate, there's energy,” said Daniel Newman at Futurum Group.

Immediately before the AI frenzy, Google and Microsoft spent $20 to $30 billion a year on infrastructure. Now it’s two to three times that.

Then there’s the war for AI talent.

Imports worth under $800 are no longer protected under the so-called de minimis exemption, which allowed shoppers to avoid paying tariffs on these goods. The exemption ended on Aug. 29 for all imports, although the White House had already eliminated the rule for Chinese imports back in May. 

Postal services in Australia, Germany and Japan and more have temporarily suspended shipments to the U.S., with an exception for goods that are under $100 and considered “gifts.” Meanwhile, consumers who placed orders were hit with exorbitant tariffs after their packages had already shipped. 

“I think people are going to realize that if you order something online, you might not even get it. Customs has said if the correct customs duty is not paid, they will seize it,” said Michelle Schulz, founder and managing partner of Schulz Trade Law. 

After the exemption ended for China earlier this year, the number of de minimis shipments coming to the U.S. plummeted from 4 million per day to 1 million, Schulz said.