As of 12:01am this morning, the United States government is shut down. Congress could not reach an agreement on a seven-week spending package, forcing the first closure since 2018.

The central issue was a dispute over healthcare funding. Democrats wouldn’t commit to voting to pass the short-term bill unless Republicans agreed to extend tax subsidies through the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) until the end of the year and reverse the cuts to Medicaid in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The president told Politico he did not want to help Democrats subsidize health insurance for undocumented immigrants, even though they’re ineligible for ACA coverage.

The economic impact

The shutdown will be felt in private and public sectors:

• Economists predict 800,000 workers could be furloughed. Trump has also threatened to permanently fire federal employees instead.
• The 16-day shutdown in 2013 led to a slowdown in private-sector job growth by about 120,000 jobs, according to an estimate from the Council of Economic Advisers.
• That year, businesses that couldn’t obtain necessary government permits had to make staff cuts.

No direct reports: Policymakers at the Fed looking to better gauge the labor market shouldn’t expect to see the jobs data due this Friday—nor the inflation numbers expected next month—as long as the government is closed.

Open and shut

Here’s what else to expect across travel and other services while the government hangs out a “closed” sign:

• Airports: Open, as air traffic controllers and TSA employees are part of a group deemed “excepted” and must show up to work. However, expect delays.
• Postal Service: Mail delivery will continue, so you will still get bills and Halloween cards.
• Law enforcement: Agencies like ICE and the DEA will continue operating.
• National parks: Mostly closed, though some could stay open without visitor services.
• Museums: They typically close within a few days of a shutdown, but at least everything gets to come to life during daylight hours.

Bottom line: There’s no way to predict the length of a shutdown, but Democrats and Republicans appeared to be far apart last night. The 35-day closure during Trump’s first term was the longest in history.—DL

Pfizer exempt from Trump’s tariffs, agrees to lower drug prices. President Trump announced an arrangement with Pfizer yesterday in which the drugmaker will lower prices on some drugs in the US and invest $70 billion in domestic drug manufacturing. As part of the deal, Pfizer will earn a three-year reprieve from Trump’s tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry. The company will sell the discounted medications on a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx. The president posted on social media last week that he plans to impose a 100% tariff on pharma companies starting today, unless they build manufacturing plants in the US. Pfizer’s stock climbed ~7% after news of the deal.

The FTC sued to block the Zillow-Redfin partnership. The agency alleged that Redfin agreed to end contracts with existing advertising customers, stop competing in the ad market for multifamily properties for nine years, and exclusively syndicate Zillow’s listings in exchange for a $100 million payment from Zillow. “Paying off a competitor to stop competing against you is a violation of federal antitrust laws,” the FTC said in a statement. A Zillow spokesperson said the company remained confident in the partnership and argued it is “pro-competitive and pro-consumer by connecting property managers to more high-intent renters.”

Amazon refreshed its lineup of devices. At an event in New York yesterday, Amazon unveiled a slew of new hardware, including updated Kindles, Fire TV sticks, and the Ring home security camera. But the pièce de résistance was the new AI-enabled Echo smart speaker—well, four of them, actually. The company announced the Echo Dot Max ($100), Echo Studio ($220), and two versions of the Echo Show, which comes with a screen. The products, which integrate Amazon’s Alexa+ AI subscription service, are among the first under new devices chief Panos Panay, a former Microsoft exec “known for his premium design sensibility,” Bloomberg reported.—AE

It’s the hottest new C-suite trend since wearing a hoodie: having two guys up there. Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek announced yesterday that he is stepping away from the CEO role in January and making way for two new CEOs, current Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Söderström and Chief Business Officer Alex Norström. The two have been co-presidents since 2023. Ek will transition into a hands-on executive chairman role.

For almost two decades, Ek has led the platform that popularized music streaming, helping it to bring in 700+ million users worldwide. Last year, Spotify reported its first full year of profitability. But it hasn’t been all lo-fi beats to study and relax to:

• In Q2, Spotify reported a net loss of about $100 million despite adding subscribers.
• A small group of artists recently pulled music from the platform over low royalty payouts, the company’s use of AI, and Ek’s investment in a defense startup.

Two could be better than one. Spotify is betting that two brains in the top position could help it navigate an industry faced with AI concerns and slowing user growth. It follows a number of other large companies—including Oracle, Netflix, and most recently Comcast—to adopt the co-CEO model. Experts say having two unique skillsets can help, but that ambiguity over decision-making can confuse employees and shareholders.—MM

Your 2am Ben & Jerry’s might soon be delivered by what looks like the love child of Wall-E and Lightning McQueen. This week, DoorDash unveiled an intentionally adorable delivery robot named Dot, which it’s piloting in the Phoenix area, with plans for a wide rollout in the metro area by the year’s end.

The anthropomorphic food box on wheels is DoorDash’s first foray into ground-based autonomous delivery—a frontier many companies have struggled to conquer due to the challenge of navigating chaotic streets without angering pedestrians.

DoorDash claims Dot is different

Dot’s creators are convinced it's ready to take on the world despite its innocent look:

• The company says Dot’s sensor-laden droid is road-capable, with a top speed of 20 mph, and nimble enough to navigate busy sidewalks, bike lanes, and parking lots.
• Dot can carry a 30-pound delivery haul with space for up to six pizzas.

The robot itself weighs 350 pounds and stands nearly five feet tall—which its creators hope will discourage anyone from messing with it. But if Dot does run into trouble, there are no remote operating capabilities, so field staff would have to be dispatched.

There’s also the sky: DoorDash and its competitor Uber Eats have both recently partnered with autonomous drone company Flytrex to launch aerial delivery.—SK

Google hasn’t had this good of a run since it competed against Ask Jeeves. Shares of parent company Alphabet leapt 38% in Q3, its biggest quarterly increase since 2005, Bloomberg noted.

Driving the surge is—you guessed it—artificial intelligence. After getting out of the gates a bit slower than some rivals, Google has aggressively upped its AI game in recent months, and investors are bullish. Yesterday, the company announced it will include visual results in its AI search mode.

But it’s not just AI: Google also got good news this quarter when regulators came down softer than expected for antitrust violations, doing little to disrupt the tech giant’s dominance in search.—AE