Similar to that twentysomething cousin you’re meeting for the first time in 10 years, inflation was tamer than expected last month, according to government data released yesterday.

Prices rose 0.2% in January, or 0.3% excluding volatile food and energy prices. Annual inflation came in at 2.4%, less than economists predicted and a major deceleration from 3%, where it was in the fall.

So, what’s on sale?

Price growth slowed across several product categories, and some shopping even became cheaper:

• Gas prices dropped by 3.2%, and used car prices dipped 1.8% from the previous month.
• Monthly food inflation moderated to 0.2% with the prices of beef and eggs—which just recently had everyone feeling like a steak and eggs was a billionaire’s breakfast—dropped 0.4% and 7%, respectively.

But…some purchases are still giving Americans sticker shock. Airfare got 6.5% pricier, and music streaming services charged subscribers 4.5% more last month. Economists also warn that inflation might appear milder than it really was, in part due to the lingering effects of the government shutdown in October, when economic data collection was paused—leading to guesstimates that might’ve understated housing price growth.

White House report card

The cooled inflation comes as affordability is a top focus for the Trump administration amid plummeting consumer confidence. Many economists expected President Trump’s tariffs to turbocharge widespread inflation, but so far, they seem to have contributed to dramatic price bumps for only select imported products, like furniture.

Still, New York Federal Reserve researchers said this week that American consumers and companies bore 90% of tariff-related costs. And economists say tariffs might still percolate into prices over the next few months, though many are optimistic that inflation will slow further later in the year.

Don’t expect interest rate cuts soon…as analysts say that the Fed will need more data before reducing borrowing costs, so it’s likely to hold rates steady at its next meeting in March.—SK

DHS shuts down in fight over ICE. Like a rager after the cops show up, the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down, after lawmakers let its funding lapse today as Democrats push for restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Unlike last year’s lengthy government shutdown, this impacts only agencies under DHS—and ICE and Customs and Border Protection are unlikely to feel it, as they got funds from last year’s tax bill. But if the funding fight drags on, it could lead to some federal employees missing paychecks, including those at TSA and the Coast Guard.

Amazon’s Ring ditches controversial AI surveillance plans—but not that one. The smart-doorbell-maker ended a partnership announced late last year with Flock Safety, which makes AI tools for police, calling the breakup mutual. The company disclosed the end of the partnership this week after facing backlash over a Super Bowl ad touting its “Search Party” feature, which uses neighborhood imagery to find lost dogs…and struck many as a little too close to Big Brother. But Flock’s tech, which Ring said was never integrated into its devices, is not related to that feature.

Billionaire Dubai port operator steps down over Epstein ties. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem resigned as the chair and CEO of ports operator DP World (which is owned by the government of Dubai), after documents released by the US Justice Department revealed he had sent hundreds of friendly emails with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had visited Epstein’s private island. Sulayem, a high-profile figure, has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. And he’s not the only prominent businessperson to step down over revelations from the document dump: Goldman Sachs’s top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, and Brad Karp, the head of law firm Paul Weiss, also recently announced decisions to leave their positions.—AR

An AI-generated video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt beating each other up on a rooftop went viral this week, and it could be confused for a real movie scene—until you hear Pitt’s likeness say, “You killed Jeffrey Epstein.” Still, it was convincing enough to scare at least one screenwriter.

“It’s likely over for us,” Deadpool franchise co-writer Rhett Reese posted on X in response to the 15-second clip. It was created using Seedance 2.0, an AI video tool owned by ByteDance that was unveiled this week.

Then…the Motion Picture Association (MPA) released a statement accusing ByteDance of violating copyright law on a “massive scale.” SAG-AFTRA joined in yesterday, calling Seedance videos “blatant infringement.” Oopsie:

• Seedance appears to be producing videos that rip off protected works from studios including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount, Deadline reported.
• Eerily accurate knockoffs of beloved movie characters like Jack and Rose from Titanic, Spider-Man, and Shrek appear in other Seedance videos circulating online.

Déjà vu: The MPA similarly urged OpenAI to curb copyright infringement after it launched the Sora 2 video generator last fall. OpenAI obliged, and Disney later struck a deal that allows Sora 2 to use some of its characters. It’s unclear if Hollywood would pursue a similar agreement with ByteDance, which is a Chinese company.—ML