Business News: Tariff Tidal Wave - GPT-5 Changes the Game - Meta Recruits Top AI Talent - Prime Day Goes Bigger Than Ever - Frozen Fed Rates

0:26œteam Collins This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over 6 years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping necks and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now. What's up guys? Welcome to Right About Now. So weekly business news here on Friday, July 11th, 2025. It's time for the stories that matter with the attitude to keep you locked in. I'm Ryan Alford, your host. We're going to power through five market moving stories. No filler, no waffle, just the info and business insights you need.

1:14So let's dive in. Hate to say it, but a 25 % price spike could be rumbling toward us like a freight train. It's aimed straight at America's closest tech suppliers. Cars, chips, OLED panels, anything stamped made in China or made in South Korea. What is made in South Korea? I don't know. Unless diplomats conjure a miracle by August 1st, the levy slams into the station. C-suites are eyeing the panic button. Hedge desks are dusting off their 2019 playbooks. Long dollars, short yen, extra caffeine. And yeah, the ripple reaches Main Street. That$800 HDR monitor you've been eyeing will likely hit$875 by Labor Day.

1:59Plus, the nice-to-meet-you recycling fee. A tariff is just a tax. The cash still leaves your pocket. Do you duck until the locomotive passes or climb aboard and ride it to margin heaven while competitors drown in spreadsheets? Your call. Let's jump into some deeper waters. GPT-5, the deep end. Open AI says, Megabottle will do everything but make your coffee. Give it some time, it probably will. Text, voice, images, short-form video, one prompt box to rule them all. Renewal contracts on countless solutions sit unsigned. These B2B buyers want to see GPT sticker price before they re-up for 12 tools that could go extinct overnight.

2:45If the rumors are right, it could swallow 50 % of your AI stack, just like the iPhone devouring cameras and MP players in one big chomp. But consolidation usually means all-you-can-eat buffet shrinks while the bill climbs. Order wisely. Hey, guys, I want to introduce you to a special segment from an interview that's coming out in a few weeks. Matt Britton came on the show, talked all about his new book, Generation AI. I've been telling you about the AI stuff, guys. It's time to pay attention. Matt was awesome. The full episode's out in a few weeks. Wanted to share just a snippet from that interview to warm you up to what that full episode will do and to give you some insights from what he's talking about, how AI is impacting business, the real world, the way we should be thinking about things in life and in business and everything else.

3:41Super bright guy. I love Matt. Really love this interview. Just want to share just a little teaser here on our weekly business news. So AI has evolved incredibly fast. The hardware side of AI hasn't. And that's just because of the physicality of hardware and the development cycles are longer. But what's going to start to happen is you're going to see a new range of hardware, whether it's toys that kids can talk to. I'm sure you've seen the movie Ted. Kids are going to be able to talk to their toys, and they're going to remember things about the kid, and they're going to be friends with their toys.

4:15Sounds crazy, but they will. And you're going to have robotics in the household. And at first, robotics are going to mow your lawn and maybe cook for you. But over time, it's going to take your kids to school. And if you think about it, autonomous vehicles, robo-taxis are basically that, but there's just going to be a robot inside that's going to hold your catan and walk them to school. We are going in that direction. Robotics are going to be taking over society in three to five years as soon as the hardware cycle catches up with the incredible software cycle of AI. What was the art that it took to make a hit, a top hit on radio?

4:51Now, you know, the algorithm and everything else, they can formulate what they think your human ears want to hear. Well, I mean, yeah, there's auto-tune. You look at the Beatles and it was four guys with real instruments playing with very little electronic manipulation. And now that's not the case anymore. You don't know. Is that really how their voice sounds? Or is it auto-tuned? Is that really drums? Is that really a guitar? Music is a great analogy for the synthetic nature of AI. And the reality is people are okay with it. And you don't see rock bands in the top 100 of hits anymore. Sure, there's country music, but even that has a kind of niche audience.

5:35A lot of the mainstream top 100 is electronically creative music. But when you talk about math or calculus or these kind of trigonometry, these advanced theories of mathematics, these are things that humans just aren't going to have to do anymore. And I would actually put coding in that territory. If you look at open coding jobs in the United States, it's dropped like a stone. Companies are not hiring engineers anymore, because AI knows how to code quicker, better, faster than humans. And if it's not 100 % there today, I promise you it'll be there a year from now. Coding is really not a skill humans arguably were ever supposed to learn because it's not human language, it's computer language.

6:17And now AI is going to be able to, based on any prompt, create any technology-driven product, software-driven product you want just to a simple prompt. So that's a perfect example of something that people probably won't have to learn for much longer because basically it's all going to be done for you. So I would put math in that same category. Let's hit the next story on our news sprint. If you hear the metallic clanking, that's golden handcuffs snapping shut. Meta just swiped Apple's Model Ops Wizard. Model Ops Wizard. I've always wanted to be one. The Wizard of Oz. No, the Wizard to Model Ops.

6:53They're going to head something ominously titled Super Intelligence. Translation, Mark Zuckerberg stole the other guy's rocket fuel and probably the blueprint. When top talent gets scooped up, the moat around your product line could drain faster than a kiddie pool in July. The next popular Instagram filter might just predict your pose before you strike it. while silently tracking your heart rate. Delightfully personal or creepily clairvoyant? You decide. Either way, update those retention packages now. Your smartest engineer is eyeing an electric scooter headed south on Highway 101. Next stop, the retail rumble.

7:31Amazon looked at its 72-hour Prime Day and said, hold by drone. This year, it's a 96-hour deal fest. Just coming to an end here as we record this. Four straight days of lightning offers, streamlining tie-ins, and wearing out the add-to-cart button. Analysts project nearly$24 billion in U.S. sales alone. Brick and border rivals aren't sleeping. They're planning curbside flash drops, pop-up TikTok live streams, and limited edition collabs, all built for instant FOMO. But shoppers are overdosed on discounts. One million push alerts will become white noise fast. The winners will be the ones who lean into scarcity.

8:14Only three left will beat free shipping every single time. If your promo calendar still says site-wide 20 % off, grab a Sharpie and rethink. And for our final story today, Federal Reserve rates. Futures now give July a slim 4.7 chance of a cut. The lowest odds since 2020's nobody's touch anything era. They've locked floating rate debt today, and loan spreads tightened 20 basis points in two weeks. Adjustable rate mortgages will likely stay spicy, but refinance apps will remain on hold until those odds are back above 20%. Moral of the story, if your CFO is snoozing, the next interest invoice will deliver a rude awakening.

9:01And look, we need more money in the market. This sucks. So what did we learn today? Tariffs are still taxes. GPT-5 may streamline your AI buffet, but convenience isn't cheap. Talent moves faster than capital. Guard your brain trust, big time. Scarcity still sells better than blanket discounts, and the Fed, lower for longer, has left the chat. We need those rates lower. We got to get there, and that's what we got today. We appreciate you for listening. We appreciate our sponsors always brought to you by Independent Center. Hey, just like here, no BS, no fluff, taking all the politics out of policy to talk that America matters and what you need to know.

9:50IndependentCenter.org. Check them out. Sign up for their newsletter. Thank me later. Get information, not spin. That's what it's about and we appreciate you. You know where to find us, ryanisright.com. Instagram, Ryan Alford. Send me a DM. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you want to hear. We're always doing this for you. We appreciate every one of you for listening. It means the world to me and we appreciate and know what got us here. Ryanisright.com. We'll see you next time or right about now. This has been Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit RyanIsRight.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities.

10:37Thanks for listening.

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