Gold Rush at the Bottom of the Ocean

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Good morning, When the ocean floor is up for grabs, shopping locally becomes a geopolitical flex, and AI promises to be your new personal assistant (again), you know it’s just another normal day in 2025.

Stay sharp and have a great day ahead!

ECONOMY
Bye, bye, U.S brands? Canada shops locally!

American companies are seeing their products vanish from Canadian retail shelves as nationalist shopping habits take hold. The “Buy Canadian” movement is hitting U.S. businesses hard, with retailers halting American product launches and cutting orders. California-based Parasol Co was on track to expand diaper sales in Canada but was suddenly told to pause—an unexpected blow for the company.

CEO Jessica Hung says the anti-American shift is something she’s never seen before. The impact is visible across sectors. Canada, which imported nearly $350 billion from the U.S. in 2024, now prioritises local goods. Quebec shopper Rebecca Asselin switched to Canada-made Royale diapers after realizing how rare they are, while Irving Personal Care reports quadrupled shipments as retailers scramble to stock homegrown brands.

But it’s not just diapers. American bourbon, citrus fruit, and kombucha are facing the same resistance. Walmart Canada, Loblaw’s, and Metro have scaled back U.S. product orders, while Pennsylvania-based Demeter Fragrances scrapped its Canadian expansion altogether. Meanwhile, Canadian manufacturers like Grime Eater Products see a bright future as stores consider replacing U.S. competitors. As the trend grows, U.S. businesses must rethink their strategies—because “Made in Canada” is becoming more than just a label, it’s a movement.

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ENERGY
Seabed gold rush

A bold bid to mine the ocean floor is shaking up global politics. A Vancouver-based mining firm is lobbying the Trump administration to sidestep international rules and fast-track seabed mining—triggering environmental and diplomatic backlash.

For decades, seabed mining has been a contentious issue, with countries waiting on regulations from the UN-backed International Seabed Authority (ISA). But now, The Metals Company has a new plan: bypass the ISA entirely and seek approval from the U.S. government. The stakes are enormous. Copper, cobalt, and manganese—critical for EV batteries and tech manufacturing—lie beneath the Pacific. But environmentalists warn this mining could devastate marine life, while international diplomats see it as an attempt to rewrite global agreements.

The Metals Company has been in talks with the Trump administration, banking on the fact that the U.S. never ratified the treaty governing seabed mining. Their pitch? The U.S. can claim its piece of the ocean’s mineral wealth. Meanwhile, critics see a desperate move—especially since the company is running out of cash, with just $43 million left in reserves.

AI & TECHNOLOGY
Into the future or just another AI hype?

Amazon has thrown its hat into the AI agent race with Nova Act, a browser-controlling AI set to power the upcoming Alexa+ upgrade. But can it outshine OpenAI and Anthropic?

Nova Act, developed by Amazon’s AGI lab in San Francisco, is an AI agent designed to autonomously perform simple web tasks like filling out forms and making reservations. While still in a research preview, it’s available now alongside the Nova Act SDK, allowing developers to prototype AI agents. Amazon claims Nova Act outperforms rivals in internal benchmarks, scoring 94% on ScreenSpot Web Text—beating OpenAI’s CUA (88%) and Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet (90%). However, it hasn’t been tested against more common evaluations like WebVoyager, leaving its real-world capabilities unproven.

The project is led by ex-OpenAI researchers David Luan and Pieter Abbeel, who believe AI agents like Nova Act are a stepping stone to AGI. Luan envisions AI systems that can handle any human task on a computer, though for now, Nova Act focuses on short, structured actions. With AI agents from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic struggling with reliability, all eyes are on Amazon. Nova Act could be a turning point for Alexa+—or another overhyped AI experiment. The coming months will reveal whether Amazon has truly cracked the code.