Key Points
- JENNIE's first adidas Originals collaboration, the Superstar Square Ballet, releases today in Korea at $150.
- The Kobe x Nike Air Force 1 Low "Armory Blue" drops today for $125, style code IB0018-103.
- Mariano Navone beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the US Open first round.
- "Coyote vs. Acme" opened to $15.5 million domestic after Warner Bros. shelved it in 2023.
Sneakers
Two September 1 releases lead the day. The first is JENNIE x adidas Superstar Square Ballet, the BLACKPINK member's first adidas Originals product to carry her name, after previously appearing in adidas brand campaigns. It rebuilds the Superstar as a ballet flat: the shell toe is flattened into a squared profile, the laces and tongue are replaced by an elastic midfoot strap, and a small bow sits at the forefoot. Two colorways, LB3786 in Off White and LB3787 in Core Black, retail for $150 in women's sizing. Sneaker Files lists today's date as Korea-only, with a wider release to follow; House of Heat lists adidas.com and select retailers. The shoe anchors a women's apparel capsule adidas is framing as "Functional Grace."
The second is the Kobe x Nike Air Force 1 Low "Armory Blue," IB0018-103, at $125 through Nike and select retailers. The white upper carries snakeskin-textured panels, and the Armory Blue accent is a reference to the light blue of the Minneapolis Lakers. Kobe's two Lakers numbers, 8 and 24, appear on the heels, and the metallic lace dubraes read "Mamba Forever," per Sneaker Bar Detroit. It follows the "Daybreak" at $120 and the "Denim" at $150, both of which landed in May.
Uristocrat also covered Foot Locker's 3.6% comparable-sales decline and Dick's Sporting Goods cutting its 2026 outlook — the two retailers that will be selling both of today's drops.
Sports
Novak Djokovic went out in the US Open first round. Mariano Navone beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Arthur Ashe Stadium on opening day, a 4-hour-36-minute match that handed Djokovic his first Grand Slam opening-round exit since the 2006 Australian Open. The draw was already missing world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who withdrew with a right knee injury, per Al Jazeera. First-round play concludes today at Flushing Meadows, with second-round matches beginning the same day.
In the NFL, every team trimmed to 53 players by Sunday's 6 p.m. ET deadline, eight days out from the September 9 season opener. The headline move remains Aaron Donald's return to the Rams on a one-year, $20 million deal. Odell Beckham Jr. made the Giants' 53, per ESPN's roster-cut tracker.
Culture
Warner Bros. completed "Coyote vs. Acme" and cancelled its release in 2023, taking a tax write-off instead. Indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment bought it, put it on 3,575 North American screens, and it opened to $15.5 million domestic and $8.4 million internationally for a $23.9 million global start — the biggest opening in Ketchup's history. It carries an A CinemaScore and a 95% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, per NBC News and The Hollywood Reporter.
Sony and Marvel's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" held No. 1 for a fifth straight weekend at $22.2 million. The weekend grossed roughly $100 million across all titles in the US and Canada, up 46% against the same frame last year, according to Deadline.
Technology
The Pentagon put OpenAI and xAI models in front of its workforce. ChatGPT Mil and Starshield AI's Grok for Government went live Monday on GenAI.mil, the Defense Department's secure portal, joining Google Gemini, which launched there first. 1.7 million of the department's 3 million personnel are already onboarded. DefenseScoop reports the DoD is positioning ChatGPT Mil for document-heavy unclassified work around planning, policy, logistics and administration.
On the capital side, Uristocrat covered DeepSeek nearing a $7.4 billion round at a $74 billion valuation — the Chinese lab's first external raise — and Andreessen Horowitz closing a $1.1 billion Machine Age Fund aimed at AI hardware.
Today on Uristocrat
Amazon is shutting down Mechanical Turk on September 30 after 21 years. MTurk was Amazon's crowdsourced human-labeling marketplace, used widely to build machine-learning training datasets.
Everything else we published in the last 24 hours:
Sneakers — Foot Locker comparable sales fell 3.6% as Dick's cut its 2026 outlook, and the Salehe Bembury x PUMA Velum 2 NITRO landed August 31 at $160 in Terracotta and Alloy.
Sports — Mariano Navone's five-set upset of Djokovic, Aaron Donald came out of retirement for $20 million, and Games to Watch for August 31 had the Brewers opening four at Wrigley across a 12-game MLB slate.
Technology — DeepSeek's $7.4 billion round at a $74 billion valuation.
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