Yesterday belonged to Hollywood's ceremonial moment—Conan O'Brien standing at the Dolby Theatre podium while the industry counted wins and losses. But today's narrative belongs elsewhere: a Japanese cooling startup valued at $1.64 billion, a Premier League schedule that pivots toward mid-table drama, and sneaker collabs that remind you spring still matters even in March. Here's what moved the needle.
Sneakers
The Jacquemus-Nike partnership lands two Moon Shoe colorways today—Soft Pearl and Fauna Brown, both dropping at $180. This is a luxury-adjacent collaboration that hasn't lost its footing. Meanwhile, Kith's New Balance Made in UK Spring pack ships from both the 991v1 (Vetiver, $260) and the 991v2 (Moonrock, $250). The 991 has quietly become the thinking person's New Balance, which means these pieces carry weight beyond the usual seasonal drop cycle.
Converse Chuck 70 collabs with Anonymous Club hit on the 17th in Black and Glacier Grey ($150 each), and adidas launches the Hyperboost Edge (Pure Ruby, $200) the same day. Spring velocity is building.
Sports
Monday evening brings Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers at 4pm ET on USA Network—a mid-table clash that carries genuine implications in a season where six Premier League teams remain alive for European qualification. The weekend's results confirmed Manchester United's interim era is working: they defeated Aston Villa 3-1, keeping themselves in the Champions League hunt with Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro firing together. Max Dowman, at 16, made Premier League history as the youngest-ever scorer for Arsenal, who beat Everton 2-0 and now occupy the clear position atop the table with eight wins to start their run.
The Champions League narrative intensifies ahead of their round-of-16 second legs. Arsenal remain unbeaten in their European campaign (8-0-0), Chelsea are level with PSG at 5-1-2 apiece, and Manchester City face their deficit against Real Madrid with Kylian Mbappé now back in the squad for Los Blancos.
In the NBA, the focus tightens around playoff positioning as the regular season winds toward the SoFi Play-In in April. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues his statistical assault, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's 126-game streak of 20-plus scoring.
Culture
Last night's Oscars delivered the expected chaos. "One Battle After Another" won best picture over the heavily favored "Sinners," which entered the night making history as the most-nominated film with 16 total nods. The fashion-forward sneaker cultural moment that was Timothée Chalamet's "Marty Supreme"? It walked away with zero awards despite nominations for best picture, best actor and best director. Sometimes the cultural conversation consumes the trophy. Jessie Buckley won best actress for "Hamnet," fulfilling the odds.
The performance moment belonged to Korean cinema: "KPop Demon Hunters" took best original song with "Golden," a presentation that was a celebration of Korean culture that literally shimmered with gold, with dancers spreading out over the stage with billowing flags. This is the Oscars finally understanding where culture actually lives.
At the box office, the March corridor is loading up: Project Hail Mary, based on the bestselling Andy Weir novel and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, stars Ryan Gosling as a scientist sent on a desperate mission to save Earth's dying sun. This is the play to watch before summer dominance begins.
Technology
Frore Systems, which makes liquid cooling technology for AI chips, raised $143 million in a funding deal that values the startup at $1.64 billion, with the round led by MVP Ventures and including investments from Fidelity, Top Tier, Mayfield Fund and Qualcomm Ventures. This is how the AI buildout actually happens—not with model announcements, but with cooling solutions that let companies run the infrastructure those models demand.
Meanwhile, the capex war among Big Tech continues unabated. Amazon announced about $200 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, following Alphabet's $175-$185 billion guidance, Meta's $115-$135 billion range, and Microsoft's pace that puts the company on track for roughly $145 billion. The vast majority of that spending will go to AI chips, servers, and data center infrastructure. Cold hard cash chasing cold hard silicon.
Over $2 billion in funding was announced across various sectors this week, signaling a shift towards vertical AI solutions, agent infrastructure, and creative AI, with notable investments including Rox AI for sales automation, Oro Labs for procurement, and PixVerse for AI video. The infrastructure boom spawns application booms.
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