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President Donald Trump has floated the idea of mailing $2,000 tariff “dividend” checks to taxpayers. But the devil is in the details—very few of which have been shared publicly. Trump’s pitch is to send households a slice of the $195 billion in customs duties collected last fiscal year. But only Congress has the authority to spend federal money, and it’s unclear if there’s enough support to issue the checks. Not to mention, the Supreme Court so far seems skeptical of the president’s authority to impose tariffs. If the administration loses that case, it may have to refund billions to companies that have already paid the levies. Bottom line: Don’t assume the check will arrive in the mail anytime soon. This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here. FIRST UP The Supreme Court extended a pause on an order requesting the Trump administration pay full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the month of November, delaying payouts for tens of millions of Americans as the end of the government shutdown approaches. The Trump administration argued full payment of food stamps could potentially disrupt the government funding deal, which would fund SNAP through September 2026. MORE: The shutdown is poised to end as soon as today, but it could take a while to fully solve the disruptions in services. It’s unclear how quickly food stamps could be distributed for November, and Thanksgiving travel could still see impacts as airlines will need to rebuild their flight schedules and stabilize issues caused by air traffic controller staffing shortages. BUSINESS + FINANCE Data from payroll processing firm ADP shows the private sector lost more than 11,000 jobs per week on average through late October, as the government shutdown has delayed the release of crucial employment and inflation reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experts are projecting a historic decline in the job market, and economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the unemployment rate to jump to 4.5% in October. SoftBank announced that it cashed out of Nvidia, selling its entire stake in the chipmaker to fund its own investments in OpenAI. Nvidia shares fell 3% Tuesday, even as the company has benefited from skyrocketing AI demand, last month becoming the first firm to reach a $5 trillion valuation. Crypto’s slipping price isn’t necessarily a sign of a bear market, but rather that it is “growing up,” says Forbes’ Nina Bambysheva. The era of massive gains could be over, as ETFs, passive flows and institutional allocations now play a bigger role in bitcoin’s movement than momentum traders. TECH + INNOVATION Rivian is making a Wall Street rebound, with its shares jumping more than 18% this week after the automaker reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The company also disclosed a pay package for its CEO and founder RJ Scaringe that could be worth as much as $4.6 billion, even though the firm has yet to turn a profit despite ramping up production in recent years. MONEY + POLITICS In a confrontational exchange during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, President Donald Trump said H-1B visas were necessary to bring in talented workers to the country, adding that the U.S. lacked certain talents. Trump’s defense of the H-1B visa program comes less than two months after he issued an order that hiked application fees for the skilled worker temporary visa to $100,000. TRAVEL + LIFESTYLE If you’re already thinking about 2026 travel plans, Forbes Travel Guide rounded up 23 of the most anticipated hotel openings next year. The list features major hospitality groups staking claims in some of the most coveted destinations, like Capella making its Japanese debut in Kyoto, as well as the restoration of legendary landmarks like Venice’s Hotel Danieli and London’s Admiralty Arch. DAILY COVER STORY This Startup Is Racing Duolingo To Replace Human Language Tutors With AI Some 15 million people have downloaded the app from AI unicorn Speak to practice conversing with its interactive AI tutor and become more fluent and confident speaking in a foreign tongue. That traction has helped the startup reach a recent milestone—the company announced today that it has more than $100 million in annualized revenue. After gaining ground in countries like Japan, Taiwan and Korea, Speak started making a concerted push in the U.S. market earlier this year in June. Founded in 2016, Speak today has a voice-based AI coach that role plays scenarios like ordering drinks at a restaurant, asking for directions to a tourist spot or making small talk with a classmate to help practice speaking a new language in real world situations. Built primarily on OpenAI’s models, the goal is to encourage users to practice enunciating commonly used words and phrases out loud. Learners can also create their own situations from scratch by prompting its AI software. Features like leaderboards and streaks that track daily usage help with consistency. And it’s not just for English-learners. Speak offers its role plays and lesson plans for five other languages: Korean, Spanish, Japanese, French and Italian. WHY IT MATTERS That’s impressive progress, but there’s a long way to go to catch up with its biggest rival. Speak’s revenue is dwarfed by that of Duolingo, which booked $724 million in sales last year and projects its business will balloon to $1.02 billion by the end of this year. MORE Duolingo’s Billionaire Founder Is All In On AI FACTS + COMMENTS Dozens of pieces from the art collection of late cosmetics billionaire Leonard Lauder will be auctioned off next week by Sotheby’s. The sale includes original works from artists like Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh: 55: The number of pieces that will be sold Nearly $500 million: The amount the auction is expected to fetch Six: The number of sculptures by Henri Matisse in the collection, worth at least $40 million combined STRATEGY + SUCCESS When a new hire joins a challenging work dynamic, it can be difficult to decide how candid you should be. Try to offer advice and be a sounding board for your new colleague, rather than projecting your own cynicism. Staying silent could be a survival tactic, but it may also fuel the toxic culture. QUIZ Some of America’s wealthiest attended TV personality Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday celebration over the weekend. Which billionaire hosted the event? A. Bill Gates B. Mark Zuckerberg C. Jeff Bezos D. Kim Kardashian Check your answer. Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
