🔮 Predictions for 2026

Plus: A medical-grade water bottle, spas for your scalp, and more.  

Share The Hustle: https://thehustle.co/join?ref=7598767985 Check your referral progress & prizes here 👋  Good morning and happy 2026 to you. We're only two days in, but we can already tell it's shaping up to be a good one. Before you blend up your green juice, write in your mindfulness journal, and hit the gym, take a second to check out our predictions for the glorious year in business ahead. OUR CRYSTAL BALL Top storylines for 2026 This past year was perhaps one of the wildest we can remember, and that's largely because it's the first where we've had to ask ourselves if every cute animal video we saw was real or just an AI fever dream. (That possum trying to get the Halloween candy? Yeah, fake. We were pissed.) Now we're looking ahead and, to be perfectly honest, we don't see things getting any less weird: Robots are performing more labor, perhaps including actual labor   The past few years have given us a robot for everything, from folding clothes to serving drinks to tamping down grain in a silo, and we're sure to see even more when CES returns to Las Vegas Jan. 6-9. But will they ever give birth? Kaiwa Technology, a Chinese tech company, claimed in August that it expected to launch a robot with a synthetic womb designed to carry a baby from embryo until birth in 2026. It would cost ~$14k, so not exactly cheap, but cheaper than a human surrogate, who is typically paid between $100k and $200k per pregnancy. Responses to the bot are predictably mixed. While we do expect to see robots and AI models infiltrate more of our lives than perhaps we want them to, this robot may be entirely sci-fi for now. It's entirely unclear how exactly the bot becomes pregnant or deals with the numerous complicated elements of a pregnancy, so we wouldn't hold our breath on this one.    $1T shopping spree We'll find out if the National Retail Federation's prediction — that US holiday shopping will exceed $1T for the first time ever in 2025 — came true. NRF estimated that shoppers dropped an average of ~$890 per person on gifts, food, and decor, the second-highest since NRF began tracking 23 years ago. Granted, the price of nearly everything has gone up, but it was still an odd year for people to spend big. Yet retailers rolled out sales earlier and did what they could to keep prices low, and while shoppers hunted for bargains and switched to cheaper brands, they still prioritized spending on gifts. After all, people need some joy in their lives. Economists are feeling mid, as the kids say, about US economic growth going into 2026, but do expect inflation to ease gradually while still remaining over the Fed's 2% goal, per Bloomberg.    Agentic everything Everyone's had plenty of time to ask AI to generate images of cats playing banjos and recipes that may or may not be edible, but companies are now looking to agentic AI, which can make decisions and perform autonomous tasks on behalf of its user.    Some examples you're likely to see more of this year: Self-driving vehicles: Agentic AI is behind the wheel. Waymo rolled out in numerous cities in 2025, and started operating in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Tampa, Florida, with human safety drivers. It will also allow fully autonomous rides in Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando in 2026. There may be some resistance, however. San Franciscans were outraged when a Waymo ran over a beloved neighborhood cat. One city supervisor has asked for locals to have more control over how robotaxis are deployed in their communities.  Browsers: Agentic web browsers including Perplexity's Comet, ChatGPT's Atlas, and Opera's Neon seek to make web browsing a seamless experience where AI can do things like fill out forms, summarize content, and complete bookings for their users. Other browsers, including Google Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox, are incorporating AI. Such browsers may threaten Chrome's long-standing dominance if they achieve widespread adoption, but reviews are currently mixed. PC Mag's Ruben Circelli found they required too much babysitting to outperform traditional browsers. And for people with data privacy concerns, DuckDuckGo remains a favorite.  Shopping: Amazon rolled out its "Buy for Me" feature to select users in 2025, which lets customers quickly purchase items not just from Amazon, but third-party websites, without leaving the platform. OpenAI and other companies are already integrating with platforms like Etsy to allow shoppers to browse and buy products entirely within platforms like ChatGPT. Combine this tech with AR try-ons that let you visualize what outfits might look like on you or how a piece of furniture might look in your home, and you've got a pretty high-tech retail experience brewing. Travel: Agentic AI is also expected to make its way into the travel sector, with 80% of travel execs planning to roll out agentic AI tools at scale within the next five years. Such assistants would ideally find flights and lodging options based on your preferences, compare prices, come up with itineraries, and handle booking. To the moon   No, we're not talking about crypto, thankfully. We're talking about literally going to the moon. Artemis II is the second of NASA's Artemis missions, intended to build a long-term presence on the moon. Scheduled to launch in early 2026, Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the moon, marking the first time humans have traveled to the moon since 1972. Humans won't actually set foot on the moon again until Artemis III, scheduled for some time in 2027.  TOOLS FOR TIME Matt Wolfe's favorite time-savers As a tech-focused 'Tuber with 700k+ subs and running, Matt has tried a swarm of AI tools.    These are his recommendations across categories, from copy and images and videos to workflow and journaling and strategy.    Find ways to free up more time. Or frick around and find out if you'd like.  Try these chatbots THE BIG IDEA Scalp care is the new skin care   Overdrawn eyebrows and bountiful butts had their moment in the mid-2010s, just as glowy skin has had its in recent years. But now, consumers and brands are fixating on another region of our anatomy: the scalp.   Interest in treatments and products dedicated to the crown of our heads has exploded in recent years — so much so that some beauty insiders are calling it the new "it" body part, per The New York Times.  Searches, views, and posts for "scalp serum" and "scalp massagers" were up 77% and 58%, respectively, in August 2025 compared to the year before across Google, TikTok, and Instagram.  Searches for "head spas" — where you can pay anywhere from $35 to $330 to take a microscopic look at your roots — have hit an all-time high on Google. Haircare brands have capitalized on the heightened consumer demand, with most now offering, or preparing to offer, some kind of scalp serum or treatment, packed with buzzy ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid, as remedies for itchiness, dryness, or hair density.   There are also companies like Nutrafol and Hims hocking hair growth supplements, and upstarts like Jolie and Canopy selling shower head filters that promise to reduce shedding and help with dandruff.   The trend is no head scratcher   Scalp care, a fast-growing sector of the ~$107B global hair care market, is the latest self-care fad to dazzle Gen Z and millennial men and women, popularized online by TikTok tutorials, influencers, and wellness enthusiasts.    It also coincides with the growing popularity of beauty products and practices from Asian countries like Korea and Japan, where head spas have been around for decades and scalp health is a centuries-old priority.    But is it necessary?   Probably not — while scalp massagers can promote hair growth by increasing circulation and treatments can help alleviate dryness or itchiness, it's not like everyone's suddenly developed scalp conditions that would call for them.    In fact, one dermatologist told NYT, putting unnecessary chemicals on a perfectly healthy scalp can cause issues like irritation and inflammation, while the minority of people with actual scalp conditions, like alopecia or seborrheic dermatitis, would be better off consulting a medical professional.   That being said, a good head spa sesh can still be a luxuriously relaxing time — which, one could argue, is an occasional must. 🔗   NEWSWORTHY NUMBER How many prototypes it took to make Okapa's $300 medical-grade water bottle, which the brand claims "redefines hygiene and durability," per Wired. The next-level drinkware also has 70+ patents, is made with aerospace and medical materials, and required eight years of research to develop.    But priced at an eye-watering sum, is it really worth it? No, according to Wired's Hannah Singleton, though she did call it "the nicest, most thoughtfully designed water bottle" she's ever tested.  Still, considering Gen Z's obsession with drinkware and water's recent high-brow treatment (see: water sommeliers), we wouldn't be totally shocked if this became the next Stanley, Owala, or whatever other trendy bottle people are currently vying for.   SHOWER THOUGHT At the age of 60, Snoop Dogg will be 420 in dog years. SOURCE Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Singdhi Sokpo. Editing by: Sara "New year, same me" Friedman.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. Working on something big? We've got a whole library of business-building resources for you. 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