Good morning. Syd just embarked on her annual two-week Minecraft obsession, so naturally Ryan Trahan had to follow in her footsteps (obsessed much?).

Last week Trahan launched a daily Minecraft channel, where he will play for 20 minutes every day in 2026—no breaks, no editing, and no excuses.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

The world’s largest tech event, Consumer Electronics Show (CES), is happening this week in Las Vegas.

Brands like Intel and John Deere display their latest tech, from laundry-folding robots to exoskeletons for running mobility. Of course, AI is there too. Nvidia announced self-driving tech and its fastest supercomputer.

We spoke to tech creators Mike O’Brien and Sagi Shilo on what creators need to know from the four-day expo →

Creators are playing a larger role in the event. iJustine and Brian Tong are this year’s event hosts. CES expanded creator programming, covering subjects like AI content strategy and featuring creator speakers like Graham Stephan from The Iced Coffee Hour.

“Creators are becoming more and more of a focus [at CES]. Brands are designing booths for creators to film. It’s kind of like a fight to get creators to talk about your products,” O’Brien said.

Some of the big themes for creators: Humanoid robots, fewer EVs, and simple AI wearables.

Looking ahead: While CES is mostly the place for brands to show off futuristic tech, creators say it doubles as the place to build business and plan for future content. 

“Meeting with companies and hearing what they think the future is impacts my content,” O’Brien said. “It’s a good way to get insight and determine if I should cover that more on YouTube.”

“One dollar or a mystery gift?”

These six words gained short-form creator James Seo over 10 million followers in four years. Now, he’s taking social tactics he learned from making man-on-the-street videos to launch Korean Bros, a noodle company.

Context: Seo started making videos in 2022 asking Brigham Young University students what they’re listening to. As his content evolved, he started collaborating with larger creators like MrBeast and musicians like The Chainsmokers. On January 1, he launched Korean Bros, inspired by the cuisine he grew up on.

Selling it: Seo is using Anthpo-like stunts to promote his noodles: He's hosting a “Worldwide Noodle Slurp Day” on January 11, and he recently held a mystery box pop-up at a grocery store in Utah that drew hundreds of fans. His ultimate goal? Stocking Korean Bros noodles at Walmart.

Zoom out: CPG brands have become a popular revenue driver for creators, but it can be hard to stand out. Seo is applying the hooks and editing style from what works for his short-form content to his new product to get the attention of a big corporation. Will it work?

A year after introducing its partner program, Spotify is expanding eligibility for monetization.

Creators must now have at least three published episodes (all time), as well as 1,000 audience members and 2,000 hours consumed in the last 30 days. Previously, the requirement was 12 episodes, 2,000 listeners, and 10,000 hours in the last 30 days.

The why: In a virtual press conference yesterday, Spotify’s VP of Podcast and Video, Roman Wasenmüller, said that podcast consumption has doubled since the introduction of the partner program. Spotify anticipates that adding more creators to the program will increase podcast output, engaging more audiences.

Big picture: As Spotify competes with YouTube to be the premiere podcasting platform, it’s rolling out similar features to its competitor—like expanding dynamic ad capabilities and partnering with more distribution platforms.

Last Friday, we asked for your New Year’s resolutions. Here’s what some of you said:

Happy New Year!