Hey, happy Friday. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison was briefly the richest man in the world this week, after a blockbuster earnings report sent shares in his company soaring. Oracle’s stock is up 75% this year as of Friday morning, so why is the tech giant shedding staff? We’ll dig into the finer points of the  artificial intelligence spending boom this week.

Later, we'll explore how tariffs are hitting your online shopping habit and a prestigious indigenous art fair. Plus, how much is too much for a birthday gift? Something to ponder this weekend. — Tony Wagner, newsletter editor

The companies riding the highest on the artificial intelligence wave, and getting rewarded handsomely by the stock market, are also making some of the deepest staffing cuts. And no, it’s not just because of AI coding. Turns out, even the richest companies in the world have to prioritize.

“I think what you're seeing with these layoffs is really more of a strategic realignment based on resource constraints,” Mobile Dev Memo analyst Eric Seufert told Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino. “The more attractive the opportunity, the more aggressively you want to pursue it.”

Even if it means sacrificing other parts of the business. Oracle has scaled back its health division, Microsoft cut gaming, and Meta trimmed the Metaverse. It’s normal for a business to pivot to new opportunities, but the cost to play the AI game is on a whole new level.

“There's physical data centers, there's real estate, there's energy,” said Daniel Newman at Futurum Group.

Immediately before the AI frenzy, Google and Microsoft spent $20 to $30 billion a year on infrastructure. Now it’s two to three times that.

Then there’s the war for AI talent.

Imports worth under $800 are no longer protected under the so-called de minimis exemption, which allowed shoppers to avoid paying tariffs on these goods. The exemption ended on Aug. 29 for all imports, although the White House had already eliminated the rule for Chinese imports back in May. 

Postal services in Australia, Germany and Japan and more have temporarily suspended shipments to the U.S., with an exception for goods that are under $100 and considered “gifts.” Meanwhile, consumers who placed orders were hit with exorbitant tariffs after their packages had already shipped. 

“I think people are going to realize that if you order something online, you might not even get it. Customs has said if the correct customs duty is not paid, they will seize it,” said Michelle Schulz, founder and managing partner of Schulz Trade Law. 

After the exemption ended for China earlier this year, the number of de minimis shipments coming to the U.S. plummeted from 4 million per day to 1 million, Schulz said. 

The Santa Fe Indian Market bills itself as the largest and most prestigious Native art market in the world.

Most of its more than 1,000 exhibitors come with a variety of inventory, but Hunkpapa Lakota beadworker Beverly Bear King Moran had just a single piece for sale at her booth on Santa Fe’s historic plaza. 

“This is a traditional Lakota horse mask,” Bear King Moran told Marketplace’s Savannah Peters. “It was inspired by our horse dance ceremonies and our men and women riders.” 

Beverly Bear King Moran stands with her horse mask, adorned with 300,000 beads. She values the mask at $47,000.

The mask is fully beaded and, valued at $47,000 meant to adorn some very spoiled horse. It took Bear King Moran nine months of full-time beading to finish it. When she prices this piece, she’s essentially setting her annual salary. 

“And it’s not a very good salary,” Bear King Moran said with a laugh. 

Bear King Moran is an award-winning artist with 25 years under her belt. She tries to pay herself at least minimum wage plus the cost of materials. 

“It's beaded with size 13 Charlotte cut beads. It took 98 hanks to complete the piece. So there's actually 300,000 beads on this mask,” Bear King Moran said. Still, she may have to cut her price to sell it. “People don't always understand beadwork and why it's so expensive,” she said. 

Pricing and marketing beadwork is about to get harder. All 300,000 of those beads sewn onto the horse mask are imported from the European Union. Bear King Moran purchased these materials long before President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect, and said she can work from her existing bead library on small projects. But she expects her next large order to be pricey. 

“Finding beads is getting harder, and you're going to be paying more for them,” Bear King Moran said. “That’s a concern right now for every beadworker.”

“Million Bazillion,” our podcast about money for kids and families, is back next week! Listen to the trailer now.

This season, hosts Bridget and Ryan learn all about chain restaurants, airport prices, and bubbles — not the ones you blow with soap, but the kind that burst in the economy! They’ll also crack the mystery behind $2 bills: why do they exist if we hardly use them?

Parents, we could use your help with that last one. Has your kiddo ever seen a $2 bill? Maybe they got one for their birthday? Found one or even spent it on something cool? Record your kid telling their story and you just might hear their voice in a future episode!