25-Year-Old TikTok Star Khaby Lame Sells His Media Company for Nearly $1B
TikTok’s most-followed creator sells his media company for $975 million, including rights to an A.I. digital twin and global brand operations.
The Park Avenue Armory’s Deborah Warner On Sidestepping Genre and Embracing Collision
In the Armory’s unique blend of performance spaces, she sees opportunities to embrace friction and fluidity between forms.
Eugene Remm Puts Food First as Catch Hospitality Rapidly Expands
With new openings and major renovations underway, Remm is refocusing Catch Hospitality around the kitchen.
Business
See All
Two Forces That Could Push Gold Past $10,000 This Year
Central bank buying, a weakening dollar, and global uncertainty are fueling fresh optimism around gold.
Defense Tech Startup Anduril Launches ‘AI Grand Prix’ to Recruit Top Engineers
The defense tech company is using a global autonomous drone race to find top engineering talent.
Microsoft’s Maia Chip Targets A.I. Inference as Big Tech Rethinks Training
Maia 200 shows how Big Tech is prioritizing inference—running models at scale—over training new ones.
Waabi Raises $1B to Expand From Self-Driving Trucks to Robotaxis
Autonomous trucking startup Waabi raised $1 billion from investors and Uber as it prepares to enter the competitive robotaxi market.
At Davos 2026, the New A.I. Race Is About Execution
Dr. Kathryn Wifvat, a leading applied A.I. strategist advising governments, enterprises and sovereign investors, and Mark Minevich, a globally recognized Chief A.I. Officer and World Economic Forum contributor, analyze how Davos 2026 marked a turning point in the global A.I. conversation. They argue that A.I. has entered its infrastructure phase, where competitive advantage depends on execution, governance, workforce transformation and technological sovereignty. The new A.I. race, they explain, will be decided by those who can operationalize intelligence at scale under mounting geopolitical and societal constraints.
Art
See All
Market Strength Beyond the Fair Floor Defined Singapore Art Week 2026
Singapore’s art scene has grown, in part, by aligning institutional acquisition with deeper regional and international engagement.
Mark Dion and the Politics of Knowledge
“Material objects communicate in a way that’s fundamentally different from everything else,” the artist says. “They tell you so much—not just about the maker, but about the materials, the period, the conditions of their making.”
Inside the Whitney’s 2026 Art Party: Turning Up the Heat for New York’s Next Gen Patrons
“It felt as if everyone in attendance was in competition with the works of art for the boldest look of the night,” Gabrielle Richardson told Observer.
Meet the Collector: Thomas S. Kaplan On Auctioning His First Rembrandt
After decades building one of the world’s most important private collections of Rembrandt and Dutch Golden Age works, the billionaire is letting go of a rare and exceptional work on paper to further fund the conservation effort closest to his heart.
In “Eruption,” Lindsay Jarvis and Max Werner Make a Case for Collaboration
Their multigenerational exhibition rethinks Neo-Expressionism while quietly proposing a model of art dealing that’s rooted in shared risk and reward.
Lifestyle
See All
How to Travel the 2026 Winter Olympics Like an Italian Insider
Milano Cortina spans five destinations across Lombardy and Veneto, each with its own hotels, restaurants, and reasons to linger well past the closing ceremony.
Inside the Next Wave of Members’ Clubs in the U.S., Where Exclusivity Gets Very Specific
Eight new members-only clubs reveal how exclusivity is being reengineered in 2026.
Olympic Mode, Activated: The Best Winter Games Inspired Menswear
The ceremony sweaters, trail sneakers and alpine-ready puffers that let you channel the Winter Olympics from the spectator seats.
L.A.’s Most Romantic Restaurants for a Valentine’s Day Date
For when flowers feel lazy, but a good table still counts.
What to See, Eat and Drink in New York City’s Chinatown
The dumpling houses, hidden bars and legacy shops worth knowing in a neighborhood that’s survived 150 years of New York trying to change it.
Interviews
See All
Lucile Gauvain On Foregrounding the Modern With the Medieval
Her practice leverages age-old tropes to confront contemporary emotional and political realities.
How ESTE ARTE Founder Laura Bardier Built an Art Market from Scratch
“I wanted to treat the context as an active framework, not as a backdrop—to think about what actually works within our environment,” she tells Observer.
Vincenzo De Cotiis’s Material Transformation
“By recreating the sensation of a pond, where ethereal creatures drift, dissolve and reappear, the installation invites viewers to slow down and consider the forces of nature that shape our environment.”
At Sean Kelly, Hilda Palafox Invites Us to Listen to Earth’s Primordial Whispers
Her human figures emerge as mythic vessels—porous, androgynous and inseparable from the natural and spiritual systems they inhabit.
Christina Forrer’s Whimsical Wonderlands of Myth and Memory
Her folkloric figures are bound not by narrative certainty, but by unseen forces—family, fables and the psyche—that stretch across the human experience like nerves.
Power Lists
See All
Wall-to-Wall Cultural Capital: Inside Observer’s Art Power Index Party
Under the dim lights of the Lower East Side’s Maison Nur, art world luminaries gathered to celebrate Observer’s Art Power Index—and each other. From the impassioned speeches to the sharp tailoring and Damien Hirst over the bar, the evening embodied our legacy of chronicling power with style.
2025 Nightlife & Dining Power Index
Humanity is still the most vital ingredient in hospitality, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
Observer’s 2025 Art Power Index: The Art Market’s Most Influential People
Their acquisitions, affinities and approbations move the needle on valuation and redefine how art is made, shown and sold.
100 Leaders Shaping the Future of Artificial Intelligence
They write the script that the rest of us follow.
The Top PR Firms in 2025
This year’s PR Power List celebrates the agencies bold enough to lead the charge and smart enough to reflect the world they’re shaping.
Latest
All Latest
Screening at Sundance: David Greaves’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Harlem’
After more than 50 years, the documentary filmmaker’s son brings his father’s greatest feat to stunning completion
Challenger at 40: How a Tragedy Reshaped Spaceflight’s Culture and Ethics
Four decades after Challenger, the disaster’s lessons continue to guide how humanity explores space responsibly.
Former Citi CEO Sandy Weill Gives $120M to UC Davis Vet School That Cared for His Dog
Former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill donates $120 million to UC Davis’ veterinary school, inspired by the care of his late dog, Angel.
Dario Amodei Warns of A.I.’s Direst Risks—and How Anthropic Is Stopping Them
In a 20,000-word essay, Anthropic’s CEO urges regulation and new defenses against A.I.-enabled bioweapons.
Tesla Investors Are Eager to Hear Elon Musk Talk About Everything But EVs
As Tesla reports quarterly earnings, investors are focused less on cars and more on Musk’s robots and rockets.
Screening at Sundance: Gregg Araki’s ‘I Want Your Sex’
While not exactly a return to form, the filmmaker’s first feature in a dozen years is nonetheless a welcome comeback.
Andreessen Horowitz-Backed Swedish Startup Brings A.I. to Dentists’ Chairs
Swedish startup Dentio has raised $2.3 million to use A.I. to reduce paperwork in dental clinics, helping dentists save time and cut workplace stress.
The Art Market Enters 2026 With Renewed Confidence and a Sharper K-Shape Divide
A new ArtTactic report shows improving global sentiment, deepening selectivity and a decisive shift towards historically validated names.
S.E.A. Focus Gets a Boost from Art SG, But Questions About Identity Remain
By sharing infrastructure and audiences, the two fairs could reshape how Southeast Asian art is encountered by collectors from in and outside the region.
UK A.I. Rising Star Synthesia Hits $4B Valuation With $200M Round
Synthesia raised $200 million at a $4 billion valuation to build more lifelike A.I. avatars for corporate training, sales and internal communications.
The McLaren Artura Spider: A New Hybrid Breed of British Supercar
The automaker added an electric motor and removed a couple of cylinders, and only 20 horses escaped the barn.
Ryanair’s O’Leary Thanks Elon Musk for ‘Free PR’ in Starlink Spat
A public clash with Elon Musk over Starlink brings Ryanair free publicity, but O’Leary says Wi-Fi still isn’t worth the cost.
