Enter Generation Alpha, the first entirely online cohort — and one shaped by a pandemic, climate crisis and more, Axios' April Rubin writes.

The big picture: Seen as a landmark generation, Gen Alpha — those born between 2010 and 2024 — is expected to be the largest in history, with more than 2 billion people, per Mark McCrindle, a social researcher who coined "Generation Alpha" and determined its bounds.

What's happening: Technologies like social media and AI are shaping Gen Alpha's lives, habits and worldview.

• Siri and Alexa have been in their parents' pockets or homes for most of these kids' lives, while they're using generative AI tools like ChatGPT as a learning tool.
• Gen Alpha "have only ever known a world of the blurring of AI and the human," McCrindle tells Axios.

This generation also has TikTok as a growing platform of choice. Unlike millennials' pre-algorithm Facebook, TikTok repeatedly exposes users to anyone and everyone, rather than just networks of friends and family.

• "Anyone can go viral at any moment," says MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at youth market research firm YPulse.
• "They're having a media-centric childhood in a way that is different because of the kinds of media they're interacting with from incredibly young ages."

By the numbers: Millennial parents are giving their Gen Alpha kids smartphones at about 9 years old, Bliss says.

• 79% of millennial parents say their kids are on social media, per YPulse, while 44% say their kids watch smartphone videos at least weekly.

Between the lines: The COVID-19 pandemic cemented online interaction as a norm for Gen Alpha.

• Many attended virtual school, while a larger share of parents now work from home at least some of the time as a byproduct of the pandemic.

Threat level: Education metrics have taken significant hits since 2020.

• Test score results across subject matters have decreased, and student absenteeism has soared.

Social connections and behavior have suffered too, says Tori Cordiano, a child and adolescent psychologist.

• "They just haven't had as much practice" making friends and being exposed to new environments, Cordiano says.

Yes, but: Gen Alpha knows how to make connections online — for better or for worse.

• 43% of millennial parents say their kids have had a virtual playdate or hung out with friends in virtual spaces, per YPulse (think Minecraft, not Zoom).
• Ideally, those online ties "translate into meaningful, ongoing and hopefully in-person relationships," Cordiano says.

Zoom in: Advertisers are reaching children on social media such as TikTok and YouTube — often through influencers.

• Older Gen Alpha kids are only just nearing the legal working age — but they're starting to turn into consumers.
• Children and teens have access to youth-targeted payment apps, debit cards and driving services.

Zoom out: Kids' anxiety about social issues, including climate change, is rising.

• They're having a hard time disconnecting from the torrents of information, causing "higher risk for burnout for the things that are important to them," Cordiano says.
• In a survey, 87% of those 13-15 agreed that it is up to their generation to stop climate change from worsening, per YPulse.

The bottom line: Gen Alpha members have expressed a desire to end racism and alleviate poverty, regardless of their own experiences, per research from McCrindle's firm.

• "Alphas bring a sense of empathy because they are connected globally to the issues of their world," McCrindle says.

Share this story.

That all 379 passengers and crew aboard Japan Airlines Flight 516 survived after the airliner collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft in Tokyo on Tuesday is a miracle — but an explicable one, with valuable lessons, Alex writes.

Driving the news: As with all major aviation incidents, it will take time for investigators to piece together exactly what caused the crash, which killed five of six aboard the smaller Coast Guard craft.

• But even in these early hours, it's becoming clear that several things went right, at least after the collision, including...

A quick evacuation: It reportedly took under 20 minutes from touchdown to complete evacuation of the Japan Airlines Airbus A350.

• Faster is always better — U.S. rules require that airliners take no longer than 90 seconds to evacuate — but at least in this case, there was enough time to clear the plane.
• And that's despite several hiccups, including unusable rescue slides and a malfunctioning intercom system, as the Wall Street Journal reports.

Detailed safety briefing: Several aviation experts have lauded Japan Airlines' to-the-point preflight safety video, which shows passengers exactly what to do — and what not to do — in an emergency.

• That's in stark contrast to many such videos in the U.S., which include the required safety info but also increasingly go for laughs or promote an airline's destinations — and are routinely ignored by travelers regardless.
• Among the video's suggestions: Leave your baggage behind so it doesn't clog escape routes. (Flight 516 passengers complied, per the Journal.)

High-tech components: The A350 is one of the first modern passenger airliners to be made extensively of cutting-edge, lightweight composite materials — which may better resist heat, buying time for clearing a burning plane.

• If there's a silver lining here, it's that Flight 516 — the first A350 completely lost to fire — "could provide valuable insight into the flammability of large composite aircraft structures based on in-service experience that have so far been unavailable," per Aviation Week.
• Translation: Aircraft makers and regulators will get valuable data to boost safety in future flights.

The bottom line: The biggest takeaways here for travelers: Pay attention to the safety briefing, and in an emergency, do your best to stay calm, listen to your flight attendants and don't try to save your stuff.

Share this story.

Looming copyright fights are likely to set AI's course in 2024, Axios' Megan Morrone writes.

The big picture: "Copyright owners have been lining up to take whacks at generative AI like a giant piñata woven out of their works," James Grimmelmann, professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, tells Axios.

• "2024 is likely to be the year we find out whether there is money inside."

The latest: The New York Times recently filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing their AI systems' "widescale copying" constitutes copyright infringement.

Between the lines: "There are definitely cases in which copyright owners attempt to veto technologies that they see as creating too much of a risk of infringement, [and that] winds up really hampering or distorting innovation," Grimmelmann argues.

• "If copyright law says that some kinds of AI models are legal and others aren't, it will steer innovation down a path determined not by what uses of AI are beneficial to society, but one based on irrelevant technical details of the training process."

Yes, but: Some observers believe the copyright system can adapt.

• Jerry Levine, general counsel for ContractPodAi — a generative AI tool that helps lawyers analyze legal documents — predicts that it will be incumbent upon generative AI providers to prevent infringement.

Keep reading.

Reusable cups can now be used on every Starbucks run, Axios' Kelly Tyko reports, including with drive-thru and cellphone orders.

Why it matters: The coffee giant said it's a step toward its goal of halving waste by 2030, and part of a "larger cultural movement" to shift away from single-use plastics.

Of note: Orders on the Starbucks app will be made ahead of a customer's arrival and transferred into their personal cup once they're at the store.

Flashback: Starbucks has allowed customers to bring in their own cups for in-store orders since the 1980s.

• Yes, but: The company temporarily paused use of reusable cups for 15 months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Go deeper.