In the week of going to print with this issue, Sam Altman went viral for all the wrong reasons after his suggestion of using AI to harness better quality time with your kids. His suggestion was to use ChatGPT to calendarise their events and interests, and use AI to create daily podcasts that you can […]

Alongside Pedro Pascal, Zendaya may be the most prolific actor in Hollywood right now. At the moment, she has two films at the box office: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, alongside her husband, Tom Holland, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — also alongside Holland. I wonder how they compare paycheques. Earlier this year, before all those […]

Russia’s Yugra Bridge held the record for the longest single-pylon cable-stayed bridge from 2000, but 26 years later Taiwan has taken the top spot with the Danjiang Bridge. The structure stretches 920 metres across the Tamsui River, with a record 450-metre main span. It links major highways on both sides of the river between Bali […]

If you want to see unconventional timepieces, visit L’Épée 1839’s website. Most luxury watchmakers vie for the wrists of the 1%, while L’Épée aims for their mantelpieces. Its creations often resemble bespoke works of art more than conventional clocks. The latest collaboration with Louis Vuitton is almost mundane by comparison, though not for lack of […]

Nike has dropped the Book 2 x McDonald’s “Sedona”. Astute readers might note that bold teal would not be the first colour you would choose for a McDonald’s shoe. Maybe red. Maybe yellow. But that would be too easy. They would be expecting it, and besides, do you want to look cool or like a […]

Tom Holland may have reached a career high, coming straight from playing Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to returning as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Spider-Man film earned US$932 million worldwide in its opening weekend, the second-biggest global debut ever, while its US$360 million North American opening beat the record previously […]

Going up for auction at RM Sotheby’s, this 1996 McLaren F1 GTR is valued at more than US$35 million. Its decals make it instantly recognisable as “The Pop Art F1”, and it spent more than 25 years in the care of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. This powerhouse’s reputation stems from the McLaren F1 GTR’s […]

We have followed Taika through almost his entire career. At one point, in the early 2010s, we nearly had him 3D-scanned for an iPad project. The Americans who were going to handle it — because he was out of the country — asked who Waititi even was. It was difficult to find a non-condescending way […]

Aucklanders have a new cocktail and wine lounge to roost in, overlooking St Patrick’s Square in the CBD. Positioned on the second floor of Hotel Indigo Auckland, within one of the city’s landmark heritage buildings, The Halligan has been designed as an intimate neighbourhood destination. Rather than chasing rooftop views or late-night crowds, The Halligan […]

Ardbeg has unveiled Ardbeg Dolce, a limited-edition release that channels the glamour of 1960s Italian cinema with an Ardbeggian twist. Ardbeg Dolce brings together rare malt matured in Marsala dolce casks — the sweetest style of Sicily’s fortified wine — with classic bourbon-cask-matured Ardbeg. The result is a bold interplay of Mediterranean sweetness and Islay […]

The Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop Collection was one of the most hotly anticipated watch collaborations in years. It made headlines around the world as normally unassuming watch stores suddenly looked like Apple stores circa 2007, with people camping outside for days for a chance to buy one of the pocket watches. In Paris, […]

Fifty years after Rocky became the ultimate Hollywood underdog story, a new biopic follows Sylvester Stallone’s fight to star in the film he wrote. Are you seated for this? If you saw Rocky in cinemas, chances are you are. It came out 50 years ago. Where did the time go, and who was the idiot […]

Once upon a time, aspiring directors made videos on home VHS cameras to show their friends, scratching the creative itch that might one day become a career. Today, those same personalities are drawn to platforms such as YouTube, where childhood passion projects can reach millions of people and somehow still not be seen by anyone […]

Anthonie Tonnon’s Synthesized Universe is restarting a revolution in Whanganui. The show is a live multimedia performance, built around the songs of one of the country’s most singular musicians. Its latest iteration, The Heavens, follows 2021’s A Synthesized Universe and expands the idea into a full audiovisual experience. There is also an asteroid. Tonnon’s interest […]

There is a famous thought experiment in special relativity involving twins. One leaves Earth in a spacecraft travelling close to the speed of light, while the other stays behind. When the travelling twin returns, far less time has passed for him than for his sibling, who has grown old. Though the twins were born moments […]

The omnipresent system that people use for navigation and positioning is increasingly vulnerable. Can it be improved? In September 2025, a Widerøe Airlines flight was trying to land in Vardø, Norway, which sits in the country’s far eastern arm, some 40 miles from the Russian coast. The cloud deck was low, and so was visibility. […]

Photography by Scott Garfield Everyone has an actor whose films they have seen more often than anyone else’s: Jason Statham if you like gritty gangster or revenge action, Timothée Chalamet if you are into arthouse cinema, or Nicolas Cage if you just want a few surreal laughs. For me, it has always been Brad Pitt […]

Leadership researcher Nick Petrie kicked off the M2 AI Summit with a bit of bad news: AI is not going to hand you your time back. Nick Petrie opened with a question, asking the audience to place their own outfits on the technology adoption curve. Ahead of the pack? Behind it? About the same? Easier […]

Mission Ready boss Diana Sharma followed Nick Petrie with a simple, slightly inconvenient argument: AI adoption is a people problem, not a tech one. Diana Sharma started with a recent story. A few weeks earlier, she said, a former chief executive of Google strolled into a hall of university students, announced that AI is the […]

Avocado AI co-founder Cowan Henderson followed Diana Sharma with a figure he trots out a lot: AI productivity is “ten per cent about the tool” and “ninety per cent about leadership, capability and culture”. The rest of his slot was a no-nonsense guide to closing that ninety per cent. “We’re educators, not consultants,” Cowan Henderson […]

Jared Langguth followed with how he dragged his own busy, sceptical colleagues across the line, one workflow at a time. Jared Langguth skipped the usual show of hands. “Who’s actually using a large language model with a workflow to do a multi-step improvement at work?” he asked instead, and far fewer hands went up. Rather […]

Blake Harkness suggested that, in an AI world, “the newest person might be your most valuable”, and the talent everyone’s chasing may already be sitting in the building. Blake Harkness opened by flipping a familiar assumption on its head. Normally, he said, a fresh graduate knows “nothing about your clients, your relationships, the standard operating […]

Atratus founding partner Amit Choudhary wrapped up the morning with the idea that most businesses were built to manage scarcity, and as AI quietly dismantles the old constraints, the winners will be the ones who rethink the model rather than just automate the one they’re stuck with. Amit Choudhary opened with physics and a self-deprecating […]

After lunch, AI educator Caelan Huntress, a fast-talking Portland transplant with a circus background, set out to make agents tangible, demonstrating the leap from AI that suggests things to AI that actually goes and does them. Caelan Huntress warned the room he talks fast (“I get really enthusiastic about this topic”) and then proved it, […]

Closing the day, AI safety specialist Emma Humphrey settled things down after a room full of speakers had urged everyone to race ahead. She explained, with receipts, why you also need to know where the brakes are. Emma Humphrey earned her scepticism the hard way. A Christchurch local with physics and maths degrees, she spent […]

Owen Chau, hobbling on stage in a moon boot, ditched his polished deck for something more honest: what voice AI actually can’t do yet, learned the hard way from putting it into real businesses. Owen Chau opened by binning his own presentation. He had planned to talk about GenAI workflows and “agents that work while […]

Peter Couchman grew up inside an older version of the trades: command, control, guarded knowledge and ‘do it my way’ rules. Today, after more than 40 years in the industry, he leads one of Wellington’s most respected electrical contractors and is helping to build the next generation of electricians. There were three electricians being acknowledged […]

Imagine running your life so far into the ground at 18 that you spend your twenties in prison. Eleven years in one of New Zealand’s toughest prisons was only the beginning of Paul Wood’s journey when he walked out in 2006. From there, he became a doctor of psychology, a leadership and development specialist, motivational […]

News arrived in early August that S&P Global had downgraded Oracle’s credit rating to BBB−, one notch above junk. A further cut would push the company into speculative-grade territory and could raise its borrowing costs sharply. The pressure comes from Oracle’s debt-funded AI infrastructure build-out and its concentration in a handful of major customers, especially […]

A website is a peculiar thing. It can make an unfinished idea look suspiciously complete. Recently, I rebuilt the website for AURA, the coaching business I had been developing. We stripped away unnecessary services, clarified the message and focused everything around one coaching programme. When I saw the result, my immediate response was: ‘That feels […]

Nick Petrie has spoken at M2 events in the past. We were drawn to his background working with Fortune 500 businesses, the FBI, elite sports teams and the US Navy SEALs. That is a portfolio that makes you sit up and take notice. So when he released his new book, 10 Simple Habits to Perform […]

Dominic Sessa was great in The Holdovers, so seeing him play a young and stroppy Anthony Bourdain is a joy. He was born for roles like this. The film follows a 19-year-old Bourdain as his hopeful writing career instantly derails. The film isn’t a sprawling biopic, but an intimate portrait of the summer in which […]

When we say the new Urus SE “Tettonero” Capsule is exclusive, we mean literally. Only 630 examples of this premium limited collection are being made, each with an 800 CV hybrid powertrain and a selection of exclusive liveries paired with never-before-seen interiors. There are six body paint colours with complementary livery colours. A range of […]

It’s a national disgrace. As best anyone can tell, there isn’t a single road-registered Koenigsegg left in New Zealand. Not one Egg. Not a Jesko. Not even an ageing CCX gathering dust in some Waikato hayshed. For a country that has produced Bruce McLaren, John Britten, Burt Munro and George Begg, that just ain’t good […]

There are a couple of brands I get really excited about. Porsche is one of them. This four-wheel-drive, four-litre, twin-turbo V8, putting out around 368 kW, is the Porsche ‘wagon’, if you will, though it is more coupé-like. One of a kind, it is a rare beast that promises a lot and delivers more. Starting […]

Factory suspension is built to do a little bit of everything, which is precisely the problem. Kiwis are big on towing, and if your weekends involve hitching up the boat, the caravan, the horse float or a trailer of dirt bikes, your rig is regularly carrying far more than the factory ever planned for. The […]

42 Below founder Geoff Ross kicks off this fun read with a no-holds-barred commentary on Grant. Raw and real, it traces a hard-working Kiwi’s journey through sales, travel, local businesses, the rise of 42 Below and more. Grant was a child of the ’60s. His parents taught him the value of hard work and, especially, […]

The sixth-generation RAV4 brings New Zealand its first plug-in hybrid rav4, the most powerful rav4 Toyota has ever built. Thirty years and six generations have turned the RAV4 from a funky compact three-door into something else entirely. Maturity has replaced the playful youth, but it hasn’t lost any fun. The car has improved in nearly […]

On the eve of releasing the new RAV4, Toyota flew the chief engineer of the world’s best-selling vehicle to New Zealand, along with the project manager who built it, and sat them down with the chief executive who sells it here. Tim warren asks what a career spent on one nameplate actually buys the person […]

Jacob Elordi is the new BLEU DE CHANEL man. The Australian actor has been on a meteoric rise over the past few years, going from relative unknown to suave modern heart-throb and holding his own alongside Hollywood royalty such as Margot Robbie. Recently, he worked with his dream director, Alfonso Cuarón, on a new BLEU […]

Brando’s going feet first into autumn and winter. Just because its shoes are Italian-made doesn’t mean the brand doesn’t know what we need here in New Zealand and across the ditch: sharper mornings, longer shadows and a shift towards structured dressing. Founded by Rocco Mascitelli after years spent in Italy’s Marche shoemaking region, Brando was […]

All made in New Zealand with premium leathers. Humanity has been surprisingly inventive when it comes to not being caught with its pants down. We’ve tried rope, sashes and drawstrings. The Victorians hoisted their trousers to their sternums with braces, and someone, somewhere, is holding it all together with a safety pin right now. But […]

Don’t be put off by the name. The adidas x Bad Bunny Ballerina is one hot pair of shoes. We first got hold of the Ballerina silhouette last year; now it is back in a Vivid Red colourway inspired by Puerto Rico’s Flamboyán trees. Inspired by the iconic adidas Taekwondo model, originally created for elite […]

Rolex has been the Exclusive Major Partner and Official Timepiece of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for 25 years. It is the world’s oldest and most prestigious endurance race, putting drivers and machines through a gruelling 24 hours on the 13.626 km Circuit de la Sarthe. The overall winners receive specially engraved Oyster Perpetual […]

If you’re TAG Heuer and need someone to be the brand ambassador for the Aquaracer, you’d better be sure you’ve picked someone who knows the ocean inside and out and can master the waves. That man is professional surfer Kai Lenny. He was destined for the water. In Hawaiian, his first name means “ocean”. He […]

Following the lead of the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team, which has tweaked its F1 car for the new season, TUDOR has followed suit with the new Black Bay Chrono “Carbon 26”, inspired by the distinctive livery of the team it supports. Springboarding from the Carbon 25, it retains a lightweight carbon-fibre case and […]

Tommy Hilfiger has introduced a new Tommy Hilfiger x Cadillac Formula 1 Team fanwear release to coincide with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The past couple of months have felt dominated by FIFA, so it is nice to see some motor sport fanwear entering the fray. To get eagles flying and machine guns firing, […]

Everyone’s going Fifa Crazy, may as well go all in on your favourite team.

In Part One of this story, I told you about Kai Tak Stadium, 50 years of the Hong Kong Sevens and the run of Cathay Pacific lounges that bookended the trip. But Kai Tak was only half the story. Cathay Pacific and the Hong Kong Tourism Board had built a week around us that went […]

I landed in Hong Kong at 9.05 pm, and by the time I’d cleared the terminal I understood why Cathay Pacific calls this city home. The airline I had just stepped off is marking its 80th anniversary this year, and every part of the journey, from boarding in New Zealand to touching down at Hong […]

Within the Xilingol Steppe in China’s Inner Mongolia region lies a C-shaped extinct volcano that erupted around 150,000 years ago. It is one of 108 volcanoes in an area rich in natural resources. Roam far enough and you will find an extraordinary mix of wetlands, forests, lakes, steppe and seasonal snowfields. Apart from the local […]

We generally like to keep things positive at M2. The daily news can be miserable, and we like to offer some respite from it. However, it is hard to ignore many of the subjects featured in this year’s internationally acclaimed World Press Photo Exhibition, which recently ran at Smith & Caughey’s in central Auckland. Seen […]

It’s been a savage year of rising costs, thanks in part to pressure on fuel due to the war with Iran. This is expected to continue, but there have been signs of easing. “The recovery has not been derailed, but it has been delayed,” say ASB economists. “Household spending, business investment and some export sectors […]

Xbox is in its 25th year, and a new boss is in charge. In 2026, Phil Spencer retired after 38 years at Microsoft and was succeeded by Asha Sharma, now CEO of Xbox. Sharma previously served as COO of Instacart and a vice president at Meta before returning to Microsoft, where she led CoreAI Product. […]

The ASUS Zenbook DUO The last time M2 covered the ASUS Zenbook was back in 2022. When the company heard consumers wanted flexible options, it must have taken the request to heart. The unique form factor of the ASUS Zenbook DUO (UX8407) is back and better than ever. The result is a laptop with two […]

If you’re a car company with an eye for design excellence, chances are you’ll want to spread your wings at some point and expand your brand footprint with bespoke limited runs of products that speak to your identity. Yachts are a given, but what about everything else? Here are a couple of offerings from the […]

In space, nobody can hear you rizz. Prada’s designs are out of this world. Not only is it a luxury fashion house on Earth, but in space it is providing the critical service of keeping astronauts comfortable and thermally regulated. According to a team of researchers, astronauts appear to exhibit signs of a sort of […]

The new Supergirl film has failed to light the world on fire in the way DC was probably hoping. This isn’t a good sign. Personally, I have no beef with Supergirl. In fact, I want to like it despite all its flaws as a narrative. When I was a kid, I saw Helen Slater fly […]

Unless you’re a PC gamer, you can look forward to playing GTA 6 this year. November 19 is D-Day. It’s hard to believe. I even hesitate to write this, since it has been delayed three times to reach this point. The difference now is that we’re allowed to pre-order, with a price of $119 on […]

When I was at uni, I’d occasionally go to Allied Workforce and pick up any odd jobs that didn’t require steel-capped boots, a forklift licence or any skill at all, really. In the early, cold mornings in that shed, we’d sit there wondering whether we’d get any work. The only comfort was morning TV, and […]