The Young and the Restless (Y&R) recap for Friday, January 9, reveals that Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) will admit his built-in AI trigger can destroy Newman Enterprises. Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) will also pitch a Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) trade to Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), so let’s discuss what’s coming up in Genoa City.

At the hospital, Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) will talk sweetly to Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) following his successful surgery as she waits for him to wake up.

When Noah Newman (Lucas Adams) arrives with Sienna Bacall (Tamara Braun), Sharon will blast them for coming back to the hospital when Matt is still missing (at least as far as she’ll know).

However, Sharon will ultimately settle down and express her gratitude that everyone’s OK.

After so many hospital emergencies, Sharon will just want a break from her loved ones being in danger!

Sienna will blame herself for all the Matt drama, but Noah will give her another pep talk and make it clear that they’re in this together.

As for Nick, he’ll wake up groggy and a bit confused after dreaming about crashing Nikki Newman’s (Melody Thomas Scott) car.

Sharon will help Nick remember that he crashed his own car while driving Matt instead.

Noah will grill Nick about why he was taking Matt toward the woods, but Nick won’t think it matters with Matt on the loose.

Although Nick will be frustrated for letting Matt get away, Sharon will convince him to get some sleep.

Sharon will continue to sit by Nick’s bedside until he startles awake in excruciating pain.

Nick will grimace and grip his leg as he guesses his pain meds need to be upped or something.

While Sharon dashes off to get someone from Nick’s medical team, he’ll remain in agony.

At Crimson Lights, Holden Novak (Nathan Owens) will call Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) out for flirting with him to get what she wants, but she’ll claim she just feels like flirting.

Audra will think it’s better than being enemies and will suggest maybe they can be “friends with caution,” so Holden will end up laughing with her when Claire Newman (Hayley Erin) enters.

After Audra is perfectly polite, Claire will wonder why she’s suddenly being so civil.

Audra will act like it’s best to let past resentment go and will claim there’s no need for them to be hostile anymore.

Claire will remain skeptical as Audra exits, so she’ll grill Holden about what’s really going on.

Holden will claim he got through to Audra, but Claire will suspect he agreed to bury the rest of the LA story if Audra backed off.

However, Holden will push Claire to focus on something he’s been wanting to do since 2026 began and will convince her to share a kiss with him.

At the GCAC, Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) will make another pitch for Cane to team up with her against Newman Enterprises.

Since Cane knows the inner workings of the AI program, Phyllis will need his help once she steals it back.

Cane will feel like Phyllis could figure it out for herself, but she won’t think there’s time for that since she’ll be ready to act now.

After Cane reflects on Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) leaving town and the twins cutting ties with him, he’ll decide he might as well be “Aristotle Dumas.”

That’ll be what Phyllis wants to hear, so she’ll think they can move forward with stealing back the AI software.

Cane will admit there’s no need for that since there’s a built-in element and when triggered, it’ll cause the program to turn on its host.

It turns out Cane already has the power to take out Newman the way Arabesque was taken out, so Phyllis will be thrilled over that news.

At the Newman ranch, Jack and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) will arrive to negotiate with Victor since their security team has Matt in their possession.

Adam Newman (Mark Grossman) will act like Matt is worthless, but Jack will suspect Victor would like to have him back to ensure his family’s safety.

Jack will be willing to trade Matt for the AI program so that both of their families can stay safe.

Victor will reject that offer and argue that if Jack releases Matt, he’ll have him found and handle the threat.

When Nikki appears, she’ll push Victor to stop being so stubborn and take the deal.

Jack will even suggest they can destroy the AI program together since he won’t think anyone needs that kind of power.

Victor will demand proof that the Abbotts have Matt, so their security guards will bring Matt in.

Matt will taunt Victor, who’ll make it clear that this will be his last visit to the Newman ranch.

Although Matt likes playing games, Victor will be done with them and will warn that he’s not getting away this time.

Jack will pipe up about Matt being in his custody and insist that what happens next is up to Victor.

“What’s it gonna be? We have a deal or not?” Jack will ask on Friday’s Y&R episode.

The Young and the Restless spoilers say Cane and Phyllis are about to make a mess of things, so stay tuned for updates on all the shockers to come.