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We were promised empathy in a box: a tireless digital companion that listens without judgment, available 24/7, and never sends a bill. The idea of AI as a psychologist or therapist has surged alongside mental health demand, with apps, chatbots, and “empathetic AI” platforms now claiming to offer everything from stress counseling to trauma recovery. It’s an appealing story. But it’s also a deeply dangerous one. Recent experiments with “AI therapists” reveal what happens when algorithms learn to mimic empathy but not understand it. The consequences range from the absurd to the tragic, and they tell us something profound about the difference between feeling heard and…

When a door broke loose on a new electric bus in Des Moines, Iowa, and nearly fell off, it was one in a long list of problems for the local transit agency. The city began using its fleet of seven electric buses, made by the startup Proterra, in 2021. The vehicles soon showed defects in the suspensions, weatherproofing, and wheelchair ramps. After only 18 months of use—and unsuccessful attempts to get the manufacturer to fix the problems—the agency had to pull them off the road. Other cities had similar issues. In Philadelphia, Proterra buses were sidelined in 2020 after the heavy batteries started to crack the vehicle chassis. (This summer, one of those vehicles s…

The Flying Sun 1000 is exactly what its name implies: a very powerful light source that flies. It is not as strong as the sun, but fitted with a powerful 3,333-watt light source—the equivalent of a typical flood lamp in a stadium—it is enough to turn night into day instantaneously. This drone is aimed at commercial and government users for the rapid deployment of industrial-level lighting solutions, such as construction and engineering jobs, area security, and disaster relief efforts that require 24-hour operation. A single operator can deploy the Flying Sun in minutes, instantly illuminating as much as 130,000 square feet. According to its manufacturer, Freefly Systems…

When Threads launched in 2023, it was almost entirely defined in relation to other platforms: It was an offshoot of Instagram, an alternative to Twitter, and a competitor to Bluesky. Three years later, the platform is finally ready to strike out on its own, starting with a few subtle but meaningful changes to its brand identity. This week, Threads quietly debuted a refreshed logo and wordmark, which officially rolled out to users on May 11. After some eagle-eyed fans noticed the small changes, Threads’ head of design Christopher Clare posted an explanation to the platform: “It’s been almost 3 years since Threads launched—essentially as a side project of Instagram—so …

From the latest skyscraper in a Chinese megalopolis to a six‑foot‑tall yurt in Inner Mongolia, researchers at the Technical University of Munich claim they have created a map of all buildings worldwide: 2.75 billion building models set in high‑resolution 3D with a level of precision never before recorded. Made from years of satellite data analysis by machine‑learning algorithms, the model reflects a sustained effort to capture the built world in three dimensions. The result now provides a crucial basis for climate research and for tracking progress toward global sustainable development goals, according to the scientists behind it.​ Professor Xiaoxiang Zhu, who leads th…

Ryan Coogler’s bluesy vampire thriller “Sinners,” the big screen musical “Wicked: For Good” and the Netflix phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters” are all a step closer to an Oscar nomination. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released shortlists for 12 categories Tuesday, including for best song, score, international and documentary film, cinematography and this year’s new prize, casting. “Sinners” and “Wicked: For Good” received the most shortlist mentions with eight each, including makeup and hair, sound, visual effects, score, casting and cinematography. Both have two original songs advancing as well. For “Wicked” it’s Stephen Schwartz’s “The Girl in the Bubbl…

For the second time in more than 20 years, the Mega Millions lottery is getting a facelift. Tickets will now be twice as expensive, but prizes will also be bigger—and the odds of winning the jackpot have gone up (though your chances of taking home the prize are still infinitesimal.) The new version of Mega Millions rolled out to players on tickets this Saturday, and the updated game will see its first drawing tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know about how the game has changed (and what it means for your wallet): How much are tickets? As of this Saturday, ticket prices for the Mega Millions have gone from $2 to $5 apiece. According to a press release, the pric…

Large-language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm, but they’re only one type of underlying AI model. An under-the-radar company, Fundamental, is set to bring a new type of enterprise AI model to the masses: large tabular models, or LTMs—which could have an even bigger impact for businesses. What are LTMs? A major difference between LLMs and LTMs is the type of data they’re able to synthesize and use. LLMs use unstructured data—think text, social media posts, emails, etc. LTMs, on the other hand, can extract information or insights from structured data, which could be contained in tables, for instance. Since many enterprises rely on structured data,…

If you’ve ever flipped over a Walmart snack or frozen pizza to check the ingredients list, the company’s about to make that label a whole lot cleaner. The retail giant just announced it’s giving its U.S. private food brands a major makeover, cutting out synthetic dyes and dozens of other additives you probably can’t pronounce. Altogether, the retailer is removing synthetic dyes and 30 ingredients from store brands including Bettergoods, Freshness Guaranteed, Great Value, and Marketside. Artificial sweeteners, certain preservatives, and fat substitutes are among the ingredients being phased out. The full list of every synthetic dye and ingredient being removed is …

Hello again, and thank you, as always, for spending time with Fast Company’s Plugged In. In a remarkably influential 2011 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen declared that software was “eating the world.” From entertainment to commerce to transportation, he argued, startups that were about code at their core were disrupting many of the world’s most deeply entrenched businesses. That was just the beginning, he warned: “Companies in every industry need to assume that a software revolution is coming.“ Fifteen years later, we know that some of the disruptors Andreessen cited—such as Zynga, Groupon, and Skype (RIP)—did not, i…

Singles are drowning their Sunday blues with work, which experts warn isn’t necessarily the healthiest coping strategy. In a recent survey of 1,000 singles by Dating.com, 52% of those without a romantic partner said they spend most Sundays alone and 65% say it’s the loneliest day of their week. To cope, 74% say they’ve turned to work to keep themselves busy, and 40% say they do so often. “Sunday is usually the quietest day of the week, and when you don’t have a family or anyone that you’re dating to spend time with, it’s a time that could feel very sad,” explains licensed clinical social worker and resident therapist for Dating.com, Jaime Bronstein. “A lot of peop…

Some people love watching the Super Bowl for the game. Others love it for the commercials. If you’re in the latter group, you’ll probably have noticed that the ad spots in between commercial breaks during Super Bowl LX last night were dominated by one big theme: artificial intelligence. As noted by AdWeek, the television advertising analytics firm iSpot found that nearly a quarter of all commercials during the 2026 Super Bowl featured AI in some way. To be more precise, 15 out of the 66 commercials—or 23% of them—either used AI in their creation (like the entirely AI-generated ad from the vodka maker SVEDKA) or were spots by big tech companies directly adver…

“No more reading emails, OK?” says tech founder and content creator Jason Yeager’s satirical boss character MyTechCeo in a recent TikTok skit. “I want your AI reading my AI-generated email—and answering my email.” It’s a parody, but only just. AI emails are proliferating across industries. In October, LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky said he uses AI for almost every “super high-stakes” email he sends. And a recent survey from the email verification software company ZeroBounce found that one in four respondents admit to using it daily for drafting or editing their own emails. On Reddit, employees swap stories about bosses who use AI “to answer every email at wo…

If there’s an AI application in media that has had a rough road, it’s the chatbot. With the runaway success of ChatGPT, the whole idea that chat might be the next big thing in audience experiences took on new value, and several publications dove in, offering portals or widgets that enable readers to explore their content in a new way. I think it’s fair to say none of these have been home runs, but some are more promising than others. Chatbots from Skift, USA Today, and The Texas Tribune have all seen some quiet success in user engagement, and while “chat” likely won’t save the media industry, it may well play an important role. Beyond the wins of improving site search an…

Starbucks held its quarterly earnings call Tuesday, during which CEO Brian Niccol highlighted a slew of design steps the company is taking as part of its overall turnaround strategy. While Niccols described the company’s drop in quarterly earnings as “disappointing,” behind the scenes, he claims the coffee chain is still making progress towards its back-to-basics comeback plan by upgrading its coffeehouses, standardizing the Starbucks experience store to store, and more efficient systems. All of this will begin to roll out over the next few months. Here’s a rundown of the design changes so far, and what’s heating up for next quarter. 1. Coffeeshop “uplif…

You probably know filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi from directing work like the Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok or the Oscar-award-winning film Jojo Rabbit. What you might not know is that he’s also the creative mind behind multiple Old Spice ads, a bout of early 2010s PSAs for his home country of New Zealand, and some of the most iconic Super Bowl commercials of all time. From the early days of his career, between directing short films and appearing in acting gigs, Waititi has kept up a consistent cadence of ad work, ranging from spots for local names like the New Zealand Transport Agency to bigger brands like Samsung. Even as his Hollywood work has expanded, ad work rema…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Late for a meeting across town, you check a map app for the fastest route, toggle to the city’s transit site for schedules, and work out options for traveling the “last mile” from the train station to your destination. You think through the logistics—metro card, e-tickets, scanning app, method of payment—for each leg of the trip. Then you open a ride-hailing app as backup. MaaS: Cities slicker It’s…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. It’s been five years since the intense early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first round of lockdowns that mandated work-from-home for companies around the world. Among the debate at the time: concerns about how younger workers and new recruits would cope without access to experienced colleagues and mentors. Doomed to impersonal video conferencing in converted bedrooms, these youngst…

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law a bill requiring Apple and Alphabet’s Google to verify the age of users of their app stores, putting the second-most-populous U.S. state at the center of a debate over whether and how to regulate smartphone use by children and teenagers. The law, effective on January 1, requires parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases for users aged below 18. Utah was the first U.S. state to pass a similar law earlier this year, and U.S. lawmakers have also introduced a federal bill. Another Texas bill, passed in the state’s House of Representatives and awaiting a Senate vote, would restrict social media apps…

The streaming service branding game of musical chairs continued this week when Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced the streaming platform Max would once again be called HBO Max, starting this summer. It’s a complete brand reversal from a switch the company made back in 2023, when it ditched the “HBO” in its name for a head scratching “Max.” It immediately brought to mind this joke from 2024: “It’s on Tubu. It’s literally on Heebee. It’s on Poodee with ads. It’s literally on Dippy. You can probably find it on Weeno. Dude it’s on Gumpy. It’s a Pheebo original. It’s on Poob. You can watch it on Poob. You can go to Poob and watch it. Log onto Poob right now.” https…

Lucas Kraft’s friends knew him as the guy who always had an antacid. His recovery from bulimia left him with gastrointestinal damage, which made him reliant on over-the-counter digestive medicines. But they were also filled with chemicals that didn’t mesh with his health-conscious SoCal lifestyle. Luckily, his brother Noah had an eye for predicting where consumer interests are headed. He founded Doppler Labs, the buzzy 2010s startup hoping to create an in-ear computer, three years before Apple launched their AirPods. Doppler Labs was too early, but Wonderbelly—the brothers’ digestive health brand—has been right on time with its focus on clean ingredients and opposition…

The old Tesla can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead. Over the past few days, a new trend has emerged on TikTok: people are posting their Tesla trade-ins accompanied by the hashtag “ByeTesla” and soundtracked to Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” In the videos, the Tesla driver backs out of a driveway as the lyrics play: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead.” Cut to a brand-new Rivian R1S, Porsche Macan Electric, or even a GMC Hummer EV SUV as the song’s chorus plays: “Look what you made me do.” “The best upgrade I’ve seen in this trend,” one person commented on the vide…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Building a resilient technology company is hard. Building one that can withstand constant policy change is another level of hard. Right now, companies across sectors—not just fintech—are staring down government and regulatory shifts happening faster than most orgs can process, let alone implement. For industries like financial technology, where regulatory changes directly impact how produc…

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In. When the software engineer and entrepreneur Deon Nicholas was CEO of Forethought, a customer service automation platform, he had an executive assistant to manage the minutiae of his workday. Not surprisingly, he appreciated the help. “That was something that I found was critical, something that actually helped me as a leader,” he explains. Few of us who aren’t in the executive suite have the luxury of calling on another person to wrangle our schedule, triage email, and otherwise keep the chaos of our professional and personal lives under control. As Nicholas contemplated the frenzy of excitement over AI agents…