Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

BYD just destroyed any remaining argument against electric vehicle adoption. At a March 5 launch event in Shenzhen, China, it announced the Blade Battery 2.0, a new battery that can drive more than 621 miles on a single charge. In the process, the company has exposed just how far behind the rest of the electric vehicle industry has fallen. Gasoline cars have held onto two supreme advantages for a century: the five-minute pit stop and the typical 400-mile range that enabled people to take long road trips without worry. Meanwhile, EVs have suffered from long charging times and short ranges that induced range anxiety in potential buyers, who mostly preferred to stay with in…

Design-minded home goods brand Simplehuman recently released a product that’s a little out of its wheelhouse—a limited-edition tequila with distillery Nosotros. It may be the company’s first foray into spirits, but the brand already knows how to work with the Weber blue agave that made the tequila. The agave fibers on Simplehuman’s Soapwell sponge begin their life cycle by being pressed into Nosotros tequila at the company’s distillery in Tequila, Mexico. Nosotros then supplies its leftover agave fibers to Simplehuman. The $100 Nosotros x Simplehuman Blanco tequila is made out of that same agave, and was released to mark a year that Simplehuman has been spinning the f…

In order for a chatbot to become more intelligent, and thus more useful to the end-user, it needs to assimilate data continuously. This process is known as “training.” The problem is that many AI companies never explicitly ask for consent from data owners before scraping their webpages and adding the data to the corpora of the large language models (LLMs) that power AI chatbots. But some of those data owners, also known as content creators or IP holders, are now fighting back. They are doing this by using tools known as “tarpits.” Their aim? To poison the chatbot’s underlying LLM and thus degrade the quality of its outputs, potentially causing end-user flight. Here’s …

Coinbase said on Monday it will buy prediction markets startup The Clearing Company, its tenth acquisition this year, as the crypto exchange looks to expand beyond its core digital assets business. Prediction markets let users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events, ranging from elections and economic data to sports and policy decisions, effectively turning investors’ forecasts into tradable markets. Supporters say the prices can reflect collective expectations more accurately than polls or forecasts, while critics argue the products blur the line between financial markets and betting, drawing growing scrutiny from regulators. Predict…

No one wants to be in a bad movie—but imagine a movie studio casting you in new movies after you die, without your consent. That may have once seemed something out of a Black Mirror episode, but it’s becoming a real issue, and many think current legal protections don’t go nearly far enough. In 2024, the late Ian Holm appeared, in digital form, in Alien: Romulus four years after his death, a move some critics decried as “digital necromancy.” Early this year, producers partnered with a British artificial intelligence startup to re-create the voice of Alain Dorval, who spent decades dubbing Sylvester Stallone classics like Rocky and Rambo in French. The plan was scrapped af…

A regional supermarket chain is offering to buy pennies in a two-for-one deal. Sound like pennies from heaven? Too good to be true? The news comes a day after the U.S. Mint pressed its final penny on November 12 in Philadelphia, following an order from President Donald The President to stop making the one-cent coins back in February. Market 32 and Price Chopper grocery stores are inviting customers to double the value of their spare change by bringing in their pennies this Sunday, November 16, for “Double Exchange Day.” The only catch is that customers will receive a gift card instead of cold hard cash for their trouble, according to a statement on the company’s w…

Lorrie Faith Cranor’s latest effort to educate people about privacy is a short, colorfully illustrated book written for an audience who probably can’t read it yet. Cranor, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Pittsburgh school’s CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory, wrote Privacy, Please! after publishing more than 200 research papers, spending a 2016–2017 stint as the Federal Trade Commission’s chief technologist, and making a quilt and dress illustrated with commonly used weak passwords. In a Zoom video call, Cranor says she got the idea for this self-published children’s book when planning for a privacy-outreach event at a loc…

It’s been a tumultuous year for the legacy retailer, shaped by new tariffs, shifting consumer habits, and the constant flip between “wartime” and “peacetime” leadership. Tony Spring, Macy’s Inc. chairman and CEO, shares why his team is now on “version 27 of the plan,” and what it really means to court the next generation of shoppers. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get y…

Getting older can be a time when declining vision, hearing, and cognitive abilities may mean it’s no longer safe to drive. It may even lead to giving up your driver’s license. In theory, those who age out of driving should be perfect new customers for ride-sharing apps. And yet, Lyft says only 5.6% of its U.S. riders are older than 65. The company sensed a disconnect. The app wasn’t meeting older riders’ needs, and it needed a redesign. Lyft Silver, now available nationwide, is designed specifically for older users, with a font that’s 1.4 times bigger than the standard app, and a simple interface. “Developing Lyft Silver was truly a labor of care and intention,” Audrey…

Humans have long been transfixed by the moon, awed and inspired by its reassuring presence in the night sky and its influence on the tides. In recent decades, though, our fascination with our nearest celestial neighbor has become somewhat more opportunistic: The moon contains valuable resources, and governments and companies are eager to get their hands on them. One such resource is helium-3 (He-3), a gas that some experts say could unlock clean and abundant energy on Earth as a fuel for fusion. It’s this gas that Interlune, a Seattle-based startup, has its sights on. The company wants to be the first to commercialize space resources, starting with He-3, which it plans …

When someone takes a shower at a new apartment complex in Washington, D.C., the water is heated in part by a brewery downstairs. The mixed-use development—part of a larger new neighborhood called the Bridge District—is designed to be as sustainable as possible. That includes using waste heat from commercial tenants like the brewery to save energy in the apartments. Atlas Brew Works, a solar-powered brewery that serves craft beers, moved into the building in November. At most breweries, the heat that’s generated from the brewing process would be vented outside. But in the new building, any hot water that the brewery doesn’t reuse is sent into a heat exchanger, …

Bitwarden is one of the more likable tech companies. It offers a great password manager for free, charges modestly for its paid version, and has mostly stayed in its lane with its focus on security products. So it’s disappointing that it isn’t being more transparent about the first price hike in its 10-year history. Bitwarden’s Premium version now costs $20 per year, up from $10 per year previously. But instead of announcing the change directly, the company buried the news in a blog post about new features, such as more attachment storage and alerts about weak passwords. Meanwhile, Bitwarden isn’t rushing to let customers know about the increase. They’ll only get …

My work across decades has spanned sectors, geographies, and cultures, focusing on exploration, discovery, and innovation. My husband and I have defined our work across business, nonprofit, and philanthropy simply: “We invest in people and ideas that can change the world.” I spend much of my time exploring and sharing exciting developments that hold great promise. This work has taken me from building the Internet revolution, to working in villages and cities across the globe and America’s 50 states, to the boardroom of the National Geographic Society, where I just completed a decade of service as Chairman of the Board. It has been a true privilege to lead these efforts,…

Human-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists. The series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods. The WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such e…

At first glance, Aitana Lopez could be any other influencer. Her Instagram feed is a mix of Pilates workouts, model shoots, and photos posing in front of Coachella’s iconic Ferris wheel and inside the Alo gym. The 27-year-old is a Scorpio. Her long hair is dyed a soft shade of pink, with dark roots coming through. She also doesn’t exist. Lopez is a “virtual soul”, or at least that’s what her creators at the Barcelona-based tech agency The Clueless call her. Aitana was created using artificial intelligence, and behind her social media platforms, which have a combined following of nearly 400,000, is a team of eleven people. Aitana is part of a new wave of digitally c…

Nostalgia has been one of the dominant themes of 2025, from AI-generated scenes of the good ol’ days to the resurgence of analog hobbies. Retro, a friends-only photo journal, recently launched a new feature which taps into this mindset, turning your camera roll into a personal time machine. The Rewind feature, launched this week, resurfaces camera roll memories from this time last year. These are private to you unless you choose to share with others. “People are taking more photos than ever but they’re actually doing less with them. It’s almost as if those photos go into the ether,” Nathan Sharp, cofounder and CEO of Retro, tells Fast Company. “We buil…

At a time of broken climate pledges and an economy-wide bearhug of automation and artificial intelligence, the dominant themes of the recently announced 2026 National Design Awards—climate action, sustainability, dedication to craft—are a refreshing reset. Rewarding innovation and impact among U.S.-based designers, the awards are both an honor and a pulse check on the state of design. This year’s group of winners represent a diverse group of practitioners and firms exploring ways that work in design and the arts can counteract environmental catastrophe and re-center the human hand in shaping the future. Honorees include the indigenous underpinnings in the textiles…

Some Buc-ee’s customers are complaining of pain at the pump—and it’s not the surge in gas prices that’s to blame, but rather the chain’s pay-at-the-pump policy. While it’s common practice for gas stations to require customers paying for gas with cash to prepay with a cashier, Buc-ee’s instituted a new policy in March that affects customers paying with credit or debit cards. Customers paying with credit or debit cards are now required to pay at the pump, and can no longer pay at the register, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman. The new policy is intended to speed up transactions and prevent people from shopping while their car sits at the gas pump. But where do…

How do modernist transportation planners recommend handling congestion? By recommending new vehicle lanes. What happens when you build new vehicle lanes to handle traffic congestion? The vehicle lanes fill up with more traffic congestion. As they themselves have said for decades, you cannot build your way out of congestion. But every week you can do a quick internet search to see a bunch of new attempts. ‘Induced demand’ I’ve been hearing planners and engineers say “we can’t build our way out of congestion” since the 1990s, when I began my career. The wonky term that describes why adding more lanes doesn’t eliminate congestion is “induced demand.” Transportation p…

A new campaign launches today against AI’s sticky fingers on copyrighted material. The Human Artistry Campaign’s “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” movement launches today with over 800 signatories. Those include many Hollywood actors, including Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well as writers such as Jodi Picoult and Roxane Gay, and musicians like Cyndi Lauper and They Might be Giants. The campaign has a simple message: “Stealing our work is not innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft—plain and simple.” Many record labels, news outlets, and other creative entities have partnered with AI companies in recent years, despite—or possib…

BTS has turned sold-out stadium tours, albums, and merch drops into global events. Now, the group is taking on another challenge: reinventing the Oreo cookie. Oreo is teaming up with the Korean supergroup on a limited-edition cookie that blends Korean street food inspiration with fan-focused collectible packaging and custom cookie designs. The new Limited Edition Oreo & BTS Cookies feature a creme flavor inspired by the hotteok, the sweet Korean brown sugar pancake sold at street markets. The cookies also introduce Oreo’s first-ever purple wafers, a nod to BTS’s globally devoted fanbase, ARMY. A collaboration rooted in nostalgia According to Matt Foley,…

Data collected from 35 American cities showed a 21% decrease in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025, translating to about 922 fewer homicides last year, according to a new report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice. The report, released on Thursday, tracked 13 crimes and recorded drops last year in 11 of those categories including carjackings, shoplifting, aggravated assaults and others. Drug crimes saw a small increase over last year and sexual assaults stayed even between 2024 and 2025, the study found. Experts said cities and states beyond those surveyed showed similar declines in homicides and other crimes. But they said it’s too early to tell what is p…