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Meta must—quite literally—pay for endangering children across its platforms. A New Mexico jury has found Meta liable for misleading the public, exposing children to sexual exploitation, and fostering adverse mental health. Meta must pay $375 million in civil penalties for about 75,000 violations at the maximum penalty of $5,000 each. This decision marks the first time a U.S. state has successfully defeated a big tech company at trial. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in response to the verdict. “Meta exec…

Thanks for the memory? The stock prices of Micron Technology Inc (Nasdaq: MU) and SanDisk Corp (Nasdaq: SNDK), two of the top publicly traded memory chip storage companies, are taking a beating this week, halting a stunning rally that began late last year. As of Thursday morning before the market opened, Micron shares were down almost 10% over the past five days, and down 3.5% overnight. SanDisk shares were down more than 4% over the previous five days, and down 4.4% overnight. The broader market, on the other hand, has been flat, with the S&P 500 up barely 0.1% over the previous five days. AI-fueled RAM memory shortage The declines are a rever…

It might not seem like the maker of lawn and garden products and a skincare and cosmetics company have much in common. But both ScottsMiracle-Gro and Clinique have recognized that people are likely to seek out advice online these days, which is why they’re meeting consumers where they are with educational resources. “We’re using a lot of agentic AI to help people in any given market,” said John Sass, senior vice president and chief creative officer at ScottsMiracle-Gro, speaking at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. “We have 158 years of experience; we can help you learn how to grow, whether you’re in Miami or Austin or Columbus, Ohio.” Recognizing this opportunity f…

Antonio Bustamante has kept a watercolor of labor leader César Chavez for more than 35 years, hanging it on the wall of his law office in Yuma, Arizona. As a young man, he was moved by Chavez and helped organize workers before joining his security team. Like many others, Bustamante must now wrestle with reconciling the man he adored with the allegations Chavez groomed and sexually abused women and young girls. “I’m trying to figure out how emotionally and intellectually I’ll be able to understand my perception of him as an extremely good man,” Bustamante said, his voice heavy with emotion, “compared to these things that are said he did.” Chavez built a national reputat…

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. I’m Mark Sullivan, a senior writer at Fast Company, covering emerging tech, AI, and tech policy. This week, I’m focusing on OpenAI’s gigantic new funding round and valuation. I also look at a recent leak around Anthropic’s models, and at backlash to ads placed in GitHub Copilot. Sign up to receive this newsletter every week via email here. And if you have comments on this issue and/or ideas for future ones, drop me a line at sullivan@fastcompany.com, and follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @thesullivan. OpenAI closes $122 billion funding round at…

In the first twenty-four hours of the war with Iran, the United States struck a thousand targets. By the end of the week, the total exceeded three thousand — twice as many as in the “shock and awe” phase of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to Pete Hegseth. This unprecedented number of strikes was made possible by artificial intelligence. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) insists that humans remain in the loop on every targeting decision, and that the AI is there to help them to make “smarter decisions faster.” But exactly what role humans can play when the systems are operating at this pace is unclear. Israel’s use of AI-enabled targeting in its war on Hamas may offe…

What’s behind a new wave of apps in the Apple App store? It’s probably two words: vibe coding. Apple’s App Store was flooded with 235,800 new apps in the first quarter of this year—an increase of 84% over the same time last year, according to new data published by The Information—after steady declines of 48% from 2016 to 2024. That builds on a trend from last year, in which developers created a whopping 600,000 new apps, leaving people wondering what is behind the big push. It turns out—perhaps not surprisingly, with artificial intelligence tools making it easier to create an app more quickly—that there’s more apps flooding into Apple’s App store. What’s t…

Good news for this Monday: Jackie and Shadow, California’s world famous Big Bear Bald Eagles, are parents again. Fans were able to welcome the two new chicks to the world over the weekend thanks to a web camera maintained by the nonprofit Friends of the Big Bear Valley (FOBBV). Here’s some background information so you can be the resident Bald Eagle expert in your office. When did Jackie lay her eggs? The eggs that hatched this season were actually the second clutch laid by Jackie. The first two were laid on January 23 and 26, but unfortunately ravens breached the eggs while Mom and Dad were away. About a month later, Jackie laid an additional cl…

To observe a SpaceX launch in person, as I did in February, is to witness a stunning and galvanic event. Two of the company’s greatest feats occur in quick succession. First, there’s the launch itself, with the rocket ferrying its payload—perhaps its own Starlink internet satellites, or ones for other businesses and the government, or even humans—and painting the night sky a blazing orange. Then there’s the second act, one that changed spaceflight forever. It begins with a wary silence, and then, suddenly, there’s the rocket’s first-stage booster returning to Earth, announcing itself with a sonic boom and ferrying down from the heavens. It descends, before hovering an…

For decades, NBCUniversal’s “The More You Know” campaign has promoted the idea that knowledge is always a public good. And there’s certainly truth in that. But we’ve all watched as a movie character who starts to know too much soon meets their demise. As we navigate a reality inundated with an ever-growing amount of information, data, and artificial intelligence, I look to the recent unveiling of Banksy’s identity to see that we must reconsider the ‘more you know’ mentality. Reuters published an investigation revealing Banksy’s identity, arguing the piece was a matter of public interest. I was surprised by the backlash that followed. While plenty of people flocked to …

Something I live by in my role: departmental success means nothing unless the entire company is making progress toward its goals. That thinking changes everything about how I approach my job—from the metrics I care about to the conversations I have with the CEO and leadership team. I’ve moved beyond operating within the confines of a title or a narrowly defined scope. The lines between departments should be artificial, and what truly matters is taking ownership of the company’s success. Historically, the chief marketing officer (CMO) position was often confined to brand management, campaigns, and lead generation. Critical drivers like revenue, customer retenti…

Multimedia and experiential brand Sunnie is turning over a new page with the announcement of its first zine, launching in Target stores and online on April 7. The limited edition, 50-page print issue will feature actress Kiernan Shipka on the cover. Target stores will sport a Sunnie endcap through July. The zine will be available for purchase alongside Sunnie Reads book picks, an exclusive tote, and products from Sunnie brand partners like e.l.f., Gimme Beauty, OFF!, and Not Your Mother’s haircare. The zine itself will feature classic teen-mag pieces like personal essays, advice, quizzes and horoscopes, and the Shipka cover story. In her interview, the actress dis…

Why did Toyota‘s design firm build a model American dining room in Japan back in 1986, and then invite the company’s top brass to spend some time there? The easy answer, and the one you see in headlines and social media posts, is that they were trying to teach Toyota executives just how much bigger Americans are than Japanese people. While that’s certainly part of the explanation, it isn’t all of it. If you look at the whole picture, it can teach you a lot. That’s especially true if you hope to bring your company’s product to new markets. Today, Toyota is the world’s biggest carmaker. Back then it trailed badly behind both GM and Ford. Toyota had big ambitions, and to…

Effective leadership isn’t just about giving orders—it’s about truly hearing your team. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol believes that listening more and talking less is the most underrated skill a leader can have. View the full article

Wall Street surged in Wednesday premarket trading as oil prices plunged 16% after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.7% before the opening bell and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.6%. Nasdaq futures soared 3.4%. Benchmark U.S. crude sank $18.43 to $94.52 a barrel, a nearly 16% decline. Brent crude, the international standard dropped $15.54 to $93.73 a barrel. Natural gas futures declined close to 5%. The drops reversed some of the rise in oil prices since the start of the war more than five weeks ago that had effectively blocked passage through…

Greece is moving forward with a ban on under-15s using social media, becoming the latest country to restrict young teens from using the online platforms. On Wednesday, April 8, Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced plans to restrict social media use by age starting on January 1, 2027, Reuters reports. In a video announcement directed to Greece’s young people, the prime minister cited concerns such as problems sleeping, increasing anxiety, and social media platforms’ addictive designs. In the video, Mitsotakis also pointed to factors such as children not allowing their minds to rest, feeling constant comparisons, and spending long hours scrollin…

Travelers will soon face restrictions on how many portable chargers they can carry on a flight as airlines continue to try to reduce the risk of another lithium battery fire aboard their jets. Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday that starting April 20 passengers will only be able to carry one charger on their planes, and they won’t be allowed to put it in the overhead bin or in their checked luggage. The airline already requires passengers to keep their chargers in the open while they are using them, so flight attendants can act quickly if they start to overheat. The new Southwest rule goes even further than the limit of two chargers per passenger that the Internationa…

It’s a tough time to own fast-food restaurants. Franchisees for popular chains such as Applebee’s, Subway, and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen have filed for bankruptcy recently, and another has joined them. Multiple entities associated with Friendly Franchisees Corporation (FFC), owner of 65 Carl’s Jr. locations across California, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Restaurant Business first reported. Carl’s Jr. was founded almost 85 years ago and is known for its charbroiled burgers. FFC has yet to state whether any Carl’s Jr. locations will close as a result of the bankruptcies. Its founder, Harshad Dharod, owns the five associated entities that filed…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. CEOs, do you know what the public is saying about AI? New polling shared exclusively with Modern CEO by Just Capital, the nonprofit that tracks what the American public expects from business, finds that 66% expect AI will be a net positive for society within the next five years. That’s…

My first job was an unusual one, but I learned so many lessons from it that I carried with me throughout my career. I was in my last year at Cambridge and was planning to leave the next year for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard when a British publisher approached me. He had seen me at a televised Cambridge Union debate speaking on the changing role of women and he wrote to me asking me if I would write a book on the subject. I replied, “Thank you, but I can’t write.” He replied: “Can you have lunch?” So I took the train to London and ended up getting both lunch and a book contract with a modest advance. That was my first lesson: take risks. People start…

Disengagement is expensive, and most organizations know it. A 2025 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that disengagement costs about $5 million a year for every 1,000 employees and that’s before accounting for what’s harder to measure. Teams deliver—narrowly avoiding burnout—but the creativity, the discretionary effort, the genuine spark of someone who truly cares? That’s becoming a rare commodity in today’s turbulent working world as AI continues its disruption. Sure, most AI is exceptional at scale, speed, and synthesis. It learns from what already exists, optimizes from the middle, and produces output that is arguably an average of every…

Not sure what to order on your next Starbucks run? Now ChatGPT can help. Starting April 15, users will be able to turn to ChatGPT for help deciding on their next Starbucks order through a new integration with the coffee chain. To activate the feature, users simply tag @starbucks within a chat with the AI agent to trigger the new in-platform beta Starbucks app. Users will be able to prompt ChatGPT to offer drink order advice based on mood, cravings, or even an image. For instance, a user might prompt ChatGPT with “@starbucks I’m looking for an iced pick me up,” with the LLM then suggesting an Iced Dragon Energy Drink alongside 5 additional options. “Over the pa…