Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Jensen Huang left Carnegie Mellon University’s class of 2026 with a message that pushed back against graduation-season anxiety: there’s no better time than now to be starting a career. During a commencement speech on Sunday, the Nvidia CEO told the new grads that “the timing could not be more perfect” to launch a career than right now. “Your career starts at the beginning of the AI revolution,” Huang told the crowd of 5,800 undergraduate and graduate students. This sentiment landed better with Carnegie Mellon grads—the university which is widely recognized as the birthplace of artificial intelligence and robotics—than it did with others. At the University of …

A few years ago, I sat across from the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who told me, “We can’t find people who can solve problems.” When I asked him where he thought the issue began, he answered, “Somewhere in college, I guess.” That moment made something painfully clear: He was looking in the wrong place. The problem didn’t start in college. It started in kindergarten. CORPORATE AMERICA IS FIGHTING THE WRONG TALENT BATTLE American CEOs and HR leaders are losing sleep over talent shortages, skills gaps, and workforce readiness. They pour billions into recruitment, retention, and employee training. In 2025, U.S. corporations spent an estimated$102.8 billion annua…

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 …

Meta founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the company’s Meta Connect conference, which offers a glimpse into what the tech giant sees as the future, will take place September 23–24. The conference is typically a major event for the company. Last year, Meta used the stage to debut its AI glasses. Though little is known about what Zuckerberg plans to showcase this year, he has at least offered a preview of the conference vibes via a new Spotify playlist. Shared alongside the announcement, the “Connect 2026 Vibes” playlist consists of five extremely mainstream, EDM-adjacent pop tracks, including Jack Harlow’s new release “Say Hello” (p…

The founders of Crumbl are stepping down. The move comes amid a “planned transition” for the cookie chain, the leaders shared in an X post on Monday. The post, shared by CEO Jason McGowan, explained that he, along with co-founder and chief brand officer Sawyer Hemsley, as well as chief technology officer Bryce Redd will all be leaving their roles permanently. The three will remain in their positions until they find outside replacements through “rigorous hiring process.” The post explained that the leaders would remain closely connected to the brand with McGowan becoming chairman of the board and Hemsley and Redd as board members. “I believe now is the right time to bri…

On May 11, media entrepreneur Byron Allen announced a deal to buy a majority stake in BuzzFeed—the millennial-favorite news site that closed its Pulitzer Prize-winning news division in 2023. Allen is swooping in as savior of the 20-year-old publication, which otherwise would have had to file for bankruptcy as a result of its shrinking revenue. Allen will replace founder Jonah Peretti as CEO of BuzzFeed; Peretti will become president of BuzzFeed AI. “Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio, and user-generated content,” Allen said in a statement announcing the deal. “As of this moment, wi…

Intelligence is one of the most consequential human traits. It is also one of the most socially awkward to discuss. Few topics trigger as much discomfort, denial, or moral posturing. Suggest that IQ matters and you risk being accused of elitism, determinism, or worse. Yet the evidence is remarkably clear. Cognitive ability remains the single best predictor of educational attainment, even after controlling for parental socioeconomic status. Large-scale longitudinal studies and meta-analyses have consistently shown that IQ predicts grades, years of education completed, and academic progression across cultures. It is also the most robust predictor of job performance, with …

In Baltimore on October 20, 2025, a 17-year-old student named Taki Allen was sitting outside his high school after football practice when an artificial intelligence-enhanced surveillance camera falsely identified the Doritos bag in his pocket as a gun. Within moments police cars arrived, officers drew their weapons and Allen was forced to his knees and handcuffed while they searched him. All they found was a crumpled bag of chips. The AI’s misidentification and the human decisions that followed turned a normal evening into a traumatic confrontation. On December 24, 2025, Angela Lipps, a Tennessee grandmother, was released after spending five months in jail because facial…

If you’re prone to anxiety, chances are you’ve received a lot of frustratingly simple advice over the years. Go for a walk! Get more sleep! Meditate! To be clear, all of these are good ideas. But when your brain won’t turn off, they’re often not enough. That’s especially the case for high-functioning, high-achieving individuals. Part of the disconnect might be that we often confuse stress with anxiety. Although the two are related, they’re different problems that demand distinct solutions. While stress is usually circumstantial—a response to external demands—anxiety generally comes from within, and might or might not involve an active trigger. While stress might d…

“We need someone who’s done this before.” Translation: we need someone who can absorb a strategic pivot, upskill personally for AI, manage a workforce whose skills and expectations are shifting, maintain execution velocity, and make faster and better decisions—with the same budget, the same headcount, and no additional runway. That’s not a job description. That’s a superhero spec. And the person most organizations reach for to fill it—the candidate with deep sector experience, the safe hire, the one who’s “done this before”—is often exactly wrong for what the role now requires. The logic behind the experience filter is not irrational. Sector knowledge compresses ramp …

I’ve sat across from enough designers to know that the moment someone starts questioning whether to leave their role, they rarely lack options, they lack permission. And most of the time, that permission is being held hostage by a story that got repeated so many times it just became as normal as talking about the weather. Now I’m not talking about fear you can name and argue with. What I’m describing is different. Quieter. It’s the background noise that makes staying feel like wisdom and leaving feel like recklessness. It shows up in how designers talk about their timelines, their readiness, their gratitude. And it is, almost without exception, learned. The script…

There are many ways to measure the success of CompanyCam, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based startup unicorn that popularized a photo-focused construction tracking app that’s become popular within the roofing industry. But one of the clearest signs that its design, utility, and functionality are hitting the mark is the variety of users the app continues to attract. There are shipbuilders who use it to track how vessels are built and to certify the strength of a hull. Retail merchandisers love the ability to showcase product setups and track subcontractors. Property managers use it to oversee buildings. “We have some aestheticians—which I think our terms of service say th…

Oops, it happened again. A celebrity was asked what they think about artificial intelligence and, after sharing their reflections, received intense blowback on social media. The latest such case is Demi Moore, who is currently serving on the jury for the Cannes Film Festival. At a May 12 press conference meant to introduce the broader film event, Moore was asked by a journalist about AI, its impact on Hollywood, and potential regulation. “I always feel ‘againstness’ breeds ‘againstness.’ AI is here,” Moore responded, clearly thinking on the spot. Rather than fight a “losing” battle, Moore suggested that artists figure out how to “work with” the technology. This, s…

I mowed a lot of lawns and cleaned a lot of gutters as a kid, but my first consistent job was delivering newspapers. Today that sounds quaint, but it was a rite of passage back in the day. I grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., raised primarily by my mom and in the most modest house of anyone I knew. She used to say we were never poor– we just didn’t have a lot of money. So at age 15 when I heard that a Washington Post delivery route paid $100/month, I jumped at the chance. This was the Post in its prime, not long after its reporting on the Watergate scandal made the paper famous. Every home in the area had a subscription. Politicians, …

Inside Ikea’s movie studio-size marketing and production facility at the company’s headquarters in Älmhult, Sweden, a corner of a vast soundstage is piled with a multicolored array of what look like props from some fantastical children’s show. There’s a bench that rocks from side to side, a bright blue lamp that hides two transformative elbows in its skinny post, a glass vase with jug ears sticking out from its sides, and a clock on the end of a curvaceous red tube that looks like a worm wiggling its way out of the dirt. These whimsical items are all part of Ikea’s new PS collection, a once-in-a-while recurring product drop that the company uses to stretch its exp…

When SpaceX filed an FCC application earlier this year proposing to launch a million satellite data centers into orbit, the company argued the project would have no meaningful environmental impact. On SpaceX’s website, Elon Musk made the case for space-based AI infrastructure in simpler terms: “It’s always sunny in space,” he wrote, arguing that orbital data centers are “obviously the only way to scale.” When SpaceX filed an FCC application earlier this year to launch a million satellite data centers into space, the company said that the plan wouldn’t have any environmental impact. But researchers say the climate calculus is far more complicated than that. Yes, orbital…

Whether it’s giving you workout plans or summarizing your sleep, AI has hit fitness apps hard. In the race to add artificial intelligence features to everything from your music playlists to your weather app, the fitness world has also become flooded with new AI-powered services promising to take your workouts to the next level. Earlier this year, Strava launched Athlete Intelligence, which uses generative AI to create summaries of users’ activities, offering neat little roundups of things like heart rate and pace during runs, bike rides, or walks. Whoop AI, powered by none other than Sam Altman’s OpenAI, leverages biometric data to offer recommendations meant to optimi…

The closest thing to the idealized mall you recall either from personal memory or from cultural lore exists on a block in the Soho neighborhood of New York City, New York Magazine aptly dubbed “Tween Row.” On a recent spring afternoon, tween girls outfitted in cable knit cardigans, pink camis, hoodies, and lowrise jeans, chatted with each other (or their willing parents) as they popped into favorite shops: Brandy Melville, Edikted, Princess Polly. As of May 14, Tween Row will get a new tenant jockeying for their attention: Victoria’s Secret’s Pink. The store, the first designed by creative director Adam Selman, points to the retail experiences Gen Z and Gen Alph…

It’s time to stop calling Gen Z the youngest generation in the workforce. Gen Alpha has entered the chat. Although the oldest Gen Alphas have only just hit their teen years, they are deeply financially motivated and ready to be put to work. If you happen to be living with a Gen Alpha who seems strangely fixated on earning their own money—or who is obsessed with brands and products—you know that we’re raising a generation of hustlers (even if they’re just hustling us). But new data from public relations and marketing firm DKC is shedding even more light on the financial intrigue behind Gen Alpha. The firm surveyed 1,000 parents of 8- to 15-year-olds about their chi…

Since 1946, the Festival de Cannes (a.k.a. the Cannes Film Festival) in France has been a beacon of cinematic excellence and cultural exchange. For those who love the Academy Awards, films such as Parasite and Anora debuted here first before taking home an Oscar. This year promises to continue this worthy legacy despite fewer American entries than normal. Here’s everything you need to know as the festivities kick off this week. How did the Cannes Film Festival begin? In July 1938, a Nazi propaganda film helped inspire Philippe Erlanger to create a new film festival. He was one of many who were displeased that Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia and Goffredo Alessandrin…

At my latest networking “meeting” with my bro Alex — also known as a free lunch with a marketing executive who still has a job and a corporate card — we talked about freelance opportunities that might be coming up. We talked about who was hiring, who claimed they were hiring, and which companies were pretending that “lean teams” were somehow a point of pride instead of a warning sign. As we were wrapping up, Alex asked about my runway. “How much longer do you have on unemployment?” he asked, while signing the check. “I never filed for unemployment,” I said. Alex looked at me the way people look at you when you say you’re Team Aubrey. “What do you mean…

Retail giant Walmart Inc has confirmed that it will eliminate some jobs. However, the affected positions will not impact the company’s retail staff, which makes up the overwhelming majority of its 1.6 million-strong U.S. workforce. Here’s what you need to know about Walmart’s latest round of layoffs. What’s happened? On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart would lay off or relocate around 1,000 members of its corporate workforce, citing people familiar with the situation. Walmart has now confirmed to Fast Company that it is eliminating some roles, without specifying the exact number of positions to be cut. A company spokesperson provided …

While a lot of folks embrace the futuristic vibe of autonomous cars, two veteran mobility entrepreneurs quickly spotted a looming chokepoint in their scaling efforts. The robotaxi industry desperately needs a faster, more streamlined way to service its fleets if it hopes to become profitable. George Kalligeros, a Greek car enthusiast and former Tesla engineer, and the British business strategist Dan Keene were all too aware of new mobility infrastructure. They’d navigated similar logistics with their London startup Pushme Bikes, a massive battery-swapping network for shared e-scooters & e-bikes that raised $600 million before selling to Germany’s Tier Mobility in 202…

When Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s CEO, sent an internal memo about AI last year, he didn’t expect it to go viral—or to ignite a firestorm about the future of work. Now he unpacks what he got right, what he got wrong, and what the backlash taught him about the real limitations of AI. It’s a candid reckoning with hype, growth, and the surprisingly complicated promise of technology in education. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company, Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time ch…