Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

You couldn’t have missed the news: Jony Ive and Sam Altman have teamed up, after OpenAI acquired Ive’s company io for $6.5 billion. The plan? For Ive, and a sizable team of ex-employees from Apple, it’s to create a series of hardware products for OpenAI. The news alone dropped shares of Apple by 1.8% as two of the most celebrated software and hardware development teams in the modern era have combined to realize the potential of artificial intelligence and change the way we live. Hopefully for the better. The first io product, according to The Wall Street Journal, arrives in 2026. It will be a small object “capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and…

It’s no secret that when it comes to simplicity and convenience, insurance has lagged behind modern businesses across most industries. While many legacy products have been overturned by newer, intuitive solutions or adapted to meet today’s consumers’ needs, insurance offerings have remained a complex anomaly—built more for business and regulatory needs rather than real people. We already know that healthcare in America is too expensive, and far too many people simply can’t afford to get sick. Health insurance deductibles are at an all-time high, while denied and delayed claims payments persist. Insurance companies have continued making money while a staggering number …

The vertical video feed is coming to the Netflix app. The streaming service announced Tuesday that in the coming weeks it will pilot the new feature, which it will populate with short-form clips of movies and shows tailored to the end-user’s viewing habits. Netflix users will be able to swipe through the feed to watch, save, or share content with friends, just like Tiktok. Yep the user interface that took over social media is making its way into streaming—but most importantly for Netflix, it’s a play for improving its own content discovery engine. “We know that swiping through a vertical feed on social media apps is an easy way to browse video content, and we also…

Fast-fashion clothing chain Forever 21 is reportedly getting ready to shutter hundreds of locations as it considers filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. If it does, it would be the second wave of mass store closings and second bankruptcy that the chain has undergone in less than six years. Here’s what you need to know about Forever 21’s reported closures. Forever 21 may close 200 stores—or all of them This week, Bloomberg reported that Forever 21 may close 200 locations in the United States as part of a potential second bankruptcy process that the retailer is considering. If Forever 21 can’t find a buyer during the bankruptcy process, the chain would report…

Were it not for his experience in North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt said he never would have become president of the United States. After his first wife and mother died on the same day in 1884, the eventual 26th president retreated to modern-day North Dakota to mourn and reflect. Next July, more than a century after Roosevelt’s death, a presidential library in his honor is slated to open in the state that held so much significance in his life. And the visionaries behind the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library hope a visit to the Medora, North Dakota-based library will prove as restorative to people in the modern era as this area once was for Roosevelt. That m…

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. The speed and breadth of the changing political/cultural status quo in the U.S. has been breathtaking and disorienting for brand leaders across the tech/business community. Some leaders ​​have gone all in to kiss the ring of the new status quo. Many more are wrestling with the question “How do I continue to support the ideals my brand believes in without causing serious self-sabotage?” Thi…

Congress may stop California from implementing its first-in-the nation rule banning the sale of new gas powered cars by 2035. A Senate vote expected as soon as this week could end the nation’s most aggressive effort to transition toward electric vehicles as President Donald The President’s administration doubles down on fossil fuels. California makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, giving it significant power to shape purchasing trends. Vehicles are one of the largest sources of planet-warming emissions. The Republican-controlled Congress is targeting three California waivers that set stricter emissions rules than the federal government. The House voted to block…

For decades, huge swaths of Brazil’s Cerrado ecosystem have been used to support the global demand for burgers. Forests and grasslands were replaced by pastures along with farms growing soy to feed cattle. But a major restoration project is now underway on an area nearly twice as large as Manhattan. If you fly over one part of southwestern Brazil, you’ll see a patchwork of dozens of square plots where a local university is studying different methods of helping native plants regrow on former cattle pastures. On more than 25,000 acres, along rivers and the edge of remaining pieces of forest, new vegetation has been growing quickly over the past two years. Wildlife camer…

Keyboard shortcuts are efficiency’s greatest secret weapon. Yes, they can take a bit to learn and yes, sometimes you’ve got to—gasp!—take your hand off your mouse to reach all the keys. But man, oh man, once you’ve mastered the best ones, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. If you want to navigate Windows 11 faster, work smarter, and minimize unnecessary clicks, these are the 10 shortcuts worth memorizing. Alt + Tab: Switch Between Open Apps As far as most shortcut experts are concerned, this is the Windows shortcut to rule all shortcuts. This venerable classic lets you cycle through open applications with ease. Hold Alt and tap Tab to ju…

When we think of summer bags, we tend to think of big totes we can carry to the beach or a farmers market. But this year, bag designers are reimagining the summer staple as a piece of art you can carry around with you. They’re taking the seasonal materials we’re used to seeing—raffia, straw, wicker—and transforming them into beautiful, interesting shapes. They’re meant to do more than hold your phone; they’re designed to give you pleasure and start conversations. Here are our favorite sculptural bags of the season. Camilla Clutch Cult Gaia, $298 Cult Gaia first made a name for itself with a half-moon-shaped bamboo Ark bag, which went viral. Since then,…

You’ve made it past the recruiter and the first round of interviews. Now you’re meeting with the hiring manager. They’ll likely ask you a series of behavioral questions to evaluate whether you’re a good cultural fit for the team. They’ll also assess whether they believe you are up to the managerial and leadership challenges facing the role. Preparing for behavioral interviews can be nerve-wracking. The stakes are high, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the possible scenarios they could throw at you. I’ve spent over a dozen plus years of preparing folks for interviews and talking to people on the hiring side. As a result, I’ve developed an approach to behavioral…

UnitedHealth Group spent nearly $1.7 million on security for its top executives in 2024, the healthcare conglomerate disclosed on Monday, months after the fatal shooting of senior executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December. The company also paid $207,931 on behalf of certain family members of the executives to provide them with personal and home security services, it said. The security spending disclosures, absent from UnitedHealth’s previous annual filings, underscore how the December shooting is prompting companies to reassess the risk of targeted violence against top management. U.S. drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly also in…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How can I improve my team’s morale? A: Team morale isn’t an extra or a “nice to have.” It’s critical to a functioning company. And it’s not looking good out there. According to the latest Gallup report, only 36% of employees say they feel engaged at work. That means 64% of employees are feeling some degree of unhappy at work. Low morale can take a lot of different forms—from feeling less enthusiastic, less motivated, or less satisfied with work, all the …

Instacart is launching a new stand-alone app called Fizz, designed for groups to order snacks and drinks ahead of parties for a flat $5 delivery fee. The platform, developed in collaboration with the hugely popular event invite app Partiful, enables partygoers in the 30 U.S. states where alcohol delivery is legal to add items to a shared cart from nearby participating grocery stores. Instead of splitting the bill, each user is prompted to pay only for what they’ve added, with an option to include a tip for the shopper. Back in February, Instacart’s chief product officer, Daniel Danker, approached Partiful CEO Shreya Murthy about partnering on the app. The team…

On the morning of March 20, Mathew Roberts was working at a chemical plant on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when he was involved in an accident with a forklift. Unresponsive and in critical condition, the father of two and Iraq War veteran known for his big laugh and warm smile was taken from the Nutrien nitrogen plant to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident, along with local law enforcement, but Roberts’s family members said they are still waiting for answers. The workplace death is not unusual in Louisiana, which has been ranked the sixth-most-dangerous s…

Alexandra Shaker, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with a background across inpatient and outpatient treatment settings. She has experience in research, teaching, and clinical practice. Dr. Shaker’s writing is an interdisciplinary exploration of the human condition: she integrates psychology, literature, history, anthropology, and language to speak to the meaning and vitality we find in the stories we tell one another and ourselves. Dr. Shaker received her PhD in clinical psychology from The New School for Social Research and conducted her doctoral research at the Brief Psychotherapy Research Program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. She completed her clinical training …

First impressions matter—they shape how we’re judged in mere seconds, research shows. People are quick to evaluate others’ competence, likability and honesty, often relying on superficial cues such as appearance or handshake strength. While these snap judgments can be flawed, they often have a lasting impact. In employment, first impressions not only affect hiring choices but also decisions about promotion years later. As a researcher in cognitive science, I’ve seen firsthand how first impressions can pose a challenge for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. People with ASD often display social behaviors—such as facial expressions, eye contact, gestures,…

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here. Blade Runner wasn’t so far-fetched after all In Blade Runner 2049, Ryan Gosling’s Officer K has a live-in girlfriend named Joi, played by Ana de Armas. The two interact like a real couple—they share familiar banter and seem to have a history together. But Joi is a hologram, projected from ceiling-mounted emitters in K’s apartment. She’s not human; she’s an advanced form of spatial computing—a future-facing concept we’re already seeing the early stages of today. The “AI girlfriend” (or bo…

Microdosing isn’t just about mushrooms any more. While taking tiny non-psychedelic doses of hallucinogens was once the health craze du jour, small, sub-clinical doses of weight loss drugs have taken over the term “microdosing” in 2025. Little research has been done on the efficacy of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic when prescribed in smaller doses, but that hasn’t stopped the craze from catching on. People are turning to microdosed GLP-1s to manage their weight, stave off side effects and to make the medications more affordable on a long term basis. For telehealth companies cashing in on off-brand formulations of popular weight loss drugs, microdosing is an option …

There are so many ways to die. You could fall off a cliff. A monk could light you on fire. A bat the size of a yacht could kick your head in. You’ve only just begun the game, and yet here you are, stranded on some strange mountaintop, surrounded by ruins. If you’re a newcomer, you’ll be dead within moments. If you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ll probably be dead a few moments later. But death isn’t the end. Death is the beginning. You’ll respawn in a graveyard, and that graveyard will lead you to a vast chasm—a pitchblack pit of certain doom. Taking the plunge down into that pit will surely lead you to more death. If the fall doesn’t kill you, it’s reasonable to assume th…