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Some large electricity generators were not doing their job to help control voltage, claims parent company’s chairView the full article

Fatal shooting in Washington DC was ‘nightmare scenario’ for a country long conscious that its envoys are a targetView the full article

The Republican-led bill heading to the Senate extends and expands numerous business and consumer tax benefits included in The President's 2017 cuts. View the full article

Yields on the 10-year Treasury have been climbing because of the Moody's U.S. downgrade, the tax bill under debate in Congress and possible GSE reform. View the full article

Until now, Xbox Game Pass has been sorely lacking in retro games. There are no titles for the original Xbox on the service, and only a scant few Xbox 360 games. There are a few games from earlier eras, like Goldeneye 007, but even those are rereleases. Since most older games don’t get that kind of treatment, they’re ultimately still few and far between on Xbox Game Pass. But now, finally, Microsoft is doing something to address this gap, bringing a new “Retro Classics” collection to its subscribers. While Activision might be better known these days for Call of Duty, back in the ‘80s, it got its start developing games for Atari consoles. When Microsoft’s merger with Activision was completed in 2023, it gained access to all those old games, and it seems like they will make up the majority of the Retro Classics line on Xbox Game Pass—though Microsoft does say it’s getting some help for the line from partner game streaming service Antstream Arcade, so who knows where it will go in the future. In the meantime, while Retro Classics might sound akin to Nintendo’s Switch Online library, expect more "Pitfall Harry" than "Super Mario." In other words, they're going the oldest of old school here. That’s a bit of a bummer to me. While I appreciate a good vintage title, most Atari-era games tend to come across more as novelties to me in 2025, and don't really hold up for more than a few minutes of play at a time. That said, there are a few slightly newer games thrown in there too, like the first two MechWarrior titles. I’d still give PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online the edge over Xbox when it comes to retro games, but that skepticism aside, this is still a nice start. Retro Classics is launching with about 60 games, with plans to add more Activision and even Blizzard titles over time, eventually landing around what Microsoft says will be “100+ titles.” That last note is promising: Activision’s later titles include games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and since no Warcraft or Starcraft titles are currently on Game Pass, there’s plenty of room for Retro Classics to grow appreciably down the road. View the full article

Early this morning, the House voted 215–214 to pass a sweeping budget reconciliation bill with provisions that include a cancellation or phaseout for just about everything that was in the Inflation Reduction Act. The measure, which now heads to the Senate, is being described by clean energy and environmental groups as a monumental betrayal of the country that will cost jobs and increase electricity bills. But during the floor debate overnight, the energy parts of the bill were an afterthought to higher priority issues for members of both parties, such as tax cuts, revisions to Medicaid, and a desire to support or oppose the agenda of President Donald The President. Two months ago, 21 House Republicans sent a letter to the chair of the House Ways & Means Committee about the need to preserve the IRA tax credits, warning against “premature credit phase outs or additional restrictive mechanisms.” House leadership was able to assuage some of those concerns when the draft of the bill showed that tax credits for biofuels would be preserved, among other changes. But some House Republicans still objected. Last week, 14 of the signers of the previous letter issued a joint statement affirming their support for the credits. This was a smaller number than the March letter, but it was more than enough to sink the bill if even a few of them held firm. So how many of them ended up voting against the bill? Zero. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) missed the vote, but had intended to vote for the bill. The other 13 people who issued the statement last week all voted “yes.” Before the vote, I spoke with David Spence, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, to try to get a sense of the factors that were most likely to influence each member. “They’re feeling pressure to go along with whatever The President wants and whatever the leadership wants,” he said. “What’s putting counterpressure on them is that for some of them that means giving up a lot of jobs and money” that came from the IRA. “And for others, it’s about how far they can be pushed away from their principles.” The counterpressure turned out to be weak. Spence is the author of Climate of Contempt: How to Rescue the U.S. Energy Transition from Voter Partisanship, a 2024 book that I wrote about last summer. He wrote a blog post this month describing the factors influencing how Congress may vote on IRA-related measures. He was paying close attention to a debate within the debate between 38 Republicans who had signed a letter this month attesting to “the urgent need to fully repeal the Inflation Reduction Act,” and also the 21—later 14—who said they wanted at least some parts of the law to be preserved. A brief aside about the merits of the bill: Energy researchers are describing it as an economic and environmental disaster. The think tank Energy Innovation said this week that the bill would lead to the loss of 830,000 jobs by 2030 and increase consumer energy costs by $16 billion in 2030. Any discussion of who voted for it in the House and who might in the Senate may sound like a parlor game, but the stakes are incredibly high when it comes to shaping the world of future generations. Spence made a chart showing each of the members who signed the two letters, along with factors that may shape their views, such as the partisan lean of their districts and the extent of IRA projects there. Of the 38 people calling for a full repeal, 28 represent districts with a Republican lean of at least 10 points, which means their district favored the GOP by at least 10 percentage points more than the country as a whole did in the 2024 general election, according to Cook Political Report. These members have a much higher risk of losing in a primary challenge from another Republican than of losing in a general election. Among the 38 are some of the House’s most outspoken budget hawks, who are so committed to their ideology that they have been willing to go against the House leadership and the The President administration on issues related to spending. Examples include Reps. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Only 10 of the 38 have IRA-funded projects in their districts, based on data from E2, a clean energy business group. Among them is Norman, whose district has six such projects that have led to commitments for 1,933 jobs. One of those projects, a solar panel plant planned by Silfab Solar of Canada, has been controversial. Some residents have said they are alarmed about chemicals that would be used to make solar equipment. Norman said on Wednesday that his main concern is that he doesn’t like subsidies. “Embracing an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy is crucial, and solar plays a role in that mix,” Norman said in a statement. “But let me be clear—that does not mean we support endless subsidies. The real value of energy production lies in strengthening our infrastructure, streamlining permitting, and reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers. We need to rely on what works where it works, without burdening taxpayers to prop up any one industry.” Based on the outcome, the House members who really hate the IRA were able to win the internal debate over those who wanted to preserve some parts of the law—and it wasn’t even close. The final negotiations were more about making the bill palatable to budget hardliners, which involved making the IRA provisions even more onerous for energy companies and implementing faster phaseouts. Among the potential holdouts that voted for the bill was Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who was re-elected despite his district favoring Democrats by a narrow margin in the presidential election. He was part of both the letter and the joint statement calling for tax credits to be maintained. Others who said they supported tax credits come from heavily Republican districts that have major projects funded in part by the IRA. This includes Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia, who has seven projects and 4,462 jobs in his district related to the law, and still voted for the bill. “This is a once-in-a-generation bill that will unlock President The President’s full domestic agenda, which Georgians voted for overwhelmingly back in November,” Carter said in a statement after the vote. “With the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act we are unleashing our nation’s energy dominance, securing the border, putting more money back into hardworking Americans’ wallets, kicking illegal immigrants off Medicaid so that it is available for those who need it, and ending the waste, fraud, and abuse that risks sending our country into economic ruin.” The larger lesson was that the power of partisanship overwhelmed just about everything else. This gives credence to a view I hear a lot from grassroots environmental advocates: The only way to pass and maintain strong climate and energy policies is to elect Democrats because even the Republicans who care about those topics will be marginalized and ultimately run over by their leadership. But this isn’t over yet. Four Senate Republicans have raised concerns about the phaseout of energy tax credits. If the Senate makes any changes, the House will need to vote again. In the meantime, entire industries—including solar, wind, batteries, EVs, and energy efficiency—may need to throw out their business plans, scrap investments, and prepare for a challenging near future. This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. View the full article

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. OpenAI will acquire the AI device startup co-founded by Apple veteran Jony Ive and Sam Altman, called “io,” for nearly $6.5 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. This almost certainly will put OpenAI in the consumer hardware business, and it seems like it will soon release a dedicated personal AI device. Ive is a pedigreed design guru with a track record of creating iconic tech products like the iPhone and the Apple Watch. Ive, a close friend of Steve Jobs, left Apple in 2019. “I have a growing sense that everything I’ve learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place and to this moment,” Ive told Bloomberg. Coming from the world’s best device designer, that’s saying a lot. OpenAI brings a lot to the table, too. After setting off the AI boom with the late 2022 release of ChatGPT, the startup has quickly built its chatbot into a mass market AI app and a household name. More than 400 million people around the world now use ChatGPT every week, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap recently told CNBC. (For comparison, longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster estimates that there are 1.7 billion Apple device users and 2.35 billion active devices worldwide.) “OpenAI has all of the core leadership and the best-in-class models, as well as some of the most widely used interfaces,” says Gartner analyst Chirag Dekate. “ChatGPT has defined and set the bar for what early experiences of generative AI ought to look like,” Dekate says. Ive helped Apple set such standards for smartphones and smartwatches. Apple’s traditional power was its mastery of the user interface—–the technology that mediates between a human user and their digital tools and content. But iOS devices evolved from roots in traditional computing. AI models operate in a fundamentally different way, and may require a fundamentally different UX. (Apple, which has struggled to empower its devices with new generative AI capabilities, saw its stock price drop as much as 2.3% on news of the io deal Wednesday.) OpenAI will now get an opportunity to define the ideal software-hardware fusion for the new computing paradigm it helped usher in—after high-profile flops like Humane’s AI pin. “AI is such a big leap forward in terms of what people can do that it needs a new kind of computing form factor to get the maximum potential out of it,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Bloomberg. Ive’s and Altman’s design firm has so far given the world no clue of its vision for a personal AI device. But whatever it builds—–a pendant or a bracelet or some kind of glasses—–will very likely provide an influential blueprint for how a vehicle for personal AI should look in the future. “Jony Ive and io joining OpenAI is so important: It calls out the fact that in order to truly diffuse generative AI across society, we need to build new hardware experiences,” Dekate says. “The QWERTY keyboard may not be the best way to experience generative AI.” Google got its AI mojo back Google looks like a company that’s got its mojo back. Yes, yes, I know . . . the company still faces some very big problems—–antitrust actions, changes in its core search business, etc.—–but it also seems to have fully woken up to the AI revolution it helped start, and seems to be navigating it with level-headedness and even a sense of fun. The company’s two-hour keynote at its developer event in Mountain View Tuesday was all about AI, a showcase for a comprehensive strategy of applying the company’s Gemini AI models broadly across its product portfolio—–to everything from search tools to coding agents to video generators to smart glasses. Remember that Google is a company that entered the AI race only reluctantly in 2023, in the wake of the ChatGPT launch. Even though it was Google researchers who figured out how to architect and train the type of large language models that power ChatGPT, the company was, for legal and safety reasons, deeply conflicted about exposing such models to the public. But after OpenAI, Microsoft, and others hurried to apply and commercialize LLMs, Google found itself on the back foot, punished by Wall Street for not leading the race: a lackluster February 2023 demo of the Bard chatbot caused an 8% drop in Alphabet stock. Google’s biggest announcement Tuesday may mark the moment when it retook the lead—–with a new AI product that could remake its core search business. “AI Mode,” a chatbot-format AI search tool that will compete directly against ChatGPT and Perplexity, went from being an experimental product to being available to all users. It’s powered by Google’s best model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. In AI Mode, rather than entering a search term or phrase, users can describe in detail what they’re looking for (often a solution to a problem rather than just some facts) and then work with Gemini’s reasoning abilities to get to a fully responsive package of custom information. Features from the company’s Project Astra work will increasingly let the AI gather information about objects (or problems) it sees (through a phone camera or smart glasses) in the real world around the user. Its work in Project Mariner will give AI more and more power to operate the user’s device and call on various web tools (mapping, live weather, etc.) on the user’s behalf. This summer AI Mode will be able to book appointments on the user’s behalf, do deep research projects and data visualization, and help people shop for clothing and other products. The Gemini Live mode in the Gemini app leverages some of the same technologies. Google’s Demis Hassabis described the experimental project as a universal AI assistant powered by a “world model” that understands the context in which the user is moving, and understands a certain amount about how the physics of the world works, and can plan and take action on behalf of the user. In the demo video during I/O, a young man talks to the assistant while fixing a bicycle. Through the phone camera, the Gemini Live identifies problems and replacement parts, places a phone call to order a part, looks up schematics on the web, and makes suggestions. It can also control a user’s device, analyze video, share its screen, and remember everything it sees or discusses in a session. Google has always been a medium between humans and all the data and intelligence that resides on the public web. No other company has as much experience accessing, parsing, organizing, and packaging all that information. Google believes that AI can make that medium a lot smarter, proactive, and personalized. And the power of Gemini goes well beyond search to best-in-class video/audio generation tools (Veo 3, Flow) to coding assistants (Jules) and to wearables (Android XR glasses). Anthropic debuts new generation of Claude models Anthropic on Thursday debuted the fourth generation of its AI models with Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, which the company says push the state of the art for coding, advanced reasoning, and AI agents. Both can use tools, such as web search. The company says Claude Opus 4 is its best model and the best coding model in the world. The model can work for several hours straight on complex, long-running tasks that involve thousands of steps, Anthropic says, and significantly expands what AI agents can accomplish. Claude Sonnet 4 replaces Anthropic’s previous best effort, Claude 3.7 Sonnet. The company says the new model does everything 3.7 did, but pushes the envelope further on coding, reasoning, and precise instruction following. Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 are hybrid models offering two modes: near-instant responses and extended thinking for deeper reasoning. Both models are available on the Anthropic API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI. Claude Sonnet 4 is also available in the free version of the Claude chatbot. The new models use chain-of-thought processing, as Claude 3.7 Sonnet did. But instead of displaying the model’s raw thought process to users, Anthropic now shows summaries of the models’ reasoning steps. Anthropic says it made this change “to preserve visibility for users while better securing our models.” Anthropic’s competitors could potentially use the raw chain-of-thought output to train their own models. While Anthropic’s models are used to power a number of commercial coding assistants, the company has its own assistant, Claude Code, which it released as a research preview earlier this year. The assistant is now generally available. Anthropic says it’ll start to release model updates more frequently in an effort to “continuously refine and enhance” its models. More AI coverage from Fast Company: Forget return-to-office. Hybrid now means human plus AI What it’s like to wear Google’s Gemini-powered AI glasses How Google is rethinking search in an AI-filled world Cartwheel uses AI to make 3D animation 100 times faster for creators and studios Want exclusive reporting and trend analysis on technology, business innovation, future of work, and design? Sign up for Fast Company Premium. 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Market unease at the US’s fiscal position is growing View the full article

Paramount+ has a lighter lineup of original content in June, though the platform will stream the live broadcast of the 78th annual Tony Awards from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show, hosted by Wicked's Cynthia Erivo, will air live on June 8 for Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers—other viewers can watch on-demand the next day. Other content available for Paramount+ With Showtime users is Love Me (June 16), a post-apocalyptic romance starring Kristen Steward and Steven Yeun, and Noah's Arc: The Movie (June 20), 20 years after the titular show first debuted. Darryl Stephens, Rodney Chester, Doug Spearman, Christian Vincent, Jensen Atwood, and Wilson Cruz are set to reprise their roles. Here’s everything else coming to the service in June. Note that titles with an asterisk are exclusive to Paramount+ With Showtime; everything else is also available to subscribers on the ad-supported plan. Those with two asterisks are available to Paramount+ With Showtime users streaming live on CBS and to all subscribers the following day. Paramount+ Originals and premieres coming in June 2025Available June 8The 78th Annual Tony Awards** Available June 16Love Me* Available June 20Noah's Arc: The Movie,* premiere TV shows coming to Paramount+ in June 2025Available June 4SpongeBob SquarePants (season 14) Available June 11The Really Loud House (season 2) Available June 22Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (on-demand) Available June 25The Patrick Star Show (season 3) Ice Airport Alaska (season 5) The Last Cowboy (season 5) Movies coming to Paramount+ in June 2025Available June 13:10 to Yuma* 12 Years a Slave Bad News Bears BlacKkKlansman Boogie Nights But I'm a Cheerleader Call Me By Your Name Carol Carriers Center Stage Changing Lanes Chasing Amy Cloverfield Crawlspace Daddy Day Camp Dance Flick Dog Day Afternoon Double Jeopardy Eagle Eye Elf Enemy at the Gates EuroTrip Everybody's Fine Extract First Blood Heatwave How She Move How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Imagine That In & Out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Jawbreaker Kinky Boots Law of Desire Layer Cake Light of My Life Like a Boss Marathon Man Masterminds Military Wives* Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult No Country for Old Men Orange County Overdrive Pretty In Pink Pulp Fiction Racing with the Moon Rambo III Rambo: First Blood Part II RED* Reservoir Dogs Risky Business Road Trip Run & Gun Saturday Night Fever Save the Last Dance School Ties Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse She's All That Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Stand By Me Teen Titans GO! To the Movies The Autopsy of Jane Doe* The Crossing Guard The Dictator The Fighting Temptations The Gambler The General's Daughter The Girl Next Door The Godfather The Godfather Part II The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone The Hunt for Red October The Ides of March The Kings of Summer The Last Samurai The Lovely Bones The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear The Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad! The Nice Guys The Other Woman* The People vs. Larry Flynt The Running Man The Shootist The Space Between Us* The Untouchables Tigerland Tommy Boy Tootsie Total Recall (1990) True Grit Whiplash Without a Paddle xXx Zola Available June 5Lions for Lambs* View the full article

The Senate voted on Thursday to block California’s first-in-the nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, acting to kill the nation’s most aggressive effort to transition toward electric vehicles as President Donald The President’s administration has doubled down on fossil fuels. The resolution approved by the Senate goes to the White House, where The President is expected to sign it, along with two other measures blocking California’s rules that the Senate is poised to pass. The House approved the three resolutions earlier this month. The GOP effort to kill the rules could have a profound impact on California’s longtime efforts to curb air pollution. The push comes after Senate Republicans established a new exception to the filibuster on Wednesday to allow them to weigh in on the issue. 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. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state air regulators say that what Congress is doing is illegal and they will likely sue to keep the rules in place. The two other resolutions would block rules to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Democrats charge that Republicans are acting at the behest of the oil and gas industry and they say California should be able to set its own standards after obtaining waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans say the phaseout of gas-powered cars, along with other waivers that California has obtained from the EPA, is costly for consumers and manufacturers, puts pressure on the nation’s energy grid and has become a de facto nationwide electric vehicle mandate. “The waivers in question allow California to implement a stringent electric vehicle mandate, which—given California’s size and the fact that a number of other states have signed on to California’s mandate—would end up not just affecting the state of California, but the whole country,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., before the vote. Newsom, a Democrat, announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within 15 years as part of an aggressive effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector. Plug-in hybrids and used gas cars could still be sold. The Biden administration approved the state’s waiver to implement the standards in December, a month before The President returned to office. The California rules are stricter than a Biden-era rule that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles. Biden’s EPA said in announcing the decision that opponents of the California waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the Clean Air Act. Through a series of votes on Wednesday, Republicans set a new precedent for the Senate to reject the state EPA waivers with a simple majority vote, as opposed to the 60 vote threshold on legislation that is subject to a filibuster. The votes were a workaround that enabled them to hold the votes after the Senate parliamentarian agreed with the Government Accountability Office that California’s policies are not subject to the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows Congress to reject federal regulations under certain circumstances. Democrats fought the changes, which were the latest attempt to chip away at the Senate filibuster after both parties have used their majorities in the past two decades to lower the threshold for nominations. Democrats tried in 2022 to roll back the filibuster for legislation, as well, but were thwarted by members of their own caucus who disagreed with the effort. Republicans have insisted that they would not try a similar move after regaining the majority this year. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the move to block California’s laws were a “point of no return” and called the Republicans “fair weather institutionalists.” —Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press View the full article

Amazon and Grubhub are entering the second year of a five-year commercial agreement that gives Amazon Prime members access to the food delivery platform’s subscription program at no extra cost. As part of the deal, Grubhub’s ordering tab was integrated directly into the Amazon app and website, allowing users to order burritos while shopping for face wash or streaming a show. That seamless experience appears to be paying off, say company executives. “Amazon Prime customers are a very engaged customer cohort,” says Jamil Ghani, Amazon’s worldwide vice president of Prime. More than nine out of 10 orders on Amazon.com or in the app are coming from Prime members returning to the order experience, the company says. Amazon plans to add food delivery through its Alexa+ service later this year, Ghani says. THIRD PARTY BOOST The collaboration arrives at a time when many companies are enhancing their subscription offerings. Amazon is competing with loyalty programs from Walmart and Target, hoping that added perks like Grubhub+ increase the appeal of its $139-a-year Prime membership. Amazon reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of this year, though it is one of the many retailers caught up in President Donald The President’s aggressive tariffs. Shares of the company were up almost 11% from this time a year ago, though they’ve decreased 7.8% year to date. “The main benefit to Amazon of the Grubhub partnership is that it helps underscore the value of Prime outside all the benefits Amazon offers via its own services,” GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders tells Fast Company. “Grubhub is a very complimentary service as meal delivery and pickup is not something Amazon does itself.” Grubhub operates in the same competitive space as Uber Eats and DoorDash—both of which also have loyalty programs bolstered by third-party deals, with companies like Delta and Chase, respectively. Although Grubhub’s market share has declined steadily since 2021, integration with Amazon has introduced the platform to new users and increased awareness of Grubhub+. A Grubhub+ membership otherwise costs $120 a year and gives users $0 delivery fees and lower service fees. The companies claim that Prime members who use the service “save an average of $300 per year.” Amazon declined to share specific numbers on signups, but the company said there’s a more than 50% year-over-year increase in Grubhub+ signups since it integrated the platform “For Grubhub, the partnership expands the audience and the number or orders it fulfills,” Saunders says. “Amazon has a huge reach and Grubhub has been able to tap into this.” View the full article

Hinge Health Inc, the digital physical therapy health startup that is expected to make its market debut on Thursday, in a closely watched initial public offering (IPO) that will test the market’s interest for a new digital health offering, after what has been a challenging few years for the sector. Recently, there have been fewer tech IPOs, but they could be making a comeback, according to CNBC. The San Francisco-based company priced shares at $32 on Wednesday, the higher end of its expected range, in an offering led by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and BofA Securities. The stock will list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the “HNGE” ticker symbol. Based on its IPO share price, HNGE has an approximate valuation worth about $2.6 billion, though it could be higher on a fully diluted basis; and is much lower than its October 2021 valuation of $6.2 billion, according to CNBC. What does Hinge Health do? Hinge Health leverages software, including artificial intelligence (AI), to largely automate care for joint and muscle health, to improve outcomes, and cost reductions for its clients via a digital platform. That platform is designed to address a broad spectrum of musculoskeletal health needs (MSK) care—from acute injury, to chronic pain, to post-surgical rehabilitation—and aims It aims to reduce pain, improve function, and decrease the necessity for surgeries; while promoting health equity because it allows members to engage in their exercise therapy sessions from any location. The company was founded in 2014 by Daniel Perez and Gabriel Mecklenburg after both experienced MSK injuries, and both had to undergo surgery and physical therapy, enduring a frustrating recovery process. View the full article

ASUS and AMD jointly introduced the new ASUS Expert P Series commercial PC lineup at the AMD Press Conference during Computex 2025, unveiling a full portfolio of AI-powered desktop, all-in-one, laptop, and mini PC devices designed specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. The lineup includes the ExpertBook P3 laptop series, ExpertCenter P700 and P600 desktops and all-in-ones, and the ExpertCenter PN54 Mini PC—all powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors and equipped with Copilot+ capabilities to meet the increasing demands of modern workplaces and AI-driven tasks. “Our partnership with ASUS has been a tremendous success — initially in the consumer and gaming sectors — and we’re excited to build on that momentum as we expand into the commercial space,” said Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of AMD’s Computing and Graphics Group. “This powerful new solution is designed to meet the growing demands of AI workloads, offering businesses unparalleled speed, efficiency, and scalability for AI-driven applications and innovation worldwide.” The ExpertBook P3 Series—available in 14-inch (PM3406) and 16-inch (PM3606) variants—features up to AMD Ryzen AI PRO 7 processors with 66 total system TOPS of AI performance and a 45W TDP. With a 70Wh battery, ExpertCool thermal technology, and a full metal chassis, the P3 is designed for professionals needing mobility and computing power. The devices also provide a wide array of I/O ports and long-term support, including 18 months of software stability, 24 months of availability, and a rigorous platform validation process. In desktop form, the ExpertCenter P700 Series makes its debut as ASUS’ first Copilot+ tower PC, available in mini tower (PM700MK) and small form factor (PM700SK) designs. With up to 50 TOPS of AI computing via dedicated NPU, a tool-free chassis, and MIL-STD-810H durability, the P700 is engineered for high performance in business environments. The ExpertCenter P600 Series represents ASUS’ first all-in-one Copilot+ PC, with 24-inch (PM640) and 27-inch (PM670) options. These AIOs deliver up to 50 TOPS of AI power for real-time content creation, feature a wide-view FHD touchscreen, retractable camera, and come with business-grade durability and Microsoft Copilot integration. Rounding out the series is the ExpertCenter PN54 Mini PC, a compact yet powerful device that brings Copilot+ performance to space-constrained workspaces like retail setups and kiosks. Despite its size, the PN54 supports intelligent multitasking and accelerated workflows, extending AI capabilities to more flexible environments. “We’re proud to deepen our collaboration with AMD as we usher in a new era of AI-powered computing,” said S.Y. Hsu, ASUS Co-CEO. “With the addition of the new Expert series… we aim to deliver next-gen AI experiences that empower users everywhere.” Each device in the Expert P Series includes ASUS AI ExpertMeet, an on-device assistant offering AI-powered translation, meeting summaries, and transcription, with all data processed locally for enhanced privacy. Security is bolstered with ExpertGuardian, a business-grade protection suite covering hardware, firmware, and software. Systems meet NIST SP 800-155 compliance, include TPM 2.0, and receive five years of BIOS and driver update support. ASUS also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting businesses with flexible service options and efficient IT management, offering comprehensive support for deployment, maintenance, and scaling. While the spotlight was on the Expert Series for business, ASUS also unveiled new consumer and gaming products at the Computex exhibition, including the ROG GM700, a flagship desktop featuring AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors and Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics, built for peak gaming performance. Image: Asus This article, "ASUS and AMD Launch AI-Powered Expert P Series PCs for Business at Computex 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

ASUS and AMD jointly introduced the new ASUS Expert P Series commercial PC lineup at the AMD Press Conference during Computex 2025, unveiling a full portfolio of AI-powered desktop, all-in-one, laptop, and mini PC devices designed specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. The lineup includes the ExpertBook P3 laptop series, ExpertCenter P700 and P600 desktops and all-in-ones, and the ExpertCenter PN54 Mini PC—all powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors and equipped with Copilot+ capabilities to meet the increasing demands of modern workplaces and AI-driven tasks. “Our partnership with ASUS has been a tremendous success — initially in the consumer and gaming sectors — and we’re excited to build on that momentum as we expand into the commercial space,” said Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of AMD’s Computing and Graphics Group. “This powerful new solution is designed to meet the growing demands of AI workloads, offering businesses unparalleled speed, efficiency, and scalability for AI-driven applications and innovation worldwide.” The ExpertBook P3 Series—available in 14-inch (PM3406) and 16-inch (PM3606) variants—features up to AMD Ryzen AI PRO 7 processors with 66 total system TOPS of AI performance and a 45W TDP. With a 70Wh battery, ExpertCool thermal technology, and a full metal chassis, the P3 is designed for professionals needing mobility and computing power. The devices also provide a wide array of I/O ports and long-term support, including 18 months of software stability, 24 months of availability, and a rigorous platform validation process. In desktop form, the ExpertCenter P700 Series makes its debut as ASUS’ first Copilot+ tower PC, available in mini tower (PM700MK) and small form factor (PM700SK) designs. With up to 50 TOPS of AI computing via dedicated NPU, a tool-free chassis, and MIL-STD-810H durability, the P700 is engineered for high performance in business environments. The ExpertCenter P600 Series represents ASUS’ first all-in-one Copilot+ PC, with 24-inch (PM640) and 27-inch (PM670) options. These AIOs deliver up to 50 TOPS of AI power for real-time content creation, feature a wide-view FHD touchscreen, retractable camera, and come with business-grade durability and Microsoft Copilot integration. Rounding out the series is the ExpertCenter PN54 Mini PC, a compact yet powerful device that brings Copilot+ performance to space-constrained workspaces like retail setups and kiosks. Despite its size, the PN54 supports intelligent multitasking and accelerated workflows, extending AI capabilities to more flexible environments. “We’re proud to deepen our collaboration with AMD as we usher in a new era of AI-powered computing,” said S.Y. Hsu, ASUS Co-CEO. “With the addition of the new Expert series… we aim to deliver next-gen AI experiences that empower users everywhere.” Each device in the Expert P Series includes ASUS AI ExpertMeet, an on-device assistant offering AI-powered translation, meeting summaries, and transcription, with all data processed locally for enhanced privacy. Security is bolstered with ExpertGuardian, a business-grade protection suite covering hardware, firmware, and software. Systems meet NIST SP 800-155 compliance, include TPM 2.0, and receive five years of BIOS and driver update support. ASUS also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting businesses with flexible service options and efficient IT management, offering comprehensive support for deployment, maintenance, and scaling. While the spotlight was on the Expert Series for business, ASUS also unveiled new consumer and gaming products at the Computex exhibition, including the ROG GM700, a flagship desktop featuring AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors and Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics, built for peak gaming performance. Image: Asus This article, "ASUS and AMD Launch AI-Powered Expert P Series PCs for Business at Computex 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Hurricane season officially begins in 10 days. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today that the U.S. is likely to see an above-average number of hurricanes this year, with 13–19 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes, and three to five major hurricanes. It’s not just hurricane season, but disaster season in general. Recent tornadoes have killed dozens of people. As the summer progresses, there’s a bigger risk of both extreme heat and wildfires. (The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists calls May through October “danger season,” and points out that the risk of major hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and fires keeps getting significantly worse because of climate change.) We’re not ready for the next big disaster. At NOAA, which collects crucial data and makes forecasts, more than 1,000 employees have been fired or took retirement offers because of DOGE. The administration also wants to cut NOAA’s budget by around 30%. At FEMA, an internal memo last week said that the agency’s normal process to prepare had been “derailed by other activities like staffing and contracts.” At least 2,000 of the agency’s roughly 6,000 full-time employees have left or plan to leave. “I think Americans are going to start seeing after a major disaster that the response they normally see from FEMA is just not there,” says Joel Scata, a senior attorney at the nonprofit NRDC. “They’re going to be left fending for themselves. They’re going to be left wondering where FEMA staff are because FEMA doesn’t have the capacity to address it right now.” Some changes are already apparent. In St. Louis, a historic 23-mile-long tornado killed five people, injured 38, and caused more than $1.6 billion in damages on May 19. Despite the scale of the disaster, FEMA was slow to arrive. Republican lawmaker Josh Hawley had to beg for help. In Mississippi, the state is still waiting for approval of a disaster declaration for tornadoes that happened two months ago. The President suggested “maybe getting rid of FEMA,” shortly after taking office, and Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in March that she wanted to “eliminate” FEMA. Project 2025, the policy blueprint that the The President administration is closely following, calls for moving the responsibility for disasters to states. The President has echoed that idea. But states aren’t ready to fill the gap. Right now, states depend on support from FEMA, including through grants for emergency management and preparedness. “Those grants have been put on pause,” says Scata. “Other grants that would really help states prepare and shoulder some more of the burden that the The President administration keeps pushing them to do have also been cut. So they’re kind of putting states in a position where they’re saying, ‘You need to take on more responsibility,’ but also undercutting their ability to take on more responsibility.” FEMA’s newly appointed head, David Richardson, reportedly admitted this month that the agency didn’t yet have a plan for hurricane season. Richardson, who doesn’t have a background in emergency management, also seemed unfamiliar with what his job entailed. “I feel a little bit like Bubba from Forrest Gump,” he said in a recent video viewed by the Wall Street Journal. “We’ve got hurricanes, we’ve got fires, we’ve got mudslides, we’ve got flash floods, we’ve got tornadoes, we’ve got droughts, we’ve got heat waves and now we’ve got volcanoes to worry about.” At NOAA, DOGE’s push to cut employees and funding could potentially impact forecasting. Weather balloons record data, such as wind speeds, used in forecasts. But the National Weather Service has started reducing balloon launches. Ocean buoys measure temperature, a key factor in forecasting hurricanes. They require regular maintenance, which will be more challenging with fewer employees. (At a press conference today, however, NOAA said that it’s continuing to roll out more accurate models for forecasting, and emphasized that it believes it’s fully prepared for the upcoming hurricane season.) The The President administration is also pushing to shut down a research division that includes “hurricane hunters” who fly into oncoming storms to gather more data to predict a hurricane’s path and strength. Proposed budget cuts would also gut research on climate change and models to improve future forecasting. Grants to help communities become more resilient to disasters have also been cut. Some National Weather Service field offices are now severely short staffed and scrambling to try to find more employees, including offices in Texas and Louisiana. At the moment, some don’t have regular overnight coverage. At the offices, meteorologists take warnings from the National Hurricane Center and localize the information, predicting where flooding and other impacts may hit hardest, and working with local emergency managers to plan evacuations. While other offices can provide remote support, and employees can work extra shifts if a severe storm is predicted, the shortages will strain the remaining staff. Brian LaMarre, who recently accepted an early retirement offer at the Tampa Weather Forecast Office, says he still expects the National Hurricane Center to provide excellent data. But if staff shortages continue in local offices, the people who need to provide critical coverage in emergencies could quickly burn out. “We make it work, but is it sustainable? Probably not,” LaMarre says. “Because the more active the weather becomes, you can only do that so many times before burning people out, and morale gets impacted. That’s why hiring needs to start and there needs to be real strong congressional and public support for the National Weather Service. It’s a public safety mission. The weather knows no bias when it comes to politics. The weather impacts everyone the same.” In a statement, a National Weather Service spokesperson said, “The National Weather Service continues to meet its core mission of providing life-saving forecasts, warnings, and decision support services to the public, our partners and stakeholders. In the near term, NWS has updated the service level standards for its weather forecast offices to manage impacts due to shifting personnel resources.” The spokesperson didn’t comment on whether the agency had an exemption from a current federal hiring freeze. NOAA was short-staffed even before DOGE began aggressively trying to push more people out. “NWS staff will have an impossible task to continue its current level of services,” all five former National Weather Service directors wrote in a recent open letter about the DOGE cuts and proposed budget cuts. “Some forecast offices will be so short-staffed that they may be forced to go to part-time services. Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life.” View the full article

Bond yields are shooting up for the second time in as many months. Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller attributes the volatility to concerns about rising national debt levels. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you don't have a streaming stick, the Aurzen BOOM Mini 4-in-1 Smart Projector stands out for its integrated streaming capabilities with built-in Google TV that lets you choose from over 10,000+ apps, including Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and Hulu. It also offers full access to the Google ecosystem with a hands-free Google Assistant and multi-device casting. Households with children can utilize Kids Mode, which manages screen time and filters content, and HDMI inputs let you connect to other devices like gaming consoles—and it's 20% off right now. Aurzen BOOM Mini Smart Projector $349.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $349.99 at Amazon Visually, the Aurzen BOOM mini packs a punch. Its 500 ANSI Lumens brightness is suitable for dimly lit environments, while the Native 1080p resolution offers crisp, HD visuals with 4K support. Amazon reviewers appreciate the Google TV integration and also highly rank the visuals, mentioning that the device offers vibrant, accurate colors and excellent clarity in a range of lighting settings. However, they note that it may have limitations in a brightly lit room. Users are equally impressed by the immersive 20W Dolby Audio Speakers, which many say remove the need for external speakers. A couple of folks mentioned that the sound system may lack depth and bass in outdoor or noisy settings. To enhance sound quality, this projector features Bluetooth connectivity, enabling you to pair an external audio system for a more personalized listening experience. Additionally, features like keystone correction and auto-focus make setup more straightforward, while a tilt feature allows for flexible projection angles. While this projector can be used outdoors, it may not be ideal for camping or situations where power access is limited, as it requires a constant power source, which limits its overall portability. While it might not replace a premium home theater system, with an average of 4.8 stars on Amazon and a $70 discount, it’s a versatile and user-friendly option for those seeking a compact projector. View the full article

The increase reflects a broader trend that rating agency analysts are watching closely as depository ties to other types of financial institutions grow. View the full article

Move follows the ousting of former leader Sheikh Hasina amid allegations of embezzlementView the full article

Every tech product you own has a “lifespan,” and I'm not referring to how long you use it before it stops working, you break it, or decide to buy a new one. Instead, this is how long the device will be officially supported by its maker—a timeframe that could be shorter or longer than how long it will actually last. Apple guarantees it will continue supporting products at least five years after it stops selling them. Once those five years are up, Apple can deem that device “vintage." Apple recently classified two more of its products as vintage: the iPhone 7 Plus (2016) and some iPhone 8 models (2017)—while the 64GB and 256GB iPhone 8 models are now vintage, the 128GB is not. The last time Apple did this, it labeled the iPhone XS Max (2018) and the iPhone 6S Plus (2015) as vintage. In addition, Apple now classifies two previously "vintage" iPads as "obsolete," the iPad Air 2 (2014) and the iPad mini 2 (2013). So what exactly does it mean for an Apple product to be classified as “vintage," and what happens when a vintage product becomes “obsolete”? What it means when Apple classifies a product as "vintage""Vintage" in Apple-land doesn't actually mean a product is "old" or that you should stop using it—nor does it imply you'll be able to sell it to collectors for a profit. When an Apple device becomes “vintage,” that product is no longer guaranteed by Apple to be repairable at an Apple Store or other authorized service provider. In many cases, Apple will also stop issuing routine software updates for that device. Apple's official definition of vintage is a product the company stopped selling more than five years ago, but fewer than seven. Because the company stops selling some devices sooner than others, you end up with some interesting discrepancies when it's time to mark devices as vintage. Apple sold the 128GB iPhone 8 for longer than the other storage variants, so it isn't eligible for this vintage label yet. (You can find a full list of all vintage and obsolete devices on Apple’s support site.) Despite the reduction in support, vintage Apple devices will still work (reclassification isn’t some sort of internal kill switch) and some devices may even continue to receive system updates if they support the latest operating systems or if a major security flaw needs to be patched. (Despite its vintage status, the XS Max supports iOS 18, for example.) It’s even possible you could get one repaired, if the parts are available. Just don't be surprised if an Apple Genius or an Apple-authorized vendor turns you away. Once a product is more than seven years old, it graduates from vintage to a different category: “obsolete.” Apple’s "obsolete" listLike vintage products, devices listed as “obsolete” will operate as normal as long as the hardware is in working condition. However, obsolete products lose virtually all hardware support. The only exception is MacBooks, which may allow for a battery replacement up to 10 years after the product was last available for sale. You shouldn't expect the latest version of iOS to work on an obsolete iPhone, and software updates will also likely be a thing of the past. In rare cases though, Apple may supply security updates to obsolete iPhones: All iPhone 6S models still receive security updates, including the 32GB 6S Plus, which is obsolete. These shifts in service priority can be frustrating if you’re still rocking older tech and don’t feel like upgrading, but the policy makes sense, given the current market realities: At the rate that both hardware and software iterate, diverting resources to keep outdated devices afloat is difficult and costly. However, even if an Apple Store turns your iPhone 8 away for repair, independent repair shops may still help you out for some time to come—even when the 8 eventually becomes "obsolete." View the full article

It seems like a triumph for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought mainstream acceptance: Top investors in one of President Donald The President’s crypto projects invited to dine with him at his luxury golf club in Northern Virginia on the heels of the Senate advancing key pro-crypto legislation and while bitcoin prices soar. But Thursday night’s dinner for the 220 biggest investors in the $The President meme coin has raised uncomfortable questions about potentially shadowy buyers using the anonymity of the internet to buy access to the president. While Democrats charge that The President is using the power of the presidency to boost profits for his family business, even some pro-The President crypto enthusiasts worry that the president’s push into meme coins isn’t helping their efforts to establish the credibility, stability and legitimacy they had thought his administration would bring to their businesses. After feeling unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, the industry has quickly become a dominant political force, donating huge sums to help The President and crypto-friendly lawmakers. But that’s also served to tether the industry—sometimes uncomfortably—to a president who is using crypto as a platform to make money for his brand in unprecedented ways. “It’s distasteful and an unnecessary distraction,” said Nic Carter, a The President supporter and partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, who said the president is “hugging us to death” with his private crypto businesses. “We would much rather that he passes common-sense legislation and leave it at that.” Concerns about The President’s crypto ventures predate Inauguration Day At the swanky Crypto Ball held down the street from the White House three days before he took office on Jan. 20, The President announced the creation of the meme coin $The President as a way for his supporters to “have fun.” Meme coins are the crypto sector’s black sheep. They are often created as a joke, with no real utility and prone to extremely wild price swings that tend to enrich a small group of insiders at the expense of less sophisticated investors. The president’s meme coin is different, however, and has a clear utility: access to The President. The top 25 investors of $The President are set to attend a private reception with the president Thursday, with the top four getting $100,000 crypto-themed and The President-branded watches. The President’s meme coin saw an initial spike in value, followed by a steep drop. The price saw a significant increase after the dinner contest was announced. Its creators, which include an entity controlled by the The President Organization, have made hundreds of millions of dollars by collecting fees on trades. First lady Melania The President has her own meme coin, and The President’s sons, Eric and Don Jr.—who are running the The President Organization while their father is president—announced they are partnering with an existing firm to create a crypto mining company. The The President family also holds about a 60% stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that provides yet another avenue where investors are buying in and enriching the president’s relatives. World Liberty has launched its own stablecoin, USD1. The project got a boost recently when World Liberty announced an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2 billion worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. A rapidly growing form of crypto, stablecoins have values pegged to fixed assets like the U.S. dollar. Issuers profit by collecting the interest on the Treasury bonds and other assets used to back the stablecoins. Crypto is now one of the most significant sources of the The President family’s wealth. “He’s becoming a salesman-in-chief,” said James Thurber, an American University professor emeritus who has long studied and taught about corruption around the world. “It allows for foreign influence easily. It allows for crypto lobbying going on at this dinner, and other ways. It allows for huge conflicts of interest.” How The President changed his mind on crypto “I’m a big crypto fan,” The President told reporters aboard Air Force One during last week’s trip to the Middle East. “I’ve been that from the beginning, right from the campaign.” That wasn’t always true. During his first term, The President posted in July 2019 that cryptocurrencies were “not money” and had value that was “highly volatile and based on thin air.” “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade,” he added then. Even after leaving office in 2021, The President told Fox Business Network that bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, “seems like a scam.” The President began to shift during a crypto event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in May 2024, receiving assurances that industry backers would spend lavishly to get him reelected. Another major milestone came last June, when The President attended a high-dollar fundraiser at the San Francisco home of David Sacks. He further warmed to the industry weeks later, when The President met at Mar-a-Lago with bitcoin miners. The following month, he addressed a major crypto conference in Nashville, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” Those close to The President, including his sons and billionaire Elon Musk, helped further push his embrace of the industry. Sacks is now the The President administration’s crypto czar, and many Cabinet members—including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—have long been enthusiastic crypto boosters. “I don’t have faith in the dollar,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a 2023 interview. “I’m bullish on bitcoin.” The President + crypto: A political marriage of convenience Many top crypto backers were naturally wary of traditional politics, but gravitated toward The President last year. They bristled at Democratic President Joe Biden ‘s Securities and Exchange Commission aggressively bringing civil suits against several major crypto companies. Since The President took office, many such cases have been dropped or paused, including one alleging that Justin Sun, a China-born crypto entrepreneur, and his company engaged in market manipulation and paid celebrities for undisclosed promotions. Sun, who once paid $6.2 million for a piece of art involving a banana taped to a wall, and then ate the banana, helped the The Presidents start World Liberty Financial with an early $75 million investment. Sun has disclosed on social media that he is the biggest holder of $The President meme coins and is attending Thursday’s dinner. “I’m excited to connect with everyone, talk crypto, and discuss the future of our industry,” Sun said. Are The President family profits hurting other crypto investors? The President has signed executive orders promoting the industry, including calls to create a government bitcoin reserve. In March, The President convened the first cryptocurrency summit at the White House. But some of the industry’s biggest names, often brash and outspoken, have kept mostly mum on The President’s meme coins and other projects. “It’s not my place to really comment on President The President’s activity,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said at a recent public event. Meanwhile, a top legislative priority for crypto-backers, a bill clarifying how digital assets are to be regulated, has advanced in the Senate. But some Democrats have tried to stall other pro-crypto legislation over the president’s personal dealings. “Never in American history has a sitting president so blatantly violated the ethics laws,” Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts said during a contentious House hearing earlier this month. The White House referred questions about dinner attendees to the The President Organization, which didn’t provide a list of who is coming. “The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. In addition to Sun, however, some attendees have publicized qualifying for the dinner. Another will be Sheldon Xia, the founder of a cryptocurrency exchange called BitMart that’s registered in the Cayman Islands. “Proud to support President The President’s pro-crypto vision.” Xia wrote in both English and Chinese on social media. Thurber, the expert on government and ethics, said The President’s “personal attention to crypto at this dinner helps the crypto industry.” “But also it’s risky,” he said, “because they could all lose a lot of money.” —Will Weissert and Alan Suderman, Associated Press View the full article

The number of major housing markets with annual home price declines is the largest since late 2023, when average mortgage rates were above 7.5%. View the full article

Walmart Inc. is laying off approximately 1,500 employees in the United States in a bid to restructure as it works to keep up with fast-moving technological changes. The job cuts will impact corporate staff at the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and other offices. Some workers losing their jobs include members of the global technology team, e-commerce fulfillment managers, and members of Walmart Connect, the company’s advertising business. Reached for comment, a Walmart representative shared with Fast Company a copy of the memo that was sent to staff on Wednesday afternoon. “We are reshaping some teams in our Global Tech and Walmart U.S. organizations where we have identified opportunities to remove layers and complexity, speed up decision-making, and help associates innovate rapidly,” the memo said. This isn’t the first report of layoffs for the big-box store this year. In February, Walmart laid off hundreds of workers and closed its North Carolina office. Some employers were asked to relocate to the retailer’s headquarters. Technology, not tariffs, cited for reason Many retailers are looking for ways to trim expenses to combat the rising cost of doing business due to tariffs. One way retailers are reacting is by passing on added costs to the consumer with price increases. Some companies are also reducing labor costs with layoffs, although Walmart told the Wall Street Journal that the current job cuts are not connected to tariffs. Rather, Walmart’s memo says, “The world of technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and reshaping our structure allows us to accelerate how we deliver and adapt to the changing environment around us.” At the same time, during Walmart’s first-quarter earnings call for fiscal 2026, CEO Doug McMillon shared that some products would be impacted by price increases due to tariffs. “Given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” McMillon warned. Over the weekend, President The President retaliated by lashing out on social media, suggesting that the company should absorb the costs instead of passing them onto consumers. Walmart employs approximately 1.6 million workers in the United States, making it the largest private employer in the country. The Wall Street Journal first reported the retailer’s plans to cut jobs on Wednesday. Walmart stock (NYSE: WMT) was mostly flat in late-morning trading on Thursday. Shares have increased roughly 6.77% year to date. View the full article

Failed UK start-up revised down revenues to just a quarter of prior estimatesView the full article

The unexpected drop to the slowest pace in seven months was driven by ongoing affordability constraints and is a lackluster start to the Spring selling season. View the full article