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A new report released by Amazon highlights the massive economic contributions of independent sellers, revealing that small and medium-sized businesses selling through the platform have generated more than $2.5 trillion in sales over the past 25 years and currently employ over 2 million people across the United States. The 2024 Small Business Empowerment Report, published on May 20, 2025, underscores the transformative impact Amazon’s seller program has had on small business growth and job creation since its inception in 2000. Today, more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store come from independent sellers—most of which are small businesses. “These thriving businesses are creating meaningful employment opportunities,” Amazon reports, noting that independent sellers’ U.S. job creation rose 11% year over year. Sellers also contribute to local economies by renting space, contracting services, and investing back into their communities. The report points to additional record-setting achievements in 2024 alone: Over 55,000 independent sellers surpassed $1 million in annual sales Sellers averaged $290,000 in sales, up 16% from 2023 Sales from sellers in small towns and rural areas grew more than 30% year over year States leading in seller-driven job creation include California, New York, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Amazon says small businesses have shipped more than 80 billion items using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) since it launched in 2006. This program allows sellers to reach global customers with expedited shipping while focusing on core business operations. The report also highlights small sellers’ growing embrace of advanced tools like generative AI, now available through Amazon features like the “Enhance My Listing” tool. These innovations help optimize product listings, improve customer engagement, and streamline business operations. In addition to growth within Amazon’s store, over 300,000 sellers worldwide are now using Multi-Channel Fulfillment to deliver products purchased from other sales channels. This reflects a broader trend of sellers expanding into omnichannel retail, reaching customers wherever they shop. The report emphasizes that this success extends beyond sales numbers. U.S.-based sellers have exported over 2 billion items globally, illustrating how Amazon has enabled even the smallest businesses to access international markets without the infrastructure traditionally required. Image: Amazon This article, "Amazon Report: Independent Sellers Generate $2.5 Trillion, Create Over 2 Million U.S. Jobs" was first published on Small Business Trends 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. While Anker might be known best for its power banks, speakers, and smartphone accessories, the brand also has a track record for delivering high-quality audio products. Currently, Anker Soundcore AeroClip open-ear earbuds are available for the lowest price ever at $129.98, according to price-trackers. These earbuds are lightweight and flexible, yet stay in place due to their open-ring design. Anker Soundcore AeroClip Earbuds $129.98 at Amazon $169.99 Save $40.01 Get Deal Get Deal $129.98 at Amazon $169.99 Save $40.01 The open-ring design of these clip-on headphones has become a popular choice for people seeking a comfortable audio experience while remaining aware of their surroundings, making them ideal for activities like running, cycling, or walking the dog. For those who make calls using their earbuds, the AI-driven noise reduction and four beam-forming microphones allow for crystal-clear calls, even in busy settings. While tap controls are available and touch control-enabled, controls are limited and don’t allow users to control volume or return to previous tracks. With an advanced virtual bass technology and a 12mm titanium-coated driver for improved audio, reviewers report excellent sound quality and less static than similar products from other brands. However, while audio quality and bass receive high ratings across the board, some people say the volume doesn’t reach as loud as it should, even when set to the maximum. In addition, some users report comfort issues and ear fatigue during extended wear, but since the adaptive design allows them to be fully adjusted on any part of the ear, finding the right spot to clip them on can reduce strain. Compared to more expensive open earbuds that are fully waterproof, these only have an IPX4 rating, making them resistant to sweat and light rain but not suitable for swimming or other water activities. With an average of 4.4 stars on Amazon and three color options to choose from, these aren’t the cheapest open earbuds, but at 24% off, they’re more affordable than higher-end brands that deliver similar results. View the full article

A new collaboration between Constant Contact and Xero aims to make life easier for small businesses by automating the link between digital marketing and accounting systems. The partnership, announced May 21, 2025, enables small business owners to streamline key business functions, reduce manual tasks, and improve customer engagement through integrated tools. The companies say the integration is designed to unify two critical daily functions for small business owners: marketing and financial management. With a few clicks, Constant Contact users can now automatically sync their Xero contacts directly into their email campaigns. This automation allows businesses to send targeted marketing messages more efficiently and track campaign results with greater accuracy. Xero customers, in turn, gain access to Constant Contact’s suite of digital marketing tools, which includes AI-powered email, automations, SMS, social media tools, event management, and more. By combining marketing and customer contact data, the integration allows for more personalized engagement while reducing the time typically spent syncing contacts manually. Stephanie Ting, Chief Strategy Officer at Constant Contact, emphasized the importance of time-saving tools for small business operators. “The average small business is pressed for time with under an hour each day to dedicate to marketing and even less time to chase payments,” Ting said. “This integration is a game-changer because it connects the dots between a business owner’s marketing and finance systems, enabling these two critical functions to work together for business growth. By eliminating the time spent manually syncing contacts between marketing and accounting, small businesses can now focus on running and growing their business. Xero shares our mission to help small businesses grow, and together, we’re giving small business owners the tools they need to work efficiently, connect with customers and thrive.” The integration is available starting today to US-based customers of Constant Contact and Xero. Additional features and availability in other regions are planned for future updates. Upcoming enhancements include deeper data integrations that combine financial insights for improved audience segmentation and marketing automations based on unified customer data. Xero also expressed enthusiasm for the partnership. “We’re excited about the benefits this partnership with Constant Contact will provide to small businesses,” said Vikram Grover, SVP of Partnerships at Xero. “In today’s digital landscape, effective online marketing is vital for reaching customers and growing a business. By creating a seamless, automated workflow between digital marketing and finance through this integration, we’re helping businesses save time, improve cash flow, and ultimately drive greater efficiency—allowing them to focus on connecting with customers and thriving in the digital world.” As part of the collaboration, Constant Contact customers are eligible to receive six months of Xero free on any business plan. Likewise, Xero users qualify for 50% off Constant Contact for six months on any of its plans. The companies say the partnership reflects a shared mission to empower small businesses with tools that drive sustainable growth, improved workflows, and stronger customer relationships in today’s competitive and time-sensitive environment. This article, "Constant Contact and Xero Launch Integration to Automate Marketing and Accounting for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new collaboration between Constant Contact and Xero aims to make life easier for small businesses by automating the link between digital marketing and accounting systems. The partnership, announced May 21, 2025, enables small business owners to streamline key business functions, reduce manual tasks, and improve customer engagement through integrated tools. The companies say the integration is designed to unify two critical daily functions for small business owners: marketing and financial management. With a few clicks, Constant Contact users can now automatically sync their Xero contacts directly into their email campaigns. This automation allows businesses to send targeted marketing messages more efficiently and track campaign results with greater accuracy. Xero customers, in turn, gain access to Constant Contact’s suite of digital marketing tools, which includes AI-powered email, automations, SMS, social media tools, event management, and more. By combining marketing and customer contact data, the integration allows for more personalized engagement while reducing the time typically spent syncing contacts manually. Stephanie Ting, Chief Strategy Officer at Constant Contact, emphasized the importance of time-saving tools for small business operators. “The average small business is pressed for time with under an hour each day to dedicate to marketing and even less time to chase payments,” Ting said. “This integration is a game-changer because it connects the dots between a business owner’s marketing and finance systems, enabling these two critical functions to work together for business growth. By eliminating the time spent manually syncing contacts between marketing and accounting, small businesses can now focus on running and growing their business. Xero shares our mission to help small businesses grow, and together, we’re giving small business owners the tools they need to work efficiently, connect with customers and thrive.” The integration is available starting today to US-based customers of Constant Contact and Xero. Additional features and availability in other regions are planned for future updates. Upcoming enhancements include deeper data integrations that combine financial insights for improved audience segmentation and marketing automations based on unified customer data. Xero also expressed enthusiasm for the partnership. “We’re excited about the benefits this partnership with Constant Contact will provide to small businesses,” said Vikram Grover, SVP of Partnerships at Xero. “In today’s digital landscape, effective online marketing is vital for reaching customers and growing a business. By creating a seamless, automated workflow between digital marketing and finance through this integration, we’re helping businesses save time, improve cash flow, and ultimately drive greater efficiency—allowing them to focus on connecting with customers and thriving in the digital world.” As part of the collaboration, Constant Contact customers are eligible to receive six months of Xero free on any business plan. Likewise, Xero users qualify for 50% off Constant Contact for six months on any of its plans. The companies say the partnership reflects a shared mission to empower small businesses with tools that drive sustainable growth, improved workflows, and stronger customer relationships in today’s competitive and time-sensitive environment. This article, "Constant Contact and Xero Launch Integration to Automate Marketing and Accounting for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Hollywood loves a sequel. And it turns out, Burger King loves them too. For the third consecutive year, the fast-food operator is debuting a limited-time menu tied to a big box film, this time How to Train Your Dragon, ahead of the live-action film based on Universal Pictures film that will be released in June. Beginning May 27, Burger King will start selling a new red-and-orange marble colored Whopper and Dragon-inspired mozzarella fries, strawberry lemonade, and a chocolate sundae, all taking inspiration from a franchise that has grossed more than $1.6 billion at the global box office and earned four Academy Award nominations. Burger King says the partnership extends a family-focused marketing strategy that kicked off in 2023 with Spider-Man and 2024’s tie-in with The Addams Family. Both led to larger orders and over-indexed in popularity with younger audiences and families. “What we’ve seen is that we’re starting again to grow with families,” says Tom Curtis, president of Burger King, during an interview with Fast Company. The Whopper plays itself Since Curtis joined Burger King in 2021, after a long career at rival restaurant operator Domino’s, he has helped spearhead nine unique Whopper limited-time offers. The red-bun Whopper was connected to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and last year’s purple-bun evoked the popular Addams Family character Wednesday, who has an ongoing live-action TV show on Netflix. Those Hollywood-inspired Whoppers were the strongest selling LTOs that Curtis launched, doubling the AUV, or average unit volume sold at each restaurant location, versus the LTOs that weren’t connected to a film. Spider-Man and The Addams Family, in particular, are decades-old intellectual properties that have spanned film, television, video games, and comics. That gives Burger King the ability to market cross-generationally, luring younger children who are newer fans of the more recent film and TV releases, but also appealing to parents and older diners who may have fond memories of these properties from their childhood. Even How to Train Your Dragon, initially based on a novel released in 2003, is now over two decades old and has inspired multiple hit films and a TV series. “When you really associate yourself with a powerful property, especially one that’s appealing not only to kids, but has a nostalgic element of it as well, then those can be really big movers of the business,” says Curtis. Spider-Man was a driver that helped U.S. comparable sales at Burger King restaurants open at least 13 months increase 7.5% in 2023. The growth slowed to a more modest 1.2% last year and dipped 1.1% in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2025 compared to prior-year levels. Burger King says it was encouraged by the steady traffic and market-share gains it has achieved compared to other fast-food chains even amid the more recent sales softness. “We’re in an industry that’s going to have ebbs and flows,” says Curtis. “As long as we’re outgrowing the competition on a fairly consistent basis, then we know we’re winning the game.” Investing in the future Burger King and the brand’s parent company, Restaurant Brands, have jolted sales in part thanks to a $400 million “Reclaim the Flame” investment unveiled in 2022 that pumped millions into advertising, restaurant remodels, and new kitchen equipment. Touchscreen kiosks were added to more locations to ease the workload for staff at the counter, new seat formats were designed to be more family friendly for larger groups, and Burger King reemphasized adding playgrounds for kids. Curtis says before he joined, traffic had been decelerating and restaurants weren’t operated to their full potential. The chain needed to reinvest to entice diners. “You can’t invite a family with parents who love their kids to a dirty restaurant where they’re not going to be treated in a friendly way, and in a restaurant that, frankly, is in some cases, [falling down around them],” says Curtis. Fast food faces growing consumer caution This year, Burger King will need to contend with softer consumer sentiment, as diners fret that a trade war and tariffs will result in higher inflation. Already, data has shown that traffic at quick-service restaurants has been slowing, and brands including McDonald’s and Chipotle have reported softer sales. Burger King has offered menu deals, including a $5 duo and $7 trio offer that allowed diners to select two or three items from a list that included a Whopper Junior, fries, and chicken sandwiches. Curtis acknowledges that when budgets get tighter, Burger King may be inclined to lean on the combination of menu innovations with value pricing, meaning promos. But he says that Burger King does benefit from the fact that it doesn’t sell consumer discretionary goods. “People have to eat,” says Curtis. “If you can give them great value and a great menu, you can be an option in all economic environments.” View the full article

As nasty tornadoes popped up from Kansas to Kentucky, a depleted National Weather Service was in scramble mode. The agency’s office in Jackson, Kentucky, had begun closing nightly as deep cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency began hitting. But the weather service kept staffers on overtime Friday night to stay on top of the deadly storms, which killed nearly 20 people in the Jackson office’s forecast area. It’s a scenario likely to be repeated as the U.S. is on track to see more tornadoes this year than in 2024, which was the second-busiest tornado year on record. Forecasters said there was at least a 10% risk of tornadoes Tuesday for 10.6 million people in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Weather service veterans expressed concern about the agency’s ability to keep up in the face of the cuts. Rich Thompson, lead operations forecaster at the NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said the job is getting done. But he acknowledged that staffing cuts have “made it harder on us.” “It has made it hard on the local offices just to make sure that we have all of our important duties covered. But, I mean, most of the people take those important duties seriously, so we’re going to do what it takes to cover it,” Thompson said. “I hope we’re not in the same staffing situation long term. . . . It would be hard to sustain this for months or years.” NWS spokesperson Erica Grow Cei said the Jackson office “remained fully staffed through the duration of the event using surge staffing” and had support from neighboring offices. A leaner weather service is seeing more extreme weather The Storm Prediction Center had tallied 883 local tornado reports this year as of Monday, which was 35% higher than average for this time of year. Many former weather service employees, especially those fired by the The President administration, remain connected to the agency’s inner workings. They describe an agency that’s somehow getting forecasts and warnings out in time, but is also near the breaking point. “They’ll continue to answer the bell as long as they can, but you can only ask people to work 80 hours or 120 hours a week, you know for so long,” said Elbert “Joe” Friday, a former weather service director. “They may be so bleary-eyed, they can’t identify what’s going on on the radar.” Tom DiLiberto, a weather service meteorologist and spokesman who was fired in earlier rounds of the job cuts, said the situation is like a boat with leaks “and you have a certain amount of pieces of duct tape and you keep moving duct tape to different holes. At some point, you can’t.” As of March, some of the weather service offices issuing tornado warnings Friday and Sunday were above the 20% vacancy levels that outside experts have said is a critical threshold. Those include Jackson, with a 25% vacancy rate, Louisville, Kentucky, with a 29% vacancy rate, and Wichita, Kansas, with a 32% vacancy rate, according to data compiled by weather service employees and obtained by the AP. Technologies used to predict tornadoes have significantly improved, but radar can’t replace a well-rested staff that has to figure out how nasty or long-lasting storms will be and how to get information to the public, said Karen Kosiba, managing director of the Flexible Array of Mesonets and Radars (FARM) facility, a network of weather equipment used for research. “There really are not enough people to handle everything,” said University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Howard Bluestein, who chased six tornadoes Sunday. “If the station is understaffed, that could affect the quality of forecasts.” Cuts hit in different ways Former weather service Director Louis Uccellini said budget cuts have drastically reduced the number of weather balloon launches, which provide critical information for forecasts. And weather service workers aren’t being allowed to travel to help train local disaster officials for what to do when they get dangerous weather warnings, he said. Though the number of tornadoes is nearly at a record pace, Thompson and other experts said the tornado outbreak of the last few days is mostly normal for this time of year. For tornadoes to form, the atmosphere needs a collision of warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and storm systems chugging through via the jet stream, the river of air that brings weather fronts from west to east, said Thompson, Bluestein and Harold Brooks of the weather service’s National Severe Storm Laboratory. “The moisture that we’re getting from the Gulf of Mexico is a lot more than we used to get,” said Bluestein. “That makes the likelihood that we’re getting a stronger storm higher and that’s pretty unusual.” Temperatures in the Gulf are a couple of degrees warmer than usual for this time of year, according to the weather service. The connection between climate change and tornadoes is not as well understood as the links between other types of extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and heat waves, experts say. “Under the climate change scenario, we’re kind of supercharging the atmosphere on some days and then actually reducing the favorability on others,” said Ohio State University atmospheric sciences professor Jana Houser. Scientists are also seeing more tornadoes in January, February, March, and other times when it used to be too cold for twisters to form, especially in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee, she said. More people are also living in harm’s way, Brooks said. That’s why Uccellini and others see increasing risks to people and property. “When you have this kind of threat and you’re understaffed at some point, something’s going to slip through the cracks,” Uccellini said. “I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen.” Associated Press reporter Isabella O’Malley contributed from Philadelphia. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. —Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer View the full article

Key Takeaways Leverage ChatGPT for Diverse Income Streams: Utilize its capabilities for content creation, virtual assistance, market research, and more to diversify your online revenue sources. Enhance Productivity Without Technical Skills: You don’t need to be a tech expert to effectively use ChatGPT, making it accessible for all entrepreneurs and small business owners. Cost-Effective Content Generation: Reduce expenses on hiring writers by creating high-quality, SEO-optimized content in-house with ChatGPT. Streamline Customer Support: Implement AI-driven chatbots through ChatGPT to improve customer service efficiency and enhance user experience. Focus on Audience Understanding: Conduct thorough market research using ChatGPT to understand your audience better and tailor your offerings to their needs. Maximize Social Media Engagement: Use ChatGPT to generate engaging social media content that helps build your brand community and improves online visibility. Imagine turning your conversations into cash. With the rise of AI technology like ChatGPT, making money online has never been more accessible. This innovative tool not only enhances your productivity but also opens up various avenues for income generation. Whether you’re a freelancer, a content creator, or just looking to supplement your income, ChatGPT can be your secret weapon. You don’t need to be a tech guru to harness its potential. By leveraging ChatGPT’s capabilities, you can create engaging content, offer virtual assistance, or even develop chatbots for businesses. The opportunities are endless, and you’re just a few steps away from transforming your online presence into a profitable venture. Ready to dive in? Let’s explore how you can start making money online with ChatGPT today. Overview of Making Money Online with ChatGPT Making money online with ChatGPT offers various pathways for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to enhance their operations. This AI-powered tool presents opportunities for creating innovative business models that can capture a target audience effectively. You can use ChatGPT for several purposes that contribute to revenue generation. Content marketing becomes easier with ChatGPT, as it helps you produce engaging blog posts, articles, or social media updates that improve your digital marketing efforts. Incorporating SEO strategies with the content ChatGPT generates can increase your online visibility, making it easier to reach potential customers. Providing virtual assistance through ChatGPT creates efficiency in customer service. By integrating AI chatbots, you reduce response time and enhance user experience. This streamlined approach can lead to improved customer acquisition and retention, crucial for long-term success. If you’re considering an online business venture, leveraging ChatGPT can also aid market research. The tool analyzes trends and gathers insights, allowing you to refine your business idea and innovate more effectively. This research can be integral when developing your business plan or seeking funding options, making your startup more attractive to angel investors or venture capitalists. Using ChatGPT can also support product development. By collecting feedback and suggestions through AI-driven interactions, you ensure that your offerings meet customer needs. Maintaining a focus on growth strategies can propel your business forward, ensuring sustainable profits. For small business owners unfamiliar with AI technologies, the learning curve with ChatGPT is minimal. You don’t need advanced technical skills to maximize its potential. With the right mentorship or guidance, you can harness this power to build a successful online presence that aligns with your long-term business goals. Benefits of Using ChatGPT for Income Generation ChatGPT offers numerous benefits that can enhance your online income generation strategies, especially for small business owners and entrepreneurs. These advantages include flexibility, accessibility, and cost-effective solutions that cater to various aspects of your business model. Flexibility and Accessibility Flexibility is crucial for running a successful small business. ChatGPT adapts to your needs, whether you aim to quickly generate content for your website or engage with customers through personalized messaging. The tool’s accessibility means you don’t require advanced technical skills to leverage its potential. Use it for crafting blog posts, social media updates, or email marketing campaigns that resonate with your target audience. This versatility allows you to respond swiftly to market demands and engage in innovative product development strategies. Cost-Effective Solutions Cost-effective solutions significantly impact your bottom line, especially when launching a startup. ChatGPT helps reduce expenses associated with hiring full-time writers or marketing experts. Instead, you can use it to generate high-quality content in-house. You’ll save time and money while improving your brand’s visibility through effective SEO strategies. Additionally, using ChatGPT for market research can facilitate gathering valuable insights without extensive investments, maximizing your return on investment. By leveraging this tool, your small business can focus on scaling operations, driving customer acquisition, and refining your overall growth strategy. Methods to Make Money with ChatGPT ChatGPT offers various methods to generate income online, especially beneficial for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Here are some ways to leverage this AI tool effectively. Freelancing Opportunities You can enhance your freelancing game by utilizing ChatGPT for job search and client acquisition. Use it to research remote-friendly companies and find job opportunities quickly. ChatGPT helps craft compelling pitches and follow-ups that resonate with potential clients. Additionally, optimize your resumes and cover letters with ChatGPT’s assistance to improve your chances during job searches. Streamline your project management with tools that help schedule tasks, track expenses, and maintain budgets, enhancing your work efficiency. Content Creation and Blogging ChatGPT enables you to create engaging content effortlessly. Whether you manage a small business blog or engage in digital marketing, this tool can generate SEO-optimized articles, social media posts, and email marketing campaigns. Automate content creation while maintaining your brand voice, ensuring you connect effectively with your target audience. You can produce high-quality materials in-house, reducing costs associated with hiring writers and allowing reallocation of funds towards your growth strategy. Automated Customer Support Boost your customer service by integrating ChatGPT for automated support. With AI-driven chatbots, you can enhance your customer acquisition strategy through immediate responses to inquiries. ChatGPT helps manage FAQs, streamline communication, and improve overall efficiency. By offering reliable and prompt assistance, you can foster customer loyalty, supporting the long-term success of your small business. Tips for Maximizing Earnings Maximizing earnings online with ChatGPT involves understanding your audience and leveraging social media effectively. Understanding Your Audience Knowing your target audience is crucial for developing a successful business model. Conduct market research to gather insights about demographics, preferences, and pain points. Utilize ChatGPT to analyze data and identify trends that align with your products or services. This information helps tailor content and marketing strategies to meet specific needs, enhancing customer acquisition efforts. Adjust your messaging based on audience feedback to foster engagement and loyalty. Leveraging Social Media Social media plays a significant role in promoting your online business. Use ChatGPT to generate engaging posts, create eye-catching visuals, and develop email marketing campaigns. Regularly share content on platforms where your audience spends time. Focus on building a community around your brand by interacting and responding to comments. Apply SEO techniques to enhance your visibility in search results, boosting traffic to your website or e-commerce store. Additionally, consider collaborations with influencers to reach a wider audience and elevate your brand presence. Conclusion Embracing ChatGPT opens up a world of possibilities for making money online. Whether you’re a freelancer or a small business owner you can tap into its capabilities to generate income with ease. By creating engaging content providing virtual assistance or developing chatbots you can enhance your online presence and profitability. The flexibility and accessibility of ChatGPT allow you to optimize your efforts without needing advanced skills. With the right strategies in place you can effectively reach your audience and drive growth. As you explore these opportunities remember that leveraging AI can be a game changer for your business journey. Frequently Asked Questions How can ChatGPT help me make money online? ChatGPT can be used to create engaging content, offer virtual assistance, or develop chatbots for businesses. It enables freelancers and content creators to generate income without needing advanced technical skills, making it accessible for various users. Is ChatGPT suitable for small business owners? Yes, small business owners can leverage ChatGPT to enhance operations, improve content marketing, and create innovative business models. It can help generate blog posts and social media updates, boosting online visibility and customer engagement. Do I need technical skills to use ChatGPT effectively? No, ChatGPT is designed to be user-friendly, requiring minimal technical skills. With the right guidance, anyone can learn to use it effectively for income generation and business improvement. How can I use ChatGPT for market research? ChatGPT can analyze trends and gather insights, helping you refine business ideas. This information is essential for attracting potential investors and ensuring your offerings align with market needs. What are the cost benefits of using ChatGPT? Using ChatGPT can reduce expenses related to hiring full-time writers or marketing experts. It allows businesses to produce high-quality content in-house, increasing efficiency and saving costs. How can I optimize content with ChatGPT? You can use ChatGPT to generate SEO-optimized articles and social media posts, ensuring your content ranks higher in search engines and reaches a larger audience. Can ChatGPT assist with customer support? Yes, integrating ChatGPT into your business can automate customer support, improving service efficiency and fostering customer loyalty, which contributes to long-term success. How can I leverage social media with ChatGPT? ChatGPT can help create engaging social media posts, visuals, and email marketing campaigns. It can also assist in developing a community around your brand and collaborating with influencers to increase visibility. Image Via Envato This article, "Unlocking Success: Making Money Online with ChatGPT for Everyone" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Key Takeaways Leverage ChatGPT for Diverse Income Streams: Utilize its capabilities for content creation, virtual assistance, market research, and more to diversify your online revenue sources. Enhance Productivity Without Technical Skills: You don’t need to be a tech expert to effectively use ChatGPT, making it accessible for all entrepreneurs and small business owners. Cost-Effective Content Generation: Reduce expenses on hiring writers by creating high-quality, SEO-optimized content in-house with ChatGPT. Streamline Customer Support: Implement AI-driven chatbots through ChatGPT to improve customer service efficiency and enhance user experience. Focus on Audience Understanding: Conduct thorough market research using ChatGPT to understand your audience better and tailor your offerings to their needs. Maximize Social Media Engagement: Use ChatGPT to generate engaging social media content that helps build your brand community and improves online visibility. Imagine turning your conversations into cash. With the rise of AI technology like ChatGPT, making money online has never been more accessible. This innovative tool not only enhances your productivity but also opens up various avenues for income generation. Whether you’re a freelancer, a content creator, or just looking to supplement your income, ChatGPT can be your secret weapon. You don’t need to be a tech guru to harness its potential. By leveraging ChatGPT’s capabilities, you can create engaging content, offer virtual assistance, or even develop chatbots for businesses. The opportunities are endless, and you’re just a few steps away from transforming your online presence into a profitable venture. Ready to dive in? Let’s explore how you can start making money online with ChatGPT today. Overview of Making Money Online with ChatGPT Making money online with ChatGPT offers various pathways for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to enhance their operations. This AI-powered tool presents opportunities for creating innovative business models that can capture a target audience effectively. You can use ChatGPT for several purposes that contribute to revenue generation. Content marketing becomes easier with ChatGPT, as it helps you produce engaging blog posts, articles, or social media updates that improve your digital marketing efforts. Incorporating SEO strategies with the content ChatGPT generates can increase your online visibility, making it easier to reach potential customers. Providing virtual assistance through ChatGPT creates efficiency in customer service. By integrating AI chatbots, you reduce response time and enhance user experience. This streamlined approach can lead to improved customer acquisition and retention, crucial for long-term success. If you’re considering an online business venture, leveraging ChatGPT can also aid market research. The tool analyzes trends and gathers insights, allowing you to refine your business idea and innovate more effectively. This research can be integral when developing your business plan or seeking funding options, making your startup more attractive to angel investors or venture capitalists. Using ChatGPT can also support product development. By collecting feedback and suggestions through AI-driven interactions, you ensure that your offerings meet customer needs. Maintaining a focus on growth strategies can propel your business forward, ensuring sustainable profits. For small business owners unfamiliar with AI technologies, the learning curve with ChatGPT is minimal. You don’t need advanced technical skills to maximize its potential. With the right mentorship or guidance, you can harness this power to build a successful online presence that aligns with your long-term business goals. Benefits of Using ChatGPT for Income Generation ChatGPT offers numerous benefits that can enhance your online income generation strategies, especially for small business owners and entrepreneurs. These advantages include flexibility, accessibility, and cost-effective solutions that cater to various aspects of your business model. Flexibility and Accessibility Flexibility is crucial for running a successful small business. ChatGPT adapts to your needs, whether you aim to quickly generate content for your website or engage with customers through personalized messaging. The tool’s accessibility means you don’t require advanced technical skills to leverage its potential. Use it for crafting blog posts, social media updates, or email marketing campaigns that resonate with your target audience. This versatility allows you to respond swiftly to market demands and engage in innovative product development strategies. Cost-Effective Solutions Cost-effective solutions significantly impact your bottom line, especially when launching a startup. ChatGPT helps reduce expenses associated with hiring full-time writers or marketing experts. Instead, you can use it to generate high-quality content in-house. You’ll save time and money while improving your brand’s visibility through effective SEO strategies. Additionally, using ChatGPT for market research can facilitate gathering valuable insights without extensive investments, maximizing your return on investment. By leveraging this tool, your small business can focus on scaling operations, driving customer acquisition, and refining your overall growth strategy. Methods to Make Money with ChatGPT ChatGPT offers various methods to generate income online, especially beneficial for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Here are some ways to leverage this AI tool effectively. Freelancing Opportunities You can enhance your freelancing game by utilizing ChatGPT for job search and client acquisition. Use it to research remote-friendly companies and find job opportunities quickly. ChatGPT helps craft compelling pitches and follow-ups that resonate with potential clients. Additionally, optimize your resumes and cover letters with ChatGPT’s assistance to improve your chances during job searches. Streamline your project management with tools that help schedule tasks, track expenses, and maintain budgets, enhancing your work efficiency. Content Creation and Blogging ChatGPT enables you to create engaging content effortlessly. Whether you manage a small business blog or engage in digital marketing, this tool can generate SEO-optimized articles, social media posts, and email marketing campaigns. Automate content creation while maintaining your brand voice, ensuring you connect effectively with your target audience. You can produce high-quality materials in-house, reducing costs associated with hiring writers and allowing reallocation of funds towards your growth strategy. Automated Customer Support Boost your customer service by integrating ChatGPT for automated support. With AI-driven chatbots, you can enhance your customer acquisition strategy through immediate responses to inquiries. ChatGPT helps manage FAQs, streamline communication, and improve overall efficiency. By offering reliable and prompt assistance, you can foster customer loyalty, supporting the long-term success of your small business. Tips for Maximizing Earnings Maximizing earnings online with ChatGPT involves understanding your audience and leveraging social media effectively. Understanding Your Audience Knowing your target audience is crucial for developing a successful business model. Conduct market research to gather insights about demographics, preferences, and pain points. Utilize ChatGPT to analyze data and identify trends that align with your products or services. This information helps tailor content and marketing strategies to meet specific needs, enhancing customer acquisition efforts. Adjust your messaging based on audience feedback to foster engagement and loyalty. Leveraging Social Media Social media plays a significant role in promoting your online business. Use ChatGPT to generate engaging posts, create eye-catching visuals, and develop email marketing campaigns. Regularly share content on platforms where your audience spends time. Focus on building a community around your brand by interacting and responding to comments. Apply SEO techniques to enhance your visibility in search results, boosting traffic to your website or e-commerce store. Additionally, consider collaborations with influencers to reach a wider audience and elevate your brand presence. Conclusion Embracing ChatGPT opens up a world of possibilities for making money online. Whether you’re a freelancer or a small business owner you can tap into its capabilities to generate income with ease. By creating engaging content providing virtual assistance or developing chatbots you can enhance your online presence and profitability. The flexibility and accessibility of ChatGPT allow you to optimize your efforts without needing advanced skills. With the right strategies in place you can effectively reach your audience and drive growth. As you explore these opportunities remember that leveraging AI can be a game changer for your business journey. Frequently Asked Questions How can ChatGPT help me make money online? ChatGPT can be used to create engaging content, offer virtual assistance, or develop chatbots for businesses. It enables freelancers and content creators to generate income without needing advanced technical skills, making it accessible for various users. Is ChatGPT suitable for small business owners? Yes, small business owners can leverage ChatGPT to enhance operations, improve content marketing, and create innovative business models. It can help generate blog posts and social media updates, boosting online visibility and customer engagement. Do I need technical skills to use ChatGPT effectively? No, ChatGPT is designed to be user-friendly, requiring minimal technical skills. With the right guidance, anyone can learn to use it effectively for income generation and business improvement. How can I use ChatGPT for market research? ChatGPT can analyze trends and gather insights, helping you refine business ideas. This information is essential for attracting potential investors and ensuring your offerings align with market needs. What are the cost benefits of using ChatGPT? Using ChatGPT can reduce expenses related to hiring full-time writers or marketing experts. It allows businesses to produce high-quality content in-house, increasing efficiency and saving costs. How can I optimize content with ChatGPT? You can use ChatGPT to generate SEO-optimized articles and social media posts, ensuring your content ranks higher in search engines and reaches a larger audience. Can ChatGPT assist with customer support? Yes, integrating ChatGPT into your business can automate customer support, improving service efficiency and fostering customer loyalty, which contributes to long-term success. How can I leverage social media with ChatGPT? ChatGPT can help create engaging social media posts, visuals, and email marketing campaigns. It can also assist in developing a community around your brand and collaborating with influencers to increase visibility. Image Via Envato This article, "Unlocking Success: Making Money Online with ChatGPT for Everyone" was first published on Small Business Trends 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’ve ever wished your air purifier could do more than just purify, the Dyson Hot+Cool Formaldehyde HP09 steps up with some bold solutions. It’s currently available for $649 (down from $849.99), which is still a splurge, but not quite as painful as usual. Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde $649.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $849.99 Save $200.99 Get Deal Get Deal $649.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $849.99 Save $200.99 This machine is a purifier, yes—but also a fan and a space heater, all in one unit. Designed for rooms up to 800 square feet, it uses a blade-free oval tower (classic Dyson) to project clean, warm, or cool air with a 350-degree oscillation range. That’s wide enough to cover most living rooms, and the device is light enough (just over 12 pounds) to shift from room to room without much hassle. One of the most useful things about the HP09 is how much it tells you about the air you're breathing. It doesn’t only claim to clean—it shows you exactly what it’s removing. That includes everyday stuff floating around your home like dust, smoke, pollen, pet dander, fumes from cleaners and sprays, off-gassing from furniture or paint, and emissions from gas stoves or candles. It tracks all of this in real time, breaking it down into easy-to-read stats on the purifier’s LED screen or in the MyDyson app (which also pulls in outdoor AQI based on your location). You’ll see things like temperature, humidity, and overall air quality, plus specific readings for fine particles (PM2.5), larger particles (PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and formaldehyde (this being a big deal if your space has new furniture or paint). The catalytic filter that breaks down formaldehyde doesn’t need replacing, but the HEPA and carbon filters that trap other pollutants are estimated to last up to a year (replacements run $79.99). You can control everything through the app or with your voice using Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. That said, it lacks Apple HomeKit support, and you’ll still need the included remote to activate heating for safety reasons. Also, according to this PCMag review, it gets loud when you push it to higher speeds. For something simpler and cheaper, the $449.77 Dyson Purifier Cool TP07 (down from $649.99) skips the heater and formaldehyde filter but still keeps the air clean and your home connected. View the full article

Right-leaning comedy podcasts are a gateway to conspiracy theories and misogynistic content, a new study has found. While these podcasts may seem harmless at first—often discussing sports like the NFL and MMA and featuring guests such as Ben Affleck and David Goggins—a new report reveals that engaging with their content online can open a Pandora’s box of aliens and Andrew Tate, the former professional kickboxer who built his platform by promoting misogynistic ideas. In a study published this week, the nonprofit Media Matters for America examined five comedy shows that platformed Donald The President during the 2024 presidential election while claiming to be nonpolitical: Full Send, The Joe Rogan Experience, Impaulsive With Logan Paul, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, and Flagrant. Using a brand-new TikTok account created solely for research, Media Matters interacted with accounts affiliated with these shows or their hosts. (In the case of Rogan, who does not have an official TikTok, a fan account exclusively posting show clips was used.) After Media Matters watched and “liked” the 10 most recent videos from each account, TikTok’s algorithm began delivering a stream of content that included conspiracy theories, toxic masculinity, misinformation, doomsday prepping, racism, right-wing media, and transphobia. Among the first 425 videos shown on the Media Matters account’s “For You” page, 28% contained conspiracy theories and 16% promoted toxic masculinity. These included claims that recent plane crashes were orchestrated to “make sure people won’t leave.” Other videos featured phrases like “get rich and disappear,” set to montages of luxury watches, boats, cars, and planes—many soundtracked by Tate. “TikTok’s recommendation algorithm fed our account with misogynistic content and fringe conspiracy theory videos that can lead users down a right-wing rabbit hole of misinformation and more extreme content, which has the potential to radicalize them,” Media Matters senior investigative researcher Olivia Little tells Fast Company. The concern grows when considering the reach of these shows. Right-leaning podcasts far surpass their left-leaning counterparts in audience size. According to a Media Matters report published in March, 9 of the 10 most-followed online shows across all platforms are right-leaning, with a combined total following of more than 197 million. These shows extend their influence through social media, where they post full streams, short clips, and links. While left-leaning online shows have a collective following of 48 million across platforms, right-leaning shows have amassed more than 225 million followers. “TikTok is so popular because of its focus on hyper-tailoring a user’s recommendation feed to their content preferences, which has the potential to throw users down hard-to-escape rabbit holes,” Little says. “Engaging with right-wing or right-wing-adjacent content appears to signal to the recommendation algorithm that you’re interested in that content and your feed will quickly reflect that.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Oura ring is great at tracking sleep and keeping tabs on your healthy habits, but as I noted in my review of the Oura ring 4, it’s really not great at activity tracking. That may be changing with a rollout of new activity-tracking features that the company has announced today. These still aren't enough to replace, say, a proper sports watch, but they do look like a significant improvement on Oura’s previous abilities. I’m going to test these features over the coming days and weeks to let you know how much of an improvement they really are. Here’s what Oura says is included: Step counting will use a new algorithm that is supposed to be more accurate. Calorie burn for activities will take heart rate into account (allowing Oura to estimate how intense your workout was). Split times will now be available for runs automatically tracked with Oura. Heart rate data will be included when Oura pulls in workouts from other sources (for example, if you track a workout with your Apple Watch or Garmin). You can add or edit activities from the past week, not just the current day. Past readiness scores will update accordingly. Automatic activity detection will now work at any time of day or night, removing the previous limitation where activities would only be detected during the day. There will be a new trend view for activities, showing your daily, weekly, and monthly active time. You will finally be able to edit your max heart rate. This will change your zones and your heart rate trends accordingly. That last one is a biggie, and makes Oura’s heart rate zone reporting a lot more useful. Previously they used an age-based formula, even though people’s max heart rates vary too much for any one-size-fits-all formula to be accurate. (Oura previously thought my easy runs were done mostly in zone 5. I promise you, Oura, they are not.) Oura has also announced integrations with several apps that can pull in data like HRV from the Oura app, and use those to inform your workouts or analysis in those apps. The new integrations include CorePower Yoga, The Sculpt Society, Technogym, and meditation app Open. View the full article

Speaker overcomes key sticking point on taxes as he presses to deliver cornerstone of president’s legislative agendaView the full article

Countless Rite Aid customers and employees are still waiting to learn the fate of their local pharmacies as the bankrupt drugstore chain sells off its assets and winds down operations. Now, at least three Rite Aid landlords are asking for more transparency into the process. Last week, Rite Aid announced that it has reached agreements to sell its prescription files for most of its 1,200 retail pharmacies, with successful bidders including CVS, Walgreens, and Albertsons, among others. Perhaps most notably, CVS agreed to buy prescription files for 625 of those pharmacies, even as it said it would only take over 64 physical Rite Aid locations in three states: Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. However, neither Rite Aid nor CVS has said which pharmacy locations were involved in the bid. Now three landlords—HVP2 LLC, New Hartford Holdings LLC, and Gallashea Properties LLC—have filed a limited objection to the asset sales on the grounds that they have no idea if their own leases were included, according to a court filing earlier this week. “Conspicuously absent from the notice is any particular and critical information regarding who bought what and for how much?” the filing states. Privacy concerns as prescription data changes hands The landlords say they are not seeking the disclosure of sensitive customer data, which carries special privacy and regulatory considerations when prescription files are transferred from one company to another. Rather, they just want to know which Rite Aid locations were successfully bid upon, saying a more transparent process might allow them to secure better deals for their leases. Reached for comment by Fast Company, a spokesperson for CVS said store specific information has not yet been released but offered no timeline for when that might happen—other than to say more details will be released following a hearing on the sale. The company did not respond to a question about the landlords’ objection. “We’re working closely with Rite Aid on plans to ensure that the transition will be seamless for patients and customers and access to pharmacy care is not interrupted,” the spokesperson said. CVS is already the country’s largest pharmacy chain, with its pharmacy unit generating $124.5 billion in revenue and filling 1.7 billion prescriptions last year. A Rite Aid spokesperson told Fast Company that the sale of its assets to CVS and other pharmacies “will be implemented on a rolling basis and will take some time.” The spokesperson emphasized that Rite Aid pharmacies will remain open during this process, but court documents show the company is already planning to close more than 200 locations, as Fast Company previously reported. Plenty of anxiety to go around All Rite Aid locations will eventually either close or be sold to other companies. An auction for the bankrupt company’s remaining assets is planned for June. In the meantime, landlords aren’t the only one impacted by the uncertainty. On Reddit and other online forums, Rite Aid employees have expressed no shortage of frustration about not knowing the fate of their local stores. The CVS spokesperson told Fast Company that once the sale is finalized, “we look forward to welcoming Rite Aid colleagues who are interested in applying to join the CVS team.” For their part, the landlords have asked as part of their objection that Rite Aid disclose the “specific identities” of companies that successfully bid on its assets, along with which specific assets they won and how much they paid. Fast Company has reached out to the landlords’ lawyer for an update. The sale of Rite Aid’s assets is still subject to court approval, with a hearing scheduled for today. 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. Streaming services have basically come full circle: What started as a cheap alternative to cable TV has become an expensive monthly cost in its own right, as price hikes and crackdowns on password sharing have made subscribing to multiple streaming services just as expensive, if not more so, than some conventional cable plans. Luckily, there are often discounts, deals, and loopholes to exploit that can make streaming more affordable—and sometimes even free. Here are the best streaming deals you can get right now. This month's best streaming deal Credit: Peacock The very best streaming deal right now is for Peacock. You can get an annual Peacock Premium plan for $24.99 (saving you $55) with code SPRINGSAVINGS and get all caught up on Poker Face. (Look for more Peacock deals down below.) Here are the best of the rest of the streaming deals right now: Amazon Prime VideoYou can try a 30-day free trial. Check out what's new on Prime Video this month, as well as the best Prime Video Original movies to watch. Prime Video is also available on its own for $8.99 a month, so if you’re only in it for the shows and movies, you can skip the full Prime membership and save yourself six bucks a month. AMC+You can try AMC+ for $5 for the first month (regular price is $9.99/month) through Sling TV (scroll down to see the deal). You do not need to have a Sling plan to get this deal. If you do sign up for a Sling subscription, you’ll get your first month of AMC+ for free. You can also try a seven-day free trial. You can get an annual subscription to ad-free AMC+ through Verizon's +play for $83.88 (saves you $3 per month). You can bundle AMC+ with STARZ on Prime Video for $13.99 (save $6.99/month). You can sign up through Roku for just $2.99 for the first two months. Apple TV+You can get a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+. You can get a free subscription if you’re a T-Mobile customer with a Go5G Plus or Go5G Next plan. You get three months of free Apple TV+ when you buy an Apple product. You can get a free month of Apple TV+ when you sign up through Roku. You can get Apple Music for just $5.99/month with a student discount—and it comes with free access to Apple TV+. Check out the best original series from Apple TV. The Criterion ChannelThis arthouse streamer is the best service for true movie buffs, and you can sign up for a free trial before being charged the $99.99 annual fee (which already represents a savings over the $10.99 cost of a monthly plan). Curiosity StreamSave $20 when you sign up for a Standard Curiosity Stream annual plan, and $50 when you sign up for the Smart Bundle annual plan. New users can also score $250 off a lifetime subscription to Curiosity Stream’s Standard plan. DirecTV StreamYou can get two years of Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Starz, MGM+, and Cinemax with the purchase of the Premier package starting at $124.99 per month (it saves $10 per month, or $240 over two years). Or can try a five-day free DirecTV Stream trial. You can also unlock 105+ free live channels just by signing up for MyFree DirecTV with your email and downloading the app. Discovery+You can subscribe to Discovery+ ($9.99/month) as an add-on through Sling TV—no base plan required. If you bundle it with Sling Blue or Sling Orange, you’ll get the first month free. There's also a seven-day free trial if you just want to test it out. Disney+You can get the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle with ads for $16.99 (a 43% discount off its original 29.97/mo price) Or you can get the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle without ads for $29.99 (a 42% discount off its original $51.97/mo price) You can get Disney+ and Hulu (with ads) for $10.99 per month (save 44% per month). You can get Disney+ and Hulu (no ads) for $19.99 per month (save 42% per month). You can get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (with ads) for $16.99 per month. You can get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (no ads) for $26.99 per month. Verizon subscribers who have an Unlimited Ultimate plan have the option to include a Disney package, which provides them with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (with ads) for just $10 monthly (save $6.99 per month). Check out what's new on Disney+ this month. FuboTVTry a seven-day free trial of FuboTV. If you’re a new subscriber, you get 30 days free of FuboTV Pro if you’re a My Best Buy Plus or Total member (save $84.99). New subscribers also get $20 off the first month. HuluYou can get the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle with ads for $16.99. Or you can get the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle without ads for $29.99. Get an annual plan of Hulu (with ads) for $99.99 instead of $9.99 monthly (save $19.89) You can get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (with ads) for $16.99 per month. Get Hulu + Live TV, Disney+, and ESPN+ (all three with ads) for $82.99 per month. T-Mobile members can get Hulu at no cost through Hulu on Us with their Go5G Next plan. Students can get Hulu for $1.99 per month after an 80% discount. Check out what's new on Hulu this month. MaxYou can get the new Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle with ads for $16.99 (save $12.98/month). Or you can get the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle without ads for $29.99 (save $21.98/month) You can get Max (with ads) for $99.99 per year (save $19.89 per year over the monthly cost). You can get Max (with no ads) for $169.99 per year. You can get Max Premium (with no ads) for $209.99 per year (save $41.89 per year). Verizon subscribers who have myPlan have the option to include a Netflix and Max bundle package with ads for just $10 monthly per line (save $7.98 per month). Cricket Wireless includes Max (with ads) in its $60/month plan. Or if you use DoorDash regularly, you could sign up for a DashPass Annual Plan, and you’ll get Max (with ads) included at no extra cost for a year. Check out what's new on Max this month, and the best movies and TV shows to stream on Max. MGM+You can get six free months when you buy a Fire TV device from Amazon. Try for free with a seven-day trial on Amazon Prime. Or get two months of MGM+ for 99 cents/month on the Roku Channel if you join before May 22. NetflixIf you’re a Verizon customer, you can get a year of Netflix for free when you buy certain annual subscriptions through +play. If you’re a Verizon customer, you can get Netflix for a year if you buy an annual subscription to STARZ or AMC+ through +play. Read the FAQ here. Verizon subscribers who have myPlan have the option to include a Netflix and Max bundle package with ads for just $10 monthly per line (save $7.98 per month). You can save on Netflix (Standard with ads) if you’re a T-Mobile customer with a Go5G Plus or Next plan. Check out what's new on Netflix this month and the best movies and TV shows to stream this week. NFL+If you’re a Verizon customer, you can get an annual subscription to NFL+ Premium through +play for $99.99 (saving you around $80 over monthly billing) Or you could get the NFL+ for $6.99/mo or $49.99/season. Get NFL Sunday Ticket for $40 per month. Paramount+Get a year of Paramount+ Essential for $59.99 (save $2.99 per month compared to the monthly plan). You can get Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for free for a week, then it's $12.99 monthly. You can get Paramount+ for free when you sign up for a Walmart+ membership (or if you already have one) as part of your subscription. Students can get a Paramount+ Essential for $5.99 monthly. Or if you have a Hulu subscription, you can add Paramount+ with Showtime for $12.99/month Check out what's new on Paramount+ and Showtime this month. PeacockYou can get the annual Premium Peacock plan for $24.99 (save $55 with code SPRINGSAVINGS). Students can get Peacock Premium for $2.99 per month for 12 months. Xfinity internet customers who sign up for NOW TV for $20 a month, which includes 40 live TV and on-demand channels, can get Peacock Premium for free. Instacart+ members get a free Peacock Premium annual membership Here are the best original Peacock shows worth watching. PhiloYou can try a seven-day free trial of Philo. ShowtimeYou can try it free for seven days with Paramount+. Get it bundled with Paramount+ across streaming services, including Hulu and Sling TV. Sling TVYou can get the Orange or Blue service for $20 for the first month, which is 50% off the regular monthly price. You can also save $38 by prepaying for the first 3 months of Sling TV. StarzYou can get a Starz subscription for $5 for three months. You can get Starz for $2.99/month for two months on Prime Video through May 27, then it's $10.99/month after. Or you can get it for $1.99 for two months if you sign up through Roku. VuduNo current deals for Vudu. YouTube TVYou can get two months of YouTube TV for $59.99 if you're a new subscriber. $59.99 for your first two months (save $46 for two months), then $82.99 per month. Get YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket for $31.50 per month (plus $59.99/month for the YouTube TV base plan during the first two months) You can also try YouTube TV for free for 10 days. View the full article

Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 year as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending. Target also said that customer boycotts have also done some damage. The company scaled back many diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January after they came under attack by conservative activists and the White House. Target’s retreat created another backlash, with more customers angered by the retailer’s reduction of LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for Pride Month in June of 2023. Shares fell more than 4% before the opening bell Wednesday. Sales fell 2.8% to $23.85 billion in the quarter, and that was short of the $24.23 billion Wall Street expected, according to FactSet. Sales are also down from the $24.53 billion the company reported during the same period last year. Target said Wednesday that it now expects a low-single digit decline in sales for 2025, and earnings per share, which excludes the gains from the litigation settlements in the first quarter, to be anywhere from $7 to $9. For the year, analysts expect earnings per share of $8.34 on sales of $106.7 billion. Comparable store sales, those from established stores and online channels, fell 3.8%. That includes a 5.7% drop in store sales and a 4.7% increase in online sales. That reverses a comparable store sales increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter. The number of transactions across online and physical stores fell 2.4%, and the average ticket dropped 1.4%. Target said Tuesday that it couldn’t reliably estimate the individual impact of each of the factors that were hurting its business. Target is setting up a new office to be led by Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke would focus on making faster decisions to help accelerate sales growth. Current Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Christina Hennington will move into a strategic adviser role. Target is also intensifying efforts to entice customers who are nervous about the economy and inflation. The retailer says it is offering 10,000 new items starting at $1—with the majority under $20. “I want to be clear,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told reporters on a call Tuesday. “We’re not satisfied with these results, so we’re moving with urgency to navigate through this period of volatility . . . We’ve got to drive traffic back into our stores or visits to our site.” Out of 35 merchandise categories including discretionary and essentials that the company tracks, it’s gaining or maintaining market share in only 15, the company said. Target rival Walmart reported strong quarterly sales last week. The nation’s largest retailer said it’s already raised prices on some items due to tariffs and that more price hikes are on the way this summer when the back-to-school shopping season goes into high gear. For example, car seats made in China that currently sell for $350 at Walmart will likely cost customers another $100, executives said. Target didn’t offer specifics on tariffs’ impact on prices, but said that it was looking at different ways to offset those costs. “We look at competition,” Cornell told reporters. “We make adjustments literally each and every week, so we’re constantly adjusting pricing. Some are going up. Some will be reduced.” President Donald The President’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced May 12, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days. Yet Americans were already pulling back on spending as they grow increasingly uneasy over the state of the U.S. economy. Companies including toy manufacturer Mattel, toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble have announced higher prices or plans to raise prices because of the trade war kicked of by the U.S. Walmart was able to dodge some of the tariff damage other retailers are suffering because groceries account for about 60% of its U.S. business. Target is more reliant on discretionary items like clothing and accessories, with less than a quarter of its sales coming from groceries. Target has reduced the number of its store-label products sourced from China to 30% now from 60% in 2017. The company is on its way to reducing that number to 25% by the end of next year, the company said. Target is shifting sourcing to Guatemala and Honduras and is looking to sourcing in the U.S. Target is being pressured on other fronts as well. The company in January said it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black employees advance their careers and promote Black-owned businesses. Conservative activists and President Donald The President have sought to dismantle DEI policies in the federal government, schools, and at private businesses. The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day boycott of Target stores in response called last month for a continuation of that effort. The Rev. Jamal Bryant is seeking a reinvigorated commitment from Target on diversity, and he wants more support from Target for Black-owned banks and businesses. Target earned $1.04 billion, or $2.27 per share, for the period ended May 3. That compares with $942 million, or $2.03 per share, in the year-ago period. Target operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people. —Anne D’Innocenzio, AP Business Writer View the full article

The startup, which emerged from Y Combinator in 2023, has deployed its software at a long list of community banks and fintechs, including Grasshopper Bank and First Internet Bank. View the full article

Google has built a massive business selling ads that appear around search results: In its 2024 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported roughly $198 billion under “Google Search & Other,” its largest profit segment and more than half of its parent company Alphabet’s total revenue. But search is undergoing a foundational shift toward accessing the web’s information with the help of powerful AI models, and nobody has yet found a winning model for placing ads around AI search results. At the same time, new generative AI models can now handle much of the cognitive efforts users typically expend to arrive at their intended web content—and they’re doing it faster. This shift was evident in the search products and features that Google unveiled at this week’s I/O developer event, many of which are powered by this very reasoning capability. Fast Company spoke to Liz Reid, Google’s head of search, and Nick Fox, SVP of knowledge and information product, about how the company is navigating this seismic shift. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How are you thinking about where search is heading? Nick Fox: What [AI] means for search is probably the biggest shift in search ever. We’re talking about a shift from basic information retrieval to intelligence. These models enable a much deeper understanding of information [and] the ability to transform information. If we rewind a year, some of this was just theory. Liz Reid: One of the exciting things with AI Mode is that while it’s our cutting-edge AI search, it also provides a glimpse of what we think can be more broadly available. Our current belief is that we will take the things that work well in AI Mode and bring them right to the core of search and AI Overviews. We’ve started doing this with technology like query fan-out [in which the AI calls for a number of sources for information related to the user’s search], so you can just ask whatever question you have right in the search box. When we think about the future of search, we consider a few different areas: AI could be the most powerful engine for discovery because the ability for you to specify what you want means we can connect you to that really interesting niche page or artist that has something different to say that you’re interested in. We think it can end up transforming the web and people’s ability to connect. LLM technology allows multimodality both in inputs and in outputs. Humans speak in different ways—conversationally, looking at images, seeing things before us. This is how we like to talk, describe our needs, and understand. AI allows you to say how you would really like to consume this information and makes that possible. What does the introduction of reason agents mean for search? LR: [Google] has been thinking about agentic work for a while [but] oftentimes that’s been confined by API integrations. The goal is to make search gather information, pull it together, and make it easy for you to take action on your information needs. This will be really exciting. We’re starting with bringing a lot of the Project Mariner (AI agent) technologies into search. This was something that was once easy to talk about, but now it feels like it’s actually going to be possible. This is related to the new reasoning aspect of LLMs and the tool calling ability to do tasks as opposed to just searching for a static piece of information. Thinking about traditional search with the “10 blue links,” my brain was doing the work to figure out which link to click and to process all the information. It seems like with the new AI approach, AI is doing some of that mental work for me. NF: While a lot of the narrative out there is “AI or the web,” we don’t view it as AI or the web, but rather the two of those really in concert together, building a holistic experience. A big part of that is exactly what you said, which is AI can help contextualize the web. AI can help organize, contextualize, and bring some of the simpler parts, and then you’re going to go deeper, often in a web page. Robby Stein, VP of search products, mentioned giving AI Mode permission to look into search history, Gmail, and other Google services to personalize search results. What are the privacy concerns about accessing that kind of data? LR: A key part of this is that it is genuinely an opt-in thing; we really want people to actively decide that they want to do it. We’re really starting with business messaging and recommendations. It’s not about personalizing something like a health response based on email content, but using information like the type of brands you like to shop for to make shopping queries easier, or the type of restaurants you order takeout from to recommend places in a new country. We’re going to start in Labs (for experimental products) to see what the feedback is and focus on recommendation spaces where there’s an overwhelming number of choices and it can be hard to express what you want, to specify your taste. NF: My own usage has been super useful for recommendations, especially restaurant recommendations based on OpenTable confirmations in Gmail. Search understands some of this already, but the notion of which restaurant I actually liked is a particularly useful piece of information. LR: Our UX research shows people have very different views. Some people really don’t want it, which supports the opt-in. But a lot of younger users actually expect apps to be very personalized, and they assume we’re already doing a lot of personalization in search. For some users, we’re not meeting their expectations in that space, and we should do more. Others may just never want it, and that’s fine. It’s like you have to get a sense of the zeitgeist around privacy expectations, and it’s a generational thing. I always think of it in a transactional way: I would be happy to expose my information if the return was obvious, and if you earn and keep my trust, and don’t start doing something with my data that I didn’t know you were going to do. NF: Yes, the user value of it has to be really high. We believe it can be and will be, but this is what we’ll learn with our users. It must be rooted in whether there is truly compelling user value by getting highly personalized, highly relevant recommendations for the things people are really looking for. You built this huge business on showing search ads to people, and now we’re talking about this foundational shift in the way we’re doing search. Has your thinking around how you’re going to monetize AI search evolved as you’ve learned more about what it is and how people use it? LR: We still see that a critical class of information is commercial information, where people are still often making [product] choices. So there’s still a large opportunity for ads. AI is expanding what’s possible. People are asking more queries, sometimes more specific queries. They’re telling more about what the intent is, which allows us to do more useful ads; you’re not just guessing, you can get more explicit. That is a real opportunity [for Google] from a business perspective, with more various opportunities. It’s also really important for [businesses] that there are these opportunities for ads. If you’re a small merchant, often the only way you have a chance to break out is with ads. Otherwise, you just cement the brands everybody knows. That is how new brands come in and new merchants stand out, advertising to people looking for something they don’t know by name. If people get more specific about what they want, it gives more space for small merchants to show up and meet niche needs. NF: What I’d add is the hallmark of our approach to advertising and search has been showing ads when they’re relevant and highly useful for the user, and showing very few or no ads when they aren’t relevant or the query wouldn’t benefit. I’m looking for a Mother’s Day present or gift ideas, which can be tricky. Having an AI response that gives ideas, and then ads that provide specific places to go buy them, is highly useful. Because we have a baseline understanding of how to monetize and thoughtfully display ads or not display ads on a search results page, it gives us the ability to get this right and what the user is looking for while also creating the opportunity for advertisers and driving the business forward. Have you been talking to brands? Are they looking at this new mode of discovery and thinking about what they need to be doing to optimize for visibility and searchability in AI search? NF: The ecosystem is figuring it out; we’re all figuring this out together. Historically, it’s all been about clicks—someone searches, do I get a click? That’s going to continue to be important for conversions. But there’s an additional piece: Brands themselves want visibility in that experience even if they’re not the place the user is going to go to buy. There’s value to the impression or the mention, which is something search hasn’t focused on as much historically. This is something we’re going to be talking to advertisers and businesses about. It’s interesting that the total number of searches is increasing with the introduction of AI search. NF: There’s been this narrative out there that the web is dying for 25 years or something. What’s interesting is that if you actually look at the data, the web is thriving. We were looking at data recently, and Google’s crawler, which crawls a lot of the web, is seeing way more content than ever before. Our crawlers are seeing 45% more content this year—in April versus April two years ago. More content is being created, more domains are being registered, and third-party data shows visits to the web increasing over time. Liz talked about AI being an engine of discovery; discovery also leads to creation. Google is an optimistic company that cares a lot about the web. We truly believe this will be an expansionary moment for the internet and the web, and the data seems to indicate this reality. Maybe you’re just making it a little bit more fun to search, more fun to shop. LR: It’s certainly the case that if you reduce the drudgery and the effort, people search more. People have limited time, and if it’s just easier to do, if it feels like a joy and you don’t have to do the hard parts but get to do the fun parts, then people will do it more often. We’ve seen this repeatedly, from the web overall to images, Lens, and AI Overviews. Lower the difficulty, make it more enjoyable with the response you get, and then people just do more of it because it’s worth their time. 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. Just in time for Memorial Day grilling, barbecuing, and smoking, the thoughtful folks over at ThermoWorks have put together a sale that you won’t want to miss. Starting today, you can get my favorite meat thermometer 30% off. It’s the Thermapen One, and I like it so much, I even bought one for my dad. ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE, No. 1 Recommended Instant-Read Thermometer - Cayenne Pepper Red $119.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Get Deal Get Deal $119.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg I’ve been using the Thermapen One for about eight months now, and I don’t know how I ever hosted a Friendsgiving without it. I’d rather forget those days when I nearly roasted my own arm because some other crummy meat thermometer took forever to measure the temperature of my oven-roasted turkey. Though I primarily use the Thermapen One for meat, don’t limit yourself—this handy probe thermometer can be used to check the doneness of breads, cakes, and casseroles too. The Thermapen One gives you an accurate reading in one second (hence the name). While that is absolutely fantastic, it’s the other features that set it apart. It has a hinged probe, so you can collapse it when it’s not in use. (It automatically shuts off when you fold the end in.) When you open it up, the digital display is backlit so you can easily see the reading. Best of all, the numbers rotate with the screen orientation. This sounds like an “okay, who cares” feature, but you’d be surprised how many weird angles you have to use to get to the center of a thigh or avoid hitting a turkey bone while trying to keep your knuckles from getting burned on a grill grate. A temperature reading that orients automatically right-side-up is extremely helpful. My dad’s the grill guy in our family, and the quick reading is the main feature that drew him to this thermometer in the first place: No more waiting around for the temperature to finish climbing while you lose heat from your grill with the lid open. In fact, if you want to get ahead of Father’s Day shopping, this is a great opportunity to grab a deal, and you'll feel proud of yourself for being so organized and thoughtful. The Thermapen One is on sale through May 27, so if shipping times won't get it to you by this weekend, at least you'll have it to get you through the rest of grilling season. View the full article

UK prime minister says government will change unpopular policy this yearView the full article

Like a poorer Switzerland, the UK will never find a happy balance of independence and accessView the full article

Russians seeking an online window to the outside world are finding their options rapidly diminishing as Vladimir Putin’s government strips app stores of VPNs. Last week, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet authority, ordered three major app stores to remove virtual private networks (VPNs) from public availability. Roughly one in four Russians report using VPNs to avoid detection by Russia’s pervasive internet monitoring tools—systems designed to suppress dissent within the country. The VPN bans are the latest in a long series of similar crackdowns. According to TechRadar, more than 50 VPNs available elsewhere are inaccessible in the Russian Google Play Store. This is despite Google showing more resistance than many other app store providers to Russia’s censorship demands. Still, the trend signals a worrying shift toward sweeping digital restrictions. “Russia’s increasing push to remove VPN apps from major app stores is part of a coordinated strategy to cut citizens off from uncensored information and secure communication tools,” warns Alexey Kozliuk, chair of the VPN Guild, an industry group. According to Yevgeniy Golovchenko, a researcher specializing in online censorship at the University of Copenhagen, Russia’s efforts to block VPNs represent one of the final and most extreme steps in a long campaign to control the internet. He likens online censorship to a ladder, suggesting that the country is now reaching its upper limits in terms of how far it can go to restrict digital freedom. “We’re reaching the top of the censorship ladder,” he says. While this crackdown on VPNs represents the regime’s most aggressive action yet, Golovchenko sees it as part of a long-standing effort by the Kremlin to eliminate online dissent entirely. “The Russian authorities have been trying to establish control over the internet during the last two decades,” he says. That effort intensified after Russia’s spring 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as public discontent over Putin’s decisions grew. The Russian president is determined to extinguish opposition to his actions in Ukraine and prevent any potential uprising. Those most likely to be drafted—and most opposed to the war—tend to be frequent internet users. Thus, controlling the web is viewed as key to maintaining total authority. “The Russian government is definitely trying to splinter the internet,” Golovchenko says. “They’ve been passing the so-called sovereign internet law with a clear goal of trying to splinter the Russian internet.” In this way, Russia is emulating its ally China, Golovchenko says, “not just through censorship, but through efforts to push users away from Western platforms toward Russian platforms that are more likely to comply with Russian law.” Russia’s broader approach to censorship is also telling. The government has allocated 60 billion rubles (around $600 million) in its 2025–2027 budget to expand its censorship infrastructure. This includes the deployment of advanced Deep Packet Inspection systems known as TSPU. “These systems are capable of blocking entire VPN protocols and have been tested during regional internet shutdowns to suppress encrypted traffic,” adds VPN Guild’s Kozliuk, who says that some VPN providers have created robust technologies specifically designed to function in heavily censored countries such as Russia, Belarus, and Iran. However, he notes that the Russian government is increasingly countering these efforts by blocking information about VPNs and pressuring tech companies to halt their distribution. “For ordinary Russians, the consequences are severe,” Kozliuk says. Citizens are increasingly cut off from the outside world, as the tools they once used to circumvent state censorship are being dismantled through tighter enforcement. These actions, he says, mark another step toward a “splinternet,” reflecting the Kremlin’s enduring aim to build a self-contained, tightly regulated Russian web modeled on China’s. “What we’re witnessing is not just censorship, but the systematic construction of digital borders,” he tells Fast Company, “enforced by the state and increasingly by complicit global tech companies.” View the full article

On a recent weekend in April, data consultant Shane Kessler wasn’t at the grocery store to panic-buy eggs, but rather to scour the tall, narrow aisles of the the H Mart in Manhattan’s K Town for the viral Korean pastry known as a crungji, basically a flattened croissant. He hadn’t found one yet, but his basket was filled with popular Melona ice cream, from South Korea, and two bottles of his favorite Japanese soy sauce from among the more than 100 varieties on offer. He was worried about tariffs raising the prices of his favorite goods. “I never thought I’d be stockpiling soy sauce, but here we are,” he shrugged. “I’ve come to H Mart every weekend this month.” Kessler’s transformation from casual fan to hoarder of once-niche pantry items is symbolic of a broader shift in America. Last year, sales of Asian groceries grew almost four times faster than overall grocery sales in the U.S., according to data analytics company Circana, and topped $55 billion here, per research firm IBISWorld. Korean instant ramyun exports alone surpassed $100 million last year, thanks to the popularity of products like Nongshim’s Chapagetti noodles (seen in Parasite) and BTS-endorsed Buldak from Samyang Foods, which was the official “hot sauce partner” of this year’s Coachella. Leading that boom in the U.S. is H Mart, the 43-year-old Korean grocery chain that stocks thousands of brands from across Asia in what have become almost Walmart-size stores. Since its founding with a single outpost in Woodside, Queens, in 1982, H Mart has grown into the largest specialty grocer in America. Over the past three years alone, it’s expanded from 77 stores in 12 states to around 100 across 16 states, plus seven in Canada and one in London, generating $2 billion in annual sales, according to reporting by the New York Times. H Mart’s cultural reach has risen alongside its physical footprint, which in New York recently included a Squid Mart collaboration with Netflix for season two of Squid Game. The company has benefitted from the ascendance of K-dramas, K-pop, and the broader “Korean wave,” as well as TV-famous Korean fusion chefs, like David Chang and Roy Choi. Other celebrities have put an even finer point on it: Musician Michelle Zauner’s 2021 memoir, Crying in the H Mart, catapulted the grocery store’s name onto the New York Times bestseller list. Nearly a third of H Mart’s customers are now non-Asian, it has said—a significant pivot from the early days, when its original name (“Han Ah Reum”) appeared only in Korean characters. (Privately run by the Kwon family since 1982, H Mart largely shuns the media and eschews national advertising. It didn’t respond to Fast Company’s interview request.) Since early April, when President The President held his “Liberation Day” press conference, hooked American consumers have been worried that their new obsession with Asian groceries could become a casualty of the administration’s trade war. The roller coaster of tariff rate changes so far is dizzying. But unless new trade agreements are struck before the 90-day suspension expires, “retaliatory” tariffs will be imposed on July 9—of around 25% on Japanese and Korean products, and up to 48% on Vietnamese items. Tariffs on Chinese goods, currently at 30%, could snap back to 145% by mid-August. Surveys show most Americans expect grocery prices to get hit the hardest, with half already adjusting their spending habits. On a recent earnings call, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon signaled that the rising price of imported food is a particular concern for the retailer. (The President responded by telling Walmart to “eat the tariffs.”) Online, reactions have ranged from people copping to panic-buying Kewpie mayo and Fly by Jing chili crisp to grimly joking “how skinny I’m going to be” once the tariffs hit their go-to specialty grocer’s aisles. “We’re all going to be crying in H Mart,” one TikTok user commented. But the truth is more complex. H Mart, which has grown into a U.S. grocery powerhouse by stocking items from around the globe, appears hitched to such a remarkable growth trajectory that it may be less vulnerable than people fear. Asian brands, made in America Specialty foods are particularly vulnerable to tariffs. They rely on regional ingredients and techniques that are hard—even impossible—to replicate elsewhere. Champagne and Parmigiano Reggiano, for example, simply can’t be produced on American soil. The same is true for many Asian food brands. Fly by Jing, for example, only uses ingredients from China’s Sichuan province for its line of sauces and spices that launched in 2019. Founder and CEO Jing Gao says that the tariffs for her products stood at 160% prior to the 90-day negotiation period. Though Fly by Jing isn’t sold at H Mart, it is carried by Whole Foods, Kroger, Walmart, and other major U.S. supermarket chains, which gives it some padding to absorb the extra costs. Even so, it’s an independent food brand, and Gao worries how the tariffs will impact food companies like hers—and American culture, along with them. “Sharing authentic ingredients and flavors is one of the most powerful ways to explore the nuances of other cultures,” she tells Fast Company. Tariffs “not only threaten our brand’s prosperity,” she adds, “but rob Americans of an accessible way to connect with and appreciate cultures at a time when we need it most.” Large companies, as well, are wrestling with the operational unknowns that The President’s tariffs have unleashed. Last month, at an international ramyun conference in Seoul, the CEO of Samyang Foods noted that his company was forming a task force to study U.S. tariff policy more closely. Samyang has been focused on wooing American consumers. Its U.S. sales hit $280 million last year, growing 127%, thanks to its Buldak ramyun sales. For its pop-up experiences at Coachella this year, the company enlisted influencers, K-pop stars, and even American rapper GloRilla to drive awareness. But Samyang doesn’t have any manufacturing facilities here, at least not yet. Some Asian food brands are in a very different position. Shoppers might be relieved to learn many of H Mart’s top brands outsourced production of their U.S. products years ago—to right here in America. Though industry analysts say it’s difficult to ascertain what proportion of products H Mart imports versus sources domestically, a fair number of the brands that it stocks have manufacturing facilities in the U.S. Nongshim, the maker of Chapagetti, already manufactures the ramyun products for its North American market just outside of Los Angeles, in Rancho Cucamonga. Pulmuone, the world’s largest tofu maker and a popular H Mart brand, produces tofu in the same area. Kikkoman, Ajinomoto, and CJ Foods also maintain extensive U.S. production facilities. Some are even expanding: CJ Foods, which aims to become “the No. 1 provider of ethnic cuisine in the United States,” is building a 700,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (It will be one of the world’s largest when it comes online in 2027.) H Mart stocks more than a hundred items made by these companies, from packaged noodles and frozen foods to bottled sauces. None of these brands would talk tariff strategy with Fast Company, or even discuss their own recent cultural momentum within this context, underscoring the general sense of confusion about what comes next. (As one high-level PR professional who works with retail food brands put it: “Our clients can’t get far enough away from this right now.”) But last fall CJ Foods CEO Misook Pak explained the company’s U.S. strategy to Bloomberg, sounding very Made in America, “If you look at something like mandu [Korean dumplings], we’re able to take this product and localize it for consumers in the U.S.,” he explained. Indeed, the company’s Bibigo dumplings, which are sold at H Mart and produced domestically nowadays, are available in special American flavors like chicken and cilantro. H Mart’s community hubs H Mart, for the moment, seems to be shrugging off any obstacles. The grocer has been on an expansion tear, and there are no signs yet that it’s slowing. In San Francisco last May, it paid $32 million to buy a strip mall in Ingleside, going from tenant to owner. It now rents storefronts in the space to Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette, a Vietnamese coffee shop, and a boba tea outpost. The largest H Mart in existence—a 100,000-square-footer—opened last summer in the Salt Lake City suburbs, between a Mormon church and a sporting goods store. Next, H Mart debuted its own dining hall at the country’s second-largest mall, New Jersey’s American Dream, where diners can try a dozen different eateries offering create-your-own hot pots, bulgogi heroes by a Michelin-star chef, and a self-serve beer bar. Dallas will soon have a $42 million, 16-acre H Mart Plaza, set to hold 50 stores and restaurants. People in Orlando are counting the days until the state of Florida’s first location opens. Las Vegas welcomed its first outlet just last week. “I’ve heard about it, I’ve seen it, there are books about it,” an excited local raved to ABC 13. These locations aren’t just larger than their predecessors. They’re also taking over spaces where rivals crashed and burned—a fallen Super Target in Orlando, a closed Save A Lot in Illinois, a former Kmart in Salt Lake City. H Mart recently swallowed up two underperforming Albertsons stores in Los Angeles. Where H Mart thrives, it seems to refigure sterile supermarkets into vibrant community hubs. H Mart’s shoppers aren’t after Tide pods, after all. They’re there for the food court, the live lobster tank, the wagyu ribeye bulgogi free samples, the cotton candy dispenser near the row of Korean claw machines full of stuffed Pokémon toys. The grocer’s immersive experience could help it continue to reel in shoppers even amid rising prices. That sense of discovery and connection expands beyond the stores themselves. According to data provided by market research firm Datassential, the proportion of restaurants within a half-mile of H Mart that are Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or another type of Asian food is anywhere from 200% to 1,500% higher than average nationwide. That reflects H Mart’s strategy of putting its stores in enclaves where the demographics closely match the offerings on aisles. But in some instances, H Mart itself is luring in other Asian-focused businesses. Almost a third of Paris Baguette’s 191 U.S. cafés are within a half-mile of an H Mart, and about a quarter of all Bb.q Chicken outposts are. Both brands are frequently inside the H Mart food court. (Neither company agreed to comment for this story.) For the brand-new Las Vegas location, formerly a Savers thrift store, H Mart CEO Brian Kwon offered a rare public statement predicting, “H Mart will become a place to experience the best of what communities have to offer, providing a convenient one-stop shopping place for diverse cultures and to the neighborhood, where different ethnicities of friends and neighbors can come, gather, and enjoy.” Already, other Korean establishments are flocking to join H Mart in its shopping plaza. Daeho Kalbijjim, which draws hourlong waits for its short-rib stews in San Francisco, just opened its first Vegas location in the H Mart shopping center. The new location’s manager told local media that the proximity to the grocer “is going to really help us a lot.” Between H Mart carrying good food and his restaurant cooking good food, he said, “we thought the combination was really good.” Even as tariffs threaten costs, H Mart’s real edge might be something much harder to manufacture than a trade war: fierce devotion, tougher to break than any supply chain. View the full article

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 your biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: What should I do if my coworker is using AI unethically? A: This is a question that feels new but is actually just an evolution of a classic workplace issue. You can slot any number of issues in the place of “AI” and the problem is essentially the same: What’s the best way to handle misconduct at work? The answer for all situations, including this one, comes down to a few factors: 1. Do you know (or just suspect) your coworker is doing something they shouldn’t? 2. Does the misconduct violate company policy or is it something you just don’t agree with? 3. How severe is the misconduct? And is it a pattern or a one-off? 4. What is your relationship with the coworker? Let’s take this scenario through those checkpoints. Are they actually doing something wrong? The use of AI at work can be a contentious topic. Your first step should be to check your company’s AI policy and make sure that the way you suspect your colleague to be using AI is actually in violation of the policy. Typically companies have varying degrees of comfort around using AI for workflow and administrative tasks, including email, scheduling, and note-taking. If your company is okay with AI use for these purposes, there might also be a clause that the use of AI tools needs to be disclosed (for example: letting meeting participants know that you are using an AI notetaker). Companies should also have guidance on using AI to complete the work itself (like in written reports or presentations, creating images, etc.). Again, at the very least, the policy should ask that employees credit and acknowledge work that was created by or with the help of AI. If your company doesn’t have an AI policy or it’s too vague, your first stop should be with company leadership to suggest the need for clearer guidelines. While your coworker should have basic ethics and know better than to submit work that’s false or fabricated or pass off AI work as their own, they can’t be blamed for violating a policy that doesn’t exist. How severe is it? Assuming the AI use is in violation of company policy, there are a couple of approaches depending on how severe it is and your relationship with your coworker. Using AI to help write email responses is a lot different than passing off work that you didn’t create or outsourcing quotes and data to AI without fact-checking. If it’s a workflow process that you don’t agree with but that comes down to a personal preference, you can either bring it up directly with your coworker or go to their manager. As long as you feel comfortable and have a good relationship, going directly to the person should be your first step. Assume good intentions. Say something like “I noticed you are using AI notetakers for our weekly staff meeting. I think that’s against our AI policy because of privacy concerns. You might want to check with John about it and see if we can have an intern take notes instead.” If you suspect someone is passing off AI work as their own, or submitting work with AI-produced errors, it’s more of a delicate situation. If you aren’t the person’s boss, it’s not for you to litigate, but before you make a potentially career-damaging accusation, do a little fact-checking. If you have proof that the work is in violation of company policy, take it to their manager, express your concerns, and let them take it from there. If you are in a leadership position and you are sure that an employee’s work is unethical or contains false information, confront the employee with proof. The degree of the deception should dictate whether the employee can be trusted again after a warning or if it’s a fireable offense. More on AI at work: Nearly half of workers using AI at work admit to doing so inappropriately How to learn to work with your new AI coworker Bots, agents, and digital workers: AI is changing the very definition of work View the full article

“Follow your dreams.” It’s the first piece of advice most of us are ever given: as kids in the classroom, as students on campus, as graduates preparing to enter the workforce, and as working adults. We are told that jobs are for pursuing passions, not just paychecks. If we do what we love, money and success will follow. If we love what we do, we’ll never work a day in our lives. And the corollary to all that dreaminess? If we don’t find employment doing whatever we find most fulfilling, we’re somehow failures. We don’t have to follow our dreams to end up with our dream jobs. In fact, I’d argue the opposite. When it comes to careers, “follow your dreams” can be nightmare advice. That’s because most of us enter the working world without knowing what those dreams are. Instead, I’d suggest it’s better to follow your opportunities. A culture of dreams We might think we know what our dreams are. We might even feel certain of them. After all, Americans are spoon-fed a diet high in dreams. They’re the cornerstone of our cultural canon, the basis of fairy tales, superhero stories, and countless Disney and DreamWorks movies. And they aren’t just relegated to fiction and fantasy. Phrases like “I’m living the dream,” “It’s a dream come true,” “The man (or woman) of my dreams,” and “Beyond my wildest dreams” are part of our lexicon. Athletes say these words in post-game interviews after winning big and making it to the finals. Actors repeat them in acceptance speeches as they clutch a shiny statuette. Even contestants on dating shows utter them after receiving a rose and surviving for another week. From our youngest years, we are asked about our career dreams: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Obviously, we have no experience at being anything other than a kid. So why not aspire to be a pro athlete or a pop star? A grab bag of options As we get older and prepare to enter the workplace, some of us still hold on to our childhood or teenage dreams, or we find new ones. Certainly, we are more mature and thoughtful at age twenty-two than we were at age five or fifteen. The sources influencing us are likely to be more logical: our favorite course in college, the recruiter we talked to at an on-campus career fair, or a summer internship that stimulated us intellectually or socially. But like our younger selves, we’re still picking from a grab bag of options largely chosen for us by others or offered from limited experiences. Even if we have a better understanding of what work is, our understanding of who we are is still limited. Consequently, most of us don’t have a clear idea of what we truly want to be when we grow up—especially not at the start of our careers. And that’s a cause for celebration! The point of living is to learn as we go (and grow). That should be the point of working, too: to try new things, to meet different people, to understand ourselves better—what we like and what we can’t stand, what excites us and what bores us, what fills us with joy on a Monday morning and what fills us with dread on a Sunday night. We spend a third of our lives on the job. It just makes sense that whatever we fantasized about doing while dozing off in Econ 101 probably isn’t what we’ll want to be doing thirty years later. But instead of understanding how lucky this makes us, how much freedom we have, all too often we just feel lost. Because we’ve been taught to find direction in our dreams—that they should be like a North Star to guide us. We may feel envious of people who seem to have a fixed dream to follow to help them on their way. Missed opportunities Here’s the thing: Professional dreams can be incredibly limiting. When we enter the workplace convinced that we already know what we want to do—and are committed to doing it at all costs—what we’re saying, in essence, is that there’s nothing left for us to learn or be curious about, nothing that could change our minds, nothing else that would make us happier or more fulfilled. We’re saying that even though our careers are only just beginning, we already know what we want out of them. With that mindset, we risk sleepwalking through life and hitting snooze on a host of bigger, better opportunities that come our way, opportunities that we never could have dreamed up. Just like we can’t be what we can’t see, we can’t dream what we don’t know. So, at any one time, our wants and wishes for the future have a near-infinite number of blind spots. They include every industry we haven’t yet worked in, every company we haven’t yet encountered, and every job we haven’t tried doing ourselves. Unfamiliar territory The world of “I don’t know” is big and always getting bigger. New industries emerge all the time. New companies launch every day. The newer they are, the less likely we are to know about them. Even if we do, the more entrenched we are in our dreams, the less likely we are to want to step foot on unfamiliar territory. Instead, we live in the comfort of a decision we made years ago. But what feels like a seatbelt keeping us secure can also be a trap confining us. Those of us who aren’t committed to a specific dream, on the other hand, have the opportunity to follow new opportunities. Where the dreamers close themselves off, the non-dreamers stay open. Our culture likes to think of them—of us—as lost, but the best way to make one’s way has always been to stay alert and be willing to turn left, right, or back to try a new route when necessary. We can’t do that when our eyes are closed and we are dreaming about something else. Possessing dreams versus allowing them to possess us Does that mean we should discard dreams wholesale? Of course not. There’s nothing wrong with having them and holding on to them, even when they seem unlikely, and the odds are stacked against them coming true. Dreams can motivate us, guide us, and serve as reminders of what’s most important to us. And achieving them feels great in a way that’s hard to top. But there’s a difference between possessing dreams and allowing dreams to possess us. There’s a difference between keeping a dream alive while remaining open to other opportunities and closing ourselves off to everything other than our capital-D dream. All of us—and all our careers—would be better off if we did way more of the former and way less of the latter. Life’s most exciting and least expected adventures are found when we refuse to be restricted and restrained by what we’ve previously imagined. Maybe the random opportunity we say yes to gets us nowhere. Or maybe we’re great at it. Maybe it makes us truly happy. Maybe it ends up exceeding our wildest dreams. Maybe it becomes our wildest dream. Only now, unlike our childhood fantasies, we’ll be equipped with a real understanding of what it entails, what it requires of us, and whether we’re up for it—which makes it a whole lot more likely to become our reality and, quite literally, a dream come true. Excerpted with permission from 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work. Copyright @ 2025 by Bonnie Hammer. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved. View the full article

After years of AI disrupting industries and streamlining repetitive workflows, the technology is now poised to transform animation. In 2024, director and writer Tom Paton’s AiMation Studios released Where the Robots Grow, a fully AI-animated feature film. Everything from animation and voice acting to music was generated using AI, at a cost of just $8,000 per minute—totaling around $700,000 for the 87-minute production. While IMDB reviewers criticized the film as “soulless and uninspired,” it proved that AI can deliver full-length animated features at a fraction of traditional budgets. But it’s not just filmmakers driving this shift. Indie game developers want to prototype characters and worlds in hours, not weeks. TikTok and social media creators are looking to animate original characters without studio resources. Major brands, too, seek emotionally resonant storytelling without monthslong timelines or ballooning 3D animation costs. The challenge: most 3D animation tools are still slow, technical, and expensive. Hoping to remove these barriers, a team of developers from OpenAI, Google, Pixar, and Riot Games launched Cartwheel, an AI-powered 3D animation platform. Cartwheel promises to make high-quality 3D character animation 100 times faster, simpler, and more affordable. Users can record motion with a smartphone, describe a scene with a text prompt, or pull from a library of expressive 3D movements. The platform’s AI transforms input into production-ready animations. Artists can refine them in Cartwheel or export into tools like Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, or Blender—without disrupting their pipeline. The startup was cofounded by Andrew Carr, a former OpenAI scientist who helped develop Codex and ChatGPT’s code generation, and Jonathan Jarvis, former creative director at Google Creative Lab and founder of the animation studio Universal Patterns. The two met after OpenAI, intrigued by Jarvis’s concept for a generative animation tool, introduced him to Carr, who had just left the company to explore how AI could make animation more accessible. “I had a unique job, where I used animation to share complex research concepts clearly within Google, and make prototypes that couldn’t yet be built by software. Andrew always wanted to animate, and later invented a way to ‘talk’ to Blender, a popular open-source 3D software, with computer code,” says Jarvis. “We always wanted to build tools to help others get ideas moving and sensed the potential to animate in new ways using gen AI, that it would be centered around creative control.” After two years in stealth, Cartwheel is gaining traction. The company recently closed a $10 million funding round led by Craft Ventures, with support from WndrCo (Jeffrey Katzenberg), Khosla Ventures, Accel, Runway, and Tirta Ventures (Ben Feder), bringing total funding to $15.6 million. Over 60,000 animators, developers, and storytellers joined Cartwheel’s wait-list during stealth. Early adopters from DreamWorks, Duolingo, and Roblox are already using the platform. “All of our AI models are developed in-house. Behind the scenes, we’ve employed careful software engineering to ensure that all the pieces of our system work together in a way that can be plugged into existing animation pipelines,” Carr says. “Ensuring that the generated animation is properly scaled, moves naturally, and remains consistent throughout has been one of our biggest challenges.” A Creator-First AI Animation ToolWhile the generative AI field is increasingly crowded, Cartwheel positions itself differently: not as a replacement for artists, but as a tool that amplifies their creativity. “Animators and creatives don’t care if motion is generated, done by hand, motion-captured, or drawn from a library. They just want it to move to tell their story, make their game, or get their job done,” Jarvis says. “Our motion models can generate a lot of useful animation quickly, but they can’t do everything. That’s why we love a hybrid approach. Computers are great at finding patterns, but it’s the artist who brings the soul.” A key differentiator for Cartwheel is its team. Carr and Jarvis are joined by industry veterans with experience in film, games, and interactive design. Catherine “Cat” Hicks, former Pixar animation director on Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story 3, serves as head of Animation Innovation. Neil Helm, head of Interactive Animation, worked on crowd systems at Pixar for Turning Red, Lightyear, Up, and Inside Out 2. The platform’s design is shaped by Steven Ziadie, former Sony and Riot designer, while production is led by Buthaina Mahmud, who helped define Unity’s real-time animation workflows and developed shaders used in the Spider-Verse films. “We reached out, and some reached out to us. Over time, we realized we all shared the goal to make storytelling faster, easier, and more powerful,” Carr and Jarvis tell Fast Company. “Culture is being shaped in increasingly dynamic, interactive, and immersive spaces like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox—all animation-driven experiences. We’re building tools for where animation is headed, and that’s resonating with industry veterans.” User feedback has helped shape Cartwheel’s interface. “We began with a focus on text to animation. In beta, we learned that while that’s compelling in many situations, often folks want to browse motions for inspiration, use video reference, or act out the motion themselves—so we’ve moved to a multimodal interface,” Carr says. What’s Next for Cartwheel?High-quality animation data remains scarce, with most data sets proprietary or lacking in diversity and detail. To address this, Cartwheel is using synthetic data—AI-generated animations that mimic real-world motion—to train and refine its models. “The next generation of AI companies has to find and curate the hard data types, and do the hard work to refine it and make it useful to people in that field. That’s where the value is,” Carr says. “While at OpenAI, I worked on the science of data quality and was able to generate millions of dollars of model improvements with just a few lines of code. We are following the same path at Cartwheel to ensure we produce the styles, qualities, and delightfulness in our motion data that artists need.” With fresh funding, Cartwheel plans to deepen R&D, grow its team, and bring its platform to broader markets. “Over the next 12 months, we aim to be a catalyst, enabling both large and small animation projects to flourish,” Jarvis says. “Ensuring ethically sourced data that empowers artists is fundamental to our approach. We are a team of artists building tools for artists.” View the full article