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Billions in ‘Snap’ nutritional assistance programme benefits are stalled despite court orders View the full article

Frank Bisignano sold Fiserv stake worth hundreds of millions of dollars before problems emerged, avoiding massive loss View the full article

The current king of social media is the short-form video platform TikTok. It’s where trends are forged, news is broken, and opinions spread. Owned by China’s ByteDance, the app has an estimated 1.99 billion users—33% fewer than Facebook’s three billion—and yet Meta is desperately trying to mimic TikTok’s features in its apps (particularly Instagram). But despite its popularity, TikTok has been under siege in 2025. It is facing the threat of a U.S. ban, which would jeopardize the livelihoods of millions of Americans who rely on the app to earn a living. And even if it survives, by transferring its assets to U.S.-owned interests, TikTok’s U.S. algorithm could change under new owners, which could make their content less discoverable. A growing number of concerned TikTok users are starting to take precautions, gravitating toward a small but expanding short-form video platform called Skylight. Here’s why. What is Skylight? Skylight Social, better known as Skylight, is a baby in the social media world. It didn’t exist until earlier this year, after TikTok was briefly taken offline in the United States ahead of the government ban. The platform, which is currently accessible through dedicated Skylight iOS and Android apps, went live in April. It is the brainchild of a two-person team, CEO Tori White and CTO Reed Harmeyer. But it also has a big-name backer behind it: Mark Cuban. While on the surface, Skylight looks a lot like TikTok, with a scrollable feed of full-screen short-form videos you can like and comment on, it also has a significant difference. Skylight is built on the Authenticated Transfer Protocol, or AT Protocol for short. This is the same protocol that X competitor Bluesky is built upon. That upstart social media network now has more than 39 million users. The advantage of the AT Protocol versus TikTok’s protocol (and the protocols of other social media companies like Meta) is that the AT Protocol is decentralized. This means that the platforms that use the AT Protocol don’t hold power over the content you create; it is not tied to one company’s servers. If the AT Protocol platform you’re using shuts down or just no longer works for your needs, you can take all of your content and followers to another platform. As TechCrunch reported in April, in the face of a TikTok ban early this year, Cuban put out the call for someone to develop a TikTok competitor based on the AT Protocol. Harmeyer and White, the latter of whom had a following on TikTok and was worried about losing her community if the app were banned, decided to answer it. The two big benefits Skylight has over TikTok Skylight has two primary advantages over TikTok. Since it’s based on the AT Protocol, Skylight is a decentralized social media platform. That means your content and followers aren’t locked into the platform. You’re free to move all your videos and community to another AT Protocol short-form video app any time you want. This decentralization also makes Skylight fairly “ban-proof.” Any government can pretty easily block any social media network it desires because all major social media platforms are closed, centralized networks. But since decentralized platforms aren’t tied to any one app, even if an app itself is banned, a creator can simply take all their content, including likes, followers, and comments, to another platform and continue posting as usual. Indeed, the main marketing pitch Skylight uses on its website is touting the platform as “unbannable,” which, due to the flexibility of the decentralized AT Protocol, is a reasonable claim to make. But Skylight has another benefit. In August, the platform was updated with human-curated feeds. This differs from the algorithmically curated feeds used by major social media networks. Algorithmic curation is notoriously opaque, and, as DigiDay has noted, when it comes to TikTok, many existing users fear that its proposed new U.S. owners may change the existing algorithm to be friendlier to videos that align with their goals or ideology. Last month, CNN reported that TikTok’s new U.S. owners will include a consortium that will be comprised of Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake, and that this consortium will “be operated by a majority-U.S. board, including a member appointed by the The President administration.” With Skylight’s focus on human-curated feeds that users can choose to follow, the platform aims to help users feel assured that no algorithmic favoritism or censorship is occurring behind its digital walls. What is it like using Skylight? In an age where just a few trillion-dollar social media giants have control over not just our content, but the algorithms controlling who sees it, and where governments seem more willing than ever to ban platforms that millions of users rely on as their digital town squares, a short-form video platform like Skylight is sorely needed. But what’s it like actually using the app? On a basic level, it feels as familiar as using TikTok: you scroll, like, and comment. It works well. The one significant drawback, however, is its limited content. Currently, Skylight has nowhere near the wealth of videos that TikTok offers—which is no surprise, given the platform’s youth. In August, TechCrunch reported that the app had garnered around 240,000 downloads and had approximately 100,000 videos uploaded to its platform. But that could change. At one point, the AT Protocol-based Bluesky also had similar numbers, and now that decentralized platform is approaching 40 million users. Will Skylight ever reach that level? One should hope so. As tech giants and billionaires continue to consolidate their grip on the world’s social media networks, and even liberal democratic governments threaten to ban those same networks, the world needs platforms that their creators and users command. The future of free, unfettered speech that can’t be controlled by corporations may depend on it. View the full article

Dispute over Netherlands-based chipmaker has threatened to disrupt global auto supply chainsView the full article

Maybe you’re managing a team while being a caregiver, or breaking sales records while working remotely as a single parent. Each challenge carves a mark on your journey to growth, purpose, and legacy, and earns a spot on your résumé. A résumé of challenges is not a list of defeats, but a record of victories: the battles you’ve fought, the lessons you’ve learned, and the resilience that will carry you forward. Having an awareness and understanding of your résumé of challenges helps you understand your own strengths and ability to rise. Being able to speak to your honest (nonfabricated or misrepresented) résumé of challenges before and/or during a job interview can be an authentic way to highlight what you bring to the table, which may not be visible in your submitted résumé. Benefits of Having a Résumé of Challenges 1. Provides proof of critical intangible traits and abilities Challenges not only show what you’ve been through. They show your resilience, adaptability, grit, and problem-solving ability. A résumé of challenges highlights strength of character. It can demonstrate your integrity, as well as your ability to stay honest and truthful and to maintain ethical principles, even when it is difficult or personally detrimental. It allows you to demonstrate your growth by talking about the lessons, skills, and wisdom left behind from each challenge. Also, your résumé of challenges can be proof that you can thrive in uncertain environments. 2. Demonstrates credibility Sharing and discussing your résumé of challenges and what you have learned from them provides transparency. It makes you more relatable and garners more respect. It demonstrates authenticity. Also, being authentic—and having faced adversity and learned from it—makes you a better leader, and one that people trust. 3. Boosts self-confidence, fosters good mental health Reviewing your résumé of challenges can help remind you of what you are capable of accomplishing when facing new obstacles. This will feed and encourage your own personal confidence and empowerment. It also prepares you to face new obstacles without unwarranted fear. And maybe most of all, it helps you recognize your personal worth—beyond job titles or job descriptions. 4. Reframes setbacks as assets Your résumé of challenges provides you with the opportunity to explain how your failures were used as stepping stones to higher growth and development. It can help you transform pain into purpose, showing value in lived experiences. 5. Inspires others, leaves a legacy Sharing your résumé of challenges normalizes struggle as a part of success. It creates a ripple effect that motivates others to keep going. And lastly, your résumé of challenges is part of your legacy. It’s a record of strength that you can pass on to the next generation. Your story will tell them: Here’s what I endured. Here’s what I learned. Here’s how you can rise, too. In many ways, that résumé becomes the most valuable document of your life, because it tells the truth about who you are to your core. Here’s My Résumé of Challenges As an example, here are some things on my résumé of challenges. I was the first female, first Black person, and/or first Black female to achieve my roles in white male-dominated industries in corporate America. Because of this, I had to navigate the daily realities of sexism, racism, sexual harassment, and classism. During my engineering days, I often had to spend time in environments that did not have basic bathroom or sleeping accommodations for women. I also had to face many personal challenges while still showing up to perform and grow in my career, such as the loss of many dear loved ones, caring for my husband during his battle with colon cancer, and multiple health issues. Persevering through all these adversities, while maintaining my integrity, was proof of my resilience and character, earned me respect and trust, and shaped me into a person and leader who values diversity and inclusion, knows how to build high-performing teams, and strives to make everyone feel valued and appreciated. The next time you update your professional résumé, take a moment to update your résumé of challenges, too. Write down the hurdles you’ve cleared, the moments you thought you wouldn’t survive but did, and the lessons that reshaped you. Because in the end, it’s not the titles we hold that define us, but the challenges we’ve overcome to get there. And when you know and understand your résumé of challenges, you’ll never again doubt your ability to rise. View the full article

Travel accessories group Travel Blue calls for UK retailer to halt sales and demands damagesView the full article

Ireland’s president-elect Catherine Connolly caught the anti-establishment tideView the full article

Gigaclear’s investors and creditors including NatWest, Lloyds and the National Wealth FundView the full article

With few haven options, the best choice for many investors may be to ride the stock market surge and see where it takes usView the full article

Dispute threatens to cast shadow over $155mn Hollywood biopic of late star set for release next yearView the full article

Why the right are often better internationalists than the leftView the full article

The key to restoring both fiscal sustainability and productivity growth is to expand Britain’s most competitive businesses View the full article

John Branca, one of the most powerful lawyers in music history, is being tested as new allegations come to lightView the full article

For women reading this article, how old were you when you received your first sexual advance from a man? For men reading, ask any woman you know. Better yet, ask several of them. I bet their answers turn your stomach. In late September, The Guardian reported that Meta used back-to-school photos of teenage girls to advertise the Threads app to fully grown men. Girls as young as 13. These photos were posted by regular moms on Facebook and Instagram, some of whom had their profiles set to private. The photos of girls in their school uniforms appeared in-feed as advertisements resembling organic “suggested” threads posts, or were outright cross-posted without consent. Their faces weren’t hidden or blurred. In fact, some ads even bore the child’s real name. According to one mother with fewer than 300 Instagram followers, the cross-posted photo of her 15-year-old daughter garnered almost 7,000 views, with 90% of them from nonfollowers. Also, 90% of the views came from men, half from men at least in their forties. TRUST AND POLICIES This reporting sent me reeling back into my memories of high school and earlier. Memories I’ve never re-examined or tried to make sense of as an adult. I talked it out with my best friend, and we were both taken aback by how common, how frequent this harassment was visited upon us and our peers. I polled another friend, who grew up in a completely separate part of the country. “Yep,” they said. “We lost at least one teacher every year to that kind of thing.” Of course, a Meta spokesperson said the images didn’t violate their policies and blah blah blah. I and others have written extensively about Meta’s history of manipulating its users. “I don’t know why they trust me, dumb fucks,” Zuckerberg wrote of the early Facebook users, while he was still at Harvard around 20 years ago. I’ll note here that before Facebook, then-college sophomore Zuckerberg created a website called Facemash, where people could vote on the attractiveness of Harvard’s female students. He got the girls’ photos by hacking into the university’s official directories. WHEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU WHO THEY ARE, BELIEVE THEM Zuckerberg, like Elon Musk, hit the millionaire mark in his twenties. Sometimes I wonder if there’s some sort of arrested development thing happening here. As Musk turns up the Nazi and porn dials on X and Zuckerberg rebrands himself as a jiu jitsu guy, it has never been clearer to me that we are all suffering a world in which morally stunted men wield immense power, often with a sneer. Dumb fucks. That’s what they think when we trust them. Even if they present themselves before Congress as mild, soft-spoken brainiacs, I don’t think they can’t be trusted to police themselves or remediate harmful aspects of their platforms. In my opinion, simple, common decency seems beyond their reach. THE NEED FOR REGULATION I desperately hope regulations take shape that curb the exploitation of our minds, bodies, and identities for the financial gain of any company. And in this specific case, it feels fairly minimal to me that it should illegal for companies like Meta to use our personal images, especially minors’, without explicit, informed consent. We need clear laws that prevent teen content from being served to adult audiences. Platforms should be required to prove how their algorithms target and amplify posts, and to give families real legal recourse when their children’s photos are repurposed as ad bait. Until we have that kind of accountability, these platforms will keep hiding behind their terms of service while building empires on our faces, our trust, and our kids. As we wait and advocate for those regulations, I have to ask: At what point do these platforms become so flagrantly harmful, manipulative, and bot-bloated that we are compelled to divest our time and attention away from them? Lindsey Witmer Collins is CEO of WLCM App Studio and CEO of Scribbly. View the full article

Ottawa uses national security legislation to accelerate production as G7 nations hunt for resourcesView the full article

In September, the U.S. Labor Department reported that weekly applications for unemployment aid jumped by 27,000 to 263,000, the highest in four years and a warning sign for the future of low-income populations. And at a time when government policy couldn’t be less interested in addressing systemic economic disparities, solving these issues will depend on the ability of business leaders to listen, learn, and come together to tackle the socioeconomic issues impacting a majority of Americans every day. I’ve seen these challenges up close for years in my New York Capital Region home—and the challenges are just as present in cities around the U.S. So on a national level, one thing is clear. If we’re going to help close the wealth gap, we need to focus on two foundational pillars: workforce development and housing affordability. A HANDS-ON APPROACH TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT From our foundation’s local work, I can confidently say that revitalizing underserved communities simply isn’t possible without first developing and fostering a strong workforce, a task that will likely face a wide range of critical challenges in the coming decade. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy is projected to create 5.2 million new jobs between now and 2034. However, the situation looks less optimistic when you consider that so many workers today remain underemployed and can’t find access to quality opportunities. The country’s already massive wealth gap only continues to grow, with nearly 70% of U.S. wealth belonging to the top 10% of earners, compared to a mere 3% owned by the bottom 50%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This level of income inequality is not only deeply unconscionable but unsustainable, and it almost certainly won’t be fixed by simply creating more jobs. Instead, what private and public sector leaders should focus on is ensuring access to quality education and job training that aligns with local economic opportunities, equipping residents with the skills and credentials needed to obtain and thrive in roles that provide more than a barely livable wage. While this kind of work requires more of business leaders than pulling out a checkbook, the hands-on approach is also extremely effective. In just five years, the model I created through the Business for Good Foundation in supporting local organizations and business has resulted in a variety of new and expansive opportunities for the region’s underserved populations. This includes the revitalization of Albany’s Black Chamber of Commerce, a pivotal source of mentorship and networking opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. It also includes ongoing support for career training and fellowship programs in essential areas like education and healthcare, such as Teach Brother Teach and Pulse Career Solutions. GET REAL ABOUT U.S. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY At the same time, no workforce initiative will succeed if people don’t have stable housing. A good start would be simply acknowledging that we’re currently facing a full-blown housing crisis, in which supply shortages are colliding with rising home and rent prices to disastrous effect. This, of course, impacts every state and region across the U.S., but particularly communities that have already been disadvantaged by the market for decades. For example, close to 1,000 properties in Albany today are abandoned, according to the city’s vacant properties registry, most of which are in low-income neighborhoods that have historically borne the impacts of illegal and discriminatory redlining practices. In other major cities, like Atlanta, where I recently spoke at the ForbesBLK Summit, the cost of rent for a typical one-bedroom apartment is now equal to 132% of a federal minimum-wage worker’s monthly income. These are just two of many examples underscoring the clear and urgent need to both increase access to quality, affordable housing and reduce displacement among vulnerable populations in the U.S. And again, with no generalized fix at our disposal, these are issues that will require active engagement with communities and policymakers to come up with highly creative and localized solutions. In the New York Capital Region, for example, Governor Hochul recently announced the launch of MOVE-IN NY, a program aimed at improving housing affordability through accelerated construction and the use of low-cost, modular building materials. Backed by multiple state agencies and private sector developers, the initiative offers a new way to build on the critical, hands-on work already being done in parallel by our foundation, and other nonprofit entities in the area, including the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless, as well as the Veterans & Community Housing Coalition, whose Foreverly House project provides shelter and essential support for unhoused female veterans living with children. CONNECT WITH OTHER LEADERS Of course, these efforts represent only the start of an uphill battle, and models like our pilot program will be significantly more effective with the support of other like-minded business leaders across the country. But it’s clear we need more programs like this, and in cities with strong business hubs like that of Atlanta, there’s a prime opportunity to create one. Now is the time to connect with other leaders who share a vision of closing the wealth gap by tackling systemic barriers in housing and workforce development. These issues aren’t abstract; they affect real people, real families, and the long-term health of our communities. My call to my peers is simple: Join us. Partner, collaborate, and scale what’s already working. Together, we can create a blueprint for communities across the country to thrive. Ed Mitzen is cofounder of Business for Good Foundation. View the full article

Some travellers prefer to borrow engines to use with their own customised jetsView the full article

Chancellor predicted to plump for ‘least worst option’ of creating higher council tax bands for EnglandView the full article

President’s surprise announcement this week has caused confusion and raised fears of a global arms raceView the full article

In a crowded market, building strong, lasting relationships is one of the biggest differentiators a business can create. And while product-market fit is table stakes, true customer loyalty comes from putting people at the center of the product experience. Overlooking that opportunity can leave growth on the table. The companies that stand out are the ones that design not just for functionality, but for connection, trust, and stickiness. These three overlooked pillars help transform software from a useful tool into an essential partner. 1. Engagement that drives daily value The most successful products give customers reasons to return again and again, not just when they need to solve a problem, but as part of their everyday workflow. Regular, meaningful touchpoints remind users of the value you deliver and strengthen the habit of coming back. Take Shopify. Your online store may run automatically, but Shopify keeps merchants engaged with real-time sales notifications, performance dashboards, and promotional insights. A “cha-ching” alert for a new order or a traffic spike becomes a small but powerful reason to log in. Over time, these touchpoints transform a back-office necessity into a daily habit, making Shopify central to how merchants run their businesses. When evaluating software, ask yourself: How often are customers logging in? Are they engaging deeply with features, or just skimming the surface? Are you giving them insights and reminders that matter in real time? Companies that build engagement into their product—through reports, dashboards, notifications, or personalized nudges—ensure customers not only see value but experience it consistently. Over time, those moments turn into loyalty. 2. Integration that feels effortless No matter how powerful your product is, it risks being sidelined if it doesn’t fit seamlessly into the tools and workflows customers already rely on. People want solutions that “just work,” eliminating friction rather than creating it. Consider QuickBooks. Beyond bookkeeping, it integrates seamlessly with banks, payroll systems, and payment platforms. These connections remove the manual work of reconciling accounts or entering transactions multiple times. By fitting naturally into the existing workflow, QuickBooks ensures that customers rely on it not just for accounting, but for running the financial side of their business every day. This kind of integration turns a once-in-a-while task into a central part of daily operations, boosting adoption and creating advocates inside the organization. Seamless integration ensures adoption doesn’t stall and that your champions inside the business keep their credibility. By offering native integrations, robust APIs, or automation that connects the dots, you reduce the hidden costs of manual workarounds and help your product feel like a natural part of the stack. When your software is easy to adopt, easy to use, and easy to connect, it becomes harder to replace, and more likely to spread organically across teams. 3. Embedded value that makes your product indispensable Customers stay with products that go beyond solving a single problem and become central to how they work and make decisions. The best software identifies the moments when customers would otherwise have to leave your platform—and bring those capabilities inside. Uber Eats Manager is a great example here. It’s not just an ordering platform; it provides restaurant owners with daily insights into orders, peak hours, menu performance, promotional recommendations, and even merchant financing. By surfacing actionable data directly where owners manage their business, Uber Eats gives them a reason to keep logging in every day. This embedded value reduces the need to track information elsewhere, making the platform indispensable for day-to-day operations. That doesn’t mean adding features for the sake of it. It means embedding value where it matters most. Whether it’s surfacing insights at the right time, streamlining a workflow end-to-end, or offering complementary tools like embedded finance, these touches eliminate the need for external solutions and create deeper reliance on your product. When customers see your platform as the place where multiple needs are met, it stops being optional and becomes essential. THE BOTTOM LINE Customer relationships are the real engine of software growth. Companies that invest in engagement, seamless integration, and embedded value not only reduce churn and reduce the burden of CAC, they also create advocates who expand adoption, share their success stories, and accelerate growth. By focusing on these three overlooked pillars, your software evolves from being another app in the stack to becoming a trusted partner in your customers’ success. And that’s the kind of relationship that lasts. Luke Voiles is the CEO at Pipe. View the full article

Fans of the Outback Steakhouse chain will be disappointed to learn that its parent company, Bloomin’ Brands, has recently closed a number of locations. The closures are yet another sign that major restaurant chains are facing significant headwinds as costs increase and consumers grow increasingly cautious of how they spend their discretionary dollars. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? Recently, Bloomin’ Brands, owner of Outback Steakhouse, closed a handful of chain’s locations. Many of these closures were first reported on social media and by local news outlets. Outback Steakhouse is an Australian-themed casual dining chain that was first founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The casual dining steakhouse is perhaps best known for its Bloomin’ Onion menu item, a deep-fried whole onion that is served with dipping sauce. According to an August Form 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as of June 2025, Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. operated 557 company-owned Outback Steakhouse locations in the United States. There were also an additional 121 franchise locations. Bloomin’ Brands is in the midst of a turnaround effort. Its stock price (Nasdaq: BLMN) has tumbled more than 42% this year and was trading at under $7 a share as of late Friday. In total, Outback Steakhouse has locations in 44 states, according to the company’s store locator tool. The state with the most Outback Steakhouses is Florida, with 96 locations. California and North Carolina offer the next-most locations with 41 and 40 Outback Steakhouses, respectively. List of Outback Steakhouse closures Bloomin’ Brands has not publicly announced a full list of recent closures, but it confirmed with Fast Company that 10 locations have recently closed. The shuttered restaurants were located in eight states. Some of these closures were reported earlier by USA Today. After a review of Outback Steakhouse’s store locator and listings on Yelp, Fast Company discovered additional closures. “After a periodic review, we decided to close some locations,” a spokesperson for Outback Steakhouse said in a statement. “These are business decisions that are part of our ongoing turnaround plan. We considered a variety of factors, including sales and traffic, trade areas, and potential investments to improve performance. We are working to relocate as many of our team members as possible to nearby restaurants.” The list of recently closed Outback Steakhouse locations is below. Bloomin’ Brands confirmed these closures with Fast Company: Alabama 20th Street North at 20 Midtown, Birmingham, Alabama Inverness location on U.S. 280, Birmingham, Alabama Arkansas 180 Pakis St, Hot Springs, Arkansas 71913 Florida 3760 South 3rd Street, Jacksonville Beach 4910 U.S. 41 North, Naples Louisiana Jones Creek Boulevard, Baton Rouge Maryland 8661 Colesville Road in Ellsworth Place Mall, Silver Spring New York 2124 Merrick Mall, Merrick Texas 1509 N Central Exwy, Plano, Texas Wisconsin 4520 E. Towne Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin View the full article

Imagine this: You’re scrolling online late at night and with just a few clicks, you can order gummies that promise to boost your sex drive, a cream claiming to rebalance your hormones, or even prescription drugs from a telehealth site that spent millions on a Super Bowl ad without any disclaimers or mention of side effects. The solutions seem endless, and like most things that sound too good to be true, they often are. After 25 years in biotech and 10 years spent squarely at the nexus of science and women’s health, I’ve seen how hype can often race ahead of science. Evidence-based treatments for women remain chronically underfunded and underdeveloped. It’s no wonder the wellness industry has rushed to fill the void with promises that sound like medicine but don’t measure up. WHEN WELLNESS FILLS THE GAP At best, many wellness products are ineffective, with claims based on anecdotal evidence or poorly designed studies. At worst, they can be outright dangerous. A 2024 analysis found that corporations promoting healthcare interventions that are not supported by evidence, or conceal or downplay evidence, increase the risk of harm to women through inappropriate medicalization, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment. Take the multibillion-dollar supplement industry. Celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian and her Lemme line of wellness supplements are tapping into genuine unmet needs—where women want solutions to problems that the medical establishment has overlooked. But there’s a gap between marketing and accountability. The Lemme Purr web page, for instance, tells us that “clinically-studied SNZ-1969 probiotics support vaginal health and freshness.” While there is some data that the 50+ year old strain supports gut health, a literature search did not identify any strong peer-reviewed evidence that SNZ-1969 supports vaginal health. The reality is that the FDA doesn’t have a mandate to review supplements for safety or effectiveness before they hit the market. That means companies can sell products with minimal oversight, leaving consumers to trust claims that are based on marketing, not science. Now compare that to therapies developed through the FDA: Treatments designed to deliver specific outcomes, studied in rigorous clinical trials, and evaluated for safety, quality, and effectiveness. Unlike supplements or untested formulas, they must demonstrate measurable benefit before they can ever reach patients. The process could not be more different. But to the average consumer, the distinction is almost invisible. SEPARATE EVIDENCE FROM EMPTY PROMISES Women shouldn’t be left to navigate risk alone. That’s why they need tools to separate evidence from empty promises. And companies providing health products should make it easy for them to find the information. Before trying a new product, women should ask themselves three questions: Was it clinically tested or was it studied in a randomized placebo-controlled trial? “Clinically tested” could mean almost anything—maybe five people tried it and said they felt better. Maybe it was a survey given to a few loyal customers who already love the brand. But that’s hardly proof. A “randomized placebo-controlled trial” means that participants are randomly assigned to receive either the treatment or a look-alike placebo, making it the gold standard in medicine to understand if an intervention truly has an effect. Was the whole product tested—or just the ingredients? A common loophole in wellness marketing is citing evidence for individual ingredients but not testing the final product formulation. Just because an ingredient has been “clinically studied” doesn’t mean the finished product is safe or effective. Is the product FDA-approved or made in an FDA-regulated facility? Regulation matters. Without it, there’s no guarantee of safety or consistency. 503B outsourcing facilities are FDA-regulated and must follow strict manufacturing and safety standards, ensuring consistency, quality, and clinician trust. Women deserve more than quick fixes or empty promises when it comes to their health. As the lines between wellness and healthcare continue to blur, companies that commit to accountability and rigorous science stand to build lasting trust with consumers to unlock massive, underserved markets. Sabrina Martucci Johnson is founder and CEO of Daré Bioscience. View the full article

Apple might be dead last in the AI race—at least when you consider competition from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta—but that doesn't mean the company isn't working on the tech. In fact, it seems most of the work Apple does on AI is behind the scenes: While Apple Intelligence is, well, there, the company's researchers are working on other ways to improve AI models for everyone, not just Apple users. The latest project? Improving AI image editors based on text prompts. In a paper published last week, researchers introduced Pico-Banana-400K, a dataset of 400,000 "text-guided" images selected to improve AI-based image editing. Apple believes its image dataset improves upon existing sets by including higher quality images with more diversity: The researchers found that existing datasets either use images produced by AI models, or are not varied enough, which can hinder efforts to improve the models. Funnily enough, Pico-Banana-400K is designed to work with Nano Banana, Google's image editing model. Researchers say using Nano Banana, their dataset can generate 35 different types of edits, as well as tap into Gemini-2.5-Pro to asses quality the edits, and whether those edits should remain as part of the overall dataset. As part of these 400,000 images, there are 258,000 samples of single edits (where Apple compares the original images to one with edits); 56,000 "preference pairs," which distinguishes between failed and successful edit generations; and 72,000 "multi-turn sequences," which walks through two to five edits. Researchers note that different functions had different success rates in this dataset. Global edits and stylization are "easy," achieving the highest success rates; object semantics and scene context are "moderate;" while precise geometry, layout, and typography are "hard." The highest performing function, "strong artistic style transfer," which could include changing an image's style to "Van Gogh" or anime, has a 93% success rate. The lowest performing function, "change font style or color of visible text if there is text," only succeeded 58% of the time. Other tested functions include "add new text" (67% success rate), "zoom in" (74% success rate), and "add film grain or vintage filter" (91% success rate). Unlike many of Apple's products, which are typically closed to the company's own platforms, Pico-Banana-400K is open for all researchers and AI developers to use. It's cool to see Apple researchers contributing to open research like this, especially in an area Apple is generally behind in. Will we actually get an AI-powered Siri anytime soon? Unclear. But it is clear Apple is actively working on AI, perhaps just in its own way. View the full article

S&P 500 and Nasdaq post longest runs of monthly gains in yearsView the full article

Chief executives of the world’s big companies have decided to get back in the deal making gameView the full article