ResidentialBusiness

The world’s sources of critical minerals are increasingly concentrated in just a few countries, most notably China, leaving the global economy vulnerable to supply cutoffs that could disrupt industry and hit consumers with higher prices, a report said Wednesday. The Paris-based International Energy Agency’s report looked at the availability of minerals and metals that may be small in quantity — but large in impact when it comes to shifting the economy away from fossil fuels toward electricity and renewable energy. It found that for copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, the average market share of the three top producing countries rose to 86% in 2024 from 82% in 2020. China is the leading refiner for 19 out of 20 strategic minerals studied in the report, and has an average share of around 75%. Indonesia showed strong growth in nickel, a key component in making steel and batteries for electric vehicles. The current trend toward export restrictions and trade disputes increases concerns, the IEA said. “Critical mineral supply chains can be highly vulnerable to supply shocks, be they from extreme weather, a technical failure or trade disruptions,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. “The impact of a supply shock can be far-reaching, bringing higher prices for consumers and reducing industrial competitiveness.” Birol cited the energy crisis in Europe after Russia cut off natural gas supplies over the invasion of Ukraine. Another cautionary tale is the global shortage of silicon-based computer chips during and after the pandemic, which disrupted auto production. “The golden rule of energy security is diversification,” Birol told The Associated Press in an interview. “And it goes beyond energy security, it is also economic security.” Market forces are important in developing new sources but won’t be enough. “There is a need for well-designed government policies” in the form of financing and other measures, he said. China is a massive global source of critical minerals required for a wide range of goods that includes computer chips, robots, electric autos, batteries, drones, and military equipment. It also dominates the refining and processing of many of these critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, graphite and more. China has placed export limits of many of these key products and tightened controls on others as President Donald The President’s trade negotiations escalate, stifling U.S. industry and the nation’s ability to find quick alternatives. Without access to China’s significant reserves, U.S. manufacturers have a harder time competing amid mounting global supply tensions. The President has made reducing U.S. dependence on foreign critical minerals a core tenet of his first 100 days back in office as part of a national security and economic resilience agenda. This goes beyond China; the The President administration finalized a rocky deal with Ukraine granting American access to the nation’s vast mineral resources earlier this month. The President is also looking to expedite deep-sea mining in international waters, much to the chagrin of environmental groups. He called for a boost in the domestic copper industry in a February executive order alongside other calls for the federal government to fast-track new mine permits; has reviewed a minerals proposal from Congo, a conflict-riddled nation also rich with mineral reserves; and attempted to strong-arm Greenland into providing more of its minerals to the U.S. The IEA report said that global markets were well supplied at the moment and that prices in general have fallen. It warned however that planned production of copper, which is essential for electric wiring and power grids, would not keep pace with demand and predicted a 30% shortfall by 2030. —David McHugh and Alexa St. John, Associated Press View the full article

Congress may stop California from implementing its first-in-the nation rule banning the sale of new gas powered cars by 2035. A Senate vote expected as soon as this week could end the nation’s most aggressive effort to transition toward electric vehicles as President Donald The President’s administration doubles down on fossil fuels. California makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, giving it significant power to shape purchasing trends. Vehicles are one of the largest sources of planet-warming emissions. The Republican-controlled Congress is targeting three California waivers that set stricter emissions rules than the federal government. The House voted to block them first blocked them several weeks ago, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said his chamber would take up a similar effort this week, even though the Senate Parliamentarian and the U.S. Government Accountability Office say California’s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House. Thune said California’s “are an improper expansion of a limited Clean Air Act authority and would endanger consumers, our economy, and our nation’s energy supply.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state air regulators say what lawmakers are doing is illegal and they will likely sue if the measure advances. Here’s what to know: Why can California set its own standards? The Environmental Protection Agency has let the state adopt stricter emissions for decades, and other states can sign on to those rules. California has some of the nation’s worst air pollution, and the waivers date back to efforts in the 1960s and 1970s to fight smog in Los Angeles. President Donald The President rescinded California’s ability to enforce its standards during his first term, but President Joe Biden’s administration restored it in 2022. What do the standards do? Newsom, a Democrat, announced plans in 2020 to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. State air regulators formalized the rules in 2022, and the federal government allowed them to move forward last year. The rule requires automakers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission cars, pickup trucks and SUVs over the next decade. Electric vehicles would have to make up 43% of new sales by 2027, 68% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. People would still be able to buy used gas-powered cars, plug-in hybrids or hydrogen-powered vehicles. California passed another rule in 2020 to phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles, including box trucks, semitrailers and large pickups. Depending on class, zero-emission trucks will have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035. The Biden administration approved that policy in 2023. The third regulation targeted by Congress would reduce smog-forming emissions from trucks. The rule revamped a testing program to ensure heavy-duty vehicles comply with emissions standards and set stricter standards to limit pollution from nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which pose public health risks. New York, Colorado and New Mexico are among the states that announced plans to follow all three of the policies. What do the auto and trucking industries say? Several automakers, including Honda, Ford and Volkswagen, signed deals with California to follow some of the state’s tailpipe emission standards. But the companies have not committed to complying with the 2035 mandate on gas-powered cars and did not respond to requests for comment on the Senate’s upcoming vote. The National Automobile Dealers Association urged the Senate to pass the measure. “Banning gas and hybrid cars is a national issue that should be decided by Congress, not an unelected state agency,” Mike Stanton, the group’s president and CEO, wrote in a letter. The Safe Roads Coalition, which represents towing and truck companies, said the medium- and heavy-duty truck rule is unfeasible and should be blocked. “While transitioning combustion engines to electric is well-intended, unworkable regulations threaten roadside services for millions of American motorists,” said Josh Lovelace, the group’s national director. Can the grid handle more electric vehicless? Thune, the Senate majority leader, said the nation’s grid can’t handle California’s plans. It is a concern shared by other critics, who point to California’s struggle several summers ago to maintain consistent power during a heat wave. “Our already shaky electric grid would quickly face huge new burdens from a surge in electric vehicles,” he said in a statement announcing the vote. Newsom’s administration argues the state is on its way to building out an electric grid and charging infrastructure that can support many more electric vehicles. Broadly, California has a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 2045. But the state remains far short of what is eventually needed. California has about 84,000 public electric vehicle chargers in the state but needs 1.2 million by 2030 to support the EV transition, according to the California Energy Commission. The The President administration directed states earlier this year to stop spending money approved under Biden to help build electric vehicle charges across the U.S. More than a dozen states are suing the federal government over the effort. Newsom has also recently touted the state’s growing battery storage capacity. Neither the commission nor the California Air Resources Board responded to questions about how much the state’s electric grid must grow to support the power demand expected from the state’s transition. But the state has said it needs at least four times more wind and solar power to meet 2045 energy demands and that the grid must grow at an “unprecedented rate.” Timothy Johnson, a professor of energy and the environment at Duke University, said most regions of the U.S. can generate enough power or add enough to meet EV charging demand, but local power lines and transformers could be overloaded. How are other states responding? Eleven other states, plus Washington, D.C., have adopted California’s plan to phase out new gas-powered cars, according to the air board. Several more have adopted the state’s previous zero-emission vehicle standards. But some of those states are already backing away. Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott last week paused enforcement of electric vehicle sales targets that follow California’s, saying the pace wasn’t realistic. In Delaware, Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer has said he wants to rescind the state’s EV mandate. Other states still appear to be moving ahead. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Matthew Daly and Alexa St. John in Washington contributed. Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna —Sophie Austin, Associated Press/Report for America View the full article

If you've ever wished the text-to-speech feature on your Mac worked better, Spokenly might be the solution for you. It's a free Mac application that lets you use modern AI transcription right on your Mac for free—just trigger the application with a keyboard shortcut, say what you want to type, and watch as it appears on the screen. Whatever you feel about modern AI, it's hard to deny that it's good at turning the spoken word into text. Whether it's real-time transcription or creating a transcript for a video or audio file, the open source Whisper engine is accurate and fast. Spokenly is a free application that lets you use this technology on your Mac. Install the application, which is currently free on the Mac App Store, and it will start in your menu bar. Transcribing is simple: Just press and hold the right Command button and you'll see the pop-up, as shown above. Say what you want to type and let go when you're done—the text will appear in the currently active text field. You could honestly just install the application, use it this way, and never think about the settings—it mostly just works. If you want to dig into, though, open the settings by clicking the menu bar icon and clicking General Settings. You can decide whether the application will show up in the menu bar, dock, or both. You can decide which microphone you'd like the application to favor, assuming you use more than one. And you can decide whether transcribed text should be copied to your clipboard by default. If you like experimenting with AI, though, you should check out the Voice Models tab. From here, you you can choose which AI model you want to use. By default, the application uses an online version of "Whisper Large v3," which is the only model that supports showing your transcription in the pop-up window as you're talking. There are other models you can use, though, including GTP-4o via Spokenly. Credit: Justin Pot If you'd rather not use an online service, there's support for downloading and running various Whisper models locally. You will have to find a balance between hard drive space, performance, and accuracy—I recommend trying out a few models until one works for you. There's also support for using Deepgram, Fireworks, and OpenAI API keys, assuming you're already paying for one of those services. If you don't know what any of that means, don't worry: The default model works extremely well. And there's more to dig into with this application. The Transcribe File tab of the settings window lets you add any video or audio file and get a transcription, with or without timestamps. There's even support for generating subtitle files for your videos. Credit: Justin Pot And there's a few power-user tools you can set up. The Quick Commands tab lets you choose a few combinations of words that run an action instead of transcribing. Just choose a trigger phrase and what you'd like that phrase to do—open a URL, launch an application, or run one of your Apple Shortcuts. For example, you could set up "Open Lifehacker" as a trigger phrase and our homepage as the URL. Do that and the Lifehacker website will open every time your say the words "Open Lifehacker," improving your life (one assumes). Credit: Justin Pot Another feature, AI Prompts, allows you to set a prompt that will change your text after dictating it. Just choose a separate keyboard shortcut and type your prompt for the text. For example, you could write a prompt that says "translate this text into Spanish"—you can now use a custom keyboard shortcut to transcribe something before using AI to translate it. Any prompt you can think of will work. All of these features reward tinkering, which is exactly the kind of application I like. And the application is completely free as of this writing, while offering features that allow you to use it privately. Try it out if you wish you could get more out of transcription software. View the full article

The president’s fiscal plans deepen concerns over America’s public financesView the full article

Sales at retail giant Target took a dive during the first three months of 2025 and executives have indicated that boycotts over its rollback on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices are at least partially to blame. On Wednesday, the chain cut its full-year sales outlook. Compared to this time last year, Target’s first-quarter sales fell by 2.8%, failing to meet Wall Street’s expectations. According to a consensus estimate cited by CNBC, analysts were expecting adjusted earnings per share of $1.61. Target reported adjusted EPS of $1.30. Months ago, Target stepped away from DEI, bowing to President The President, who has made anti-DEI initiatives a cornerstone of his second-term agenda. Target’s move did not go unnoticed by loyal shoppers. In the wake of the decision, many called for boycotts, and some vowed to shop only at stores that stand for equality. Sales fell, as did Target’s stock, which has tanked at least 40% over the last year, as Fast Company‘s Elizabeth Segran reported recently. ‘We’re not happy with that’ Of its latest dip in revenue, CEO Brian Cornell told reporters, per CNBC, that the company only held market share in 15 of the 35 merchandise categories that it tracks internally, meaning the Target brand is falling behind competitors. “We’re not happy with that,” Cornell said. “We’ve got to be growing [market] share in 60, 70, 80% of those categories.” Cornell also said that in order to address the impact of tariffs, the brand is “constantly adjusting pricing.” He said, “Some are going up, some will be reduced, but that’s an ongoing effort that takes place each and every day.” But the CEO pointed to other issues impacting sales, too, like “declining consumer confidence,” and, perhaps the most impactful, the brand’s move away from DEI. He referred to the major blowback somewhat gently as “the reaction to the updates we shared on belonging in January.” However, the fallout for Target has been anything but gentle. While many companies stepped away from DEI programs after The President came into office this January, boycotts have seemed to hit Target harder. Jamal Bryant, the Atlanta-based pastor who helped kick-start the Target boycott, previously told Fast Company that he believes it’s because the move demonstrated the brand’s previous commitments to Black-owned brands were perhaps merely performative. “We’ve never asked Target for a handout; we were looking for a handshake,” Bryant said. “And for Target to withdraw that hand so suddenly was disappointing.” Target’s numbers certainly seem to underscore that consumer dissatisfaction. Its net sales for the first quarter were $23.8 billion, down from $24.5 billion for the same period last year. Target shares (NYSE: TGT) were down around 6% in early trading Wednesday. The stock has tumbled more than 32% year to date. View the full article

Workers at UK retail bank told line managers will start monitoring office attendance more closelyView the full article

This week, the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) announced that it’s putting the revenue from selling U.S. Open tickets and $23 signature Honey Deuce cocktails toward a new cause: Completing an $800 million renovation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (NTC), the sports complex that hosts the annual tennis championship. The renovation represents the single largest investment in U.S. Open history, according to a press release published by the USTA. It will encompass a full transformation of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, where championship games are played, as well as a luxe new player performance center on the NTC’s campus. The work will be spearheaded by the architectural firm Rossetti, which designed Arthur Ashe stadium back in 1994 and has since returned to add a retractable roof to the building, as well as two supplementary stadiums within the complex. This update will bring the lifetime construction cost of Arthur Ashe stadium to over $1 billion. This latest round of renovations is set to be completed by the 2027 U.S. Open, with three construction phases planned to avoid conflicts with scheduled play in the intervening years. The updates are designed to dramatically increase the stadium’s capacity and to create a more modern, luxurious experience for both fans and athletes. “Every square inch” of the stadium is being revamped, from the club level to the lounge and the promenade, Danny Zausner, chief operating officer at the USTA, told reporters in an interview this week. Here’s a rundown. What’s new at Arthur Ashe stadium The design vision for the Arthur Ashe stadium will be apparent to guests before they even enter the venue. Based on renderings provided by the USTA, a new Grand Entrance will usher viewers into the space through a two-story, futuristic silver ring arcing above the doorways. Inside, the stadium itself will be almost entirely overhauled. Per the press release, the promenade-level concourse, where guests typically gather and mingle, will be sized up by 40%; more escalators and elevators will be added to every level; and an upward extension of the courtside-level bowl will increase its capacity from 3,000 to 5,000 attendees. Arthur Ashe Stadium’s overall capacity of 24,000, which makes it the largest tennis stadium in the world, will remain the same as the design team plans to relocate seating to this bowl from other parts of the arena. New amenities will also include modernized concorses with all-new retail, food, and beverage spaces, added clubs and restaurants, and two new dedicated luxury suite levels—presumably catering to the U.S. Open’s coterie of VIP guests. “This project enables us to maintain the greatest stage in tennis—Arthur Ashe Stadium—which was constructed more than 25 years ago, and modernize it in a way that will set it up for the next 25 years,” Lew Sherr, CEO and executive director of USTA, said in the press release. “It also provides us the opportunity to give the players that compete in that stadium an unparalleled space that will enable them to perform at their best and enjoy a higher level of luxury and comfort while they are off the court.” “Spa-like” athlete facilities While the U.S. Open fan experience is getting a facelift, part of this major investment is also being funneled toward athlete facilities. Those upgrades will come in the form of a $250 million player performance center, located on the top two floors of an existing building to the west of the Arthur Ashe stadium. Inside, players and teams will be treated to indoor and outdoor fitness areas, “spa-like” locker rooms and lounges, and even a cafe accessible only to athletes. The press release notes that this added investment is intended to provide the nearly 2,800 athletes and team members at the U.S. Open with “everything they need to maximize their on-court performance.” “There’s no doubt about it—when you walk into the stadium, the entire look and feel will change,” says Zausner. View the full article

The pace of AI progress is showing no signs of slacking. Following ChatGPT's big image upgrade a few weeks ago, it's now Google's turn to show off new models for generating videos and pictures from text prompts: We've got Veo 3 (for video) and Imagen 4 (for pictures), announced during Google I/O 2025, and they come with some significant improvements. Starting with Veo 3, it's the next step up from the Veo 2 model that was recently pushed out to paying Gemini subscribers last month. Google says Veo 3 brings with it notable improvements in real-world physics (something AI video often struggles with) and details such as lip-syncing. In short: Your clips should look more realistic than ever. There's another crucial upgrade here, and that's sound. Previously, Veo-made clips came without any audio attached, but the AI is now smart enough to add in suitable ambient sounds, including traffic noise, wildlife sounds, and even dialog between characters. Google has provided a few example videos to show off the new capabilities, as you would expect, including Old Sailor. Of course, it's impressive that a clip like this can be produced from a text prompt, and it is up to a high standard in terms of realism—we're no longer getting the six-fingered hands that we used to with AI. Still, the usual hallmarks of artificial intelligence are evident: This is a generic sailor, on a generic sea, speaking generic dialogue about the ocean. It's a mashing together and averaging out of every video of the sea and old sailors that Veo 3 has been trained on, and may or may not match the original prompt (which Google hasn't given). Veo 3 is only available to those brave enough to pay $250 a month for Google's AI Ultra plan, but Veo 2 is also getting some upgrades for those of us paying a tenth of that for AI Pro. It's now better at control and consistency, according to Google, with improved camera movements and outpainting (expanding the view of a frame). It can also have a go at adding and removing objects from clips now. Moving on to images: We've got Imagen 4, the successor to Imagen 3. Here, we're promised "remarkable clarity in fine details like intricate fabrics, water droplets, and animal fur," plus support for higher resolutions (up to 2K) and more aspect ratios. You get top-tier results in both photorealistic and abstract styles, as per Google. There are sheep as big as tractors in Google's AI world. Credit: Google Google has also tackled one of the major problems with AI image generation, which is typography. Imagen 4 is apparently much better than the models that came before it in terms of making characters and words look cohesive and accurate, without any weird spellings or letters than dissolve into unintelligible hieroglyphics. Imagen 4 is available now to all users, inside the Gemini app. Google hasn't mentioned any usage limits, though presumably if you don't have a subscription you'll hit these limits more quickly, as is the case with Imagen 3 (there's no fixed quota for these limits, and it seems they depend on general demand on Google's AI infrastructure). The carefully curated samples Google has provided look good, without any obvious mistakes or inaccuracies—just the usual AI sheen. Imagen 4 is faster than Imagen 3 too, Google says, with more improvements on the way: A variant on the model that's 10x faster than Imagen 3 is going to be launching soon. There's one more image and video tool to talk about: Flow. It's an AI filmmaking tool from Google that pulls together its text, video, and image models to help you stitch together successive scenes that are consistent, featuring the same characters and locations. You can use Flow if you're an AI Pro or AI Ultra subscriber, with higher usage limits and better models for those on the more expensive plan. View the full article

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a new tool aimed at helping small businesses reduce reliance on foreign supply chains by connecting them directly with American manufacturers and producers. The Make Onshoring Great Again Portal, unveiled on May 20, 2025, offers free access to a database of more than 1 million domestic suppliers, giving small businesses the ability to source U.S.-made components, products, and materials. The tool is part of a broader federal initiative to revive American manufacturing and improve supply chain resilience. “The SBA is proud to support President Donald J. The President’s mission to restore America’s economic resurgence by empowering small businesses with the resources to supercharge the return of Made in America,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “The Make Onshoring Great Again Portal will give job creators a direct line to more than one million domestic suppliers – replacing foreign dependence with access to American-made solutions. It’s a decisive step toward rebuilding our nation’s strength through stronger supply chains, better products, and a renewed commitment to American industry, small business, and workers.” The SBA developed the portal in partnership with private-sector sponsors and integrated access to three databases listing verified U.S.-based manufacturers, suppliers, and producers. According to the SBA, the portal is designed to reduce small businesses’ exposure to overseas disruptions, improve quality control, and shorten lead times for procurement. The initiative also aligns with the administration’s economic priorities, which emphasize reshoring production, rebuilding U.S. industry, and limiting dependence on foreign adversaries, particularly China. The agency’s statement specifically frames the portal as a way to “end our nation’s concentrated dependence on foreign suppliers and adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.” The portal is the latest in a series of SBA-led programs under the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, which launched earlier this year. That broader effort includes actions such as: Expanding access to capital for U.S. manufacturers Promoting development of a skilled domestic workforce Cutting $100 billion in regulatory burdens impacting small manufacturers In addition, the SBA has endorsed recent bipartisan legislation that seeks to double the SBA loan cap for small manufacturers. The bill is framed as another means to “supercharge” the return of American industrial capacity and increase the competitiveness of domestic businesses. With the launch of the onshoring portal, the SBA says it is providing a practical resource to help small businesses transition their operations toward U.S.-based sourcing and supply chains. Officials say the portal is part of a larger national strategy focused on empowering entrepreneurs, revitalizing local economies, and reinforcing American economic independence. For more information or to access the tool, small business owners can visit the official SBA page at www.sba.gov/priorities/american-manufacturers/make-onshoring-great-again-portal. This article, "SBA Launches Onshoring Portal to Help Small Businesses Source U.S. Suppliers and Rebuild Domestic Supply Chains" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a new tool aimed at helping small businesses reduce reliance on foreign supply chains by connecting them directly with American manufacturers and producers. The Make Onshoring Great Again Portal, unveiled on May 20, 2025, offers free access to a database of more than 1 million domestic suppliers, giving small businesses the ability to source U.S.-made components, products, and materials. The tool is part of a broader federal initiative to revive American manufacturing and improve supply chain resilience. “The SBA is proud to support President Donald J. The President’s mission to restore America’s economic resurgence by empowering small businesses with the resources to supercharge the return of Made in America,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “The Make Onshoring Great Again Portal will give job creators a direct line to more than one million domestic suppliers – replacing foreign dependence with access to American-made solutions. It’s a decisive step toward rebuilding our nation’s strength through stronger supply chains, better products, and a renewed commitment to American industry, small business, and workers.” The SBA developed the portal in partnership with private-sector sponsors and integrated access to three databases listing verified U.S.-based manufacturers, suppliers, and producers. According to the SBA, the portal is designed to reduce small businesses’ exposure to overseas disruptions, improve quality control, and shorten lead times for procurement. The initiative also aligns with the administration’s economic priorities, which emphasize reshoring production, rebuilding U.S. industry, and limiting dependence on foreign adversaries, particularly China. The agency’s statement specifically frames the portal as a way to “end our nation’s concentrated dependence on foreign suppliers and adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.” The portal is the latest in a series of SBA-led programs under the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, which launched earlier this year. That broader effort includes actions such as: Expanding access to capital for U.S. manufacturers Promoting development of a skilled domestic workforce Cutting $100 billion in regulatory burdens impacting small manufacturers In addition, the SBA has endorsed recent bipartisan legislation that seeks to double the SBA loan cap for small manufacturers. The bill is framed as another means to “supercharge” the return of American industrial capacity and increase the competitiveness of domestic businesses. With the launch of the onshoring portal, the SBA says it is providing a practical resource to help small businesses transition their operations toward U.S.-based sourcing and supply chains. Officials say the portal is part of a larger national strategy focused on empowering entrepreneurs, revitalizing local economies, and reinforcing American economic independence. For more information or to access the tool, small business owners can visit the official SBA page at www.sba.gov/priorities/american-manufacturers/make-onshoring-great-again-portal. This article, "SBA Launches Onshoring Portal to Help Small Businesses Source U.S. Suppliers and Rebuild Domestic Supply Chains" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

U.S. President Donald The President’s plan for a “Golden Dome” to protect the United States from long-range missiles was at least partly inspired by Israel’s multitiered missile defenses. The President announced the $175 billion concept in the Oval Office on Tuesday, saying it would put U.S. weapons in space for the first time and be would be “fully operational” by the end of his term in early 2029, though a U.S. official familiar with the program said it could take longer. Israel’s multilayered defenses, often collectively referred to as the “Iron Dome,” have played a key role in defending it from rocket and missile fire from Iran and allied militant groups in the conflict unleashed by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. The sophisticated system, developed over decades with considerable U.S. support, is capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if the projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure. Israeli leaders say the system isn’t 100% guaranteed, but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties. Here’s a closer look at Israel’s multilayered air-defense system: The Arrow This system developed with the U.S. is designed to intercept long-range missiles. The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used to intercept long-range missiles launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and by Iran itself during two direct exchanges of fire last year. David’s Sling Also developed with the U.S., David’s Sling is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. It was deployed on multiple occasions throughout the war with Hezbollah, which ended with a ceasefire last year. Iron Dome This system, developed by Israel with U.S. backing, specializes in shooting down short-range rockets. It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade—including volleys launched by Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90%. Iron Beam Israel is developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. Israel has said this system will be a game changer because it would be much cheaper to operate than existing systems. According to Israeli media reports, the cost of a single Iron Dome interception is about $50,000, while the other systems can run more than $2 million per missile. Iron Beam interceptions, by contrast, would cost a few dollars apiece, according to Israeli officials—but the system is not yet operational. Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war —Associated Press View the full article

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

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

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

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

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