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DNA testing firm 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The once high-flying San Francisco company—which provides DNA analysis to offer insights into ancestry, health traits, and genetic risks—is aiming to sell itself after facing significant challenges, including rejected acquisition offers and declining market value in the wake of a 2023 data breach that impacted millions of users. In addition, CEO Anne Wojcicki has stepped down, and CFO Joe Selsavage will serve as interim CEO during the restructuring process, 23andMe said on Sunday. The company plans to continue operating as it seeks a buyer. The bankruptcy filing punctuates a stunning dow…

Some important news for million of 23andMe customers, past and present: the genetic testing company notified customers on Sunday, they now have until July 14 to file potential claims as the company navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to according to TechCrunch. The DNA testing firm, which filed for bankruptcy in March, along with 11 of its subsidiaries, must pay customers as part of its bankruptcy restructuring process. FastCompany has reached out to 23andMe for comment. 23andme, which provided DNA analysis to offer insights into ancestry, health traits, and genetic risks filed for Chapter 11 after it rejected acquisition offers and its market value pl…

Genetic data was on the auction block, and a U.S. biotech company ponied up the cash. New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced on Monday that it has purchased DNA testing company 23andMe through a bankruptcy auction for a total of $256 million. The deal includes most of the company’s assets, including, notably, user and customer data. Regeneron’s announcement emphasizes that the company will comply with existing privacy laws and 23andMe’s policies, which were conditions of the sale. Privacy experts have said that any such sale presents special challenges given the sensitive nature of the genetic data that 23andMe collects. “The agreement includes R…

When we say “technology” there’s a lot more than just artificial intelligence. Yet when talking about tech trends, AI is what most executives will point to. This year, leaders are seeing many trends around AI, from coding to handling multiple steps without human intervention to regulation. And a few executives will steer away from that conversation completely. We asked our Fast Company Impact Council members what technology trends they see gaining steam this year, and received an onslaught of ideas. We share 24 of those here. 1. TOOLS TO PROTECT ETHICAL USE In the music space, AI platforms will start incorporating more tools that protect copyright and ethical use, …

While it sounds silly, especially since I have a variety of construction skills, I lay awake some nights stressing about our stairs. We had gotten quotes for replacing the carpet on our stairs with white oak, but the average estimate, not including materials, was $10,000 per flight. Three flights of stairs, at $10K per? Sounded like another job for me — except I had never remodeled stairs, and everyone I knew, including contractor friends, said I shouldn’t try. What really stressed me out was the fact I didn’t know what I didn’t know. It’s one thing to think you know how to do something and worry about whether you can actually pull it off; it’s even more stressful…

An investigation into a sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The scheme generally revolved around fixers recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said. The fixers would then place big bets against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said. Calling it an “international criminal conspiracy,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf told reporters …

Networking as a solopreneur can feel impossible. LinkedIn is full of the sort of hustle-culture aficionados who think yoga at 4 a.m. is something to brag about and who want you to buy their online course. Joining a networking referral group often costs money and can require a big time commitment without a guarantee of new leads. Asking friends and family to make referrals for you gives you flashbacks to that one summer in college when you got roped into selling Cutco knives. But solo businesses are already nontraditional, so you might as well embrace quirky networking opportunities. Some of my best freelancing leads have come from Tumblr, carpooling, and on one memora…

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I can’t keep up with all the news that interests me. So I’m exploring new ways to get concise, curated updates. Today I’m sharing three new tools I like. Huxe: Personalized audio shows drawn from your interests, calendar, and email. Google CC: A morning summary of your email inbox. Yutori Scouts: AI agents that monitor your fave topics and deliver reports. Read on for examples of how each works, and how to make the most of them. Huxe: Personalized Audio Updates Huxe is a personalized audio app. Whenever I open it, I …

I teach a course on AI and filmmaking at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and lately, rather than planning each session well in advance, I’ve been structuring the class the night before. I’ll browse platforms like X, Substack, and YouTube, selecting the most provocative articles and video clips to present the following morning. It’s a testament to how quickly artificial intelligence’s relationship to filmmaking is evolving: Each week brings new—often startling—developments. The next morning in class, my students and I debate the ethics, the aesthetics, and the storytelling changes taking place in these collaborations with AI. And we’re not alone: Throughout Hol…

Taking the leap from traditional employee to solopreneur involves a number of decisions and considerations that may come as a surprise if you’ve always been on someone else’s payroll. Being numero uno for every part of your solo enterprise can illuminate just how complicated it can be to keep any kind of business running. Unfortunately, becoming a solopreneur can complicate your personal financial choices as well. That’s because money habits that felt innocuous while you were on a biweekly pay schedule can create financial mayhem on an irregular income. Whether you’re considering becoming a solopreneur or have been rocking the solo business world for a while, make…

For retirement savers and retirees, the new year brings more than the usual inflation adjustments to retirement contributions. The retirement legislation known as Secure 2.0 will also continue to phase in, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will have impacts too. Here’s a roundup of three key changes and some moves to consider. Roth-only catch-up contributions for high-income 401(k) investors Thanks to a provision in the Secure 2.0 retirement legislation, high-income earners (with $150,000 or more in FICA income in the prior year) who are over 50 and investing in 401(k) or other company retirement plans must make catch-up contributions to their plans’ Roth option,…

In today’s world, the villain in our story isn’t a person; it’s our desire for instant gratification. Explosive sales growth? We want it now. An dream angel investor? We want it now. A raise, a promotion, a spot at the top? We want it now. Can you blame us? If we can binge-watch an entire season of a new show on Netflix in a weekend and order restaurant-ready food to our door in less than thirty minutes, that can set us up for unrealistic expectations about getting other things quickly, including in the workplace. The need for speed leaves us rushing and impatient—and it shows in the way we speak, too. Our conversations become transactional, our questions become …

The past year was a landmark for AI proliferation, with sweeping implications for virtually every area of business and life. But with progress came peril. We saw cyberattacks explode in number and sophistication, outmaneuvering legacy security defenses to create record damage. These trends will only accelerate from here, and it’s not enough for teams to simply brace for impact. Instead, organizations must anticipate what’s ahead and reimagine their security stacks, thinking about how to preempt attacks and optimizing their workflows. Thinking about cybersecurity in the new year, it’s critical to have a clear vision and get to work fast to meet the moment. Here are…

Six years ago, the commercial production process for Fortune 500 companies, tech innovators, and global giants meant six-figure budgets, and months of research, scripting, and voice actor castings. Every campaign was a marathon of design thinking and strategic storytelling. Today, however, with the help of AI tools, those very steps can unfold in a fraction of the time, and a quarter of the cost. For marketing and communications leaders, the landscape has drastically shifted overnight. The most innovative brand leaders have always thrived on speed. What allowed them to exist beyond the curve was their ability to stay ahead of the story, and see around corners before a…

Did everyone get the Microsoft 365 rate-hike notice? The personal plan is going from $70 a year to $100 a year. According to the email, my financial commitment is getting me “secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices, and cutting-edge AI-powered features,” among other goodies. But the real reason I subscribe? Microsoft Word. We’ve all used it and many of us rely on it. But many people even aren’t using all the bells and whistles that come with Word and the larger Microsoft 365 package. So as Microsoft hits us with a price hike to go along with all the other price hikes consumers have been facing in the past year, now might be the perfec…

There’s a pattern hiding in the biographies of the most brilliant minds: repeatable habits anyone can practice. It has nothing to do with being a genius. You don’t need talent or intelligence, though that helps. Benjamin Franklin taught himself to write by dismantling essays he admired, rewriting them from memory. And comparing his version to the original. Charles Darwin spent years obsessively collecting barnacles (spineless animals that look like small circular white rocks) before publishing anything about evolution. Richard Feynman rebuilt physics from first principles in notebooks he kept purely for himself. None of these men was following a specific rule. Nobody…

Meetings look neutral on the calendar. Everyone’s calendar is stamped with the same blue 30-minute block. Everyone gets a seat at the table, and—supposedly—the same shot to contribute. But the moment you click “Join,” the pecking order kicks in. Meetings are where power is put on display, credit is scooped up, and the rules of who speaks and who doesn’t are enforced. If you want to understand how inequality festers inside an organization, start watching what happens in your meetings. At a time when women’s representation in the workplace has stagnated and their presence in senior leadership positions is slipping, we need to look closer at the everyday behaviors t…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. If you want a glimpse of the future of business, I recommend spending a few hours with Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur, investor, and host of the The Diary of a CEO podcast. I did just that earlier this month, when I interviewed Bartlett alongside PwC partners at a series of Daily D…

If my three-decade journey in the corporate world has taught me anything, it’s that in business, as in life, the only certainty is uncertainty. In the past 20 years, periods of upheaval, from pandemics to financial crises to AI hysteria, have restitched the fabric of how we work, travel, and communicate. While this uncertainty can generate tension and turmoil, it also forges the best leaders. I’ve seen bosses and colleagues navigate all types of volatility, where the margin between success and failure can come down to a single action or inaction. So, what distinguishes leaders who can successfully shepherd teams through uncertain times from those who can’t? I beli…

A few years ago, I read an article that changed how I think about bourbon. It wasn’t about distilling or aging. It was about bread. Bread Is Broken by Ferris Jabr explores how modern industrial farming stripped grains of their flavor and nutritional value in exchange for higher yield, longer shelf life, and cost efficiency. As I read, I kept wondering if flavor has been lost in wheat; what does that mean for the wheat in our whisky? So, I called Dr. David Van Sanford, a wheat breeder at the University of Kentucky, to ask if anyone had studied how farming practices impact flavor. He paused and said, “You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that.” That one q…

As a former military officer turned sustainability-focused CEO, I often find myself reflecting on the intersection of two worlds that, on the surface, seem unlikely companions. The military and environmental activism may not share much in popular perception, but my time in service fundamentally shaped how I approach mission-driven leadership. It gave me the tools to tackle complex, seemingly insurmountable problems while galvanizing a team toward a higher purpose. If we are to solve the key challenges of our time—challenges as large as protecting our planet—leaders will need to adopt three key lessons I learned from the military. Lesson 1: Service before self The m…

Finding the perfect (and legal) image for your blog post, social media update, or presentation is about as fun as doing your own taxes. You want something high-quality, relevant, and —most importantly—free. Fear not, budget-conscious content creators. I’ve been using free images for years now, and I’ve routinely leveraged three dynamite resources that specialize in stunning, royalty-free imagery. So, put away your wallets: We’re going content hunting. Unsplash First stop: Unsplash. This site is a veritable goldmine of breathtaking, high-resolution photography, all generously contributed by a community of talented photographers. Whether you’…