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Apple’s iOS 26 for iPhone got off to a rough start when it was finally released to the public in September of last year. Its new Liquid Glass design language remained unpolished in many areas, and the operating system harbored a fair amount of bugs. But since iOS 26.0 debuted, Apple has released three major updates for it, further polishing the interface and adding new features. And soon, Apple will update iOS 26 once again with the release of iOS 26.4. It’s a release that is set to not just eliminate bugs and enhance the details of Liquid Glass, but is also set to add some significant new features to your iPhone. Here’s what’s coming, and when you can get i…

OpenAI confirmed on March 6 that it is delaying the rollout of “adult mode” in ChatGPT, a feature that would give verified adults access to less-restricted content. The company first announced plans to begin age-gating users last year but has now pushed back the launch twice. Segregating adult users from minors could help in some of OpenAI’s legal and revenue challenges, but nailing the technology may not be easy. Adult mode had been expected this quarter and still is, just later than originally planned. OpenAI referred Fast Company to a comment it gave to Alex Heath’s Sources newsletter saying it was pausing the feature to focus on improvements to ChatGPT, inclu…

AI disruption and geopolitical upheaval are forcing business leaders to make high-stakes decisions—fast. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet shares what she’s hearing from her 9,000 clients, and the hard-won advice she’s giving them. Sweet reveals why AI proficiency is now a requirement for promotion at Accenture, why she’s doubling down on entry-level hiring amid the automation wave, and she unpacks the hidden power of “leader-led learning.” This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with toda…

AI coding agents have become one of the fastest-growing categories in enterprise software. In the span of just a few years, these development tools have evolved from simple autocomplete assistants into autonomous systems capable of taking over the complete software development cycle, all via natural language prompts. As vibe-coding takes off, tools from startups like Cursor and Anthropic’s Claude Code have quickly reached multibillion‑dollar revenue run rates. Cursor reportedly crossed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2025 and has since approached $2 billion in Q1 of 2026. Anthropic’s Claude Code has scaled even faster, reaching an estimated $2.5 billi…

Canva’s new AI tool, launching today, is going to save time, money, and headaches for so many people. Called Magic Layers, it turns any flat bitmap image into a fully editable Canva project, extracting text, objects, and components into individual layers. This tool marks a fundamental shift in how we handle digital assets. Until now, a rendered image was basically a locked vault of pixels. If you wanted to change a typo or swap a background, you had four options: 1) Hunt down the original project file, 2) painstakingly change it in Photoshop, 3) accept a generative AI patch job, or 4) close the laptop and escape to live a real life somewhere by a nice beach. Magic Layers…

Each year, some of America’s greatest artists, thinkers, and business leaders have a chance to come together at SXSW in the spirit of creativity, innovation, and future-building. And with everything currently happening in technology and the workforce, this year’s gathering feels particularly timely. Of course, questions around AI will take center stage and remain our primary cultural fixation: How long until the next incredible breakthrough? Should Americans be fearful about an impending AI apocalypse or hopeful about the prospect of unlimited productivity gains? These topics are all valid, urgent, and deeply worthwhile to explore, but I also believe the most impo…

Fast Company will be back in Austin, Texas this March 13–16 for its 13th annual Fast Company Grill at South by Southwest. Hosted at Cedar Door Patio Bar & Grill in downtown Austin, attendees can expect four days packed with engaging programming, networking opportunities, activations and raffles, delicious food and drinks, live musical performances, and exclusive parties. We have a compelling lineup of speakers joining us, including: Ben Cohen, Cofounder, Ben & Jerry’s John Stamos, Actor, Producer, Author, and Chief Innovation Officer, Zeam RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO, Rivian Lana Condor, Actor, “Pretty Lethal” Maddie Ziegler, Actor…

The hits keep coming for fans of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. According to a new court filing from a major franchisee, three additional Popeyes restaurants have permanently shut their doors, bringing the total number of store closures associated with the franchisee’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings to at least 20. The franchisee, Sailormen Inc. of Miami, Florida, sought Chapter 11 protection earlier this year, citing diminished foot traffic and high inflation. In January, it closed 17 Popeyes restaurants in Florida and Georgia as part of the bankruptcy process, Fast Company previously reported. The additional three restaurants disclosed this week are all based…

Calling all pizza lovers—so, yes, everyone—your dream job awaits. Pizza Hut is hiring someone to eat free pizza for an entire year. Not only that, but the company will pay you $31,415.92 to do so. Math aficionados might notice that the Pizza Hut salary is actually the first seven digits of pi. Pizza Hut’s hiring of a “Hut Crust Connoisseur” comes ahead of Pi Day on March 14. The $31,415.92 is a significant jump from the £5,000 ($6,700) that Pizza Hut Delivery offered for a UK-based Chief Crust Taster in 2021. But then it pales in comparison to Wendy’s $100,000 offer for a similar job last week. Still, it’s not a bad deal. Here’s everything you need to k…

In 1960, 72% of adults were married, and over 90% would go on to marry. HR policies and management practices back then catered to nuclear families with a lone, male breadwinner. Today, dual-career couples and working mothers are common, largely due to the growth of women in the workforce in the second half of the 20th century. To recruit and retain talent, businesses have expanded family-friendly policies by offering flexible work hours, paid parental leave and subsidized child care. These are much-needed improvements, though many employers still lag in offering them. Today, another demographic shift also demands employers’ attention: the growing share of the …

The dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense is quickly becoming a broader test of how far the government can go in policing AI companies’ policies—and how much support those companies can rally from the wider research community. A fair showing of top AI researchers had already signed a public letter backing Anthropic. Now 37 of them have taken a more formal step, signing an amicus brief filed with the court Monday. The filing underscores how the clash is evolving from a narrow contract dispute into something bigger: a test of whether the government can effectively blacklist an American AI company for setting limits on how its technology is used. Th…

For years, B2B marketers have chased a familiar formula: more leads equal more opportunities. Build the list, blast the message, and chase the pipeline. Yet despite better data, smarter tools, and growing investment in performance marketing, many organizations are still challenged when it comes to driving measurable revenue impact. The problem isn’t reach—it’s relevance. Most performance strategies were built for individuals, not buying groups. Modern B2B decisions are made by large, diverse groups of stakeholders spanning departments, seniority levels, priorities, and generations. And while most marketers now acknowledge this reality in theory, their engageme…

High-level information about the private work of students and staff using ChatGPT Edu at several universities can be viewed by thousands of colleagues across their institutions due to a misunderstanding of what is being shared, according to a University of Oxford researcher who identified the issue. The problem affects Codex Cloud Environments in ChatGPT Edu and exposes the names and some metadata associated with the public and private GitHub repositories that users within a university have connected to their ChatGPT Edu accounts. No private code or repository data was exposed to unauthorized users. Nevertheless, the metadata that is visible can still reveal a mea…

Drive an older Buick Regal? You may need to drive it to your nearest dealer. General Motors is recalling certain 2012 and 2013 Buick Regal models because of an issue with the rear suspension toe links that could increase the likelihood of a crash. The recall affects 17,050 Buick passenger cars that were sold or registered in 22 “high corrosion” states and Washington, D.C., according to the recall notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall, submitted on Tuesday, expands on two others that the Detroit-based automaker has filed since late February related to the same issue. Only about 1% of the 17,000-plus vehicles identified may…

AI promises massive productivity gains—that is if employees are willing to use it and can figure out how to integrate it into their workflows. In the rush to reap the benefits of AI, KPMG one of the “big four” accounting firms, headquartered in London, just launched a new incentive program for its US advisory division. Per a new Business Insider report, the program, called “AI Spark Innovation”, is offering cash prizes for consultants who excel in AI innovation. The payouts will be hefty. US Vice Chair Rob Fisher told BI that the “outsize” cash awards will be “materially larger than an end-of-year compensation award.” Fisher continued, “It’s really intended to b…

Medical equipment maker Stryker was allegedly hit with an Iran-linked cyber attack on Wednesday right after midnight ET, causing a global outage across its system, with staff and contractors saying a logo of an Iran-linked group appeared on the login page, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Shares of the Michigan-based global medical technology company (SYK) were down nearly 4% in early afternoon trading on Wednesday at the time of this writing. What happened? According to the report, staff said cellphones, laptops, and other devices that run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system to connect ​to Stryker’s ​technology ⁠systems …

Few media brands scream “straight” quite like Playboy. Since the 1950s, the men’s lifestyle magazine has been best known for its photos of nude and scantily clad women (aka Playmates)—and, of course, for its iconic bunny mascot. But those who’ve been paying attention, Playboy has quietly undergone an editorial transformation. Since November, the magazine has relaunched its print edition (previously halted in 2020), started a Substack newsletter blending archival material with original writing, and introduced new Playmates to the world. It’s all been under the advice of Phillip Picardi, who was announced on March 11 as Playboy’s new chief brand officer and editor-in-ch…

At the Exceptional Women Alliance, we enable high-level women to mentor each other to enable personal and professional happiness through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organization’s founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from some of the thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring. This month I introduce to youKarlyn Mattson, an award-winning retail C-suite executive and founder of The Leadership Advisors.She has decades of experience delivering profitable growth, transformative consumer and product experiences, omni-channel and digital transformation, and consumer centric value creation for brands such as Macy’s, Target, a…