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Will artificial intelligence enable an even higher level of creativity, or turn us into cognitively deflated Sims spitting out chatbot responses? This question has polarized much of the internet. On one hand, you have the ardent defenders who believe that AI writing speeds up their process, allowing them to quickly transform bullets of information into elegant and typo-free copy. On the other hand, there are the critics who contend that AI writing seems to violate something sacred, and that by using a large language model (LLM) to write, you’re not only degrading the craft, but also yourself. AI, in its ideal form, is a technology that allows us to off-load or c…

After glorious lunar views, a moving dedication, a malfunctioning toilet, and a floating Nutella, Artemis II is poised for the riskiest part of its 10-day journey to the far side of the moon. The Orion spacecraft, Integrity, is slated to enter the Earth’s atmosphere tonight at 7:45 EDT at a blistering 25,000 mph and 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The autonomously guided capsule will slow down and dissipate heat through a time-honored “skip” maneuver that dips it in and out of the atmosphere in a suborbital arc, then back in again for a final descent. Think of skipping a stone on the water’s surface to slow it down. The technique involves shifting Orion’s center of mass…

Hello again, and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In. For years, progress in AI has been motivated by an industry-wide yen to create software that’s at least as capable as humans—not at some tasks, but all of them. The precise definition of the goal varies, and two maddeningly overlapping terms, artificial general intelligence (AGI) and superintelligence, both get bandied around. But no matter how you look at the aspiration (or how long you think it will take to achieve), it’s about the ways the world will change when software can do everything extraordinarily well. I’ve written—here and here—about why I believe fixating on that eventuality isn’t the best wa…

There has been no shortage of retailers closing locations over the last few years as consumer behaviors shift online and foot traffic at brick-and-mortar stores continues to decline for many chains. And now, iPhone maker Apple has announced that it will join the ranks of companies closing locations, with multiple Apple stores to close for good this summer. Here’s what you need to know. Which Apple retail stores are closing? Yesterday, Apple confirmed that it will close three Apple retail stores in the United States. While there have been a few instances in the past of Apple closing a retail store, this is the first time the company has announced the closu…

Humanity is always aspiring to stretch itself to achieve new goals, including exploring new frontiers. The Artemis II crew accomplished this, traveling 252,000 miles away from Earth, the farthest any human has ever been before, breaking the Apollo 13 record. The four brave individuals are set to return Friday, splashing down off the coast of California, near San Diego. Here’s everything you need to know about the landing, including how to tune in. How did the Artemis get its name? The name Artemis is a throwback to the first NASA moon missions. Apollo 11 saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take giant leaps for mankind on the surface of the moon on July 20, …

Steam cleaning should be a low-risk activity, but that hasn’t been the case for some owners of Bissell’s Steam Shot products. Michigan-based Bissell Homecare has recalled about 1.7 million of its Steam Shot OmniReach and Steam Shot Omni Steam Cleaners with attachments. The recall follows reports of the attachments coming undone and creating a burn hazard, according to an announcement from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Another 96,000 or so units sold in Canada have also been recalled. Of the 206 reports of malfunctioning products, 161 accounts have included notice of minor burn injuries. In one case, someone reported a second…

In operating reviews and boardrooms, I keep seeing the same pattern: leadership asks for rigor, teams deliver the numbers, and promising AI efforts get judged as underperforming before the organization has actually learned what it takes to make them real. Then someone pulls the plug, scales back the investment, or lets the initiative quietly expire. Sometimes they’re right. But often, they’ve just used the wrong test. The problem isn’t that leaders care about measurement. Strong measurement discipline is exactly what separates organizations that scale AI from those that accumulate pilots. The problem is that many leaders are applying a mature-business scorecard to…

It’s about to get a bit easier to find a Trader Joe’s near you. The grocer just announced it will open 18 new stores across 12 states, including multiple locations in a handful of states, over the next several months. Trader Joe’s announced the new locations with a series of “Coming Soon!” announcements. Currently, the chain is in 42 states, leaving only a handful of states, including Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming, without a Trader Joe’s store. The latest cluster of openings will include locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, U…

For some evangelical Christians, faith is about having a personal relationship with Jesus. At $1.99 per minute, the tech company Just Like Me is taking that concept to a new level. Users of the platform can join video calls with an avatar of Jesus generated by artificial intelligence. Like other religious AI tools on the market, it offers words of prayer and encouragement in various languages. With the occasional glitch, it remembers previous conversations and speaks through not-quite-synced lips. “You do feel a little accountable to the AI,” CEO Chris Breed said. “They’re your friend. You’ve made an attachment.” The rush to create faith-based generative AI is…

The scariest movie you see this year might be set in a liminal space. While studios like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are gearing up to release big-budget blockbusters this year, some independent distributors like A24 and Neon are embracing low-budget horror films that take place in one setting—specifically liminal spaces, which are empty or abandoned places that have an eerie and surreal feel to them. Undertone, which came out last month, was originally made on a micro-budget of $500,000 and acquired by A24 for an undisclosed mid-seven-figure deal, following its debut at Fantasia Fest last year. It has earned more than $18 million at the box office. S…

According to director Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Three is meant to be watched on a 70-millimeter IMAX screen. “The movie is really meant to be an IMAX experience and to be seen on the biggest screen as possible,” Villeneuve said when the sci-fi epic’s trailer released, also sharing that he and new cinematographer Linus Sandgren shot much of the movie on 65mm film. “That’s the way we dreamed the movie,” he said. But if you live in the United States, that means the intended Dune: Part Three experience is only available in 15 cinemas across the country. 70mm IMAX screenings are few and far between, meaning the demand was sky-high when Warner Bros. surprise dropped …

Below, Majid Fotuhi shares five key insights from his new book, The Invincible Brain: The Clinically Proven Plan to Age-Proof Your Brain and Stay Sharp for Life. Majid is a neurologist, professor, and neuroscientist, with more than three decades of experience—mostly at Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School. Over the years, he has treated thousands of patients with memory loss, concussion, ADHD, brain fog, and early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. What’s the big idea? Your brain is not fixed. Your intelligence is not limited. And aging does not have to mean decline. By working on improving the five pillars of brain health in your life, anyone—at any age—can ta…

Sam Mintesnot had checked off everything she possibly could have from a long list of to-dos in preparation for the Coachella music festival. She crafted the best outfits, got her hair and nails done, booked a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and flew out on Tuesday with a spreadsheet full of ideas for videos she could post related to the festival. The only problem was that just days before the Coachella kicked off on Friday, she didn’t have a ticket — at least, not yet. Mintesnot is a content creator, and she was seeking an invitation from a brand to join them at the annual festival in Indio, California, that is sometimes called an “influencer Olympics.” She posted a…

It’s a low time for higher education, depending on where you look. In recent years, dozens of colleges and universities have closed their doors, and dozens more have merged in an attempt to survive. There are many factors that are leading to these closures, but it typically comes down to a lethal combination of increasing costs and lower enrollment. Smaller private schools are finding themselves in harm’s way, and it’s become worse over the past five years. Conversely, other schools are thriving, and becoming increasingly selective. Vanderbilt University, for instance, recently announced an acceptance rate of 2.8% out of a pool of nearly 49,000 applicants. That ac…

If you pay to keep ads out of your YouTube experience, keep an eye on your monthly bill. The Google-owned streaming service quietly announced today that it would be raising prices across its plans in an email to U.S. subscribers. Individual YouTube Premium subscribers will soon pay $15.99 a month, a two dollar increase from the previous price of $13.99. For family plan subscribers, pricing will jump all the way from $22.99 to $26.99. YouTube Premium Lite subscribers will pay $8.99 a month, up from $7.99. The change to YouTube Premium plans, which will go into effect at the end of May, is the second time that the price of YouTube Premium has ballooned in the l…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. KB Home announced on Thursday that it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Tempe, Arizona, beginning in spring 2027. The builder, which has a $3 billion market capitalization, said the new headquarters in the Phoenix metro area will bring executive leadership and key corporate functions into a more centralized, lower-cost operating environment. While the giant homebuilder—ranked No. 526 on the Fortune 1000—emphasized that it will maintain a significant presence in California (in particular in San Bernardino County, CA)—a state…

Frugal founders are often praised for trying to stay within budget. But when the founder happens to be the daughter of one of the world’s richest people, the expectations seem to be different. In a viral post on Thursday that has sparked a debate over fair pay for creators and the power dynamics of negotiations, a lifestyle influencer posted on X what appeared to be a screenshot of a conversation with Phoebe Gates, cofounder of AI shopping agent startup Phia, and the youngest daughter of billionaires Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. “When a billionaire’s daughter says you’re ‘out of budget’ Girl, pls,” the post read. The conversation allegedly showed Gates…

Amazon Prime members in the US can regularly save on gas, but many might not even know it. Now might be the best time to jump on it—for a limited time only, fuel savings can double. The savings perk dates back to October 2024, when Amazon partnered with, BP’s rewards and fueling app earnify, allowing Prime members save 10 cents a gallon. Now, from April 3 to May 29, members can double the savings once a week on Fuel-Up Fridays. To start saving, Amazon Prime members need to activate the perk and must link their accounts to earnify. Then, members can find the 7,500 participating BP, Amoco, Thorntons, and AM/PM gas stations and fuel up there. “You can then apply…

On my last day at my old job, I couldn’t go in. I’d been burning through sick days for months (more than I could explain to my manager) because I didn’t yet have words for what was happening to me. I was 25, running product at a tech company, trying to build a career while quietly unraveling. I’d been to the ER twice that year, seen a string of specialists, and been told by more than one doctor that my symptoms were probably psychological. I was terrified. Eventually, I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, a condition where the immune system attacks the body’s own tissue. An estimated 50 million Americans live with an autoimmune disease, and women make up 80% of…

Below, Jon McNeill shares five key insights from his new book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors, and SpaceX. McNeill is a serial entrepreneur and business leader. He was president of Tesla during a period of rapid growth, later helped take Lyft public, and today works with leadership teams as a board member at companies like General Motors and Lululemon and as the CEO of his venture fund, DVx Ventures. What’s the big idea? What if the biggest obstacle to growth isn’t what you’re missing, but everything you’ve added? The fastest teams win by questioning, cutting, and simplifying far more than anyone else. …