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​​Recent breakthroughs in generative AI have centered largely on language and imagery—from chatbots that compose sonnets and analyze text to voice models that mimic human speech and tools that transform prompts into vivid artwork. But global chip giant Nvidia is now making a bolder claim: the next chapter of AI is about systems that take action in high-stakes, real-world scenarios. At the recent International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR 2025) in Singapore, Nvidia unveiled more than 70 research papers showcasing advances in AI systems designed to perform complex tasks beyond the digital realm. Driving this shift are agentic and foundational AI mode…

China’s energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps. BYD, China’s largest EV maker, said Monday that its flash-chargers can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, similar to the amount of time needed to fill a fuel tank. It plans to build more than 4,000 of the new charging stations across China. Charging times and limited ranges have been a major factor constraining the switch from gas and diesel vehicles to EVs, though Chinese drivers have embraced that change, with sales of battery powered and hybrid vehicles jumping 40% last year. BYD’s news appear…

The generative AI revolution has seen more leaps forward than missteps—but one clear stumble was the sycophantic smothering of OpenAI’s 4o large language model (LLM), which the ChatGPT maker eventually had to withdraw after users began worrying it was too unfailingly flattering. The model became so eager to please, it lost authenticity. In their blog post explaining what went wrong, OpenAI described “ChatGPT’s default personality” and its “behavior”—terms typically reserved for humans, suggesting a degree of anthropomorphization. OpenAI isn’t alone in this: humans often describe AI as “understanding” or “knowing” things, largely because media coverage has consistently…

European Union privacy watchdogs fined TikTok 530 million euros ($600 million) on Friday after a four-year investigation found that the video-sharing app’s data transfers to China breached strict data privacy rules in the EU. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission also sanctioned TikTok for not being transparent with users about where their personal data was being sent and it ordered the company to comply with the rules within six months. The Irish national watchdog serves as TikTok’s lead data privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU because the company’s European headquarters is based in Dublin. “TikTok failed to verify, guarantee and demonstrate that the personal data of…

Amid rapid technological advancements, return-to-office policies, and political and economic uncertainty, soft-skills like conflict mitigation are rising through the ranks as desirable skills for professionals. Skills needed for jobs are rapidly changing, with LinkedIn estimating that 70% job skills will change by 2030. In response, the social network identified the top 15 fastest-growing skills in the United States with its inaugural Skills on the Rise 2025 report. With a quarter of professionals planning on learning new skills, LinkedIn’s list pinpoints the most popular skills for both professionals and companies hiring. LinkedIn identified growth on skil…

After grabbing a handful of popcorn at an event held by California-based startup Savor, my fingers are left with a familiar sheen: the residue of the butter that coats the small kernels. When I later grab a blini (topped with lentils), the small pancake is so full of butter that it immediately coats my tongue in a velvety layer of fat. A mushroom “scallop,” grilled in butter, is rich and savory. The butter used in all these dishes is rich, creamy, indulgent. But it isn’t made from animals. It isn’t even made from plants, like avocado oil or coconut oil or olive oil. Instead, it’s made from energy—on this night specifically, methane. [Photo: courtesy Savor] Sa…

Three years after suing to block Microsoft from buying one of the biggest names in video games, the U.S. government is finally giving up. The FTC announced plans Thursday to drop a Biden-era case against Microsoft over its $69 billion acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard, a decision the regulator said now best serves the public interest. In 2022, the FTC first announced that it would try to kill Microsoft’s planned acquisition of the gaming giant, which makes hit games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The following year, after the FTC failed to secure a preliminary injunction to stop it, Microsoft actually finalized the massive deal, but the regu…

Are you ready to hand over your wallet to AI and let it do your shopping for you? Maybe not—but the technology to do it is hitting the market. On Wednesday, Visa announced Visa Intelligent Commerce, which effectively allows AI agents to find and buy goods or services on behalf of consumers. While Visa itself doesn’t create the AI agents, what it’s done is create the e-commerce backbone to allow it to happen. Consumers could use AI tools to track down potential purchases, but then those platforms would hand control back over to the human to complete the transaction. The big change with Visa’s technology is that, with the proper permissions enabled, AI agents can co…

Technology can be a double-edged sword. The right amount can fuel productivity, but too much can become a time waste. As with most things, the key is striking a healthy balance. Unfortunately, the deck is stacked against you. Apps and websites are designed to grab and hold your attention. So, how do successful people resist? “High-achievers use technology as a tool, not a distraction,” says Sachin Puri, chief growth officer at the web-hosting provider Liquid Web. “They make productivity apps their first priority, plan for intentional screen time, and select platforms intentionally. They may spend lots of time on screens, but they set boundaries where they need to, so …

The bible tells us to “love your enemies,” and major sports teams seem to be taking that doctrine seriously. Or at least their stadium concession stands are. Fans come to stadiums for the game, but they almost always indulge in the food, too—which typically reflects the cuisine of their home team’s city. But now, baseball and football stadiums have begun offering some local bites of their opponents’ teams in a bid to sell more concessions. On March 27, Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, stadium food for the Washington Nationals will offer a new signature concession item: a platter of loaded nachos dubbed the “Stolen Plate Special.” The toppings on those cheesy…

Starbucks held its quarterly earnings call Tuesday, during which CEO Brian Niccol highlighted a slew of design steps the company is taking as part of its overall turnaround strategy. While Niccols described the company’s drop in quarterly earnings as “disappointing,” behind the scenes, he claims the coffee chain is still making progress towards its back-to-basics comeback plan by upgrading its coffeehouses, standardizing the Starbucks experience store to store, and more efficient systems. All of this will begin to roll out over the next few months. Here’s a rundown of the design changes so far, and what’s heating up for next quarter. 1. Coffeeshop “uplif…

Tuesday’s news that Google would acquire the Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion was remarkable on several fronts. The deal, assuming it closes, will be the largest acquisition in Google’s history. And it’s the biggest exit in Israeli history. “Becoming part of Google Cloud is effectively strapping a rocket to our backs,” Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport wrote in a blog post. “[I]t will accelerate our rate of innovation faster than what we could achieve as a stand-alone company.” It also marks the close of a fast-paced, five-year chapter for the company. Founded in January 2020 by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak, Wiz grew quickly, as …

If you were to establish an electric truck company today, would the trucks be built in America? In April 2025, the answer is yes. In 2022, even after the pandemic, the answer might have been different. That was the year I initially founded Chang Robotics, a company that manufactures what we believe to be one of the world’s most powerful battery-operated commercial rigs. Its first commercial use will be for fast snow removal in airports and other mission-critical facilities. At the time, advisors, investors, and partners all said “Let’s take this to China. I’ll bet we could get this done in six months.” I declined. New Manufacturing Should Focus on Bei…

When I first met Krea co-founders Victor Perez and Diego Rodriguez in 2023, the industry was scrambling to understand the a-bomb of generative AI. But inside their work-live condo in Hayes Valley, San Francisco—decorated with an Eiffel Tower built from La Croix cans—the duo painted a confident vision of the future: One where they could build a platform not just about “generating” AI media, but a toolset to offer an artisan level manipulation of this new technology. They wanted to consolidate the world of AI models, then blur the bounds of media as we understand it, erasing the divisions between images, video, and sound in a new era powered by computational intelligen…

This past weekend, there were more disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport due to Federal Aviation Administration equipment outages. It has added to the air travel chaos at Newark over the past month, which has included air traffic controllers losing communication with planes for up to 90 seconds, and led to the delay and cancellation of hundreds of flights. On Monday morning, there were at least 59 flight delays and more than 80 cancellations at Newark, according to FlightAware data. Air traffic controllers and the 79,000-member Air Line Pilots Association, are calling on the FAA to update its aging infrastructure to ensure the system is as safe and …

Loneliness isn’t just a lingering by-product of COVID lockdowns—it’s a public health crisis. The impacts of social isolation are said to be as detrimental to human health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, according to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Loneliness can increase the risk of heart disease and strokes by roughly 30%, and dementia by about 50%. In some ways, we’ve never been more connected thanks to online networks. Yet for many people, social media has fueled perceptions that others are living fuller, more vibrant lives in comparison to their own. Some have found that online interactions pale in comparison to in-person hang outs. Champagne sales…

Adults with grown children are often still helping support them financially. And sometimes, those contributions take away from the funds they would otherwise be saving for retirement. According to a recent Savings.com survey of 1,000 U.S. adults with grown children, half regularly assist them financially. Those numbers are going up in recent years. On average, parents are shelling $1,474 monthly to help their adult children, which is about 6% more than they provided the previous year. More than 80% said they helped pay for groceries; 65% said they foot their grown child’s cellphone bill; and nearly half (46%) even fund their adult children’s vacations. Those m…

Google’s logo just got a little bit blurrier. In a new logo quietly rolled out across iOS and Pixel, the search giant ditches its color blocked “G” for gradients. Google’s new logo keeps the same letterform, as well as the bright red-yellow-green-blue color sequence, but now those colors blur into each other. The new “G” is Google’s biggest update to its visual identity since retiring serfs for its current sans-serif font, Product Sans, in 2015. Why a gradient? In 2013, Google was among the first tech companies to move from skeuomorphic, dimensional lettering to a flat logo design. It arguably ushered in the “blanding” era—a moment when companies embraced s…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Here’s a question for business leaders: When was the last time you or someone on your team had a frustrating experience as a customer? Perhaps you were shuffled between departments, asked to repeat information multiple times, left feeling like no one grasped your specific needs, or that the information changed depending on who you talked to. Now flip the scenario. How many of your customers …

Trying to find authentic, consistent joy in the midst of a reality that is relentlessly delivering devastating blows feels akin to finding a needle in an impossibly large haystack. But according to Michelle Obama, it is possible—and the power lies in acknowledging the depth of despair and apathy while still finding reasons for hope. At SXSW this week, the former first lady and her older brother, Craig Robinson, who is executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, took the stage for a live session of their new podcast, IMO. The pair were joined by Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist, the Yale professor behind the school’s most popular class t…

Amazon and Grubhub are entering the second year of a five-year commercial agreement that gives Amazon Prime members access to the food delivery platform’s subscription program at no extra cost. As part of the deal, Grubhub’s ordering tab was integrated directly into the Amazon app and website, allowing users to order burritos while shopping for face wash or streaming a show. That seamless experience appears to be paying off, say company executives. “Amazon Prime customers are a very engaged customer cohort,” says Jamil Ghani, Amazon’s worldwide vice president of Prime. More than nine out of 10 orders on Amazon.com or in the app are coming from Prime members retur…

In Abbey Road’s Studio One, even a lick of paint could ruin everything. Famous for hosting Adele, Harry Styles, and U2, it’s where the scores of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Wicked were recorded, as well as the soundtracks of blockbuster games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Final Fantasy. It’s also where Ryan Gosling delivered his memorable “I’m Just Ken” for Barbie. Nearly a century after its opening, Studio One underwent a six-month, multimillion-pound refurbishment, with the main priority being the preservation of one very important thing: the sound. “What we don’t want to do is change the acoustics, so every minute detail in the room has been conserved and p…