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The next wave of AI will be defined by agentic systems that can take actions: query databases, navigate portals, retrieve records, and increasingly interact with public digital infrastructure at scale. That shift is already showing up as traffic hitting government sites and services is becoming machine traffic. Some of it is benign (search and discovery). Some of it is ambiguous (scraping and automated browsing). And some of it could become actively harmful if agents can reserve scarce services, submit fraudulent requests, or generate volume that overwhelms public systems. The problem is that the government’s current interfaces were not designed for agent-to-government interactions, and the default state of the world has become improvisation: agents “figure it out” by scraping pages and guessing based on previous learning.. This is where Boston’s work becomes instructive. Rather than treating agents as something to block wholesale, or something to embrace without guardrails, Boston is experimenting with a middle path: build a governed, secure, and reliable layer that mediates how AI agent systems interact with government resources. Santi Garces In a recent interview, Boston’s CIO, Santi Garces, described why the city is investing in the Model Context Protocol (MCP) as that layer; why they’re starting with open data as a low-risk proving ground; how they’re improving reliability by pushing computation into the data portal itself; and what it would take for MCP-like infrastructure to become replicable digital public infrastructure that other cities can deploy. Can you explain MCP, and why city governments should care? MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, and it’s relatively recent. Anthropic, the company behind Claude, launched MCP servers about a year ago. Why it matters is that it provides a way for large language models to interface with the kinds of resources we have in government. Concretely, it’s a way to connect LLMs to APIs and other programmatic systems, for example, allowing an AI assistant to retrieve transit updates or submit a service request through official city systems. We think it will be a new layer that serves as an intermediary between the government’s digital infrastructure and these models. This is exciting for Boston because the world is moving fast, and we’re already seeing websites and services being activated or consumed by agents. MCP servers can serve as a layer through which the government can add governance and control. Mechanically, an MCP server creates a set of tools. You describe, in plain language, when a tool should be used. Then you define what inputs need to be extracted from a natural-language request and how that translates into deterministic programmatic access to a resource. LLMs can be random; MCP is part of the pathway to make certain interactions more reliable and secure. The dream is that cities invest in this infrastructure and point to different models to interact with a city’s MCP layer, ensuring it’s reliable, secure, and provides a better experience for people using agentic systems to interact with the government. A lot has to be true for that future, but we’re very excited about it. What normally breaks when people rely on “just the chatbot” and prompting, what problem is MCP solving? Take our first MCP server: open data. If you ask Claude or ChatGPT or Gemini something like, “How many restaurants are there in Boston,” those models will answer using either (1) their training data, which is probably out of date, or (2) they’ll make something up. The risk of inaccuracy or hallucination is high. It might do better if it can browse the web, but then you’re relying on it to find the right source, and we know a lot of information online is outdated or inaccurate. It might pull from an old report or an article from five years ago. What we’ve been able to do with Open Context, our first MCP instance tied to Boston’s open data portal, is create a direct link between the portal and these AI tools. MCP servers are interoperable, so it doesn’t matter which AI tool you’re using. If you ask an AI tool connected to this MCP server, “How many restaurants are there in Boston given the open data portal,” it automatically searches Boston’s portal, finds the right dataset, and generates a SQL query against that dataset. It queries live data reliably and returns an answer grounded in the city’s actual data infrastructure. We spend a lot of money and time building data infrastructure that many people don’t use because it’s inconvenient. Most people don’t know SQL, and even knowing which dataset is right is hard. These tools bridge that gap, getting you to the right answer while avoiding many of the pitfalls in AI tools today. How did you make this more trustworthy and what did the development process look like? We started in the fall of 2025 with students from Northeastern’s AI for Impact program at the Burnes Center. We’ve been rolling out a tool to Boston city employees called AI Launchpad, which provides access to LLMs, but we wanted it to be more useful. We looked at how employees use AI tools, drawing on our experience and survey data. Data analysis is a common use case. But to analyze, people have to download data, paste it into a context, and go through a lot of steps. So our starting motivation was: how do we make those workflows easier, more convenient, and more reliable? Around that time, I was at an AI retreat in Boston and spoke with Romesh Raskar at MIT about what the agentic web will look like and the need to build an open version of it. That weekend turned into action quickly. Saturday at the retreat, then Sunday speaking at MIT, challenging people to build better agentic experiences for Boston. Then, on Monday, we said, let’s try to build an MCP server and connect it to AI Launchpad. Because we had brilliant students, by October, we had a prototype that connected to the open data portal. Since November and December, we’ve been iterating to make it more reliable. It did a good job finding datasets, but it wasn’t as strong at analyzing large datasets—good for small samples, less good at scale. One innovation was to push more computation into the open data portal itself. Most data portals can run queries. So we’re using the portal to do more of the analytical work, which improves reliability and also makes the overall interaction more efficient and cost-effective. You’ve also talked about this as a replicable layer of digital public infrastructure. What else do cities need to be able to implement this? This is why we’re excited. With emerging technology, it’s possible we’ll be using a different acronym in six months, but right now, MCP looks like a real path to solve this. We think MCP is a component of digital public infrastructure and should be tied to digital public infrastructure (DPI). The agentic web is only helpful if it creates reliable, secure intermediation that serves real human beings. AI could help if someone is busy, doesn’t speak English, or has a disability. There are many reasons this could matter for access. But without the right infrastructure, the experience becomes less reliable. The MCP pattern is appealing because it lets you leverage existing DPI components—identity, API exposures, payment APIs—by creating a middle layer between what an AI system “sees” and the underlying infrastructure the government already has, in a way that can be made more reliable. We’re starting with open data because it’s low risk and already public. But it could evolve to intermediation around service requests and other interactions. We believe the government should have the capability to build and steward this. But we can also imagine vendors incorporating this type of interface into the products they sell to governments. Let’s talk about security. What threats feel most realistic with agent systems, and how does MCP help? One concern is that our APIs are not always well secured. There are agentic browsers and tools that make it easy to automate interactions. And we’re seeing more and more traffic to boston.gov that isn’t from people, it’s from AI systems scraping and “deep searching.” It’s not hard to imagine AI tools also requesting services. A major risk is when an AI tool makes requests that aren’t tied to a real human need. You could have fraudulent requests or actors generating scarcity by consuming limited government resources and potentially reselling access, similar to ticket scalpers at concerts. Another risk is that without a controlled layer, it’s harder to secure and monitor the traffic between AI systems and government systems. What excites us about MCP servers is that this middleware could make it easier to block unauthorized inbound agentic requests with cybersecurity tools, while still enabling legitimate uses. The idea is: people who need services use an authorized channel that the government controls, can associate with identity, and can monitor and secure end-to-end. Without that middleware, government faces an uncomfortable choice: block agentic interaction entirely, or leave it open in the wild. MCP offers a middle ground: governance for agentic interactions. Are there things you’re intentionally not exposing MCP to right now? We’re starting with open data. Our AI policies in Boston, rolled out a couple of months ago, state that we’re not using AI to process information that could affect people’s lives, property, or civil liberties because of reliability issues and intrinsic, complex biases. So, for now, those are categories we avoid. It’s not just “a human in the loop.” We know AI intermediation can create adverse effects that are hard to detect and remediate. At the same time, we work closely with the disability community and with people who face language access issues. Government is hard to access for people who need it most. And those are often the same people least likely to have private access to LLMs, paid subscriptions, reliable internet, and personal devices. If you had a magic wand, what’s the biggest blocker you’d remove? There are technical gaps because MCP is new. Early on, MCP servers didn’t support some authentication pieces natively; we had to add frameworks to secure them. The ecosystem is changing fast. But the biggest thing is discoverability and ease of use. We need to get to a point where using MCP infrastructure is as easy as pointing an LLM to a URL. With websites, you type the name or use search. We need that for MCP: trivial discovery, trivial access, effectively zero barrier to entry. We’ve made it easier, but there’s still too much technical legwork. For another city that wants to move in this direction, what’s the action they should take now? Good metadata management is essential. LLMs consume data, but they don’t understand what it is without good descriptions and context. So it starts with good data governance. We intend to share this work. We’re proud of it, and it’s thanks to collaboration with the GovLab and the Burnes Center that we’ve been able to move quickly. We intend to make Open Context an open-source project so others can replicate it. The MCP server itself doesn’t cost a lot to run. Our goal is to make it as simple as deploying a package into whatever public cloud a city uses. The rest of the puzzle, how this ties into broader services, is something every city will have to solve, and we’re solving it in Boston, too. But importantly, data becomes useful only when people use it. Data quality improved when we started publishing open data. We think governance and quality will improve further when more people use open data. And we’re hoping GenAI makes it easier for people to use open data, so we can solve problems collectively. — A version of this interview was originally published at Reboot Democracy. View the full article

Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late supreme leader, has been named as the Islamic Republic’s next ruler, authorities announced Monday, as Tehran widened its attacks across the Mideast to strike oil and water facilities crucial to its desert sheikdoms. With Iran’s theocracy under assault by the U.S. and Israel for more than a week, the country’s Assembly of Experts chose as the next supreme leader a secretive, 56-year-old cleric who maintains close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Guard has been firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf Arab states since the younger Khamenei’s father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed Feb. 28 during the war’s opening salvo. The war has shaken global energy markets, pushing oil prices above $100 a barrel and leading to tighter supplies of natural gas after Qatar turned off its production. The younger Khamenei, who had not been seen or heard from publicly since the war started, had long been considered a contender for the post. That was even before the Israeli strike killed his father, and despite never being elected or appointed to a government position. There appeared to be some dissension over his selection. Political figures within Iran criticized the idea of handing over the supreme leader’s title based on heredity and thereby creating a clerical version of the rule of the shah, who was toppled during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But top clerics in the Assembly of Experts likely wanted Khamenei to prosecute the war. Khamenei, who is believed to hold views that are even more hard-line than his late father, now will be in charge of Iran’s armed forces and any decision regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. While the country’s key nuclear sites are in tatters after the United States bombed them during the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, there’s still highly enriched uranium in Iran that’s a technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Khamenei could choose to do what his father never did — pursue the bomb. Israel has already described him as a potential target, while U.S. President Donald The President criticized the idea of Khamenei taking power. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,” The President has said. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The President told ABC News on Sunday he wants a say in who comes to power once the war is over; a new leader “is not going to last long” without his approval. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued a statement expressing support, as did the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani, speaking to Iranian state television, praised the Assembly of Experts for “courageously” convening even as airstrikes continued in Tehran. He said the younger Khamenei had been trained by his father and “can handle this situation.” Regional anger grows and oil rises above $100 a barrel Oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight Israeli strikes. In a sign of rising regional anger, the Arab League chief lashed out at Iran for its “reckless policy” of attacking neighbors, including ones that host U.S. forces. The U.S. military said a service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1. Seven U.S. soldiers have now been killed. Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said Monday it intercepted a drone attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field. The kingdom followed the alleged drone attack with sharper warnings to Iran that it would be the “biggest loser” if it continued to attack Arab states. It dismissed comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday that Iran had halted its attacks on Gulf Arab states. “The kingdom affirms that the Iranian side has not implemented this statement in practice, neither during the Iranian president’s speech nor afterward,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Iran has continued its aggression based on flimsy pretexts devoid of any factual basis.” It added the Iranian attacks mean “further escalation which will have grave impact on the relations, currently and in the future.” Two U.S. officials say the State Department will order nonessential personnel and families of all staff to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran escalates its attacks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. Eight other U.S. diplomatic missions have ordered all but key staff to leave: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and at least 11 in Israel, according to officials. Israel reported its first soldier deaths Sunday, saying two were killed in southern Lebanon, where its military is fighting Hezbollah. Desalination and oil facilities attacked Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online. Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region and thousands of stranded travelers, raising new fears of catastrophic risks in parched desert nations. The strike came after Iran claimed a U.S. airstrike damaged a desalination plant there. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had cut into the water supply to 30 villages. He warned that in doing so “the U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.” In response, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said that “U.S. forces do not target civilians – period.” The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned Tehran residents to take precautions against toxic air pollution and the risk of acid rain from the oil depot attack. It also said about 10,000 civilian structures across the country had been damaged, including homes, schools and almost three dozen health facilities. Lebanon says a half-million people displaced Lebanon said over a half-million people have been displaced in the week of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The actual number is likely higher. Lebanon’s count of 517,000 refers to those who registered on the government’s online portal. Israel over the past week has called on residents in dozens of villages across southern Lebanon and the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate. In Beirut, sheltering families crammed into schools, slept in cars or in open areas near the Mediterranean Sea, where some burned firewood to keep warm. Israel’s renewed offensive began last week after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel during the Iran war’s opening days. Associated Press journalists Melanie Lidman, Matthew Lee, Christopher Weber, and Aamer Madhani contributed reporting. —Jon Gambrell, Sam Metz, Kareem Chehayeb and Samy Magdy, Associated Press View the full article

Any avid reader undoubtedly recognizes him: the sleek, inquisitive bird frozen inside an orange oval that’s become Penguin Random House’s distinctive logo. With its new brand refresh, Penguin Random House UK is setting that iconic penguin free. The brand just unveiled a delightful series of hand-drawn illustrations, named the “Playful Penguins,” which show the penguin jumping, strutting, dancing, and doing a whole lot of reading. The illustrations will show up everywhere across the Penguin Random House’s global markets, from seasonal campaigns to social initiatives and point-of-sale displays—and they’re designed to bring some added joy and movement to the brand as it approaches its centennial. In the years following Random House and Penguin Books’ 2013 merger, the massive publishing house has focused on streamlining representations of the penguin to one core logo—the bird inside its lozenge—in order to maintain a consistent masterbrand. According to Derek Man, Penguin Random House UK’s design director, the company had an opportunity to “test and stretch” its brand for its 90th anniversary last year. At the time, his team uncovered a “rich collection of expressive illustrated penguins from our Bristol archive,” which they wove through the anniversary campaign. The public showed a major affinity for the bird, demonstrating to Man’s team that it was time to give the penguin an even bigger role in the brand. While, crucially, the iconic penguin inside his lozenge will remain the company’s core mark, Man says the Playful Penguins will help “answer the brand’s needs in 2026 and beyond” by setting clear guidelines for other ways that the penguin is permitted to trot, slide, and dance across the page. How the Penguin Random House bird became an iconThe origins of the Penguin Books penguin is something of a brand legend. It traces back to 1935, when Allen Lane, the founder of the publishing house, apparently received a piece of advice from his secretary that “Penguin” would be a good name to encapsulate a “dignified” yet “flippant” brand attitude. Soon after, Lane sent the 21-year-old illustrator Edward Young to the London Zoo, where, according to the oft-repeated tale, he apparently spent all day sketching penguins in action. His initial drawings are loose and playful, capturing a mischievous energy that suggests a creature constantly in motion. One of the first teaser ads for Penguin Books shows a series of six penguins scampering down a white page, accompanied by the text, “The penguins are coming. If you want to know what this is all about, turn over quickly to the next page.” In the decades since Young’s initial sketches, the penguin has been shaped by the hands of multiple other creatives. In 1937, the logo was updated to a version with the penguin dancing and looking to the right, rather than the left. In 1939, it was tweaked to a more serious-looking bird. Arguably the most influential version of the bird came courtesy of graphic designer and typographer Jan Tschichold in 1946, whose penguin features thicker black lines and wings tucked demurely at its sides. When the design agency Pentagram was asked to update the logo in 2003—the iteration that Penguin Random House still uses today—Tschichold’s gold standard served as the basis of its design, which is just a bit slimmer with a jauntily upturned beak. After the 90th celebrations, Man says “it became very clear” that there was a need to create something that could continue the spirit of these archival illustrations, yet that was fit for contemporary use. To achieve that, he took the London-based illustrator Matt Blease on a trip back through these archives for inspiration. ‘I became part penguin for this project’For Blease, trawling through Penguin Random House’s archival assets was only the beginning. In fact, he says, he “became part penguin” for the project. “I spent hours watching footage of how penguins walk, twist, turn, and slide,” Blease says. “I absorbed as much as I could and then let it flow out onto my sketchbook as loosely as possible. It’s always a bit of a brain dump at the brainstorming stage. You’re sketching faster than ever, trying to keep up with your brain. It becomes all-encompassing, totally locked into the act of drawing. It’s a beautiful moment when you look up and actually see the work en masse.” Throughout this creative exercise, Blease was working with one key parameter: The penguins needed to look like Penguin Random House’s iconic logo (who, he says, is internally named “Alan”), but they couldn’t be the exact same bird. Instead, he imagined them as “part of the same family,” sketching out penguins that might reasonably be “guests at Alan’s wedding.” Man says this approach allowed Penguin Random House to “channel that sense of play in a controlled and cohesive way,” ensuring that the Playful Penguins could frolic without disrupting Alan’s status as the brand’s most recognizable asset. “Importantly, these illustrations have been carefully crafted to be visually distinct from the logo through differences in form and texture,” Man explains. “This clear distinction allows our iconic lozenge Penguin to remain untouched—continuing to stand proudly as one of our strongest and most recognizable brand assets, while providing teams with a flexible, engaging set of assets designed for creative use.” Blease’s illustrations bring a warm, analogue feel to Penguin Random House’s brand that reflect the publisher’s visual past while setting it up for its next chapter. View the full article

Creating a corporation involves several vital steps that guarantee legal compliance and effective governance. First, you need to choose a unique name and file the Articles of Incorporation with your state. Then, you’ll appoint a board of directors and draft bylaws to outline operations. Don’t forget to hold an initial board meeting to adopt these bylaws. Each step is critical for laying a solid foundation, so let’s explore these processes in detail. Key Takeaways Choose a unique name for your corporation, ensuring it complies with California regulations and includes a corporate designator. File the Articles of Incorporation, providing necessary details and paying applicable state filing fees. Appoint directors to oversee management, and document their appointments for compliance and transparency. Draft and adopt bylaws outlining governance structure, meeting procedures, and voting protocols. Identify and obtain necessary licenses, permits, and an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to ensure legal operation. Choose a Name for Your Corporation When you’re ready to create a corporation, how do you choose the right name? Start by ensuring it complies with California corporation formation regulations. Your corporation’s name must include a corporate designator like “Corp,” “Inc,” or “Ltd.” Next, check if your chosen name is already in use; it can’t be identical or too similar to an existing corporation’s name. Furthermore, avoid words suggesting government affiliation or restricted activities, as these might violate state laws. Conduct a trademark search to confirm your name doesn’t infringe on existing trademarks, which could lead to legal issues. Finally, verify its legality and availability with the Secretary of State’s office before proceeding with your registration. File Articles of Incorporation Filing the Articles of Incorporation is a crucial step in establishing your corporation, as this legal document officially creates your business entity. In New York, you’ll need to prepare the articles, also referred to as the certificate of incorporation, which must include critical details like your corporation’s name, principal office address, registered agent’s name and address, the number of authorized shares, and the incorporator’s information. Each state has its own filing fees, ranging typically from $50 to several hundred dollars. Many states, including New York, allow you to file articles of incorporation online, speeding up the process. Once submitted, the state reviews your articles, and if approved, you’ll receive your certificate of incorporation NY, confirming your corporation’s legal standing. Appoint Corporate Directors When you appoint corporate directors, you’re selecting individuals responsible for overseeing your corporation’s management and making key policy decisions. Most states require at least one director, but some may need more, depending on your corporation’s structure. It’s essential to follow state laws regarding qualifications and to document these appointments properly for compliance and transparency. Responsibilities of Directors Corporate directors play an important role in steering the organization in the direction of success by making significant policy and financial decisions. They guarantee the corporation complies with legal and regulatory requirements, protecting the interests of shareholders and stakeholders. Directors are responsible for electing corporate officers who handle daily operations and implement the board’s strategic decisions. Maintaining accurate corporate records is critical, including documenting meeting minutes to reflect governance activities. For example, directors must be familiar with the California Limited Liability Company operating agreement and the articles of incorporation for a New York corporation, as these documents outline key operational guidelines. Number of Required Directors Comprehending the number of required directors is vital when establishing a corporation, as it directly affects governance and decision-making. Most states require at least one director, but if your corporation has multiple shareholders, you might need a minimum of three directors. Directors oversee corporate governance and guarantee compliance with regulations, so selecting the right individuals is critical. In a single-member corporation, you can serve as the only director, simplifying your s corp operating agreement. Keep in mind that states have specific age and residency requirements for directors, often mandating a minimum age of 18. Always consult your state’s regulations to confirm the exact requirements for directors before finalizing your inc filing, securing your corporation’s legal compliance from the start. Draft the Bylaws When you draft the bylaws, you’re setting up the vital governance structure for your corporation. This includes outlining meeting procedures, voting protocols, and the process for amending the bylaws as needed. It’s imperative to guarantee these documents comply with state laws and are regularly reviewed to reflect your corporation’s evolving needs. Governance Structure Outline Establishing a well-defined governance structure is crucial for the effective operation of a corporation, so drafting bylaws becomes a necessary step in this process. These bylaws outline the roles and responsibilities of directors and officers, detailing how many directors are needed, their term lengths, and the processes for their election or removal. It’s important to include rules for board meetings, including quorum requirements and notice periods for transparency. You’ll likewise want to specify how the bylaws can be amended during guaranteeing compliance with state laws, similar to an California operating agreement in California or a California agreement. Consulting with a legal professional during drafting these bylaws can help tailor them to your corporation’s unique needs and guarantee legality. Meeting Procedures and Protocols To guarantee smooth operations within a corporation, it’s vital to clearly outline meeting procedures and protocols in your bylaws. Your corporate bylaws should specify how often meetings occur, how much notice is required, and the quorum needed for decision-making. Furthermore, you must record minutes from all meetings to maintain transparency and legal compliance. Bylaws must also detail voting procedures for directors and shareholders, including methods like in-person or electronic voting, along with the majority thresholds for decisions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQqcg0EpEY It’s important to include rules regarding appointing and removing directors and officers to guarantee accountability. When drafting your small business corporation form, keep in mind that these bylaws can be amended but typically require a specific process to involve stakeholders. Amendment and Review Process Amending and reviewing your corporate bylaws is crucial for maintaining an effective governance structure, especially as your business evolves. Your bylaws define the rules guiding your corporation, and they need to adapt to changes, like an s corporation conversion to LLC. To guarantee your bylaws remain relevant, consider these key aspects: Directors: Determine the number of directors, their qualifications, and election procedures. Amendments: Clearly define the process for making changes, including notice and voting requirements. Review: Store your bylaws with corporate records and schedule regular reviews to stay compliant with state laws. Hold a First Meeting of the Board of Directors Once you’ve filed your articles of incorporation, it’s time to hold the first meeting of the Board of Directors, which plays a crucial role in establishing your corporation. This meeting typically occurs after you receive your certificate of corporation NY, marking your new york corporate registration. During this initial gathering, you’ll adopt corporate bylaws and appoint corporate officers. It’s also vital to set the corporation’s fiscal year and document all decisions accurately in the meeting minutes, as these serve as a formal record. Most states require compliance with the bylaws for procedures and voting, so make sure you’re familiar with these guidelines. Finally, consider discussing the potential election of S corporation status to understand its tax implications. Issue Corporate Stock Issuing corporate stock is a critical step in establishing your corporation’s ownership structure and facilitating investment. You’ll need to determine the number of shares to issue according to your articles of incorporation and state regulations. This formalizes ownership interests and allows shareholders to invest in your company. Provide stock certificates or electronic records to shareholders. Maintain accurate records of stock issuance, including details of each transaction. Guarantee compliance with securities laws, especially if you plan to register stock offerings with the SEC. As you navigate this process, keep in mind that comprehending how to file an LLC in California and completing California LLC registration can help you establish a solid foundation for your corporation. Obtain Licenses and Permits How can you guarantee your corporation operates legally and efficiently? Start by identifying and obtaining the necessary licenses and permits required by federal, state, and local authorities. These requirements vary by industry and location. Common licenses include an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, a seller’s permit for retail businesses, and zoning permits from local planning boards. If you’re wondering how to form an LLC in California or how to register LLC in California, be sure to check the specific licensing needs for your industry, especially if you’re in healthcare or legal services. Additionally, keep in mind that some licenses need periodic renewal, so keep track of expiration dates to avoid disruptions in your operations. The SBA offers resources to assist you in this process. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the Steps to Start a Corporation? To start a corporation, first choose a unique name that meets state regulations and includes a corporate designator like “Inc.” or “Corp.” Next, file articles of incorporation, including crucial details such as your registered agent and office address. Appoint a board of directors and draft bylaws for governance. Hold an initial meeting to adopt these bylaws and appoint officers. Finally, secure any necessary licenses and obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Can I Start a Corporation by Myself? Yes, you can start a corporation by yourself as a single-member entity. You’ll need to file articles of incorporation with your state’s corporate office, designating yourself as the incorporator and possibly the sole director. It’s important to follow corporate formalities, such as adopting bylaws and holding initial meetings. Even though you’ll typically be the sole shareholder, you can issue stock. Consulting a business attorney can help guarantee you comply with state regulations during this process. Is It Better to LLC or Incorporate? Choosing between an LLC and a corporation depends on your business goals. An LLC offers simplicity, pass-through taxation, and fewer compliance requirements, making it ideal for smaller operations. Conversely, incorporating allows for stock issuance and potential access to larger investments, but it comes with double taxation and more regulatory formalities. If you plan to grow considerably and seek outside funding, a corporation might be better, whereas an LLC suits simpler, smaller ventures. What Is the First Step for a Corporation? The first step for a corporation is selecting a unique business name that meets state regulations. You need to include a corporate designator, like “Inc.” or “Corp.” Confirm your name isn’t already in use or infringing on trademarks. Conducting a trademark search is essential to avoid legal issues. Furthermore, verify your name with the state’s Secretary of State office to guarantee compliance with naming rules before moving on to the next incorporation steps. Conclusion Creating a corporation is a structured process that involves several important steps. By choosing a unique name, filing the necessary documents, appointing directors, and drafting bylaws, you establish a solid foundation for your business. Holding an initial board meeting, issuing stock, and obtaining the required licenses guarantee legal compliance and operational readiness. Following these steps carefully will help you navigate the intricacies of incorporation and set your corporation up for future success. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Create a Corporation – Step-by-Step Guide" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Creating a corporation involves several vital steps that guarantee legal compliance and effective governance. First, you need to choose a unique name and file the Articles of Incorporation with your state. Then, you’ll appoint a board of directors and draft bylaws to outline operations. Don’t forget to hold an initial board meeting to adopt these bylaws. Each step is critical for laying a solid foundation, so let’s explore these processes in detail. Key Takeaways Choose a unique name for your corporation, ensuring it complies with California regulations and includes a corporate designator. File the Articles of Incorporation, providing necessary details and paying applicable state filing fees. Appoint directors to oversee management, and document their appointments for compliance and transparency. Draft and adopt bylaws outlining governance structure, meeting procedures, and voting protocols. Identify and obtain necessary licenses, permits, and an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to ensure legal operation. Choose a Name for Your Corporation When you’re ready to create a corporation, how do you choose the right name? Start by ensuring it complies with California corporation formation regulations. Your corporation’s name must include a corporate designator like “Corp,” “Inc,” or “Ltd.” Next, check if your chosen name is already in use; it can’t be identical or too similar to an existing corporation’s name. Furthermore, avoid words suggesting government affiliation or restricted activities, as these might violate state laws. Conduct a trademark search to confirm your name doesn’t infringe on existing trademarks, which could lead to legal issues. Finally, verify its legality and availability with the Secretary of State’s office before proceeding with your registration. File Articles of Incorporation Filing the Articles of Incorporation is a crucial step in establishing your corporation, as this legal document officially creates your business entity. In New York, you’ll need to prepare the articles, also referred to as the certificate of incorporation, which must include critical details like your corporation’s name, principal office address, registered agent’s name and address, the number of authorized shares, and the incorporator’s information. Each state has its own filing fees, ranging typically from $50 to several hundred dollars. Many states, including New York, allow you to file articles of incorporation online, speeding up the process. Once submitted, the state reviews your articles, and if approved, you’ll receive your certificate of incorporation NY, confirming your corporation’s legal standing. Appoint Corporate Directors When you appoint corporate directors, you’re selecting individuals responsible for overseeing your corporation’s management and making key policy decisions. Most states require at least one director, but some may need more, depending on your corporation’s structure. It’s essential to follow state laws regarding qualifications and to document these appointments properly for compliance and transparency. Responsibilities of Directors Corporate directors play an important role in steering the organization in the direction of success by making significant policy and financial decisions. They guarantee the corporation complies with legal and regulatory requirements, protecting the interests of shareholders and stakeholders. Directors are responsible for electing corporate officers who handle daily operations and implement the board’s strategic decisions. Maintaining accurate corporate records is critical, including documenting meeting minutes to reflect governance activities. For example, directors must be familiar with the California Limited Liability Company operating agreement and the articles of incorporation for a New York corporation, as these documents outline key operational guidelines. Number of Required Directors Comprehending the number of required directors is vital when establishing a corporation, as it directly affects governance and decision-making. Most states require at least one director, but if your corporation has multiple shareholders, you might need a minimum of three directors. Directors oversee corporate governance and guarantee compliance with regulations, so selecting the right individuals is critical. In a single-member corporation, you can serve as the only director, simplifying your s corp operating agreement. Keep in mind that states have specific age and residency requirements for directors, often mandating a minimum age of 18. Always consult your state’s regulations to confirm the exact requirements for directors before finalizing your inc filing, securing your corporation’s legal compliance from the start. Draft the Bylaws When you draft the bylaws, you’re setting up the vital governance structure for your corporation. This includes outlining meeting procedures, voting protocols, and the process for amending the bylaws as needed. It’s imperative to guarantee these documents comply with state laws and are regularly reviewed to reflect your corporation’s evolving needs. Governance Structure Outline Establishing a well-defined governance structure is crucial for the effective operation of a corporation, so drafting bylaws becomes a necessary step in this process. These bylaws outline the roles and responsibilities of directors and officers, detailing how many directors are needed, their term lengths, and the processes for their election or removal. It’s important to include rules for board meetings, including quorum requirements and notice periods for transparency. You’ll likewise want to specify how the bylaws can be amended during guaranteeing compliance with state laws, similar to an California operating agreement in California or a California agreement. Consulting with a legal professional during drafting these bylaws can help tailor them to your corporation’s unique needs and guarantee legality. Meeting Procedures and Protocols To guarantee smooth operations within a corporation, it’s vital to clearly outline meeting procedures and protocols in your bylaws. Your corporate bylaws should specify how often meetings occur, how much notice is required, and the quorum needed for decision-making. Furthermore, you must record minutes from all meetings to maintain transparency and legal compliance. Bylaws must also detail voting procedures for directors and shareholders, including methods like in-person or electronic voting, along with the majority thresholds for decisions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQqcg0EpEY It’s important to include rules regarding appointing and removing directors and officers to guarantee accountability. When drafting your small business corporation form, keep in mind that these bylaws can be amended but typically require a specific process to involve stakeholders. Amendment and Review Process Amending and reviewing your corporate bylaws is crucial for maintaining an effective governance structure, especially as your business evolves. Your bylaws define the rules guiding your corporation, and they need to adapt to changes, like an s corporation conversion to LLC. To guarantee your bylaws remain relevant, consider these key aspects: Directors: Determine the number of directors, their qualifications, and election procedures. Amendments: Clearly define the process for making changes, including notice and voting requirements. Review: Store your bylaws with corporate records and schedule regular reviews to stay compliant with state laws. Hold a First Meeting of the Board of Directors Once you’ve filed your articles of incorporation, it’s time to hold the first meeting of the Board of Directors, which plays a crucial role in establishing your corporation. This meeting typically occurs after you receive your certificate of corporation NY, marking your new york corporate registration. During this initial gathering, you’ll adopt corporate bylaws and appoint corporate officers. It’s also vital to set the corporation’s fiscal year and document all decisions accurately in the meeting minutes, as these serve as a formal record. Most states require compliance with the bylaws for procedures and voting, so make sure you’re familiar with these guidelines. Finally, consider discussing the potential election of S corporation status to understand its tax implications. Issue Corporate Stock Issuing corporate stock is a critical step in establishing your corporation’s ownership structure and facilitating investment. You’ll need to determine the number of shares to issue according to your articles of incorporation and state regulations. This formalizes ownership interests and allows shareholders to invest in your company. Provide stock certificates or electronic records to shareholders. Maintain accurate records of stock issuance, including details of each transaction. Guarantee compliance with securities laws, especially if you plan to register stock offerings with the SEC. As you navigate this process, keep in mind that comprehending how to file an LLC in California and completing California LLC registration can help you establish a solid foundation for your corporation. Obtain Licenses and Permits How can you guarantee your corporation operates legally and efficiently? Start by identifying and obtaining the necessary licenses and permits required by federal, state, and local authorities. These requirements vary by industry and location. Common licenses include an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, a seller’s permit for retail businesses, and zoning permits from local planning boards. If you’re wondering how to form an LLC in California or how to register LLC in California, be sure to check the specific licensing needs for your industry, especially if you’re in healthcare or legal services. Additionally, keep in mind that some licenses need periodic renewal, so keep track of expiration dates to avoid disruptions in your operations. The SBA offers resources to assist you in this process. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the Steps to Start a Corporation? To start a corporation, first choose a unique name that meets state regulations and includes a corporate designator like “Inc.” or “Corp.” Next, file articles of incorporation, including crucial details such as your registered agent and office address. Appoint a board of directors and draft bylaws for governance. Hold an initial meeting to adopt these bylaws and appoint officers. Finally, secure any necessary licenses and obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Can I Start a Corporation by Myself? Yes, you can start a corporation by yourself as a single-member entity. You’ll need to file articles of incorporation with your state’s corporate office, designating yourself as the incorporator and possibly the sole director. It’s important to follow corporate formalities, such as adopting bylaws and holding initial meetings. Even though you’ll typically be the sole shareholder, you can issue stock. Consulting a business attorney can help guarantee you comply with state regulations during this process. Is It Better to LLC or Incorporate? Choosing between an LLC and a corporation depends on your business goals. An LLC offers simplicity, pass-through taxation, and fewer compliance requirements, making it ideal for smaller operations. Conversely, incorporating allows for stock issuance and potential access to larger investments, but it comes with double taxation and more regulatory formalities. If you plan to grow considerably and seek outside funding, a corporation might be better, whereas an LLC suits simpler, smaller ventures. What Is the First Step for a Corporation? The first step for a corporation is selecting a unique business name that meets state regulations. You need to include a corporate designator, like “Inc.” or “Corp.” Confirm your name isn’t already in use or infringing on trademarks. Conducting a trademark search is essential to avoid legal issues. Furthermore, verify your name with the state’s Secretary of State office to guarantee compliance with naming rules before moving on to the next incorporation steps. Conclusion Creating a corporation is a structured process that involves several important steps. By choosing a unique name, filing the necessary documents, appointing directors, and drafting bylaws, you establish a solid foundation for your business. Holding an initial board meeting, issuing stock, and obtaining the required licenses guarantee legal compliance and operational readiness. Following these steps carefully will help you navigate the intricacies of incorporation and set your corporation up for future success. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Create a Corporation – Step-by-Step Guide" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Publishers are losing ground with younger audiences as creators, video, and platform-native content reshape how news is discovered and trusted. The post Why We Need To Talk About Young People appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Treasury yields swung wildly after a soft jobs report as oil's surge added a new complication for the Fed, raising concerns about the rate path ahead, according to the head of correspondent business development at AD Mortgage. View the full article

OpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT for a limited set of U.S. users, with placements clearly labeled as sponsored. The platform’s internal economics suggest it’ll be available to everyone sooner rather than later. When it does, advertisers will have access to a rare new channel for demand capture. But advertisers should enter this space with their eyes wide open. For ChatGPT advertising to be successful, consumer behavior will need to change. And even if it does, ChatGPT won’t expand the advertising market. It’ll redistribute it. Why ChatGPT is moving into ads The fact that ads have arrived on ChatGPT should come as no surprise. By some estimates, a large language model (LLM) query costs 10 times as much as a traditional search query. With 2.5 billion prompts every day, ChatGPT’s expenses add up quickly. What’s different isn’t the business model shift itself. It’s the data environment. Users have spent years feeding personal information, questions, and ideas into ChatGPT. In many ways, the platform knows more about its users than any comparable advertising tool. The big question now is how ChatGPT will harness this data to target users. Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with ChatGPT could become a new demand-capture channel Advertising historically relied on generating demand: repeating a message enough times that buyers eventually acted. Search changed that by meeting buyers at the moment of intent. ChatGPT has the potential to follow the search model, but with more context. It’s easy to envision a scenario where someone asks which security camera will work with their existing system. The platform already knows everything about the user’s security system, so it delivers the correct answer and a link to purchase. When this happens, ChatGPT will be the first new demand-capture channel to emerge since Google launched pay-per-click ads nearly two decades ago. But right now, there are a few significant barriers preventing this from happening. For starters, most current AI queries lack purchase intent. Instead, they’re mostly informational: lists of Super Bowl halftime performers, storm-preparation tips, and workout routines. Compare that with existing platforms like Amazon and Google, which have spent decades training users to search with intent. Even when users do shop through AI, there’s an attribution problem: consumers often use ChatGPT for research, then complete the purchase on Amazon, Google, or directly on a brand site. That breaks clean conversion tracking and makes “proof” harder than “impact.” These challenges aren’t impossible to overcome. Google went through the same process early on as it transitioned from a homework tool to a shopping platform. But it took time. ChatGPT will also need time to train consumers to use AI for shopping. So expect to see ChatGPT begin running commercials designed to train consumers to move from research queries to purchase-oriented ones. While the possibility of a genuinely new demand-capture advertising platform is undeniably exciting, be realistic about its true potential. Dig deeper: OpenAI quietly lays groundwork for ads in ChatGPT Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Market share reality check AI can do many things exceptionally well, but it won’t expand the advertising pie. ChatGPT ads won’t suddenly introduce a surge of new consumers into the market. Ecommerce purchases will continue to grow at the same rate regardless of which new advertising platforms come online. Instead, ChatGPT will capture a portion of the existing advertising share from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Consequently, advertiser budgets will likely shift rather than grow significantly. ChatGPT’s largest competitors won’t give up market share without a fight. Google, in particular, has its own AI platform, Gemini, and an existing group of active advertisers it can draw from. These are powerful competitive headwinds for ChatGPT, which is recruiting its first group of advertisers from scratch. Competition will be fierce among AI platforms as they race to reach profitability, and market consolidation seems inevitable. But even in that environment, ChatGPT has an opportunity to do something other platforms can’t. The differentiator: Hyper-personalization AI queries already lean heavily toward information gathering. Users employ these tools to help them plan everything from vacations to workout routines to tough conversations with their bosses. Taken together, AI platforms can learn more about individual users’ tastes and preferences than any other tool. This capability unlocks hyper-personalization at scale. Knowing everything that it does, AI can return perfectly tailored results with a one-click purchase option. Google and Amazon can’t match this capability because they still rely on users searching for particular specs, product names, or model numbers to deliver results. There’s risk here. Hyper-personalization can feel invasive. Some users will opt out entirely, just as some consumers avoid always-on devices in their homes. Meta ran into this dynamic years ago as public backlash forced changes in targeting and data practices. This is where the distinction between demand capture and demand generation matters. Demand capture advertising generally feels less intrusive because it’s tied to a user’s explicit request. Most consumers will appreciate getting exactly what they ask for when they want it. But they’ll likely revolt if highly personalized and unsolicited ads start following them around the web. If AI platforms can maintain that boundary, the convenience of hyper-personalization will ultimately win out for most users. Dig deeper: ChatGPT ads collapse the wall between SEO and paid media What you should do now While OpenAI has already begun reaching out to select advertisers, it could be a year before we begin seeing widespread advertising on ChatGPT or other AI platforms. However, you should be prepared to move whenever that moment arrives. So watch for official communications from OpenAI about ChatGPT advertising and, when possible, sign up for platform notifications. In the meantime, you can make these few practical moves: Align internally on measurement expectations: If the channel starts as research-heavy, last-click ROAS may understate performance. Build room for assisted conversions and incrementality. Pressure-test mobile UX and checkout friction: Demand capture punishes slow experiences. If AI shortens the path to purchase, your site has to close quickly. Plan conservative early tests: Being an early adopter carries risk (immature controls, evolving placements), but it also creates an edge: faster learning on a genuinely new demand-capture surface. New demand-capture channels don’t come along often. ChatGPT advertising could become one of them, but the winners won’t be the brands that rush in blindly. They’ll be the ones who enter with a clear thesis, realistic measurement, and a strategy built around trust. View the full article

Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel before falling back Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel early in the day but later was trading near $106 per barrel, up 14%, before the opening bell. West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, soared above $119.48 per barrel but fell back closer to $103. The war’s toll on civilian targets grew as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies. Bahrain’s national oil company declared force majeure for its shipments after an Iranian attack set its refinery complex ablaze. The legal declaration releases the company of contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances. Oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight strikes by Israel. Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second week, ensnares countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. Prices moderated after the Financial Times reported that some members of the Group of Seven industrial nations were considering releases of strategic oil reserves to alleviate pressure on the markets. French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that “the use of strategic reserves is an envisaged option.” He said G7 leaders could meet this week to coordinate a response to climbing energy prices. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group. Separately, finance ministers from the G7 nations are meeting Monday by video conference to discuss the repercussions from the war. On Saturday, President Donald The President downplayed the idea of turning to America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying U.S. supplies were ample and prices would soon fall. Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil — about 20% of the world’s oil — typically are shipped every day through the Strait of Hormuz, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy. The threat of Iranian missile and drone attacks has all but stopped tankers carrying oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran from traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran. Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE have cut oil production as storage tanks fill due to the reduced ability to export crude. Iran, Israel and the United States also have attacked oil and gas facilities since the war started, worsening supply concerns. The surge in costs for oil and natural gas is pushing fuel prices higher, cascading through other industries and jolting Asian economies that are especially vulnerable due to the region’s heavy reliance on imports from the Middle East. Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which has called for an immediate end to the fighting. Beijing may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices. “All parties have their responsibility to ensure stable and smooth energy supplies,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a briefing Monday. “China will take necessary measures to safeguard its own energy security.” South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Monday of strict penalties for refiners and gas stations caught hoarding or colluding on prices, saying it would be wise to find alternatives to supplies that must travel through the Strait of Hormuz. Across Southeast Asia, the spike in prices has led to long lines outside filling stations. “Higher oil and gas prices will affect everyone and our economy,” said Le Van Tu, who was waiting outside a gas station in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. “All activities, including those using petrol based transportation will be affected.” South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 6% to 5,251.87. The last time Brent and U.S. crude futures traded near the current level was in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. Higher energy costs push inflation higher, straining household budgets and denting the consumer spending that is a main driver of many big economies. Those worries have spilled into financial markets, pulling share prices sharply lower. In the U.S., the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.48 as of early Monday, up nearly 50 cents from a week earlier, according to AAA motor club. Diesel, used heavily in shipping, sold for about $4.66 a gallon, a weekly increase of more than 80 cents. The price of natural gas in the U.S. also has climbed during the war, though not by as much as oil. It was selling for about $3.34 per 1,000 cubic feet early Monday. That’s up from Friday’s closing price of $3.19. This story has been corrected to show that the Israel-U.S. attacks on Iran started Feb. 28, not March 1. Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. Associated Press journalist John Leicester contributed from Paris. —Alex Veiga and Elaine Kurtenbach, AP business writers 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. Outdoor security cameras have become common, but the ones that balance good video quality with simple setup still tend to cost a fair bit. That’s why this deal is worth a look. Right now, a two-pack of Arlo Essential Spotlight Cameras is $151.29 at Woot, compared with $259.99 on Amazon for the same bundle. If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free standard shipping; otherwise, shipping costs $6. Woot doesn’t ship to Alaska, Hawaii, PO Boxes, or APO addresses. The deal is scheduled to run for a week, though it could end earlier if the cameras sell out. Physically, the cameras are small and designed for outdoor use, with an IP65 weather-resistant body that can handle rain and dust. They run on a rechargeable battery rated for up to six months, although the exact lifespan depends on how often motion events occur. Also, the battery isn’t removable, so you’ll need to take the whole camera down and bring it inside when it’s time to recharge, notes this PCMag review. Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera $151.29 at Woot $259.99 Save $108.70 Get Deal Get Deal $151.29 at Woot $259.99 Save $108.70 The camera records 1080p video with a 130-degree field of view, which gives you a wide look at driveways, yards, or entryways without needing multiple cameras. Daytime footage looks crisp and detailed, and the camera includes 12× digital zoom if you want to inspect something in the frame more closely. As for its nighttime footage, when motion is detected, a built-in LED spotlight can turn on and light up the scene so the camera records color night video instead of the usual black-and-white view. It also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT, which means you can view the feed on a smart display or trigger other smart home devices when motion is detected. This camera does not support Apple HomeKit. Motion alerts show up quickly on your phone, and the system can identify people, animals, and vehicles with Arlo’s advanced detection features. The catch is that those smarter alerts and recorded clips require an Arlo Secure subscription. Without it, you still get live viewing and basic alerts, but saved video and some detection tools are locked behind a monthly plan starting at $7.99 per month for one camera. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $119.00 (List Price $179.00) Samsung Galaxy S26 512GB + $100 Amazon Gift Card (Black) — $899.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 AI Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds + $20 Amazon Gift Card — $179.99 (List Price $199.99) Google Pixel 10a 128GB 6.3" Unlocked Smartphone + $100 Gift Card — $499.00 (List Price $599.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $329.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Shares in Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS) are soaring this morning after an unconfirmed report that the telehealth company is entering into a deal with Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) to sell its popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, including Wegovy. The rumored deal is as surprising as Hims & Hers’s surging stock price this morning, especially considering that just last month, Novo was threatening to sue the telehealth provider. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? Late on Friday, Bloomberg reported that Hims & Hers has reached an agreement with the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk to sell Novo’s weight-loss drugs, including the popular GLP-1 pill Wegovy. According to the publication, which cited an anonymous source, the news could be publicly announced as soon as today. Fast Company has reached out to Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk for comment. The reported partnership between the two firms would be a stunning reversal in their relationship, which, as recently as last month, was highly acrimonious. Their feud stems from an announcement in early February that Hims & Hers would sell a compounded version of Novo’s Wegovy weight-loss pill at a third of the price Novo sells it for. Hims & Hers said its compounded version would sell for $49 per month, before rising to $99. Novo sells its Wegovy for $149 per month. While Novo Nordisk owns the patent to Wegovy, Hims & Hers sought to get around this by offering not a generic version of the drug but a compounded one. Compounded drugs are ones that are nearly identical copies of a drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sometimes allows pharmacists to create compounded versions of drugs when the name-brand version is a short supply, as was the case with many GLP-1 drugs in 2024 and 2025. However, by the middle of 2025, the GLP-1 shortage was largely resolved, and compounding pharmacies were ordered to stop making their compounded versions of the drugs. Regardless, in February, Hims & Hers announced it would sell its own GLP-1 drug made from semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Wegovy. This led to fierce backlash from Novo Nordisk, which threatened to sue Hims & Hers. The FDA similarly threatened to take action against the telehealth company. As a result, shortly after announcing its Wegovy knockoff, Hims & Hers said it would no longer release its own version. Given the contentious nature of this ordeal, few thought Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk would ever play nice together in the future. But according to Bloomberg’s report, that’s just what the two companies are planning to do now. Why is Novo playing nice with Hims now? While Novo and Hims & Hers did briefly have an agreement to sell the Danish company’s branded Wegovy on its platform in 2025, that deal fell through in less than two months. Few expected the two companies to work together again. Yet, if Bloomberg’s report is accurate, they now are. But why? The most likely reason is that Novo Nordisk wants to expand the market for Wegovy, and the fastest way to do that is to have the medication available for purchase in as many places and on as many platforms as possible. Wegovy isn’t the only weight-loss drug available, and it risks being overshadowed by the accelerating adoption of other drugs. As Hims & Hers becomes increasingly popular among consumers as a source for their medications, Novo has likely concluded that the platform’s rising popularity is worth setting aside old hostilities to help Wegovy capture as much market share as possible. How are HIMS and NVO share prices reacting? The share price of Hims & Hers is skyrocketing on the report that the telehealth firm has reached a new deal with Novo Nordisk. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, HIMS stock is up nearly 45% to $22.77. On Friday, HIMS stock closed at $15.74. Unfortunately for Novo Nordisk investors, the rumored partnership has had a relatively negligible impact on NVO stock. As of the time of this writing, NVO shares are up about half a percent to $38.79 in premarket. Before this morning’s premarket boost, HIMS stock was down over 51% year to date. This means that if the HIMS gains hold, the stock could earn back most of its 2026 losses in just one trading session. As for Novo Nordisk, the company’s stock price is also down significantly year to date. As of Friday’s close at $38.58, NVO shares had lost nearly 25% of their value since 2026 began. View the full article

Discover how AI visibility to eligibility marketing is reshaping strategies in fast-changing digital advertising. The post How AI Is Reshaping Who Gets Recommended: Marketing In The Eligibility Era appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

SEO professionals don’t agree on much. But over the past decade, we’ve come together around the conviction that Google has abused its dominant position, that it systematically favors its own products over better alternatives, and that something must be done to create fairer competition in search. In 2022, the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a sweeping regulation designed to curb the power of tech giants. It came into force in March 2024. Industry groups celebrated. Trade publications ran optimistic headlines about a new era of digital fairness. In 2024, I wrote that it was “a much-needed piece of legislation.” Two years in, the evidence is clear: The DMA will do more harm than good. Well-documented abuses The Digital Markets Act arose from understandable frustrations with well-documented abuses. Google spent years ranking its own shopping service at the top of search results while systematically burying competitors like Foundem and Kelkoo on page four, where nobody would ever find them. The company’s internal documents, uncovered by EU investigators, revealed that Google Shopping “simply doesn’t work” on its merits, so Google gave it an algorithmic boost unavailable to anyone else. The travel industry watched as Google Flights consumed the market share of innovative startups like Hipmunk, which had offered genuinely better user experiences by showing total trip costs, including baggage fees and connections. Hoteliers saw Google Hotels siphon away direct bookings. Local businesses watched as Google prioritized its local pack over organic results. The pattern was unmistakable: Google identified lucrative verticals, launched competing products, then used its search monopoly to guarantee their success. These weren’t competitive advantages but unfair tactics, and the EU was right to identify them as such. It took over 10 years to fine Google £2.1 billion for the shopping search abuse alone. The DMA was supposed to fix this by setting clear rules upfront, forcing gatekeepers to treat all services equally before abuses could take root. For those of us who had watched clients lose traffic to Google’s vertical search engines despite having superior content, the promise was intoxicating: Finally, algorithmic neutrality. Finally, fair competition based on content quality rather than corporate ownership. Finally, a chance for the next generation of search-dependent businesses to compete. Dig deeper: EU puts Google’s AI and search data under DMA spotlight Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with What users actually experience Yet, two years into implementation, the reality looks nothing like the promise. The most comprehensive assessment comes from Nextrade Group, which surveyed 5,000 European consumers across twenty member states in mid-2025. The findings? Two-thirds of respondents reported needing more clicks or more complex search queries to find what they need online. Among frequent searchers, precisely the users most valuable to our clients, 61% said searches now take up to 50% longer than before the DMA. Forty-two percent of frequent travelers reported that flight and hotel searches had worsened significantly. More than 40% said they would actually pay to restore the functionality they had before March 2024. When users are willing to pay for something they previously received for free, regulation has failed catastrophically. The European Centre for International Political Economy conducted a separate survey of 3,500 consumers across Central and Eastern Europe and found similar results. Eighty percent had never heard of the DMA, it solved problems they didn’t know existed, yet 39% reported that routine online tasks had become more cumbersome since early 2024. Why does it matter? As SEO professionals, we must confront this truth: Users preferred the integrated Google experience we spent years complaining about. Before the DMA, searching for “hotels in Paris” displayed an interactive map with photos, ratings, real-time availability, and prices — all accessible without leaving the search results page. That integration has been dismantled because Google Search and Google Maps are designated as separate core platform services, and their seamless cooperation constitutes prohibited self-preferencing. Users must now click through to separate services, repeat their searches, and lose context. Regulators call this fair competition. Users call it a worse internet. The business impact: Worse metrics across the board The business metrics support what consumers report feeling. Following the DMA’s implementation, click-through rates on Google Hotel Ads decreased by 30% in affected European regions compared to unaffected markets. Direct bookings through Google Hotel Ads fell by 36%. This is all despite theoretically fairer visibility in search results. These are businesses losing revenue because the mechanism connecting searchers to services has been deliberately degraded. Meanwhile, Google’s search monopoly remains entirely intact. The company still processes over 90% of European search queries. The difference is that now the search experience delivers measurably worse results for users and measurably worse outcomes for businesses paying for visibility. The enforcement problem: Fines don’t work The DMA requires Google to treat competing vertical search services (flight comparison sites, hotel booking engines, shopping aggregators) with the same prominence as its own offerings. In response, Google tested a version of its hotel search that removed maps, removed structured listings with photos and availability, and displayed only 10 blue links. Users hated it. Hotels saw a traffic crater. Google documented the catastrophic user satisfaction scores and presented them to the Commission as evidence that integration serves user needs, not just Google’s interests. The Commission found itself in an impossible position: Force Google to maintain the worst experience in the name of fairness, or acknowledge that some integrations genuinely benefit users even when they advantage Google’s products. Google responded to preliminary findings of non-compliance by making incremental adjustments that preserve the substance of its advantage, while creating just enough ambiguity about whether it’s following the rules. When the Commission objects to one implementation, Google proposes another that differs in form but not effect. This process can continue indefinitely because the underlying problem, Google’s monopoly in search, remains untouched. For a company with annual revenues exceeding $300 billion, regulatory fines are simply a cost of doing business. The Commission fined Google €2.4 billion for shopping search abuses and breaking antitrust rules. The company paid and continued operating largely as before. It will do the same with DMA fines. The uncomfortable reality is that you can’t regulate a monopoly into behaving competitively. You can only break the monopoly itself. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. The speed problem: Regulation can’t keep pace The European Commission must monitor 23 core platform services across seven gatekeepers, while each company releases updates continuously: Algorithms change daily Features launch weekly Product roadmaps evolve quarterly By the time the Commission identifies a potential violation, conducts workshops with stakeholders, issues preliminary findings, allows the company to respond, and publishes a final decision (a process taking 12-18 months), the underlying technology and business models have moved on. Google launched AI Overviews in Europe one week after receiving preliminary findings of non-compliance for self-preferencing in traditional search. The company essentially announced that, while regulators debate whether Google Flights should rank above Kayak, Google is moving to a fundamentally different search results page where AI-generated summaries replace links entirely. The DMA contemplated regulating 2024’s search landscape. Google is already building 2027’s. What should regulators do instead? While I’m not a regulator, I have been doing SEO for 15 years. In my opinion, regulators should redouble efforts to address actual structural monopolies rather than impose rules on how platforms must operate. The DMA tries to regulate platform behavior while leaving monopoly power intact. This is like trying to stop water from flowing downhill by prescribing which route it must take. The water will find another path, and everyone gets wet in the process. If Google’s dominance in search truly stifles competition, perhaps the solution isn’t to regulate how it displays results but to break its monopoly altogether. The United States has considered requiring Google to divest Chrome; such structural remedies might succeed where behavioral rules have failed. If the concern is that Google leverages search dominance to advantage its advertising business, separate the two. If the worry is that controlling both the search algorithm and the content (YouTube, Google News, Google Shopping) creates irresolvable conflicts of interest, then require differentiation. These actions would be slower, more legally complex, and more politically difficult than passing the DMA. They would also actually work. In short, regulators should focus on creating conditions for competition rather than micromanaging every product decision. That means enabling genuine data portability so users can switch services easily, taking their search history and preferences with them. This also means using traditional antitrust enforcement aggressively for the largest abuses, like Google systematically burying competitors on page four, exclusive deals that lock out rivals, and acquisitions designed to eliminate nascent threats. The geopolitical reality The DMA’s first two years have demonstrated that ex-ante rules are no faster — investigations still take 12-18 months — and far less effective than traditional enforcement. The geopolitical consequences threaten to undermine European interests far beyond digital markets. In December 2025, the The President administration threatened retaliation against the EU for what it characterized as discriminatory targeting of American technology companies. The Office of the United States Trade Representative explicitly named European companies, including Spotify, Siemens, SAP and DHL, as potential targets for new restrictions. From Washington’s perspective, the DMA looks less like competition policy and more like industrial policy disguised as regulation. Whether that characterization is fair matters less than the political reality: Brussels finds itself caught between domestic pressure to demonstrate tough enforcement and external pressure that threatens broader trade relationships. Dig deeper: Google outlines risks of exposing its search index, rankings, and live results See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with The wrong solution to a real problem The DMA promised to enable the next generation of search-dependent businesses. It promised to stop Google from using its search monopoly to advantage its vertical products. It promised fairer competition for hotels, airlines, ecommerce sites, and the entire ecosystem of businesses that depend on organic search traffic. Two years in, Google’s monopoly remains intact, user experience has measurably degraded, business metrics have worsened, and no meaningful new competition has emerged. For those of us who spent years documenting Google’s abuses and advocating for intervention, this failure is spectacular. If regulators can’t find ways to break up long-standing monopolies (now over two decades old for some platforms), what hope is there to address emerging challenges in AI search, voice search, or whatever comes next? Young companies have a right to compete in digital markets. Regulators must create conditions where genuine competition is possible, not regulate away the symptoms of monopoly while leaving its foundations untouched. We were right about the problem. The DMA is simply the wrong solution. View the full article

Logitech may be known for keyboards, webcams, and gaming gear, but CEO Hanneke Faber is going beyond AI-first. She explains how she’s leading the hardware brand through an AI shift, approaching it as a leadership challenge, not just a tech one. Faber also shares lessons from competitive diving and navigating ever-shifting global tariffs. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. Logitech is known by many people for its computer mouse. “The mouse built this house,” I think you said once, a nice nod to Disney. But in recent months, the conversation about Logitech has been around AI, the cutting edge of technology. It’s kind of a neat trick for a business with a reputation for a not-necessarily-sexy piece of hardware. Well, of course, we do think that mice are very sexy. But that aside, we’re not just a place that builds mice. In the age of AI, hardware is definitely sexy again. AI needs hands, needs eyes, needs ears. So that’s where we come in, and we’re building AI-enabled products at scale, which is exciting. You spoke at a Fortune conference last fall. There was a lot of attention around adding an AI agent to your board of directors. Any progress with that? Yes. I wouldn’t say we have an actual AI agent that’s formally a board member, but we’re using AI very fundamentally in our board meetings and in the preparation for our board meetings. I think we’re lucky. My board members are AI-savvy, all of them. We offered them the same training that we offer to all of our employees. And in preparation for our board meetings, we run the materials through an AI gem that we’ve built. So you get really great feedback, actually, from an AI board member up front. And that helps shape the discussion when we go into the meeting. And this is your proprietary agent. You’re not sending this out into the world so that Anthropic or OpenAI or someone else can sort of peek in on it? No. That obviously wouldn’t be smart because the data that’s in there is very confidential. So yes, it’s proprietary. How much do you consider yourself a technologist? Your background is largely in consumer products at Unilever and Procter & Gamble. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. A little over two years ago, I was selling mayonnaise, literally. So it is a different industry, but there are also a lot of things that you learn in consumer goods, and I also spent time in retail, that is very applicable here. In the end, we sell products for people, for users. So understanding that consumer, that customer, starting from there and designing products that will delight that user is critically important. And that’s no different whether you’re selling mayonnaise and ice cream or mice and cameras. Now, when you came on board, it was clear that Logitech needed a bit of a turnaround. Is that something that particularly appealed to you? I’ve heard from others that sometimes that’s where the opportunities are for a first-time CEO role. Yes. And I think the waters were troubled, but not deeply troubled. It’s just that we had come off that COVID sugar high. Therefore, eight quarters in a row, the business had declined. So confidence was low and things were hard when I came in, but it was clear to me from the start that it wasn’t a foundational issue. The guts were good. It just needed a little bit of a refresh and a reinjection of energy and strategy, honestly. And that’s what we’ve done. So we’re now on our eighth quarter of top- and bottom-line growth. And you just had to dive in, I guess. That’s my dad joke, because you were an accomplished diver in your youth, a seven-time Dutch national champion. Is that right? That’s right. Back in the Stone Age. No, it’s very impressive. Is leading a new business in a new industry like trying a new dive? I do often say, when people ask what you learn from your sporting days, that diving especially is a sport where you have to take risks. So you’re up on a 10-meter platform, 33 feet in the air, and you have to do flips and turns, and it is really scary. And it’s always scary. It’s not just scary the first time. Every time, it’s kind of scary. So when people ask me, “Was this a scary move? Are you scared to present? Are you scared to do a podcast? Are you scared to move industries?” I’m like, “You know what? A back two-and-a-half off the 10-meter, that is scary.” Compared with that, very few other things are truly scary. As you describe it, it sounds like you kind of have to get used to being scared when you’re jumping off that board because, as you say, it’s scary every time. Is that the same way in business, that you just have to get used to the uncertainty, the instability, whatever’s going to happen next? Yes, I think that’s a great insight. Some people say it’s not a marathon, or it’s a series of sprints, or something. But yes, it’s a series of new situations where you don’t always know what to expect that can be a little scary. And I think you have to find a way to enjoy that to keep going. Not to overdo this analogy, but just as you’re implementing your new plans at Logitech, which by all indications are working, you’re hit with a new challenge when the The President tariffs come down. It’s like being scared on the next dive, I guess. Something like 40% of your products for the U.S. market were made in China. Was there a moment you remember hearing about tariffs where you were like, “Oh no, not this”? It was certainly a tough day, Liberation Day, April 1, 2025. For almost everyone in our industry, we produce our products around the world, but not necessarily in the United States, and the United States is a big market for us. But we quickly figured out that we actually were in a position of competitive strength. Only 30% of our business is in the United States. Seventy percent of our business is not, so it was not affected by tariffs. We have a very diverse manufacturing footprint, and this is all my predecessor’s work. I take zero credit for that. Yes, 40% came from China, but we also make in five other countries. So we were able to move things around, and by the end of the calendar year, only 10% of our products for the U.S. came from China. We have a strong brand, which gives you loyalty and gives you some pricing power, and we needed that. You raised prices pretty quickly, by around 10%. And I don’t like raising prices, but in this case, it absolutely was the responsible thing to do. And if you decide you’re going to do it, I always think it’s better to rip the Band-Aid off right away. So we did it very quickly. I think that gave us the advantage that by the time the holiday season came around, in October and November, we were through the pricing pain, and that was really important. Taking pricing, especially in consumer markets, just takes a while. You have to convince customers that’s the right thing to do and get it reflected on the shelf. Again, I thought that was a competitive advantage. So when the bigger bulk of your consumer revenue was coming through, people had sort of accepted it by then. Exactly. How much do you worry about new The President-related disruptions? At the World Economic Forum last month, I saw The President said that the former Swiss president rubbed him the wrong way as an explanation for tariffs on Switzerland, which is where Logitech is registered, right? I don’t lose a lot of sleep over it. It’s a really dynamic world. I often say to my team, “Today is the slowest day of the rest of your lives.” And there is a lot happening, not just in the U.S. and with the U.S. administration. There’s a lot happening around the world. So we roll with the punches. Of course, we do risk assessments, and we think through what could happen and how we mitigate that. Manufacturing diversification is a critical part of that. It just makes us more resilient when we don’t manufacture in one place. So we absolutely look at what might happen around the world and how we mitigate that, but we can’t lose sleep over that every day because then we wouldn’t be doing our jobs. View the full article

When leaders think about burnout, they often imagine visible distress, absence, emotional overwhelm or resignation. However, burnout does not always look like struggle. Often, it looks like competence. It looks like the person who always delivers. The one who volunteers to pick up the slack. The one answering work emails while watching their son’s nativity play, so they do not let anybody down. The one who says, “It’s fine, I’ll sort it.” The one who absorbs tension in the room so others do not have to. These people are not on a performance plan or raising red flags. They are not the ones asking for help. They are functioning. And those around them may not see anything wrong. This group is called the ‘Silent Middle’, made up of capable, conscientious professionals who are neither thriving nor in crisis. The Silent Middle sits between high engagement and visible breakdown. They are steady, reliable and productive. They keep organisations moving. And because they keep performing, their strain goes unnoticed. We have mistaken coping for capacity. Just because someone is holding it together does not mean they are well. The cost of coping quietly The Silent Middle rarely disrupts. They adapt. They extend their hours without calling it overwork. They absorb unrealistic deadlines rather than risk being seen as difficult. They manage their reactions so they are perceived as composed, and they soften their opinions to maintain harmony. From a leadership perspective, this can look like resilience. Often, it is masking. Or as I call it, pretending. Pretending is the subtle adjustment people make to fit what their environment rewards. It is presenting calm when you feel stretched, saying yes when you mean ‘not yet’. It is editing your perspective so you remain collaborative rather than inconvenient. It is frequently praised and almost always promoted. The more competent someone appears, the less likely anyone is to ask what it is costing them. Over time, the gap between internal experience and external performance becomes expensive. When people consistently override their own signals to maintain competence, their self-trust erodes. They stop asking, “Is this sustainable?” and start asking, “How long can I keep this up?” The World Health Organization defines burnout as chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. What that definition does not fully capture is sustained incongruence, the daily cost of pretending. When there is a gap between what someone thinks and what they say, what they feel and what they express, the nervous system works harder. Vigilance increases and recovery decreases. Burnout is not driven by workload alone. It is often driven by the strain of holding yourself together. Why high performers are especially vulnerable The Silent Middle often includes high-capability professionals who derive identity from contribution. They are proud of being reliable. This makes them more likely to overcommit, absorb ambiguity and protect others from friction. They become cultural shock absorbers. And here is the important distinction: They continue to perform. Gallup research consistently shows that a majority of employees are not fully engaged, yet most continue to meet expectations. Output can remain stable long after energy begins to decline. Burnout does not immediately reduce productivity. It reduces capacity. Creativity narrows and risk appetite shrinks. Discretionary effort drops and innovation slows. People do what is required, but little beyond it. Leaders look at metrics and see delivery. What they do not see is the quiet loss of imagination, challenge and forward thinking. This is not simply a well-being issue. It is a strategic performance risk. The Silent Middle holds institutional knowledge, relational capital and operational stability. When their engagement thins, productivity does not collapse overnight. It erodes gradually. By the time someone resigns citing burnout, the depletion has often been building for years. What leaders must do differently If the Silent Middle is a cultural issue, the solution will not sit inside a lunch-and-learn well-being session. It sits inside leadership behaviour. It begins with congruence. Most organisations say they value honesty. Far fewer make it safe. When disagreement is subtly penalised or optimism is rewarded over realism, people learn quickly what to edit, and the result is politeness instead of progress. Leaders who want to reduce masking must respond to challenge without defensiveness. They must invite realism and reward those who surface risk early rather than those who quietly compensate. Strength also needs redefining. In many environments, endurance is mistaken for capability. The employee who absorbs the most pressure is often seen as the strongest. But endurance without recovery is not resilience. It is depletion delayed. When leaders model boundaries, realistic pacing and visible recovery, they recalibrate what strength looks like. There is also a structural question. Human beings are cyclical. Energy rises and falls. Capacity expands and contracts. Yet many organisations operate at sustained peak output, quarter after quarter. When linear output is demanded from nonlinear humans, burnout becomes predictable. Sustainable performance requires rhythm, deliberate recovery built into the system rather than left to chance. And then there is self-trust. The Silent Middle often overrides internal signals in order to remain dependable. Over time, misalignment becomes normal. Leaders can shift this by changing the tone of performance conversations. Instead of asking only about results, ask about energy. Instead of asking how quickly something can be delivered, ask what a sustainable pace would look like. These conversations surface strain before it becomes resignation. Finally, value must be decoupled from output. When self-value becomes conditional on performance, people will betray their own limits to stay needed. If contribution is the only currency, exhaustion becomes a badge of honour. Cultures that recognise identity beyond output reduce the need for pretending. The strategic advantage The organisations that will outperform over the next decade will not be those that extract the most hours. They will be those that understand human capacity. They will design cultures where people can perform without pretending, contribute without self-erasure and rest without penalty. The Silent Middle is not fragile. They are capable professionals doing their best in demanding systems. But functioning is not the same as thriving. If competence is the only thing you measure, pretending becomes the safest strategy. And when pretending becomes normal, burnout stops being an exception. It becomes culture. View the full article

The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei has dashed the US president’s hope of picking Iran’s new leaderView the full article

Alex Heath and Ellis Hamburger interviewed Google's head of Search, Liz Reid, on Google's progression of AI into Search. It felt like a very candid interview that is worth listening to. In short, Liz is still not sure if Gemini and Google Search will ever fully converge or not.View the full article

Google is testing a new widget for the Google Discover feed where you can follow news publishers and/or topics. It is called the "home follow widget."View the full article

Google added "Trending posts & discussions" title under What People Are Saying section within Google Search results. It also has those favicons at the top, which I don't think is new but it is all part of the package.View the full article

There are a number of complaints that the Google Search Console bulk data export to BigQuery is not working. The issue seemed to have started several days ago and is still not working today.View the full article

Google has sent notices to some advertisers asking them to confirm whether their campaigns contain European Union political content. The deadline to confirm is by March 31, 2026.View the full article

If your organic traffic is down but impressions are up, AI is likely citing your content without sending clicks. If both are down, you’re being ignored. Either way, the search behavior your marketing strategy was built on has changed, and waiting for traffic to rebound isn’t a strategy. This is the reality you’re facing in 2026. According to KEO Marketing: 73% of B2B websites saw significant traffic losses between 2024 and 2025, with an average 34% year-over-year decline. The impact isn’t evenly distributed. If your content is primarily informational, you’ve likely been hit harder, with some sectors seeing organic traffic drop 15% to 64% since AI Overviews launched. News publishers are especially exposed, with Google referrals down 33% globally in the 12 months ending November 2025. These aren’t normal fluctuations. They reflect a structural shift in how people find information online, disrupting business models built on website traffic at the foundation. What is driving the shift in organic discovery? Organic clicks are declining for two overlapping reasons. You need to understand both because each requires a different response: Google has engineered zero-click behavior for years through featured snippets and knowledge panels. These SERP features answer queries directly on the results page, so you don’t need to click through to get an answer. Ten years ago, about 25% of searches ended without a click. Today, it’s more than 65%. AI Overviews — now appearing in ~16% of desktop searches and ~41% of mobile searches — have dramatically accelerated this trend. A growing share of users is bypassing traditional search entirely. Nearly 52% of U.S. adults now use AI tools regularly, and about 28% of employed Americans use AI at work. When someone asks ChatGPT or another LLM a question, they usually get an answer without visiting any website. Your content may inform that answer, but you get no traffic and no attribution. What metrics should I consider when measuring AEO? Traditional content marketing KPIs (impressions, clicks, CTR, sessions, bounce rate, and page views) no longer show you how discoverable your brand is. They measure behavior on your site, not how you perform in AI answers that now intercept much of your traffic upstream. Five metrics matter most for AI visibility: Citations in AI responses measure how often your owned content is directly cited when an LLM answers a query. A citation signals three things: your content is relevant, it’s structured so LLMs can parse and retrieve it efficiently, and your domain has enough authority to be trusted. Brand mentions are different from citations. LLMs often mention brands without citing owned content, pulling from review sites, forums, third-party articles, and competitor content. A mention without a citation means the broader web is talking about you, but your content isn’t the source. That distinction helps you decide where to invest. Share of voice compares your citation and mention frequency against competitors across a defined set of category-relevant prompts. Brand sentiment tracks whether AI responses frame you favorably, neutrally, or negatively. AI-influenced traffic measures how much of your traffic comes from LLM referrals. Early data suggests this traffic converts three to five times higher than other sources, making it worth tracking even at low volume. Several tools now let you track these metrics at scale without manually prompting LLMs. They’re worth exploring. But even a simple benchmark — prompting major LLMs with your target queries and tracking where and how you appear — is better than not measuring at all. How should I optimize my content for AEO? Winning visibility in AI search doesn’t require an entirely new content playbook. But it requires retiring practices that no longer work and doubling down on principles that matter more than ever. E-E-A-T remains the foundation Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness were dominant signals in Google SEO before AI Overviews, and they remain dominant in AEO. LLMs prioritize sources that show real expertise and are trusted by other authoritative sources. If you earn citations from credible sites, publish content written by clear subject matter experts, and cover topics with depth and specificity, you’ll consistently outperform content that doesn’t — regardless of how well it’s optimized for other factors. Structure and clarity have become non-negotiable LLMs retrieve content by identifying passages that directly answer questions. If you organize content around clear questions and direct answers, use structured bullet summaries, and avoid dense paragraphs, you’re more retrievable than if you bury answers in narrative prose. This means making your information architecture legible to both human readers and LLM retrieval systems. Adding a Q&A section to existing content — or restructuring posts around clear question-and-answer pairs — is one of the highest-leverage updates you can make right now. Human-written, human-led content has a measurable advantage After Google’s latest core update, mass-produced AI content saw an 87% drop in rankings and citation frequency, and keyword-optimized content fell 63%. LLMs are getting better at detecting AI writing patterns and deprioritizing that content. The pressure you felt in 2025 to produce volume with AI created a quality problem that’s now visible in performance data. The strongest strategy is quality over quantity. If you use AI, use it to draft and edit—not to generate final content. Add a review step to flag generic phrasing or a synthetic tone, whether through AI-detection tools or human editors. Recency matters for AI citation Answer engines look at publication and update dates when choosing sources. A well-structured, authoritative piece from 2022 can be overlooked in favor of an updated version from 2025. Audit your high-traffic pages and hero assets for outdated content, and refresh them with current data and examples. It’s a quick win many teams miss. Pitchy language will not get cited If your content reads as promotional — leading with product claims and brand-forward language — answer engines will often deprioritize it in favor of more objective sources. That doesn’t mean you can’t mention your product or brand. It means you should write about it the way a neutral third party would: acknowledge tradeoffs, provide context, and let the facts make the case. Listicles and comparison articles work especially well here. AI systems respond to structured, objective comparisons—even when one option is clearly favored. Outside of my owned channels, what content performs well in AEO? One clear pattern in how LLMs decide which brands to mention: they look for consensus across multiple sources, not just your content. If you appear only on your own blog, you’ll lose to a brand with fewer owned assets but stronger third-party coverage. That makes your external content ecosystem a strategic priority. Reviews on G2, Capterra, Google, and similar platforms are often used in AI training. User-generated content on Reddit and other forums is heavily indexed. Third-party articles, tutorials, YouTube videos, and newsletter mentions all build the multi-source consensus that gets you cited in AI answers. Content partnerships deserve focused attention. When you sponsor articles or newsletter placements with relevant publications, you do two things: drive referral traffic outside search and earn trusted external citations that boost AI visibility. Newsletter readership is growing as audiences seek curated, human-authored content. YouTube citations are especially strong and increasing, and ChatGPT shows a documented preference for citing authoritative video creators. The goal isn’t to manufacture mentions. It’s to tell a consistent story about your brand across credible external sources so LLMs encounter that story repeatedly. Consistency across partners, review platforms, and third-party content compounds your AI share of voice. How do I build landing pages that convert traffic better? With organic traffic down 30% or more, the visitors who reach your site are more valuable and more intentional than in past years. That makes conversion optimization on key landing pages more important. The principle is simple: one offer, one message, minimal copy. Each landing page should have a single call to action and a single argument. If you have multiple conversion goals, create multiple landing pages — not one page trying to do everything. Your header should capture the full value proposition. Supporting points should be brief. A visitor should understand the offer and act without scrolling. This differs from blog and thought leadership content, which should be detailed, well sourced, and structured for LLM retrieval. The two serve different purposes and require different standards. Conversion-focused landing pages aren’t the place for nuance or extended prose. The takeaway The traffic decline isn’t a temporary setback that will correct itself. Users are getting answers from AI instead of clicking through to websites, and that behavior will intensify. A content strategy built only around ranking for clicks is no longer enough. What replaces it is a dual mandate: optimize to be cited by answer engines and build the external brand presence that gives LLMs reason to mention you consistently. These goals align with what you should’ve been doing all along — publishing clear, authoritative, well-structured content grounded in real expertise. The brands that will win in AI-driven discovery are the ones doing the fundamentals well: building real credibility, earning trusted external mentions, and writing for readers instead of algorithms. That was always the right approach. AI search has simply made it mandatory. Written by Tim Burke and Lauren Yanez View the full article

You know Graza—or, at least, you’ve probably seen its squeeze bottles of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) on grocery store shelves. They’re green, opaque to protect the contents, and sold in two variations: Sizzle, for cooking, and Drizzle, for finishing. Since the brand launched its direct-to-consumer site in 2021, it’s become a staple of the olive oil aisle. With national distribution across stores like Whole Foods, Kroger, and Costco, its squeeze bottles (sometimes accompanied by its beer-can refills) are sold in more than 28,000 stores. It has also been making small excursions into other parts of the store, with Ithaca using Graza oil for a co-branded hummus. But now Graza is planting its flag in the condiment aisle with three new mayonnaise variants: Original, Fancy, and Garlic Aioli—all of which are available in plastic squeeze bottles and glass jars. It started rolling out to Whole Foods locations and other retailers in January. Though company cofounder and CEO Andrew Benin acknowledges that “in some situations, you shouldn’t reinvent the wheel,” Graza still wanted to make its mark. Its mayo is the first commercial mayonnaise made with 100% unrefined oils, and he said he wanted the Garlic Aioli to taste “like your Spanish mother-in-law’s aioli.” (Considering Benin has a Spanish mother-in-law, he’s a relatively trustworthy source on that one.) As when Graza broke into the olive oil category, its launch of a mayo amid booming demand for condiments will be an uphill battle for the company. But Benin relishes the opportunity to make his mark—again. “Olive oil was exciting to us because there’s so much longevity to it—we’re a part of a really big whole with a lot of history,” he says. “We feel the same way about mayonnaise.” Mayo the Graza way Because of the popularity of its original two olive oils, last year Graza introduced a high-heat variant made of pomace oil (the pulp remnants of an EVOO pressing). “We had a lot of pressure to expand,” Benin says, adding that he was slow to settle on an expansion because things like vinegar or salt “weren’t actually connected to olive oil.” That’s where mayo—which is made of up to 65% oil—felt like a natural way to use its existing product in a new way. Graza’s classic mayo uses a combination of its EVOO and pomace oil, while Fancy and Garlic varieties use 100% EVOO. For each iteration of the products, Benin says Graza got input from condiment experts and Graza employees. Each new version was set up in the kitchen of Graza’s Domino Park office in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, with a sheet of paper for notes and a pile of spoons (plus a bowl for the dirty ones). “If you think about all the small adjustments we made, all the formulas, I think we tasted mayo over 20,000 times in this office,” Benin says. “A lot of mayo, a lot of full bellies being, like, ‘I don’t want lunch because I think I just had mayo for lunch.’” Though the products satisfied Graza employees, they now have to cut the mustard with consumers who are currently inundated with condiments, especially mayo. The condiment craze Graza’s mayo faces competition that includes not just legacy giants like Kraft and Unilever’s Best Foods and Hellmann’s, but also a growing slate of celeb-backed products. Last year, actor Glen Powell launched his Walmart condiment line Smash Kitchen, which features an organic mayo. And chef-influencer Molly Baz’s brand Ayoh Mayo—with retro-inspired branding that rivals Graza’s in its distinctiveness—rolled out nationwide at Target in January, after having launched online in 2024. The surge in brands is responding to a larger boom in consumer demand, according to Claire Dinhut, a former TV producer and an author whose Instagram @condimentclaire focuses on sauces. She says the “Mayo-sance” got its start during the early days of the pandemic. “Especially during lockdown, people’s outing of the day was going to the grocery store,” Dinhut says, adding that people were looking for simple ways to spice up their home cooking. That was beneficial to the condiments retail market. In 2020, McCormick—a global sauce manufacturer of staples like Frank’s RedHot, Cholula, and French’s mustard—saw a 5% rise in sales over the previous year, driven by growth in consumer purchases. Since then, demand hasn’t slowed down, and neither has growth. The global condiments market is projected to grow from $106.37 billion in 2026 to $176.53 billion by 2034. The U.S. market alone is projected to reach $32.84 billion by 2032. The prospect of Graza shaving off even a little bit of the mayo giants’ sales means big money, and the brand is benefitting from a swing in consumer sentiment from “mayo hate” in the 2010s to a renewed ardor. “It was apparently cool to hate mayo for some reason,” Dinhut says. “But I think the same thing has happened with butter. It’s anything that maybe has a little bit more fat content or is a little bit heartier—people have preconceived notions about them, and it’s cool to not like that thing.” But now, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement—and broad consumer interest in less processed products (whole milk and all)—could help Graza pull in customers from its more processed rivals. “So many brands are coming out with condiments, and I think they’re a really easy way to make that brand’s taste resonate through other people’s dishes and cooking,” Dinhut says. “I think it’s really smart from a brand perspective.” Playing to its strength Though Graza’s mayo comes with claims of being unrefined, its success will also rely on its recognizable packaging and branding. CEO Benin hopes that using its recognizable brand will help do with mayo what it did for oil. “We’ve been trying to get more people to understand that Graza is much more about what’s inside its packaging than the outside,” he says. Graza’s mayonnaise packaging sticks true to the OG bright and playful style, reminiscent of its olive oil. The containers feature a joyful olive and egg duo (or a smiling garlic bulb on the aioli package). The labels feature an illustrated olive, and the lids of its glass jars have a repeating olive and vine motif. For as much as Benin doesn’t want Graza to be known simply for its packaging innovation, the company’s branding is one of its strongest assets. With the mayo, as with the olive oil, its packaging is something of a Trojan horse to get people to look at it, and then to try it. He knows he probably won’t convert the most fervent mayonnaise haters, but he’s hoping to intrigue mayo apologists enough to try Graza’s version. “We get excited when there’s this big pool that we can plug into and say, ‘How are we going to make it better? How are we going to stand out? Where can we do things the Graza way?’” Benin says. View the full article

In the past few years, while navigating the streets of San Francisco, bus and trolley operators have documented a growing presence on the city’s streets: Waymo robotaxis, often devoid of any front-seat human driver, causing problems. Sometimes, they report the cars for signs of an illegal maneuver, like when in September, a driver operating the city’s 45 electric bus noticed a Waymo trying to pass on double solid yellow lines at Stockton and Columbus, an intersection along its route. Or for a near miss—like, when, last December, a Waymo was caught by a city light rail train’s video camera making a dangerous left turn at “high speed.” Very often, transit operators flag a stalled robotaxi, or several, blocking a public street. Clearing the vehicle might require a transportation official to reach out to a Waymo call center, or even the cops, for help. This process, which involves the city’s Traffic Management Center (TMC), can take as long as an hour to resolve. Back in 2024, the city’s MTA even created a new dedicated dispatch category to log these reports: “Driverless Car Incident.” The sight of a stalled Waymo isn’t new. But a TMC database, obtained by Fast Company via a public records request, suggests that reports of problematic robotaxis are being filed more often, and that the procedure for handling stalled vehicles is not yet seamless. Fixing the robotaxi blockage can involve waiting for a remote Waymo assistance team helping the vehicle’s AI get moving again, a transit dispatcher complaining to a Waymo call center, or even a cop taking control of the vehicle themselves and driving it away. When the smart city goes dark Last December, Waymo and the city’s approach to this problem was pushed to the brink when a partial blackout in San Francisco knocked out city traffic lights—and left Waymos across the city in a confused standstill and government officials on hold with the company’s call center in the middle of an emergency. Concern that Waymos can disrupt public services came up again recently, after one of the robotaxis was recorded briefly blocking an ambulance in the aftermath of the Austin mass shooting. “In recent years we implemented new reporting mechanisms for our operators to report incidents that involve driverless vehicles,” the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority tells Fast Company. “By doing so, we’re adapting to the evolving landscape in San Francisco and making sure that we can provide the best service possible for our customers.” “Waymo is committed to continuous improvement,” Lety Cavalcante, who serves as Waymo’s director of operations and head of its operators center, tells Fast Company. “We established even closer communication with San Francisco emergency officials, and are developing additional capabilities to facilitate smoother interactions between our operations and transit workers when on-road issues arise.” The company says it’s also implemented changes to ensure that both first responders and transit operators are prioritized when they call Waymo for help. Still, Waymo disputes the descriptions of some of the events described in documents, and says the public transit operators’ reports are not a useful way of characterizing how their vehicles actually behave on the road. In regards to the first case—the robotaxi that allegedly passed on solid yellow—Waymo said its car was actually waiting behind the bus while it picked up passengers, and that the car was slowly trying to pass around the left side of the bus. Before the car was actually next to the bus, the public transit vehicle began to move, and the Waymo returned to its original lane. In regards to the second incident—the dangerous left turn near a train—Waymo says the train was in an opposing lane and the car was about 100 feet away. Of course, the promise of self-driving cars is that they’re supposed to be safer than human drivers. Indeed, some of the issues documented in the database, like Waymos allegedly cutting off buses, or parking in areas reserved for public transit, are infractions that humans also commit, and possibly far more often. Research suggests that autonomous cars can outperform human drivers, and are even less likely to be involved in serious accidents. Waymo says it’s reduced serious crashes, airbag deployments, and collisions involving pedestrians. (It was also spotlighted as one of Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies last year.) But self-driving cars are also a different sort of beast: They are powered via AI, deployed as a coordinated fleet that’s monitored by a single company. And they’re growing evermore popular: Waymo, which raised $16 billion earlier this year, is now successfully operating across the U.S., including in Phoenix, Arizona, and Atlanta. Meanwhile, competing AV companies like Tesla and Zoox are also operating, though they all remain far behind Waymo in San Francisco: Tesla vehicles don’t operate without human drivers yet, and Zoox only has a small number of cars on the road. Waymo’s success has made the once-futuristic idea of autonomous vehicles relatively commonplace in cities. But next-generation cars also introduce next-generation traffic jams. Which means interactions that once felt surreal—“honking at a driverless car makes me feel insane,” as one constituent, in an email obtained through a public records request, recently wrote to the San Francisco MTA—are poised to become a routine, and increasingly consequential, part of everyday life. Waymo’s trolleycar problem Waymo acknowledges its self-driving cars sometimes cause issues for public transit operators. This is where the company’s event response team, which Waymo describes as a specialized subunit within a larger remote assistance team, comes in: First responders and transit operators have access to a hotline number that reaches this team. That team is then supposed to help get a vehicle moving again, which might involve having Waymo personnel come physically drive the car away. Waymo says that, at the request of law enforcement, police officers and other first responders also have the ability to manually take over its robotaxis. On the ground, resolving these issues, and getting public transit moving again, can sometimes take a while, according to an analysis of the data obtained by Fast Company. The city’s Traffic Management Center (TMC), which receives calls about roadway obstructions from public transit operators, can take about 20 minutes, on average, and haven’t significantly improved between 2024 and 2025, according to an analysis by Mary Cummings, an engineering professor who studies autonomous vehicles at Carnegie Mellon University. In busy cities, delays can slow down dozens of public transit riders, and other cars, too. The TMC database shows complaints of blocked vehicles date back to at least 2023. The SF MTA has, for years, flagged its concerns about hazardous “unplanned stops,” including to the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s main autonomous vehicle regulator. In 2024, the MTA began tracking a new dispatch category called “Driverless Car Incident.” That decision was made a few months after Waymo started pulling its precautionary safety drivers from its cars, and truly driverless service began, an official at the MTA tells Fast Company. It was at that point, they say, that the transportation agency started seeing the real challenges introduced by AVs. “Robotaxis impose burdens on other road users that are not there with human drivers,” argues Philip Kooperman, another engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon. “Now, maybe the benefits outweigh the burdens, but you have to recognize the burdens are being posed.” City streets are chaotic places, and Waymos are only a tiny fraction of the problems that get reported to San Francisco’s traffic control center. Also, incidents involving Waymos aren’t always the fault of Waymo. The reports appear to reflect preliminary descriptions, and aren’t the results of full investigations. Still, they reveal what can be a convoluted workflow. When public transit drivers encounter a Waymo problem, they report it to the city’s traffic control center, an SF MTA official explains. Traffic controllers can then contact Waymo’s call center for the event response team, which may help guide the vehicle away remotely or dispatch an employee to move it manually. But, in the case of a delay, or if they’ve had difficulty reaching Waymo, they may also call a first responder. Several of the reports include complaints about the quality of the Waymo call center. “Waymo contacted and was ZERO help,” noted one complaint, which came after a public transit operator reported a robotaxi blocking the street in both directions. “Waymo was attempted but kept being routed to a call center that was no help,” noted another report, which came at an intersection where traffic signals needed to be reset. Several reports discuss cops getting involved. This is not something police should be involved in, but sometimes the situation requires it, the San Francisco MTA official says. One report references a separate Waymo call center number that reaches an enterprise support team. Waymo did not explain why the number was referenced in the report, but says it’s for a team that supports it for Waymo test drivers—not first responders or transit operators. For now, Waymo transit operators are supposed to contact the same first responder number that police use, though it’s working on creating a separate hotline for transit operators and government officials. The San Francisco Police Department, which is referenced repeatedly in the document, did not respond to a request for comment. Blackout blues On December 20 of last year, a circuit breaker at an indoor substation operated by California utility provider, PG&E ignited, sparking a fire that knocked out power across much of San Francisco. This mass outage caused serious problems for the city’s Waymo fleet. When Waymos encountered the temporarily disabled traffic lights, many stalled, waiting for confirmations from the company’s remote assistance team. In some areas, squads of robotaxis sat with their hazard lights flashing, clogging streets, according to footage later uploaded online. Some incidents were reported to the Traffic Management Center, including one trolleybus driver who was blocked by four stalled Waymos. The city’s traffic control office contacted Waymo support but was unable to resolve the situation, the report noted, and a city inspector eventually showed up to clear the scene. Overall, there were more than 42 reported incidents involving autonomous vehicles between 2 p.m. and midnight on the day of the blackout, according to a city filing viewed by Fast Company. Firefighters also needed to move a robotaxi blocking them from the very substation fire that originally caused the blackout. One Waymo delayed an ambulance by 40 minutes, the city says. There were other problems: The Department of Emergency Management, the city’s 911 service, did try to engage Waymo, but the company was unresponsive, a city official tells Fast Company. Eventually, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie both called and texted Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of the company, about the issue. In the messages, which were viewed by Fast Company, he flagged all the locations where the cars had caused problems, which she subsequently thumbs up. “All cars are pulled over or actively headed back to base,” she later wrote. “Trips are done—no hailing.” The issues continued even after service was suspended, the filing states. Ultimately, the city’s 911 service placed more than 31 calls to Waymo’s first responder hotline and spent more than two hours and 36 minutes of call time trying to contact the company. “While we cannot document this in detail, a large majority of this time was spent on hold; one SFDEM staff person remained on the Waymo first responder hotline for 53 minutes—most of that time on hold,” noted the city. Though many were resolved quickly, Waymo has said that there were ultimately more than 1,500 stoppage events during the blackout. Pete Wilson, president of TWU Local 250A, which represents the city’s transit workers, said robotaxis repeatedly stalled when traffic lights failed, causing them to stack up and block streets, buses, and rail lines. “During the blackout they did not know what to do when the stop lights went out, so they just stopped,” he tells Fast Company. “Then another Waymo would come and pull up next to the first one and stop.” Relying on the mayor to text a company’s CEO is not a great emergency response plan, and other municipalities don’t necessarily have leaders as connected to Big Tech as Lurie. Waymo has since promised to be more responsive in future emergencies, a city official told Fast Company, and the Department of Emergency Management says it’s since had “productive” conversations with the company. The wait time experienced by emergency dispatchers was unacceptable, Waymo told Fast Company, and the company plans to improve its emergency operations. “We’re encouraged by our recent preparedness performance demonstrated during subsequent power outages, city-wide protests, and other large scale events in San Francisco, including the Super Bowl,” adds Cavalcante, from the company. Waymo says it’s briefed a bevy of agencies, as well as the Governor’s office, since the blackout, and says it will deploy dedicated incident management personnel on site in the future. Communication overload As Waymo explains it, when the company’s robotaxis encounter trouble or a confusing situation, they’re supposed to seek confirmation from a team of remote assistant agents staffed by humans. But, as first reported by Fast Company, the December blackout highlighted a gap in defenses: When communications networks and systems are overwhelmed—which often happens during emergencies—vehicles can’t quickly connect to the remote teams that help the cars’ software navigate confusing situations. There can also be challenges with reaching the specific team that helps first responders. The company tells Fast Company that it’s making improvements to the Waymo Driver that will enable more decisive and efficient navigation during future events. Still, the emergency has raised questions about who should pick up the slack when a Waymo stalls, whether it’s confused by a troubling intersection, and blocking a bus, or because it can’t make out the traffic lights during a blackout. Critically, Waymo maintains that its cars are autonomous, so even when the remote assistant agents are called into help, they are simply advising the car, and not remotely driving the vehicle. Some lawmakers have raised concerns that some of these workers are based in the Philippines. Several people affiliated with Waymo are mentioned by name in the MTA reports, but Waymo did not comment on where, specifically, they were based. Waymo says that employees on the event response team, which interfaces directly with first responders, are based in the U.S. The California DMV is currently developing regulations for remote drivers and remote assistance, a spokesperson says, and the agency is still engaging AV manufacturers on emergency response. In the aftermath of that blackout, the San Francisco MTA has urged the California Public Utilities Commission, which serves as the main regulator of the technology in the state, to consider how autonomous vehicle providers approach disaster preparedness, especially in a case of “fleet-wide failure.” Terrie Prosper, a spokesperson for the California Public Utilities Commission, says the agency “continues to gather information from Waymo related to the power outage in San Francisco.” The SF County Transportation Authority has called for more transparency into the frequency of AV stoppages, but has since deferred conversations to Bilal Mahmood, a San Francisco city supervisor. Mahmood, for his part, recently compared the robotaxis to the carriage from Cinderella. “Just like in the fairy tale, we can now see that those carriages can turn into pumpkins at the drop of a hat,” he said during his introductory remarks at a city hearing focused on the blackout’s impact on AVs. There, Mary Ellen Caroll, the head of the city’s emergency response office, said she remains concerned about the impact of Waymos on first responders who have to remove vehicles, and about what might happen in a future emergency, including a cyber outage. Offshore remote control The public still doesn’t know how often Waymos block traffic. While Waymo publicly reports a range of data to the California Public Utilities Commission, the company reports stoppage data, along with other trip detail data, to the agency confidentially. At a public hearing in January, an attorney representing the company claimed that the stoppage data could inadvertently reveal data about “fleet utilization” and, if shared publicly, could reveal trade secrets. Indeed, the numbers obtained by Fast Company only tell part of the story. It’s possible that some public transit operators don’t even file these reports. These operators are a minority of the drivers on San Francisco streets. When asked whether it seemed like Waymo cared about the impact its vehicles might have on public transit, the official at the San Francisco MTA said it was difficult to tell. They recalled a social media post from a while back, which saw customers on the phone with Waymo—reporting on their car inferring with public transit—and receiving remarkable service. But it’s hard to tell if that’s the norm, the official tells Fast Company, since that’s data the city just doesn’t have. Waymo did not tell Fast Company how often its cars stall or block transit, but said its robotaxis have completed 40 million miles of autonomous driving throughout the three years covered by the TMC reports. There’s little the SF MTA can do to change this workflow, the city agency says. “California law gives permitting authority over AVs to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC),” the transportation agency tells Fast Company in a statement. “San Francisco does not regulate AVs or set conditions on their operations – either day to day or in relation to disaster and emergency response.” Still, Waymo behavior is a big enough problem that, inside the San Francisco MTA—which maintains oversight of the city’s streets—even staffers sometimes grumble about them. In one December email obtained via public records request, Ricardo Olea, a city traffic engineer, remarked on one recent email, complaining that Waymos had been stopping in a no-stopping lane. “[N]ot a good place to block traffic,” wrote Olea. “The bigger problem is that Waymo has decided that the NO STOPPING signs don’t apply to them, so who knows what other bad places they stop at.” View the full article

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. In today’s business environment, uncertainty is the new norm: 70% of current CEOs surveyed by management consulting firm AlixPartners say their companies face high levels of disruption. To lead through such terrain, boards and recruiters searching for future CEOs need to focus less on a candidate’s résumé and start asking whether an executive has the capacity to be agile. “When you’re working on CEO succession, with the clients we serve, there’s less of a debate about whether people are qualified,” says David Lange, a managing director and member of Russell Reynolds Associates’s (RRA) Global Board & CEO Advisory Practice. “It’s much more about: ‘Can they scale; can they adapt; can they evolve?’” Measuring pivot potential RRA has developed a methodology for measuring what it describes as a “leader’s dynamic quality to continue evolving and leading through change.” The firm does so through its Leadership Portrait, an assessment model it has been refining over the last 26 years. The portrait endeavors to quantify factors such as curiosity, drive, resilience, and social intelligence. It more recently has sought to measure “potential realization” by evaluating an executive’s values, desire to have an impact, and self-awareness of their strengths and limitations. Indeed, Margot McShane, co-lead of RRA’s Global Board & CEO Advisory Practice, notes that a leader’s willingness to say, “I don’t know,” and seek answers from their team is an asset in a rapidly changing business environment. “We think some self-doubt with a CEO can be a very helpful thing, because it keeps them curious and aware of blind spots which can derail them and organizations,” she says. Evaluating candidates on potential realization can lead boards to consider and anoint candidates who might have been passed over in a previous era. In an insight report on its Leadership Portrait, RRA shared the example of a client that passed over its chief operating officer (COO) and elevated its chief financial officer (CFO) to CEO. What the former CFO lacked in traditional operating experience, he made up for in a leadership portrait that showed he had courage, the potential to learn, and the ability to navigate risk. RRA says under the new CEO, the company’s stock price increased 60% over two years. Meanwhile, the traditional CFO skill set—including mastery of financial data to make airtight decisions—may not necessarily signal agility. “That is no longer actually as important as the ability to make sense fast,” Lange says. Measurement’s impact One unknown: whether this uncertain environment will make directors impatient with new CEOs. In an interview for Stanford Business School’s View From the Top speaker series, former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon—whose 12-year tenure at the retail giant is widely considered a success because of how he embraced technology and led the company through the pandemic—confessed that when he first became CEO he was repeatedly told that he took too long to make decisions. “As the years went, that stopped being on my [reviews] because I think I got more confident and more self-aware that sometimes decisions just needed to be made,” he said. Interestingly, McMillon’s statement welcoming his successor John Furner highlighted a few traits that suggest the new CEO’s potential realization. “His curiosity and digital acumen combined with a deep commitment to our people and culture will enable him to take us to the next level,” McMillon said. I asked RRA’s McShane if there are things aspiring CEOs can do to increase their chances of getting the top job, given that boards are now looking for candidates who display values, impact, and self-awareness. “Don’t think about what your next job is; think about what your last job would be—and what [you] need to do, personally and professionally, to make that happen,” she says. “What we know about any CEO candidate is that they have to own their ambition.” How do you measure agility? CEOs need to be agile, but so do team members. Are there agility indicators you seek when hiring? How do you know if they can realize their potential? I’d like to hear your thoughts. Send me an email at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Read more: leadership acumen Adapting to change is the most critical professional skill today How to drive business agility and accelerate growth The CEO pipeline is running dry View the full article