AI companies love to make bold claims about healthcare. Alphabet’s Isomorphic tells us that “frontier AI can unlock deeper scientific insights, faster breakthroughs, and life-changing medicines.” Lila confidently markets its AI as a tool for “faster discovery for every field where breakthrough science matters.” And they’re spending as though they believe the hype. Anthropic recently acquired stealth startup Coefficient Bio for $400 million. But there’s only one true test of any healthcare AI: Did it work in humans? Did it create a medicine that saved someone’s life? And bluntly, most companies have not achieved that. Let’s look at the number…
Author: Staff Writer
With the Strait of Hormuz in crisis and gas prices surging, few executives are feeling the pressure more acutely than Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley. He gives a candid account of what the turmoil means for the auto industry, and for an iconic American brand navigating one of the most turbulent moments in its history. Plus, Farley gets frank about the China threat reshaping the global auto business, and his frustration with Ford’s own ingenuity. 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…
Social media has fundamentally rewritten the rules of beauty. Trends that once took years to trickle from runway to consumer now emerge, peak, and drive real-world consultations within weeks. Consumers scroll past filler trends and noninvasive procedures during their lunch breaks and book appointments before dinner. The trend-to-treatment pipeline has never moved faster, and the stakes have never been higher. There’s a fundamental mismatch at the heart of the system: Aesthetic inspiration is social and collective, but aesthetic results are deeply personal. What works for one face, skin type, or bone structure won’t always work for another. Yet, consumers routinely…
Iran is cleverly trying to divide the US from Israel with this latest proposal that they will open the Strait for the duration of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Araghchi made the announcement proposing opening the Strait in return for the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Araghchi said in an April 17 post on social media. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and…
Here in San Francisco, we live in a bubble, and we know it. While much of the rest of the country sees the city through the lens of Fox News cameramen searching out homeless encampments, we actually live in a very beautiful, very wealthy, and, currently, very AI-obsessed place. Traditionally, the billboards along 101 through Silicon Valley have offered a glimpse into the collective mind of the tech industry. These days, a big chunk of that industry, including most of the major AI labs, is based here in San Francisco, and the billboards have followed. The San Francisco Chronicle recently…
COMMENT: Marty, you’re article about using digital tools to control our spending was spot on. Just this week, I had a situation with Coinbase where they would not let me transfer my USDT (Tether) out to buy something! I had uploaded $12,000 in good U.S. funds from my bank account and then made the trade into the cryptocurrency. After that cleared, I tried to make the transfer out and they sent me a bunch of questions about fraud risk, which I answered. And then, once they determined that I’ve been a customer since 2022 and have had no issues, they still…
Picture it: You’re in an economy seat on a 17-hour flight. Would you pay an extra $300 for just four hours lying flat? Air New Zealand hopes the answer is yes. The airline is finally launching its Economy Skynest lie-flat sleep pods, starting at $495 NZD ($291 USD) for a precious four hours. Passengers in economy and premium economy will have the option to book one of six individual pods nestled in three-tier bunk beds. The “nests” will be available on select Air New Zealand flights between Auckland and New York—one of the world’s longest flights. “For a country as…
Time is precious, and conferences can be expensive—and time-consuming. If your name is not on the official agenda, should you attend anyway? Perhaps it’s an annual industry gathering, or it’s a niche conference that may bring in business. There are many reasons to attend, and just as many not to. We asked our Fast Company Impact Council members if a conference is worth attending, even if they weren’t speaking at it. If you guessed that the answer is “it depends,” you’re right. It depends on a leader’s personal and professional goals, networking options, learning opportunities, and more. We share 13…
Five years ago, tech angel investor Chris Adamo and a few friends jumped on a burgeoning trend in the digital asset world: they used a virtual real estate broker to buy 23 parcels of property in a metaverse called The Sandbox. He doesn’t remember exactly how much he spent, but it was around $200,000 for the whole group. The real estate, to be clear, consisted of pixelated parcels in “hip,” “trendy” virtual “neighborhoods,” an asset that crypto bros and Web3 enthusiasts like Adamo saw as the future of tech and digital investment. At one point, it ballooned tenfold in value.…
I tend to write about AI from the perspective of the bleeding edge, looking at how journalists and media companies are using the technology to change the way they work, reach new audiences, and transform their organizations. But the reality is that there’s a stigma around using artificial intelligence in the journalism community. In conversations I have with working reporters and editors, there’s clearly still a lot of reluctance, if not outright disdain, for using AI in almost any part of their work. Looking at recent coverage of journalists using AI, however, you might think some of that disdain is…