Update, June 22, 4:15 p.m. ET:In a statement to Fast Company, REI blamed its AI-generated ad on being auto-enrolled by Meta into an AI personalization tool. “Meta auto-enrolled us in an AI personalization tool that produced an inaccurate and inappropriate alteration of a vendor-provided image in some of our ads,” read the statement from an REI spokesperson. “While a two-handled bike might be interesting, it is not something you will find in our assortment,” it continued. “We have taken steps to unenroll from the tool. This does not align with our values or how we manage our brand. Product accuracy…
Author: Staff Writer
There are many ways that soccer players can turn into legends, especially during a World Cup. But thanks to social media, athletes don’t need to score a goal or win a match for fame—they just need enough people on board. At least that is the case for New Zealand defender Tim Payne, who blew up in popularity even before kickoff. Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Argentine soccer influencer Valen “El Scarso” Scarsini set out to make famous a player he considered to be the least known in the tournament, calling on his fans to follow Payne on social…
At the Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA), we enable high-level women to mentor each other to achieve personal and professional success through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organization’s founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to share insights from thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring community. This month I introduce Shelly Ashwill, who has over three decades of leadership experience with Verizon and HCLTech. She led large global B2B organizations and is passionate about coaching and employee development as AI reshapes workforce norms. Q: What is AI’s impact on the current workforce regarding job losses or growth? Shelly Ashwill:…
As global AI spending tops $2.5 trillion this year, many companies still aren’t seeing meaningful returns. With rising pressure to justify investments, they’re betting on AI agents to right the ship. But if agents are going to deliver the value companies are waiting for, alignment with human judgment can’t be an afterthought. CONTAINMENT VERSUS ALIGNMENT As companies stand up their AI governance programs, they often begin with inventories, security guardrails, access policies, and monitoring. I call this containment. Think of it as the brakes in a self-driving car. It is the programming that allows systems to respond to stop signs,…
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis has been vocal about his belief that artificial general intelligence (AGI), a theoretical type of AI that can perform tasks matching human cognition, is just a few years away from being achieved. During a recent interview at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Hassabis reaffirmed his prediction. “I believe that we’re only a few years away from that, maybe 2030, plus or minus a year, which is astounding to think, really,” Hassabis said. “I think that will be such an enormous transformative technology,” he added. “It’s gonna effectively be a new human era.” Ten years from…
We’ve all had experiences like these: You search for a product online, maybe a new pair of running shoes, but one click turns into a spiral. Before long, you’re wading through hundreds of results—styles you’d never wear, kids’ sneakers (even though you’re an adult), and options that don’t match your budget. When you’re buried in junk, having more choices doesn’t actually feel helpful. Rather than shout “Here is EVERYTHING,” AI has the capacity to create more guided experiences, closer to working with a helpful in-store associate. In many cases, though, it’s not quite there yet. AI IS EVERYWHERE And yet,…
ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: • NIKKEI 225 increased 1,103.90 points or 1.55% to 72,353.96 • Shanghai increased 72.615 points or 1.78% to 4,163.097 • Hang Seng decreased 156.29 points or -0.65% to 23,768.52 • ASX 200 decreased 12.60 points or -0.14% to 8,816.10 • SENSEX increased 291.17 points or 0.38% to 77,094.07 • Nifty50 increased 89.80 points or 0.37% to 24,102.90 The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today: • AUDUSD decreased 0.00115 or -0.16% to 0.70005 • NZDUSD decreased 0.00222 or -0.39% to 0.57178 • USDJPY increased 0.264 or 0.16%…
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. The spring 2022 housing market was one of the most competitive periods on record. In many housing markets, homes went pending within days of hitting the market as buyers rushed to lock in mortgages before rates moved higher. Four years later, the landscape looks very different. According to Zillow data, the typical U.S. home listed for sale in May 2026 went pending after roughly 18 days—three times longer than the 6-day national median recorded in May 2022. (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in…
Lucid Motors said it is laying off about 18% of its U.S. workforce, or around 1,500 workers, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. The EV maker told Fast Company that today’s reductions are across many groups, including manufacturing. The luxury electric vehicle automaker had some 9,000 global employees as of December 31, CNBC reported. The layoffs are part of a restructuring and cost-cutting plan, which the company estimates will save the EV maker $158 million annually. The move comes just four months after the Tesla rival cut 12% of its staff, and includes eliminating the second production shift…
It’s summer grilling season, but for many Americans, surging prices mean beef is no longer what’s for dinner. The cost of beef, having spiked since early 2025, is coming under even more pressure. The most recent is the screwworm outbreak that hit cattle in Mexico and has now spread to the United States, where the cattle herd has already fallen to levels not seen since the 1950s, due in part to drought. Meanwhile, potential trade disruptions loom. Just before U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators began meeting on June 16-17, 2026, to discuss the long-standing deal binding North America, President Donald…