This Simple Strategy Will Help Franchisees Get Customers and Scale Faster
From senior care to plumbing to schools, localized video storytelling shortens the ramp-up time to revenue and gives franchisees confidence from day one.
Debates over AI consciousness are a trap
“Runaway” AI, “rogue” agents, and “autonomous” actors—the current rhetoric would have you believe that AI agents are not only awake and aware, but angry at their creators. Prominent tech leaders such as Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei, and Sam Altman push for regulation of these seemingly “superhuman” systems, while a separate faction, led by policy organizations…
De-risking investment in AI agents
Automation has become a defining force in the customer experience. Between the chatbots that answer our questions and the recommendation systems that shape our choices, AI-driven tools are now embedded in nearly every interaction. But the latest wave of so-called “agentic AI”—systems that can plan, act, and adapt toward a defined goal—promises to push automation…
Calm launches standalone iOS app for sleep support
The new Calm Sleep app is designed to help people wind down, sleep deeply, and wake up refreshed.
Google launches new protocol for agent-driven purchases
Called the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), the system is meant to be interoperable between AI platforms, payment systems and vendors.
This $30M startup built a dog crate-sized robot factory that learns by watching humans
MicroFactory has more than 100 preorders for its general purpose tabletop robotic factory which it hopes to start shipping in two months.
The Download: regulators are coming for AI companions, and meet our Innovator of 2025
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The looming crackdown on AI companionship As long as there has been AI, there have been people sounding alarms about what it might do to us: rogue superintelligence, mass unemployment, or environmental ruin.…
The Branding Trick That Helped Dude Wipes, Colgate, Oatly, and Uber Rise Above the Rest
It’s called “strategic enemy” — a way to position your brand against an enemy your consumer hates. Here’s how to do it.
Y Combinator-backed Rulebase wants to be the AI coworker for fintech
Y Combinator-alum Rulebase is betting that the next wave of automation in financial services will be the unglamorous tasks.
Kayak co-founder takes on Calendly with new Supercal scheduling platform
The entrepreneur has launched Supercal, a free scheduling platform that’s designed to make booking meetings more efficient and simple.
Amazon to host Prime Big Deals Day sales event on October 7 and 8
Amazon is hosting its Prime Big Deals Day sales event in October again.