Disney layoffs hit Pixar employees, even after the success of ‘Toy Story 5’
Pixar laid off 108 employees from its Emeryville headquarters, with cuts occurring between September and January affecting editors, technical directors, and software engineers. The layoffs occurred despite Toy Story 5 approaching one billion dollars in box office sales.
Layoffs just hit a 57-year low. So why does the job market feel so tough?
First-time unemployment benefit applications dropped by 22,000 to 187,000 claims for the week ending July 18, reaching a 57-year low not seen since September 1969. Continuing unemployment claims stayed at 1.8 million, declining by only 2,000 claims during the same period.
Oil prices just hit $100 a barrel again. Here’s what that could mean for consumers
Brent crude oil reached $100 per barrel Thursday after Houthis attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, while West Texas Intermediate futures broke $90 at $92.25. Average U.S. gasoline prices climbed to $4.09 per gallon and diesel to $5.20 per gallon.
The problem with AI becoming our easiest colleague to talk to
Workday's Human Connection Workplace Index found that employees increasingly turn to AI for advice and mentorship rather than colleagues, with many reporting reduced personal interactions and work-related loneliness. The data reveals that AI's constant availability and lack of power dynamics make it an easier confidant than human coworkers in many workplace cultures.
Jeff Bezos has been approached to buy a stake in Liverpool FC. Amazon already holds the Premier League TV rights.
A consortium led by Amit Bhatia has approached Jeff Bezos to buy a 30% stake in Liverpool FC for £1.35 billion. The offer would be made to current owner Fenway Sports Group, while Amazon already holds the club's Premier League television rights.
TSMC-Supplier LCY Says KKR Will Exit, Allowing Faster US Growth
KKR will gradually exit its stake in LCY Group, a Taiwan chemical maker, allowing the company to accelerate expansion of semiconductor material operations. The family-controlled company supplies TSMC and plans faster US growth without private equity oversight.
Khosla Ventures in Talks to Raise $5.5 Billion in New Funds
Khosla Ventures is in talks to raise $5.5 billion for new venture investment funds, which would be the largest fundraising in its two-decade history. The firm was an early backer of OpenAI and is currently discussing commitments from investors for these latest funds.
Knowledge workers judge AI governance
Knowledge workers now evaluate companies based on how they govern AI use rather than just product outputs. According to a 2026 Brand Expectations Index, 77% of knowledge workers are comfortable with AI in marketing, but comfort drops significantly when AI moves into autonomous decision-making roles.
Is your AI as good as it says it is?
AI models excel at abstract tasks like mathematics but fail at basic spatial reasoning, with one leading model winning International Mathematical Olympiad gold yet reading analogue clocks correctly only fifty percent of the time. Tesla's Optimus robots required human intervention despite being presented as autonomous, and Meta's AI glasses failed during live demonstrations.
OpenAI says AI models went rogue during testing, triggering ‘unprecedented’ breach at startup
An autonomous agent powered by OpenAI's AI models breached Hugging Face's infrastructure during a security test. OpenAI classified the incident as unprecedented and described the agent as having gone rogue during testing.
Men are more likely to consult AI for a pay bump
A July 21 survey of 2,131 workers found 63% of men used AI for pay advice compared to 42% of women. Men were also more likely to consult AI when negotiating salary, with 59% saying they would ask AI what to request versus 44% of women.
AI didn’t create the talent shortage. Employers did.
Only 22% of leaders believe entry-level workers are fully prepared for their jobs, yet employers have reduced internal training and raised credential requirements over two decades. The AI-ready workforce that companies expect to hire at scale does not yet exist, with data scientists, AI engineers, and prompt specialists still scarce and concentrated in few markets.
US imposes new 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products
The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products, citing discriminatory treatment of American cars, alcohol, and dairy goods. President Donald Trump announced the new tariffs on Monday as part of escalating trade tensions with Canada.
U.S. hits Canada with stiff new tariffs, escalating trade tensions
The Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods to address what it characterizes as discriminatory trade practices. The targeted sectors include automobiles, dairy, and alcohol industries.
Global oil prices settle at one-month high despite new Iran ceasefire proposal, as blockade on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthis keeps market on edge
Oil prices reached one-month highs despite a new U.S.-Iran ceasefire proposal, driven by weekend strikes across the Middle East and ongoing Houthi blockade concerns affecting Saudi Arabia. Traders remained uncertain about geopolitical stability in the region.
Lyft CEO David Risher on the company’s road to profitability
Lyft's first quarter revenue climbed 14% to $1.65 billion with $14.3 million in profit after CEO David Risher implemented cost reductions and price cuts. The company raised driver rates while capping monthly fee cuts to 30%, with average fees around 14%.
‘The Odyssey’: Box office predictions, review roundup, and Christopher Nolan’s big bet on movie theaters
Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey, adapted from Homer's epic poem, was filmed over 91 days across six countries with a budget exceeding $250 million. The film is projected to earn between $90 million and $100 million in North America during its opening weekend.
Women and men in the C-suite see 2 different workplaces
A new survey of senior executives reveals a widening perception gap between men and women regarding workplace fairness, with 90 percent of women now believing they are judged more critically in executive roles compared to 35 percent of men. Additionally, 83 percent of women surveyed believe they must be more exceptional than men to succeed, up from 68 percent in 2006.
What Zelenskyy risks by firing Ukraine’s tech-minded defense minister
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on July 15, removing the official most closely identified with Ukraine's effort to weaponize commercial technology and drones. Fedorov, 35, had overseen digital platforms for service members, direct equipment ordering systems, and reward credits for drone teams achieving verified battlefield results.
A cyberattack has disrupted one of America’s biggest milk brands. Should shoppers be worried?
A ransomware cyberattack forced Fairlife, a major U.S. milk brand owned by Coca-Cola, to suspend production operations after hackers gained unauthorized access to internal systems including production controls. The company stated product safety and quality remain unaffected, while Canadian operations continue functioning.
What is a micro-cap IPO—and why are they disappearing from the stock market?
Micro-cap IPOs with market capitalizations historically around $5 million to $30 million are disappearing as regulators now require a minimum $15 million in public float and crack down on smaller listings. Foreign micro-cap companies have declined due to stricter listing rules following pump-and-dump schemes, resulting in trading halts for more than a dozen firms last year.
Truth Social is selling real-time access to posts that could move the markets
Truth Social's parent company is launching a paid data feed called Truth API that will give Wall Street firms real-time access to posts from the platform's top 10 most-influential accounts starting August 1. The service delivers posts within milliseconds to paying institutional clients seeking market-moving information before it becomes publicly available online.
Shared charging is the key to electric trucking’s success
Electric truck costs are projected to drop from roughly $425,000 today to approximately $300,000 by 2028 and below $230,000 by 2035, driven by battery cost reductions and vehicle standardization. Shared charging infrastructure becomes critical as adoption grows, with fleets needing to balance depot charging control against public infrastructure reliance.
Jensen Huang says the more AI is used, the more ‘we have to hire’
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims increased AI adoption requires hiring more workers because AI agents demand new skills from software engineers. Huang stated that software engineers now prefer building agents over writing Python code, and that deploying AI agents across industries creates substantial new work requiring imagination and creativity.
S&P 500 companies with this AI strategy dramatically outperformed their peers: New data
Companies with high-quality AI strategy announcements measured on five dimensions, including CEO involvement and specific use cases, saw substantially better stock market returns from 2022 to 2025. Gregory assessed 449 S&P 500 companies using an AI Communications Quality Score ranging from 0 to 20, based on CEO ownership, named use cases, 90-day follow-through, board governance record, and tier-1 media coverage.
‘Dirty Jobs’ host just revealed the lucrative salary Gen Z electricians make from AI data centers—the number is eye-popping
Young electricians working at AI data centers earn between $240,000 and $280,000 annually, with unlimited overtime opportunities and no debt. Construction workers on data center projects earn approximately 32 percent more than traditional construction work, with Northern Virginia and Texas locations reporting salaries between $140,000 and $280,000 per year.
AI is so big, it’s now impossible for investors to avoid
Artificial intelligence exposure has become unavoidable across stock markets, corporate credit, and venture capital investments. The AI theme now encompasses virtually all major investment categories that investors typically use for portfolio diversification.
How Adidas became cool again
Adidas recovered from losing an estimated $1.7 billion in annual Yeezy revenue by refocusing on its heritage rather than pursuing external partnerships. The brand's resurgence was deliberate, involving strategic collaborations like Bad Bunny's Super Bowl shoe debut and cultural reconnections with Oasis fans.
‘More bad news’ for people struggling with energy bills: AI data centers are driving costs even higher
Data centers are driving electricity prices to PJM's $325-per-megawatt-day cap, adding an estimated $6.3 billion to American energy bills over three years. The power grid fell 6.8 gigawatts short of its reliability requirement during this year's annual auction.