- Retailers battle the rising costs of medical, liability claims: Second quarter earnings results across the industry showed that heightened claims costs are impacting even the strongest performers.
- Kirkland’s to convert all stores to Bed Bath & Beyond, pivot to wholesale: The home retailer will rebrand about 250 to 275 of its current locations, close the rest and open more in traditional Bed Bath & Beyond markets.
- The holidays should be OK for retailers that try hard enough: Sustaining robust sales growth into Q4 will mean sharp vendor negotiations — and a keen understanding of the customer, analysts say.
- Holiday retail sales projected to grow 4%, below 10-year average: While in-store sales are expected to grow 2.75% from last year, e-commerce sales growth is slowing, according to a recent report from Bain & Company.
- “Meta created its own super PAC to politically kneecap its AI rivals: Mark Zuckerberg, via Meta, can now essentially spend unlimited money in California elections.”
- Former Univision anchor Jorge Ramos has joined forces with daughter Paola Ramos, a regular contributor to MSNBC and Telemundo, to launch a new podcast, “The Moment.”
- At its annual Made on YouTube event in New York City, YouTube announced that it has paid creators more than $100 billion over the last 4 years.
- Disney is launching a new digital comics platform with Webtoon Entertainment. The two companies also entered a nonbinding term sheet for Disney to acquire a 2% equity stake in Webtoon Entertainment.
- Meta Connect 2025: the 6 biggest announcements: The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses feature a full-color, high-resolution screen in the right lens that lets wearers view messages, take video calls, read live captions, and more. The display can be controlled with a wristband that allows users to scroll and click using gestures. The glasses offer up to six hours of ‘mixed-use’ battery life. They will be available starting at $799 in the US on September 30 at Best Buy, LensCrafters, and Ray-Ban stores.
- Chinese Officials Urge Firms to Shun Nvidia AI Chip: China’s top cybersecurity regulator has urged big tech companies not to buy Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000 chip, a less-advanced AI chip that the US has allowed Nvidia to sell to Chinese customers. Domestic firms have been encouraged to switch to homegrown hardware. Some Chinese officials view the country’s chips as strong alternatives to those Nvidia is allowed to sell in China. China has had trouble ramping up production of its best chips in part because its access to leading-edge components and chip-making equipment has been blocked by the US.
- Axiom Space aims for orbit with its Orbital Data Center Node: Axiom Space plans to launch two Axiom Orbital Data Center (AxODC) Nodes by the end of 2025, with at least three running by the end of 2027. The nodes will increase computing capacity on the International Space Station. Even if Axiom manages to get the hardware installed in the ISS in the next few years, the complex is due for deorbit by 2030. The company last year published optimistic plans to make its own space station by 2028.
- AI-Designed Phages: Arc Institute and Stanford University researchers have created the first viable genomes using generative AI. They created 16 bacteriophages using fine-tuned versions of both Evo 1 and Evo 2, models freely available on Hugging Face. Their work offers a blueprint for the design of diverse synthetic bacteriophages and lays a foundation for the generative design of useful living systems at the genome scale. The research may present some risks, but at the moment, using AI to make synthetic genomes costs a great deal at both the design and construction stages and isn’t viable for most companies.
- Boring is good: Most companies that have tried to implement AI technology have yet to see a positive outcome. Large language models are not intelligent, and they will never be. They aren’t good at doing ‘intelligent things’ and replacing human tasks is far more complex than originally thought. There may be other potential uses for this technology, but the current approach is failing, and something has to change.
- Apple uses a collection of audio metric booths to help correct and calibrate the AirPods’ fit for natural variations in ear geometry. Its engineers use devices seen in audiologists’ offices to help validate the company’s claims of a clinical-grade hearing test. This allows AirPods users to set up their devices as a hearing aid at home and also creates an accurate hearing profile so users can hear music the way it was intended. This article takes a look at the labs where Apple tests and tunes its AirPods, which show how important sound is to everything Apple builds.
- Google Chrome is finally getting native vertical tabs: A large group of recent commits confirms that Google is actively working on a native vertical tabs feature for the browser.
- OpenAI outperforms humans and Google at the world’s top collegiate programming contest: An OpenAI system solved every problem at the International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals 2025.
- Netflix to Add NASA+ as It Launches Into Live Streaming Feeds: The deal is a sign that Netflix is open to licensing deals with partners that can provide live video streams.
- Executives at xAI Clashed With Musk Advisers Before Departing: Several executives at xAI left after clashing with Jared Birchall and John Hering, two of Elon Musk’s closest advisers, over concerns about the startup’s management and financial health.
- YouTube caters to brands and podcasters by making its ads more flexible.
- Jerry quits Ben & Jerry’s, says Unilever “silenced” brand’s activism.
- Reddit adds 6-Second video view optimization for advertisers.
- Doritos celebrates Stranger Things with a 1980s icon: Pizza.
- Gopuff wants to build on its reliability with a more personalized, transparent website.
- The instant delivery company wants to make its site easier to shop without sacrificing speed, according to co-CEO Yakir Gola.
- 3 major banks turn to predictive insights to boost trust.
- Bank of America, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo allow users to analyze estimated spending, scheduled transactions and deposit data.
- How Yum’s AI factory supercharges marketing at Taco Bell and beyond.
- Execs at the fast-food giant detail an approach to artificial intelligence that is already powering transformation throughout its digitally focused brands.
- Reddit has become a key referral source for AI answers.
- On Friday, 17 October 2025, MADS will host a dynamic event at the Ruimsig Convention Centre, Roodepoort. This full-day event will bring together visionaries, entrepreneurs, curious learners, seasoned leaders, and legends from across all industries who are interested in keeping up with technologies.
- Tech enthusiasts and cybersecurity warriors! We’ve got something exciting in store for you. Magix R&D Lab is back with another insightful White Paper, titled “The Surge of Deepfake Cyber Threats.”
TLDR: Social Media Headlines – 18 September 2025
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Uzbekistan: You have two cows. They are probably less bored than you.
Diamond Gamer
USA: You have two cows. You outsource a farm to milk them and sell the milk to those who can afford it. You then use the profit to buy someone else\’s cow for your butcher to make steak with.