Author: Frank Salvato
The Pentagon is putting new financial and institutional support behind an ambitious effort to collect solar energy in space and beam it to receivers on Earth, awarding Virginia-based Overview Energy a contract through the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund to develop a homing beacon capable of precisely guiding energy from orbit to terrestrial solar arrays. The company’s system would convert solar energy gathered by satellites into near-infrared light and direct it toward existing solar installations, potentially allowing those facilities to generate electricity after sunset while avoiding construction of additional transmission infrastructure. Overview has already demonstrated power transmission from a moving…
Congress is moving closer to requiring AM radio in new vehicles despite resistance from automakers that argue the federal government should not dictate entertainment technology inside cars. The House passed the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act in September, sending the measure to the Senate, where the companion legislation has accumulated 60 cosponsors. The proposal would direct federal transportation regulators to require automakers to provide access to AM broadcast stations in new passenger vehicles at no additional charge, with supporters emphasizing AM radio’s unusual ability to distribute emergency information across large geographic areas when electricity, cellular networks or internet…
YouTube has extended its exclusive livestream and content partnership with Coachella promoter Goldenvoice through 2030, securing its position as the festival’s worldwide streaming home following a record-setting 2026 event. The 2027 festival will mark 15 years of Coachella broadcasts on the platform, a relationship that has evolved from a single livestream into comprehensive coverage of every stage across both festival weekends. YouTube says the 2026 festival, headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G, generated the largest concurrent Coachella audience in the platform’s history, although it did not disclose an exact figure. The extended agreement comes as YouTube expands…
Silicon Valley is experiencing an extraordinary artificial-intelligence investment boom even as thousands of experienced technology workers confront layoffs, prolonged unemployment and sharply diminished job prospects. Venture capital poured roughly $92 billion into Silicon Valley last year, with about 83% directed toward AI companies, yet the region lost approximately 13,100 jobs as employers redirected capital toward artificial intelligence and sought greater productivity from smaller workforces. Former employees of companies including Google and Amazon who previously earned compensation exceeding $300,000 describe sending scores or hundreds of applications, enduring lengthy interview processes and considering lower-paying careers or government assistance after exhausting savings. Nationwide…
For more than a generation, Americans were given remarkably consistent career advice: Learn technology. Get a computer science degree. Become a software engineer. Learn to code. While manufacturing jobs disappeared and entire industries moved overseas, technology was presented as the safe harbor—the sector where education, intelligence, and specialized skills would provide protection against economic disruption. Artificial intelligence may be about to test that promise. The uncomfortable possibility is that some of the people most vulnerable to AI are precisely those who were told they were preparing themselves for the future. Programmers, software developers, data analysts, cybersecurity specialists, graphic designers, engineers,…
Amazon has agreed to an $8.25 million settlement with the District of Columbia after the city alleged the company continued charging approximately 69,000 Prime customers full membership prices while quietly excluding two ZIP codes in Wards 7 and 8 from its in-house delivery network. Beginning in 2022, Amazon stopped using its Delivery Service Partner network for ZIP codes 20019 and 20020 and instead relied primarily on UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, a change that D.C. officials said significantly lengthened delivery times without being adequately disclosed to customers. The District alleged that two-day delivery rates in the affected ZIP codes…
TikTok helped generate an estimated $12 billion in advertising and merchandise sales for nearly 920,000 California businesses in 2025 while supporting approximately 52,000 jobs in the state, according to a new economic-impact study conducted by PF Global and commissioned by TikTok. Nationwide, the study estimates that economic activity supported by the platform contributed $81 billion to U.S. GDP, supported 410,000 jobs and involved more than 8.5 million businesses, underscoring how short-form video has evolved from entertainment into a significant marketing and commercial marketplace. The report also found that 27 million Americans visited an independent shop, restaurant or café for the…
Amazon is exploring an unconventional financing arrangement that would transfer roughly $8 billion worth of advanced Nvidia artificial-intelligence chips to outside investors while allowing the company to continue using the hardware in its U.S. data centers. Under the proposed structure, thousands of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips would be transferred to a special-purpose vehicle financed largely through debt, with Amazon leasing the processors back rather than continuing to own them directly. The proposal comes as Amazon undertakes an extraordinary AI infrastructure expansion, with capital expenditures expected to reach roughly $200 billion to $220 billion in 2026, much of it directed toward…
Russia’s information war surrounding its invasion of Ukraine is expanding into AI-generated music, with hundreds of pro-Russian war songs appearing across major global streaming services and attracting millions of plays. Researchers with the nonprofit Terrecon identified 981 songs categorized as pro-Russian war propaganda, most released after generative-music platforms became widely available beginning in 2024. The material ranges from sentimental ballads to heavy metal, frequently glorifying Russian soldiers and weapons, portraying Moscow’s invasion as defensive, and in some cases using ethnic slurs against Ukrainians. Although the extent of direct Kremlin involvement in producing or promoting individual AI-generated songs remains unclear, Russian…
Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, has emerged from a four-month U.S. prison sentence and a subsequent presidential pardon with much of his fortune and influence intact, establishing a high-profile post-prison life centered increasingly in the United Arab Emirates. Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program at Binance, resigned as chief executive and served his sentence in 2024, while Binance separately agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeiture. President Donald Trump granted Zhao a full pardon in October 2025, removing the federal conviction that had complicated his future. Zhao…