With the summer travel season in full swing and next weekend’s busy July 4 holiday nearing, many airlines are feeling the pinch of softer-than-expected travel demand, as Americans find it increasingly difficult to afford the high cost of vacations made worse by inflation and a recent string of tariffs from the Trump administration.
JetBlue Airways, which has been struggling financially and hasn’t made a profit since 2019, announced Saturday it would halt service out of Miami International Airport (MIA) effective September 3. The discount carrier currently has one or two flights to Boston each day.
Fast Company has reached out to JetBlue for comment.
A spokesperson for the airline told the Miami Herald that the move was to free aircraft for new routes.” He added: “Weve recently made the decision to end a small number of unprofitable flights, including between Boston and Miami.” And travelers booked on canceled flights will have the option to fly via Fort Lauderdale or receive a full refund to their original form of payment.”
The carrier recently lost its bid for a $3.8 billion megamerger with Spirit Airlines after a federal judge ruled it would create a monopoly.
Last Monday, JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty wrote a memo to employees that said the company was putting new cost-cutting measures into place to counter decreased travel demand, and was “unlikely” to break even on operating margins this year, as reported by CNBC.
Were hopeful demand and bookings will rebound, but even a recovery wont fully offset the ground weve lost this year, and our path back to profitability will take longer than wed hoped,” Geraghty said in the staff memo viewed by CNBC. “That means were still relying on borrowed cash to keep the airline running.
JetBlue by the numbers
Shares of JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) were trading down over 1% midday on Monday.
JetBlue and other airlines pulled their 2025 financial forecasts, as many companies did in the wake of Trump’s tariffs, due to overall economic uncertainty. For the first quarter of 2025, which ended March 31, JetBlue reported earnings per share (EPS) of -$0.59, beating analyst estimates, which were around -$0.61. Operating revenue was $2.1 billion, down 3.1% year over year. JetBlue has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion. The airline’s next reported earnings are scheduled for late July.
Iran launched missile attacks Monday on a U.S. military bases in Qatar and Iraq, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites and escalating tensions in the volatile region.
People in Doha, Qatars capital, stopped and looked up as missiles flew and interceptors fired and struck at least one missile in the night sky.
Iran announced on state television that it attacked American forces stationed at Qatars Al Udeid Air Base.
A caption on screen called it a mighty and successful response” to “Americas aggression as martial music played.
Iran also targeted the Ain al-Assad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq, an Iraqi security official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The attacks came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran.
Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X: We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer.
In the past, Iran has threatened American forces at Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. militarys Central Command. Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.
Earlier in the day, Israel expanded its war against Iran to include targets associated with the country’s struggling theocracy, striking the gate of a Tehran prison notorious for holding political activists and hitting the headquarters of the military force that suppressed recent protests.
As plumes of thick smoke rose over Tehran, Israel was attacked with yet another barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. The persistent fire has become a reality for civilians in both countries since Israel started the war to target Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
On the 11th day of the conflict, Israel said it attacked regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran, but Israeli officials insisted they did not seek the overthrow of Iran’s government, their archenemy since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Israeli military warned Iranians that it would continue to attack military sites around Tehran over the coming days as its focuses has shifted to symbolic targets as well. The military issued the warning on the social platform X, though Iranians are struggling to access the outside world as an internet shutdown has crippled the country.
The latest strikes unfolded only hours after President Donald Trump openly raised the possibility himself after just a day earlier inserting America into the war with its unprecedented stealth-bomber strike on three Iranian nuclear sites.
If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldnt there be a Regime change??? he asked on his Truth Social website.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later described Trump as simply raising a question. However, suggestions of overthrowing the Iranian government drew new anger from Tehran, which insists it will not negotiate at this time and is threatening to retaliate directly against either American troops or interests in a Mideast already inflamed by the still-raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Tehran strikes open new chapter of war
In the Tehran strikes, Israel blew open a gate at Evin prison. Iranian state television shared black-and-white surveillance footage of the strike at the facility known for holding dual nationals and Westerners often used by Iran as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
Evin also has specialized units for political prisoners run by the paramilitary, all-volunteer Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The facility is the target of both U.S. and European Union sanctions.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Iran or significant damage, though the semiofficial Tasnim news agency said there had been a power cut reported outside of Tehran following the Israeli strikes.
Iranian state television also aired footage it described as being shot inside Evin, with prisoners under control inside the facility. However, the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran expressed worry about the condition of prisoners there.
Many families of current detainees have expressed deep concern about the safety and condition of their loved ones held inside the prison, it said.
Earlier Monday, Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned Washington that its strikes had given Iranian forces a free hand to act against U.S. interests and its army.
Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East, many in locations within range of short-range Iranian missiles.
The Israeli military also confirmed it struck roads around Irans Fordo enrichment facility to obstruct access to the site. The underground site was one of those hit in Sundays attack by the United States on three nuclear facilities. The Israeli military did not elaborate.
The Iranian dictator will be punished with full force for attacking the Israeli home front, Israel’s Defense Ministry said.
According to an Israeli official familiar with the governments strategy, Israel is targeting these sites to put pressure on the Iranian administration but is not actively seeking to topple it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations.
Nuclear fears mount after US strikes
In Vienna, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said he expected there to be heavy damage at the Fordo facility following Sunday’s U.S. airstrike there with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.
With the strikes Sunday on Iranian nuclear sites, the United States inserted itself into Israels war, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict. Iran said the U.S. had crossed a very big red line with its risky gambit to strike the three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
Several Iranian officials, including Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, have claimed Iran removed nuclear material from targeted sites ahead of time.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the agency’s board of governors Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed him on June 13 that Iran would adopt special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials.
I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared, Grossi said, without saying whether Iran had responded.
Iran presses on attacking Israel
ran described its Monday attack on Israel as a new wave of its Operation True Promise 3, saying it was targeting the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state television.
Explosions were also heard in Jerusalem, possibly from air defense systems in action, and Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency rescue service said there had been no reports of injuries.
In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Masha Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel.
Calls for de-escalation
The U.S. described its attack on the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities, as well as the Isfahan nuclear site, as a one-off to take out Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates.
Mousavi described the American attacks as violating Irans sovereignty and being tantamount to invading the country, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Russia is one of Irans closest allies and on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said after meeting in Moscow with Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, that they had explored how we can get out of todays situation.
Putin called the Israeli and American attacks on Iran an absolutely unprovoked aggression.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief.
But after Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60%a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%and restricting access to its nuclear facilities.
David Rising, Jon Gambrell and Melanie Lidman, Associated Press
Associated Press writers Josef Federman, Elise Morton, Geir Moulson, Ella Joyner and Stephanie Liechtenstein contributed to this report.
The week is already off to an extremely hot, and dangerous, start for many in the Eastern half of the U.S., as experts say hundreds of cities could see record-breaking heat.Sunday’s temperatures were above average, but the week beginning Monday June 23, 2025, is set to be even hotter, with a heat-dome encompassing more of the U.S. The forecast has the National Weather Service (NWS) issuing warnings for large portions of the country, mostly in the central and Northeast regions. Meteorologists believe heat records could be smashed in at least 250 cities.
On Monday, locations like Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia are under extreme heat warnings, as they are expected to experience 100-degree (or hotter) heata number New York’s Central Park hasn’t reached since the summer of 2012, according to the NWS. Likewise, Philadelphia hasn’t warmed that much since 1994, while Boston hit 100 just three summers ago.
As the heat will stretch across the eastern half of the country, heat advisories are also in place for cities like Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh.
NWS says the heat risk is level 4the highest level of extreme heatand while in some locations the heat is expected to break by Tuesday, in others, it will be just getting started. Temperatures in the Northeast aren’t set to break until Thursday.
And it’s not just the heat making things uncomfortable. It’s the humidity. According to Weather.com, humidity could make the already stifling heat feel even hotter, especially for Midwestern and Northeast cities. The combination of high temperatures and humidity is more dangerous than dry heat, experts say, due to the fact that our bodies aren’t able to cool themselves as effectively when humidity is also high.
The heightened heat index will also mean that nighttime will bring little relief.
“Hot temperatures, oppressive humidity and very light winds are expected today, leading to dangerous levels of heat,” the National Weather Service in Boston said in a post on X. Tuesday will be “the hottest day of the stretch,” the agency said.
Extreme heat isn’t new, but with each passing summer, more heat records are being broken. According to a recent World Weather Attribution report, about half of the world’s population experienced around one month of extreme heat due to human-made climate change over the past year.
Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event, the report said.
On TikTok, an ASMR creator dips a spoon into a bowl of molten-hot lava, brings it to her lips, and eats it like its honey. Another creator crunches down into a seemingly radioactive moon stone, which is glowing so brightly that it’s visible through her cheeks. And a third takes a casual bite out of a cinnamon bun made of glass. Thankfully, none of these women are real: All three clips are an example of AI-generated ASMR.
ASMR is an acronym for autonomous sensory meridian response, which describes a physical tingling sensation triggered by certain sounds or visuals. Videos designed to elicit these responses have been popular on YouTube for more than a decade, and have also found massive popularity as short-form clips on TikTok. Over the past few weeks, a subcategory of fantastical, often physically impossible AI-generated ASMR has started to take social media by storm.
The key to AI ASMR? Google Veo 3
For anyone who regularly enjoys ASMR, AI-generated content has become unavoidable in recent weeks. The aforementioned lava clip, for example, has 2.8 million views on TikTokand its creator, @asmraiworks, has several other videos boasting similar view counts. Another AI ASMR TikToker, @impossibleais, began posting just 10 days ago on June 10, and has already racked up millions of views and nearly 200,000 followers. On YouTube, compilations of these videos are steadily gaining traction, while creators across platforms are now offering paid courses to teach other users how to make viral AI ASMR.
@satisfyingclips50 Crystal eating ASMR #asmr #asmrvideo #asmrsounds #satisfying #satisfyingvideo #mukbangfoodasmr #aiasmr original sound – SatisfyingClips
The key to this new genre of content appears to be Googles Veo 3 AI video generator, which debuted this March. Unlike predecessors such as OpenAIs Sora, Veo 3 can create sound and dialogue alongside its photorealistic videomaking it the perfect medium for ASMR content, which relies on satisfying taps, crunches, and slurps to accompany its visuals.
Veo 3 with native sound is such a huge unlock here, wrote Olivia Moore, AI partner at the venture capital firm a16z, in an X thread explaining the trend. This is now a one step creation process, versus having to generate and then sync each individual sound with the video.
@tacokittyasmr MUKBANG ai asmr #foryoupage #oddlysatisfying #slimeasmr #foryoupag #fouryou #aigenerated #fyppp original sound –
Considering that modern ASMR often relies on bright, eye-catching images to attract new viewers, it was only a matter of time before the space became inundated with AI tech that can create content on demand. Now, it seems, the floodgates are officially open.
Lava, rocks, and glass fruit, oh my!
Currently, there are a few different types of AI ASMR videos that are especially primed to capture the publics attention.
On the tamer end of the spectrum are classic ASMR mukbang vdeos, which involve creators eating food on camera. The AI-generated versions tend to follow similar scripts to a typical mukbanglike the creator talking to the camera and taking overly large bites of foodbut with a slight uncanny valley feel and occasional glitches in the actual physics of eating. Next is a somewhat stranger category of mukbangs that are only possible through AI, which feature AI-generated people eating things like rocks, molten lava, diamonds, crystals, and more.
@impossibleais Cutting Berries pt. 2! #asmr #asmrsounds #satisfying #berries #fruit green to blue (slowed + reverbed) – daniel.mp3
Most popular by far, though, are videos that include the shaving, slicing, and dicing of objects that would normally be impossible to cut. Glass fruits are a particular favorite among this crowd, with TikToks of a sliced glass blue raspberry, strawberry, and coconut accruing 4.5 million, 26 million, and 67.4 million views, respectively.
@wildwhispers_asmr Glass Fruit Slicing ASMR Pt 4 #ai #fruit #asmr #fyp original sound – WildWhispersASMR
The most common reaction to this content among regular ASMR enjoyers appears to be a kind of grudging appreciation.
This is the only ai I approve, one user wrote in the comments of a lava-eating video. Finally ai used correctly, another commenter supplied under the aforementioned blue raspberry video.
@impossibleais Cutting Glass Fruit (berry edition) #asmr #satisfying #asmrsounds #fruit green to blue (slowed + reverbed) – daniel.mp3
Still, while the majority of viewers seem to find themselves enjoying this new wave of ASMR content, its also spawning an undercurrent of existential dread at the technologys increasingly photorealistic capabilities. On nearly every viral AI ASMR video, some iteration of the same comment is among the most-liked responses: I am so getting scammed when I get older.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is rumored to be marrying Lauren Sánchez in a star-studded wedding in Venice, Italy, this week. While the exact details of the celebration are being kept hidden from the public, its anticipated that an estimated 200 guests will attend the multiday event.
Many locals are upset that the upcoming event will occur in their city. Activists in Venice are protesting the event due to overtourism concerns.
One protest group, No Space for Bezos, has taken to social media to promote a peaceful protest event being held on Saturday, June 28. Social media posts encourage locals to show up to line the streets and block the canals.
Social media posts for the @no_space_for_bezos Instagram account highlight concerns around Amazons labor practices and environmental impact, the growing economic struggles in Venice, and the e-commerce giant’s impact on small businesses worldwide.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by No space for Bezos! No space for Oligarchs! (@no_space_for_bezos)
The groups Instagram account, which is based in Italy and was created this month, has swelled to nearly 5,000 followers.
Protest signs have been popping up around the city ahead of the wedding. One sign on the Rialto Bridge read, “No Space for Bezos!” Another banner hung from the steeple of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore had a big red X over the word Bezos.
Despite the outcry, preparations are already well underway for the upcoming wedding.
Event planners respond to backlash
Fast Company contacted Bezos’s team for comment. We received a copy of a statement that event organizer Lanza & Baucina Limited released last week.
“From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events,” the statement read.
The event planning team noted that they have taken steps to reduce disruptions. The statement continued, “Before the recent news of protests arose, we had worked for there to be minimal negative impact or disruption to the lives of Venetians and the city’s visitors. We have always acknowledged the wider debate and critical issues surrounding the city’s future, and from the outset our client has been honoured to support the city and its all-important lagoon through non-profit organisations and associated projects.”
Overtourism continues to be a major concern for Venice
Venice’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism. However, overtourism has long been an issue, leading to pollution, infrastructure strain, and economic challenges for locals.
The City of Canals welcomed about 5.7 million visitors in 2023, according to its tourism board. Meanwhile, the local population continues to dwindle, with only about 50,000 residents living there now. The rising cost of living and lack of affordable housing have forced many residents to relocate elsewhere.
City officials have taken steps to help combat the impact of overtourism. In April 2024, Venice began charging a 5 euro fee to day-trippers who visited the city. This fee applies to non-overnight guests visiting on peak days. The daily fee is now 10 euros for last-minute non-overnight visitors.
In August 2024, the city council began limiting the size of tour groups to a maximum of 25 people to reduce crowds. However, these efforts have had mixed reviews, with many critics suggesting that there has been little impact.
YouTube star Jimmy Donaldsonaka MrBeastis the face of the online video-sharing platform. He tops the platforms most-subscribed list, with more than 400 million people following his exploits. Online video has made Donaldson rich, with his business worth an estimated $1 billion.
However, the megastar is now embroiled in controversy following the launch of a new AI-powered thumbnail generator. The tool, developed with the analytics platform Viewstats, was promoted in now-deleted videos by Donaldson as a way for creators to easily generate eye-catching thumbnailsincluding the ability to swap faces and styles with existing popular videos.
The product was condemned by fellow YouTubers and artists, who accused MrBeast of facilitating the theft of their creative work and brand identity. Prominent creators like Jacksepticeye (i.e. Seán McLoughlin) publicly criticized the tool after his own logo and thumbnail style were used in promotional materials without his consent, calling the practice deeply unethical and harmful to the creative community. I hate what this platform is turning into. Fuck AI, Jacksepticeye posted on X. (Neither McLoughlin nor Donaldson responded to Fast Company‘s request for comment.)
Donaldson quickly acknowledged the concerns, pledging to make changes to the tool. Ill build this more in a way to be inspiration for artists/a tool they use and not replace them, he posted on X. Still, the incident has gained momentum, provoking angry responses and heated debate about the endorsement of such an AI product. For example, another YouTuber, Eric Pointcrow, said of Donaldson: What a piece of work. The mini-drama has riled the YouTube community in a way few other issues have, touching on a common occurrence in the space: the copying of video thumbnails. Why?
I think there are several things going on here, says Jess Maddox, associate professor at the University of Alabama, who studies platform dynamics on sites like YouTube. Primarily, Maddox believes that underlying the controversy is some good old-fashioned YouTube drama.
The platform often responds as a mob to things it deems offensive, so its unsurprising that this incident has triggered so much anger. YouTube pioneered online pile-on culture, in which everyone wants a piece of someone elses name, image, or likeness, says Maddox. But its actually quite hard to go after MrBeast, whos one of the biggest and most successful creators. Hes almost too big to fail, or ride his coattails.
Beyond that, Maddox points out that the technologyand the broader fear of automationis also driving the intensity of the response. AI in the creator economy is incredibly controversial right now, says Maddox. Many do view it as theft, and other creators view not using it as a badge of honorthat they can say with pride they either do all the work themselves or pay their team fairly to do so.
Donaldson’s decision to launch the AI product also came just after YouTube admitted that it used a subset of the 20 billion videos on its platform to train Googles Veo 3 video generation AI modela fact that may have further amplified the backlash. Yet a recent small survey of U.K. YouTube creators suggests that up to four in five creators are already using AI themselves, saving nearly eight hours of work each week.
Whats caused this backlash isnt just the tool, its what it represents, agrees Dom Smales, cofounder of GloMotion Studios, a digital entertainment studio and longstanding voice in the YouTube space. When the most powerful creator on the platform automates creativity using other creators work, it hits a nerve. It further exposes the growing gap between mega-creators and everyone else, which has to be handled carefully as this is a community above everything else.
This combination of factors helps explain why the criticism has been so strong and so sustained. MrBeast clearly has enough money to pay for this work, so the fact that he isnt doesnt paint him in the most positive light, says Maddox. The idea that such AI systems might worsen existing problems is also top of mind. If the biggest YouTube creator out there is using AI, I think many creators are nervous this will unfairly exacerbate the divide between big creators and mega-creatorsnever mind the divide between those and micro- and nano-creators, Maddox says. AI is a labor issue, and it risks making an already unequal creator economy even more unequal.
Yet Smales cautions that people shouldnt be so quick to vilify AIso long as its used responsibly. AI is here to stay and can be a superb tool to level creators up and allow further democratization of the creator economy, he says. Im building businesses that use it, but I believe it has to be developed with creators, not just deployed on them.
A team of prominent AI researchers, led by Databricks and Perplexity cofounder Andy Konwinski, has launched Laude Institute, a new nonprofit that helps university-based researchers turn their breakthroughs into open-source projects, startups, or large-scale products with real-world impact. Laude brings together top academic and industry leaders to guide promising AI research out of the lab and into the world. Its mission: help more AI ideas cross the gap from paper to product.
The effort builds on a growing belief within the AI and open-source communities that the fields biggest advances should be developed in public, not behind corporate walls. Many promising breakthroughs happen inside university labs, but often end up as research papers with no clear path to deployment. At the same time, as AIs development costs and potential rewards have skyrocketed, the need to support ambitious academic work outside of the big tech ecosystem has become more urgent.
Konwinski, who was named one of Bloombergs New Billionaires of the AI Boom, has assembled a high-profile board for Laude. Among its members are Googles head of AI Jeff Dean, board chairman and Turing Award winner Dave Patterson, and Joëlle Pineau, a professor at McGill University and the Quebec AI Institute (Mila), and former Global VP of AI Research at Meta (FAIR).
Andy Konwinski at Laude Institute’s Inaugural SYR Summit in San Francisco, June 18 [Photo: Marc Fong]
Laudes core goal is to replicate and enhance the university lab model used by departments like UC Berkeleys, known for foundational AI research. As a PhD student at Berkeley, Konwinski helped develop Apache Spark and later cofounded Databricks to commercialize it. That experience shaped his vision for Laude. I could do another company, he says, but I’m honestly more interested in helping find other Databricks and Perplexities and Linux and the internet and the personal computer.
Laudes biggest flagship funding initiative, Moonshots, will initially focus on projects in four key areas: reinventing healthcare delivery (for example, by developing an AI-powered insulin pump), accelerating scientific breakthroughs (such as visualizing black holes or discovering new materials), revitalizing civic discourse (helping voters find common ground on controversial issues), and helping workers reskill for the AI age. These are domains where AI could have significant positive impact, but where the technologys potential is still largely untapped, Konwinski explains.
Laude, a nonprofit with a public benefit corporation operating arm, will award grants to ambitious moonshot projects that may take three to five years to complete. Selected projects will receive $250,000 seed grants, with the most promising progressing to multiyear research labs led by faculty affiliated with universities.
Moonshots, one of Laude Institute’s flagship programs, fund big swings at species-level challenges with multi-year research labs. [Image: Courtesy of laude.org]
Funding ambitious, high-impact work for long periods can give academic labs the autonomy to really identify and tackle significant societal challenges, Dean says. This longer-term view can enable not just writing research papers but also creation of full-fledged working systems, open-source software to catalyze broader communities, or other forms of impact.
In addition, Laude will support slingshot projects, providing fast, low-friction grants and embedded support for individual researchers aiming to launch startups or open-source projects. This could mean tens of thousands of dollars worth of compute time, funding for PhD or Postdoc support, or embedding engineers, designers, and communicators to help bring a product to completion.
Slingshots, one of Laude Institute’s flagship programs, give the right resources to the right researchers at the right time. [Image: Courtesy of laude.org]
We talk about the right resource for the right researcher atthe right time in order to maximize how many more open-source breakouts and how many more companies we can build, says Konwinski, who has pledged $100 million of his own money to fund the first round of grants.
Laudes primary value will not just be resources like talent and compute power, but guidance from people who have successfully brought technologies from lab to market.
The academic model, when done well, can be excellent, but it doesn’t necessarily have this ability to accelerate research at key points, Pineau says. You need to bring in more resources, build artifacts that go beyond papers, and get them in front of users.
A network of advisers, including top professors and industry leaders, will help shape research projects by offering insights on product launches, multidisciplinary viewpoints, and best practices for open-source distribution. Among the advisers are Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi, Jake Abernethy of Georgia Tech and Google DeepMind, Ludwig Schmidt of Stanford and Anthropic, Kurtis Heimerl of the University of Washington, Berkeley RISElab director Ion Stoica, and researcher-professors from Caltech, University of Wisconsin, and University of Illinois Urbana.
For some researchers, Laude may provide an appealing alternative to venture capital. There are some projects where it’s probably too risky for venture capitalists to take on, Pineau says, while noting that not all VCs are the same. They tend to be a little bit shortsighted and want to see returns within a certain time frame, whereas a moonshot can tolerate higher risks. There are also practical considerations. Some researchers prefer to keep one foot in academia, while VCs often want them to go full-time in the commercial space.
Berkeley roots
The inspiration for Laude dates back to Konwinskis days as a PhD student at Berkeley from 2007 to 2012. Patterson, then a professor in the computer science department, was instrumental in developing Berkeleys lab system. There, professors lead labs that attract PhD students and postdocs to pursue emerging fields like reinforcement learning.
We developed this model of research labs with an opinionated style that were multidisciplinary, Patterson says. Experts from across the university were brought in to offer fresh perspectives on the work. Labs were structured with five-year sunset clauses to encourage high-impact results.
About a year ago, after founding Databricks and Perplexity, Konwinski returned to the department with the goal of using his new wealth to give more young researchers the experience he had. At Berkeley, PhD students sometimes write vision papers on controversial topics. As a student, Konwinski cowrote one on the value of cloud computing for research.
Upon returning, he wanted to take on an even more ambitious subject: how to accelerate and improve the real-world impact of AI research. The result was Shaping AI, a paper coauthored by Konwinski, Patterson, and others, with input from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind researcher and 2024 Nobel Prize winner John Jumper, Eric Schmidt, and former President Barack Obama.
The idea for the Moonshot program took shape through writing the paper. We recognized that a way to help shape AIs impact was to set up prizes and research labs, similar to what we did at Berkeley, Patterson says. The new idea was inducement prizes like the X-Prize, and also new labs in North America to tackle big problems and improve AIs outcomes for public good.
How Laude fits in
Laude is not exactly an incubator or an accelerator. It represents something new, with a clear AI for good mission and a conscientious approach to where and how the research is done.
That starts with transparency. One of the requirements of this funding is to keep everything in the open, Patterson says. There are not many requirements for grant recipients, but one is everything must be open source.
Konwinski is also focused on how researchers handle both the benefits and risks of the technology they create. Returning to Berkeley, he was troubled by the polarized tone of the AI debate.
The AI discourse has ended up a bit polarized, he says. It’s the accelerationists and doomers. You either pump the brakes or youre pedal-to-the-metal. That loses nuance. Konwinski believes in a rational middle ground. It would be just as much of a tragedy to ignore the upsides, especially medium and near-term upsides, as it would be to ignore the catastrophic potential.
Laude will encourage researchers to participate in public discussions about their work, partly to ensure they appreciate the weight of the decisions they are making. Too often, he says, executives like Sam Altman or Sundar Pichai lead the conversation about breakthrough technologies, not the Ilya Sutskevers and Jeff Deans who actually create them.
Getting started
On Thursday, June 19, Konwinskis voice was nearly gone after presiding over Laudes first Ship Your Research Summit the day before in San Francisco. The event brought together 70 handpicked researchers from more than two dozen universities for a day of salon-style discussions. Speakers included Jeff Dean and Dave Patterson, along with an off-record session with the Databricks founding team. Laude plans to make the summit an annual event to strengthen its community and attract new talent in computer science.
Konwinski is particularly passionate when talking about Laudes community-building role. He wants Laude to serve as an anchor for researchers with strong academic ties who believe in open source and are motivated to use AI to tackle tough problems and seize new opportunities.
It means you put people in a room and you make them like part of something bigger than themselves, he says. Its like, ‘Wow, I’m with my people here who want to move humanity forward by turning research into breakthroughs.’ Thats special.
Shortly after the summit, Laude announced its first major investment: $3 million a year for five years, comparable to a National Science Foundation grant, to fund a new AI-focused lab at UC Berkeley. The lab, led by a team of Berkeleys top researchers including Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Joey Gonzalez, and Raluca Ada Papa, is set to open in 2027.
Maria Weston Kuhn had one lingering question about the car crash that forced her to have emergency surgery during a vacation in Ireland: Why did she and her mother sustain serious injuries while her father and brother, who sat in the front, emerge unscathed?“It was a head-on crash and they were closest to the point of contact,” said Kuhn, now 25, who missed a semester of college to recover from the 2019 collision that caused her seat belt to slide off her hips and rupture her intestines by pinning them against her spine. “That was an early clue that something else was going on.”When Kuhn returned home to Maine, she found an article her grandma had clipped from Consumer Reports and left on her bed. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a frontal crash, she learned, yet the dummy used in vehicle tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dates back to the 1970s and is still modeled almost entirely off the body of a man.
A survivor becomes an activist
Kuhn, who is starting law school at New York University this fall, took action and founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward. Its aim was to raise public awareness and eventually encourage members of Congress to sign onto a bill that would require NHTSA to incorporate a more advanced female dummy into its testing.The agency has the final word on whether cars get pulled from the market, and the kind of dummy used in its safety tests could impact which ones receive coveted five-star ratings.“It seems like we have an easy solution here where we can have crash test dummies that reflect an average woman as well as a man,” Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican who has introduced the legislation the past two sessions, told The Associated Press.Senators from both parties have signed onto Fischer’s “She Drives Act,” and the transportation secretaries from the past two presidential administrations have expressed support for updating the rules.But for various reasons, the push for new safety requirements has been moving at a sluggish pace. That’s particularly true in the U.S., where much of the research is happening and where around 40,000 people are killed each year in car crashes.
Evolution of a crash test dummy
The crash test dummy currently used in NHTSA five-star testing is called the Hybrid III, which was developed in 1978 and modeled after a 5-foot-9, 171-pound man (the average size in the 1970s but about 29 pounds lighter than today’s average). What’s known as the female dummy is essentially a much smaller version of the male model with a rubber jacket to represent breasts. It’s routinely tested in the passenger seat or the back seat but seldom in the driver’s seat, even though the majority of licensed drivers are women.“What they didn’t do is design a crash test dummy that has all the sensors in the areas where a woman would be injured differently than a man,” said Christopher O’Connor, president and CEO of the Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Humanetics Group, which has spent more than a decade developing and refining one.A female dummy from Humanetics equipped with all of the available sensors costs around $1 million, about twice the cost of the Hybrid used now.But, O’Connor says, the more expensive dummy far more accurately reflects the anatomical differences between the sexesincluding in the shape of the neck, collarbone, pelvis, and legs, which one NHTSA study found account for about 80% more injuries by women in a car crash compared to men.Such physical dummies will always be needed for vehicle safety tests, and to verify the accuracy of virtual tests, O’Connor said.Europe incorporated the more advanced male dummy developed by Humanetics’ engineers, the THOR 50M (based on a 50th percentile man), into its testing procedures soon after Kuhn’s 2019 crash in Ireland. Several other countries, including China and Japan, have adopted it as well.But that model and the female version the company uses for comparison, the THOR 5F (based on a 5th percentile woman), have been met with skepticism from some American automakers who argue the more sophisticated devices may exaggerate injury risks and undercut the value of some safety features such as seat belts and airbags.
A debate over whether more sensors mean more safety
Bridget Walchesky, 19, had to be flown to a hospital, where she required eight surgeries over a month, after a 2022 crash near her home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that killed her friend, who was driving. While acknowledging the seat belt likely saved her life, Walchesky said some of the injuriesincluding her broken collarbonewere the result of it pinning her too tightly, which she views as something better safety testing focused on women could improve.“Seat belts aren’t really built for bodies on females,” Walchesky said. “Some of my injuries, the way the force hit me, they were probably worsened.”The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, said in a statement to the AP that the better way to ensure safetywhich it called its top priorityis through upgrades to the existing Hybrid dummy rather than mandating a new one.“This can happen on a faster timeline and lead to quicker safety improvements than requiring NHTSA to adopt unproven crash test dummy technology,” the alliance said.Humanetics’ THOR dummies received high marks in the vehicle safety agency’s early tests. Using cadavers from actual crashes to compare the results, NHTSA found they outperformed the existing Hybrid in predicting almost all injuriesincluding to the head, neck, shoulders, abdomen, and legs.A separate review by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research arm funded by auto insurers, was far more critical of the dummy’s ability to predict chest injuries in a frontal crash. Despite the vast expansion in the number of sensors, the insurance institute’s testing found, the male THOR dummy was less accurate than the current Hybrid dummies, which also had limitations.“More isn’t necessarily better,” said Jessica Jermakian, senior vice president for vehicle research at IIHS. “You also have to be confident that the data is telling you the right things about how a real person would fare in that crash.”
The slow pace of changing the rules
NHTSA’s budget plan commits to developing the female THOR 5F version with the ultimate goal of incorporating it into the testing. But there could be a long wait considering the THOR’s male version adopted by other countries is still awaiting final approval in the U.S.A 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office, which conducts research for Congress, cited numerous “missed milestones” in NHTSA’s development of various crash dummy enhancementsincluding in the THOR models.Kuhn acknowledges being frustrated by the slow process of trying to change the regulations. She says she understands why there’s reluctance from auto companies if they fear being forced to make widespread design changes with more consideration for women’s safety.
Recent layoffs from technology and media companies and government agencies might have you thinking about job security.Losing your job is a difficult thing to process and you might feel the impact in several parts of your life. But there are things you can do to alleviate some of the stress and anxiety.If you’ve been laid off, experts recommend that you first take a moment to process and then move on with a plan for your job search.“A layoff can feel so personal but it’s not a reflection of your value or what you contributed. Especially in the U.S., the work we do is so tied to our identity,” said Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a financial therapist.Here are some expert recommendations to help you take care of your finances and your mental health if you’ve lost your job:
Take a break to process
Losing your job can cause a lot of stress and financial anxiety, so it’s important that you take time to emotionally process.“Acknowledge and normalize that they’re going to feel a range of emotions, whether it’s anger or sadness,” Bryan-Podvin said.Whether you are feeling sadness, shock, anger or even relief, taking a moment to feel those emotions can help you move forward.
Review your current financial situation
To make plans for the future, it’s essential that you review your current financial situation, said career coach Marlo Lyons.If you have a budget, take a closer look and review whether you have expenses that you can temporarily cut to save money. Lyons recommends that you know how long your severance package will last if you’re receiving one.Applying for unemployment benefits as soon as possible can help alleviate some of the financial stress of a layoff. While the amount you get for unemployment might not be as much as your salary, it can help you to stay afloat for some time, Lyons said.The Labor Department has tips on applying for unemployment.
Remember that you are not your job
Getting laid off from a job can affect your self-esteem, so Bryan-Podvin recommends that you create a list of good qualities about yourself that add to your overall value as a person. Bryan-Podvin calls this a “non-financial asset list.”“If I were doing a non-financial asset list on myself I might say I’m a pretty good partner and a fun aunt,” she said.When working with her clients, Bryan-Podvin recommends that they create this list to remind them that their self-worth is part of their net worth.
Adjust spending
If you lose your job, you’ll need to be more strategic about your spending, said Jesse Mecham, founder of the money management app YNAB.“In a layoff, it becomes even more imperative that you treat every dollar with more attention than you have in the past,” Mecham said.Part of YNAB’s budgeting strategy is giving each dollar a job, whether it is to pay rent, buy groceries or add to your savings account.When adjusting your spending, Bryan-Podvin also recommends that you approach this with some compassion. Since cutting back can bleed into not doing activities that make you happy, she recommends reminding yourself that this is a temporary pause rather than a permanent change in your lifestyle.
Avoid overusing your credit card
While utilizing your credit card to pay for some expenses is almost inevitable, it’s best to not completely lean on credit while you’re searching for a new job.“If getting a new job takes them a little longer than they thought, that credit card has just become an anchor for them,” Mecham said.Even though unemployment is temporary, Mecham recommends cutting expenses rather than keeping them at the same level and leaning on credit.
Find community resources
Look for community resources, whether that means finding a food bank near you or applying for a temporary hardship program.“Lots of communities offer temporary hardship programs when it comes to necessary bills, such as electricity or water,” Bryan-Podvin said.USA.Gov offers a benefit finder where you can find available programs and how to apply.
Approach your job search with a plan
As you are applying to new jobs, Lyons recommends that you take some time to assess if your professional goals are still the same.If you’re continuing in the same field, Lyons recommends that you make your resume “forward-looking,” which means showing your future employer what you can do, not just what you have done.“You want to show the employer what you can do, what unique value you can bring to that particular job that no other candidate can bring because of your previous experience,” Lyons said.Lyons also recommends that you activate your network by reaching out to past colleagues on LinkedIn or attending industry networking events. Online certifications are another great way to make yourself a better candidate, she added.
Create and maintain a routine
Having a routine can help you take care of your mental health and keep a cadence of applying to jobs.Plan your days so they include eating at your usual time, exercising and applying for jobs for a specific amount of time.“When we are laid off, unemployment can feel really aimless, especially if it came at us kind of out of nowhere,” Bryan-Podvin said.It’s also important to avoid isolating yourself and lean on your support system for emotional support, she added.
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Adriana Morga, Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts are due to gather Tuesday for a summit that could unite the world’s biggest security organization around a new defense spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies.Just a week ago, things had seemed rosy. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was optimistic the European members and Canada would commit to invest at least as much of their economic growth on defense as the United States does for the first time.Then Spain rejected the new NATO target for each country to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on defense needs, calling it “unreasonable.” Trump also insists on that figure. The alliance operates on a consensus that requires the backing of all 32 members.The following day, Trump said the U.S. should not have to respect the goal.“I don’t think we should, but I think they should,” he said. Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, saying: “NATO is going to have to deal with Spain. Spain’s been a very low payer.” He also criticized Canada as “a low payer.”Spain was the lowest spender in the alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure, while Canada was spending 1.45%, according to NATO figures.Then Trump ordered the bombing of nuclear installations in Iran. In 2003, the U.S.-led war on Iraq deeply divided NATO, as France and Germany led opposition to the attack, while Britain and Spain joined the coalition.European allies and Canada also want Ukraine to be at the top of the summit agenda, but they are wary that Trump might not want President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to steal the limelight.
A short summit, decades of mutual security
The two-day summit in The Hague involves an informal dinner Tuesday and one working session Wednesday morning. A very short summit statement has been drafted to ensure the meeting is not derailed by fights over details and wording.Indeed, much about this NATO summit is brief, even though ripples could be felt for years.Founded in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed by 12 nations to counter the threat to security in Europe posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, notably via a strong U.S. presence on the continent.Dealing with Moscow is in its DNA. Keeping the peace outside the Euro-Atlantic area is not.NATO’s ranks have grown to 32 countries since the Washington Treaty was signed 75 years ago. Sweden joined last year, worried by an increasingly aggressive Russia.NATO’s collective security guaranteeArticle 5 of the treatyunderpins its credibility.It’s a political commitment by all countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack. Trump has suggested he is committed to that pledge, but he has also sowed doubt about his intentions. He has said the U.S. intends to remain a member of the alliance.
A civilian runs NATO, but the U.S. and its military hold power
The United States is NATO’s most powerful member. It spends much more on defense than any other ally and far outweighs its partners in terms of military muscle. Washington has traditionally driven the agenda but has stepped back under Trump.The U.S. nuclear arsenal provides strategic deterrence against would-be adversaries.NATO’s day-to-day work is led by Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister.As its top civilian official, he chairs almost weekly meetings of ambassadors in the North Atlantic Council at its Brussels headquarters. He chairs other “NACs” at ministerial and leader levels. Rutte runs NATO headquarters, trying to foster consensus and to speak on behalf of all members.NATO’s military headquarters is based nearby in Mons, Belgium. It is always run by a top U.S. officer.
Ukraine’s role at the summit is unclear
With Trump demanding greater defense spending, it’s unclear what role Ukraine will play at the summit. Zelenskyy has been invited, but it’s unclear whether he will have a seat at NATO’s table, although he may take part in Tuesday’s dinner. Russia’s war in Ukraine usually dominates such meetings.More broadly, NATO itself is not arming Ukraine. As an organization, it possesses no weapons of any kind. Collectively, it provides only non-lethal supportfuel, combat rations, medical supplies, body armor, and equipment to counter drones or mines.But individually, members do send arms. European allies provided 60% of the military support that Ukraine received in 2024. NATO coordinates those weapons deliveries via a hub on the Polish border and helps organize training for Ukrainian troops.
NATO’s troop plans
A key part of the commitment for allies to defend one another is to deter Russia, or any other adversary, from attacking in the first place. Finland and Sweden joined NATO recently because of this concern.Under NATO’s new military plans, 300,000 military personnel would be deployed within 30 days to counter any attack, whether it be on land, at sea, by air or in cyberspace. But experts doubt whether the allies could muster the troop numbers.It’s not just about troop and equipment numbers. An adversary would be less likely to challenge NATO if it thought the allies would use the forces it controls. Trump’s threats against U.S. alliesincluding imposing tariffs on themhas weakened that deterrence.
The U.S. is carrying the biggest military burden
Due to high U.S. defense spending over many years, the American armed forces have more personnel and superior weapons but also significant transportation and logistics assets.Other allies are starting to spend more, though. After years of cuts, NATO members committed to ramp up their national defense budgets in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the NATO allies agreed to make 2% of GDP the minimum spending level. Last year, 22 countries were expected to hit that target, up from only three a decade ago.In The Hague, the allies were expected to up the ante to 3.5%, plus a further 1.5% for things like improving roads, bridges, ports and airfields or preparing societies to deal with future conflicts. Whether they will now remains an open question.
Lorne Cook, Associated Press
