President Donald Trump on Friday called for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors to usurp the power of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, criticizing the head of the U.S. central bank for not cutting short-term interest rates.Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Powell “stubborn.” The Fed chair has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by the Republican president over several months.The Fed has the responsibility of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment. Powell has held its benchmark rate for overnight loans constant this year, saying that Fed officials needed to see what impact Trump’s massive tariffs had on inflation.If Powell doesn’t “substantially” lower rates, Trump said, “THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”Two of the seven Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, issued statements Friday saying they see the tariffs as having a one-time impact on prices and the job market as likely softening. As a result, the two dissented at the Fed meeting on Wednesday and pushed for slight rate cuts relative to what Trump was seeking.Even though Trump, who nominated Waller and Bowman, has claimed the U.S. economy is booming, he welcomed their arguments.“STRONG DISSENTS ON FED BOARD,” he said in a separate Truth Social post. “IT WILL ONLY GET STRONGER!”Friday’s jobs report showed a rapidly decelerating economy, as just 73,000 jobs were added in July and downward revisions brought down the June and May totals to 19,000 and 14,000, respectively.Trump sees the rate cuts as leading to stronger growth and lower debt servicing costs for the federal government and homebuyers. The president argues there is virtually no inflation, even though the Fed’s preferred measure is running at an annual rate of 2.6%, slightly higher than the Fed’s 2% target.Trump has called for slashing the Fed’s benchmark rate by 3 percentage points, bringing it down dramatically from its current average of 4.33%. The risk is that a rate cut that large could cause more money to come into the economy than can be absorbed, possibly causing inflation to accelerate.The Supreme Court suggested in a May ruling that Trump could not remove Powell for policy disagreements. This led the White House to investigate whether the Fed chair could be fired for cause because of the cost overruns in its $2.5 billion renovation projects.Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026, at which point Trump can put his Senate-confirmed pick in the seat.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the Federal Reserve System at https://apnews.com/hub/federal-reserve-system.
Josh Boak, Associated Press
How much does Oreo parent Mondelez crave the chocolate-peanut butter alchemy of Reeses? It has twice attempted to acquire Reeses parent, The Hershey Company, in 2016 and 2024. Well, if you cant buy em, collab with them, as Oreo and Reeses rocked the snackternet in late July with news of the forthcoming permanent additions to their lineups: Reeses Oreo Cup and the Oreo Reeses Cookie.
I caught up with the top marketers from both Reeses and Oreo to understand how these two iconic brands came together. Paid subscribers will learn:
How you create a partnership that goes beyond novelty and creates true value for customers and companies alike.
Why these kind of partnerships are essential to wooing Gen Z customers.
The role TikTok and fan culture played in making this collab happen.
What the two brands learned from the 2014 limited edition Reeses peanut butter-filled Oreos.
[Image: Hershey]
The Oreo-Reese’s combo isn’t just some parent company internal mash-up, like Flamin Hot Mountain Dew. These are two separate corporations, coming together for a joint product. The Reeses Oreo Cup is an adaption of the classic peanut butter cup, but combining milk chocolate and white creme peanut butter cups with Oreo cookie crumbs. The Oreo Reeses Cookie is Reeses peanut buttery creme with Oreo cookie crumbs, sandwiched between Oreos classic chocolate cookie wafers.
Both Hersheys and Mondelez stock prices are down by almost 5% over the past year, though Mondelezs Q2 earnings, reported this week, showed its second-quarter net revenue was up 7.7% to $8.98 billion, while Hersheys Q2 revenue (GAAP) climbed 26.0% year over year, reaching $2.6 billion.
Michelle Deignan, Vice President of Oreo U.S. at Mondelez International, and Dan Mohnshine, Vice President, U.S. Confection Marketing at The Hershey Company, say both companies see this as both a strategic win in the grocery aisle, as well as a significant long-term investment in fan engagement.
We spoke Deignan and Mohnshine to understand how these two iconic brands came together. They offer five lessons for creating a partnership that goes beyond novelty and creates true value for customers and companies alike.
Lesson 1: Listen to the fans
Both Mondelez and The Hershey Company credit a long and sustained enthusiasm among fans across social media with encouraging this official partnership.
You always know you’re onto a winner when you create something that fans are already doing and asking for, says Deignan. Go to TikTok and youll see fans putting a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inside two Oreo wafers. So that was the perfect jumping off point for us.
Mohnshine says the key for both brands was just listening to consumers. Reese’s and Oreo are the combination most named, especially among Gen Z audiences who are interested in collaborations, generally, but especially when it involves two iconic brands. So it was an easy conversation for us.
[Images: Mondelz International, Inc.]
Lesson 2: It pays to commit
Between the two brands, Oreo has definitely been more active on brand product collaborations. Weve seen variations on the cookie from Coca-Cola, Sour Patch Kids, Ritz crackers, Barefoot Wines, streetwear kings Supreme, as well as artist collabs with Lady Gaga and Blackpink.
Reeses may not have the laundry list of brand partners, but the brand has long toyed with a variety of ways it can deliver its distinct combo of peanut butter and chocolate. Witness the Chocolate Lava Big Cup, and PBJ versions.
Deignan says the key for this new partnership was to build on what the brand has already done in a way that would get people excited and talking about it. Specifically, this was about leveling up from a limited edition collab the two brands released in 2014. It featured Reeses peanut butter creme in an Oreo cookie.
We have history here, and people have been begging us ever since to bring it back, says Deignan. It didn’t have quite the creamy, distinctive flavor. I think that we’ve nailed it this time around, and we feel like we’ve elevated that experience.
Like Oreo, Reeses uses LTO (limited time offers) to test the market. Mohnshine says the brand does extensive research to determine if certain ideas are going to have staying power. The Reese’s Oreo cup has that, and in some way, we didn’t even have to do the research because consumers were literally asking for it. Its always great to see confirmation show up in the scientific research to complement what we observe online.
When evaluating these ideas, Mohnshine says the brand has two main objectives: How do we drive news on the brand and excitement on the brand? And is there a way that we̻re actually building and leaning into that brand equity in an even bigger way?
[Image: Hershey]
Lesson 3: Iron out your collab strategy
If youve ever been in a corporate boardroom in any decision-making capacity or situation, you know that combining two signature products like this successfully is a minor miracle.
First, each brand had to be really clear up front with some basics like: who is the target consumer? Then there is establishing the rules of engagement and decision rights, which are critical.
Its collaboration, collaboration, collaboration, but also holding standards, says Mohnshine. Each of us have strong, high expectations that consumers have for our brands. So when you bring them together, how does Oreo show up within Reese’s? How does Reese’s show up within Oreo? There is a strong need to fit those brand standards. There’s some judgment involved by the leaders on the marketing team, and there’s also delivery from an R&D and technical perspective. Are you doing this in a way that a consumer would believe it? And we went through stringent testing to ensure that.
Lesson 4: Prepare for a lot of back and forth
Giant brands of any kind have to navigate plenty of red tape and internal process to get anything done. The potential is high for that complexity to lead to tension when you have two brands trying to accomplish something together. Both Deignan and Mohnshine say there is value in that inherent tension.
When you bring two brands the size of ours together, our job is to truly make sure that we celebrate and protect what’s distinctive about both, says Deignan. That has been our common north star over the last two years, and that filters through everything. What’s been great about the process is, whilst collaborative, we’ve also made each other better, and we’ve pushed each other to make the best product and communications available.
There’s going to be tension, there’s going to be some additional collaboration and communication required versus your typical process, says Mohnshine. However, to Michelle’s point, having the partners push each other to be better, you end up in a better place, even if it takes a little bit more communication and rigor.
[Image: Hershey]
Lesson 5: Use collabs to drive business results
For many brands, collabs have gone far beyond sheer novelty and now impact significant business results. Deignan says that Oreo collabs have consistently helped grow its consumer base over the years.
They deliver particularly well with Gen Z and younger demos, of course, dependent on the collab and the partnership you have, says Deignan. The role that these collabs play in our overall brand strategy and bringing households into the brand has been a key component of why we’ve continued to build and keep them as a mainstay in our playbook.
For Reeses, Mohnshine says a collab like this helps the brand branch out beyond its comfort zone. For us, the most important thing is breaking the framework with how we execute and envision innovation, he says. And that means taking more of an external viewpoint, not just on consumers, which is table stakes, but also on partners, collaborators, even retailers. The idea is to look at the total ecosystem and bring something that’s truly newsworthy and think in nontraditional ways.
Apple shares rose 2% in premarket trading on Friday, after the iPhone maker’s quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, indicating resilience in the face of global trade tensions and intensifying artificial intelligence rivalry. Driven by a sharp rebound in its flagship phone sales, Apple posted its fastest revenue growth since 2021 and forecast “mid to high single digit” growth for the current quarter, well above analysts’ 3.27% estimate.
“Although there are specific drivers like China subsidies that can be attributed for some of the exceptional strength, the acceleration in revenue growth is equally surprising, especially in a quarter when consumers typically hold off purchases ahead of the next iPhone launch in September,” J.P.Morgan analysts said.
Apple has been rebalancing its manufacturing footprint, sourcing iPhones from India and other products such as Macs and Apple Watches from Vietnam, while much of its product line still benefits from tariff exemptions.
CEO Tim Cook warned that tariffs would raise costs by $1.1 billion in the current quarter after the company said it took an $800 million hit from tariffs in the third quarter.
The company also faces stiff competition from hardware rivals such as Samsung Electronics in the premium smartphone space and software giant Alphabet, which is rapidly embedding AI into Android and ramping up AI spending with growing returns.
Among the ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks, Apple has lagged behind this year, with its stock down 17%, as it grapples with staying competitive in the fast-evolving AI space.Apple has delayed the release of its AI-enhanced virtual assistant Siri, and was slow to launch Apple Intelligence, but Cook said the company is making headway and scaling up its AI spending to catch up with Big Tech rivals.”Brand loyalty gives Apple time to get the AI transition right, but it needs to start delivering”, said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
Joel Jose and Alun John, Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, pressing ahead with his plans to reorder the global economy ahead of a Friday trade deal deadline.
Trump set rates including a 35% duty on many goods from Canada, 50% for Brazil, 25% for India, 20% for Taiwan and 39% for Switzerland, according to a presidential executive order.
The order listed higher import duty rates of 10% to 41% starting in seven days for 69 trading partners as the 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) deadline approached.
Some of them had reached tariff-reducing deals; others had no opportunity to negotiate with his administration. Trump included an exception for some goods shipped within the coming week.
Goods from all other countries not listed would be subject to a 10% U.S. import tax. Trump had previously said that rate might be higher.
The administration also teased that more trade deals were in the pipeline as it seeks to close trade deficits and boost domestic factories.
Facing a Friday deadline of his making, the Republican president has tapped emergency powers, pressured foreign leaders, and pressed ahead with trade policies that sparked a market sell-off when they were first announced in April.
This time, markets had a more muted reaction. Stocks and equity futures fell modestly in Friday morning trading in Asia.
Trump’s order said that some trading partners, “despite having engaged in negotiations, have offered terms that, in my judgment, do not sufficiently address imbalances in our trading relationship or have failed to align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national-security matters.”
Other details are still to come, including on the “rules of origin” that will determine what products might face even higher tariffs.
Trump also said “we have made a few deals today that are excellent deals for the country,” and a U.S. official later told reporters that they were still to be announced.
CANADA, MEXICO
Trump issued a separate order for Canada that raises the rate on Canadian goods subject to fentanyl-related tariffs to 35%, from 25% previously, saying Canada had “failed to cooperate” in curbing illicit narcotics flows into the U.S.
The higher tariffs on Canadian goods contrasted sharply with Trump’s decision to grant Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30% on many goods to provide more time to negotiate a broader trade pact.
Trump complained to reporters earlier that Canada had “been very poorly led.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was disappointed by Trump’s decision, and vowed to take action to protect Canadian jobs and diversify the country’s export markets.
“While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,” he said in a post on X.
The extension for Mexico avoids a 30% tariff on most Mexican non-automotive and non-metal goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade and came after a Thursday morning call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow,” Sheinbaum wrote on X, adding that the Trump call was “very good.”
About 85% of U.S. imports from Mexico comply with the rules of origin outlined in the USMCA, shielding them from 25% tariffs related to fentanyl, according to Mexico’s economy ministry.
Trump said the U.S. would continue to levy a 50% tariff on Mexican steel, aluminum and copper and a 25% tariff on Mexican autos and on non-USMCA-compliant goods subject to tariffs related to the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
“Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, without providing details.
INDIA DISCORD
Goods from India appeared to be headed for a 25% tariff after talks bogged down over access to India’s agriculture sector, drawing a higher-rate threat from Trump that also included an unspecified penalty for India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Although negotiations with India were continuing, New Delhi vowed to protect the country’s labor-intensive farm sector, and the threat of higher rates from Trump triggered outrage from the opposition party and a slump in the rupee.
Trump’s rollout of higher import taxes on Friday comes amid more evidence they have begun driving up consumer goods prices.
Commerce Department data released Thursday showed prices for home furnishings and durable household equipment jumped 1.3% in June, the biggest gain since March 2022. Recreational goods and vehicles prices shot up 0.9%, the most since February 2024. Prices for clothing and footwear rose 0.4%.
TOUGH QUESTIONS FROM JUDGES
Trump hit Brazil’s exports on Wednesday with a steep 50% tariff as he escalated his fight with Latin America’s largest economy over its prosecution of his friend and former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from heavier levies.
The run-up to Trump’s tariff deadline was unfolding as federal appeals court judges sharply questioned Trump’s use of a sweeping emergency powers law to justify his sweeping tariffs of up to 50% on nearly all trading partners.
Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare an emergency over the growing U.S. trade deficit and impose his “reciprocal” tariffs and a separate fentanyl emergency.
The Court of International Trade ruled in May that the actions exceeded his executive authority, and questions from judges during oral arguments before the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit in Washington indicated further skepticism.
Meanwhile, China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump’s administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.
A U.S. official told reporters that they are making progress toward a deal.
Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, and Aftab Ahmed
David Lawder, Trevor Hunnicutt and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Reuters
The Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee is dubbed the “Last Great Colosseumand for good reason. Its a massive homage to spectacle, with a seating capacity of around 150,000 encircling a half-mile track thats home to various NASCAR races throughout the year.
Now, it’s being transformed for another purpose: It will serve as the field for the biggest regular-season baseball game of all time.
On August 2, Bristol is hosting the new Speedway Classic, which will see the Cincinnati Reds face off against the Atlanta Braves in the biggest Major League Baseball (MLB) game ever played in Tennessee. So far, more than 85,000 tickets have been solda figure thats higher than the capacity of both teams stadiums put together, and a figure that breaks the record for the biggest regular-season game, set in 1954 when Cleveland hosted the Yankees.
[Rendering: MLB]
In Bristol there will be headlining music acts, cameras mounted on custom RC car rigs and, nestled within that gray concrete racetrack, the striking verdant green of a baseball field.
To see a ballpark sitting in the middle of a racetrack is not something that you see every day, says Jeremiah Yolkut, SVP of global events for MLB.
Heres how it got there.
[Photo: Randy Sartin/MLB Photos via Getty Images]
THE COLOSSUS PROBLEM
MLB has been doing special-event games for the past nine years, with highlights including the Negro leagues tribute last year in Birmingham, Alabama and the Field of Dreams games in Iowa. Yolkut says MLB had pondered doing a game at a speedway, but most are simply too long and wide to be a fitting frame for a regulation-sized field. But then in September 2021, they went to check out Bristol, and were blown away by the trackand how its dimensions might uniquely cradle a baseball field.
That kicked off six to nine months of viability studies. The most logical place to put a field would be at the center of the venuebut there was one critical problem: Bristol is home to the 127-ton Colossus, the worlds largest center-hung outdoor scoreboard. It would cut right through center field, posing a massive logistical issue in the field of play.
[Photo: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image]
Then there was the challenge of finding the optimal field positioning to avoid the sun being in players eyes; the issue of permanent structures on-site that could not be removed; the high banks of the tracks turns, and, well, that sacrosanct track itself. (We could not repave Bristol Motor Speedway to level the entire space, Yolkut notes.)
They eventually jigsawed everything together and discovered an orientation within the infield of the track that satisfied all the requirements. They put the Colossus into foul territoryand then they got to work.
[Photo: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image]
DIRT RECIPES AND TIM MCGRAW
Work started in May with a crew of around 150, who removed 1,000 feet of pit walls, demolished half of a building, removed a gas pump station, and other foundational tasks. Next, hundreds more workers took on the construction phase.
Over the years, MLB has developed relationships with various specialty partners on bringing baseball to unconventional spaces, such as the global design firm Populous and the commercial landscaper BrightView.
[Photo: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image]
The team had to first raise and level the ground with 17,500 tons of rock from Tennessee; they then brought in 340 tons of clay from Pennsylvania, which utilizes the same dirt recipe as 25 other professional baseball stadium (since the clay must be kept moist, Yolkut says they also installed an irrigation system).
Next came the turf124,000 square feet of Diamond Series Astroturf, the same kind that is used on the Toronto Blue Jays home field. And then all the rest: 450 wall pads for the perimeter; two 60-foot foul poles; 80,000 square feet of backstop netting; 275 extra light fixtures; 2,400 extra infield seats; and two full bullpens and dugouts.
[Photo: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image]
Yolkut adds that the team clubhouses had to be on par with what players are used to at home. To that end, each facility includes showers, bathrooms, a meal room, a training room, a video room, stretching area, weight room, and so on.
And thats just half of Bristol. MLB is making use of the entire venue, and the rest of it will be home to a fan experience and pregame concert with Tim McGraw, Pitbull, and Jake Owen.
The event is also set to feature a pregame player parade inspired by NASCAR’s driver intros, and when Fox Sports televises the game, theyll have extra tech on hand consistent with the race themesuch as an RC car camera that will show viewers the perspective of what its like to be on the track at Bristol, and the baseball diamonds unique location within the infield.
[Photo: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos/Getty Images]
The teardown
When the big game ends, the field will disappear as quickly as it went upand for good reason, as NASCAR races come to the track September 11 to 13. Yolkut says the teardown is a three-week marathon that involves around 200 crew members, with the turf itself being donated to East Tennessee State University.
It’s an exhaustive process, he says. In fact, a lot of the partners have separate teams that literally come in at the end of the event to do it.
[Photo: Earl Neikirk/Neikirk Image]
You may wonder how the Reds and Braves wound up in the biggest baseball game of all timeand Yolkut says it first came down to location. Atlanta and Cincinnati are both within a reasonable driving distance of Bristol, and beyond that, These teams have players that are fast, that are energized, that are young, and are bringing a lot of that power to the game.
The ticket sales are perhaps a testament to that strategyand ultimately, Yolkut notes that itll be as much a spectacle for those fans on-site and at home as it will be for the players themselves.
To see 90,000 people watching you is not something any of these players have had in their baseball time, he says. They’ve played in all kinds of venues, but I think they’re going to be mystified by just that feeling and that Last Great Colosseum feel. . . . I think that’ll be a pretty magical moment.
Theres just something about a bubbly drink, warm weather, and a sunny patio. The Spritz is the perfect summer cocktail, so it makes sense that the holiday celebrating it takes place in the warmer months.
To commemorate National Spritz Day today (Friday, August 1), lets mix one part history, one part variations of the cocktail, with a splash of ways to celebrate.
How the Spritz came to be
Before the Spritz became more formalized, it was born of necessity. The cocktail can trace its origins to the mid-19th century Veneto region. At the time, the floating city was ruled by Austrian soldiers who did not like how strong Italian wines were. They started to dilute it with a spritz of water. The genesis of a more complex cocktail had begun.
Over time, the water would turn into sparkling and bitter liqueurs would also be added.
A simple recipe
At its core, the classic modern Spritz is made up of three parts sparkling or white wine, two parts of your choice of a bitter liqueur (amaro), and one part soda water. If you need a handy way to remember it, just count down from three.
In 1919, brothers Luigi and Silvio Barbieri created Aperol, a bitter liqueur that would help popularize the cocktail. This adult beverage would really take off internationally in the 1950s.
Variations on the theme
The Aperol Spritz is probably the best known, but there are several options if you want to explore further.
The Hugo Spritz utilizes an elderflower liqueur such as acqua santa or St-Germain instead of an amaro and hails from Northern Italy.
Can you guess what the Campari Spritz uses? If you said Campari, youd be correct. The same principle applies to the Limoncello Spritz.
For those choosing not to drink alcohol, turn to non-alcoholic liqueurs and wines.
How to celebrate National Spritz Day
The best way to celebrate this holiday is to find a rooftop bar or somewhere outdoors with an ocean breeze. Order a round for your friends and yap the night away. Be forewarned: Alcohol can bring on spontaneous dance parties.
Here are some deals and discounts that will help your wallet.
If you find yourself in New York City, Houston Hall is offering $10 Aperol Spritzes and $59 Aperol Spritz Towers. Plus at 7 p.m., brand ambassadors from Aperol will be on hand for fun freebies.
West Coast friends can check out Punch Bowl Socials $10 custom creations. There are locations in San Diego, Rancho Cucamonga, and Sacramento as well as other venues across the country.
A chain restaurant option is Carrabbas Italian Grill. Their Happy Hour menu offers an $8 Passion Pear Spritz all year long. So you can celebrate whenever you choose.
However you imbibe today, make sure to say saluti!
Its an understatement to say that Reddit had an excellent second quarter. On Thursday, July 31, the social media company reported a boost in revenue from $281 million to $500 milliona 78% increase year-over-year (YOY).
Its the companys fastest quarterly growth in three years and blew past the $425 million predicted by Wall Street, according to consensus estimates cited by Bloomberg. Its also the most significant jump since Reddit went public in March 2024, and investors are responding in spades.
Reddits stock price (NYSE: RDDT) has jumped over 15% during after-hours and into premarket trading on Friday.
The social media company can thank advertising, in large part. Second-quarter ad revenue increased by 84% YOY, hitting $465 million, Reddit reported. Notably, its daily active users also increased 21% YOY, to 110 million.
Feeding the beast with human-powered knowledge
Reddit is walking an interesting line between the benefits of AI and the desire among users for real human connections. It has rolled out features like Reddit Answers, an AI tool that summarizes conversations and posts.
But Reddit also focuses on the importance of human-centric discussion.
For people, conversation and connection are becoming more valuable and rare, Reddit cofounder and CEO Steve Huffman stated in a quarter-two earnings call. In a world increasingly dominated by algorithms and automation, the need for human voices has never been greater.
Huffman cites a recent study that reportedly found 80% of users believe some questions can only be answered by humans as opposed to AI-generated summaries.
But he follows it up by adding that for LLM and AI search engines, these conversations and the knowledge they create are essential for training.
So is Reddits idea to focus on human conversation until it gives AI enough info to replace it?
According to Huffman, not necessarily.
In an automated world that depends on human knowledge, we view Reddit as one of the most important and differentiated data sources,” he stated. “We believe this validates what weve always thought, human conversation is not being replaced by AI, instead, its becoming more important.”
He added: “AI doesnt invent knowledge, it learns from us, from real people, sharing real perspectives. You cant have artificial intelligence without actual intelligence.
OpenAI has removed a controversial opt-in feature that had led to some private chats appearing in Google search results, following reporting by Fast Company that found sensitive conversations were becoming publicly accessible.
Earlier this week, Fast Company revealed that private ChatGPT conversationssome involving highly sensitive topics like drug use and sexual healthwere unexpectedly showing up in Google search results. The issue appeared to stem from arguably vague language in the apps Share feature, which included an option that may have misled users into making their chats publicly searchable.
When users clicked Share, they were presented with an option to tick a box labeled Make this chat discoverable. Beneath that, in smaller, lighter text, was a caveat explaining that the chat could then appear in search engine results.
Within hours of the backlash spreading on social media, OpenAI pulled the feature and began working to scrub exposed conversations from search results.
Ultimately we think this feature introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to, so we’re removing the option, said Dane Stuckey, OpenAIs chief information security officer, in a post on X. We’re also working to remove indexed content from the relevant search engines.
We just removed a feature from @ChatGPTapp that allowed users to make their conversations discoverable by search engines, such as Google. This was a short-lived experiment to help people discover useful conversations. This feature required users to opt-in, first by picking a chat pic.twitter.com/mGI3lF05Ua— DAN (@cryps1s) July 31, 2025
Stuckeys comments mark a reversal from the companys stance earlier this week, when it maintained that the features labeling was sufficiently clear.
Rachel Tobac, a cybersecurity analyst and CEO of SocialProof Security, commended OpenAI for its prompt response once it became clear that users were unintentionally sharing sensitive content. We know that companies will make mistakes sometimes, they may implement a feature on a website that users dont understand and impact their privacy or security, she says. Its great to see swift and decisive action from the ChatGPT team here to shut that feature down and keep users privacy a top priority.
In his post, OpenAI’s Stuckey characterized the feature as a short-lived experiment. But Carissa Veliz, an AI ethicist at the University of Oxford, says the implications of such experiments are troubling.
Tech companies use the general population as guinea pigs, she says. They do something, they try it out on the population, and see if somebody complains.
Justin Timberlake has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, the former NSYNC star said on Instagram Thursday.Timberlake shared the news in a post commemorating his Forget Tomorrow tour, which wrapped in Turkey on Wednesday, adding that the disease “can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.”The “SexyBack” singer, who described himself as a private person, wrote he considered ending the tour when diagnosed, but wrote that he “decided the joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling. I’m so glad I kept going.”Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer ticks. It can cause flu-like conditions, neurological problems, joint paint and other symptoms. In the vast majority of cases, Lyme disease is successfully treated with antibiotics.“I honestly don’t know what my future is onstage, but I’ll always cherish this run! And all of them before! It’s been the stuff of legend for me,” Timberlake wrote.Timberlake canceled and postponed multiple shows throughout the tour’s run, citing health issues including bronchitis and laryngitis. Six of his U.S. shows were postponed from October and November to February, the singer announced on Instagram. Timberlake ultimately canceled the last show of the U.S. leg of the tour in Ohio due to the flu in February.Representatives for Timberlake did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.
Timberlake pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in New York’s Hamptons in 2024. As part of his plea deal, the singer gave a public safety announcement in September, urging drivers not to get behind the wheel after drinking.The 10-time Grammy winner ended the post thanking his wife, Jessica Biel, and their two sons, Silas and Phin, saying “nothing is more powerful than your unconditional love. You are my heart and my home. I’m on my way.”
About Lyme disease
Exactly how often Lyme disease strikes isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites insurance records suggesting 476,000 people are treated for Lyme disease in the U.S. each year.Black-legged ticks, also called deer ticks, carry Lyme-causing bacteria.The infection initially causes fatigue, fever and joint pain. Often but not always the first sign is a red, round bull’s-eye rash.Early antibiotic treatment is crucial, but it can be hard for people to tell if they were bitten by ticks, some as small as a pin. Untreated Lyme can cause severe arthritis and damage the heart and nervous system. Some people have lingering symptoms even after treatment.
Itzel Luna, Associated Press
Despite some high-profile pushback against hybrid work, with many companies eager to fully return their workforces to the office, hybrid work remains the preferred working style of a majority of knowledge workers worldwide. It is the work style for the majority of U.S. knowledge workers.
Although there are many benefits to a hybrid work environment, one drawback is that it can reduce social ties and connections between employees. Companies and employees at all levels recognize the importance of maintaining strong relationships with their teammates. However, we also need to support weak ties, those casual connections we feel with colleagues who are not part of our teams or immediate social circle.
Weak ties bring benefits to the workplace that are often underappreciated. To maximize those benefits, its vital to understand why weak ties matter, some risks that hybrid work presents, and what team leaders and organizations can do to overcome those risks.
Why Weak Ties Matter
In 1973, a paper by sociologist Mark Granovetter found that strong ties, although essential for trust and emotional support, are less effective in obtaining new information. Weak ties are what provide us with new ideas and new opportunities.
While weak ties are more likely to lead to a new job, it is how they drive creativity and innovation, through exposure to those new ideas, that matters most to companies.
Duke University sociologist Martin Ruef found that groups with networks made up of both strong and weak ties innovated at three times the rate of networks with only strong ties. The diverse perspectives we gain from interacting with colleagues from different functions, teams, or levels of seniority through weak ties expose us to new ideas, approaches, and knowledge.
Everyone benefits from this, as knowledge and information are shared across organizational boundaries and silos get broken. The organization can develop a culture of transparency, inclusivity, and new opportunities. Knock-on effects can include career development, friendships, and increased workplace satisfaction.
By encouraging employees to cultivate weak ties, organizations can create an environment that fosters creativity and unlocks untapped innovative potential.
How Hybrid Work Can Diminish Weak Ties
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the height of the work-from-home era, many employees reported a greater sense of connection to their workplace and colleagues. Employee engagement levels and feelings of belonging improved during the pandemic, as companies and team leaders made a more intentional effort to reach out to their teams and let them know they were not alone.
Strong ties improved during the pandemic. However, as 2021 research by MIT on 61,000 Microsoft employees found, this greater connection to our strong ties came at the expense of our weak ties. The MIT study concluded that lower levels of innovation and longer project completion times resulted from focusing more on strong ties, with a 25% decrease in time spent collaborating with weak ties. Our weak ties suffered, and with that, so did levels of innovation. We worked more strongly with our usual teammates, which led to fewer interactions with our weak ties.
With hybrid work, we should have more opportunities to meet with our weak ties and encounter them more frequently for those watercooler conversations and chance meetings that might lead to increased innovation in the workplace. But does this happen?
To justify the in-office part of hybrid work, many teams rightly choose to prioritize that in-office time around the kind of work that is well-suited to being physically together, such as team-building, socializing, brainstorming, or ideating.
Structuring back-to-work days around the team is the right approach, but this overemphasis on strong ties can reduce the diversity of views and creativity that comes from weak ties.
How To Nurture Weak Ties
For hybrid work to effectively leverage the benefits of weak ties and boost innovation, we must be more intentional about structuring in-office days to focus on building and maintaining these connections. Here are five steps that individuals, team leaders, and organizations can take.
1. Make Time to Socialize with Weak TiesLook at your go-to crowd for lunch, coffee break, or after-work get-togethers. Do they represent weak or strong ties? If weak ties are underrepresented, spend more time with them, rather than your usual lunch and coffee friends. Reach out to weak ties in your division or department, or from another group, especially if they represent different functions. If you work in sales, engage more with those weak ties in HR, for example. The more diverse, the greater the possibility of learning and innovation.
And dont just limit this to people in the same company. Most of us can only maintain strong connections with between 150 and 300 people, so your LinkedIn network, which is likely a larger number than this, is mainly comprised of weak ties. Use LinkedIn to reach out and socialize with those weak ties.
2. Encourage and Enable Employees to Connect with Weak Ties
If you are a team leader, leave time in peoples schedules to meet with others outside your team on those days when everyone is in the office. Or, go one better and build weak tie connection time into the calendar. Make this a dedicated time when everyone arranges a catch-up or 30-minute call with someone outside the team. Have the team report back on what they learned so everyone can benefit from those weak tie meetups.
This eliminates the randomness of chance meetings or impromptu water cooler conversations, which are often used to justify returning to the office. Intentionally build time and opportunities for such encounters rather than leave them to chance.
3. Involve Weak Tie Connections In Brainstorming
When doing in-person brainstorming or ideation, invite people from outside the team who represent weak ties, especially those from a different department or who may otherwise bring new perspectives. They could represent the view of the customer or end-user, but they dont need to be experts, as their fresh point of view triggers new ideas that matter. They can be briefed on the basics of the problem you are trying to solve.
Bringing in the perspective of weak ties, who may have different ideas that are not immediately apparent to team members working on the problem every day, can help surface assumptions that are not apparent to the team. It can prevent the teams discussions from falling prey to groupthink.
4. Implement Mentorship and Buddy Programs for New Hires
One group of workers who often struggle with remote or hybrid work is new employees who need to integrate into the company culture and form connections. Look to mentorship and buddy programs to connect new hires with experienced colleagues outside their team or department. Matching new hires with such weak ties can not only help better integrate them into the organization but also expose them to new ideas and form new networks of weak ties that can evolve into valuable professional relationships. If you practice reverse mentoring, experienced senior employees can also benefit from the insights gained from new hires, with whom they would not typically interact.
5. Create More Cross-Functional Teams to Work on Projects
Cross-functional teamsthose comprised of members from different departments and job functionsare inherently more creative and innovative due to the diverse perspectives they bring to problem-solving. They are also, by their nature, collections of individuals with weak ties to one another. I experienced this regularly in the project teams I led for over a decade at a multinational firm. The project teams, composed of global HR colleaguesmy functionwere quite creative, but those comprising colleagues from HR and other functions, such as sales, marketing, communications, and ESG, were far and away the most innovative and came up with the freshest ideas.
When building project teams, dont just rely on the usual suspects. Reach out to other functions to recruit members and build project teams made up of weak ties. Such a teams output will represent a more holistic view of the company, enhance problem-solving capabilities, and lead to new working relationships and connections that last beyond the project’s life.
With hybrid working style becoming the default for many of us, organizations must encourage employees to leverage the power of weak ties. By doing so, companies can better leverage the innovative potential of their workforce and position themselves for success in the era of hybrid work.
