
It takes a minute to find the Austin offices of Noah Kraft and Lucas Kraft, the red-headed brothers behind Wonderbelly, a new antacid heartburn reliever. They’re tucked up on the attic floor of a historic building on the city’s East Side, where startups like this one share real estate with new condos and veteran bars. Colorful rugs and a slew of Mac-topped desks dress up the low-ceilinged rooms, and evidence of late nights—a 12-cup coffee maker, a microwave, and bags of t

As the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution sweeps across the globe, society faces a tidal wave of change that could leave countless lives disrupted. Instead of debating the merits of AI innovation, we need to focus on preparing ourselves for the inevitable transformation it will bring. History demonstrates that technological progress, while creating new industries and opportunities, also causes the decline of others, which leaves many people struggling to adapt.
To prevent a soc

After 25 years and numerous changes in ownership, Winamp is trying to reinvent itself.
The classic music player, which rose to prominence during the heyday of MP3 sharing-services such as Napster and Kazaa, has a new version out today that looks and acts nothing like its former self. Instead, Winamp’s new web software will serve primarily as an aggregator of online-audio sources and a way for creators to connect with fans.
The old version of Winamp isn’t goin

Embattled electronic cigarette-maker Juul Labs will pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia, marking the largest settlement the company has reached so far for its role in the youth-vaping surge, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday.
The agreement with New York State, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C., marks the latest in a string of recent legal settlements Juul has reached across the country with ci

Since the start of the year, tech companies have laid off over 150,000 employees. At the same time, the sector at large has been dealing with continual fallout from last month’s collapse of financial heavyweights including SVB and Signature Bank.
Still, even in the midst of all that negativity, there are companies delivering good news. Shekar Ayyar, the CEO of networking software startup Arrcus, saw the warning signs for months before the SVB crisis. As a result, he says, his

Looking to make some spare cash? OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has announced a new bug bounty program that will reward bug finders up to $20,000 for spotting vulnerabilities in its software.
OpenAI says the reason it is rolling out a bug bounty program is because in highly complex software programs—such as artificial intelligence—flaws can unknowingly be introduced to the system. By initiating a cash reward program, OpenAI can incentivize the broader tech community to

This story is from Fast Company’s Plugged In newsletter, a weekly roundup of tech insights, news, and trends from global technology editor Harry McCracken, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Sign up for it here.
Let’s face it: A huge percentage of tech journalism is devoted to a handful of products you already know about. That includes a fair percentage of my own work. But this week, I offer heartfelt testimonials for fo

EU sanctions imposed on Russia-owned rocket-maker Khrunichev Center will not slow rocket production, but they will impact customer demand, center chief Alexey Varochko said this week in an interview with the Russian News Agency TASS.
On February 23, the EU passed its 10th round of sanctions on Russia, which put the rocket maker on the list of prohibited entities.
Russian rocket builders
The Khrunichev Center is a Russian-owned launch manufacturer resp

Over the last few months, layoffs have gripped the tech industry’s workforce. Facing macroeconomic challenges that are impacting revenue forecasts and financial performance, the tech giants are in unprecedented times destined for the history books.
Among the macro pressures and turbulent markets, one of glimmers of light this year has been in emerging technologies, specifically the radical growth and adoption of AI. While AI isn’t exactly new, the world hasn’t b

An upbeat woman takes to TikTok to bring users along for her mid-morning hydration hit. She rummages through a caddy full of flavor packets, screaming “crushed pineapple” once she picks one. She grabs her cup of ice and water, then moves toward her “water bar,” which is stocked with Jordan’s Skinny Mixes brand syrups.
“Dragon fruit açai? Nah. Coconut, let’s do that,” Tonya Spanglo, who goes by @takingmylifebackat42, says t