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As the creator economy has grown, so have the financial options for creators looking to bankroll their businesses. Credit cards and funds specifically for creators do serve a purpose, but Aaron DeBevoise, founder and CEO of Spotter, argues they’re not enough to move a small business into an enterprise. “The short-term solve
The two women behind Check My Ads came to the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin to talk up what might seem like the economic equivalent of pushing back the ocean with a broom: defunding disinformation. “We believe the biggest crisis of our generation is solvable,” said Nandini Jammi, cofounder of Check My Ads, in a panel Saturday. The nonprofit organizes campaigns to unplug disinformation merchants from the advertising revenue that keeps them in business—one ad
Apple’s new iPad Air does not demand much of an in-depth review—because it’s not that new of an iPad. Instead, this $599 tablet slots into the iPad lineup in exactly the same way as its predecessor, which I reviewed back in October 2020. It’s a major step up from the $329 basic iPad, and surprisingly close to the $799 11-inch iPad Pro at a meaningfully lower price. That makes it the ideal iPad for anyone who wants something more advanced than the basics, but would sti
A new report from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) describes the rapid maturation of the AI industry in 2021, but also contains some sobering news about AI bias. Natural language processing (NLP) models continued growing larger over the past year, according to the report. While that’s yielded impressive gains in language skill, it’s also failed to completely rid the AI of the nagging problems of toxicity and bias. “The AI Index 202
Though they might look like the same people, those who left the office at the start of the pandemic have dramatically different priorities, expectations, and needs than those who are returning today, according to Microsoft’s second annual Work Trend Index. The follow up to last year’s report — which earned Microsoft a spot on Fast Company’s top 10 most innovation companies in data science list — combines insights from more than 30,000 workers in 31 countries an
I’m holding a sesame seed bun stuffed with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onion, ketchup, mustard, mayo, American cheese, and a classic-looking burger patty: This is the McDonald’s McPlant burger, and it looks a lot like the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe—although the patty is made from ingredients, such as peas, rice, and potatoes. With the caveat that I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time, I think that it also tastes like the version made from meat. McDonald’
President Biden released his long-awaited executive order (EO) on cryptocurrency on March 9. The crypto community reacted with relief. The price of Bitcoin went up 8.4% that day and crypto leaders from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse to Coinbase’s policy chief Faryar Shirzad publicly praised the order. Biden’s order certainly could have been worse. But it may not be the panacea the community thinks it is, either. Let’s start with the good news. There’s a lot in this exe
Video games catch a lot of flack from critics who say the medium can be harmful to players. But the science on that claim is murky, at best. Now, one of the video game industry’s veteran executives is teaming with a medical device expert to make games that are specifically designed to help treat health conditions. DeepWell Digital Therapeutics, which launched Tuesday, plans to make video games that both entertain and provide treatment for a variety of issues, including mental health, one
Editor’s Note: This article is part of Fast Company Spark, a new initiative for middle and high school readers. The sharp fear of not having enough clean water to drink starting at six years old, as I was growing up in a working-class neighborhood at the south periphery of Puebla city in Mexico, is an experience I’ll never forget. It showed me a side of the climate crisis that people are experiencing around the world, and what happens when powerful countries and corporations p
With an ongoing shortage of infant formula leaving some parents frustrated and out of options, there’s at least a sliver of promising news: Infant formula startup Bobbie just raised $50 million dollars to expand its European-style infant formula offerings in the U.S. market. Founded in 2018 by Laura Modi and Sarah Hardy, Bobbie touts itself as a more holistic alternative to the major brands. Modi, now the CEO of Bobbie, says the idea for the company came when she was b