Does Reddit want to be a meme stock?

In early 2021, stocks began behaving strangely. Retail investors, coordinating on internet platforms, decided to band together and coordinate their stock trades—chiefly, they plotted on Reddit.

On the subreddit WallStreetBets, as well as on its sister channel on the messaging app Discord, investors organized a historic short squeeze of GameStop in early 2021, an effort that bounced the video game retailer’s stock price up 1,700 percent in a matter of weeks and eventual

Why this tiny medical device could point to the future of digital health

Medical imaging may not sound like the sexiest frontier in a digital health revolution that spans head-spinning advances from the rise of AI in medicine-making to robot-assisted surgery. It is, however, fundamental to medicine, allowing doctors to peer inside a human body to inform diagnoses and monitor patients. It’s also a field ripe for disruption through technologies that are smaller, easier to use, and can produce more sophisticated and high-quality images—with a smaller pr

Science explains your place in the multiverse

Paul Halpern is a professor of physics at Saint Joseph’s University and the author of 18 popular science books, including Flashes of Creation, The Quantum Labyrinth, Einstein’s Dice and Schrodinger’s Cat, and Synchronicity. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Become an AI expert with these free online courses

Ready or not, we’re entering the golden age of artificial intelligence. Luckily, there are plenty of free resources to help you wrap your human brain around AI’s more intimidating concepts.

Whether you just want to get a quick lay of the land, you’re personally looking to leverage AI to help you work more efficiently, or you’re set on taking your entire business to the next level, here are some great free courses to help you get there. Let’s begin

Tech layoffs update this week: Sony, Bumble, Expedia, and (maybe) Apple cut jobs

February was another bad month for the tech industry as far as layoffs are concerned. The month began with job cuts at tech giants including Amazon and Snap. Now the final week of February sees even more big names added to the layoffs list, including Sony, Bumble, and, perhaps, Apple. Here’s the latest update on job losses in the sector:

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Yesterday, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it will cut 900 jobs, or about 8% of its glob

Why Microsoft’s stake in buzzy AI lab Mistral is raising eyebrows in the EU

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here.

In Microsoft’s Mistral stake, some EU regulators smell betrayal

The French unicorn AI lab Mistral said Monday that it’s sold a small share of the company to Microsoft for $16 million. Founded by Google DeepMind and Meta alumni, Mistral has bille

Chatbots are generating false and misleading information about U.S. elections

With presidential primaries underway across the U.S., popular chatbots are generating false and misleading information that threatens to disenfranchise voters, according to a report published Tuesday based on the findings of artificial intelligence experts and a bipartisan group of election officials.

Fifteen states and one territory will hold both Democratic and Republican presidential nominating contests next week on Super Tuesday, and millions of people already are turning to art

Robinhood launches a retirement plan for gig workers

Robinhood is rolling out a retirement savings plan for certain gig workers, targeting a growing cohort of people who may not have access to traditional 401(k) options.

The new program, called Robinhood Retirement for Independent Workers, will be available to people who find work through Taskrabbit, Grubhub, and Gopuff starting the first week of March.

“A growing number of people are moving away from the usual 9-5, shifting towards freelancing and side hustles to mak

How AI is transforming the next wave of PCs

The looming AI revolution continues to make headlines. Yet, what might come as a surprise to many is the fact that many examples of this transformative technology are going to be available to consumers starting this year. In fact, Lenovo—the world’s leading personal computer company—has already established a sizable presence in the soon-to-take-off AI PC space. The company has invested more than $1 billion developing AI-powered solutions that are poised to redefine the us

Meet Kagi, a Google search alternative worth paying for

You’re reading Plugged In, Fast Company’s weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to you—or you’re reading it on FastCompany.com—you can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Wednesday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters.

First, some Fast Company tech stori


Căutare