Defense tech is flooded with money, but who’s built to last?

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Defense tech is flooded with money, but who’s built to last?

Defense tech is red hot right now. Anduril and Mach Industries just doubled and quadrupled their valuations, respectively, and the U.S. government is proposing a 40% increase in defense budget. A wave of new startups is chasing those government contracts, but according to Ross Fubini, the venture investor who wrote Anduril’s first check, most of them will get lost in the Valley of Death between prototype contract … Read more

Oil prices climb back toward $100, andstocks halt their record-breaking rally

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Oil prices climb back toward 0, andstocks halt their record-breaking rally

Oil prices rose Wednesday following the latest flare-up in fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and U.S. stocks retreated from their records. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% from its all-time high for its first drop in 10 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 620 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%. Weighing … Read more

A Top Metaverse Exec Quietly Left Four Months Ago

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A Top Metaverse Exec Quietly Left Four Months Ago

Meta’s metaverse division has a new leader — again. The latest executive shuffle inside Reality Labs comes as Meta continues to scale back parts of its metaverse ambitions and pour billions into AI, raising questions about where the company’s virtual-world strategy fits in its future. Gabriel Aul, who had served as the head of the … Read more

‘SNL’s’ Marcello Hernández to host 2026 ESPYs as show leaves L.A.

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‘SNL’s’ Marcello Hernández to host 2026 ESPYs as show leaves L.A.

Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” standout Marcello Hernández will host this year’s ESPY Awards, the network announced Wednesday. The event, honoring excellence in sports performance, will be broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN app from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, making it the first ESPYs in New York … Read more

Uber to put 500 data-collection vehicles on the road this year

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Uber to put 500 data-collection vehicles on the road this year

Uber revealed on Wednesday a prototype car that it plans to use to scoop up real-world driving data that can be used by its growing list of autonomous vehicle partners such as Avride, Waymo, and WeRide. The vehicle is not some radical design. Rather, it’s a Hyundai Ioniq 5 fitted with an incredible number of … Read more

’60 Minutes’ Correspondents: Who Has Been Fired, Who Remains

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’60 Minutes’ Correspondents: Who Has Been Fired, Who Remains

Pelley made headlines for vocally challenging Nick Bilton, the new executive producer at “60 Minutes,” and calling out Weiss. The veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent, who’d been with CBS for over three decades, reportedly said that Weiss was “murdering” “60 Minutes.” Bilton fired Pelley on Tuesday night, saying that the correspondent’s “antipathy to the future of … Read more

Alphabet’s record-breaking $85B raise for Google’s AI business is a helluva good signal

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Alphabet’s record-breaking B raise for Google’s AI business is a helluva good signal

If Alphabet’s record-breaking, $85 billion stock sale signals investor appetite for AI-related offerings — and it does — we can safely say that investors are voracious. Google’s parent company had initially intended to sell a first tranche of $40 billion worth of various equity instruments — two different classes of shares, plus smaller “depositary shares” … Read more

‘Diddy’ sex assault cases in L.A. under review, D.A.’s office says

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‘Diddy’ sex assault cases in L.A. under review, D.A.’s office says

Los Angeles County prosecutors are reviewing two separate sex assault cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs, officials confirmed Wednesday. Investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department presented two separate cases, both related to the same victim, to prosecutors in September 2025, according to a statement from the office. A … Read more

40 US Colleges With Free Tuition for Some Students

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40 US Colleges With Free Tuition for Some Students

The cost of a college education has only been rising, and at some US schools, the annual sticker price now surpasses $100,000. As millions of Americans drown in student debt, some schools have implemented policies to help students better afford higher education, including free-tuition initiatives. The financial aid landscape in the US is often complicated, … Read more

Meta mercifully spun out VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it

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Meta mercifully spun out VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it

Meta’s attempt to pioneer a metaverse and make VR cool totally flopped, except for one shining diamond in the rough: Supernatural, a VR fitness game that made working out feel fun and accessible. Now, users can rejoice that Supernatural isn’t shutting down after all. Meta went through the hassle of fighting an eight-month antitrust battle … Read more

A24’s ‘Backrooms’ earns $100 million in less than a week

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A24’s ‘Backrooms’ earns 0 million in less than a week

Back in December, “Marty Supreme” earned the title of A24’s highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office with $96 million. But in a matter of days since its opening weekend, “Backrooms” has unseated the reigning ping-pong champ. The low-budget horror flick, directed by YouTuber Kane Parsons, hit $100 million on Wednesday after just six days … Read more

Yo-Yo Ma assists Gustavo Dudamel in his departure as L.A. Phil music director

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Yo-Yo Ma assists Gustavo Dudamel in his departure as L.A. Phil music director

Our streets are garlanded with “Gracias, Gustavo” banners and billboards. The Walt Disney Concert Hall shop has become a Dudamel-torium, aisles bursting with Gustavo T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, refrigerator magnets and this and that. Not everything is tacky. The extra-large “Die Walküre” T-shirts sold out early, unfortunately. In the past week, Gustavo Dudamel’s sort-of penultimate … Read more

Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ Song Is One of Her Savviest Business Moves yet

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ Song Is One of Her Savviest Business Moves yet

Imagine a family-friendly brand with the initials “TS” that floods the market with bespoke merchandise. Are you thinking of “Toy Story” or Taylor Swift? For now, at least, they’re one and the same. Swift confirmed long-simmering speculation this week when she announced her new single for the “Toy Story 5” soundtrack, “I Knew It, I … Read more

George Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades, AP source says

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George Santos reported to prosecutors over suspicious Kalshi trades, AP source says

NEW YORK — A prediction market reported former U.S. Rep. George Santos to federal prosecutors after he boasted he’d be going to President Trump’s State of the Union address, then bet against his own attendance, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Kalshi, the online prediction marketplace, referred Santos to the Department of Justice after detecting … Read more