I began my career in neurosciencenot in business, not in engineering, not in HR.
When I became head of product at GitLab, I hadnt managed a product team before. I didnt have the traditional credentials. But someone took a chance on me based on what I could contribute, not where I had worked.
That moment changed the trajectory of my career. It also changed how I hire.
At Remote, we focus on capability over pedigree. What someone can do matters far more than what their resume suggests. That mindset has always been useful. But with the rise of AI, its becoming essential.
The shift were experiencing goes beyond productivity and automationits about how we define job readiness, recognize potential, and avoid replicating the exclusions of the past. AI is already changing how people work. But if we want it to improve how we hire, we must apply it deliberately.
This shift is happening as attitudes toward traditional credentials are also changing. Amid rising tuition costs and mounting student debt, just 22% of Americans say a four-year degree is worth the cost if it requires loans, according to Pew Research Center. If companies keep leaning on degree requirements as a proxy for readiness, they risk missing a growing pool of skilled, AI-fluent talent who are proving themselves outside conventional pipelines.
AI is changing who can contributeand how
I view AI as essential. Its deeply embedded in my companys culture and how we function, and its ability to multiply talent has completely shifted how we, and many companies we support, function. Less talked about, however, is that it has also changed what it means to contribute. People with less formal training can do more, faster, if theyre equipped with the right tools and a clear mandate.
Someone without a formal degree can use AI to complete tasks once reserved for experts such as analyzing data, drafting technical documentation, even writing code. A single parent in a rural town can contribute meaningfully to remote teams while spending each day with their children. The same tools that replace certain functions can also empower a much wider set of people to participate in the knowledge economy.
That doesnt mean experience is irrelevant. It means the gap between being qualified on paper and being able to deliver in practice is narrowing, but our hiring systems havent kept pace.
This shift demands a change in how we evaluate talent. If contribution no longer depends on pedigree, hiring systems built around degrees, brand names, and linear resumes start to fall short. Companies need to shift from resume screens to problem-solving prompts, or from interview panels to real-world trial projects.
While the support for skills-based hiring has grown in recent years, a 2024 report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute found that fewer than one out of every 700 hires in the past year were made based primarily on skills rather than traditional credentials. The appetite for change is clear, but until hiring systems catch up, companies will keep filtering out exactly the kind of talent they say they want.
The resume is losing signal
The temptation is to believe that AI itself will solve that problemthat it will automatically surface hidden talent. But thats a dangerous assumption. Left unchecked, AI hiring systems can replicate and even intensify existing biases. Algorithms trained on historical data may favor candidates who resemble previous hires based on education, geography, or background. In some cases, automated filters penalize career gaps or overlook nontraditional applicants entirely.
If were not careful, we risk embedding these filters deeper into the systems we use to scale. Access to AI tools and fluency with them is not evenly distributed. Candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, non-native speakers, or people living in under-resourced regions may not have equal exposure or confidence with these tools.
Equity isnt just moral; its operational
To spot the best talent, we need hiring practices that reflect modern skills: adaptability, communication, and the ability to learn quickly.
My company uses asynchronous workflows that mirror how our teams operate. We emphasize clarity of thought, responsiveness, and problem-solving in context. Our internal documentation and onboarding approach are designed to help people ramp quickly, regardless of background or time zone. Those practices make it easier to evaluate candidates based on how they work, not just how they present.
Remote work has already proven that talent doesnt need to be colocated to contribute. Its also exposed where structural inequities persist. Access to reliable infrastructure, tool fluency, and global employment systems still varies widely. Equity doesnt happen by default. It must be designed.
AI is redefining readiness
AI may accelerate tasks and reduce the cost of execution. But it doesnt eliminate the need for talent. It raises the bar for how talent is integrated and who gets a fair shot. The best candidates may not come through traditional pipelines, live in a major city, or have a college degree. But they are ready to contribute.
What companies need now are hiring systems that prioritize contribution over credentialism. That includes making AI training a standard part of onboardingnot a perk for the technically inclinedand ensuring that workflows reflect how teams operate. If your work is async, global, or fast-changing, the hiring process should test for those dynamics.
Heres where I recommend employers start:
Test for how people will work, not how well they interview. Use trial projects, async exercises, or written problem-solving prompts that mirror real workflows. And yes, let them use AI.
Make AI training part of onboarding for everyone and treat AI literacy as a standard skill to level the playing field.
Audit your tools and data for bias. Regularly review which signals your systems reward and whether theyre excluding qualified, nontraditional candidates.
The best candidates may not look like your past hires, but you might be surprised where you find talent ready to deliver.
Job van der Voort is CEO and cofounder of Remote.
When was the last time a brand didnt just catch your eye, but moved youmade you feel something real?
Today, AI can produce logos, taglines, and campaigns at lightning speed. Algorithms can replicate styles, test headlines, even mimic tone. But as branding becomes more automated, a deeper question emerges: Can machines truly connect with human experience? Or does meaningful branding still depend on uniquely human emotions like empathy, intuition, and lived understanding?
After 15 years of building brands across continents and causes, Ive learned that the most powerful branding isnt about perfection. Its about presence. When we show upreally listen, engage, and understandbranding becomes a bridge to transformation.
Empathy isnt programmable
Consider Sonia, a single mother in Delhi, India, who handcrafts beautiful bags. Her skill was undeniable, but her work was invisible to the market. She didnt need a new product to attract customersshe needed a platform. We helped craft Saffron, a brand that honored her artistry and gave her a place in the conversation. What followed wasnt just commercial growth; it was a personal awakening. Branding turned her story into strength.
AI cant do that. It doesnt ask how someone feels, or why their work matters. It optimizesbut it doesnt understand.
Intuition creates belonging
In Hanoi, Vietnam, a small café run by recent graduates struggled to stay open. They had quality coffee and a noble missionproviding jobs for youthbut no clear identity. We repositioned the space as Friends Coffee Roasters, a name that invited connection and warmth. The transformation was immediate. Customers showed up, reviews surged, and the café became a local favorite on TripAdvisor.
A new name didnt just save a businessit saved a dream. Branding didnt just describe what they sold; it reflected who they were becoming.
Culture is not universal
Technology can scan trends, but it cant live inside a culture. That mattersbecause branding without context can flatten identity instead of elevating it.
In the Villa Rica region of Peru, the Yanesha tribe cultivates organic coffee to fund community development. Yet selling unbranded bulk beans kept them trapped in poverty. Working with the tribe, we codeveloped Tierra Fuerte, a brand rooted in resilience and sovereignty. With it came more than just packagingit brought pricing power, dignity, and visibility.
A similar challenge arose in Mongolia, where limited access to fresh produce was impacting health. Partnering with local stakeholders, we created Smart Berry to introduce strawberries grown in high-tech smart farm. The brand became more than a productit sparked a national conversation about wellness, youth aspiration, and modern agriculture.
In both cases, cultural insightnot codewas the true catalyst.
Final thoughts
These experiences remind us: While AI is a tool, human intelligence is the soul of branding. The ability to read between the lines, to feel the emotional undercurrent, to design not just for markets but for meaningthose are still human strengths.
When branding is approached with care, it can uplift. It can build local economies, support social missions, and shift narratives. It doesnt just sellit serves.
And in a time when design tools are increasingly automated, what sets a brand apart isnt how quickly its builtbut how deeply it connects.
Sooyoung Cho is CEO of the bread and butter brand consulting LLC.
If the last 10 years were about creators building audiences, the next 10 will be about them building infrastructure.
Were entering the era of the creator-led studio. Its already happening. Creators are turning themselves into multi-dimensional entertainment businesses.
Theyre not just building content pipelines; theyre building worlds, structuring teams, developing IP, launching products, and curating and hosting IRL experiences. Theyre weaving content, community, and commerce into something bigger with the mindset of founders and the ambition of studio executives.
Creators are becoming studios
Not in the traditional sensenot high rises, backlots, or broadcast slots, but in a way thats native to the internet and modern-day technologies: fast-moving, audience-first, built around trust and consistency.
Its a shift from:
I make content I build programmingI do brand deals I own the formatsI am the brand I build brands
The best creator-led studios arent just launching formats, theyre building systems for turning creative point of view (POV) into repeatable output.
Moreover, the creators who scale arent just building content engines; theyre building emotional frameworks. Call it voice, POV, or DNA, its what everything else ladders up to. And at the very bleeding edge, those doing it the best are expanding those frameworks beyond content into commerce, community, courses, products, and live experiences. They are building full-stack media businesses, looking to own the audience, the formats, and the infrastructure.
Whats driving it?
1. Creators are maturing into operators
Creators who have the desire to go after this opportunity are no longer solo acts. Theyre founders. Theyre hiring. Building teams. Thinking in pipelines, product-market fit, and distribution economics. Theyre not chasing virality, they are building staying power, and its working.
I explored this previously, when I discussed the shift from creator to entrepreneur.
Now, its evolving again, from entrepreneur to studio builder.
One important callout, though. This isnt for every creator and isnt to diminish the incredible value to come from remaining small and mighty. There will be a thriving segment of creators who stick to what theyre doing. However, I believe that the biggest share of audience and money will be held in the relatively few who become studio builders
2. Trust is becoming the most valuable signal
As AI floods platforms with synthetic content, trust becomes the premium.
As Doug Shapiro put it: Trust is the new oil.
Audiences wont just want content; they’ll want curation, context, and a point of view. The creators who earn and sustain that trust wont just be personalities. Theyll be institutions.
3. Audience expectations are shifting
Were now in an era where consistency is currency. People want formats they can return to. They want creators they can rely on. They want editorial judgment, recurring presence, and recognizable rhythms.
Thats not just a creative instinct; its reinforced by platform algorithms and audience psychology. Recurring formats increase watch time, retention, and subscriber loyalty. When content appears reliably and feels familiar, audiences are more likely to form habits around it.
Creators who think in seasons, franchises, and formats wont just gain attention, theyll earn mindshare.
4. Metrics over meaning
The traditional media and advertising worlds, in their obsession with hyperperformance, data precision, and efficiency, left behind something essential: emotional connection. In that creative and cultural vacuum, creators stepped in. Not with metrics, but with meaning.
Creators are value driven. Theyre plugged into the nuances of pop culture. And theyre intimately connected to their communities through access, respect, and trust. They didnt just inherit the audience. They earned it.
Not just as content creators, but creative directors of a new era. Bringing the kind of relevance, emotion, and resonance that modern culture wants.
Were still in the early stages of this movement. But this shift is real. The creator economy isnt just growing faster, its growing up.
Over the next few years, I believe well see more and more creators evolve from individual success stories into collective media companies. Studios. Networks. Brand ecosystems. Institutions in their own right.
Because the future of media isnt just creator-led. Its creator-built.
Neil Waller is co-CEO and cofounder of the Whalar Group.
Since ChatGPT was released nearly three years ago, individuals and companies have experimented with reactive AI, composing AI prompts to create articles, tables, translations, to-do lists, and chatbots to resolve questions.
While these tasks offer practical value, especially boosting efficiency, the next leap isnt just technical. Agentic AI systems can enable organizations to deploy autonomous service agents capable of managing entire organizational processes end to end.The value of agentic AI lies in collaboration, not replacement, where humans and machines each play to their strengths. When workflows combine human judgment with machine precision, organizations can streamline tasks, innovate personalization and insights, sharpen decisions, scale, and measure outcomes that inform ongoing process upgrades.
Unlike reactive AI, agentic systems function as digital colleagues, taking initiative, pursuing goals, having memory and context, using tools to learn from outcomes, and adapting in real time. This shift unlocks incremental gains and breakthrough innovation in customer and user experience through reimagined workflows for operational excellence.
The catch?
Redefining how an organization operates to deliver differentiating value requires careful human orchestration. While agentic AI acts autonomously, it depends on human or enterprise oversight to anchor purpose, set guardrails, and ensure alignment. Effectively implementing agentic AI prioritizes the role of human employees in value creation to a higher level, ensuring transparency, ethical standards, and responsible strategic oversight at every level.
Enable seamless integration: The Model Context Protocol
To realize agentic AI’s full potential, organizations need to connect AI agents to multiple tools and data sources without building custom integrations for each one. Enter the Model Context Protocol (MCP)an open standard that replaces fragmented integrations with a single, universal protocol.
Think of MCP as a USB-C port for AI agents. Just as USB-C standardized device connections, MCP standardizes how AI systems access databases, applications, and external services. No more writing separate code for each integration.
For businesses, this means autonomous agents can seamlessly access customer databases, CRM systems, knowledge repositories, and execute actions across platformsall through one standardized protocol. As the ecosystem matures, AI systems maintain context while moving between tools and datasets, creating a sustainable architecture.
The result? Dramatically reduced technical complexity and agents with the contextual awareness to deliver transformative customer value.
Change management for cross-functional process reengineering
Implementing the transformative value of agentic AI requires organizational change managementredesigning organizational processes that efficiently yield quality outcomes.
Not just a new tool, impactful agentic AI implementation requires an AI expert as a vital ongoing member of cross-functional mission-based teams focused on a specific process selected for re-engineering. AI experts should not be siloed in the technical function. They should be embedded with the functional process content and outcomes experts, learning from each other as they expand organizational expertise.
As the number of reimagined process teams grows, so does the organizational expertise, extending gains achieved and staying ahead of a continuously evolving AI. All of this requires careful orchestration of data, strategy, and organizational readiness focused on the functions to which agentic AI is applied and a work culture that adapts to discover new opportunities. This is transformational enterprise change. It is not an event but a new way of working. The potential, however, is substantial.
If your organization is still only implementing prompt engineering, you are lagging.
Prioritize process re-engineering targets
Another key factor is how to prioritize which re-engineered processes customers and users will value most by seeing how they use the product or service. In the early 1980s, then-NCR Corporation used observational research to identify the most time-consuming challenges their retail cash registers could automate. NCR collaboratively developed the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol and developed a SCSI computer chip that enabled scanning charges to replace hand entry.
Similarly standing in their customers shoes, Intuit engineers and product managers spur innovation by regularly engaging in follow-me-home with customers seeing how users apply their product features in their daily lives. This institutionalizes technical experts insights into customer usage to feed innovative ideas for more transformation.
Train for an AI world
Companies recognizing employees AI skill gaps are providing in-house or commercial training for workers. Higher ed institutions and their nonacademic competitors offer a variety of online courses. With AI continuously evolving, the next generation and their teachers also need training. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Americas second largest teachers union, is starting a training hub with $23 million in funding from Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic to focus on training teachers to generate lesson plans with AI wisely, safely and ethically.
AFTs Share My Lesson is now Beta testing an OpenAI-powered teaching assistant, TRYEdBrAIn, that can adapt lesson plans to change grade levels, translate into different languages and many other options. Beta testing is now underway to understand user experience. The Khan Academy is testing an AI-powered teacher assistant as a student tutor in various school districts.
As digital transformation accelerates, leading organizations will see agentic AI not as a tool, but as a catalyst for new paradigms of teamwork, value creation, and enterprise agility.
Barie Carmichael is senior counselor and David Sanchez is director, AI Business Solutions at APCO Worldwide.
Canada’s largest airline, Air Canada, will begin suspending flights starting Thursday. The decision comes after the airline’s flight attendants union, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), issued a 72-hour strike notice over failed contract negotiations.
The airline said it will suspend flights on Thursday and Friday, moving toward a full shutdown on Saturday of both Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge if a deal isn’t reached. “A planned labour disruption by CUPE, the union representing 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, is expected to begin Saturday, August 16, at 01:00 ET,” Air Canada said in a statement.
Air Canada also said it has been in contact with other airlines to help meet their customers’ travel needs. It explained that the airline will attempt to rebook customers’ canceled flights, possibly on other airlines, but acknowledged there will be major hurdles with rebooking in a timely manner. “If your travel is disrupted, you can always choose a refund,” it said.“We regret the impact a disruption will have on our customers, our stakeholders, and the communities we serve,” Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said in a statement. “However, the disappointing conduct of CUPEs negotiators and the unions stated intention to launch a strike puts us in a position where our only responsible course of action is to provide certainty by implementing an orderly suspension of Air Canadas and Air Canada Rouges operations through a lockout. As we have seen elsewhere in our industry with other labour disruptions, unplanned or uncontrolled shutdowns, such as we are now at risk of through a strike, can create chaos for travellers that is far, far worse.”
In a statement, the union said the airline has failed to address its concerns. The statement referenced “poverty wages” and unpaid labor, referring to time worked while planes are not in the air. The statement said: “Currently, Air Canada flight attendants perform hours of critical safety-related duties for free. The company has offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some of these dutiesbut only at 50% of their hourly rate, and the company is still refusing to compensate flight attendants for time spent responding to medical emergencies, fires, evacuations, and other safety and security-related issues on the ground.”
While most airlines only pay flight attendants for time in the air, some flight attendants have begun pushing back. Recently, flight attendants in North America have sought compensation for total hours worked. That includes time on the ground, where they board passengers before takeoff and waiting periods between flights occur.
“We have a lot of time in our days that we are unpaid,” Julie Hedrick, a flight attendant for American Airlines and president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants union, told NPR last year. “All of us, of course, feel that we should be paid for the minute we get to work until we go home, but we have to look at the entire package,” she said.
In hopes of appeasing the union, Air Canada offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years. It included a 25% raise in the first year. The union pushed back, saying it would only actually raise wages by 17.2% over four years, and didn’t account for inflation. Air Canada had offered to compensate flight attendants for some unpaid work, but only at half of their hourly rate.
This isn’t the first time Air Canada has threatened to shut down operations. Last year, after stalled talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union, pilots prepared for a strike. Finally, an agreement was reached after Air Canada pilots voted in favor of a new agreement.
If a deal isn’t reached by the weekend, the disruption will certainly be widely felt. According to the airline’s corporate profile, Air Canada provides service to airports all over Canada, as well as six continents, and is the largest foreign carrier to the U.S. Air Canada provides service to more than 50 U.S. airports, with around 430 flights between the countries each day.
Ulta Beauty and Target Corp. announced on Thursday that they won’t be renewing their in-store partnership, which ends a year from now in August 2026.
Until then, Ulta Beauty products will continue to be sold in Target stores and online at Target.com.
Ulta Beauty has an estimated 600 in-store, or “shop-in-shop” locations at Target, at nearly a third of Targets 1,981 U.S. stores, according to CNBC. Fast Company has reached out to both companies for additional information about the timeline and locations of the closures.
Shares in both stocks fell on the news, with Ulta Beauty (Nasdaq: ULTA) down about 1% and Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) down nearly 2% in early and midday trading on Thursday.
Since launching four years ago in 2021, Target’s partnership with the beauty retailer, which sells everything from cosmetics to skincare and haircare products, was a way to increase foot traffic in Target stores while giving Ulta a way to expand its customer base.
Target, like many big-box retailers, is seeing slower growth and softer sales fueled by high prices, inflation, and changing consumer habitswhich have prompted fewer Americans to shop in stores as they gravitate online. The retailer also faced consumer boycotts over its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies earlier this year.
For 35 years, Ulta Beauty has revolutionized how people experience beautybringing together an unmatched assortment from mass to luxuryand our partnership with Target was one of many unique ways we have brought the power of beauty to guests nationwide, Amiee Bayer-Thomas, chief retail officer at Ulta Beauty, said in a press release. As we continue to execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed plans, were confident our wide-ranging assortment, expert services, and inspiring in-store experiences will reinforce our leadership in beauty and define the next chapter of our brand.
That release said customers with Ulta Beauty rewards and Target Circle-linked accounts will continue to earn Ulta Beauty rewards on eligible Ulta Beauty purchases at Target until August 2026.
Target and Ulta Beauty, by the numbers
In its latest earnings results for the first quarter of 2025, ending on May 3, Ulta Beauty reported net sales increased 4.5%, to $2.8 billion, compared with $2.7 billion the year prior, primarily due to increased comparable sales and new store contribution, and partially offset by a decrease in other revenue. The company has a market capitalization of $23.77 billion.
Target, which reports second-quarter earnings next week, missed its first-quarter revenue expectations for the period ending May 3, with revenue coming in at $23.85 billion and falling short of the $24.27 billion estimate. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.30 adjusted, missing analyst estimates of $1.61. At the time, the retailer cut its full-year sales outlook, with sales down 3% compared with the same period a year ago. Target has a market capitalization of $47.14 billion.
In a new ad campaign for E.l.f. Beauty, Matt Rife stars alongside drag performer Heidi N. Closet as fictional personal injury lawyers “E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes. The brand may have been hoping the comedic duo would bring laughs, but instead, the ad has been stirring up controversy.
Customers took to social media to decry the casting of Rife, a stand-up comic who previously came under fire for making jokes that blamed victims of domestic violence in his 2023 Netflix special Natural Selection, and at the expense of trans people in his 2024 Hollywood Bowl show.
I know a thing or two about red flags, Rife declares in the new ad, going on to say that customers deserve better than overpriced makeup.
Playing on the cost-saving focus of the ad, one commenter on Instagram (who gained over 20,000 likes) questioned whether E.l.f. lacked the budget for a comedian who doesnt joke about abuse. Dozens of other commenters urged the brand to remove the video, with some taking it as the brands condonation of Rifes previous statements against domestic violence victims.
In a statement posted to E.l.f.s Instagram and TikTok accounts, the brand acknowledged the controversy surrounding the ad, but stopped short of directly apologizing or removing the video.
You know us. Were always listening and weve heard you, the brand wrote. This campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty injustice. We understand we missed the mark with people we care about in our e.l.f. community. While E.l.f.ino & Schmarnes closes today, well continue to make the case against overpriced beauty.
The statement did little to mollify those upset by the ad, who noted in later social media comments that the ad is still available to watch and that the statement did not address the concerns underlying Rifes casting.
This is a non-apology. Literally. Its all intentional outrage marketing. Im sick of it, one user wrote on Reddit.
Outrage marketingwhich involves sparking negative reactions to garner attention and engagement with a brandseems to be on the rise, whether intentional or not. Sydney Sweeneys American Eagle ad and Gavin Casalegnos Dunkin’ Donuts ad both spurred similarly negative reactions recently.
E.l.f. Beauty did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the goal of the ad campaign and whether customers claims that the brand is engaging in outrage marketing have any validity.
Whenever someone in Colorado shops for a gas stove, whether in person or online, theyll now see a yellow label that warns them about the air quality impacts. Its a move meant to highlight the health risks of cooking with gas, and one a handful of other states are considering too.
Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado signed the law requiring warning labels on gas stoves back in May, and it went into effect this month. Under the law, such warning labels must include a link or QR code to a state health department website about the health risks associated with gas stoves.
Gas stoves burn either natural gas or propane, which releases harmful pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide into the air inside your home. Hoods that vent away these emissions arent always required in building codes, and as our homes have become better sealed from the outside airwhich is good for energy efficiencythat keeps indoor pollutants from dissipating.
Studies have compared the pollutants from gas cooking to secondhand smoke, and even linked gas stoves to tens of thousands of cases of childhood asthma.
Colorado law and legal backlash
Colorados warning label law is the first of its kind in the U.S., though there are efforts underway in other states to add such warnings to gas stoves. The law is already facing a legal challenge. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that requiring a warning label violates the First Amendment, and that the information about health risks is misleading.
Abe Scarr, the energy and utilities director with the U.S. Public Interest Resource Group (PIRG), contests those claims. This is a product that, when used as directed, puts your health at risk. And despite industry attempts to say otherwise, theres no real scientific debate on that fact, he says.
Scarr also notes that requiring a warning label is not akin to a ban. This is not to tell people, Dont buy a gas stove, he says. Its to say, if youre going to use and operate a gas stove in your home, you should take precautions, like using proper external ventilation.
Thats something most people may not actually be aware of, he adds. U.S. PIRG conducted a consumer survey in which secret shoppers went into big-box stores around the country to ask store employees about the health risks, the need for ventilation, or alternatives like induction stoves.
We found that much of the time, consumers did not get information about these risks, Scarr says. And so we think a warning label is an appropriate step.
Other states considering gas stove warning labels
Colorado was the first state to affix a warning label to gas stoves, but its not the only one to have considered the move.
A proposal in New York, cosponsored by State Assemblymember (and mayoral candidate) Zohran Mamdani, recently made it into the Assembly committee. Lawmakers in Massachusetts also recently introduced a warning label bill.
There have also been earlier attempts at gas stove warning label requirements that failed.
PIRG filed a bill calling for gas stove warning labels in Illinois in 2023, but it came up a few votes short of passing. In 2024, such a bill landed on the desk of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but he vetoed it.
Though Scarr couldnt speak to exactly why Newsom vetoed the bill, he says that the politics around gas stoves have been fraught.
Gas stoves ignited a nationwide conversation a few years ago when some politicians became outraged at the thought of a gas stove ban. In 2023, an official with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission mentioned in an interview that gas stoves were a hidden hazard and that any option is on the table to deal with that risk.
That official quickly clarified that he had no plans to ban gas stoves, but the comments had already set off a wave of backlash. One Texas congressman tweeted that he would NEVER give up my gas stove.
Still, both climate and health experts have sounded the alarm about gas stoves, as well as gas appliances in general.
In 2021, Energy Star announced that it wouldnt recommend any gas appliances on its “most efficient” list moving forward. Gas furnaces, water heaters, and dryers have all faced scrutiny under the effort to electrify everything and get fossil-fuel appliances out of homes. And certain municipalities have also taken efforts to ban gas hookups completely in new-construction buildings.
Scarr hopes that the Colorado law continues to raise awareness about the risk of gas stoves and that more jurisdictions adopt warning labels. Its not about limiting choice, he says, but about giving people information on a consumer product.
With gas stoves, he notes, the risks are obvious: You’ve got a methane flame unventilated in the middle of your kitchena fossil fuel. Of course, there’s going to be air pollution.
Eli Lilly has signed a deal worth $1.3 billion with privately held Superluminal Medicines to discover and develop small-molecule drugs through AI to treat obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases.
Lilly currently dominates the obesity treatment market, which is estimated to be worth $150 billion by the next decade, and is trying to strengthen its foothold in the space through the development of next-generation drugs, acquisitions and partnerships.
The deal gives Lilly access to Superluminal’s proprietary artificial-intelligence-driven platform to rapidly discover potential drug candidates targeting G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR)a class of proteins that can influence a range of physiological processes including metabolism, cell growth and immune responsesthe drug developer said on Thursday.
In a similar move, Danish rival Novo Nordisk struck a $2.2 billion deal with U.S. biotech Septerna in May to develop oral small-molecule medicines targeting GPCRs for obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases.
Lilly has been capitalizing on the overwhelming popularity of the GLP-1 class of medicines, which includes its blockbuster drug Zepbound as well as Novo’s Wegovy. It is also developing a keenly watched oral GLP-1 drug, orforglipron, which has failed to meet investors’ lofty expectations.
The drugmaker teamed up with Hong Kong-listed biotech Laekna last year to develop an experimental obesity drug that aims to help patients lose weight while preserving muscle.
Lilly will receive exclusive rights to develop and commercialize drug candidates discovered using Superluminal’s platform, the drug developer said.
As part of the deal, Superluminal is eligible to receive upfront and milestone payments, an equity investment as well as tiered royalties on net sales, the company said.
Boston-based startup Superluminal is developing a wholly owned lead candidate targeting a protein called melanocortin 4 receptor to treat certain rare, genetic forms of obesity and is expected to begin human trials next year. The lead candidate is not part of the deal with Lilly.
Superluminal is backed by investors including RA Capital Management, Insight Partners and NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm.
Mariam Sunny, Reuters
Werner on Thursday said it is recalling more than 100,000 faulty ladders due to a locking mechanism that can fail, potentially causing users to fall and injure themselves.
In cooperation with federal consumer product regulators, Werner is recalling 122,250 Multi-Max Pro ladders that come in 20-foot and 24-foot sizes. The ladders were sold exclusively at Home Depot between November of 2021 and February of 2024 with prices between $200 and $281.
The Illinois-based company said owners of the ladders being recalled should stop using them immediately and register at www.wernerco.com/recalls to begin the process for a full refund. Once owners have properly disposed of their ladders per Werner’s instructions, the company said it will issue a check for a full refund.
The ladders are silver with a blue top and a blue label on the side rail with an oval containing the word Werner and MULTI MAX PRO. The size and model numbers are ALMP-20IAA or ALMP-24IAA and have a long black rope in the back.
Werner said it has received 18 reports of falls, including 14 reports of injuries resulting in bruising, lacerations, head injuries and fractures to the wrist, leg and ribs.
If consumers think they own a ladder being recalled, they can call Werner at 888-624-1907 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday or email ladder@realtimeresults.net. More information can be found online at http://www.wernerco.com/recalls or by clicking on Recalls at the bottom of Werner’s home page.
The recall number is 25-431.
Werner noted that models ALMP-16IAA and ALMP-18IAA Multi-Max Pro Ladders currently offered for sale have a different design and are not included in the recall.
