Agentic artificial intelligence is coming, whether youre ready for it or not. A PwC survey published earlier this year found that 88% of U.S. companies are beefing up their agentic AI budgets, and a broad majority have adopted AI agents in some capacity.
When it comes to using AI agents for shopping or in the commerce space, more than half of consumers say they already are, or will be doing so by the end of the year. But many people still arent quite sure how or when to use AI agents. They may not know where to find them, how to prompt them and, in some cases, if the agent they are interacting with is legit or potentially a disguised bad actor. Fetch, an AI firm founded in 2017 in the U.K., is trying to make the transition to using AI agents for everyday tasks a bit easier and smooth out some of those issues.
On Wednesday, the company launched three new products: ASI:One, a new large language model (LLM) interface for interacting with agents; Fetch Business, a portal allowing brands and companies to claim and verify brand agents (similar to a social media-inspired verification system); and Agentverse, a directory and depository of more than 2 million AI agents.
Perhaps the most interesting new product, from a laymans perspective, is ASI:One. It’s an interface in which users can interact with AI agents and prompt them to perform certain taskssuch as book a vacation with all flights and hotels, or buy me new shoes, which would prompt specific brand agents for airlines, hotels, and even shoe brands to assist the user.
Humayun Sheikh, Fetchs founder and CEO, thinks that the interface will help people learn to utilize AI agents and navigate the agentic AI space in a way similar to how Google helped people learn to navigate the broader internet decades ago. “Google created discoverability and trust for websites. We’re creating the same foundation for agents, Sheik said in a statement provided to Fast Company.
There are already more than 1,000 verified brand agents on the platform, including companies such as Costco, Alaska Airlines, Pepsi, and Adidas. That means that users can interact directly with those agentsin a way that they may interact with a human employeeto get information related to prices, product information, and more.
The hope, as Sheikh puts it, is that Fetchs platform will help connect consumers directly with brands through agents, and help create a new ecosystem in which AI agents have more utility to the general public in a more personal and pragmatic way. Further, Fetch hopes the personal element of its platform will help get consumers more specific informationdiffering from broader LLM models, such as ChatGPT.
Instead of just finding information, your personal AI coordinates with verified brand agents to get things done, Sheikh said. This isn’t searching for options separately and hoping they work together; its orchestration. Your personal AI understands how you make decisions, then works with brand agents that have real inventory, pricing, and booking capabilities.
AI agents are quickly moving from an abstract concept to an everyday utility. Fetch is betting that clarity, trust, and verification will be the missing ingredients that help some consumers who have been holding back on adopting the technology to embrace it. If the company succeeds, the way we shop, book, plan, and interact with brands could feel less like surfing the web and more like delegating to a capable assistantone that actually follows through.
President Trump nominated Stuart Levenbach as the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, choosing a person who has no banking or financial services experience to run a bureau that has been effectively inoperable since Trump was sworn into office.
Levenbach is currently an associate director inside the Office of Management and Budget, handling issues related to natural resources, energy, science and water issues. Levenbach’s resume shows significant experience dealing with science and natural resources issues, acting as chief of staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during Trump’s first term.
The CFPB has been nonfunctional much of the year. Many of its employees have been ordered not to work, and the only major work the bureau is doing is unwinding the regulations and rules it put into place during President Trump’s first term and during the Biden administration.
The bureau’s current acting director is Russell Vought, President Trump’s budget director and Levenbach’s boss. Under the Vacancies Act, Vought can only act as acting director for 210 days, but now that President Trump has nominated someone to the position, that clock has now been suspended until the Senate approves or denies Levenbach’s confirmation as director.
The bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, a law passed to overhaul the financial system and require banks to hold more capital to avoid another financial crisis. The CFPB was created to be a independent advocate for consumers to help them avoid bad actors in the financial system.
Ken Sweet, AP business writer
Country music fans have something extra to be thankful for each November beyond turkey.
Traditionally, the Country Music Association Awardsaka the CMA Awardstake place during the second-to-last month of the year. Wednesday, November 19, is the big day in 2025 for the 59th annual event.
Lets get you up to speed on everything you need to know about country musics biggest night so you can confidently two-step your way through the evening.
Whats the venue for the 2025 CMA Awards?
The 59th CMA Awards will be held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Whos hosting the 2025 CMA Awards?
Lainey Wilson is back to emcee the awards.
Last year, she shared the duties with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning, but this year she is flying solo. Beyond presiding over the event, she is also nominated for multiple awards, including Entertainer of the Year.
Whos nominated for a 2025 CMA Award?
Joining Wilson in the Entertainer of the Year category are fellow nominees Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, and Morgan Wallen.
Although Wilson is the only female in the top category, three women tied for the most nominations in 2025 with six each. Wilson, Megan Moroney, and Ella Langley all share that honor.
Langley, Shaboozey, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore, and Stephen Wilson Jr. are all nominated for New Artist of the Year. You can find a complete list of nominees on the association’s website.
Whos performing at the 2025 CMA Awards?
Since Lainey Wilson is already in the neighborhood and hosting, shes also going to grace the audience with her vocal talents.
Shes not the only one. Kelsea Ballerini will perform her new song I Sit in Parks live for the first time.
Meanwhile, Stapleton is scheduled to perform twice. He will sing his cinematic song Bad As I Used to Be from the soundtrack of F1: The Movie and A Song to Sing, a duet with Miranda Lambert.
Newly inducted Country Music Hall of Fame member Kenny Chesney will hoot and holler to celebrate the momentous occasion.
Old Dominion is performing a medley of their greatest hits.
Riley Green, the Red Clay Strays, Brandi Carlile, Patty Loveless, BigXthaPlug, Combs, Langley, Moroney, Shaboozey, Top, Wetmore, and Wilson Jr. are also scheduled to sing their hearts out.
Whos being honored at the 2025 CMA Awards?
The 2025 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to the “I Still Believe in You” singer and songwriter Vince Gill.
Gill first broke out as the lead singer of the Pure Prairie League. He cemented his legacy in the 1990s as a solo act, and later joined the Eagles in 2017 after the death of Glenn Frey.
How can I watch or stream the CMA Awards live?
To see Gill and host Wilsons big night on a linear television, tune into ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
Traditional cable subscribers can watch it that way, and those with good reception and an over-the-air antenna can see it for free.
The telecast will also be concurrently streamed for those with a subscription to Hulu+ Live TV.
If that service is not in your streaming arsenal, consider FuboTV or Sling TVjust double-check that the streamer carries ABC in your region before committing to another monthly fee.
Also, now that the ABC parent company has settled its carriage dispute with Google, you can watch the CMAs on YouTube TV.
Additionally, if you find yourself busy on Wednesday night, never fear. The show will be available to watch the following day on Hulu.
Millions of Americans who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” stand to lose their premium subsidies, with less than three weeks to go until they expire at the end of 2025. And the result of that would be skyrocketing health care costs for 22 million marketplace users.
If Congress does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits, it will also trigger a so-called “subsidy cliff,” or strict income maximum that abruptly cuts off subsidies to households with incomes that are over 400% of the federal poverty level. That would raise the costs of those healthcare plans by an estimated 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
Currently, 92% of Americans enrolled the ACA marketplace plan receive some type of enhanced subsidies. That’s 22 out of 24 million people. However, not all would be affected by the subsidy cliff.
Letting the credits expire could send insurance skyrocketing to such high levels that many Americans wouldn’t be able to afford their current plans, or worse, keep their healthcare at all. One estimate found average family premiums could triple from $1,200 to $3,553 a month if the credits expire.
Congress is set to vote on extending the subsidies in mid-December, but it’s unclear if the House will pass it as is, or tack on conditions.
The run-up to that deadline has created a crisis as Republicans, backed by President Donald Trump, have seemed to play Russian roulette with 22 million American taxpayers’ healthcare. (The credits were not extended in Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.) The dispute over the credits was at the heart of the recent federal government shutdown, with the upcoming vote being a condition for Senate Democrats to end the standoff.
The president has said he doesn’t want to extend the credits, and would instead give that money directly to the people so they can purchase their own, much better, health care.” However, according to independent fact-checking publication PolitiFact, without a formal proposal, there’s no way to determine if “Trump’s social media musings” would actually work.
Some Republicans are pushing for Americans to rely more on health savings accounts, or HSAs, but these can’t typically be used to pay for the actual health insurance plans themselves. Other Republicans are floating the idea of temporarily extending the credits through the 2026 midterm elections, when many are up for reelection.
If Republicans and Democrats in Congress don’t strike a deal, many Americans can expect to pay a lot more for their current plans on the exchange, or end up paying the same for less coverage.
Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 200,000 Bronco and Bronco Sport vehicles because an instrument panel can fail, increasing the risk of a crash.
Federal auto safety regulators said that the instrument panel may not display at startup, leaving the driver without critical safety information.
The recall includes 128,607 Ford Bronco Sports, model years 2025-2026 and 101,002 Ford Broncos, also model years 2025-2026, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
Ford is not aware of any injuries caused by the instrument panel failure.
Owners will be notified by mail beginning Dec. 8 and instructed to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln dealership to have the software updated.
The NHTSA recall number is 25V540.
When Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier calmly sat down and told a group of assembled local media the WNBA is helmed by the worst leadership in the world on September 30, she likely did so with a full understanding of the potential impact of her words.
Collierwho launched Unrivaled, the womens professional three-on-three basketball league alongside the New York Libertys Breanna Stewart in 2023is the granddaughter of Gershon Collier, who served as Sierra Leones representative in the United Nations in the 1960s. She understands the impact of the right words.
And the words she chose forced the in-house negotiations between the WNBA and the players union, the Womens National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), fully into the public eye.
I think its time that people know whats happeningthe way that the league is not valuing us the way that we need to be valued, Collier said.
WNBA players opted out of their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) last year, and since then the clock has been ticking: after missing the October deadline, the WNBA offered players a 30-day extension, they agreed; the new deadline is November 30.
[The players] are at the center of everything we do, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said speaking to reporters on October 3. If the players in the W don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better, and I have to do better.
The WNBPAs current fight is one that hails from a long lineage of women-led labor strikes and disputes. UC Santa Barbaras Dr. Eileen Boris, who specializes in labor studies as well as gender, race, class, and womens history in the universitys Feminist Studies department, told Fast Company that there is a big history of women organizing in the United States.
Women have never been passive in the workplace, she says.
Were seeing that play out yet againand in the case of the WNBA, on one of the biggest public stages possible.
Echoes of the past
The heart of the dispute is money: the WNBA has never been more popular, and more money than ever has been pouring into the league. At the same time, the players are not adequately compensateda reality that is all the more confusing when one considers that the athletes in the WNBA are both the product and, effectively, the marketing team. Throughout the regular season, fans turn to social media more often than not to catch up on game scores, tunnel fits, and what teams are up to, and they form parasocial relationships with the stars of the game.
It should be noted that the WNBAs astronomical growthstaggering increases in viewership and game attendance, league expansion that has included adding a total of six new teams by 2030, improved resources for players such as chartered flights, and an influx of funds from media rights deals and partnershipshave all happened under Engelberts watch. She emphasized to the reporters that the heart of the league lies with building a movement that not only showcases the best athletes in the world, but also inspires millions who dream of following in their footsteps.
At the top of the players list of demands is a more equitable share of overall revenue thats coming into the league. The players have proposed a new system: one that allows that share to grow as the leagues revenue grows. That would benefit not only the athletes currently in the league, but for the athletes who will join in years to come. But in response, the league has suggested a system not too dissimilar from what is already in place, offering salary increases that include a cap that increases by a fixed rate over time. To complicate matters further, the WNBA and NBA have not yet shared the books that explain just how much revenue there is.
This is hardly the first time the 29-year-old leagues athletes have entered into a legal dispute with the leagues leadership. In fact, the first-ever CBA nearly tore the league apartbut ultimately set the standard for womens professional sports leagues in the United States (and even in the world).
And yet, today, players remain embroiled in an extremely public, high-stakes fight; workers (in this case, players) are pushing back on a leadership they believe to be toxic.
This reality is underscored by a host of women-led labor movements: From the striking female workers at textile factories in the 1800s in Lowell, Massachusetts, to the garment workers of New York City, to the 1881 Atlanta Washerwomen strike, which achieved racial solidarity as part of its movement.
Historically, Boris says, women who were considered the consumers of the goods supported the [striking] workers in past U.S. disputes a pattern that is also playing out as the WNBPA continues to receive broad support from female fans. Those past movements are not dissimilar to what the players of the WNBA face now, and one key to success will be garnering and retaining mass public support for the fight.
Contentious negotiations
The players are demanding what they feel is fair, author and cohost of The Womens Hoop Show podcast Jordan Robinson explained to Fast Company. And I believe that the players feel like they maybe settled [for less than they deserved] in their last CBA negotiation with the hope of the league growing down the line. Now? That growth happened way faster and way sooner than a lot of the players probably were thinking.
That growth is owed in large part to Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, as well as Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, and these new rookies coming in bringing a lot of fans from college, and a lot of eyes, attention, and dollars, Robinson says. Under the current agreement, a rookie drafted in the top four spots in 2025 makes $78,831 this year. But Clark, who is responsible for 26.5% of WNBA revenue all by herself, signed a contract that began at $76,535 annually when she was drafted as the number-one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
ESPN reported this week that the WNBA has proposed increasing the max salary as part of the current negotiations. But why are some of the leagues best players making less than $80,000 a year, especially in a league that landed a $2.2 bilion media rights deal in July 2024?
The answer might be hiding behind what increasingly appears to be a toxic storm brewing within the league itself. Collier hinted at league-wide dysfunction and unrest in her statement, and in an interview with Glamour published October 28, she took things a step further.
We are being so grossly almost taken advantage of, and it should be illegal, she insisted. The amount of money that Caitlin Clark has made the league is insane, and shes getting 0% of it because we have no rev share. She gets less than $80,000 a year, and shes bringing in, like, hundreds of millions of dollars. Its insane.
As Boris put it, the general public does not look at these workers as workers.
They don’t see the working conditions. They don’t see the kind of bullying that might be taking place and the hierarchies behind the scenes.
Its a big problem, she says.
Like generations of women who have spearheaded labor disputes in the past, from the New York shirt waist strike of 1909 (which fought for better pay and hours, safer, more humane conditions) to a 2022 strike against Kroger (around wages and COVID-era safety at work), the players have to prove their own humanity to garner support.
Workers in other industries have been forced to take drastic measures to get their needs met, too: there were the dual SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WGA) Hollywood strikes in 2023, or what may unfold in West Virginia if coal miners struggling with black lung disease arent adequately responded to.
A WNBA spokesperson noted on October 28 that the league urges the Players Association to spend less time disseminating public misinformation and more time joining us in constructive engagement. But when toxicity feels as if its baked into the culture of the job, what options do any workers have but to fight for what they believe they deserve?
‘Self-sabotage’ for the organization
Like these labor disputes of the past, WNBA players are pushing for the same goals so many workers everywhere want: higher pay, increased benefits, and protection from occupational hazards, like injuries on the court. As Collier also said, Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage.
As we should have learned by now, it doesnt typically pay to devalue workers and continue with toxic conditions. Over time, that erodes an organization from the inside out, something that has been demonstrated throughout the history of work in the United States. When it comes to the WNBA, the concerns are a little more physical and personal. Injuries are part of the game, and perhaps no one knows this better than Collier herself. The 29-year-old forward suffered at least two at crucial moments this season alone: she missed several games due to a sprained ankle, a reality that could have cost her the coveted MVP crown this season.
But playersworkersfeel within their rights to challenge any circumstances in which they dont feel safe. Many of the great labor advances in this country started exactly that way.
This is not only for us
Though it may feel obvious to those watching the WNBA and CBA negotiations closely that players are making demands that are reasonable when considering what they bring to the league, the path ahead of them is still very hard, Boris says. All workers have to get as high of a salary as you can during your prime when youre working, she explains.
The success of negotiations will depend in part on how public they are. One strategy which is really useful is having workers give testimony about working conditions or being forced to play, and [being] forced to practice with injuries or lack of sick days or family accommodation.
To that end, it seems thats what some players have had in mind: In addition to Collier, plenty of WNBA superstars, including four-time MVP Aja Wilson and the Indiana Fevers Sophie Cunningham, have made it clear where they stand on the issue and that they are willing to fight tooth and nail. Thats necessary because the stakes are just so high, Boris says.
And like the historic, women-led labor movements in the past, the outcome wont just affect the women currently playing in the league.
When asked about the perception that WNBA leadership is not pro-player, Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown tells Fast Company: I think it runs deep. I think its been this way for a long time, and I think its getting to the point where we just finally have the leverage.
WNBA players have other opportunities, she points out, like AU Pro Basketball, the womens professional league that will kick off its fifth season in Nashville in February. The new Player B league in Europe and Asia also promises higher pay than the WNBA does. Such leagues afford players the money to potentially not have a [WNBA] season, she explains.
None of us want that to happen, but I think its just been a build up over years and years, and we have to stand on business when it comes to this.
The leagues players are fighting this fight for those who came before them: the players who continued to show up to work, every single year, despite the conditions, despite not having facilities, despite flying commercial, sharing hotel rooms, she says. Theyre also fighting for all the little girls out there that want to be in the WNBA.
This is not only for us, Brown added. Its for everybody in the future.
Adobe will acquire software platform Semrush for $1.9 billion, the companies said on Wednesday, as the Photoshop maker looks to strengthen its marketing tools and attract brands with generative artificial intelligence products.
The company will pay $12 per share for Semrush, representing a premium of around 77.5% to its stock’s last closing price. Semrush shares jumped 75% to $11.83 in premarket trading.
Semrush designs and develops AI software that helps companies with search engine optimization, social media, and digital advertising.
The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of next year, would allow Adobe to help marketers better understand how their brands are viewed by online consumers through searches on websites and generative AI bots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal earlier in the day.
Adobe’s tools, which also include InDesign, Acrobat, and Illustrator, have become household names in design software, widely used by enterprises, students, and creative professionals to edit, create websites, brochures, and graphics.
The company also provides “Adobe Experience Cloud” to help companies with data and analytics.
But investor pressure to ramp up monetization of AI products and features amid intensifying competition in the digital design industry has weighed on its shares, which have fallen more than 27% so far this year.
Adobe had said in October its video and image editing tools could be controlled by chatting with them. The company also said it was working with OpenAI to let users directly control one of its apps through ChatGPT.
Zaheer Kachwala, Reuters
A jovial President Donald Trump held a warm and friendly meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the White House, packed with plenty of handshakes and back pats. He brushed aside questions about Saudi Arabias human rights record, praised the prince for his statesmanship and announced hundreds of billions of dollars in new Saudi investment in the United States.
The White House rolled out plenty of pomp for the Saudi royal on Tuesday, dispatching fighter jets that the two leaders watched from a red carpet, parading out an honor guard on horseback and giving a lavish dinner in the East Room.
In a sitdown in the Oval Office that took place just seven years after Prince Mohammad was implicated by U.S. intelligence agencies in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump and the prince took numerous questions from reporters one of whom was repeatedly insulted by Trump on everything from commerce to the sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh.
Here is a look at some of the takeaways from the visit:
Movement on military cooperation
Trump had previewed his decision to sell F-35s on Sunday but formalized it before the prince on Tuesday when he said the approval was complete and that Israels fears about maintaining its qualitative military edge in the Middle East would be addressed.
Details of the deal were not immediately clear, but some in the Pentagon and other agencies have opposed the sale because of the potential for advanced technology being shared with China, which also has close ties with Saudi Arabia.
As far as Im concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line, Trump said of Saudi Arabia and Israel, which already has F-35s. Israels aware and theyre going to be very happy.
Israeli officials have suggested that they would not be opposed to Saudi Arabia getting F-35s as long as Saudi Arabia normalizes relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework.
The Saudis have said they would join the Abraham Accords but only after there is a credible and guaranteed path to Palestinian statehood, a position Prince Mohammad repeated in the meeting.
We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution, he said. Were going to work on that to be sure that we come prepared for the situation as soon as possible to have that.
Trump also said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia would complete a broader agreement on military and security issues during the visit and that the U.S. would proceed with a civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, about which Israel also has raised concerns.
The two nations also signed a deal that calls for the Saudis to purchase nearly 300 tanks from the U.S.
At the dinner Tuesday night, Trump announced he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, a largely symbolic move that gives foreign partners some defense, trade and security cooperation benefits.
Khashoggi’s killing gets swept aside
Tuesdays meeting was the first White House visit for the crown prince since Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, was killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.
U.S. intelligence said Prince Mohammad likely approved the slaying.
In a remarkable scene in the Oval Office, the prince, nicknamed MBS, faced questions from reporters, something not typical for the de facto head of the absolute monarchy where dissent is criminalized.
He was asked about Khashoggi’s slaying along with the role that Saudi citizens played in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Trump, however, lashed out at the reporter for the line of questioning.
Trump called Khashoggi, a Saudi pro-democracy activist, extremely controversial and said a lot of people didnt like that gentleman that youre talking about. Whether you like him or didnt like him, things happen, but he (the crown prince) knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that.
Prince Mohammad, who has denied involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, replied that his government had taken action.
Its been painful for us in Saudi Arabia, he said. We did all the right steps of investigation, etc., in Saudi Arabia, and weve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again. And its painful, and it was a huge mistake.
Trump also commended the Saudi leader for strides made by the kingdom on human rights without providing any specific detail but presumably referring to reforms relating to womens rights. Whats he done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else, Trump said.
Lots of pomp and circumstance
Trump greeted Prince Mohammed at the White Houses South Lawn entrance with a handshake and arm slung over the prince’s shoulder. Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi leader, with a military band on hand and a flyover by U.S. military planes, before showing the crown prince his decorations along the White House Colonnade.
We have a extremely respected man in the Oval Office today, Trump said at the top of meeting, calling the prince a friend of mine for a very long time.
Trump also castigated his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for greeting Prince Mohammed with a fist bump during his 2022 visit to Saudi Arabia.
When you get out of the plane and you get the future king and a man who is one of the most respected people in the world you shake his hand, you dont give him a fist bump, right? Trump said. Trump doesnt give a fist bump. I grab that hand and he did just that.
At the dinner Tuesday night, the tuxedo-clad president and first lady Melania Trump welcomed the crown prince back on the red carpet again, before feting him at a dinner attended by tech titans such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla founder Elon Musk, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with golfer Bryson DeChambeau and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
They dined on a pistachio-crusted rack of lamb, followed by a couverture mousse pear for dessert.
Vast but vague commercial and economic deals
Prince Mohammad told Trump that his country would be increasing its financial commitments to the U.S. from $600 billion, which ws announced during the presidents trip to Riyadh in May, to $1 trillion.
Details of those deals were not immediately clear but are expected to include investments in a variety of American businesses, including artificial Intelligence, as well as the purchase of jet engines and other equipment.
Matthew Lee, AP diplomatic writer
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
Time slows. The mind chatter quietens. Outside distractions dial down to a hum. You are at one with the task at hand. Congratulations, youve reached flow state.
Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the term to describe a state of complete immersion in an activity, one in which focus comes naturally and youre in the zone. Think of the hours flying by as a painter gets lost in their art. Or when youre juggling three browser tabs, the caffeine hits, and suddenly, your fingers start flying across the keyboard.
Well, over on TikTok, a new trend has the internet sharing the hyper-specific ways they genuinely enter their “flow statethe more chaotic, the better.
One example: When the iced latte, Zyn & Adderall hit at the same time and I genuinely reach flow state, a TikTok user wrote, blinking and looking around the room with full alertness, punctuated by slurping coffee through a straw.
When I have a drink for hydration, a drink for caffeine, and a drink for fun & genuinely reach a flow state, another wrote, triple-fisting beverages while standing in front of a laptop.
Another added, When youre matching socks and genuinely reach flow state. Boom.
While the trend takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the psychological phenomenon, it is a real, if elusive, feeling.
Csíkszentmihályi explains that flow happens when our abilities line up just right with the task in front of us. Too easy, and we get bored. Too hard, and we get stressed.
Flow occurs in the sweet spot where were both completely absorbed and able to enjoy the process.
Theres this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other; you get immediate feedback, Csikszentmihalyi said in a 2004 TED Talk. You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears, you forget yourself, you feel part of something larger.
Research shows that entering the flow state can boost performance in activities such as sports or music, and also improve both creativity and well-being. Csíkszentmihályi went as far as to call it the secret to happiness, with research showing those who regularly experience flow appear to be less susceptible to depression.
With Gen Z locking in” from now until the end of the year, now is as good a time as ever to practice getting in the zone, blocking out all distractions, and checking off some goals before 2026.
Or, as one TikTok user suggested: When Im eating the wings and fries at the same time while also getting water and I genuinely reach flow state.
Tyson Foods has agreed to stop making claims about reaching net zero or selling climate-smart beef for at least five years, part of a settlement from a lawsuit brought against it by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG).
EWG sued Tyson in 2024 over false or misleading marketing claims. The lawsuit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleged that Tyson misled customers through materials that said the companys industrial meat production operations will reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and also claims that it produces climate-smart beef.
Beef is one of the worst climate offenders when it comes to proteins. It is responsible for eight to 10 times the carbon emissions as chicken and up to 50 times those of beans. Climate experts highlight beefs immense land and water use, deforestation, and the methane emissions from cattle as top environmental impacts.
In the United States, agriculture at large accounts for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. About half of that comes from livestock, with cattle specifically making up 35% of agriculture emissions.
“No plan” to achieve net zero goals
In 2023, Tyson launched a Climate-Smart Beef Program.” It advertised that its Brazen Beef products were part of that program, and that they came from animals raised with emissions reduction practices in mind, per the lawsuit.
On its Brazen Beef website, Tyson had said that its emissions were already down 10% (the website is no longer available).
But EWG says that Tyson never defined what exactly climate-smart beef is, what baseline it is using for comparison, or how it is measuring any alleged [greenhouse gass] reductions, the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also alleged that Tyson has no plan to achieve its net zero goals.
In the settlement, announced this week, Tyson agreed to no longer make those environmental claims for five years. Tyson also cannot introduce new environmental claims unless they are supported by expert analysis and verified facts, per the nonprofit.
The five-year restriction is meaningful because it prevents Tyson from turning around and re-introducing these claims without doing the hard work to substantiate them, Caroline Leary, general counsel and chief operating officer at EWG, says via email.
Five years is a substantial window for a company of Tysons size to either make real, measurable progress on reducing its emissions, or for it to reconsider the accuracy of the claims it makes to consumers, she adds.
In a statement, a Tyson spokesperson says the settlement does not represent any admission of wrongdoing by the company.
Tyson Foods has a long-held core value to serve as stewards of the land, animals and resources entrusted to our care, the spokesperson added.
Spin and bones
The Tyson settlement comes in the same month as a separate settlement between the New York attorney generals office and JBS USA, part of the worlds largest meat company.
In that settlement, JBS also agreed to stop making unsubstantiated claims about reaching net-zero emissions.
JBS USA will also pay $1.1 million for agriculture programs to help New York farmers reduce emissions and become more climate resilient.
The settlements highlight both the environmental impact of meat companies and also their intense marketing practices.
A 2024 report found that meat and dairy companies are failing to address these impacts, and none have net-zero targets that meet UN standards. The industries spend more on advertising than on climate solutions, the report found.
EWG, which was represented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Earthjustice, Edelson PC, andFarmSTAND in the suit, called the settlement a significant victory and says it will continue to review climate claims across the meat industry.
Our hope is that this settlement raises the bar for the entire industry, and that companies like Tyson will take a fresh look at what substantiation actually requires, Leary says. If Tyson or any other company chooses to resume climate claims without the evidence to back them up, we will be prepared to take appropriate action. Consumers deserve truth in advertising, now and in the future.
