2025 was a fairly humdrum year for Apple from a hardware perspective. While the companys softwareincluding the 26 versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOSgot a major visual overhaul, Apples hardware lineup included just one brand new product: the iPhone Air.
But that is set to change in 2026. This year, Apple is expected to release a number of brand-new hardware products, along with some updates to existing ones. And yes, AI will be a focus, too. Heres whatand whento expect from Apple in 2026.
iPhone Fold
The most anticipated device Apple is expected to release this year is a foldable iPhone. Colloquially known as the iPhone Fold, this device will be the first-ever dual-screen iPhone and will take the form of a book rather than a clamshell device.
Rumors are running wild about the devices reported specs, but it is highly likely to feature an industry-first crease-free display, which measures around 7.5 inches when unfolded. Its front-facing folded display is expected to come in at around 5.5 inches.
A foldable phone will be an entirely new product category for Apple, and the iPhone makers entry into this market is expected to help foldables go mainstream. Expect the iPhone Fold to debut in the fall.
An affordable MacBook
MacBooks are amazing laptopsbut theyre pricey. The least expensive MacBook that Apple currently sells is the $999 MacBook Air. But this year, that will change.
Multiple reports suggest that Apple will release a low-cost, entry-level MacBook with a display size of around 13.6 inches. Whats unique about this MacBook is that it will reportedly be the first to be powered by an A-series chip. The A series is the chipset found in the companys iPhones. Current MacBooks are powered by the more advanced M-series chips.
But the star feature of the new MacBook will be its price. Apple is reportedly aiming to position it to compete with low-cost laptops like Google Chromebooks. Theres no word yet on what that low cost price may be, but it will likely fall somewhere around the $700 range.
An LLM Siri
New hardware isnt the only thing Apple is expected to introduce this year. The company will also launch a new version of its much-maligned digital assistant, Siri. This new Siri will be powered by a large language model (LLM), similar to those that power OpenAIs ChatGPT and Googles Gemini.
The new LLM Siri is expected to be released with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 26.4 in the spring. Its also a feature that will reportedly power Apples other new 2026 hardware product
The HomePad
No, this isnt a new HomePod smart speaker. The so-called HomePad is rumored to combine a smart speaker with a touch display (think: HomePod + iPad) and is designed to be a control center for the home.
The tabletop device will reportedly let you make FaceTime video calls and control all the smart devices in your home. It is also rumored to be powered by that new LLM Siri that’s mentioned above, which means it will likely be Apples first hardware device that is designed to function as a household AI assistant.
As for when you can expect the HomePad, a late spring launch is a good guess, since iOS 26.4 is expected to ship then.
A new Apple TV 4K
Speaking of the home, Apple is expected to introduce another home-based product this year: an upgraded Apple TV 4K. Apple has not updated the digital media player since 2022, and its current specs, including its A15 Bionic chip, are showing their age.
The new Apple TV 4K is expected to include a powerful A18 (or later) chipset that just may be capable of running console-quality games. But more importantly, that chip may also support the new LLM Siri, bringing an AI chatbot and Apple Intelligence to the Apple TV for the first time.
The new Apple TV 4K will likely show up sometime this spring.
The usual suspects
Apple is also expected to upgrade several existing products in 2026.
One is the low cost iPhone 17ethe successor to last years iPhone 16e, which is likely to debut in the spring. In the fall, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 18 Pro series (alongside the new iPhone Fold). Those waiting for the entry-level iPhone 18, however, will need to wait until spring 2027, as Apple is rumored to be moving to a new Pro/entry-level staggered release starting this year.
On the iPad front, Apple is likely to upgrade the iPad Air to the M5 chipset, while also releasing an upgraded version of the entry-level iPad and iPad Mini. Multiple Macs are also expected to get the M5 treatment, including the MacBook Air, the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and possibly the Mac Mini and iMac.
Finally, Apple will probably release its second-generation of AirTag item trackers, which will feature increased range and precision.
Rumors have been circulating online that Microsoft is preparing to cut tens of thousands of jobs. TipRanks reported that the company is considering massive layoffs this month, potentially eliminating between 11,000 and 22,000 roles across the Azure Cloud, Xbox, and global sales teams.
According to The Seattle Times, the claims appear to have originated on anonymous online forums like Reddit and Blind before rapidly spreading across Bluesky and X, drawing widespread attention and, in turn, swift denials from Microsoft executives.
Microsofts chief communications officer, Frank X. Shaw, took to X to refute the rumors, calling them 100 percent made up/speculative/wrong. He also responded to a post suggesting the layoffs would materialize in weeks, sarcastically replying, “i eagerly await.” Jez Corden, editor at Windows Central, also pushed back on claims, writing on X, false on the Xbox side at least.
Large-Scale Microsoft Layoffs Are Not Unprecedented
The company carried out significant workforce reductions in 2025, cutting more than 15,000 employees between May and September. In July alone, Microsoft laid off roughly 9,000 employees. At the time, Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, wrote in a memo to staff that the cuts were necessary for the companys longevity, arguing they would increase agility and effectiveness.
Microsofts recent layoffs reflect the growing financial demands of artificial intelligence. AI itself is not necessarily replacing workers. Rather, the sheer cost of building AI systems is forcing budget restructuring, leading to cuts. During the 2025 fiscal year, Microsoft spent approximately $88 billion developing its proprietary AI systems. As investment in AI continues to surge, the company has increasingly looked to trim costs elsewhere to offset that spending.
Go inside one interesting founder-led company each day to find out how its strategy works, and what risk factors it faces. Sign up for 1 Smart Business Story from Inc. on Beehiiv.
Leila Sheridan
This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc.
Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
Youve put in the hours, delivered results, and earned the respect of your peers. But when it comes to moving up, the biggest obstacle isnt performance or policyits your boss.
Managers often hold disproportionate power over career mobility. Research shows they can become the gatekeepers who decide who advances and who stalls. Gallup finds managers account for up to 70% of the variance in engagement, and half of employees say they left a job to escape their manager. Add to that the fact that companies fail to pick the right person for the job 82% of the time, and its clear why bad bosses cost organizations billions in lost productivity, stalled growth, and attrition.
Take Tiffany, a senior director at a global consumer goods company. After years of strong performance, she was eager to step into a vice president role. Her track record spoke for itself: She built high-performing teams, led revenue-driving initiatives, and earned praise across the organization. Yet, every time a new opportunity surfaced, her boss deflected it. We still need you here. Lets revisit this next year. Tiffany realized she had to look beyond her immediate manager to advance.
Weve seen this scenario repeatedly (Jenny as an executive advisor and learning and development expert, and Kathryn as an executive coach and keynote speaker). When your boss is blocking your promotion, its tempting to see it as a dead end. But you have more agency than you think. These six strategies can help you shift the dynamic, expand your influence, and chart a path forwardwhether inside your current organization or beyond it.
1. Become Non-Essential by Building Succession
One of the most common reasons managers stall promotions is that they cant imagine losing their top performer. Managers often block promotions to avoid weakening their own team.
To overcome this, flip the script by making yourself replaceable, not immediately, but by showing that youre developing others who can take on parts of your role. Build a succession bench, delegate stretch assignments, and document processes so your leader can envision someone succeeding you without disruption.
Ask yourself:
Who could step into my role tomorrow if I left?
What does my boss rely on me for, and who can support them once I am promoted?
How am I preparing others on my team to thrive without me?
What knowledge or processes should I document to make my absence less disruptive?
When Tiffanys boss argued that she couldnt move up until she scaled her impact here, she built a succession planning matrix mapping her key responsibilities against potential successors, with a development plan for each.
The point wasnt that she could leave tomorrow with a perfect replacement, but that she had a structured approach to grow leaders behind her, removing one of the most common excuses managers use to stall promotions.
2. Build Allies and Sponsors Beyond Your Manager
McKinsey highlights how those outside the managers circle of trusted lieutenants” are often excluded from promotion. You cant depend solely on your manager. Promotions often depend as much on organizational politics as on performance.
Start by identifying five to seven decision-makers and influencers who may shape your promotion. Conduct a reputation audit to learn how they perceive your impact. Ask:
What three words best describe me when you think about my work?
Where do you see me adding the most value to the organization?
If you were advising me on career advancement, what should I work on next?
A common mistake is relying only on mentors. You also need sponsors who will advocate for you in closed-door conversations. Research shows sponsorship accelerates mobility, particularly for women and underrepresented groups.
Tiffany realized that while her boss was hesitant, other senior leaders already valued her contributions. By mapping her own Career Board of Directors, she identified mentors, sponsors, peers, and even high-potential juniors who could amplify her influence. This broader network helped her case reach beyond the approval of one person.
3. Reframe Success as Shared Success
Some managers resist elevating talent because they feel overshadowed. Research found managers sometimes sabotage talented employees to protect their own job security, status, or to minimize competition. To reduce this perceived threat, make your success their success.
Shift the narrative. Frame wins as team wins. Recognize your managers role when presenting in senior meetings and show how your advancement reflects their leadership. As Ralph Nader once said, The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Tiffany began reframing her language. Instead of saying, I drove a digital transformation, she positioned it as Our team delivered this milestone with my managers guidance. That subtle shift improved her relationship with her boss.
Reflection questions:
How can I position my progress as a reflection of my managers leadership?
What opportunities exist to spotlight shared wins rather than individual wins?
4. Demonstrate Leadership Beyond Your Role
Promotions signalreadiness for a broader scope, not just excellence in your current job. Step into enterprise-level priorities such as cross-functional projects, task forces, or initiatives that align with executive goals. Visibility beyond your department shows youre already operating at the next level.
Tiffany used the Promotability Index self-assessment to identify growth opportunities across the five dimensions: self-awareness, external awareness, strategic thinking, executive presence, and thought leadership. She then led a high-visibility, cross-functional digital transformation task force directly aligned with executive priorities. The initiative stretched her skills and reframed how senior leaders perceived her readiness.
5. Take Charge of Your Own Development
Many managers arent proactive in developing direct reports. Waiting for them to chart your path can stall your growth. Own your career development: Seek out stretch assignments, request targeted feedback, and invest in your own learning. Signal your commitment to continual growth rather than relying on your managers bandwidth or interest.
Tiffany knew she couldnt count on her boss to sponsor her development. She pursued external executive education, engaged mentors, and worked with an executive coach who facilitated a 360-feedback process to uncover blind spots. That proactive approach made her growth undeniable and less dependent on her managers discretion. As Wayne Gretzky said, You miss 100% of the shots you dont take.
6. Know When Its Time to Move On
Despite your best efforts, some managers will remain blockers. If the system consistently denies your advancement, evaluate whether its time to move elsewhere. A lateral move inside the organization or an external opportunity can reignite your trajectory. Dont mistake loyalty for strategy. Sometimes the fastest route up is out.
For Tiffany, the turning point came when she realized her bosss reluctance wasnt temporary. Even with succession planning, sponsorship, and expanded visibility, he continued to defer her advancement. Armed with a clear development plan and strong enterprise-wide relationships, she began exploring external options. When a VP role opened at a competitor, her preparation gave her the confidence and the credibility to step in and succeed.
When your boss blocks your promotion, it can feel personal and permanent. In reality, its often about perception, politics, or structural gaps rather than your ability. By preparing successors, cultivating sponsors, reframing wins, demonstrating enterprise leadership, investing in your own growth, andwhen necessarymaking the hard choice to move on, you expand your options and reclaim your agency.
As weve seen in our work with executives across industries, a blocked path doesnt have to be the end of the road. With the right strategy, it can be the beginning of a new one.
Handmade punch cards are trending on TikTok as a cute, visual way to track 2026 goals.
Modeled after the punch cards that will secure you a free coffee or sandwich after showing loyalty to one café or another, theyre meant to instead get punched, stamped, or checked off, one square at a time, whenever you make progress on your goals, whether thats staying consistent at the gym, completing a no-spend weekend, or paying down debt.
Todays New Years Eve, and I made these little punch cards this morning of goals I have for myself starting this new year, TikTok user @camiunderthesea said in a video showing off her deck of cards. The first one is to read five books. Ive been trying to get into reading more, and I just cant do it, so hopefully this will motivate me.
She continued: The way it works, if I read a book, I punch it out. When I have all five, I get a treat.
Another TikTok user, @aleegatorrr, set herself the goals of going on 12 hikes this year, a date night once a month, and baking eight new recipes.
This isnt a new trend; it first surfaced in early 2025. But it has once again been embraced as a way to visually track goals and turn vague resolutions like go to the gym or stop doomscrolling into measurable habits.
One week into 2026, and there are more than 200 videos under the hashtag #2026punchcards.
There are a few tutorials online, but the process is simple enough: All it takes is a few index or blank business cards, markers, and a hole punch.
Make a list of some obtainable goals for the year. With a marker, title each card with a goal and draw as many punch spots as you hope to achieve. Add rewards across the bottom and jazz up the cards with borders and/or illustrations.
Punch a small hole in the top-left corner and tie them all together with a ribbon to keep them close at hand as you successfully check off your goals throughout the year.
You may not get a free cappuccino. But you might actually make it to the gym three times a week.
The beginning of a new year ushers in an ominous day in the NFL: Black Monday, the day when coaches are (typically) most at risk of losing their jobs. Black Monday happens the day after the regular season ends, a time when an especially harsh backward review is cast over the wins, losses, and total misses.
The casualty list includes Raheem Morris, who lost his job with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, January 4; Kevin Stefanski, Pete Carroll, and Jonathan Gannon, each fired on Black Monday, January 5, by the Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals, respectively; John Harbaugh, who was fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, January 6; and Mike McDaniel, whose dismissal from the Miami Dolphins was announced Thursday, January 8.
In the NFL and other sports leagues, performance metrics could not be more clear-cut and public. So if coaches arent wracking up enough W’s, isnt it just radical accountability to let those who arent performing go? And could the business world learn anything from this?
“High-visibility performance management”
That kind of slice em and dice em mentality doesnt offer a model of accountability to the traditional work environment outside the sports world, Mario Avila, Assistant Professor of the Practice of Management at Vanderbilt University, tells Fast Company.But it does offer a model of high-visibility performance management that may well serve the upper echelons of corporate America.
Conceptualizing performance in the NFL in this way is possible because all eyes are on the field as the game unfolds. And while these KPIs are powerful, and having clear performance indicators are powerful and important, the difference between the NFL and a traditional business is in the corporate sector, Avila also said, where accountability functions differently. A football coach has to consider injuries, rosters, and the patience of ownersfactors that dont cross the mind of a CEO. Therefore, Avila added, accountability is very different.
But that doesnt mean corporate leaders cant take from the NFL and Black Monday. The top of the list includes clarity and feedback loops, he explains.
Theres a significant amount of clarity of what the KPIs are in a game, and they provide instant feedback loops: are you winning or losing? Are you hitting the right numbers or are the expectations being met? Its highly visible, youre in front of millions of viewers, on display every weekend.
A manager at a desk job may not be conducting on-field warfare against 53 opponents, but those same loops persist; after all, most work is about hitting goals and, ultimately, winning.
More teamwork lessons than accountability ones
Football also offers a lot of lessons about leadership and teamwork, something thats baked into the backbone of the sport, Stephen Master, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Marketing at New York Universitys Stern School of Business tells Fast Company.
Sports are about teamwork: its about everyone contributing what they can, and its about culture. Just like in a traditional office environment, if theres someone who is giving off a negative vibe and is a cancer in the locker room, and theyre just not a good teammate thats the same thing you can risk in corporate America, where someone is really only interested in their own achievements and their own personal growth goals.
If leadership has incentivized the work experiencefootball players get trophies, corporate workers get bonuses, perhapsthose incentives should be also tied to
company performance or division performance, and thats the same thing in any sport, but especially in football, he added. As Master put it, a quarterback on any given team can be the best in the world, but if his offensive line isnt doing their job, the team isnt going to win.
The real takeaway
If there is one thing corporate leaders should avoid emulating, its the NFLs culture of disposable leadership, which is detrimental to the long-term success of a business, Avila says. Bringing people into an environment where easy firings and mass layoffs run rampantwhere a bad start can cost you your job after barely two seasons on the fieldisnt something businesses should mimic if there are concerns about company morale.
Conversations that intersect the NFL and corporate America also raise questions of long-term results vs. short-term gains, Dae Hee Kwak, Graduate Program Director and Associate of Sport Management at the University of Michigan explains to Fast Company. The NFL is built for a 17-week sprint, while a healthy business is built for a 50-year marathon. If you apply NFL logic to a marathon, youll never have enough runners left to finish the race.
An environment steeped in fear will do little to encourage those marathon runnersor, perhaps, football coachesto approach their jobs fearlessly, Avila agrees. Incentives about winning now reduce long-term capability building, he said. But when we look at some of our organizations across the country that are the most successful short-term incentives and winning now [mentalities] really distort the behavior.
Fear crowds out learning, he continued. Because people are going to start to protect themselves instead of experimenting. Success is built on risk, and you want your people in business to take risk. If you make the environment safe, people will take more risks. If they fear that theyre going to get fired, they will be less willing to take risks, which leads to a decrease in innovation, and a decrease in growth.
As endless newspaper and website pages are filled with stories of mass layoffs, perhaps one of the more salient lessons from the NFL is exactly Avilas point: to succeed, workersall workersneed to be encouraged to try something new, and maybe even fail, before they can rise.
Radical accountability might be a mainstay in the NFL, but that doesnt mean it truly can be applied to other work environmentsor that it should even be considered. If long-term success is the objective, it likely behooves corporate leaders to let the football coaches do their thingwhile they do their own.
Days after hitting the market, the new pill version of Novo Nordisk’s wildly popular weight-loss drug will be available through Amazons online pharmacy.
Amazon joins telehealth providers, discount prescription stalwart GoodRx, and even Novo Nordisk itself in providing the novel weight-management drug for consumers who want to pay out of pocket.
With the introduction of the oral version of Wegovy, the weight-loss drugs that have taken the world by storm will become even more accessibleand more readily available for anyone who can pay out of pocket.
The oral version of Wegovy will start at $149 a month out of pocket through Amazon Pharmacy, and will cost $25 a month with eligible insurance coverage. The 1.5-milligram and 4-milligram starter doses of Wegovy are priced at $149 per month, with the higher doses that many people move up to priced around $299.
We know there are people who are interested in addressing their weight but have been waiting on the sidelines for a medicine that was right for them, Novo Nordisk marketing and patient solutions SVP Ed Cinca said in a press release. For many of them, that wait is over.
Rivals race to market with a weight-loss pill
The two companies that introduced the world to the GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) in injectionable form have been racing to market with a pill version of their hit drugs. Late last month, Novo Nordisk secured Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval first, beating its rival drugmaker Eli Lilly, which expects its own drug to get the green light in March.
The Danish drugmaker was also first to market with the injectable version of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, but it struggled on the production side when a massive wave of demand outstripped supply. That dynamic allowed Eli Lilly to gain ground with its own weight-management drug, Zepbound, and pushed the American drugmakers stock to new heights.
In November, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly announced a deal with the Trump administration to make their upcoming weight-loss pills available for $149 out of pocket. Under the terms of the deal, part of the White Houses wider negotiation on drug prices, both companies will be exempt from tariffs on pharmaceutical products for three years.
Beyond Amazon Pharmacy, Novos weight-loss pill will also be coming to TrumpRx, the Trump administrations upcoming portal that will connect consumers with drugmakers to lower prices. For many years, Americans have paid the highest prices anywhere in the world for prescription drugsmuch more than other countries for the exact same product, Trump said in a quote featured on the TrumpRx placeholder site. That ends today. TrumpRx is expected to launch in early 2026.
Dr. Amazon will see you now
If youre confused that Amazon is suddenly a healthcare provider, youre probably not alone. The company best known for its sprawling online storefront and ubiquitous delivery trucks jumped into the prescription drug business in 2020 when it launched its own online pharmacy, which grew out of a previous acquisition of a company called PillPack.
In 2022, Amazon expanded its health ambitions by buying subscription-based primary care and telehealth provider One Medical for $3.9 billion. Last month, the tech giant launched a network of drug-vending kiosks, bringing its signature robotic touch to the pharmacy. The drug vending machines, located in some One Medical offices, are a no-footprint answer to major store closures from longtime drugstore companies like Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS.
With widespread patient-initiated telehealth and cheaper weight-loss drugs popping out of vending machines, the future of medicine is, for better or worse, looking a lot more like the future in 2026.
As President Trump takes even more steps to pull back on climate action, Bill Gates is emphasizing how crucial government policies are crucial to addressing climate change.
In his annual year-ahead letter, the billionaire Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist warns that the market alone is not enough to change our climate reality.
Without a large global carbon tax (which is, unfortunately, politically unachievable), market forces do not properly incentivize the creation of technologies to reduce climate-related emissions, Gates writes.
To stop global temperatures from increasing, we need to replace all emissions-emitting activities with affordable alternatives, Gates says. He particularly calls out industrial emissions and aviation as areas that need innovation.
And government policiesin rich countries, he notesare crucial to bringing about that innovation, because unless innovations reach scale, the costs wont come down and we wont achieve the impact we need.
Climate change is linked to poverty and health
Gatess annual letter comes just a few months after he wrote a blog arguing that the world is too focused on cutting short-term emissions, and that focusing on climate change risks getting in the way of addressing global poverty.
That post sparked some backlash from environmental activists and experts who noted that climate and development goals are interconnected.
If you look around the world right now, climate change is directly undermining human development goals, poverty eradication, and health goals, Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Fast Company back in October.
In his annual letter, Gates said that, If we dont limit climate change, it will join poverty and infectious disease in causing enormous suffering, especially for the worlds poorest people.
Climate change will also worsen both those hardships: Experts have long said that climate change exacerbates disease outbreaks and pandemics, and that it is expected to push up to 132 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.
‘Investing more than ever to climate work’
In his October post, Gates said that although climate change will hurt poor people more than anyone else, the biggest problems to poor people are poverty and disease.
Understanding this, he wrote, will let us focus our limited resources on interventions that will have the greatest impact for the most vulnerable people.
In his year-ahead letter, though, Gates emphasized climate change as a critical area for the world to focus on. He added that he will be investing and giving more than ever to climate work in the years ahead while also continuing to give more to childrens health.
Some of his investments around climate change will use AI. His foundation has committed $1.4 billion to helping farmers adapt to climate extremes, and in his annual letter, he says that with AI, we will soon be able to provide poor farmers with better advice about weather, prices, crop diseases, and soil than even the richest farmers get today.
How Trump has devastated climate action
The Trump administration has taken multiple steps to inhibit America’s climate progress. Most recently, Trump pulled the country out of a a landmark climate treaty, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Trump has also canceled billions in green energy projects, rolled back Biden-era government incentives for clean technologies, and cut hundreds of millions of dollars from climate and renewable energy research.
At the same time, Trump has rapidly increased the governments support of greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels, opening new mining leases, loosening coal plant emissions standards, and forcing coal plants that were going to close to keep operating.
Trumps actions have devastated multiple climate companies. Even Gatess own climate actions faced a challenging 2025: In March, Breakthrough Energy, a climate group Gates started 10 years ago, laid off dozens in its U.S. and Europe policy teams.
But Gates will continue to put billions into climate innovation, he writeswhile also focusing on health and education. And all three of those areas, he notes, can improve rapidly with the right government focus.
General Motors will be hit with charges of about $6 billion as sales of electric vehicles sputter after the U.S. cut tax incentives to buy them and also eased auto emissions standards.
Shares slid almost 3% Friday.
The charges that will be recorded in the fourth quarter follow an announcement in October that the Detroit automaker would take a $1.6 billion charge for the same reason in the previous quarter, with automakers forced to reconsider ambitious plans to convert their fleets to electric power.
The EV tax credit ended in September. The clean vehicle tax credit was worth $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used ones.
GM, which had been the most ambitious among all U.S. automakers with plans to replace internal combustion engines, said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday that the $6 billion in charges includes non-cash impairments and other non-cash charges of about $1.8 billion as well as supplier commercial settlements, contract cancellation fees, and other charges of approximately $4.2 billion.
EVs have been considered to be the future of the US automotive industry. GM announced in 2020 that it was going to invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years, a 35% increase over plans made before the pandemic.
GM expected more than half of its factories in North America and China would be capable of making electric vehicles by 2030. It also pledged at the time to increase its investment in EV charging networks by nearly $750 million through 2025.
Its goal was to make the vast majority of the vehicles electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral five years after that.
Those plans have been shaken due to the drastic differences in economic and environmental policies between the Biden and Trump administrations.
China has become a global leader in electric vehicle technology in recent years, with factories there churning out millions of cars and laying the groundwork for a massive charging network for vehicles.
Earlier this month, Tesla was dethroned as the world’s largest EV automaker, replaced by China’s BYD, which produced 2.26 million electric vehicles last year.
Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment remained low.
Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.
The data suggests a reluctance by businesses to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trumps shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs.
Still, economists were encouraged by the lower unemployment rate, which had risen in the previous four straight reports. Weakening employment raised alarms at the Federal Reserve, which cut its key interest rate three times last year.
The labor market looks to have stabilized, but at a slower pace of employment growth, Blerina Uruci, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, said. “There is no urgency for the Fed to cut rates further, for now.”
Some Federal Reserve officials are concerned that inflation hasn’t improved since 2024 and remains above their target of 2% annual growth. They support keeping rates where they are to combat inflation. Others, however, have grown worried that hiring has nearly ground to a halt and have supported lowering borrowing costs to spur spending and growth.
November’s job gain was revised slightly lower, from 64,000 to 56,000, while October’s now shows a much steeper drop, with a loss of 173,000 positions, down from previous estimates of a 105,000 decline. The government revises the jobs figures as it receives more survey responses from businesses.
Nearly all the jobs added in December were in the health care and restaurant and hotel industries. Health care added 38,500 jobs, while restaurants and hotels gained 47,000. Governments mostly at the state and local level added 13,000.
Manufacturing, construction and retail companies all shed jobs. Retailers cut 25,000 positions, a sign that holiday hiring has been weaker than previous years. Manufacturers have shed jobs every month since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs intended to boost manufacturing.
Wall Street and Washington are looking closely at Friday’s report as it’s the first clean reading on the labor market in three months. The government didnt issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and Novembers data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
Job gains have been subdued all year, particularly after Aprils liberation day tariff announcement by Trump. The economy gained just 584,000 jobs in 2025, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024. Its the smallest annual gain since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020. Outside of recessions, it’s the smallest annual increase since 2003.
Still, Trump boasted on social media late Thursday that since January, all the new jobs have been in the private sector, while government jobs have declined. Yet his figures included December’s jobs numbers as well as revisions to previous months, which the White House receives Thursday afternoon, before the figures are publicly released.
Trump’s post on Truth Social said that 654,000 jobs were added by businesses since January, while government jobs declined 181,000, so it wouldn’t have been immediately clear that the post had new information from December. But new jobs data are generally closely guarded since they can move financial markets.
The hiring slowdown reflects more than just a reluctance by companies to add jobs. With an aging population and a sharp drop in immigration, the economy doesn’t need to create as many jobs as it has in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. As a result, a gain of 50,000 jobs is not as clear a sign of weakness as it would have been in previous years.
And layoffs are still low, a sign firms aren’t rapidly cutting jobs, as typically happens in a recession. The low-hire, low-fire job market does mean workers have some job security, though it’s become harder to find new work.
Ernesto Castro, 44, has applied for hundreds of jobs since leaving his last in May. Yet the Los Angeles resident has had just three initial interviews, and only one follow-up, after which he heard nothing.
With nearly a decade of experience providing customer support for software companies, Castro expected to find a new job pretty quickly as in the past.
Its been awful, he said.
He worries that more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help clients learn to use new software. He hears ads from tech companies that urge companies to slash workers like him in favor of AI. His contacts in the industry say that employees are increasingly reluctant to switch jobs amid all the uncertainty, which means fewer open jobs for others.
He is now looking into starting his own software company, and is also exploring project management roles.
Subdued hiring underscores a key conundrum surrounding the economy as it enters 2026: Growth has picked up to healthy levels, yet hiring has weakened noticeably.
Most economists expect hiring will accelerate this year amid solid growth, and Trump’s tax cut legislation is expected to produce large tax refunds this spring. Yet economists acknowledge there are other possibilities: Weak job gains could drag down future growth. Or the economy could keep expanding at a healthy clip, while automation and the spread of artificial intelligence reduces the need for more jobs.
U.S. stocks are rising toward records Friday following a mixed report on the U.S. job market, one that may delay another cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve but does not slam the door on it.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% in midday trading and was on track to top its all-time high set earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 237 points, or 0.5% and was also heading toward a record. The Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time.
The gains came after the U.S. Labor Department said employers hired fewer workers in total during December than economists expected, though the unemployment rate improved and was better than expected. It reinforced how the U.S. job market may be in a low-hire, low-fire state.
On Wall Street, power company Vistra soared 11.9% to lead the market after signing a 20-year deal to provide electricity to Meta Platforms from three of its nuclear plants. Big Tech companies have been signing a string of such deals to electrify the data centers powering their moves into artificial-intelligence technology.
Oklo jumped 12.3% after saying it also signed a deal with Meta Platforms that will help it secure nuclear fuel and advance its project to build a facility in Pike County, Ohio.
Homebuilders and other companies involved in the housing market were also strong in their first trading after President Donald Trump announced a plan to lower mortgage rates. Trump on late Thursday called for the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage bonds, similar to how the Fed in the past has bought bonds backed by mortgages to bring down mortgage rates.
Builders FirstSource, a supplier of building products, jumped 8.5% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after Vistra. Among homebuilders, Lennar rose 5.1%, PulteGroup rose 4.9% and D.R. Horton climbed 4.8%.
They helped offset a 3.3% drop for General Motors. The auto giant said it will take a $6 billion hit to its results for the last three months of 2025 related to its pullback from electric vehicles. Thats on top of the $1.6 billion in charges GM took in the prior quarter. Fewer tax incentives and easier fuel-emission regulations have been eating into demand for EVs.
WD-40 tumbled 5% after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Sara Hyzer said the soft numbers were primarily because of timing issues, not weaker demand from end customers, and the company stood by its financial forecasts for the upcoming year.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following the mixed jobs report.
The improvement in the unemployment rate was enough to get traders to ratchet back expectations for a cut to interest rates at the Feds next meeting, which is scheduled for later this month. Traders are now forecasting just a 5% chance of that, down from 11% a day before, according to data from CME Group.
But traders nevertheless still largely expect the Fed to cut rates at least twice this upcoming year. Whether theyre correct carries high stakes for financial markets. Lower interest rates can goose the economy and push up prices for investments, though they can also worsen inflation at the same time. And inflation has stubbornly remained above the Feds 2% target.
Until the data provide a clearer direction, a divided Fed is likely to stay that way, according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Lower rates are likely coming this year, but the markets may have to be patient.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.17% from 4.19% late Thursday. It tends to track expectations for longer-term economic growth and inflation.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks forecasts for what the Fed will do with short-term interest rates in the near term, rose to 3.52% from 3.49%.
A separate report released Friday morning suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is strengthening, particularly among lower-income households. Perhaps more importantly for the Fed, the preliminary report from the University of Michigan also said expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months may be at their lowest level in a year. That could prevent a vicious cycle where worsening expectations lead to behaviors that accelerate inflation further.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
The French CAC 40 rose 1.3%, and Japans Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% for two of the worlds bigger gains. In Tokyo, Fast Retailing, the fashion company behind Uniqlo, jumped 10.7% after its quarterly operating profit surged about 34% year-on-year. It revised its full-year forecasts upward.
By Stan Choe, AP business writer
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
