Octopuses are brilliant, emotional, and mysterious. Can they ever be farmed humanely? And if they can, should they be? Fast Company contributor Clint Rainey is the first journalist in the world to be let inside a cutting-edge effort to build the first commercial octopus farm. Exclusive documentary. Coming in 2026.Check out the full article: https://www.fastcompany.com/91448602/octopus-could-be-the-next-commercially-farmed-seafood-should-it-be
Everybody knows this coworkerthe one who spirals about cost-cutting layoffs when snacks vanish from the break room. The one who thinks theyre getting fired because their boss hasnt been using emojis with them lately. The one whos the office Chicken Little: anxious, somewhat frantic, often misguided . . . and who cant stop talking to others about whatever it is theyre anxious about.
This personand it could be youmay be justified, as it makes sense for employees to be nervous right now: layoffs are at an all-time high, and January is a common month for layoffs.
But for the office Chicken Little, its not the dismal mass termination numbers alone that are scary: Its the unknown future thats sending them into sustained panic mode. Uncertainty is a huge trigger to the stress response in the body, says physician Esther Sternberg, whos long studied the effects of stress on humans.
Fast Company spoke with several psychology experts who shared what makes someone more prone to anxiety spirals and loops, tips for dealing with their unending office pessimism, and how to escape your own layoff-related worries.
What causes anxiety spirals
People who quickly turn even minorly negative information into potential catastrophes tend to be really high in neuroticism, says clinical psychologist Melanie McNally.
Neuroticism, one of psychologys Big Five personality traits, measures ones disposition in the face of negative emotions. Think of the coworker who just knows theyre getting axed after being left off a group emailwhen in reality the person who sent it genuinely just forgot.
A minor budget cut isn’t just a cost-saving measure to these folks, says organizational psychologist Ali Shehab. Instead, the misplaced vigilance takes it as a sign that the company is failing. I will be fired, and I will never find a job again. This is often seen as a protective mechanism that attempts to provide certainty amidst stress-inducing uncertainty.
When working with this glass-half-empty type in the past, Yvonne Castaeda, a social worker specializing in trauma, says shes noticed that contentment seems to feel scary or wrong for some folks, or that safety cant be trusted. This could come from their upbringing: Parents who were perhaps overly worried and dwelt on potential dangers left this person with a mindset that theyre not going to be okay. The mindset could even manifest after a traumatic event, like a loss, after which the person feels like they dont deserve or want to be happy again, says Castaeda.
But McNally says these people might just have limited social support. Perhaps they cant go home at the end of the workday and bounce their concerns off friends or family for a calming ear and alternative perspective, and then coworkers end up becoming their primary outlet for airing worries.
For David Rosmarin, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of the Center for Anxiety, the description of this archetype is much simpler. They’re called Americans, he says.
Such behavior doesn’t even come from being pessimistic. It comes from control. As Americans, he adds, were taught to banish feelings of discomfort as soon as they visit us. With the prevailing cultural interest in instant gratification and immediate answers to any query, its no surprise that many experience what Rosmarin calls intolerance of uncertainty, whether its about the weather or our job security.
But the irony is that obsessing with certainty just fuels anxiety.
Navigating this energy at work
While some workers vent fears to otherseither out of fear, a desire for control, or simply a need for a sounding boardMcNally reminds us that emotions are contagious. Most likely, you’re spreading stress if you indulge in the anxiety spiral, she says.
And for those around the person, its very easy to get sucked into that tornado, Castaeda adds. Maybe you attempt to say something to cheer them up, it backfires, and suddenly you’re in conflict.
Still, experts who spoke with Fast Company note that its helpful to share anxiety with others. The mental health benefits of having people you can trust at work are real.
But when people regularly act on that compulsion to vocalize fears, to the point that it spreads unnecessary stress, its best for colleagues to set boundaries.
If the conversation is becoming cyclical and harmful, says Shehab, the move is to gently disengage. You can say that you hear the person is worried, but right now you need to concentrate on an important deadline.
Let’s focus on the work we can control for the next hour, Shehab suggests communicating.
Experts generally recommend acknowledging and validating an anxious colleagues concerns before trying to help them change their outlook. Dismissing someones fears or telling them to calm down, says McNally, does not work. Instead, just listenif youre feeling grounded and open enough to hearing them out without spiraling yourself.
Hold the space. Dont try to make it better, Castaeda suggests. Youre not going to do that. Rosmarin suggests reflective listening, a basic psychotherapy technique that tends to make people feel at ease and understood.
For example, imagine a coworker says, Im freaking out about layoffs. They happened this time last year, and I can tell that theyre going to happen again. You can respond with something like, Yeah, youre right about last year, and that is totally scary to think about. Validating the feelings of someone whos spiraling can help ground them by making them feel heardso at least theyre not anxious about having unfounded anxieties.
Shehab also suggests using facts to pin down the anxietys source. “What concrete evidence do we have that a layoff is happening today?” Shehab suggests posing to a concerned coworker (or yourself). “What are the actual company metrics right now?” This, he says, engages the prefrontal cortex: the part of the brain responsible for rational thought that often gets hijacked by the hyperactive amygdala, the brains fear center, during anxiety loops.
Research shows that venting can be helpful, but thats only true for a few minutes before it becomes counterproductive. McNally suggests setting a timer for three to four minutes. When the timer goes off, transition to a new activity thats going to totally occupy your attentionlike dancing to an all-time favorite song, or cooking dinner with your family.
Validate the fear, act with empathy, and then ground the fear in the present with facts and gently challenging reframes.
Nipping the spiral in the bud
Whether its with nervous colleagues, or yourself, look for what’s at the root of the anxiety, Rosmarin says.
Are you most concerned about rent payments? It could help to work on outlining a new personal budget in case of layoffs. Is thinking about finding a new job the biggest stressor? Update your résumé and start networking.
Letting go mentally, and grouding yourself in calm action, can change your physiological reaction to anxiety: There’s less adrenaline flowing through your system when you do that, says Rosmarin.
In high-stress, high-control situations, says Sternberg, youre actually energized. Facing a possible layoff is high-stress, low-controlbut facing it while applying for new jobs gives you back some control, and can alleviate some of the negative stress feelings.
Otherwise, adds Sternberg, make sure youre getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and exercising to reduce anxiety.
Again, it all comes down to uncertainty . . . and learning to live with it.
If you can help your colleague (or yourself) accept it or use it to fuel productivity, the more likely everyone is to avoid anxiety spirals.
The question isn’t whether you can control the outcome, says Rosmarin. Its embracing the fact that we’re not fully in the driver’s seat.
U.S. employers posted far fewer jobs in November than the previous month, a sign that employers arent yet ramping up hiring even as growth has picked up.
Businesses and government agencies posted 7.1 million open jobs at the end of November, the Labor Department said Wednesday, down from 7.4 million in October. Layoffs also dropped, however, as companies appear to be holding onto workers even as they are reluctant to add staff.
The report suggests that the low-hire, low-fire job market remains in effect, with workers enjoying some job security but those out of work struggling to find new jobs. The moribund labor market stands in contrast with data showing solid economic growth, which topped 4% at an annual rate in last year’s July-September quarter, the latest data available. Economists forecast growth slowed but remained solid in the final three months of 2025.
A key question for this year is whether hiring will pickup to match healthy growth, or whether sluggish job gains will eventually drag down the economy. There is a third possibility: Automation and artificial intelligence could enable steady economic growth without creating many jobs.
Further insights into that question will emerge Friday when the monthly jobs report for December will be released.
The number of postings in November was the fewest since September 2024. But outside that month, it was the lowest in nearly five years.
Open jobs in November fell sharply in shipping and warehousing, restaurants and hotels, and in state and local government. They rose in retail and construction.
The number of Americans who quit their jobs ticked higher in November, which is seen as a good sign, because workers typically quit when they are more confident they can find a better job, or already have one. Yet quits remained historically low, at 3.16 million, up from just under 3 million in October.
The figures provide some critical measures of the job market after last falls government shutdown delayed the release of data on hiring and inflation. Wednesdays report is known as the job openings and labor turnover survey, or JOLTS, and provides key insights into the state of hiring and firing.
Separately, payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that businesses added 41,000 jobs in December, an improvement after they shed 29,000 positions in November. ADP’s report is based on anonymous payroll records the company maintains for 26 million employees.
Small firms with fewer than 50 workers added 9,000 jobs, an encouraging reversal after they shed jobs in previous months. Smaller firms have been hard-hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with less ability to absorb or pass on the costs compared with larger companies, economists say.
It is a slower labor market, said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “The labor market isnt falling off a cliff. We still see some job growth, and we dont see an uptick in layoffs.
The Bank of America Institute, which tracks changes in the number of paychecks landing in its customers’ accounts, said it saw signs that hiring picked up in December. Job gains rose to 0.6% in December, compared with a year earlier, up from just 0.2% in November.
It does look like, in our data, that the worst of the slowdown could be behind us, David Tinsley, senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said in a call with reporters.
Christopher Rugaber, AP economics writer
On the first anniversary of the most destructive wildfires in the L.A. area, the scant home construction projects stand out among the still mostly flattened landscapes.Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in Los Angeles County since Jan. 7, 2025, when the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes and other residential properties.For those who had insurance, it’s often not enough to cover the costs of construction. Relief organizations are stepping in to help, but progress is slow.Among the exceptions is Ted Koerner, whose Altadena home was reduced to ash and two chimneys. With his insurance payout tied up, the 67-year-old liquidated about 80% of his retirement holdings, secured contractors quickly, and moved decisively through the rebuilding process.Shortly before Thanksgiving, Koerner was among the first to finish a rebuild in the aftermath of the fires, which were fueled by drought and hurricane-force winds.But most do not have options like Koerner.The streets of the coastal community of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, a community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, remain lined with dirt lots. In the seaside city of Malibu, foundations and concrete piles rising out of the sand are all that’s left of beachfront homes that once butted against crashing ocean waves.Neighborhoods are pitch black at night, with few streetlamps replaced. Even many homes that survived are not inhabited as families struggle to clear them of the fire’s toxic contaminants.Koerner was driven in part by fear that his beloved golden retriever, Daisy Mae, now 13 years old, might not live long enough to move into a new home, given the many months it can take to build even under the best circumstances.He also did not have to wait for his insurance payout to start construction.“That’s the only way we were going to get it done before all of a sudden my dog starts having labored breathing or something else happens,” Koerner said.Once construction began, his home was completed in just over four months.Daisy Mae is back lying in her favorite spot in the yard under a 175-year-old Heritage Oak. Koerner said he enjoys his morning coffee while watching her and it brings tears to his eyes.“We made it,” he said.
Many fear they can’t afford to rebuild
About 900 homes are under construction, potentially on pace to be completed later this year.Still, many homeowners are stuck as they figure out whether they can pay for the rebuilding process.Scores of residents have left their communities for good. More than 600 properties where a single-family home was destroyed in the wildfires have been sold, according to real estate data tracker Cotality.“We’re seeing huge gaps between the money insurance is paying out, to the extent we have insurance, and what it will actually cost to rebuild and/or remediate our homes,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, a group of 10,000 fire survivors mostly from Altadena.By December, less than 20% of people who experienced total home loss had closed out their insurance claims, according to a survey by the nonprofit Department of Angels.About one-third of insured respondents had policies with State Farm, the state’s largest private insurer, or the California FAIR plan, the insurer of last resort. They reported high rates of dissatisfaction with both, citing burdensome requirements, lowball estimates, and dealing with multiple adjusters.In November, Los Angeles County opened a civil investigation into State Farm’s practices and potential violations of the state’s Unfair Competition law. Chen said the group has seen a flurry of substantial payouts since then.Without answers from insurance, households can’t commit to rebuilding projects that can easily exceed $1 million.“They’re worried about getting started and running out of money,” Chen said.
An uncertain future
Jessica Rogers discovered only after the Palisades fire destroyed her home that her coverage had been canceled.The mother of two’s fallback was a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration, but the application process was grueling. After losing her job because of the fire and then having her identity stolen, her approval for $550,000 came through last month.She is still weighing how she’ll cover the remaining costs and says she wonders: “Do I empty out my 401(k) and start counting every penny in a penny jar around the apartment?”Rogers now executive director of the Pacific Palisades Long Term Recovery Group estimates there are hundreds like her in Pacific Palisades who are “stuck dealing with FEMA and SBA and figuring out if we could piecemeal something together to build our homes.”Also struggling to return home are the community’s renters, condo owners, and mobile homeowners. Meanwhile, many are also dealing with their trauma.“It’s not what people talk about, but it is incredibly apparent and very real,” said Rogers, who still finds herself crying at unexpected moments.
A slow start
That so few homes have been rebuilt a year after the wildfires echoes the recovery pattern of a December 2021 blaze that erupted south of Boulder, Colorado, destroying more than 1,000 homes.“At the one-year mark, many lots had been cleared of debris and many residents had applied for building permits, said Andrew Rumbach, co-lead of the Climate and Communities Program at Urban Institute. “Around the 18-month mark is when you start to see really significant progress in terms of going from handfuls to hundreds” of homes rebuilt.Time will bring the scope of problems into focus.“You’re going to start to see some real inequality start to emerge where certain neighborhoods, certain types of people, certain types of properties are just lagging way far behind, and that becomes the really important question in the second year of a recovery: Who’s doing well and who is really struggling and why?” Rumbach said.That’s a key concern in Altadena, which for decades drew aspiring Black homeowners who otherwise faced redlining and other forms of racial discrimination when they sought to buy a home in other L.A.-area communities. In 2024, 81% of Black households in Altadena owned their homes, nearly twice the national Black homeownership rate.But recent research by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute found that, as of August, 7 in 10 Altadena homeowners whose property was severely damaged in last year’s wildfire had not begun taking steps to rebuild or sell their home. Among these, Black homeowners were 73% more likely than others to have taken no action.
Determined to rebuild
Al and Charlotte Bailey have been living in an RV parked on the empty lot where their home once stood.The Baileys are paying for their rebuild with funds from heir insurance payout and a loan. They’re also hoping to receive money from Southern California Edison. Several lawsuits claim its equipmentsparked the wildfire in Altadena.“We had been here for 41 years and raised our family here, and in one night it was all gone,” said Al Bailey, 77. “We decided that, whatever it’s going to cost, this is our community.”
Alex Veiga and Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Associated Press
The Tin Can phone is designed to be a simple and screen-free way for children to connect with friends and family. But since Christmas morning, when many families unwrapped and installed the retro, landline-style phones, network issues have left many users unable to make or receive calls.
Ultimately, Christmas Day overwhelmed us, says Tin Can cofounder and CEO Chet Kittleson. We spent months preparing for it, and we just didnt get it all right.
Tin Can customers on social media including Reddit and Instagram have reported a variety of issues both making and receiving calls with the devices. Some new users also experienced trouble setting up their accounts and activating their phones, which is normally done using a parents smartphone. The setup issues have now been resolved, Kittleson says, but he confirms network instability following an unprecedented influx of new customers continues to make the phone service itself unreliable for many.
No matter how much you stress test and load test and all the rest, you just don’t know exactly how a service is going to perform under a new amount of pressure, Kittleson says. The growth we experienced literally within an hour was like nothing Ive been through before.
Tin Can offers a free plan that enables calls to other Tin Can devices, as well as a paid party line plan that allows calls to and from ordinary phone numbers preapproved by a parent. All types of incoming and outgoing calls, including emergency calls to 911, are potentially affected by the network issues, Kittleson says. And while he declined to provide Fast Company with an estimate of when service will be fully restoredI dont want to overpromise and underdeliverthe company has pledged not to charge paying customers until the network is reliable once more.
Kittleson says his team is working around the clock to fix the issue, well-aware that the outage means children being unable to connect with friends and loved ones. Even his own family has had trouble with a Tin Can phone.
The Tin Can devices, which connect via the internet rather than the traditional phone network, have been promoted as a way for children to be able to connect with friends and family as they did in the landline era. Kids can use the devices to stay connected without having to be equipped with their own smartphones or risk exposure to the spam and scam calls ubiquitous on other phones today. (Tin Can may soon face competition, with kids device maker Pinwheel on January 5 announcing plans to launch a similar device in April).
The company has been updating customers on the issues via Instagram, email, and a status page, and social media feedback so far appears to be a mix of frustration and patient acceptance from fans of the deviceor at least the concept. Many new customers who received Tin Can phones for the holidays likely have yet to build routines around the devices due to the outage, and the company has postponed shipping a next batch of phones until April, Kittleson says. He declined to specify how many new customers activated the devices over the holidays, though he says there were a lot.
Tens of thousands of Tin Can devices used the network without a problem for 14 months prior to Christmas, according to the company. And while some customers are evidently frustrated, Kittleson is optimistic that fans will stick with the Tin Can product and service once the outage is resolved.
I think we have an audience that generally believes in the mission, believes in what we’re doing, and understands we just went through a pretty massive shift, Kittleson says. And they know that we’re working really, really hard to both let them know what’s going on and to resolve the issues.
In a vision of the near future shared at CES, a girl slides into the back seat of her parents’ car and the cabin instantly comes alive. The vehicle recognizes her, knows its her birthday and cues up her favorite song without a word spoken.
Think of the car as having a soul and being an extension of your family, Sri Subramanian, Nvidia’s global head of generative AI for automotive, said Tuesday.
Subramanian’s example, shared with a CES audience on the show’s opening day in Las Vegas, illustrates the growing sophistication of AI-powered in-cabin systems and the expanding scope of personal data that smart vehicles may collect, retain, and use to shape the driving experience.
Across the show floor, the car emerged less as a machine and more as a companion as automakers and tech companies showcased vehicles that can adapt to drivers and passengers in real time from tracking heart rates and emotions to alerting if a baby or young child is accidentally left in the car.
Bosch debuted its new AI vehicle extension that aims to turn the cabin into a proactive companion. Nvidia, the poster child of the AI boom, announced Alpamayo, its new vehicle AI initiative designed to help autonomous cars think through complex driving decisions. CEO Jensen Huang called it a ChatGPT moment for physical AI.
But experts say the push toward a more personalized driving experience is intensifying questions about how much driver data is being collected.
The magic of AI should not just mean all privacy and security protections are off, said Justin Brookman, director of marketplace policy at Consumer Reports.
Unlike smartphones or online platforms, cars have only recently become major repositories of personal data, Brookman said. As a result, the industry is still trying to establish the rules of the road for what automakers and tech companies are allowed to do with driver data.
That uncertainty is compounded by the uniquely personal nature of cars, Brookman said. Many people see their vehicles as an extension of themselves or even their homes which he said can make the presence of cameras, microphones, and other monitoring tools feel especially invasive.
Sometimes privacy issues are difficult for folks to internalize, he said. People generally feel they wish they had more privacy but also dont necessarily know what they can do to address it.
At the same time, Brookman said, many of these technologies offer real safety benefits for drivers and can be good for the consumer.
On the CES show floor, some of those conveniences were on display at automotive supplier Gentexs booth, where attendees sat in a mock six-seater van in front of large screens demonstrating how closely the companys AI-equipped sensors and cameras could monitor a driver and passengers.
Are they sleepy? Are they drowsy? Are they not seated properly? Are they eating, talking on phones? Are they angry? You name it, we can figure out how to detect that in the cabin, said Brian Brackenbury, director of product line management at Gentex.
Brackenbury said it’s ultimately up to the car manufacturers to decide how the vehicle reacts to the data that’s collected, which he said is stored in the car and deleted after the video frames, for example, have been processed. “
One of the mantras we have at Gentex is we’re not going to do it just because we can, just because the technology allows it, Brackebury said, adding that data privacy is really important.
Rio Yamat, AP airlines and travel writer
China escalated its trade tensions with Japan on Wednesday by launching an investigation into imported dichlorosilane, a chemical gas used in making semiconductors, a day after it imposed curbs on the export of so-called dual-use goods that could be used by Japan’s military.The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement that it had launched the investigation following an application from the domestic industry showing the price of dichlorosilane imported from Japan had decreased 31% between 2022 and 2024.“The dumping of imported products from Japan has damaged the production and operation of our domestic industry,” the ministry said.The measure comes a day after Beijing banned exports to Japan of dual-use goods that can have military applications.Beijing has been showing mounting displeasure with Tokyo after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested late last year that her nation’s military could intervene if China were to take action against Taiwan an island democracy that Beijing considers its own territory.Tensions were stoked again on Tuesday when Japanese lawmaker Hei Seki, who last year was sanctioned by China for “spreading fallacies” about Taiwan and other disputed territories, visited Taiwan and called it an independent country. Also known as Yo Kitano, he has been banned from entering China. He told reporters that his arrival in Taiwan demonstrated the two are “different countries.”“I came to Taiwan to prove this point, and to tell the world that Taiwan is an independent country,” Hei Seki said, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.“The nasty words of a petty villain like him are not worth commenting on,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning retorted when asked about his comment.
Fears of a rare earths curb
Masaaki Kanai, head of Asia Oceanian Affairs at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, urged China to scrap the trade curbs, saying a measure exclusively targeting Japan that deviates from international practice is unacceptable. Japan, however, has yet to announce any retaliatory measures.As the two countries feuded, speculation rose that China might target rare earths exports to Japan, in a move similar to the rounds of critical minerals export restrictions it has imposed as part of its trade war with the United States.China controls most of the global production of heavy rare earths, used for making powerful, heat-resistant magnets used in industries such as defense and electric vehicles.While the Commerce Ministry did not mention any new rare earths curbs, the official newspaper China Daily, seen as a government mouthpiece, quoted anonymous sources saying Beijing was considering tightening exports of certain rare earths to Japan. That report could not be independently confirmed.
Improved South Korean ties contrast with Japan row
As Beijing spars with Tokyo, it has made a point of courting a different East Asian power South Korea.On Wednesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wrapped up a four-day trip to China his first since taking office in June. Lee and Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw the signing of cooperation agreements in areas such as technology, trade, transportation and environmental protection.As if to illustrate a contrast with the China-Japan trade frictions, Lee joined two business events at which major South Korean and Chinese companies pledged to collaborate.The two sides signed 24 export contracts worth a combined $44 million, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.During Lee’s visit, Chinese media also reported that South Korea overtook Japan as the leading destination for outbound flights from China’s mainland over the New Year’s holiday.China has been discouraging travel to Japan, saying Japanese leaders’ comments on Taiwan have created “significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens in Japan.”
Simina Mistreanu, Associated Press
The worlds largest tech showcase does not come without theatrics. Innovations and gadgets like a lollipop that sings to you as you consume it, a laundry-folding robot, and a smart LEGO brick have stolen the spotlight so far at CES 2026. But underscoring this years programming is a strong focus on an industry that relies on a similar theatrical flair: entertainment.
More than 25 different panels and events related to the entertainment industry are on the schedule in Las Vegas, focusing on both the traditional studio side of the industry and the digital side driven by content creators. The programming has posed questions about the cinematic capabilities of AI, how advertising has been impacted by AI, and the role the burgeoning creator economy plays in the larger entertainment landscape.
Artificial intelligence has long been a sticking point in Hollywood, and many creatives in the entertainment world have been reluctant to embrace the rapidly evolving technology and AI-powered tools. Outrage ensued when Tilly Norwood, an entirely AI-made character, debuted as the first AI actor in the fall. Questions about copyrighted characters, images, and materials still loom large in conversations about AI. But many speakers in CES programming were optimistic about how the technology can be beneficial, and how AI could be used to help artists harness their creativity rather than stifle it or replace it.
The tools that we create have unlocked something in us. Its kind of flattened that bar in terms of what storytelling can be because anyone now can be a storyteller, said Dwayne Koh, the head of creative at Leonardo.ai, during a Monday session on AI and creativity. It levels the playing field, but it also makes it easier for people to tell stories that they always want(ed) to tell that they never could have the opportunity to tell.
Others were quick to point out that Hollywoods panic over emerging technology is not new.
When we launched Photoshop in the 90s, we were also getting pretty angry phone calls from creatives saying that we were destroying craft, said Hannah Elsakr, Adobes vice president of generative AI new business ventures, at a Monday session focused on advertising.
Were in early days with AI. Im not advocating for more cats jumping off diving boards in your feeds. I think its about high creativity and so the director, the artist, the actor is going to drive the high quality, Elsakr continued. Think of AI as another tool in the toolkit to make you drive that forward.
Many conversations also centered on influencers and the growing legitimacy of internet-native creators and content in the traditional entertainment industry. The efficiency with which these creators work, sometimes because they are using AI-enabled tools, was a prime focus among many speakers.
Brad Haugen, the executive vice president of digital strategy and growth at Lionsgate and 3 Arts, said traditional media companies should welcome opportunities to work with creators and embrace their importance. We have, potentially, the next great filmmaker, the next great TV showrunner, the next great digital entrepreneur, he said. Creators are not just there to market products. Theyre not just there to do internet stuff. Theyre actually the next Spike Jonze and the next Sofia Coppola.
More entertainment-related programming is scheduled for Wednesday, with many sessions coming out of Varietys Entertainment Summit at the showcase, including panels with leaders from Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
In addition to formal programming, a host of entertainment-related products and services are on display at CES. An array of impressive televisions with advanced features, AI-powered smart headphones, a stringless smart guitar and even a sound chair that has built-in audio were among the innovations aimed at bringing AI and advanced tech to entertainment consumers.
Amazon also announced the rollout of Alexa.com this week, bringing its AI assistant to the web with a host of new features, including personalized movie and TV recommendations. Its one of many features designed to enhance at-home viewing, including the previously announced feature that enables Alexa to jump to a specific scene youre searching for with just a simple description.
Kaitlyn Huamani, AP technology writer
Crowds flooded the freshly opened showroom floors on Day 2 of the CES and were met by thousands of robots, AI companions, assistants, health longevity tech, wearables and more.Siemens President and CEO Roland Busch kicked off the day with a keynote detailing how its customers are harnessing artificial intelligence to transform their businesses. He was joined onstage by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to announce an expanded partnership, saying they are launching a new AI-driven industrial revolution to reinvent all aspects of manufacturing, production and supply chain management.Lenovo ended the day with a guest star-rich visual banquet dedicated to spotlighting how its AI platforms can help people personally (wearables), with their businesses (enterprise platforms) and the world around them. To strike home his points, its CEO Yang Yuanqing was joined by tech superstars like Nvidia’s Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.The CES is a huge opportunity annually for companies large and small to parade products they plan to put on shelves this year. Here are the highlights from Day 2:
Razer leans into AI
Gaming tech company Razer is well known for bringing buzz-worthy hardware to CES, like haptic, or tactile, seat cushions and tri-screen laptops.This year, it’s reaching beyond its standard gaming base and demonstrating two AI-powered prototypes an over-ear gaming headset that doubles as a general-purpose assistant, and an AI desk companion that can provide gaming advice and also organize a user’s life.The holographic companion, based on a Razor on-screen AI assistant launched last year (Project Ava), has transitioned off-screen into a small glass tube that sits near your computer. The animated sprite has built-in speakers and a camera so it can see the world around it.Both devices are AI agnostic, so you can use your preferred model. For the demo, the headset Project Motoko ran on OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Project Ava worked off xAI’s Grok. Although still in development, Razer said it expects both to be released commercially later this year.
Robots on the tarmac
Imagine your plane lands and, when you look out the window you see autonomous robots guiding it to the gate and then unloading the luggage. Oshkosh Corporation is pitching that future for airports big and small.At CES, it debuted a fleet of autonomous airport robots designed to help airlines pull off what it calls “the perfect turn” a tightly timed process that happens after a plane lands, including fueling, cleaning, handling cargo and getting passengers off and back on.For travelers, CEO John Pfeifer says the goal is fewer delays without compromising safety. The technology is also designed to keep those tarmac tasks moving even during severe weather, like winter storms or extreme heat, when conditions are daunting for human crews, Pfeifer said. Testing with major airlines is already underway, and the robots would likely debut at large hub airports like Atlanta or Dallas, with a goal of rolling them out over the next few years.
The vacuum that can climb stairs
Chinese robovac maker Roborock has introduced a vacuum that literally sprouts chicken-like legs to navigate stairs and clean steps along the way.The newly introduced Saros Rover was a tad slow in its ascent and descent (but it was cleaning each step) during the demo, but Roborock says it will be able to traverse almost any style of stairwell, including spiraled. No release date was given for the Rover, which the company says is still in development.
The Body Scan scale gets an upgrade
While it may look like a typical scale you’d buy for your bathroom, Withings’ new Body Scan 2 measures much more than weight. Taking off their shoes and socks, people lined up to try out the “smart scale” that in 90 seconds measures 60 different biomarkers, including their heart age, vascular age and their metabolism using the pads of their feet and hands.The $600 scale, which will be available for purchase in the spring, also provides a nerve health score and measures changes in someone’s electrodermal activity, or the skin’s electrical properties due to sweat gland activity. The smart scale and a corresponding app, which costs $10 a month or $100 a year, provide personalized advice and a health trajectory for its users. The French company’s goals are to help people monitor their health and reverse bad habits to promote longevity.
Fusion energy research gets a little support from Nvidia, Siemens
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, NVIDIA and Siemens announced Tuesday that they are working together to use AI to hasten making nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy.In Massachusetts, Commonwealth Fusion Systems is building a prototype fusion power plant called SPARC, which is about 70% complete. Through the new partnership, it will create a “digital twin,” or online simulation, of the physical machine.CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard said it will ask questions of the simulation to speed up progress on the physical machine and rapidly analyze data, compressing years of manual experimentation into weeks of understanding.SPARC is a prototype for the company’s first planned power plant, called ARC, that is meant to connect to the grid in the early 2030s. The device will use very strong magnets to create conditions for fusion to happen. Mumgaard also said CFS’s first high-temperature superconducting magnet has been installed in SPARC.
Shawn Chen and Rio Yamat, Associated Press
Fashion collaborations are nothing new, but 2025 felt like a year particularly stuffed with branding matchups.
Theres a reason why this might be happening. Online platforms have become crowded, [there are] rapidly accelerating trend cycles, [and] its become more challenging than ever for brands to stand out, Cassandra Napoli, a head culture forecaster at WGSN, says. Collaborations continue to be a unique and important tool for marketing and maintaining cultural relevance. The best lead to attention-grabbing virality, as was the case with Nike x Skims first drop, Sandy Liang x Gap, and Willy Chavarria x Adidas.
Collaborations have become so important because brands have a need to attract new cohorts of communities and consumers . . . as well as provide a new expression of brand DNA and satisfy many customers need for newness, Gemma D’Auria, global leader of apparel, fashion, and luxury at McKinsey, tells Fast Company.
But the truth is fashion has become inundated with collabs, and the net result of so much noise has ultimately had the opposite effect: We’re numb to them. A collaboration alone is no longer enough to excite. To sell, theyll have to resonate with a brands core audience, while also tapping into culture and surprising consumers with something new.
What brands could break the internet together? Insiders reveal their blue-sky collaboration ideas for 2026.
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1. A Gap collab with a luxury design partner
Gap has been on a roll. The American fashion brand not only wooed shoppers this year with the aforementioned Sandy Liang drop, but its denim campaign with Katseye went viral for good reason: an incredible campaign spot that called back to its Y2K days with rising talent and fresh choreo (unlike the controversy-laden American Eagle good jeans mess that dropped weeks before).
Multihyphenate host and former Essence editor Blake Newby wants to see Gap bring more designer partners on board. I feel like theres a synergy in the brand ethos of a Loewe girl and a Gap girl, Newby says, adding that Loewe has already proven it’s comfortable with collabs thanks to its drops with On Running, for instance. (Plus, Loewe has its own denim with real brand ID.)
Gap has also just been doing such cool creative things. We would of course expect this to be at a higher price point [than normal Gap], but it would be so fabulous to see Gap merge their love for denim and basics with the way Loewe does [a similar thing].
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2. A Chanel partnership that scales smaller masters of the métier
People are expecting a lot from Chanel right now. The French luxury house is freshly under the creative leadership of Matthieu Blazy, who made his runway collection debut in October. Hes being celebrated for breathing new life into the brand, and fashion people are curious to see a Chanel collaboration.
Technically, the brand edged into collab territory in October: Blazy revealed a white button-up on the runway in partnership with 187-year old Parisian shirtmaker Charvet. But for Blazy, it wasnt a collaboration as much as it was highlighting a house of craftsmanship, as the brand already does in its Métier dArt collection.
Itll be interesting to see what other things [Chanel Creative Director] Matthieu Blazy taps into because hes really attuned to craftsmanship, Jalil Johnson, author of the Consider Yourself Cultured Substack says. It would be more interesting for these storied houses to give resources to smaller entities to see what they can produce on a bigger scale, like if Chanel worked with Gee’s Bend quiltmakers, referring to the intergenerational group of women in a rural Alabama town crafting brightly hued and intricate patterned textiles.
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3. A pairing that dares to expand Herms sportswear
Adjacent to Chanel, strategist and collaboration expert Bimma Williams wants to see a storied house work with an unexpected brand. For Williams, the dream would be to see Herms and its recently appointed Mens Creative Director Grace Wales Bonner do a collaboration with Adidas. (Believe it or not, Herms already offers an HermsFit line, and Wales Bonner and Adidas have already done drops.)
Adding Herms to that mix, he thinks, would be a masterclass in craft and restraint, merging heritage, sport, and contemporary cultural intelligence. Perhaps what people are craving is for an uber high fashion house to finally cave and break its mold to collaborate with another brand that seems out of the high-end purview.
A spin on the Birkin would inject some much-needed energy into the highly coveted bag for Amy Odell, a New York Times bestselling author and writer of Back Row on Substack.
I think the Birkin is getting stale, and theyve got to mix it up, Odell, who wrote biographies on Anna Wintour and Gwyneth Paltrow, tells Fast Company. Herms wont sell the Birkin to Nike . . . but what if you had a Birkin you could take to the gym? I feel like everyone would talk about that. Or, they could collaborate with Tiffany & Co.opulence is coming backand do a fully glittery, diamond bag.
The economy is recovering in a biforcated K-shape, meaning that while inflation and a tight job market has led to less spending among lower-income consumers, America’s wealthiest shoppers are still buying, so there could still be a market for what would surely be an exorbitantly priced luxury good.
Elsa Peretti jewelry on display in New York, circa 1970. [Photo: PL Gould/Images/Getty Images]
4. A collaboration that revives ’70s era Elsa Peretti x Halston
The Italian jewelry designer and fashion model Elsa Peretti has had a legendary collaboration with Tiffany & Co. since 1974. Peretti, who passed away in 2021, is behind the American jewelers popular bone cuffs and other sculptural pieces. But what some may not know is that Peretti also worked with Halston to design not only a fragrance bottle, but jewelry and accessories, too.
A re-edition of this duos work would be a dream come true for The Millenial Decorators Julia Rabinowitsch, who recently collaborated on a shoe collection with Reformation. Id love to see a revival of the pieces Peretti did, especially as I collect vintage Elsa for Halston pieces, and they are becoming increasingly rare, she adds.
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5. A duo that offers a new take on classic Missoni patterns
Across the board, experts want one thing in a collaboration: for it to be unexpected. For stylist and founder of experiential shopping platform Sweet Like Jam, Mecca James-Williams, designer-led collaborations with bigger luxury houses would catch her eye. Imagine Christopher John Rogers, known for his unique technicolor touch and bold silhouettes, with Missoni, she says.
James-Williams isnt the only one interested in merging Missonis signature zigzags and geometric patterns. British TV exec June Sarpong would be interested in the brand working with British artist Yinka Ilori, known for his savvy use of bright colors, evident in his collabs with The North Face and Bloomingdales. Across both fashion insiders, theres a real interest in seeing how the brand would keep the foundations of its signature while playing with a more flexible element, namely color.
Whatever brands decide to do in 2026, its important that their collaborations form with intention and a real understanding that to land well, they have to make us wish we thought of the pairing first.
