Amid an uncertain economythe growth of AI, tariffs, rising costscompanies are pulling back on hiring. As layoffs increase, the labor market cools, and unemployment ticks up, were seeing fewer people quitting their jobs. The implication: Many workers will be job hugging and sitting tight in their roles through 2026.
Put more pessimistically: Employees are going to feel stuck where they are for the foreseeable future. In many cases, that means staying in unsatisfying jobs.
Gallups 2025 State of the Global Workforce report shows that employee engagement has fallen to 21%. And a March 2025 study of 1,000 U.S. workers by advisory and consulting firm Fractional Insights showed that 44% of employees reported feeling workplace angst, despite often showing intent to stay.
So if these employees are hugging their current roles, its not an act of affection. Its often in desperation.
Being a job hugger means youre feeling anxious, insecure, more likely to stay but also more likely to want to leave, says Erin Eatough, chief science officer and principal adviser at Fractional Insights, which applies organizational psychology insights to the workplace. You often see a self-protective response: Nothing to see here, Im doing a good job, Im not leaving.
This performative behavior can be psychologically damaging, especially in a culture of layoffs.
If I was scared of losing my job Id try everything to keep it: complimenting my boss, staying late, going to optional meetings, being a good organizational citizen, says Anthony Klotz, professor of organizational behavior at the UCL School of Management in London. But we know that when people arent loving their jobs but are still going above and beyond, that its a one-way trip to burnout.
The tight squeeze
In cases where jobs arent immediately under threat, the effects of hugging are more likely to be slow burning.
When an employees only motivation is to collect a consistent paycheck, discretionary effort drops. Theyre less productive. Engagement takes a huge hit. Over time, that gradually chips away at their well-being.
Humans want to feel useful, that they care about the work theyre doing, and that theyre investing their time well, Eatough says. When efforts are low, that can impact a persons sense of value.
The effects stretch beyond the workplace, too. Frustrated and reluctant stayers can quickly end up in a vicious cycle, Klotz says, noting, When youre in a situation that feels like its sucking life out of you, you end up ruminating about how depleting it is, then end up so tired that you dont have energy for restorative activities outside of work. So its this downward spiralyou begin your workday even more depleted.
Longer term, job hugging stunts growth. When youre looking out for yourself, rather than the team or organization, your investment in working relationships begins to break down, Eatough says. Over time, staying in that situation means youre more likely to become deeply cynical, which hurts the individual and their career trajectory.
When hugging becomes clinging
Feeling stuck is nothing new. At some point in their careers, most workers will be in a situation where if they could leave for a better role, they would, says Klotz, who predicted the Great Resignation.
But what distinguishes job hugging is that its anxiously clinging to a role during unfavorable labor markets. Its not that employees dont want to quitits that they cant.
Its human nature that when theres a threat of any sort that we move away from it and towards stability, Klotz says. Your job represents that stability. And currently, its not a great time to switch jobs.
There are few options for job huggers. The first is speaking up and working with a manager to improve the situation. But this might be unlikely for employees who feel trapped or lack motivation in the first place. Klotz says cognitive reframing can helpfocusing purely on the positive aspects of a draining role, such as a friendly team, and tuning out the rest.
Finally, slowly backing away from extra tasksin other words, quiet quittingcould mean workers can redraw work-life boundaries in the interim at least. Otherwise, beyond Stoic philosophy or a benevolent boss, there is little choice but to wait it out.
In some cases, a job hugger may eventually turn it around, ease their grip, and become quietly content in their role. But more often, wanting to quit usually leads to actually quitting.
In effect, job hugging is damage control: hanging on until the situation changes. I think well see some people be resilient, wait it out, and find another role, Klotz says. But therell be others in the quagmire of struggling with exhaustion of spending eight hours a day in a job they dont like.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and cloud services has led to a massive demand for computing power. The surge has strained data infrastructure, which requires lots of electricity to operate. A single, midsize data center here on Earth can consume enough electricity to power about 16,500 homes, with even larger facilities using as much as a small city.
Over the past few years, tech leaders have increasingly advocated for space-based AI infrastructure as a way to address the power requirements of data centers.
In space, sunshinewhich solar panels can convert into electricityis abundant and reliable. On November 4, 2025, Google unveiled Project Suncatcher, a bold proposal to launch an 81-satellite constellation into low Earth orbit. It plans to use the constellation to harvest sunlight to power the next generation of AI data centers in space. So instead of beaming power back to Earth, the constellation would beam data back to Earth.
For example, if you asked a chatbot how to bake sourdough bread, instead of firing up a data center in Virginia to craft a response, your query would be beamed up to the constellation in space, processed by chips running purely on solar energy, and the recipe sent back down to your device. Doing so would mean leaving the substantial heat generated behind in the cold vacuum of space.
As a technology entrepreneur, I applaud Googles ambitious plan. But as a space scientist, I predict that the company will soon have to reckon with a growing problem: space debris.
The mathematics of disaster
Space debristhe collection of defunct human-made objects in Earths orbitis already affecting space agencies, companies, and astronauts. This debris includes large pieces, such as spent rocket stages and dead satellites, as well as tiny flecks of paint and other fragments from discontinued satellites.
Space debris travels at hypersonic speeds of approximately 17,500 mph in low Earth orbit. At this speed, colliding with a piece of debris the size of a blueberry would feel like being hit by a falling anvil.
Satellite breakups and anti-satellite tests have created an alarming amount of debris, a crisis now exacerbated by the rapid expansion of commercial constellations such as SpaceXs Starlink. The Starlink network has more than 7,500 satellites providing global high-speed internet.
The U.S. Space Force actively tracks more than 40,000 objects larger than a softball using ground-based radar and optical telescopes. However, this number represents less than 1% of the lethal objects in orbit. The majority are too small for these telescopes to identify and track reliably.
In November 2025, three Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station were forced to delay their return to Earth because their capsule had been struck by a piece of space debris. Back in 2018, a similar incident on the International Space Station challenged relations between the U.S. and Russia, as Russian media speculated that a NASA astronaut may have deliberately sabotaged the station.
The orbital shell Googles project targetsa sun-synchronous orbit approximately 400 miles above Earthis a prime location for uninterrupted solar energy. At this orbit, the spacecrafts solar arrays will always be in direct sunshine, where they can generate electricity to power the onboard AI payload. But for this reason, sun-synchronous orbit is also the single most congested highway in low Earth orbit, and objects in this orbit are the most likely to collide with other satellites or debris.
As new objects arrive and existing objects break apart, low Earth orbit could approach Kessler syndrome. In this theory, once the number of objects in low Earth orbit exceeds a critical threshold, collisions between objects generate a cascade of new debris. Eventually, this cascade of collisions could render certain orbits entirely unusable.
Implications for Project Suncatcher
Project Suncatcher proposes a cluster of satellites carrying large solar panels. They would fly with a radius of just 1 kilometer, each node spaced less than 200 meters apart. To put that in perspective, imagine a racetrack roughly the size of the Daytona International Speedway, where 81 cars race at 17,500 mph while separated by gaps about the distance you need to safely brake on the highway.
This ultradense formation is necessary for the satellites to transmit data to each other. The constellation splits complex AI workloads across all its 81 units, enabling them to think and process data simultaneously as a single, massive, distributed brain. Google is partnering with a space company to launch two prototypesatellites by early 2027 to validate the hardware.
But in the vacuum of space, flying in formation is a constant battle against physics. While the atmosphere in low Earth orbit is incredibly thin, it is not empty. Sparse air particles create orbital drag on satellites; this force pushes against the spacecraft, slowing it down and forcing it to drop in altitude. Satellites with large surface areas have more issues with drag, as they can act like a sail catching the wind.
To add to this complexity, streams of particles and magnetic fields from the sunknown as space weathercan cause the density of air particles in low Earth orbit to fluctuate in unpredictable ways. These fluctuations directly affect orbital drag.
When satellites are spaced less than 200 meters apart, the margin for error evaporates. A single impact could not only destroy one satellite but also send it blasting into its neighbors, triggering a cascade that could wipe out the entire cluster and randomly scatter millions of new pieces of debris into an orbit that is already a minefield.
The importance of active avoidance
To prevent crashes and cascades, satellite companies could adopt a leave no trace standard, which means designing satellites that do not fragment, release debris, or endanger their neighbors, and that can be safely removed from orbit. For a constellation as dense and intricate as Suncatcher, meeting this standard might require equipping the satellites with reflexes that autonomously detect and dance through a debris field. Suncatchers current design doesnt include these active avoidance capabilities.
In the first six months of 2025 alone, SpaceXs Starlink constellation performed a staggering 144,404 collision-avoidance maneuvers to dodge debris and other spacecraft. Similarly, Suncatcher would likely encounter debris larger than a grain of sand every five seconds.
Todays object-tracking infrastructure is generally limited to debris larger than a softball, leaving millions of smaller debris pieces effectively invisible to satellite operators. Future constellations will need an onboard detection system that can actively spot these smaller threats and maneuver the satellite autonomously in real time.
Equipping Suncatcher with active collision-avoidance capabilities would be an engineering feat. Because of the tight spacing, the constellation would need to respond as a single entity. Satellites would need to reposition in concert, similar to a synchronized flock of birds. Each satellite would need to react to the slightest shift of its neighbor.
Paying rent for the orbit
Technological solutions, however, can go only so far. In September 2022, the Federal Communications Commission created a rule requiring satellite operators to remove their spacecraft from orbit within five years of the missions completion. This typically involves a controlled de-orbit maneuver. Operators must now reserve enough fuel to fire the thrusters at the end of the mission to lower the satellites altitude, until atmospheric drag takes over and the spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere.
However, the rule does not address the debris already in space, nor any future debris, from accidents or mishaps. To tackle these issues, some policymakers have proposed a use tax for space debris removal.
A use tax or orbital-use fee would charge satellite operators a levy based on the orbital stress their constellation imposes, much like larger or heavier vehicles paying greater fees to use public roads. These funds would finance active debris-removal missions, which capture and remove the most dangerous pieces of junk.
Avoiding collisions is a temporary technical fix, not a long-term solution to the space debris problem. As some companies look to space as a new home for data centers, and others continue to send satellite constellations into orbit, new policies and active debris-removal programs can help keep low Earth orbit open for business.
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti is an associate research scientist at the University of Michigan.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Endings are tricky: You want closure and to go out with a bangwhich is a hard balance. Its natural to want the end of the year to be meaningful. Even the moon appears to agree with this sentiment, and it’s about to prove it.
The final full moon of 2025, which is also called the cold moon, will be a bright supermoon occurring on December 4.
Before we get into how best to moon-gaze, lets break down what that all means, and do a year-end moon review.
Why is Decembers full moon called the ‘cold moon’?
Human beings assign names even to celestial happenings. The Old Farmers Almanac compiled the most commonly used monikers, based on Old English and Native American sources.
Decembers moon is called the cold moon because of the chilly winter temperatures. According to EarthSky, it is also known as Moon Before Yule or the Long Night Moon.
What is a supermoon?
The moon orbits Earth in an elliptical pattern, which means the orb has differing proximity to the planet.
When the full moon lines up with the closer approach to Earth, known as perigee, a supermoon occurs. The moon appears brighter and fuller because it is physically closer to Earth.
What makes this supermoon special?
Decembers supermoon offering is the finale of three consecutive supermoons, which also occurred in October and November this year.
Because the orb will mirror the sun, Decembers supermoon will also be the highest-hanging full moon of 2025.
What is the moons 2025 recap?
There were 12 full moons in 2025. (Sometimes, because of the lunar year length, there are 13, such as in 2023.)
2025s dozen included three supermoons, two total lunar eclipsesand a partridge in a pear tree. (Well, the scientific nature of the latter is questionable . . . but tis the season.)
How best to view the December supermoon
The most dramatic time to view the supermoon is just after moonrise, because of the moon illusion.
This phenomenon, which is when the moon appears larger when near the horizon, cant be fully explained by science. This optical illusion of sorts, combined with the fact that the supermoon appears brighter and bigger, makes for one spectacular nighttime view.
Since viewing times vary by location, use this moonrise tool to best plan your moon-gazing experience.If you miss tonight, never fear. The moon will reach its peak on December 4 at 6:14 p.m. ET, but it will appear full for a couple of days, so you have wiggle room that allows for more moon-gazing opportunities.
Its a tale as old as the modern workplace: In the 1960s, women entered the workforce en masse, ready to compete with their male counterparts for promotions, pay, and opportunityonly to find the system wasnt built for them.
Today, women comprise almost half of the U.S. labor force. The playing field looks different now, but the fight for equal access hasnt gone away. It just moved into subtler territory.
Companies make quiet calculations about whos worth investing in, says Corinne Low, gender economist and associate business professor at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business.
Women often face career penalties in anticipation of motherhood as employers presume theyre more likely to take leave or step back. Once in their 40s, past childbearing, this bias fades.
But not before its done damage.
The cost of inaction is huge: 4 out of 10 mothers in the first five years after childbirth resign. In 2025, around 400,000 mothers with young children resigned from the U.S. workforcethe sharpest decline in more than 40 years.
Mothers face a training penalty that hinders their career advancement
On average, data shows women working full-time only earn 83% of a mans median annual salary. Mothers face even worse oddstheir pay is often reduced by 3% for every child they have.
A new study from the University of Connecticut finds that, one to three years after childbirth, women are 17% to 22% less likely to receive on-the-job training opportunities, such as seminars, workshops, and development programs, compared with a 3% to 8% decline for men who became fathers.
The result is a hidden skills and promotion gap that may explain nearly a third of the motherhood wage penalty.
When women have children, theyre viewed as less committed or competent, research showsa bias that leads employers to assume mothers are too busy, distracted, or disinterested to participate in training opportunities.
This is called benevolent prescriptive stereotyping, and it doesnt do mothers any favors, says Joan C. Williams, distinguished professor of law emerita and founding director of the Equality Action Center at UC Law San Francisco.
As Williams points out: If you don’t get work, you eventually either get laid off because you’re not progressing, or you leave because you’re disgusted that you don’t get good work. Or you just stall out.
If a mother turns down an opportunity for training or advancement, its important to circle backnot to assume its a permanent no, says Williams. She also recommends employers keep track of who receives opportunities in their workplaceand who doesnt.
Supporting mothers isnt a charity case
Another opportunity mothers are often left out of is informal networking, like happy hours, dinners, or travel, says Kate Westlund Tovsen, founder of Society of Working Moms, a supportive community for and by working mothers. Even if a mother cant attend, Its nice to be invited, Tovsen adds, who suggests teams try daytime coffee hours as a caregiver-friendly option.
Mothers are forced to be proactive, as many companies lack frameworks to support leave or reintegration, Williams cautions. She advises scheduling meetings with superiors before and after taking family leave to make a plan. And though being a new mother is a relatively short blip on a womans career, companies often make permanent decisions in terms of who they’re investing in based on this kind of temporary period when women are most squeezed, says Low.
Supporting mothers is not a charity case, she argues, but a competitive edge that lets them retain talent long term.
Caregiver strategies and investments, including benefits and return-to-work programs, deliver measurable business returns, states Jess Ringgenberg, professional certified coach and CEO of Elxir, an advisory firm focusing on caregivers in the workplace.
Companies see three to six times ROI through higher retention, productivity, and lower absenteeism with such programs, Ringgenberg says. Replacing a mid-level caregiver comes with backfill, training, and ramp-up expenses that can reach $200,000, says Ringgenberg, or totaling twice the employees annual salary.
But some companies are already working hard to help mothers succeedand its paying off.
Small and large companies finding solutions
Frontier Co-op, an Iowa-based wholesaler of natural and organic products with around 580 employees, created the Breaking Down Barriers to Employment initiative, which includes an on-site childcare center, subsidized to $120 per week per child.
Their childcare program enables parents to participate in training programs and developmental opportunities that might otherwise be missed, explains Megan Schulte, vice president of human resources.
She says 100% of new parents returned to work after their parental leave.
While Frontier Co-op eases the logistical strains of childcare, Brigade Events, a woman-owned and operated event strategy and management company in Dallas with 10 full-time employees, tackles rebuilding confidence and access for women who stepped out. The company views its mentorship and project-based work model as a form of retraining, recognizing womens existing expertise, rather than resetting them to zero. Senior employees work on a hybrid schedulethree days from home, two in-officeto preserve collaboration while creating space for caregiving.
Brigade doesnt bat an eye at blocked calendars for a childs doctor appointment or school event. Our whole culture is giving grace to each other, says April Zorsky, partner and chief creative officer.
One of their policies is that mothers returning from their 16-week maternityleave take a transition month working at 50% capacity. This can mean working from home, setting their own schedules, and easing back in without penalty. As moms, we feel its crucial to have flexibility, says Zorksy.
Larger companies can learn to be more flexible and collaborative, too, says Marissa Andrade, a veteran HR executive and former chief people officer at Chipotle.
She recalls when one of her field managers chose to take a six-month maternity leave during a period of company-wide turnaround. Before she left, she requested an interim hire from the Mom Project, a digital platform that helps companies to hire skilled mothers, to support her leave. It went so smoothly that the field manager was able to reenter without missing a beat.
Andrada recommends establishing employeebusiness resource groups. At Chipotle, one employee-created group, The Hustle (Humans United to Support the Ladies Experience), formed a maternity program to keep employees in the loop while on leave, and reoriented them on compliance and training updates on their return.
Dont overlook the power of your employees as your consumer, says Andrada.
When companies invite access for mothersto training, to support, to opportunities that just dont reacclimate them to their roles, but get them to thrive in themeveryone wins.
Mothers arent just reentering the workforce with confidence. Employers are retaining their talent, too.
In todays job market, many employees are feeling the pressure.
Layoffs continue to make headlines, hiring pipelines have slowed, budgets have tightened, and job seekers are facing fierce competition. For those already employed, this environment raises a tricky question: Whats reasonable to ask for at work right nowand what isnt?
Theres always the standard wish list: promotions, raises, more flexibility, and better benefits. But in a strained economy, some of these asks may be harder to landand for many employees, even harder to ask for.
Zety, a career platform designed to make job searching easier with expert-backed tools and advice, found in its latest Pay on Pause Report three in five workers are willing to forgo or accept smaller raises this year due to fears of layoffs and job instability, and 66% avoided asking for a raise altogether, citing economic pressures and uncertainty.
In a job market this unpredictable, where many employees are job hugging out of fearone question remains: should employees hold off on asking, or should conversations still be happening?
Theres fear in asking
According to career expert Jasmine Escalera, many employees are hesitant to ask for anything right now.
The thought process is: I should just be grateful to have a job, or, I dont want to ask for more and rock the boat, especially if AI is coming in, she explains.
Maybe even, I don’t want to disrupt what I already have, because I don’t want to then be out in that job market and not even know when’s the next time I’m potentially going to get a position, Escalera says.
In todays job market, employees are often hesitant to speak up, hoping staying quiet will help them maintain their positionsespecially since certain requests, like pay raises, are harder to secure.
Pay increases and promotions may be harder to secure
It is true. Certain requests are more difficult in todays job market, Escalera explains, and pay raises are one of them.
If layoffs and budget cuts are happening, one of the first things that are going to go is pay increases, she says.
This also includes bonuses, or any other type of financial component.
Anything that goes into the budget could potentially go wrong, which is not good for individuals who are in positions where they need to be upskilling. Or they need to be learning more to complement AI, or even potentially just for specific career growth opportunities, she says.
Promotions also face limitations. As Escalera explains, Promotions typically come with raises and professional development [or] upskilling opportunitiesthose are going to be things that potentially go away.
Still, it doesn’t mean employees should shy away from asking, or from putting their requests on their managers radar.
Open the conversation
A company may not be able to provide pay raises or promotions during a downturn, but that doesnt mean the conversation cant happen.
Even if your company comes out and says, we don’t have the financial capacity to give pay raises right now, or we don’t have the financial capacity to give bonuses right nowthat does not mean you do not have the conversation, Escalera says.
The key is approaching the discussion thoughtfully, focusing on your contributions and the value you bring.
You might say, I understand that the organization is in financial hardship, or may not be giving bonuses or pay raises at this moment, but I really want to open up the conversation around my work Escalera suggests.
Carolyn Troyan, CEO of Leadership360, an HR consulting and leadership coaching firm, agrees its important to be thoughtful with your approach.
It’s doing it in an emotionally intelligent way, she says. After half your team has been laid off, demanding a raise is probably not such a good idea.
But after the dust has settled and the company is back on steady footing, its reasonable to bring it upor even during your next performance review, if the timing feels right.
When having that conversation, acknowledge the environment and what the team has been throughbut dont let that stop you from discussing your growth with your manager. Just because a company is struggling doesn’t mean you don’t have a career plan, Troyan says.
To your manager, you might say, Here’s what I want to do over the next two to three years, I’d love to kind of talk about that with you. What opportunities do you see available, even in this environment, for me to learn some of these new skills?
Commonly, youre going to hear one of two responses, Troyan explains:
We really love you, but we can’t do it right now, which comes up a lot. Or, you may receive feedback highlighting what you need to work on to reach a promotion or raise in the future.
Either way, youre still having the conversation.
Support and flexibility
Even if a company cant provide a promotion or raise due to financial hardship, there are other things to ask for.
One of the biggest asks right now is supportsupport that isnt monetary, Escalera says, pointing to the same report: Mental health support tops the list.
What that really shows is that individuals are incredibly burnt out and stressed out, she said. As a result, were seeing more requests for mental health days and other forms of support.
If a company isnt meeting requests for pay, flexibility, or other forms of support, it may be a signal for employees to reassess their options.
Even in uncertain times, understanding your value, approaching conversations thoughtfully, and asking for the support you need are all things you dont have to shy away from.
Companies are increasingly using AI to conduct job interviews, and, according to experts in the field, the technology is leading to some impressive results. However, giving candidates the choice between an AI interviewer or a human can create bias that makes landing a job tougher for some people, according to a new report.
AI is now a common part of the job application process. According to the World Economic Forum, around 88% of employers use some form of AI for initial candidate screening such as filtering or ranking job applications. But AI is also being used to conduct interviews. Currently, around 21% of U.S. companies use the technology for initial interviews.
AI interviewers can give companies an edge when during the hiring process. One study found that candidates who were interviewed by an AI were more likely to land a job than candidates who were sourced by humans screening résumés: 54% of candidates interviewed by AI got the job, compared to about 29% of candidates sourced by a traditional résumé screening.
Still, there is a lot to learn about how utilizing AI interviews impacts both people and firms. Brian Jabarian, a researcher at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with doctorates in economics and philosophy, recently examined what happens to candidates when they are offered a choice between an AI interviewer and a human interviewer, which he detailed in his paper, Choice as Signal: Designing AI Adoption in Labor Market Screening. The research, which has not been peer reviewed, finds giving candidates a choice between a human and AI interview could also create a new hurdle for low-ability candidatesapplicants whose skills are below the firms hiring threshold.
Jabarian tells Fast Company that different applicants will automatically be drawn to either AI interviewers or human interviewers based on their strengths. For example, “applicants with strong language skills prefer human interviewers to highlight their English proficiency,” he says. “In contrast, applicants with strong analytical skills choose the AI interviewer to showcase their quantitative strengths.”
But the choice isn’t neutral, like a candidate may expect it to be. An applicants decision to be interviewed by a human or an AI agent can reveal private information about their strengths, weaknesses, or expectations for relative performance, Jabarian writes in his paper, also pointing out that employees with high abilities benefit because companies can identify them more easily “using both the signal and the selection decision, increasing their probability of being hired.
However, it also means firms are able to more easily identify low-ability workers. Jabarian writes: “Consequently, low-skilled workers succeed less often in obtaining a job and therefore experience a welfare loss.” Essentially, by interpreting both the choice itself as well as the information from the interview, an employers precision increases, which doesn’t serve lower-ability candidates.
Jabarian says if firms had no insight into the candidate’s choice, then all workers would have the advantage of choosing which interviewer best shows their skill set, but companies would lose out on the advantages of using AI interviewers.
While on the surface giving job candidates choices about how they are interviewed seems like a solid idea, Jabarian says that in practice, it’s not quite so simple. “Before this new paper, I was really rooting for giving this choice to people because I was confused about why everyone was assuming it was just okay to impose a new technology on people in a high-stakes environment when they maybe didnt want it,” he explains. However, now he believes it’s clear that the choice alone hurts the weakest candidates, and therefore it shouldn’t be one that is routinely offered but rather “on a case-by-case basis.”
Jabarian says he expects AI interviewing to increase, particularly because its good for firms. Still, that doesn’t mean humans as interviewers are a thing of the past or irrelevant. AI interviewers and humans have different strengths: Human recruiters can improvise and are able to vary their interviews, while AI creates a consistent experience and is excellent at garnering information from candidates. That means adopting hybrid techniqueswhere humans and AI run interviews with opposing purposesmight really be the smartest and fairest way to hire.
The Trump administration is planning to buy a direct stake in yet another chip technology company. Earlier this week, the Commerce Department announced that it had signed a letter of intent to buy up to $150 million of xLight, a startup that focuses on lithography, a critical part of the semiconductor-manufacturing process.
The move shows that the governments nearly $9 billion dollar investment in Intel — for 10 percent stake in the company structured as a silent partnership — wasnt a one-off, and that officials are moving forward with plans to buy equity in technology companies it deems critical.
As part of the latest deal, the startup will receive tens of millions in exchange for developing a prototype that would use free-laser electron technology to manufacture chips. The approach, if successful, would be a big deal, since it could provide an alternative to lithography equipment made by the Dutch company ASML, which is practically the only choice for chipmakers.
For the US government, the hope is that the xLights technology could help produce extremely tiny — and highly sought after — transistors.
“The right shareholder?”
Under the Trump administration, the government has rapidly increased its ownership shares in private companies — a controversial strategy.
A good number of conservative economists believe the government shouldnt be getting so involved in the private sector. Theres also concern that current investments dont reflect a consistent strategy, and could veer into favoritism for political friends. The Trump administration may also be risking taxpayer money as well, since theres no guarantee industrial policy investments will actually pan out.
Is the government really going to be the right shareholder to help these companies succeed? Is the government going to start showing favoritism to these companies over companies that it doesnt own? Peter Harrell, from the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, recently told PBS. What are the kind of political requirements that are going to be put on companies that the government is taking an ownership in?
In addition to xLight and Intel, new federal government investments now include millions in equity in mineral and steel firms, according to the New York Times. There were reports earlier this year that the Trump administration might even take a direct stake in quantum computing companies, though, when Fast Company asked, a senior official denied them.
Further CHIPS entanglements
Its true that Intel was unlikely to return to its former status as a leader in chips manufacturing based on the billions it would have received under the Biden administration alone, said one former employee at the Commerce Department-based CHIPS office, which was created under the CHIPS Act and helped oversee massive new subsidies for semiconductor companies.
Still, the Trump administration buying direct equity in the company doesnt really achieve that goal, the person said. There might be a world in which the governments equity in xLight and Intel work in tandem, the person added. But do we really want the government telling Intel to use the startup the government invested in? (Notably, Pet Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel, leads xLights board.)
Regardless, xLight may not be the last of the Trump administrations investments in chip companies. This past September, the Chips Research and Development office, housed within the Commerce Department, released a broad agency announcement sharing that entities could apply for awards meant to boost the countrys microtechnology industry. That announcement stipulated that awardees might need to give the government equity, warrants, licenses to intellectual property, royalties or revenue sharing, or other such instruments to ensure a return on investment to the Government.
Apple just lost a top design talent.
Meta has hired Alan Dye, who was the head of Apple’s human interface design team. The company is filling his position with Stephen Lemay, who CEO Tim Cook told Bloomberg “has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999.”
Before being poached by Meta to become its chief design officer, Dye worked at Apple since 2006, where he oversaw projects including Liquid Glass and Vision Pro. By the end of his tenure, Dye reported directly to Cook.
His departure is the latest in a game of musical chairs for top design roles at Apple. Apple’s former longtime chief design officer Jony Ive left the company in 2019, and his replacement, Evans Hankey, left in 2022 and wasn’t replaced. On the org chart, the remaining members of Apple’s industrial design team reported to COO Jeff Williams.
Bloomberg reports that Dye will be creating a new design studio at Meta, where he’ll oversee the design for hardware, software, and AI integration for its interfaces. For Meta, Dye’s hiring is proof the company is serious about designing hardware that can compete in the ongoing race to build the first great AI gadget. It will put him in direct competition with his former colleague Ive, whose company io was bought by OpenAI in May for $6.4 billion with the goal of building the next great user interface.
New research now suggests that our brains are still in the teenage phase until we “peak” in our early thirties.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge looked at scans from around 4,000 people up to the age of 90 to reveal the connections between their brain cells. Rather than progressing steadily over our lifetimes, research published in the journal Nature Communications suggests our brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points happening at ages nine, 32, 66, and 83.
The first stage, from birth to nine, sees the brain rapidly increasing in size. Around age nine, the adolescent phase begins as the brain works on increasing its efficiency. This is the stage when there is the greatest risk of mental health disorders beginning.
Many neurodevelopmental, mental health, and neurological conditions are linked to the way the brain is wired, said senior author Dr. Duncan Astle, professor of neuroinformatics at Cambridge. Indeed, differences in brain wiring predict difficulties with attention, language, memory, and a whole host of different behaviours.
The most surprising takeaway from the study is that the adolescent phase lasts far longer than expected. Based on how the brain forms connections, this phase lasts until roughly age 32. That means that while youre trying to get your act together in your 20s, your brain is pretty much still a teenager.
(Important to note is this distinction is based on the brains efficiency at making connections, not a sign of arrested development or an excuse to act like a manchild).
At 32, the biggest shift kicks in. The brain hits a period of peak efficiency, meaning regions of the brain are using the most direct pathways to communicate. This marks the transition into adulthood, which is the longest and most stable stretch of brain development.
Studies have shown that personality and intelligence also stabilize during this time. Despite headlines about college drop-out entrepreneurs, the average age for successful entrepreneurs sits squarely in this developmental stageat 45 years old.
Approaching the age of retirement, at age 66 a third turning point marks the start of an early aging phase. Here, the pace of neural network changes in the brain starts to slow as white matter begins to decline.
Finally, at around 83 years old the late aging brain takes shape. Brain connectivity between different regions declines further, and people tend to fall back on certain well-trodden neural pathways and regions.
Looking back, many of us feel our lives have been characterised by different phases. It turns out that brains also go through these eras, said Astle, who was a senior author of the research.
Understanding that the brains structural journey is not a question of steady progression, but rather one of a few major turning points, will help us identify when and how its wiring is vulnerable to disruption.
If you feel like you spent more time sitting in traffic this year than last, youre not alone.
Across the United States, drivers lost 49 hours to traffic congestion in 2025, a six-hour increase from the year prior, according to a new report from transportation analytics company INRIX.
From Chicago to Philadelphia and Boston to Tampa, congestion increased in 254 of the 290 cities INRIX analyzed.
But in New York, a city practically synonymous with gridlock, congestion stayed flat.
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INRIX says the anomaly is likely due to congestion pricing, a program that charges drivers tolls when they enter certain, often gridlocked, areas of Manhattan.
New Yorks congestion pricing program went into effect January 5. Just one month later, a million fewer vehicles entered the congestion zone than they would have without the toll, according to the citys Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
That mitigation effort likely contributed to New York losing its top spot on NRIXs 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard. This year, New York City ranked as the second most congested U.S. city, down from number one in 2024.
In 2024, five New York City roads made INRIXs top 25 busiest corridors list. In 2025, just one remained: a section of I-278, also called the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (which is not in the citys congestion pricing zone).
Delays increased across the country
New York is still heavily congested: Drivers there lost 102 hours of the year to congestion.
But while delays there stayed stagnant, in other cities, traffic surged. Out of INRIXs 25 top urban areas for traffic, 13 saw double-digit percentage increases when it came to delays.
Chicago, which beat out New York to become the top U.S. city for traffic, saw drivers lose 112 hours lost to congestion, a 10% increase from 2024.
Delays increased 13% year over year in Atlanta, Georgia; 18% in Austin, Texas, and 31% for both Baltimore and Philadelphia.
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INRIX did notice one positive trend when it comes to U.S. driving patterns: After increasing for four years in a row, traffic fatalities declined. In the first half of 2025, there were just over 17,000 on U.S. roadways, similar to 2019 levels. (First half of the year fatalities were around 20,000 in 2021 and 2022.)
Why is traffic so bad?
A lot of factors go into traffic. For instance, after millions of Americans shifted to working from home during the pandemic, many have since shifted back. Now just 13% of people work from home.
More than three-fourths of city dwellers commute by car; only 4% take public transit. In cities across the country, public transit options are often inadequate for commuters needs.
Compared to cities around the world, which are investing in rail, America is behind, even as it deals with outdated infrastructure, including bridges and highways. When these upgrades are pushed back, delays increase.
Housing is another issue that can affect how long a driver spends sitting in their car. In the least affordable cities, residents have to decide between longer commutes or higher rents, INRIX says.
Traffic costs drivers time, and money
For drivers, traffic is more than just an annoyance. Time is money, and INRIX calculates that the typical 49 hours of delays across the U.S. means $894 worth of time lost per driver.
Across the country, congestion cost the U.S. more than $85 billion in 2025, up 11.3% from 2024.
Congestion pricing costs New York drivers too, in a more direct way, but it comes with other benefits.
Halfway through the year, the citys congestion pricing program generated $216 million from tolls; officials aim to raise $500 million from the programs first full year.
But in exchange for that money, New Yorkers got back some time they would have otherwise spent sitting in their carsas much as 21 minutes each way. And the city saw economic benefits, like increased pedestrian activity and time and cost savings for business deliveries.
