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Bids are due on Tuesday for companies hoping to acquire Rite Aids prescriptions business, which it calls its most valuable economics assets. While the pharmacy chain has indicated that there are multiple potential buyers, it has also warned of risks to itself and its customers if a buyer doesnt step up quickly. The Philadelphia-based chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, and as part of its court filings, Rite Aid said a timely sale is necessary to minimize significant customer attrition that could erode the value of the companys assets. If the sale of Rite Aid’s pharmacy assets is done in a disorderly and ad hoc manner, the company said, then customers with prescriptionsnot just at Rite Aid but at competing pharmaciescould also face service disruptions if other pharmacies are inundated with requests and cannot efficiently process” the transfer of prescriptions. Rite Aid is a distant third to CVS and Walgreens, though grocery store chains like Walmart to Albertsons also have pharmacy divisions. Still, Rite Aid said it fills more than 100 million prescriptions a year, which could equal a lot of extra time and labor for nearby pharmacies on the receiving end of transfers. Those pharmacies must receive legal prescriptions, integrate them into their systems, acquire a sufficient supply of medication to fill the prescriptions, and be staffed to handle the additional prescriptions, the pharmacy chain said in the filing. This is no small task. Reached for comment by Fast Company, Rite Aid emphasized that its customers can continue to access services such as prescriptions and immunizations during the sale process and that it is still in “active discussions” with potential buyers. The company didnt directly respond to questions about potential bidders or how much customer attrition it has seen so far. ‘This is it for Rite Aid’ Rite Aid previously filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 and its very unlikely there would be a third bankruptcy, says Scott Stuart, CEO of the Turnaround Management Association in Chicago. This is it for Rite Aid, he says, adding that the dynamic explains why the company wants a rapid and successful sale of its assets. While theres some urgency, for sure, the court will have to make the determination if the urgency is as great as theyre making it out to be, Stuart says. What also remains to be seen is what will happen with the 1,200-plus stores that Rite Aid currently operates in 15 states. The company is looking to sell its assets in two phases, with the pharmacy business up for auction first. In court documents, it has already marked dozens of locations for closure, saying it saw “limited to no value” in keeping them open. Once the sale process is complete, all Rite Aid stores will either be closed or sold to other owners. Its difficult to speculate about the future because there are several different potential scenarios for the outcome of these auctions, says Sarah Foss, a bankruptcy attorney and head of legal at Debtwire, who has been tracking the companys filings. Because of the licenses and regulations related to filling prescriptions, there is a limit to the number of buyers that could step up to buy Rite Aids pharmacy assets, she adds. Its likely the pharmacy assets will be absorbed by one of the standing pharmacy brands, Stuart adds. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, he adds, because these chains have already been rethinking their retail footprints and some consolidation is necessary. Will other pharmacies be inundated with prescription transfers? There could be some fearmongering at play by Rite Aid about the risks of disruptions to pharmacy care, though competitors may be incentivized to sit back and await an influx of customers that will naturally flow to them, says Joe Camberato, CEO of National Business Capital, a lending platform for business owners. But pharmacy customers who choose to go to competitors to get their prescriptions filled upon hearing of the bankruptcy and impending sales could mean the value of Rite Aids assets deteriorate quickly, which is a valid risk for debtors, Foss says. That said, because customers have prescription needs ranging from ad hoc to those that are regularly filled, customer attrition may be less problematic if the pharmacy assets are sold quickly, she adds. We should know by the end of week with a little more clarity whats going to happen, Foss says. Customers may win in the end There may be a silver lining here for customers because a degree of reinvention and innovation is sorely needed in these pharmacy-retailer chains, Camberato says. Whereas Walgreens has been working to automate the prescription filling process to speed things up, for example, Rite Aid dragged its feet, he adds. While its unfortunate to see a company as big and familiar as Rite Aid go bankrupt, Camberato says it could be part of a long-overdue reset for an industry that hasnt evolved in years. If it pushes the rest of the industry to actually improve the customer experience, streamline operations, and treat pharmacy workers better,” he says, “then maybe something good comes out of it.”
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AI integration remains a top priority across enterprises worldwide, yet success remains elusive despite widespread enthusiasm and significant investment. An October 2024 study by Boston Consulting Group found that only 26% of companies have derived measurable business value from their AI initiatives. As a result, CEOs face mounting pressure to deliver tangible ROI, shifting focus from experimentation to real-world outcomes. Modern AI development increasingly relies on open-source foundations, enabling rapid iteration and innovation. Many transformative breakthroughs have emerged from community-driven developmentprimarily in Python, the dominant language in data science. However, as enterprises attempt to operationalize these advances, foundational cracks are becoming harder to ignore. Fragmented toolchains, limited oversight, and inconsistent practices introduce significant vulnerabilities at scale. Security, in particular, is a growing concern. Over half (58%) of organizations use open-source components in at least half of their AI and ML projects, yet nearly a third (29%) cite security risks as their biggest challenge with open-source tools. These are precisely the gaps Anaconda aims to close with its new Anaconda AI Platform, a unified system designed to bring structure, clarity, and control to the chaotic open-source AI development landscape. Founded in 2012 in Austin, Texas, as Continuum Analytics by Peter Wang and Travis Oliphant, Anaconda now supports more than 50 million users globally. As the longtime steward of the most widely used Python distributiontrusted by 94% of the Fortune 500Anaconda holds a uniquely strategic position. Since ChatGPT put large language models on the map, enterprises have been eager to own their destiny in AI, Peter Wang, chief AI and Innovation officer and cofounder of Anaconda, tells Fast Company. Enterprise-grade AI workflows naturally break down into a few key steps, each of which can be streamlined and handled in a structured way. Wang explained these steps include managing open-source Python libraries, tracking model weights, and continuously evaluating model performance. Right now, AI teams are stitching together ad hoc solutions to solve each piece, he added. The Anaconda AI Platform offers a unified foundation, an integrated stack that supports the entire AI lifecycle. It eliminates the need for disconnected tools and duct-tape integrations. The platform arrives at a pivotal moment as organizations seek structure around open-source AI development. Wang described it as a centralized control plane for AI workflows, streamlining processes from sandboxed development to enterprise-scale deployment. It enables teams to develop once, deploy anywhere, whether in the cloud, on-premise, or in sovereign data environmentswithout reengineering from scratch. Every decision we make in product update, new feature, or changeis with the intent of furthering the advancement and democratization of data science and AI for all, Wang says. Python is currently the developer language of choice for AI programming, and our new platform aims to make it easier for community members and enterprises alike to innovate freely with AI and without compromising security or compliance. As models grow more complex and regulations tighten, organizations need full visibility into their AI systems. Beyond its bold vision, the Anaconda AI Platform offers practical features like real-time governance, role-based access control, command-line integration, automated error correction, and pre-validated package security. These capabilities aim to reduce broken environments, improve deployment safety, and support better collaboration across distributed teams. Data scientists can continue to work in the tools they know and trust, while the Anaconda AI platform manages the complex orchestration of management and dependency resolution into invisible infrastructure rather than daily friction, says Wang. Our goal is to break down long-standing silos between data scientists, machine learning engineers, and operations teams, so that everyone works from a shared source of truth with full visibility into an AI models lifecycle, from development through deployment. A GitHub Moment for Open-Source AI Development? Just as GitHub centralized version control and collaboration in software development, the Anaconda AI Platform offers a similar home base for open-source AI in the enterprise. While the GitHub analogy is compelling, in reality, what were building goes much deeper, Wang says. AI development through open source faces pain points that consistently hinder progress across AI, ML, and data science teams in large organizations. Were addressing those day-to-day challenges to ensure that innovation can scale without friction. The platforms unified CLI authentication simplifies access across the Anaconda ecosystem with single sign-on. Previously, users had to manually manage tokens and settings across tools. Now, they authenticate once for seamless access. For enterprise administrators, role-based access controls ensure that only the right people access critical resources, balancing governance with innovation. Additionally, the Quick Start Environments feature offers preconfigured workspaces tailored for specific use cases like finance or AI/ML, eliminating setup hassles and enabling immediate productivity. This significantly improves onboarding, allowing new team members to contribute on day one. A technical director at a financial services company told us this eliminated a one-month turnaround time for package approvals, creating a much more fluid development experience, Wang tells Fast Company. Likewise, an industrial customer shared that they’ve been able to reduce the equivalent of two full-time employees previously dedicated to manual package management and approval workflows. Anaconda standardizes access to thousands of secure open-source packages, allowing organizations to transition away from legacy data analytics tools. By automating vulnerability scanning, package vetting, and security policy enforcement, we eliminate the risks traditionally associated with downloading open-source packages, Wang adds. This level of security results in 60% fewer breach risks when developing with Anaconda. Building a Responsible Foundation for Enterprises As AI becomes embedded in enterprise infrastructure, organizations are no longer just choosing modelstheyre choosing ecosystems. Wang noted that speed alone wont define success in enterprise AI; true success lies in scaling open innovation while maintaining control. AI shouldn’t be the exclusive domain of hyperscalers or tech giants. By providing the tools that make open source AI both secure and scalable, we’re empowering organizations of all sizes to participate in this transformation, he added. The future of AI isn’t just about technological capabilityit’s about responsible stewardship of these powerful tools. With its scale and trust, Anaconda may well become the GitHub of AI, offering centralized control and enterprise-grade security without stifling the innovation that makes open-source ecosystems thrive. Wang believes that open source is the ideal foundation for acelerating AI innovation. When teams can deploy solutions consistently across environments without rework, they deliver value faster, Wang says. We want everyone to reap the benefits of open source, as open innovation leads to the boldest of breakthroughs.
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You can learn a lot about an app before you download it from Apples App Store, such as what other users think of it, the access it has to your personal data, and how much storage it occupies. Starting soon, listings will also include a section on something critically important to millions of people: the accessibility features an app supports. Designed to help users with disabilities make more informed decisions about which apps to try, these new nutrition labels are part of a bevy of announcements Apple is making to mark this Thursdays Global Accessibility Awareness Day. The company says theyll all be available later this year. The new accessibility-details feature, which really is called Accessibility Nutrition Labels, lets developers indicate support for existing Apple features such as VoiceOver, Voice Control, Larger Text, Sufficient Contrast, Reduced Motion, and captions. Some app providers already cover this ground in their app descriptions; third-party resources such as AppleVis are also valuable. But for the first time, Apple is providing a dedicated, consistent spot for accessibility information. Users will know where to look for it. Developers who enable these features will get credit for their efforts. And with any luck, many more companies will be incentivized to make their products as accessible as possible. Accessibility Reader offers multiple ways to reformat text for improved legibility. [Image: Courtesy of Apple] Apple is also spotlighting a new Mac version of Magnifier, a feature for making real-world text and other elements easier to see. (Its existed on the iPhone and iPad since 2016.) The Mac version works with USB cameras or an iPhones camera to enlarge text, adjust its perspective and contrast, and otherwise help people with impaired vision read more quickly and easily. It can handle multiple sources at oncefor instance, capturing writing on a classroom whiteboard while simultaneously scanning in pages from a book. It also works with a new feature called Accessibility Reader that reformats textual material to be more legible and is embedded in Apples operating systems, so its available in any app. Other new items the company is previewing for Global Accessibility Awareness Day cover all of its platforms. For example, Braille Access is a feature for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro that lets braille users take notes and perform calculations, either with the Apple device alone or with specialized braille input hardware. (Apple supports more than 70 such products.) A feature called Live Listen allows an iPhone to be used as a remote microphone and displays captions in real time on an Apple Watch. Eye tracking, an existing input option on iPhones and iPads, is being upgraded for easier typing. Vision Pro is adding new features for magnification and spoken descriptions of environments, plus software hooks to let accessibility apps such as Be My Eyes get access to its main camera. Even CarPlay is getting some updates, including the ability to alert deaf and hard-of-hearing users to sounds such as a babys crying, sirens, and honking cars. Live Listens features include real-time captioning via Apple Watch. [Image: Courtesy of Apple] Yet another Apple announcement involves Personal Voice, a 2-year-old feature that lets people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) use an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to create a digitized version of their voice for later use after the progressive disease has made speaking difficult or impossible. When I wrote about the original version of this feature in 2023, the fact that a user needed to spend only 15 minutes recording phrases and wait a few hours for the device to generate the digital voice was an impressive advance over previous technologies for voice banking. Apple says the new version requires only 10 phrases and less than a minute of on-device computation to generate a voice. In a brief demo the company gave me, the results sounded significantly more natural than those from the first version. Knock Apple for being behind in AI if you pleasebut Personal Voice is one potentially life-changing area where it seems to be making a giant leap forward.
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