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China blasted the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas.“These practices seriously violate the consensus” reached during trade discussions in Geneva last month, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.That referred to a China-U.S. joint statement in which the United States and China agreed to slash their massive recent tariffs, restarting stalled trade between the world’s two biggest economies.But last month’s de-escalation in President Donald Trump’s trade wars did nothing to resolve underlying differences between Beijing and Washington and Monday’s statement showed how easily such agreements can lead to further turbulence.The deal lasts 90 days, creating time for U.S. and Chinese negotiators to reach a more substantive agreement. But the pause also leaves tariffs higher than before Trump started ramping them up last month. And businesses and investors must contend with uncertainty about whether the truce will last.U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop the 145% tax Trump imposed last month to 30%. China agreed to lower its tariff rate on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.The Commerce Ministry said China held up its end of the deal, canceling or suspending tariffs and non-tariff measures taken against the U.S. “reciprocal tariffs” following the agreement.“The United States has unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations,” while China has stood by its commitments, the statement said.It also threatened unspecified retaliation, saying China will “continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”And in response to recent comments by Trump, it said of the U.S.: “Instead of reflecting on itself, it has turned the tables and unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts.”Trump stirred further controversy Friday, saying he will no longer be nice with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States.Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and “hopefully we’ll work that out,” while still insisting China had violated the agreement.“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” Trump posted. “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”The Trump administration also stepped up the clash with China in other ways last week, announcing that it would start revoking visas for Chinese students studying in the U.S.U.S. campuses host more than 275,000 students from China.Both countries are in a race to develop advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, with Washington seeking to curb China’s access to the most advanced computer chips. China is also seeking to displace the U.S. as the leading power in the Asia-Pacific, including through gaining control over close U.S. partner and leading tech giant Taiwan. Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Going into my time reviewing the Google Pixel 9a, I had this grand idea to transform myself into “AI Man.” Google has made a big to-do about how it’s reimagining Android with AI at the core, and the $500 Pixel 9a is now the cheapest entry point into Google’s Gemini AI ecosystem. In the past I’ve found all those AI features easy to ignore, but this time I was going to dedicate myself to making the most of them. It didn’t really work out as planned. While Gemini is a better assistant than it used to be on Pixel phones, it can also be a big a waste of time. And for all Google’s talk of reinventing all of Android around AI, some of the best Pixel AI features require a more expensive phone then the 9a. [Photo: Jared Newman] Gemini’s promise and pitfalls I’ll give Google credit for this much: Gemini on the Pixel 9a is no longer a trainwreck. When Google started shipping Gemini as the default voice assistant on the Pixel 9 series, it was worse than the old Google Assistant at common tasks like creating to-do list items, checking local store hours, and getting directions. Google has patched in a lot of that missing functionality over the past nine months. In some ways, Gemini even more useful now. I can ask for directions with a specific stop along the way, for instance, or have a back-and-forth to manage the items on my Google Keep grocery list. Being able to converse with Gemini about widely understood topics can be helpful as well, and unlike with Assistant, there’s a chat history you can look through for future reference. Still, leaning on Gemini for anything important feels like a crapshoot. [Photo: Jared Newman] While on vacation in Florida, for instance, I asked Gemini to look up the time for my flight home. It first informed me that I had two flights scheduled (I only had one), and when I asked to put the correct flight info on my calendar, Gemini added a completely invented flight to New York instead. (I live in Cincinnati.) Gemini also failed to account for traffic when I asked what time to leave for the airport, even though Google Maps provides this info on its own. And because Gemini can’t search through secondary calendarslike the one my wife and I use to coordinate pretty much everythingit’s been largely worthless for looking important dates. Gemini Live, the conversational voice mode you can use it without touching the screen, had some issues as well. I tried using it to research a story on satellite messaging, only to later discover in my own research that Gemini got a half-dozen facts wrong. Later I asked Gemini to act like a stenographer, transcribing some thoughts of mine for this story, but it kept interrupting and failed to capture large chunks of what I said. [Photo: Jared Newman] Even Gemini Live’s ballyhooed Camera Mode feels a bit like a parlor trickalbeit an impressive one. While pointing your camera at the real world, Gemini can identify and answer questions about what it sees. It recognized a mango tree on the aforementioned Florida trip, for instance, and told me that none of the fruit looked ripe enough to eat. But when I asked why my aloe plant at home looked red and droopy, the insight was no different than if I’d just asked the same question in a Google search. (Too much water, or maybe not enough, Gemini said.) Camera Mode’s ability to understand your surroundings may ultimately be a better fit for smart glasses that can easily ingest more information. Keep in mind that none of these features are Pixel-exclusive. Gemini is also the default assistant on Samsung’s latest flagships, and it’s a free download on iOS. Meanwhile, the Pixel 9a doesn’t support some of the exclusive features Google does offer, like transcript summaries in the Recorder app, phone call summarization, and an app for organizing your screenshots. Oddly enough, the Pixel AI feature I used the most is one that predates the ChatGPT era: When you get a call from an unknown number, tapping “Call Screen” asks the caller to explain who they are, and then shows you a transcript of their response. It’s an immensely satisfying way to deal with spammers and telemarketers, most of whom just hang up. [Photo: Jared Newman] For Gemini to really make a difference on phones, it will need to interact with more apps and services, handle data from Google’s own services more reliably, and be better at not making stuff up. I don’t feel like the Pixel 9a is much closer to doing those things than previous Pixels, it just has a few more AI tricks bolted on. Still a fine phone Odd as it may seem to relegate the actual phone features to an afterthought, that pretty much reflects how I feel about the Pixel 9a. For $500, it’s a pretty good phone that I’ve been using in place of my usual flagshipsan iPhone 16 Pro Max and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5largely without complaint. Yes, there are trade-offs. The camera array is less sophisticated, which mostly became an issue when I really wanted to zoom in on something. Battery life, while better than the Pixel 9, doesn’t match Google’s and Apple’s “Pro” level phones and led to some charging anxiety on long days. The bezels around the display are thicker. The edges are aluminum and not stainless steel, and the rear panel is plastic instead of glass. The front glass, meanwhile, is less resistant to drop damage. Still, I never felt like the Pixel 9a was hindering me from doing what I needed to do, which was to see how Google’s AI-first vision for Android has manifested over the past year. And the verdict, so far, is that it mostly hasn’t.
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E-Commerce
As it prepares to sell off its remaining assets in the wake of a second bankruptcy filing, Rite Aid continues to move aggressively to close pharmacy locations that it no longer deems viable. The drugstore chain, which has already found buyers for most of its prescription business, has added another 111 retail drugstores to its rapidly growing list of doomed locations, a court filing revealed last week. The list includes pharmacies across 12 states, with California and New York being hit the hardest. Interested parties have until June 9 to object. Fast Company has reached out to Rite Aid to ask about the timeline of the closures. With this latest list, the pharmacy chain has now marked more than 470 stores for closure since the Chapter 11 process began about a month ago, comprising more than a third of Rite Aid’s total fleet of 1,277 locations. The May 30 filing is its fourth notice of additional closures. Previous waves of closures were disclosed in earlier filings: May 5: 47 initial locations May 9: 68 additional locations May 16: 95 additional locations May 23: 151 additional locations Immediate fate of stores uncertain as wind-down continues Rite Aid had initially scrambled to sell off its prescription files amid concerns that a mass exodus of customers would diminish the value of its pharmacy assets. It quickly announced deals with CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons, and others. For most customers, that means their prescriptions will be transferred to an entirely different pharmacy and location. But only a handful of physical retail stores were included in those announcements, and the exact locations of those stores have yet to be releasedleading to further uncertainty for Rite Aid customers and employees. Now time is running out for companies that may be interested in taking over additional Rite Aid locations before they close for good. Any such company was required to indicate its interest by last Friday. Bid submissions are due on June 18, with an auction planned for June 24 if necessary. In addition to physical stores, Rite Aid’s remaining assets include the Thrifty ice cream brand, which is sold by third-party retailers in addition to being available at counters in many Rite Aid locations. The latest list of 111 Rite Aid stores marked for closure is below. California 15331 Baseline Avenue, Fontana, CA, 92336 1301 Munras Avenue, Monterey, CA, 93940 4010 Manzanita Avenue, Carmichael, CA, 95608 47985 Monroe Street Bldg A, Indio, CA, 92201 12511 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA, 91607 74958 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, CA, 92260 1331 South Mission Road, Fallbrook, CA, 92028 26 Old Mammoth Road, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 93546 456 S Madera Avenue, Kerman, CA, 93630 740 Quintana Road, Morro Bay, CA, 93442 15025 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA, 95422 1021 Bridge Street, Colusa, CA, 95932 616 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang, CA, 93463 4994 Joe Howard Street, Mariposa, CA, 95338 160 E Antelope Ave, Woodlake, CA, 93286 807 South Main Street, Yreka, CA, 96097 1935 N Street, Newman, CA, 95360 1500 Whitley Avenue, Corcoran, CA, 93212 616 East Hobsonway, Blythe, CA, 92225 2501 Highway 46, Wasco, CA, 93280 230 South Main Street, Angels Camp, CA, 95222 40 East Main Street, Quincy, CA, 95971 72253 Twentynine Palms Highway, Twentynine Palms, CA, 92277 159 West Polk Street, Coalinga, CA, 93210 1400 Linda Mar Boulevard, Pacifica, CA, 94044 199 North Fairview Avenue, Goleta, CA, 93117 20 East 18th Street, Antioch, CA, 94509 1110 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos, CA, 93402 345 Town Center West, Santa Maria, CA, 93458 2405 South Broadway, Santa Maria, CA, 93454 1220 Broadway, Placerville, CA, 95667 725 South Fortuna Boulevard, Fortuna, CA, 95540 1710 California Street, Escalon, CA, 95320 2700 Oro Dam Boulevard East, Oroville, CA, 95966 4830 J Street, Sacramento, CA, 95819 9700 Panama Lane, Bakersfield, CA, 93311 14115 Lakeridge Circle, Magalia, CA, 95954 7900 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90046 Connecticut 190 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT, 06855 1387 New Haven Ave., Milford, CT, 06460 Delaware 444 Savannah Road, Lewes, DE, 19958 Maryland 7 Westminster Shopping Center, Westminster, MD, 21157 505 Linden Avenue, Pocomoke City, MD, 21851 4600 West Northern Parkway, Baltimore, MD, 21215 New Hampshire 51 South Main Street, Newport, NH, 03773 14 Peterborough Street, Jaffrey, NH, 03452 315 West Main Street, Hillsboro, NH, 03244 136 Meadow Street, Littleton, NH, 03561 10 Main Street, Winchester, NH, 03470 89 Nh Route 25, Meredith, NH, 03253 New Jersey 3400 New Jersey Avenue, Wildwood, NJ, 08260 New York 40 West Main Street, Springville, NY, 14141 81 West Main Street, Gowanda, NY, 14070 1511 Route 22 Suite A, Brewster, NY, 10509 3795 East Main Road, Fredonia, NY, 14063 153 Prospect Street, Attica, NY, 14011 2175 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14220 480 Evas Road, Williamsville, NY, 14221 1000 Pennsylvania Avenue, Elmira, NY, 14904 5224 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11220 350 Niagara Street, Buffalo, NY, 14201 1941 Seneca Street, Buffalo, NY, 14210 424 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY, 14222 419 Division Street, North Tonawanda, NY, 14120 476 William Street, Buffalo, NY, 14206 6000 Transit Road, Depew, NY, 14043 3987 Lockport Olcott Road, Lockport, NY, 14094 320 Main Street, Beacon, NY, 12508 284 Connecticut Street, Buffalo, NY, 14213 963 Fairmount Avenue We, Jamestown, NY, 14701 140 Pine Street, Hamburg, NY, 14075 6616 Lincoln Avenue, Lockport, NY, 14094 9160 Main Street, Clarence, NY, 14031 5447 Main Street, Williamsville, NY, 14221 338 West Washington Street, Bath, NY, 14810 9062 Erie Road, Angola, NY, 14006 1631-43 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11212 103 Hawkins Drive, Montgomery, NY, 12549 5335 West Genesee St Ste 20, Camillus, NY, 13031 50 East Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays, NY, 11946 6939 Erie Road, Derby, NY, 14047 12983 Main Road, Akron, NY, 14001 2325 Grand Island Blvd., Grand Island, NY, 14072 8079 North Main Street, Eden, NY, 14057 100 Conhocton St, Corning, NY, 14830 5999 South Park Avenue, Hamburg, NY, 14075 1454 Union Road, West Seneca, NY, 14224 2898 Westinghouse Road, Horseheads, NY, 14845 798 Harlem Road, West Seneca, NY, 14224 Oregon 448 Ne Hwy 99W, Mcminnville, OR, 97128 1900 Sw Court Place, Pendleton, OR, 97801 30 East Oak Street, Lebanon, OR, 97355 Pennsylvania 164 West Chelten Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19144 Vermont 12 North Main Street, Randolph, VT, 05060 1823 Vermont Route 107 #2, Bethel, VT, 05032 Virginia 2305 Oaklawn Boulevard, Hopewell, VA, 23860 10 Willow Oaks Blvd, Hampton, VA, 23669 3005 Old Mill Road, Chesapeake, VA, 23323 Washington 412 East College Way, Mt. Vernon, WA, 98273 520 West Washington Street, Sequim, WA, 98382 8500 35th Avenue Ne, Seattle, WA, 98115 500 South Pioneer Way, Moses Lake, WA, 98837 4920-A Evergreen Way, Everett, WA, 98203 4117 Kitsap Way, Bremerton, WA, 98312 31645 State Route 20, Oak Harbor, WA, 98277 1630 South Grand Avenue, Pullman, WA, 99163 621 South Lincoln St., Port Angeles, WA, 98362 1850 South Mildred Street, Tacoma, WA, 98465 3909 Hoyt Ave, Everett, WA, 98201
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E-Commerce
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