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Study advocates cross-tier traceability to improve food safety

17 June 2026 at 21:40
The Hong Kong SAR imports more than 90% of its food, and it can be very difficult, when food safety incidents occur, to trace the source across a complex supply chain. Prof. Leng Mingming, dean of the Faculty of Business and chair professor of operations and risk management at Lingnan University, has published a new study proposing the introduction of a unified product tracing system across the food supply chain.

OpenAI Losses Increased Nearly 8X In 2025, With Spending Hitting $34 Billion

By: BeauHD
17 June 2026 at 16:00
An anonymous reader quotes a report from independent journalist Ed Zitron: Today, I can exclusively report, based on audited financial documents viewed by this publication that have been independently verified by the Financial Times, that OpenAI lost around $38.5 billion in 2025, as well as other crucial details about the financial condition of the company. [...] At the end of the year, OpenAI had just over $50 billion in assets, with almost half of that in cash. [...] The financial condition of OpenAI is deeply concerning. $38.53 billion in losses are astronomical, and far higher than most believed it would be. Losses also appear to be mounting year-over-year at a dramatic rate, and I'm not sure how this company finds a way toward any kind of sustainability or profitability. As discussed, I have not editorialized much today. I believe the best thing I can do for the general public is to deliver this news as plainly as possible. Ars Technica's Kyle Orland offers a more editorial take, writing: All told, OpenAI's day-to-day "loss from operations" increased from $8.78 billion in 2024 to $20.92 billion in 2025, a concerning direction for a company that is telling investors it hopes to be profitable by 2030. But measured as a percentage of revenues, the company's operating losses slightly improved year to year, from 237 percent in 2024 to 160 percent in 2025. Operating numbers aside, OpenAI's headline "net loss" number of just over $5 billion in 2024 ballooned to nearly $39 billion in 2025. But the 2025 number includes a significant accounting charge related to investor valuations that shifted amid the company's 2025 conversion to a for-profit structure. The Financial Times cites "a person familiar with the matter" in reporting that this non-recurring charge was approximately $30 billion and that OpenAI's 2025 net loss amounted to a more reasonable-looking $8 billion without it.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Subscription required? Newspaper paywalls scatter most readers but provide surprising value

16 June 2026 at 22:20
Paywalls are essential to the financial sustainability of news organizations, yet little is known about how readers respond when they encounter one. Do they subscribe, continue reading free content, look for ways around the paywall or leave the site altogether?

Why the AI revolution and green transition now pose similar economic risks and policy choices

16 June 2026 at 22:20
The AI race is already generating forces that are transforming the global economy. That makes it surprisingly similar to the green transition, given the potential of both to upend traditional industries, labor markets and geopolitical balances. Both call for trillions of dollars in upfront investments in exchange for significant benefits over the medium and long term.

SpaceX To Acquire AI Coding Startup Cursor For $60 Billion

By: BeauHD
16 June 2026 at 19:00
SpaceX has agreed to acquire Cursor for $60 billion in stock, adding the popular AI coding assistant to Elon Musk's newly public aerospace-and-AI conglomerate. CNBC reports: Cursor built a popular AI coding tool that helps software developers generate, edit and review code, and the company has experienced explosive growth since its founding in 2022. In November, Cursor said it crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue, according to a release at the time. Cursor was also ranked at No. 37 on the annual CNBC Disruptor 50 list in 2026. [...] Musk merged SpaceX with his AI startup, xAI, earlier this year, and the Cursor deal looks set to help revitalize the company's efforts to compete with rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, which also offer popular coding tools. SpaceX expects the merger to close during the third quarter of this year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction is subject to "requisite regulatory approvals," the filing said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Why hotel crisis plans collapse when panic sets in, according to hospitality leaders

16 June 2026 at 17:20
Hospitality leaders are being forced to handle far more than operational disruption when crises hit, according to new research from the University of Surrey. Researchers found that modern crises demand emotional resilience, ethical judgment and rapid decision-making under intense public scrutiny.

Retail giants join UK government drive to boost β€˜plug-in’ balcony solar panels

Asda, Amazon and B&Q among retailers in talks to sell devices that feed into household sockets and can cut electricity bills by 30%

Bosses of some of Britain’s biggest retailers are discussing plans with the government to start selling plug-in solar panels as part of a drive to encourage more UK homes to generate their own electricity.

Executives from brands including Currys, B&Q and Amazon met Martin McCluskey, the minister for energy consumers, on Tuesday to discuss guidelines for selling β€œbalcony solar panels” to the British public.

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Β© Photograph: Climate Central

Β© Photograph: Climate Central

Β© Photograph: Climate Central

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