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?

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.

Microsoft is changing how it charges for its software for the first time in two decades, moving to bill customers with a pay-as-you-go model each time they use its new AI agent.

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.

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.

Jensen Huang's company Nvidia makes the computer chips that unleashed a revolution in artificial intelligence. Now he's wagering that an AI buildout can revive U.S. manufacturing, pushing past limits facing science and society.

The grocery store is a busy place, full of signs and signals that we may or may not always notice. Picture yourself in your usual store: Do your eyes get drawn to a "limited quantities" sign or a "buy now before it's gone" promotion?

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

• Spanish homes save €10 a month via renewables expansion

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 “balcony solar panels” to the British public.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Climate Central

© Photograph: Climate Central

© Photograph: Climate Central

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have found that there is a significant amount of rare earth elements trapped in the coal and coal ash supply of the Gulf Coast—with a total value of more than $187 billion.

News consumers around the world are now turning more to social media and video platforms than traditional outlets for information, a respected report said Tuesday, warning that old-style business models are under threat.

Sellers on TikTok used pricey items to lure bidders to “Surprise Sets” livestreams, but most of the auctions yielded only cheap prizes. Gambling experts are concerned about the potential for harm.

A Silicon Valley software maker and an ecommerce company reveal to WIRED how they are navigating the emerging challenge of “tokenomics.”

Fox Corp. has agreed to buy the streaming pioneer Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $22 billion, including debt.

Anthropic leaders flew to Washington, DC, to meet with White House officials on Monday. After high-level talks, they’re still split on the risk Claude Fable 5 presents.