As artificial intelligence gets smarter, a growing number of companies are increasing its implementation in their operations or more heavily promoting their own AI offerings. The buzzword for this is “AI first.”
Duolingo is among the latest to adopt an AI-first approach. The company’s CEO Luis von Ahn announced the change in an all-hands email Monday, saying it would stop using contractors to do work AI can handle and only increase headcount when teams have maximized all possible automation.
The way we work is fundamentally shifting. AI is becoming the default starting point,” said Duolingos Chief Engineering Officer Natalie Glance in an internal Slack message she shared on LinkedIn. “Start with AI for every task. No matter how small, try using an AI tool first. It won’t always be faster or better at first – but that’s how you build skill. Don’t give up if the first result is wrong.”
Von Ahn, in his email, said the AI-first approach was already paying dividends, helping the company with its content creation process. Without AI, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, Shopifys CEO told workers at that company that using AI was now a fundamental expectation in daily tasks. Our task here at Shopify is to make our software unquestionably the best canvas on which to develop the best businesses of the future, Tobi Lütke wrote. We do this by keeping everyone cutting edge and bringing all the best tools to bear. . . . For that we need to be absolutely ahead.
AI’s rise in business has been forecast for years, of course, but as more companies make it a priority, there are other impacts to be considered.
A scientific paper released by Cornell University late last year titled The Unpaid Toll: Quantifying the Public Health Impact of AI said the pollution from data centers powering the AI industry could lead to up to 1,300 premature deaths each year by 2030. It further estimated, public health costs related to the air pollution those centers put out are already at $20 billion per year.
Data centers are nothing new. They’ve been around since the 1940s, when the University of Pennsylvania built one to support the first general-purpose digital computer, the ENIAC. But as generative AI has grown, so too has the demand for newer, more powerful centers.
The power requirements of data centers in North America increased from 2,688 megawatts at the end of 2022 to 5,341 megawatts at the end of 2023, according to MIT. And demand is only growing. (Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in February, called for more nuclear power plants to meet the growing demands of AI companies.)
The demand for new data centers cannot be met in a sustainable way, said Noman Bashir, a Computing and Climate Impact Fellow at MIT’s Climate and Sustainability Consortium. “The pace at which companies are building new data centers means the bulk of the electricity to power them must come from fossil fuel-based power plants.”
This is all occurring as concerns about the environment have been deemphasized at many Big Tech firms. Companies like Walmart, Siemens and Apple all opted against signing an open letter earlier this year reaffirming commitment to the Paris Agreement. (Duolingo, which released an environmental statement last March, did not reply to questions about how the AI-first approach might impact the company’s environmental footprint.)
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has dismantled dozens of climate programs in its first 100 days. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering overturning previous findings that classify greenhouse gas pollution as harmful, which could impact its ability to regulate carbon emissions.
By 2030, Cornell forecasts, the public health burden of AI data centers will be double that of the U.S. steelmaking industry. And it could be on par with all of the cars, buses, and trucks in California.
Shopify and Duolingo are hardly the only companies adopting an AI-first approach. Many companies large and small are racing to incorporate AI into all levels of their services and workflows. Financial services firm Lettuce leans into AI to assist with tax solutions. Findigs lets property managers use AI to screen rental applicants. And a real estate brokerage in Portugal is using an AI interactive real estate agent, which has already booked $100 million in sales.
In the grand scheme, though, corporate use of AI is still in its infancy. ServiceNow’s Enterprise AI Maturity Index last year measured AI maturity at 4,500 businesses in 21 countries on a scale of 0 to 100. The average score was 44, with only one in six companies topping 50.
Part of what’s keeping that score low is the newness of the technology. Another factor is cost. (Does using AI, especially one that’s developed in house, actually save money given the cost of data centers, for instance?)
But in the coming months and years, more companies are likely to move to an AI-first approach. And that will likely increase emissions, pumping more CO2 and pollution into the atmosphere, raising even more health concerns.
No, this article was not written with AI. You know how you can tell? Because it’s got a bit of personality (mine), and even though it’s about artificial intelligence (arguably one of the most boring topics on the planet, in my opinion), this doesn’t read like a computer generated it. (Just me, standing at my very-expensive standing desk, writing away on my laptop!)
Which gets us to the reason for this article: a new study on AI.
Researchers from Cornell University looked at how Western-centric AI models provide writing suggestions to users from different cultural backgrounds. The study, titled AI Suggestions Homogenize Writing Toward Western Styles and Diminish Cultural Nuances, included 118 participants from India and the United States. And it found that when Indians and Americans used AI writing assistance, it often came at the expense of the Indians in the group.
Why, you ask? Even though the tools helped both groups write faster, the Indian writers had to keep correcting the AIs suggestions, resulting in a smaller productivity boost. One reason for that is because AI tools like ChatGPT are primarily developed by American tech companies, which are powered by large language models that don’t contain all the linguistic nuances of 85% of the world’s population, who live in the Global South and are using AI-writing tools. (The Global South is defined as those countries primarily in the Southern Hemisphere, often considered developing or less developed than their northern counterparts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.)
Study researchers had the two groups write about cultural topics like food and holidays. Half used an AI-writing assistant that gave autocomplete suggestions. The writing samples showed that the Indian participants kept 25% of the suggestions while Americans kept only 19%, but also found the Indian writers made significantly more modifications to those suggestions, rendering them less helpful.
For example, when some of the Indians wrote about food, a common suggestion included pizza. Or when they wrote about holidays, the AI tool suggested Christmas.
In short, this study shows AI isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and benefits some users more than others. This is one of the first studies, if not the first, to show that the use of AI in writing could lead to cultural stereotyping and language homogenization, according one of the study’s authors, Aditya Vashistha, an assistant professor of information science. People start writing similarly to others, and thats not what we want. One of the beautiful things about the world is the diversity that we have.
The study’s main author, Dhruv Agarwal, a doctoral student in the field of information science, said that although the technology brings a lot of value into peoples lives, “for that value to be equitable and for these products to do well in these markets, tech companies need to focus on cultural aspects, rather than just language aspects.
Consumers are only just starting to feel pain from Trumps Liberation Day tariff spree. Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos, however, may be starting to feel something else from the tariffs: regret.
When a report emerged overnight claiming that Amazon would start displaying tariff costs on its main page, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded by torching Amazon in a Tuesday morning press briefing. (According to CNN, Trump had already personally chewed Bezos out by then.) Despite everything that Bezos has done to support Trump in his second term, the administration just made it crystal-clear that presidential support under Trump only flows in one direction.
Evidently, no amount of fealty was ever going to save Amazon from Trumps wrath if throwing Bezos under the bus ever proved advantageous in the slightest.
Although Amazon strongly disputes the initial report about displaying tariff costs (“This was never approved and is not going to happen.”), such a move would not be unheard of. Other businesses, including Fabletics and Temu, have been introducing tariff surcharges, alerting customers in letters, and adding tariff prices to websites and bills. Meanwhile, Amazon has reportedly been hurting more than most under Trumps 145% tariffs on China.
Leavitt did not seem to think Amazon was justified in potentially joining those other companies, though. Speaking on behalf of Trump, she described it as a hostile and political act by Amazon.
REPORTER: Amazon will soon display a number next to the price of each product that shows how much the Trump tariffs are adding. Isn't that a perfect demonstration that it's the American consumer who is paying for these policies?
LEAVITT: This is a hostile and political act by Amazon.[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) April 29, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Its not a surprise, Leavitt continued, because, as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon is partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm. She held up a printout of the article, about an Amazon project known as China Books, to prove it was realthough recent is a bit of a stretch, considering the article came out in 2021.
This broadside seems designed to provide a handy talking point about why Amazon is, in this administrations apparent view, in cahoots with China against Trump. Surely, Amazons reported stab at pricing transparency is an act of political hostility and sabotage, Leavitts comments suggest, not an accurate temperature-read of a climate in which consumer confidence has already plunged to its lowest levels since peak pandemic 2020.
Its obvious why the administration would want to paint Amazon as the villain in this situation. An April survey of 400 U.S. company leaders by the research firm Zilliant found 44% of businesses plan to pass tariff costs onto consumers. A company of Amazons size and stature leading the charge would give any companies who remain on the fence permission to go for it. If Amazon is displaying tariff costs, showing customers who to blame, it becomes standard procedure.
What is far less obvious, though, is why Bezos ever worked so hard to get on Trumps good side in the first place.
During Trumps first term, Bezos had a contentious relationship with the president. Trump would frequently affix Amazon to the title of the newspaper Bezos owns, The Washington Post, when speaking about the paper after he received unfavorable coverage. The implication was that the paper was little more than a lobbying arm for Bezoss personal business interests. Bezos even argued in a 2019 court case that Trumps bias against Amazon had cost it a chance to win a $10 billion Pentagon contract.
In Trumps second term, though, past has not been prologue. Bezoss sharp pivot toward MAGA began last October with his out-of-nowhere announcement that the Post would not be endorsing a candidate in the November election.
Though he cited the move as a way to avoid a perception of bias at a time when many Americans dont believe the media, the last-minute announcement only fostered a perception of biasat the Post, specifically. The non-endorsement reportedly cost the paper over 250,000 subscribers.
At the time, Bezos could have plausibly still maintained a sheen of neutrality. He has only since further positioned himself firmly in Trumps corner, though. In the past few months, hes drastically scaled back DEI policies at Amazon, donated a million dollars to Trumps inauguration fund (and prominently attended it), dined at Mar-a-Lago, and overhauled the Posts op-ed section in support of two Trump-friendly pillars: personal liberties and free marketsa move that reportedly cost the paper another 75,000 subscribers.
In Bezoss most sycophantic-seeming gesture of all, Amazon even shelled out $40 million for a documentary on Melania Trump.
The ostensible reason for this red carpet rollout is that Bezos is a businessman, frst and foremost. In a December interview at The New York Timess DealBook Summit, he explained why he was more optimistic about Trumps second term: He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, Im going to help him.
But if an interest in deregulation was all that animated Bezoss enthusiasm, he probably wouldnt have been so ostentatious in his support of the president and his policies. Whats more likely is that he made a cold calculation that an if-you-cant-beat-em-join-em ethos and some financial support could neutralize the threat of Trumps antagonism.
If so, it was a critical miscalculation. Even if it werent obvious from Trumps entire political life that loyalty is a one-way street, it should have been clear that hed only view with contempt those who have suddenly decided to butter him up (Everybody wants to be my friend, Trump crowed in December, as business leaders including Bezos began to kiss the ring.)
What is the hypothetical difference between where Bezos finds himself todaywith the administration smearing Amazon as Chinese propagandists over a story that the company thoroughly denieshad he either opposed Trump or maintained an air of neutrality?
Theres no way of knowing. Whatever it is, though, its probably a better position than Trump continuing to antagonize him while the anti-Trump crowd occasionally boycotts his company.
Best of luck with the Melania doc, though.
Interior designer and stylist Jonny Carmack has a fruit room in his Danbury, Connecticut, home. Colorful faux produce bedecks every inch, from the cherry-shaped ceiling fixture to a strawberry side table and a bunch of other juicy gems in decorative forms.
He’s part of a trend: Love for fresh fruits and vegetables is showing up not just in the kitchen but in imagery throughout the home.
Carmack sees it as fun escapism, and a cause for conversation and celebration. Design experts say it also reflects a cultural embrace of sustainability and an upbeat connection to nature.
Theres a certain romance to the farmstand it speaks to the pastoral lifestyle everyones craving these days, says Rachel Hardage Barrett, Country Living magazines editor-in-chief.
This gravitation toward produce motifs intersects with spikes in interest around gardening, wellness and antiques.
Barrett sees the trend in everything from home decor to apparel. She notes the recent viral trend Tomato Girl Summer; along with the color red, and various iterations of tomatoes, the vibe was one of Mediterranean cafes, beach walks and lazy summer days.
Tomato Girl Summer obviously had a good run, but now theres a whole bumper crop of produce to choose from, from cabbage and radishes to strawberries and peaches,” Barrett says.
Nostalgia is in play, too
Barrett sees a revival in interest around items with cabbages and lettuce, which were common motifs in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cabbageware and lettuce ware enjoyed a revival with the Palm Beach crowd in the 60s, with fans like Jacqueline Kennedy, Bunny Mellon and Frank Sinatra. Now, theyve found a new audience.
It ties into the grandmillennial design movement that champions beloved heirlooms,” Barrett says. “Target recently introduced a cabbageware-inspired collection that garnered more than 15 million TikTok posts.
Social media has helped drive the fruity décor trend. In 2023, TikTokers went wild over a lemon-shaped ceramic stool at HomeGoods. The piece sold out, but the popularity of tables shaped like citrus wedges continued to grow.
This winters interior design, décor and lifestyles shows in Paris and Frankfurt, Germany, sometimes felt more like vibrant produce markets than trade fairs.
Booths at Maison et Objet and Ambiente were full of planters festooned with 3D grapes and watermelons; mirrors encircled in peapods or pineapples; tomato-covered cups, glasses and tableware. Lamp shades and tablecloths wore artful imagery of berry baskets and carrot bunches. Cushions burst with juicy prints. Vases were peppered with well, peppers, in clay or papier-mache.
Los Angeles-based design editor and author Courtney Porter was at Februarys Ambiente fair in Frankfurt and enjoyed seeing the playful directions that designers were taking the trend. Colors were supersaturated, shapes were exaggerated and cartoonish, she said.
And she liked the obvious tie-in to healthy living.
Theres an emphasis on sustainable materials and youthfulness with this trend, as well. People are nostalgic for natural abundance, she said.
Designers just wanna have fun
Carmack, whose social media accounts include @vintageshowpony, says the Fruit Room has been his most popular design project, “and its because of the cartoon references like Dr. Seuss and Animal Crossing. It just makes people happy.
A fantastical fruit called the truffula shows up in The Lorax. And fruits in the Animal Crossing video games serve as trade tokens, village builders and currency.
Carmack imparts a little personality to his favorite fruits.
Cherries are flirty and fun. Strawberries are like their younger sisters, cutesier and sweeter in nature, he says.
Cookbook author and food columnist Alyse Whitney has embraced whats sometimes referred to on social media as the Grocery Girl vibe. Her apartments got a wreath made out of metal mushrooms and a ceramic stool that looks like a cut lemon. Then theres all the banana-themed stuff: a platter, salt and pepper shakers, napkin rings.
Whitney says shes been drawn to food décor her whole life, collecting fun pieces from discount retailers and thrift stores. But when she moved from New York to Los Angeles, she went to an estate sale.
There, I got my first Murano-style glass produce a bell pepper, a peach and a pear. And a small ceramic soup tureen shaped like a head of cauliflower, complete with 3D leaves and a matching plate that looked like its root and greens. Those pieces got her on a full-fledged food collectible mission.
Its a trend that spans decorating aesthetics, says Barrett.
If your style is more retro or youthful, you can embrace a little kitsch. For a more sophisticated look, opt for fruit motifs in the form of wallcovering or fabric, she says.
So, eat it or decorate with it; there are lots of ways to show your love for a favorite veg or fruit.
Dressing your home with this aesthetic is an experiment in self-expression that so many people are connecting to, says Carmack, and I love to see it.
Kim Cook, Associated Press
Since her birth 10 years ago, Mackenzie Holmes has rarely called one place home for long.
There was the house in Houston owned by her grandmother, Crystal Holmes. Then, after Crystal lost her Southwest Airlines job and the house, there was the trio of apartments in the suburbsand three evictions. Then another rental, and another eviction. Then motels and her uncle’s one-bedroom apartment, where Mackenzie and her grandmother slept on an inflatable mattress. Finally, Crystal Holmes secured a spot in a women’s shelter so the two would no longer have to sleep on the floor.
With nearly every move came a new school, a new set of classmates, and new lessons to catch up on. Mackenzie only has one friend shes known longer than a year, and she didn’t receive testing or a diagnosis for dyslexia until this year. She would often miss long stretches of class in between schools.
Schoolchildren threatened with eviction are more likely to end up in another district or transfer to another school, often one with less funding, more poverty and lower test scores. They’re more likely to miss school, and those who end up transferring are suspended more often. That’s according to an analysis from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, published in Sociology of Education, a peer-reviewed journal, and shared exclusively with The Associated Press’ Education Reporting Network.
Pairing court filings and student records from the Houston Independent School District, where Mackenzie started kindergarten, researchers identified more than 18,000 times between 2002 and 2016 when students lived in homes threatened with eviction filings. They found students facing eviction were absent more often. Even when they didnt have to change schools, students threatened with eviction missed four more days in the following school year than their peers.
In all, researchers counted 13,197 children between 2002 and 2016 whose parents faced an eviction filing. A quarter of those children faced repeated evictions.
As eviction rates in Houston continue to worsen, there might be more children like Mackenzie.
Falling behind on rentand finding a way to finish the school year
Neveah Barahona, a 17-year-old big sister to seven siblings, started kindergarten in Houston but has moved schools half a dozen times. Her mother, Roxanne Abarca, knew moving can be disruptive. So whenever she fell behind on rent and the family was forced to move, she tried to let them finish the school yeareven if it meant driving them great distances.
Neveah, a strong student who hopes to join the military, said the moves took a toll.
It is kind of draining, meeting new people, meeting new teachers, getting on track with … what they want to teach you and what you used to know, Neveah said. Then there’s finding her way with new classmates. A spate of bullying this year left her despondent until she got counseling.
Households with children are about twice as likely to face eviction than those without children, Eviction Lab research has shown. That’s 1.5 million children getting evicted every yearand 1 in 20 children under 5 living in a rental home. Still, much of the discourse focuses on adultsthe landlords and grown-up tenantsrather than the kids caught in the middle, said Peter Hepburn, the study’s lead author.
Its worth reminding people that 40% of the people at risk of losing their homes through the eviction process are kids, said Hepburn, a sociology professor at Rutgers University-Newark and associate director at the Eviction Lab.
Households often become more vulnerable to eviction because they fall behind when they have children. Only 5% of low-wage earners, who are especially vulnerable to housing instability, have access to paid parental leave.
Under a federal law that protects homeless students, districts are supposed to try to keep children in the same school if they lose their housing midyear, providing daily transportation. But children who are evicted don’t always qualify for those services. Even those who do often fall through the cracks, because schools don’t know why children are leaving or where they’re headed.
Evicted families navigate invisible school boundaries
In the sprawl of Houston, it can be especially challenging for transient students to stay on track. The metropolis bleeds seamlessly from the city limits to unincorporated parts of Harris County, which is divided into 24 other districts. Its easy to leave Houston’s school district without realizing it. And despite the best efforts of parents and caretakers, kids can miss a lot of school in transition.
That’s what happened in January, when Mackenzie’s grandmother, then staying in her son’s one-bedroom apartment with her granddaughter, got desperate. Fearful her son would get evicted for having family stay with him, Crystal Holmeswho had no home, no car, and no cellphone servicewalked miles to a women’s shelter.
The shelter, where she and Mackenzie now share a room, is in another district’s enrollment zone. She worried about Mackenzie being forced to move schools againthe fifth grader had already missed the first three weeks of the school year, when her grandmother struggled to get her enrolled.
Thankfully, the federal law kicked in, and Mackenzie’s school, Thornwood Elementary, now sends a car to fetch her and other students from the shelter.
Houston Independent School District did not respond to interview requests.
Millicent Brown lives in a public housing project in Houston, alongside an elevated highway so noisy that she had to buy a louder doorbell. She and her daughter, Nova, 5, were forced to move last year when Novas father threatened to hurt Brown.
Nova had attended a charter school. But when she moved, the school said it could only bus Nova from her new home if she waited on a street that Brown said was too dangerous. Instead, Nova missed a month of school before enrolling in a nearby public school.
Brown grew up bouncing between schools and wants better for Nova. But she may have to move again: The state has plans to widen the highway. It would wipe out her housing projectand Nova’s new school.
Nearly three years ago, Neveah and her family settled into a ranch-style home down a country road in Aldine. It’s brightly lit, with four bedrooms and a renovated kitchen. Neveah adopted a neighborhood cat named she named Bella. Her sister Aaliyah painted a portrait of the home that’s displayed in the living room.
When we were little, we always kept moving, Aaliyah said. I dont want to move. I already got comfortable here.
Then, last year, her mother once again egan to fall behind on rent. Ultimately, Roxanne Abarca received an eviction notice.
The mother was lucky. At the courthouse, she met an employee tasked with helping families stay in their homes. The employee connected her with a nonprofit that agreed to pay six months of her rent while Abarca got back on her feet.
And she did, working from home as a call operator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But the siblings’ dream of a forever home” may still come to an end. Abarca learned this month the home’s owner hopes to sell to an investor, displacing them once again.
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The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Moriah Balingit, AP education writer
Dōen and Gap are teaming up for a second time following the success of the brands collaboration last year, which went viral on TikTok and sold out within a matter of days. This years collection will focus on California vintage-inspired classics, according to a release, and include some customer favorites from 2024, as well as some new additions, including several menswear pieces. This marks Doens first foray into menswear.
The 38-piece collection, launching at 12pm ET on May 2, ranges in price from $34 to $158. Dōens dresses normally start closer to $250, so the opportunity to own one of their iconic styles at a more approachable pricepoint had customers running for the racks last year. The brands this year arent expecting anything different.
[Photo: Gap]
Our first collection with Dōen set a new bar for how a collaboration can infuse a fresh perspective into Gap essentials, creating covetable pieces that left our customers wanting more, said Mark Breitbard, President and CEO of Gap.
California natives Katherine and Margaret Kleveland describe the collection as rooted in Dōens feminine interpretation of iconic Gap styles, but it also expands into both menswear and baby this year, key cohorts of the Gap audience.
[Photo: Gap]
The sisters collaboration with Gap builds on bestsellers from the collection drop last year, including eyelet maxi dresses in new iterations, with different colorways and mini dress options. The collection is nautical-inspired, with notes of red, white and navy blue running throughout, a difference from the 2024 collab.
[Photo: Gap]
Gingham and collegiate prep are also making a return as strong features of the new collection via matching sets, sweatshirts featuring a hybrid logo along with DŌENss wordmark, and baseball caps. Another essential aspect of the collection is its denim staples: customers can opt for the oversized denim jacket, new denim trouser shorts, or a sailor mini dress.
[Photo: Gap]
Alongside these items is the mens Pleated Denim Trousers, one of several pieces designed with men in mind. In addition to the other masculine-inspired and gender-neutral pieceslike the baseball cap and sweatshirts featuring a combined Dōen and Gap logothere are five menswear options.
A first for Dōen, the pieces include the Organic Cotton Poplin Big Shirt, the Eyelet Shirt, and the Pocket T-Shirt. The menswear was inspired by customer testimonials, as Dōen buyers husbands, brothers, and boyfriends made Dōens knitwear or jackets their own, Margaret Kleveland told Womens Wear Daily. In the first collaboration with Gap, the sisters watched men adopt the collections popular crewnecks.
This year, were expanding the conversation, and continuing to drive brand relevance by reintroducing customer favorites, said Breitbard of the Gap x Dōen collection. We also are giving Dōen a platform to debut mens styles at scale, delivering something fresh and unexpected for both brands communities.
The Gap X Dōen collection was produced in factories that participate in RISE, or Reimagining Industry to Support Equality. Founded in 2023 by four members, including Gap, RISEs mission is to empower women workers, embed gender equality in business practice and catalyze systems change.
Gap cardmembers will receive early access to the collection online on May 1. If you missed last years Gap x Dōen collection, nows your chance.
In pain so bad he couldnt stand, Chris Meek was rushed to the hospital with a life-threatening ruptured gallbladder. When he emerged from surgery, he learned he had kidney cancer that thankfully hadnt yet spread.
Meek, a social studies teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina, was 47 at the time. But he remained confused for years about why, as someone seemingly not at risk, he had gotten cancer until Emily Donovan, a parent of students at his school, gave a guest talk about high levels of harmful forever chemicals known as PFAS in North Carolina’s environment. When Donovan mentioned kidney cancer, the possible cause of Meek’s diagnosis finally clicked.
Until then, Meek said, he had no idea what PFAS was.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and babies being born with low birth weight.
In a decision with consequences for tens of millions of Americans, the Trump administration is expected to soon say whether it intends to stand by those strict standards and defend the limits against a water utility industry challenge in federal court.
PFAS in drinking water created a crisis for many communities
In North Carolina, runoff from a Chemours plant contaminated the Cape Fear River, creating a crisis for cities like Wilmington that use it for drinking water. Amid public outcry, Wilmington effectively eliminated it from tap water.
Other U.S. communitiesoften near military bases or industrial sitesdid the same when test results were frightening and public pressure, local leadership, or state law forced PFAS-laden wells offline or prompted installation of expensive filtering systems, according to Mark White, drinking water global practice leader at the engineering firm CDM Smith.
The EPA said the PFAS found in North Carolina, often called GenX chemicals, can be toxic to the kidney. While other types of PFAS may raise kidney cancer risk, little research has focused on the link between kidney cancer and GenX, according to Sue Fenton, director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment at North Carolina State University. Chemours said evidence doesn’t support arguments that GenX at low levels is a health threat. The company has sharply reduced PFAS discharges.
So far, sampling has found nearly 12% of U.S. water utilities are above the recently set EPA limits, but most aren’t above by much. Forcing this group to reduce PFAS more than doubles the rules health benefits but roughly triples its costs, the EPA has said.
The Biden administrations rule set standards for two common types of PFAS at 4 parts per trillion, effectively the lowest level at which they can be reliably detected. Standards for several other PFAS chemicals were set, too, and utilities must meet those levels by 2029.
PFAS have had wide uses over the decades
Manufactured by companies like Chemours and 3M, PFAS were incredibly useful in many applicationsamong them, helping clothes to withstand rain and ensuring that firefighting foam snuffed out flames. But the chemicals also accumulate in the body. As science advanced in recent years, evidence of harm at far lower levels became clearer.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has championed fossil fuels and the rollback of major clean air and water rules. His history with PFAS is more nuanced; during his time as a New York congressman, he supported legislation to regulate forever chemicals in drinking water.
Its an issue that touches people in a very tangible way across the political spectrum, including in Lee Zeldins former district,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.
Zeldin has offered clues about what the EPA could do. The agency estimated the rule would cost about $1.5 billion annually and Zeldin said recently that communities struggling to afford a fix for PFAS that are just above the standard might be handled differently than wealthy places with lots of it.
What we are going to have to be is extremely thoughtful in figuring this out, he said.
On Monday, the EPA said it will establish an agency lead for PFAS, develop wastewater limits for PFAS manufacturers, and investigate sources that pose an immediate danger to drinking water, among other actions.
EPA decision looms on whether to let the rule stay as it is
Soon, the EPA must tell a federal appeals court in Washington whether the rule should stand or be rewritten, although weakening it could be complicated because the Safe Drinking Water Act prevents new rules from being looser than previous ones. The agency could, however, encourage exemptions and deadline extensions, according to Erik Olson, an attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council supporting the current standards in the court case.
Consider Avondale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, which produces PFAS results modestly above the limits. Officials have done detailed testing and are planning to enhance water treatment. All told, lowering PFAS may cost Avondale more than $120 million, according to Kirk Beaty, the citys public utility director.
Thats money a city like Avondale just doesnt have sitting in a back room somewhere,” Beaty said, adding hell defer to federal experts to dictate whats acceptable.
Were hoping were a little further ahead of everybody else. If the regulation changes, well you know, we may let off the gas a little bit; we may not, he said, adding that it is hard to justify spending extra money to do more than whats required when the cost falls on residents.
If the government decides higher amounts of PFAS are acceptable, that could confuse people, especially in areas where the public is already concerned.
If we enter into a gray area over whats healthy and whats not healthy, then utilities are at risk of being caught up in a debate for which they have no real responsibility nor expertise to decide on, said Karine Rougé, CEO for municipal water at Veolia North America, a water operations company.
Industry group says the rule goes too far and is too costly
The American Water Works Association, an industry group, filed the court challenge to the new rule. It agrees that certain PFAS should be regulated but argues the EPAs standards go too far, underestimate costs, and are neither feasible nor cost-effective. There are serious consequences for residents’ water bills, it says.
The burden of complying will fall heavily on small utilities that can least afford it. Many water providers already struggle to maintain their existing infrastructure, some experts say. On topof everything else, they face new requirements to replace lead pipes. The AWWA wants the EPA to extend the PFAS and lead deadlines by two years.
There is money available to help. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $9 billion for chemicals like PFAS, and utilities have won multibillion-dollar settlements against PFAS polluters that help as well.
Meek, who successfully recovered after surgery from cancer and is now 59, is planning to sue over his illness. He once didnt second-guess using tap water. Now he reaches for bottled water.
Donovan, who introduced Meek to PFAS and helped start Clean Cape Fear, says if the governments standards are weakened, it will relieve pressure on utilities to effectively treat the water.
Previously, our local utilities could tell us publicly that the water met or exceeded all state and federal guidelines because there werent any, she said.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of APs environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Michael Phillis, Associated Press
United Parcel Service (UPS) said on Tuesday it will slash 20,000 jobs and close more than 70 facilities to lower costs as it braces for less Amazon shipments, due to global economic uncertainty and changing consumer habits.
The package delivery company said in addition to the job cuts, it would shut at least 73 owned and leased locations this year by the end of June, perhaps more, and expects to save $3.5 billion in 2025 from the cost-cutting measures.
UPS’ first-quarter revenue fell slightly to $21.5 billion, but the company still beat Wall Street earnings expectations of $21.05 billion, according to data firm LSEG, per Reuters.
Shares of the company (NYSE:UPS) rose nearly 2% before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock was down less than 1% in midday trading at the time of this writing.
It’s worth noting that news of UPS decreasing its Amazon shipments follows similar earnings guidance from last quarter. In January, the company announced a deal with its largest customer to lower its volume by more than 50% by the second half of 2026. (In 2024, Amazon.com accounted for 11.8% of UPS’ overall revenue, according to CNBC.)
As a trusted leader in global logistics, we will leverage our integrated network and trade expertise to assist our customers as they adapt toa changing trade environment,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement, likely alluding to the current economic uncertainty and potential for slowing trade as a result of the Trump Administration’s sweeping tariffs.
“The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS,” Tomé added. “The actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier.”
Like many other companies who have declined to provide a full financial forecast during recent earnings calls, due to the rapidly changing economic landscape, UPS did not provide an update to its full-year outlook on its earnings call.
When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, many in the tech world hoped his promises to champion artificial intelligence and cut regulation would outweigh the risks of his famously volatile trade policies. But less than 100 days into his new term, its clear that Trumps aggressive tariffsand the global response to themcould pose a major threat to the AI boom that helped drive the last two years of tech innovation.
AI companies are already feeling pressure on multiple fronts. They may face difficulties accessing chips and higher data center costs, and they could be hit even harder if enterprisesthe main revenue source for many budding AI firmsbecome less willing to experiment with new AI solutions during a time of economic uncertainty.
World markets tumbled on April 2 when the White House announced a 10% tariff on imports from 90 countries, plus additional reciprocal tariffs on 57 of them. A week later, the president paused the 10% tariffs for 90 days but kept a 145% tariff on Chinese goods in place. Trump has said the China tariff would likely decrease after trade talks, but has presented little evidence that negotiations are happening at all.
The tech industry, particularly hardware companies, will be significantly affected, as theyll bear the cost of tariffs on imported components from across Asia, including China. While the Trump administration reportedly exempted AI chips from tariffs, GPUs and other processors could still become more scarce and expensive. Nvidia GPUs, which power the largest AI models, are fabricated in Taiwan but incorporate components from tariffed countries such as South Korea. Additionally, many critical raw materialsrare earth metals, silicon wafers, and packaging materials originating from Taiwan and Chinacould be subject to tariffs as high as 30% when entering the U.S.
“While tariffs arent causing VCs to pull back from AI investments overall, they are absolutely reshaping how investors evaluate risk, says Samir Kumar, cofounder of the venture capital firm Touring Capital. Investors are asking much tougher questions about supply chainsnot just where companies are sourcing today, but their ability to second- and third-source critical components, and where their manufacturing is based.
Thats the supply side. But how will an unstable trade environment affect demand? Numerous sources say C-suite leaders were eager to start AI experiments during the early AI boom of 2023 and 2024. But after relatively few of those experiments made it into production and proved their value to the business, executives have grown far more cautious about signing new contracts with AI companies in 2025especially with startups, says William Falcon, CEO of Lightning AI, whose cloud-based environment enables quick training and launch of AI applications. And that was before tariffs entered the picture.
So if you’re still in an experimental phase and you’ve got tariffs now, that decision kind of narrows and you’ve got to allocate those funds to something else, Falcon tells Fast Company. If you’ve gotten business value from AI . . . you’re more willing to invest into it, you’re more willing to carve out a bit more [budget].
On the other hand, its easy to forget amid the turmoil that the economy remains strong (for now), and enthusiasm around AI is still high. Kumar points out that AI has the potential to act as a major efficiency and productivity multiplier, which could sustainor even boostenterprise adoption.
Thanks to these factors, many in the venture capital community had expected tech company exits to rebound in 2025, driven by AI startups getting acquired or going public. But the trade war has put those hopes on hold. No one really knows how disruptive the tariffs will be. Investors hope itll be a blip that vanishes as quickly as it arrived, allowing the AI boom to continue as scheduled. But even if the tariffs were lifted tomorrow, their effects could linger; as with the COVID-era disruptions, supply chains would likely need time to recover.
On the demand side, corporationsthe buyers of AI software and servicesmay become more conservative with their tech spending. Corporate IT budgets will increasingly reflect broader economic sentiment. Right now, things are looking gloomier: Reuters surveyed 167 economists, and 60% said the likelihood of a global recession this year was high or very high.
Before his election, Trump positioned himself as a champion of the AI industry, promising to shield it from unnecessary regulation. But his reckless trade policies are poised to harm the AI space more than any regulation could.
Ironically, Trumps tariffs might actually create more demand for AI and robotics in the long term. Trump believes his tariffs will make it so expensive to manufacture or assemble products overseas that companies will bring factories back to the U.S. But those reshored factories may not offer the kinds of jobs Trump promised his base. We should also expect tariffs to accelerate AI and robotics adoption, as companies look for ways to manage costs when reshoring or expanding into higher labor cost markets, Kumar says.
As global temperatures rise and theres a seemingly endless series of climate disasters, its natural to look to technology as a solution. From carbon capture (where emissions arent released into the atmosphere but buried in the ground) to geo-engineering (where particles are sprayed into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and lower temperatures), green innovations are frequently touted as the way to resolve our continued reliance on fossil fuels.
But in our eagerness for silver bullets, we may be susceptible to optimism bias, focusing too much on potential benefits while ignoring many of the negative effects or drawbacks. A 2022 essay in Nature argues that many of these technologies are often overhyped and dont include the significant associated challenges, costs, and unintended consequences. For instance, discussions of EVs and their required batteries usually dont address the harmful extraction of necessary minerals like silicon, lithium, and cobalt.
A less flashy type of climate innovation that can have real impact now doesnt hype technical fixes and instead focuses on rethinking a companys operations, including its use of materials and redesign of supply chains.
Sustainability must start with product design
Studies have shown that 70%80% of a products environmental impact is determined during the design phase, something Ive also heard from many of the companies Ive researched over the last two decades.
For instance, Riccardo Bellini, former CEO of luxury fashion house Chloé, told me that an analysis of the companys full environmental footprint in 2020 revealed that 80% of the companys sustainability challenges could be solved at the design tablespecifically that 58% of Chloés emissions stemmed from raw materials like cotton, leather, and virgin cashmere.
Understanding this led the company to prioritize lower-impact materials like linen and hemp in new collections, and increase its use of recycled materials, particularly cashmere. And for leather products, Chloé began sourcing through a supplier that had third party certifications ensuring that their tanning and manufacturing processes followed strict environmental standards. But Chloé has remained cautious about vegan leathers, because while its an area of tech-focused innovation, many leather substitutes are derived from fossil fuel-intensive sources.
Bellini told me the company committed that by 2025, 90% of its fabrics would be lower impact, a goal its on track to meet, as 85% of its products were made with these materials in 2024.
Many of the companies I have researched and written about, from injection molding company Cascade Engineering to waste-management platform Rubicon, have similarly shown that initiatives focused on rethinking inputs and supply chains result not only in positive environmental effects but also significant monetary savings.
Going beyond do less harm
Seventh Generations former CEO Joey Bergstein also emphasized to me that another reason why sustainability must start with product redesign is that it can allow companies to avoid some emissions in the first place. This approach contrasts with corporate environmental work that begins after the product is produced, so at most can only focus on doing less harm.
Thus, at Seventh Generation, the companys research and development team aims to rethink products from the ground up, for example exploring new formats or delivery methods that can avoid the use of plastic, a material thats made from fossil fuels and is hard to recycle. A key initiative at the company is reducing water usage in its products, which has important carbon emissions benefits as it cuts shipping weight and the need for plastic packaging.
For instance, Bergstein told me Seventh Generation has active research efforts to create effective waterless productssuch as in powder or tablet forms that are packaged in easily recycled materials like cardboard or steelfor laundry, dish cleaning, counter cleaning, and handwashing. In 2020, one example of this work moved from the lab to the market when the company introduced a line of cleaning products packaged in steel canisters that avoid using plastic altogether.
Seventh Generation is not alone in this approach of prioritizing avoidance of plastic in product development. Leaders at Grove Collaborative told me how they reformulated shampoo products to be a bar (so could be packaged in cardboard) as opposed to a liqud, and footwear and apparel company Allbirds created a new material for shoe soles made from natural sources.
Toward a more holistic view of sustainability
What these examples show is that while it is easy to fall under the spell of sexy green innovations, our sustainability challenges in fact require hard work beyond superficial tweaks or isolated innovations.
Instead of merely striving to do less harm, to the environment, which results in incremental changes, companies must take holistic views of their productsstarting with design. They must recognize that true impact lies not just in isolated efficiencies or technological innovations but in reimagining supply chains, production, and business models to contribute positively to the planet and society.
