Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS), the brand responsible for iconic games like Monopoly, Jenga, Magic: The Gathering, saw its shares tick upwards over 3% in pretrading on Wednesday. The uptick came just after the company reported its second quarter earnings of $1.30 per share for the second quarter, beating the analyst expectations of $0.78 per share.And, despite a 1% year-over-year decrease, Hasbro’s adjusted revenue was posted at $980.8 million, also beating analysts $874.66 million projection.While sales have been notably down for toy and gaming companies, Hasbro has managed to offset some of the volatility due to financial strains and tariffs. While tariffs represent a headwind for the business, we are compensating for these costs through a combination of cost reductions, rebalancing our marketing spend, diversifying our supplier mix and implementing some targeted pricing actions,” Hasbros CEO, Chris Cocks, said on the companys earnings call, per CNBC.The brand is also clearly leaning into its digital games, most notably, Monopoly Go! The game, which launched in 2023, has quickly become the most popular digital board game. It contributed $44 million in the second quarter.But the biggest driver of Hasbro’s recent earnings has been Magic:The Gathering. That’s thanks to a recently released Magic set: Final Fantasy Universes Beyond Expansion. The set dropped in June and almost instantly shattered records, earning $200 million in one day to become the fastest-selling expansion in Magic history.The Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment of Hasbro, which encompasses both Magic games and Monopoly Go!, saw overall revenue increase 16% year-over-year.Last year, Cocks spoke to the popularity of digital games and what it meant for the brand. “As we look at the business of play, it’s clear that digital is here to stay and a bigger factor than ever in how successful toy and game companies will grow and strengthen their brands,” Cocks said, noting that the brand was years ahead of its competitors.
Still, the fact that Magic games remain popular shows that community is equally as important as digital entertainment.That sense of community is something other gaming companies seem acutely aware of, too. Mattel’s VP and global head of games Ray Adler recently told Fast Company about the brand’s newly introduced Uno Social Club a gaming and nightlife experience. Gen Z already loves Uno, Adler said. Theyve been playing it online, at parties, everywhere. What they dont always have are opportunities to connect in the real world. So we asked: What if game night could be a whole experience?Hasbro’s stock was down 1.1% in afternoon trading Wednesday, but the brand raised its full-year guidance for 2025. It now expects mid-single-digit revenue, and predicts earnings between $1.17 billion and $1.2 billion.
In June, Apple previewed the iPhones next operating system, iOS 26. Without a doubt, the headline feature of iOS 26 (yes, the iPhones OS has a new number system) is its complete design overhaul, known as Liquid Glass. The new design introduces a transparent look to iOS, utilizing animations to replicate the way light and other objects refract through glass.
Liquid Glass is an ambitious overhaul for the iPhones operating system, but its not the only change coming to iOS 26 when it ships to the public this fall. The new operating system is packed with some truly useful new features that will make using your iPhone better than ever. And, if youre interested in trying out those new features before iOS 26s official September launch date, now you can, thanks to the availability of the iOS 26 Public Beta, which Apple released this week.
How to get the iOS 26 Public Beta on your phone right now
The great news is that anyone can sign up to be a public beta tester for iOS 26. Once you do this, youll be able to install the iOS 26 public beta on your iPhone, provided you have a compatible model, which is the iPhone 11 and later.
To sign up for the public beta, go to beta.apple.com. Once youve signed up, open the Settings app on your iPhone and from there tap General, then Software Updates. Tap Public Beta, and select the iOS 26 public beta from the list presented to you. Now, tap the back button, and on the Software Update screen, youll see you can now update to the iOS 26 public beta by tapping the blue Update Now button.
Once your iPhone restarts, itll have the iOS 26 public beta running on it. Now. you can check out some of the operating systems best new features.
Onscreen Awareness Visual Intelligence
Visual Intelligence is Apples name for iOSs ability to identify something by looking at it. This feature is powered by Apple Intelligence, and in the current iOS 18, is only usable via the Camera. In other words, Visual Intelligence can interpret things your camera sees in the real world, but not things on your iPhones actual screen.
Onscreen Awareness for Visual Intelligence in iOS 26 changes that. Now, your iPhone can use Apple Intelligence to recognize what’s happening on its screen and take action based on that on-screen awareness.
For example, if you take a screenshot of a social media feed that shows a celebrity chilling at a cafe, you can tap their sweater and ask Visual Intelligence to show you where you can buy a similar one. Or, if someone posts the details of an event in a text message or social channel, you can simply take a screenshot of the details and have Visual Intelligence add the event to your calendar for you.
Hold Assist for phone calls
The Phone app in iOS 26 is getting its first major redesign in more than a decade, and, as mentioned before, it may just make you want to use your phone to make phone calls again.
Coming to the Phone app in iOS 26 is a redesigned layout that puts all your call history, contacts, and voicemails in one place; call screening, which forces a caller to identify themselves before the iPhone will let the call go through; and Live Translation, which can translate the spoken words of a caller who does not speak the same language as you.
But perhaps the best new Phone feature in iOS 26 is the ability to have the iPhone wait on hold for you. Now, you can simply tap the Hold button whenever you are put on hold, and the iPhone will continue holding your place in line, notifying you only when you reach the front.
Customized Messages backgrounds and polls
Apples popular Messages app is getting several updates in iOS 26. The first is, like much of iOS 26, cosmetic, but welcome nonetheless. Now in Messages, youll be able to set a customized background image for each chat you are in. Yesno more seeing those blue chat bubbles against a white wall. You can now set a color or image you prefer, adding some flair to each chat.
A second great feature of Messages in iOS 26 is the ability to create polls within a message thread. Polls can help streamline planning when you are asking a group chat what day works best for everyone to meet up. Now, instead of waiting for everyone to type in their reply, members of the chat can just select with a tap from the poll options you specify.
Passport storag
iOS 26 is also adding a few great features for travelers. The first is the ability to store your U.S. passport on your iPhone in the Wallet app. With your passport stored on your iPhone, you can use it to prove your identity at select TSA checkpoints. The stored passport can also be used to verify your age in third-party apps. Best of all, the stored U.S. passport is Real ID compliant.
However, before anyone gets too excited about this feature, keep in mind that if you are traveling internationally, youll still need to bring your actual physical passport with you. As noted by MacRumors, your stored digital passport cannot be used for border crossings. Still, if you are just traveling domestically within the United States, this new feature is a great way to ensure that you always have some identity on youprovided you have your iPhone.
Real-time flight information on your lock screen
A second great travel-related feature Apple is adding to iOS 26 is Live Activities, for flights for which you have your boarding pass stored in the Wallet app. Now these flights will show real-time updates on a widget on your iPhones home screen, including the flights progress, its arrival gate information, and more.
Whats even better is that you can share this real-time information with someone else, such as a person on the ground who is picking you up when your flight arrives.
Its no secret companies are collecting data while consumers browse their sites. But some companies are doing more with the info than trying improve products or marketing efforts: They are adjusting prices for individual customers based on their personal data.
This practice, known as surveillance pricing, has become more common in recent years, with more companies embracing artificial intelligence as a tool to make real-time price changes for individual customers. However, a new bill aims to stop these companies in their tracks.
Representative Greg Casar introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act of 2025 on July 23. While some statessuch as California, Colorado, Georgia, and Illinoishave proposed similar bans, Casars bill is the first at the federal level.
Giant corporations should not be allowed to jack up your prices or lower your wages using data they got spying on you, Casar said in a statement. Whether you know it or not, you may already be getting ripped off by corporations using your personal data to charge you more. This problem is only going to get worse, and Congress should act before this becomes a full blown crisis.
How surveillance pricing works
Companies engaging in surveillance pricing use customer data taken from the cookiestext files containing dataor tracking pixels that continue to follow you after leaving their website, providing information on your online activity, preferences, location, and device. This data can then be analyzed by AI programs to help the companies determine a personalized price for their products or services.
The ban would impact the pricing systems of numerous retailers that reportedly engage in the practice, from retailers that increase prices for pickup orders when you are close to a store, to rideshare apps that charge more when your phone battery is low. Similarly, Delta Airlines recently came under fire for plans to expand their use of AI-driven pricing.
We’ve seen things like people’s browsing history, device type, battery, location, and more, inform pricing that focuses on how much that individual might be willing to pay for somethingpreying on desperation rather than using fair market pricing, Ben Winters, director of AI and data privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, told Fast Company. (The Consumer Federation of America is one of several consumer-interest organizations and advocacy groups that have endorsed the proposed bill, according to a statement by Casars office.)
One of the benefits of the bill, Winters says, is that it would draw clear lines in the sand prohibiting the use of AI systems to apply data-driven pricing on consumers, and provide customers harmed by this practice the right to sue the company behind the AI-driven prices.
Too few bills focused on AI and data abuse have this key feature, Winters says. It’s one of many reasons we support the bill.”
The Federal Trade Commission would be the entity responsible for enforcing the ban against surveillance pricing, which would be treated as a violation of two existing FTC acts regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices and unfair methods of competition, according to the proposed bill.
Surveillance pricing may be more common than you think
Last year, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into surveillance pricing, hoping learn more about how companies were using personal data to change prices. The initial results, released in January, found that retailers were using everything from demographic and location information, to mouse movements and abandoned online shopping carts, to match prices to consumers.
Retailers frequently use peoples personal information to set targeted, tailored prices for goods and servicesfrom a person’s location and demographics, down to their mouse movements on a webpage, FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement earlier this year.
The new legislation would not impact higher prices that result from reasonable costs the business takes on to serve different customers, or lower prices from discounts for teachers, veterans, seniors, students, or rewards program members. Lawmakers and advocates that support the bill suggest the ban could make a big difference for consumers struggling to find fair prices amid rising prices and economic uncertainty.
The ability to compare prices, to rely on consistent prices, and to know why a price is being chargedthis is what gives us the power to know if we are getting a fair deal,” Nidhi Hegde, executive director at the American Economic Liberties Project, said in a statement. “Surveillance pricing destroys the social contract of the marketplace.”
Lyft just got a new logo, but you probably didnt notice it.Over the past few weeks, Lyft has quietly rolled out an updated logo, broadened color palette, and custom typeface on its app and across its social media platforms. The new look, designed by the branding studio Koto, is meant to serve as a natural progression of the brands existing identity, injecting it with a subtle boost of structure and maturity.According to Arthur Foliard, executive creative director at Koto, the changes come at a pivotal moment for Lyft, which is currently testing out an expansion into autonomous driving and slowly gaining on its main competitor (and dominant industry player), Uber. In an interview with Fast Company this May, Lyft CEO David Risher noted that, since he joined Lyft in 2023, the company has brought its market share in the U.S. from 26% to 31%.Lyfts blink-and-youll-miss-it new look follows a recent trend in which larger brands like Walmart and Adobe have skipped the big rebrand (which ruled the branding world several years ago) in favor of an understated-yet-practical refresh.Lyft’s previous logo (top) and new version (bottom) [Image: Koto/Lyft]Lyft’s new lookLooking at Lyfts new logo next to its old one is a bit like a game of spot the difference. But one key detail in the logo immediately jumps out: The playful path connecting the f and t characters has been severed. “The Lyft logo is one of the most recognizable in tech, so we approached it with a lot of care, Foliard says. The original had a ton of character, but it wasnt optimized for the way the brand shows up today, especially in smaller, digital contexts. The ligature between the f and t in particular caused legibility issues and sometimes felt overly stylized.[Image: Koto/Lyft]To preserve the visual cues that make Lyfts logo recognizable, Foliards team broke up the ligature but kept the spirit of the marks swooping, bold letters the same. Besides the newly separated f and t characters, the rest of the logo has been just slightly slimmed down and realigned. We adjusted the weight, spacing, and proportions to make the wordmark feel more confident and contemporary, less ornamental, more intentional, Foliard says. The result is a logo that feels mature without being cold. It still has that signature Lyft charm, but now it holds up wherever it appears, from app icons to car decals to national campaigns.That focus on versatility was also applied to Lyfts color palette and typography. Lyft Pink, the companys signature shade of neon purplish-pink, has been given a more focused role. Whereas Lyft Pink was previously used more wholesale across the branding, Koto built out an accompanying palette of off-whites, deep pinks, and neutrals to keep the bright hue reserved for the most important moments of the brand, like the logo.[Image: Koto/Lyft]One feature of the branding that was entirely overhauled is its typography. Foliard says Lyft was previously using several functional typefaces that while serviceable, didn’t quite capture Lyft’s warmth and humanity. So, in collaboration with the type design studio NaN, Kotos team created a custom typeface for Lyft called Rebel Sans. Its a classic-looking sans serif, available in a range of weights, that echoes the logo with flourishes like a half-smile shape in the y character.We wanted it to feel like it had been made by people, for people, Foliard says. It features distinct humanist detailsslight line weight variation, gentle curves, and subtle flaresthat bring a sense of the human hand into both display and text. Underneath it all, its grounded in a more geometric structure, giving it the clarity and sophistication needed to scale across the brand.[Image: Koto/Lyft]Lyft gets the baby Botox treatmentLyfts spruced-up identity is the latest in a series of similar approaches from other major brands. If the early 2020s were the heyday of the major rebrand, and 2024 was the era of the dialed-back brand refresh, then 2025 is currently seeing an even more minimal wave of baby Botox branding. This year, several brands have moved away from headline-grabbing overhauls in favor of small updates that are intended to fly under the radar. For an ultra-recognizable brand like Walmart, this approach is meant to avoid alienating the customer by shedding too much core brand affinity at once. In January, Walmart introduced its biggest branding update in two decadesan update that, rather than actually replacing any assets, instead opted to simply spruce up the existing look with brighter colors and chunkier shapes. Other brands, like Amazon (which also worked with Koto on its logo touch-up) and Google, have similarly rolled out new logos in rcent months that would likely require a trained eye to spot. In May, Mother Design studio, which gave Adobes logotype a subtle facelift, encapsulated this trend by explaining that its goal was to create an update that looks as if it’s always been there. For Lyft, Foliard says, this new branding wasn’t about changing who Lyft is, but rather about sharpening what was already there.The timing felt right to strike that balance between evolution and preservation, ensuring the brand could grow with the business while keeping the heart and humanity that made it iconic in the first place, Foliard says.
A stable “release” version of Apple’s iOS 26 is due in September, but you can now try an in-progress version, called the public beta. It previews a revamped interface and new features in apps like Messages and Phone (both with spam filtering), Camera, Wallet, and especially CarPlay. Models starting with the iPhone 15 Pro also get upgrades to the Apple Intelligence AI suite, including live translation, improved image creation, and the ability to search visually across apps. The translucent Liquid Glass interface is seeing a bit of a revival in areas such as Notification Center, after Apple toned it down in earlier betas.
Is the iOS26 public beta safe to install?
The public beta follows four developer betas meant for app creators (although others tend to install betas out of curiosity). Adding the word public doesn’t mean this beta is without risks. To get it, you have to accept an agreement that absolves Apple of responsibility for any problems it may cause. This includes brickingrendering the phone inoperable.
It’s safest to test the public beta on a spare device, which Apple’s beta site strongly recommends. You can lower the risk to an old model or your current one by first backing up your iPhone and learning how to unbrick and roll it back to the latest release version of iOS 18. We’ll walk you through how to do that further down.
These tips may also help with glitches you may encounter in the release version.
How to get iOS 26 public beta
First, check whether your iPhone supports iOS 26. Apple’s list includes models back to 2019s iPhone 11 and 2020s SE (2nd generation), both using the A13 Bionic chip. If you have an iPhone X or earlier model, it may show an option to download iOS 26, but won’t let you.
Getting the beta is easy: Visit the Apple Beta site, click Sign Up, and log in with the same Apple ID your iPhone uses. Signing up provides access to all Apple OS 26 betas: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, plus HomePod software.
Does installing iOS 26 public beta void my warranty?
According to Apple’s FAQ, installing the beta wont void your hardware warranty, although you will have to restore to a stable OS version before getting service.
Apple Beta Software Program login screen for signing in with Apple ID
But within the the roughly 5,500-word Apple Beta Software Agreement is the clause: “APPLE SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS, EXPENSES OR OTHER LIABILITIES YOU MAY INCUR . . . INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY DAMAGE TO ANY EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE OR DATA. (Fast Company has asked Apple to clarify whether “equipment” would include the iPhone hardware and will update if we get an answer.)
The agreement does say that the company may provide support through its beta program, at Apples option. TL;DR: Dont count on help, and take your own precautions.
How to back up your iPhone before installing iOS 26 public beta
Before you do anything, first back up your iPhone. The easiest way is online: Go to Settings, then click your name, iCloud > iCloud Backup. Apple provides 5GB of free storage. Paid tiers start at 50GB for $0.99 per month and 200GB for $2.99.
You can also back up to a computer over USB. In recent versions of macOS: Open Finder, click your iPhone in the left panel, then click Back Up Now. Windows or macOS Mojave (10.14) and earlier should use iTunes. (Yes, it’s still out there.) Click the Device button near the top left of the iTunes window, then Click Summary > Back Up Now.
Before installing iOS 26 public beta, note these backup options in your macOS Finder.
How to download and install iOS26 public beta on your iPhone
Now comes the main event. On your iPhone, click Settings > General > Software Update. Click Beta Updates to see multiple options on the next screen, including Off and possibly betas for several versions of iOS. Click to place a check mark next to iOS 26 Public Beta. Then tap the back button and click Update Now.
iPhone screenshots showing how to select iOS 26 Public Beta from the Beta Updates menu
How to roll back from iOS 26 beta
In the event that iOS 26 does brick your phone, a new tool called Recovery Assistant may automatically activate, allowing you to monitor the process wirelessly from another Apple device.
If Recovery Assistant doesnt appear or work, try the old-fashioned way: Connect the iPhone to your computer over USB and open Finder or iTunes (depending on your computer operating system). Press and release the iPhone’s volume up button, then the volume down button. Then press and hold the side button until you see the Recovery Mode screen with cable and computer icons. If you dont see them, throw yourself at the mercy of Apple Support by contacting them online.
MacOS Finder shows iPhone in Recovery Mode with the option to update or restore for iOS 26 beta installation.
If you do, Finder or iTunes will show the message There is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored. Its best to select the Restore option, which erases the Phone and installs the latest public release of iOS. Then restore the deeted data and settings from your backup.
Every CEO I know wants their team to use AI more, and for good reason: it can supercharge almost every area of their business and make employees vastly more efficient. Employee use of AI is a business imperative, but as it becomes more common, how can companies avoid major security headaches?
Sift’s latest data found that 31% of consumers admit to entering personal or sensitive information into GenAI tools like ChatGPT, and 14% of those individuals explicitly reported entering company trade secrets. Other types of information that people admit to sharing with AI chatbots include financial details, nonpublic facts, email addresses, phone numbers, and information about employers. At its core, it reveals that people are increasingly willing to trust AI with sensitive information.
This overconfidence with AI isn’t limited to data sharing. The same comfort level that leads people to input sensitive work information also makes them vulnerable to deepfakes and AI-generated scams in their personal lives. Sift data found that concern that AI would be used to scam someone has decreased 18% in the last year, and yet the number of people who admit to being successfully scammed has increased 62% since 2024. Whether it’s sharing trade secrets at work or falling for scam texts at home, the pattern is the same: familiarity with AI is creating dangerous blind spots.
The Confidence Trap
Often in a workplace setting, employees turn to AI to address a specific problem: looking for examples to round out a sales proposal, pasting an internal email to “punch it up,” sharing nonfinal marketing copy for tone suggestions, or disclosing product road map details with a customer service bot to help answer a complex ticket.
This behavior often stems from good intentions, whether that’s trying to be more efficient, helpful, or responsive. But as the data shows, digital familiarity can create a false sense of security. The people who think they “get AI” are the ones most likely to leak sensitive data through it or will struggle to identify malicious content.
Every time an employee drops nonpublic context into a GenAI tool, they areknowingly or nottransmitting business-sensitive data into a system that may log, store, or even use it to train future outputs. Not to mention, if a data leak were ever to occur, a hacker would be privy to a treasure trove of confidential information.
So what should businesses do?
The challenge with this kind of data exposure is that traditional monitoring won’t catch this. Because these tools are often used outside of a companys intranettheir internal software networkemployees are able to input almost any data they can access.
The uncomfortable truth is that you probably can’t know exactly what sensitive information your employees are sharing with AI platforms. Unlike a phishing attack where you can trace the breach, AI data sharing often happens in the shadows of personal accounts. But that doesnt mean you should ban AI usage outright.
Try to infer the scale of the problem with anonymous employee surveys. Ask: What AI tools are you using? For which tasks do you find AI most helpful? And what do you wish AI could do? While an employee may not disclose sharing sensitive information with a chatbot, understanding more generally how your team is using AI can identify potential areas of concernand potential opportunities.
Instead of trying to track every instance retroactively, focus on prevention. A blanket AI ban isn’t realistic and puts your organization at a competitive disadvantage. Instead, establish clear guidelines that distinguish between acceptable and prohibited data types. Set a clear red line on what can’t be entered into public GenAI tools: customer data, financial information, legal language, and internal documents. Make it practical, not paranoid.
To encourage responsible AI use, provide approved alternatives. Create company-sanctioned AI workflows for everyday use cases that don’t retain data or are only used in tools that do not use any inputs for AI training. Make sure your IT teams vet all AI tools for proper data governance. This is especially important because different account types of AI tools have different data retention policies. Furthermore, it helps employees understand the potential dangers of sharing sensitive data with AI chatbots.
Encourage employee training that addresses both professional and personal AI risks. Provide real-world examples of how innocent AI interactions inadvertently expose trade secrets, but also educate employees about AI-powered scams they might encounter outside of work. The same overconfidence that leads to workplace data leaks can make employees targets for sophisticated fraud schemes, potentially compromising both personal and professional security.
If you discover that sensitive information has been shared with AI platforms, act quickly, but don’t panic. Document what was shared, when, and through which platform. Conduct a risk assessment that asks: How sensitive was the information? Could it compromise competitive positioning or regulatory compliance? You may need to notify affected parties, depending on the nature of the data. Then, use these incidents as learning opportunities. Review how the incident occurred and identify the necessary safeguards.
While the world of AI chatbots has changed since 2023, there is a lot we can learn from a situation Samsung experienced a few years ago, when employees in their semiconductor division shared source code, meeting notes, and test sequences with ChatGPT. This exposed proprietary software to OpenAI and leaked sensitive hardware testing methods. Samsung’s response was swift: they restricted ChatGPT uploads to minimize the potential for sharing sensitive information, launched internal investigations, and began developing a company-specific AI chatbot to prevent future leaks.
While most companies lack the resources to build chatbots themselves, they can achieve a similar approach by using an enterprise-grade account that specifically opts out their accounts from AI training.
AI can bring massive productivity gains, but that doesnt make its usage risk-free. Organizations that anticipate and address this challenge will leverage AI’s benefits while maintaining the security of their most valuable information. The key is recognizing that AI overconfidence poses risks both inside and outside the office, and preparing accordingly.
UnitedHealth Group says it is cooperating with federal criminal and civil investigations involving its market-leading Medicare business.
The health care giant said Thursday that it had contacted the Department of Justice after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain elements of its business.
(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal said federal officials had launched a civil fraud investigation into how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans. Those are privately run versions of the governments Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over.
The companys UnitedHealthcare business covers more than 8 million people as the nations largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans. The business has been under pressure in recent quarters due to rising care use and rate cuts.
The Journal said in February, citing anonymous sources, that the probe focused on billing practices in recent months.
The paper has since said that a federal criminal health care-fraud unit was investigating how the company used doctors and nurses to gather diagnoses that bolster payments.
UnitedHealth said in the filing Thursday that it “has full confidence in its practices and is committed to working cooperatively with the Department throughout this process.”
UnitedHealth Group Inc. runs one of the nation’s largest health insurance and pharmacy benefits management businesses. It also operates a growing Optum business that provides care and technology support.
UnitedHealth raked in more than $400 billion in revenue last year as the third-largest company in the Fortune 500. Its share price topped $630 last fall to reach a new all-time high.
But the stock has mostly shed value since December, when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan on his way to the companys annual investor meeting. A suspect, Luigi Mangione, has been charged in connection with the shooting.
In April, shares plunged some more after the company cut its forecast due to a spike in health care use. A month later, former CEO Andrew Witty resigned, and the company withdrew its forecast entirely, saying that medical costs from new Medicare Advantage members were higher than expected.
The stock price slipped another 3%, or $10.35, to $282.16 in midday trading Thursday. That represents a 55% drop from its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, of which UnitedHealth is a component, also fell slightly. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 rose.
UnitedHealth will report its second-quarter results next Tuesday.
Tom Murphy, AP health writer
President Donald Trump took to social media Thursday morning to support Elon Musk’s car company, a startling development given their bitter public feud.
I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The post wasn’t enough to help Tesla’s stock, which fell sharply after the company reported another quarter of lackluster financial results and Musk warned of some potentially rough quarters into next year. At midday, the stock was down around 9%.
Late Wednesday, Tesla said revenue fell 12% and profit dropped 16% in the April-June quarter. Many prospective buyers have been turned off by Musks foray into right-wing politics, and the competition has ramped up in key markets such as Europe and China.
Investors have been unnerved by Musk’s social media spat with the president because Trump has threatened to retaliate by ending government contracts and breaks for Musk’s various businesses, including Tesla.
But Trump struck a starkly different tone Thursday morning.
Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elons companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!” Trump wrote. The better they do, the better the USA does, and thats good for all of us.
After Trump’s massive budget bill passed earlier this month, Tesla faces the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit and stands to make much less money from selling regulatory credits to other automakers. Trumps tariffs on countries including China and Mexico will also cost Tesla hundreds of millions of dollars, the company said on its earnings call.
Musk has blasted the budget bill on his own social media platform X for adding to U.S. debt at a time when it is already too large. The Tesla CEO has called the budget pushed by the president a disgusting abomination and has threatened to form a new political party.
On Wednesday’s call, Musk said the electric vehicle maker will face a few rough quarters as it moves into a future focused less on selling cars and more on offering people rides in self-driving cars. He also talked up the company’s business making humanoid robotics. But he acknowledged those businesses are a ways off from contributing to Teslas bottom line.
Tesla began a rollout in June of its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and hopes to introduce the driverless cabs in several other cities soon. Musk told analysts that the service will be available to probably half of the population of the U.S. by the end of the year thats at least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals.
Were in this weird transition period where well lose a lot of incentives in the U.S., Musk said, adding that Tesla probably could have a few rough quarters ahead. He added, though, Once you get to autonomy at scale in the second half of next year, certainly by the end of next year, I would be surprised if Teslas economics are not very compelling.”
After closing for five months due to smoke damage from the Palisades Fire, the Eames House (Case Study House #8) in Los Angeles has reopened to visitorsnow with a more determined mission to serve as a place of community.
[Photo: Chris Mottalini, 2025/ 2025 Eames Office, LLC.]
Nearly 7,000 buildings were destroyed in the Palisades Fire, and though the Eames House was spared, cleanup efforts have been intensive. A crew took about a week to wipe away flame retardant that had been dropped to slow the fire from advancing from the outside of the home. They also dug up the property’s plantings beds so the soil could be replaced due to concerns about toxic materials.
Eames Demetrios, Lucia Dewey Atwood, and Adrienne Luce outside the studio. [Photo: Chris Mottalini, 2025/ 2025 Eames Office, LLC.]
“We were very fortunate,” says Lucia Atwood, the granddaughter of architects Charles and Ray Eames who built the Pacific Palisades home in 1949. The home is a model of resilience, but its stewards were also proactive. Atwood tells Fast Company interventions began in 2011 to better fire- and drought-proof the home, which is a National Historic Landmark and on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Those efforts that took on greater urgency after the Getty Fire in 2019.
Charles and Ray balancing on the steel framing of the Eames House in Pacific Palisades, California, 1949. [Photo: 2025 Eames Office, LLC.]
“At that point it became very clear that there were going to be an increasing number of of extremely damaging fires,” says Atwood, the former executive director of the Eames Foundation. The foundation has worked to harden the landscape, a process that included clearing brush and removing some of the more than 250 trees that were on the property.
[Photo: Chris Mottalini, 2025/ 2025 Eames Office, LLC.]
Reopening events this month with local leaders, neighbors, and fire survivors have turned the Eames House into an Eames home for the community, as is the case for patrons of the Palisades Library, which was destroyed in the fires. After offering the library the use of the property, including the home’s studio, which is open to the public for the first time, for events like book clubs and sales, the head of the library got emotional, says Adrienne Luce, who was announced the Eames Foundation’s first non-family member executive director in April.
“This place is for you,” Luce recalls telling the library’s head, and she says she started to choke up. “Being so close to the devastation actually is a wonderful opportunity to serve and support the local community and long-term community rebuilding efforts.” Reopening means “really engaging and serving the local community,” Luce says.
Singapore-based solar panel manufacturer Bila Solar is suspending plans to double capacity at its new factory in Indianapolis. Canadian rival Helienes plans for a solar cell facility in Minnesota are under review. Norwegian solar wafer maker NorSun is evaluating whether to move forward with a planned factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And two fully permitted offshore wind farms in the U.S. Northeast may never get built.
These are among the major clean energy investments now in question after Republicans agreed earlier this month to quickly end U.S. subsidies for solar and wind power as part of their budget megabill, and as the White House directed agencies to tighten the rules on who can claim the incentives that remain.
This marks a policy U-turn since President Donald Trumps return to office that project developers, manufacturers and analysts say will slash installations of renewable energy over the coming decade, kill investment and jobs in the clean energy manufacturing sector supporting them, and worsen a looming U.S. power supply crunch as energy-hungry AI infrastructure expands.
Solar and wind installations could be 17% and 20% lower than previously forecast over the next decade because of the moves, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie, which warned that a dearth of new supplies could slow the expansion of data centers needed to support AI technology.
Energy researcher Rhodium, meanwhile, said the law puts at risk $263 billion of wind, solar, and storage facilities and $110 billion of announced manufacturing investment supporting them. It will also increase industrial energy costs by up to $11 billion in 2035, it said.
“One of the administrations stated goals was to bring costs down, and as we demonstrated, this bill doesn’t do that,” said Ben King, a director in Rhodium’s energy and climate practice. He added the policy “is not a recipe for continued dominance of the U.S. AI industry.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has defended its moves to end support for clean energy by arguing the rapid adoption of solar and wind power has created instability in the grid and raised consumer prices assertions that are contested by the industry and which do not bear out in renewables-heavy power grids, like Texas’ ERCOT.
Power industry representatives, however, have said all new generation projects need to be encouraged to meet rising U.S. demand, including both those driven by renewables and fossil fuels.
Consulting firm ICF projects that U.S. electricity demand will grow by 25% by 2030, driven by increased AI and cloud computing a major challenge for the power industry after decades of stagnation. The REPEAT Project, a collaboration between Princeton University and Evolved Energy Research, projects a 2% annual increase in electricity demand.
With a restricted pipeline of renewables, tighter electricity supplies stemming from the policy shift could increase household electricity costs by $280 a year in 2035, according to the REPEAT Project.
The key provision in the new law is the accelerated phase-out of 30% tax credits for wind and solar projects: it requires projects to begin construction within a year or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for the credits. Previously the credits were available through 2032.
Now some project developers are scrambling to get projects done while the U.S. incentives are still accessible. But even that strategy has become risky, developers said.
Days after signing the law, Trump directed the Treasury Department to review the definition of beginning of construction. A revision to those rules could overturn a long-standing practice giving developers four years to claim tax credits after spending just 5% of project costs. Treasury was given 45 days to draft new rules.
“With so many moving parts, financing of projects, financing of manufacturing is difficult, if not impossible,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. “You are looking to see what is the next baseball bat that’s going to hit you on the head.”
About face
Heliene’s planned cell factory, which could cost as much as $350 million, depending on the capacity, and employ more than 600 workers, is also in limbo, Pochtaruk said in an interview earlier this month.
The company needs more clarity on both what the new law will mean for U.S. demand, and how Trump’s trade policy will impact the solar industry.
“We have a building that is anxiously waiting for us to make a decision,” Pochtaruk said.
Similarly, Mick McDaniel, general manager of Bila Solar, said “a troubling level of uncertainty” has put on hold its $20 million expansion at an Indianapolis factory it opened this year that would create an additional 75 jobs.
“NorSun is still digesting the new legislation and recent executive order to determine the impact to the overall domestic solar manufacturing landscape,” said Todd Templeton, director of the company’s U.S. division that is reviewing plans for its $620 million solar wafer facility in Tulsa.
Five solar manufacturing companies – T1 Energy, Imperial Star Solar, SEG Solar, Solx and ES Foundry – said they are also concerned about the new law’s impact on future demand, but that they have not changed their investment plans.
The policy changes have also injected fresh doubt about the fate of the nation’s pipeline of offshore wind projects, which depend heavily on tax credits to bring down costs. According to Wood Mackenzie, projects that have yet to start construction or make final investment decisions are unlikely to proceed.
Two such projects, which are fully permitted, include a 300-megawatt project by developer US Wind off the coast of Maryland and Iberdrolas 791 MW New England Wind off the coast of Massachusetts.
Neither company responded to requests for comment.
“They are effectively ready to begin construction and are now trapped in a timeline that will make it that much harder to be able to take advantage of the remaining days of the tax credits,” said Hillary Bright, executive director of offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward.
Nichola Groom, Reuters
