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World shares were mixed Thursday after modest gains on Wall Street lifted the S&P 500 to another all-time high ahead of computer chipmaker Nvidia’s highly anticipated earnings report.The future for S&P 500 rose 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. Meanwhile, oil prices declined.In early European trading, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.4% to 24,144.65 while Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 9,240.75. In Paris, the CAC 40 jumped 1.1% to 7,825.28.In China, shares in computer chipmaker Cambricon Technologies soared 15.7% to 1,587.91 yuan ($222), becoming the priciest stock on Shanghai’s exchange as it surpassed Kweichou Moutai’s stock, which slipped to 1,446 yuan ($202) a share. Cambricon’s shares have jumped after it reported its revenue and profit expanded many fold in the first half of the year, helped by the Chinese government’s support for domestic semiconductor makers.The Shanghai Composite index surged 1.1% to 3,843.60. It has been trading near decade-high levels on heavy buying by institutional investors.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8% to 24,998.82, led by losses for technology companies like food delivery company Meituan. Its shares dropped 10.3% while e-commerce giant JD.com declined 5%. Such companies have seen demand sag as Chinese consumers cut back on spending.Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.7% to 42,828.79. It has been trading near record levels, despite friction with Washington over a preliminary trade agreement that has yet to be finalized. Top trade envoy Ryohei Akazawa abruptly postponed a trip to the U.S. capital planned for Thursday in the latest sign of trouble over the deal setting tariffs on Japanese exports at 15%, a policy that has yet to come into effect.South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.3% to 3,196.32 after the Bank of Korea kept its policy rate unchanged at 2.5% for the second review in a row.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% higher to 8,980.00. India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.9%, reopening following a public holiday after higher U.S. tariffs on the country’s exports took effect on Wednesday.Taiwan’s TAIEX shed 1.2%.On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, nudging past the record high it set two weeks ago to close at 6,481.40.The Dow industrials rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite closed 0.2% higher at 21,590.14.Technology companies led the way higher, outweighing declines in communication services and other sectors.After the market closed, Nvidia’s quarterly report showed its earnings and revenue topped Wall Street analysts’ forecasts, though the company noted that sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated. The stock fell 3.2% in after-hours trading after having slipped 0.1% during the regular session.Investors consider Nvidia a barometer for the strength of the boom in artificial intelligence because the company makes most of the chips that power the technology. Its heavy weighting also gives Nvidia outsized influence as a bellwether for the broader market.In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude dropped 48 cents to $63.67 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 47 cents to $66.97 per barrel.The dollar fell to 147.24 Japanese yen, down from 147.40 yen. The euro rose to $1.1639 from $1.1640. Teresa Cerojano, Associated Press
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The director of the nation’s top public health agency has been fired after less than one month in the job, and several top agency leaders have resigned.Susan Monarez isn’t “aligned with” President Donald Trump’s agenda and refused to resign, so the White House terminated her, spokesman Kush Desai said Wednesday night.Her lawyers said she was targeted for standing up for science.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had announced her departure in a brief social media post late Wednesday afternoon. Her lawyers responded with a statement saying Monarez had neither resigned nor been told she was fired.“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell wrote in a statement.“This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within,” they said.Her departure coincided with the resignations this week of at least four top CDC officials. The list includes Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s deputy director; Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of the agency’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, head of its National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr. Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.In an email seen by the Associated Press, Houry lamented the crippling effects on the agency from planned budget cuts, reorganization, and firings.“I am committed to protecting the public’s health, but the ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency,” she wrote.She also noted the rise of misinformation about vaccines during the current Trump administration, and alluded to new limits on CDC communications.“For the good of the nation and the world, the science at CDC should never be censored or subject to political pauses or interpretations,” she wrote.Daskalakis worked closely with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remade the committee by firing everyone and replacing them with a group that included several vaccine skepticsone of whom was put in charge of a COVID-19 vaccines workgroup.In his resignation letter, Daskalakis lamented that the changes put “people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy.” He described Monarez as “hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader.” He added: “Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.”He also wrote: “I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality.”HHS officials did not immediately respond to questions about the resignations.Some public health experts decried the loss of so many of CDC’s scientific leaders.“The CDC is being decapitated. This is an absolute disaster for public health,” said Public Citizen’s Dr. Robert Steinbrook.Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease researcher, said the departures were “a serious loss for America.”“The loss of experienced, world-class infectious disease experts at CDC is directly related to the failed leadership of extremists currently in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services,” he said. “They make our country less safe and less prepared for public health emergencies.”Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.She was sworn in on July 31less than a month ago, making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency.Her short time at CDC was tumultuous. On August 8, at the end of her first full week on the job, a Georgia man opened fire from a spot at a pharmacy across the street from CDC’s main entrance. The 30-year-old man blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal. He killed a police officer and fired more than 180 shots into CDC buildings before killing himself.No one at CDC was injured, but it shell-shocked a staff that already had low morale from other recent changes.Monarez had scheduled an “all hands meeting” meeting for the CDC staffseen as an important step in addressing concerns among staff since the shootingfor Monday this week. But HHS officials meddled with that, too, canceling it and calling Monarez to Washington, D.C., said a CDC official who was not authorized to talk about it and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The Atlanta-based federal agency was initially founded to prevent the spread of malaria in the U.S. Its mission was later expanded, and it gradually became a global leader on infectious and chronic diseases and a go-to source of health information.This year it’s been hit by widespread staff cuts, resignations of key officials, and heated controversy over long-standing CDC vaccine policies upended by KennedyDuring her Senate confirmation process, Monarez told senators that she values vaccines, public health interventions, and rigorous scientific evidence. But she largely dodged questions about whether those positions put her at odds with Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who has criticized and sought to dismantle some of the agency’s previous protocols and decisions.Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, praised Monarez for standing up to Kennedy and called for him to be fired.“We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground,” she said in a statement Wednesday night.The Washington Post first reported Monarez was ousted. AP reporter Amanda Seitz in Washington contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer
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For nearly two years, George Arison, the CEO of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr, has been promising to bring an “AI Wingman” to the social networks 14.9 million monthly users. The full wingman experience has thus far proven elusive, but alongside the company’s earnings in early August, Arison announced a plan to overhaul the company’s approach and become an AI-native company. What, exactly, does it mean for Grindr to be AI-native? In a slide deck that accompanied Grindr’s Q2 2025 results, the company declared, To us, AI-native means rebuilding product, architecture, and operations with intelligence embedded at every layernot bolted on as a feature.” When I ask Arison myself, he explains that it’s an opportunity to roll out custom-built tools for Grindr users, especially when off-the-shelf models lack specific knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community. “There is a huge opportunity to fill that gap and give Grindr a significant long-term competitive advantage, he says. The companys plan for its gAI (pronounced Gay I) is about as close to rebirth as a 16-year-old app can getif it can pull it off. In speaking with Arison, analysts, and Grindr users, I learned that strong AI features are built from the ground up, need to actually make the app function better, and that Arison’s approach might just be ambitious enough to work. As he notes, Grindr’s been an innovator before. Could it really be the first company to make the first AI move on corporate America? Starting on solid footing Grindr has made good on its financial outlook for the year, reporting net income of $17 million for the second quarter of 2025, a strong improvement over the companys $22 million net loss in the same period last year. Total revenue for the quarter was $104 million, up 27% year-over-year. Arison sees these results as a strong launchpad to Grindr becoming an AI innovator. As laid out in its latest shareholder letter, Grindr intends to become AI-native by designing an entirely new suite of in-house AI technologies and AI-powered features, some built from scratch, some powered by third-party providers. Theyll use Grindrs data to cater specifically to the apps primarily gay and bisexual male audiencethough whether that audience will embrace an AI overhaul remains to be seen. Grindrs plan also means building AI into the companys operational side, making the tech integral to its day-to-day operations. From Arisons perspective, embracing AI is keeping with Grindrs legacy as a first-mover in techits location based grid of nearby users was truly novel when it launched. [Grindr] was the first geolocation-based product of this kindnot just for the gay world, but for any worldwhen it launched, but it doesn’t really get credit for being this massive technology innovator, he says. I don’t want that to happen on the AI side. From AI to A-list So far, Grindrs AI-first approach hasnt yielded much in terms of actual features. Besides the only AI-powered tool for users to roll out before the AI-native pivot announcement is called A-List. Built using Amazon Web Services, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet, and Metas Llama 3 models, A-List is designed to help users jump back into prior conversations through tailored summaries. It might remind you whos only interested in hooking up, who could make for a great long-term partner, or who youve already said youre planning to meet up with. So many conversations get lost in your inbox historically, Arison says of the inspiration for A-List. We’re not just summarizing a conversation, but actually trying to take the content from that conversation and what we know about you, and put people into different buckets of how to explore them. Its the first step, he says, toward being able to ask the app to recommend similar profiles, or in other words, toward gAI serving as the digital wingman of his dreams. But currently, A-List is only available to a select group of Grindr usersactually, a select group of a select group. The feature is only live for 25% of users on Grindrs top-tier Unlimited plan, which costs $40 a month (some 1.2 million users paid for Grindr in Q2, but the company doesnt break down subscribers by tier). Its rollout, along with other planned gAI features, has been slow-going, due in part to the constraints of existing open-source models. Specifically, Arison says theyre unequipped to handle the gay-specific slang and terminology that Grindr users speak with, not to mention the often sexual nature of conversations in the app. Thus, Grindrs ground-up approach: a new AI model tailor-made for the gays, X-rated exchanges included. If we can retrain models that are open-source today more appropriately towards our audience, using the data that we use and possess, that’s a unique advantage that is going to be hard for anybody else to replicate,” Arison says. Yi Zhou, the author of AI Native Enterprise: The Leader’s Guide to AI-Powered Business Transformation and the founder and chief AI officer at consulting firm ArgoLong, says that Grindr’s announcement marks a pivotal moment, not just for the company, but for how digital platforms serving niche, highly engaged communities can be reimagined through AI. He adds, What stands out is their commitment to build an AI platform from the ground up, rather than laying AI onto existing infrastructure. That distinction matters, because true AI-native enterprises don’t just automate the process. They restructure how value is created, personalized, and delivered in motion. Going global with gAI Grindrs planned gAI features also include Discover, which was already briefly live for some users before being pulled to make improvements. Though Grindr is best known for its proximity-based grid of potential connections, Discover embraces the opposite, showing users recommendations from around the world. Arison is particularly excited about a third gAI feature called Insights, which will offer added details about profiles that users havent listed themselves, such as the demographics theyre most likely to respond to. I think users will find that really, really helpful, especially when so many of Grindrs profilesfor any number of reasons, including mutual privacy or concerns around people’s safetyhave very limited information about them. (He stresses that these features will require users consent, both to see Insights about other users and let other users see Insights about them.) [Image: Grindr] Will users embrace AI in the app? Grindrs planned gAI features are novel. Theyre innovative. They present an entirely new potential for the future of dating apps and social networks at large. And thats all well and good, but it doesnt answer perhaps the biggest question raised by Grindrs announcement: Did anyone actually ask for this? The short answer is nonot in AI-specific terms, at any rate. Duncan Roberts, an associate director of research at professional services company Cognizant, regularly conducts studies on what being AI-native means for both consumers and companies. His teams 2025 report New Minds, New Markets, shows that consumers generally dont value AI in itself, but in the ways it can improve on convenience and efficiency. People don’t want to have AI thrust down their throats all the timethey just want their stuff to work, Roberts says. I think if a company like Grindr can embed it as such into their product with it almost being invisible, but make their product better and serve their customers better, then it will help them out. Arison, for his part, has no doubt that if Grindr creates quality AI features, consumer demandand, ideally, more subscribers paying for these toolswill follow. Q2s million-plus paid users for Grindrs Xtra and Unlimited tiers ($19.99 and $39.99 a month, respectively) represented 16% year-over-year growth. Most of the time, users don’t know what they want when there’s a technology shift, he says. And the reason they don’t know is because they don’t know what the technology is capable of. Arisons outlook is rosy, but Zhou and Roberts agree that a major transformation like the one planned for Grindr doesnt come without its fair share of potential downsides. Grindrs opportunity lies in doing what most companies have not: treat AI not as an add-on, but as the operating system of the enterprise, Zhou says. Every company has a big vision, but if you want to win the game, you have to execute it extremely well. I hope that Grindr could set a precedent [for] how a social platform evolves into a trusted, AI-driven community ecosystem. Roberts, meanwhile, points out that a drastic shift to new tech can alienate not only employees, who can be resistant to changes in company culture and workflow, but also consumers if handled incorrectly. If you start pushing AI [features] out to them that’s not thought out, that’s generic, or it doesn’t work, suddenly they see a degradation of performance in the app since the cutoverthey’ll just leave, he says. They’ll go somewhere else. Arison knows those risks exist. They simply dont concern him. Whats more concerning, he says, is the thought of being left behind as other companies embrace AI and surge ahead. If we don’t do this, there’s a massive risk. If we do it, then I don’t see a risk. I think that’s the way technology companies need to evolve, Arison says. I just see it as a huge opportunity.
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