Supermarket aisles may soon look the same. The carts rolling down them have changed. Digital screens affixed to handles now offer recipe ideas, aisle directions and product suggestions powered by artificial intelligence. Shoppers who tap those screens open their wallets wider. Much wider.
Apple just put a number on the table. In a filing due at 5 p.m. Eastern on August 13, the company proposed charging developers 15 percent on purchases made through external links for standard apps. The rate drops to 10 percent for participants in its video, news, and mini-app partner programs plus subscription renewals. Small Business Program members would pay just 5 percent.
Japan has taken another major stride toward control over its positioning infrastructure. On August 10, 2026, an H3 rocket lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center. It carried Michibiki No. 7, also known as QZS-7. The satellite reached its intended orbit successfully.
Microsoft has announced a significant scaling back of its operations in China, marking a notable shift in the company’s long-standing presence in the world’s second-largest economy. The decision comes amid growing geopolitical tensions, regulatory pressures, and intensifying competition from local technology firms that have narrowed the gap in cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities.
CHICAGO — Austan Goolsbee didn’t sugarcoat it. Inflation remains the economy’s central headache. Yet the latest readings? They offer a hint of relief.
The Chicago Fed president stepped in front of cameras Thursday and called the fresh inflation figures “a little better.” He pointed to fading effects from tariffs and the oil price spike tied to tensions with Iran. Get past those, he suggested, and the central bank might resume its trek toward the 2% target.
Apple just told a federal court it wants to charge developers as much as 15 percent on purchases made after users click external links from iOS apps. The proposal landed Thursday in the latest chapter of its marathon antitrust fight with Epic Games. And it comes with a striking admission: the actual costs to Apple of handling those links sit near zero.
Denise Dresser lasted nine months. Brad Lightcap, once a stalwart since 2018, stepped away after shifting from chief operating officer to special projects. Fidji Simo, Sam Altman’s onetime right hand, cited a chronic condition that left her no choice. These exits, announced in quick succession this summer, mark the latest chapter in a pattern that has thinned OpenAI’s senior ranks.
The numbers landed like a cold front. In July the U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs. Economists had forecast a gain of roughly 80,000. Revisions to prior months erased another 103,000 positions that had looked solid only weeks earlier. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.1 percent. Yet that modest decline came because hundreds of thousands more workers simply stopped looking. Participation rates slid toward five-and-a-half-year lows.
Pfizer delivered another quarter of solid commercial execution. On August 4 the drugmaker posted second-quarter revenue of $15.03 billion. That topped Wall Street forecasts by a healthy margin. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 77 cents, beating expectations of 68 cents. Yet the headline number that moved markets was the decision to lift the low end of full-year 2026 revenue guidance.
Students once asked chatbots for essay help. Now they hand over login credentials and walk away. Autonomous AI agents log into learning management systems, watch recorded lectures, answer quiz questions, draft papers and even post comments in discussion forums. They do it all without the student lifting a finger.
