Why Canva’s evangelist Guy Kawasaki believes ‘AI is God’

Trump blames Mexico border crossings for U.S. crime surge. Here’s what the numbers say

Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico over the issue of border crossings. In a Monday evening announcement, President-elect Donald Trump railed against Mexico and Canada, accusing them of allowing thousands of people to enter the U.S.Hitting a familiar theme from the campaign trail and his first term in office, Trump portrayed the country’s borders as insecure and immigrants as contributing to crime and the fentanyl crisis. In an announcement that could have stark repercussions, he threatened to impose 25% tariffs on everything coming into the country from those two countries.Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric has resonated with voters concerned about immigration and crime. Yet there’s more to the story than Trump’s short statement suggested.A look at what the numbers and studies say about border crossings, fentanyl smuggling and whether there’s a connection between immigration and crime:

Published: 2024-11-27 14:32:54

Why Canva’s evangelist Guy Kawasaki believes ‘AI is God’

The marketing wizard talks ChatGPT, Tim Cook, and more on the latest episode of the ‘Rapid Response’ podcast. Apple defies gravity, and AI is divine. That’s how Guy Kawasaki, who worked closely with Steve Jobs—and is now chief evangelist at Canva and host of the podcast Remarkable People—describes the state of tech today. Guy muses about Tim Cook’s limitations, what he means when he says, “AI is God,” and explains his definition of what makes a person remarkable.

Published: 2024-11-27 14:00:00

Thom Browne wins in Adidas trademark battle over stripe pattern

The designer of the eponymous brand sees his win as a precedent that protects creatives’ ability to execute their own vision. A U.K. judge has ruled that Adidas doesn’t own stripes. 

Published: 2024-11-27 13:58:48

Biden’s land management director will lead major U.S. environmental group

Tracy Stone-Manning will be The Wilderness Society’s next president. A senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration who oversaw its contentious efforts to address climate change by curbing oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding renewable power was named Tuesday as the next president of a prominent environmental group.U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning will become president of The Wilderness Society effective next February, the Washington, D.C.-based group announced.The land bureau shifted sharply away from fossil fuel extraction during her tenure, including two decisions released Tuesday that end new federal coal sales from the nation’s most productive reserves of the fuel along the Wyoming-Montana border.Stone-Manning’s 2021 nomination by Biden was bitterly opposed by Republicans who labeled her an “eco-terrorist” over her past ties with environmental extremists. Senate Democrats pushed through her confirmation on a party-line vote.The land bureau has jurisdiction over almost a quarter-billion acres (100 million hectares) of land, primarily in western states, that is used for oil exploration, mining, livestock grazing, recreation, and other purposes.Under Stone-Manning, the bureau sharply reduced oil and gas lease sales and raised royalty rates that companies must pay to extract the fuel. It also issued a rule elevating the importance of conservation, by making it a “use” of public lands on par with drilling or grazing.That marked a sharp departure from the land bureau’s longstanding reputation for favoring commercial development over environmental preservation.The moves drew pushback from the energy, mining and ranching industries and Republican in Congress. They have vowed to undo actions taken by Stone-Manning when the GOP assumes control in Washington next year as a result of its 2024 election wins.Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said the decision to end coal leasing in the Powder River Basin area of northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana would have devastating economic effects. The Republican accused the Biden administration of a “crusade” against coal and said he would work with his state’s congressional delegation to reverse it.“This is not a balanced resource management strategy, but an anti-fossil fuel, politically-motivated action taken before the door slams on this administration,” Gordon said in a statement.The land bureau under Biden also approved new solar and wind power projects and opened more public lands to renewable energy development.It is uncertain if the changes will last.Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, praised the work done by Stone-Manning on renewable energy, but added that it could be “completely undone” by the next administration.“Whether it’s through rock-bottom royalty rates, rigged rulemaking, or stripped environmental protections, our public lands will soon be a profit playground for the rich,” said Grijalva, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to drop Biden’s climate and energy policies in a bid to increase oil and gas production that is already at record levels. He has nominated North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department, which includes the Bureau of Land Management. Oil industry representatives and Republicans from energy states cheered Burgum’s nomination.Before joining the administration, Stone-Manning worked as a senior aide to Montana Democrats U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Gov. Steve Bullock. Her nomination by Biden sparked intense Republican opposition because of Stone-Manning’s involvement in a 1989 environmental sabotage case.As a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Montana, Stone-Manning sent a letter to federal officials in 1989 saying spikes had been inserted into trees in an Idaho national forest, a tactic sometimes used to halt timber sales.Two men were criminally charged, and Stone-Manning testified against them. She was given immunity and never charged with crimes, although an investigator later said she had stonewalled the probe.After Tester and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin defended her, Stone-Manning was confirmed on a 50-45 vote.The bureau’s headquarters were relocated to Colorado under Trump and hundreds of employees resigned or retired before it was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s chief of staff, Rachael Taylor, said in a statement that Stone-Manning had reshaped the bureau after it was “damaged” by the relocation. Taylor said Stone-Manning also helped restore balance to public lands decisions and made sure Native American tribes have a role in managing their homelands.Trump has not announced his nominee to lead the land bureau. During the Republican’s first-term, it went without a Senate-confirmed director. Trump instead used acting directors who did not have to go before the Senate to advance his policies.

Published: 2024-11-27 13:40:23

Trump announces Jamieson Greer as his pick to lead U.S. trade

Greer will be in charge of executing Trump’s bold tariff plans. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday chose trade lawyer Jamieson Greer as his new U.S. trade representative, elevating a key veteran of his first-term trade war against China to execute a sweeping tariff agenda that promises to upend global trade.

Published: 2024-11-27 13:25:18

The man who gave us the web is building a better digital wallet

Imagine a world in which you have complete control over your online data. Tim Berners-Lee is working to make that real. In a way, Tim Berners-Lee’s current project is more ambitious than the one that changed history. When he conceived the World Wide Web in 1989, it didn’t compete with any other deeply-entrenched system for sharing information across the internet, which was still limited to government and academic users at the time. Indeed, without the web, the internet might never have had mass appeal in the first place.

Published: 2024-11-27 12:30:00

‘I wanted to do something different’: Why Danny McBride treats his tequila startup like a movie

‘There were no ad agencies involved, there was no marketing department,’ says McBride, founder of Don Gato tequila. Danny McBride knows the question is coming before the interview gets underway. Yes, he acknowledges, the celebrity tequila field is a crowded one, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from entering Don Gato, his recently-launched tequila line, into the fray.

Published: 2024-11-27 11:30:00

Want to upgrade someone’s daily routine? These bed and bath gifts have you covered

Our experts have your gift-giving needs covered, from items to cozy up a bedroom or level up a skincare routine. For its annual gift guide, Fast Company asked business leaders who know the home—and some of our staff members—for space-specific recommendations.

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:00

How ‘Quiet Hiring’ Is Hurting Your Diversity Efforts

It might be a short-term solution, but it can lead to bigger issues in the long run. Quiet hiring has been a norm in companies in recent years and is shaping workforces across the corporate world. Some employers see it as a way to relieve hiring burdens, and some employees see it as a skill improvement move. However, the overwhelming consensus is that it can potentially cause more trouble than create benefits for the company and business—particularly when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI).

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:00

Why 2025 will be the year of the K-drama

As ‘Squid Game’ returns to Netflix, K-dramas have never been hotter. And global streaming service Rakuten Viki is seeing huge growth. Next month will see the return of Netflix’s Squid Game, the Korean class-war allegory that racked up 1.65 billion viewing hours within weeks of its 2021 debut—and drew the world’s attention toward the fast-growing field of Korean dramas, or “K-dramas.” And interest has only continued to grow. Netflix and Disney are both ramping up investment in K-dramas for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the continued popularity of K-pop—Rosé and Bruno Mars’s “Apt” is currently No. 1 on Billboard’s Global charts—keeps fueling enthusiasm for all things Korean.

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:00

Zoom just rebranded itself to Zoom

Zoom just dropped the ‘video’ from its name, and is going all-in on AI. Zoom just announced that it’s changing its name. But its users will still call it Zoom.

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:00

Cameo introduces new gen AI search to help you find the perfect celeb for your message

With 50,000-plus celebrities on the platform, Cameo’s new AI search shows how services are using generative AI to solve UX pain points—even if the tech doesn’t live up to its promise. Cameo—the hire-a-celebrity-to-talk-to-my-friend service—has a new way to search for the perfect person to record a clip. And, yes, it involves natural language search courtesy of generative AI.

Published: 2024-11-27 10:30:00

Swipe right on data privacy: What tech companies can learn about consent from dating apps

Privacy leader Ron De Jesus suggests swipe-to-consent controls are intuitive and scalable and align with consent best practices that reduce business risk. I’ve been in the data privacy field for over 15 years, but nothing could prepare me for the complications and complexities that AI has created for companies since it hit the mainstream in 2022.

Published: 2024-11-27 10:30:00

These are the best garden gifts for the green thumb in your life

Whether the person you’re shopping for is a patio dinner host or someone who isn’t afraid to get dirty, these gifts will elevate their outdoor space. For its annual gift guide, Fast Company asked business leaders who know the home—and some of our staff members—for space-specific recommendations.