Forbes Talks

The digital maps platform MapQuest has soared to the top of Apple's App Store rankings after refusing to adhere to President Donald Trump's order to change Lake Ontario's name to Lake America, even as its larger rivals Google Maps and Apple Maps have chosen to do so. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/09/02/mapquest-tops-app-store-download-charts-after-defying-trump-on-lake-ontario/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A whistleblower at the U.S. Postal Service reported “grave concerns” with the agency's new system for mail-in ballots as it's come under fire in court, warning lawmakers that the “risky and haphazard” implementation of the rule could keep millions of voters from receiving a mail-in ballot in the November midterms. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/09/01/usps-whistleblower-warns-new-rule-could-keep-voters-from-getting-ballots-what-to-know/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lionel Messi, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, announced Monday he would retire from competing internationally for Argentina's national team, saying in a statement on Instagram the decision “hurts deep down,” but “the time has come.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/08/31/lionel-messi-soccer-legend-and-billionaire-retires-from-argentina-national-team/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia has reportedly agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular platform which hosts open-weight AI models, for $12.9 billion, The Information reported late on Wednesday, just a month after the chipmaker's CEO Jensen Huang defended open models and urged against “premature restrictions.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/27/nvidia-has-reportedly-agreed-to-buy-ai-model-hosting-platform-hugging-face-for-13-billion/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers at Southern Illinois University have engineered microbes that can break down discarded plastic bottles and crop waste and turn them into protein-rich cookies, a step-by-step biological transformation that could address problems with plastic pollution, a looming global food crisis and help sustain deep-space missions with humans aboard. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/24/cookies-made-from-plastic-bottles-could-ease-food-shortages-feed-nasa-crews-in-space/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump defended the ongoing buildout of AI data centers across the country and said the communities opposing them were making a mistake, as he continued to embrace the controversial buildout of AI infrastructure despite growing public backlash and opposition from governors from both parties. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/24/trump-defends-ai-data-centers-says-opposing-them-is-a-mistake-and-smart-ones-want-them/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has ordered all visa applications be placed on hold and canceled scheduled interviews at U.S. embassies around the world as it works to tighten restrictions on who is allowed into the country, a move that is likely to significantly reduce the number of visas issued to potential visitors, students and immigrants. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/26/global-visa-interviews-on-hold-history-shows-a-36-drop-may-follow/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration is preparing to launch a mass visa revocation impacting business and tourism visas owned by up to 200,000 foreigners, the Associated Press reported, a move that would mark the largest revocation in U.S. history. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/08/24/trump-administration-preparing-for-largest-visa-revocation-in-us-history-report-says/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese regulators on Friday ordered Tesla to fix nearly 3 million vehicles amid broader concerns about emergency door releases, marking the largest-ever automotive recall campaign in the market and Tesla's biggest such action to date. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/21/china-orders-teslas-largest-ever-recall-for-nearly-3-million-cars/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Paramount's leadership of leaking information and acting in bad faith as he canceled a planned meeting with the media giant's executives scheduled for Monday to discuss a potential settlement in an antitrust suit to block Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/24/california-ag-calls-off-paramount-antitrust-settlement-meeting-alleging-leaks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Authors, archivists, historians and bibliophiles have launched an online war against tech giants and artificial intelligence developers after an increasing mountain of evidence shows they're buying rare and antique books en masse and feeding them to large language models—only to slice off their spines and destroy the original print copies in the process. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/ai-companies-are-buying-and-destroying-antique-books-heres-why/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Better Home & Finance on Tuesday sued founder Vishal Garg, accusing him of a “scorched-earth campaign” to regain control of the company in a lawsuit that highlights his controversial tenure as chief executive, during which employees allege Garg called them “monkeys” and “dumb dolphins.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/18/ceo-who-fired-900-people-on-zoom-allegedly-calling-employees-monkeys-faces-lawsuit-from-his-company/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walmart's stock on Thursday slid after the retailer reported its slowest U.S. sales growth in years, despite beating Wall Street's earnings expectations, as its pharmacy business took a hit amid federal negotiations that have cut drug prices. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/20/walmart-shares-sink-8-after-slowest-us-sales-growth-since-2020/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An advisor who served as a top aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci during the COVID-19 outbreak has pleaded guilty to plotting to conceal federal records related to the pandemic, amid a wave of Republican legislative scrutiny over the federal response to the pandemic. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/19/top-fauci-advisor-pleads-guilty-in-covid-19-origin-cover-up-case/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Moderna's stock soared by more than 120% as trading opened Wednesday, more than doubling the biotech giant's share price after the firm announced positive results from its first-ever late-stage trial of an experimental cancer vaccine. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/19/moderna-shares-skyrocket-85-toward-best-day-ever-on-success-of-cancer-drug-trial/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk's net worth once again crossed $900 billion on Monday, as shares in his SpaceX extended a weekslong rally after dozens of institutional investments in the rocket maker were revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Georgia researcher's public records request has revealed that the police department in the small Chicago suburb of Schaumburg is sharing its automated license plate reader data with more than 400 Illinois law enforcement and government agencies—a finding that comes as public debate over the mass surveillance of Flock and other plate-reader networks intensifies across the country. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/have-i-been-flocked-researcher-says-over-400-illinois-agencies-have-surveillance-network-access/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak about once a month after aides and allies worked to mend their feud following a very public falling out last year—but Trump acknowledges privately the relationship will never be the same, according to a new report. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/14/trump-reportedly-says-his-relationship-with-musk-will-never-be-the-same-after-epic-fallout/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent investment into the media company owned by “Call Her Daddy” podcaster Alex Cooper has valued the company at $500 million as it looks to expand its video and lifestyle businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investors in Selena Gomez's struggling mental health startup, Wondermind, sued Gomez, her mother and the company's co-founder in federal court Thursday, accusing them of securities fraud for promising initiatives that never materialized without properly communicating with the investors whose money was allegedly “funding the collapse.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/08/13/selena-gomez-and-wondermind-startup-sued-for-allegedly-defrauding-investors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump secretly swapped planes last month and left Turkey on board a much smaller plane in response to a purported Iranian threat, according to multiple reports, the latest development involving Trump's departure from the NATO summit and Air Force One. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/11/iran-threat-reportedly-prompted-trump-to-secretly-swap-planes-while-leaving-turkey/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billionaire investor Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger reached an agreement to buy the Los Angeles Lakers at a $12.5 billion valuation, a record-setting price tag for a U.S. sports franchise, according to multiple reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tesla is recalling 20,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with low-beam headlights that violate federal brightness standards—the latest in a string of safety concerns for the automaker that have included problems with rear image cameras, brake rotors, battery packs and warning lights. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/11/tesla-recalls-20000-cars-for-too-bright-headlights/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A consortium that includes Jeff Bezos is nearing a deal to buy a roughly one-third stake in Liverpool F.C., Sky News reported Monday, potentially making the Amazon founder the latest billionaire to acquire equity in a sports franchise. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/10/jeff-bezos-nears-deal-for-30-stake-in-liverpool-report-says/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.K.'s antitrust watchdog and culture minister on Thursday approved Paramount Skydance's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing another major regulatory hurdle despite Paramount agreeing to delay its deal until next year amid broad antitrust concerns. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/06/uk-backs-paramounts-110-billion-warner-bros-discovery-deal/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Qatar-donated Boeing jet gifted to and used by President Donald Trump as a temporary Air Force One may no longer be headed to his presidential library, at least for now, according to multiple reports, with Eric Trump telling NBC News there are different plans for the aircraft. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/08/05/qatar-gifted-air-force-ones-future-grows-unclear-as-trump-library-plans-fall-into-doubt/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The surprising success of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the fourth movie to star Tom Holland as the titular character, continued Wednesday as the movie became the highest-grossing film at the box office so far this year, topping “Toy Story 5” just seven days after its release. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/05/spider-man-brand-new-day-passes-toy-story-5-as-years-highest-grossing-film/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Trump-linked cryptocurrency mining company, American Bitcoin, disclosed Monday that it settled a Justice Department allegation accusing it of improperly obtaining a pandemic relief loan, agreeing to pay millions of dollars as it omitted the settlement from its positive earnings narrative. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/08/04/trump-linked-bitcoin-venture-reached-25-million-settlement-over-improperly-obtained-loan-allegation/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SpaceX's stock once again took a hit on Wednesday after the rocket maker posted its first-ever earnings report, which seemingly spooked investors and analysts after the Elon Musk-led firm announced a sixfold increase in quarterly spending. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/05/spacex-shares-plunge-13-as-elon-musks-fortune-sheds-80-billion-heres-what-analysts-are-saying/?streamIndex=0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI rejected Apple's lawsuit alleging trade secrets theft in a lengthy blog post early on Tuesday that includes several iMessage chats and email conversations as it challenged the iPhone-maker's bid to gain a preliminary injunction barring two former Apple employees and OpenAI from accessing or disclosing alleged confidential information. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/04/openai-shares-chats-and-emails-to-rebut-apples-suit-alleging-it-stole-trade-secrets/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Monday they'll back Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general after he issued an order rescinding the Justice Department's controversial “anti-weaponization fund,” but critics fear the government could still revive the fund in the future. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/08/03/todd-blanche-wins-key-confirmation-holdouts-but-questions-over-trumps-18-billion-fund-linger/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic on Thursday said its advanced AI models successfully hacked the systems of three organizations while undergoing internal evaluation, a security disclosure that comes a week after rival OpenAI revealed one of its advanced models hacked a company after escaping a contained test environment. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/07/31/anthropic-says-its-ai-models-hacked-into-three-organizations-during-testing/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The K-pop mega band BTS will not be submitting their music for consideration at next year's Grammy Awards in an apparent protest against the Recording Academy's decision to introduce a separate new “Asian Pop” category, prompting the academy's CEO Harvey Mason Jr. to defend the new category while saying he was “saddened” by the band's decision. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/07/30/grammy-ceo-saddened-after-bts-boycott-awards-over-new-asian-pop-category/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FIFA will ask its 211 member associations to vote on its controversial plan to sell minority stakes in the World Cup in September, multiple outlets reported—although the plan has already been criticized by soccer governing bodies in the Americas, Asia and Europe. In a deal first reported by The Times and the Financial Times, FIFA is planning to raise an estimated $4.2 billion in 2026 by selling a reported 20% minority stake in a new subsidiary at an equity valuation of $20 billion. FIFA confirmed the plans in an announcement on Tuesday morning, which said the new company would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise and would control the nonprofit organization's “commercial and event operations.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg's net worth declined by nearly $18 billion on Thursday as Meta's stock paced an 11-day losing streak, with Wall Street souring on the Facebook parent's plans to accelerate spending on AI. Shares of Meta plunged 9% as of Thursday afternoon, pacing what would be the stock's worst single-day loss this year so far and a 21.7% slide over the last 11 trading sessions. The latest dip in Meta's shares cut $17.8 billion from Zuckerberg's net worth, valued at $183.3 billion, ranking him the sixth-richest person in the world directly ahead of Nvidia's Jensen Huang ($167.2 billion) and behind Michael Dell ($228.9 billion). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia and OpenAI have held talks to spend roughly $500 billion on a data center in southern Ohio, potentially becoming the largest such project by power capacity in the world by far. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/27/nvidia-and-openai-discussing-500-billion-data-center-heres-what-we-know/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A further decline in SpaceX shares on Monday cut Elon Musk's net worth by more than $20 billion, lowering his fortune below the $700 billion threshold for the first time since December, as Musk falls further from his trillionaire status. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/27/elon-musks-wealth-sinks-below-700-billion-as-spacex-rout-extends/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CXMT—whose memory chips have been sought by Apple—made a blockbuster trading debut on Monday and briefly became the most valuable publicly listed company in mainland China, mirroring surges in the stock price of other major memory chipmakers like Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron amid an AI-driven boom in demand. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/07/27/chipmaker-courted-by-apple-soars-on-market-debut-and-briefly-becomes-chinas-most-valuable-company/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The city of Dubai is making dramatic—and expensive—efforts to recoup the once record-breaking tourist numbers that have plummeted since the start of the Iran war by offering travel perks worth upwards of $800 to residents who invite visitors to enter the country between now and the end of October. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/07/23/dubai-had-a-record-number-of-tourists-last-year-now-theyre-paying-people-to-visit/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LeBron James on Friday signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers to extend his historically long NBA career, a sizable pay cut for James, whose earnings and investments on and off the court have cemented his billionaire status for years. James signed an $8 million deal with a player option, allowing him to extend his contract for an additional season at a set salary or become an unrestricted free agent, NBA insider Shams Charania reported, marking a 92% pay cut from his $52.6 million salary the previous season. Forbes named James—whose net worth is valued at $1.4 billion as of Friday—a billionaire in 2022, making him the first athlete to reach billionaire status while still active in their sport, and he is one of four active billionaire athletes, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Tiger Woods. By Ty Roush, Forbes Staff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LeBron James will join the Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN, and will sign a two-year contract with the team that will further his historically long NBA career by another two years. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/07/24/lebron-james-will-join-philadelphia-76ers-extending-his-historic-career-another-2-years/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk's fortune was cut by more than $18 billion on Thursday amid the worst intraday selloff in Tesla shares in more than a year, following the automaker's earnings report that disappointed Wall Street, as analysts called for Musk's firm to bring “tangible” results for its robotics and robotaxi businesses. Shares of Tesla plunged 14.1% as of Thursday afternoon, pacing what would be the largest single-day decline for the stock since June 5, 2025 (14.2%). That drop in Tesla's share price lowered Musk's net worth by $18.6 billion to $731.7 billion, even as he remains the world's richest person ahead of Google co-founder Larry Page ($263.8 billion) and Amazon's Jeff Bezos ($245.4 billion). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billionaire Elon Musk suggested in posts on X he would either fund an alternative “Odyssey” movie with a more “historically accurate” take on ancient Greece or make his own with Grok, the latest in his ongoing crusade against the box office hit. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/07/22/musk-suggests-hell-make-his-own-odyssey-with-grok-latest-in-crusade-against-nolan-film/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday unveiled the first images of a $1 gold coin featuring President Donald Trump's face, weeks after he revealed a new $250 bill with the president's face, despite U.S. law prohibiting living people from appearing on currency. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/07/15/bessent-unveils-new-1-gold-coin-featuring-trumps-face/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number of Canadian visitors to the U.S. nudged upward in June compared to a year ago—but visitation remains significantly down compared to 2024. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/07/14/canadian-visitors-to-us-up-june-but-down-since-2024/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alphabet shares jumped on Monday following a report that the Google parent is planning to deploy a new chip to run its Gemini models more efficiently, adding a combined $15 billion to the net worths of cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/20/alphabet-rally-boosts-google-cofounder-fortunes-by-15-billion-heres-why-shares-are-up/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator is on unpaid leave amid a federal investigation after allegedly using insider information to bet on what the president would say in his speeches, the White House said Thursday. Federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission reportedly believe Gabriel Perez, the operator who has worked for Trump since 2016, made money betting on Trump's State of the Union address and more than a dozen other Trump speeches, according to ABC News, citing unnamed sources. Perez is on unpaid leave, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday shortly after the ABC story broke, and is reportedly in talks to settle the allegations he has earned more than $100,000 trading on the president's speeches, which emerged when the trading market, Kalshi, alerted the CFTC of suspicious activity on its site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The World Cup final will be the most expensive sporting event ever hosted in the U.S. in terms of ticket prices on resale markets, according to data from secondary ticket marketplace TickPick, which said the average ticket price for the matchup between Argentina and Spain has topped other events like the Super Bowl and NBA Finals. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/07/15/argentina-spain-world-cup-final-is-most-expensive-us-sporting-event-ever/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A setback in Starship's latest launch attempt lowered SpaceX shares to another all-time low on Friday, extending a losing streak for the stock and lowering Elon Musk's net worth by more than $45 billion, after Wall Street appeared optimistic about the firm's launch capabilities. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/17/elon-musks-net-worth-drops-below-800-billion-after-starship-launch-aborted/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warren Buffett excluded the Gates Foundation from his midyear donations for the first time since 2006, opting instead to donate thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shares worth almost $6 billion to four foundations run by his children. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/07/14/warren-buffett-excludes-gates-foundation-from-midyear-donations/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public health officials are reportedly investigating whether lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants played a role in an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness that has sickened thousands across the country, as some locations have pulled ingredients as a precaution. Citing two unnamed sources, the Washington Post reported federal and state health officials are looking into the fast food chain after Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants posted signs they were “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.” Taco Bell told Bloomberg it has “temporarily and voluntarily” removed unspecified ingredients at select restaurants as officials review the causes of the outbreak, noting it would “continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices