Author: Editor

Almost five years ago, I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, but it didn’t feel celebratory. Thanks to the pandemic, our in-person graduation was canceled. My roommate and I spent graduation day in our college apartment with my family, reminiscing on the previous four years and wondering what a “normal” graduation would have been like.My original postgrad plan was to take a gap year to travel throughout Southeast Asia. My first stop would have been Thailand, and I already had my flights and Airbnbs lined up. Unfortunately, that plan was scrapped, so I used my savings to move to a nearby city…

After a long day of meeting with clients, Haley Gault, a Salesforce seller, received a last-minute ping from a customer saying they wanted to meet with her face-to-face within the hour.Gault started to sweat: The customer’s business, electric vehicle charging stations, was not a topic she knew well. To get up to speed, she pulled up Salesforce’s Agentforce AI tool in Slack, typed in “EV contractors,” and received a dossier of previous sales, call recordings, and industry trends.”I don’t have a vertical, so I’m no industry expert in regards to electric vehicle contracting,” Gault said. “That’s a way for me…

The chairman of the House tax committee warned lawmakers from high-tax states demanding relief from a $10,000 cap on the state and local deduction that they will have to settle for an “unhappy” compromise.House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said Tuesday in a Bloomberg Television interview that he will strike a balance between those who want no limit on the SALT deduction and those who want no write-off at all.  “The number we’ll find will probably make everyone unhappy,” Smith, a Missouri Republican, said. “And so that means it’s probably the right number.”Smith said there will be an increase…

Cambridge students had a chance to submit questions to Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis earlier this year. They wanted to know how they should focus their time in the age of AI.His advice? Spend your time “learning to learn.””I think really understanding — using the time you have as an undergraduate to understand yourself better, and how you learn best,” Hassabis said in an interview at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Adaptability is key, he added, “how to pick up new material really quickly and getting adept at that.” The AI executive said he believes that today’s college students will be entering…

A Ford mustang is seen at a used car dealership in Montebello, California on May 5, 2025. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty ImagesDETROIT — A closely watched barometer for used vehicle pricing jumped last month to its highest level since October 2023 as consumers rushed purchases amid fears of price hikes due to auto tariffs.Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index — which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale auctions — increased 4.9% last month compared with a year earlier to a level of 208.2.It also marked a 2.7% increase from March. That’s a…

Women working at small businesses have a higher likelihood of making it into upper management than women at larger employers, a new study shows.The disparity grows the longer women stay with one company. ADP Research found that 20% of women with eight years on the job who were employed at small businesses with fewer than 50 employees reported having upper management positions, compared to 8% of women at larger businesses.”We see two possible explanations for this finding,” the report said. “First, large employers have many layers of leadership, while smaller ones are flatter. Upper management at a small employer might…

Inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts are headed up in 2026, according to the Internal Revenue Service, though not at levels seen in recent years.The agency said for calendar year 2026, the annual limitation on deductions for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan will be $4,400, up from $4,300 this year.Among other increases for 2026:The annual limitation on deductions for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $8,750, up from $8,550 in 2023. A “high deductible health plan” will be a plan with an annual deductible that is not less than…

A new Disney theme park is coming to Abu Dhabi.The Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with immersive destination and experiences company Miral to bring a park and resort to Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates.This will be Disney’s seventh theme park resort and it will be fully developed and built by Miral. Disney’s imagineers will lead creative design and operational oversight on the project. The entertainment giant will not be investing capital in the project, but will reap the benefits of royalties.The development in Abu Dhabi is not part of the $60 billion that…

The New York Stock Exchange is seen during morning trading on July 31, 2024 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLast year, banks quickly raised interest rates to record levels and added new monthly fees on credit cards when a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule threatened a key revenue source for the industry.Now, they’re far more reluctant to reverse those steps, even after bank trade groups succeeded in killing the CFPB rule in federal court last month.Synchrony and Bread Financial, two of the biggest players in the business of issuing branded credit cards for the likes…

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today’s top stories The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday allowed the Trump administration to start executing its ban on transgender military service members. Trump signed an executive order shortly after his second term banning transgender individuals from serving in the military. The new policy mimics a previous ban established during the president’s first term. The Supreme Court allowed the policy to remain in place in 2019, but it was reversed when…