Reload launched its flagship product, Epic, this week, following a $2.275 million funding round to provide a management system for autonomous AI agents within software engineering teams. Reporting from TechCrunch indicates that Reload aims to transform ad hoc developer AI usage into a governed corporate system with specific permissions and persistent oversight. This shift is significant because the entity controlling the system of record for AI agents dictates how automated labor is tracked, audited, and integrated across disparate vendor models. Organizations currently face fragmentation as different agents perform isolated tasks
Fortune 500 companies cut public disclosure of diversity and inclusion efforts by 65% in 2026, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s latest Corporate Equality Index data. A press release from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), attributes the pullback to a political and regulatory environment that leaves corporate leaders unsure how to communicate DEI while meeting expectations from employees, shareholders, and consumers. The shift matters because disclosure operates as a market signal and a governance artifact. When firms reduce public reporting, workers and investors lose a standardized way to
Target’s new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, told employees in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, 2026, that he plans to rebuild customer and employee trust after the retailer’s pullback from DEI triggered backlash. Reporting from Bloomberg News shows Fiddelke used his first town hall to concede that Target “lost” trust and that leadership failed to communicate clearly in the moment. CNN reports that the credibility gap was tied to the dismantling of DEI commitments, including a program that helped Black-owned businesses secure shelf placement, plus the removal of minority hiring goals and the
Kevin Hart’s Gran Coramino tequila has generated about $200 million in cumulative retail sales since 2022, executives said on Yahoo Finance’s “Opening Bid.” Reporting from Yahoo Finance cites co-founder and liquor executive James Morrissey saying the brand produced $85 million in 2025 retail sales, sold 3.6 million bottles, and delivered nearly $2 million in weekly consumer-level sales in stores. Yahoo Finance also reported that Gran Coramino sold nearly 300,000 nine-liter cases in roughly three years, with about half of those cases attributed to 2025. The numbers matter because U.S. spirits
Nike faces a federal EEOC investigation in Missouri after the Trump administration moved in court on Feb. 4, 2026, to compel information tied to allegations of anti-white discrimination. Documents cited by The New York Times show the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which currently has a 2-1 Republican majority, seeks records on layoffs, hiring, internships, and career programs that it says may have treated white workers and applicants differently. The investigation matters because it tests how far large employers can use demographic targets and race-tracked development programs before regulators reframe
Dozens of AI “nudify” apps remain available on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, even as concerns mount over tools that can generate nonconsensual sexualized images, according to a new report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). A breakdown in platform moderation TTP identified 55 nudify apps on Google Play and 47 on Apple’s App Store, many of which can remove clothing from images of women or depict them as partially or fully nude. The report estimates these apps have been downloaded more than 705 million times and generated around
Google is rolling out Black History Month programming across Search, Play, TV, YouTube, Chrome, Meet, Maps, and Arts & Culture in the US throughout February. The campaign is anchored by a hip-hop–themed Google Doodle featuring a custom beat by Detroit rapper, singer, and producer Illa J. A Google Doodle sets the tone for Black History Month Google launched the campaign with a Doodle music video focused on the mechanics of hip-hop beat-making, using one of its most visible entry points to set the tone and route users into related experiences.
Paystack, the Nigerian fintech owned by Stripe, reorganized its businesses under a new holding company, The Stack Group, in Nigeria this week after reaching group profitability. The new structure places four businesses under TSG: Paystack’s core merchant payments business, the consumer payments app Zap, Paystack Microfinance Bank, and a venture studio known as TSG Labs. The shift reflects a strategic move to manage risk, regulation, and ownership across distinct financial products. A Holding Company Model to Contain Risk and Regulation By adopting a holding company structure, Paystack has separated payments,
Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging its Google Assistant recorded and shared users’ private conversations without consent. Google Settles Google Assistant Privacy Lawsuit A preliminary settlement was filed January 23 in federal court in San Jose, California, according to Reuters. Google did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to settle, citing the cost, risk, and uncertainty of prolonged litigation. The settlement includes $22.7 million in attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit centers on how voice assistants are engineered, deployed, and monetized. Plaintiffs alleged that Google Assistant
PayPal is returning to Nigeria through a new partnership with fintech company Paga, allowing individuals and businesses to receive international payments, withdraw funds in naira, and access PayPal’s global network after nearly two decades of restricted service, TechCabal reports. For the first time, Nigerians can receive PayPal funds directly into a locally regulated wallet at scale, rather than relying on workarounds and business‑only routes. From bans to local partners PayPal blocked Nigerians from receiving payments in 2004, citing fraud concerns, and for years offered only limited functionality. Nigerians could often
