26 Oct 2026
Modern Retail
Retailers are hiring selectively for a record holiday season. Marketing professor Savannah Shi says flexible, targeted staffing helps them protect margins while price-sensitive shoppers wait for deals.
Retailers are hiring selectively for a record holiday season. Marketing professor Savannah Shi says flexible, targeted staffing helps them protect margins while price-sensitive shoppers wait for deals.
The Markkula Center’s Brian Patrick Green says Anthropic’s choice of a lab-connected auditor is better than no oversight, but true independence may require “watching the watchers.”
Pope Leo XIV’s open handling of his cancer surgery reflects American-style best practices, says Julie Hanlon Rubio of the Jesuit School of Theology.
After backlash, Meta narrowed business terms that let it scrape sites for AI training. Law School professor Eric Goldman says the revision is still vague and overbroad, noting that it doesn’t commit Meta to honoring robots.txt.
The Markkula Center’s Ann Skeet says Congress should ask questions about Trump’s pick to lead a $201 million Caucasus fund, who holds major business stakes in the region it serves. (Subscription required.)
Tech companies are giving AI assistants cute mascots like Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots. Communications faculty Heather Turner says the cuteness makes users more forgiving of mistakes and more willing to hand over personal data.
The Markkula Center’s Davina Hurt warns that Speaker Mike Johnson’s wife’s ministry to congressional staffers, whose funding is undisclosed, could pressure young aides to participate because of the power imbalance.
Strategic management professor Tammy Madsen warns that as Skydance seeks $6 billion in merger savings, cutting too deep into creative roles risks “killing the value” it just bought.
Jeannette Estruth (History) says Americans’ wariness of data centers echoes 1980s Silicon Valley coalitions that forced chemical regulations, suggesting communities can push back again.
Jesuit School of Theology Dean Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J., and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Technology Director Brian Patrick Green argue that synodality is a model for convening people of good will around AI, as Pope Leo has urged.
Markkula Center’s Irina Raicu writes, “Your kids, students and neighbors are being worn down for little pay and no security while AI firms benefit from their work.”
Environmental Science Professor Iris Stewart-Frey says new disclosure bills headed to Newsom’s desk could help rebuild public trust in the industry.
