Deep-dive stories

The stories behind the trends, tracking developments reshaping how people and industries work.

  1. EtherFi pushes mainstream superapp banking upgrade

    EtherFi is shaking up DeFi by transforming from a crypto-native neobank into a mainstream-ready super app that puts yield, tokenized stocks, and one-click credit lines in the hands of everyday users.

  2. AppLovin’s AI ad surge shakes up e-commerce giants

    AppLovin has exploded out of its gaming niche to take on digital ad giants with an AI-powered platform that’s rewriting the rules of e-commerce advertising—and it’s already raking in record profits.

  3. Credit card rewards shift to essentials as debt soars

    As credit card debt and delinquencies hit record highs, issuers are pivoting rewards toward everyday essentials—turning survival, not splurging, into the new normal.

  4. DLocal doubles down on emerging markets despite margin squeeze

    DLocal is betting big on emerging markets, slashing margins to dominate cross-border payments where Visa and Mastercard can’t compete.

  5. Pentagon rethinks drone war as cost crisis deepens

    The Pentagon is scrambling to reinvent drone warfare after cheap Iranian drones exposed the unsustainable cost of shooting down $25,000 threats with $4 million missiles.

  6. ASX dividend stocks face rising cash rates

    ASX dividend heavyweights are battling it out with surging cash rates, forcing retirees to rethink where their income truly stacks up.

  7. Alibaba’s open qwen3.8-max shakes up AI market dynamics

    Alibaba’s open-weight Qwen3.8-Max—a 2.4 trillion-parameter, multimodal AI model with a million-token context window—is crashing the party and rewriting the rules of frontier AI competition.

  8. Yelp bets big on AI, but Wall Street stays wary

    Yelp is doubling down on AI partnerships and products to offset shrinking ad revenue—but Wall Street’s not convinced the gamble will pay off.

  9. AI recruiting slashes hiring time, but full integration lags

    AI recruiting has turbocharged hiring speed—slashing cycles by up to 90%—but most organizations are still struggling to fully weave AI into every corner of their recruitment process.

  10. Army, air force double down on counter-drone training

    The Army and Air Force are racing to outsmart hostile drones, overhauling training and doctrine to turn every soldier and Airman into a frontline counter-UAS defender.

  11. Schneider rides regulatory wave, but valuation jitters grow

    Schneider National is cashing in on a regulatory-fueled driver shortage, but sky-high valuations are making some investors pump the brakes.

  12. AI agents fuel crypto crime surge as regulators lag

    Autonomous AI agents are turbocharging crypto crime and insider data breaches, leaving sluggish regulators and overwhelmed banks scrambling to keep up.

  13. Bumble’s swipe-free gamble spurs debate on AI, authenticity

    Bumble’s dramatic ditching of swipes and women-first messaging is shaking up the online dating world, sparking fierce debate over whether AI can ever fuel real romance.

  14. Vietnam tightens AI and data laws, leaving ASEAN divided

    Vietnam’s sweeping new AI and data laws are setting a hard line on digital sovereignty—leaving ASEAN’s patchwork approach looking fractured and exposed.

  15. Marketers ditch clicks as AI upends attribution models

    Marketers are ditching last-click metrics as AI-driven zero-click searches and generative engines render traditional attribution models obsolete—forcing a radical rethink of how real brand impact gets measured.

  16. AI teammates transform product management—but most teams stall

    AI-powered teammates are shaking up product management, slashing prototyping and alignment from weeks to minutes—yet over 80% of teams are still stuck in the messy middle.

  17. Legal AI grows up: from hallucinations to fiduciary-grade trust

    After a $110,000 courtroom sanction exposed the dangers of AI-fabricated legal citations, the legal industry is racing to replace unreliable general-purpose AI with new platforms promising verifiable, defensible, and confidential results.

  18. Dillard’s tariff windfall fails to sway skeptical investors

    Dillard’s massive stock surge is losing steam as investors look past one-off tariff windfalls and focus on sinking earnings and stagnant growth.

  19. Malaysia’s AI bill faces trust, security, and innovation test

    Malaysia’s upcoming AI Governance Bill aims to juggle national innovation, public trust, and looming security threats as it sets the rules for all AI systems by 2026.

  20. Samsung ups the AI health game with galaxy watch 9 duo

    Samsung is raising the stakes in wearable health with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2, packing on-device AI that turns real-time biosignal analysis into your new always-on health coach.