BUSINESS HEADLINES

>>Tech Leaders Welcomed To The WH

(Washington, DC) — President Trump says he and AI tech leaders are renaming Artificial Intelligence “Super Intelligence.” That was one of the notes Trump shared with reporters after meeting Tuesday with top tech company CEOs at the White House for an AI summit. A big player in the AI game was not at the summit as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was at his company’s annual developer conference in San Francisco to announce a new AI product called Dots. The launch of Dots comes after OpenAI paused development on some of its internal models following some reported hacking incidents.

>>Oura Delays IPO

(San Francisco, CA) — Smart ring maker Oura is delaying its plans to go public. The company had been looking to raise more than two-billion-dollars and start trading on the Nasdaq today. But now Oura says it’s putting the IPO on hold because of uncertainty in the market despite what it says is strong demand. The company reported 500-million-dollars in revenue in 2024, a billion-dollars in 2025 and is expected to reach close to two-billion-dollars this year.

>>Disney Layoffs

(Burbank, CA) — Disney has conducted another round of layoffs. Multiple reports say the company laid off hundreds of employees on Tuesday for the third time since CEO Josh D’Amaro [[ duh-morrow ]] took over the role in March. Human resources and tech were the hardest hit departments this time around. In a letter to shareholders last month, D’Amaro said the company remains focused on reducing costs. Disney has also offered early-retirement packages to longtime executives.

>>Florida’s Minimum Wage Rises To $15/Hour

(Undated) — Florida workers are about to see another bump in their paychecks. The state’s minimum wage rises to 15 dollars an hour today. It comes after voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2020. The measure called for annual increases until the minimum wage eventually hit 15 dollars an hour. There are those who argue it’s not enough as some economists estimate a “living wage” would be about 48-dollars per hour on average.

>>Georgia Tech Tops List Of Best Value Colleges

(New York, NY) — A new ranking says the public university that gives students the best return on their investment is Georgia Tech. The Princeton Review has released its annual list ranking the Top 50 Best Value Colleges. For the fourth year in a row, Georgia Tech took the top spot among public schools with a score of 95 out of 99. Schools are measured on financial aid offerings, overall college costs and academic rating. Number two on the best value list is the University of Virginia. Number three is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

>>McDonald’s Launches Media Network

(Chicago, IL) — McDonald’s is testing a new advertising network. The pilot is underway at 450 company-owned U.S. locations, with ads appearing on drive-thru menu boards after customers’ orders. The company says the McDonald’s Media Network could expand to self-service kiosks and other screens, with a goal of generating a billion dollars in revenue. McDonald’s is following retailers like Amazon and Walmart, which already bring in billions from digital advertising. The move comes as McDonald’s plans to invest eight-point-five billion dollars through 2036 to modernize restaurants and expand its technology.