IDEMIA and Tahakom Boost Local Sourcing and Road Safety in KSA
IDEMIA Public Security and Saudi technology company Tahakom have partnered to enhance road safety in Saudi Arabia. The partnership focuses on assembly, AI, R&D, and knowledge transfer, with IDEMIA sourcing components and services, and Tahakom facilitating workshops.
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IDEMIA Public Security, the leading provider of secure and trusted biometric-based solutions, and Tahakom, the Saudi Technology and Security Comprehensive Control Company, are expanding their strategic partnership through the signing of an extensive agreement to develop and implement local sourcing and foster continued innovation to ensure safer roads in the Kingdom.
The new agreement marks a turning point in enhancing road safety in the Kingdom and moving a step closer to Saudi Vision 2030, which includes a significant focus on improving road safety, but also on making the country a global investment powerhouse through the development of local activities.
IDEMIA and Tahakom’s expanded collaboration aims to develop and implement local initiatives focused on sourcing, assembling, and servicing, in addition to leveraging each other’s expertise and capabilities within AI and research and development.
The signed agreement focuses on three core subjects:
- Assembly: With Tahakom’s commitment to local sourcing, IDEMIA will source components and services for their products from Saudi Arabia. In support of this, IDEMIA will establish a new entity, IDEMIA Road Safety Limited – Saudi Arabia, which will be specialized in assembling Road Safety products in Saudi Arabia and reinforce the use of local content by engaging with local suppliers and partners in the Kingdom whenever possible.
- Artificial Intelligence and Research & Development (R&D): IDEMIA’s R&D Team and Tahakom’s AI team will set up multiple workshops throughout the year to collaborate and share ideas surrounding AI and R&D advancements.
- Transfer of Knowledge: IDEMIA and Tahakom will focus on bringing experts around the globe to set up sessions around IDEMIA’s products and technologies and openly conduct and offer these sessions to Saudi Arabian citizens.
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Tahakom and support their commitment to local sourcing in Saudi Arabia,” shared Mazen Hamadallah, SVP, Road Safety, IDEMIA Public Security. “Together we continue to develop and implement initiatives that will drive maximum benefit and impact on our communities, while enhancing operational efficiency and sustainability. This agreement is not only a testament to Tahakom and IDEMIA’s dedication to ensure safer roads in the Kingdom, but also to our commitment to leveraging local expertise and resources and aligning to the Saudi Vision 2030 set by the Kingdom.”
As IDEMIA and Tahakom work closely together on this new initiative, they aim to set up a program to improve local content while working on product localization, strengthening the local workforce, and sharing knowledge and research on local content. They will also be exploring other potential areas to expand into in the future.
Office perks are disappearing as companies tighten costs and lean into AI-driven efficiency, leaving many employees feeling overworked, undervalued, and increasingly disengaged from workplace culture.
As the warmer season sets in, Parmigiani Fleurier unveils the TONDA PF Sport Chronograph Silver Verzasca—a refined fusion of high-frequency mechanical precision and understated sporting elegance. Inspired by Switzerland’s Verzasca Valley, the timepiece balances performance and design, featuring a COSC-certified automatic chronograph and a sleek steel case that embodies functional luxury at its finest.
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Greece plans to ban social media for children under 15 starting next year, joining a growing global push to restrict youth access amid concerns over harmful content and addictive algorithms, as governments from Australia to Spain and across Europe move toward stricter regulations on platforms used by minors.
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Greece plans to ban social media for children under the age of 15 from next year, joining a growing list of countries that are weighing or enforcing restrictions to shield younger users from what they see as potentially harmful content.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the plan in a TikTok video on Wednesday, saying the decision was difficult but necessary as children spent long hours glued to their screens and faced growing pressure to compare themselves to others.
“Greece will be among the first countries to take such an initiative, but I am sure that it won’t be the last,” Mitsotakis said. “Our goal is to push the European Union in this direction.”
The move—part of a broad crackdown to restrict social media access for younger users—comes months after Australia became the first country in the world to enact a ban on social media for under 16s, triggering a lawsuit from Reddit.
Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram as well as Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube were included in the Australian ban, which garnered mixed reactions from parents, teenagers and influencers.
Since then, several governments around the world have considered banning or have introduced legislation to ban social media for certain age groups of minors. Earlier this year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid planned to regulate social media access for children under the age of 16 by rolling out age-verification checks.
Elsewhere in Europe, lawmakers across Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the U.K. have spoken in favor of restricting social media access for different age groups of youths. In Asia, Indonesia recently began restricting children under 16 from accessing social media, while in the U.S., Florida is enforcing a ban on social-media use under the age of 14.
Bans, or plans to curtail access to platforms, show that social-media companies face growing criticism from governments and regulators that say they aren’t doing enough to protect younger users from potentially harmful content that might pop up on their feeds because of addictive algorithms.
Last month, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, launched an investigation into Snapchat’s compliance with child-protection rules, saying the company might have exposed minors to grooming attempts, recruitment for criminal purposes and information on the sale of drugs or age-restricted products like alcohol and vapes.
Officials also said Snapchat relied on age self-declaration that didn’t effectively prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing its platform. The company said its platform was designed with privacy and safety built in from the start and that it would work closely with the commission throughout the investigation.
The EU has been piloting an age-verification app that it says enables users to prove that they are over 18 when they attempt to access adult content. That app is currently being tested with member states, online platforms and other third parties.
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Skyscanner has launched its app in ChatGPT, allowing travelers in the Middle East to search, compare, and book flights through simple, conversational queries—bringing live pricing, flexible options, and a more intuitive trip planning experience into one seamless flow.
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Skyscanner, a global leader in travel, has launched the Skyscanner app in ChatGPT, enabling travelers in the Middle East to search and find the best possible options and price choices for flights in ChatGPT. Using the Skyscanner app in ChatGPT will feel like planning a trip in a natural conversation, with live results when you need them.
Travelers simply access and install the Skyscanner App in the ChatGPT App store and then start searching in ChatGPT by saying something simple like, “@skyscanner find me the cheapest flight to New York in December” for global flight options from Skyscanner, which are easily and visually displayed for the user.
From there, users will be able use the Skyscanner app to compare flight options and prices and adjust dates or airports with a quick message. It’s the Skyscanner logic and prices people trust, wrapped into a more intuitive, conversational flow.
Skyscanner is the travel app that 160M travelers rely on a month to find the best and most relevant prices on airlines. It gives travelers clear comparisons and price transparency building strong global brand trust.
“We’ve been at the forefront of cutting-edge flight search, ensuring that travelers have all the right tools to reduce friction and give them more confidence to find the right flight for them. Travelers in the Middle East can now access the Skyscanner app in ChatGPT to search for the best options and flight prices for their trip.” said Piero Sierra, Skyscanner’s Chief AI Officer, who is leading Skyscanner’s AI strategy for travel.
Separately, the company is also using AI to enhance the traveller experience across other points of the traveler journey, to reduce friction and enhance confidence when travelers are searching for their trip.
Artificial intelligence is powering Skyscanner’s car hire and hotel chatbots on its own platform which give conversational experiences to delivering faster, higher quality decisions for travelers. AI is also powering ‘Football Flight finder’ on its site which helps football fans planning their trip to the World Cup find their best flight. From the opening matches to the final whistle, ‘Football Flight finder’ simplifies multi-city travel by showing fans the best-value routes, track fare drops as fixtures are released and makes every leg of the journey easier, so travelers can eat, sleep and play like the pros.
Chief AI Officer Piero Sierra concludes, “We’ll continue evolving travel search beyond form-fills toward dynamic, answer-led experiences. We’ll scale natural language search with explainability, and expand agentic scenarios only where trust and economics work. Success in AI will be defined by better decisions and earned traveler trust.”
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Their careers spanned the personal computing, internet and smartphone waves. But some older workers see AI’s arrival as the cue to exit.
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Luke Michel has already lived through two technology overhauls in his career, first desktop publishing in the 1980s and online publishing later on. But AI? He’s had enough.
So when his employer, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, made an early-retirement offer to some staff last year, the 68-year-old content strategist decided to speed up his exit. Before, he had expected to work a couple more years.
“The time and energy you have to devote to learning a whole new vocabulary and a whole new skill set, it wasn’t worth it,” he said.
It isn’t that he’s shunning artificial intelligence—he is learning Spanish with the help of Anthropic’s Claude. But, at this point, he’s less than eager to endure all the ways the technology promises to upend work.
“I just want to use it for my own purposes and not someone else’s,” he said.
After rising for decades and then hovering around 40% in the 2010s, the share of Americans over 55 years old in the workforce has slipped to 37.2%, the lowest level in more than 20 years.
The financial cushion of rising home equity and stock-market returns is driving some of the decline, economists and retirement advisers say.
But for some older professionals, money is only part of the equation.
They say they don’t want to spend the last years of their career going through the tumult of AI adoption, which has brought new tools, new expectations and a lot of uncertainty.
Many people retire when key elements of their work lives are disrupted at once, said Robert Laura , co-founder of the Retirement Coaches Association and an expert on the psychology of retirement.
“Maybe their autonomy is being challenged or changed, their friends are leaving the workplace, or they disagree with the company’s direction,” he said.
“When two or three of these things show up, that’s when people start to opt out.”
“AI is a big one,” he adds. “It disrupts their autonomy, their professionalism.”
Michel, whose work required overseeing and strategizing on website content, has been here before.
When desktop publishing arrived in the 1980s, he was a graphic designer using triangles and rubber cement.
The internet’s arrival changed everything again. Both developments required new skills, and he was energized by the challenge of learning alongside colleagues and peers.
It felt different this time around. “Your battery doesn’t hold a charge as long as it used to,” he said.
He would rather spend his energy volunteering, making art, going to operas and chairing the Council on Aging in North Andover, Mass., where he lives.
In an AARP survey last summer of 5,000 people 50 and over, 25% of those who planned to retire sooner than expected counted work stress and burnout as factors.
About half of those retired said they had left work at least partly because they had the financial security to do so.
In general, older Americans are less likely than younger counterparts to use AI, research shows.
About 30% of people from ages 30 to 49 said they used ChatGPT on the job, nearly double the share of those 50 and older, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey of more than 5,000 adults.
Baby boomers and members of Generation X also experienced the sharpest declines in confidence using AI technology, according to a ManpowerGroup survey of more than 13,900 workers in 19 countries.
“We as employers aren’t doing a good enough job saying (to older workers), we value the skills that you already have, so much so that we want to invest in you to help you do your job better,” says Becky Frankiewicz , ManpowerGroup’s chief strategy officer.
Jennifer Kerns’s misgivings about AI contributed to her departure last month from GitHub, where the 60-year-old worked as a program manager.
Coming from a family of artists, she said, it offends her that AI models train on the creative work of people who aren’t compensated for their intellectual property. And she worries about AI’s effect on people’s critical-thinking skills.
So she was dismayed when GitHub, a Microsoft-owned hosting service for software projects, began investing heavily in AI products and expecting employees to incorporate AI into much of their work. In employee-engagement surveys, the company had begun asking them to rate their AI usage on a scale of 1 to 5.
When it came time to write reports and reviews, colleagues would suggest that she use ChatGPT.
“I’d be like, ‘I have no idea how to use that and I have no interest in using AI to write anything for me,’” she said.
It would have been more prudent to work until she was closer to Medicare eligibility, she said. But by waiting until her children were out of college and some of her stock grants had vested, the math worked.
Her first act as a nonworking person: a solo trip to Scotland, where she took a darning workshop and learned how to repair sweaters.
“The opposite of AI,” she said.
Employers already under pressure to cut workers—such as in the tech industry—may welcome some of these retirements, said Gad Levanon , chief economist at Burning Glass Institute, which studies labor-market data.
“The more people retire, the fewer they have to let go,” he said.
Some of the savviest tech users are also balking at sticking around for the AI upheaval. Terry Grimm, who worked in IT for 40 years, retired from his senior software consultant role at 65 last May.
His firm had just been acquired by a bigger firm, which meant learning and integrating the parent company’s AI and other tech tools into his work.
Until then, Grimm expected he might work a couple more years, though he felt that he probably had enough saved to retire.
“I just got to the point where I was spending 40 hours at work and then 20 hours training and studying,” said Grimm, who has since moved with his wife from the Dallas area to a housing development on a golf course in El Dorado, Ark.
“I’m like, ‘I’ll let the younger guys do this.’”
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Office perks are disappearing as companies tighten costs and lean into AI-driven efficiency, leaving many employees feeling overworked, undervalued, and increasingly disengaged from workplace culture.
4 minFor employees at a Dell Technologies office, mornings used to start with a tiny dose of joy. The office coffee machines doled out free daily espresso shots, a small perk that workers relished.
Then came the buzz kill: Last year the company started charging staffers a fee every time they used the machine.
The cost, while small, felt like what one worker described as the “cherry on top” of a demoralizing work culture beset by layoffs and overwhelming workloads.
“Honestly, it feels like a funeral in the office right now,” said the employee, who pointed out that the coffee was just OK.
Dell said it is committed to supporting the well-being of its workforce.
The coffee squeeze is emblematic of a broader malaise sweeping office life at American companies, which appear to be in a race to find inefficiencies and cut costs. The curtailing of perks, from offsites to travel, is happening against the backdrop of an artificial intelligence push that employees say seems aimed at squeezing more work out of fewer people.
The upshot, many employees say, is that work has been stripped of fun.
“There’s almost nobody who is feeling positive vibes about their job right now,” said Rocco Seyboth, a longtime software marketer outside Seattle. “We’re in the AI dread era.”
Seyboth, 45, said when he started his career, the technology industry still offered plenty to excite him. Companies were growing and bosses were lavishing ever-higher pay and perks. As his career took him from startups to larger companies like Amazon, Seyboth had a realization: Work was rather miserable.
“Everyone I talked to is consumed by AI—either how to use it, how to pretend to use it, how much they hate using it, how it’s going to eliminate their position or their company’s product,” he said.
Middle managers say they’re on the front lines of the war on fun.
Once used to overseeing a handful of people, they now have far bigger teams. The average manager had roughly 12 direct reports last year, according to Gallup, a nearly 50% jump from when the firm first measured the figure in 2013. AI has changed expectations about productivity, too.
Once-reliable career paths—from business school to consulting, for instance—now look shakier.
“All the conveyor belts are broken,” said Suzy Welch, a management professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, at a recent symposium on purpose and flourishing.
Companies are tightening scrutiny of employee expenses, meaning certain niceties are disappearing, too.
At banking software company Q2 Holdings in Austin, finance chief Jonathan Price told employees the company was taking aim at nonessential expenses that were too often wasteful, part of a larger effort to control costs. The company placed a $100 cap on a single wine-bottle purchase when entertaining clients, in part because employees were spending far more. “We’re not talking about $150 or $200 either,” said Price.
Nonessential expenses fell by over 25% in February compared with a year earlier, he said.
Chief financial officers at large U.S. companies mentioned “efficiency” at least once on 307 conference calls in the latest quarter as of March 26, up from 219 a year earlier and the highest level since at least 2020, according to AlphaSense.
Executives say it’s a delicate balance in gauging what perks, if any, to eliminate. Trimming the wine budget is one thing; touching the office snacks, like bananas or Kind bars, can be a no-go.
“You can cut too far or make people feel less valued in the workplace and they’ll just go work for the competition,” said Ken Bowles, CFO of packaging giant Smurfit Westrock.
Smurfit Westrock has been scrutinizing certain expenses following a 2024 merger, and said it surpassed its goal of $400 million in cost savings in its first full year after the deal.
The company said it asks employees to be sensible. “If someone is entertaining a customer and orders a nicer bottle of wine, that’s probably OK” in the context of the relationship, Bowles said. “But if he’s taking out the GM of a plant or controller and they’ve gone off and ordered Champagne for everybody, then you go, oh look, that’s a conversation.”
Bowles said in offices where the company struggled to retain workers postmerger, it added perks like refreshment fridges, with soft drinks, sparkling water and healthy snacks like fruit and cheese. “People do use them,” Bowles said.
Some companies stepped up perks, like better coffee and food, to encourage people to return to the office following the pandemic. But they’ve since swung back, said Bruce Daisley, a former executive at Twitter and YouTube who advises corporate leaders on culture. It’s leaving many workers with whiplash.
“Culture always outperforms every other variable in terms of what we want from the job,” Daisley said. “We typically join the job for pay, and we leave because the culture’s bad.”
Human-resources executives say they are aware of the concerns of the white-collar workforce.
“There’s fear in the workforce, maybe not feeling fulfilled in the jobs that they have,” said Jacqui Canney, chief people and AI enablement officer at the technology company ServiceNow. She said ServiceNow is training employees for new skills.
Seyboth, the technology employee, left his job at the software company Tango last year, and now regularly hears from former colleagues at a range of companies who are miserable. He now says he is retired from corporate life, freeing him to pursue new interests, like building a pool.
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Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
As the warmer season sets in, Parmigiani Fleurier unveils the TONDA PF Sport Chronograph Silver Verzasca—a refined fusion of high-frequency mechanical precision and understated sporting elegance. Inspired by Switzerland’s Verzasca Valley, the timepiece balances performance and design, featuring a COSC-certified automatic chronograph and a sleek steel case that embodies functional luxury at its finest.
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As the warmer season reshapes the horizon, Parmigiani Fleurier introduces a new interpretation within the TONDA PF Sport collection: the TONDA PF Sport Chronograph Silver Verzasca.
A high-frequency automatic chronograph housed in a 42 mm steel case and powered by the COSC-certified manufacture caliber PF070, this creation brings together mechanical mastery and sporting elegance in a balance that is unmistakably Parmigiani Fleurier.
It bears all the attributes of an instrument conceived for performance. Its 5 Hz frequency ensures exceptionally precise measurement of short intervals. Yet where it might appear as a purely technical device, the TONDA PF Sport Chronograph reveals another dimension: a sports watch defined by discreet elegance, where mechanical intensity meets a refined and perfectly controlled aesthetic.
THE SPIRIT OF VERZASCA: A LANDSCAPE OF MINERAL LIGHT
Its name evokes Switzerland’s Verzasca Valley, a singular landscape where alpine mineral clarity meets light of rare purity. Between rugged relief and a gentle climate, the region reveals a natural harmony that feels almost architectural.
At its heart runs the Verzasca, a river famed for its crystalline waters. Flowing between granite rocks polished by millennia of erosion, it captures and reflects the shifting sunlight with remarkable intensity. A kind of Alpine Riviera: spectacular nature, understated elegance and a culture shaped by life outdoors.
Rather than attempting to reproduce this landscape, the watch translates its balance; an art of living where precision, movement and contemplation meet.
PF070: A HIGH-FREQUENCY MANUFACTURE CHRONOGRAPH
At the heart of the timepiece beats the PF070 caliber: an automatic integrated chronograph developed within the Fleurier manufacture and certified by COSC.
Equipped with a column wheel: the most refined system for chronograph control; it oscillates at 36,000 vibrations per hour (5 Hz) and ensures remarkable chronometric stability together with exceptionally fine time measurement. Its power reserve extends to 65 hours.
Composed of 288 components and 42 jewels, the movement reveals through the sapphire caseback a refined construction: openworked, satin-finished bridges, hand-executed beveling and a skeletonized 22-carat rose gold oscillating weight, alternately polished and sandblasted.
THE DIAL: LIGHT SHAPED BY GEOMETRY
The dial features the Maison’s signature Clou triangulaire guilloché motif. This finely engraved micro-relief captures the light and transforms each movement of the wrist into a subtle play of reflections.
Against the silver-toned surface, Verzasca green accents structure the chronograph counters with clarity and evoke the mineral transparency of alpine waters.
The rhodium-plated 18-carat gold applied indices are set by hand and enhanced with a black luminescent coating to ensure legibility and contrast.
Skeletonized delta-shaped hands for hours and minutes extend the collection’s visual purity, while the chronograph and small seconds-hands introduce a discreet technical accent.
THE CASE: SCULPTED IN STEEL
The 42 mm case, crafted in polished and satin-finished stainless steel, is conceived as a study in proportion and precision. Satin surfaces interact with polished edges in a finely balanced alternation, revealing the tension of the lines and the clarity of the volumes.
The knurled bezel: an immediately recognizable Parmigiani Fleurier signature; captures reflections with rhythmic regularity and introduces a tactile dimension to the watch. Historically associated with functional instruments, this knurling enhances grip and subtly anchors the piece within the world of technical timekeeping.
The case middle naturally integrates the chronograph pushers, while the screw-down crown ensures water resistance to 100 meters.
THE RUBBER STRAP: CRAFT AND PERFORMANCE
The rubber strap reflects a thoughtful exploration of contemporary materials applied to traditional craftsmanship.
Its multi-layer construction draws inspiration from fine saddlery techniques: a rubber base coated with a textile-like surface; reinforced by a structural intermediate layer; and completed by an outer layer that provides depth and refinement.
Between these layers sits a tear-resistant technical membrane: borrowed from high-performance industries; ensuring long-term structural stability and durability.
This construction gives the strap its gently curved profile, allowing it to follow the natural contour of the wrist while offering a level of comfort rarely achieved in this category of sports watches.
DISCREET EXPRESSION OF PERFORMANCE
The TONDA PF Sport Chronograph Silver Verzasca embodies a demanding vision of the sports chronograph: a timekeeping instrument that never relinquishes its aesthetic ambition, and an object of style firmly grounded in mechanical excellence. It is conceived for those who view watchmaking not as ornament, but as a companion present in moments of effort as well as in quieter interludes; equally at ease on a mountain trail as at an exceptional dining table.
In the tradition of Michel Parmigiani, a master restorer of historic clocks before founding the Manufacture, each creation of the Maison is designed to endure and accompany generations.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Four one-off Cullinan commissions draw on the design language of yachting, blending marine craftsmanship with Rolls-Royce’s signature bespoke detailing.
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Rolls-Royce has revealed a new series of bespoke Cullinan motor cars inspired by the world of yachting, with four individually commissioned vehicles reflecting the materials, movement and design codes of life at sea.
Presented at Goodwood in the UK, the Cullinan Yachting collection comprises four one-off vehicles themed around the cardinal directions, North, South, East and West, each expressed through distinct exterior finishes and interior detailing.
The commissions lean heavily into maritime influence, a space Rolls-Royce says is closely aligned with its global client base.
Each vehicle features marine-grade teak, hand-painted fascia artwork inspired by the wake of a tender cutting through water, and intricate marquetry compass motifs made from more than 40 individual pieces of wood veneer.
Hand-painted elements have become an increasingly sought-after feature among Rolls-Royce clients, with the brand employing dedicated artisans to develop bespoke interior compositions.
For the Cullinan Yachting series, the painted wake effect required months of experimentation to achieve a natural sense of movement.
Inside, the vehicles are finished in Arctic White and Navy Blue leather, with hand-stitched detailing designed to echo the structure of nautical ropework. A signature Rolls-Royce Starlight
Headliner has also been reimagined, with fibre-optic constellations arranged to reflect Mediterranean wind patterns.
Each car’s exterior colour has been developed to align with its directional theme, ranging from lighter blue tones evoking northern waters to deeper hues referencing warmer southern seas and storm-lit horizons.
Rolls-Royce said the collection reflects a longstanding relationship between the marque and the world of yachting, dating back to its co-founder Charles Rolls, whose family owned a steam yacht and travelled extensively through the Mediterranean.
The release underscores the growing demand for highly personalised vehicles among ultra-high-net-worth buyers, with Rolls-Royce increasingly positioning its cars as part of a broader luxury lifestyle that extends beyond the road.
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Interior designer Thomas Hamel on where it goes wrong in so many homes.
A jury in Los Angeles held Meta Platforms and YouTube liable in a $6 million case tied to a young woman’s struggles, marking the first of thousands of similar lawsuits, as plaintiffs argue platform design features caused harm while critics warn the case challenges protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and oversimplifies the complex link between social media and youth mental health.
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A Los Angeles jury held Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube liable for a 20-year-old woman’s personal troubles. The schadenfreude will be overwhelming—nail the billionaires! But using a novel product liability theory to shake down companies won’t help young people and isn’t a good way to make law.
The $6 million verdict against the two companies is the first of more than 3,000 lawsuits pending in California courts that seek to hold social-media companies liable for the travails of young people. School districts and more than 40 state Attorneys General have also sued for damages to compensate for social problems allegedly caused by the platforms.
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects internet platforms from being held liable for harm caused by user-generated content. But plaintiffs are trying to dodge that law by arguing the platforms were negligent in how they designed their sites. They claim that features like so-called infinite scrolling and “like” buttons—not user posts per se—harm children. Whether this theory trumps Section 230 will be the main issue on appeal, and the platforms have a strong case.
Trial lawyers are also trying to copy the Big Tobacco playbook by arguing that company executives concealed knowledge that their sites are addictive and deleterious to kids. “This case is as easy as ABC,” lead trial attorney Mark Lanier told the jury. “Addicting, brains, children,” adding companies “didn’t just build apps, they built traps.”
The reality is that the link between youth mental health and social media is complicated. Take the 20-year-old plaintiff identified by the initials K.G.M. in the Wednesday case. She said she started using YouTube at age six and Instagram when she was nine. Both require users to be at least 13 years old, so she broke platform rules and bypassed controls.
She says her compulsive use of social media made her “feel very depressed” and that unrealistic images she saw on the platforms made her feel insecure about her appearance. But are platforms supposed to prohibit users from posting photos that might make someone feel depressed or insecure? Sorry, Californians, no posting beach photos in December.
She was also exposed to domestic abuse as a young child, which studies show can increase vulnerability to mental illness. Studies show that parenting plays a critical role in mediating and mitigating the impact of social media. Most children who use social media don’t experience severe problems.
There’s no doubt that increasing teen use of social media and smartphones over the last 15 years has coincided with rising levels of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. But it’s hard if not impossible to prove that social media caused any given individual’s troubles, let alone apportion liability among the platforms.
It’s also only recently that social scientists and policy makers have honed in on social media’s impact on youth mental health. The evidence presented at trial that executives purposefully designed the platforms to be addictive was weak. The trial lawyers’ best argument is that platforms should have done more to limit compulsive teen use.
But companies aren’t required to design products to prevent abuse or excessive consumption. A jury in New Mexico on Tuesday nonetheless found Meta liable in a separate case brought by the state AG for $375 million for failing to protect young people from online dangers. The temptation to find corporate scapegoats for social ills is great.
Congress for years has debated legislation to protect teens online, including stronger parental controls and privacy settings. But lawmakers have punted because, well, it’s easier to beat up Big Tech. Some Members also demand that any legislation include a right of private action that would let trial attorneys loot the companies.
Which is what these lawsuits are really about. Trial lawyers will now use the L.A. verdict in advertisements to recruit more plaintiffs. They may even use the social-media platforms to advertise. Unemployed? Depressed? Spend your Friday nights scrolling? You could make big money by holding billionaires responsible for your problems.
Trial lawyers and juries may figure that Big Tech companies can afford to pay, but extorting companies is certain to have downstream consequences. Meta and Google are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence this year, which could have positive social impacts such as accelerating treatments for cancer.
The social-media shakedown is a victory for the plaintiffs bar—not for children or society.
New research suggests that bonuses make employees feel more like a mere cog in a wheel.
Following the devastation of recent flooding, experts are urging government intervention to drive the cessation of building in areas at risk.
Qatari billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani invests in German startup Neura Robotics, joining Amazon and Tether in a €1 billion funding round to back cognitive robotics innovation.
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Qatari billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani has invested in Neura Robotics, a German startup that develops cognitive robots.
Al Thani is among the investors who participated in the German firm’s massive funding round, along with Amazon, according to Bloomberg.
Neura’s corporate registry filings reportedly named the former Prime Minister of Qatar as a shareholder via a unit of his holding firm Prime Capital SA.
Prime Capital is a private investment vehicle based in Luxembourg that oversees the billionaire’s international portfolio, which includes real estate and banking.
Neura Robotics raised approximately 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in its funding round led by stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings.
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveils the Coachbuild Collection — a new era of one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-repeated motor cars, with the first fully electric creation set to debut in April 2026.
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In response to global client demand, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announces the Coachbuild Collection: an entirely new proposition in super-luxury, in which a true coachbuilt motor car and an extraordinary multi-year program of experiences are conceived as one. Each Coachbuild Collection is rare and extravagant, authored entirely by Rolls-Royce and created on a completely new canvas, never to be repeated. Clients with a special affinity for the marque are invited to participate in the program through the global Rolls-Royce Private Office network.
AN UNPRECEDENTED COACHBUILDING LEGACY
Coachbuilding has been central to Rolls-Royce since the marque was founded. In the earliest years, a rolling chassis was delivered to specialist coachbuilders, who would design and construct a body of almost any form to the client’s precise requirements – similar to commissioning a suit on Savile Row or a dress from a Paris couturier. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce introduced one critical constraint: fixed proportions around the radiator ensured every motor car remained unmistakably a Rolls-Royce. That discipline endures today, enabling creative freedom while preserving an identity more than 120 years in the making.
THE WORLD’S MOST DESIGN-LITERATE COLLECTORS
The announcement of landmark coachbuilt motor cars in the Goodwood era – Sweptail in 2017, Boat Tail in 2021, Droptail in 2023 – deepened the affinity that the world’s most influential collectors had long held for Rolls-Royce design. For a significant and growing number among them, admiration evolved into something more.
What distinguished this group was the nature of their ambition. They were not seeking to direct the design process themselves. Instead, they were fascinated by the idea of entrusting Rolls-Royce to create something entirely of its own – to see what would emerge when the marque expressed its design principles with the total freedom of coachbuilding. This dialogue, sustained over years and geographies, became the foundation of the Coachbuild Collection.
THE COACHBUILD COLLECTION PROGRAMME
A Coachbuild Collection begins with a true coachbuilt motor car: a wholly unique body style formed, built and handcrafted by Rolls-Royce’s Coachbuild department. These motor cars will be fully homologated, road-legal, and created to be driven. Each Coachbuild Collection will be strictly limited in number and will never be repeated. Those clients known to have a special affinity for the Rolls-Royce brand, and who the marque believes would be fascinated to be part of such a remarkable project, are invited to participate in the program through the marque’s global Private Office network: unique, creative and social spaces, located in Dubai, Seoul, Shanghai, New York, and at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood.
Rolls-Royce recognised that the collectors drawn to this proposition are equally collectors of singular experiences, and conceived a program of equal ambition to reflect this. For the first Coachbuild Collection, clients will be granted exclusive access to closed testing facilities, witnessing the motor car’s development across performance and climate extremes. They will travel to locations chosen for their deep connection to this motor car’s story. They will be granted rare access to the innermost design studios within Rolls-Royce. They will be welcomed into the ateliers of master craftspeople from adjacent worlds within super-luxury, whose dedication to perfection mirrors that of Rolls-Royce itself. Clients will also gather in the world’s most desirable destinations for remarkable, curated private events at which the designers behind each Coachbuild Collection will share the inspirations and convictions that shaped it.
THE FIRST COACHBUILD COLLECTION
The design and engineering treatment of a Rolls-Royce Coachbuild Collection – as well as the number of motor cars produced, the features within them, and the experiences that participation unlocks – is not fixed and will be curated to serve the singular vision of each Collection.
The first Rolls-Royce Coachbuild Collection will be a fully electric motor car, reflecting the passion that so many clients have for a fully electric Rolls-Royce. Many of the collectors who inspired the Coachbuild Collections program are existing Spectre owners who celebrate how its electric powertrain elevates the Rolls-Royce experience. For these individuals, the question of how the first Coachbuild Collection should be powered had only one answer. That so many of the world’s most exacting collectors responded this way is the most authentic measure of what Rolls-Royce has achieved with electrification.
“Coachbuild Collection clients seek to experience at the absolute pinnacle of our craft. What we will reveal in April is an extraordinary expression of contemporary Rolls-Royce coachbuilding, extravagant and yet silent.” – Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The inaugural Coachbuild Collection represents a deeply considered first statement – one shaped as much by the convictions of its collectors as by the marque itself. Further details will be announced in April 2026.
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
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The current BMW i5 electric sedan has an official range of 278 to 310 miles, and it might be closer to 250 to 270 in the real world.
That is why the coming 2027 BMW i3 50 xDrive—the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year and just revealed to the world—is such a game changer.
The range is estimated at 440 miles, beating most EVs on the road now, and it is coupled with exciting performance, including zero-to-60 estimated at 3.8 seconds and an impressive 463 horsepower (with 476 pound-feet of torque) from a pair of electric motors, delivering xDrive to all four wheels.
A single-motor version is down the road. The price isn’t out yet, but it is likely to begin between US$55,000 and $65,000.
If sedans aren’t your thing, the electric 3-Series will also be offered as an approximately $60,000 iX3 crossover SUV, which has a similar powertrain and performance.
The twin-motor iX3 50 xDrive has a slightly lower 400 miles of range, due in part to its less-aerodynamic shape compared with the i3. It is also not quite as speedy, getting to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds.
BMW design has been iffy lately, and virtually no one loves the cars with the huge kidney grilles, but the “Neue Klasse” turns the page, and the i3 and iX3 are both strikingly handsome.
The i3 isn’t a particularly lightweight vehicle, at approximately 4,850 pounds, which is why both the i3 and iX3 need a huge 108-kilowatt-hour battery pack.
The drawback could be longer charge times, but up to 400-kilowatt plug ins are available here.
At a DC fast charger, a charge from 10% to 80% should take only 21 minutes.
A 19.2-kilowatt home charger is available. The pack supports standard bidirectional charging, which means it could theoretically provide power to your home during an outage.
A bonus is that the big battery can also supply 3,700 watts for whatever you have in mind, from tailgating to camping.
The cars share basic suspension, but on the sedan an adaptive M-branded suspension is available.
Both BMWs introduce the new Panoramic iDrive, which features an 18-inch touch screen angled at the driver.
Early users say it is incredibly responsive. Inside, the standard trim features Econeer upholstery that is 100% fabricated from recycled PET bottles.
M Design cars upgrade to black Veganza (aka vegan leather). The top trim is BMW Individual with black Merino leather.
It is standard for automakers to introduce their fully loaded models out of the gate, with the more bread-and-butter versions appearing later.
BMW is certainly doing that here, but i3s and iX3s priced below $50,000 are expected fairly soon.
The momentum for electrics has certainly slowed, but cars like these—offering performance, dynamics and features superior to the conventional alternatives—should help EVs get back on track.
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Tesla records first monthly sales growth in Europe in over a year, but faces rising competition from BYD.
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Tesla TSLA 3.50%increase; notched its first increase in European monthly sales in more than a year, a boost for Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker as it faces intense competition from Chinese auto giant BYD to win over customers in the region.
New-car registrations for Tesla models, a reflection of sales, grew nearly 12% on year in February to 17,664 units across the European Union, the U.K., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, an industry body also known as ACEA. In the EU alone, sales climbed 29% from a year earlier.
The figure shows that Tesla remains a key contender for European drivers in need of electric vehicles despite a monthslong slump in sales. Tesla hadn’t logged an increase in monthly new-car registrations in Europe since December 2024, according to ACEA data.
The group faced customer backlash last year due to Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration: The billionaire had been overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency before leaving the administration in late May.
Meanwhile, competition from Chinese rival BYD, with its lineup of electric and hybrid vehicles, gained intensity in Europe. BYD sales have surged every month since ACEA began including the company in its data last summer, showing it grow to become a fierce competitor of Tesla. BYD recently dethroned Tesla as the world’s biggest EV seller.
BYD’s new-car registrations in Europe nearly tripled last month to 17,954 units, outselling Tesla. Still, despite BYD’s success and Tesla’s recovery, ACEA figures show that domestic carmakers remain the top sellers in Europe in absolute numbers.
Germany’s Volkswagen reported a 2.2% increase in registrations to 256,452 vehicles last month, while sales for Jeep maker Stellantis increased 9.5% to 170,816 units, according to ACEA figures that include both electric and other types of vehicles.
Several carmakers have had to review their lineups and scale back EV production in recent years as they struggled to convince drivers to transition to electric. In February, Stellantis said it would book charges of about $26 billion as part of a shift away from electric vehicles amid weaker-than-expected demand.
The market for battery-electric vehicles in Europe grew nearly 16% last month. Registrations of hybrid-electric cars increased over 10%, while plug-in-hybrid models logged 33% growth.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
AWS services in Bahrain disrupted by drone activity, with customers being moved to alternate regions amid rising regional tensions.
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Amazon said its Amazon Web Services region in Bahrain has been “disrupted” amid the current conflict in the Middle East.
The disruption is due to drone activity in the area, an Amazon spokesperson said, following a Reuters inquiry. Reuters is first to report on the disruption.
Amazon said it is helping to migrate customers to alternate AWS regions while it recovers, though it did not provide additional details such as the extent of the damage or how long it anticipates the disruption to last.
“As this situation evolves and, as we have advised before, we request those with workloads in the affected regions continue to migrate to other locations,” Amazon said in a statement Monday night.
AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing unit and critical for the operation of many well-known websites and government operations. It is also the company’s main driver of profits.
The disruption marks the second time since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that AWS’ Bahrain region has been struck by drones. Earlier this month AWS reported that facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had been affected by power outages and it was working to recover.
Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Jordan and Bulgaria explore stronger agricultural cooperation, focusing on investment opportunities, technology exchange, and sustainable development to advance shared economic interests.
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Minister of Agriculture Saeb Khreisat and Bulgarian Ambassador Metin Kazak discussed prospects of cooperation across a range of agricultural fields.
The minister underscored the deep Jordanian-Bulgarian ties and stressed the need to build on these to advance cooperation in the agricultural sector to achieve shared interests, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The minister said, Jordan is a “favorable” environment for agricultural investment, urging “expanded” joint investment opportunities between the public and private sectors in both countries.
He highlighted the importance of exchanging agricultural products and cooperating in agricultural production inputs to support sustainable agricultural development.
Khreisat also discussed the possibility of Bulgarian agricultural companies taking part in events and activities held in Jordan, particularly those linked to European partnership frameworks.
The Bulgarian ambassador commended the level of relations with Jordan, and reaffirmed his country’s commitment to expanding cooperation across various sectors, particularly agriculture, through promoting expertise-sharing, technology transfer and joint investment.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Aimed at easing burdens and supporting supply chain continuity amid current challenges.
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Mwani Qatar has activated an exceptional package of facilitations in port tariffs, aimed at supporting the logistics sector and facilitating operational activities in the country.
It announced amendments to certain provisions of the port tariffs, in view of the exceptional circumstances currently impacting supply chains and the resulting operational and logistical challenges.
“This facilitation comes as part of the Ministry of Transport’s strategy to support the private sector and partnerships,” stated Mwani Qatar.
It further added that this initiative comes within the framework of Mwani Qatar commitment to reducing financial burdens on customers, providing suitable and flexible storage options that meet the needs of various sectors, and ensuring the continuity of import, export, and supply chain operations during this critical period.
Mwani Qatar also stated that this decision shall remain in effect throughout the exceptional phase until further notice.
Parts for iPhones to cost more owing to surging demand from AI companies.
Saudi Arabia advances power infrastructure ahead of Expo 2030 Riyadh, boosting grid capacity and urban development in the capital.
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Saudi Energy, a leading electricity producer in the kingdom, has invited bids for a key power infrastructure project as part of the upcoming Expo 2030 Riyadh.
The tender covers the development of three 132/13.8kV substations, along with associated works to interconnect the facilities with the national electricity grid.
It forms part of the broader infrastructure program aimed at ensuring reliable power supply for the large-scale international event.
The planned substations will support the electricity demand of the Expo site and surrounding developments, strengthening the transmission and distribution network in the host city of Riyadh.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is expected to drive significant infrastructure investments across power, transport, and utilities as the Kingdom prepares to host millions of visitors during the global exhibition. The new substations will play a key role in enhancing grid capacity and operational reliability for the event and future urban growth in the capital.
In another big development, Saudi Energy’s key unit Project Development Company said it has started removing electricity transmission towers on Prince Mohammed bin Salman Road and replacing them with underground cables.
This project comes in support of Sports Boulevard Foundation ‘s goals, a step that contributes to the development of the city’s urban landscape while maintaining the efficiency and sustainability of the energy infrastructure, it added.
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
