Tech
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Byte_Bear
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Costco Thrives, Defying Trump's DEI Directive

Senators Urge Regulator to Avoid Prediction Market Lawsuits Amid Growing Controversies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A group of 23 Democratic U.S. senators urged the top federal regulator overseeing prediction markets to stay out of pending court cases concerning the legality of offerings on these platforms, according to a report from Wired. The senators' letter, sent Friday, comes as prediction markets have exploded in popularity, attracting a mainstream audience eager to wager on various events, including geopolitical conflicts and sports.

Prediction markets, which sell contracts tied to the outcome of real-world developments, have become increasingly popular over the past year. However, their expansion has led to ethical and legal controversies. For example, Israeli authorities announced the arrest of two individuals on suspicion of wrongdoing related to these markets.

Meanwhile, in other news, Costco has become a test case for whether businesses can defy political pressure and still succeed. While competitors like Target and Walmart have scaled back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in response to pressure from the Trump administration, Costco has largely maintained its DEI commitments, and its business is thriving, according to Fortune. The day after returning to the White House, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to investigate DEI efforts at major corporations. Costco's board and CEO have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitment to DEI.

In economic news, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report released Thursday found that Americans are bearing the brunt of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The report, using data through November 2025, indicated that Americans paid for nearly 90% of the tariffs in 2025, including 94% of the levies from January to August of that year. "Our results show that the bulk of the tariff incidence continues to fall on U.S. firms and consumers," the economists wrote, according to Fortune.

In other developments, Marc Andreessen's 2011 prediction that software would "eat the world" has been fulfilled in an unexpected way, according to Fortune. Andreessen predicted software companies would take over large swaths of the industry, and it did, but the market got a $1 trillion shock in February because something was eating software.

Finally, in the realm of public health, Jim O'Neill, the US deputy health secretary, discussed plans to increase human healthspan through longevity-focused research supported by ARPA-H, a federal agency dedicated to biomedical research, according to MIT Technology Review. O'Neill oversaw a department with a budget of over a trillion dollars and signed the decision memorandum on the US's new vaccine schedule.

AI-Assisted Journalism

This article was generated with AI assistance, synthesizing reporting from multiple credible news sources. Our editorial team reviews AI-generated content for accuracy.

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