Steffy Lee Simms and Jen Podany use AI to help run their solo ventures. Lila Lee, Matt Martian Williams for BI Two solopreneurs are using AI to make smarter inventory decisions, with reduced mental load. Jen Podany built an AI-supported dashboard that helped grow her Amazon sales. Steffy Lee Simms uses AI-driven marketing to move the right inventory at the right time. For small, product-based businesses, managing inventory well is a matter of survival. Order too much, and you're drowning in carrying costs. Order too little and you lose sales, tank your rankings, and frustrate loyal customers. At the same time, understanding the ins and outs of inventory management is also a heavy lift, especially when you're a solopreneur running a business on your own. "As a company, we're selling through our website, through Amazon, through QuickBooks to manage our wholesale accounts, we drop ship on Nordstrom: We've got all these different channels that we're trying to manage," Jen Podany, the founder of the ultraviolet and sun protection brand Bluestone Sunshields, told Business Insider. Lacking a single, cohesive place to understand sales and projections across disparate platforms, inventory management was one of Podany's biggest challenges as a small operator, she said. Podany said that generative AI tools made tricky inventory management easier. Matt Martian Williams for BI Steffy Lee Simms, the founder of the eco-conscious children's clothing brand Guava Jammies, said that the "multi-level lift" of managing inventory was particularly challenging, requiring her to build her own spreadsheets from scratch, determine which metrics actually mattered, and manually crunch the numbers to understand what to buy and when. "All of those small decisions became a bottleneck for me," she said. In the past year, these solopreneurs said they have discovered ways that generative AI can alleviate that lift and help them make smarter inventory decisions, faster. AI dashboards improve supply chain planning Both founders said they first turned to AI to help them organize and digest all the data that goes into understanding inventory. Podany worked with a consultant, Don Kassing, to build an AI-assisted system that is integrated into Airtable, a database and spreadsheet tool. The AI pulls live data from all her channels into easy-to-understand dashboards. It tracks current stock, incoming inventory, and channel-by-channel sales, then gives her a daily view of what inventory she needs across all her sales channels, what she should be producing or assembling that week, and an eight-week forecast that flags supplier orders before they become urgent, Podany said. Since implementing the system, her web sales are up 6% year to date, and her Amazon sales are up 97% — in large part, she said, because she's no longer losing ground to stockouts. "When it comes to Amazon, if you do all this work on ads and then stock out, you damage everything you've put in up until then," Podany said. An AI-assisted dashboard in Airtable led to more strategic planning, Podany said. Matt Martian Williams for BI Lee Simms said she largely relied on built-in AI tools on Shopify, an e-commerce platform, which can give her information on product performance, tell her when it's time to place a reorder, and suggest products that are worth scaling. She also uses Gemini's integration into Google Sheets to generate suggestions for custom tables and formulas that help her with decision-making. "Being able to place very specific order quantities based on forecasting models that my bot has generated for me has helped me to be more efficient in communicating with my manufacturer," Simms told Business Insider, adding that she's been able to reduce textile waste with AI forecasting. Inventory-based AI marketing drives sales Lee Simms said she also uses AI to plan marketing campaigns that can help her move inventory based on sales data. She uses the AI-powered tool Klaviyo for her email marketing, which integrates directly with her Shopify inventory data and then uses AI to generate suggested campaigns based on the products she has in stock. For example, she shared that this is especially useful for promoting products that only have a few items left, which were previously challenging to sell. "What's better than logging into your email management system and seeing three campaigns already made based on your current inventory?" she said. "I'm able to offload inventory a lot quicker without having to use my own capacity to make the decision." Lee Simms said AI allowed her to reduce the mental fatigue of making inventory decisions. Lila Lee for BI Reduced mental load opens up growth opportunities Perhaps the most meaningful impact of AI-driven inventory management has been in reducing mental fatigue, said Lee Simms. Lee Simms said she used to feel paralyzed by decision-making when it came to managing her inventory. Working with AI tools has helped her move past that, she said. "It'll give me a very justified, quantifiable reason why I can just go ahead and move forward," she says, such as suggesting items to reorder for a certain season with past sales data to back it up. "It's helped me make wiser business decisions." She added that she now has more mental space to focus on opportunities to expand her business, such as adding a women's wear line — something she says wouldn't have been feasible without AI supporting the analytical lift of her business operations. "As solopreneurs, we carry so much mental load," Lee Simms said. "Finding the tools that create space in your mind is the best way to optimize." Read the original article on Business Insider

Spotify has released a bunch of AI-powered tools that nudge users to create more content. It can be a bit much.

After Google Search's AI update, the word "disregard" now effectively breaks the search interface.

AppLovin just launched a new social media app called Gist. Screenshot/Apple App Store Adtech company AppLovin is making a big swing into social media with its own app. After losing a bid to buy TikTok, the company quietly launched a new app called Gist. Gist describes itself as a "handbook for the curious" and is quite similar to Lemon8 and RedNote. AppLovin lost its bid to buy TikTok, and now it is taking its social media aspirations into its own hands. The adtech firm quietly released a new app this month called Gist that feels a bit like a hybrid of TikTok, its sister app Lemon8, and the Chinese app RedNote. Gist's feed, which requires a referral code to access, features photo carousels, videos, and mini-games. "Welcome to Gist," the app tells users upon joining, describing itself as a "handbook for the curious, the grounded, and the real." Users can select content categories they're interested in, such as travel, relationships, or career advice. There are travel recommendations in the form of photo carousels, before-and-after weight-loss journeys, AI-generated videos of otters, and even a Flappy Bird rip-off. Gist looks very similar to other apps like Lemon8 and RedNote. Screenshots: Gist; Lemon8; RedNote With no formal announcement of the new app yet, Gist's quiet launch is a strategic way for the platform to build a user base and stockpile content before going to the masses. There are already dozens of accounts on the app, including lifestyle content creators who get a special "founding creator" star next to their profiles. AppLovin's core business is mobile-app advertising. It's going a bit left field by rolling out a creator platform. Giovanni Ge, the company's product and engineering chief, said in a February podcast that the goal was to bring exclusive, monetizable traffic to the company, noting that the path forward would not be easy. Bloomberg earlier reported on the plans. AppLovin declined to comment. Other tech companies without existing social businesses have similarly tested launching social feeds. OpenAI released its video app, Sora, last year, for example, but later pulled back to focus on revenue-generating businesses. AppLovin's got a new app strategy To fill Gist with fresh and relevant content, AppLovin is currently hiring a specialist focused on recruiting US creators and overseeing "operational workflows to ensure high-quality content production." This isn't AppLovin's first venture into social. In April 2025, the company told President Donald Trump it wanted to "explore a purchase of TikTok in all markets outside of China." It ultimately lost out to a buyer consortium that included Oracle and investment firms MGX and Silver Lake. The company also invested in Flip, another TikTok competitor that went belly up at the end of last year. AppLovin's CEO, Adam Foroughi. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for for Village Global Last year, ahead of the eventual TikTok sale to the consortium, AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi told Business Insider that his thesis for buying the company was that AppLovin's proven ad revenue machine could help boost what he saw as an undermonetized asset. Plus, AppLovin has expertise in both handling user data and controlling complex algorithms, which the company said would have helped it remove biases from TikTok's content recommendation system — one of the reasons TikTok's Chinese ownership was met with US government scrutiny. The same thought process will likely be applied to Gist. The company may also hope this new app provides a boost to its e-commerce ads business, since popular social apps — like TikTok — tend to attract this cohort of marketers. AppLovin originally grew by helping mostly gaming app developers make money through advertising and by helping them find new users by placing ads on other apps. In 2024, it began a push for e-commerce advertisers, a move that sent its stock soaring at the time as Wall Street saw the potential to unlock billions more in growth. The company's market cap was over $163 billion as of Friday. On a May earnings call, Foroughi said AppLovin's consumer vertical — non-gaming advertisers — was "growing even faster than gaming," with the segment's March revenue up 25% versus January. Read the original article on Business Insider

Villa Keen is on the market for $1.8 million. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Villa Keen, a castle-like home in Irvington, New York, hit the market this month for $1.8 million. The home was built in 1929 and has had celebrity owners and tenants, such as the actor Jack Cassidy. The 3,500-square-foot home features historic moldings and architecture. Just north of New York City, one unique home features a design more reminiscent of fairytales than modern concrete jungles. Dubbed Villa Keen after its original owner's name, the nearly 100-year-old Irvington, New York, home is described by its realtors as a "Cinderella" castle. The 3,500-square-foot house sits on a roughly 2 ½-acre plot of land just off the Hudson River. In the home's century-old history, the deed has been passed between celebrities and other notable figures. It's undergone a few modernizations but retains many of its original features, from millwork to stained glass. Many historic homes can be found in the area surrounding New York City. Oheka Castle on Long Island, originally built 10 years before Villa Keen, is the second-largest private home in the US and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The sprawling mansion houses a library and a full-sized bar, and partially inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." While Villa Keen is much more modest, it still has a few opulent touches that make it fit for royalty. Take a look inside the quaint castle home in Westchester County, New York. The castle-style home was built by Joseph Keen for himself and his wife in 1929. "Villa Keen" is nearly 100 years old. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh The home fits the genre of houses that came to be known as the "storybook" style that emerged in Los Angeles in the 1920s. Per the North Shore Heritage Preservation Society, defining characteristics of storybook homes include asymmetrical visual features, round, gothic-style windows, and stucco-clad walls, among other traits. Adam Blankfort, one of the home's realtors at Corcoran Baer & McIntosh, told Business Insider that Keen took a drawing of a California castle-home with him to New York, setting out to create the same design. The home sits near the Hudson River, about 15 miles from New York City. The property is five minutes from a train line to New York City. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh The castle is about 1 mile from the Hudson River in Irvington, New York, and is five minutes from the Irvington train station on the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line. Blankfort told Mansion Global, "It's very hard to find something in this price range with this kind of historical significance so close to the city and the unbelievable river towns of Westchester." The 2.43-acre property features a pool and ample outdoor space. The 2.43-acre plot of land has an in-ground pool. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh The home sits among a sea of trees, with a walkway of colored stones leading to two ancient-looking carved stone pillars, which serve as the house's front gate. A winding staircase then leads to the home's front entrance. Other outdoor amenities include a pool house and an enclosed courtyard. Guests are greeted by a 15-foot-tall stained-glass door. The castle's stained glass is original. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Inside, doors on either side of the entrance lead to the interior of the house, while the walkway up the stairs provides direct access to the castle's courtyard. The home's ownership history is defined by celebrities and prominent figures. Actors Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones were among the home's residents. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Per the listing from Corcoran Baer & McIntosh, the home's first notable resident after Keen was Lloyd Stratton, a prominent executive at the Associated Press who was integral to the publication's reporting during World War II and the years following, per the New York Times. After Stratton, Robert Wright, a TV producer best known for being the associate producer of "The Carol Burnett Show," was a resident. Following Wright, Tony-and-Grammy-winning actor Jack Cassidy and actress Shirley Jones lived in the home with their son while acting in the musical "Maggie Flynn" on Broadway. A room with oak paneling served as the home's library. The home features light fixtures from Mackenzie-Childs. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh The listing agents said this was likely where Stratton worked during the tail end of his 40-year career at the AP. The home also features light fixtures from Mackenzie-Childs. Original elements from Keen's construction remain in the home. "Villa Keen" contains many arched windows. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Arched windows are a common feature of the home, while much of the home's woodwork and paneling is original. The kitchen's style harkens back to the 1950s. The home has a 1950s-style kitchen. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Characteristics like the tiled marble floors, the bulky range hood above the stove, and an all-white finish give the kitchen a retro feel. History can be found in other areas of the property, too. Villa Keen's yard contains markings believed to be done by Native Americans. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Per Westchester Magazine, a tree on the property is marked with carvings believed to be the work of historic Native American peoples. Chandeliers are common throughout the rooms. "Villa Keen" contains a Schonbek Austrian Crystal Chandelier. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Previously used as the home's dining room, this room contains a Schonbek Austrian Crystal Chandelier. The light fixtures, combined with detailed wooden moldings and other amenities, give some of the home's rooms an extravagant touch. Altogether, the castle has five bedrooms and five full bathrooms. Villa Keen's library has a closet big enough to act as its own bedroom. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh Aside from the home's two main levels, it also has a partial attic and semi-finished basement. The living room simulates how the space looked during the mid-20th century. The home used to contain a grand piano. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh When Cassidy and Jones lived in the home, the room featured a grand piano. While that's been swapped out for a more humble upright piano, the fireplace still remains, complete with a Chesneys mantel. The castle's turrets aren't just for show — each one contains a bedroom. The castle's rotunda rooms have designs on the windows and ceiling. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh The castle's two rotunda rooms have space for beds and feature designs lining the windows and the ceiling. The home was last sold in 2023 for $1.65 million. "Villa Keen" is on the market again after just three years. Corcoran Baer & McIntosh According to the listing, the home was sold in July 2023 after being listed in 2022. The home's realtors told Mansion Global that the current seller is a tech entrepreneur who had renovation plans in mind when he bought the home from a decades-long resident. Though he made a few modernizations, the realtors said, he had to cut the project short due to moving for work. Read the original article on Business Insider

Dario Amodei leads the AI lab Anthropic, which is hiring more high-salaried writers. Bloomberg/Getty Images Anthropic is hiring a copy lead for up to $320K to write across platforms and campaigns. The AI lab is also hiring a head of copy, with a salary of up to $400K. The jobs are further examples of the value of writing and communication in tech, even amid concerns of AI disruption. Anthropic wants a good writer — and has the cash to back it up. The AI lab is hiring a copy lead to "help define how Anthropic speaks to enterprise audiences." The role requires writing skills across long-form, scripts, events, and social copy. The job requires 10 years of experience and is expected to pay between $255,000 and $320,000. It's not the only high-paying writing job on Anthropic's hiring docket. The company is also hiring a head of copy and content, with a salary range of $320,000 to $400,000. AI companies are trying hard to communicate their products — which can often be technical — to a mass audience. It's implicit in the copywriting gig's description: "Translate complex product capabilities and customer outcomes into language that's clear, specific, and actually interesting to read." They're willing to pay a premium for those brand-related roles. In February, Business Insider wrote that writing words was one of the "hottest jobs in tech." Successfully communicating the mission of AI might even lead to an acquisition. In April, OpenAI bought the tech talk show TBPN. The show's staff was enlisted to help with OpenAI's marketing and communications. While examples like Anthropic's job listing show that there continue to be some big opportunities for copywriters in tech, the industry has long been flagged as highly sensitive to possible AI disruption. In 2023, one copywriter told Business Insider that her jobs were already being taken over by ChatGPT. AI leader Andrej Karpathy (who Anthropic just hired) rated copywriting as 8-9 on his job exposure scale. Translation: "Very high exposure." Despite the AI threat, the Bureau of Labor Statistics still projected 4% growth in writing jobs between 2024 and 2034, an average pace. Anthropic president Daniela Amodei has a background in writing. Her undergraduate degree was in literature, and she has said she doesn't regret it. In February, she said that the humanities would become even more valuable. "In a world where AI is very smart and capable of doing so many things, the things that make us human will become much more important," she said. Read the original article on Business Insider

High‑quality 3D medical imaging data is the foundation of modern radiology AI, but access to it is often constrained by data scarcity, privacy restrictions,... High‑quality 3D medical imaging data is the foundation of modern radiology AI, but access to it is often constrained by data scarcity, privacy restrictions, and the high cost of expert annotation. As a result, training reliable 3D medical imaging models is frequently bottlenecked by small, narrow, and hard‑to‑share datasets, limiting model robustness and generalization. To help teams overcome… Source

Enterprises are facing growing pressure to justify massive AI investments amid rising operational costs and infrastructure demands.

Nikkei Asia: How the global memory chip crunch, driven by AI demand, is hurting China's car industry, squeezing automakers already hit by a price war and razor-thin margins  —  HONG KONG — The global memory chip crunch has spilled over from PCs and smartphones to China's car industry …

This week, we discuss Spencer Pratt, bricking phones, and the FTC.

When Akamai announced its LayerX acquisition, the company joined a growing list of vendors adding secure enterprise browsers to their product portfolios.

Google demoed prototype Android XR glasses that overlay Gemini-powered translation, navigation, and other information directly into your field of view.

Learn how to use Gemini in Google Docs to draft, edit, summarize, format, generate images, pull sources, and listen to documents. The post 10 Gemini Tricks to Try in Google Docs appeared first on TechRepublic.

AI for science is changing what storage infrastructure needs to do. Most of this infrastructure was originally built around simulations and long term storage. Now AI systems need constant and […] The post AI-Driven Science Is Turning Data Storage Into a Competitive Advantage appeared first on BigDATAwire.

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Most companies don't have an AI problem. They have a throughput problem. And I think that distinction matters a lot when you start talking about how to actually get AI working in production.

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For AI engineers who want to understand every step, not just call the library The post Enterprise Document Intelligence: A Series on Building RAG Brick by Brick, from Minimal to Corpus scale appeared first on Towards Data Science.

The search giant’s AI-crafted answers are so convenient, you’ll be sucked in—to the detriment of the web and the artists and thinkers behind it.