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In the first half of 2025, she racked up over 55 million views on TikTok and 4 million likes, mostly from tweens glued to their cellphones. Not bad for an AI-generated cartoon ballerina with a cappuccino teacup for a head.Her name is Ballerina Cappuccina. Her smiling, girlish face is accompanied by a deep, computer-generated male voice singing in Italian — or, at least, some Italian. The rest is gibberish.She is one of the most prominent characters in the internet phenomenon known as “Italian Brain Rot,” a series of memes that exploded in popularity this year, consisting of unrealistic AI-generated animal-object…

ALG Vacations (ALGV) has announced a September campaign to support and celebrate its travel advisors.Building on Travel Advisor Appreciation Month, the initiative is designed to recognize and empower travel advisors with the tools, rewards and resources they need to finish with a strong 2025 and build momentum for 2026. As part of the event, ALGV is offering over 100 giveaways and elevated rewards, ranging from $10,000 in cash prizes and content creation kits to wellness-focused “Kindness Kits” and thoughtful surprise-and-delight moments. These recognition efforts reinforce ALGV’s year-round mission of celebrating advisors as true partners in success.  In addition to giveaways,…

Google is bringing improved translation to Circle to Search, its feature that allows users to quickly search for any information on their screen by using gestures like circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping. The company announced on Thursday that users can now see translations as they scroll. “Translation is one of the most-used features in Circle to Search — you can get more context for social posts from creators who speak a different language, or browse menus when you’re booking restaurant reservations while traveling abroad,” Google wrote in the blog post. “But until now, you had to restart the translation process…

New York (AP) — When songs top the charts, they become inescapable: Cross-genre hits are heard on the radio, on streaming, in lobbies and grocery stores. The artists who perform them become famous. But the people who wrote those earworms? Many do not.At least, that used to be the case.In the last few years, a new generation of songwriters has begun stepping into the spotlight. Muni Long has a successful R&B career; songwriter HARDY has done the same in the country music space. Julia Michaels writes big pop hits and records her own. Victoria Monét went from Grammy nominations as…

Owngarden | Moment | Getty ImagesFive years ago, when the pandemic pushed e-commerce to new highs, the industrial warehouse space became the biggest commercial real estate play around. It began to slow in 2022, but now economic uncertainty brought on by constantly changing tariff policy and persistently high inflation is taking a greater toll on this previously hot real estate sector. Just 27 million square feet of space was absorbed in the first half of this year, with demand falling by 11.3 million in the second quarter alone, the first quarterly drop since 2010, according to a report from NAIOP, a…

Many major airlines are beefing up their in-flight internet offerings by tapping SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, but JetBlue is going in a different direction. Amazon and JetBlue announced Thursday a partnership under which the airline will instead use Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites to provide free in-flight connectivity starting in 2027. The Kuiper terminals on JetBlue’s planes will be capable of download speeds of up to 1Gbps from Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellites. That’s more bandwidth than Starlink’s current max of 250 Mbps, although Amazon is only planning to build a network of 3,226 satellites, while SpaceX has launched more than 8,000. While…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over a recent two-year period, the Pentagon funded hundreds of projects done in collaboration with universities in China and institutes linked to that nation’s defense industry, including many blacklisted by the U.S. government for working with the Chinese military, a congressional investigation has found. The report, released Friday by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, argues the projects have allowed China to exploit U.S. research partnerships for military gains while the two countries are locked in a tech and arms rivalry.“American taxpayer dollars should be used to defend the nation — not…

Cargo containers stacked aboard a ship at the Jakarta International Container Terminal in Tanjung Priok Port on Aug. 7, 2025.Str | Afp | Getty ImagesThe private market assets platform Yieldstreet struck a deal to recoup some of its legal expenses for an ill-fated series of marine loans — but its customers are less fortunate.Yieldstreet is getting $5 million in a settlement with the borrowers who defaulted on the marine loans, the startup told customers last week in letters obtained by CNBC.But since the company’s recovery cost “well exceeds the entire settlement amount,” it’s unlikely investors will see any repayment, Yieldstreet…

As interest in solo travel reaches new highs, PONANT EXPLORATIONS GROUP has announced that it is waiving single supplements on voyages so guests can explore the world’s most remote frontiers without the added price tag.As one of the only luxury cruise lines to waive a single supplement, PONANT allows voyagers the opportunity to travel solo or with a group of friends, allowing each guest their own stateroom personal space. With its French-style flair, expert-led programming, and sustainable small-ship fleet, PONANT EXPLORATIONS invites solo travelers to curate their luxury journeys without breaking the bank.More than 160 cruises offer solo staterooms at…

Captions, an AI-powered video creation and editing app for content creators that has secured over $100 million in venture capital to date at a valuation of $500 million, is rebranding to Mirage, the company announced on Thursday.  The new name reflects the company’s broader ambitions to become an AI research lab focused on multimodal foundational models specifically designed for short-form video content for platforms like TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. The company believes this approach will distinguish it from traditional AI models and competitors such as D-ID, Synthesia, and Hour One. The rebranding will also unify the company’s offerings under one…