In an effort to protect young users, ChatGPT will now predict how old you are | TechCrunch

January 20, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In an effort to protect young users, ChatGPT will now predict how old you are

As concern for AI’s impact on young people continues to mount, OpenAI has introduced an “age prediction” feature into ChatGPT that is designed to help identify minors and put sensible content constraints on their conversations.

OpenAI has been heavily criticized in recent years for the impacts that ChatGPT can have on children. A number of teen suicides have been linked to the chatbot, and, like other AI vendors, OpenAI has also been criticized for allowing ChatGPT to discuss sexual topics with young users. Last April, the company was forced to address a bug that allowed its chatbot to generate erotica for users who were under the age of 18.

German Grocer Aldi Opens 180 Stores — Should Walmart Worry? | Entrepreneur

January 16, 2026January 13, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Aldi plans to open more than 180 stores in the U.S. this year, expanding onto the traditional turf of rival supermarkets. The German grocery chain is now the third-largest grocer in the country by store count, with 2,614 locations as of December 31, trailing only Walmart and Kroger. Last year was its biggest expansion since opening its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976, with nearly 200 new locations.

Aldi’s growth comes as shoppers are ditching traditional grocery stores for discounters. Store traffic at Aldi rose 8% in 2025 compared to Costco’s 5.9%, Kroger’s 0.8% and Walmart’s 0.5%, according to Placer.ai. Even wealthy households are choosing cheaper options. The percentage of shoppers earning over $100,000 annually who spend most of their grocery budget at traditional stores dropped 7% year over year.

I Own a Small Business — and I’d Still Choose a Big Company for This Job | Entrepreneur

January 16, 2026January 13, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Key Takeaways

One routine purchase made me rethink where small businesses shine — and where they don’t.
I didn’t expect to side with the bigger player, but the experience left little room for nostalgia.

I own a small business. I write about small businesses. My clients are small businesses. And yet, I would never go to a small business to have my car serviced. Small businesses are great — but not for everything.

I’m not saying this without experience. I’ve owned Hondas all my life. I’ve taken my cars to local repair shops countless times. And the experience has been, well, inconsistent at best. I’ve certainly saved money on repairs. But I’ve paid for it elsewhere.

Take, for example, a recent experience I had at a Honda dealership in Philadelphia. I made my maintenance appointment with an AI receptionist, which understood me flawlessly. I received a text confirmation. I then received a call from a human verifying the details. Professional. Courteous. Efficient.

eharmony review (2026): Is the dating app worth the high cost? | Mashable

January 15, 2026January 12, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been testing dating apps for a long time now, and the question my friends ask me most isn’t “how does the algorithm work?” but rather “which app is actually the best?”

Lately, as we’ve all gotten older (and more willing to settle down), eharmony has snuck into the conversation more often than I’d like to admit. It’s known for being the go-to for the over-50 crowd, but its “hip” new commercials suggest the company is desperate to attract a younger user base.

Whatever their marketing strategy, the claim that “every 14 minutes, someone finds love on eharmony” piqued my interest. So, I decided to give it a real college try to see whether its infamous questionnaire and algorithm-based matching system actually work. Below is my detailed experience with eharmony, from sign-up to connecting with other users.

Paramount files lawsuit in pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery and threatens proxy fight | CNN Business

January 14, 2026January 12, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Paramount is taking its pursuit of CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, to court.

On Monday, Paramount CEO David Ellison announced a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, where shareholders typically bring corporate disputes, as it attempts a hostile takeover of the iconic entertainment company.

Ellison criticized Warner Bros. Discovery, also known as WBD, for a “lack of transparency” around its decision to favor Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros. and HBO.

Trump ‘immediately’ imposes 25% tariffs on countries that do business with Iran. China’s on the list | CNN Business

January 14, 2026January 12, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

President Donald Trump said countries that do business with Iran will face a new 25% tariff. The announcement appears to mean goods from China, a major trading partner of both Iran and the United States, would become significantly more expensive to import.

“Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “This Order is final and conclusive,” he added.

Jupiter at opposition: See the ‘king of the planets’ outshine every star in the sky this weekend | Live Science

January 13, 2026January 11, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

This weekend brings a prime opportunity to see the biggest planet in the solar system shining at its brightest all year.

After dominating the night sky for more than a month, Jupiter will reach opposition this Saturday (Jan. 10). This marks the point when Earth lies directly between Jupiter and the sun, putting the gas giant opposite our star in Earth’s sky. The result is a brilliant, unmissable light in the eastern evening sky that shines all night long. At magnitude -2.7, Jupiter will outshine every star for many weeks.

(In astronomy, a lower magnitude corresponds to a brighter object. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, has an apparent magnitude of about -1.4.)

The first-ever cultivated-meat fish just got FDA approval. Its CEO talks about how Wildtype got there. | Fast Company

January 7, 2026January 6, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For the first time ever, you can eat a real fish that was never alive.

In early June, Wildtype, a San Francisco-based lab-grown meat company, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its cultivated sushi-grade salmon saku after a years-long waiting game. The company is only the fourth to receive FDA approval for cultivated meat in the U.S., joining Upside Foods and Good Meat, which both sell laboratory-grown chicken, and Mission Barns, which focuses on pork fat. Wildtype, meanwhile, is the only company of its ilk focusing on replicating seafood.

SpaceX reportedly planning 2026 IPO with $1.5T valuation target | TechCrunch

December 10, 2025December 9, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

SpaceX reportedly planning 2026 IPO with $1.5T valuation target SpaceX is planning to go public in mid-to-late 2026 and is looking to raise $30 billion at a valuation of around $1.5 trillion, according to a new report from Bloomberg News citing multiple unidentified sources.

That would make it the largest IPO of all time, edging out Saudi Aramco’s public listing in 2019, which brought in $29 billion. It would also be a bit of a reversal for SpaceX, which previously considered spinning off its Starlink division for an IPO, while keeping the main company private.

Bloomberg’s report comes just a few days after The Information was first to report that Elon Musk’s space company was targeting a late 2026 IPO.