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If You Visit JoJo’s Diner, Bring Your Appetite

By Stefan Yablonski Q: When did you open? A: We opened Oct. 1. Q: Did you have a previous business? A: This is my first business ever. Q: So why did you start this? A: I was cooking for people my entire life and I decided I’m just going to try it on my own. And here we are! Q: How’s business been? A: It’s been good. Kind of slow over the winter, but starting to pick up now that the weather is getting better. We have high hopes for spring. We were really hopping over the weekend when it was much nicer out. Q: What’s your best dish? A: Our junkyard plates are our huge specialty. It’s a huge messy plate of goodness. We also have breakfast sandwiches, waffles, smashburgers and more. Q: Do you own this building? A: We lease from Chuck Burger. He’s our landlord. He has been super helpful. He provided all the equipment. I didn’t have to. Q: You’re a breakfast spot? A: We do breakfast and lunch all day. It’s kind of our thing. We are open 7-3 every day except Tuesdays. Q: How big is your staff? A: Currently it’s one other person. It’s just been me on the front end and someone in the kitchen or vice versa. Q: It’s all to go? A: Everything comes out ‘to go’ — served in to-go containers. You can eat inside or you can take it with you. We don’t have to provide extra staff for waitresses and dishwashers and all that. Q: Do you have any business background? A: I did the small business program at the college. But that’s about it. We’re new, but we’re still building. We hope to grow and stay here for a long time.

Apr 11 • 4:39 PM EDT • Business • oswegocountybusiness.com

“AI polls” are fake polls

A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.

Apr 11 • 11:38 AM EDT • Technology • natesilver.net

Apple’s Biggest Camera Jump Ever: The iPhone 18 Pro Max Brings Pro-Level Glass to Your Pocket

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Apr 11 • 11:00 AM EDT • Technology • geeky-gadgets.com

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Apr 11 • 6:51 AM EDT • Business • austintexas.gov

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Apr 10 • 4:50 PM EDT • Business • kark.com

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Apr 10 • 4:32 PM EDT • Business • clarionledger.com

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Apr 10 • 4:00 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

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Apr 10 • 2:42 PM EDT • Business • stargazette.com

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Apr 10 • 2:38 PM EDT • Business • reporternews.com

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Apr 10 • 2:08 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com

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Apr 10 • 11:22 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

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Apr 10 • 10:30 AM EDT • Technology • housedigest.com

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Apr 10 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

UGA SBDC Business Summit in Savannah returns May 5, 2026

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Apr 10 • 7:45 AM EDT • Business • griceconnect.com

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Apr 10 • 5:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • uschamber.com

Washington, DC Small Business Opportunities: 2027 NFL Draft

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Apr 10 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • uschamber.com

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Apr 10 • 3:00 AM EDT • Science • dailyinterlake.com

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Apr 10 • 3:00 AM EDT • Business • yahoo.com

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Apr 10 • 1:56 AM EDT • Business • ktvu.com

Aviatra Accelerators to host Women-Owned Business Crawl April 25 in Covington

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Apr 10 • 12:41 AM EDT • Business • nkytribune.com

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Apr 9 • 11:16 PM EDT • Business • wilx.com

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Apr 9 • 9:25 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com

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Apr 9 • 8:46 PM EDT • Business • ktvq.com

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Apr 9 • 8:41 PM EDT • Business • ktvb.com

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Apr 9 • 6:18 PM EDT • Business • clickondetroit.com

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Apr 9 • 6:07 PM EDT • Business • sf.gazetteer.co

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Apr 9 • 6:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • audacy.com

Dave Chappelle helps keep Ohio radio station rooted in hometown with renovated building

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Apr 9 • 6:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • audacy.com

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Apr 9 • 5:48 PM EDT • Business • thefinancialbrand.com

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Apr 9 • 3:10 PM EDT • Business • davids.house.gov

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Apr 9 • 2:29 PM EDT • Business • siouxfalls.business

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Apr 9 • 2:25 PM EDT • Business • uschamber.com

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Apr 9 • 2:10 PM EDT • Business • wmur.com

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Apr 9 • 1:01 PM EDT • Entertainment • hollywoodreporter.com

Maguire's Gene Jones Jr., Scott Jones named SBA South Dakota Small Business Champions

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Apr 9 • 10:45 AM EDT • Business • siouxfalls.business

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Apr 9 • 8:23 AM EDT • Business • wsav.com

Arlington Supports Businesses Ahead of World Cup 2026™

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Apr 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • arlingtontx.gov

Pitt’s philosophy program ranked No. 5 in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject

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Apr 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • pittwire.pitt.edu

A simple step to support Minnesota’s small businesses

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Apr 9 • 6:12 AM EDT • Business • civicmedia.us

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Apr 9 • 5:08 AM EDT • Entertainment • heraldtimesonline.com

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Apr 9 • 1:03 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

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Apr 8 • 10:54 PM EDT • Business • wkbn.com

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Apr 8 • 7:21 PM EDT • Health • kuer.org

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Apr 8 • 6:00 PM EDT • Business • nfib.com

Portland City Council approves tax relief to thousands of small businesses

Apr 8 • 4:04 PM EDT • Business • kgw.com

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Apr 8 • 3:16 PM EDT • Business • overdriveonline.com

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Apr 8 • 2:56 PM EDT • Business • comptroller.nyc.gov

Businesses in Rochester's EMMA, Beechwood neighborhoods to receive grant funding

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Apr 8 • 1:31 PM EDT • Business • spectrumlocalnews.com

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Apr 8 • 12:58 PM EDT • Health • kresge.org

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Apr 8 • 9:46 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

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Apr 8 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • theverge.com

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Apr 8 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • newsroom.avalara.com

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Apr 8 • 6:32 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

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Apr 8 • 6:13 AM EDT • Business • wwlp.com

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Apr 8 • 5:06 AM EDT • Business • cjonline.com

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Apr 8 • 4:30 AM EDT • Sports • statnews.com

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Apr 8 • 4:30 AM EDT • Health • statnews.com

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Apr 7 • 11:20 PM EDT • Business • abc7ny.com

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Apr 7 • 10:32 PM EDT • Business • businessreport.com

Barbershop named the West Virginia Family-Owned Small Business of the Year

PARKERSBURG – A small local business that has been around for over 60 years is being honored for its continuing ties to the community. Marchell’s Barbershop, at 615 Market St., was named the West Virginia Family-Owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s West Virginia District Office, as part of National […]

Apr 7 • 8:00 PM EDT • Business • newsandsentinel.com

Small business sentiment declines as concerns about inflation rise

The quarterly Ipsos/U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index in Q1 2026 is down slightly from Q4 2025

Apr 7 • 5:00 PM EDT • Business • ipsos.com

Jason Archer Chosen for Small Business Monthly’s Top 100 St. Louisans List

Award ceremony for recipients held on April 7 Jason Archer, vice president of business development at St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STL Partnership), was among the group chosen in St.…

Apr 7 • 4:41 PM EDT • Business • stlpartnership.com

Small Business of the Month: Wolf Metals

Each month throughout the season, one local company will be recognized by the Blue Jackets and First Merchants Bank

Apr 7 • 3:56 PM EDT • Business • nhl.com

Small Business Bankruptcies Surge 67 Percent in First Quarter

A sharp rise in small business reorganizations and consumer filings signals mounting financial pressure as debt levels and interest rates remain high.

Apr 7 • 3:40 PM EDT • Business • acainternational.org

Small Business Expo coming to Bladen County this month

The event brings together entrepreneurs, startups and businesses to network, collaborate and grow.

Apr 7 • 9:54 AM EDT • Business • wect.com

Small Businesses Cut Back Hiring Plans as Inflation Concerns Grow

The U.S. Chamber's Q1 2026 Small Business Index reflects rising concerns among small businesses about inflation and the economy.

Apr 7 • 8:30 AM EDT • Business • uschamber.com

Ella Duggan Promoted to Branch & Business Development Manager at The Merrimack

Merrimack County Savings Bank (The Merrimack) congratulates Ella Duggan on her promotion to Branch & Business Development Manager. In this role, Duggan will oversee branch operations while continuing to serve Contoocook and its small business community. “Ella’s promotion is well-earned and reflects her consistent growth over the years,” said Michelle Olivier, RVP Branch Manager at The Merrimack. “I’m […]

Apr 7 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • themerrimack.com

Report: Iran, inflation concern small businesses

(The Center Square) - U.S. small businesses reported reduced spending and hiring amid concerns over military strikes against Iran and looming inflation data, according to a new report.

Apr 7 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • thecentersquare.com

Small businesses are ‘doing fine.’ That’s a problem for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Small business owners are feeling uneasy about the Iran war. They're doing just fine, but that's not good considering all of the tax incentives created to help them do much better.

Apr 7 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • fortune.com

Accel Entertainment, Inc. to Report First Quarter 2026 Results, Host Conference Call and Webcast on May 5

CHICAGO, April 07, 2026--Accel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: ACEL) ("Accel" or "the Company"), a leading locals-focused gaming operator partnering with small businesses, local communities, and state governments to provide entertaining, convenient, and safe gaming experiences nationwide, announced today it will release its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, after market close on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The Company will host a conference call and webcast that da

Apr 7 • 7:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

OPINION: Social media tax would hurt Nebraska’s small businesses and communities

I understand lawmakers’ social media concerns, and I share their desire for juvenile mental health. But those issues should be funded directly.

Apr 7 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • nebraskaexaminer.com

NuScale Power (SMR) Is a Science Project, Says Jim Cramer

NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) is one of the 9 Stocks Jim Cramer Talked About & Commented On SpaceX’s IPO. NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) is a small modular reactor technology company based in Oregon. Its shares are down by 28% over the past year and by 37% year-to-date. UBS discussed the firm on March 19th when it […]

Apr 7 • 2:51 AM EDT • Science • finance.yahoo.com

Las Vegas breaks ground on Westside small-business center set to open in 2027

A new business support center is coming to Las Vegas’ Historic Westside, with city leaders and a local business consulting firm breaking ground on a project aim

Apr 7 • 12:59 AM EDT • Business • news3lv.com

Small business owners react to hemp restriction bill in Missouri

A new bill in Missouri could change the way many get hemp products after November.

Apr 6 • 7:52 PM EDT • Business • wgem.com

Eligibility questions spark calls to suspend Minnesota’s $100 million ‘promise’ to small businesses

5 INVESTIGATES found several Minnesota Promise grant recipients appear to be operating miles outside of eligible neighborhoods, and others that may not be operating at all.

Apr 6 • 6:58 PM EDT • Business • kstp.com

Rochester business leaders back Hochul in state budget negotiations

They say that the state is at a "inflection point" for families and small businesses due to rising costs.

Apr 6 • 6:53 PM EDT • Business • wxxinews.org

District 2 Launches Community Canvas Small Business Mural Program

Today, the District 2 Council Office announced the launch of a Community Canvas Small Business Mural Program, a new initiative designed to support five small businesses in District 2.

Apr 6 • 5:00 PM EDT • Business • sa.gov

Small Business Index Q1 2026

Small Businesses Express More Concern Over The Economy Amid Uncertainty

Apr 6 • 5:00 PM EDT • Business • uschamber.com

Delaware Small Business Employment Index Pulls Back

Main Street owners continue searching for qualified applicants.

Apr 6 • 2:29 PM EDT • Business • nfib.com

MS Lawmakers Deliver Wins for Small Business, But More Work Remains

This year's session ended on Sunday, April 5.

Apr 6 • 2:17 PM EDT • Business • nfib.com

Opening Doors to Opportunity: How Governors are Supporting Entrepreneurship

New businesses – including small businesses – are the backbone of the economy. They drive job growth, reduce poverty and strengthen GDP. Yet, the rate of new business formation in America has fallen by nearly half over 40+ years. It’s far more expensive to start a business in the U.S. than the U.K., China, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, […]

Apr 6 • 11:40 AM EDT • Business • nga.org

Apple's 2026 MacBook Pro Hits All-Time Low Prices on Amazon With Up to $199 Off

Amazon is offering a few all-time low prices on Apple's M5 Pro/M5 Max MacBook Pro, with up to $199 off select models without the need of a membership or clipping a coupon. These deals join Amazon's discounts on the M5 MacBook Air from over the weekend, which are seeing up to $200 in savings. MacBook Pro Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apr 6 • 10:30 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

How fuel surcharges are squeezing small business margins

Rising fuel costs are hitting small businesses with a new wave of shipping expenses, as major carriers pass along higher diesel prices through surcharges many owners say feel like “tariffs 2.0,” The Wall Street Journal writes. FedEx and UPS have pushed fuel surcharges above 26%, while diesel prices have surged sharply in recent weeks, driving […]

Apr 6 • 10:14 AM EDT • Business • businessreport.com

Inside Project Nova, Firefox's biggest redesign in years

We sit down with Ajit Varma, the head of Firefox at Mozilla, to learn more about the Project Nova redesign, how Firefox will integrate AI, and the challenges and opportunities as a smaller browser maker.

Apr 6 • 9:00 AM EDT • Technology • pcworld.com

MLB Power Rankings: Dodgers and Yankees blah blah blah, let's talk about the Brewers and Pirates(?!)

Meanwhile, get your 'small sample size' and 'it's early yet' caveats out now, because we're done with them

Apr 6 • 8:51 AM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

NFIB: Small business hiring slows, worker shortages persist

In March, 32 percent of small business owners reported unfilled job openings as employers continued to struggle with labor costs and applicant quality.

Apr 6 • 8:32 AM EDT • Business • alreporter.com

This “forbidden” exoplanet has an atmosphere scientists can’t explain

A strange “forbidden” planet spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope is turning planetary science on its head. TOI-5205 b, a Jupiter-sized world orbiting a small, cool star, has an atmosphere surprisingly poor in heavy elements—even less enriched than its own star, which defies current theories of how giant planets form.

Apr 6 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Scientists may finally detect hidden ripples in spacetime

Scientists have taken a major step toward probing one of physics’ biggest mysteries—how gravity and quantum mechanics fit together—by creating the first unified way to detect tiny “ripples” in spacetime itself. These subtle fluctuations, long predicted but poorly defined, are now organized into clear categories with specific signals that real-world instruments can search for. The breakthrough means powerful tools like LIGO and even small tabletop experiments could start testing competing theories of quantum gravity much sooner than expected.

Apr 6 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Detroit small businesses say tariff refunds could be a lifeline -- if they can clear the federal hurdles

Billions of dollars in tariff refunds could be on the way for American companies but getting that money back will be anything but simple. Experts also warn consumers probably won’t see a dime.

Apr 6 • 3:17 AM EDT • Business • clickondetroit.com

Citizen science project to track small mammals in Guernsey

The project aims to gather more data on species that are difficult to monitor.

Apr 6 • 2:11 AM EDT • Science • bbc.com