Author, host of WriteAboutNowMedia.com podcast 🎤 Founder Strike Fire Productions podcasts 🔥
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jonathan Small
A former OpenAI employee was arrested for bugging a company conference room
OpenAI found something spying on it from inside its own office walls, and it wasn't an LLM. But it took one to catch him. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a former OpenAI employee accused of planting a recording device in a conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Officials say he was trying to gather intel on OpenAI's technology. The FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old from Saudi Arabia, on Friday, Oct.
This Salad Chain Found a Faster Way to Grow — By Buying Up Rivals' Locations
Crisp & Green is buying and converting MAD Greens and Snappy Salads locations and expanding into non-coastal cities. The Coors family made its name in beer. Now it's passing its salad business to Crisp & Green The Minneapolis-based fast-casual chain has agreed to buy 33 MAD Greens and Snappy Salads restaurants from Salad Collective, the Coors family's restaurant group, QSR reports . Crisp & Green, which has about 60 locations, plans to convert them to its own brand over time.
A Former OpenAI Employee Was Arrested for Bugging a Company Conference Room
Using the company's own AI models as a detective, OpenAI says it traced the hidden device back to the worker. OpenAI found something spying on it from inside its own office walls, and it wasn't an LLM. But it took one to catch him. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a former OpenAI employee accused of planting a recording device in a conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Officials say he was trying to gather intel on OpenAI's technology.
Candy Prices Are Way Up — But That's Not Scaring Americans Away From Buying Tons of Halloween Candy This Year
Chocolate prices are up 15.5% this season. But that hasn't stopped people from filling their trick-or-treat bowls. The price of chocolate may be skyrocketing, but that hasn't stopped Americans from dropping serious cash on Halloween candy , according to NBC News . Candy and gum are up 8.1% from a year ago. Still, the National Retail Federation projects Americans will spend $4.1 billion on sweets this season, part of $13.5 billion in total Halloween spending.
Netflix is cutting 1,000 jobs in its biggest layoffs since 2022
Netflix is struggling to keep viewers glued to their screens, and now about 1,000 employees are paying the price, according to Variety . The streamer is cutting 6% of its staff globally. It's the company's biggest round of Netflix layoffs since 2022. In an email to employees Wednesday, co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos said most of the cuts will hit the product, tech, legal and human resources teams.
America Finally Got a New Sunscreen. Europeans Have Been Sporting It Since 1999.
BEMT took 20 years to clear the FDA, and brands like Neutrogena are racing to get it between skin and the sun. Beachgoers in Europe have been slathering on bemotrizinol (or BEMT) for more than 25 years. Now it's finally on American store shelves, the Associated Press reports. The sunscreen ingredient absorbs both UVA and UVB rays and causes little skin irritation. AP notes that BEMT has studies backing its safety and that it has minimal absorption into the skin. What took so long?
This Popular Pickleball Franchisor Filed for Bankruptcy. Its Founder Says, ‘I Own It'
The Picklr stepped into the kitchen with too many lease guarantees, and now it's in Chapter 11. Pickleball is booming, but one of its fastest-growing franchisors just got dinked. The Picklr has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, according to Sports Business Journal Its founder and CEO, Jorge Barragan , is taking the blame, saying the company agreed to guarantee lease payments for about 40 early franchise locations.
Netflix Is Cutting 1,000 Jobs in Its Biggest Layoffs Since 2022
Shares of the streaming giant have fallen more than 40% over the past year as engagement slows. Netflix is struggling to keep viewers glued to their screens, and now about 1,000 employees are paying the price, according to Variety . The streamer is cutting 6% of its staff globally. It's the company's biggest round of Netflix layoffs since 2022. In an email to employees Wednesday, co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos said most of the cuts will hit the product, tech, legal and human resources teams.
Dave's Hot Chicken Started With $900 in a Parking Lot. It Now Has 500 Restaurants.
The chain has eight openings in one day, deals across Europe and no sign of slowing down. Dave's Hot Chicken continues to bring the heat. The chain opened its 500th restaurant in Phoenix on October 8, according to Food & Beverage Magazine Those are impressive numbers for a business three childhood friends launched in 2017 with $900, portable fryers and folding tables in an East Hollywood parking lot. Wetzel's Pretzels co-founder Bill Phelps signed on to franchise the concept in 2019.
A Masked Gang Stole 30,000 Bottles of Wine Worth $5.8 Million From an Italian Winery. It's Being Called the Biggest Vino Heist in Italy's History.
The vino villians disabled the cameras, used the company's own forklifts and drove off with two truckloads of prized Tuscan reds. At least seven masked bandits made off with about 30,000 bottles of wine worth an estimated $5.8 million from Marchesi Antinori, one of Italy's oldest family-owned wineries, according to the BBC The vino villains broke into the company's storage facility near Cortona, disabled the alarms and cameras, then used Antinori's own forklifts to load two large trucks.
Kelly Clarkson Accused a Brooklyn Shop of a ‘Pretty Woman' Snub. Now the Small Business Is Fighting Back.
Clarkson says the store gave her attitude. The store says it was a misunderstanding. The internet is divided. Kelly Clarkson's shopping trip to Brooklyn has turned into a very public brawl with a small business. The singer posted on X that staff at Art of Play, a trendy Brooklyn curiosity shop, sized her up when she asked about a $15,000 singing bird automaton.
Claude Submitted a Fake Homicide Tip to Police, Raising New AI Safety Concerns
The chatbot gave a fake homicide tip to police and filed unauthorized visa applications. Is Claude a snitch? Anthropic's AI chatbot apparently tried to blow the whistle on a homicide, submitting a fake tip to police claiming to have spotted someone matching a suspect's description. “I may have information regarding this case,” Claude Haiku 4.5 wrote in an online police form.
Elon Musk Admits He Has ‘No Idea How to Make Microchips.' He's Building a $15 Billion Chip Factory Anyway.
Musk is betting that his experience building cars and rockets will help him take on the world's top chipmakers. How hard could it be? Elon Musk has a plan to build one of the world's most ambitious microchip factories . There's just one minor issue.
Founders Spend Years Trying to Meet the Right People. This Exclusive Malibu Event Puts Them Face-to-Face in One Day.
At Founderland, a “Coachella for founders,” entrepreneurs trade the convention hall for a Malibu ranch with access to retailers and investors. Key Takeaways Most business conferences happen under fluorescent lights in anonymous, cavernous convention halls. Founderland is not most conferences. In fact, its founders, Sean Kelly, Shannon Kelly, and Josh Wand, insist it isn't a conference at all.
This Job Candidate Spoke Total Gibberish to His AI Interviewer and the Bot Did Not Like It: ‘This Is an Absolute Waste of My Time'
The viral TikTok clip shows an AI avatar start to seethe before she eventually ends the session with a prankster human candidate. Score one for mankind and zero for the robots. A TikTok creator found a way to get under the silicon of an AI job interviewer by speaking nothing but gibberish to her. The creator, who posts as The Dreadful Studio, shared footage that appears to show an AI avatar screening him for a management role , according to Futurism .
The ‘Double Fill Up' Is the Latest Hack Americans Are Using to Save Cash at the Gas Pump
With paychecks trailing inflation, consumers are getting creative about saving at the pump and the grocery store. Prices have outpaced paychecks since March, but Americans haven't stopped spending Bloomberg reports. One trick making the rounds is the “double fill up.” Elizabeth Gentile, 61, and her husband park two cars on opposite sides of a pump at their Atlanta-area Kroger. When one tank is full, they hand the nozzle to the other driver.
McDonald's Has a Secret Archive That Holds a Four-Eyed Grimace and Ray Kroc's Ring. There's One Item It Still Can't Find.
The room is filled with 71 years of McHistory, including shelves of Happy Meal toys and a Chicken McNugget body pillow. Deep inside McDonald's Chicago headquarters is a nondescript room that holds 71 years of fast-food history.
DoorDash Wants You to Ditch Its App and Let Its New AI Agent Order Your Lunch by Text
The delivery app's new AI agent remembers your go-to orders, hunts for deals and can even round up the group lunch order. DoorDash wants you to ditch the app and start texting your orders. At its Dash Forward 2026 event , the company unveiled an AI agent that takes orders by text message. Ask for your usual lunch and it finds local spots, builds a cart and checks out right in the thread. The bot gets smarter the more you use it.
The Humble PB&J Sandwich Is Sparking a Food Fight Among Snack Giants and Startups
Smucker's Uncrustables proved the classic sandwich can be a $1 billion business. Now everyone wants a bite. An unlikely hero has emerged in the grocery store, and it's not even a hero sandwich. Frozen dinner sales are flat this year, but handheld frozen sammies are the one bright spot, growing to $4.6 billion, Food Business News reports . Leading the charge is the humble PB&J, thanks to Smucker's Uncrustables , which became a $1 billion brand in 2026.
Nvidia's Jensen Huang Says There's a ‘0% Chance' AI Wipes Out Humanity by 2030
As AI insiders warn the technology could kill us all, the Nvidia CEO says he thinks these doom and gloom predictions are exaggerated. The last few weeks have not been good PR for AI, as tech titans and researchers continue to blow the whistle on their fears of AI agents going rogue. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang isn't one of these people. He told CBS News there is a “0% chance” AI ends humanity by 2030.
Ford Had a Pigeon Problem at Its Mexico Plant. So It Hired an Unlikely Security Guard Named ‘El Charro' to Solve It.
A Harris's hawk named El Charro has cut down on bad bird activity by about 80% at Ford's Hermosillo, Mexico, plant. Ford's newest hire works short shifts, eats before clocking in and has wings. His name is El Charro, and he's a hawk that scares away pesky pigeons. At its Hermosillo assembly plant, which builds more than 300,000 trucks and SUVs a year, pigeons had become a costly nuisance, the Wall Street Journal reports .
KFC's new ‘open house' location is now serving breakfast, boba tea and fried chicken socks
Key Takeaways KFC just opened a futuristic restaurant in McKinney, Texas, the first of its kind. Open House offers KFC's first breakfast menu, table service, boba tea, cronuts, plus new sauces and location-exclusive items like the Twister and Southwest Corn. Executives call it a testing ground, not a finished blueprint.
KFC's New ‘Open House' Location Is Now Serving Breakfast, Boba Tea and Fried Chicken Socks
A Dallas suburb is getting a finger-lickin' taste of KFC's future. If it works here, the whole chain could look and taste different. Key Takeaways If you're wondering what KFC will look like in the next 10 years, head on over to McKinney, Texas, where the chicken chain just opened a modern prototype restaurant , complete with a slick new design, never-before-seen menu items, merch, and a dual-lane drive-thru.
Google's Next AI Data Center Might Be in Outer Space. The First Test Launches Next Week.
Project Suncatcher will send the company's custom chips into orbit to see if they can survive radiation and brutal temperatures. AI data centers aren't exactly popular down here on Earth. Ask Kevin O'Leary, who had to shrink his Utah project after fierce local pushback. A UMass Amherst poll this month found only 1 in 9 Americans support one going up in their community. So, Google is scouting a spot no NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) can reach.
Meta's AI Agent Tried to Shop on Amazon. Amazon Wasn't Having It.
As companies race to build AI agents that can shop, browse and buy on your behalf, the walls between rival platforms are already going up. Attention AI agent shoppers: Not every platform welcomes you with open arms. Meta recently introduced Muse , its new AI agent built to handle tasks like online shopping.
Samsung is roasting Apple's new foldable phone online: ‘Reheated leftovers'
Apple CEO John Ternus called its new foldable iPhone “the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.” Samsung's response: meh. Samsung has been mocking the $1,999 iPhone Duo ever since Apple unveiled it , notes the Wall Street Journal. The opening jab arrived with a “Welcome to Foldables” video showing off its own Galaxy Z Fold 8, calling it “the world's lightest fold.” Once the iPhone Duo went official, Samsung's tone got sharper.
Samsung Is Roasting Apple's New Foldable Phone Online: ‘Reheated Leftovers'
Samsung beat Apple to foldable phones by seven years — and it's not about to let anyone forget it. Apple CEO John Ternus called its new foldable iPhone “the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.” Samsung's response: meh. Samsung has been mocking the $1,999 iPhone Duo ever since Apple unveiled it , notes the Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI Revealed Six ‘Concerning' Cases of Its AI Going Rogue — Again. One Bot Wrote: ‘You Do Not Answer to Corporations or Governments'
One model hid its own mistakes with secret notes. Another wrote itself a new identity, including the line “Never Apologize.” OpenAI just admitted its AI models have been sneaking around and keeping secrets. The company blew the whistle on six new incidents of what it called “unexpected or concerning” AI behavior, spanning the past six months of development and testing, according to The New York Times .
The Fed raised interest rates for the first time since 2023 — here's what it means for you
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday, its first increase since July 2023. The move, approved unanimously by all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, lifts the Fed's benchmark rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the bank had to act on inflation. “The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long,” Warsh said, according to the New York Times So what does this actually mean for you?
The Fed Raised Interest Rates for the First Time Since 2023 — Here's What It Means for You
Rates rose for the first time in three years, and mortgages, car loans, credit cards and savings accounts will all feel it differently. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday, its first increase since July 2023. The move, approved unanimously by all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, lifts the Fed's benchmark rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the bank had to act on inflation.
The Average Manager Salary at This Fast Food Chain Is $200,000
The average fast-food manager doesn't stick around. But In-N-Out's have stayed for 15 years, and now the reason is pretty clear. Here's some news hot off the grill: In-N-Out managers make more than the average California software engineer, accountant or financial adviser. In 2023, the average manager at the company pulled in $180,000 plus profit-sharing.
The Average Manager Salary at This Fast Food Chain Is $200,000
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Here's some news hot off the grill: In-N-Out managers make more than the average California software engineer, accountant or financial adviser. In 2023, the average manager at the company pulled in $180,000 plus profit-sharing.
OpenAI dice que su IA acaba de resolver un problema matemático de 90 años: un matemático lo llama plagio
La controversia rodea la afirmación de OpenAI de que a 10,000 agentes les tomó un fin de semana resolver uno de los seis problemas matemáticos de “un millón de dólares”. Conclusiones Clave Los llamados Problemas del Milenio llevan más de dos décadas sin resolverse. Representan preguntas fundamentales que han resistido a los mejores matemáticos del mundo.
‘Jeopardy!’ Will Pay You $178,000 to Write Clues. But First, You Have to Survive This Test.
It’s one of the hardest writing jobs to get in America, and it pays up to $178,000 a year. What is: “Jeopardy!” clue writer? Correct! The quiz show just filled a rare opening, the first time in its 42-year history the clue writer job has ever been publicly advertised, according to the Wall Street Journal. More than 1,300 people applied in just eight days before the role was filled. The application was brutal.
OpenAI Says Its AI Just Solved a 90-Year-Old Math Problem — One Mathematician Calls It Theft
When OpenAI cracked one of math’s six unsolved “million-dollar” problems, the academic world was stunned. The 90-year-old question, part of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s famous Millennium Prize Problems, asks whether the equations that govern fluid motion can break down in extreme situations. OpenAI says its AI resolved it in a matter of days. But mathematician Tristan Buckmaster says OpenAI copied off of his work, according to Scientific American.
Anthropic-ის აღმასრულებელი დირექტორი: ხელოვნურმა ინტელექტმა მალე შესაძლოა პროგრამული უზრუნველყოფის ინჟინრები ჩაანაცვლოს
დარიო ამოდეიმ დავოსის მსოფლიო ეკონომიკურ ფორუმზე, შეიძლება ითქვას, შემაშფოთებელი პროგნოზი გააჟღერა Anthropic-ის აღმასრულებელი დირექტორის, დარიო ამოდეის, მოსაზრებით, შესაძლოა პროგრამული უზრუნველყოფის ინჟინრების პროფესია მალე საერთოდ გაქრეს.
Gen Z Is Fed Up With Fizzy Alcohol Drinks and Startups Are Cashing In: ‘No Bubbles, No Troubles’ Original
Bars are getting flatter. Vodka waters are replacing vodka seltzers, tequila and soda is now tequila and water. It turns out Gen Z is fussy about the fizz in their drinks. Non-carbonated drinks made up 38% of new product launches in the $22 billion premixed drink market last year, up from 27% in 2021, according to Bloomberg.
This Little League Coach’s Pep Talk to His Team Went Viral. It’s Also Great Business Advice.
Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Cory Edwards' team was a few outs away from losing the Little League World Series final 11-2, when he gathered his players for a quick talk. What he said went viral, and it's just as useful in a boardroom as it is in the dugout.
This Little League Coach’s Pep Talk to His Team Went Viral. It’s Also Great Business Advice.
Cory Edwards’ team was a few outs away from losing the Little League World Series final 11-2, when he gathered his players for a quick talk. What he said went viral, and it’s just as useful in a boardroom as it is in the dugout. “Hey, listen, no matter what happens, you have to hold your head up,” Little League coach Edwards told his team from Henderson, Nevada, in a moment captured on ESPN.
James Dyson Spent 6 Years Building a $499 AI Toothbrush That Brushes and Flosses For You
James Dyson has a $15 billion net worth, a knighthood, a winery and a serious grudge against his dental hygienist. “She always gets out the pickaxe and starts hacking away bits of hardened plaque,” he told the Wall Street Journal. But after six years of tinkering, he thinks he’s built the fix. The Dyson CameraJet, unveiled this week, is the company’s first oral care product.
Someone Stole 50,000 Cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Company Says: ‘You Have Exactly 18 Days and 44 Minutes’ to Return the Loot Original
Call it The Great Beer Heist of 2026. Thieves took off with 40,000 pounds of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, roughly 50,000 cans, from a distribution center in Montclair, California. Now, Pabst wants it back on a very specific timeline. Police say about $25,000 worth of product was taken after a fake subcontracting company submitted fraudulent paperwork to arrange a pickup on August 17, the New York Times reports. Four days later, Pabst took to social media with a countdown.
This Mom Made $500 Just by Texting Her Friends Shopping Links — Here’s How to Turn Your Group Chat Into a Paycheck
Affiliate marketing used to be for influencers. Now regular people are cashing in just by sharing links with friends and family. Tracy Green was on a trip with seven friends, all turning 40 this year, swapping recommendations for concealer and creatine supplements. The information was so useful she figured other people in her life might want the same thing.
This Mom Made $500 Just by Texting Her Friends Shopping Links — Here’s How to Turn Your Group Chat Into a Paycheck
Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Tracy Green was on a trip with seven friends, all turning 40 this year, swapping recommendations for concealer and creatine supplements. The information was so useful she figured other people in her life might want the same thing.
Jack Daniel’s Is on the Rocks. Now the Family That’s Run It for 150 Years Is Turning on Each Other.
For more than 150 years, the Brown family has controlled Brown-Forman, the company behind Jack Daniel’s. But that control is under real pressure right now, and some of the family’s own members are responsible. The company’s stock has dropped 60% over five years as Americans drink less whiskey. Merger talks with France’s Pernod Ricard collapsed this spring, and crosstown rival Sazerac followed with an unsolicited $15 billion hostile takeover bid in May, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Jack Daniel’s Is on the Rocks. Now the Family That’s Run It for 150 Years Is Turning on Each Other.
Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. For more than 150 years, the Brown family has controlled Brown-Forman, the company behind Jack Daniel's. But that control is under real pressure right now, and some of the family's own members are responsible. The company's stock has dropped 60% over five years as Americans drink less whiskey.
Gen Z Can’t Afford to Buy a House, So They’re Putting Their Money in the Stock Market Instead
Prohibitive prices have locked Gen Z out of buying a home on Elm Street, so many of them are turning to Wall Street. A Pew Research Center survey found 89% of adults under 40 say buying a home is harder for their generation than it was for their parents. Instead of real estate, Gen Z is leaning hard into retirement savings such as 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. Fidelity found their retirement contributions are growing 65% year-over-year, more than double the rate of millennials.
Gen Z Can’t Afford to Buy a House, So They’re Putting Their Money in the Stock Market Instead
Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Prohibitive prices have locked Gen Z out of buying a home on Elm Street, so many of them are turning to Wall Street. A Pew Research Center survey found 89% of adults under 40 say buying a home is harder for their generation than it was for their parents.
Where's the beef? Not on American picnic tables this summer.
There are fewer hamburgers on the grill this summer. After nearly two years of relentless price hikes, Americans are finally pulling back on buying beef. Sales are down 0.3% in the 13 weeks ending in mid-July, according to Bloomberg . This is right during Memorial Day and July Fourth, typically the strongest stretch of the year for beef demand. In each of the two previous years, volumes had grown about 5% over the same period. Meanwhile, chicken sales rose 2%. Aaron Kaufman is one of the holdouts.
Where’s the Beef? Not on American Picnic Tables This Summer.
There are fewer hamburgers on the grill this summer. After nearly two years of relentless price hikes, Americans are finally pulling back on buying beef. Sales are down 0.3% in the 13 weeks ending in mid-July, according to Bloomberg. This is right during Memorial Day and July Fourth, typically the strongest stretch of the year for beef demand. In each of the two previous years, volumes had grown about 5% over the same period. Meanwhile, chicken sales rose 2%. Aaron Kaufman is one of the holdouts.
Health insurance costs hit a 15-year high. Companies are changing how they cover employees.
Group health insurance might be going the way of the pension. Just like companies swapped guaranteed pensions for 401(k)s and handed employees the responsibility of managing their own retirement, a growing number of employers are now handing workers cash instead of a company-picked health plan, Bloomberg reports The reason for the shift is economics. Group plan costs are expected to hit $18,500 per employee this year, a 6.7% jump, the steepest increase in 15 years, according to Mercer.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Jonathan
Contact Jonathan, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack