President Donald Trump is asking a federal court in Florida to force Rupert Murdoch to give a deposition for the president’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal within 15 days, citing the media mogul’s age and physical condition.
Trump sued The Journal, owned by Murdoch, in U.S. District Court in southern Florida on July 18 for its story reporting on the Republican president’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and alleged child sex trafficker who died in a New York jail in 2019 before trial.
The president’s motion to the court on Monday noted Murdoch is 94 years old, is believed to have suffered several health scares in recent years, and is presumed to live in New York.
Taken together, these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial, Trump’s request to the court said.
A spokesman for Murdoch’s News Corp. did not immediately return a request for comment. Trump’s motion said that, in a telephone conversation, Murdoch’s lawyer indicated he would oppose the effort.
Firefly Aerospace, the first commercial company to successfully land on the moon, just announced the target per-share pricing for its proposed initial public offering (IPO).
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, the Texas-based company shared that it applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq exchange, with an offer of 16.2 million shares, each priced between $35 and $39 per sharea launch that could raise as much as $631.8 million for Firefly.
The company plans to trade its stock under the ticker symbol FLY.
According to Firefly, net proceeds from the IPO would be used to repay outstanding borrowings under its credit agreement, pay any accrued and unpaid dividends on certain series of its preferred stock, and for general corporate purposes.
If the IPO is approved by the Nasdaq, it will be the latest in a series of tech-focused listings that have drawn renewed investor interest this year, a group that includes fintech company Chime, stablecoin issuer Circle, and digital health platform Hinge Health.
Firefly has not announced an expected date for the listing, but said in a press release on Monday that it has launched its “road show.” Fast Company has reached out for more information on the timing.
What is Firefly Aerospace?
Firefly Aerospace is a private company focusing on building small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles from its headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas. Its proposed IPO comes just months after the company landed on the moon for the first time through a partnership with NASA.
The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1, dubbed Ghost Rider in the Sky, was a collaboration between Firefly and NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which offers fixed contracts to commercial partners.
In all, CLPS awarded Firefly $101 million to craft a four-legged lander that could deliver 10 NASA payloads (weighing 340 pounds) to the moons surface. These payloads were designed to study topics like the behavior of lunar dust, the moons internal structure, and the Earths magnetosphere. The mission launched on January 15 and successfully touched down on March 2.
It just shows that the private industry, the commercial world, has a lot of affordable, responsive technology and systems that could provide NASA a frequent means to go to the moon and carry out all these high-stakes critical-science missions for lower cost, as well as do it sustainably, Firefly CEO Jason Kim told Fast Company in January.
Currently, Firefly is gearing up to complete two more missions for NASA in 2026 and 2028.
The companys success, alongside the growing prominence of other players like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, shows that private companies are becoming increasingly powerful in todays space racea trend that may make FLY stock a valuable asset to potential future investors.
The Trump administration’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which the president signed into law on July 4, could have some unwelcome impacts on U.S. grocery storesespecially those that are independently owned or in low-income neighborhoods.
The bill slashed government spending on items like Medicare and Medicaid and gave massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. But it also cut Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, a federal program which at least 41.7 million received last year.
According to the National Grocers Association (NGA), which represents independent community grocers across the U.S., as well as their wholesalers, roughly 12% of grocery store payments come from SNAP. In some rural and low-income neighborhoods, closer to 70% of sales are made using the assistance program. That means that neighborhood stores in those areas will almost undeniably see dwindling sales.
In May, the Center for American Progress identified at least 27,000 grocery retailers that were likely to be the hardest hit by the bills cuts. “The impacts of cuts to SNAP are likely to be felt most strongly in areas with the highest rates of SNAP participation,” the report noted. “In these communities, even if a family doesnt personally see their budget for food reduced, community residents could see their local grocer close.”
Amid economic challenges that were present before the bill’s passing, even major chains have been attempting major moves to stay competitive. Last year, grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons attempted to merge. The move, which would’ve been the largest supermarket merger in history, was blocked by a judge after the FTC sued.
“This historic win protects millions of Americans across the country from higher prices for essential groceriesfrom milk, to bread, to eggsultimately allowing consumers to keep more money in their pockets,” the FTC said in a statement at the time. “This victory has a direct, tangible impact on the lives of millions of Americans who shop at Kroger or Albertsons-owned grocery stores for their everyday needs, whether thats a Frys in Arizona, a Vons in Southern California, or a Jewel-Osco in Illinois.”
While SNAP recipients and grocers may suffer due to the massive cuts, some republicans have pointed to an alleged uptick in fraudulent SNAP payments as a reason for the SNAP cuts. House Speaker Mike Johnson cited a USDA statistic, which says SNAP transactions jumped 55% between the last quarter of FY2024 and the first quarter of FY2025. Those fraudulent charges, however, arent from SNAP beneficiaries themselves, but from scams that target recipients who rely on the program.
Tesla has signed a $16.5 billion deal to source chips from Samsung Electronics, a move that could bolster the South Korean tech giant’s unprofitable contract business but is unlikely to help Tesla sell more EVs or roll out robotaxis more quickly.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said late on Sunday that Samsung’s new chip factory in Taylor, Texas would make Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. This could re-energize Samsung’s project, which has faced long delays because the company had trouble retaining and attracting major clients.
Samsung shares on Monday closed up 6.8% on hopes that this deal would help the world’s top memory chip maker in the race to produce artificial intelligence chips, where it trails rivals such as TSMC.
With production still years away, the deal is unlikely to help Tesla address immediate challenges, including ongoing declines in its EV sales and efforts to scale its emerging robotaxi service. Tesla shares still rose 4.2% on Monday.
Musk has said that future AI inference chips, including AI6, would be deployed in self-driving vehicles and its Optimus humanoid robots, though he has noted the substantial computing power could enable broader AI applications. Inference chips are used to run AI models and make real-time decisions.
“Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house,” Musk said in a post on X on Monday.
“The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher,” Musk said in another post.
It was unclear whether the deal is related to ongoing trade talks between South Korea and the U.S. Seoul is seeking U.S. partnerships in chips and shipbuilding amid last-ditch efforts to reach a trade deal to eliminate or reduce potential 25% U.S. tariffs.
A South Korean trade ministry official told Reuters he had not heard that the specific deal was part of the trade negotiations.
According to a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, Ryu Young-ho, Samsung’s Taylor factory “so far had virtually no customers, so this order is quite meaningful,” although the deal may represent a small portion of its logic chip revenue annually.
In October, Reuters reported that Samsung had postponed taking deliveries of ASML chipmaking equipment for its Texas factory as it had not yet won any major customers for the project. It has already delayed the plant’s operational start to 2026.
Production timeline
While no timeline was provided for AI6 chip production, Musk has previously said that next-generation AI5 chips will be produced at the end of 2026, suggesting AI6 would follow. Musk confirmed during Tesla’s earnings call last week that AI5 chips would enter “buying production” by the end of next year.
Lee Dong-ju, an analyst at SK Securities, expects production in 2027 or 2028, but Tesla has a history of missing its targets.
Samsung currently makes Tesla’s AI4 chips, which power its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant system, while TSMC is slated to make the AI5, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona, Musk has said.
Samsung, the world’s top memory chip maker, also produces logic chips designed by customers through its foundry business. The Texas project is central to Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee’s strategy to expand beyond its bread-and-butter memory chips into contract chip manufacturing.
It holds just 8% of the global foundry market, far behind TSMC, which has a 67% share, data from market researcher Trendforce show.
Pak Yuak, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the deal would help reduce losses at Samsung’s foundry business, which he estimates exceeded 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in the first half of the year.
($1 = 1,378.7000 won)
Heekyong Yang, Hyunjoo Jin, Wen-Yee Lee, Jack Kim, Akash Sriram, and Chris Kirkham, Reuters
Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee.
Rhode Island will now provide workplace accommodations for women experiencing menopause. The groundbreaking move makes the state the first ever to mandate any accommodations related to menopause by law.
Effective June 24, 2025, the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act, which covers conditions relating to pregnancy, labor, and postpartum, added menopause to the list of conditions it covers. Under the amended act, reasonable accommodations for menopause or menopause-related conditions, including “the need to manage the effects of vasomotor symptoms,” such as hot flashes (one of the most common menopause symptoms), are included. The bill, however, did not provide more detail on what reasonable accommodations look like.
Menopause is a difficult and personal subject that has been stigmatized in this country,” Senator Lori Urso (D-Dist. 8, Pawtucket), who introduced the legislation, earlier this year said in a press release. “But its high time we normalize it, especially for the benefit of women in the workplace.” Urso added that a lack of such protections contributes to the gender pay gap and causes women to lose leadership opportunities.
Under Rhode Island’s Fair Employment Practices Act, the state already required employers with at least four employees to provide accommodations for pregnant persons and conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth. At least 31 states mandate such accommodationsa number that has been rising in recent years. All 50 states must require some accommodations for lactation, too, under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 2022, the PUMP Act expanded those protections to include more industries, like nursing, education, truck and taxi drivers, and more.
However, menopause accommodations have long been overlooked. That’s in spite of the fact that the normal, yet often uncomfortable, condition impacts nearly half the population. An estimated 85% of people experience symptoms such as mood swings, migraines, hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, night sweats, and more during menopause. For some, those symptoms can be severe, however, until now, no state has legally acknowledged the condition in the workplace.
The ACLU of Rhode Island spoke to the importance of the proposed legislation earlier in a press release prior to its passing. Menopause is a natural and common phase in the lives of millions of individuals, but its impact and symptoms can have profound and long-lasting effects on a persons health and daily life,” said Madalyn McGunagle, policy associate at the Rhode Island ACLU.
McGunagle continued, “The ACLU of Rhode Island supports this bill, which would make explicit that employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees experiencing menopause, just as the law currently requires accommodations for various pregnancy-related conditions. By extending protections to those experiencing menopause, we can ensure that they are given the necessary accommodations to continue performing their jobs effectively.”
Unlike the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was written in gender neutral language and covers transgender individuals, Rhode Island’s Fair Employment Practices Act does not include such language. Fast Company reached out to Senator Urso’s office to clarify whether menopause accommodations will include transgender individuals but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Estée Laundry, the anonymous Instagram account and self-proclaimed beauty industry watchdog, is back after a two-year hiatus.
Estée Laundrythe name a play on beauty giant Estée Lauderlaunched in 2018 to air out the beauty industrys dirty laundry, as the accounts bio once read. It posted regularly, and followers, or Laundrites, were encouraged to weigh in on daily beauty news and controversies. That continued until some members of the anonymous collective left, and the account ultimately went quiet in 2023.
This month, however, a new post appeared asking followers, serious question, are there still any exciting beauty brands? In a recent interview with Business of Fashion, the beauty custodian described itself as a group of outsiders with ties to the beauty industry. Those ties remain strong enough to break news: the account was the first to share an internal memo announcing layoffs at Shiseido Americas last week.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Estée Laundry (@esteelaundry)
Like its fashion industry counterpart Diet Prada, Estée Laundry grew its nearly 200,000-strong following by spotlighting industry-wide issues such as cultural appropriation, lack of diversity, and unsubstantiated product claims. Major brands that have found themselves in the crosshairs include millennial-favorite Glossier, Fenty Beauty, and the Kardashians, to name a few.
In 2022, the account famously flagged former Estée Lauder Companies executive John Demseys Instagram post that included a racial epithet (which he swiftly deleted). Hows it OK for a beauty executive (responsible for the branding and direction of a company that claims to focus on diversity and inclusion) to post this? the account questioned. The executive was forced to resign less than a week later, The New York Times reported.
Now, Estée Laundry is back and shifting gears. With the relaunch, the group is intentionally moving away from its vigilante roots and instead focusing on longform opinion pieces via a weekly Patreon newsletter, aptly named Laundry Service, for $8 a month.
A representative told Business of Fashion, We think of ourselves as a beauty industry observer.
When top U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Stockholm, they are almost certain to agree to at least leaving tariffs at the current levels while working toward a meeting between their presidents later this year for a more lasting trade deal between the world’s two largest economies, analysts say.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are set to hold talks Monday for the third time this year this round in the Swedish capital, nearly four months after President Donald Trump upset global trade with his sweeping tariff proposal, including an import tax that shot up to 145% on Chinese goods.“We have the confines of a deal with China,” Trump said Friday before leaving for Scotland.Bessent told MSNBC on Wednesday that the two countries after talks in Geneva and London have reached a “status quo,” with the U.S. taxing imported goods from China at 30% and China responding with a 10% tariff, on top of tariffs prior to the start of Trump’s second term.“Now we can move on to discussing other matters in terms of bringing the economic relationship into balance,” Bessent said. He was referring to the U.S. running a $295.5 billion trade deficit last year. The U.S. seeks an agreement that would enable it to export more to China and shift the Chinese economy more toward domestic consumer spending.The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing hopes “there will be more consensus and cooperation and less misperception” coming out of the talks.With an eye on a possible leaders’ summit, Stockholm could provide some answers as to the timeline and viability of that particular goal ahead of a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.“The meeting will be important in starting to set the stage for a fall meeting between Trump and Xi,” said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Beijing will likely insist on detailed preparations before they agree to a leaders’ meeting.”In Stockholm, the two sides are likely to focus on commercial announcements to be made at a leaders’ summit as well as agreements to address “major irritants,” such as China’s industrial overcapacity and its lack of control over chemicals used to make fentanyl, also to be announced when Xi and Trump should meet, Cutler said.Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said Stockholm could be the first real opportunity for the two governments to address structural reform issues including market access in China for U.S. companies.What businesses will be seeking coming out of Stockholm would largely be “the atmosphere” how the two sides characterize the discussions. They will also look for clues about a possible leaders’ summit because any real deal will hinge on the two presidents meeting each other, he said.
Fentanyl-related tariffs are likely a focus for China
In Stockholm, Beijing will likely demand the removal of the 20% fentanyl-related tariff that Trump imposed earlier this year, said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center.This round of the U.S.-China trade dispute began with fentanyl, when Trump in February imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, citing that China failed to curb the outflow of the chemicals used to make the drug. The following month, Trump added another 10% tax for the same reason. Beijing retaliated with extra duties on some U.S. goods, including coal, liquefied natural gas, and farm products such as beef, chicken, pork and soy.In Geneva, both sides climbed down from three-digit tariffs rolled out following Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, but the U.S. kept the 20% “fentanyl” tariffs, in addition to the 10% baseline rate to which China responded by keeping the same 10% rate on U.S. products. These across-the-board duties were unchanged when the two sides met in London a month later to negotiate over non-tariff measures such as export controls on critical products.The Chinese government has long protested that American politicians blame China for the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. but argued the root problem lies with the U.S. itself. Washington says Beijing is not doing enough to regulate precursor chemicals that flow out of China into the hands of drug dealers.In July, China placed two fentanyl ingredients under enhanced control, a move seen as in response to U.S. pressure and signaling goodwill.Gabriel Wildau, managing director at the consultancy Teneo, said he doesn’t expect any tariff to go away in Stockholm but that tariff relief could be part of a final trade deal.“It’s possible that Trump would cancel the 20% tariff that he has explicitly linked with fentanyl, but I would expect the final tariff level on China to be at least as high as the 15-20% rate contained in the recent deals with Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam,” Wildau said.
U.S. wants China to dump less, buy less oil from Russia and Iran
China’s industrial overcapacity is as much a headache for the United States as it is for the European Union. Even Beijing has acknowledged the problem but suggested it might be difficult to address.America’s trade imbalance with China has decreased from a peak of $418 billion in 2018, according to the Census Bureau. But China has found new markets for its goods and as the world’s dominant manufacturer ran a global trade surplus approaching $1 trillion last year somewhat larger than the size of the U.S. overall trade deficit in 2024. And China’s emergence as a manufacturer of electric vehicles and other emerging technologies has suddenly made it more of a financial and geopolitical threat for those same industries based in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea.“Some enterprises, especially manufacturing enterprises, feel more deeply that China’s manufacturing capabilities are too strong, and Chinese people are too hardworking. Factories run 24 hours a day,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday when hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing. “Some people think this will cause some new problems in the balance of supply and demand in world production.”“We see this problem too,” Li said.Bessent also said the Stockholm talks could address Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil. However, Wildau of Teneo said China could demand some U.S. security concessions in exchange, such as a reduced U.S. military presence in East Asia and scaled-back diplomatic support for Taiwan and the Philippines. This would likely face political pushback in Washington.The Stockholm talks will be “geared towards building a trade agreement based around Chinese purchase commitments and pledges of investment in the U.S. in exchange for partial relief from U.S. tariffs and export controls,” Wildau said.He doubts there will be a grand deal. Instead, he predicts “a more limited agreement based around fentanyl.”“That,” he said, “is probably the preferred outcome for China hawks in the Trump administration, who worry that an overeager Trump might offer too much to Xi.”
Didi Tang and Josh Boak, Associated Press
Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report
The stock price for the EV charging company ChargePoint Holdings (NYSE: CHPT) went up dramatically this morningbut, for investors, that might not be good news.
ChargePoint just implemented a measure called a reverse stock split, a move intended to artificially increase the share price of a company without actually boosting its overall value. Typically, a reverse stock split is used as an effort to prevent a company from being delisted from a stock exchange, and it often signals that said company is struggling financially.
Investors are already demonstrating their wariness: As of this writing, ChargePoint stock is down more than 14% since market open this morning. Heres what to know about the companys reverse stock split:
What is ChargePoint?
ChargePoint Holdings is one of the largest EV charging networks in the world. The company operates more than a million chargers in the U.S. and Europe, many of which are free to use and easy to find via the companys app. In recent years, its signed partnerships with Starbucks and Airbnb and helped to electrify an entire village in Senegal.
Despite these milestones, ChargePoint has been navigating a rocky financial period. It reported a net loss of $282.9 million in the fiscal year ending in January, and, on June 5, 2025, it shared that its first-quarter 2026 revenue was down 9% compared to the previous year.
What is a reverse stock split?
A reverse stock split happens when a company boosts the price tag of its stock by combining many shares into one. In the case of ChargePoint, the reverse split took place at a ratio of 1-for-20, meaning that the value of one share today is equal to 20 shares last week.
A reverse stock split doesnt mean that the companys overall value has increasedit just means that there are now far fewer shares available, each at a higher cost.
After the reverse stock split, ChargePoint investors will still own the same total value in the company, consolidated into fewer shares. The reverse split was approved by ChargePoints shareholders on July 8.
Whats the point of a reverse stock split?
Companies use a reverse stock split when, for a number of reasons, they need to artificially increase the price of their shares. According to a press release, ChargePoint took this measure to comply with the minimum trading price criteria for continued listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
On the NYSE, listed companies need to maintain an average closing price of at least $1 per share over 30 consecutive trading days in order to meet the exchanges trading price criteria. In July, ChargePoint consistently traded below that $1 thresholdmeaning that, without a reverse stock split, it might have been at risk of delisting.
What does this mean for investors?
ChargePoints decision, paired with its recently rough financials, is likely to be a red flag for investors. The stocks current plummet shows that lack of confidence playing out in real time, demonstrating that the company is in a rough spot and is taking extreme measures to prevent delisting.
In the past several years, other companies including WeWork, Virgin Galactic Holdings, and Nikola have used a similar strategy to continue trading.
European Union wine and spirits producers could emerge among the few winners of a EU-U.S. trade deal agreed at the weekend that some European officials consider unbalanced.
The high-level agreement, which imposes a 15% baseline duty for most EU goods entering the United States, is set to include tariff exemptions for some agricultural products, still to be hammered out.
Alcoholic beverages could be among those, according to trade and industry officials.
“We are optimistic that in the days ahead this positive meeting and agreement will lead to a return to zero-for-zero tariffs for U.S. and EU spirits products,” Distilled Spirits Council President and CEO Chris Swonger said in a statement in response to the U.S.-EU agreement.
On Monday, French Trade Minister Laurent Saint Martin also said he expected the spirits sector to be exempted from U.S. tariffs.
If confirmed, an exemption would offer a lifeline to alcohol players including the world’s biggest spirits maker, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau and Campari, all of which are very exposed to vast U.S. market and whose profits have already taken a big hit as consumers spend less on drink.
Shares in Pernod, Diageo and Campari initially rose in early trade. But they stood 1.3%, 0.4% and 0.3% lower by 0707 GMT. Shares in Remy fell 2.2%.
Alcohol is among the EU’s top exports to the United States, worth about 9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in 2024, according to Eurostat data, with certain products like Remy Martin cognac and champagne required to be produced in specific European regions.
About one-third of all exports of Irish whiskey such as Pernod Ricard’s Jameson are destined for the United States.
Earlier in July, President Donald Trump had threatened a crippling 30% tariff that some industry experts said could stop flows of certain EU goods towards the United States.
The United States accounts for about 18% of exports for another exclusively French product, champagne.
Of all exports of cognac from its namesake region in France, about 43% end up in the United States. LVMH owns Hennessy Cognac.
Remy Cointreau, which makes more than 70% of its sales from French-made cognac, is among the alcohol makers hit hardest by tariffs. It has pegged the hit from tariffs imposed globally at about 45 million euros.
For cognac makers, the U.S. tariffs represent a fresh challenge after producers of the drink managed this month to avert the threat of duties of up to around 35% from China.
For Spanish and Italian wines, around 14% and 24% of total exports, respectively, are sold in the United States.
Beer brewers and makers of popular ready-to-drink cocktails will, however, continue to face tariffs on imported aluminum they may use for cans. Under the EU-U.S. deal struck on Sunday, Washington will continue to impose a levy of 50% on steel and aluminum entering the United States.
($1 = 0.8518 euros)
Emma Rumney and Jessica DiNapoli, Reuters
Businesses have spent the past decade or more amassing vast amounts of data on customers, sales, and nearly everything else measurable. Yet everyday employeesand even C-suite leadersoften struggle to work directly with these datasets, which typically require specialized technical skills to access, analyze, and query.
Julius AI, a startup founded in 2022, claims to have a solution. It offers AI that allows users to ask questions in plain English, like Why is our revenue going up? or Can I see a pie chart of sales by region? The system then automatically generates code in languages like Python to deliver the required answer or data visualization, often within seconds, along with a written explanation of the process.
Previously users would have needed to submit questions to their companys data science team, wait for clarifying questions, and then receive a response or link to a chart. Now they can simply talk to Julius.
“They can just ask questions and get instant insights, says founder and CEO Rahul Sonwalkar. And then they [can] ask a lot of follow-up questions.
So far, the tool has generated roughly 10 million data visualizations for users and produced an additional 4 million lines of code every day, Sonwalkar says. Its also the tool of choice in Harvard Business Schools Data Science and AI for Leaders class, now required for every incoming MBA student.
[Image: Courtesy of Julius]
For data scientists, Julius allows more time to focus on long-term projects, rather than handling a constant stream of ad hoc questions (and follow-ups) from colleagues. And when needed, they can use Julius themselves.
The interface resembles a Jupyter notebook (commonly used by analysts for step-by-step workflows and visualizations) but with the added ability to input plain English, alongside code in Python, SQL, or R. This saves even experienced programmers the effort of looking up obscure syntax or remembering exact database table and column names. While those familiar with coding can edit the AI-generated code, most users dontand thats okay.
[Image: Courtesy of Julius]
Most of our users dont know what Python is, Sonwalkar says.
Julius recently raised $10 million in a funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and now has nearly 2 million users. The company is continuously expanding its capabilities to better handle sprawling enterprise data. Initially, users had to upload files like spreadsheets, but the tool can now connect to popular database and data warehouse platforms such as PostgreSQL and Snowflake. The AI can analyze database layouts to understand whats stored where, share that information with users, and build deeper contextual knowledge over time, Sonwalkar says.
Julius is currently preparing integrations with other key business data sources, like Googles advertising tools, as well as working toward compatibility with established business intelligence platforms, aiming to replicate and enhance analyses already in use.
The company is also working on enhanced support for visualization dashboards, along with scheduled queries that automatically refresh with new data on a regular basis, both common features of business intelligence software. And for users weary of checking dashboards to see whether any numbers have gone up or down unexpectedly, Julius expects to add notifications that can let users know if something noteworthy appears in the data.
[Image: Courtesy of Julius]
Theres a dashboard fatigue in companies, Sonwalkar says. There are 50 dashboards that each team monitors every week, and most dashboards honestly dont change.
But when they do, users will be able to ask Julius for an explanation and direct it to explore the underlying metrics, which traditional dashboards dont allow without manual coding.
Julius isnt alone in pursuing AI-driven data science. Many data providers, from polling giant Morning Consult to various sales and marketing platforms, have added AI to help customers explore their datasets more intelligently. Established business intelligence tools are also layering in AI interfaces, while leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have launched their own data analysis tools.
Still, Sonwalkar contends that Julius offers more robust features and deeper data source integrations than the AI tools from the big labsand is built from the ground up to help everyday users interact intelligently with data, rather than layering AI onto existing legacy systems.
Were rebuilding the experience from scratch, he says.
