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Chris Rogers, Instacart’s current chief business officer, is taking over as the delivery giant’s next CEO, the company announced on Wednesday. Rogers, who has worked at Instacart since 2019, will take the helm from Fidji Simo on August 15. Simo, who ushered the company through a successful market debut (stock prices are up 53% since its 2023 IPO) after taking the top spot in 2021, will become CEO of applications at OpenAI. “We chose Chris because the company needs a leader who understands all our partners deeply, has immense operational experience, and can mobilize teams around our vision,” Simo wrote in a note to employees. “Chris knows this company. He helped shape it. And I know Chris will carry our mission forward with conviction, care, and ambition.” Simo previously told employees the top role would be filled by a member of Instacart’s management team. In his current role, Instacart said Rogers “oversees all aspects of the companys commercial operationsincluding retailer relationships and expansions, ad sales and R&D, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, Instacart Business, and Instacart Healthwith a focus on driving growth at the intersection of brands, retailers, and technology.” Prior to joining Instacart, Rogers spent nearly 11 years at Apple as the managing director for Apple Canada. He also led Apples carrier channel business and the consumer retail business in Canada. Rogers will be tasked with continuing to grow orders despite ongoing macroeconomic concerns. The company reported first quarter financial results earlier this month, posting strong order growth and total revenue. However, its burgeoning advertising segment where food companies pay for placement in the app could see problems as new tariffs and regulations impact the ad spend. Rogers said in a blog post that the company’s strategy and vision wouldn’t change. “Our opportunity is massive, and Im excited to lead this team as we build on our momentum and take Instacart forward,” Rogers said.
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E-Commerce
After back-to-back explosions, SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship again on Tuesday evening, but fell short of the main objectives when the spacecraft tumbled out of control and broke apart.The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off on its ninth demo from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas. Residents voted this month to organize as an official city.CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX hoped to release a series of mock satellites following liftoff, but that got nixed because the door failed to open all the way. Then the spacecraft began spinning as it skimmed space toward an uncontrolled landing in the Indian Ocean.SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” or burst apart. “Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,” the company said in an online statement.Musk noted in a post on X it was a “big improvement” from the two previous demos, which ended in flaming debris over the Atlantic. Despite the latest setback, he promised a faster launch pace moving forward, with a Starship soaring every three to four weeks for the next three flights.It was the first time one of Musk’s Starships intended for moon and Mars travel flew with a recycled booster. There were no plans to catch the booster with giant chopsticks back at the launch pad, with the company instead pushing it to its limits. Contact with the booster was lost at one point, and it slammed into the Gulf of Mexico in pieces as the spacecraft continued toward the Indian Ocean.Then the spacecraft went out of control, apparently due to fuel leaks.“Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today,” said SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot. The company had been looking to test the spacecraft’s heat shield during a controlled reentry.Communication ceased before the spacecraft came down, and SpaceX ended its webcast soon afterward.The previous two Starships never made it past the Caribbean. The demos earlier this year ended just minutes after liftoff, raining wreckage into the ocean. No injuries or serious damage were reported, although airline travel was disrupted. The Federal Aviation Administration last week cleared Starship for another flight, expanding the hazard area and pushing the liftoff outside peak air travel times.Besides taking corrective action and making upgrades, SpaceX modified the latest spacecraft’s thermal tiles and installed special catch fittings. This one was meant to sink in the Indian Ocean, but the company wanted to test the add-ons for capturing future versions back at the pad, just like the boosters.NASA needs SpaceX to make major strides over the next year with Starship the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built in order to land astronauts back on the moon. Next year’s moonshot with four astronauts will fly around the moon, but will not land. That will happen in 2027 at the earliest and require a Starship to get two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back off again. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer
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E-Commerce
Two romantasy authors have publicly defended their use of artificial intelligence after being caught with AI-generated prompts left in their published works. While their readers are far from impressed, the writers insist that it does not take away from their craft. Excerpts from novels published by K.C. Crowne and Lena McDonald have been spreading across Reddit, Goodreads, and Bluesky, after readers discovered revision notes that read like ChatGPT and cues that reference the style of other authors embedded in the copy. “I’ve rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree’s style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements,” reads what appears to be an editing note in chapter three of McDonalds Darkhollow Academy: Year 2. (J Bree is also an author of romance and fantasy novels.) McDonald has since addressed the incident on the About the author section of her Amazon book page. “The truth is, I used AI to help edit and shape parts of the book, she wrote in a recent note. As a full-time teacher and mom, I simply can’t afford a professional editor, and I turned to AI as a tool to help refine my writing, adding, my goal was always to entertain, not to mislead. Harmless brainstorming or active deception? McDonald is not the only author who has been caught using AI prompts in recent months. A top-ranked author on Amazon who writes under the name K.C. Crowne published a book called Dark Obsession in January, one of many dozens of titles under the author’s byline. However, it wasnt long before screenshots from the mafia-romance novel began spreading with what appeared to be an AI prompt in the middle of the page. Certainly! Heres an enhanced version of your passage, making Elena more relatable and injecting additional humor while providing a brief, sexy description of Grigori, the passage reads, according to a screenshot posted on Reddit. Crowne has seemingly responded to the accusations via her personal assistants Facebook account. Ive recently started the practice of using AI to make very minor edits, Crowne clarified according to a screenshot of a Facebook thread. Crowne also wrote in an email to Futurism: “Earlier this year, I made an honest mistake. I accidentally uploaded the wrong draft file, which included an AI prompt. That error was entirely my responsibility, and that’s why I made the tough decision to address it publicly.” She explained that she occasionally uses AI to brainstorm or to tackle writers block but that every story I publish is fundamentally my own.” She also added, “I only use AI-assisted tools in ways that help me improve my craft while fully complying with the terms of service of publishing platforms, to the best of my ability.” Fast Company has reached out to Crowne for comment. We could not find a contactable email address or public social media account for McDonald. New territory and fresh questions in an old industry These incidents add fuel to the fire that has been raging about AIs infiltration of creative fields. When it comes to the major players in publishing, their position on AI is tentative. Penguin Random Houses AI approach champions human creativity and advocates for intellectual property, but adds we will use generative AI tools selectively and responsibly, where we see a clear case that they can advance our goals. Meanwhile, Hachette UK opposes machine creativity but encourages responsible experimentation with AI for operational uses and recognises the benefits of remaining curious and embracing technology. In this new murky territory, if authors are turning to these AI tools for brainstorming, editing, or even drafting, is it their duty to disclose this to unsuspecting readers? Or is an author’s final seal of approval enough to claim the work as their own? Thats provided they have proofread the work and deleted any giveaways.
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