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Shares in the quantum computing firm Rigetti Computing are experiencing what you might call quantum leap. The Berkeley, California, company announced on Wednesday that it has achieved its mid-year performance milestone of 99.5% median [two-qubit gate fidelity] on its modular 36-qubit system. What that means is that the company has managed to build the biggest modular quantum computer to date, and also cut its error rate in halfmarking progress toward making quantum computers more viable for commercial users. Investors appear to see the news as further evidence that practical quantum computing is right around the corner, rather than decades away, as some have suggested. Following the announcement, Rigetti stock (NASDAQ: RGTI) saw a significant increase, rising more than 30% as of Wednesday afternoon. We benefit from the many advantages of superconducting qubits, including gate speeds more than 1,000x faster than other modalities like ion trap and pure atoms, and scalability,” Rigetti CEO Subodh Kulkarni said in a statement. “By leveraging well-known techniques from the semiconductor industry, weve developed proprietary technology that we believe is critical to enable scaling to higher qubit count systems. The company added that it plans to share additional updates when it releases its second-quarter 2025 operating results. Quantum computing is having an eventful year Even with AI sucking up the lion’s share of attention from investors this year, quantum computingwhich involves complex processes that can carry out tasks far faster than classical computershas not gone unnoticed, although there is debate over when and to what extent advances in the space will yield world-changing results. Shares in the major publicly traded firms have remained somewhat volatile. With Rigetti’s stock boost today, the company is trading at around $16.57 a sharea more than six-month high, but still lower than they were during a rally of quantum-related stocks at the end of last year. Other companies, such as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Google are also in the quantum arms race, which could potentially lead to increased computing power on a massive scale, with a wide variety of potential use cases. Some companies, for example, are using them to develop new materials or drugs on time scales that dwarf existing development cycles. Quantum computing has remained largely theoretical until recently, but companies like Rigetti have been eager to share their developments backed by actual data. In March, quantum computing company D-Wave announced that it had achieved “quantum supremacy.” The claim was challenged by researchers in Switzerland, but investors have rewarded D-Wave since then, particularly after the release of its Advantage2 system in May. Shares are up more than 191% over the last six months.
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E-Commerce
The popular Icelandic skyr yogurt brand, siggi’s, wants Americans to take their paid time off. No excuses! But siggi’s is doing more than just urging their own employees to take their PTO, they’re offering to foot the bill for any hard worker’s vacay. The brand just announced a new contest that’s easy to enter and comes with a pretty amazing prize: $5,000 and a $1,000 flight voucher. All you have to do is tell the siggi’s, in a few sentences (200-300 words) why you haven’t used all your PTO in the past. A siggi’s spokesperson told Fast Company that the inspiration for the challenge was, quite simply, the normalization of a society that never stops working. “At siggis, we believe that less sets you free. In our product, that means less sugar and simple ingredients. But that belief extends beyond food. The spokesperson continued, In a culture obsessed with doing more, working more, and sometimes, burning out siggis is on a mission to help people find their greatness by doing less. That is where the PT-Yo Program was born.” Of course, there may be a ton of reasons why so many Americans (62%, according to a 2024 report) may leave vacation days unused, like competitive culture, stress or guilt about taking time off, but the days add up. They also have a massive price tag. Last year, Americans had more than $312 billion in untouched vacation days. The yogurt brand believes that trend is worrying. “As an entrepreneur, I know how hard it is to step away, said Siggi Hilmarsson, founder of siggis in a press release. But stepping away is where the real breakthroughs happen. This summer, we’re motivating people to take their timeand take it seriously. The brand also recently debuted a billboard in New York Citys Times Square urging workers to use their PTO. Because, if they dont, well, nobody wins. However, if youve managed to slack off on slacking off in the past, you can still be one of 10 people to win siggi’s PTO challenge. According to the spokesperson, contestants need to be over 18, live in the U.S. (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and all other territories and possessions outside of the continental U.S), and basically just want to take an epic (and well-earned) vacation. Check out the challenge here and put in your PTO request.
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E-Commerce
Americans are seriously worried about their finances. Between high costs of living, tariffs, and job instability, driven, in part, by AI, the added anxiety means that consumers’ spending habits are shifting. And while they’re aiming to spend less overall, the stress also seems to be driving purchases that make them feel safer in an economy (and world?) that feels uncertain. According to a newly released Life360 survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, heavy financial burdens are being felt by the majority of Americans. The survey found that a staggering 71% of Americans now feel economically vulnerable with 64% admitting their anxiety has increased since the start of 2025. Likewise, the top three words respondents chose to describe their emotions in 2025 were ones with negative connotations: stressful, nervous, and crazy. Americans are cutting backbut not when it comes to peace of mind Unsurprisingly, Americans are coping by spending less. 56% say they’ve cut back on dining or takeout, 47% have trimmed their online shopping habits, and 45% are vacationing less often. However, spending isn’t down across the board. In fact, in one category, it’s going up: safety and security (like emergency alert tools, home security, and digital protections). The category was the only one where respondents were investing more than they were cutting. 21% of respondents said they were investing more in these tools, with only 20% pulling back. “In moments of elevated economic uncertainty, the premium on security increases: Investors seek safe assets, businesses prioritize safe investments, and families double down on peace of mind,” Life360 economist Aaron Terrazas said in a blog post on the report. But, interestingly, it’s the younger generations who seem to be the most concerned with safety and security in modern times. While Gen X and Baby Boomers ranked health and wellness as their biggest priorities in terms of spending, Millennials and Gen Zers said safety and security were the most important. Fear, uncertainty, and financial strain Terrazas says those habits are likely shaped by the groups’ “formative economic experiences”, and pointed to “pandemic-era uncertainty” as hitting the younger generations especially hard. Terrazas told Fast Company, “Just like their grandparents and great-grandparents who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II, Gen Z and Millennials came of age in a fractious moment in world history. For young Americans who entered adulthood during the years from 9/11 to the Great Recession to the Covid-19 Pandemic, its natural that safety and security would rank high on their priorities, and those priorities are likely to remain top of mind as they move deeper into adulthood.” Therefore, it makes sense that while there are plenty of things Americans are scrapping, tools that make people feel safer are not one of them. In fact, 40% of parents said safety and emergency alert apps were non-negotiable,” which was the highest of all the categories. 55% of parents, and 43% of respondents overall, said they’d fight to keep safety and security subscriptions. Terrazas noted that the survey included “a mix of safety and security tools, including Life360, Citizen, Ring, ADT+ apps that offer everything from real-time location sharing to emergency alerts and home security” pressing that these kinds of tools “help people feel safer, more in control, and more connected in an unpredictable world.” That means that, for many, even as shopping, dining, vacations, and even streaming services take a backseat, the feeling of safety and security is of greater concern than ever. “As people are increasingly anxious, whether about their finances or physical safety, tools that provide ‘peace of mind’ are something people find indispensable,” Terrazas said.
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E-Commerce
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