Median pay for CEOs rose nearly 6% in 2025, but some compensation packages were eye-popping
NEW YORK (AP) — The typical CEO compensation package rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million, as company boards rewarded their top executives for bigger profits and higher stock prices, and gave them incentives to stick around and make even more money for shareholders in the years ahead. The median employee at these companies earned $89,744, reflecting a 4.7% increase year over year. While that gain outpaced inflation in 2025, many workers were still feeling pinched by the accumulation of higher prices over the past few years. Tesla CEO Elon Musk topped the survey with a pay package valued at $132 billion.
Introducing Argus, a robot with 20 legs and eyes built to move and see in any direction instantly
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Robots that look like dogs or people try to replicate symmetrical shapes found in nature. But engineers at Duke University are taking a different approach. They're focusing on uniformity in action or what they call “dynamic symmetry.” The result is Argus. The roly-poly robot has depth-sensing cameras attached to 20 telescoping legs radiating from a central core. With no front, back, top or bottom, it can see and move in any direction instantly. Argus can navigate sandy beaches and rough terrain. It can even climb between parallel brick walls. Researchers hope the design principles behind Argus can be used to develop other types of robots.
Carney says Canada will buy European surveillance planes over two American options
TORONTO (AP) — Canada plans to buy early warning radar planes from Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday. The decision moves away from two American options. Carney said the Saab planes, built on Bombardier’s Global 6500 aircraft, will support domestic production and contain 20% U.S. content. Canada is in the market for six radar aircraft. Carney emphasized diversifying military spending away from the U.S. The Saab planes provide situational awareness for hundreds of miles and can direct fighter jets. NATO is also considering the Saab option. The Canadian government is reviewing the planned purchase of U.S. F-35 fighter jets.
Supreme Court rejects Meta's appeal in Vermont social media addiction case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected a push to avoid a lawsuit alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users, a decision that comes as social media companies increasingly face legal scrutiny. Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. appealed after Vermont’s highest court allowed a suit filed by its attorney general in 2023 to move forward. The company is facing similar lawsuits from states across the country, accusing it of knowingly designing addictive features. The Supreme Court declined to hear the jurisdictional appeal in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. The decision comes after court losses for Meta and YouTube in lawsuits in California and New Mexico.
America's tech-filled classrooms are facing a backlash against school-assigned devices
Schools across the U.S. are starting to rethink the abundance of digital devices in classrooms. After pouring billions of dollars into laptops, tablets and learning apps, a growing number of schools say it is time to scale back. The Los Angeles public school system announced it will stop giving its youngest students devices, as part of a sweeping new screen policy in the nation's second-largest school district. Concerned parents are driving the reforms. As one mother says: her daughter came home from school “with a screen addiction in her backpack.”
Pope calls for robust regulation of AI in manifesto that ponders the future of humanity
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has called for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit. He made the call in a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as the technology impacts everything from work to war. Leo’s first encyclical is called “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity). Its release Monday has been eagerly awaited ever since history’s first U.S.-born pope announced days after his election that he considered AI to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.
PayPal’s online checkout empire is under siege as rivals squeeze its core business
NEW YORK (AP) — PayPal, a pioneer in online payments, is facing significant challenges nearly three decades after its inception. The company is struggling to maintain its dominance amid fierce competition from Apple, Shopify, and buy now, pay later services like Affirm and Klarna. PayPal's stock has plummeted nearly 40% in the past 12 months and about 80% over five years. Recently, the company replaced its CEO and reorganized into three business units. Analysts express concern that PayPal missed opportunities to leverage its brand, allowing competitors to gain market share. The company plans to update investors on its turnaround strategy soon.
UK cyberspying chief calls AI 'an unstoppable force' and warns about Russia
BLETCHLEY, England (AP) — Britain's cyberspying chief has warned that artificial intelligence is becoming an “unstoppable force” weaponized just below traditional warfare levels. GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said in a speech on Wednesday that the U.K. and its allies are in a “space between peace and war.” Keast-Butler highlighted the threat from Russia by saying Moscow is targeting critical infrastructure and democratic processes in the West. She emphasized the urgency of cybersecurity and called for efforts “from boardrooms to living rooms.” Keast-Butler also stressed the importance of international partnerships especially between the U.K. and U.S. to counter cyberthreats from countries including Russia, China and Iran.
AI controversy swirls around writer from Trinidad and Tobago who won a prestigious prize
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — A prize-winning Caribbean writer from Trinidad and Tobago is embroiled in the latest controversy involving a short story and allegations that artificial intelligence was used to write it. The case went viral after the publisher issued a statement saying it asked Claude, an AI chatbot, whether artificial intelligence was used to create “The Serpent in the Grove” by Jamir Nazir. He was one of five writers who on May 14 were declared regional winners of the prestigious 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He could not be reached for comment. The Commonwealth Foundation said it is reviewing the allegations.
SpaceX tries to launch a bigger version of Starship but hits a series of last-minute problems
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX's newest and biggest Starship will have to wait at least another day before launching on a test flight from Texas. The launch team got within a half-minute Thursday evening of sending the mega rocket on a space-skimming journey halfway around the world. But a series of last-minute problems forced a delay. SpaceX says it may try again Friday. The 407-foot rocket is using a brand new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and that's what contributed to some of the issues. NASA is counting on this latest version of Starship to land astronauts on the moon in a few years.
