Forbes Topline

A whistleblower at the U.S. Postal Service reported “grave concerns” with the agency’s new system for mail-in ballots as it’s come under fire in court, warning lawmakers that the “risky and haphazard” implementation of the rule could keep millions of voters from receiving a mail-in ballot in the November midterms. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/09/01/usps-whistleblower-warns-new-rule-could-keep-voters-from-getting-ballots-what-to-know/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lionel Messi, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, announced Monday he would retire from competing internationally for Argentina’s national team, saying in a statement on Instagram the decision “hurts deep down,” but “the time has come.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/08/31/lionel-messi-soccer-legend-and-billionaire-retires-from-argentina-national-team/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia has reportedly agreed to buy Hugging Face, the popular platform which hosts open-weight AI models, for $12.9 billion, The Information reported late on Wednesday, just a month after the chipmaker’s CEO Jensen Huang defended open models and urged against “premature restrictions.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/27/nvidia-has-reportedly-agreed-to-buy-ai-model-hosting-platform-hugging-face-for-13-billion/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers at Southern Illinois University have engineered microbes that can break down discarded plastic bottles and crop waste and turn them into protein-rich cookies, a step-by-step biological transformation that could address problems with plastic pollution, a looming global food crisis and help sustain deep-space missions with humans aboard. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/24/cookies-made-from-plastic-bottles-could-ease-food-shortages-feed-nasa-crews-in-space/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump defended the ongoing buildout of AI data centers across the country and said the communities opposing them were making a mistake, as he continued to embrace the controversial buildout of AI infrastructure despite growing public backlash and opposition from governors from both parties. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/24/trump-defends-ai-data-centers-says-opposing-them-is-a-mistake-and-smart-ones-want-them/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has ordered all visa applications be placed on hold and canceled scheduled interviews at U.S. embassies around the world as it works to tighten restrictions on who is allowed into the country, a move that is likely to significantly reduce the number of visas issued to potential visitors, students and immigrants. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/26/global-visa-interviews-on-hold-history-shows-a-36-drop-may-follow/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration is preparing to launch a mass visa revocation impacting business and tourism visas owned by up to 200,000 foreigners, the Associated Press reported, a move that would mark the largest revocation in U.S. history. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/08/24/trump-administration-preparing-for-largest-visa-revocation-in-us-history-report-says/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese regulators on Friday ordered Tesla to fix nearly 3 million vehicles amid broader concerns about emergency door releases, marking the largest-ever automotive recall campaign in the market and Tesla’s biggest such action to date. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/21/china-orders-teslas-largest-ever-recall-for-nearly-3-million-cars/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Paramount’s leadership of leaking information and acting in bad faith as he canceled a planned meeting with the media giant’s executives scheduled for Monday to discuss a potential settlement in an antitrust suit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/24/california-ag-calls-off-paramount-antitrust-settlement-meeting-alleging-leaks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Authors, archivists, historians and bibliophiles have launched an online war against tech giants and artificial intelligence developers after an increasing mountain of evidence shows they’re buying rare and antique books en masse and feeding them to large language models—only to slice off their spines and destroy the original print copies in the process. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/ai-companies-are-buying-and-destroying-antique-books-heres-why/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Better Home & Finance on Tuesday sued founder Vishal Garg, accusing him of a “scorched-earth campaign” to regain control of the company in a lawsuit that highlights his controversial tenure as chief executive, during which employees allege Garg called them “monkeys” and “dumb dolphins.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/18/ceo-who-fired-900-people-on-zoom-allegedly-calling-employees-monkeys-faces-lawsuit-from-his-company/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walmart’s stock on Thursday slid after the retailer reported its slowest U.S. sales growth in years, despite beating Wall Street’s earnings expectations, as its pharmacy business took a hit amid federal negotiations that have cut drug prices. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/20/walmart-shares-sink-8-after-slowest-us-sales-growth-since-2020/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An advisor who served as a top aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci during the COVID-19 outbreak has pleaded guilty to plotting to conceal federal records related to the pandemic, amid a wave of Republican legislative scrutiny over the federal response to the pandemic. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/19/top-fauci-advisor-pleads-guilty-in-covid-19-origin-cover-up-case/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Moderna’s stock soared by more than 120% as trading opened Wednesday, more than doubling the biotech giant’s share price after the firm announced positive results from its first-ever late-stage trial of an experimental cancer vaccine. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/08/19/moderna-shares-skyrocket-85-toward-best-day-ever-on-success-of-cancer-drug-trial/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk’s net worth once again crossed $900 billion on Monday, as shares in his SpaceX extended a weekslong rally after dozens of institutional investments in the rocket maker were revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Georgia researcher's public records request has revealed that the police department in the small Chicago suburb of Schaumburg is sharing its automated license plate reader data with more than 400 Illinois law enforcement and government agencies—a finding that comes as public debate over the mass surveillance of Flock and other plate-reader networks intensifies across the country. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/have-i-been-flocked-researcher-says-over-400-illinois-agencies-have-surveillance-network-access/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak about once a month after aides and allies worked to mend their feud following a very public falling out last year—but Trump acknowledges privately the relationship will never be the same, according to a new report. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/14/trump-reportedly-says-his-relationship-with-musk-will-never-be-the-same-after-epic-fallout/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent investment into the media company owned by “Call Her Daddy” podcaster Alex Cooper has valued the company at $500 million as it looks to expand its video and lifestyle businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investors in Selena Gomez’s struggling mental health startup, Wondermind, sued Gomez, her mother and the company’s co-founder in federal court Thursday, accusing them of securities fraud for promising initiatives that never materialized without properly communicating with the investors whose money was allegedly “funding the collapse.” Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/08/13/selena-gomez-and-wondermind-startup-sued-for-allegedly-defrauding-investors/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump secretly swapped planes last month and left Turkey on board a much smaller plane in response to a purported Iranian threat, according to multiple reports, the latest development involving Trump’s departure from the NATO summit and Air Force One. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/08/11/iran-threat-reportedly-prompted-trump-to-secretly-swap-planes-while-leaving-turkey/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices