Mission Everywhere

The author visits a once-abandoned theme park near Bethesda, Maryland. Joey Hadden/Business Insider I explored a Maryland amusement park that was abandoned over 50 years ago. Nature has since taken over parts of Glen Echo Park — and so have artists. Some eerie attraction structures from the park remain and have been revived by local artists.  A theme park on the banks of the Potomac River outside Washington, DC , was abandoned over 50 years ago. The grounds are quiet, the attractions are empty, and long vines cover portions of the art deco structures. I'm talking about Glen Echo Park, in Glen Echo, Maryland. I visited in 2022 and found remnants of the park that once was, as well as an artists' hub that has developed since it closed. The history of Glen Echo Park dates back to 1891, before the amusement park existed. Joey Hadden/Business Insider The land was originally developed for a National Chautauqua Assembly that taught arts, literature, language, and sc...

Alicia Park / Forbes : AI sector minted 50+ new billionaires in 2025; Crunchbase: investors poured $200B+ into AI startups in 2025, or about 50% of global funding, up from 34% in 2024   —  Record activity in the AI sector this year has boosted dozens of founders and business executives into the billionaire ranks. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/LebBlpn

Al Drago/Getty Images Morgan Stanley said many US firms avoided raising prices in early 2025 by decreasing hiring. But by the third quarter, the trend had shifted, and the same firms were pushing prices higher. Analysts think that as long as prices can remain elevated, widespread layoffs might be avoided. The job market is brutal right now, and there's growing concern that 2026 could see more layoffs. However, Morgan Stanley says that many companies may be able to avoid having to slash head count. The bank's chief US economist, Michael T. Gapen, and his team wrote on Tuesday that the US economy may be able to avoid widespread layoffs in 2026 but only if companies continue hiking prices, after already raising them throughout 2025. The cost of avoiding layoffs Rising layoffs and sticky inflation were two of the big macro themes that defined 2025. According to Gapen and his team, companies opted to decrease hiring and reduce staffing to avoid raising prices earlie...

Palantir CEO Alex Karp Brendan McDermid/Reuters Alex Karp is the iconoclastic and eccentric leader of Palantir. After the data mining company went public in 2020, Karp's net worth skyrocketed. Palantir is now one of the world's most valuable companies. Alex Karp welcomes his haters. "My biggest fans started off as Palantir skeptics and Palantir haters," Karp said during The New York Times 2025 DealBook Summit. "I believe that someday, almost everyone in this audience is going to agree with me. You may not like me now, but you're going to agree later." The longtime iconoclastic CEO of data mining company Palantir is not above a victory lap. "Please turn on the conventional television and see how unhappy those that didn't invest in us are," Karp said before signing off on the company's Q3 2025 earnings call. "Enjoy, get some popcorn. They're crying. We are every day making this company better." He has many reas...

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget : Xbox had a terrible 2025: Microsoft canceled games and raised console and Game Pass prices, Costco stopped selling Xbox, and Valve's Steam Machine upstaged it   —  But can it be resurrected in PC form?  —  Want to see a dead body?  I present to you the Xbox. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/LFn16hH

Electricity bills are rising in the US — and politicians are mostly blaming either renewable energy or data centers and AI. But do either of those really explain the problem? Recent research points to a slew of other factors, including delays in bringing new energy sources online, an aging grid, extreme weather, and supply chain challenges. But with new technology and reforms, there might still be a way to come back from this. Business Insider producer Elizabeth McCauley sifts through the noise and talks to experts to find out the truth. If you want to check out the sources that informed this video, check out this reading list . Read the original article on Business Insider from Business Insider https://ift.tt/FIRwtDk