Forbes Daily: Trump Ousts Pam Bondi As Attorney General |
Startup Generalist is betting that the robotics industry will soon hit its “ChatGPT moment.”
Most autonomous robots struggle outside of carefully defined tasks, which has blocked mainstream adoption of the tech. But Generalist, which raised $140 million at a $440 million valuation last year, released a new model that CEO Pete Florence says can help its robots do something critical: improvise.
The idea is to treat robots like a large language model rather than custom machinery. “What’s happening now with robotics parallels when people opened GPT-3 and asked it to write a completely new limerick,” he told Forbes. “To achieve that, you need an improvisational level of intelligence.”
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President Donald Trump ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general, the second high-profile Cabinet member to be fired in recent weeks, following his reported dissatisfaction over her handling of the Epstein files. Trump, however, praised Bondi on Truth Social as a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend,” and the president is reportedly considering replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin.
Tesla fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly vehicle deliveries, as demand slumps for electric vehicles and the company pivots to robotaxis and humanoid robots. Shares of the EV maker slipped 5% Thursday, and while the company remains the market leader in the U.S., it faces growing competition from Chinese automaker BYD.
As Chime aims to boost new user growth, the leading U.S. digital bank is unveiling new perks, including a rewards program that it expects to be one of its biggest growth drivers in 2026. But unlike some other cards that offer cash back rewards, Chime’s secured card must be paid off in full every month.
The price of gold and silver dipped Thursday while oil prices spiked after President Donald Trump’s speech Wednesday evening sparked fears of a prolonged war in Iran. Precious metal prices have faltered throughout much of the conflict, bucking conventional wisdom, though they remain up for the year after a record-breaking rally in January.
Democrats in the House and now the Senate are looking into allegations that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to make a “multimillion-dollar investment” in defense stocks right before the Iran War, which he has denied. It’s unclear if Hegseth could afford such a large investment—-his reported liquid assets ranged between $460,000 and $1.1 million last year, and Forbes estimated his total net worth at $3 million.
A committee led by a President Donald Trump appointee approved his plans for a White House ballroom, days after a judge ordered construction to halt. The panel’s chairman Will Scharf said the judge’s order on Tuesday, which paused construction, did not impact this vote on plans. Trump most recently estimated the ballroom will cost $400 million.
United Airlines hiked its fees on checked bags Thursday, becoming the latest carrier to up the cost of checked bags as airlines grapple with higher jet fuel costs amid the Iran war. Checking a first or second bag will cost an additional $10, as jet fuel prices more than doubled over the course of a month, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Inside This American Coal Miner’s Comeback
With shipments of oil and natural gas trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz, desperate nations are turning back to reliable, plentiful, dirty coal. That means big profits for America’s biggest coal miner, Peabody Energy.
Customers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan are pleading with Peabody for additional shipments, says chief executive Jim Grech, so they can avoid energy shortages. But he says Peabody is already running its mines in New South Wales, Australia at full tilt.
With Qatar warning it might take years to get its LNG exports back to normal, traders have bid up coal prices by 20% in the past month to $150 a ton for Australia’s benchmark Newcastle export grade. St. Louis-based Peabody’s revenue last year was $3.8 billion. This year, according to analyst Matthew Key at Texas Capital in Dallas, Peabody’s sales could jump to $4.6 billion or more.
For all its bad PR, dirty old coal never went away. In fact, global coal consumption was a record 9 billion tons last year, according to the IEA. “It’s the great culprit of global warming,” admits Grech, “And yet humans just keep using more of it.”
WHY IT MATTERS The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the more energy policy makers will understand the value of coal as an emergency fuel source that’s easy to stockpile, says Grech. Whether it’s Iran, the Ukrainian war, Japan’s Fukushima disaster, every time there’s something in the world that upsets the supply demand balance, the world comes back to coal.
MORE Why World Is On Verge Of Bigger Oil Shock Than 1973
Thrifting has gone mainstream: Secondhand retail is expanding four-times faster than the primary fashion market, recent data show. Still, most brands are lagging in expanding their resale offerings:
$55.5 billion: Total secondhand sales in 2025
60%: The share of American consumers who purchased secondhand last year, according to a survey from ThredUp
16%: The percentage of fashion brands that said they were ready to scale resale immediately
With AI reshaping entire industries, many professionals are experimenting with the technology and building skills that could evolve into backup careers. One of the easiest ways to start is to look for ways that AI can simplify time-consuming tasks in your current role. Start small and be consistent, setting aside time each week to test out the technology.
A major coffee chain is offering new financial incentives to employees, including up to $1,200 in annual bonuses. Which chain is it?
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.