Articles by Danielle Chemtob,Forbes Staff,Justin Sullivan

Technology

Forbes Daily: Holiday Travel Anxiety Rises As Government Shutdown Drags On

The ongoing government shutdown now threatens to disrupt the busy holiday travel season. Thanksgiving is just weeks away, and if bettors on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are correct, the stalemate in Congress could stretch into December. Travelers across the country are already facing long delays: The security line at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport saw three-hour wait times in recent days. Flying early in the day and avoiding layovers can minimize your risk of a travel disruption, experts say. The U.S. Travel Association estimates the shutdown is costing the country $1 billion per week in tourism revenue. This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has died at age 84. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who oversaw the U.S. government’s response to the 9/11 terror attack and is often considered the most influential person to serve in the role, died at the age of 84 on Monday. The Cheney family issued a statement Tuesday morning that said the former vice president “died due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.” Kimberly-Clark, the company behind brands like Huggies diapers and Kleenex, will acquire Tylenol maker Kenvue in a deal valued at nearly $49 billion. The announcement comes as President Donald Trump has claimed without conclusive evidence that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism. WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP OpenAI and Amazon inked a $38 billion cloud computing deal Monday, sending shares of the ecommerce titan soaring and adding $8.6 billion to founder Jeff Bezos’ fortune. The boost comes on top of a $19.4 billion jump in his net worth on Friday after the company’s better-than-expected earnings report. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund—a key Tesla shareholder—announced it will vote against the electric carmaker’s proposed compensation package for CEO Elon Musk, which would be worth about $1 trillion if the company achieves a set of ambitious goals over the next decade. “While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award," a statement from the fund said. MONEY + POLITICS The approximately 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will receive partial benefits this month, after two federal judges ordered the Trump Administration to use emergency funding to keep the program running. Because SNAP is overseen by individual states, it’s unclear exactly how much will flow to recipients, but the average monthly benefit was about $187.20 in fiscal year 2024. Democrats appear to be in a strong position ahead of today’s key elections in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, according to online betting odds. Predictive markets heavily favor Democrat Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral election, as well as Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey—though her Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli is in striking distance in most polls. MORE: Elon Musk weighed in on the New York City mayoral election, urging voters to support former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani, a state assemblymember. At least 26 billionaires have spent over $22 million to stop Mamdani’s rise, Forbes has reported. TRENDS + EXPLAINERS Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images As consumer confidence falters, one key economic indicator is the pullback in spending at “fast casual” restaurants. Last week, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said the chain is seeing a dip in traffic from households earning less than $100,000 a year, and shares of chains like Cava, Shake Shack and Sweetgreen have also faltered over the past 12 months. FEATURED STORY Meet The Ex-Google Researchers Building AI Search For Law Firms DeepJudge founders (left to right): Kevin Roth, Paulina Grnarova and Yannic Kilcher. Google search and ChatGPT are great for sorting through the masses of publicly available information on the internet. But for law firms, that’s only so helpful. That’s why multiple former Googlers have started a legal tech company that helps lawyers search through and find confidential material within their firms’ archives. DeepJudge builds a customized index of a law firm’s data, similar to an index of internet archives underlying the Google Search engine. This index acts like a map, listing what words and phrases appear in which documents, tagging the data accordingly and making necessary connections. DeepJudge then plugs that index into whatever AI model the law firm is already using. Now, the Zurich-based company has closed a $41 million Series A round led by Felicis and prior investor Coatue, giving the company a $300 million valuation. But especially in the U.S., DeepJudge faces stiff competition as investors and law firms pour money into legal AI companies. In September, Forbes reported legal AI startup Legora was in the process of raising $150 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, a deal that closed Thursday. And last Wednesday, Forbes reported legal AI startup Harvey closed a $150 million funding round at a $8 billion valuation. WHY IT MATTERS “Tons of noise in the AI startup space is pushing startups like DeepJudge to be more aggressive and differentiate itself to keep up,” says Forbes reporter Alicia Park. “AI is particularly important in high-stakes professions like law, where hallucinations—when AI makes up information—has increasingly become a concern. DeepJudge and its investors are hoping that the company’s indexing technology, which helps combat hallucinations, will help the company catch up to and one day surpass its larger competitors.” MORE Legal AI Startup Harvey Raises $150 Million At $8 Billion Valuation FACTS + COMMENTS The box office had its worst October in years after a lackluster Halloween weekend performance. October is typically a slower month at the movies, and no new films debuted in theaters this past weekend: $49 million to $53 million: The estimated amount theaters earned over the weekend, according to preliminary figures reported by Hollywood trade publications 1998: The last time the box office performance was this low in the month of October, not counting the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 $8.1 million: How much Regretting You, an adaptation of a Colleen Hoover romance novel, grossed to earn the first place slot STRATEGY + SUCCESS Before negotiating with your employer for a raise, start by gathering evidence, listing out measurable contributions you’ve made and demonstrating your growth. To make this task easier, make a record of your achievements throughout the year, and be sure to research current market rates for your role. Remember, you are the only one who can advocate for your value. A federal lawsuit accused Spotify of allowing billions of fraudulent streams of a popular rapper’s music. Which artist is it? A. Kendrick Lamar C. Nicki Minaj Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Chris Dobstaff. Got a tip? Share confidential information with Forbes. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions