June 17, 2025

  • U.S. retail sales dropped 0.9% in May, a steeper decline than expected, as consumers pulled back amid economic uncertainty. However, core sales — which exclude categories like autos and gas — rose 0.4% (via CNBC).
  • Kraft Heinz announced it will remove all artificial dyes from its U.S. food products by the end of 2027, responding to growing consumer concerns and pressure from Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (via CNN).
  • At Home has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to close 26 locations as part of a restructuring to eliminate $2 billion in debt. The company expects ownership to transfer to its lenders holding most of its debt (via CBS News).
  • Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2025 will run for four days, from July 8 to 11, doubling the length of last year’s event to give shoppers more time to access deals (via Amazon).
  • OpenAI has secured a $200 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop AI tools for administrative tasks, data analysis, and proactive cyber defense. The one-year contract signals a shift from OpenAI’s earlier stance against military applications of its technology (via The Verge).
  • Coca-Cola has tapped Jennifer Aniston to return as the face of Smartwater in a new global ad campaign (via CNN).
  • WhatsApp will begin displaying ads for the first time, placing them in the app’s Updates tab while maintaining end-to-end encryption for personal messages. This marks a move away from the platform’s original ad-free philosophy and opens new revenue opportunities for Meta (via The New York Times).
  • Google reportedly plans to end its relationship with Scale AI following news that rival Meta is acquiring a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup (via Reuters).
  • Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is trying to win back employees with his “back to Starbucks” strategy, which includes improving store culture, adding more seating, promoting internally, and giving managers greater control over staffing (via CNBC).
  • Tesla plans to pause production of its Model Y and Cybertruck at its Austin factory during the week of July 4 for line maintenance and improvements, as it prepares for the highly anticipated Robotaxi launch later this month (via Business Insider).