The problem: CERN’s Large Hadron Collider hasn’t made many major discoveries since the Higgs boson in 2012. One breakthrough many scientists were hoping for was in the area of dark matter and dark energy, which could explain the behaviour of the 95% of the universe that isn’t covered by existing theories of physics.

The solution: Build a bigger particle collider. 

If you want your company’s AI adoption to go smoothly, maybe you should put it in a corner office.

Driving the news: Companies across sectors have been hiring chief AI officers (CAIOs), from Accenture and GE HealthCare to eBay and Ashley.

As provinces play the part of ‘parents trying to keep the energy bills down,’ crypto miners are playing the part of ‘little brother who stayed up all night gaming with the lights on.’

What happened: New crypto mining projects in B.C. will continue to be temporarily barred from tapping into the province’s energy supply after a recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling. 

With AI deepfakes becoming more common on Facebook than old high school classmates promoting their multi-level marketing schemes, Meta has decided it’s time to step in. 

Driving the news: As deepfakes impersonating the likes of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian treasure Michael Bublé, and pop star Taylor Swift come into the mainstream, Meta will roll out AI detection and labelling features across its platforms.

In what could be the most shocking reunion since Ben Affleck and J-Lo, WeWork co-founder and ex-CEO Adam Neumann has sent the proverbial “u up?” text to his old business. 

Driving the news: For months now, Neumann’s latest venture, Flow Global, has been trying to acquire WeWork out of bankruptcy and provide financing to keep it running.

After a big year of spending, Canada’s no longer the underdog in the EV battery space.

What happened: Canada has surpassed China as the world’s most promising country for lithium-ion battery production, according to a new global ranking — a sign that its efforts to become an EV manufacturing hub are starting to pay off, per The Globe and Mail. 

As Ozempic becomes more challenging to acquire than a Cabbage Patch Kid on Christmas Eve in 1983, the drugmaker behind it is making a big money move to help increase production. 

What happened: Novo Nordisk — maker of blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — struck a US$11.5 billion deal to acquire three factories from Catalent, a drug manufacturer that was bought by Novo Nordisk’s parent as part of a larger transaction. The deal will increase capacity to help meet relentless demand for the drugs. 

They’re coming: job postings for entry-level roles requiring 10 years of AI experience.

Driving the news: Ever since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 and the resulting frenzy over AI-powered technology, businesses including Equifax, Accenture, and Ashley have been scrambling to hire executives to lead their AI initiatives, per The New York Times. 

Everyone you know under the age of 40 may have logged off Facebook years ago, but that’s not doing anything to slow down parent company Meta’s surging stock.

What happened: Share prices in Meta — which owns Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp — jumped more than 20% last week after an earnings announcement that had investors smashing the “Like” button. 

Done with the days of throwing millions at anyone with a microphone and a few Instagram followers, Spotify is taking a new approach to its podcast business. 

Driving the news: Joe Rogan has reached a new multi-year deal with Spotify that will distribute The Joe Rogan Experience — the world’s most popular podcast — across all major audio platforms, the latest move in the company’s shift away from keeping its shows off of rival platforms. 

 On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Russell Hixson, who writes about the construction sector, to talk about what’s driving growth in housing costs.  

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: Even if it defies all logic, never underestimate the strength of the U.S. economy. 

What happened: The American economy created 353,000 jobs in January, which was *checks notes* roughly double the number expected by economists. Tom Simons, U.S. economist at Jefferies, told the Financial Times the data left him “near speechless.”

You might think of farmers as folksy straw-hat wearers who largely keep to themselves and till the land. But, when they have a reason to, those agrarians can cause anarchy.

Driving the news: Earlier this week, European farmers flooded the streets of Brussels with tractors and burning hay bales, interrupting EU talks around a Ukraine funding package to express their dismay about policies and initiatives they feel are hurting their profession. 

Computers that use principles of quantum physics to run computations, which could make them really fast. Typical computers use bits, units of data that can either exist as a 0 or a 1. Quantum computers use quantum bits, or “qubits,” which can be a 0 and a 1 simultaneously. In quantum physics, this is called superposition.

The federal government’s plan to be a first buyer for Canadian startups is falling short of its goals.

Automakers navigating their electric transitions need a bit of tech support.

Software issues forced Volvo to delay deliveries of the EX30 electric SUV. Though the unspecified glitch has been resolved, new vehicles were held back by roughly two weeks. This was after production on Volvo’s high-end EX90 was pushed from late last year to mid-2024 to give it more time to ensure its complex software worked properly.

Just like the sober-curious crowd, western provinces are partaking in Dry February… though not by their own choice. 

Driving the news: Alberta is talking with major water licence holders to sign water-sharing deals as dried-up rivers and reservoirs are primed to devastate the agricultural sector. 

As the war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark, fighting on the battlefield has evolved into a fight for funding. 

What happened: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán OKed the EU’s proposed four-year €50 billion aid package for Ukraine after initially blocking it in December.

A new housing report has confirmed a tough truth: Canada’s rental market has become more crowded than a gym’s weight room in early January.  

Driving the news: According to new data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, both rent prices and the number of empty rental units reached new records last year, creating the tightest rental market the CMHC has ever documented in Canada.