Fed up with trying to crack the code of Tesla’s low manufacturing costs, GM decided it would just buy the EV maker’s secret weapon. 

Driving the news: General Motors has bought casting company Tooling & Equipment International (TEI), one of the manufacturing specialists that has allowed Tesla to produce vehicles at lower costs than its competitors, per Reuters. 

AI could force us to find a new go-to topic for small talk by bringing about a future where we already know everything about the weather.

Driving the news: A new study found that Google Deepmind’s AI weather model, called GraphCast, was more accurate than the leading conventional three-to-ten-day forecast system run by the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). 

It’s not quite Matt Damon starting a potato field on Mars, but recent experiments could help make moon farms a real possibility.

The fall season brings colourful leaves, pumpkin spice lattes — and, if you work in tech, the unfortunate, looming spectre of layoffs.

What happened: Amazon cut 180 positions from its gaming division after shutting down its Crown streaming channel and Game Growth marketing platform. The company plans to focus its efforts on Prime Gaming, which has plans to release new Blue Protocol, Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings games.

The half-million people who lived their dream of hearing Freddie Mercury cover System of a Down thanks to AI might soon be disappointed.

What happened: YouTube laid out its policy for AI-generated videos, which will make creators identify when videos have been created or altered using AI. It will also give people the ability to request the takedown of “deep fake” videos impersonating them.

Vaping is so 2021. These days, nicotine pouches are the vice of choice for many teens, and health experts are warning that it’s a serious problem.

Driving the news: A coalition of health advocacy groups, including the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, are calling on Ottawa to create stricter regulations for nicotine pouches over concerns around their surging popularity with teens, per The Globe and Mail. 

Like us signing up for beer league hockey, Netflix is dipping its toes into sports just to see how things play out.  

What happened: If you flipped on Netflix last night, you probably noticed a live broadcast of something called The Netflix Cup, the streamer’s first-ever live sporting event. 

As Canada’s opioid crisis continues, new enforcement measures in China could help restrict the flow of deadly substances to our shores. 

Driving the news: The U.S. and China are expected to announce a new deal that will see China commit to cracking down on companies that export the chemicals used to make fentanyl — an extremely potent synthetic opioid drug with shockingly high mortality rates.  

After a year of unforced errors and double faults, Canadian tennis is on the come-up. 

Driving the news: Over the weekend, Team Canada brought home its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup title. The squad conquered the most prestigious team tournament in women’s tennis on the back of 21-year-old phenom Leylah Fernandez, who finished undefeated. 

If it seems like everybody is becoming a realtor these days, it’s easy to imagine why: North American real estate agents are raking in some of the highest commissions in the world.

Driving the news: But now, a string of class action lawsuits has arrived to ruin the real estate party by cracking down on those sky-high sale commissions (average commissions in Toronto are now $62,000) that home buyers and sellers say are making homes pricier.

Canada’s IPO market is drier than a desert valley at high noon. 

Driving the news: Of the 20 tech companies that went public on the TSX between mid-2020 and late 2021, digital meeting tool company Q4 has become the sixth to officially de-list — with private equity firm Sumeru buying up the company’s shares for half of their issue price.

After almost a decade of delays, the world’s largest fusion reactor has finally achieved a key milestone.

What happened: Japan’s JT-60SA tokamak fusion reactor fired up plasma, an important early step on the long road to making a commercially-viable fusion power plant.

As Canadians struggle with the rising cost of living, pressure is mounting on the federal government to carve up its flagship climate policy like a Thanksgiving turkey.

What happened: The premiers of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick signed an open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau calling for the federal government to drop the federal carbon tax from all forms of home heating. 

Our picks for what to eat, read, watch, and listen to this weekend.

Back in March, the discovery of a new superconductor opened up a world of possibilities, from phone batteries that last days to hyper-efficient energy grids. Except it was all a lie. 

What happened: This week, Nature retracted a high-profile paper claiming the discovery of a superconductor that worked at room temperature. Superconductors — which can transmit electricity without energy loss — blow away standard metals, like copper and aluminum.

We’ve all had to give up some luxuries amidst rising inflation — it’s been sooo long since we’ve bought a fancy jar of fig jam — and the government is no exception. 

Driving the news: Treasury Board President Anita Anand dropped her detailed breakdown of $500 million in spending cuts across 68 federal departments and agencies. It’s the first baby step in a broader campaign to cut spending by $15.4 billion over the next five years.

Like a dinner party guest who doesn’t know when to leave, Huawei is still kicking around Canadian universities' research departments. 

Driving the news: Chinese tech firm Huawei is still seeking patents for research conducted alongside Canadian universities, over two years after the federal government moved to curb collaborations with countries that pose a risk to national security, per The Globe and Mail. 

We’ve all come across job postings with ludicrous experience requirements (10 years for an entry-level position???), and no one knows that pain more than foreign-trained workers. 

What happened: Ontario will propose legislation that would ban employers in the province from requiring Canadian work experience in job listings. The law aims to remove barriers that foreign-trained newcomers face when entering fields that they’re qualified to work in. 

Kind of like how every streamer released an epic fantasy show after Game of Thrones was a massive hit, drugmakers are all angling to produce the next blockbuster weight loss drug.  

What happened: As the race to dethrone Novo Nordisk as the king of weight loss drugs heats up, pharma giant AstraZeneca has signed onto a licensing agreement with Chinese drugmaker Eccogene for a weight loss drug in the same class as Ozempic and WeGovy.