Business

AI is helping decide what you pay, and you can’t see the math

Quartz·Oct 26, 2026 · 4:00 AM CT
Read the original at Quartz
Readthrough summary

Quartz looks at how companies from McDonald's and Walmart to Instacart and Uber use AI to set prices, often with formulas shoppers can't see. A Reuters investigation found McDonald's pricing engine used millions of daily transactions, including estimates of what customers in an area would pay, to set item prices by location. Regulators and consumer advocates are pushing back on so-called surveillance pricing that uses personal data to tailor offers.

Summary written by Readthrough from the original article. The full story, with photos and any updates, is at Quartz.

Read the original at Quartz

More Business

CNBC·

Neocloud stocks fall as Elon Musk says more than 200 of them face 'guppy-level death'

Neocloud stocks including Nebius, CoreWeave and Iren fell more than 4% in premarket trading Monday after Elon Musk posted that debt markets have nearly shut off for companies without revenue outside AI data centers. Musk said the 200-plus neoclouds face "guppy-level death and consolidation," adding to investor worries about the debt-fueled AI buildout.

CNBC·

Brazil's Lula wins historic presidential election; Bolsonaro reportedly refuses to concede

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as Brazil's president, beating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro 51.8% to 48.2% in a runoff after losing the first round — a first since Brazil restored direct elections in 1989. Bolsonaro refused to concede and said he would seek to annul the result, Reuters reported, after voting was extended two hours amid voter-suppression complaints and heavy rain.

HM Treasury·

Joint statement from HM Treasury and Department of Finance Canada

The UK Treasury and Canada's Department of Finance said they will develop two distinct but complementary defence-financing institutions rather than merge them: the Multilateral Defence Mechanism and the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. The two governments said the institutions will work in close partnership on industrial priorities, investment and strategic financing to strengthen allied defence capabilities.

Fast Company·

Are boards preparing to fight the last war?

A Fast Company column warns that corporate boards may be "fighting the last war" on AI governance by leaning on experience. Current and former CEOs made up 37% of new director appointments in 2026, the highest since 2012, even as more than four in five S&P 500 companies now list AI as a risk.