American consumers are likely considering many different factors when choosing where to go for gas. The cost per gallon is at the top of course, as gas stations often have different prices. Fuel type can be a close second, and even the brand name on the pumps can play a part as well. But the companies behind those brands may not be top of mind, as some US gas station chains are actually owned by British companies. Perhaps the best-known example is BP, which stands for British Petroleum, a company that dates back to the 1920s.
BP, in turn, owns Amoco, a gas station chain that was previously known as Standard Oil, once the largest oil company in the world. Amoco merged with BP in 1998, and while the brand isn’t as prominent as it once was, BP keeps it going in select locations. Another British-owned company, Shell, began as a small antiques shop in 1880s London and grew into a worldwide corporation with thousands of fuel stations across the US.
Another company that operates gas station chains in the US, EG America, is also owned by the Brits. However, you may not be familiar with this subsidiary of EG Group, as they operate under 10 different travel-stop brands throughout America. Those brands include Kwik Shop, Turkey Hill, Cumberland Farms, Tom Thumb, and the Loaf and Jug.
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Other foreign-owned gas station chains in the US
Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
In addition to British-owned chains, several US gas station companies are owned by entities based outside America. 7-Eleven began as an American company but is now owned by a Japanese corporation called Seven & I Holdings. This same parent company also owns the Speedway chain of fuel stations. Couche-Tard, a Canadian company, owns Circle K and Lukoil gas stations are owned by a Russian company.
Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA), a Mexican conglomerate, took over a chain of gas stations in the southwest, when it acquired Delek US Retail. FEMSA was already an established player in the industry throughout Europe and Latin America thanks to its OXXO brand of convenience stores. Up until late 2025, Citgo was owned by Petróleos de Venezuela, a Venezuelan company. However, as of this writing, Citgo is in the process of being acquired by an affiliate-backed group of US investors.
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Some of these companies have made big moves to grow their US footprint in recent years. Couche-Tard unsuccessfully attempted to buy Seven 7 & I Holdings for $38 billion in 2024, but the offer was deemed to be too low. But that didn’t stop Couche-Tard’s American expansion, as the Canadian corporation acquired a chain of stores from another company in the same year. 7-11 continued to grow as well, thanks to its own convenience store chain purchase, as well as the purchase of a restaurant chain.
The main idea is to trap an electron using a magnetic field into a circular path. You can then compute the forces required to keep it in that circle, along with some other equations, and combine them. The result lets you compute the charge to mass ratio using parameters you can either control or measure, like the radius of the circular path and the electric field.
Helmholtz coils create the magnetic field, and a cold cathode tube provides the electrons. Honestly, the equipment looks a bit like something out of an old monster movie.
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Of course, the result is the charge to mass ratio, which means to get the mass, you need to know the charge of the electron. Today, you can look that up, but in 1897, no one knew what it was. [Robert Millikan] would conduct another experiment using oil drops about a decade later to determine that number, and then the world could know the mass of a single electron.
The resulting ratio was very close to the accepted value. It would be fun to see someone replicate the oil drop experiment, too. You could spend a lot of time recreating classic science experiments. Some of the experiments are easy with today’s gear.
Sectors such as services, manufacturing, and R&D to lead the way in job creation
Investment commitments secured in Singapore throughout 2025 are projected to generate 15,700 new jobs as they materialise over the next five years. Significantly, approximately two-thirds of these positions are expected to offer a gross monthly salary exceeding $5,000, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said on Monday (Feb 9).
In a statement released Feb 5, the EDB noted that the 15,700 projected jobs are largely geared toward the professional, manager, executive and technician (PMET) workforce. The sectoral split sees services taking the lead at 40%, followed closely by manufacturing at 37%, and research and development (R&D) and innovation accounting for the remaining 23%.
Addressing the media at the statutory board’s 2025 year-in-review press conference held at its Raffles City Tower office, EDB chairman Png Cheong Boon said the new jobs would open doors for fresh graduates and mid-career hires.
“They will offer meaningful career pathways for our workers, especially those who have the necessary expertise and have done well; they will also offer opportunities to learn new skills and to take on new roles,” he said.
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The nation’s fixed asset investment in 2025 reached S$14.2 billion, a modest 5.2% increase from S$13.5 billion in 2024, reflecting continued spending on long-term assets such as facilities, equipment, and machinery.
Whereas total business expenditure, which refers to companies’ incremental operating costs including wages and rent, edged up to S$8.9 billion in 2025 from S$8.4 billion the year before. The majority came from investments in headquarters, professional services and R&D.
Similar to last year, tech companies were the largest contributor to HQ investments, reflecting a strong demand for digital solutions and services in the region, Loy said.
“And we also saw many companies investing in R&D through new centres of excellence, and by locating their product roadmaps and commercialisation functions here in Singapore,” he said.
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Despite the higher volume of investments, the 15,700 jobs expected to be created are the lowest in a decade, representing a decline of about 16% from the 18,700 projected in 2024.
He added that there are “some structural shifts at play as well, with higher levels of automation and digitalisation across industries”.
The director explained that as industries transform, they are increasingly seeing job roles evolve.
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“More than ever, they require strong digital capabilities, and some require new and specialised skillsets,” he said.
Still, Loy said, “the jobs expected to be created are good, high-value roles that will offer meaningful career pathways for Singaporeans”.
Investments poured into manufacturing
Image Credit: IM Imagery via Shutterstock
Electronics and biomedical manufacturing were the leading industries for investment commitments last year, contributing 33% and 30.8%, respectively.
This is a stark contrast with 2024, when electronics investments dominated, accounting for 57% of the total.
EDB reported that of the S$14.2 billion in fixed asset investment commitments for 2025, approximately S$12.1 billion came from manufacturing-related projects.
“We also saw strong global demand for AI-related activities—chips, servers, server-related products— and these were all key drivers of investments in the semiconductor industry,” he added.
“At the same time, we also saw biomedical manufacturers investing to meet demand for high-value biopharma and medtech products, and chemical manufacturers investing in specialty chemicals and sustainable materials.”
Additionally, EDB advanced its efforts in growth sectors such as AI, precision medicine, the green and bio-based economy, and next-generation hardware and mobility.
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The agency secured new projects in data centre hardware and infrastructure, as well as emerging areas like quantum hardware testing.
In the mobility sector, new projects involving autonomous vehicles and electrification technologies helped create new jobs in automation, software, and hardware development.
According to Loy, the precision medicine sector is emerging as a key growth area for Singapore, driven by rising healthcare demands and wellness trends that are boosting the need for data-driven medical equipment.
China’s rising stake
Image Credit: Ministry of Digital Development and Information
By region, most fixed asset investment commitments originated from Europe, China, and the US.
The US’s share of investment commitments dropped sharply from 55.5% in 2024 to 17.3% in 2025, while China’s share rose from 2.5% to 20.6% over the same period.
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For the first time, China surpassed the US in fixed asset investment commitments. In terms of total business expenditure commitments, China now accounts for the largest share at 50.7%, up sharply from 15% in 2024.
“Singapore has always been an open economy. Foreign companies with substantive business activities are welcome to set up here as long as they abide by our laws and regulations,” Png said.
Many Chinese companies are looking to expand internationally in response to slower domestic growth. In recent years, firms headquartered in China across various sectors have been increasing their presence in Singapore, Loy added.
Notable examples include e-commerce and gaming brands such as Bytedance and Mihoyo.
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Singapore has a “good track record” of hosting multinational corporations from the US, Europe, Japan, India, China, and other Southeast Asian countries, he added.
“We continue to look towards the US and Europe to be key sources of investment commitments in terms of stock and flow,” he added.
Png noted that MNCs in 2025 generally adopted a “wait-and-see” approach to figure out how to respond to the evolving geopolitical environment.
“This year, business leaders have told us that while they expect volatility and uncertainties to remain, with the global economy remaining fragmented, they are ready to make calculated moves to grow or transform,” he added.
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What lies ahead
Image Credit: 2p2play via Shutterstock
Png observed that an increasing number of global businesses are seeking growth opportunities and stronger supply chain resilience by expanding beyond their traditional markets and operating bases.
He added that Southeast Asia offers “brighter growth prospects”, with Singapore “well positioned” to support companies looking to expand into the region.
However, he cautioned that Singapore is now operating in a different context than before and should remain “clear-eyed” about these changes.
Looking ahead, EDB expects continued intense global competition for investments. With structural shifts in the global business landscape, creating jobs will become more challenging.
To create the same number of jobs, EDB will have to bring in even more new projects, Png explained. This implies engaging more companies across more sectors and regions, and of different company sizes and growth stages.
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“To remain competitive and secure more investments, we must double down on sectors where Singapore has built-up strong capabilities, established global leadership positions and therefore has a competitive advantage,” he said.
He gave the example of Singapore’s aerospace sector, which has a “global leadership position in aircraft engine component repairs” and is one of the country’s strongest growth sectors.
One focus is reinforcing Singapore’s leadership in growth sectors such as AI, with the aim of establishing the country as a leading AI hub and a fully AI-empowered economy.
“With automation, AI and productivity, as all of us hope to achieve, there will be higher value-adding industries and business activities. That means with higher value-add per worker, you will not need as many workers,” he said.
EDB stated that it continues to collaborate with companies, training partners, and industry associations to enhance the competitiveness of Singapore’s workforce.
EDB will also explore emerging opportunities to develop new growth engines and focus on identifying, attracting, and anchoring high-growth companies with the potential to become future industry leaders.
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“We will also continue our partnerships with companies to train and upskill our local workforce to ensure they have a strong talent pipeline with future-ready skills to fuel future growth,” Png said.
Monday’s EDB data was released ahead of Singapore’s budget, which Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong is scheduled to deliver on Feb 12.
Read more articles we’ve written on job trends here.
Featured Image Credit: Shadow_of_light/ depositphotos
But 1,000 tokens per second is actually modest by Cerebras standards. The company has measured 2,100 tokens per second on Llama 3.1 70B and reported 3,000 tokens per second on OpenAI’s own open-weight gpt-oss-120B model, suggesting that Codex-Spark’s comparatively lower speed reflects the overhead of a larger or more complex model.
AI coding agents have had a breakout year, with tools like OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code reaching a new level of usefulness for rapidly building prototypes, interfaces, and boilerplate code. OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have all been racing to ship more capable coding agents, and latency has become what separates the winners; a model that codes faster lets a developer iterate faster.
With fierce competition from Anthropic, OpenAI has been iterating on its Codex line at a rapid rate, releasing GPT-5.2 in December after CEO Sam Altman issued an internal “code red” memo about competitive pressure from Google, then shipping GPT-5.3-Codex just days ago.
Diversifying away from Nvidia
Spark’s deeper hardware story may be more consequential than its benchmark scores. The model runs on Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine 3, a chip the size of a dinner plate that Cerebras has built its business around since at least 2022. OpenAI and Cerebras announced their partnership in January, and Codex-Spark is the first product to come out of it.
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OpenAI has spent the past year systematically reducing its dependence on Nvidia. The company signed a massive multi-year deal with AMD in October 2025, struck a $38 billion cloud computing agreement with Amazon in November, and has been designing its own custom AI chip for eventual fabrication by TSMC.
Meanwhile, a planned $100 billion infrastructure deal with Nvidia has fizzled so far, though Nvidia has since committed to a $20 billion investment. Reuters reported that OpenAI grew unsatisfied with the speed of some Nvidia chips for inference tasks, which is exactly the kind of workload that OpenAI designed Codex-Spark for.
Regardless of which chip is under the hood, speed matters, though it may come at the cost of accuracy. For developers who spend their days inside a code editor waiting for AI suggestions, 1,000 tokens per second may feel less like carefully piloting a jigsaw and more like running a rip saw. Just watch what you’re cutting.
Optus is continuing to add sweeteners to its phone plans, and has followed up on its recent iPhone 17/Apple Watch SE 3 bundle deal with this new offer for Android lovers that nets you a free Google Pixel 9a when you sign up for a Google Pixel 10-series on a plan.
The promo comes hot on the heels of Google’s announcement that the Pixel 9a’s successor, the Pixel 10a, will officially launch on February 18, 2026.
The Pixel 9a is one of our favourite cheap phones (and even made it to our list of best phones overall) that you can buy in Australia, thanks to its great camera, useful AI features and the fact that it has the same processor as the main Pixel 9 lineup (Google’s Tensor G4). Rumours have been suggesting that the upcoming 10a will retain the Tensor G4 chip and most of the Pixel 9a’s specs, although nothing official has yet been confirmed by Google.
If that ends up being true, then the Pixel 10a will ostensibly be a slightly updated version of the 9a, and may be a tough sell if it also retains the Pixel 9a’s AU$849 RRP. That also makes this deal more attractive if you were eyeing the budget handset for someone else or as a secondary device, instead of paying full price on launch for a mostly similar phone.
There is one caveat to this deal – Optus is only handing out the 128GB Obsidian (black) model with the qualifying plans, so if you wanted a different colourway then you’re out of luck. You can, of course, choose the Pixel 10 in whatever colour you’d prefer.
If this sounds like a deal that’s up your alley, be quick as this offer is only set to end on March 22, 2026.
Ring has canceled its partnership with Flock Safety, after receiving backlash for running a Super Bowl ad touting its Search Party feature. If you’ll recall, Ring revealed back in October 2025 that it was entering a partnership with the surveillance company, which would make it possible for law enforcement to ask smart doorbell owners for videos captured by their devices. In its announcement, the company said that the “planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated.” The decision to call off the partnership was mutual, Ring added, and Flock Safety’s integration was never launched. Apparently, no Ring customer footage was ever sent to Flock.
Under the partnership, law enforcement agencies using Flock’s Nova platform or FlockOS would have been able to use Ring’s Community Requests to ask for doorbell videos from users. They would have been asked to specify the location and timeframe of the incident, as well as provide a unique investigation code and the details about what is being investigated. Their requests would then be forwarded to relevant users, who could choose to share footage from their doorbell. Ring said the whole process would have been anonymous and optional.
Ring was known to have shared security cam videos to law enforcement without a court order or the device owner’s consent at least 11 times in the past. In 2024, however, it seemed to have walked back its police-friendly stance and said that it would stop sharing videos with the police without a warrant. This alliance with Flock would have marked a return to police collaboration after the company distanced itself from law enforcement. Flock is known for its automatic license plate readers and for centralizing the information it collects into a database that police can search without a warrant. While law enforcement says the system can help them solve crimes like kidnapping. 404Media reported last year that ICE has been using the database, citing immigration-related reasons.
While Ring’s official reason was that the Flock partnership would need more resources than expected, it’s worth noting that the company recently got flak for its Super Bowl Search Party ad. Ring touted it as a way to find lost dogs by using its cameras’ AI to identify pets running across their field of vision and then pooling feeds together to identify missing pets. While Search Party isn’t new and was announced last year, the ad sparked concerns about surveillance and how the tech could be misused, leading users to disable the feature for their cameras altogether.
Working from home can give you a lot of freedom. But, with that freedom, you also need to figure out how to sort out a few more things for yourself — such as setting up your own home office with all the gear you need. Once you’ve sorted out your basic furniture and any essential gadgets you need while working remotely, you might still feel like something’s missing without knowing exactly what it is you’re looking for. Alternatively, you might know what your problem is — messy cables, a lack of storage, not enough desk space — without knowing how to fix it.
That’s where 3D printing comes in. Sites like Printables, Thingiverse, and My Mini Factory are like catalogs for projects to help upgrade your home office. There are loads of different user-made solutions out there designed to improve your workspace, from modular cable management solutions that hide away under your desk to tiny shelves you can perch on top of your monitor for bits and pieces you need to keep close by.
The only problem is that there are so many projects out there to choose from that it’s hard to know where to start, what’s worth doing, and what’s a waste of filament, especially when you factor in any remixes and slight tweaks that have been made to other, existing listings. We’ve found some projects that stand out for their ingenuity, clever designs, and high user ratings.
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Underware Cable Management Solution
Working from home can quickly turn from a private paradise into a sea of cables and clutter. At least, it can if you don’t have a robust system for managing your wires, chargers, and cords. This 3D printer project shared by HandsOnKatie offers Underware, a solution for eliminating cable chaos using an organizer that hides all your cables on the underside of your desk, so you won’t have to worry about it creating an eyesore or distracting you during your deep focus time.
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What’s neat about this particular cable management system is that it’s designed to be completely modular. This means that you can put it together in different formations to suit your needs and set-up, without having to completely rearrange your desk just to tidy it up properly. Instead, you can fit your system to the layout you already have. And, if you decide your set-up doesn’t work for you, it’s designed to be completely reusable, so you don’t have to worry about creating waste or starting over.
Each part of the Underware is ready to print as-is, so you can pretty much just grab it and go. However, you’re in luck if you want to tweak it, as the system is completely open source. So, with time and skill, you can make alterations or add new parts further down the line.
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Incastro Desk Organizer
Finding creative ways of storing and organizing odds and ends is one of the biggest challenges when trying to keep your home office neat and tidy. You might not really have a home for all your pen drives, or you might struggle to know where to put your SD cards without losing track of them. Instead of dumping them all in a drawer or leaving them lying around your desk, it might be time to print your own modular desk organizer.
Davideantonello‘s Incastro project offers a way to store small items on your desk without taking up too much room, courtesy of its high-density design. Perhaps the smartest part of the project is the module designed for organizing external storage, which offers several ports for each individual card or drive to slot safely into. That way, you can keep them out of harm’s way without losing track of them — and, if you label or color-coordinate them accordingly, you won’t need to play guess-the-USB-stick any more.
Something else useful about the Incastro is that its modular design means you can decide exactly which parts you want to print for a custom experience. For example, if you don’t want to print out the phone stand component, you can exclude it from your build entirely. It also means you could easily split up your organization after you’ve printed it if you decide you want a different layout further down the line.
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Under-Desk Laptop Holder
Working from home looks different for everyone, but one thing’s for sure: there’s never quite as much space at your desk as you think there is. This is doubly the case if you’re juggling multiple computers, like a desktop and a laptop, or if you regularly need a clear work surface for using other tools or working on paper. Thankfully, much like with your cable management, you can make the most of the underside of your desk for stowing your laptop, MacBook, or a light notebook, if you prefer to work analog.
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Printables user Spaceman 3D‘s under-desk laptop holder offers a home for most laptops with just a few brackets and screws. It’s a fairly straightforward project, as it’s easy to print and install. You just need to screw a couple of brackets onto the underside of your desk, or wherever you plan on using it, and it’s good to go. Just be sure to pick the right kind of screws, and check that your desk is sturdy enough to hold your laptop.
The holder doesn’t have to just be for when you aren’t using your laptop, either. You could also use it to play around with your whole desk’s layout to create loads of space for your peripherals and useful USB gadgets. For example, you could use your laptop with the lid closed or in clamshell mode while it’s stashed away in the holder by hooking it up to an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
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Adjustable Monitor Shelf
If the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” rings true to you, then you might want to consider carving out a space in your home office where you keep all the small things you might need often, like your glasses, security keys, or earplugs. One option for making sure that little space is placed somewhere that you can keep an eye on is a monitor shelf, like this one made by GiskardReventlov.
This neat shelf takes a simple concept and turns it into a creative, practical solution to help keep your desk clutter-free while you’re working from home. The support arm that keeps the shelf in place is adjustable, so it should be easy to fit it to most modern monitors, as well as offering a perforated surface to make sure that air can flow safely around your device for ample cooling. You can either print it in place to streamline things, or you can print the shelf as two separate parts.
Besides being a useful spot for keeping track of easy-to-lose knick-knacks, it also offers clever solutions for laying out your desk so that it specifically suits you. For instance, you could use the shelf to place your webcam at a higher angle or keep a mini fan up there.
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Office Keyboard & Device Stand
Generally speaking, keyboard stands aren’t the most out-there gadgets. However, Josh Clos‘ multi-tiered keyboard and device stand is a little different, as it offers spaces for you to stack up multiple devices at once while still keeping them accessible and usable. The stand is designed to sit below raised monitors, offering a tilted space to put a tablet or phone onto, a platform for your keyboard, and a gap for your cables to tuck into.
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The stand’s lower shelf offers a clever solution for keeping a second screen nearby, without the need to invest in a second monitor. Admittedly, if you’re using a tablet, then the screen will be much smaller than a second monitor, but it could save you some money if it’s not something that you need all the time. It’s also a useful layout if you need to type up and summarize notes from a notebook.
Although the obvious use for the lower shelf is a phone or tablet, the stand was actually designed to accommodate multiple computers on one desk at the same time. So, if you need to use different devices for different jobs, or want to make room at your desk for your personal PC alongside your work-supplied equipment, this project could be a useful option. Alternatively, you could use the lower shelf as a way of keeping any items you need to grab often close to hand. It has a textured surface, so it should be a reasonable non-stick option for organizing any items small enough to fit on it, like notepads or remote controls.
“We want people who work here actually be able to live here,” says Bellevue Mayor Mo Malakoutian, center. (City of Bellevue Photo)
Mo Malakoutian has been mayor of Bellevue, Wash., for about a month. He’d like to take credit for the Seattle Seahawks making it to (and winning) the Super Bowl, the World Cup coming to the region this summer, and all of the sunshine of late — not a bad political posture to assume.
A longtime engineer, academic and tech industry veteran, Malakoutian is executive director of the Consulting and Business Development Center at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and an affiliate professor in civil and environmental engineering. He spent eight years at Amazon before leaving last fall as a senior manager in learning and development.
Malakoutian was elected to the Bellevue City Council in 2023 and served as deputy mayor in 2024 and 2025 before his unanimous appointment as mayor on Jan. 9, succeeding Councilmember Lynne Robinson, who served as mayor for six years.
Originally from Iran, Malakoutian spent eight years in construction before coming to the U.S. to get his PhD in structural engineering at the UW.
We caught up to talk about how his tech background informs his leadership style; managing Bellevue’s significant growth as a tech hub; his view of the Eastside vs. Seattle debate; transportation; AI; and more. Our Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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GeekWire:How does your tech background — including eight years at Amazon — inform your approach to governance? Can we expect you to lean on the Amazon leadership principles?
Malakoutian: When I started [at Amazon] in 2017 and you hear all of these leadership principles, you say, ‘My God, what’s going on?’ Then, after two or three years, I caught myself because I was using those in my friend conversations: ‘Please earn my trust. … Are we delivering results?’
We are using that day one mindset [from] Amazon. We wanted to be less bureaucratic where we can and work with my partners on the Council and city staff to have a very safe and functional city that moves, hopefully, at the speed of innovation. Innovation and technology are moving super fast, and we should also be nimble and fast to catch up with what is happening around us.
GW: OpenAI just grabbed more office space in downtown Bellevue. Amazon is a huge presence. Now Elon Musk’s xAI is opening an engineering center. What role do you think city policy should play in balancing this tech growth with quality of life?
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Malakoutian: We need to make the city safe, clean, functional and with high quality of life — that’s how we are thinking about growth. We are building housing. We are building transit. We care about whether people will be frustrated in traffic. We want people who work here actually be able to live here — that’s related to our affordable housing strategy. We want to be friends with businesses. We want them as an engine that helps pay for our infrastructure, parks, schools and local improvements. If we don’t do that, we cannot achieve all of our goals.
GW: Why do you think Bellevue is a destination for AI companies, especially relative to Seattle? What is Bellevue doing to recruit companies, if anything, and do you like the “AI hub” label?
Malakoutian: I do think Bellevue has really leaned into being execution focused. When companies choose us, it’s because they value clarity and consistency. They want a city that works, where permitting is predictable, infrastructure is modern, and the streets are safe. When a CEO is trying to recruit the best talent in the world, things like our schools, safety, and parks aren’t just nice to have — they are the competitive advantage.
Our strategy is built on the fundamentals. Through our Economic Development Plan, we’re turning the city into a living laboratory. Whether it’s our Innovation Forum or the Civic Innovation Challenge, we’re letting startups pilot real solutions. We want companies to choose Bellevue because this is a place where they can actually get things done.
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AI is a massive engine for the future, but a label doesn’t mean much if it isn’t grounded in community values. We want an ecosystem where our big employers thrive, but also where our small businesses aren’t left behind. Whether it’s managerial training, better access to capital, or opening up new markets, we’re focused on what our local shops and workers actually need to stay competitive. If we build a platform that is safe, vibrant, and innovative for everyone, the “hub” label will take care of itself.
Bellevue Mayor Mo Malakoutian takes his spot in the center of the City Council at City Hall in Bellevue, Wash., last month. (Marcus Donner Photo)
GW:What’s your take on AI as it applies to city government?
Malakoutian: We want all of our community to be part of this innovation economy. We don’t want anyone to get behind, because if they get behind, they are going to be behind for everything. So we are doing a lot. We are using AI for our permitting — developers are asking us to be faster, to be more reliable. We want to bring everyone along. We should all be very fluent in AI. Being able to use that in your day-to-day life is a must.
GW:Do you have a vision for downtown Bellevue over the next couple of years? Is it residential, experiential, or a premier office destination?
Malakoutian: All of the above. Are you familiar with an area named Wilburton? It’s an area on the east side of downtown. As part of our comprehensive plan, we increased the density of that area, mixed use housing and retail. Then we are connecting Wilburton to downtown Bellevue by a bridge over 405. We call that bridge Grand Connection. The vision is people work there, live there, enjoy restaurants and grocery shopping there, and can walk downtown to go to Amazon offices and all of those AI tech companies that we have. We want to make it a 24/7 Bellevue. We want to have a very vibrant city, keeping people after 5 p.m.
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GW: When it comes to the Eastside vs. Seattle debate, do you prefer a regional strategy, or do you have a competitive streak where you want to win for Bellevue?
Malakoutian: A regional strategy. We see the success of what Bellevue is doing, and we are going to continue that. We do take pride in being intentional about our planning, about our public safety, about high quality government services that we have. But of course, many of our issues are regional. Seattle’s success is Bellevue’s success. Homelessness is a regional issue. Transportation is a regional issue. I am all about working together as a whole.
GW: You must be especially excited about the East Link light rail and the coming connection over Lake Washington.
Malakoutian: Absolutely. We are ready to make that connection between Seattle and us. Equity, to me, is really important, to connect people and make people move I think is really important for the economy and for the whole benefit of the community.
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The success of Bellevue is that anything that comes to us grows — the new light rail, anything. We plan ahead of the game. How we can make it accessible? How can we do activation? How can we provide the safety that people expect from us? This planning and this thinking that the City of Bellevue has is going to be very helpful, and it has been helpful for us.
Malakoutian: Last year, we sent a letter from our city, so that’s what I can talk about. Overall, we were thinking that everything is super expensive, more development is happening, businesses are already paying a lot of taxes. Anything more is not good for our economy. We said that we think the Bellevue economy is the Washington economy. If something is bad for Bellevue, it is bad for Washington.
This year, we hope that the state talks to us. We know if they increase the B&O tax, for example, what kind of unintended disadvantages that can bring for the economy. I know they are dealing with a very challenging shortfall of revenue, and they need to manage that. I’m compassionate to that, but we need to protect our economy. We need to protect our small and large businesses.
HP has launched a subscription service for its OMEN gaming laptops.
Instead of buying hardware outright, users can rent devices with fixed monthly fees. The highest tier includes RTX 5080 GPUs for $129.99 per month, but subscribers will never own the laptop.
The service begins with a 30‑day trial, but after that, users are locked in for at least 12 months. Cancellation fees apply if you leave early, with the highest tier charging $1,429.89 in the second month. That fee decreases gradually over time.
HP offers multiple tiers, each with different specifications, with accessories and monitors also available for monthly rental. Prices range from $3.99 for a USB‑C hub to $9.99 for higher‑tier monitors. A headset costs $7.99, while a microphone is $7.99. However, the service currently appears limited to the US.
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The upside is that subscribers can upgrade their laptops every year. This ensures access to relatively current hardware without waiting for traditional upgrade cycles, with HP also including 24/7 customer support.
However, it is important to reiterate that ownership is never part of the deal. If you fail to return equipment, HP can charge up to $3,299 for its highest‑tier laptop, roughly equal to retail pricing.
This financial trade‑off raises questions. At $129.99 per month, the RTX 5080 tier costs about the same as buying outright after 16 to 18 months. Yet subscribers end up with no hardware to keep. For some, the appeal lies in avoiding high upfront costs. For others, subscription fatigue makes the model less attractive.
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HP’s move comes amid rising hardware demand. AI workloads have driven shortages in RAM and storage, pushing prices higher. Renting hardware may appeal to gamers who want flexibility without waiting for components to stabilise.
Still, the model highlights a broader trend. Companies increasingly push subscription services, from software to entertainment to hardware. Critics argue this erodes ownership, leaving users perpetually paying for access. Supporters see it as a way to stay current without major investments.
Ultimately, HP’s OMEN Gaming Subscription offers convenience but raises long‑term value concerns. Renting ensures upgrades and support in the short-term, but ownership remains off the table.
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This service represents a new experiment on how we access hardware.
In a technology M&A deal, whether you are acquiring or selling a tech or software business, valuation rarely hinges on a single dimension. Financial performance, growth efficiency, and cash flow durability remain the backbone of any transaction. In practical terms, this means metrics such as revenue and ARR, retention as a proxy for revenue quality, margin structure, and capital intensity continue to anchor how buyers price risk. However, alongside these tangible indicators sits another layer of value, one that does not always surface cleanly in financial statements and may even remain invisible if it is not properly understood or articulated:… This story continues at The Next Web
Keanu Reeves returns as the man in black, taking on the goons in a brand new John Wick action game from Saber Interactive revealed during the Playstation State of Play event. He’s preparing for a new assault on the streets in a game Saber believes was the ideal project to work on, collaborating directly with Lionsgate, director Chad Stahelski, and the man himself, Keanu Reeves.
The trailer begins with some really nice CGI action, reminding everyone what it takes to be the greatest assassin for hire, which includes a few tricks of the trade like characteristic club shootouts, and the occasional kitchen frenzy. It all leads up to the good stuff, which is actual gameplay footage of Reeves’ likeness slamming people around. The environments are all lighted up like neon nightclubs and rainy streets straight out of a John Wick film, and the camera work is flawless, weaving tight through the turmoil exactly like in the movies.
The true brilliance of the game is in the gun-fu, where shooting and hand-to-hand combat coexist in perfect harmony. You get to sneak into crowded places, popping heads and avoiding knives and chokes. Driving parts will feature several high-speed chases, with Wick evading or hitting pursuers in a huge automobile crash. Saber designed all of these features to fit the pulse of the film’s action scenes, transforming those cinematic moments into actual playable gameplay. The cityscapes on display are reminiscent of a John Wick flick, with crowded nightspots and darkly lit alleys calling for a brutal takedown.
Iglesias emphasizes the goal: deliver action that feels pulled straight from the screen. “The style of fighting will feel like an authentic John Wick action scene taken straight from the films,” he writes. “Everything is designed to faithfully mimic the movie experience in a meaningful, fully playable way.” Collaboration ensures the game’s chapter fits seamlessly into Wick’s legend, years before the first film’s events.
Within the game, everyone working on it wants to make sure it fits in smoothly with the John Wick tale, which takes place years before the first film was released. This game will be accessible on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, meaning that it will be a full-fledged AAA release with no corners cut. Of course, Saber, the team behind World War Z Aftermath and the upcoming Space Marine 2, is no stranger to crafting popular games.
There is no release date yet, but you can already start wishlisting it on the PlayStation Store to be among the first to know when it becomes available. The trailer ends with Wick reloading, surrounded by various bodies, before the logo appears on the screen, with Saber promising more information about the title, release date, and where the plot goes from here, all of which will be revealed shortly.
