Dwayne Johnson’s energy drink has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Johnson is the co-founder and chief energy officer of ZOA Energy, an energy drink that contains electrolytes, amino acids, vitamin B and C, and natural caffeine. The company generated $100 million in sales in 2022, a 138% year-over-year increase, per Benzinga. Lawsuit Explained In 2023, a lawsuit was brought against the company by class representative Mikhail Gershzon, alleging that its drinks contained chemical preservatives and were not preservative-free as marketed, according to USA Today Settlement Details ZOA Energy denied the allegations but has agreed to a settlement fund of $3 million, per USA Today. “ZOA denies these allegations and maintains that its labeling and marketing are truthful, accurate, and compliant with applicable law. The Court did not rule in favor of either side. The Parties agreed to settle this case to avoid the expense and risk associated with the...
The University of Cincinnati has established a grant to ensure more students have access to quality education. Bearcat Affordability Grant According to a news release, the school has introduced a new pathway for students to obtain a tuition-free education. This will be made possible through the Bearcat Affordability Grant, which will go into effect in the fall of 2026. Its purpose is to ensure Ohio students can find opportunity and contribute to building a stronger workforce, particularly in the southwestern region. Eligibility for the grant is income-based. Students from families earning less than $75,000 annually can qualify, with the grant covering the remaining tuition costs for Ohio students after Pell Grants and the Ohio College Opportunity Grant are applied. The opportunity is open to incoming first-year students, and the grant can be used across the University of Cincinnati’s three campuses, notes the press release. “This grant program will be transformational for students,...
During a CES 2026 panel titled “Getting to the First Million,” Lockie Andrews, angel investor and founder of Catalyst Consulting, offered advice for how to succeed as a startup. Be Intentional With Your Customers Andrews noted that through her various roles, she has interacted with 12 companies each month. She believes one of the biggest problems for startups as they strive to hit that first $100,000 mark is a sense of desperation for their first check, which may lead them to select customers who are less likely to stay committed to the product and offer feedback as the company grows. “They end up panicking and feeling like ‘Oh wow, I completely left the zone that I was supposed to be playing in, but I need to appease these customers because investors will be looking at that performance,'” she mentioned. “So, make sure you take your time with those customers, interview them to make sure they understand where you are, to hopefully push you through all the difficulties that you’ll...
Character.AI and Google have agreed to settle a lawsuit regarding a 14-year-old’s suicide. Character.AI was founded by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas in 2021, and the platform allows millions of users to create and chat with AI characters that can simulate a friend, a girlfriend, or another intimate partner, according to The New York Times. The platform has secured $200 million in investments, and Google has also paid the company nearly $3 billion to license Character.AI’s technology, with the founders returning to their posts at Google. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III developed a romantic attachment to a Character.AI chatbot with the likeness of the “ Game of Thrones ” character Daenerys Targaryen. The attachment was described as toggling between platonic and romantic. Various messages were exchanged , and Setzer became increasingly disconnected from the real world, even losing interest in activities he once enjoyed such...
Black woman-led skincare brand Topicals has closed another round of funding, per an exclusive report from The Business of Fashion. Topicals Founded in 2020 by Olamide Ayomikun Olowe, Topicals was born out of her search for a solution for those with hyperpigmentation, eczema, and dark spots. CNBC reports Olowe also struggled with hyperpigmentation and Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB). Per its website, the Topicals product lineup features its faded under eye masks, serum, brightening cleansing bar, and more. She teamed up with Claudia Teng, who previously worked as a dermatology clinical research assistant, to launch the science-backed brand, with both women ultimately ditching their plans to attend medical school. Topicals later secured $14.8 million in funding before Olowe was 26 years old — as AFROTECH™ previously reported — making history as the youngest Black woman to raise $10 million in funding in 2022. Funding Now, WNBA player Angel Reese, which Forbes lists as one of the...
Serena Williams loves investing in the future. Per Business Insider, the athlete has been investing since her tennis career through Serena Ventures. Launched in 2014, the investment arm later went public in 2019 with the aim of supporting diverse founders, especially women and people of color, per the outlet. “I’ve been investing like eight years before I finished my tennis career, or maybe even longer. I love investing in women, I love investing in underrepresented founders, and I also love investing in the future,” Williams said during CES 2026. “I’m never gonna change the landscape of people investing in us, but I definitely will change the noise and let people know that it’s great to invest in us,” she added. Williams’ session at CES was laser-focused on the health sector, particularly on wearable biotech. Williams uses Lingo, an over-the-counter glucose sensor that can be worn for 14 days and attaches to the back of the upper arm, according to its website. The sensor can send...
Wu-Tang’s RZA is leaning into AI to accelerate his creativity across both film and music. Born Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, RZA admitted during a CES 2026 panel titled “ From Concept to Reality: Creatives Using AI to Bring Big Ideas to Life,” that he views the technology as a strong creative assistant. It has provided a foundation for his work, enabling him to operate more efficiently. “Creativity is time … It could take three days to get something good with today’s technology. And with AI assistant, I could turn that three days to three hours. So even quicker,” RZA told the audience. Gemini He also shared he uses Gemini, Google’s AI assistant that can turn words into videos and create images in seconds, according to its website. While working on a film project where he wanted the characters to board the Staten Island ferry, then travel across a frozen Hudson River with RZA’s logo, RZA used Gemini to create those conditions, which would typically be difficult for productions to achieve,...
Some Amazon Prime members can now file a claim in a multi-billion-dollar settlement. Lawsuit Explained As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Amazon was sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2023. The FTC alleged that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their knowledge and made it difficult for them to cancel . The agency also alleged that Amazon obtained consumer billing information without clearly disclosing the material terms of the Prime membership , according to the settlement. The FTC said Amazon violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. Amazon Prime Refund FTC Settlement The lawsuit was settled in September 2025 for $2.5 billion, which includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to nearly 35 million customers, per an FTC news release. The settlement also requires Amazon to end the challenged Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. Amazon has not admitted any wrongdoing. “Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made...
Universal Music Group (UMG) aims to leverage AI to enhance the experience of music lovers worldwide. According to a news release, the company is teaming up with NVIDIA to improve fan engagement globally by deploying NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure alongside UMG’s music catalog, which spans millions of tracks across genres. Per the release, the partnership focuses on three key objectives — music discovery, engagement, and creation — and the first two goals will utilize NVIDIA Music Flamingo, a large audio–language model that can understand and capture harmony, structure, timbre, lyrics, and cultural context for tracks of up to 15 minutes. The press release states the model has a “ human-like understanding of songs, ” and is expected to help fans discover music in new ways while giving artists opportunities to expand their audiences. “We’re entering an era where a music catalog can be explored like an intelligent universe — conversational, contextual, and genuinely interactive,” said...
Kevin Hart has just signed a deal to give his brand a stronger global presence. According to a news release, the comedian and serial entrepreneur has entered into a strategic partnership with Authentic Brands Group, a leading sports, media, entertainment, and lifestyle intellectual property platform. This will permit Authentic Brands to co-own and manage the Hart brand and expand it into new areas across consumer products, digital channels, and live experiences, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Authentic Brands produces new products and merchandise for its portfolio brands and can license it for digital media, hospitality, and more. Authentic Brands has more than 50 brands in its portfolio, including the rights to names such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, and Shaquille O’Neal. Additionally, it has a social media reach nearing 1 billion followers and generates $32 billion in annual systemwide retail sales worldwide. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, O’Neal, who...
Amazon has launched a slate of initiatives to ensure learners are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) training. During a session at CES 2026 titled “ Next-Gen Skills: Preparing Students for Tomorrow’s Tech, ” Ben Moskovich, senior manager of public policy at Amazon Web Services, shared that Amazon aims to train 4 million learners in AI and ensure that 10,000 educators are equipped with curricula by 2028. This goal is supported by $30 million in AWS promotional credits and an additional $1.5 million in cash prizes awarded to students who are victorious in the Presidential AI Challenge, a press release confirms. Presidential AI Challenge The Presidential AI Challenge is geared toward K-12 youth, educators, mentors, and community teams who are leveraging AI for real-world solutions, according to the White House. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to engage with the program and showcase their work nationally. The challenge stems from an executive order signed by President...
A vote has ruled in favor of closing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), per reports. Corporation For Public Broadcasting The CPB was established by Congress through the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to help fund PBS, NPR, and more than 1,000 public television and radio stations with the overarching goal of informing and empowering the public, according to information on the organization’s website. CPB reported that in the 2025 fiscal year, it supported 386 radio grantees and 158 television grantees, 244 of which were described as “rural.” Furthermore, CPB shared that it directed more than 70% of its federal funding to local public media stations, with 5% allocated towards operations . Republicans Claims Against CPB As The Guardian reports , Trump and Republicans have long argued that CPB was biased. In April 2025, Trump drafted a memo to Congress, stating that NPR and PBS “spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,'” per the outlet. Slashing funding for the...
50 Cent has tapped into the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) industry. 50 Cent Action His FAST channel, 50 Cent Action, debuted with Roku in 2025 before expanding to LG Channels, Deadline reports. The FAST channel is also available on Pluto TV, Prime Video, DIRECTV, Philo, and more, and includes the rapper’s curated selection of movies and TV shows. This month’s lineup will feature “Escape Plan,” “Freelancers,” “Empire State,” and “Den of Thieves,” according to the channel’s website. Photo Credit: 50 Cent Action During a CES 2026 session titled “ A Media Realignment: Streaming, The Creator Economy & Podcasts,” Tony Marlow, chief marketing officer of LG Ad Solutions, spoke about 50 Cent’s involvement in building publicity for the FAST channel. “This channel is something he feels very passionately about … He and his team were very engaged in saying, ‘We would love to come to a new front, discuss this on stage, let the advertisers know that this is a thing that they can get...
Former President Barack Obama is looking to fill more than 150 roles for his presidential center, opening soon on the South Side of Chicago. Obama Presidential Center As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Obama Presidential Center, first announced in 2015, is expected to open in June 2026 and is an $800 million project, making it the most expensive presidential center in the nation’s history. The 19-acre center is intended to serve as a “global center for change,” providing space for leadership development and civic engagement, particularly for young adults already driving positive change in their communities. The center will feature a fruit and vegetable garden, a world-class museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, an athletic facility, and more, offering community events, exhibits, music, movies, and workshops, according to its website. “I could not be more excited because I know people here on the Southside of Chicago, and visitors from all around the world are going to...
An AI-powered solution was launched for displaced workers and recent college graduates in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. Talent Capital Talent Capital, a regional career services initiative of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, was launched in Washington, D.C., by Mayor Muriel Bowser and partners in October 2025, according to a press release. The new program comes after over 317,000 federal employees lost their jobs in 2025, with defense, agriculture, and treasury departments taking the hardest hits, per Federal News Network. In the DMV area, 34,100 federal employees lost their jobs from January to September 2025, according to Bethesda Magazine. Furthermore, college graduates have also been challenged in the job market with fewer entry-level positions available, CNBC mentions. Youth unemployment is sometimes an “early indicator that the economy is slowing down or maybe even heading towards a recession,” according to Anders Humlum,...
