Creepy or genius? A new university-trained AI model can predict your one-year death risk with 76% accuracy. No psychic powers required. Plus, Walmart’s partnership with ChatGPT, the comeback of tiny ’90s kitchen TVs, and why charging your e-bike indoors is more dangerous than you think.
Food prices change while you shop, here’s what to do
ChatGPT
If you think food prices are high now, just wait. Grocery stores across the country are installing electronic shelf labels (ESLs), ditching those humble paper price tags for sleek little digital screens.
Sounds like a snazzy tech upgrade, right? Just wait until your eggs get a price hike while you’re still pushing your cart toward the meat section.
🧂 Price jump in Aisle 5
Walmart, Whole Foods and regional chains like Schnucks in the Midwest are already using this technology. Retailers say it saves time, and sure, I get it. A typical Walmart has over 120,000 items, and changing all those prices by hand takes days.
With ESLs, they can update thousands of prices in seconds. That’s a win for store efficiency, but for us shoppers? It opens the door to something we’ve all experienced.
🤑 Surge pricing
You know how Uber hikes your ride fare during rush hour or a rainstorm? Now imagine that happening at the supermarket.
☀️ Hot day? Bottled water jumped in price.
🍗 Big game tonight? Chicken wings got a surprise markup.
Surge pricing, but for food. Sure, they say it’ll help reduce food waste by discounting items near expiration, and that’s great. But once stores can adjust prices based on demand, they will. Count on it.
Kroger’s working with Microsoft to add cameras to these digital displays. They’ll use facial recognition to track your behavior and create personalized offers.
🥷 Beat the tech
Here’s how to fight back:
🛒 AI meets aisle five: Starting in a few weeks, you’ll be able to shop Walmart inside ChatGPT. Yep, you can chat your way to new jeans or a TV without leaving the app (paywall link). It’s part of Walmart’s push with OpenAI, letting people link their Walmart or Sam’s Club accounts and hit “buy.” Fresh food’s not included yet, but everything else’s fair game. Next up: Black Friday brawls in-app.
95%
That’s how much of the U.S. Walmart plans to cover with three-hour delivery by year’s end. The race isn’t who sells it cheaper, it’s who gets it to your couch faster. With Gopuff, Disney and Starbucks joining in, your impulse buys might arrive before your buyer’s remorse does.
📼 Digitize your old VHS tapes: You don’t have to keep watching them on a VCR. Use a converter to transfer those memories onto your computer. No time? Got a lot of money? Walmart, Costco or Walgreens can do it for you. Prices usually run $16 to $35 per tape.
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🛒 ChatGPT goes checkout: If you’re in the U.S., you can buy Etsy stuff inside ChatGPT. Shopify’s next. It’s single-item for now, Stripe handles payment, and merchants pay the fee, not you. Amazon and Walmart aren’t playing (yet).
🥬 Lettuce be honest: Amazon just mashed its Happy Belly and Fresh brands into one new budget line: Amazon Grocery. I’m talking 1,000+ items under $5, like produce, meat, snacks, you name it. Kroger, Walmart, Target and Costco stocks all dipped at the news. Bezos started with your bookshelf, then your front porch, and now he’s crawling into your fridge. Chips happened.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Five stars, zero shame: Walmart’s online marketplace is booming, but so are the scams. A CNBC probe found 43 shady sellers using stolen business IDs and fake reviews to sell bogus products. Unlike Amazon, Walmart skips video interviews and makes EIN docs optional. Pro tip: Filter reviews by “verified purchase.”
Walmart vs Amazon, round 92: Walmart+ just lobbed a grenade at Prime with its new offer of free Peacock streaming for members, starting Sept. 15. That’s Real Housewives, NFL and SNL, bundled into Walmart’s $98 plan, cheaper than Peacock’s $109.99 annual price. You can also swap between Peacock and Paramount+ every 90 days.
Your digital life could vanish overnight
Your forgotten accounts may not be as safe as you think. George, your AI host, reveals how long Gmail, iCloud, Dropbox, and more keep your data before hitting delete. Plus, the latest on Amazon Prime’s crackdown, Walmart’s Peacock deal, YouTube’s family plan changes, AI in healthcare, and device tricks you can use today.
Fake raids, real scams: Those viral “deportation at Walmart” TikToks? Total scam. Scammers are using phoney retail sob stories to phish your data with bogus surveys and sketchy “free gift” links. No ICE, just identity theft. Congrats, money just got deported from your bank account.
🤑 I use the app Kudos to save money! It’s free, super smart and finds the best rewards and cash back at places like Walmart, Macy’s, AT&T, Verizon, Expedia and over 2 million stores. Use code KIM for $20 back. P.S. If you’re wondering what credit card is best for you, they’ll help with that, too!
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The tuition cost at the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. The Walmart heiress is footing the bill for the first five graduating classes at her brand-new med school, AWSOM, in Bentonville, Arkansas. It’s not charity, it’s a bet to prove that preventive care, art and a side of nutrition training can reshape health care. Call it Whole Foods meets Grey’s Anatomy.
Price match, expired: Target’s pulling the plug on price matching Amazon and Walmart as of July 28. So if you were banking on a retroactive refund after spotting your air fryer cheaper elsewhere, this is your final week. The company says it’s staying “competitive,” but more shoppers are clicking to cart elsewhere.
📦 Walmart’s expanding drone delivery: It’s coming to five more cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa. If you’re in one of them, you can sign up on Wing’s site to get notified when it goes live near you. FYI: That brings the service to 100 stores. At this rate, we’ll be living like the Jetsons in no time.
🪙 Retail crypto grab: Walmart and Amazon are both reportedly exploring launching brand-backed crypto stablecoins. Insiders say it could let them ditch banks (and bank fees), process payments faster and soak up even more of your money. Finally, you can pay for eggs with Jeff Coins™.
🚁 Walmart’s drone army: Wing and Walmart are dropping drone deliveries in 100 more stores. If you’re in Atlanta, Charlotte or Orlando, your box of Pop-Tarts might arrive like it’s a military op. Drones now deliver within 30 minutes for orders up to 5 pounds. Those aren’t UFOs, Samantha. That’s your emotional support rotisserie chicken.
Lot cop unleashed: Walmart’s testing a security robot in its parking lots. It has wheels, cameras and apparently a dude behind the mic, whispering “Yo, what you say?” to shoppers. Is it surveillance? Art? Cyberpunk cosplay? Either way, the vibes are dystopian. Next up: R2-D2 with a gun.
Ingenious till it wasn’t: A guy in Idaho got caught using a homemade barcode ring to scam Walmart’s self-checkout. He ripped off the store a few times without getting caught, then made a total bonehead move: He tried to ring up a $300 grill for the price of a 70-cent can of tomato soup. I wonder how the tomato soup is in jail.