This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by Henry Blodget to discuss the financial and political fallout from the President's threats to fire Fed Chair Powell and subsequent retreat; a Supreme Court case over free exercise of religion that could have broad implications; and why Trump stands by Hegseth after Signalgate Part 2. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Colby Smith for The New York Times: Trump Says He Won't Fire Powell. His Fed Battle May Not Be Over Yet. America's economy is collateral damage Nicole Narea for Vox: Trump's tariffs are driving a gold rush Megan K. Stack for the New York Times (Opinion: Guest Essay): My School District Could Have Avoided This Supreme Court Case Neal McCluskey for Reason: The Supreme Court Is About To Hear 2 Education Cases. Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court's "Don't Say Gay" argument went disastrously for public schools Aaron Blake for The Washington Post (Analysis): Even on the gravest of issues, GOP can't summon the will to question Trump Michael Crowley for The New York Times: Critics Call Rubio's Overhaul Plan a Blow to U.S. Values Here are this week's chatters: Henry: Christopher Lamb, Alicia Johnson, Jhasua Razo, and Sarah-Grace Mankarious for CNN: Who will be the next pope?

Eleanor Lightbody is CEO of Luminance, a leading provider of AI technology for document review and legal process automation. As I look ahead to 2023, it feels in many ways that we are entering the year with a similar sense of uncertainty to the one before. Soaring inflation, along with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and supply chain insecurity, has left the global economy on the precipice of a recession. And as these stresses combine, businesses--and the legal teams that sit at the heart of them--are finding themselves on the front lines of dealing with the growing ramifications. Economic uncertainty is creating an environment of enhanced commercial risk and concern around existing liabilities.

It was heartbreaking to read over the weekend about how some Googlers in the US found out about the company's abrupt cull. Dan Russell, a research scientist who has worked on Google Search for over 17 years, wrote how he had gone to the office to finish off some work at 4 a.m., only to find out his entry badge didn't work. Economists predict the US economy may enter a recession this year amid a highly uncertain global economic outlook. Big tech companies have started to feel the squeeze. In the past, economic downturns have shut off the funding taps for AI research.

Debanjan Saha is CEO of DataRobot and a visionary technologist with leadership experience at top tech companies such as Google, AWS and IBM. We may be on our way to a greater economic downturn as we look to 2023. Automation software and technologies that increase companies' insights and efficiencies tend to be contra-cyclical (doing better in down markets) as companies look to do more with less. AI-driven companies can exploit differences in time to action relative to competitors--even ones that have already created a strong business intelligence (BI) framework, according to a McKinsey Global Institute analysis. According to another McKinsey report, AI's impact on the bottom line is growing, with the share of respondents reporting at least 5% of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) that's attributable to AI increasing from 22% to 27% year over year.

We are clearly in a period of recession. But for all businesses, it's a good time to put a change strategy in place. Here's why 2023 needs to be the year to optimize and automate your IT… The pandemic has shown companies that they need to be more agile in order to react quickly to sometimes unexpected events. The looming economic recession is an example of an unexpected factor whose repercussions may well exceed those of the periods of confinement that we have experienced during the pandemic. Unfortunately, companies tend to suspend development during economic downturns, cancel contracts, delay projects, and generally "batten down the hatches" to weather the storm. At first sight, this approach, often motivated by financial reasons, seems logical.

Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! Tech startups are going through tough times as a result of a slowdown in growth capital. Investment firms are advising their portfolio companies to extend their runway. Companies are suffering from valuation markdowns and resorting to layoffs to cut costs.

The impact of the economic slowdown for vendors depends on the type of vendor. Some large technology companies, including Google, have frozen nonessential hiring. However, some vendors have yet to feel the impact of the economic slowdown. Pecan AI, a vendor that provides a deep learning platform designed to build predictive models for enterprises, has raised about $100 million in the past year. The Israel-based company raised $66 million in its last funding round in February.

The RPA industry is growing at a rate like no other. Gartner has coined RPA as'the fastest-growing segment of the global enterprise software market' – and predicted that the global market for RPA services will hit an estimated £5.98 billion in 2020. It is set to be a pivotal year for automation – and one that will see an exciting variety of big shifts, as the RPA industry matures and the global economy reacts and adapts to it. Overall, the pace of RPA maturity will continue to accelerate. It'll be spurred on by economic shifts, a new generation of workers, and the speed of technology advancement.

Over the past few months, the COVID-19 virus has had a huge impact on the globe. As of April 28, according to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 2.8 million confirmed cases worldwide and nearly 198,000 confirmed deaths reported in more than 213 nations across the globe. The COVID-19 Pandemic is forcing governments and businesses into actions that are critical in the effort to minimize the rate at which the virus spreads. On March 19th, all residents in California, 40 million people, were asked to "shelter in place" and leave their homes only for basic necessities. Any bay area citizen who has lived through often nightmarish commutes can now travel corridors with ease that a month ago would have been congested with bumper to bumper traffic.

With the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, businesses are at a halt, and that has created a significant impact on the artificial intelligence-based startups, who are continuously struggling to stay afloat amid this downturn. In fact, a recent report has confirmed that 90% of tech startups, including the ones working with artificial intelligence and machine learning, in the country, are facing a significant decline in revenues due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. And approximately 30-40% of those startups are in the process of closing down due to halted operations and having no financial back up to continue the business. This pandemic has injured the backbone of the economy, which, in turn, poses a lot of dilemmas for investors to finance businesses amid this crisis. Venture capitalists have already warned startups about the difficult times ahead.