The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to cut 10 percent of flights in 40 high-traffic airports on Friday morning if Congress fails to reopen the federal government by then, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA chief Bryan Bedford said Wednesday.

The announcement came days after the US agency said it faced widespread shortages of air traffic controllers in half of the country’s 30 busiest airports, and hours-long security lines caused by absences of Transportation Security Administration agents. Federal workers have now gone 35 days without a paycheck amid the longest government shutdown in US history.

Which flights might be canceled, and where, “is data-based,” Duffy said Wednesday. “This is based on, where is the pressure and how do we alleviate the pressure?”

When passengers fly, “they are going to make it to their destinations safely because we’ve done our work,” Duffy said.

The FAA did not immediately respond to WIRED’s questions, and it’s unclear whether the flight cut will affect only commercial airlines, or cargo and private flights, as well. A 10 percent reduction in scheduled commercial flights at 40 airports could lead to some 4,000 to 5,000 canceled flights per day.

For airlines and travelers, a sudden cut in flights will likely lead to some serious logistical headaches. Duffy has warned this week of air travel “mass chaos” should the shutdown drag on.

But airlines have some experience responding to sudden flight reductions due to staffing issues, says Michael McCormick, a former FAA official who now heads the Air Traffic Management program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

In the spring of 2023, during another period of air traffic controller shortages, the FAA allowed airlines to reduce their capacities in New York-area airports. (Such reductions usually force airlines to forfeit the right to a takeoff or landing; the FAA temporarily nixed that penalty.) In response, airline schedulers were able to quickly “up-gauge,” compensating for the reduced number of flights by replacing small aircraft with larger ones. That way, cutting flights didn’t necessarily reduce the number of passengers flying overall.

Should the FAA follow through on Friday, airlines will likely be able to pull off a similar “up-gauging” process, says McCormick. While flights will be canceled and passengers moved around, this could mean that plenty are still able to get to their destinations. The move might actually give airlines more time to prepare.

“Under the current state, it’s unpredictable which airports are going to be impacted tomorrow,” he says. “This restores some predictability.”

The amount of capital pouring into AI data center projects is staggering. Last week, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon reported their 2025 capital expenditures would total roughly $370 billion, and they expect that number to keep rising in 2026. The biggest spender last quarter was Microsoft, which put nearly $35 billion into data centers and other investments, equivalent to 45 percent of its revenue.

Rarely, if ever, has a single technology absorbed this much money this quickly. Warnings of an AI bubble are getting louder every day, but whether or not a crash eventually happens, the frenzy is already reshaping the US economy. Harvard economist Jason Furman estimates that investment in data centers and software processing technology accounted for nearly all of US GDP growth in the first half of 2025.

Today, we’re looking at how data centers are impacting three crucial areas: public markets, jobs, and energy.

Cashing Out

The US stock market is booming, mostly thanks to AI. Since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, AI-related stocks have accounted for 75 percent of S&P 500 returns and 80 percent of earnings growth, according to JPMorgan’s Michael Cembalest. The question now is whether that growth will be sustainable as tech firms continue spending heavily on AI infrastructure.

At the start of this year, tech giants were financing their AI projects mostly with cash they had on hand. As financial journalist Derek Thompson pointed out, the ten largest US public companies kicked off 2025 with historically high free cash flow margins. In other words, their businesses were so profitable that they had billions of dollars sitting around to put towards Nvidia GPUs and data center buildouts.

That trend has largely continued through 2025. Alphabet, for example, told investors last week that its capital expenditures this year would be as much as $93 billion, an increase from its previous estimate of $75 billion. But it also reported that revenue was up 33 percent year over year. Put another way, Silicon Valley is both spending more and earning more. That means everything is fine, right?

Not exactly. For one thing, tech giants appear to be using accounting tricks to make their financials look rosier than they may really be in reality. A significant portion of AI investment flows to Nvidia, which releases new versions of its GPUs approximately every two years. But companies like Microsoft and Alphabet are currently estimating that their chips will last six years. If they need to upgrade sooner to stay competitive—a likely possibility—that could wind up eating into their profits and weaken their overall performance.

If you’re a part of the Pixel crew like I am, you know that discounts on the latest generation are few and far between. That’s why I’m pleased to share that the entire family of Pixel 10 phones, from the regular Pixel 10 all the way up to the recently-released Pixel 10 Pro Fold, are all marked down by various amounts on Amazon.

Starting with the base model Pixel 10, you’ll save $200 on both the 128 GB and 256 GB models in all four colors, bringing the prices down to $599 and $699, respectively. The base version of the Pixel 10 makes a few compromises to bring the price down, like foregoing the Pro model’s vapor chamber for cooling, and opting for a smaller camera sensor. It’s still an excellent choice for casual Android enjoyers, particularly at the price, but power users and mobile gamers may want to think about upgrading to the Pro.

Like the regular 10, the Pixel 10 Pro is marked down by $250 across all sizes, but color availability does change a bit, particularly on the 1 TB model. The biggest difference between the two models are the higher-resolution screen, more memory, and the bigger and better camera sensors. You can also get the higher storage models, while the regular Pixel 10 only goes up to 256 GB. The Pixel 10 Pro XL, which has the same specs as the 10 Pro but with a larger screen, is marked down by $300, again with some varying availability between color and storage size.

Finally, we have the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which just recently became available for purchase, and is already marked down by a not-insignificant $300 for both the 256 GB and 512 GB models, and I even spotted both colors in stock at both sizes. It has not one, but two excellent displays, and feels premium and sturdy, even if it is missing some of the features found on the 10 Pro.

With discounts on a variety of Pixel 10 series phones, you might need a little more help deciding which one is for you. We have a handy guide that compares all the currently available Pixel phones, including the Pixel 9a, which is currently discounted as well. We also have an in-depth review comparing the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL specifically, which is worth a read for the extra details.