Business
Tech startup Hyphen is bringing AI to the lunch line — with help from Cava and Chipotle
At a challenging time for the restaurant industry, major chains like Chipotle and Cava are putting money behind automated makelines from startup Hyphen.
The San Jose, California-based company aims to help restaurants achieve two key goals in a hyper-competitive environment: speedy throughput and good customer service. The technology makes for a less chaotic and more “elegant experience” for workers and guests alike, co-founder and CEO Stephen Klein told CNBC in an interview.
“We’re probably making a bowl every 10 to 15 seconds. At peak throughput, we have more capacity usually than they do demand, especially … for lunch and dinner rushes,” Klein said.
That efficiency has brought increased interest across the industry. In August 2025, Hyphen closed a Series B round of financing that included up to $10 million from Cava. Chipotle said it has invested a total of $25 million into Hyphen via its Cultivate Next venture fund through the third quarter of 2025.
The $25 million Series B round will help Hyphen scale its production and rollout across restaurants in the U.S. Its production will ramp with Re:Build Manufacturing, a company based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Chipotle’s Hyphen makeline is in San Jose for modification after an in-restaurant test. Cava will test and pilot its tech for a second makeline to serve digital and takeout orders in the back of its kitchen in the future.
A finished burrito bowl assembled by Chipotle and Hyphen’s automation technology.
Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill
Hyphen’s technology solves for both a speed and labor issue, helping to automate part of the service process that can be repetitive and challenging to fill.
“You can have, somebody is selling ingredients on top, while the rest of this stuff is happening underneath,” he said of the makeline, which relies on a series of robotic hands to prep salads and bowls under a long table, out of public view, sending them down the row.
The makelines cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to purchase, and restaurant customers are often getting a return on investment in under a year, Klein said. They operate 95% of the time, but during the rare moments they’re down, workers can jump in to complete orders, the way an escalator would turn into stairs, he said.
Another key feature is cutting down on food waste. The technology tracks ingredients “down to the gram,” Klein said.
“We’re perfectly portioning every ingredient, we’re able to help them save on food costs, or at least reduce food costs in some way,” he said.
The idea of the company began when Klein and his co-founder Daniel Fukuba built a fully robotic food truck, which launched in Los Angeles three months before the pandemic started. They changed gears to launch Hyphen soon after that.
“When the pandemic happened, we kind of just had to share that into another direction. We had luckily been talking to other restaurant partners about licensing our technology for them, and we decided … it just made a lot more sense to help restaurants that are already around today,” Klein said.
Technology innovation will likely continue to be a key trend in the restaurant sector after a brutal year for many of the industry’s leaders. Shares of Cava and Chipotle are down nearly 50% and 40% year-to-date, respectively, after pullbacks from key demographics including younger consumers. Sweetgreen, another competitor in the healthy salad and bowl space, is down nearly 80% on the year.
Sweetgreen sold its robotics unit, Spyce, to mealtime platform Wonder earlier this year for $186.4 million. Sweetgreen had acquired Spyce to build its automated Infinite Kitchens, and it will continue to use the technology.
Klein said Hyphen is talking to major brands and food service providers for college campuses and office parks as it looks to not only evolve the makeline, but also provide data that comes from the food prep and distribution. The company aims to develop more software in the future, including tools for food prep scheduling to be used in the back of the house.
One area that’s not on the menu, at least for now, is the fast food sector.
“We’re really trying to help people that have really a high mix or high customization in terms of what their guests are ordering, as well as high volume. So that’s kind of our strike zone,” he said.
Business
Bank holiday on New Year: Will banks remain closed on December 31, 2025 & January 1, 2026? Check state-wise list – The Times of India
As 2025 comes to an end and the new year is almost here, customers across India are looking for clarity on whether banks will be open on December 31 and January 1. While banks in some states will remain closed on December 31, 2025, others will continue normal operations on New Year’s Eve and the New Year. Being aware of bank holidays can help customers plan essential financial transactions in advance, avoid last-minute delays and ensure uninterrupted access to services that require branch visits.
In which states banks will remain closed on December 31, 2025?
Banks in these two states will remain closed on the new year’s eve on December 31, 2025, in observance of New Year’s Eve and Imoinu Iratpa.
Where will banks remain close on January 1, 2026?
- Mizoram
- Tamil Nadu
- Sikkim
- Manipur
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Nagaland
- West Bengal
- Meghalaya
Banks in these states will remain closed on January 1, 2026, on the occassion of New Year’s Day and Gaan-Ngai. However, bank closure does not means that customers can not process their financial transactions during holidays. Users can continue to access online banking services, ATMs, mobile banking apps and UPI for fund transfers, bill payments and other routine transactions. Meanwhile, in-person banking services such as large cash deposits, cheque clearances and issuance of demand drafts will not be available on these days. Account holders are advised to plan their banking needs in advance to avoid inconvenience during the festive period and make full use of digital banking platforms for uninterrupted services.It is important to note that bank holidays vary by state. According to the RBI, banks also remain closed on every second and fourth Saturday of the months.
Business
Chinese imports: India imposes 12% tariff on steel inflows; aims to curb cheap shipments with safeguards – The Times of India
India rolled out a new trade measure on Tuesday, imposing safeguard duties on certain steel imports for a period of three years. The move comes as a push to protect domestic manufacturers from a surge in low-cost overseas supplies, particularly from China.As per a finance ministry notification, the safeguard duty will stand at 12% in the first year, ease to 11.5% in the second, and fall further to 11% in the final year. The decision follows a detailed probe into import trends and their impact on local producers.The levy will apply to steel shipments from countries including China, Vietnam and Nepal. However, imports from some developing nations have been kept outside the scope of the measure. The order also makes it clear that specialty steel products, such as stainless steel, will not be covered under the safeguard duty.The directorate general of trade remedies, which examined the matter, recommended the three-year tariff after observing a “recent, sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports … causing and threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry,” the order stated. The latest move builds on an earlier step taken in April, when the government imposed a temporary 200-day safeguard duty of 12% on similar steel products, according to a Reuters report.Officials from the federal steel ministry have repeatedly stated that unchecked inflows of cheap and sub-standard steel could harm India’s domestic steel sector, prompting the need for protective measures.The decision also comes against the backdrop of growing global trade tensions in the steel market. US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs on steel have intensified scrutiny of Chinese exports, leading countries such as South Korea and Vietnam to introduce anti-dumping duties earlier this year.
Mark SavageMusic correspondent
Getty ImagesTo almost no-one’s surprise, Taylor Swift dominated the UK music charts in 2025.
The star’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, was the year’s biggest seller, shifting an impressive 642,000 copies since its release in October.
Women led the way all year, with breakout Brits like Olivia Dean and Lola Young powering the music industry to a record-breaking year, as combined sales rose by nearly 5% to 201 million albums sold or streamed.
There was also a huge resurgence for Oasis, whose blockbuster reunion tour helped them shift more than one million albums during 2025.
The band’s greatest hits compilation, Time Flies, was the fourth biggest album of the year, while (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, was seventh.
Getty ImagesThe figures were revealed by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which said streaming now accounts for 89% of the overall music market.
Fans streamed 210.3 billion songs over the course of the year, with US singer Alex Warren’s Ordinary the year’s most-played track.
However, Warren’s song was one of the only new releases to make a major impact – as older songs clogged up the charts.
Six of the Top 10 best-selling tracks came out in 2024. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club was even older: It was originally released in 2020.
It was a banner year for new female talent in the UK, with Lola Young landing the year’s second-biggest single, with Messy.
Olivia Dean also became the first woman in UK chart history to achieve her first number one single (Man I Need) and album (The Art Of Loving) in the same week.
Asked why her songs had resonated with so many people, Dean said she’d tried to make her album an antidote to troubling times.
“I wanted it to feel just like a hug – comforting,” she told the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast.
“I just said everything needs to feel warm and intimate.”
Dean will cap off her incredible year – which also saw her achieve four simultaneous top 10 hits – by appearing on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny.
There were also breakthroughs for confessional songwriters Skye Newman and Sienna Spiro; while artists like Raye, PinkPantheress and Wet Leg all consolidated their first wave of success at home and abroad.
On the singles chart, female artists accounted for two-thirds of 2025’s number one hits; and former Little Mix star Jade achieved the biggest opening week for a debut album with her critically-acclaimed That’s Showbiz, Baby!
Getty ImagesVinyl sales have risen for 18 successive years and increased rapidly again, up 13% year-on-year to 7.6 million units.
Swift’s Life Of A Showgirl led the pack, and the star scored another entry in the Top 10 with Lover (Live From Paris) – a limited edition release which was only available for 72 hours on Swift’s website.
According to the Official Charts Company, it sold 47,000 copies in that short stretch of time; and subsequently became the first album to reach number one on pure sales (with no streams contributing to its total) in eight years.
Overall, vinyl sales have doubled in the last decade, and are on course to overtake CDs for the first time since the 1990s.
The two formats are now separated by just 2 million sales, with 9.7 million Compact Discs sold in 2025. Ten years ago, that figure was 47.3 million.
Although it’s very much a niche market, cassettes also saw a 53.8% sales increase to 164,491 units in 2025.
The soundtrack to Robbie Williams’ biopic Better Man was, for reasons that remain unclear, the year’s best seller on tape.
In its report, the BPI highlighted that a new generation of British talent had achieved international success in 2025.
Olivia Dean and Lola Young both broke into the US Billboard charts, and scored nominations for best new artist at next year’s Grammy Awards.
Rock acts including Yungblud, Sleep Token, Wolf Alice and Florence + The Machine also made waves abroad; while Ed Sheeran became the first overseas artist to top India’s Spotify Charts since 2021 with his single Sapphire.
These achievements were “an impressive feat, given more acts than ever are vying for audience attention”, said Dr Jo Twist, CEO of the BPI.
“The UK is still the second largest exporter of music globally, which is amazing, but we can’t be complacent because streaming has opened the floodgates to every bit of recorded music that’s ever been made,” she told BBC News.
“Luckily, we have a brilliant ecosystem in the UK which helps those artists reach global success – but it’s a tough competitive environment and that’s why we need the continued support of the British government.”
India unlikely to extend duty-free cotton imports beyond December 2025
Bank holiday on New Year: Will banks remain closed on December 31, 2025 & January 1, 2026? Check state-wise list – The Times of India
ICE cotton sees mixed trend as year-end activity thins
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