Technologies

Shipping delays could ruin your holidays

COVID, storms and a shortage of key materials have disrupted global supply chains.

The school year just started, Halloween is coming and Thanksgiving plans are still up in the air. We get it. Your hands are full.

Still, consider ordering your year-end gifts now if they’re an important part of your holidays. Gifts you buy online on Black Friday might not have enough time to arrive by Christmas a month later, let alone Hanukkah, which this year sees the first candle lit on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Any product you order online could take longer than usual for delivery. Global shortages of microprocessors, magnets and plastic have slowed production to a crawl. When products are available, shipping has choked due to a combination of heightened demand, COVID-related port shutdowns and storm-created chaos. Seventy-three cargo ships await unloading at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Saturday, a record. Tennis balls, couches and even pickles have been affected.

The takeaway: It’s impossible to know whether a specific laptop, sound system or pair of jeans will be in stock ahead of the holidays.

«If there’s something you need or want, the risk of not having it in time for the holidays is likely,» said Mark Stanton, general manager of supply chain solutions at PowerFleet. He advises people to shop ahead of the holiday shopping season, if possible.

Holiday shopping rushes are nothing new, and the sales season has increasingly started earlier in the year. Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving, now marks the generally accepted beginning of the shopping season. Sales online often start earlier.

Shopping for the holidays has driven roughly one fifth of annual retail sales in recent years, according to the National Retail Federation, which said US retail sales totaled more than $787 billion in November and December of 2020. Online spending accounted for more than 26% of that figure, the NRF said.

The shopping season is so well-anchored in our culture that it served as the backdrop of Jingle All The Way, a comedy featuring a panicked Arnold Schwarzenegger on the hunt for a toy his son wants. The movie debuted in 1996, the same year that Tickle Me Elmo, a toy based on the Sesame Street character, prompted fights among parents in Walmart aisles. Some desperate parents chased after delivery trucks to get their hands on the fuzzy, red monster toy, which bleats out electronic giggles.

A single toy hasn’t dominated holiday sales so fully in recent years. But an Elmo equivalent, if one emerges, will be harder to get than usual this time around. Additionally, it might be more expensive, because toy makers can recover the higher cost of shipping with full-price sales of high-demand toys near the holidays, according to e-commerce services company CommerceIQ. And the delays won’t be limited to toys. Anything computerized, magnetic or made of plastic — think electronics, appliances and home goods — could be hard to get.

Missing materials

Microchips power everything that runs software, including cars. The shortage in chips, triggered by a production lag early in the pandemic followed by surging demand, has meant manufacturers have struggled to produce enough computers, phones and tablets to fulfill orders, which soared during COVID lockdowns.

Since chips are in so many items, the shortage is weighing on products outside of home electronics. It’s been so bad that Ford had to temporarily shut down some manufacturing of its F-150, the best-selling vehicle in the US, as it looked for more chips.

Magnets, which are used in products ranging from toys to electronics, have also been in short supply. SDM Magnetics, a manufacturer, recently told customers that China has tightened regulation of the mining of rare earth minerals used in magnets. That’s prompted some middlemen to hold on to mineral supplies, leading to fewer and more expensive magnets for sale.

A chain of events sparked by early pandemic shutdowns has also created a shortage of one of modern society’s most common materials: plastic. That’s meant backlogs for cars and RVs, house siding and PVC piping, and disposable restaurant supplies such as plastic cups.

Bindiya Vakil, a supply chain expert, wrote in the Harvard Business Review that storms exacerbated the shortage by shutting down Texas and Louisiana oil producers that process the chemicals used in manufacturing plastic. The Gulf Coast storms started with Hurricane Laura in August 2020 and continued with an ice storm in early 2021.

Plastic makers still haven’t caught up to demand since those setbacks. That was among the issues that hobbled production and shipping of Rainbow High dolls, a toy that MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian recently told The Washington Post might not make it into the US in time for Christmas.

Finally, due to outbreaks of the delta variant, the apparel industry has been hit by factory closures in Vietnam, where increasing amounts of clothing are made. On Thursday, Nike said the effects of the shutdowns will ripple into the New Year, when it expects to see shortages of its products.

Port closures and shipping container shortages

Shortages of components and material aren’t the only reason the ideal gift for your loved one might not make it to a US warehouse in time for you to receive it by December. Goods from overseas are put into shipping containers before being sent abroad. Then they’re unloaded and sent to warehouses around the country. That isn’t happening quickly right now.

The shipping slowdown is caused by both a glut of products moving through the system and a shortage of containers and equipment. With an influx of products coming out of ports, logistics companies aren’t always able to hire enough people to drive trucks and unload containers at their warehouses around the country, said Stanton, the supply chain expert. That slows the flow of empty containers back to ports in China and Vietnam and makes them even harder to get.

COVID-19 and storms have waylaid the industry too. If one port gets shut down due to weather or an outbreak, later points in the delivery system get thrown out of whack. In July, a typhoon struck an area of coastal China that’s home to several ports, causing shutdowns of air, rail and sea shipping. In August, the Meidong Container Terminal shut down its operations at the Ningbo Zhoushan port in response to a single positive COVID test. The decision effectively closed the world’s third-busiest port.

The highly contagious delta variant could bring further port closures in the future. In any case, the combination of disruptions has caused the cost of shipping to skyrocket, making it even harder for companies to import goods.

The system has also been plagued by random setbacks, as in July when the cargo ship Ever Given lodged itself into the Suez Canal, bringing a major shipping thoroughfare to a halt for nearly a week. Factory shutdowns in Vietnam mean that Nike expects shortages of its products in the New Year.

«It really is this ripple effect that goes down the supply chain,» said Jen Blackhurst, a professor of business analytics at the University of Iowa.

Alternatives to buying early

If you don’t want to spend the next three months tracking packages online, think about opting out of buying items shipped from overseas. Sure, you may have scoffed at alternatives to whatever the hot gift was in the past, but this is the year to reconsider.

If you have the time and skill, you can make homemade gifts or hand out vouchers for babysitting or yard work, if that’s something the recipient will appreciate. Buying tickets to events, museum memberships or restaurant gift cards are also easy options — and let your loved ones enjoy an outing.

You can also think about locally made products. Many small businesses sell items made by local artisans online, either through a web ordering platform or with Instagram and Facebook pages announcing new products, says Rachel Smith, the president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

«Those local businesses that have added or enhanced their e-commerce platforms have navigated the pandemic better» than those that didn’t, Smith said.

Dan Wallace-Brewster, a senior vice president of marketing at e-commerce services company Scalefast, says consumers are increasingly getting comfortable with buying secondhand goods online. Retailers and device makers often sell refurbished electronics on their websites, and the discounts they offer mean your budget can go a little further than it would on something new. Luxury brand resellers, such as the Real Real and the Vestiaire Collective, have also sprung up to offer big name brands at lower prices than retailers or manufacturers offer.

The products these companies sell are typically already in the US, meaning there’s little concern about the global supply chain. The quality of goods available on the sites along with growing consumer acceptance has reached «to the point where you might be willing to gift a secondhand product from the right market and not be ashamed of it,» Wallace-Brewster said.

If you’re still scrambling the night before your holiday gift exchange, there’s one more tried-and-true option: a gift certificate. It’s either that or tying a bow around a shipping confirmation for an ordered — but undelivered — gift.

Technologies

What a Proposed Moratorium on State AI Rules Could Mean for You

Congressional Republicans have proposed a 10-year pause on the enforcement of state regulations around artificial intelligence.

States couldn’t enforce regulations on artificial intelligence technology for a decade under a plan being considered in the US House of Representatives. The legislation, in an amendment to the federal government’s budget bill, says no state or political subdivision «may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems or automated decision systems» for 10 years. The proposal would still need the approval of both chambers of Congress and President Donald Trump before it can become law. The House is expected to vote on the full budget package this week.

AI developers and some lawmakers have said federal action is necessary to keep states from creating a patchwork of different rules and regulations across the US that could slow the technology’s growth. The rapid growth in generative AI since ChatGPT exploded on the scene in late 2022 has led companies to fit the technology in as many spaces as possible. The economic implications are significant, as the US and China race to see which country’s tech will predominate, but generative AI poses privacy, transparency and other risks for consumers that lawmakers have sought to temper.

«We need, as an industry and as a country, one clear federal standard, whatever it may be,» Alexandr Wang, founder and CEO of the data company Scale AI, told lawmakers during an April hearing. «But we need one, we need clarity as to one federal standard and have preemption to prevent this outcome where you have 50 different standards.»

Efforts to limit the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence could mean fewer consumer protections around a technology that is increasingly seeping into every aspect of American life. «There have been a lot of discussions at the state level, and I would think that it’s important for us to approach this problem at multiple levels,» said Anjana Susarla, a professor at Michigan State University who studies AI. «We could approach it at the national level. We can approach it at the state level too. I think we need both.»

Several states have already started regulating AI

The proposed language would bar states from enforcing any regulation, including those already on the books. The exceptions are rules and laws that make things easier for AI development and those that apply the same standards to non-AI models and systems that do similar things. These kinds of regulations are already starting to pop up. The biggest focus is not in the US, but in Europe, where the European Union has already implemented standards for AI. But states are starting to get in on the action.

Colorado passed a set of consumer protections last year, set to go into effect in 2026. California adopted more than a dozen AI-related laws last year. Other states have laws and regulations that often deal with specific issues such as deepfakes or require AI developers to publish information about their training data. At the local level, some regulations also address potential employment discrimination if AI systems are used in hiring.

«States are all over the map when it comes to what they want to regulate in AI,» said Arsen Kourinian, partner at the law firm Mayer Brown. So far in 2025, state lawmakers have introduced at least 550 proposals around AI, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the House committee hearing last month, Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Republican from California, signaled a desire to get ahead of more state-level regulation. «We have a limited amount of legislative runway to be able to get that problem solved before the states get too far ahead,» he said.

While some states have laws on the books, not all of them have gone into effect or seen any enforcement. That limits the potential short-term impact of a moratorium, said Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, managing director in Washington for the International Association of Privacy Professionals. «There isn’t really any enforcement yet.»

A moratorium would likely deter state legislators and policymakers from developing and proposing new regulations, Zweifel-Keegan said. «The federal government would become the primary and potentially sole regulator around AI systems,» he said.

What a moratorium on state AI regulation means

AI developers have asked for any guardrails placed on their work to be consistent and streamlined. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, that an EU-style regulatory system «would be disastrous» for the industry. Altman suggested instead that the industry develop its own standards.

Asked by Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, if industry self-regulation is enough at the moment, Altman said he thought some guardrails would be good but, «It’s easy for it to go too far. As I have learned more about how the world works, I am more afraid that it could go too far and have really bad consequences.» (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, parent company of CNET, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Concerns from companies — both the developers that create AI systems and the «deployers» who use them in interactions with consumers — often stem from fears that states will mandate significant work such as impact assessments or transparency notices before a product is released, Kourinian said. Consumer advocates have said more regulations are needed, and hampering the ability of states could hurt the privacy and safety of users.

«AI is being used widely to make decisions about people’s lives without transparency, accountability or recourse — it’s also facilitating chilling fraud, impersonation and surveillance,» Ben Winters, director of AI and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. «A 10-year pause would lead to more discrimination, more deception and less control — simply put, it’s siding with tech companies over the people they impact.»

A moratorium on specific state rules and laws could result in more consumer protection issues being dealt with in court or by state attorneys general, Kourinian said. Existing laws around unfair and deceptive practices that are not specific to AI would still apply. «Time will tell how judges will interpret those issues,» he said.

Susarla said the pervasiveness of AI across industries means states might be able to regulate issues like privacy and transparency more broadly, without focusing on the technology. But a moratorium on AI regulation could lead to such policies being tied up in lawsuits. «It has to be some kind of balance between ‘we don’t want to stop innovation,’ but on the other hand, we also need to recognize that there can be real consequences,» she said.

Much policy around the governance of AI systems does happen because of those so-called technology-agnostic rules and laws, Zweifel-Keegan said. «It’s worth also remembering that there are a lot of existing laws and there is a potential to make new laws that don’t trigger the moratorium but do apply to AI systems as long as they apply to other systems,» he said.

Moratorium draws opposition ahead of House vote

House Democrats have said the proposed pause on regulations would hinder states’ ability to protect consumers. Rep. Jan Schakowsky called the move «reckless» in a committee hearing on AI regulation Wednesday. «Our job right now is to protect consumers,» the Illinois Democrat said.

Republicans, meanwhile, contended that state regulations could be too much of a burden on innovation in artificial intelligence. Rep. John Joyce, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in the same hearing that Congress should create a national regulatory framework rather than leaving it to the states. «We need a federal approach that ensures consumers are protected when AI tools are misused, and in a way that allows innovators to thrive.»

At the state level, a letter signed by 40 state attorneys general — of both parties — called for Congress to reject the moratorium and instead create that broader regulatory system. «This bill does not propose any regulatory scheme to replace or supplement the laws enacted or currently under consideration by the states, leaving Americans entirely unprotected from the potential harms of AI,» they wrote.

Technologies

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 22, #445

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 445 for May 22.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has some very long answers, which might be tough to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Keeping an eye on things

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: They may save or defend.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DATE, DATES, WRAP, ROTE, TOTE, CURT, SEEN, NEST, NETS, DRAW, WARD, STEW, TEES, TRUST, STEED, TEED, GUARD, TROT, TRAP

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: