Dexcom on Tuesday announced that its new over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor called Stelo has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it will be available for purchase online this summer.
Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, are small sensors that poke through the skin to track glucose levels in real time. They are primarily used by patients with diabetes since the information is wirelessly sent to a smartphone, which can help alert users, their families and their doctors to emergencies.
Dexcom’s new CGM is designed for patients with Type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin, and it is the first glucose biosensor that does not require a prescription, according to a release Tuesday. This means Stelo will be accessible to people who do not have insurance coverage for CGMs, Dexcom said.
There are more than 25 million Type 2 diabetes patients in the U.S. that do not use insulin, according to the release from Dexcom. While Dexcom’s existing G7 CGM system is available to this population, patients have to get a prescription for it. As a result, it’s not easily accessible to all Type 2 patients.
“CGMs can be a powerful tool to help monitor blood glucose. Today’s clearance expands access to these devices by allowing individuals to purchase a CGM without the involvement of a health care provider,” Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a release.
Shares of Dexcom popped more than 2% in extended trading Tuesday.
Dexcom shared Stelo’s name, as well as the fact that the device had been submitted to the FDA for review in February. The sensor will be worn on the upper arm, and it lasts for up to 15 days before it needs to be replaced, according to Dexcom’s website.
Jake Leach, chief operating officer at Dexcom, told CNBC in February that Stelo will have its own unique platform and branding. The platform will be tailored for the needs of these Type 2 patients, he said, which means it will not include many of the alerts and notifications meant for diabetes patients at risk of experiencing more serious emergencies.
“It’s designed to be a simpler experience,” Leach said in an interview. “There’s a lot of people who could benefit.”
Leach said as Dexcom is able to demonstrate the benefits of Stelo, the company believes insurance companies will eventually pay for it. He said Dexcom decided to get the product out to the market at an “approachable” cash pay price first to help get it into users’ hands quickly.
“I think it’s important for people to have that insight — it’s like a mirror into their body,” he said. “It’s very personal.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the rapid rollout of generative artificial intelligence means the company will one day require fewer employees to do some of the work that computers can handle.
“Like with every technical transformation, there will be fewer people doing some of the jobs that the technology actually starts to automate,” Jassy told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in an interview on Monday. “But there’s going to be other jobs.”
Even as AI eliminates the need for some roles, Amazon will continue to hire more employees in AI, robotics and elsewhere, Jassy said.
Earlier this month, Jassy admitted that he expects the company’s workforce to decline in the next few years as Amazon embraces generative AI and AI-powered software agents. He told staffers in a memo that it will be “hard to know exactly where this nets out over time” but that the corporate workforce will shrink as Amazon wrings more efficiencies out of the technology.
It’s a message that’s making its way across the tech sector. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff last week claimed AI is doing 30% to 50% of the work at his software vendor. Other companies such as Shopify and Microsoft have urged employees to adopt the technology in their daily work. The CEO of Klarna said in May that the online lender has managed to shrink its headcount by about 40%, in part due to investments in AI and natural attrition in its workforce.
Jassy said on Monday that AI will free employees from “rote work” and “make all our jobs more interesting,” while enabling staffers to invent better services more quickly than before.
Amazon and other tech companies have also been shrinking their workforces through rolling layoffs over the past several years. Amazon has cut more than 27,000 jobs since the start of 2022, and it’s announced smaller, more targeted layoffs in its retail and devices units in recent months.
Amazon shares are flat so far this year, underperforming the Nasdaq, which has gained 5.5%. The stock is about 10% below its record reached in February, while fellow megacaps Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia are all trading at or very near record highs.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day of Circle Internet Group’s IPO, in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group has applied for a national trust bank charter, moving forward on its mission to bring stablecoins into the traditional financial world after the firm’s big market debut this month, CNBC confirmed.
Shares rose 1% after hours.
If the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency grants the bank charter, Circle will establish the First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. Under the charter, Circle, which issues the USDC stablecoin, will also be able to offer custody services in the future to institutional clients for assets, which could include representations of stocks and bonds on a blockchain network.
Reuters first reported on Circle’s bank charter application.
There are no plans to change the management of Circle’s USDC reserves, which are currently held with other major banks.
Circle’s move comes after a wildly successful IPO and debut trading month on the public markets. Shares of the company are up 484% in June. The company is also benefiting from a wave of optimism after the Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act, which would give the U.S. a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
Having a federally regulated trust charter would also help Circle meet requirements under the GENIUS Act.
“Establishing a national digital currency trust bank of this kind marks a significant milestone in our goal to build an internet financial system that is transparent, efficient and accessible,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement shared with CNBC. “By applying for a national trust charter, Circle is taking proactive steps to further strengthen our USDC infrastructure.”
“Further, we will align with emerging U.S. regulation for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins, which we believe can enhance the reach and resilience of the U.S. dollar, and support the development of crucial, market neutral infrastructure for the world’s leading institutions to build on,” he said.
Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., during the Meta Connect event on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Meta shares hit a record high on Monday, underscoring investor interest in the company’s new AI superintelligence group.
The company’s shares reached $747.90 during midday trading, topping Meta’s previous stock market record in February when it began laying off the 5% of its workforce that it deemed “low performers.”
Meta joins Microsoft and Nvidia among tech megacaps that have reached new highs of late, all closing at records Monday. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Tesla remain below their all-time highs reached late last year or early this year.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been on an AI hiring blitz amid fierce competition with rivals such as OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet. Earlier in June, Meta said it would hire Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and some of his colleagues as part of a $14.3 billion investment into the executive’s data labeling and annotation startup.
The social media company also hired Nat Friedman and his business partner, Daniel Gross, the chief of Safe Superintelligence, an AI startup with a valuation of $32 billion, CNBC reported on June 19. Meta’s attempts to buy Safe Superintelligence were rebuffed by the startup’s founder and AI expert Ilya Sutskever, the report noted.
Wang and Friedman are the leaders of Meta’s new Superintelligence Labs, tasked with overseeing the company’s artificial intelligence foundation models, projects and research, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The term superintelligence refers to technology that exceeds human capability.
Bloomberg News first reported about the new superintelligence unit.
Meta has also snatched AI researchers from OpenAI. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, said during a podcast that Meta was offering signing bonuses as high as $100 million.
Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s technology chief, spoke about the social media company’s AI hiring spree during a June 20 interview with CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime,” saying that the talent market is “really incredible and kind of unprecedented in my 20-year career as a technology executive.”