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Newly minted CEO Asha Sharma marks a new era for Microsoft Gaming with the custom AMD-powered Project Helix.

Asha Sharma was named EVP and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming in February 2026, marking a historic leadership transition for the Xbox brand.  Since stepping into the role, she has been engaging directly with the online community to better understand the player experience, citing Halo and GoldenEye as personal favorites.

Sharma has signaled a “Return to Xbox” strategy reset focused on revitalizing the brand’s core identity.  Her primary commitments include prioritizing the console as a core hardware foundation, breaking down technical barriers for developers, and exploring new business models.  She pledged that as these models evolve Microsoft will not chase short-term efficiency or flood the ecosystem with “soulless AI slop.”

On March 5th, Microsoft unveiled Project Helix, a next-generation console powered by a custom AMD system on chip that natively plays both Xbox and PC games.  Designed to deliver an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance, the platform will begin shipping alpha hardware to developers in 2027 to empower them to build more immersive, dynamic worlds.

Before her promotion to CEO, Sharma provided vital leadership as the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI product division beginning in 2024.  Her career has also included a high-impact tenure as the Chief Operating Officer of Instacart, where she started in 2021 and acted as a primary architect of the company’s 2023 $9.9B IPO.

Beginning in 2017 she spent four years as Meta’s Vice President of Product & Engineering, serving as a driving engine behind global platforms including Messenger and Instagram Direct.  Sharma’s start in leadership roles was with the startup Porch Group in 2013, after beginning her career at Microsoft as a marketing intern in 2010.

The Indian American executive is a native of Racine, Wisconsin, and earned a bachelor of science in business from the University of Minnesota in 2011.

In addition to her role at Microsoft, the 37-year-old serves on the corporate boards of The Home Depot and Coupang.

Check out the five Asian creators who have attracted the biggest audiences on YouTube.

YouTube has created a new generation of global influencers and given Asian creators the opportunity to build massive followings by sharing what they love doing the most. These are the five most subscribed Asian YouTubers right now in 2026.

Starting the list off strong is Bretman Rock with 8.8 million subscribers. He first began gaining popularity from posting 7-second videos on Vine before transitioning to YouTube to become one of the most recognizable faces in beauty. Bretman Rock is known for his vibrant personality and makeup tutorials and has even expanded into reality TV since his rise to fame.

Next is Cassey Ho, also known as Blogilates. As an early YouTube pioneer, Ho has accumulated over 11 million subscribers sharing content that combines her two favorite things, blogging and pilates. Beyond YouTube, Ho has also expanded her brand into apparel lines that can be found in Target, as well as personalized fitness programs.

Sitting at number three is Wendy Ayche, better known as Wengie, with 13.2 million YouTube subscribers. Wengie began her YouTube channel in 2013, posting DIY tutorials and prank videos that have garnered a total of 1.8 billion views. She has strayed away from consistently posting on YouTube, but began working on music, animation, and voice acting and has released several musical projects in the C-pop genre.

The runner up on this list is Lilly Singh with 14.2 million subscribers. Singh rose to fame during YouTube’s early days with viral comedy sketches and relatable videos about her Indian parents. She has since then continued to post occasionally on her channel and even became one of the first YouTubers to host a light-night talk show, bringing her talent from the internet to mainstream media.

At number one, we have Ryan Higa, whose channel NigaHiga sits comfortably at 20.7 million subscribers. As one of YouTube’s earliest comedic stars, he was able to grow a massive fanbase with his parody videos and hilarious sketches which have helped shape the style of YouTube comedy. Higa has shifted away from producing YouTube videos, but is still focused on content as he regularly streams on Twitch.

Practices and techniques rooted in traditional Chinese medicine are becoming viral as Americans explore alternative approaches to wellness.

In the last decade, Americans started exploring natural and traditional health practices that originated from China centuries ago. From acupuncture clinics to viral wellness trends on TikTok, Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining new attention across the U.S.

Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TMC, is a holistic system that has been around for over 2,500 years. This system focuses on balancing qi and yin-yang focus to promote health and while practices like tai chi and cupping therapy were once limited to the Asian community, they have now become more popular in the American healthcare landscape.

Acupuncture is one of the most well-known forms of TMC. This technique places extremely thin needles in specific points of the body to relieve pain and improve wellness. Studies done by the U.S. National Health Interview Survey shows that acupuncture usage in the United States has doubled over the last twenty years, estimating around 7.4 million adults using it.

Another major component of TMC is herbal therapy, which uses plants and roots as dietary supplements and medicine alternatives. 40% of adults over the age of 70 are reported to use herbal medicine and the National Institutes of Health reports approximately one third of American adults use herbal therapy or supplements as part of their health care routine, reflecting a growing interest in holistic health approaches.

Younger Americans have also discovered Chinese medicine through social media videos on TikTok and Instagram. Viral trends such as gua sha massages, face mapping, and herbal tonics have been introduced to the newer generation who are looking for personalized health solutions.

While TMC is still considered to compliment your health rather than act as a replacement for modern medicine, its growing popularity depicts a shift in the way Americans view their health. Natural remedies and holistic approaches are becoming more mainstream as people look for alternative ways to support their wellness drawing from those who have kept the traditions alive for decades.

The “Sphere” rematch isn't just a fight; it’s a demonstration of how consistency and technical precision can extend an athletic prime by decades.

This month it was announced that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather formally inked a deal for a professional fight to take place September 19th at the Sphere in Las Vegas – marking the first-ever professional boxing match at the high-tech venue.

Though critics see the late 40-year-olds’ rematch as a cash grab, some analysts anticipate that the bout will bring out the best of their competitive spirit; given it’s set to be a sanctioned fight – with Mayweather’s 50-0 record on the line, and ultimately, both fighters have stayed in top shape through their training regimens.

Pacquiao made this evident last year by fighting to a majority draw against World Boxing Association welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

His longevity is no accident; it is the result of a disciplined six-day workout and diet routine.  Pac-Man focuses half of his week on conditioning and the other on technical precision and power.  Each day is split between the outdoors and gym.  For conditioning days, he focuses on sprint and explosive hill runs on the first half of the day followed by a dozen rounds of high-intensity sparring.  On strength days, he begins with six-to-eight-mile runs followed by an iron core workout consisting of 1,000 reps of various ab movements from crunches to twists.  The second half begins with shadowboxing for perfect footwork before hitting the heavy bag for world-class power.

He fuels this intensity with a nutrient-dense diet of lean proteins, like grilled fish, chicken, and traditional Filipino recovery soups like tinola.  The long, intense days call for a six-meal, 4,000 calorie diet.

While your current daily equivalent of footwork and sparring may just be trips to the office coffee machine and heated email exchanges, you can adapt Pacquaio’s philosophy into a joint-friendly workout plan.

Start with a 30-minute metabolic walk, alternating two minutes of light jogging with one minute of power walking to mimic boxing rounds.

Follow this with three to four sets of a circuit: three minutes of shadow boxing, 20 air squats, 20 push-ups, and a 45-second plank.  Then focus on plyometric movements to build that explosive “Pac-Man” speed:  Three sets of 10 box jumps and burpees will wake up your fast-twitch muscle fibers.  To really mirror Pacquiao’s legendary midsection, finish with an intensive ab-focused mini-circuit: perform five sets of 30 seconds of flutter kicks and 20 bicycle crunches, keeping rest periods under 30 seconds to maintain the burn.

For recovery, hydrate thoroughly and eat a protein-rich meal of Vietnamese-style lemongrass pork chops or Thai grilled chicken, gai yang, with a side of bok choy.

Pacquiao’s true secret is consistency; aim to show up at least four days a week to maintain peak vitality.  Just keep at it, and who knows – by the time you’re 50, you might just be ready for your own multi-million-dollar pro debut against a fellow AARP member.

From America’s Got Talent to a Grammy-winning artist, Kehlani has shaped today’s R&B.

Multi-platinum artist Kehlani has defined the modern R&B era with a genre-bending sound that reflects her diverse roots and Filipino heritage.

Her most critically acclaimed single “Folded” earned Grammy wins in 2026 for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song and reached number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 – the first of her tracks to reach the top 10.

Kehlani previously released studio albums Crash in 2024, Blue Water Road in 2022 and It Was Good Until It Wasn’t in 2020, all of which entered the top 25 on the Billboard 200.

In 2019, she released her third commercial mixtape While We Wait, which featured the massive hit “Nights Like This” featuring Ty Dolla $ign.  This is her most streamed song on Spotify with over 725 million plays.

Kehlani’s debut studio album SweetSexySavage, released in 2017, featured “Gangsta,” which gained popularity for its use in the film Suicide Squad.  That same year, the high-energy track “Good Life” featuring G-Eazy was featured on the soundtrack for The Fate of the Furious.

The 30-year-old first captured the nation’s attention as a high schooler in 2011 as a finalist on America’s Got Talent with the Oakland-based pop group PopLyfe.

The Goldsea Team chatted with UCLA students about their favorite AI platforms for school.

Chinese American Cheryl Leung wanted to blend her cultural heritage with modern styles to create a distinctive runway hit.

While the fashion industry has been dominated by Western aesthetics for years, Cheryl Leung created a clothing brand that focuses on celebrating Chinese heritage in a modern and globally relevant way.

Leung was born in California and raised in Hong Kong, surrounded by China’s culture and tradition. She graduated with a degree in psychology from UCLA in 2011 and took a job as a Studio Floor Manager for Bloomberg and later an executive role at Lane Crawford. Despite her business and finance career path, Leung always had a passion for dressing up and experimenting with fashion , using the women in her life as inspiration for her work.

She frequently noticed that most options on the market were either simple traditional pieces or Western luxury labels, which, at the time, often lacked cultural representation. So Leung launched Sau Lee in 2014, blending Eastern craftsmanship with Western looks. Sau Lee became known for its signature elements like cheongsam silhouettes, mandarin collars, frog buttons, and pipa knots, all offered in bold colors and stylish cuts that are fit for many special occasions.

Over the past decade, Sau Lee has grown past a niche label and developed into a global fashion name with features in major publications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. The brand has also received recognition amongst celebrities and fashion influencers who have been completely drawn to Leung’s traditional Chinese designs.

With Cheryl Leung acting as the company’s current creative director and CEO, Sau Lee has been able to expand beyond occasion pieces into a more versatile ready-to-wear collection. The company has reported to have reached double-digit millions in annual revenue after seeing a 60% year-over-year growth.

Cheryl Leung plans to continue to grow Sau Lee internationally, proving to the world that Chinese craftsmanship can blend seamlessly with modern fashion.

From viral rice grain comparisons to major institutional partnerships, the Bay Area native is transforming how a new generation approaches personal finance and investing.

Personal finance expert Humphrey Yang has become a leading digital educator, by transforming complex fiscal concepts into digestible social media content.  Across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, he has built a following of over 6 million subscribers who look to him for clear breakdowns of topics including retirement planning, investing strategies, and real estate affordability.

Yang began YouTubing in 2019 and first gained virality for posting a video that explained the scale of Elon Musk’s wealth using grains of rice as a visual tool of comparison.

Today, his most popular content focuses on sustainable financial habits, auto purchase principles, and rules for wealth building.

Yang’s platforms have yielded partnerships with major financial institutions like Wealthfront and Ally Bank.

The Bay Area native began his career at Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor in 2012, where he obtained Series 7 and Series 66 certifications, alongside Life, Health, and Variable Insurance licenses.  Yang also worked in investment banking and mobile gaming before shifting his focus to entrepreneurship, where he co-founded a successful e-commerce startup.

The 37-year-old Chinese American holds a bachelor of business administration from Loyola Marymount University.

Shelly Hwang and Young Lee conceived Pinkberry as a modern dessert experience by combining yogurt and fresh toppings with an ultra-modern aesthetic.

During the mid-2000s, there was one frozen dessert spot in Los Angeles that unexpectedly became a must try stop, sparking a countrywide food trend.

Korean entrepreneurs Shelly Hwang and Young Lee founded Pinkberry in 2005 in West Hollywood, starting off with a small storefront on Huntley Drive. Initially, Hwang wanted to open a formal English teahouse, but since her and her business partner, architect Young Lee, were unable to get an alcohol permit, they decided to go with frozen yogurt.

Frozen yogurt was a craze during the 1980s, so Hwang and Lee wanted to revive that trend. Soon people were driving across the city to wait in line at Pinkberry for 20-30 minutes just to get that fix of nostalgia that their frozen yogurt was bringing back. Hwang and Lee’s second store opened in August 2006, along with a third on La Brea and Melrose in September that same year. Their expansion didn’t stop there as Pinkberry opened its first overseas location in a shopping mall in Kuwait.

What made Pinkberry special was its original tart flavor that became the perfect base for any toppings whether it was fruit or nuts. Pinkberry was also known for sourcing very fresh and premium ingredients, making it stand out from traditional ice cream parlors.

However, in 2011 the company faced a unique controversy through its rapid growth. One year after Young Lee left Pinkberry, he was arrested and convicted in Los Angeles for assault after attacking a homeless man with a tire iron for flashing a sexually explicit tattoo and Lee was later sentenced to seven years in prison in 2014.

Despite the legal case, Pinkberry continued to expand throughout Southern California and eventually all over the United States, drawing in the attention of investors. Funding from former Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, helped fuel Pinkberry’s national growth and in 2015 the company was acquired by Kahala Brands. Shortly after Kahala Brands was acquired by MTY Food Group for around $300 million.

Shelly Hwang is still involved with the company as Chief Product Officer and Board Director. Pinkberry currently operates over 260 locations across 20 different countries with each store reporting average gross sales at approximately $449,597 a year.

Hirotake Yano was selling household goods from his truck before creating Daiso, Japan’s largest discount retail chain.

In the United States, there’s discount stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General, but in Japan, Daiso dominates the discount retail space and is bringing their 100-yen concept to cities around the world.

Daiso was founded by Japanese entrepreneur Hirotake Yano. He was born in Beijing to a Japanese family and moved back to Japan after World War II with his parents, five brothers, and three sisters. Yano began boxing while in high school and was chosen for an Olympic athletes preparation camp, but his father refused to send him to university unless Yano agreed to study science or engineering, rather than trying to earn a sports scholarship.

Yano failed the entrance exams for sixteen different schools before finally being accepted into Chuo University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Unfortunately after graduating, Yano struggled to find work and went through a series of different jobs like working in a bowling alley, selling encyclopedias, and eventually, running his father-in-law’s fish business. However, the fish business ended up being unsuccessful and made Yano bankrupt within three years, forcing him and his wife and son to leave Hiroshima and head to Tokyo.

There, Yano decided to start his own company called Yano Shoten, selling household goods from his truck at markets. While running this business, he realized how time consuming placing different prices on each item was, so he tried something new: pricing everything the same and this proved to be a hit.

In 1977, Yano was able to found Daiso Industries introducing Japan to a retail model where nearly every product would cost 100 yen. The first permanent Daiso store was opened in Takamatsu City in 1991 and the brand quickly expanded throughout Japan, then internationally in 2001 with its first overseas store in Taiwan.

Yano successfully ran the company for decades until his stressful schedule led him to have a stroke in 2018, which prompted him to transfer leadership to his son, Seiji, while he continued to serve as chairman. Yano passed away at the age of 80 in February 2024, but he left behind a business that transformed the way people shop for everyday products.

Today Daiso operates over 6,000 stores across the globe with over 150 locations in the United States. Already exceeding $3.6 billion in annual sales, Daiso still has a goal of establishing 1,000 U.S. stores by 2030.