In the News

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The Data Center Backlash Is Coming for Permitting Reform.

Grayson Flood, a senior fellow at Groundwork Collaborative, told me he believes the bill will actually incentivize more data center developers to hook up to the grid and may result in fewer projects relying on off-grid gas plants constructed purely for operating GPUs.

October 9, 2026 Heatmap

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Walmart Says It Prices Products, Not People. Its Patents Suggest Otherwise.

This week, our organization, Groundwork Collaborative, released a stunning analysis of more than 10 years of Walmart’s patent filings. Our research reveals a sprawling arsenal of technologies capable of tracking shoppers and building extraordinarily detailed profiles of them.

October 9, 2026 The Lever

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Groundwork Collaborative Investigates Walmart’s Patents—And Raises Privacy Concerns.

Walmart finds itself at the center of a growing debate over retail practices around pricing, consumer data collection and privacy. Groundwork Collaborative, the progressive consumer advocacy group, has just issued an investigative report that argues Walmart’s portfolio of technology patents could not only enable personalized pricing but support a level of consumer surveillance that goes far beyond traditional retail practices.

October 9, 2026 Forbes

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Why soaring diesel prices could hit your wallet in unexpected ways.

Diesel fuel and heating oil are essentially “the exact same product,” said Alex Jacquez, senior vice president of policy, advocacy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative. And nearly 5 million households, mostly in the Northeast, still use heating oil.

October 8, 2026 USA Today

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The AI pricing trap.

Walmart corporate affairs chief Dan Bartlett took to X this week to challenge Groundwork Collaborative CEO Lindsay Owens over her use of Walmart as an example of what digital shelf labels could enable — think higher ice cream prices on hot days.

October 8, 2026 Axios

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Walmart exec speaks out on dynamic pricing again after watchdog calls out controversial electronic shelf tag patent.

Walmart is in the midst of another pricing scandal after Groundwork Collaborative president and CEO Lindsay Owens dropped an explosive exposé outlining — in great detail — a deep dive into the wild world of Walmart patents, where the sociologist and consumer expert claims the retail behemoth collects “troves of data it can collect on users.”

October 8, 2026 New York Post

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‘Lawmakers need to step in’: Walmart reportedly plans controversial ‘surveillance pricing’ system.

Lindsay Owens, President and CEO of Groundwork Collective, the organization that reported these plans, says companies "spying on you" is "a big contributor to the cost-of-living crisis."

October 8, 2026 MS Now

Press Release

ICYMI: On CNN, Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens Calls on Walmart to Relinquish Patents, Conduct Independent Audit of Their Pricing Tech

Owens calls out Walmart for saying “one thing to investors, one thing to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and another thing to consumers.”

October 7, 2026 Groundwork Collaborative

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When CEOs Brag About Price Hikes, She’s Listening.

This spring a half-dozen policy wonks and political operatives affiliated with Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning nonprofit, met in a town house near Dupont Circle in Washington to pore over thick stacks of printouts.

October 7, 2026 Bloomberg

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McDonald’s sued for allegedly using AI tool to determine pricing for franchises.

So far this year, at least 90 pieces of legislation have been filed across the country to push back against algorithmic price-fixing, according to Lindsay Owens, the head of the left-leaning thinktank Groundwork Collaborative, who recently authored a book on the topic.

October 7, 2026 Guardian