It’s a rare moment, but Elon Musk and Sam Altman have actually agreed on something: The two tech CEOs have decided that they both would like to fast track the trial over OpenAI’s shift to becoming a for-profit venture.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman, is suing, arguing that the conversion will create a monopoly to stamp out competitors.

He is perhaps particularly referring to his own AI project, xAI. Musk has also made a bid to buy OpenAI, which was rejected with a polite “no thank you” from Altman.

What’s Been Agreed?

According to Reuters, the rival billionaires have decided that they both want the case over and done with as soon as possible.

They have jointly proposed a trial in December. The filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California adds that they have also agreed to delay a decision on whether the case will be decided by a jury or just by a judge.

“We welcome the court’s March 4 decision rejecting Elon Musk’s latest attempt to slow down OpenAI for his personal benefit,” OpenAI said in a blog post.

What Does the Case Hinge Upon?

Musk filed the lawsuit last year. Initially, his claim was that Altman and co had “manipulated him” to “Shakespearean proportions” into co-founding the AI company under the guise of it being a for-profit enterprise focused on developing humanity.

He later added the gripe that OpenAI was behaving in an anticompetitive way.

However, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, threw out some of Musk’s claims, damning them as being a “stretch,” and causing “irreparable harm.” He also argued that OpenAI should not be forced to stop its bid to become a for-profit business.

He did not throw them out entirely, so a court standoff is now likely.

Why Does Altman Want the Change?

The AI pioneer says that the change of structure is necessary to ensure that his company can keep innovating. This is because, he argues, developing AI technology is pricey.

Reuters reports that OpenAI’s last fundraising round of $6.6 billion, and a new round of up to $40 billion under discussion with SoftBank Group are conditioned on its change of structure.

The company also has lofty goals, focused on creating Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – a theoretical type of AI that can match or surpass human intelligence.

As the launches come thick and fast from China – Alibaba and Baidu unveiled new tools in the last week alone – there is a lot at stake for American AI ventures. OpenAI is arguing that this change of structure is what will give it the best chance of thriving in the face of fierce competition.

Google is slowly going to mothball its mobile phone assistant as it pushes uptake of its AI chatbot, Gemini.

In a move that will surprise no one, Google is going to phase out Assistant stating that it won’t be accessible “on most mobile devices” or for new download “later this year.”

Google has been pushing Gemini hard in the past few year, adding new AI functionality to Sheets and plying developers with Google Gemini Code Assist. This latest news will see Gemini as the assistant on all Google phones as AI becomes central to the company’s offerings.

What Will Happen for Google Phone Users?

Brian Marquardt, the senior director of product management for the Gemini app, gave details of the fate of Google Assistant, which was launched in 2016. He says that it was designed to “unlock a more natural way to get help from Google” but now AI will “reimagine” the experience.

He explained in a blog post: “Over the coming months, we’re upgrading more users on mobile devices from Google Assistant to Gemini; and later this year, the classic Google Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available for new downloads on mobile app stores.”

He does add that for phone owners whose device doesn’t meet the minimum system requirements to run Gemini, “Google Assistant functionality will not change at this time.”

More Than Mobiles

But the move will not just impact phone owners, with Marquardt stating that an AI glow-up is also coming for the “tablets, cars and devices that connect to your phone, such as headphones and watches.”

There aren’t details as yet but Gemini will also be integrated into home devices like speakers, displays, and TVs. Marquardt promised information on what this will look like “in the next few months.” He added that Google Assistant will continue to be available on these devices for the foreseeable future.

What’s Next From Gemini?

In a post comparing Assistant to Gemini, Google says that interactions will change for users as “Gemini can understand natural language.” It also says that, while “Gemini might not always get it right,” it will improve and “get faster.”

In February, Google detailed all six of the AI improvements it had made for Pixel phones. These included an extension to let Gemini control smart devices in users’ homes, and a redesigned interface.

But it’s not just Google phones, which have integrated Gemini capabilities. At the beginning of the month, iPhone users got new Gemini lock screen widgets with the latest version of the app for iPhones. The updated app also allows users to share text, images, and links directly to Gemini from any app on their iPhone.

Google is obviously hoping that Gemini will become so integrated into phone users’ experiences that it becomes a go-to, especially as AI Siri is still not where Apple wants it to be.

Three of the biggest names in tech have come together to figure out some standards for data governance as AI technology continues to evolve.

Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco are among the names who have backed a committee, which is trying to standardize data provenance protocols.

This touches upon everything from the copyright issues that have plagued AI ventures to privacy and authenticity.

What Are the Tech Giants Hoping to Achieve?

The trio have put their backing behind the OASIS Data Provenance Standards Technical Committee.

This is the brainchild of OASIS Open, a global open source and standards organization, and the Data & Trust Alliance, which describes itself as “a consortium dedicated to developing data and AI practices that create business value and earn trust.”

Their hope is that by bringing key players to the table, they can agree what they describe in a blog post as “a standardized metadata framework for tracking data origins, transformations, and compliance, helping businesses establish clearer governance practices.”

What Are the Next Steps?

This is all about transparency. The framework being worked upon will hopefully provide some guardrails for companies as they move from talking about standards to actual implementation.

As the Oasis team says in its blog post, the standards will ideally enable data producers “to deliver clear and consistent data lineage information.” This means that they will be in a better position to ensure that they are data compliant and that they are not heading into dangerous waters in terms of data privacy, security, and intellectual property rights.

Questionable AI Data Usage

Interestingly, the standards also talk about “data acquirers” having “transparency around the data they aim to acquire and a mechanism to determine whether to trust and use the data on offer.” This is particularly pertinent if companies are working with AI ventures, building their own systems on LLMs provided by others.

Microsoft works closely with OpenAI, for example, and has recently been involved in a spat with Chinese upstart, DeepSeek, which it accused of “improperly” obtaining OpenAI data to train its model.

IBM currently uses an open-source foundation for its platform, watsonx, but has written a detailed blog post about the benefits of open-source versus proprietary AI LLMs. In this, it talks specifically about the dangers of “incomplete, contradictory, or inaccurate data.” But it also nods to the issues of ensuring “training data was gathered with accountability” and that this data harvesting is “compliant with laws and regulations.”

Here, however, lies the issue, as AI frameworks are still being churned out in the USat quite a clip. Worse, there has been huge friction between those arguing for safety nets and those pushing for innovation – notably OpenAI. Also notably, OpenAI is not at this table.

Community Notes for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will start appearing for US users on March 18th.

The company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced sweeping changes to the company’s moderation system in January. Central to this was the decision to ditch third-party moderators and instead adopt a model like the one used on X.

Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, defended the decision, arguing that “too much harmless content gets censored.” However, alarm bells were immediately rung about a potential spike in hate speech, but the main concern is that it’s clearly a cynical attempt to curry favor with the new president.

What Will Moderation Now Look Like?

The key difference is that instead of third-party moderators, the social media platforms will now be “policed” by users. These contributors have been able to apply for a role since February.

These special users will be able to provide notes that directly fact-check a post on any of these platforms. Their suggestions will then be rated by other contributors as helpful or not helpful. It is this that will then determine how the Community Note appears on screen to your average user.

Using an algorithm, the system will determine which contributors tend to have opposing views and a Note will only appear if both sides agree that it is helpful. This means that not all Notes will be published.

The social media giant adds that if a post does carry a Note, it will not be downranked.

Collaboration with X

Meta is actually using X’s open-source algorithm to evaluate Community Notes, according to CNBC.

“As X’s algorithm and program information is open source — meaning free and available for anyone to use— we can build on what X has done, learn from the researchers who have studied it, and improve the system for our own platforms.” – Meta spokesperson

However, it adds that it may look at other options as time goes by. “As our own version develops, we may explore different or adjusted algorithms to support how Community Notes are ranked and rated,” it said.

Cause for Concern

Despite Meta’s upbeat insistence that all will be fine, there are rising voices of concern. Indeed the co-chair of Meta’s own oversight board told BBC News that there were “huge problems” with what had been announced. Helle Thorning-Schmidt spoke about worries that marginalized groups could be targeted. She went as far as to state that there were “extremely dangerous times ahead” for social media users and democracy.

Holding X’s model up as an exemplar is hardly confidence building after all. Elon Musk, owner of X, has slashed his moderation team, welcomed back banned users (including Donald Trump) and the platform has seen a terrifying spike in hateful activity, including racist slurs.

Concerns about content have been so high that advertisers voted with their feet and have left the platform in their droves.

Zuckerberg and team will be watching the impact of the new model in the US. Meta has chosen to use its home country as a testing ground, and hasn’t rolled it out in any other nation. This is, perhaps, not least because the EU is already stating its concerns.

This new moderation model is going to be received very differently outside of the US. Other countries will be monitoring what happens to content stateside and will no doubt be feeding back any concerns to Meta.

OpenAI is petitioning the government to offer AI companies some relief from the hundreds of bills currently being proposed and debated.

In a 15-page document, the company has responded to the government’s call for input as the Trump administration works on an AI Action Plan.

The document asks for the federal government to basically intervene to stop the measures put in place by individual states curtailing AI’s rapid innovation. The appeal is likely to hit a chord as innovation at all cost – a hands-off approach – is an approach that OpenAI boss Sam Altman knows will appeal to the President.

What Does OpenAI Want?

The letter strikes a similar tone to Altman’s appeal for copyright laws to be relaxed for AI innovators to innovate.

His company argues that the bills that various US States are currently considering will slow down development. In exchange, reports Bloomberg, which has seen the document, AI companies would give the government voluntary access to their technology.

OpenAI is already working closely with the Trump administration. A month ago, it unveiled ChatGPT Gov, which is an AI agent built specifically for governmental use.

OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil explained that government employees can feed the agent “non-public, sensitive information” and that the AI will operate within secure government hosting environments.

Winning the AI Arms Race

Altman is appealing to Trump’s desire to win the AI arms release, which seems to have gone almost white hot with constant releases from China. DeepSeek gained the number one spot in both the Apple and Android App charts with its AI agent and Alibaba has been relentless with its releases.

In the proposal, OpenAI put its finger right on this sore point. It wrote that if China’s “developers have unfettered access to data and American companies are left without fair use access…the race for AI is effectively over.”

Trump has already rescinded his predecessor’s AI Safety law – and has promised to “unleash the potential of the American citizen,” especially, it seems, those working in AI.

State Intervention

However, individual states are looking to put legal AI frameworks in place. In California, one such bill was blocked in September by Governor Gavin Newsom but it hasn’t been taken off the table completely.

There is momentum for AI safety bills, including from within the industry itself – notably from OpenAi rival and AI wunderkind Anthropic. In fact, a letter was sent to Newsom urging him to lead on AI regulation and the signatories included employees of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Meta, and xAI.

Instead, the OpenAi leadership is urging the Government to bypass States legislators and let Ai ventures just communicate directly with that the US AI Safety Institute. Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, said in an interview: “Part of the incentive for doing that ought to be that you don’t have to go through the state stuff, which is not going to be anywhere near as good as what the federal level would be.”

This is not going to sit well with the senators currently working on bills, as it essentially take their power away. However, as the Chinese AI companies push their wares – and innovate at speed – the desire to beat them might drive Trump to consider OpenAI’s proposal whatever the implications.

The AI announcements – especially from China – seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment, with Alibaba hitting the headlines today.

Only a month ago, Chinese eCommerce giant, Alibaba, announced an AI model it claimed outperformed ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Now the company has unveiled a new version of its AI assistant app.

The new launch is powered by the company’s Qwen AI reasoning model, which the company is pushing to take on OpenAI and its homegrown (and controversial) rival, DeepSeek. This LLM is also being used by Chinese startup, Manus, for what is being claimed to be “a completely autonomous agent”.

What Has Alibaba Launched?

The company’s stocks surged upon the announcement of QwQ-32B, which is free to download and use, even commercially. Alibaba says that it is “very suitable for application scenarios with rapid response or high data security requirements.” It adds that it can be “easily deployed” to local devices “on consumer-grade hardware”.

The key update is that this AI assistant uses the Qwen LLMs as opposed to the company’s Quark reasoning model.

In a blog post (in Chinese), the company says that this latest launch “has achieved a qualitative leap in mathematics, code, and general capabilities”. Alibaba also took a swipe at DeepSeek, claiming its new AI assistant is “comparable to DeepSeek-R1”. It also claims that its latest launch “almost completely surpass[ed] OpenAI-o1-mini”.

High Ambitions for Alibaba’s App

CNBC news reports that Alibaba is planning on investing $380 billion yuan ($52.5 billion) in cloud computing and its AI infrastructure over the next three years.

Its launches have been arriving rapidly and the company is keen to emphasize that its products are as good – if not better – than rivals. It says in the blog post: “As of now, the number of derivative models of Qwen in domestic and overseas AI open source communities has exceeded 100,000, surpassing the American Llama series of models to become the world’s largest open source model group.”

Its AI ambitions are having a huge impact on the company’s bottom line. In February, CNBC reported on Alibaba’s quarterly results. The company’s Cloud Intelligence Group had seen year-on-year sales growth of 13% to 31.742 billion yuan (over $4 billion). “The AI era presents a clear and massive demand for infrastructure. We will aggressively invest in AI infrastructure,” said Alibaba CEO, Eddie Wu.

Chinese AI Dominance

However, will Alibaba be allowed to push for dominance outside of China? DeepSeek is facing deep mistrust and has already been banned in several countries over national security concerns. In particular, the fact that users’ data is stored in China is causing concern.

There is also the Trump administration’s strong backing for American AI ventures. Accusations that DeepSeek has been using OpenAI’s output to train its own models is likely to see relations worsen.

However, DeepSeek has yet to be fully banned in the US – only from some Government devices. While the focus is on DeepSeek, Alibaba is merrily launching products and doesn’t seem to be attracting the same heat…for now.

TikTok is hoping to calm the storms around child safety on its platform with new tools to control usage.

The latest features include a reminder for teens to stop using the app at night as well as updates to its parental controls.

However, will they be enough to halt the tide of concerns about children’s safety on TikTok? The company is facing scrutiny in the UK for its use of children’s personal information; and lawsuits in both France and the US. These are as well as the looming cloud over its future stateside.

Setting Boundaries on TikTok

TikTok has published a blog entitled: “New ways we’re supporting parents and helping teens build balanced digital habits”. In it, head of ops, Adam Presser, says that the updates add to “the strongest safeguards” that the company already puts in place “by default” for its teen accounts.

The key update is to the Family Pairing option, which launched five years ago. Now parents will be able to block their children from being able to access TikTok at certain times of the day. They can also set these times as a recurring schedule.

Another update gives parents more transparency. They will be able to see who their teen is following, who follows them and also if their child has blocked any accounts.

TikTok adds that it is also re-enabling the STEM feed of tailored content in all accounts – including those in which the teen has turned it off.

Calming Impact for Younger Users

For under-16s, TikTok has also announced a “wind down feature”. This kicks in after 10pm if the teen is still scrolling. It explains that this will be “a full-screen takeover with calming music to help teens relax and be mindful of the time”. The calming music might soon also be joined by meditation exercises, the company adds.

If the teen decides to ignore and keep scrolling, a second full-screen prompt will appear. TikTok says this is “harder to dismiss” but can be dismissed. As a result, some are already questioning how impactful it will be. However, TikTok says its confident of an impact. “In countries where this has already been piloted, the vast majority of teens decide to keep this reminder on”, it writes.

Too Little, Too Late?

These new announcements come just months after TikTok announced plans to block beauty filters for teenage users.

The company has launched a crackdown too on underage users, announcing that children under 13 years old will be booted off the platform. In Europe, it has teamed up with telecoms giant, Telefónica, for a new API called “Age Verification”. This uses AI “to understand how people can use age information from their phone provider to confirm their age.”

However, with lawsuits focused on the mental health impact of usage – especially how addictive the platform is for children – these latest announcements seem pretty feeble. Not least because TikTok knows exactly how addicted children can become – it has researched it.

On top of this, research seems to suggest that the company’s age verification tools are simply not working. In January, Psypost reported that 68.2% of under-13 users reported using TikTok. With statistics like this, it seems meditation exercises and calming music aren’t going to solve the problems.

If reports are to be believed, the world’s first fully autonomous AI agent is here. Developed by Chinese start-up Butterfly Effect, Manus AI is a “general AI agent” that can autonomously execute complex tasks, including analyzing data, generating reports, and ordering groceries.

Manus AI has been called “China’s second DeepSeek moment,” and promises a dizzying array of potential use cases. But how does it work? And what might it be capable of? In this guide, I’ll dive deep into the platform, unpacking everything that we know so far.

What Is Manus AI?

Manus AI is a new AI agent developed by Chinese start-up Butterfly Effect. Named after the Latin word for “hand,” Manus is more than “just another chatbot or workflow…it’s a completely autonomous agent,” according to chief scientist Yichao “Peak” Ji.

As a fully autonomous platform, it is capable of making decisions independently. While ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude require some level of human input, Manus is able to think, plan, and execute without any assistance. In other words, Manus promises to leave many of its contemporaries in the dust.

Manus was unveiled last week, and currently it’s in private beta mode, meaning you’ll need an invitation in order to test it out for yourself. But its rollout is sure to send shockwaves through the tech world. US companies will consider it a call to arms in their bid to best China in the unfolding AI race. Critics, meanwhile, will likely despair at the prospect of a machine that has the potential to completely replace a human.

What Can Manus Do?

Broadly speaking, an AI agent is a program capable of executing tasks on behalf of a user or system. This involves decision-making, problem-solving, and interacting with different external environments. Some examples include ecommerce agents that track and provide shipping updates on items that you’ve purchased, and trading agents that buy or sell stocks based on algorithms.

Manus is a fully autonomous program, meaning that it can act totally independently. Ji has called it “the next paradigm of human-machine collaboration and potentially a glimpse into AGI.” This last part, in particular, is giving AI enthusiasts a lot of cause for excitement.

AGI, or artificial general intelligence, is the concept of software that can understand or learn anything that a human being can. It’s an ongoing field of theoretical research that has so far failed to yield any substantial results. Manus might be the closest that anyone has got.

On the official Manus website, there are several case studies allegedly showcasing what the program is capable of. Among them, you can view a detailed seven-day travel itinerary for Japan for a hypothetical Seattle couple. The itinerary includes “Proposal Opportunity” locations that are recommended by Manus. Other highlights include an Apple-inspired business card design, and a three-second bird chirping and steam sound effect. Truly, the ridiculous and the sublime.

How Does Manus Work?

Unlike some of its contemporaries, Manus has been designed as a multi-agent system, meaning that it combines several different AI models. These models specialize in a broad range of tasks, so Manus has many theoretical use cases. Two of the biggest large language models (LLMs) that it relies upon are Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Qwen, with Butterfly Effect thought to be eager to upgrade Manus to the latest version of Claude, 3.7.

The agent has its own knowledge and memory recall, so it can learn from past experiences to iteratively improve its future performance. Let’s say you instruct Manus to export some data analysis results into a PDF. The next time it’s asked to perform data analysis, it will automatically export it in the same way.

While standard AI chatbots simply regurgitate information, Manus can perform deep research, sophisticated data analysis, report generation, workflow automation, code writing and even deployment. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What Does Manus Mean for the Future?

It’s very early days, but some believe that Manus has the potential to upend the AI space. Founder of The Rundown AI newsletter, Rowan Cheung, described the platform as “Deep Research + Operator + Claude Computer combined, and it’s REALLY good.”

Other commentators, however, have cautioned against getting carried away. According to assistant professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Bradford Levy: “There is plenty of evidence that Manus doesn’t get things right on the first try or gets stuck in infinite loops…there’s a good chance it won’t meet expectations.”

It remains to be seen who will be proven right. While new AI products and announcements are landing on a near-daily basis, the truth is that we won’t feel their material impact for some time. Until then, we’ll be keeping track of all the latest happenings to arise in this hugely exciting space.

Salesforce plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years, it was revealed on Tuesday. The remarks came courtesy of CEO Marc Benioff at CONVERGE LIVE, a global meeting of business leaders, policymakers and investors, hosted in Singapore.

Benioff claims the investment is premised upon accelerating the country’s digital transformation, including the adoption of Agentforce, its AI offering. Just last week, Salesforce unveiled a series of updates to the AI agent in a bid to ward off competition from Microsoft.

Salesforce is one of many tech companies hedging its bets on AI in a big way. President Trump’s return to the White House in January has led to businesses ramping up their AI spend, with many determined to take market share off of OpenAI, which continues to be the platform of choice.

Salesforce to Invest $1 Billion in Singapore

Cloud software giant, Salesforce, plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years, according to CEO Marc Benioff. The company has been investing in the country for almost 20 years, with this latest pledge designed to fuel the widespread adoption of Agentforce, the company’s AI platform.

In a statement, the company claims: “Agentforce delivers Singapore an opportunity to rapidly expand its labor force in many key service and public sector roles…as Agentforce adoption accelerates, it has the potential to drive significant impact across Singapore’s industries, startups, and the public sector.”

The news caps a busy month for the software company, which last week unveiled a series of upgrades to its AI model, known as Agentforce 2dx, and last month announced plans to let go of more than 1,000 employees to make room for AI. Alongside this, it also plans to invest $500 million in Saudi Arabia, and a further $500 million in Argentina.

Asia Covets Global AI Hub Status

Singapore is jostling for top-dog status in the AI world. In 2023, the country unveiled the National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0), which included plans to invest $1 billion in infrastructure, research, and talent development. This has since been matched by Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and now Salesforce.

Elsewhere, countries across Asia are making similar plays. Malaysia recently committed $250 million over the next 10 years to acquire chip design blueprints from Arm Holdings, the UK-based semiconductor company. With this information, it hopes to meet growing demand for domestic AI and data centers.

Thailand has received substantial investment in recent years. In 2024, Microsoft revealed that it planned to build new cloud and AI infrastructure in the country. The same year, Google announced $1 billion of investment to build a data center and cloud region there, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently committed $5 billion over the next 15 years.

Tech Companies Betting Big on AI

In recent years, companies across the tech sector have raced to invest in AI. With President Trump back in the Oval Office, momentum has reached fever pitch. Soon after taking office, the returning Republican dismantled many of the safeguards that the previous administration had put in place. He also announced Project Stargate, a new company with designs to be the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”

Several big tech players have taken this as their cue to invest heavily in AI. Last week, reports emerged that search engine giant, Google, plans to show AI Overviews for even more search queries, despite an underwhelming response to the new AI feature. Meanwhile, DBS Bank recently revealed that thousands of employees will make way for new AI deployments.

Salesforce hopes that its own forays will be successful. In the words of CEO Benioff: “We don’t just do sales and marketing here. We also do extremely advanced artificial intelligence development.” Whether or not its recent investments are enough to cement its status as a frontrunner in the race, however, remains to be seen.

AI darling Deepseek won’t be looking for outside investors any time soon, according to reports about comments from its own founder.

Liang Wenfeng is not seeking investors for his generative AI company, and is particularly against government investors.

That makes sense: The China-based Deepseek has faced plenty of criticism already, and has even been banned in multiple countries.

Liang Wants to Avoid Government Influence

The new scoop comes from the Wall Street Journal, which cites “people familiar with the matter” to deliver the news that “Liang Wenfeng has told associates he isn’t in a hurry to get investment, fearing that outsiders would interfere in DeepSeek’s decisions.”

Furthermore, Liang is particularly cautious about government-linked investors, since, sources say, he’s concerned about the appearance of Beijing influence over Deepseek and its AI models.

Granted, the lack of government investment hasn’t stopped plenty of Western media outlets and governments from an aboundance of caution. Not only have Italy, Australia, and Taiwan passed bans on the company’s AI models, but the US-China AI chip trade war has further constrained Deepseek for years already.

Deepseek Doesn’t Have Money Troubles

Most startups have outside investors, who hold influence over the business and its path towards profits. That’s not the case for Deepseek, however.

According to TechCrunch, Liang himself owns a full 84% of the company, with the rest owned by individuals with ties to his hedge fund, High-Flyer.

Deepseek also doesn’t need investor money at the moment, even if it does have other problems to face. “Money has never been the problem for us; bans on shipments of advanced chips are the problem,” Liang said in 2023, according to the TechCrunch report.

But How Long Can Deepseek Avoid Monitization?

These new reports aren’t much of a surprise to anyone who has been following Deepseek’s sudden and successful entrance into the competitive global AI business: The company has already taken the moderately original approach of making its AI models open-sourced as well as free to use.

This aligns with Liang’s previously stated problems with the VC-funded startup model popular in the US. He’s against rapid monitization, implying in a 2023 interview that it clashes with a focus on research fundamentals.

That said, while Deepseek may not need investment currently, the available chips that Deepseek needs to continue evolving do cost money. This may be a case in which even Deepseek can’t avoid investors forever.

Online home goods company Wayfair is slashing its workforce by 340 tech employee positions, the company has announced.

This marks the second round of layoffs that Wayfair has initiated since 2025 began. Back in January, the ecommerce retailer cut 730 jobs in the process of exiting its Germany operations.

The company has positioned its new job cuts as a streamlining move, designed to deliver “long-term success.”

What to Know About the Wayfair Layoffs

The 340 lost positions will come as the company closes its Technology Development Center located in Austin, Texas.

Wayfair will be keeping open its other locations, which include four centers based out of North America (Seattle, Mountain View, Toronto, Boston), as well as one in Bengaluru, India.

“To best support Wayfair’s next phase of growth, we must refocus our resources, streamline our operations, and ensure our teams are structured for long-term success,” the company said in a news bulletin on its website.

Wayfair Is “Leveraging Generative AI”

Those of you playing “tech layoff bingo” at home might be wondering if Wayfair has mentioned AI in their layoff announcements. They did.

In a discussion of the ways the company is “harnessing technology” amid its layoffs, Wayfair’s announcement mentioned “advancing personalization and simplifying navigation,” before broaching the topic of AI.

“Additionally, we are leveraging generative AI to boost productivity across our organization, ensuring efficiency and innovation at every level. Together, these advancements empower us to fulfill our brand promise—making it easy for our customers to create a home that is just right for them.” – Wayfair spokesperson

It’s still too early to say whether AI can truly deliver on the lofty promises that many VCs and tech CEOs have issued over the past few years, but it’s already clear that those promises have led to a shakeup in the labor market as executives everywhere feel empowered to lay employees off under the assumption that AI can replace their efforts.

Tech Layoffs Continue

The news from Wayfair is hardly surprising. Ever since late 2022, the tech industry has been continually laying off workers. We’ve charted the biggest layoffs across that time period in a constantly updated list.

It seems 2025 will be a tough year for many businesses, with a second Trump administration triggering market volatility due to an uncertain economy.

The impact of AI-spurred layoffs will make the labor market even weaker. In fact, adding some insult to injury, one way businesses are adapting is the use of AI in filtering through the resumes of tech workers hoping to rebound after their previous layoff.

X — which you might know better as Twitter — is experiencing intermittent outages this Monday.

The social platform’s uptime challenges aren’t just restricted to North America, either. Users are reporting that the platform has failed to work across the globe, with users in the UK, France, and India saying that they can’t access the short-form blogging platform.

It’s not a complete disaster, though: Outages are only lasting a few minutes at a time, so if you can just wait a little while, you can get right back to doom-scrolling.

What to Know About the X Outages

You can follow the most current reports of X outages on the website monitoring service Down Detector.

At the time of writing, over 20,000 outages globally continues to be reported late Monday morning, following a spike of over 38,000 simultanous reports several hours earlier.

Down Detector also breaks the outages down by type. According to their data, 58% of outages are related to the X app, while 31% are related to the platform’s website, and another 11% are related to “server connection.” These statistics will likely fluctuate as reports continue to roll in.

Elon Musk Says It Is a “Massive Cyberattack”

Elon Musk took to X to address the outages. According to the X chairman, who acquired the platform in October 2022, X is currently suffering from a cyberattack that was “done with a lot of resources.”

“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against 𝕏. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …” – X Chairman Elon Musk

For context, it’s worth noting that Elon Musk has a long history of mistruths that has prompted entire timelines detailing his relationship with online misinformation.

Still, there’s no denying that Musk’s recent political exploits have made him unpopular with most Americans. According to Pew Research Center, just over half of U.S. adults (54%) said they have an unfavorable view of Musk in a January 2025 poll.

The X Factor

According to a fact-checked SOAX research report, the X platform had 335.7 million monthly active users in 2024, which was a 5.14% drop from the previous year. The highest number of monthly active users, 368.4 million, was in 2022, the same year in which Elon Musk acquired the platform.

This conflicts with other reports: In April 2024, Exploding Topics reported that X had about 611 million monthly active users.

We’ve rounded up the companies that have left Twitter in recent years.

The four-day workweek is growing in popularity year-on-year, original research from Tech.co finds. As revealed in the latest “The Impact of Technology on the Workplace” report, 38% of senior leaders are openminded about the prospect of implementing a four-day workweek at their business, compared to just 23% last year.

While the number of businesses actually following a four-day workweek remains relatively low, the 15% uptick in employer favorability is highly encouraging.

In recent years, debate has raged over remote working, with advocates pointing to the impact that it can have on employee wellbeing, burnout, and productivity. Similarly, the four-day workweek has been linked to a range of benefits. It’s only a matter of time before it too becomes a flashpoint for debate.

More Business Leaders Favor a Four-Day Workweek Year-on-Year

38% of employers are open to one day implementing a four-day workweek, it has been revealed. The latest report from Tech.co points to a growing appreciation for the working model, with the figure representing a 15% increase on the previous year.

In practice, relatively few companies are actually utilizing the working model. The report shows that just 14% of businesses already have it in place, which represents a slight decline from 2023, when 17% of businesses did.

Elsewhere, 19% of surveyed companies are actively considering whether or not to implement the model, with a further 8% indicating that they’re unsure. 21% have no intention to introduce a four-day workweek. Our Tech.co report surveyed over 1,000 senior executives and workplace managers of businesses with 10 or more employees, across a range of industries.

Four-Day Week Findings Highly Encouraging for Employees

In the last few years, the four-day workweek has begun to gain traction. There are variations on the model. In one iteration, employees work one fewer day per week, but retain the same workload, compensation, and benefits. In another, working hours are reduced, which in turn impacts pay and benefits. Proponents argue that both types will bring benefits to businesses and staff.

The idea is almost universally popular among employees, with around 80% respondents to a Work in America survey saying they believe they would be happier and just as effective with a four-day workweek. It has yet to find the same foothold among senior leaders, but, as the report demonstrates, momentum is building.

Research is in its infancy, but these hypotheses are certainly borne out by preliminary findings. For instance, a 2024 study of 247 construction company workers who followed a four-day workweek found that the working model had a beneficial impact on “work-life harmony and did not increase fatigue.”

Debate To Become Next Business Battleground for Four-Day Week

Employee wellbeing has become a hot-button corporate issue in recent years. The remote work phenomenon ushered in by the Covid pandemic not only transformed attitudes to where we could carry out our work, but also its value when stacked up against our collective wellbeing.

We’ve seen this tension play out in the hotly contested remote work debate. On a near-monthly basis, another tech company ends remote working, or insists that employees at least partially increase their office attendance. With Donald Trump back in the White House, and notorious remote-skeptic Elon Musk at his side, the issue has become international news in recent months.

As momentum for the four-day workweek grows, it’s inevitable that it will soon become the next battleground for corporate interests and employee wellness. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out over the course of the year.

TikTok has officially been banned in Albania, with government officials citing bullying and violence among children as the primary concern.

The popular video sharing app has been on the receiving end of bans and restrictions over the last few years, with the looming TikTok ban in the US continuing to cause potential issues for users.

Albania has pulled the trigger, though, committing to at least 12 months of no TikTok in the country in hopes of curbing the nefarious behavior that the country claims is being encouraged by the app.

Albanian Cabinet Announces TikTok Ban

Albanian officials have confirmed that the one-year TikTok ban in the country will, in fact, take effect in the coming days. Announced in December, the ban hopes to cut down on the violence and bullying that have surfaced due to the app in recent years.

The decision to ban the app outright was made in conference with over 65,000 parents over more than a thousand meetings, according to the Albanian authorities, with many of them encouraging the ban for the country.

TikTok executives have been working with Albanian officials to hopefully reinstate the app after a year, with better parental controls, age verification, and more inclusivity around the Albanian language.

Why Is Albania Banning TikTok?

While some countries are banning TikTok for national security, Albania has a much more serious claim against the social media app: incitement of violence and youth bullying.

The push to ban TikTok came after a November incident that saw a 14-year-old stabbed after an argument that originated on the app.

While TikTok said that it “found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts,” that doesn’t change the fact that users of TikTok will be out of luck in Albania for at least the next year.

Other Countries That Have Banned TikTok

Albania isn’t the first country to ban TikTok and it likely won’t be the last. The social media app has been rife with controversy over its lifespan, and there are likely plenty of government officials around the world that will take issue in the future.

Currently, India and Afghanistan are the only countries that have full bans of TikTok in place, but there are other countries that have gone the partial route. France, Canada, and Australia, for example, have banned the app on government devices due to security concerns.

Beyond that, the US TikTok ban could be back on the table if a US buyer isn’t found, although we all know how that turned out last time.

Just in time for the notoriously enjoyable summer, Texas state governor Greg Abbott has announced a return-to-office mandate for all state employees.

The decision comes in lock-step with President Trump, whose return-to-office mandate for federal employees has been quite messy, with employees returning to offices without Wi-Fi or even desks.

No matter, though, as businesses around the country have been instituting return-to-office mandates without cause or data to back it up, so why start now?

Governor Abbott Announces Return-to-Office Mandate

In a statement this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that state employees will be required to work in the office five days per week “as soon as practicable.”

“Texans expect their public servants to be present and engaged in the work on their behalf. With remote federal workers returning to the office where possible, it’s important that state agencies ensure they do the same.” – Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Governor Abbott

While no written mandate has been handed down, government officials have reportedly been talking to agency directors explaining the new policy, with many planning to institute the changes within the month.

Why Are Texas State Employees Being Forced Back to the Office?

The majority of work-from-home statistics point to improved productivity and increased revenue for operations that offer remote and hybrid work options, so why are Texas state employees being made to return to the office?

Well, this decision is likely more about winning political points than improving government efficiency.

“It’s clearly being driven for political reasons, for political posturing, not for anything else. So I think most folks get that and they understand, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be some serious consequences for this. Turnover is going to be driven up. That means there’s less folks to serve the Texans in their communities.” – Myko Gedutis, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union

The Mess of Return-to-Office Mandates

After years of remote and hybrid work being the standard since the pandemic, forcing employees back into the office on a whim hasn’t gone well for businesses or government agencies in the past.

The federal return-to-office mandates from President Trump, for example, have been all over the place, encouraging employees to commute to empty office buildings with no desks or Wi-Fi. Some locations didn’t even have lights on.

Businesses have had similar problems. Companies like Amazon and Dell, for instance, have endured employee protests and walk-outs as a result of their RTO policies, which have had a notably negative impact on employee wellbeing.

Bad press be damned, Google is reportedly committing even harder to its AI-powered search aspirations, announcing improvements to its AI Overview system and testing a new AI Mode in search.

Google’s initial foray into AI-powered search didn’t exactly go as planned. When the popular search engine initially launched AI Overviews, users received some troubling answers to their queries, from health tips on eating rocks to pizza recipes that included glue.

Now, though, with an injection of new software, Google plans to bring even more AI features to the search experience, whether you like it or not.

Even More AI Overviews Are Coming to Google

According to an announcement from the company in a blog post, Google is going to show AI Overviews for more and more queries in the near future, with a specific focus on “coding, advanced math, and multimodal queries,” with more advancements on the way.

As the announcement points out, this is made possible by Gemini 2.0, the most recently updated version of the generative AI technology, which can provide “faster and higher quality responses and show AI Overviews more often for these types of queries.”

That’s not all, either. Google is also making AI Overviews more accessible to every day users. You will not longer have to be signed into your Google account to receive these AI Overviews in search, and the feature is not longer restricted for teen users.

New AI Mode in Google Search

Beyond the more prevalent AI Overviews across Google Search, the big tech firm is also experimenting with a new way to search called AI Mode. The new system is designed to provide more in-depth answers and allow for follow-up questions, so you can use more advanced reasoning in your online search.

“Helping people discover content from the web remains central to our approach, and with AI Mode we’re making it easy for people to explore and take action. With the model’s deep information retrieval, people can better express what they’re looking for — with all their nuances and constraints — and get to the right web content in a range of formats.” – Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search

You can opt in to use the new AI mode in Google search via Google Labs. However, it’s not quite ready for everyone just yet, with this writer receiving a “Search Labs isn’t available for your account right now” message when trying to access the new tool.

Google Wants AI at the Forefront

Google has been playing second fiddle to OpenAI since the generative AI revolution started a few years ago, with ChatGPT still remaining the clear favorite when it comes to chatbot functionality. Still, Google clearly has the edge on search traffic, with decades of usage by billions around the world.

Subsequently, it makes sense that Google is trying to pin its AI success to the search engine. After all, with 8.5 billion searches per day, Google could quickly become the AI favorite if the search engine becomes a functional AI tool.

That has been the hang up, though. AI-powered search on Google has been nothing if not a mixed bag of results, with users pointing to inaccurate and unhelpful answers as a serious flaw. Hopefully this injection of Gemini 2.0 has an impact, but if Google isn’t careful, it could suffer yet another bad press cycle due to its lagging AI system.

Burnout is a state of exhaustion characterized by physical, mental, and behavioral symptoms. It’s caused by sustained stress and fatigue and is often a result of placing too many demands upon yourself and not allowing yourself any time to relax.

With 2025 gathering steam, burnout and how to prevent it has become a key issue in the modern workplace. The recent explosion of AI tools, combined with ongoing debates over remote working and the ‘right to disconnect,’ have ensured that burnout is high on the workplace agenda.

Make no mistake: burnout is serious. If left untreated, it can have a catastrophic impact on your physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as your capacity to effectively carry out your job. In this guide, I’ll take you through what it is, how it can manifest itself, and some strategies you can take to prevent it from occurring, as well as how to recover from it.

What is Burnout?

Burnout is a feeling of acute exhaustion caused by overburdening oneself. When we have too much responsibility, and we can’t find respite, burnout can often occur. It’s made up of a set of physical, emotional, and mental symptoms. Among them, it creates feelings of hopelessness, apathy, and complete exhaustion.

Though these feelings might be caused by work, if untreated, they can quickly spill over into your everyday life. What’s more, burnout can have a detrimental effect on your physical health, making you more vulnerable to illness and even causing long-term health impacts.

Burnout vs depression

Burnout can feel quite similar to depression. However, there are some important distinctions between them, which I’ve outlined in the table below. Chiefly among them, burnout has a tangible cause and its treatment is relatively straightforward. Depression, by contrast, is harder to pin down and alleviate.

Symptoms of Burnout

By definition, burnout accumulates over time. The symptoms are minor at first, and thus easy to ignore. It’s important to recognize them early to stop them from snowballing into full-blown burnout. Below, you’ll find a list of common symptoms, divided into physical, mental, and behavioral.

Physical symptoms of burnout

• Fatigue – if you’re experiencing burnout, you’ll feel tired most of the time. It will seem like most tasks are beyond your capabilities.
• Colds and flu – burnout lowers your immune system, so you will pick up more colds and sickness bugs. This can lower your attendance and performance at work, which in turn contributes to the feelings of burnout.
• Sleeping poorly – burnout will impact your sleeping pattern. You might find yourself oversleeping on occasion, and not able to get to sleep on others.
• Changes in appetite – acute stress can cause people to overeat as a way to cope. At the same time, it can also mean that you have too much on your mind to even think about eating.

Mental symptoms of burnout

• Feelings of failure – if you’re suffering from burnout, you’ll likely experience extreme self-doubt and question your self-worth.
• Feelings of helplessness – you will probably feel helpless and trapped as if your situation will never improve.
• Feelings of apathy – burnout can be characterized by extreme apathy. In other words, you do not care about your job at all and have no interest in trying to turn things around.
• Feelings of sadness – of course, all of this can create powerful feelings of sadness. You might feel tearful and wish that your circumstances were different.

Behavioral symptoms of burnout

• Becoming withdrawn – if your colleague is suffering from burnout, you might notice that they have withdrawn from social and professional responsibilities.
• Procrastination – burnout will often be accompanied by procrastination, in which an individual takes a long time to get something done and often gets distracted.
• Becoming easily irritated, losing one’s temper – you might find that people with burnout have a very short fuse, and react with frustration at any minor inconvenience.
• Missing work – a person who is burnt out might start skipping work. Maybe they start taking a lot of sick days, or stop coming into the office altogether.

Causes of Burnout

As I’ve touched on in the table above, burnout differs from depression in that it has tangible external causes. It’s commonly tied to work, but it can also result from the pressures of parenting, caregiving, or any other external environment that creates long-term stress.

Below, I’ve outlined some of the main causes of burnout at work, at home, and personality traits that can make you more susceptible to it.

Causes of burnout at work

• Too much on your plate – this is a big reason why people get burnt out at work. If you have too much to do – or at least, that’s how you perceive it – it can lead to burnout.
• Lack of recognition – if you’re never rewarded or recognized for your contributions, it can feel like you’re going through the motions. In turn, this can lead to burnout.
• Boring day-to-day – no interest in the work you’re doing increases the likelihood of burnout.
• Chaotic work environment – an unorganized, high-pressure workplace provides the perfect conditions for feelings of burnout to grow.
• Lack of support – your relationships at work are vitally important. An approachable manager can lend a sympathetic ear and shoulder some of your responsibilities when required. Workplace friends are great for letting off some steam and having a laugh.

Causes of burnout at home

• Not enough sleep – fundamentally, burnout is a type of prolonged exhaustion. Not getting enough sleep is a surefire way to accelerate the burnout process.
• Working too much, relaxing too little – to avoid burnout, it’s vital that you maintain a healthy work-life balance. Make sure that you make time for yourself, and afford yourself time to nurture your social relationships.
• Taking on too much – burnout can be caused by too much responsibility. Just because you’re on top of things at work, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to assume lots of added responsibilities. In other words, know your limits.

Personality traits that can lead to burnout

• Reluctance to delegate work – if you prefer to be in control, and dislike collaborating with others, you’ll likely feel more pressure than you would otherwise. In the long run, this can lead to burnout.
• Perfectionism – in a similar vein, this can mean that you feel higher amounts of pressure, which can cause burnout.
• Low self-esteem – a low opinion of yourself might make you feel like a failure; in turn, this can lead to burnout.
• Accustomed to success – a high-achiever might feel pressure to maintain the standard that they’ve set for themselves. This can cause burnout if left unchecked.

How to Prevent Burnout

Burnout treatment starts with prevention. If you can spot the signs early and take the necessary steps to remedy them, you can stop burnout in its tracks. Your first port of call should be to reach out to others. Whether it’s your boss, your partner, or your colleagues – sharing your problems with someone will make them feel more manageable.

From here, you can start to think about solutions. To begin with, you should have a conversation with your manager. A good manager will understand that you need some respite, and lighten your workload. If you don’t have an approachable or sympathetic manager, you should seek out someone higher up who will listen.

It might be a good idea to have some time off. After all, vacations exist for a reason. If you’re running low on vacation allowance, remember that you also have sick days, and burnout is a perfectly legitimate use for them. Alternatively, there’s remote working. Perhaps your burnout is a result of excessive time spent in the office or an arduous morning and evening commute, and you need to reconsider your working arrangements.

Every company is different, so make sure to check your protocol for the above suggestions. The bottom line is – your wellbeing should matter to your company, so definitely check in with the relevant parties to see what sort of support they can offer you. If you’re repeatedly feeling like it doesn’t, it might be time to move on to a company with a better working culture.

How leaders can prevent burnout in their staff

As an employer, you have a responsibility towards your staff and their wellbeing. With mounting tech layoffs and return-to-office (RTO) mandates putting staff under strain, here are a few steps you can take to alleviate burnout.

1. Establish good lines of communication with your employees. Make sure they know they can approach you with their problems.
2. Don’t overburden your employees. Set realistic expectations, and be flexible.
3. Encourage good work-life balance. Remind your staff to take time off, and let them work from home when desired (if it adheres to your company policy).
4. Lead by example. If you’re always working overtime, your employees will get the perception that that is a requirement.
5. Make your employees feel valuable. Whether that’s keeping the office stacked with drinks and snacks, or a monthly team social. Get creative!

How to Treat Burnout

If you’re suffering from feelings of burnout, you must view it as an opportunity to pause and reflect. After all, your circumstances led you here. Going forward, you need to reevaluate how much value you’re placing on your job at the expense of your wellbeing. From here, you’ll be well-placed to make significant changes to your life.

Some areas that might need looking at include your diet, the amount of exercise you do, how much sleep you get, and whether or not you’re getting enough social interaction. Beyond that, how do you approach your work? Are you delegating enough, or assuming sole responsibility?

To prevent it from happening again, you need to make real, lasting changes.

Final Thoughts

In this guide, I’ve taken you through what burnout is, how it differs from depression, how you can prevent it, and what can be done to treat it. Hopefully, you now feel like you know a bit more about this growing workplace issue and what to do in case you feel yourself falling victim to it.

With the emergence of AI in the last few years, businesses everywhere now have access to technology that can automate tasks, free up time, and generally reduce the burden on human employees. We’re already seeing the benefits, with 3 out of 5 business leaders we surveyed for our 2025 Impact of Technology on the Workplace report confirming that AI has improved their work-life balance.

But we’re barely scratching the surface. As the technology continues to develop, senior leaders have a responsibility to ensure that’s efficiently deployed to make their employees’ lives easier. In the meantime, you’ve got to do everything you can to maintain a healthy work-life balance and a mutually beneficial relationship with your company.

Microsoft has unveiled two AI sales agents, known as “Sales Agent” and “Sales Chat.” By connecting to both Microsoft Dynamic 365 and Salesforce, the two models can be used to qualify potential leads and provide invaluable customer insights for sales reps.

Wednesday’s announcement coincided with Salesforce launching its own Agentforce 2dx, which similarly allows users to integrate AI agents into existing business workflows. There is no love lost between the two companies, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff previously criticizing Microsoft’s forays into the AI realm.

Microsoft’s flagship AI model, Copilot, was rolled out last year to no shortage of bad press. In March 2024, US congressional staff were banned from using it due to concerns over data security. Elsewhere, users cited common issues with speed and performance. The company will hope that this latest innovation fares better in its bid to take on Salesforce.

Microsoft Unveils AI Sales Agents

On Wednesday, Microsoft revealed that it plans to launch two AI sales agents – Sales Agent and Sales Chat – as it gears up to rival Salesforce. Designed to work in conjunction with the company’s own Dynamics 365 business programs, the models can be used to streamline and optimize workflows for sales reps.

Sales Agent identifies and qualifies potential customers, as well as scheduling meetings and following up with leads. Sales Chat, on the other hand, provides reps with customer summaries and insights. They gather information from customer databases, company pricing sheets, CRM data, Microsoft emails, and more.

Alongside the two new agents, the company also introduced a new program designed to help businesses “migrate off legacy CRM vendors,” in a thinly-veiled barb presumably aimed at Salesforce.

Microsoft Goes Head-to-Head With Salesforce

On the day that Sales Agent and Sales Chat were announced, Salesforce unveiled a series of enhancements to its own bot, Agentforce. The new release, which it is calling Agentforce 2dx, allows Agentforce to “engage proactively, be triggered on changes in data, operate autonomously in the background of any business process, and interact with users across any user interface,” according to a statement.

Microsoft is investing heavily in a bid to overthrow Salesforce as the de facto CRM platform for businesses. This has brought them into conflict with Benioff, who has publicly made his feelings towards Microsoft known.

During an episode of the GeekWire podcast in October 2024, the Salesforce CEO compared Copilot to the second coming of “Clippy,” the primitive Office assistant that was retired in 2007. He went on to talk about the “mess that Microsoft has made in regards to the AI industry.”

AI Set to Transform Sales Landscape

As a use case, AI for sales agents is in its relative infancy, but this is set to change dramatically over the coming months. According to the Tech.co Impact of Technology on the Workplace report, which surveyed over 1,000 US-based senior executives, just 15% of businesses are not using AI at all, with two-thirds spending at least $10,000 on AI per year.

The survey further finds that writing tasks, including emails, reports, and presentations, currently make up the biggest use for AI, with 43% of AI-using businesses confirming that they leverage the technology for this purpose. In second place is data analysis (37%), followed by customer support and chatbots (33%).

Undoubtedly, there’s an enormous opportunity for AI to overhaul the sales arena. And with Salesforce recently laying off 1,000 roles to accommodate investment in the technology, this potential has not gone unnoticed by big players in the space.

If your business requires a cash injection, but you don’t want to risk falling into debt cycles from private loans, it might be time to consider business grants.

By providing crucial funding for specific projects, and giving your business much-needed visibility, grants can be a great way to take your venture to the next level. It only takes a couple of minutes to apply to most opportunities too, allowing you to throw your hat in the ring without investing heaps of time and energy.

If you’re interested in trying your luck, we’ve rounded up five business grants currently accepting applications in March. Read on to learn about their eligibility criteria, and funding details, and for tips on how to streamline the application process with AI.

Small Business Grants to Apply For in March 2025

With spring around the corner, there’s no better time to plant the seeds for your business’s future growth. Don’t delay your chances any longer, and apply for one of these business grants.

1. Faire Small Business Grant

• For: Independent retail stores
• Grantor: Faire Wholesale
• Amount: $5,000

The Faire Small Business Grant is a new funding program designed to help new retailers successfully open up shop. The scheme, which is run by the online marketplace Faire, supports retailers by providing them with $5,000 in Faire store credits to stock their stores.

To be eligible for the program, applicants need to be independent retail owners, have either recently opened or plan to open a store soon, and be based in the US. You’ll also have to sign up for a free Faire account, where you’ll be automatically considered for up to $20k in interest-fee financing to help you purchase inventory for your new store.

All you have to do to apply is describe your store and how you’d use the grant, and submit a short video submission. Faire also rolls out a new scheme each quarter, so if you miss the April 1 deadline you won’t have to wait too long until the next window.

• Deadline: April 1

Learn more and apply here

2. Entreprenista Evolve Grant

• For: Female business owners
• Grantor: Entreprenista
• Amount: $2,500

Evolve is a grant program offered by Entrepenista — a women founders network and resources portal. The scheme is open to all female business owners and entrepreneurs and aims to empower the impact and voice of founders, through improving access to funding.

To be in with a chance of winning that prize money, all you have to do is describe your business mission, explain how your company would evolve if you were to receive the grant and share your business’s website. Like the Faire Small Business Grant, this funding opportunity is accepting applications until the end of the month, but we recommend getting a proposal in as soon as possible to avoid any deadline anxiety.

• Deadline: March 31

Learn more and apply here

3. Skip’s $10,000 Strategy Grant

• For: US-based entrepreneurs (with a Skip membership)
• Grantor: Skip
• Amount: $10,000

After the success of its February round, popular grant platform Skip is back with another $10,000 Strategy Grant. Unlike most other grants, Skip’s Strategy Grant is open to all US-based entrepreneurs, regardless of their demographic, or business purpose. However, you do need to have an active Skip Business membership to apply, which can be purchased directly through Skip’s website.

In addition to the grand prize of $10,000, five finalists will also receive $1,000 which they will able to pay toward Skip services. The application process is quick and easy too. Simply create a business plan on Skip, and then explain how this business plan has helped you advance your strategic business goals.

• Deadline: March 29

Learn more and apply here

4. ZenBusiness $5K Grant Program

• For: ZenBusiness customers
• Grantor: ZenBusiness
• Amount: $5,000

ZenBusiness is an online platform designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs. As part of their mission to support small ventures from the ground up, the company started a grant program in 2020. Now, in its fifth year, ZenBusinesses’s $5k Grant Program is opening its virtual doors once again, and giving all of its customers a chance to cash in.

Aside from a $5,000 grant, grantees will receive access to ZenBusinesses ‘Money Pro’ plan and ZenBusiness Banking for 30 days, “Ask Me Anything” office hours with the company team, and ZenBusiness products that are available at the time of grant distribution.

All ZenBusiness customers are able to apply, granted they’ve used the service within the last three to six months, and run a private entity business that’s registered and officially based in the US. You’re also excluded from applying if you’ve won a previous award.

• Deadline: March 31

Learn more and apply here

5. Galaxy Grants

• For: Female or minority entrepreneurs
• Grantor: Galaxy of Stars
• Amount: $2,450

Galaxy of Stars and 501(c)(3) non-profit Hidden Star have partnered up to give small business owners a chance to win $2,450 worth of funding this March. With previous winners hailing from San Diego to Detroit, the scheme is open to small businesses across the US, as long as they’re woman or minority-owned.

It only takes 30 seconds to apply for a Galaxy Grant – all you need to do is fill in some personal information, including your email, zip code, ethnicity, and gender. It’s also worth sending the application around to your friends too, because if they win you’re also eligible for some prize money!

• Deadline: March 31

Learn more and apply here

Streamline Your Grant Application With AI Platforms

AI should never be used to manage the grant writing process from start to finish. However, if you’re sending off lots of applications, or are struggling to get the ball rolling, AI platforms can act as a great helping hand.

Instrumentl is a grant management system that nonprofits can use to research and track grants. The platform has also released a specialized grant writing tool, which helps applicants create program summaries using simple prompts. The tool also uses AI to autofill applications based on your past successes, and according to the platform, these features help applicants finesse their first draft within five minutes.

Grantable is another AI grant writing assistant that can be used to whip up proposals quickly. The platform can be used to answer specific questions and make corrections, and it even lets you upload grant application requirements to help you stick closely to the relevant criteria.

If you’re already well-versed with well-known chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, you can also use these platforms to aid your grant writing process. All you need to do is enter prompts that provide specific information about your grant proposal, including details about your business and the purpose of the grant, before refining the responses until you’re happy.

Always be sure to maintain a human touch, however, as unique proposals are much more likely to catch the eye of the grant reviewers.

A new ‘AI divide’ is emerging, and businesses on the wrong side of it are at risk of being quickly outpaced by those with greater AI literacy, according to new research from Microsoft.

The study found that while roughly half of businesses and organizations have a clear AI strategy in place, and are preparing for emerging trends in the technology like agentic AI, a similar proportion do not — creating a lost opportunity to boost economic growth and improve public services.

The good news is that if you fear your business is on the wrong side of the divide, it’s never too late to develop an effective AI strategy. We explain how this can be done, and why it’s becoming more important than ever for businesses to close the gap by realizing the full potential of AI.

What Is the “AI Divide”?

Ever since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022 and advanced language processing became widely accessible to the public, a rift emerged between businesses that fully capitalized on the technology, and those that didn’t.

New research from Microsoft reveals that this rift has expanded into a full-blown divide, at least for businesses and organizations within the UK.

The study, which is based on a survey of 1,480 UK senior leaders across public and private sectors and 1,400 UK employees, found that just under half (45%) of business leaders currently have a formal AI strategy. It’s these businesses, the report finds, that are outperforming the 55% of businesses that aren’t using AI to its potential, when it comes to productivity and profitability.

At a time when UK employees are dealing with escalating workload pressures, Microsoft’s survey also revealed that this AI divide extends to the workforce, with more than half of business leaders reporting a widening efficiency and productivity gap between workers who use AI and those who don’t.

Adopting AI Agents Is Becoming a Necessity For Many Businesses

Using tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot is a great way to streamline workplace processes, and get your business’s feet wet with AI technology.

Yet, Microsoft’s research suggests that AI agents hold the key to significantly improving operational efficiency, especially for businesses with complex administrative processes like those in healthcare, banking and finance, and retail industries.

“Agentic AI covers a range of virtual tools – or ‘agents’ – from simple chatbots that retrieve information and answer questions; tools like Copilots which automate tasks and workflows; through to fully autonomous systems that learn, plan, and act with minimal human input.” – Microsoft’s UK reporter

According to Microsoft’s report, agentic AI technologies can help businesses overcome barriers to productivity and unlock growth. Speaking on the matter, the UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology agrees, explaining that agents will play a key role in closing the widening AI divide, by enabling organizations to work smarter, not harder.

The good news is that despite being a relatively new AI trend, the majority of UK business leaders are already aware of the technology potential, with 72% of respondents expecting AI agents to be fully integrated into their operations at some point in the near future.

And while Microsoft may have a vested interest in the matter, findings from our latest Annual Impact of Tech on the Workplace report agree. Out of the senior leaders we surveyed in the US, 88% recognize the link between technology and productivity. A smaller proportion are willing to put their money where their mouth is too, with almost 10% of AI-using businesses spending $500,000 on the technology each year.

But as we explain next, for businesses falling on the wrong side of the AI divide, it’s never too late to play catch up.

How to Develop a Fool-Proof AI Strategy

If you fear your business isn’t using AI to its full potential, there are a number of actions your organization can take today to maintain its competitive edge.

If you’re starting from scratch, Microsoft recommends looking for automation opportunities first. You can do this by identifying processes that would benefit the most from automation, such as those featuring repetitive tasks or high error rates. Then, after you’ve identified inefficiencies that AI could address, you can explore industry use cases to understand how similar organizations are using AI to solve problems.

As the results of Microsoft’s survey found, deploying agentic AI could also be a good place to start, especially if you already have a basic understanding of the technology. According to the company, simple applications include using a customer-facing chatbot for a bank to fetch relevant data and streamline queries, while more advanced applications include developing an AI agent to manage more complex processes, like onboarding workflows or company supply chains.

Whichever strategy you adopt, it’s also important to clearly define your businesses AI goals, before regularly reviewing your success against these metrics. Understanding the potential and the risks of the technology go hand in hand too. So, aside from ensuring your staff has adequate AI training, we also recommend developing an AI policy with clear guardrails, to ensure that your business is using the technology ethically, safely, and in compliance with regulations.

Learn how to build an AI policy for your business, in five simple steps.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced that it is looking specifically into how the social media platform uses the data of 13 to 17-year-olds to then push content to them.

It’s not the first time that TikTok’s negative impact on children has been questioned, but this time it is the UK that is launching a major investigation.

This case comes not only as TikTok fights for its survival in the US, but as an increasing number of countries scrutinize what content children are seeing on the platform, the addictive nature of that content, and what part the company itself is playing in this.

What Is the Investigation?

According to BBC News, this “major investigation” will look at how TikTok’s data collection practices impact children, from the amount of time they spend on the platform to the potential danger of the data on them being leaked.

The data practices will be studied in relation to the UK’s data protection laws, and the Children’s Code. Both of these together form a set of rules dictating how much data companies can collect on children and how they can process it.

The investigation is also turning its attention to Reddit and Imgur – and will look at whether their age verification measures are being used and enforced.

John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, told the news service that he would not “pre-judge how we might look at the Imgur and Reddit matters” but did suggest that if companies use “self-declaration” as their means to stop children accessing unsuitable content, that “is probably not going to cut it.”

TikTok Defends Itself

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese outfit, ByteDance, has been fervent in its response and says that it uses “strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens” for its content recommendation systems.

However, the company is also facing action in several other countries over the welfare of its youngest account owners. This is despite it announcing it will boot those under thirteen off the platform and is launching restrictions for those under eighteen, including blocking “beauty filters.”

In the US, 14 attorneys general have launched a lawsuit against the platform for designing elements of the app to “prey upon young people’s unique psychological vulnerabilities and drive young people to spend excessive amounts of time” on the platform.

Aussie Rules

However, it is Australia that has taken the most dramatic stance and is the first country in the world to ban social media apps for anyone under sixteen. The authorities are now trialing “age-assurance technology” but this will be completed in the coming months, says The Guardian.

However, TikTok is not taking the ban well and has lashed out about the details, according to Bloomberg. In particular, it has taken issue with the fact that YouTube has been excluded from the crackdown as “a health and education service.”

TikTok says that this is “illogical, anti-competitive and short sighted” in a submission to Australia’s Department of Communications. It added that YouTube’s value as an education resource doesn’t pass “even the most cursory of closer examinations.”

Meta and Snapchat-operator, Snap Inc, are also calling for YouTube’s exclusion to be reversed.