The US and UK have snubbed a declaration on making AI “safe for all” as the leaders from around the world gather at a summit in Paris.

Both countries have yet to comment on their reasons, but JD Vance gave a fiery speech about excessive regulation of technology and also took the opportunity to make a side swipe at the Chinese contingent.

The US approach will come as no surprise as President Trump has gleefully reversed the AI Safety law set out by his predecessor and, with Project Stargate and his huddle of tech bros, is pursuing progress with no protections.

What’s in the Declaration?

The Guardian had eyes on a draft version of the declaration, which had 60 signatories today including France, Canada, India, Japan, Australia and, importantly, China.

It includes the statement that “the rapid development of AI technologies is driving a major paradigm shift with various implications for our citizens and societies.” This will require, it says, “an inclusive, open and multi-stakeholder approach” to create “ethical, safe, secure, trustworthy and human rights-based AI.”

The statement also referenced AI in relation to human rights, linguistic diversity and gender equality, and it emphasized the importance of equality in access to this relatively nascent technology.

In addition, the signatories have agreed to “address the risks that AI could pose to the integrity of information and strengthen AI transparency.”

What Did JD Vance Say?

The US vice-president didn’t hold back when he took to the stage in Paris, and took the opportunity to shake his fists at everyone from EU regulators to the Chinese Government.

Echoing the words of his boss, he argued that “excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry.” He continued: “We need international regulatory regimes that foster the creation of AI technology rather than strangle it, and we need our European friends, in particular, to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation.”

He took aim at the Digital Services Act arguing that measures put in place to protect children online are being used to prevent adults from accessing information that their “government thinks is misinformation.”

He ended with a blatant jibe at the Chinese government, talking about how partnering with “authoritarian” regimes “never pays off in the long term.”

The UK remains tight-lipped about its decision and Prime Minister Keir Starmer wasn’t in attendance.

What Will Happen Now?

The summit has several hours to go and there can sometimes be signatures added after an event has closed. However, the decision not to sign by two major powers has already been met with dismay.

Dario Amodei, head of AI wunderkind, Anthropic, told Agence France Presse, that the summit had been a “missed opportunity.”

Anthropic, which has huge financial backing from Amazon, has been open in its support of AI safety measures, including a bill which the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, blocked as too sweeping.

Amodei urged that the next international summit be more ambitious and should look to ensure democratic nations control AI, that it should prepare for the potential safety threats that the technology could pose, and that delegates also need to pre-empt its social and economic disruption, according to Barrons.

However, there is no doubt that the agreement lacks some clout, with both the UK and US refusing to sign. The tech giants pushing AI development seem to have the president’s ear and are telling him that legislation will hurt innovation.

A study carried out by researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University is claiming that AI usage could have a negative impact on your critical thinking abilities.

This isn’t the first research project that serves as a big warning about our over dependence on AI. Only last month, a study said bluntly that AI tools allow “cognitive offloading” – namely we delegate the technology tasks that we should be doing ourselves.

This paper has been published just as clashes continue over so many aspects of AI usage from the need for legal guardrails to copyright wrangles.

Wide Array of AI Uses

This latest research project brought together 319 “knowledge workers” and they reported 936 examples of using generative AI for their job.

Those involved included a teacher using DALL-E to create images for a presentation used at school and a nurse who “verified a ChatGPT-generated educational pamphlet for newly diagnosed diabetic patients.”

Participants also took part in a survey to delve into how they use generative AI; their confidence in both the tools and their output; and finally how confident they are to complete the same tasks but without any AI help.

Deterioration of Cognitive Faculties

What the researchers discovered is that the more confidence participants had in their AI tools, the less they used their own critical thinking abilities.

“A key irony of automation is that by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.”

They also noted that the participants who were most confident in their own abilities to evaluate and, if necessary, improve their AI responses, also used their own critical thinking more.

“The data shows a shift in cognitive effort as knowledge workers increasingly move from task execution to oversight when using GenAI,” the researchers wrote. “Surprisingly, while AI can improve efficiency, it may also reduce critical engagement, particularly in routine or lower-stakes tasks in which users simply rely on AI, raising concerns about long-term reliance and diminished independent problem-solving.”

History of Offloading

Before we all panic that AI is going to change us forever, the researchers talk about how humans have always striven to find tools that we can offload tasks to. We also always look for easier ways of doing things.

“Generative AI tools […] are the latest in a long line of technologies that raise questions about their impact on the quality of human thought, a line that includes writing (objected to by Socrates), printing (objected to by Trithemius), calculators (objected to by teachers of arithmetic), and the Internet.”

Their solution – the proper use of technology so that our cognitive faculties are “preserved.” The researchers also suggest that AI tools could be designed to encourage critical thinking in humans rather than replace it.

However, AI development is pricey. And anything that adds to the bill is possibly not going to be considered as tech companies wrangle to make a buck and gain market domination.

Google has announced that the fully featured tier of its AI research assistant will be made available to all subscribers to its Google One AI Premium plan.

Google calls NotebookLM “a new kind of notebook designed to help people learn faster,” which uses generative artificial intelligence to summarize multiple documents and assemble digestible insights. But it dropped jaws when its functionality to produce entire podcasts was showcased last October.

Previously only available for business and educational organizations or via Google Cloud, NotebookLM Plus is now available as part of Google’s wider productivity plans with a discount available for students.

5x More AI-Generated Podcasts

Google made the announcement via a post on its The Keyword blog from Google One AI Premium Product Lead, Vikas Kansal, with the change effective immediately.

It confirmed that the NotebookLM Plus tier will be added to the features already included with the Google One AI Premium Plan, including access to Google’s Gemini Advanced generative AI chatbot, AI integration across the suite of Google apps, priority access to future tools, and 2TB of storage.

NotebookLM Plus gives users the ability to customize the style and tone of their notebooks and create shared documents to use in collaboration with friends and colleagues.

But the standout feature to many is the promise of “5x more Audio Overviews, notebooks, queries, and sources.” That means a greater capacity to create podcasts generated from your documents, complete with multiple hosts, interruptions, and vocal tics.

That’s in addition to the basic features already provided with the entry-level NotebookLM tier – available with a free Google One account – to create a limited number of one-click summaries, FAQs, timelines, briefing documents, and podcasts.

Pod of All Things

Google One AI Premium costs $18.99 per month, although you can try it for free for the first month.

However, US students aged 18 and older are eligible to get their first year of the plan for nearly half price – it’s priced at $9.99 for each of the first 12 months.

This student discount, Kansal says, “can help them work with more course materials, create custom study experts using Gemini Advanced, save time crafting emails and more”.

AI-Grade Students

Kansal says that NotebookLM can “help you ace a career certification, generate ideas, or synthesize data for a project,” but much of the hype surrounding it has been focused on what he calls its tool for creating a “podcast-style audio discussion.”

Unsurprisingly, the viral furor that greeted the feature immediately spawned similar tools from competing tech companies in the artificial intelligence space, with Meta launching the similar NotebookLlama shortly afterwards.

While music streamer Spotify used Google’s version to power the personalized podcasts that appeared alongside users’ Wrapped rundowns at the end of last year.

The ability to work remotely is so important to some workers that they will accept a pay cut to make it possible, new research has revealed.

As companies like Amazon and Dell push strict return-to-office (RTO) mandates – and federal workers are told to get back to their desk or leave – the value of hybrid wok remains largely ignored by the business world.

However, a survey has revealed that employees will sacrifice up to a surprisingly large percent of their salary to be able to work remotely, despite C-Suites pushing to get everyone back in the office.

Lifestyle Decision

The research was carried out by the non-profit, non-partisan organization, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working with researchers at Harvard, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Illinois main campus.

They surveyed 1,396 US tech works, as well as employer ratings from Glassdoor and “cost-of-living and quality-of-life measures based on job location.”

What the researchers found was that, on average, employees are willing to accept up to a 25% pay cut for partly or fully remote roles. The team adds that this estimate is “three to five times that of previous studies.” They add that the difference could be down to how previous studies have carried out their research, including “understating preferences for remote work.”

It is a stark finding. As much as 40% of workers said that they would take a 5% pay cut in order to work from home. However, nearly 10% would take a cut of up to 20% if this meant that they didn’t have to work from the office.

Pay Sacrifice

While the research reveals a willingness among employees to take a financial hit to get hybrid working in place, the team actually found that the wage difference between remote and in-office jobs isn’t what they expected. Their research into tech jobs proved that, actually, the remote jobs were better paid. The researchers report:

“Our data indicate that the average compensation for in-person roles is, on the contrary, slightly lower than that for otherwise identical remote positions.”

This doesn’t take into account the savings that remote workers make by not having a daily commute and, for parents, the potential for extra hours of childcare as they travel.

Indeed, despite the statements by the likes of Dell about “innovation and value differentiation” as benefits of the RTO, morale has tanked. Amazon has faced repeated protests and has pushed on regardless. In contrast, the stats on remote working paint a rosy picture of not only increased productivity but also improved work-life balance and worker wellbeing.

Changing Expectations

The value that employees are placing on their right to work from home reflects how it has now become a lifestyle choice and an expectation for many employees.

The Pew Research Center released an analysis of interviews with 2,315 US adults conducted in October. It found that 46% of those interviewed who have a job that can be done from home said that if their employer no longer allowed them to work from home, they would be unlikely to stay at their current job.

Kim Parker, director of social trends research at the Pew Research Center, told CNBC that this stat shows just how important hybrid working has become.

“Our data underscores how comfortable people have become with this arrangement, and how it really fits in with their lifestyle.” – Kim Parker, director of social trends research at the Pew Research Center

It’s about so much more than money, the research suggests, and the rising disgruntlement among staff working for employers who refuse to recognize this is a growing concern for recruiters in 2025.

DeepSeek has caused both absolute delight among consumers and absolute terror among Governments.

The Chinese AI app had a meteoric climb up both the Google and Apple App store charts as consumers rushed to try out the new ChatGPT rival.

However, as a Chinese venture housing users’ data in China, it is absolutely setting off alarms for Governments concerned about national security, the potential for the spread of propaganda but also the impact of this far cheaper – and yet efficient – app on home-grown AI offerings. And some countries have already taken action.

Italy

The European country was the first to act on DeepSeek.  At the end of January, the app became unavailable in both the Google and Apple app stores. The Italian Government announced that it was launching a data probe. The statement online says that the Italian authorities are asking for clarity on “which personal data is collected, from which sources, for which purposes, what is the basis legal nature of the processing, and whether it is stored on servers located in China.”

US

New York State is the first State to ban the download of the DeepSeek app citing “serious concerns” about its “connection to foreign government surveillance and censorship, including how DeepSeek can be used to harvest user data and steal technology secrets.”

The US Navy had already asked its employees not to download and use the app, even for personal use. But Axios has the scoop that the DeepSeek app has now been blocked from all Senate devices. And there are two bills that could potentially be passed that will dramatically impact the use of DeepSeek – and in fact other Chinese AI offerings – in the US.

Congress is looking at a bipartisan bill that will ban DeepSeek on federal devices. The Wall Street Journal had the exclusive on this. However, Senator Josh Hawley is going for a full ban on Americans downloading the DeepSeek app (and other Chinese AI tools). It comes with the threat of jail time for citizens and huge fines for corporations who do not heed the ban.

Australia

Australia’s Government started by issuing statements of concern, but this has now moved to a blocking access to DeepSeek on all Government devices, reports Al Jazeera.

The statement from the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs told all government workers to “prevent the use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications and web services and where found remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services from all Australian Government systems and devices”.

Information Age adds that NBN Co, which operates the country’ national broadband network, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Australia Post have banned DeepSeek from their internal systems despite being exempt from the ban. ABC told staff in an email that it had “assessed the risks to privacy, security and data protection in the use of this service and are in agreement with the directive”.

South Korea

The ban was announced by the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and cited security concerns as the reason behind a temporary ban on the use of DeepSeek on employees’ devices. But, says Al Jazeera, the notice also warned about the use of AI programs in general. This decision comes after Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which is run by the South Korean government, blocked access to all AI services – not just DeepSeek – for its employees.

Like Italy, the South Korean Government has written to DeepSeek to get more information about how the data collected from users is managed.

Taiwan

Considering Taiwan’s relationship with the Chinese Government, it comes as little surprise that its government has blocked its departments from using DeepSeek programmes.

Reuters reports that the ban came from Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs, which published concerns that it “endangers national information security”. Its statement reads: “DeepSeek AI service is a Chinese product. Its operation involves [several] information security concerns.”

The ban takes in all state-owned businesses and public schools.

More Countries Likely to Follow

There will be more Governments coming forward with plans over the coming weeks as they are galvanized by national security concerns and fears about foreign interference.

Authorities from the European Union are meeting today to specifically discuss DeepSeek. The meeting is being held by the Brussels-based European Data Protection Board and will see member countries share information and discuss what actions they have taken to date.

Ireland is reported to be one of the attendees and, like Italy, has also requested information from the Chinese venture about data usage.

The big question, though, is which country will be the first to enact a total ban of the app. In the US, there are movements in this direction but will consumers heed warnings in the meantime?

The popularity of TikTok, even as the social media platform headed for a ban and repeated warnings about it were issued, would suggest not. Enacting a ban on a national scale will take months, if not years, and in the meantime, many consumers are excited about this new AI toy and pushing any concerns aside as irrelevant to them.

If you use ChatGPT or another AI chatbot as the source of your daily news, you should expect to get wholly accurate information to only one in two of your prompts.

That’s according to new research carried out in the UK by public service broadcaster the BBC, which spent over a month analysing the responses given by prominent generative AI chatbots to questions about ongoing news stories.

It also found that a fifth of all answers contained clear factual errors, with over 10% including incorrectly attributed quotes to BBC articles.

Significant Issues With 51% of Answers

The BBC carried out the research in December 2024 with a stated objective to “better understand the news related output from AI assistants”.

To do so it posed news-related questions to four of the world’s biggest artificial intelligence chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and Perplexity – giving them access to the BBC’s own website to help them to formulate their answers.

The responses were then reviewed by the BBC’s own journalists and subject-matter experts, who rated them for accuracy, impartiality and how they represented BBC content.

They judged that 51% of the answers given by the chatbots had “significant issues of some form”, while 19% of the responses citing BBC content contained factual errors such as incorrect statements, numbers and dates.

“Distorted, Factually Incorrect or Misleading”

In a press release presenting its findings, the BBC gave some examples of the most damming inaccurate answers.

ChatGPT, it says, claimed that Rishi Sunak was still the Prime Minister of the UK and that Copilot claimed Nicola Sturgeon was the current First Minister of Scotland – Sunak was voted out in July, while Sturgeon had left her post 18 months earlier.

Others saw Gemini misrepresent the BBC’s reportage on health advice to smokers, and Perplexity conjure up potentially emotive vocabulary in news on the Middle East that weren’t used in the original BBC stories it cited.

“People may think they can trust what they’re reading from these AI assistants,” said Pete Archer, the BBC’s Programme Director for Generative AI, “but this research shows they can produce responses to questions about key news events that are distorted, factually incorrect or misleading.”

“The use of AI assistants will grow so it’s critical the information they provide audiences is accurate and trustworthy.” – Pete Archer, BBC

Artificial Unintelligence?

The notion of AI going wrong is far from a new one. Last month Apple promised to improve AI news labelling after being hit with complaints about the accuracy of its AI generated news summaries.

And while the BBC acknowledges that “AI is the future”, it’s using the results of its research to urge caution against the proliferation of “defective content that presents itself as fact”.

“We live in troubled times, and how long will it be before an AI-distorted headline causes significant real world harm?” – Deborah Turness, BBC

“We at the BBC want to open up a new conversation with AI tech providers and other leading news brands so we can work together in partnership to find solutions,” said Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs in a further press release. “But before this conversation can begin, we needed to find out the scale of the problem with the distortion of news.”

“Today we are making public that research, which shows how distortion is affecting the current generation of AI Assistants.”

New York State has set a precedent by becoming the first state in the US to ban DeepSeek from government devices.

The news comes even as the DeepSeek AI app gains thousands of fans across the US, taking the number one spot in both the Apple and Google App stores.

The US Government – and AI ventures in the country – are reeling from the impact of the Chinese upstart, which has created a competing model to ChatGPT and others but at a fraction of the cost.

Directive Issued on DeepSeek

Citing “serious concerns”, Governor Kathy Hochul has issued the directive, which bans DeepSeek’s AI app being downloaded on “ITS-managed government devices and networks”.

The directive states: “Serious concerns have been raised concerning DeepSeek AI’s connection to foreign government surveillance and censorship, including how DeepSeek can be used to harvest user data and steal technology secrets.”

DeepSeek is open that the data it collects from users is stored on servers in China and has not countered claims that the app returns censored results, when asked about matters sensitive to the Chinese Government.

Widespread Suspicion of Chinese AI Platform

Governor Hochul addressed both of these issues in a statement announcing the directive. She said: “Public safety is my top priority and we’re working aggressively to protect New Yorkers from foreign and domestic threats,” adding: “New York will continue fighting to combat cyber threats, ensure the privacy and safety of our data, and safeguard against state-sponsored censorship.”

New York State is not, however, the first Governmental organization to take action. At the end of last month, CNBC News reported that that US Navy had also initiated a ban. The warning was sent by email and stated that DeepSeek’s AI was not to be used “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage.” The memo emphasized that this stands “for any work-related tasks or personal use.”

Are More DeepSeek Bans Coming?

The answer is probably yes. As NBC News reports, Congress has introduced a bipartisan bill to ban DeepSeek on federal government devices. This builds on the action now taken by New York State. “The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not one the United States can afford to lose,” said Congressman Darin LaHood and Josh Gottheimer, who introduced the legislation. “The national security threat that DeepSeek — a CCP-affiliated company — poses to the United States is alarming.”

There is also another bill in the offing from Senator Josh Hawley, which, if passed, would prohibit Americans from downloading the DeepSeek app (and other Chinese AI tools). It comes with the threat of jail time for citizens and punitive fines for businesses.

However, the bill has yet to pass but it is another indication of how concerned authorities are about the rise of DeepSeek – and it’s not just a fiscal concern.

What do taxes, medicine, and the air in your bag of chips all have in common? They’re necessary evils: We may all suffer from them, but we rely on them to prevent even worse catastophies. For most average white collar workers in 2025, learning how to handle AI is a similar challenge.

Sure, large language models like ChatGPT won’t deliver perfect answers, they’re bad for the environment, and they’re cribbing countless copyrighted works without credit or payment. But they’re taking over the world, and your job could be next.

The only solution for anyone without a little systemic weight to throw around is to learn enough about AI to convince their boss that they’re hip to the modern workplace. Although we’d recommend not using the term “hip” if you’re trying to convince anyone that you are.

Here, we’ve rounded up the best AI training courses that you can take online today, at no cost to yourself. Sign up for one or two, and you’ll be among the AI-knowledgeable IT crowd in no time.

LinkedIn Learning: Data-Centric Visual AI

⏰Length: 2 hours

LinkedIn might be best known as a business-brained social media platform, but the service offers a LinkedIn Learning program as well, aimed at giving users a host of video training courses. This one, “Data-Centric Visual AI,” just debuted in December of last year, making it one of the freshest options.

It’s just barely over two hours as well, so you’ll be able to tackle it and complete it within a single afternoon. And, since it’s aimed specifically at data visualization, it’s very actionable. Who hasn’t been called among to throw together a quick slideshow presentation for their team?

With this course, you’ll learn how to “train computer vision models, critically evaluate their performance, identify weaknesses, and continuously improve your datasets for better results.” Videos cover topics ranging from “Bias detection and mitigation” to “GenAI risks to data and an introduction to FiftyOne.”

Sign up for your free month of LinkedIn Learning, and you’ll have more than enough time to complete this course before your trial runs out. Check it out here.

BabsonX: AI for Leaders

⏰Length: 24 hours

Billed as “the first self-directed AI program for leaders,” this course from Babson College combines videos, case studies, and practice sessions to teach leaders how to reshape the course of their organization.

What does that incorporate? The course separates the lessons into a few groups: You’ll learn to apply AI insights to customer offerings and interactions; employee engagement and capabilities, operations; competitive positioning; and “the seven attributes of AI-centered leadership.”

No prerequisites are required, and with a time investment of between 4 to 6 hours per week, the whole course should be completed across a 4-week period. It’s explicitly designed to catch you up on the uses of AI and data for business’s in today’s world, making it a good fit for any leaders that just want to make sure the AI hype cycle doesn’t roll right over them.

If that sounds like a fit, you can check it out on edX now.

Google: Google Prompting Essentials

⏰Length: Approx. 9 hours

Google is a big AI heavy-hitter, as you may have noticed from all those unavoidable AI summaries. And while the tech giant has seen plenty of AI snafus — including a recent Superbowl ad for Gemini AI that included a false fact — it has invested billions upon billions into the technology.

This course lets anyone who signs up in on the secrets behind how to interact with LLMs by writing the perfect prompt. Knowing what to say and how to say it isn’t as easy as you might think.

Students will learn lessons including the five steps that can guide them towards crafting a useful prompt, the different tactics that can help speed up common work tasks, how to speed up data analysis and build presentations, and which prompts can design AI agents to deliver feedback through a conversational chat.

“Throughout the course, you’ll build a library of reusable prompts, so the next time that you need a little help from AI, you’re not prompting from scratch. And, you’ll earn a certificate from Google to share with your network and employer.” ~Google

You can try out the course today at Coursera.

Microsoft: Microsoft Copilot for Sales Specialization

⏰Length: About 20 hours

Since it’s such a popular business-oriented software brand, Microsoft is locked in as the one software suite that many white collar workers will ever use. That means that its AI solution, Microsoft Copilot, has an edge in the business world, despite being less popular than brands like ChatGPT and less splashy than Deepseek.

If you need to get to grips with Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft has the answer for you with their own series of lesson plans for using the tool to help you with everything from Github to Excel to cybersecurity. You can check out all its courses here, but for now, we’re highlighting the company’s Sales Specialization course.

With it, you’ll learn how to create tailored emails, better manage sales meetings, use customer insights for personalized engagement, and deploy Copilot for “forecasting, pipeline management, and future-proofing your sales strategy,” among other takeaways.

The company recommends taking one month to complete the entire course, at around five hours per week. Get started on Coursera here.

Stanford: Machine Learning Specialization

⏰Length: 80 hours

Finally, if the above courses are too easy for you, try investing the next 80 hours you have to spare into completing this offering from Stanford University’s Andrew Ng, a well-respected AI computer science expert.

This course first debuted way back in 2012, so it’s time-tested, although it has, of course, been updated plenty since then. It’s currently holding down a 4.9 (out of 5) star rating alongside 30,847 reviews, and its been viewed by millions.

It’s very hands-on, too: Among the tasks you’ll accomplish are building ML models with NumPy & scikit-learn, building and training a neural network with TensorFlow to perform multi-class classification, using unsupervised learning techniques for “clustering and anomaly detection,” and much more.

At ten hours a week, you’ll be able to spend two months letting all the knowledge sink in. You can head over to Coursera to check it out now.

Additional AI Resources

Maybe you don’t have time to sit through video lectures, or perhaps you learn better by reading. Maybe you’ve already completed a course, and you just need a few additional resources. Whatever the case, look no further!

Here’s a list of AI-related guides that we’ve previously released at Tech.co, crammed with research and tips for getting the most from your experience:

Top ChatGPT Prompts

How to Analyze PDFs for Free

How to Create a Resume

Explainer: What Is Deepseek?

How ChatGPT Hallucinations Work

In the end, you’ll be able to get up to speed on the basics fairly quickly, even if you can spend a lifetime going deeper and deeper into the ins and outs of AI and machine learning tech.

The latest salvo in the ongoing legal feud over OpenAI between Elon Musk and CEO Sam Altman has seen the former lead an audacious bid to buy the artificial intelligence powerhouse that owns ChatGPT.

The world’s richest man is fronting a consortium that says it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit OpenAI, Inc in order to make it the “force for good it once was” and prevent Altman from transitioning it to a traditional for-profit entity.

Although OpenAI hasn’t formally responded publicly to the news of the bid, Sam Altman has been quick to shoot it down on X, formerly Twitter, with a presumably tongue-in-cheek counteroffer to buy Musk’s social media platform.

Musk’s Irresistible Force

The offer was first reported by the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), which had been informed by Musk’s attorney, Marc Toberoff.

Toberoff told the WSJ that Musk was leading a consortium of investors that has made an unsolicited bid of $97.4 billion to purchase OpenAI’s nonprofit controlling company – an entity that was co-founded by Musk in 2015.

The move is ostensibly fueled by Musk’s concern that the ChatGPT owner has been acting in breach of competition laws, which will only be exacerbated by the company’s pivot towards a for-profit model.

“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was… We will make sure that happens.” – Elon Musk

But it’s not much of a stretch to interpret the move as either the continuation of a personal grudge against Altman, or purely commercial – Musk will inevitably have the fortunes of his own AI company, xAI, in mind, too.

“The Most Transformative Technology of Our Time”

The WSJ’s report says that Musk’s group includes investors such as Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management and Vy Capital.

They are prepared to go all in on OpenAI, Toberoff told the WSJ, and will stump up the cash to outbid any other interested parties.

“If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI Inc. Board of Directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation,” Toberoff said, “it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time.”

Altman’s Unmovable Object

The seemingly inexhaustible Musk is juggling his role in Donald Trump’s administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency to escalate his ongoing battle with Altman over the future of OpenAI.

While his lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI is seeking to prevent it from converting to a for-profit corporation, it also threatens to throw a spanner in the works of the Stargate project – the $500 billion AI infrastructure gambit being spearheaded by OpenAI and other AI leaders at the behest of president Trump.

But Altman offered a pithy corrective to anybody thinking that he may be steamrollered by Musk’s strong-arm tactics, while also exacerbating the tit-for-tat beef between the two tech entrepreneurs:

no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 10, 2025

Musk’s own reply was even shorter, with a post simply calling Altman a “Swindler”.

The weakest security link at most companies is the human element. Workers can be phished, tricked, and scammed into downloading a virus a lot more easily than hackers can figure out a password or bypass a computer’s security system.

To combat the issue, businesses often rely on employee training courses and phishing tests that involve sending their employees a trick email to see if they fall for it.

The problem? Those types of tests barely make a difference in shoring up security at all, a new study has found.

Phishing Tests Only Reduce Successful Scams by 2%

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, recently released the results of a study, titled “Understanding the Efficacy of Phishing Training in Practice,” which delivered one impressive and somewhat demoralizing statistic: The variety of different phishing training sessions resulted in just a 2% reduction in the success rates of actual phishing scams.

Other studies back this up, too.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which recently covered both studies, a 2021 study of 14,000 corporate workers — conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich university — found that phishing tests and other voluntary employee training actually made employees more likely to fall for future scams, “possibly by giving trainees a false sense of security.”

Phishing Tests Make Employees Mad

On top of barely working to make employees more vigilant about the threat of scammers, phishing tests tend to demoralize the employees. After all, if they fall for an internal phishing email, they’ve just been scammed by their own company — and now the company is calling them out for it.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, cybersecurity specialist Matt Linton notes that: “Phishing education is good. Tricking people into falling for a phish so you can lecture them that they failed, that’s the part that is terrible. […] They’re more receptive to the education if they feel like you haven’t just made them a fool.”

Some scams named in the article include a false claim that a lost puppy was wandering the parking lot, and a lie about a free trip to the Kennedy Space Center that made a NASA staffer cry.

No Great Solution to the Phishing Epidemic

Based on these studies, it’s easy to make the case against internal phishing test emails. They’re undermining trust in the organization, yet they’re failing to deliver the results that they’re designed to do.

But how can businesses stay safe amid a steady stream of scams and ransomware threats?

Well, the typical range of software solutions and general data safekeeping advice all still applies: Use multi-factor-authentication and password management tools, consider antivirus software, try passkeys, conduct vendor risk assessments at your business, and keep all your operating systems updated.

Employee training is still useful, too, just go easy on the phishing emails themselves, and don’t cry wolf. Or lost puppy, for that matter.

Workers at an Amazon facility in North Carolina are set to vote on whether to join a union in what could see employees galvanized in warehouses across the country.

The vote is set to go ahead at the facility in the city of Garner, which is just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina and hosts 4700 workers.

It comes at a time when the ecommerce giant has faced increasing discontentment among its employees, resulting in both strikes and open pushback against its stringent RTO policy.

Collective Bargaining

The workers in North Carolina will vote this week as to whether they should join the Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment union, or CAUSE. This group has said that they will fight for higher wages, longer breaks, and more flexibility in the working day for employees.

However, Amazon is actively encouraging the workers not to join. An Amazon spokesperson, Eileen Hards, told Reuters that employees should instead “…have their unique voice heard by working directly with our team.” She also added that employees at the facility have pay starting from $18.50/ hour and this is more than double the state’s minimum wage.

Rising Tide of Anger

This is the second vote, though, that Amazon has had to contend with this year alone. In January, workers at a Whole Foods store in Philadelphia voted to unionize. This was a landmark moment as it marked the first successful union organization event at the chain, which was bought by Amazon in 2017.

There has also been a successful union drive at a warehouse on Staten Island, but Amazon hasn’t recognized the group; and there is a wrangle in Alabama where a union has accused Amazon of misconduct after two votes.

Employees in North Carolina are also alleging pernicious behavior saying that Amazon is playing anti-union messages continuously in break-out spaces and has set up “voluntary” meetings for employees in which it pushes its message.

Entrenched Views

Amazon doesn’t have a track record of playing nice when it comes to collective action. Successive protests about the company’s RTO mandate have fallen on deaf ears.

Even when the company was accused of making it hard for disabled workers to gain permission to work from home, the company stuck to its line about strengthening its culture.

But if this union vote goes against it, it is a measure of how discontent is growing; and could be impetus for the thousands of Amazon workers across the US to mobilize.

Thousands of artists are calling on world renowned auction house, Christie’s, to cancel an upcoming sale of AI-generated artwork.

At the time of writing, the letter has gathered 3,556 signatures but also added more fuel to the flames in the debate about the content that AI models are trained on, especially whether copyrighted works can be used.

There are already lawsuits taking place over this issue, but some AI pioneers – notably OpenAI – are claiming that they simply can’t train their models without accessing materials they don’t own.

Mass Theft

The letter now has signatories from around the world, all of whom are petitioning Nicole Sales Giles and Sebastian Sanchez of Christie’s in New York, to stop the sale. Not only is it copyright infringement, they write, but it actually “incentivizes AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work”.

“Many of the artworks you plan to auction were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a license. These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them.”

The Guardian adds that two of the artists involved – Karla Ortiz and Kelly McKernan – are currently suing AI companies with accusations that they used their works without permission.

What Do the Artists Want?

According to the letter, artists essentially want the Augmented Intelligence auction stopped. They write: “We ask that, if you have any respect for human artists, you cancel the auction.” The auction is due to start on February 20th and features 20 lots with price tags up to $250,000.

However, Christie’s seems to be having none of it and told The Guardian that “in most cases” the AI used by the digital artists was trained using their “own inputs.” The spokesperson also said that many of the artists in the sale are “multidisciplinary” and some have works in the collections of “leading” museums.

Copyright Stalemate

Some of the artists who created the AI works have also jumped to their own defense. However, this auction is now becoming a battle in a far-reaching, global war.

Creators – whether artists, writers, actors and musicians – want to protect their copyright. They do not want their works used without permission to train AI models. They want control over how their work is used and by who. And they want financial recompense if they do agree to works being used by AI companies that they make agreements with.

However, AI companies want to innovate and iterate; and they claim they can’t do this if they do not have access to the training material they need. AI development is also pricey and the US firms are up against Chinese ventures who may have less regulations about sticky matters like copyright.

This doesn’t seem to be a matter that will be settled anytime soon; but all eyes are currently on Christie’s and its decision – not least as this could set a precedent in how AI-created art work is perceived and valued.

For $15 a month, T-Mobile customers will soon be able to subscribe to use Elon Musk’s cellular Starlink service.

T-Mobile made the announcement after it was given regulatory approval to offer the service commercially. Last year, the option had been used for emergency texting and alerts in disaster zones.

Starlink has been a lifeline for people unable to access land-based communications services over the last few years, including helping Ukrainians stay online during Russia’s illegal invasion of the country. This is now, though, a step towards wider spread usage.

Beta Mode

For now, the service is in beta and users can sign up online to participate. However, starting in July, T-Mobile subscribers will be able to access the service on most plans for $15 a month. Those who got involved with the trial get the perk of a $10 per month subscription. Reports suggest that it will be included at no extra charge for users on the company’s Go5G Next plan.

“It’s a massive technical achievement and an absolute game changer for all wireless users. We’re still in the early days – I don’t want to overhype the experience during a beta test – but we’re officially putting ‘no bars’ on notice. Dead zones, your days are numbered at the Un-carrier.” – Mike Sievert, T-Mobile president and CEO

What Do T-Mobile Users Actually Get?

T-Mobile users will get access to Starlink’s fleet of satellites. In fact, as of January 30th, 2025, there are 6,994 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 6,957 are working, according to Space.com and astronomer Jonathan McDowell

Subscribers can use these satellites to send and receive messages, make and receive calls, and they will also get some data access. This facility is especially useful in remote areas, like the more than 500,000 square miles of the US T-Mobile says is “unreached by any carrier’s earth-bound cell towers. It’s also handy if you are out at sea.

The service will work for text messages “for now with picture messages, data and voice calls coming later,” adds T-Mobile.

Rival Carriers Included

T-Mobile has also announced that the service will be available to everyone, including AT&T and Verizon customers, in a move that the carrier admitted to PC Mag in the UK was forced by Verizon.

Clint Patterson, SVP of marketing for T-Mobile, said in an interview that the company wasn’t originally planning on offering its new service to customers with rival carriers but the Verizon Superbowl ad changed their mind.

The ad featured NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin using a Verizon phone to “conquer dead zones” using satellite “to text from anywhere.”

The service is only open to these customers, though, if their existing phones support a digital SIM card.

If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, be warned that a price hike will be coming your way if you don’t opt out of Microsoft Copilot.

The notifications are now going out about the subscription increases, which were mooted last month.

However, users are already sharing how to avoid the price hike and grumbling that they feel Microsoft is foisting its AI offerings on them by making it tricky to opt out.

How Much Will Subs Increase By?

According to GeekWire, Microsoft 365 Personal will cost $9.99/month and $99.99/year, which is up from $6.99/month and $69.99/year. Microsoft 365 Family will cost $12.99/month and $129.99/year, increasing from $9.99/month and $99.99/year.

This is the first time that the company has increased the price of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in the US since their release. The launch of both packages in March 2020 came about when Microsoft rebranded the consumer plans of Office 365. 

Rising Costs

The message received by Microsoft 365 subscribers says that the price hike is down to the “value” Microsoft says it has added “over the past decade,” “rising costs,” and the investment needed “to continue to deliver new innovations.”

A Bluesky user named John Bull shared the message but warned fellow subscribers that this isn’t an inflationary increase but essentially a “Copilot fee.” What you are paying for is Microsoft’s Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, he suggested.

He also warned that opting out isn’t a simple process and users have to hit the “cancel subscription” option to be able to opt out of the Copilot package. Other Bluesky users responded, saying that they had ignored the message as though it was a price hike that they couldn’t do anything about. As The Register writes, it is therefore the decision to go with an opt-out instead of opt-in method that is causing a stink.

Price Increase Isn’t a Surprise

Users were actually told that changes were afoot in a blog post published last month. Bryan Rognier, Vice President of Microsoft 365 Consumer, shared there would be a price hike for users.

“To reflect the extensive subscription benefits that we’ve added over the past 12 years and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come, we’re increasing the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in the US…” – Bryan Rognier, Vice President of Microsoft 365 Consumer

The blog post was primarily focused on the news that the company was now including Copilot in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family packages. Rognier shared that subscribers would receive “a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.”  The company had already given access to Microsoft Copilot Pro to “consumer early adopters” so this was “the next big step.”

He added that “existing subscribers with recurring billing enabled with Microsoft can switch to plans without Copilot or AI credits” like the company’s Basic plan. There is also the option “for a limited time,” to switch to the new Personal Classic or Family Classic plans.

While this all seems simple, subscribers are cross because avoiding the automatic “upgrade” is far harder than it should be; and the wording of the notification seems to be suggest that no action was required (or that there were options available).

There are, however, many subscribers who may want to keep Copilot after a month of playing about with it; and so Microsoft will be hoping this little storm blows away quickly.

Mark Zuckerberg’s warning of “an intense year” are coming to pass as the lay-offs threatened mid-January will kick off today.

Notices will start landing in employees’ inboxes from this morning with cuts felt right across Europe, US, Asia and Africa.

Meta is keeping tight-lipped about exactly where the cuts will be felt; but there is sure to be updates as disgruntled staff contact the press.

“Performance Terminations”

Zuckerberg had warned that 5% of the company would lose their roles and that job cuts were to be tied to performance. “This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams,” he said, adding: “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster.”

Now, details are starting to emerge. The Information broke the story after having eyes on a memo from Meta’s Head of People Janelle Gale sent out on Friday.

In it, she said that “performance terminations” would start today and would impact employees in more than a dozen countries. However, adds Reuters, employees in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands have a reprieve “due to local regulations”.

This round of lay-offs is being handled differently from previous culls though as offices are being kept open today and, said Gale, the company would not be giving further details on its decisions.

Firing and Hiring at Meta

It is also being reported that on the same day as Gale’s memo went out, another, from VP of Engineering for Monetization Peng Fan, said that the company is also now looking out for new talent.

Fan asked staffers to reach out to people they knew who could quickly fill machine learning and other “business critical” engineering roles. “Thank you for your continued support in helping us achieve our accelerated hiring goals, and better align with our company’s priorities for 2025,” he wrote, stating that recruitment would kick off February 11.

AI Focus

Both the slimming down of the workforce and the quest to find new AI talent is a clear indication of where Meta’s focus lies. In a July 2024 letter, Zuckerberg stated, “This year, Llama 3 is competitive with the most advanced models and leading in some areas. Starting next year, we expect future Llama models to become the most advanced in the industry.”

This is ambitious indeed, especially considering the competition that the company is facing, not least from OpenAI, which already seems to have an in with the US Government.

Zuckerberg has a slightly cosier relationship now though with Donald Trump and is quite openly jostling for a place at the table as the President pushes his AI agenda with Project Stargate. But it will be a costly to keep his spot hence the job cuts and the laser focus on finding new staffers to achieve his AI ambitions.

There is never a better time to work from home than the dead of winter. You don’t have to worry about slipping on ice on your way to the train or scraping the snow off your car before hitting the road.

If you’re tired of the winter commute, finding a remote job isn’t as hard as it may seem. Yes, return-to-office mandates have been all the rage lately, but the reality is that businesses like Microsoft are still hiring for positions that allow employees to work from home 100% of the time.

In this guide, we’ll outline some of the remote positions from Microsoft, and provide you with a little insight into why remote work is a good option and how you can land a job once you get the interview.

Fully Remote Jobs at Microsoft for February 2025

If you don’t regularly follow our remote job postings at Tech.co, you might not realize that Microsoft is one of the biggest hirers of work-from-home employees in the tech industry. The tech giant consistent has hundreds of positions that are eligible for the popular employee perk, with the Microsoft career page currently showing 313 work-from-home jobs available.

Below, we’ve highlighted some of the remote jobs you can apply for you today, but make sure to head over to the Microsoft career page and select “100% work from home” in the “Work site” filter to see your other options.

• Senior Software Engineer – Azure Storage (Redmond, WA, USA)
• Machine Learning Engineer II (Vancouver, Canada)
• Senior Software Engineer – Maps team (Belgrade, Serbia)
• Account Executive, Digital Unicorns (Toronto, Canada)
• Strategic Account Technology Specialist (Indianapolis, Indiana)
• Senior Technical Program Manager (Prague, Czech Republic)
• Senior Cyber Security Engineer – Networking (Sydney, Australia)
• Threat Intelligence Analyst (Ottawa, Canada)
• Principal Product Manager (Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil)
• Senior Software Engineering Manager (Bangalore, India)

You’ll also notice that we included the cities and countries in which these positions are based. That is not because they are not remote jobs, but rather because being in the same or similar time zone as your future managers may be important in getting your schedule set.

Is Remote Work Still Good for Business?

Big tech firms like Amazon and Dell have fully embraced the return-to-office movement, fervently insisting that all employees get back to work in-person or face the consequences. As a result, you may think that remote work has lost its luster in 2025, because if the tech industry is getting rid of it, working from home must be bad for business, right?

Well, the reality is that remote work statistics don’t back up these RTO mandates even a little bit. In fact, most studies show than remote work improves productivity, increases employee retention, and can even reduce your company’s carbon footprint.

Even more notable, companies like Amazon and Dell have been in years-long battles with their workforces over their RTO mandates, leading to walkouts and protests that are likely having a negative impact on the culture of the company.

Suffice to say, remote work remains a popular tool for businesses to attract top talent and encourage employee wellbeing over false promises of “in-person collaboration.”

Landing a Remote Job

Now that you’ve found a myriad of remote jobs to apply to, it’s time to actually find a way to land the gig. After all, the job market is notoriously competitive right now for work-from-home positions, so you’re going to want to make sure you stand out among the pack to have a chance.

Luckily, we’ve got some tips for you. For starters, updating your resume to be remote work-friendly is key. If you have any remote work experience already, be sure to highlight that. If not, you’ll want to be sure to showcase your remote work-adjacent skills, like self motivation and good communication, so they know you’ll be able to work outside of the office environment.

After that, you’ll want to prepare for the interview. Doing well in a remote interview can be hard, because you don’t have all the physical cues of an in-person interview, but that doesn’t mean you should change strategies. Be prepared, ask follow-up questions, and demonstrate  your expertise as best you can. On top of that, make sure you create a distraction-free environment for the interview, otherwise you’ll prove that remote work is not for you.

Simply put, finding a remote job is just like finding an in-person job; it takes a lot of steps. But if you remain prepared and determined, you’ll be able to work in your pajamas in no time.

Other Remote Work Opportunities

Microsoft is one of the biggest hirers of remote workers, but it certainly isn’t the only one. In fact, other big tech firms like Google and Apple are hiring remote workers all the time, and we create monthly guides to help you find a position at those companies as well.

Big tech firms aren’t the only ones hiring for remote positions either, with a wide range of businesses out there still letting employees work from home. We have a monthly roundup that showcases remote jobs at other companies, so make sure to come back on a regular basis to see what kind of roles are available to get you out of the office.

A big battle over consumer privacy could be brewing, with UK officials ordering Apple to give them broad access to all encrypted cloud data added by users.

Big tech companies have largely kept governments at bay when it comes to accessing user data. Apple in particular has been stern when it comes to protecting user privacy, pushing back on even the most reasonable requests from government officials to the sake of public safety.

This is an entirely different story, though, with the UK asking for unprecedented access to all encrypted data from Apple, which could change how governments and big tech firms interact moving forward.

UK Serves Apple With ‘Technical Capability Notice’

According to a report from the Washington Post, the UK office of the Home Secretary has sent Apple a “technical capacity notice,” demanding that the company give them access to all content from Apple users worldwide that has been added to the cloud.

The UK officials cited the UK Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which does allow law enforcement to insist on assistance from companies when it comes to collecting evidence for a case. However, this request is not for a specific set of encrypted data and instead asks for wide-reaching access across the company’s system.

In fact, as the Washington Post points out, this request “has no known precedent in major democracies.”

Will Apple Comply?

Given this massive request from UK officials, does Apple plan on complying with the request to give the country broad access to encrypted data from its millions of users? Probably not.

The anonymous sources that provided the Washington Post with all this information also noted that, rather than comply, Apple will likely just stop offering encrypted storage in the UK.

Still, the request from UK officials is asking for access to encrypted data worldwide, so this won’t necessarily abate the agency from hounding Apple for access. It could, however, encourage them to back off a bit, as the impacts on UK citizens will be nothing if not noticeable.

UK Officials vs Big Tech Privacy

This isn’t the first instance of UK officials pushing back hard against the privacy commitments of the tech industry.

Enforcement of the Online Safety Act of 2023, for example, has garnered substantial backlash from tech companies like WhatsApp and Signal, as it inherently undermines the end-to-end encryption services provided by the messaging apps in question.

UK official do seem to be at least somewhat noble in their pursuits, seeking out this kind of information in order to keep children safe from sexual abuse. Still, giving governments access to encrypted data unilaterally is a slippery slope, and given what’s happening in the US with the government’s handling of sensitive data, it’s safe to say a bit of privacy would be welcomed in 2025.

The Trump Administration has been in power for little over two weeks, but it’s fair to say that a lot has happened in that time. From his new position as chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk has been quick to follow up on his campaign promise to slash federal spending.

While not technically a “department” at all – departments can only be formed by Congress – DOGE has already carried out a series of radical moves to reshape the federal government to Trump’s specifications. From gaining access to Medicare and Medicaid to buying out federal employees, in truth, it has been hard to keep up with everything that Musk has carried out in his short tenure.

That’s why we’ve put together a complete list of everything that DOGE has done since Trump took office on January 20th. This guide covers everything from that first day in the White House up until the time of writing, February 7th.

DEI Programs

Much of DOGE’s early work was concentrated on rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that had been enshrined into law by previous administrations.

On January 30, it claimed in an X post that it had already saved around $1 billion by terminating 85 DEI-related contracts across several federal departments, including the Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, and more. It followed this up with an image purporting to show a full breakdown of all DEI-related savings thus far.

Updated data on DEI related contract cancellations with full detail: https://t.co/hEBk62KQvN pic.twitter.com/kcPATigb3x

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) January 31, 2025

As per the image, the agencies that yielded the biggest savings were the Office of Personnel Management, Agency for International Development, and the Department of Agriculture.

Office Leases

After Musk paid a visit to the General Services Administration headquarters last week, speculation mounted that the government’s real estate portfolio could be next in the crosshairs. Among other things, the GSA is responsible for the leasing of office space for federal government departments.

This would appear to be the case, with DOGE carrying out several lease terminations of “underutilized buildings” in recent days. Between 3 and 5 Feb, the number of canceled leases grew from 3 to 34. With the GSA currently responsible for more than 7,500 leases, that number could be set to grow quite substantially.

The GSA also recently appointed a new commissioner of the Public Buildings Services, Michael Peters, who has signaled his intention to make sure federal spend on buildings is kept to a minimum. “PBS will ensure the federal government’s real estate footprint is managed with the utmost discipline and strategic rigor,” he stated upon his appointment.

Medicare and Medicaid

On Wednesday, DOGE representatives were reportedly granted access to systems and technology belonging to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS oversees Medicare, a health insurance program dedicated to elderly and disabled citizens, and Medicaid, which looks after lower-income individuals. Together, they provide coverage for over 140 million people living in the US.

In a statement, the agency said: “We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, DOGE has a particular interest in the systems that CMS uses to identify fraud, as well as its organizational design and staffing. Musk himself seems convinced of the potential for savings stemming from the agency, posting on X: “This is where the big money fraud is happening,” in reference to the WSJ story.

Federal Employee Buyout

Just last week, it was reported that the federal government had offered employees a substantial payout amounting to eight month’s worth of salary. No fewer than 2 million workers were offered the deal, which has been accepted by just 1% of that total figure. While questions swirl about the legality of Trump and Musk’s maneuver, it sets a clear precedent: staff layoffs will continue to surge under the new administration.

As a matter of fact, a DOGE supervisor all but confirmed this in an email obtained by The Washington Post, describing layoffs as “likely.” This follows days of debate in Washington, in which Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly called for affected workers to hold their nerve. Senator Tim Kaine asserted that the “president has no authority to make that offer,” and “if you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you” in remarks to the Senate floor.

The federal employee buyout offer was originally scheduled to run until Thursday at 23:59 EST, but a last-minute pause from Federal Judge George O’Toole Jr means that it will have to wait until at least Monday, after a lawsuit was filed by federal employee unions.

USAID

This week, Musk and his acolytes have busied themselves dismantling the US Agency of International Development, or USAID. The move has provoked no shortage of controversy, with commentators questioning the legality of such a move, given that the department was created by Congress.

So far, the majority of domestic USAID staff have been placed on administrative leave, with a further 10,000 around the world set for a similar fate. Expressing a particular distaste for the agency, Musk has referred to it as a “criminal organization,” and that he recently “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

Whatever the outcome of this particular subplot, USAID provides billions of dollars in humanitarian aid and development funding every year. Its cessation would undoubtedly bring DOGE closer to its stated aims – while potentially throwing the wellbeing of millions around the world into jeopardy.

However, much like Trump’s federal employee buyout, this policy has also received a last minute pause. Judge Carl Nichols issued an 11th hour temporary restraining order after two unions filed lawsuits. The order will be in place until February 14th.

How Much Money Has DOGE Saved So Far?

On January 28, DOGE wrote on X  that it was “saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day, mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations, all consistent with the President’s Executive Orders.” It also expressed a need to increase savings to “>$3 billion/day.”

It’s worth noting, of course, that there is no way of verifying these figures. While DOGE is quite forthcoming in some respects, it doesn’t provide a complete breakdown of its alleged cuts, meaning that one should take its declarations with a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, Musk claimed last week that he was “cautiously optimistic” DOGE would reach its stated aim of $4 billion a day in savings, putting it on course to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026. With many more programs yet to be picked apart, expect mass layoffs, office closures, and cutbacks, to become a regular fixture on the news over the coming weeks and months.

HR software platform Workday is laying off 1,750 employees, or 8.5% of its workforce, it has been announced. According to a memo circulated on Wednesday, the layoffs are necessary for long-term growth, and will not interfere with the company’s plans to invest in new locations and employees over the course of the year.

The company predicts that it could incur up to $270 million in severance payments, employee benefits, and other costs, with all affected employees to be offered a minimum of 3 months of pay. Despite this, it still expects to make new hires over the course of the year, with the announcement signaling a strategic reshuffle as opposed to a harbinger of ill-fortune.

Mass layoffs continue to plague the tech sector, with Google, Meta, and Microsoft just some of the big players that have made similar announcements in recent weeks. With President Trump dismantling much of the apparatus set up to temper the rapid growth of AI, expect this trend to continue as more and more businesses turn to automation to reduce headcount.

Workday Calls Time on 1,750 Employees

HR software giant Workday is laying off 1,750 employees, amounting to 8.5% of its global workforce, it revealed in a memo on Wednesday. The company is acting in the interests of long-term growth, it said, with a particular focus on AI automation.

In the memo, CEO Carl Eschenbach drew attention to how “companies everywhere are reimagining how work gets done,” going on to say that “the increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday.” Those plans are finally being put into action, it would seem.

Most impacted employees were notified yesterday. They will be compensated with at least 12 weeks of pay, with additional weeks based on duration of tenure. In addition to the layoffs, Workday expects to leave certain office spaces, although it hasn’t yet disclosed which areas would be affected.

Workday Shaping Up for AI Future

Even as it rolls back some of its international presence, Eschenbach’s memo outlines the company’s intention to invest in “strategic locations” as part of a wider restructure.

Workday also plans to continue hiring over the course of the year, with AI thought to be a key growth area for the HR company. This latest round of layoffs is thought to fetch between $230 million and $270 million in severance pay and other fees, but those losses will not deter Eschenbach.

Later this month, the company will release its earnings results for the 2025 fiscal year, which paint a glowing picture. In the third quarter, it posted a net income of $193 million, as well as $2.16 billion in revenue. In the previous quarter, it recorded $132 million in net income and $2.09 billion in revenue. Senior leaders will be highly encouraged by this quarterly growth – even if affected employees are left with a bitter taste.

Tech Layoffs Set to Continue as AI Development Accelerates

Workday joins the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Meta in announcing big job cuts in recent weeks. Across the tech sector, companies are feeling the heat, with the surge of layoffs that has characterized much of the last few years showing no signs of abating.

In fact, this is set to continue as companies increasingly look to AI automation as a solution to their workforce woes. In his determination to win the AI race, President Trump has revoked a 2023 executive order that sought to reduce the potential risks of AI. Added to this, the recent emergence of DeepSeek has given tech players renewed impetus to invest heavily in their personal strategies.

As the race hots up, it is staff that will continue to bear the consequences.

If you’ve got a great business plan and long-term vision, but lack the funding to to turn dreams into a reality, business grants are a great funding option to consider.

Private business grants provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to entrepreneurs, whether they’re launching a new venture, or trying to scale their business to new heights. Unlike with business loans, you aren’t tied down by stringent repayment terms either, enabling you to plan your next steps while staying out of the red.

We’ve curated a list of exciting business grants, currently accepting applications this February. Read on to learn about their payouts and eligibility criteria, and to find out how the funding type compares to government grants.

Small Business Grants to Apply For in February 2025

It’s time to stop procrastinating applying for funding. Here are five business grants accepting applications this February:

1. EmpowHer Grants
2. 2025 Lenovo Evolve Small Grant Program
3. UPS Store® Small Biz Challenge
4. Skip $10,000 Growth Grant
5. Black History Makers Grant

1. EmpowHer Grants

• For: Female entrepreneurs
• Grantor: Boundless Futures Foundation
• Amount: Up to $25,000

The Boundless Futures Foundation believes in championing female entrepreneurs through grants and business guidance. It’s EmpowHer grant is back for yet another round and is currently accepting applicants from female entrepreneurs aged 22 and older, with a business operating in the US.

Alongside a sizable cash prize of $25,000, successful applicants will gain access to a network of marketing, financial, and leadership professionals who can help provide guidance on their next steps. To apply, you simply have to submit a pitch describing how your business plans to address a social issue, describe how you would use the grant, and how you plan to measure your success.

• Deadline: February 16

Learn more and apply here

2. 2025 Lenovo Evolve Small Grant Program

• For: Minority, disabled, and women-owned small businesses in select metropolitan areas
• Grantor: Lenovo and Intel
• Amount: $25,000

The Lenovo Evolve Small grant scheme has been supporting minority, disabled, and women-owned businesses for four years, and in 2025, the initiative is getting an AI twist. In addition to a generous $25,000 in funding, Lenovo will be awarding 10 lucky businesses customized technology solutions worth $10,000, and exclusive mentorship on AI integration and business strategy.

To be eligible for the grant, your business must be located in one of the following metro areas: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Toronto, Washington, DC, or Vancouver. Your business also must have made anywhere from $100,000 to $7,500,000 in revenue in the last 12 months, and not raised over $3m in investment capital.

• Deadline: February 17

Learn more and apply here

3. The UPS Store® Small Biz Challenge

• For: Small US businesses with under nine employees
• Grantor: The UPS Store®
• Amount: Up to $25,000

The UPS Store® Small Biz Challenge is a grant scheme designed to empower small businesses across the US. Granters receive a share of UPS’s $35,000 prize pool – with the frontrunner securing $25,000 – a feature in Inc. magazine, and the opportunity to display your business to a national audience at a live event in Austin, Texas.

To be in with a shot, you’ll have to be a US resident, be aged 18 or older, and operate an independent, non-franchised business with nine employees or fewer.

• Deadline: February 19

Learn more and apply here

4.  Skip’s $10,000 Growth Grant

• For: Active Skip Plus Members
• Grantor: Skip
• Amount: $10,000

Business grant platform and provider, Skip, is currently accepting applications for its Growth Grant scheme. Unlike the majority of grants on this list, Skip’s $10,000 Growth grant is open to any US small business owner or entrepreneur, regardless of their stage, size, or specialism.

Aside from this stipulation, to be in with a chance of securing $10,000 to power your business’s growth, you have to be over 18 and be an active Skip Plus member. Don’t have a Skip Plus membership? Rest assured, you’ll have time to become a member and fire off an application before the March 1st deadline.

• Deadline: March 1

Learn more and apply here

5. Black History Makers Grant

• For: Black-owned business
• Grantor: Citi Trends
• Amount: $5,000

US retailer Citi Trends is back with another Black History Markers grant, in celebration of Black History Month. With a goal to help advance and further the businesses of Black entrepreneurs, the retailer is offering 10 $5,000 grants to applicants who are making a positive impact in their community.

To be in with a chance of winning, your business needs to be black-owned and focused on supporting the local community. All you need to do to apply is fill out an online application form, and winners will be selected by the Citi Trends CitiCares Council.

• Deadline: February 28

Learn more and apply here

Government vs Private Grants: Which Is Best For Your Business?

Government grants and private grants are both crucial sources of funding for US businesses, but each comes with a unique set of advantages and drawbacks.

Government grants are issued by local, state, or federal agencies, and are often tied to public policy objectives from research and development to community improvement projects. Due to their sharp focus, the eligibility criteria for government grants can be very strict, and their application processes tend to be much more rigorous and time-consuming.

Private grants, on the other hand, are typically provided by charitable foundations, corporations, or wealthy individuals, and vary widely in focus. Compared to government grants their application process is quite simple, and while there are notable exceptions, their payouts aren’t normally as big. The eligibility criteria of private grants are often much more inclusive, however, making them more accessible to a wider pool of businesses.

Government grants are better suited to…

• Businesses engaged in R&D
• Businesses working on large-scale infrastructure projects
• Non-profit organizations with a focus on social issues

Privite grants are better suited to…

• Businesses seeking smaller amounts of funding for specific projects
• Businesses that need funding quickly
• Newer businesses that don’t neatly fit into government funding categories

Adobe has added features to its Acrobat AI Assistant, including tools to help summarize complicated language, such as legalese.

The company has already made AI upgrades to its video-editing platform, Premiere Pro, and there were also rumors that a future upgrade would incorporate OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video model.

These latest launches are aimed squarely at Acrobat users, promising to make working with contracts much easier and more efficient.

What Are the New Tools?

Adobe says it is aiming to “simplify working with contracts” with its new intelligent contract capabilities.

These generative AI features “will help customers grasp complex terms and spot differences between multiple agreements,” the company explains.

There are four upgrades and these are available from the Acrobat AI Assistant, which can be bought as an add-on for $4.99 per month.

• The first is called Contract intelligence, which will recognize when a document is a contract, generate an overview, surface key terms and, says Adobe, “recommend questions specific” to that document.
• The AI Assistant can now also generate straightforward explanations of content in a document. This includes clickable citations for verifying responses.
• If users have different versions of their document, Adobe has added a compare and contract tool, which can be used across 10 contracts, including scanned documents.
• The final addition is a secure sharing and signing option so that contracts can be reviewed between different stakeholders and e-signed but from within the app.

Fewer Mistakes

Adobe says that the tools are designed specifically to help demystify contracts. The company actually carried out a survey and found that nearly 70% of consumers have signed contracts or agreements without knowing all the terms.

The survey also revealed that more than 60% of SMB owners have avoided signing a contract because they were not confident they understood the content.

Abhigyan Modi, senior vice president of Adobe Document Cloud explained that the new tools make it “easier for customers to understand and compare these complex documents and providing citations to help them verify responses, all while keeping their data safe.”

AI Training Promise

Adobe also has used the launch to emphasize that it doesn’t train its AI models on customer data. The company published this promise in June last year when a mandatory terms of service update suggested that Adobe would be able to automatically access user content.

The response from users was fast and furious, which prompted the publishing of a blog post. In this, the company wrote: “We’ve never trained generative AI on customer content, taken ownership of a customer’s work, or allowed access to customer content beyond legal requirements. Nor were we considering any of those practices as part of the recent Terms of Use update.”

In this announcement for its new tools, Adobe has repeated this, adding that it also prohibits third-party LLMs from training on Adobe customer data.

Training data remains a contentious issue in AI development with OpenAI and Microsoft among the big names in the frame for data scrapping. While companies are keen to come out and shout that they are not harvesting their users’ data, LLMs do need data to train on, raising the question of where this data is coming from.