A much-anticipated online conversation between the world’s richest man and a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America had its start time disrupted for nearly an hour by a cyberattack.

That’s according to owner of X, previously Twitter, Elon Musk. Hosting the chat with 45th president Donald Trump on his social platform’s Spaces tool, the billionaire put the embarrassing delay down to a “massive DDOS attack”.

The conversation would ultimately last for more than two hours, with Musk and Trump discussing topics ranging from the latter’s presidency race with Vice President Kamala Harris, last month’s failed assassination attempt, striking workers, and illegal immigration.

Musk/Trump Conversation Tribulation

Musk had previously said that the event’s billing as a ‘conversation’ had been a deliberate choice of word, so that “people understand how [Trump] talks when it’s a conversation, rather than an interview”.

But anybody tuning in at the scheduled start time of 8pm ET on Monday were treated to 47 minutes of easy-listening muzak and an additional seven minutes of silence before Musk eventually introduced the chat.

In that period, Musk posted on X that the issues had been caused by a massive DDOS attack on the platform – a claim he reiterated at the beginning of the conversation – and that his team were working on shutting down the problem.

There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down.

Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024

He also said that they had “tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners” earlier in the day.

A few hours after the conclusion of the exchange, a post from X on the platform said that the Space had received 73 million views and that “there were 4 million posts about Elon Musk and President Trump’s conversation on X, generating a total of 998 million views”.

“Combined views of the conversation with [Donald Trump] and subsequent discussion by other accounts now ~1 billion” – Elon Musk on X

What is a DDOS Attack?

A DDoS – or distributed denial-of-service – attack is a malicious online attempt to massively inflate the amount of traffic going to a server or network and, thus, overwhelm it to the point where it can’t function properly.

The targeted site or infrastructure becomes so saturated with requests that it effectively renders it unusable. To put it another way, the server crashes.

Unlike cyberattacks such as ransomware or data breaches, the bad actor doesn’t necessarily aim to financially gain from the threat (although, in some cases, they can be used to blackmail the victim).

The end goal is more usually intended to disrupt the target. In this case, it seems safe to assume that the humiliation of Musk and Trump was probably the main reason for the DDoD attack.

It isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) time that a major organization has been the target of DDoS attacks. ChatGPT owner OpenAI was attacked at the end of last year, while Microsoft and Google halted the “largest” cyberattack on record in October. Even the UK’s Royal family aren’t immune – its website , “royal.uk,” went down after an apparent DDOS attack.

“Elon Musk” by dmoberhaus is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Legislation is finally starting to catch up to AI, with a new law allowing victims of non-consensual deepfake pornography to sue those responsible passing the US senate in unanimous fashion.

Deepfake technology has gotten a lot better since the boom in AI over the last few years. While some instances are fun and harmless, others have proven to be quite a problem, imitating celebrities to scam users or putting them in problematic situations.

However, this new law could be a stepping stone to more AI and deepfake regulation, and all we can say is: it’s about time.

What Is the DEFIANCE Act?

The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act is a piece of legislature in the US currently on the way to becoming a law. It states that, in the event of non-consensual deepfake pornography, the victim is able to sue the party responsible.

“Victims of nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes have waited too long for federal legislation to hold perpetrators accountable. As deepfakes become easier to access and create — 96% of deepfake videos circulating online are nonconsensual pornography — Congress needs to act to show victims that they won’t be left behind.” – Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a statement

The bill passed the US Senate unanimously, an impressive feat considering the state of politics in the US as of late. It will head to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to have similar support.

Other AI Regulations on the Way

The DEFIANCE Act may be one of the first AI-focused regulations to officially become law, but it definitely won’t be the only one. In fact, there are more than 100 bills across all 50 states that are aimed at providing common sense AI regulations and could be made law soon.

For example, one new law, dubbed the COPIED Act, would make it illegal for people to remove watermarks placed on AI-generated content, further regulating deepfake technology to prevent these kinds of issues.

Other bills are focused on a wide range of AI issues, from AI models using pictures of children to train models to employing algorithms to prevent certain types of people from moving into low-income housing.

How to Avoid Deepfake Scams

The DEFIANCE Act should give victims of non-consensual deepfake pornography recourse in getting justice. However, there are other deepfake scams out there that you might want to look out for.

Celebrity deepfakes, for example, have become a popular trend, using the likeness of famous people like Taylor Swift to sell fake products in service of stealing money and personal information.

Subsequently, you’ll want to be on the look out for deepfakes to keep yourself from getting scammed. The best way to do so is always be diligent before inputting financial information. A quick Google search can save you thousands of dollars and hours of time trying to reclaim your identity.

The safest bet when it comes to deepfake scams? If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!

Microsoft has given us many wonderful things over the years – Windows, the Xbox, and yes, Clippy, the sentient paperclip assistant. However, its commitment to remote work may be its finest hour for its employees, allowing them to avoid the commute while also working for one of the world’s largest tech companies.

If that appeals to you, then good news, Microsoft is hiring right now! We’ve found hundreds of fully remote jobs that are currently open, spanning engineering, sales, customer service, and beyond.

Read on to find your perfect remote job!

Fully Remote Jobs at Microsoft for August 2024

At the time of writing, there are a massive 883 fully remote jobs on offer. Get yourself one of these, and you can forget all about the commute and those awkward conversations around the water cooler. If you’re happy to go into the office part time, there are over 2000 roles available, but for now we’ll stick with the 100% WFH jobs.

Here are a selection of some of the jobs you could go for:

• Site Reliability Engineer, Washington, US
• Developer Partner Manager – Xbox, US
• Partner Marketing Manager, US
• AI Hardware Architect, Washington, US
• Senior Machine Learning Research Engineer, Washington, US
• Cybersecurity Incident Response Team Lead, UK
• Senior Technical Product Manager, Dublin, Ireland
• Technical Support Engineer – Azure Subscription Management Support, Japan
• Event Coordinator, US
• Talent Sourcer, AI, US
• Principal Software Engineering Manager, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Senior Applied Scientist, Mexico
• Senior Software Engineer- Azure Core Trusted Platform, Australia
• Director of Partner Readiness, Brazil
• Principal Infrastructure Planner, Washington, US

The roles above are all 100% remote, but we’ve included the country they are based in too. If you want to look through the full list of 800+ remote roles, you’ll find them on the Microsoft careers page.

Is Microsoft Committed to Remote Work?

While the pandemic saw most companies sending their staff home, in recent years we’ve seen many CEOs calling workers back to the office, much to employees’ frustration. This includes the likes of Dell, Disney, and even Zoom, who arguably benefited the most from 2020’s remote work boom.

However, it’s fair to say that Microsoft is all in on remote work, as evidenced by the current 800+ work from home openings on the company website.

In 2023, it announced that working from home part time would no longer require manager approval. Those that want to work from home for more than 50% of the time, and aren’t currently in as fully remote role, will still need manager sign off, though.

Part of Microsoft’s approach to remote work involves its own robust tech, such as Microsoft Teams, which, like Zoom, flourished during the pandemic, and serves as a fantastic collaboration tool for staff, no matter where they are in the world. Microsoft is constantly adding new features too, meaning that video meetings get better and better.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, has gone on record in the past to say that companies that offer flexible working arrangements have an advantage over competitors.

So yes, it seems that Microsoft is serious about remote work in the long term.

The Perks of Remote Work

Remote work is appealing to many of us, but it isn’t always a great fit. If you lack self discipline, for example, or need to be around people 24/7, you might struggle.

However, if you can work under your own steam, and don’t mind speaking to co-workers via a screen rather than over your desk, it can be a life-improving decision. In fact, research as recent as this week identified that remote workers are happier than their office counterparts!

It’s not hard to see why. Remote workers save money and time on commuting, they can dodge (most) of the office politics, and they can work in an environment that they’re fully comfortable in. And yes, pants are optional.

There have even been some studies that suggest remote workers could even live longer, which might be the most compelling reason to date to say goodbye to the office for good.

And employers, if you’re reading this and thinking ‘but what do I get out of it?’, then aside from your employees’ happiness, which should frankly be enough, there are many upsides.  One study reported that 77% of remote workers showed an increase in productivity. Not only that, but if you let your staff work from home, they’ll reward you by putting in more hours.

Oh, and 42% of job seekers would reject a job offer with no hybrid option…

Don’t want to work at Microsoft? No problem, check out the other companies that are hiring remotely this month.

In a week that has seen CEOs relent on return to office mandates, the publication of a new study into the movement should quieten critics and embolden employees.

The study shows that yes, as we’ve suspected all along, remote workers are generally happier in their jobs than their office counterparts. Not only that, but they’re more engaged with co-workers, despite the physical distance between them.

However, not every company will agree with the findings, with the likes of Dell, and Musk-owned companies, continuing to come down hard on the remote worker.

Remote Work Survey Results Speak For Themselves

Return-to-Office (RTO) mandates are having a negative impact on employees’ job satisfaction, according to new research published this week. “Return-to-Office Mandates and the Future of Work,” a study conducted by Great Place to Work, features research from July 2023.

The company surveyed 4,400 employees aged 18 and over. Of the respondents, 51% were female, 49% were male, and less than 1% were ‘non-binary or other gender.’ The findings paint a stark picture of company mandates – and testify to the importance of letting employees choose their preferred work location.

Comparing results from ‘typical workplaces’ with certified ‘great workplaces,’ the company found that 7 out of 10 US employees are told where to work by their employer. While it’s not a silver bullet solution, remote workers are generally happier than their onsite counterparts and less burnt out – with remote employees 27% more likely to look forward to doing their job.

The research also suggests that fully remote workers have a more generous outlook on their colleagues. Great Place to Work observes that they’re more likely to ‘give people extra effort, are more willing to cooperate and collaborate.’

Flexibility is Key to Employee Well-Being

The report observes that individual staff who can choose their work location – remote, hybrid, or onsite – are three times more likely to want to stay at their company. Employees whose location is decided by their team are two times more likely to want to stay.

At the same time, company mandates can have a damaging impact on morale. Workers whose remote policy is dictated by their employer tend to have a ‘worse perception of their workplace overall and poorer relationships with their managers.’ This can put a company in the spotlight – for all the wrong reasons.

It’s also worth remembering that this isn’t the first positive indictment of remote working. There have been many, many studies over the years, the vast majority of which have proved positive, and shown that remote workers put in more hours, and also could well live longer.

Remote Workers Still Face Uncertain Future

In spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence, remote work continues to be debated. Offices in the US have stabilized at about 50% occupancy. As reported earlier, 7 out of 10 employees have no say in where they work – remote or onsite.

The remote work debate has created a battleground for those companies that are refusing to yield to employee wishes. One of the most visible examples of this over the last year has been Dell, which has continued to escalate its return to office policy to such an extent that employees are now being tracked, and those who don’t come in risk missing out on promotion.

This month’s study from Great Place to Work is yet another piece of the puzzle that proves remote working, works. Our own study from last year showed exactly the same thing.

If you’re looking to spend less time on the commute and more on the couch, check out our remote jobs for August 2024 guide. And if you want to stick with your current job, don’t forget our guide on how to ask to work from home.

92% of those working in information and communication technology will see “high or moderate transformation” thanks to AI tools, according to a new report.

If that’s your field, there’s one clear solution: Upskilling with some AI training courses that can help you figure out how to apply the new technology to speed up your tasks. Top areas to improve in include prompt engineering — the term for writing text commands to ChatGPT or similar generative text bots — as well as AI literacy and data analytics.

The good news is that learning the basics of AI won’t need to cost you a dime: Plenty of online courses are available for free to help the general public get their grounding in the new technology.

Here, we’ve rounded up all the top courses available this month, with a wide range that covers general and specific training areas, as well as those that will take months to complete alongside courses that can be covered entirely in one afternoon.

Polytechnic University of Milan: Artificial Intelligence – an Overview Specialization

⏰Length: About 24 hours

Italy’s biggest technical university has expanded online with this course, which is itself composed of five smaller courses that will last a grand total of 24 hours. If you fit in three hours a week, you can complete it in a tidy two-month period. Since it’s available in 21 different languages, you won’t have to worry about brushing up on your Italian, which is molto bene.

The five course titles you’ll complete include: Artificial Intelligence: An Overview; Ethics of Artificial Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence and Legal Issues; Technologies and Platforms for Artificial Intelligence; and, finally, Machine Learning: an Overview.

That’s a broad swath of key subject matter for AI beginners, all from a top university. It pairs management knowledge alongside concepts including algorithms and machine learning, so middle managers can benefit from the practical AI upskilling they need as well.

You can get started today, over on Coursera.

IBM: AI Foundations for Everyone Specialization

⏰Length: About 33 hours

Join the 30,000 students of IBM’s own round-up of beginner courses for AI with a selection that starts with the straightforwardly titled “Introduction to AI,” and includes three others: Generative AI: Introduction and Applications; Generative AI: Prompt Engineering Basics; and Building AI Powered Chatbots Without Programming.

IBM has a long history of cutting-edge computing knowledge, making them the natural pick for an intro course on the latest tech tool, Large Language Models. The initial intro course is just 8 hours long, and you won’t have to commit to more than that if you’re just hoping to wade into the topic a little.

Stick with the entire suite of courses, however, and you’ll pick up knowledge that can help you distinguish between generative AI and discriminative AI, identify the typical models and tools used for generating text, code, images, audio, or video, and even digest the most common approaches when it comes to writing effective prompts.

You can check out all the IBM introductory courses now on Coursera.

3Blue1Brown: But What Is a Neural Network?

⏰ Length: About 1.5 hours

Look, sometimes Coursera is a little too much effort. But who isn’t a fan of YouTube essays? Check out this 6-video playlist for a fast-paced, digestible approach to teaching people about a single term that most average people know next to nothing about: neural networks.

YouTuber 3Blue1Brown breaks down physics and math concepts, with the overall goal of educating his audience on the principles behind STEM concepts rather than forcing them to tackle rote math problems. The videos are easy to follow, and if you’ve ever found yourself sucked into a four-hour YouTube video on something like a theme park before, you’re not going to be surprised to hear that this course is easily the most fun option in this guide.

Different videos cover concepts like gradient descent, GPTs, and backpropagation. In under two hours, you can emerge with a nuanced grasp on why neural networks are so interesting and potentially powerful. Head over to Youtube for the full playlist.

IBM: Machine Learning with Python

⏰ Length: About 13 hours

If you’re already familar with the popular programming language Python, perhaps you’re better off skipping the general-knowledge courses and hopping right into a specific one: IBM’s guide to machine learning in relationship to Python. It’s not just a huge programming language with a myriad of applications across the tech industry; it’s one of the biggest languages within the world of AI tech.

With this course, you’ll learn about the most common Machine Learning algorithms, as well as a range of linear classification methods, from multiclass prediction and support vector machines to logistic regression. Plus, you’ll write your own Python code for decision or regression trees, and learn the right metrics to use when evaluating data sets.

You can check out the Python course here, or you can head over to the larger AI engineering certificate that this course is just one element within.

DeepLearning.AI: Generative AI for Everyone

⏰ Length: About 5 hours

The AI-focused education technology company DeepLearning.AI has a handful of intro courses available. You can start with this generative AI course, but there are plenty of others that should be enough to keep you busy for a while.

Site founder Andrew Ng teaches it, covering basics including how the tech works, what opportunities and risks it presents, and “how to think through the lifecycle of a generative AI project, from conception to launch, including how to build effective prompts.”

Strategy and productivity are stressed as skills you’ll gain from this one, placing it high on the list of quick courses for general workers and managers who want to figure out how AI tools can actually help them speed up their daily tasks. Visit Coursera to get started on this one today.

Prompt Engineer Your Way Into AI Learning

AI won’t be fully taking over the world anytime soon. According to some, the hype cycle is already dying down.

But the overblown threat of AI wiping out entire career paths will likely give way to a more mundane reality: AI tools will slip into everyday use in tiny ways. AI won’t become a project manager, but project managers can use the right AI tools to become 10% more efficient when drafting emails or adding meetings to their calendar.

It’s all a matter of knowing what steps to take, which is why we have a host of guides ourself, from how to write AI prompts to creating your own resume templates to integrating a new ChatGPT-powered application into your workflow.

The Biden Administration is moving to ban Chinese software in self-driving vehicles – as the relationship between the two global superpowers continues to sour.

In a move that points to wider fears surrounding China’s technological influence, the federal government will soon roll out legislation to prevent Chinese companies from testing their technology on US soil. The federal government has already barred Huawei from selling products in the US and looks set to follow suit with TikTok.

Timelines are not forthcoming, but experts predict that the Department of Commerce (DoC) could table the bill within the next few weeks.

Chinese Automotive Tech in US Government Ban

According to Reuters, the DoC is putting finishing touches to a ban that would leave Chinese big tech companies, such as search engine giant Baidu, out in the cold.

As per the rule, Chinese software would be banned from vehicles with Level 3 automation and above. This refers to cars that fully ‘allow drivers to take their eyes off the road’ – from those that still require a driver, to fully autonomous robo-taxis.

China has been testing vehicles on US roads for years. Since 2017, autonomous vehicles have clocked up over 1.8 million miles in California alone. But this move could put a sizeable dent in the country’s status as top dog of the global market – with domestic production expected to reach 35 million vehicles by 2025.

China Pushes Back on Ban

Unsurprisingly, Chinese officials have been quick to voice their dissent. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned ‘the US’s generalization of the concept of national security and discriminatory practices.’ Retaliation is likely.

Relations between US and China have been tense in the last few years, with former President Donald Trump adopting a particularly hardline stance against the superpower, including banning Huawei from sale in the US. This latest move seeks to loosen China’s grip on the US market.

The news is set to divide opinion within the US. On the one hand, industry stakeholders will worry that this proposal could stifle innovation and growth. At the same time, it will likely be met with delight by people who are wary of China’s geopolitical power.

The news will likely also be welcomed by Elon Musk, whose Tesla line up faces increasing competition from Chinese companies, although he did recently speak out against the 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, imposed by Biden.

Global Supply Chains to Face Difficulties

It remains to be seen whether the federal government could enforce a piece of legislation as sweeping as this – but the impact across the automotive industry would be huge.

With cars made from an average of 30,000 parts, this proposal could ‘wreak havoc’ on supply chains around the world. Vendors would be forced to adopt new technologies at short notice, as well as proving to US regulators that they’re steering clear of Chinese software. For an automotive industry that is built upon a ‘”just-in-time” (JIT) supply-chain model,’ the impact could be disastrous.

Whatever the outcome, one thing is for certain – US national security anxieties are spiraling. Commerce is just the latest battleground in a long-running saga.

Running a restaurant is hard in the modern era. From the increasing price of ingredients to the persistence of labor shortages, it’s a wonder how anyone can stay in business for longer than a few months.

Traversing the complex web of challenges currently facing hospitality businesses is much easier, however, if you have digital systems designed specifically to enrich the customer experience and make your kitchen operations more organized.

With best-in-class systems for both the front-of-house and back-of-house operations, Toast can help accelerate the speed of service, improve overall productivity, and increase your spend-per-head. In this article, we’ll showcase some of these Toast systems, providing real-life testimonials from businesses that use and love them.

Toast Mobile Order & Pay®

Toast Mobile Order & Pay®  is designed to speed up your order processing operations substantially. Rather than a waiter taking a customer’s order, writing it on a piece of paper (or memorizing it somehow), and then inputting the order into a POS system on the other side of the restaurant, this solution enables customers to access the menu via a QR code and input their own order, which is then sent directly to the kitchen.

That’s only the first part, though. As the name suggests, Toast Mobile Order & Pay® also allows customers to pay from their seats as well, so there’s no need to flag down a waiter. Just close out via your mobile device, leave a tip (if you choose!), and you’ll be able to go about your day without a second more delay.

The proof is in the pudding that this kind of system is good for business, too. Toast has found that restaurants that use Toast Mobile Order & Pay®  solution are increasing revenue by 10% overall. On top of that, check size at those restaurants also increases by 9%, contributing to the long-term success of businesses.

It’s not just numbers backing up Toast Mobile Order & Pay® , either. Everyday users, like Kevin Healy, a restaurant owner, have a lot of positive things to say about it, because yes, change can be scary, but it can also be great for business.

“Speed of service is better for everyone. Not having to wait to do the administrative work of cashing out, that’s better for everyone. Being able to order what you want, when you want – that’s better. Is it exactly the same? No, it’s not, but I believe it’s a better experience.”

Healy noted that guests having the option to order directly from their phones was not only encouraging them to order more, but to tip better as well, leading to increased wages for staff.

“Almost every one of our hourly employees is making 25-30% more this year than they were last year, and we have experienced a 30% sales decline due to the pandemic. To be able to give our staff a raise to that amount during a pandemic is groundbreaking.”

Perhaps more importantly, the Toast Mobile Order & Pay® system allows you to operate efficiently and effectively even if you’re short on staff. Even a small team will still be able to help customers, run food, and bus tables for a large crowd, because that crowd will be effectively taking their own orders.

Toast Kitchen Display System

The only way for guests to order on their mobile devices and receive a hot meal is if the kitchen can somehow receive their order. Luckily, with the Kitchen Display System from Toast, that’s exactly what they do.

This handy device can be set up in your kitchen with a variety of mounting options, allowing your back-of-house staff to stay in touch with front-of-house without requiring face-to-face interactions. You’ll get accurate readings with in-depth item counts, which means your chefs can focus on preparing the food rather than reading a display. Plus, with multiple language support, you can be sure that everyone on your team knows what they need to do.

It may be hard to believe that a simple POS system could have that big of an impact on efficiency and productivity in the restaurant industry. But when you hear about the actual process from those who use it, like John Myers, General Manager at Eventide Holdings, it’s easy to see how this kind of solution could speed things up.

“The order is immediately fired to the kitchen display screen (KDS) for the expeditor and the hot line. With the KDS, the people working the line know exactly how many burger patties and fish filets they need to be prepping at any moment. The expeditor sees that too. It adds a new level of non-verbal communication. As each order is completed, the expeditor taps a button on the KDS, and the guest is notified via text message.”

Like Toast Mobile Order & Pay®, the Kitchen Display System has been proven to make life easier for restaurants that use it. In fact, a restaurant in Dublin City called BANG found that ticket turn time sped up by more than 6% after installing the device, substantially improving customer satisfaction. And if you ask the staff, they’ll tell you how much this POS really does for the restaurant.

“If we could get it to carry our bus tubs… That’s the only thing it’s not doing for us.” – Thelma, waitress at BANG

The combination of Toast Mobile Order & Pay® system and the Kitchen Display System is a no-brainer when it comes to shoring up your restaurant to endure labor shortages. These tools are designed to streamline your front-of-house and back-of-house operations, so your team, no matter how short-staffed, can still keep the customers happy.

Dare we dream of swapping the 5 day work week for a 4 day weekend? According to a recent interview with Bill Gates, we could be heading that way, although it may not be for some time.

As the 4-day workweek movement gathers momentum, with plenty of successful trials bolstering confidence in the scheme, could the 3-day week be next?

Gates attributes the possibility of a shorter workweek to the aid of AI, although in other parts of the world, the workweek is getting extended, with Greece recently introducing a six day week, and South Korea following suit in some industries.

Bill Gates Predicts the 3-Day Workweek

In Trevor Noah’s What Now podcast, aired this week, Gates told Noah that an increase in dependence on tech meant that we could get to a point as a society where a three day work week is probable.

“If you eventually get a society where you only have to work three days a week, that’s probably OK”, mused Gates, stating that machines can handle the mundane daily tasks such as ‘making the food and stuff’.

It’s a stark contrast to the fear mongering around AI taking jobs, or even ending civilization as we know it, instead painting a much more idyllic picture of a tech-enhanced future.

The Rise of the 4-Day Workweek

Before we can get to the 3-day week, we need to agree on a the 4-day workweek, first. The positive news is that there are plenty of studies that have taken place, and that are still underway, that show that businesses can not just cope with a shorter week, but thrive.

One of the biggest studies to date, a UK pilot that involved 61 companies, was heralded as a huge success, with 56 of those companies that took part stating that they would continue with the 4-day week after the trial.

We’re also seeing more and more companies, in the US and globally, adopting a 4-day workweek. Among those that are offering the benefit are Amazon, Microsoft and Kickstarter. If you’re craving a shorter week, it might be worth brushing up your resume and checking out the companies that offer a 4-day week.

Need-to-know statistics about the 4-day workweek

The 6-Day Workweek?

While many of us are looking forward to the utopia of a three of four day week, there are other workers out there who aren’t quite as lucky.

Spare a thought for the Greek workers who have been asked to work an extra day, as the company struggles to prop up a dwindling economy. The move mainly affects the agricultural and service sectors, and those who are asked to work a sixth day can expect a supplement of 40% of their daily wage.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Greek workers, who already work the longest hours in Europe.

Other countries may be set to follow Greece. Several influential companies in South Korea have started exploring the 6-day week, asking managers to work longer in response to weak consumer spending.

The good news is that extending the workweek is an anomaly, and the 4-day workweek is seen as the future by more and more companies each day. We may be some way off Bill Gates’ dream of the 3-day week, but a shorter work week is certainly within reaching distance.

If you’d like to experience the 4-day workweek, why not ask your manager?

Reddit is planning for an AI future: The social platform plans to add AI-capability to its site-wide search functions later this year, according to its CEO.

CEO Steve Huffman just mentioned the news in the company’s latest earnings call, saying they’d be testing the tools, which are designed to “summarize and recommend content.” Reddit will also be experimenting with paywalled subreddits as a new revenue stream, Huffman mentioned in the same call.

AI hype has been sweeping the tech community for years now. Despite some signs that the bubble may be deflating, the tech’s impact will certainly continue to be felt for the foreseeable future.

What Changes Does Reddit Have Planned?

The new AI-powered search result summaries are the biggest upcoming change that was announced in the recent earnings call, according to a report from Engadget, which notes that this is just the second such call since Reddit became a publicly traded company in March 2024.

“Later this year, we will begin testing new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit.” -Huffman

There’s no word on when these tests will start or how quickly the tools might be coming to the average Reddit user, although Huffman did say that they’ll use first-party and third-party models. The hope is that ads can be run alongside search results within the Reddit platform, giving the company’s advertising revenue a shot in the arm.

Non-advertising revenue boosts are being explored as well, with paywalled subreddits at the top of the list.

“I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has. But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.” -Huffman

Reddit’s Been Making a Lot of Changes

As one of the biggest social platforms around, Reddit has a great legacy when it comes to search engines: Plenty of internet users have started adding “reddit” to the end of their Google searches, simply to ensure that they receive the credible responses that they need in the wake of unpopular tweaks to the Google algorithm.

Ironically, some of those algorithm tweaks are themselves AI-powered tools that sound fairly similar to the summary-generators that Reddit plans to debut.

The company previously announced plans to sell user data to Google for use in training AI models, and saw some growing pains last year when some users protested its API changes.

What do Reddit users themselves think of the changes Reddit leadership is adapting in the wake of its recent IPO? Their thoughts might be best summed up by the top comment on a thread, posted earlier this year, that asks the question “Why does Reddit want to become a public company?” The comment simply reads: “$.”

AI Upskilling May Be the Future of Work

AI tools are everywhere, whether you want them or not. It remains to be seen whether Reddit’s big bet on AI summaries will pay off with increased engagement and boosted value, but another group of interested parties can already see the benefits of figuring out AI tools.

Workers everywhere are rushing to upskill their ability to understand and use AI in order to secure their job positions and aim for the next rung up on their career ladders.

According to a new report out a little over a week ago from the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium, an impressive 92% of all jobs in information and communication technology fields will experience “high or moderate transformation” due to AI.

Top areas in which employees will need to upskill? AI literacy, AI preparedness, data analytics, and prompt engineering. The good news is that you can find plenty of free online courses to help you handle all of those areas of improvement. We’ve rounded up the best ones to help you start — unless, of course, you’d prefer to wait until Reddit has an AI summary tool up and running to help you instead.

Meta ran more than 450 paid advertisements across its platforms – including Facebook and Instagram – in a mere 15 weeks for the sale of prescription and recreational drugs, according to a new investigation.

That’s despite Mark Zuckerberg’s company joining the Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms in March and, at the same time, pledging to “disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online.”

In addition to ads on Instagram and Facebook for highly addictive opioids such as codeine and OxyContin, the research also surfaced posts appearing to market recreational drugs MDMA and ecstasy.

452 Ads for Drugs

The investigation was carried out by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) – a research initiative that “seeks to hold large technology companies accountable.”

It searched for ads selling drugs on Meta’s platforms in the 15 weeks from March 1st this year, specifically searching for terms such as ‘OxyContin,’ ‘Xanax,’ ‘codeine’ and ‘pure coke.’ It also looked for ad content that included the terms ‘WhatsApp’ and ‘t.me’ (i.e. Telegram), on the basis that the encrypted messaging apps are often used by online drug dealers looking to protect their identities.

Over the course of that period, TTP identified a total of 452 ads for drugs across Meta’s Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Audience Network platforms. 405 were discovered on Instagram.

The reach of those combined ads, TTP says, amounts to in excess of 2.5 million users.

However, the organization estimates that this is only a fraction of the total ads – and thus users reached – with the limitations of Meta’s Ad Library meaning it was unable to capture further examples.

Meta Violating Its Own Policies

The research findings are an embarrassment for Meta and its President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, after he announced on March 15th that the company had joined the Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he branded the “opioid epidemic as a major public health issue that requires action from all parts of US society.”

The opioid epidemic is a major public health issue that requires action from all parts of US society. That’s why @Meta has joined the Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms alongside the @StateDept @UNODC & @Snapchat to help disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online + educate users…

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) March 15, 2024

He also announced that the company would join up with the Department of State, UN Office on Drugs & Crime, and Snapchat to “help disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online + educate users about the risks.”

The volume of drugs ads still proliferating on Meta’s platforms violates the company’s own policies as well as US law, TTP says. They’re in breach, for example, of Facebook’s Community Standards to prevent the attempt to sell high-risk and non-medicinal drugs.

“Ads must not promote the sale or use of illicit or recreational drugs, or other unsafe substances, products or supplements, as determined by Meta at its sole discretion.” – Meta Advertising Standards

Recreational Drugs and Unsafe Substances

The TTP includes various examples of the different kinds of ads that it discovered during its investigation, including one that clearly shows a images of OxyContin and Xanax packages.

In another, there are piles of brightly coloured pills and crystals with the words ‘MDMA’ and ‘Ecstasy’ next to them.

“The presence of these ads on Meta platforms raises questions about statements by Meta executives about how the company is doing its utmost to keep users safe.” – Tech Transparency Project

While an ad purporting to be from ‘A2X Pharmacy’ markets a range of drugs – including Oxy, Xanax, Fentanyl – offers a 50% discount and free, overnight delivery.

One of the world’s biggest tech companies is about to become ‘leaner’, after Dell announced to its employees that it would be laying off further staff.

Just a few weeks after its workers expressed their dissatisfaction at Dell’s return to office policy, the company sent a memo to staff on Monday to notify them of the impending redundancies and cited the need for “streamlining layers of management”. It’s the second consecutive year that Dell has made significant cuts to its workforce.

The memo also alluded to Dell’s ambition to improve growth by further embracing AI technology within the organization.

Fewer Jobs, More Growth

The cull was originally reported by Bloomberg, after a memo sent out to staff was leaked. Addressed from Dell’s President of Global Sales and Customer Operations (Bill Scannell) and Global Channels President (John Byrne), it told employees that the company was getting “leaner” and that it is “streamlining layers of management and reprioritizing where we invest”.

Although the final number of layoffs has yet to be confirmed by Dell, it’s thought that in excess of 12,000 employees will be let go from the company – roughly 10% of its current workforce.

The memo went on to justify the move by explaining that it was necessary in order to “grow faster than the market by seamlessly meeting our customers and partners online, virtually, or in person, to unlock the value of modern IT and AI for their organizations”.

“Through a reorganization of our go-to-market teams and an ongoing series of actions, we are becoming a leaner company.” – Dell spokesperson

Combining Teams and Prioritizing Investment

In follow-up correspondence with The Register, Dell again referred to the need to be “leaner” and said that it was looking to “continually evolve our business”.

It’s no great leap to assume that this evolution will be based around the use of AI. Dell has invested a great deal on AI technologies over the last year and expressly referred to its value in the memo.

“We are combining teams and prioritizing where we invest across the company,” it told The Register.

2024: The Year of the Layoff

It’s unlikely that too many Dell staff will be completely shocked by the executives’ decision to cull jobs. Last year, Dell made substantial cuts to its workforce, ultimately ditching over 10,000 jobs to bring its total number of employees down to around the 120,000-mark. And the company’s aggressive return to office policy was seen by many as intended to “thin the herd”.

If they weren’t indications enough, then anybody paying attention to the swathe of redundancies around the tech industry this year could have imagined that Dell might well be next.

It’s in prestigious company. Google kicked off 2024 with two rounds of job cuts, accounting for over 1,000 of its staff. Amazon did likewise, announcing hundreds of job losses across its healthcare units and around 500 dismissals from Twitch.

Since then, the likes of Mozilla, Cisco and Apple have all succumbed to job cuts, with Intel announcing a massive layoff of 15,000 employees only last week.

X, formerly Twitter, is set to end its 18-year residence in the Californian city of San Francisco, with the Elon Musk-owned social media platform closing its office there in the forthcoming weeks.

While no employees are reported to be at risk of losing their jobs, they will be required to move offices to San Jose – roughly 50 miles south-east of the current location.

It comes as a further blow to X staff who have previously been stopped from working remotely, and follows Musk’s decision last month to move the headquarters of his operations away from California to Austin, Texas.

‘Right Decision for Company’

Originally reported by the New York Times, news of the San Francisco office closure came from a leaked internal email sent from the company to affected employees.

Sent from X Corp’s CEO Linda Yaccarino, the email acknowledged the impact the decision would have on staff, but asserted that it was “the right one for our company in the long term”.

In addition to the option for displaced employees to find their way to San Jose, the email also informed recipients that a new engineering-focused office in Palo Alto (also California’s Bay Area) would be used by Musk’s xAI branch.

“This is an important decision that impacts many of you, but it is the right one for our company in the long term” – Linda Yaccarino, Chief Executive Officer of X Corp

Leaving California

Although X has had its headquarters in San Francisco since it was founded as Twitter in 2006, Elon Musk took to the platform to explain that he had “No choice” in the decision:

No choice. It is impossible to operate in San Francisco if you’re processing payments.

That’s why Stripe, Block (CashApp) & others had to move.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2024

In July, the billionaire announced that X Corps’ headquarters would move from California to Austin, Texas, apparently as a response to new state legislation in the former relating the removal of requirements from schools to notify parents when children change their gender identification.

The writing was probably on the wall for the closure as long as a year ago, with reports that Musk was refusing to pay rent on the San Francisco office in June 2023.

Elon Musk and X/Twitter

Since his takeover of Twitter in 2022, Musk has continually courted controversy and made headlines regarding his running of the company – not least renaming it X in July last year.

Firings began just hours after Musk took control, as the entrepreneur sought to cut costs and assert his authority over the company. They may have been the first job terminations, but certainly weren’t the last; Musk fired staff for policing hate speech and misinformation in January last year.

In a hope to remedy ailing ad revenue, Musk has been looking at ways to better monetize the social media platform and brought in charges for new X users in certain territories.

And his constant tinkering with the platform has led many critics – including us! – to put forward that X is worse under Musk since his takeover; from verification changes and removal of news headlines from articles, to the rebrand as a whole and decision to reinstate banned accounts.

Google is a monopolist. That’s the verdict of a District Judge in their summing up of an antitrust action brought by the US Justice Department against its parent company Alphabet Inc.

If upheld after the inevitable appeal, the decision could have a seismic impact on the future of online search and advertising and pose a further threat to the stranglehold held by Google.

While the penalties facing Google and Alphabet are yet to be decided – a process that could take months, or even years, to resolve – the plaintiff has suggested that it may pursue a full-scale breaking up of the search giant’s structure.

Monopoly or Market Dominance?

Almost a year after the action was initially brought, District Judge Amit Mehta delivered the lengthy ruling on Monday that included the headline judgment: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”

Specifically, it is the company’s dogged pursuit to be the default search engine on web browsers and new smartphones that has landed it in hot water.

Mehta cited, for example, the $26 billion that Google spent on agreements in 2021 to safeguard its default presence as the de facto search engine on such devices and browsers.

He referred to this as “extremely valuable real estate”, meaning that the abuse of its monopoly unfairly impedes competing search engines such as Microsoft’s Bing.

“This victory against Google is an historic win for the American people. No company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.” Merrick Garland, United States Attorney General

What Next for Google?

Unsurprisingly, representatives from Alphabet have already stated an intention to appeal the court’s decision, expressing that it is the quality of the product – rather than unlawful actions – that has resulted in its 89.2% market share of search engine usage.

In a response to the ruling from the company’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, said: “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”

The appeal process will not be one that is quickly resolved. But in addition to any penalties eventually decided, it is understood that the US government will also bid for “structural relief” of the company, potentially leading to a break up of the company’s operations.

Googlewhacked

This is the latest in a growing list of successful actions taken against Google and Alphabet. And it isn’t the first time that they have fallen foul of antitrust litigation, with the European Commission fining them €1.49 billion in 2019 for abusive online practices.

More recently, Google settled a lawsuit in relation to Chrome’s “incognito” mode. It was alleged that it was covertly tracking user data while they browsed, with an a potential settlement value of between $5 billion and $8 billion.

And in February this year, Google agreed to pay $350 million in a data privacy class action lawsuit, which resulted from the tech giant accidentally exposing user data following a software malfunction.

As the old adage goes, money doesn’t grow on trees: but it might be easier to access than you think, thanks to the growing number of private grants available to small businesses.

Whether you’re unfairly impacted by systematic barriers, or simply lack the capital needed to get your idea off the ground, private grants can provide lifelines to small businesses by enabling them to grow without tying them down with the debts associated with business loans.

Interested in securing a grant for your business? We’ve rounded up six exciting opportunities that close this month – alongside their funding amounts and eligibility criteria – to help you shoot your shot while you still have the chance.

Small Business Grants to Apply For in August 2024

Traditional financing isn’t the only route to get ahead. Check whether you’re eligible for any of these small business grants:

1. Xero Beautiful Business Fund
2. Future of Women at Work Grant
3. Amika: rooted in growth
4. Visión Verde Grant
5. Faire Small Business Grant
6. Pure Leaf Tea Break Grants Program 

1. Xero Beautiful Business Fund

• For: Small businesses
• Grantor: Xero
• Amount: Up to $42.5k

The Xero Beautiful Business Fund is an initiative designed to financially support small businesses all over the world. The accounting software provider has pledged to provide over $460,000 in support to successful applicants from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, with four winners being selected from each country.

Prizes will be allocated to winners across four distinct categories: innovating for environmental sustainability, trailblazing with technology, strengthening community connection, and upskilling for the future, with up to $42.5k in funding up for grabs in total.

If you’re interested in taking a punt, you need to complete the entry form, upload a 90-second pitch video, and answer a selection of questions. You also need to be a Xero customer to be in with a chance of winning.

• Deadline: August 27, 2024

Learn more and apply here

2. Future of Women at Work Grant

• For: Women entrepreneurs
• Grantor: StitchCrew
• Amount: Up to $10k

If you’re a female entrepreneur, or your business is over 50% women-owned, you could be in with a chance of winning up to $10k from StitchCrew’s Future of Women at Work Grant. Alongside the non-dilutive funding, winners are invited to participate in an all-person retreat where they can meet other participants and industry stakeholders.

The grant program caters to businesses in the care economy – specifically childcare, eldercare, long-term care, and household management – and businesses that focus on emerging technology like workplace collaboration tools and talent recruitment. To apply for StitchCrew’s grant, you need to be women-owned, be based in the US, and have an existing business with the ambition to scale.

• Deadline: August 24, 2024

Learn more and apply here

3. Amika: rooted in growth

• For: Professional hair brand founders
• Grantor: Innovation Studio
• Amount: $50k

Amika: rooted in growth is a targeted grants and mentorship program powered by Innovation Studio. The opportunity, which was designed to support emerging professional hair brand founders, picks out four lucky winners, who receive $50,000 in finding – making it one of the most generous programs on this list – a 4-month mentorship program, and valuable networking opportunities with the amika team and industries leaders.

Successful applicants also get travel and accommodation to Brooklyn covered for the program kickoff meeting in October 2023, and an industry tradeshow in February. If you’re looking to get recognized in the professional hair industry, this opportunity by Innovation Studio is too good to miss.

To be eligible, you need to own a brand focused on hair and hair care, aspire to be in the professional channel, make no more than $2m in annual revenue, and be based in the US.

• Deadline: August 17, 2024

Learn more and apply here

4. Visión Verde Grant

• For: Hispanic entrepreneurs in the alcohol industry
• Grantor: Bacardi U.S.A
• Amount: $10k

Visión Verde is a multi-pronged grant designed to support Latinx and Hispanic entrepreneurs within the beverage alcohol service, sales, and hospitality industries. Successful applicants will receive $10,000 in funding which they will be able to use to promote sustainability and environmental consciousness via education and mentorship.

Applicants must be majority Latino/Hispanic-owned, be residents of the US, and be committed to engaging with various elements of the program including collaborating with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation & Bacardi team on comms creation. To apply, you need to answer a number of simple questions relating to your business journey, your motivators, and how the grant will allow you to meet your sustainability needs.

• Deadline: August 25, 2024

Learn more and apply here

5. Faire Small Business Grant

• For: Small businesses
• Grantor: Faire
• Amount: $5k in Faire stock

Faire is an online wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers from all over the world. The company has recently launched a Small Business Grant Program that gives select new stores $5,000 worth of credit to use on Faire stock. This credit can be used on anything in the Faire store and is eligible for brick-and-mortar locations as well as online stores.

To be in with a chance of winning, you need to be an independent retail store based in the US and have started your business in 2023-2024 (or plan to open in 2024). You’ll also have to send off a video submission and carry out soft credit checks. However, since the deadline isn’t until the last day of August, you have a bit more time to build and refine your application.

• Deadline: August 31, 2024

Learn more and apply here

6. Pure Leaf Tea Break Grants Program

• • For: Organizations that promote employee wellbeing

• Grantor: Pure Leaf
• Amount: $5k to $20k

The Pure Leaf Tea Break Grants Program was designed to improve the experience of employees in the workplace and is part of Pure Leaf’s national campaign to promote tea break culture in the US. The scheme is open to small businesses and 501(c)(3) nonprofits that promote employee well-being and revitalization and is run in partnership with Mind Share Partners, a nonprofit that focuses on workplace mental health.

The size of the grant will depend on the organization’s number of full-time employees, with the smallest sum being $5,000 and the largest being $20,000. To be eligible to apply, you need to be a US resident employed by a non-profit business or 501(c)(3), and the organization needs to have less than 250 employees.

• Deadline: August 22, 2024

Learn more and apply here

What Should I Include in My Business Grant Proposal?

The type of proposal you submit will depend massively on your type of business and the funding opportunity you are applying for. Some grantors won’t even ask you to submit a proposal, and will vet you through other methods like questionnaires instead.

However, if you want your grant proposal to be a success, there are a number of important touchpoints to bear in mind:

• Include a cover letter – Just like job applications, including a well-written cover letter will maximize your draft proposals’ competitive advantage. The document should succinctly state your intentions, and summarize the main points in your proposal. You can use AI cover letter generators to get you started, just be sure to triple-check the output before you attach it to your application.
• Describe your project – You should kick-start your proposal by describing your project. This should include detailed information about your project’s timeline and budget, the size of your team, and why you’re a worthy recipient of the grant. This should be limited to two pages or under to ensure it’s as concise as possible.
• Include your budget – Now it is time to drill down the number and explain what you plan to do with the money. For best practice, support the information with engaging visuals like tables and graphs, stay within funding limits, and be as specific as possible.
• Attach relevant documents – Different grantors will have different requirements, but you may be asked to submit accompanying documents like a business plan, financial statement, and letters of support. Tipple-check what documents you need before firing off your application.

The chance of your boss demanding you back into the office full-time appears to be dwindling, with new research from Flex Index revealing that only 3% of tech CEOs support strict return-to-office mandates in 2024 – a 5% decrease from last year.

The report also found that the tech industry is leading the way when it comes to flexibility, with the majority of tech CEOs letting workers work wherever they like, challenging the notion that employees need to collaborate in-person to be productive.

However, with companies like Dell and Meta remaining steadfast when it comes to scrapping remote work – much to the disdain of their employees – there are still a number of exceptions to prove the rule.

Only 3% of Tech CEO Want Employees In the Office Full-Time

For much of 2023 and 2024, the media landscape has been brimming with stories of tech CEOs, sometimes aggressively, demanding workers back into the office. These notices haven’t been taken kindly by a lot of workers, many of whom had been allowed to work from anywhere since the pandemic.

However, much to the delight of remote workers, new research from the global insight platform Flex Index reveals that many CEOs have given up on RTO policies.

Specifically, out of the 2,670 companies surveyed, only 3% of CEOs want workers back into the office full-time, compared to 8% in 2024. Instead, 56% of leaders are now opting for a more liberal ’employee’s choice’ model, which gives workers agency over where they decide to work. This is compared to only 36% of CEOs that embraced this policy in 2023.

Not only does the employee’s choice model make the company more attractive to new recruits, but it’s also more likely to appease the desires of current employees. What’s more, while the assumption may be that most workers faced with this choice would choose to work from home more, avoiding the cost and effort associated with the morning commute, the results from Flex Index found that most workers choose to work from the office at least a couple of days a week if the option is available.

These result chimes with findings from Tech.co’s own workplace report, which found that 38% of employees at hybrid working organizations choose to come into the office more than they are required, and questions the notion that employers have to crack down on remote work to get staffers back into physical offices.

Small Tech Companies Are More Likely to be Flexible

Despite a handful of larger tech firms offering fully-remote jobs, Flex Index’s research revealed that small companies are spearheading the flexible work movement. Specifically, while 97% of companies with under 500 employees consider themselves as ‘fully flexible’ this figure drops to 60% for companies with 500 – 5k employees, and to 23% for companies with over 25k.

Large companies are still open to some form of flexible work, however. Flex Index found that the majority of companies with over 5k employees have mandated a ‘structured hybrid’ policy, that calls workers into the office at least a couple of days a week, while less than 4% want workers in full time.

With large tech firms being responsible for higher office overheads, and generally being less capable of adopting flexible HR policies, these results are hardly supprising. Yet, while the pendulum appears to be swinging on stringent return to office mandates, this isn’t the case for all companies.

Many Big Tech Firms Are Still Cracking the Whip

At the start of 2024, US tech company Dell rolled out a controversial RTO mandate that called workers back into the office or risk not advancing their career as a result. Unsurprisingly, this ultimatum wasn’t embraced warmly by employees, with 50% of Dell’s workforce deciding to forgo career opportunities by continuing to work from home.

A number of other major companies have also followed in Dell’s footsteps, with IBM, Bank of America, and WebMB also rolling out strict return-to-office policies this year. In an ironic twist, even Zoom  – a company that has been instrumental in supporting the remote work revolution – flip-flopped on the policy last August, sending a signal that no employee is exempt from the crackdown.

CEOs backing the policy will argue that in-office working is crucial for a convivial company culture, successful collaboration, and as a result, enhanced productivity. Yet, for many workers, forcing their hard with mandatory RTO policies will never be the secret sauce for company success, and may result in them seeking more flexible policies elsewhere.

If this resonates with you, check out some exciting fully-remote jobs to apply for this August.

It’s hard to deny the allure of remote work in 2024, particularly over the last few summer months. The idea of being able to maintain a flexible work schedule and ditch the commute has been a sought-after perk for employees in virtually every industry.

So, how do you actually find one of these remote jobs? After all, many businesses around the world have started instituting return-to-office mandates, threatening employees with everything from stunted professional development to full-on disciplinary actions.

Luckily, there are still some companies out there that are hiring for remote roles, and we’ve done the legwork to help you find some. Check out the list of remote jobs and come back every month to see what kind of roles have popped up since your last search.

Google

That’s right, there are remote jobs available at Google, ever heard of it? It’s only one of the biggest tech firms in the world, regularly lauded for its top tier employee perks and benefits packages. In fact, Google is consistently considered one of the best companies to work for, and that definitely includes when you work from home.

According to the Google careers website as of writing this guide, the company is currently hiring for 34 positions that are eligible for remote work. This number has been waning over the last few months, pointing to Google’s effort to get employees back in the office. For now, though, you still have some options.

We’ve listed the location of the positions, not because they aren’t remote, but because considerations like time zones and potential travel are always important to consider.

• Cloud Security Consultant (New York, NY, USA)
• Industry Executive, Federal Research, Public Sector (Reston, VA, USA)
• Senior Intelligence Analyst, Mandiant (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• Supplier Quality Engineer, Thermals (Texas, USA)
• Senior Staff Software Engineer, Infrastructure, Google Cloud (Warsaw, Poland)
• Senior Analyst, Strategic Intelligence and Government (Taiwan)
• Senior Motion Designer, Google Workspace (Boulder, CO, USA)
• Manager, Mandiant Proactive Services, Google Cloud (Toronto, Canada)
• Manufacturing Engineer (Prague, Czech Republic)
• Cybersecurity Delivery Manager Consultant, Mandiant, Google Cloud (Atlanta, GA, USA)

For a better look at the work-from-home jobs available at Google, be sure to check back on a monthly basis, as we develop a specific guide to Google remote positions to help you nab that dream job on the couch.

Zapier

There are some companies, like Google, where most of the roles available are not remote, with a smattering of remote options for positions that make sense. At these jobs, you always have to wonder and worry about whether or not a return-to-office mandate is right around the corner.

Then, there are companies like Zapier, where the entire workforce is remote. With Zapier, that’s exactly what you get, as the company has been a fully remote workplace since 2012. There are currently 17 open positions on the Zapier career page as of writing, all of which are remote.

• Senior Product Manager, SEO
• Influencer Marketing Manager
• Lead Product Manager, Global Channel Partnerships
• Manager, Paid Support
• Channel Partner Manager, Services
• Backend Engineer, Edge
• Engineering Manager, Editor AI
• Vice President, Marketing
• Senior Engineer, Fullstack (Chatbots, Canvas)

The company provides workflow automation software, which lends itself to remote work more than other jobs, so you can be sure you won’t be forced into the office, because there isn’t one.

GoDaddy

We’ve talked a lot about GoDaddy on Tech.co, namely about the effectiveness of the GoDaddy website builder for beginners due to its ease of use. Beyond that, though, GoDaddy is a company that has been prioritizing flexible work schedules for its employees, and that could help you land a remote job today.

On the GoDaddy career page, the company notes that they are “super flexible around schedules, kids, and dogs,” so you can feel comfortable applying, even if you have some constraints on your time. There are currently 84 remote positions at GoDaddy, and we’ve listed some of your options below:

• Vice President Corporate Development (Kirkland, WA, USA)
• Senior Principal Security Engineer Information Security (India)
• Senior UX Engineer (Ontario, Canada)
• Workforce Analyst (Romania)
• Sales Representative-B2B Merchant Services (USA)
• Senior Marketing Specialist – Portuguese (Colombia)
• Senior Site Reliability Engineer (United Kingdom)
• Principal Software Engineer – AWS Cloud (Alberta, Canada)
• Director of Product Management Security (USA)

If you’ve gotten comfortable with a side hustle, you don’t have to worry about that getting in the way at GoDaddy either. In fact, even with remote roles, GoDaddy provides resource groups that can help you turn your fun hobby into a legitimate side hustle to support your dreams even more.

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is an internet privacy company that developed the browser of the same name. It was founded in 2008 and has been staunchly committed to keeping your internet privacy safe through non-tracking functionality for its platforms. This forward-thinking attitude towards tech has led to the company embracing remote work in a major way.

DuckDuckGo is a smaller team than some of the other companies on the list, which is why the nine roles listed below are the only open positions currently available on the DuckDuckGo career page. Still, they are all work from home jobs, so you have your pick of the litter.

• Senior C++ Engineer
• Design Director, Brand and Marketing
• Legal Counsel, Product
• Senior Backend Engineer
• Global Payroll Manager
• Senior Creative Designer – Brand & Marketing
• Lead, Business Development and Partnerships
• Engineering Director, Site Reliability
• Senior Software Engineer, Windows Desktop App

DuckDuckGo isn’t just about privacy on browsers, either. In fact, if you want to be a bit more secure when using ChatGPT, check out our guide to using DuckDuckGo in a way that can keep your data out of the hands of OpenAI.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a business software company that develops online tools for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. Remote workers around the world are empowered by HubSpot products to work from home thanks to the robust features that can enable professional operations from a device pretty much anywhere.

Fortunately, HubSpot has taken that to heart and allows many of its employees to work from home as well. The HubSpot career page shows that it is currently offering 95 positions that are eligible for remote work, which represents nearly half of all their open positions around the world.

• Senior Business Analyst (USA)
• Mid Market Growth Specialist – Benelux (Madrid, Spain)
• Account Executive – Small Business (Ontario, Canada)
• Senior Manager, Sales Strategy & Operations (Ireland)
• Staff Software Engineer (USA)
• Customer Support Specialist (Germany)
• Senior Marketing Technology Manager, AI (USA)
• Technical Lead, Backend (United Kingdom)
• VP of Product, Operations Hub (USA)
• Solutions Engineer (France)

Again, the location is listed on these roles, but only to help potential applications understand where the role is based, not to discourage potential remote workers. After all, working in India while based in the US could be hard given the time zone situation.

Are you one of America’s 50 million Cash App users? If so, you could be entitled to a pay out after the company has found itself at the center of a settlement.

The case revolves around data breaches that the company experienced, with claims that Cash App didn’t go far enough to protect its customers.

Read on to find out more about the settlement, how you can claim, and when you need to make your application by.

Cash App in $15 Million Data Breach Settlement

Cash App has found itself in the middle of a class action settlement, with the plaintiff arguing that it didn’t do enough to protect customers from data breaches between 2022 and 2023.

The aim of the case, Salinas, et al. v. Block Inc., et al., Case No. 3:22-cv-04823-AMO, is to seek compensation for those whose details were illegally accessed by third parties as a result of the data breaches, including those that lost money via fraudulent transactions.

Cash App has denied any wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay out $15 million to customers that have been affected.

Want to work remotely? Check out our guide to remote data entry jobs.

Who is Eligible for Cash App Data Breach Settlement?

If you want to claim in the Cash App settlement, you’ll first need to make sure that you are eligible. You must:

• Current or past Cash App customer (you don’t need to still use the service)
• Personal information obtained without consent
• And/or experienced fraudulent transactions between August 23 2018, and August 20 2024.

If you meet the above criteria, you can claim.

Find out if you’re eligible for the $1.2 million Direct Express settlement

How To Claim in Cash App Data Breach Settlement

If you’re eligible and want to claim in the Cash App settlement, you’ll need to complete a form via the official settlement site. If you received a Notice ID and Confirmation Code, have those to hand. If you didn’t, you can still apply.

You may also need to have receipts, credit card statements, police reports, or anything else that can prove you have been involved in, and affected by, the data breaches.

Those who don’t want to be part of the settlement must raise their objection by November 1 2024.

In terms of the pay out, this will vary depending on the severity of the individual’s case, and the affect that the data breach has had, but those involved in the settlement are entitled up to $2,500.

Claims must be submitted by November 18 2024, with the final court hearing scheduled for December 16 2024. Assuming no complications or further objections, payments will follow after this date.

In the latest big tech layoff, Intel revealed that it is cutting 15,000 employees, representing 15% of the company’s total staff.

In a memo to employees, CEO Pat Gelsinger blamed the decision on poor financial performance, and an urgent need to slash costs.

While job losses in the tech industry have slowed since the start of the year, the industry still remains volatile, as the latest move from Intel indicates.

Intel Lays Off 15,000 Employees

On Thursday, Intel announced to its employees, via a statement, that it was making huge cuts to its staffing levels, with 15,000 employees, 15% of its entire workforce, in the firing line.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who penned the post, blamed Intel’s waning profit margins for the move, stating that the company’s costs are currently too high, and its margins too low, creating an urgent need to reduce spending, with a ‘tougher than expected’ financial outlook for the second half of 2024.

The company’s last notable round of layoffs occurred in 2023, when it let got around 500 members of staff, but this latest announcement considerably dwarfs that move.

Intel’s Plan for the Future

In the statement, Gelsinger outlines Intel’s plan for the future, which he states will make the company ‘leaner, simpler and more agile’. They are:

Reduce operating costs: Reducing spending where possible, including the job losses already announced

Simplifying Intel’s Portfolio: Gelsinger announced that each area of the business is to review its portfolios and identify ‘underperforming products’.

Eliminating complexity: One of the themes of the move from Gelsinger, simplicity, involves ‘eliminating overlapping areas of responsibility’ and ‘stopping non essential work’. Some teams will be consolidated.

Reducing Capital and Other Costs: Capital expenditures are to be reduced by 20% in 2024, with all active projects and equipment being reviewed.

Suspending Dividend: Stock dividend is to be suspended next quarter.

Maintaining growth investments: Gelsinger states that the company’s IDM2.0 strategy is to stay on course, with investments in technology and core leadership being maintained.

Tech Industry Still at Risk from Layoffs

The tech industry has had a rough few years coming out of the pandemic, and job losses are sadly nothing new. Most of the big job cuts tend to happen at the start of the year. We saw this from the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and eBay, all shedding thousands of jobs each.

Intel’s announcement this week is a grim reminder that the industry as a whole is still highly volatile, with dwindling revenue margins making staff easy targets for quick cost reduction. Intel had been riding high before and during the pandemic, achieving a net income of around $20 billion each year from 2018 to 2021, suffering a sharp drop to $8 billion in 2022, and a further fall to $1.68 billion in 2023.

There are signs that Intel may be pinning its hopes on a reversal of fortune on AI. In his statement, Gelsinger notes that the company has ‘yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI’. One of the key components of IBM’s current strategy is ‘AI everywhere’, so it’s likely that these investments have yet to pay off. However, it’s a crowded landscape, with every tech company currently putting its weight behind AI, despite some scepticism from consumers.

This won’t be the last lay off announcement from the tech industry in 2024, but it will surely be one of the largest.

Artificial intelligence could actually be hurting your bottom line, with a new study showing that mentions of the groundbreaking technology are making average customers distrustful of brands.

There’s no denying that AI has become the next big thing in tech. AI chatbots like ChatGPT and its many copycats have been rolling out at break-neck speeds over the last few years, integrating with everything from social media to business software.

However, this new study shows that customers have definitely not come around yet, pointing to a disconnect between providers and their potential clients.

‘AI’ Mentions Lower Emotional Trust

According to a study published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, you might want to reconsider your marketing when it comes to AI. The data found that customers are actually less trusting of products that mention the technology, leading to fewer purchases.

“When AI is mentioned, it tends to lower emotional trust, which in turn decreases purchase intentions. We found emotional trust plays a critical role in how consumers perceive AI-powered products.” – Mesut Cicek, author of the study

The data was nothing if not conclusive when it came to this hypothesis. The study evaluated customer feelings “across eight different product and service categories, and the results were all the same: it’s a disadvantage to include those kinds of terms in the product descriptions.”

Should You Ditch the ‘AI’?

Yes, the use of AI likely got you a lot of attention from investors during your funding round, but the reality is that mentions of AI are clearly a bit off-putting for customers in 2024. Whether it’s because of the many AI errors that have plagued users over the last few years or the sci-fi-based fear that robots are taking over the world, people are just not ready for this kind of technological advancements yet.

So, what should you do when it comes to mentioning AI in your product descriptions? The study notes that removing mentions entirely is unrealistic, but that you need to be careful of how you breach the subject with your customers.

“Marketers should carefully consider how they present AI in their product descriptions or develop strategies to increase emotional trust. Emphasizing AI may not always be beneficial, particularly for high-risk products. Focus on describing the features or benefits and avoid the AI buzzwords.” – Mesut Cicek, clinical assistant professor of marketing

Suffice to say, you can’t completely ditch the “AI” when it comes to describing your product, particularly if it is, in fact, powered by AI. But with public sentiment where it is today, we’re in a clear “less is more” strategy for the time being.

How to Use AI for Work

While AI mentions may be causing distrust for the average consumer, the productivity benefits for work are still quite substantial. In fact, whether you need professional headshots or high-quality video, there are AI tools that can help you make them in a few seconds flat.

If you want to learn more about how to use AI, be sure to check out some of our other guides to the technology, including how to use new features for Claude AI or how to use ChatGPT to analyze documents.

Bank of America customers could be in line for a pay out, after a settlement was agreed that saw the bank set aside $21 million for affected parties.

The settlement affects customers who were with the bank between 2019 and 2023, and were charged certain wire transfer fees on incoming payments.

With the settlement set to close next month, we explain everything you need to know about the case, including if you’re eligible and how to claim.

Bank of America Settlement Explained

A class action was brought against the Bank of America, after the plaintiff argued that the bank violated account agreements and charged a hidden fee.

It is claimed that the bank charged a $15 fee for incoming wire transactions, and that it purposefully obscured these transactions without consent. the plaintiff requested that refunds be made where this was the case.

The case in question is Aaron Aseltine v. Bank of America, N.A., CaseNo. 3:23-cv-00235. For its part, Bank of America denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to settle and pay those affected by the fees.

Want to work remotely? Check out our guide to remote data entry jobs.

Who is Eligible for Bank of America Settlement?

Wondering if you’re entitled to a slice of the $21 million pay out? Thankfully the terms of eligibility are pretty straightforward:

• You were a Bank of America checking or savings account holder between March 8 2019 and August 31 2023.
• You received an incoming wire transfer
• You were charged a $15 fee for the transaction

If you are eligible, you may have already received a communication from the bank about the settlement.

Find out if you’re eligible for the $1.2 million Direct Express settlement

How To Claim in Bank of America Settlement

If you want to claim in the Bank of America settlement, then the good news is that you really don’t have to do much.

Those eliglble should be automatically included in the settlement, and after the hearing date, you should receive your payment.

If you don’t want to be included in the settlement, you can raise your objection, but you’ll need to do it by September 21 2024. You can do this by visiting the official settlement website. Similarly, if you feel you should be included in the settlement and want to check if you are, visit the settlement site.

At this time there’s no indication of how much each individual person will receive from the settlement, as we don’t know how many are affected. However, it’s worth noting that a third of the settlement amount ($7 million) is going on legal fees.

If you’re wondering when you can expect your payment, the final hearing is set for October 21 2024, so presuming there are no objections, payments will follow sometime after this. Current Bank of America customers will receive it as a bank credit, while those that have since left the bank will receive a check.

AI has taken the world by storm over the last few years, with millions of users writing prompts on platforms like ChatGPT to generate content, images, and yes videos.

Still, some of these platforms cost a lot of money, particularly if you’re trying to create something specific for your business. Luckily, there are some free AI video generators out there, and we’ve done some research to find the best of the best.

In this guide, we’ll showcase some of the best free AI video generators, along with what they can do, how many videos you can generate, and how you should go about choosing the right one for your business.

In this guide: 

• Why Use an AI Video Generator?
• Best Free AI Video Generators
• Should You Pay for AI Video Generators?
• How to Choose an AI Video Genetaor

Why Use an AI Video Generator?

Before the AI revolution, companies would have to invest heaps of money and time into making high-impact videos. Today, AI video generators are capable of creating polished content that’s almost indistinguishable from the real deal, opening up major opportunities for creators.

By lowering the barrier to entry for video creation, and allowing users to create content more quickly and efficiently than if they used traditional methods, these tools help users create a much higher volume of content too, helping them keep up in the digital era. With so many AI-generators to choose from, read on to find out which platform may be able to meet your needs the best.

The Best AI Video Generators Reviewed

1. Runway – Best for creatives
2. Synthesia – Best free video generator overall
3. Colossyan – Best for professionals
4. Fliki – Best for social media creators
5. Descript – Best for podcasters

1. Runway – Best for Creatives

• Starting price: $12 per month
• Free plan: Yes

Runway is an AI-powered creative platform capable of creating a wide range of creative video content. Unlike some other video generators on this list, the platform generates advanced text-to-video features that can create highly realistic or animated videos from scratch, based on your unique input.

For example, users are able to use the tool to animate still images, create realistic visual renders, and produce physical-based simulations. From landscape flyovers to architectural mock-ups, the limit really is your imagination, which is why Runway will be the natural choice for creatives like artists and designers.

You’re able to customize the style of your video and its characters too, to ensure the content fully matches your vision. However, while Runway’s text-to-video feature lends itself well to creators with little tech experience, if you’re looking to create advanced content its professional interface will take some time to get to grips with.

Free users will be limited to 125 credits, which amounts to about 25 seconds of video, and the videos will contain watermarks. You’ll also only get 5GB of asset storage.

2. Synthesia – Best for Business on a Budget

• Starting price: $17 per month
• Free plan: Yes

Synthesia is an AI video generator that lets users use AI avatars for talking-head-style videos. The tool offers a wide selection of avatars to choose from. and also lets users create their own at a slight premium. These avatars are almost indistinguishable from the real deal, and are even capable of cloning your own voice if you pay for the Enterprise package.

Most casual users will be able to get by just fine on its free plan though, as it’s a lot more generous than other contenders on this list. It gives you access to over 60 templates, lets you create 3 minutes of video content per month, and unlocks a selection of over 130 languages and voices. The free plan also lets you upload background music and image and video files, to help users customize their content.

Synthesia’s impressive raft of features, in addition to its text-to-video format – which works in a similar way to ChatGPT – has earned its position as the best free video generator on this list. However, if you aren’t looking to make talking head-style videos, we’d recommend using platforms like Runway instead.

Users are able to build a personal av.atar with its $17 per month starter plan too, making it a great option if you’re willing to invest a bit to make your video highly personalized. If you don’t want to buy before you try, you’re able to get started with Synthesia’s plans with a free trial too

3. Colossyan – Best for Ease of Use

• Starting price: $19 per month
• Free plan: Yes

Similarly to Synthesia, Colossyan is a video generator that lets you create videos with AI avatars using text. The platform, which is designed specifically for corporate professionals and content creators, offers a range of useful capabilities, including custom brand kits, avatar-to-avatar conversations, and automatic translations.

Users are able to choose between 30 AI actors to read their scripts, and are even able to create their own AI custom avatar, but this comes at quite a hefty cost of $1,000 per year. While Colossyan is capable of creating high-quality, professional-looking videos, it’s surprisingly intuitive to use, especially compared to other video generators like Deepbrain AI.

Colossyan offers a free forever plan, but it’s more limited than Synthesia’s. Videos made with the plan feature watermarks, are limited to 3 minutes and are only able to contain five scenes. It does give users access to Colossyan’s library of AI avatars, though, and is capable of translating the script into over 70 languages and voices.

If you’re planning on making more than one video with the AI generator, Colossyan does let you test out its Starter and Pro plans with a 15-day free trial. Both of these premium plans offer more generous video and scene limits and remove the Colossyan watermark from your content.

4. Fliki – Best for Social Media Creators

• Starting price: $17 per month
• Free plan: Yes

Fliki is another text-to-video AI video generator that enables users to make creative video clips. The platform specializes in creating short-form content under five minutes, which makes it a great option for social media creators wanting to create an online buzz with highly personal content.

Fliki is easy to get started with too. All you have to do is create a new file, enter the name of your project, and then write out a text prompt that describes what you want from your video. You’re also able to choose from a wide range of voices to narrate your video, before customizing its tone, pitch, and pauses to your liking.

The platform has a free plan, but it restricts users to five minutes of videos per month, and all content will contain a Fliki watermark. You’ll also only get access to 300 voices, but you still get access to all 80+ languages available.

If you want to remove the watermark and up your content limit to 180 of minutes a month, you can upgrade to its Standard plan for $17 per month.

5. Descript – Best for Podcasters

• Starting price: $16 per month
• Free plan: Yes

Descript is an AI audio and video editing tool that lets users edit audio and video content like a text document. Unlike other AI video generators on this list, Descript is more focused on refining pre-existing videos and audio content, rather than making it from scratch.

However, if you’re a podcaster or an online creator looking to edit content for different social media platforms, the platform’s text-based editing feature makes it one of the best options out there.

Descript lets users automatically transcribe content, and then trim it down in a couple of clicks. Alongside AI voices, the tool also offers unique features like studio-quality sound enhancements and filler word removal, to help creators create professional-grade output. Users are able to choose from a wide array of templates to get them started, which can be a huge time saver if you’re making a high volume of videos.

The provider lets you edit videos for completely free with a limit of 60 minutes per month, but if you want to create more than one watermark-free video a month, we’d recommend upgrading to its Hobbyist plan which costs $12 per month.

How to Choose a Free AI Video Generator

Now that you know which free AI video generators are the best, it’s time to dig a bit deeper into what you should be looking for when it comes to choosing the right platform for your business. Here’s some criteria you should consider before making your decision.

• Limits – All free AI video generators are going to have some kind of usage limit, so make sure that lines up with your business needs.
• Functionality – Many video generators have specific purposes, like creating talking head AI avatars, and they aren’t as customizable, so make sure that’s what you need before you commit.
• Integrations – A good video generator will be able to seamless integrate with other services, so you can share you videos easily on other platforms.
• Price – In all likelihood, you’ll end up paying for video generation in the long run, so understanding the price of paid options can help inform your decision.

All in all, the important thing to remember about free AI video generators is that they simply aren’t going to be as good as the paid options. Subsequently, you’ll want to pay extra attention to what they do offer to see if that aligns with your business needs.

Should You Pay for an AI Video Generator?

Free AI video generators certainly have their use cases. Businesses with no budget for this kind of innovative technology will obviously be more than happy with the cost-free tool, particularly if they only need for a specific purpose, like the talking head videos from Synthesia.

However, if your video generation needs go even slightly beyond the basic functionality provided by free options, a paid plan is going to be your best bet. For one, paid video generators, like Veo on Gemini or Sora from OpenAI, are very advanced and only getting better.

More importantly, though, they’re a lot more versatile. While Colossyan can only create AI avatars from prompts, paid video generators can do pretty much anything, creating videos of everything from a dog eating a hot dog to the Pope dunking a basketball.

Simply put, free AI video generators are pretty limited and offer unique, niche functionality, and if you need anything beyond that, paying for a video generator is likely your best bet.