Vimeo has this week announced its voyage into AI functionality with the introduction of three new tools – a script generator, teleprompter and text-based video editor. 

Much like Adobe and its recent roll out of AI-image generator Firefly, making content creation accessible is fast becoming a priority for major creative platforms. 

Vimeo’s new features have been designed for more entry-level users of the platform. Think time-poor CEOs or schedule-juggling social media managers, who need to create good content consistently, but don’t have the resources, skills or time to do it.

Let’s dig into what these tools look like and how they could help.

What Do The New Vimeo AI  Tools Look Like?

The features have been designed and developed with all stages of the production process accounted for. 

For pre-production and planning, we have the AI-powered script generator. In what looks set to rival ChatGPT and TikTok’s script generator, Vimeo’s version will create a video script in seconds to the tone of voice and duration of your choosing. All that’s needed is a brief description of what the video is about.

During recording, those who have trouble staying on script and maintaining eye contact with the webcam, will appreciate the new teleprompter. This fully integrated tool allows font size and pace personalization for text prompts while recording, much like in a real TV studio. By facilitating slicker presenting, this will undoubtedly cut down on time during filming.

When in editing, all those awkward ‘umms’ and ‘ahhhs’ look set to be a thing of the past. The text-based video editor will automatically detect and delete filler words, long pauses and any other unwanted noises in a single click. The need to manually edit every little detail is now gone, speeding up the entire post-production process.

AI tools like these from Vimeo look set to revolutionize the workplace. See how companies are using ChatGPT right now.

Saving Time Is A Key Objective

Vimeo’s internal research recently stated that – when recording – 50% of its customers shoot multiple takes, and out of those who reshoot, 25% of them do over five takes. All in all this adds up to a lot of time in creation, that may not even be worth it when it comes to the objectives of the video.

So, while these tools won’t necessarily inspire a burst of creativity or revolutionize the way long-form video content is created, it can certainly speed up the way TikToks, Reels, company meeting videos or short-form marketing clips are created. At least that’s the hope of Ashraf Alkarmi, chief product officer at Vimeo.

“AI in video opens up a new frontier of accessibility. Any individual or business now has the ability to produce engaging, professional content with no prior production experience, and within mere minutes” – Ashraf Alkarmi, chief product officer at Vimeo

How AI-powered Video Is Becoming The New Normal

Don’t think that this is Vimeo’s first and last foray into AI either, as the company has made it explicitly clear that AI-powered tools are to become an integral part of their platform. Even for full-scale video production. 

Alkarmi went on to say: “We’re clearly only scratching the surface of what AI can accomplish for organizations and the people within them. We envision a future in which AI knowledge is a prerequisite, not a luxury, to video production. Leaders need to adapt now and empower their teams to create more efficiently, or risk getting left behind.”

Although talking about leaders and teams using Vimeo, that sentiment rings true for the platform itself, as a number of AI-powered video editing startups are seemingly hot on their heels. 

Platforms like Capsule, Descript and Dumme all provide rapid and sophisticated video editing functionality that users are quickly becoming accustomed to. This functionality isn’t just a ‘nice to have’, it’s fast becoming a necessity if you want to retain and grow your user base.

There’s not a long wait for these tools, as they’ll be available for Vimeo users in July. Although anyone with a Standard or Pro subscription plan can start to trial them now.

Implementing AI technology into your business could get a lot easier soon, as OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — is reportedly working on a marketplace that could open up a lot of possibilities in the future.

Since its launch in November last year, businesses have flocked to ChatGPT like a modern-day gold rush. The technology is capable of a lot, from emails and coding to customer service requests and sales assistance.

Still, ChatGPT has only scratched the surface of what generative AI can do for business, and this marketplace could be the catalyst to a wide range of new functionalities.

AI Marketplace Coming to OpenAI

According to a report from The Information, OpenAI is considering the development of a marketplace that would allow users to sell models built using the company’s ChatGPT generative AI service to other businesses.

The report also notes that this idea is already gaining some traction with ChatGPT users. In fact, Aquant — a popular service platform — and Khan Academy — an education app maker — were two companies that specified that they would be interested in selling their ChatGPT-powered AI models on the new marketplace.

While the news is not entirely public, the report cites people familiar with the topic, stating that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talked about these potential plans in a developer meeting in London last month.

What Does This Mean for ChatGPT?

ChatGPT, by itself, can’t power a business. However, in most cases, businesse are using ChatGPT as a foundation, creating AI models based on the popular service to specifically cater its functionality to that business.

The marketplace that OpenAI is considering building could make that functionality available to everyone, building out an entire economy around AI-powered platforms that can help businesses grow.

In essence, this new AI marketplace could establish ChatGPT even more as the go-to generative AI solution for businesses around the world. Yes, Google Bard has made some headway and likely has an easier road to catch up than other competitors due to the sheer volume of information available to Google.

Still, being the first to launch is always valuable. If, on top of that, OpenAI can use this marketplace to roll out untold numbers of iterations, doing everything from answer emails and writing code to responding to customer service requests and qualifying sales leads, it will make it the primary tool across the board, particularly when paired with Microsoft’s suite of business offerings.

Want to attract top talent? Well, office socials aren’t going to cut it anymore, as a new study found that the 4-day work week is the most popular perk for employees in 2023.

The 4-day work week has become quite a popular concept in the last few months, driven mostly by the success of a large-scale study that showed it increases productivity, promotes work-life balance, and generally improves employees’ mental health.

Now, employees are champing at the bit to get access to this top tier perk at their job, and they’re willing to forego other perks to get it.

Employees Want the 4-Day Work Week More Than Any Other Perk

According to a recent study from recruiting firm Robert Walters, 44% of employees would prefer a 4-day work week over any other perk. This was the highest percentage in the study, beating out the ability to work anywhere at only 38% of respondents.

Even wilder, only 16% noted that they would take a pay increase instead of the 4-day work week, showing how valuable time is when it comes to attracting top talent.

On top of all that, 89% of employees stated that they would be interested in implementing the 4-day work week at their business, and 46% stated that they would give up work socials and relationships in favor of the 4-day work week.

Is the 4-Day Work Week Good for Business?

All these employees may want to work only four days a week, but why would businesses get on board with this transition? Well, although experiments around the new working model are still in their infancy, results have been promising when it comes to the impact on productivity.

“It’s too early to say the long-term impact of these measures – but with 46% of professionals willing to forego socials and business relationships, companies should be mindful that poor company culture comes at a price.”

Beyond the benefits to employees, the largest 4-day work week study to date found that overall revenue rose 8.14% (weighted by company size) in the six-month period. Additionally, 63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent, a key factor when it comes to the long-term success of any business.

Convinced of its benefits? Here’s how business owners can implement a 4-day workweek themselves.

Companies Offering the 4-Day Work Week

You might be thinking that only small businesses and startups are partaking in the 4-day work week, but you’d be wrong. In fact, some of the largest, most prominent companies in the world are testing out the 32-hour work week (with no reduced pay) in service of a healthier, more loyal work force.

Some of the companies offering a 4-day work week to their employees include Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, Shopify, Kickstarter, Buffer, and many others.

If you want to learn more about the 4-day work week and how it can benefit you, your business, and your employees, make sure to check out the in-depth study and follow other updates on Tech.co about this revolutionary new way to work.

Elon Musk has hinted that he plans to launch a Twitter video app for Smart TVs, a move that aligns with new CEO Linda Yaccarino’s reported plans to focus more closely on video content and commercial partnerships.

The social media platform has struggled greatly to maintain advertising relationships since Musk’s takeover, with a collection of companies cutting ties with the website during the first few months of the billionaire’s stint at the helm.

However, a move toward a video app is unlikely to assuage many of the fears that have driven advertisers away from Twitter since Musk’s arrival, which are heavily linked to a widely-reported increase in problematic content on the platform.

Musk Hints That Twitter Video App Is “Coming”

Over the weekend, Twitter user S-M Robinson stated that the social media platform “really need[s] a video app” as they were “not watching an hour-long video on Twitter”, to which Elon Musk simply responded: “It’s coming”.

The comment – left on a 1 hour, 36-minute episode of the Zuby podcast that features Musk as an in-person guest – was tweeted out just days after an investor presentation in which Yaccarino and Musk signaled a desire for a greater focus on “video, creator, and commerce partnerships”, Reuters reports.

These aren’t the first signs that Twitter’s top brass want to make the platform a viable home for the sort of longer-form video content that Twitter isn’t typically known for.

Earlier this month, controversial former Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched the first episode of his new, low-budget show on the platform, which Elon Musk described as “bold” and has already gained high viewing figures.

Twitter’s Advertising Turmoil

Twitter is scrambling to diversify its revenue streams beyond the forms of digital advertising that have been commonplace on the platform for years. During Musk’s reign, ad spending has plummeted dramatically.

Recently, it was revealed that advertising revenue was down as much as 59% year on year.

Many advertisers are thought to be put off by Musk’s attitudes toward content moderation and his penchant for abrupt, drastic changes to the social media platform’s features and policies.

New CEO Linda Yaccarino’s recent appointment was thought to be heavily influenced by her experience and reputation in the world of advertising, but Musk still appears deeply involved with day-to-day decision-making.

Will a Video App Really Bring Back Advertisers?

Although providing a more habitable space for new forms of media present new opportunities for advertisers to spend money on Twitter, it does nothing to address the generally accepted reason why so many companies jumped ship.

Since Musk’s takeover, brand safety and content moderation chiefs have been dismissed, and concerns surrounding the level of hate speech present on the platform have been consistently raised.

On top of this, initiatives such as Twitter Blue have garnered widespread criticism, while serious security issues have drawn condemnation from senior US senators.

A new video app will do little to change current opinions on the direction Twitter is going in. Unless Musk and Yaccarino make more of a concerted effort to ensure their social media platform is a place prospective commercial partners feel comfortable placing their content, it’s hard to see the tide turning any time soon.

Google has agreed to pay $23 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed over a decade ago, which alleged that the company violated the privacy of searchers by sharing their personally identifiable information with third parties.

If you clicked on a Google Search result between 2006 and 2013, you may be entitled to claim compensation, just as many Zoom and Facebook users were recently after their respective class action lawsuits came to a close.

However, the webpage you’ll need to input your details into in order to make a claim isn’t owned or managed by Google – rather, it’s been set up by settlement administration specialists Kroll.

When there’s a lot of buzz around a topic like this one, scammers tend to see it as an opportunity to make a quick buck with a shady email or fake website. So, making sure you’re in the right place before you enter any personal information is always advised.

What the Legitimate Google Privacy Settlement Website Looks Like

The company processing claims for this Google privacy settlement is called Kroll Settlement Administration LLC — and you can make your claim on refererheadersettlement.com.

Other websites claiming to be able to process your claim for this settlement should not be trusted. Here’s an image of what the legitimate website looks like:

When Google settled a separate privacy lawsuit back in 2020, some skeptical users questioned whether it was a scam.

They took to Reddit, Twitter, and the Gmail community forum to find out whether correspondence they’d received relating to the case was in fact legitimate, and whether the settlement website where they were told they could make a claim was genuine.

Along with unexpected emails, a temporary site outage added further fuel to the idea that it wasn’t genuine.

This time around, we’ve not found any reports of Google sending out emails — or other kinds of messages — to individuals who may have been impacted by the class-action lawsuit. In fact, Google has admitted no wrongdoing, despite agreeing to the settlement.

We’d strongly advise ignoring any emails referencing this case, and instead going directly to the webpage we’ve linked above.

What Information Do I Need to Enter to Make a Claim?

To make a claim, you’ll need a Class Member ID, and you can apply for one through Kroll’s website. You’ll need to enter your full name, phone number, home address, ZIP code, and email address.

The deadline to claim is July 31, 2023, so if you think you’re eligible for a portion of the money, ensure you secure your Class Member ID before then.

The settlement will receive final approval on October 12, 2023, but the settlement notice itself suggests the ruling might be held up by appeals.

What Does the Lawsuit Allege, and How Much Can I Claim Back?

Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. was accused back in 2013 of “storing and intentionally, systematically and repeatedly divulging its users’ search queries and histories to third parties via ‘Referrer Headers'”, which impacts “billions” of consumers.

The lawsuit also alleged that “Google has consistently and intentionally designed its services to ensure that user search queries, which often contain highly-sensitive and personally identifiable information (“PII”), are routinely transferred to marketers, data brokers, and sold and resold to countless other third parties.”

Since Google was launched, search terms have been included in the URL of the search results page. “Because the search terms are included in the search results URL”, the lawsuit explains, “when a Google user clicks on a link from Google’s search results page, the owner of the website that the user clicks on will receive from Google the user’s search terms in the Referrer Header.”

Web analytics services, it adds, “include and use functionality to automatically parse the search query information from web server logs, or to otherwise collect the search query from the referrer header transmitted by each visitor’s web browser.”

According to Kroll, the total amount each individual is expected to receive is approximately $7.70 — although this could change depending on the number of people that actually end up making a claim. As mentioned previously, Google has admitted to no wrongdoing throughout the settlement process.

The settlement administrators also say that Google will “revise its “FAQs” and “Key Terms” webpages regarding how and when search queries may be disclosed to third parties via referrer headers.”

Due to breakthrough developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI), the global AI market could soon rake in between $17.1 and $25.6 trillion annually, according to a new report by consulting company McKinsey.

As apps like ChatGPT and Copilot continue to transform the way business is conducted, generative AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion to this total, with estimates doubling when you account for AI-assisted workplace tools like Dynamics 365 AI.

Sales and the marketing industries are looking to benefit the most, thanks to the tech’s ability to streamline customer operations, while the manufacturing sector will cash in less from the AI gold rush.

McKinsey: Generative AI Will Add Trillions to Global Economy

While the use of AI has been simmering under the surface for decades, recent developments in generative AI have propelled the industry forward — opening up lucrative opportunities to countless businesses in its wake.

A new report from McKinsey has put an estimate on these gains, predicting that generative technologies like ChatGPT, DALL-E, Google Bard, and DeepMind could add anywhere between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion to the industry annually.

“As generative AI continues to develop and mature, it has the potential to open wholly new frontiers in creativity and innovation.” – McKisney report on generative AI

AI’s impact on the global economy. Source: mckisney.com

McKisney’s study, which analyzed 63 use cases across 16 business functions, revealed that this could bring AI’s total economic potential to between $17.1 and $25.6 trillion after accounting for its impact on worker productivity, and the value of traditional analytics and machine learning algorithms that continue to be deployed across sectors.

Which Industries Will Be the Biggest Winners?

Due to the varied and sprawling applications of generative AI, no industry is expected to be exempt from its impact. However, McKisney’s findings predict that marketing and sales, software engineering, and research and development (R&D) could account for a staggering 75% of its total profits.

Sales and marketing processes are likely to see the biggest productivity uptick, largely because of generative AI’s potential in transforming the customer experience.

Due to the potential the technology has in facilitating customer self-service, resolving issues during initial contact, and reducing response times, McKinsey predicts that the productivity of customer care functions could increase from 30-45% in the coming years. And these findings aren’t isolated.

McKisney’s projections chime with a recent study into the impact of AI-based conversational assistants. The research found that after deploying customer service agents, 14% more customer queries were able to be resolved, reducing time spent by employees by 9%. So, if those working in sales and marketing continue to pivot toward generative AI, the savings they make could be major.

Unfortunately, despite the manufacturing sector benefiting massively from AI-aided automation, this new wave of advancement is only expected to contribute around $100 billion annually to the sector. This is significantly short of the projected profits of sales and marketing, which both exceed $450 billion.

Knowledge Workers Are Likely to Bear the Brunt

As AI continues to disrupt every facet of our personal and working lives, there will ultimately be losers too, as the report points out.

As generative AI affords humans with a new “superpower,” McKinsey expects that the developments will also create obstacles for higher-wage workers whose roles were “previously considered to be relatively immune from automation.”

For example, knowledge workers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher will likely face similar levels of job insecurity to those without college degrees and high school diplomas. This stands in contrast to previous technological shifts which placed lower-skilled workers at greater risk of losing out.

These findings are a reminder that while generative AI will bring great opportunities to some, it also brings real-world threats to many others. If you’re interested in finding out how AI-proof your job is, we spoke to experts and compiled a list of the roles most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence.

With a $1.3 trillion market cap, Amazon is the biggest ecommerce company in the world. It’s the first place that millions of customers shop for tech, clothes, and even groceries.

Thanks to its popularity, it’s also a haven for scammers: Apparel, home goods, and cosmetics are the top categories that suffer from counterfeit goods. And since the website has such an outsized presence, text scams, email phishing attempts, and gift card fakes often pick Amazon as their choice for impersonation.

As a result, Amazon scams are common. Here’s what to know about the ones most likely to trip you up, and how you can dodge them.

In this guide:

• Amazon Counterfeits
• Amazon Brushing Scams
• Amazon Text Scams
• Amazon Email Phishing Scams
• Amazon Gift Card Scams
• Amazon Tech Support Scams
• Will Amazon Ever Contact You by Phone? 

Amazon Counterfeits

Much like similarly sprawling enterprises such as Facebook and YouTube, Amazon’s sheer scale makes it tough to keep up with curation tasks that would be considered basic necessities at a smaller ecommerce operation.

Amazon is unwilling or unable to vet third-party sellers on its website well enough to prevent counterfeits from cropping up, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2019. Amazon says it has cracked down on the practice since, but fakes are still tricking customers today.

Fake and slipshod products can be a serious threat to the health of you or your loved ones when it comes to essential items like baby food or air filters. One Reddit user recently commented that they’d even bought a “niche pregnancy nutrition book” on Amazon that ended up being counterfeit.

To avoid a fake product scam on Amazon, try picking out which brand name you trust before getting on Amazon: That way, you won’t be served the products that Amazon’s untrustworthy algorithm thinks are safe. Recommendation sites like Wirecutter can help, as can adding the word “Reddit” to a Google search for a type of product.

Amazon Brushing Scams

A brushing scam is a way that a third-party seller can fake a “verified purchase” positive review, which will bump it up in the algorithm. The seller simply sends their product to a real address, unsolicited. They then use that information to write up a positive review, which boosts their sales.

If you get a free package from Amazon that you didn’t ask for, you can take these steps:

• Check if it was a gift from friends or family
• Record the tracking ID
• Fill out this online form from Amazon

One upside to this scam: You’ll get a free item, as there’s no obligation to return it.

Amazon Text Scams

Millions of people order Amazon packages so often that they may not even remember if they had a package in transit at any given point in time. That’s what a lot of text spammers are counting on when they pick Amazon to impersonate.

A fake Amazon text can be hard to tell from a real one, since they’ll both claim to be from Amazon, feature a short message, and will include a link.

Here are a few tipoffs that indicate a fake Amazon text:

• Grammar or spelling mistakes
• A regular ten-digit phone number (real Amazon texts will likely come from a four-to-seven digit source code)
• Includes any link without an “Amazon.com” domain

One foolproof method for avoiding an Amazon text fake? Simply never click a link from a text. If it really is Amazon, you’ll be able to log into your account on a desktop computer and address the issue just as easily there.

Online marketplaces are hot targets for cybercriminals. Learn how to spot and avoid Facebook Marketplace scams here.

Amazon Email Phishing Scams

Fake emails are similar to fake texts: They’ll claim to be from Amazon, but might have spelling and grammar errors. The email address that sent the email is also a giveaway, since it won’t be short, simple, and clearly Amazon-related.

Again, the best response is to avoid clicking any links, even if the email looks legitimate. Instead, you can log into your Amazon account and look under the “Your Orders” section to see if you can spot the same issue that the email claims exists.

If you already clicked on a suspicious link, you should immediately change your Amazon password, and make sure that two-factor authentication is turned on. You can also read our full guide to the best password safety tips.

It’s also worth investing in some good antivirus software, which will identify and isolate phishing emails for you.

Amazon Gift Card Scams

Gift cards are a fast way for a scammer to get real monetary value without exposing their own bank or credit card details. As a result, one giveaway that a phone call or email is a scam is if the person is asking to be paid in an Amazon gift card. No actual Amazon employee will ask you to buy them a gift card.

Amazon will also never email you out of the blue to offer you a free gift card. That said, there are a few real, non-scammy cases in which Amazon might actually give you a free virtual gift card.

• Amazon offers store credit for product returns
• Amazon gives users store credit for trading in old electronics, from cell phones to Kindles
• Signing up for the Amazon Prime Visa credit card will earn users $100 in store credit

For all these instances, however, you’ll want to triple-check that you are on the actual Amazon.com website before entering any personal information.

Amazon Tech Support Scams

Pretending to be a helpful tech support team is another way that scammers can trick customers into giving them personal data. In fact, in 2021, the FTC found that around one in every three people who reported a business impersonator scam said their attacker was pretending to be Amazon.

These bad actors may get in touch through email, a phone call, or a text message, but the hustle is always the same. The scammers will reach out unsolicited, say they’re from Amazon, and offer to address a fictional problem with your account.

The exact story can vary. Examples might include:

• Amazon wants to refund you for an unauthorized purchase… but “accidentally” transfers too much and needs it back.
• Cyber criminals have accessed your Amazon account, and the only form of protection is to buy an Amazon gift card and send the “tech support” team the code needed to use it.
• Suspicious activity on your account needs to be checked out by Amazon’s fraud team to ensure that you aren’t at fault, and they need your account login in order to verify everything.

As always, the best response is no response. Don’t call or text back. Instead, check it out from your own Amazon account or your own bank account. Never pay for anything with a gift card, and never give anyone remote access if they have reached out unsolicited.

If you think you were a target, you can report it to the official government FTC fraud website.

Will Amazon Ever Contact You by Phone?

Amazon does sometimes make outbound calls to customers, but this is rare. If Amazon calls, it will never ask you for personal information. Scammers will.

One common Amazon phone call scam starts be claiming that your account has fraudulently purchased a big-ticket item, such as a $500 Xbox or a $1,000 iPhone. Once the victim is panicked, the scammer pretends to switch the call over to a bank: They might impersonate the “Wells Fargo fraud department” or something similar. Then, they’ll ask you for your banking information, which is what they were after all along.

Luckily, you just need to know that Amazon rarely calls, and that you will never need to share personal information over the phone in order to protect yourself from fraud. If anything sounds like it could be real, you know the drill: Log into your real Amazon account and check your recent orders to see if anything is amiss.

Twitter, owned by the multi-billion dollar tech magnate Elon Musk, has been served court documents signed by a judge giving law enforcement 49 days to evict Twitter from the Colorado offices.

In May the landlord took the issue to court, and the eviction papers were signed by a judge on May 31st, meaning the eviction will happen before the end of July.

This news comes after a swath of reports of other unpaid bills, suggesting there could be chaos behind the scenes at the social media firm.

What is Happening at Twitter’s Boulder Office?

The 65,000sq-ft Boulder office once had 300 employees working out of it, however, it is now uncertain who still works there. Due to mass layoffs, firings and resignations it is reported that less than half that number of employees still work there, if any.

The landlord of the office in question, 3401 Bluff St in Boulder, gave Twitter a $968,000 letter of credit back in February of 2020. Subsequent rent payments were deducted from this credit instead of making normal rental payments, according to the Denver Business Journal.

The credit ran out in March 2023 and no payments have been made to the landlord since. It’s thought that the rental value of this office is around $27,000 per month, giving a sense of the sum owed by Twitter. The case number for the eviction is 2023CV30342 in Boulder District Court.

According to the report, in the course of gathering the details of the eviction case, a separate case was discovered of an unpaid bill amounting to $93,504 in unpaid fees to a cleaning company.

Twitter in Turmoil

This latest eviction notice is just more bad news for Musk in a string of bad press for the company since his controversial takeover in October 2022.

Despite Musk announcing Linda Yaccarino as the new Twitter CEO in May, who recently revealed her vision for “Twitter 2.0”, the social media platform has had a difficult time of late.

The company has experienced a 59% ad sale slump year-on-year and a $30 billion drop in valuation in under a year. As well as controversy surrounding his decision to slash parental leave from 20 to just two weeks.

It is reported that since Elon Musk bought Twitter, its workforce dropped by a staggering 80%. This is due to layoffs, firings and voluntary resignations, culling around 6,000 employees in total.

Twitter’s Ongoing Lawsuits

In addition to the Boulder office eviction and unpaid cleaning fees, Twitter is now facing numerous lawsuits and other legal actions on behalf of some of the 6,000 ex-employees.

Notably, ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, ex-legal head Vijaya Gadde and ex-CFO Ned Segal, who have sued the social network over alleged unpaid legal reimbursements.

Twitter is also involved in a legal battle in Germany, where authorities are seeking to fine Twitter over failing to remove hate speech contrary to law.

Writing your own emails? That’s so 2022. Google’s new Help Me Write tool will write emails for you, from a simple prompt.

At the last Google I/O event in May, the tech giant’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced the new feature among other Artificial Intelligence-based features, including the latest Bard tools.

The feature is now available for Gmail on iPhones, iPads and Android devices. We explain what it does and how to get it.

How does Help Me Write Work?

On it’s blog, Google explained how Help Me Write works:

“‘Help me write’ uses generative AI large language models to interpret your prompt and decide what combination of words best represents your request. And this new technology builds on past generative models we’ve used for Gmail’s Smart Compose and Smart Reply features”. – Google blog

The Smart Compose and Smart Reply tools have been around for several years, and many users have been using them intuitively without necessarily knowing.

The AI used in Help Me Write is the same as Bard AI, Google’s answer to OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT. Unlike its rival chatbot, Bard AI is trained on real-time data across the web, one of the core differences between the two. 

However, the AI is still under development and won’t always draft the perfect response. The key to success is to always read and edit the draft before hitting send.

The main benefits of Google’s Help Me Write tool are:

• It can save time by generating email drafts for you
• It can improve your writing skills by providing suggestions and feedback
• It can help you create more professional-looking emails
• It can help you stay organized by keeping track of your email templates
• It’s a free feature that is available to all Gmail users

Where to Find the Help Me Write Tool

You won’t have instant access to this feature. Help Me Write is part of Google’s Workspace Labs, and you’ll need to join the waitlist in order to benefit from this timesaving tool.

Visit labs.withgoogle.com, scroll down to the section marked “Unlock new ways of working with AI” and click the blue “Join waitlist” button to sign up.

To check if you have access to Workspace Labs features, go into your Gmail account and start writing a new message, look for the Help me write button – a pen with a star above it – on the formatting bar at the bottom of the compose window.

At Google’s I/O Event last month, CEO, Sundar Pichai gave this demonstration of the tool writing a letter of complaint to an airline:

From Smart Reply ➡️ “Help me write” in Gmail 🧵↓#GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/u0ILECSMN4

— Google (@Google) May 10, 2023

Another day, another round of tech company layoffs, with audio product provider Sonos announcing massive cuts in an SEC filing today.

There seems to be no end in sight for the tumult taking over tech in recent months. The industry has suffered data breaches, shifting goals, and ongoing layoffs that have seen more than 100,000 employees without jobs.

There’s now another company to add to the pile, as Sonos announces that it will be laying off a substantial percentage of its workforce.

Sonos Announces Layoffs in SEC Filing

Announced in an SEC filing, Sonos is reportedly planning on laying off as much as 7% of its workforce, which will amount to approximately 130 jobs across the company.

“In the face of continued headwinds, we have had to make some hard choices, including eliminating some positions and reevaluating program spend.” – Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos

Despite the growing trend of layoffs across the industry, this is Sonos’ first round of layoffs during the current recession. However, the company did lay off 12% of its workforce in 2020, when the growing pandemic problem caused such economic turmoil.

How Else Is Sonos Cutting Costs?

Obviously, layoffs are one of the more effective, albeit unfortunate, ways to cut costs at a business. However, Sonos is planning on doing more than that to shore up finances during the recession.

According to the SEC filing, Sonos will also be “reducing its real estate footprint and re-evaluating certain program spend.” What this means exactly is unclear, but it’s safe to say the company is substantially tightening its belt in 2023.

While the overall plan for Sonos is to cut costs in the long run, the SEC filing notes that the company “will incur approximately $11 to $14 million of restructuring and related charges, of which $9 to $11 million is related to employee severance and benefits costs.”

Mass Tech Industry Layoffs

To say the tech industry is having a bad year would be a dire understatement. If you’ve been following the news, Sonos is far from the first company to slash its workforce and it almost certainly won’t be the last. In fact, big companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and dozens of others have cut massive percentages of employees, resulting in over 100,000 workers without jobs.

The trend has caused some serious issues for the tech industry as well. The once-trusted industry is eroding faith at quite a clip, with former and current employees reportedly feeling stressed and generally pessimistic about the future.

Outside of the tech industry, though, you’ll find that there is some hope for a more enjoyable work environment. Despite many big tech firms pushing employees back into the office, there are plenty of companies out there offering remote work options, and, even better, some are embracing the 4-day work week to attract top talent.

All this bad news about the tech industry can make it feel like the working world is in trouble. But as long as you’re looking for jobs outside of the tech industry, you should be set up for success in the long run.

One of the world’s best VPN services just got even better, with news that Surfshark has launched a Dedicated IP feature for all users.

Staying safe online has become a full-time job in 2023. Between security breaches and data leaks, there’s no telling how bad actors can get ahold of your information, which is why services like Surfshark are always evolving.

Now, the popular VPN is adding a game-changing new feature that will enable more robust security for you and your business.

Surfshark VPN Launches Dedicated IP Feature

Announced last week in a company post, Surfshark VPN is launching a new Dedicated IP feature that will allow users to set up a dedicated IP address for specific users.

The Dedicated IP feature will work with all major allow users to set up servers in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, San Jose, London, and Amsterdam, with other cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney “coming very soon,” according to the post from Surfshark.

It’s worth noting, however, that the new Dedicated IP feature is not free for Surfshark VPN users. You’ll have to pay an additional $3.75 per month if you want access to this feature. But considering a Surfshark VPN subscription costs a mere $2.39 per month when you sign up for two years, the price is still quite low for the added protection.

What Are the Benefits of a Dedicated IP Address?

So, why would you pay extra for a feature like Dedicated IP? Essentially, a dedicated IP address will act as a VPN server that only you can access. It will be a set address every single time, whereas a standard VPN changes the IP address every time.

In classic Surfshark fashion, the security company provided a convenient metaphor to explain it a bit better:

“You can think of a dedicated IP address like having a reserved parking spot in a parking lot. With a reserved spot, you don’t have to worry about someone else taking up the space & you always know where to park.”

As for the specific benefits of the Dedicated IP feature, Surfshark notes a few solid perks. For starters, it makes accessing company assets while working remotely infinitely easier, as you won’t have to give permission to a new IP address every time. This way, you won’t have to worry about your IP accidentally getting put on a blocklist and slowing down your day-to-day work process.

The cherry on top is that the Dedicated IP feature will substantially minimize the need for CAPTCHA requests. That’s right, you won’t have to prove you aren’t a robot every time you log into a company system, a benefit that alone should make this an attractive upgrade.

Is Surfshark Good for Business?

With so many employees working from home in the modern age, having a good VPN can make a big difference when it comes to prioritizing security while managing flexible schedules. So, the real question is, will Surfshark provide you with the security you need?

Our research found that Surfshark is an excellent tool at a great value point that will keep your company data secure. In fact, we found Surfshark to be better than NordVPN, which is one of the most popular VPNs on the market today.

If you want to learn more, Tech.co has done a lot of research on VPNs, and you can check out our comprehensive secure VPN guide to find one that’s right for your business.

YouTube has this week announced it’s lowering the requirements needed for creators to access monetization tools.

In a move that heavily rewards short-form content and streams, the platform looks set to take on the likes of TikTok and Twitch.

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which allows revenue sharing from ads that are placed on creators’ content, has historically only been available to those who meet high-reaching metrics.

This update however, makes the opportunity to earn money from videos even more accessible, and comes following the recent news that the platform has brought advertising opportunities to YouTube Shorts.

What Do the New Requirements Look Like?

Previously, creators had to have had at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

To qualify now, users must have 500 subscribers, three public uploads in the last 90 days and either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or three million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

This lower threshold means creators can get access to tools like Super Thanks, Super Chat and Super Stickers, which are all used for tipping. Similarly, they’ll be able to apply for subscription tools like channel membership, and can promote their merch through YouTube Shopping.

The Roll Out Is On, But Is It All Good News?

The new eligibility criteria is currently live in the US, Canada, UK, South Korea, and Taiwan. It’s expected to roll out to other countries where YPP is available soon.

Ad revenue is a more sustainable path for monetization as it means creators don’t have to rely on asking viewers for monetary support. However, this change doesn’t benefit all creators equally, as it seems to favor those who stream or produce Shorts over long-form content.

A Love Affair With Shorts

The obsession with short-form video content burns bright, with Reels scoring 140bn daily views across Instagram and Facebook in October 2022 and Shorts topping 50bn daily views in Q4 2022.

It makes sense then that YouTube is encouraging as much short-form content creation as possible. One example: they recently made Shorts ad revenue sharing a reality for creators. On top of that, some US-based creators were able to access shopping-related features just for Shorts, signifying a potential dip into TikTok Shop’s waters.

While it’s unlikely YouTube will turn its back on long-form video creation, whether or not it announces any additional benefits to those types of creators remains to be seen. The platform is set to share more details around its new programs at VidCon next week.

In more turbulent Twitter news that isn’t related to recent ad slumps or platform bugs, ex-CEO Jack Dorsey has this week made claims of government threats.

During a recent interview, Dorsey said that the platform was threatened with a shutdown in India unless the company complied with orders to restrict accounts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has since hit back, calling the claims an “outright lie”.

The accounts in question were critical of the way the country’s contentious farmer protests had been handled. 

Twitter Claims Shutdown Threat Made in India

During an interview with YouTube news show Breaking Points, Dorsey claimed that raids on employees’ homes had been threatened.

“It manifested in ways such as ‘we will shut Twitter down in India’ – which is a very large market for us. And ‘we will raid the home of your employees”, which they did.”– Jack Dorsey Twitter’s ex-CEO

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Deputy Minister for Information Technology – a top ranking official in Modi’s government – called these claims an “outright lie” and “attempt to brush out that very dubious period of Twitter’s history”.

He went on to say that Twitter was repeatedly violating India’s law, with claims they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform. The Government maintained that any take-down orders for content during this period were merely to prevent misinformation spreading.

During the interview, Dorsey cited no documentary evidence of the threats, but did claim that many take-down requests focused on particular journalists who had been critical about the Indian government.

“No one went to jail nor was Twitter ‘shut down’. Dorsey’s Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law.” – Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Deputy Minister for Information Technology

Indian Protests Led to Claims

During 2021, India’s farmers were embroiled in protests over agricultural reforms and supposed anti-farmer laws. The protests were the biggest faced by Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. The government eventually repealed the laws.

During this period however, the Indian government requested an “emergency blocking” of the Twitter hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide, which they deemed provocative. They also sought for dozens of accounts to be suspended.

Twitter is said to have initially complied but, after realising the lack of justification over the suspensions, they restored most of the accounts.

After this, it’s alleged that Indian police went to a Twitter office as part of another inquiry linked to manipulating governing party posts. During this visit, the platform is said to have been worried about staff safety.

Other Governments Also Pressured Twitter

During the interview, Dorsey alleged similar pressure from Nigerian and Turkish governments.

In June 2021, Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed claimed that Dorsey was responsible for the violence and destruction during anti-police brutality protests. According to Dorsey, Twitter “could not even put its employees on the ground in the country out of fear of what the government might do to them”.

Allegedly, Turkey has also made multiple content take-down requests and shutdown threats.

Freedom of Speech vs Content Compliance

While this particular feud is one word against another, it does throw the wider topic of India’s freedom of speech back into the spotlight.

Last year, Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi claimed an Indian financial crime agency threatened executives with “physical violence and coercion”. The allegation was denied by the agency.

Meanwhile, Modi’s government has continually called out Google, Facebook and Twitter for not doing enough to tackle what they consider to be fake or “anti-India” content.

India has also reached its lowest ranking ever in the World Press Freedom Index, slipping from 140 to 161. The Modi administration consistently denies suggestions that it clamps down on free speech.

Without specifically naming Musk or referencing the $44bn platform purchase last year, Chandrasekhar has since said that Twitter has been in compliance with Indian laws from June 2022.

New work-from-home (WFH) regulations, that come into effect in six months, have just been announced by Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS).

Back in 2022, a Bank of Mexico study showed that while 22% of jobs in the country could be done remotely, only 11% of them actually were. With the opportunity to work from home not widely available, new regulations – known as NOM-037 – hope to close that percentage by laying down several key requirements.

Aiming to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of remote workers, the regulations are seemingly cracking down on what employers can ask of their employees, as well as the requirement to cover some of the costs related to teleworking.

New Regulations for Mexican Remote Workers

The new standard for telework safety conditions states that employers must ensure those working from home have all the tools they need to do their job effectively. This includes ergonomic chairs, computers, tablets, smartphone, printers and ink.

The new regulations define telework as those who are working remotely for 40% of the time or more.

Employers must cover the costs proportional to the electricity and internet used while getting the job done. In addition, environmental factors also come into play, with the regulations stipulating that there must be adequate ventilation and lighting in an employee’s home for them to work there. If not, it would be considered unsafe.

A Better Work-Life Balance for All

A “right to disconnect” has also been established as part of NOM-037, which means employers cannot obligate anyone to work more than their contracted hours when working from home.

This regulation aims to respect the employees’ right to disconnect at the end of the working day, helping to resolve a long-running complaint that many Mexican employees have.

Pay also comes into play under these regulations, with the rules stating that remote workers cannot be paid less than those who go to an office. They must also have set work hours.

Together, these stipulations should help create a better work-life balance that is globally considered to be the main benefit of working from home.

Plus, as well as increasing employees’ quality of life, the STPS has estimated that remote positions could save companies more than 86,000 pesos per employee, per year.

At a time when many firms are going back on their remote work policies, Mexican authorities are trying to secure the option for those who want to work from home.

Checks in Place to Ensure Compliance

Developed by a team of government and business experts, along with members of labor unions, the regulations were sent to the Mexican government for evaluation and approval. The aim has always been to address both workers’ and employers’ rights.

“It is a norm that derives from the reform to the Federal Labor Law that was enacted in 2021. It is very important because it clearly regulates and establishes the obligations of both employers and the workers themselves in this modality,” – Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Head of the STPS. 

To ensure compliance, employees may be asked to show documentation proving their home meets the new requirements. Similarly, employers may be asked to carry out inspections to confirm this.

Employers are also required to talk to their employees about the potential risks of working from home, such as burnout and lone working. In fact, it has been recommended for employers to create a policy promoting face-to-face communication channels, where possible, to avoid social isolation.

These regulations are a milestone for both employers and employees in Mexico. However, it’ll take some time for the practical effects to show and potentially inspire other countries to create similar legislation.

With all eyes on the development of artificial intelligence, OpenAI has upped the excitement this week by announcing an update to its pioneering text generation models, as well as a cost reduction.

No matter the sector or use-case, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has changed the landscape of how we develop and direct artificial intelligence. The announcement sees a push forward with this thanks to a model update announcement from the company.

These updates look set to provide even more complex functionality and will arm developers with an extensive toolbox to create sophisticated AI applications.

Say Hello to Function Calling

Function calling is a new and more reliable way to connect GPT’s capabilities with APIs and other external tools, revealed in the OpenAI announcement. For GPT-3.5 Turbo and GPT-4, developers can now describe functions to the model via JSON Schema, ask it to call a specific function and have the model create code to execute them.

For example, function calling can create chatbots that answer questions by calling external tools (like ChatGPT plugins), extract structured data from text, or convert natural language into function calls, API calls or database queries.

“These models have been fine-tuned to both detect when a function needs to be called and to respond with JSON that adheres to the function signature.” – OpenAI’s statements on the release.

Introducing the New GPT Models

Starting with GPT-4, GPT-4-0613 features an updated and improved model with function calling. GPT-4-32k-0613 includes the same, as well as an extended context length which means better comprehension of longer texts.

Both are currently only available through the waitlist however, OpenAI is keen to open this up to more developers as soon as possible.

Next up we have GPT-3.5 Turbo. GPT-3.5-turbo-0613 includes the same function calling as GPT-4, but with more reliable steerability thanks to the system message. Both features mean developers can guide the model’s responses even better.

GPT-3.5-turbo-16k features four times the context length of the model above and can now support around 20 pages of text in just one request. This functionality comes with a price change of $0.003 per 1k of input tokens and $0.004 per 1k output tokens.

Be Sure You’re Ready for the OpenAI Changes

Yesterday saw the start of the upgrade and deprecation process for the initial versions of these models. It’s important to note that applications using the stable models (gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4 and gpt-4-32k) will be automatically upgraded to the new models on June 27 2023.

While it’s always best to be sure you’re prepared for the switchover, if you do need more time to transition, OpenAI are allowing developers to continue using the older models – for the time being. You just need to specify gpt-3.5-turbo-0301, gpt-4-0314 or gpt-4-32k-0314 in the API request.

Set a reminder in your diaries though, as this functionality is only accessible until September 13 2023.

OpenAI Costs are Coming Down Too

We’ve already shared the updated token costs for GPT-3.5-turbo-16k but that’s not where the savings end. By making its systems even more efficient, OpenAI is saving money and passing those benefits onto developers.

Effective from yesterday, the most popular embedding model – text-embedding-ada-002 – is now $0.0001 per 1k tokens, which is a cost reduction of 75%.

Similarly, the most popular chat model (gpt-3.5-turbo) which powers ChatGPT sees a cost reduction of 25%. This means developers can now use the model for $0.0015 per 1k input tokens and $0.002 per 1k output tokens.

Read our guide on how to use ChatGPT for free.

What’s Next for OpenAI and ChatGPT?

Despite reservations about the safety and security of ChatGPT, excitement for the model remains and the innovations don’t stop, much of which is based on developer feedback.

“Developer feedback is a cornerstone of our platform’s evolution and we will continue to make improvements based on the suggestions we hear.” – OpenAI’s statements on the release

Incremental updates to existing models – as opposed to larger full-scale releases – is the strategy OpenAI is taking.

But before anyone gets too excited about the thought of a much-anticipated GPT-4 successor coming soon, CEO Sam Altman has poured cold water on the theory. He told Economic Times that they have “a lot of work to do” before starting work on the model.

ChatGPT and other generative AI services have become quite popular at businesses around the world. After all, with the right prompts, these platforms can perform a lot of work tasks, from coding and emailing to project management and customer service assistance.

However, the technology is nothing if not controversial, with a wide range of critics wary of AI’s potential impact on the business world. Concerns about its accuracy are the driving factor, but there are plenty of other reasons why banning AI has become increasingly popular over the last few months.

In this guide, we’ll show you which companies have started banning AI for their employees, as well as outlining why the tech is being banned in the first place.

Companies That Have Banned AI

The tech industry has been abuzz since the launch of ChatGPT in November, with many businesses building AI alternatives to compete with the impressive platform. Still, this has not stopped certain companies from outright banning or limiting generative AI use for employees, at least until they figure out how it can work for them in a more regulated way.

Apple

While Apple is typically on the cutting edge of new technology, the tech giant is taking a firm stance on the employee use of ChatGPT, banning the technology for all workers.

The primary concern fueling the ban from Apple is that upper management is concerned about employees unknowingly sharing confidential information, which could then in turn lead to a leak.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that Apple banned employees from using AI on the same day it launched the ChatGPT app for iOS.

Samsung

Apple’s decision to ban employee use of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT may have been spurred by Samsung’s decision to do the same, as their reasoning is surprisingly similar. The difference, however, being that Apple was afraid of employees sharing confidential information, whereas a Samsung employee actually did share confidential information on ChatGPT, which led to a potential leak of its code.

Samsung didn’t just ban ChatGPT without consideration for its employees. In fact, the South Korea-based company surveyed employees about the decision and found that 65% are concerned about security risks when using generative AI platforms like ChatGPT.

Verizon

In a public statement to employees in February, the telecommunications company Verizon made clear its opinions about employees using ChatGPT, and as you might have guessed, it’s not a positive one.

“ChatGPT is not accessible from our corporate systems, as that can put us at risk of losing control of customer information, source code and more… as a company, we want to safely embrace emerging technology.”

Verizon did note in the statement that “artificial intelligence is integral” to the company’s long-term strategy, but that ChatGPT was “not synonymous with AI,” and therefore not to be used by employees.

Wall Street Banks

Tech companies aren’t the only businesses that are wary of employees utilizing generative AI platforms like ChatGPT to improve productivity. In fact, one of the first industries to really take issue with the technology was banking, which saw a myriad of big banks banning AI outright for employees before the majority of the tech industries.

Here’s a list of big banks that have banned employees from using generative AI for work:

• Bank of America Corp.
• Citigroup Inc.
• Deutsche Bank AG
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
• Wells Fargo & Co.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.

To be fair, though, the banking industry is not necessarily opposed to the technology on principal. The reality is that the banking industry is heavily regulated, which means that unvetted, third-party software like ChatGPT simply isn’t permitted to manage the billions of dollars passing through these big banks.

Considering the fact that ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms have been described as “convincingly inaccurate,” even by their creators, it’s safe to say that they shouldn’t be handling all of our money anyway. Still, once these platforms are a bit more developed, and more importantly regulated, you can rest assured that banks will likely get on the bandwagon.

Countries That Have Banned AI

In addition to several companies making the choice to nix ChatGPT for employees, there are some countries that are taking extraordinary steps to ensure the technology does not disrupt everyday life for their citizens. Here’s a list of the countries where ChatGPT is banned:

• Russia
• China
• Iran
• North Korea
• Cuba
• Syria
• Italy

In the countries listed above, you will not be able to access ChatGPT, unless you’ve got a VPN of some kind. Yes, the list is not exactly a ringing endorsement for banning ChatGPT, considering their collective reputation when it comes to unjust internet censorship.

Why Is ChatGPT Getting Banned?

With so many prominent companies and actual countries banning generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, it’s safe to wonder, why is the technology being banned in the first place?

For starters, ChatGPT and its alternatives are very much in their infancy. Having just launched in November 2022, these platforms are far from perfect, relaying a lot of significant AI errors that could have a decidedly negative impact on a company or a country. The tech is also very susceptible to spreading misinformation, according to a 2023 study of the generative platform Google Bard.

On top of that, employees and employers just aren’t on the same page when it comes to the use of generative AI in the workplace. 68% of employees reportedly use generative AI platforms at work without telling their bosses, and 47% of employers are considered AI use over new hires. Suffice to say, the impact of AI on the workplace is going to be more that substantial.

All that to say, generative AI just isn’t ready for the big time yet. The potential errors, the disconnect on usage, and proclivity for misinformation is enough to turn big business away from the tech. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that once these issues are at least somewhat resolved, these companies will be first in line to get the productivity boost they’ll all but ensure.

Indian IT services giant TCS has acknowledged a “setback” in its efforts to promote gender diversity, after its 2022/23 annual report revealed that more women were leaving the company than men in the wake of its return-to-office policy being introduced.

Back in January, TCS joined the ranks of tech companies ending remote working in 2023, with employees now expected to report to the office at least three days a week.

It’s a move that appears to have had the unintended consequence of prompting an increase in the company’s attrition rate amongst female workers, compared to their male counterparts, where historically it had been lower.

“Reset the Domestic Arrangements”

The discrepancy was highlighted in the firm’s latest Integrated Annual Report, which was released following the end of FY23. In the comprehensive review, TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad notes an overall attrition rate of 20.1% for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2023.

While the company stops short of revealing specific data for its male vs female attrition rate in the last financial year, Mr Lakkad calls the trend “unusual” and notes that: “Historically, women’s attrition at TCS has been similar or lower than men’s attrition.”

He added that the experience of working fully remotely during Covid-19 may have prompted a shift in  priorities among the organization’s female workers – though we would hasten to add that a reluctance to go back to pre pandemic work/life norms is more of a universal theme in our experience.

“There might be other reasons, but intuitively, I would think working from home during the pandemic reset the domestic arrangements for some women, keeping them from returning to office even after everything normalized,” he commented in the report.

TCS Stands Firm on WFO Benefits

Despite this, Lakkad insisted that TCS’ return to office policy was necessary to help new hires and more junior members of staff “understand the company’s culture and for better collaboration among workers.”

He went on to acknowledge the news as a “setback to our efforts to promote gender diversity” but said the firm are “doubling down” on efforts to increase gender representation.

“In our external hiring, women make up 38.1% of our net hires this year, versus 35.7% in our workforce,” Lakkad revealed.

Gender Diversity and Big Tech’s Big Problem

Based on the company’s track record, there’s good reason to believe Mr Lakkad when he suggests TCS are concerned by the surge in attrition among women on the payroll. This is because the organization is one of the leading lights for gender diversity in the Indian subcontinent.

According to a December 2022 Hurun report, TCS was the largest employer of women amongst India’s 500 most valuable companies. The rankings were based on data showing women as comprising 35% (210,000) of the firm’s total workforce of 613,974.

Therein arguably lies the problem. Most of us would probably agree that in an ideal world, workforces would be distributed much more closely to 50/50 for gender and other forms of diversity. However,  reality tends to paint quite a different picture and statistics generally show women as representing a third of the employee strength at big tech outfits.

By way of an example, Microsoft’s 2022 Global Diversity & Inclusion report revealed women to make up 32.7% of its global workforce. Interestingly, that figure surges to nearly 40% as soon as you leave North America.

Look at other forms of diversity, such as representation among ethnic minority groups, and the numbers fall to single digit levels – 6.6% US Black and African American representation at Microsoft, though we could pick practically any tech bellwether.

The figures may be moving in the right direction, but whether in India or the US, diversity is still one of big tech’s biggest problems.

New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has revealed her vision for “Twitter 2.0”, as she looks to revitalize the social media giant following its brief but rocky stewardship by outspoken billionaire Elon Musk.

Yaccarino was announced to be taking the helm at Twitter last week, with Musk stepping away to refocus on his other projects, namely electric car giant Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX.

Twitter will still be owned by Musk through his X Corp parent company, though Yaccarino is understood to be being given complete control as she looks to transform the platform in 2023 and also takes over as X Corp CEO.

Twitter 2.0 Looks Like a Tall Order

Central to Yaccarino’s “transformation” mission is a campaign to establish the platform as a “global town square for communication”. This is a vision she apparently shares with her predecessor, Musk, though his stance as a self-described “free speech absolutist” meant that in practice Twitter became an unmoderated disinformation battleground during his tenure.

Kicking things off with a series of tweets, Yaccarino has promised nothing less than to reinvent Twitter as “the world’s most accurate real-time information source” while simultaneously  enabling an “unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue.”

In practice, her top priority as new CEO may be to conduct damage control, with December 2022 data showing Twitter revenue to have fallen by 40% year-on-year. With advertisers having largely deserted the platform, the former NBCUniversal marketing boss seems to have her work cut out for her steadying the ship.

Twitter vs Europe a Key Battleground for Business Future

In particular,  Yaccarino must navigate Twitter’s tricky relationship with European regulators. This May, Musk pulled Twitter out of the EU’s voluntary disinformation code, though the body will begin enforcing its guidelines as laws from August 25th when they become part of the Digital Services Act.

“You can run but you can’t hide…Our teams will be ready for enforcement,” warned Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for Internal Market, in a not-so-thinly veiled tweet.

The conflict highlights just how far Twitter’s reputation has fallen, with critics saying the platform’s lack of moderation means it’s a breeding ground for fake accounts, disinformation and propaganda, and hate speech. Underlining this, a recent report by the BBC’s Global Disinformation team found there were “hundreds” of Russian and Chinese propaganda accounts thriving on Twitter.

Among other things, Yaccarino may find it difficult to bring Twitter’s profits back into the black if it’s struggling to operate in a major market such as Europe.

New CEO’s Track Record Offers Hope?

While Yaccarino stopped short of saying specifically how she planned to bring Twitter back to (more reputable) life, she does come with a strong CV and track record of organization change.

During her time at NBCUniversal, where she rose to Head of Advertising, she saw the broadcaster through a difficult period as it grappled with new content consumption realities. Specifically, she helped it come to terms with the digital streaming revolution, overhauling its ad sales model and launching its Peacock platform.

She is joined in the upper echelons of a revamped Twitter leadership by Joe Benarroch, formerly NBCUniversal SVP of Communications, Advertising and Partnerships. Mr Benarroch’s CV also includes a stint at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

With resumes like these, it would seem foolish to write off Twitter’s new flock before they’ve even had a chance. Still, not only does Musk’s specter still loom large over Twitter, but his particular brand of “free speech” may take some time to undo.

Apple’s WWDC event debuted plenty of software updates, but one major one is worth highlighting: The Safari browser is about to become a lot more secure.

Changes are coming to Safari to ensure your private browser stays private by locking your browser tab if you step away from your laptop. Plus, more third-party trackers will be blocked from scooping up your data.

Other Apple privacy updates include fingerprinting protections and better password management features. Here’s what to know.

Private Browsing Will Lock When Users Are Away

Some of the Safari updates will be invisible to the average user: These include “advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections” that will keep up with “the latest techniques to track or identify a user’s device” and can prevent websites from using them.

But one noticeable change is the one arriving to the Private Browsing mode:

“Private Browsing now locks when not in use, allowing a user to keep tabs open even when stepping away from the device.” –Apple Newsroom

Users will have to use Touch ID or their password in order to get back access to their private tabs.

These new features are “coming in free software updates this fall,” Apple says. They’ll likely arrive by September, when Apple’s new hardware typically debuts.

Other New Privacy and Security Features

When the updates arrive, Apple users will be able to share their passwords with entire groups, a functionality that allows everyone to stay in the loop (and secure) even while using shared accounts.

Here’s how Apple explains this update:

“For easier and more secure password and passkey sharing, users can create a group to share a set of passwords, and everyone in the group can add and edit passwords to keep them up to date. Since sharing is through iCloud Keychain, it is end-to-end encrypted.”

Apple also notes that one-time verification codes sent through Mail will soon autofill for users who have Safari, for faster logins.

Apple’s “lockdown mode” is also getting updates, with a list of new functions that includes better wireless connectivity defaults and improved media sharing defaults as well as sandboxing and some network security optimizations.

Staying Safe Online

These new tools and software improvements are just the latest signal that the popular tech giant is doubling down on its stated mission to improve data security and user privacy in an era when plenty of tech companies are making headlines for failing to do just that.

It’s working: Apple currently has a mind-boggling $2.88 trillion market cap. While we’d still recommend some caution about praising Apple’s approach to data privacy, these new updates can do a lot to prevent unwanted data collection from third-party actors.

There’s no harm in adding more layers of security, either, from a company-wide password management service to the right remote access software.

Twitter is refusing to pay the bills it owes to Google Cloud, reports say.

Twitter’s contract with the service is up for renewal this month, and the fallout of not paying could deeply impact the social platform’s safety protocols, including spam and abuse prevention measures.

It’s another problem stemming from the steep and controversial cost-cutting measures that the social platform has taken in recent months.

What Happens If Twitter Stiffs Google?

Twitter’s contracts with internet heavy hitters Google and Amazon have long supplemented the services that Twitter operates from its own servers. Twitter is currently in the middle of a multi-year contract with Google, but it has stopped holding up its end of the bargain. Now, it risks losing the Google servers it’s hosting some services on.

What Twitter functions are at risk of flailing or dying entirely when Google pulls the plug? Platformer, which broke the news, identifies three:

• Services related to fighting spam
• Services related to removing child sexual abuse material
• Services for protecting user accounts

More services may be hosted on Google as well.

Limited functionality for any one of those three services would be terrible news for a social platform that’s already had an impressive run of crises since shifting to new management in the last year.

Twitter’s Cost Cutting Under Musk

Elon Musk took over control of Twitter last year in a $44 billion deal. Since then, a large part of his plans for the social media website have revolved around cost cutting.

Twitter has laid of thousands of employees. It has refused to pay rent for its offices, as well, and one source told the New York Times that Twitter explored the possibility of avoiding paying severance to its laid-off workers. Even “hardcore Musk loyalists” were laid off.

Given these past reports, the news that Twitter is now reconsidering paying Google for services rendered doesn’t seem surprising. According to some reports, Twitter has even been arguing with Google about renegotating its contract since March of this year.

Is Using Twitter a Safety Concern?

All the best VPNs and password managers on the market — as helpful as they are — won’t protect your email, password, or other Twitter account information, should the service be breached by a third party. And a short-staffed Twitter with its Google servers at risk of disappearing doesn’t exactly scream secure.

Plenty of Twitter’s userbase seem set to sink or swim with the social platform, however.

If your business has a presence on the website, we’d recommend checking that you’ve siloed your account’s data, a move that can minimize any potential harm from a breach.