As Meta doubles down on its cost-cutting efforts, the social media giant has started letting go of approximately 6,000 workers, in its third and “final” round of layoffs that were announced earlier this year in March.

This follows similar actions made in April, with members of Meta’s business groups bearing the brunt of this latest round. As Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerburg marches ahead with the company’s “year of efficiency”, the social media mega-weight’s profits and share price are showing promising signs of recovery.

However, with remaining workers understandably jaded by the recent events, these successes, unfortunately, come at a cost to the company’s workforce.

Meta Begins its Final Round of Layoffs

After announcing that it would be letting go of staff throughout April and May, Meta has stayed true to its word by beginning its last, and final round of layoffs.

According to sources close to the company, around 6,000 employees have been handed the pink slip, with members of Meta’s business teams being impacted the most. This marks the company’s third series of cuts to date, with 11,000 workers being dismissed last November, and approximately 4,000 staffers being laid off in April.

While Zuckerburg claims this is the final time workers will be made redundant en masse, a blog post released by the company in March explained that may take until the end of 2023 for these changes to be finalized.

Throughout the company’s ‘year of efficiency’, Facebook’s owner also froze recruiting for around 5,000 roles too, as part of a multi-pronged effort to manage its headcount – but Meta’s personnel challenges aren’t just being played out on home soil.

“In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes. Our timelines for international teams will also look different, and local leaders will follow up with more details.” – Meta blog post from March

Around 490 workers have been axed from the company’s international headquarters in Ireland too, a figure equating to almost 20% of the location’s total workforce. The cuts impact individuals across a range of teams, including finance, sales, marketing, and engineering.

Meta’s post-pandemic hiring spree throughout 2020 and 2021 saw the company’s headcount increase by more than double. As the climate grows increasingly hostile for big tech companies, these measures are part of a radical effort to bring down employee expenses – but are they paying off?

Is Meta’s ‘Year of Efficiency’ Paying Off?

2023 has been anything but plain sailing for Meta. The company’s pledge to streamline its efficiency has resulted in over 21,000 employee casualties and stripped-back perks for its remaining teams.

So, have these belt-tightening measures been worth it? Well, if the company’s share price is anything to go by, then they just might be.

The social media company’s shares have more than doubled in value throughout 2023, and have consistently ranked among the top performers in the S&P 500 index. Despite consumer demand wavering for most of big tech, Meta reported better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of the year too, with revenue climbing 3% year-on-year.

However, while gains have been made, the company was forced to sell its app database Giphy to Shutterstock this week at a significant loss. And with the forecast for big tech likely worse before it gets better, there’s no guarantee on what the rest of 2023 could bring.

As nations around the globe start warming to the idea of a 4-day work week, Russia is heading in the opposite direction, with the Russian labor ministry officially granting employers the legal right to ask workers in for an extra day.

According to a letter to the labor ministry from a leading business group, the initiative was proposed to deal with the escalating fallout the country is facing from international sanctions and the cost of its invasion of Ukraine.

The policy relies on the consent of employees, but with extra hours worked not being financially accounted for, and Russia’s track record with workplace practices being chequered at best, it’s uncertain whether the average worker will actually have much of a say. Here’s what we know so far.

Russian Business Tycoons Are Calling for a 6–Day Work Week

As Russia’s economy continues to buckle under the weight of international sanctions, a Russian business group – The Association of Entrepreneurs for the Development of Commercial Patriotism (Avanti) – has placed pressure on its labor minister to introduce a 6-day working week.

The association, which is comprised of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and a number of top Kremlin officials, launched its official appeal in a letter to the nation’s Minister of Labor, Anton Koyakov. In their letter, they cited the positive impact this change would have on the Russian economy, its exports, and its ability to support “technical and technological breakthroughs”.

Trade sanctions have been placed on the Eastern nation since its troops first invaded the former Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014.

“Currently, our financial and economic system’s need for additional investment remains.” – Avanti’s letter to Minister of Labor Anton Koyakov

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western nations launched a wave of new penalties targeting the state’s finances, oil, and gas supplies, individual businesses, and oligarchs.

While Russia is benefiting from lucrative oil exports to nations like China and India, these exports are placing great strain on its economy and driving up the price of living for ordinary citizens. This 6-day work week initiative aims to patch up the cracks in the economy, but unfortunately will be to the detriment of workers, who won’t be compensated for the extra day worked.

What’s more, with the EU currently discussing its 11th round of sanctions against Russia – which may include the union targeting countries around the world that continue to trade with the Kremlin – it’s unlikely that this extra manpower will be enough to recover future losses.

How Many Days Should We Be Working?

As Russia pushes its citizens to work an extra day, the rest of the world seems to be turning the dial in the opposite direction, with a number of leading nations flirting with the idea of a 4-day work week.

The concept has been making major waves globally after the success of an international pilot program which found that the 32-hour work week had a resounding success rate, with 67% of workers feeling less burned-out after the trial period, and the average revenue of businesses raising by 8.15%.

The trial, which was organized by the UK’s 4 Day Week Campaign and supported by researchers from Cambridge and Boston University, has kickstarted similar experiments in a number of countries including South Africa, Iceland, Belgium, and Japan.

The US is taking the initiative very seriously too, with 71% of Americans claiming to support the flexible strategy, and Maryland coming within a hairs-breadth of rolling out a “Four Day Work Week Act” earlier this year.

As Microsoft continues to fight for AI dominance, the company has announced its search engine Bing will soon be available to all ChatGPT users.

ChatGPT, which previously relied on data from September 2021 and before, will soon be able to access real time data, one of the major selling points of Google’s competing product, Bard.

But Microsoft isn’t stopping there. As part of its effort to infuse AI throughout the platform, the software manufacturer also announced it would be bringing its own AI personal assistant to Windows 11 in its annual Microsoft Build event.

Microsoft’s Bing is Now the Default Search for ChatGPT Users

After months of only reserving its internet integration to its premium users, OpenAI is planning to open Bing’s access for all ChatGPT users. This means that those using the app will soon benefit from Bing’s  up-to-date of search and web data, as well as citations.

This is a pretty major milestone for ChatGPT, as the AI-powered chatbot’s knowledge database previously only contained information created before September 2021, the training cut-off date.

Not being able to retrieve timely information provided a number of roadblocks for ChatGPT. The chatbot hasn’t been able to guarantee that its replies are accurate and relevant to the current time, and it was also ignorant of new concepts that have emerged since the cut-off date.

These limitations have driven many users to jump ship to Google’s Bard instead, as the company’s LaMDA language model has always been able to offer responses based on real-time research from its search engine.

“Microsoft is announcing that Bing is coming to ChatGPT as the default search experience. ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide more up-to-date answers with access from the web.” – Frank X. Shaw – Chief Communications Officer, Microsoft

While the battle between Google Bard and ChatGPT isn’t expected to cease anytime soon, ChatGPT’s decision to make Bing its default search engine removes one of its biggest obstacles – firmly placing the chatbot back in the running.

But when exactly will these changes be appearing on the free version of the app? According to Microsoft’s chief-executive Satya Nadella, the plugin is going to be available for regular users “soon”, so ChatGPT devotees shouldn’t expect access right away.

What Other AI-Updates Are Coming to Microsoft?

Since Microsoft first partnered up with AI powerhouse and OpenAI creator ChatGPT back in 2016, their relationship has gone from strength to strength. The mutually beneficial partnership has seen Microsoft pump billions of dollars into the AI research lab and has allowed the company to soar past its competition to become the frontrunner in Silicon Valley’s AI race.

And Microsoft isn’t done yet. After announcing the third phase of its partnership with OpenAI in January of this year, the company revealed a series of additional AI-driven changes it was planning to roll out across its platform in its Build 2023 keynote this week.

Most notably, the software company is bringing its AI personal assistant Copilot to its Windows 11 operating system. This change will bring Copilot, which is already integrated with Microsoft Edge, Office, and GitHub, to the 20% of Windows users that rely on the platform.

Windows Copilot screenshot. Source: microsoft.com

Microsoft also announced its Microsoft 365 Copilot would be supporting plugins like Teams messages, and Power Platform, as well as external options like Adobe and Atlassian.

As Microsoft continues to try and “change the future of work”, this is likely one of many announcements the software company will make this year as they continue to benefit from OpenAI’s powerful GP-4 technology.

For every concerning news story about AI, another seems to pop up to counteract it. Adobe’s latest update maintains that cycle.

Despite continuing to fill creatives with a mix of awe and terror, the software giant’s latest update will do nothing to slow the divisive conversation around AI-generated content.

Adobe has just announced it will roll out the generative-AI art software Firefly within Photoshop, through a new tool called Generative Fill. It will allow users to extend images beyond borders, as well as add and remove objects with far more precision than previously available.

How Does Photoshop’s New AI Tool Work?

When first revealed back in March, Firefly stood out from other AI tools with the assurance it wouldn’t infringe upon the existing work of artists and photographers. This should be a comfort to creatives and agencies who are using AI tools tentatively in fear of the potential legal issues.

Instead, Firefly has been trained on commercially safe images, public domain content, openly licensed work, and photos available in Adobe Stock from Photoshop. As with most generative image generators it does particularly well with landscapes, but seems to struggle with text.

Using natural-language text prompts, users can describe the kind of image or object they want Firefly to create and the tool will get to work. Adobe will automatically add its Content Credentials to any images using the AI features. 

Owing to the unpredictability of AI, safety was understandably a key consideration when creating the tool. Safe results were a priority for Adobe and began right back when the training set was being devised:

“We exclude certain terms and words that we feel aren’t safe. And then we’re even looking into another hierarchy of ‘if Maria selects an area that has a lot of skin in it, maybe right now – and you’ll actually see warning messages at times – we won’t expand a prompt on that one. We just don’t want to go into a place that doesn’t feel comfortable for us.” – Maria Yap, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Adobe

Is Firefly Any Good Though?

There’s no doubt that generative AI tools can be hard to predict and often yield interesting images. But for those who have used or seen the new features in action, the response is generally positive.

Those that were privy to a pre-launch demo seemed impressed, stating that lighting was well handled, even creating natural reflections, and that the tool could seamlessly add objects beyond the original frame.

The legitimate concerns around the tools unpredictability has been somewhat mitigated by Adobe introducing three variations for every prompt.

Firefly’s usefulness doesn’t end with Photoshop, as Adobe has shared its intent to bring its capabilities to photo management tool Lightroom. While timelines on this feature update are yet to be confirmed, considering the AI’s initial positive reception, this rollout is likely to be a priority.

What Does Generative AI Mean For Creatives?

Photoshop is arguably the most revered and powerful image editing tool out there. However, with such capability comes great complexity. This can mean it’s hard and frustrating for new users to learn how to use it.

The ease of simply asking an AI-powered tool to complete complex edits, makes Photoshop more accessible than ever before. And its success is already showing, with over 100 million images already having been created using it.

More than this, integrating Firefly into workflows comes with the hope that’ll act as a “creative co-pilot”, according to Ashley Still, Senior Vice President of Digital Media at Adobe. The speed and ease of this particular generative-AI tool looks set to enhance the user experience more than any before it.

Currently only available to beta users in the web version of Photoshop, wider availability is set to be expected in the “second half of 2023”

Twitter is being plagued by a new bug that is causing all sorts of privacy issues. Tweets that had previously been deleted – including replies and retweets – have recently resurfaced onto user profiles.

Despite a new CEO, the influence of Elon Musk and his crumbling infrastructure continues to plague the platform. Particularly as he remains the lead on product development, design and delivery.

This bug is just the latest in a long line of issues that have cropped up and caused glitches on the site. While some, such as a video’s audio continuing to play despite scrolling past it, may seem trivial, this most recent bug is starting to create very real issues around privacy.

Zombie Tweets Could Spark Real-World Problems

Information and data around the latest widespread bug is purely anecdotal for now. However, the rate at which tweets are reappearing is significant, with one security expert reporting almost 34,000 messages being restored.

While it appears to be a frustrating yet ultimately superficial issue for most, having old tweets that could appear dubious in the cold light of 2023 culture and society can have significant negative implications.

Similarly, activists, whistle blowers and protestors across the globe still value the platform as an important tool. Take Turkey for example, who have forced the company to block certain tweets during their elections. Should old, potentially harmful content resurface it could cause legitimate real-world problems beyond a few red faces.

These so-called zombie tweets could soon begin to impact freedom and free speech.

Concerns Grow for Data Privacy and Protection

While the cause of the bug is still unknown, it sparks a wider conversation around the handling and protection of data and privacy. However, with the lack of a Twitter press team users, journalists and former employees are only able to speculate as to what could have happened.

Those who have batch-deleted tweets using a third-party service like Redact or TweetDelete seem to be the most affected. However, some have hypothesized that Twitter’s servers moving around and accidentally restoring the data could be behind the resurgence of old content.

“It sounds a lot like they moved a bunch of servers between data centers and didn’t properly adjust the topology before reinserting them into the network.” – A former Twitter Site Reliability Engineer

So What Is Going On Over At Twitter?

It’s no secret that users are ditching the platform in droves. In fact, 60% have taken a break from using the site in the past 12 months. With news story after news story of bizarre violations and technical issues, it comes as no surprise.

Since Musk took over the platform, bugs have become more prevalent. There’s no doubt about it, the site has steadily been disintegrating in both infrastructure and technology, and has been unable to fulfill basic user functions.

Take last month’s bug for example, where private tweets were being made public and causing the same data concerns as this current bug. It does all make sense though, and to a lot of people comes as no surprise, when you consider the mass employee firings.

Despite Musk’s bravado on how he is running the company – as noted in the default “💩” replies to any press enquiries – the relentless bugs and bad news coming out of Twitter HQ is not good for business.

Particularly as there are other platforms – from Meta to Mastodon – waiting in the wings to welcome ex-Twitter users.

TikTok Inc. filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging Montana’s recent state-wide ban of the app. It’s the first US state to have banned the Chinese-owned video platform, which currently has over 1.4 billion monthly active users worldwide.

TikTok stated that the ban violates the constitutional First Amendment right to free speech. The company’s argument is that the ban shuts down the “forum for speech” for app users.

The lawsuit goes on to argue that Montana is getting too involved with matters of user data and national security, which is the federal government’s responsibility.

TikTok Fines Are Likely To Be Over $10,000

Due to take effect in January 2024, the ban will not stop people who have already downloaded TikTok from using the app. It will however, make it illegal for app stores to offer it.

Fines of $10,000 per violation – with additional fines of $10,000 per day – could be imposed by the state. These fees will be incurred by any entity – such as the App Store and Google Play, or TikTok itself – each time someone is “offered the ability” to access the app. However, no penalties will be passed down to TikTok users.

For TikTok, the threat of a total US ban has been looming for some time. This move from Montana is the latest advance in that becoming a reality. Hence why the app is keen to fight back with this current legal challenge.

“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.” – TikTok’s statement on the ban

US Scrutiny Towards TikTok Grows

This move is also the most recent step in TikTok’s growing scrutiny within the US. Concerns that the app could be a national security risk, with data being passed to the Chinese government, resulted in a congressional hearing with the app’s CEO Shou Zi Chew earlier this year.

As well as this, the US, Canada and EU Commissions recently ruled to remove the app from all government-owned devices.

The platform – owned by the Chinese company ByteDance – has repeatedly denied it’s controlled by the Chinese government and called out the “unfounded speculation” that they could access TikTok data.

Montana Set To Defend The Ban And Protect Against “Foreign Adversaries”

Montana’s attorney general Austin Knudsen is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. His spokesperson confirmed that they saw the TikTok lawsuits coming and will defend the ban in court.

“We expected legal challenges and are fully prepared to defend the law that helps protect Montanans’ privacy and security.” – Emily Flower, spokesperson for Montana’s attorney general

With a ban on all social media apps that have links to “foreign adversaries”, this move from Montana isn’t anything new. Governor Greg Gianforte already announced the ban on Chinese-owned WeChat and Russian-owned Telegram from June 1.

Gianforte argued that the law will prevent personal and private data from being “harvested by the Chinese Communist party.”

TikTok Isn’t Alone in Taking Legal Action

It seems that the app will not be going down in Montana without a fight though, as TikTok isn’t the only one suing to block the law.

A group of TikTok creators – including an exercise influencer and former marine sergeant – are also suing the state, similarly arguing that it violates their first amendment rights. They say the state is looking to “exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress.”.

Whatever the outcome of the TikTok vs Montana lawsuit, it’s clear that it will set a precedent for any future state-wide bans.

ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch turned the working world rapidly on its head. Now the AI tool has more than 100 million users active every month and is helping employees across the globe complete a remarkably varied range of day-to-day tasks and duties.

A survey conducted by Tech.co in May 2023 has found that almost half (47%) of business leaders and decision-makers say they’re considering farming out responsibilities to AI tools rather than hiring new employees – although others are skeptical over whether it would replace entire roles at their company or firm.

Our survey also found that business leaders and decision-makers think that, on average, more than a quarter of their current workload could be completed by ChatGPT or similar tools.

Tech.co’s Survey of Business Leaders and Decision Makers

Tech.co asked a global cohort of 93 business leaders and decision-makers a series of questions about AI and its impact on their firm and personal workload.

Their businesses and start ups spanned a variety of sectors and industries, including legal, healthcare, insurance, retail, public relations, software, print, tech, and consulting.

Not all respondents answered every query we posed to them, so we’ve specified the number that responded to each question individually throughout this article.

47% of Business Leaders Would Consider AI Tools Over New Hires

72 business leaders and decision-makers responded to our first query: “Would you consider not hiring new employees, and instead allow AI tools to carry out the role instead?”

47.2% said that they would consider turning to tools powered by artificial intelligence rather than hiring a new employee, whereas 52.8% said they weren’t prepared to do this.

“There are already certain tasks I used to delegate to contract workers which I now handle myself with AI tools,” designer and entrepreneur Viputheshwar Sitaraman told Tech.co.

However, he also pointed out that, “AI is slower than having a real person handle the task” and highlight instances “where information is too sensitive to delegate or outsource” to AI tools at the moment.

However, Sitaraman also said “once locally-hosted AI tools are powerful enough,’ he intended to ‘use AI tools to handle these in-house roles.”

“I am willing to limit hiring and pay my current employees more if we can increase productivity and use AI. I have no problem transferring that money to our employees who are intelligently using AI” – John Waters, owner of Waters Business Consulting.

Waters, whose business is based in Phoenix, Arizona, predicts that artificial intelligence “will be a game changer in the business consulting industry”.

Many disagreed, however. “I still think that AI tools cannot recreate or replicate human achievement and I do not believe that this will change any time soon” says Christopher Rogers, Chief Operating Officer of Carenet Health.

“A company’s workforce makes up its culture and is the backbone of the organization. The community and comradery that people provide cannot be replicated with AI.”

Over Half of Business Leaders Say AI Tools Won’t Replace Roles

52 business leaders and decision-makers responded to our second query: “How long do you think it’ll be before an AI tool like ChatGPT replaces an entire employee’s role at your workplace?”

Of that cohort, 51.9% said that ChatGPT and similar AI tools would never replace an entire role in their business. This was the most common answer to the question we received.

“Being a small business, it will never replace an entire role,” explains Jeff Moriarty, owner of Indiana-based jewelry store Moriarty’s Gem Art. “But [AI] will definitely take a lot of work away from all of our associates and allow them to focus on other projects” he added.

Many of the respondents spoke of how AI tools will simply support the work of existing roles, but five business leaders that responded to our query told us that ChatGPT was already replacing entire roles at their companies.

“AI can get me content in seconds when an employee might take days to produce something equivalent” Nance L. Shick, Employment Attorney and Mediator at Third Ear Conflict Resolution, told Tech.co. “It also comes at a fraction of the cost of an employee, who would require a substantial amount of money, time, and energy.”

“I might never hire a content curator again” she continued. “My next marketing hire will likely be a manager who can analyze and strategize more effectively than a human or AI assistant.”

Over a Quarter of Workload Could Be Completed by AI

45 business leaders and decision-makers answered our third query: “How much (in %) of your current workload could be completed by AI tools such as ChatGPT?”.

On average, leaders and decision-makers said that 26.8%* of their personal workload could be handed over to these sorts of tools. Only two people that responded to this query said that no aspects of their current workloads could be handed over to ChatGPT.

“I’m using ChatGPT extensively for generating marketing copy, social media content, and marketing emails. So far it’s saved hours of weekly time I’d otherwise spend on manually creating these assets” – Jason Havner, General Manager of QuickDumpsters.

Saumil Patel, co-founder of codeowners.com, told Tech.co that around half of his workload can now be completed by “AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Warp.”

“These tools assist me in tasks such as writing boilerplate code, debugging, understanding pull requests, analyzing user feedback, creating product one-pagers, and sprint planning,” he remarked.

AI: Changing the Way We Work Every Day

ChatGPT, Bard, and other AI tools are rapidly changing the way staff members in all sorts of roles go about their workday, from junior employees right up to directors and CEOs.

Gone are the days when manual labor roles were touted as the most likely to be impacted by AI – now, jobs that consist of knowledge work equally as vulnerable. Everything from coding to legal advice can now be carried out by AI – and ChatGPT has only been available to the public for around six months.

Although opinions seem to be split among the businesses we spoke to on the topic of whether ChatGPT or a similar AI tool will replace an entire role soon, with new use cases arising almost every day, it’s really hard to predict precisely what the near future holds.

*When business leaders gave us a range estimate, such as 20-30%, we took the middle value (25%). Answers relating to the workload of their entire business were also excluded.

The return to office debate remains a hot topic, with many big tech companies going back on the promises of remote work that were made in the pandemic era.

The answer for those anxious office managers that want their physical offices to be a hive of activity and ditch the Zoom calls for good, is apparently free drinks, according a recent study.

But with many companies cutting perks to save money, will it really be enough to get us back to the daily commute?

Beverages the Key to Return to Office

According to new research, conducted by OnePoll, workers aren’t looking for big pay raises or their own parking space to get them back to the office. All they want is a free drink.

Like a piping hot cup of coffee, the research may be a little hard to swallow for workers who can’t imagine giving up remote work, but apparently, just under half (46%) of the 2,050 US workers surveyed stated that the top perk to get them back to the office would be free beverages.

It’s important to note that the poll was conducted by OnePoll for Flavia, which just happens to be a beverage equipment provider, but there were other top perks named too. The second most desired was required breaks (45%), which was tied with free food.

The ability to bring a pet to work at 36%, ranked higher than bringing a child to work (29%), surely much to the relief of co-workers everywhere.

Hot coffee was named the most popular drink of the working day (66%), followed by iced coffee (47%), and water (45%).

Companies are Cutting Work Perks

At a time when many companies are demanding that workers return to the office, lots are also cutting perks at the same time, which if this research is anything to go by, is a false economy.

The research feels very ironic considering that shortly after his Twitter takeover, Elon Musk not only removed perks for employees (the ones that were lucky enough to keep their jobs), he also auctioned off the coffee machines.

Twitter isn’t alone though. Companies as big as Meta, Google and Apple have all made cuts to workplace pampering this year. Google has recently made cuts to its free food options, which was ranked as the second greatest perk in the OnePoll survey.

Some companies still offer plenty of extras though, despite the harsh cost cutting that we’re seeing this year.

The Return to Office Battle

The push by some companies to get staff back to the office is proving difficult, with employees at Apple and Amazon, for example, up in arms at the demands made on them.

It’s perhaps not surprising. There had been numerous studies into the beneficial affect of remote working, from the positive impact it has on Gen Z, to even living longer.

And yet, each week we’re seeing another company call workers back to the office. Last week it was Dell, and the mindset among leaders doesn’t look set to change any time soon. There’s no better example than an interview with Musk by CNBC this week, where he stated that ‘People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls***.’

While a cup of joe might be enough to entice almost half of workers back, according to this survey, we suspect that it’ll take a lot more to make the rest of them to return. With tools like web conferencing  making working from home easier than ever, it’s tough to imagine people hanging up their home perks for a drink in a cardboard cup.

Google and IBM have announced a partnership with Japan, as world powers jostle for the top spot in the quantum computer arena.

The 2020s is to quantum computing what the 1950s was to nuclear weapons development.  While it’s not nearly as potentially deadly, quantum computing is the new arms race, and the Quantum Racers are off and running at full speed.

While most pundits and physicists predict that commercially scalable quantum computers won’t be available for the next decade, there’s a reason you should be paying very close attention to their development – cyber security.

Once quantum computers are available, all they need to do is run a certain algorithm, and just about every encryption method known to man is toast.

Why the US and Japan are Joining Quantum Forces

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” – that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Calling the US and China enemies might be a tad bit of a stretch, but considering its recent spy balloon shenanigans, it might be best to try to stay on par with the technology the Eastern giant is developing.

As part of this endeavor, both IBM and Google have partnered with Japan to contribute a combined $150 million toward a tri-country partnership, which constitutes a joint quantum computing initiative between Japan and America.

With China recently announcing (thought it hasn’t been independently verified or peer-reviewed) that it had:

A) Broken a low-level RSA encryption
B) Used satellites to established an secure link between two ground stations separated by more than 1,000 kilometers and
C) Placed a call using a quantum computer,

It’s probably long past the time when US-based institutions started ramping up their quantum computing research.

So far, Stateside, IBM and Google are the biggest contenders, and it makes sense that they’d partner with Japan, where Fujitsu is doing some great experiments in both developing quantum computers, but more importantly, perhaps, in penetration testing cybersecurity defenses against them.

Why Your Business Should Care About Quantum Computing

It’s OK if you’re reading this thinking, ‘I’ve heard of quantum computers, IBM and Google are always talking about it – but is it REALLY a threat to me SMB’s cybersecurity?’

That’s a valid question, and the short answer is: nope, you’re good! The long answer is: you should be very, very worried if you want to run your business longer than the next few years.

Here’s quantum computing explained in very simple terms: classical computers use mathematics to run (1s and 0s). Think of them like a complex calculator.

Quantum computers use physics. Think of them like Schrodinger’s Cat.

In more detail: Quantum computers uses particles and quantum bits (qubits) allow these particles to exist in more than one state (such as 1s and 0s) at the same time.

The benefit of this is that qubits can store huge amounts of data and make insanely complex calculations in the fraction of time a classical computer takes.

And, running the right algorithm (for the interested, it’s Peter Shor’s algorithm), a sufficiently strong and stable quantum computer could literally break any encryption method we currently have. As an example, it could break RSA-2048: something that would take classical computers literally millions of years to break.

Right now, quantum computers are way too noisy, though, and the noise changes the state of the qubit, meaning that it changes how the qubit is reacting, and impacting the machine’s overall stability.

But as the US National Institute of Standards and Technology has already warned both public and private sector bodies, cyber criminals are knowingly stealing and storing data, waiting for the day when they can get their hands on one of these quantum beauties (if you haven’t Google image searched for quantum computers, do – they’re stunning).

Until then, there’s plenty you can do to protect your business, from investing in VPNs to making sure employees are using password managers on the regular.

The furor around ChatGPT and other productive AI platforms shows no signs of stopping, and consumer tech giant Apple is the latest to ban its employees – including developers – from using ChatGPT for work purposes.

The Wall Street Journal has seen and verified a document from Apple detailing the embargo, according to reporting on the news outlet’s site, as well as hearing from those ‘familiar with the matter’.

Whether it’s ironic or just an uncomfortable coincidence, though, Apple has decided to put generative AI tools on its ‘no-fly list’ on the very same day that OpenAI announced the launch of ChatGPT for iOS.

Why has Apple Banned Employees from Using ChatGPT?

Like many of the other firms on the “no using AI for work” list, such as JP Morgan Chase, Verizon, Accenture and Samsung, Apple has stated its chief concern is that employees will unwittingly share confidential data with the AI service.

That may sound a bit obvious – clearly, to create code, developers would have to enter details of the project they’re working on.

But it’s not that aspect that has Apple bosses worried. The main concern is the other function of ChatGPT: any data input into the platform can be sent back to Open AI developers, which helps improve the function and performance.

That’s how Large Language Models (LLM), such as ChatGPT, and Google’s BERT, LaMDA and PALM work – the more data that’s input, the better it “learns” and the better it can hone what it produces. Just as with humans (who, of course, are LLM’s designers and developers), the more specifics we have, the better we can solve a problem.

And here’s the kicker: Apple is reportedly developing its own AI platform/LLM, which may be another reason why Tim Cook & co have limited employees’ use of this new technology.

One does also wonder: is Apple’s lack of AI products and development a bit of a sore spot for the Cupertino, California-based company? As many have pointed out, the firm was first on the consumer AI product offering with voice-activated Siri, but has since not produced anything of note in the AI arena.

ChatGPT vs Bard – see how the two tools did when we pitted them against each other.

ChatGPT for iOS – But Not if You Work for Apple

As mentioned above, it’s pretty awkward timing that Apple has taken these steps on the very day that OpenAI has launched its platform for Apple’s dedicated operating system.

The new app is free and operates the standard IoT syncing across devices. It also comes with Whisper, ChatGPT’s voice-to-text technology, already imbedded.

The rollout is just Stateside for now, but OpenAI promises other countries soon. The company also said in its release that the Android app is in development.

This comes on the cusp of the company – also based in Northern California (perhaps Apple and OpenAI employees meet for after-work drinks?) announcing that the fourth iteration of its model, ChatGPT4, is imminent.

WSJ also reports that Apple’s Tim Cook made positive sounds about LLMs in general on the company’s quarterly earnings call, saying: ‘I do think it’s very important to be deliberate and thoughtful in how you approach these things.

‘And there’s a number of issues that need to be sorted as is being talked about in a number of different places, but the potential is certainly very interesting.’

Company sensitivity around using AI tools will continue to be a concern, and Apple is not alone in its concerns. However, if you’re an iOS user, based in the US, and aren’t as worried about your information as Apple, you can start using ChatGPT on your Apple device right now.

New findings from Pew Research reveal that a quarter of Twitter users don’t expect to be using the platform in a year, with this portion rising to 30% for women and 29% for Democrats.

60% of Twitter users have taken a break from the platform in the last 12 months too, with numbers jumping up after billionaire and serial CEO Elon Musk stepped into the office.

This survey was released just days after the platform announced its new CEO, Linda Yaccarino. But with Yaccarino already facing backlash over her ties to Donald Trump, is this move enough to stop the social networking platform from hemorrhaging users?

25% of Twitter Users Aren’t Expecting to Stick Around

As Twitter descends further into chaos, new research from Pew reveals that six in ten US users have left the app for several weeks or more within the last 12 months.

Musk’s rein hasn’t impacted demographics evenly either, with 69% of women and 67% of black users temporarily leaving the platform, compared to 54% of men and 60% of white users. Despite Musk’s polarizing political opinions, however, there weren’t any major differences by political affiliation.

But taking a hiatus from a social media app is normal, right? Well, while fluctuation is within the norm, the survey reveals that lots of US users aren’t planning on coming back, with a quarter of respondents expecting to ditch the platform permanently within the next year.

People dropping Twitter isn’t really news, though. Musk taking over the company sparked an exodus of 1.3 million users, with many regular users, celebrities, and companies alike defecting to alternatives like Mastodon and Discord.

Unfortunately for Twitter, its issues didn’t stop there. In recent months Twitter has been riddled with technical issues, from Tweetdeck repeatedly crashing to internal links breaking temporarily across the site. The Tesla Chief’s prioritization of free speech over content moderation and removal of legacy blue ticks has been a spark plug for many users too.

A lot of companies have decided to suspend Tweeting too. After being falsely labeled as “US state-affiliated media” in April, news outlet NPR decided to leave the platform, reflecting similar moves made by CBS News and KCRW last year.

Can Twitter’s New CEO Save the Platform?

After 10 million people voted in favor of Musk stepping down as chief executive in a somewhat humiliating display, the billionaire agreed to step aside once he found someone “foolish enough to take the job.”

His successor, Linda Yaccario — an ex-NBCUniversal Global chief and former appointee of former President Donald Trump — was appointed earlier this week. As Twitter struggles to retain advertisers, Yaccarino’s impressive marketing credentials could prove to be useful.

However, her right-wing political beliefs have already stirred up controversy among Twitter users. Also, with Twitter already suffering so much reputational and financial damage, it’s yet to be determined if this leadership switch-up will be enough to patch up the platforms sinking ship.

The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) are warning small businesses about using remote access software like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) due to escalating threats posed by the BianLian ransomware gang.

The cybergang, which has been running rampant since 2022, has been successfully breaching Windows systems using RDP credentials. Once private data is obtained, they extort money by threatening to release the information publicly.

According to the agency’s #StopRansomware advisory, limiting the use of remote access software is the most effective way businesses can avoid extortion. But there are a number of other practical measures businesses can take, which we’ll cover in this article.

Cybergang BianLian is Targeting Remote Desktop Software

If you’re using Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), it may be time to consider switching to an alternative.

This is because, according to a release by the joint Cybersecurity Advisory (SCA), the computer software is being exploited by BianLian — a cybercriminal gang and ransomware developer that has been targeting businesses and critical infrastructure organizations for almost a year.

According to the statement recently sent out by the agencies, the cybergang has been using RPD as a point of entry into Windows Sytems. Then, after gaining entry, they deploy harmful software to steal additional credentials or exfiltrate sensitive data in an effort to extort the victim.

Aside from exploiting RPD credentials, the threat actors have also been known to use phishing tactics to lure sensitive information from workers.

The BianLian ransomware group was first discovered in June 2022. Since its origin, the gang has listed a total of 118 organizations on its extortion portal, with 71% of which being US companies.

The gang has also switched from extorting victims by encrypting their files to threatening to leak stolen data to the public. As BianLian’s strategies grow more ruthless, the threats it poses to US businesses have never been starker.

So, what are the best ways to evade these tactics, according to the security agencies’ latest report?

How Can Businesses Stay Safe From BianLian?

Unsurprisingly, the best way to avoid being targeted by BianLian is to limit the use of remote desktop software like RDP.

If you’re not able to stop using the software, the cybersecurity advisory recommends auditing remote access tools and keeping an eye out for abnormal use of these programs by reviewing logs.

Closing unused RDP ports, enforcing account lockouts after a specified number of login attempts, and applying phishing-resistant multifactor authentication (MFA) are some other tips the cybersecurity agencies put forward in their release.

Aside from auditing your remote desktop software, they also advise restricting the use of PowerShell and updating Windows PowerShell to its latest version.

Maintaining good password hygiene is another way threats can be kept at bay, according to the guidance. This includes creating passcodes of 15 characters or longer, storing them in industry-recognized password managers, and disabling password hints.

Check out our password security guide for more best practices.

Montana has become the first US state to ban TikTok outright, as lawmakers take a firm stand against the app’s alleged ties with the Chinese Communist Party.

The proposed ban will take effect from January 1 2024, and major app stores such as the App Store and Google Play will be slapped with a daily fine of $10,000 if they continue to host the video-sharing platform after this date.

TikTok, which currently has 150 million American users, calls this ban ‘unlawful’. But as the Beijing-based app comes under increasing scrutiny from US lawmakers for leaking information to the Chinese state, this state ban could likely set a precedent throughout the rest of the country.

Montana Becomes the First US State to Ban TikTok

If you’re a resident of Montana, it looks like your days scrolling TikTok may be numbered, with the Western state officially becoming the first US territory to ban the app for its residents.

The bill is due to come into effect from January 1 of next year, and will prohibit app marketplaces from allowing the app to be downloaded. The App Store and Google Play will be subject to a daily fee of $100,000 if they don’t comply, although no penalties will be passed down to its users.

The law was signed by Governor Greg Gianfore on Wednesday, who says the ban was put in place to “protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Community Party (CCP)”.

While this is the first time the popular video app has been outlawed for regular American users, TikTok has already been banned on government devices in over 25 states including Texas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

But TikTok isn’t the only app that will become off-limits to government workers. Montana Governor, Gren Gianfore, announced he would be banning all social media apps linked to “foreign adversaries” on state equipment from June 1, including Chinese-owned WeChat, and Russian-owned Telegram.

Concerns over TikTok’s information practices are nothing new — with the ByteDance-owned app facing scrutiny since it was first launched on US soil in 2016. However, prohibiting its use for regular citizens definitely a gutsy move from lawmakers. So, how did we get here?

Accusations Over TikTok’s Ties to China Heat Up

To say TikTok time in the US has been rocky would be an understatement. In June last year, news broke that the video app was using “aggressive” tactics to collect ‘excessive’ amounts of user data, and the platform has repeatedly been accused of sharing personal information with the CCP via its founding company ByteDance.

While these concerns never faded away, a recent complaint from Yintao “Roger” Yu — the ex-head of engineering for US operations at Bytedance — has fanned the flames once more. In a lawsuit that takes aim at the company for his wrongful termination, Yu claims that the CCP has ‘supreme access’ to TikTok data, including on US servers.

‘The Committee maintained supreme access to all the company data, even data stored in the United States.’ – Yintao Yu, ex-ByteDance employee

Yu also claims that Bytedance has been used as a ‘useful propaganda tool’ for the CPP, and said the party had a special office called the ‘Committee’ where they would guide Bytedance in how it advanced ‘Communist values’.

Yu’s allegations are pretty damning, and provide the US government with even more ammo for banning the app outright. But how have ByteDance and TikTok responded to these claims and legislative crackdowns?

TikTok Calls Montana’s Ban ‘Unlawful’

When speaking to CNN, a Bytedance spokesperson said they “vigorously” oppose Yu’s claims, attesting that the ex-employee worked on an app called Flipagram which was discontinued because of business reasons.

They also told the outlet that Bytdance is ‘committed to respecting the intellectual property of other companies’, with regard to their acquisition of TikTok data.

TikTok isn’t happy about its proposed ban in Montana, either. A spokesperson for the company, Brook Oberwetter, called the bill “unlawful”, claiming it goes against Americans’ first amendment rights.

‘We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.’ – Brooke Oberwetter, TikTok Spokesperson

She also reassured Montanans that they can continue using the app for the time being. However, with the bill coming into effect soon, and other states considering similar actions, it’s seems that TikTok days in the US may well be limited.

Zoom is the latest company to jump on the AI bandwagon, with the pandemic poster child announcing a new partnership with startup Anthropic to integrate its Claude AI into the platform.

From Microsoft to Salesforce, companies around the world have been scrambling to make AI part of their platforms in recent months, adding the technology to search engines, messaging apps, and everything in between.

Given Zoom’s newly found status as a go-to option for productivity tools, it makes sense that they’re making a play on AI, but can they catch up to the rest of big tech?

Zoom Partners With Anthropic for Generative AI Push

Announced in a company blog post, Zoom is partnering with Anthropic to allow the startup’s Claude AI assistant to be integrated with the productivity platform. The integration will first be rolled out to the Zoom Contact Center but will eventually be added to help with tasks across the rest of the platform.

“With Claude guiding agents toward trustworthy resolutions and powering self-service for end-users, companies will be able to take customer relationships to another level.” – Smita Hashim, chief product officer for Zoom

The integration will specifically add a wide range of self-service features to the Zoom Contact Center interface and guide agents to the best solutions for their customers.

This partnership represents arguably the biggest step in Zoom’s “federated approach to AI,” which has seen the company adding new features and functionality across the board to align with the AI-powered business world.

AI and Productivity Platforms

Zoom is certainly not the first company to integrate AI solutions into its platforms, and it absolutely will not be the last. The technology has become a driving force, with the biggest companies in the industry vying for the best product.

Microsoft, obviously, is well-known for having acquired OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPt, which launched the whole AI gold rush in the first place. Google naturally threw its hat in the ring next with its Bard solution, which compared to ChatGPT is an admirable runner-up.

Even popular CRM Salesforce has made an investment in an ChatGPT alternative, with plans to roll it out across the platform.

All that to say, AI is clearly coming to the business productivity world, and coming fast. Not only Zoom and Salesforce, but Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 will likely soon be crawling with AI assistants and automated tasks that will improve efficiency on a dramatic scale.

Is Zoom Good for Business?

If you’re considering a communication tool like Zoom for your business, we don’t blame you. Since its meteoric rise during the pandemic, the company has been in overdrive mode to provide an all-in-one hybrid working platform to help businesses manage remote employees.

As for how it actually performs for businesses, its best feature is the ease of use. While competitors like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are quite popular for their massive feature catalogs, Zoom comes with a more intuitive interface that some businesses find a bit more user friendly.

Plus, given the investment in AI, it’s safe to assume the company plans to roll out some automation features that will keep pace with the rest of the industry. Because at this point, if you aren’t leveraging AI for your business, you could be in trouble.

The development of generative AI platforms continues to advance at break-neck speed, with a report from Microsoft — the parent company of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT — noting that the tech is “strikingly close to human-level performance.”

ChatGPT and its many alternatives have taken the tech world by storm, quickly becoming go-to productivity tools at businesses around the world. While the tech has been decidedly controversial for a number of reasons, few meaningful regulations have been handed down, which has allowed for the notably rapid development of the tech.

In fact, the development has been so rapid that Microsoft now says that AI is almost at the level of human reasoning. So what does that mean for the workplace?

Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence

In a study from a Microsoft Research team titled Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence, researchers explored the effectiveness of AI platforms like ChatGPT through a series of experiments. And the results showed that this technology really is on the fast track.

“Beyond its mastery of language, GPT-4 can solve novel and difficult tasks that span mathematics, coding, vision, medicine, law, psychology and more, without needing any special prompting. Moreover, in all of these tasks, GPT-4’s performance is strikingly close to human-level performance.”

Researchers explained that this level of proficiency from AI platforms could conceivably be considered ” an early yet still incomplete version” of artificial general intelligence.

What Is Artificial General Intelligence?

While platforms like ChatGPT are quite impressive, they are still considered “narrow artificial intelligence,” in that they are exclusively designed for a specific and limited task like writing content or generating images. In so many words, they are no match for the human brain.

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), on the other hand, is the evolution of that idea. Essentially, it describes technology that can perform multiple tasks, learn and generalize without oversight, and possesses a human-like level of common sense.

Subsequently, Microsoft’s claim that AI is “strikingly close” to reaching the level of AGI is quite significant. In fact, they are the first big tech company to make this kind of claim, although individuals in the industry have done so at their own peril. In fact, a Google employee was recently fired for claiming that AI was sentient (the next stage of evolution), which demonstrates the seriousness of these kinds of claims.

Should You Be Worried About AI?

A lot of fear around artificial intelligence is widely misplaced. Movies like the Terminator have made it seem like robots are going to take over the world in a sci-fi nightmare scenario if artificial intelligence gets too powerful.

The truth, however, is that we are miles away from even the faintest chance of that happening, and even the idea of artificial general intelligence is widely debated. In fact, despite the study from Microsoft making such claims, researchers were all too quick to put these findings in context.

“We acknowledge that this approach is somewhat subjective and informal, and that it may not satisfy the rigorous standards of scientific evaluation. However, we believe that it is a useful and necessary first step to appreciate the remarkable capabilities and challenges of GPT-4, and that such a first step opens up new opportunities for developing more formal and comprehensive methods for testing and analyzing AI systems with more general intelligence.”

In so many words, this particular step in AI evolution shouldn’t necessarily worry you in any meaningful way. Still, there are a lot of concerning trends in these early days of AI roll-out, so hopefully some AI regulations start showing up before it’s too late.

While many big tech companies appear to be pivoting back to office-based working, a survey has found that Gen Z workers feel remote working has had a positive impact on their career advancement.

The survey by National Broadband Ireland in partnership with Grow Remote polled 1,236 workers across the Republic of Ireland, producing a comprehensive national view of how attitudes and behaviors towards remote working have evolved since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The positive effects of remote working may well have a huge impact on how Gen Z finds that next job, compared to their older colleagues.

WFH: What’s So Appealing to Gen Z?

Gen Z are digital natives, they take to new IT platforms and programs with ease, they naturally prefer to send a DM as opposed to making a phone call or arranging a face-to-face meeting with a colleague. It seems this group is willing to forego the professional development via mentoring and collaboration opportunities the office grants them for some of the many benefits of working remotely.

Research from the National Broadband Ireland study showed that over 55% of 18-24 year-olds polled felt remote and hybrid work had a positive impact on their career, as opposed to only 23% of 45-54 year-olds.

The study also found that 57% of all workers felt remote work in Ireland opened them up to better job opportunities. While 60% stated that it gave companies the chance to improve diversity and inclusion, a big concern for Gen Z.

Another study conducted by SMRS in 2023 found that Gen Z cited two main reasons for preferring flexible and hybrid working. Firstly, saving money (38%) and second, being happier (37%). Flexible working gives a sense of being your own boss and also promotes the work-life balance Gen Z craves.

Return to Office Mandates On the Rise

To Gen Z’s disappointment, many companies which adopted work from home policies during the pandemic are now realizing the long-term implications of remote working and are coaxing their workers back into more traditional settings.

Executives at Big Four firms Deloitte and PWC told the Financial Times that workers who graduated during the pandemic have weaker teamwork, communication, and collaboration skills. They also cited a difficulty in training new hires due to the lack of learning through observation when employees are not onsite.

Earlier this year, Amazon demanded office workers return to the office at least 3 days per week alongside other global firms: Apple, Twitter, Disney, Activision Blizzard, and Google, to name but a few. Some companies are even offering to pay relocation costs in a bid to end remote working. However, many of these firms have faced backlash from their employees who have come to appreciate the benefits of working from home.

Elon Musk gave a harsh criticism of remote workers in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday. He described the people working remotely as “laptop classes”, saying that it’s unfair on workers such as those in the service industry who cannot work from home.

He argued, ‘I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, “Let them eat cake”,’ Musk said. ‘It’s not just a productivity thing. I think it’s morally wrong.’

How to Find Companies with WFH Policies

Despite the shift in perception among bosses, Gen Z remains fixated on remote and hybrid roles. The jury’s still out on who will eventually win this battle.

This trend is changing the way Gen Z and Millennials search for jobs. Remote and hybrid working is now high up their wishlist when job hunting, but with policies evolving regularly, finding out which companies offer remote roles is not an easy task.

A new tool called the ‘Flex Index’ is collecting companies’ remote work policies and putting them into its own search engine. The database is using standard terminology such as “fully remote” or “specific days/week” to categorize types of remote work set-ups pulled in from employee surveys, career web sites and job postings.

Technology like this will help to empower Gen Z in weeding out those employers who don’t offer the benefits they are looking for and with some persistence could change the future of work.

OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, which has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022, has unveiled a major update. The update allows users to browse the web with ChatGPT, opening up a host of new web-enabled capabilities.

The AI chatbot rapidly rose to fame late last year, hitting 100 million users in just two months, and businesses are already making full use of the tool. OpenAI, the non-profit research lab which owns ChatGPT, has announced 8 updates since its launch, each containing multiple new feature rollouts in its rapid evolution, the latest of which being the web integration.

This update is a game changer for ChatGPT. Prior to this update, the chatbot had been trained on a dataset that ended in 2021, putting it at risk of becoming obsolete in comparison to competitors trained on fresher datasets. Now, the chatbot is able to draw on up-to-date information across the web to deliver timely responses.

New Features Enabled in the ChatGPT Update

The update to ChatGPT allows access to 70 third-party browser plugins which you enable from the plugin store. Users can install as many plugins as they want.

The plugins are selected to appeal to a broad spectrum of users. They will enable users to perform actions such as planning travel, searching for a job or real estate, business management, shop, game and much more. Names such as Zapier, Slack, OpenTable and Expedia have all made the list.

Developers that want to create ChatGPT plugins can join the plugins waitlist.

Who Can Access ChatGPT on the Web?

These new features aren’t currently available to all users yet, OpenAI tweeted: “We’re rolling out web browsing and Plugins to all ChatGPT Plus users over the next week! Moving from alpha to beta, they allow ChatGPT to access the internet and to use 70+ third-party plugins.”

ChatGPT Plus is a paid subscription service that costs $20 per month. Limiting the new features to premium account holders might make an enticing reason for users to upgrade, a way for OpenAI to monetize.

Of course, ChatGPT can still do plenty of things for free, and there are many other options out there for thrifty AI users looking for a ChatGPT alternative.

OpenAI’s Update Days after Google’s I/O Conference: Coincidence?

Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, was the main focus during its annual Google I/O developer conference last week, with the announcement that it is now available for everyone without the need to join a waitlist.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai announced that AI has reached an ‘inflection point’ before unveiling the integration of Google’s generative AI into its Maps, Gmail and Search, in-line with the tech giant’s pledge to be an ‘AI first company.’

The Gap is closing between ChatGPT and Bard. Prior to this update they were largely differentiated by their dataset usage with Bard having always had access to the internet in real-time and ChatGPT using a dataset which ended in 2021. Although there are a few other nuances which set the chatbots apart.

Find out how each compared when we put Bard and ChatGPT head-to-head.

Google is set to vaporize a big chunk of online data in the name of cybersecurity. In December, the company will get rid of any accounts that have been inactive for two years or longer.

This includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Photos, and Calendar, plus the Google-owned YouTube. Start trying to recall your high school Gmail account’s password now, because your past memories might be on the chopping block.

We don’t know how many user accounts will be impacted, but Google has hosted billions of them for longer than the iPhone has existed, so it’s safe to say that it will be a large number. All Google business accounts or school accounts will be safe.

Why Google Is Deleting Accounts

Granted, Google has a pretty good reason for the destruction. Old, long-inactive accounts are more likely to be compromised by bad actors, as the company says in a recent blog post announcing the changes to its inactive accounts policy.

“This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user. Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up.”

Once these vulnerabilities are exploited, Google says, old accounts can serve as hubs for malicious activity that could include spam or identity theft.

Perhaps coincidentally, Google has also been focused on other cost-cutting measures recently.

The new policy is in effect now, but no accounts will be deleted until December 2023. Google will send “multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion” to both the account’s email address and to a recovery email address, provided one is available.

The Internet Is Ephemeral

This news is a big blow for internet archivists, who will now lose access to a host of YouTube commentary and forum post images hosted in Google Photos. Google is joining a long list of companies that have deleted swathes of internet history with the click of a button.

The reasons can vary. In 2019, Myspace deleted 12 years of music by accident during a server migration. Last year, Flickr deleted its free accounts’ non-public photos (after the first 50) in order to free up storage space. Back in 2018, Tumblr banned years’ worth of posts in a failed bid to lure advertisers by ditching adult content.

More recently, Twitter announced plans to delete inactive accounts as well, wiping out the digital footprint of most deceased or dormant users from the platform’s history.

The internet may seem like it will last forever, it’s no Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of its biggest sources of data storage are already showing cracks just a few decades in.

What Should I Do About It?

If you have an old Gmail account that you’d like to keep around, it’s easy to save. You just need to log into it and create a little activity. But all bets are off after December, so don’t put it off until the last minute. Plus, you’ll need to continue logging in every two years, or you’ll just lose the account on a later date.

Good luck, though, as digging up old passwords can be tough, unless you invested in a good password manager.

Plenty of old Gmail account passwords are already lost like tears in the rain, and within months, all their photos, files, and personal messages will just be another dim memory.