Generative AI tools continue to be used by more and more businesses around the globe, new data confirms. In fact, a massive 77% of enterprise customers’ AI use is for fully automating tasks.

AI company Anthropic has just released a large-scale study on AI use, detailing exactly which countries are using its Claude AI tool the most, as well as which types of tasks are most likely to prompt them to turn to the emerging technology.

There are plenty of interesting tidbits buried in the full study. Here’s our look at the best.

AI Use Has Doubled Over the Last 2 Years

Anthropic’s new study is an analysis of how often its Claude AI tool has been used across over 150 countries and all 50 US states, as well as what it has been used for.

Generative AI has been massively hyped in the tech world for years now. But it takes a lot longer for a new technology to actually trickle out to widespread use. As the new study puts it, AI automation is continuing to pick up speed.

In the US, the report found, 40% of employees report using AI at work in 2025, up from 20% in 2023 two years ago.

“AI is being used to fully (or ‘directively’) automate more and more tasks over time. In just nine months, we saw directive automation jump from 27% to 39% of all conversations. For enterprise customers, that figure is 77%.” – Anthropic

Within the US, DC Uses AI the Most

Thinking Silicon Valley would put California at the top of the list of the most AI-centric US states? Think again.

Washington, DC has the highest per-capita AI usage in America, with an amount of Claude AI users that’s nearly four times higher than you might expect based on its population size.

Granted, California clocks in as the third most frequent AI using state, after Utah took second place. Here are the top ten states, in order:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Utah
3. California
4. New York
5. Virginia
6. Washington
7. Massachusetts
8. Colorado
9. Vermont
10. Nevada

The study further noted that each state’s AI use centered on business practices that were more common within that area.

“Some states’ usage jumps out as characteristic of the states themselves: in Colorado, use focuses disproportionately on travel and event planning, and in DC, people are especially likely to use Claude for document editing and career advice.” – Anthropic

Higher Incomes Drive More AI Use

Zooming out to get a global look at AI adaptation reveals additional general insights. First, increasing adaption strongly correlates with higher incomes: Singapore and Canada have strong economies and above-average Claude usage, while emerging economies, including Indonesia and Nigeria, use AI less.

In addition, the study concluded that high-adaptation countries tend to turn to AI for a more diverse range of tasks.

According to the study, “Lower-adoption countries tend to see more coding usage, while high-adoption regions show diverse applications across education, science, and business.”

Will AI adaption rates continue rising as rapidly as they have over the past two years? We’ll have to wait for Anthropic’s next study to learn the answer.

They said AI would make life easier, and it is… for scammers, of course. A new tool on the dark web — dubbed SpamGPT — is enabling cyber criminals to enact massive phishing scams that are, unfortunately, very effective.

AI has experienced its fair share of bad press over the last few years. From egregious errors to full-on hallucinations, the technology isn’t exactly at the top of its game just yet.

This is even worse, though, as AI technology is clearly being used to make scams even harder to spot in 2025.

What Is SpamGPT?

SpamGPT is a cybercrime toolkit that is being used to generate and dispense massive phishing campaigns to users in 2025.

The AI tool has been discovered on underground forums like the dark web, sold as a “spam-as-a-service” platform that cyber criminals can use to develop more sophisticated attacks on unsuspecting individuals.

SpamGPT is reportedly being sold on these underground forums for $5,000.

How Does SpamGPT Work?

SpamGPT works like any email marketing platform. It offers tools like SMTP/IMAP email server, email testing, and campaign performance monitoring in real time. There’s also an AI marketing assistant named KaliGPT, which is built directly into the dashboard for assistance.

However, where it differs from email marketing platforms is that it is specifically designed for creating spam and phishing emails to steal information and financial data from users.

More specifically, SpamGPT is “designed to compromise email servers, bypass spam filters, and orchestrate mass phishing campaigns with unprecedented ease,” according to a report from Varonis, a data security platform.

How to Protect Yourself From SpamGPT

While SpamGPT sounds pretty terrifying, the reality is that you don’t have much to worry about as a business if you’re already taking phishing scams seriously.

SpamGPT mostly just increases the number of emails cyber criminals can send out, while also making the phishing scams a bit more convincing. As a result, any business that has trained its employees and put in safeguards against phishing should still be safe.

Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, a recent study found that the majority of businesses could be vulnerable to these attacks, with 98% of owners not being able to recognize all the signs of a phishing attack.

UPS is helping out the little guy this holiday season: It’s forging a new partnership with American Express to provide small and medium-sized businesses with discounted shipping rates through the beginning of next year.

It’s no secret that many logistics businesses are hurting right now. Between the persistent trucker shortage and the complicated tariff situation, many companies are struggling to stay afloat to see how it all shakes out. Even UPS itself has seen significant layoffs over the last few months.

That could be why they’re taking a big swing to attract small and medium-sized businesses to their operation, with some hearty discounts that could actually make a difference for many companies in 2025.

UPS & American Express Partner for Lower Rates

This week, UPS announced a partnership with American Express that aims to provide small businesses with a bit more wiggle room when it comes to shipping their products.

More specifically, merchants that use the Business Savings Suite from American Express will now officially get some exclusive discounts on air, ground, and international. On top of that, the rates get even lower the more you ship, which could help small businesses that are trying to grow.

The lowered rates come at the perfect time for businesses that are likely enduring the stress of tariffs and preparing for a stressful holiday season. The rates will be available throughout the busy season too, as they won’t expire until February 28th, 2026.

Why Is UPS Offering Lower Rates to Small Businesses?

It’s not easy for small businesses right now, particularly those that rely on shipping products. The tariff situation alone is causing some businesses to shutter their windows, and UPS seems to want to help alleviate that as much as possible.

“While our customers who have scale may be able to thwart the impact of rising costs due to tariffs, many of our SMB customers may not.” – Carol Tomé, CEO of UPS, on a July earnings call

On top of that, attracting small business owners is very much in the interest of UPS, as well. Many are looking for alternative shipping options after Trump got rid of the de minimis exemption and UPS could really cash in if they represent an attractive offer.

Tariff Volatility in the Logistics Industry

While this partnership between UPS and American Express is good for small businesses, the reality of the tariff situation for logistics businesses is far more complicated.

In fact, UPS recently announced new international processing fees for packages shipped into the US, pointing to a lot of volatility in an industry doing its best to keep up with the constantly shifting regulations surrounding the shipping world in 2025.

Logistics businesses can expect more volatility in the coming months and even years, as these policies start to take effect and really impact the economy.

Is the AI honeymoon over? Data from the US Census Bureau says it might be, with AI adoption among larger companies reportedly on the decline for the first time since 2023.

For the last few years, AI is virtually the only thing you’ve heard about from the tech world. Models, chatbots, widgets, and extensions have been added to every software under the sun to “improve productivity” beyond our wildest collective imagination.

Now, though, it seems like many companies are dialing back, likely due to the AI return-on-investment being a lot more lackluster than promised.

AI Adoption Is Finally Slowing Down

According to data from the US Census Bureau, fewer large companies are adopting AI into their operations. This represents the first significant and consistent decline in AI adoptions rates since the technology become massive popular in 2023.

More specifically, the data points to businesses with over 250 employees adopting AI significantly less than just a few months ago, with businesses with between 100 and 249 employees and between 50 and 99 employees both seeing a more modest decline.

This data comes from a biweekly survey conducted by the US Census Bureau and collected by Apollo Academy. The survey covers professionals from 1.2 million firms in the US, and specifically asks “whether a business has used AI tools such as machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents or voice recognition to help produce goods or services in the past two weeks.”

Why Are Fewer Businesses Adopting AI?

Businesses have been pushing an investment in AI like crazy over the few years, so this could just be a natural correction to the overexcitement about the technology. Or, it could be something worse.

According to a recent study from MIT, the majority of businesses are not being inundated by revenue as a result of AI, with 95% of businesses noting that they have seen no return-on-investment as a result of the technology.

Simply put, if technology isn’t making money for a business, they aren’t going to keep using it. And in this case, there are a lot of larger businesses that aren’t seeing their investment in AI lead to anything.

How to Use AI to Improve Your Business

Just because large businesses aren’t taking advantage of AI as much as they used to, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be. There are some real use cases for the tech that can bolster the chances of a small business to succeed.

AI website builders are some of our favorites at Tech.co. They can create a fully functionality website for you in just a few seconds with just a few questions. Plus, they’re often equipped with helpful AI generators for copy and images, so you can really get it to look how you want.

Suffice to say, there are plenty of ways that AI can be used to improve your business. It’s just a matter of finding out what they are and getting on board.

Microsoft is the latest tech giant to throw its multi-trillion-dollar market cap behind a return to the office: The tech company will be requiring employees to show up on-site at least three days per week.

The new policy will start rolling out for employees at Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington State on February 2026.

It’s an apparent end to Microsoft’s reputation as one of the most remote-friendly tech giants, and a yet another sign that the tech industry is closing the door to remote workplace accommodations that proved so helpful when the 2020 pandemic began.

What to Know About the Microsoft RTO

The first employees to be forced back to the office are those living within 50 miles of company headquarters in Redmond, Washington in February of next year. More of Microsoft’s US and global locations will follow.

Those in the first round of RTO-mandated employees will have until Friday, September 19 to request exemptions from their managers.

It’s a noteworthy shift: As GeekWire notes, under the company’s current hybrid work policy, most employees can work remotely for up to half the time without approval.

Writing in a memo on the company blog, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer Amy Coleman states that “this update is not about reducing headcount.”

Microsoft’s New Perspective on Remote Work

Coleman’s memo on the policy change cites one common argument on the value of in-person work: That it promotes collaboration. As Coleman puts it, “when people work together in person more often, they thrive — they are more energized, empowered, and they deliver stronger results.”

The counterargument — one particularly relevant to those who are parents to young children, those caring for elderly relatives, or those with disabilities — is that any workplace accomodations that reduce employee stress are what truly promotes more energized and empowered workers.

In an article discussing the new RTO mandate, Business Insider notes that Microsoft has revised its position on the topic of remote work, writing that “while working on the new RTO policy, Microsoft appears to have scrubbed a blog post that once heralded the benefits of remote work for retaining employees and boosting their productivity.”

Microsoft’s Dwindling Interest in Supporting Fully Remote Work

Here at Tech.co, we’ve kept an eye on the number of fully remote positions open at Microsoft over the past few years, and a trend has become clear.

In August 2024, 883 fully remote jobs were available. By November, this had fallen to 400-something postions, a trend that continued in December, when we spotted 417 remote positions open. In February 2025, just 313 work-from-home jobs were open.

Today? That number stands at just 89 positions.

In 2026, it looks set to drop further.

Fully remote positions will likely never go away entirely. Even at major companies with RTO policies, exceptions will be made for certain employees with the right leverage. However, Microsoft is finally joining the majority of tech companies that are pushing their employees towards in-office work.

Reddit, Yahoo, Medium, wikiHow, and many more content-publishing websites have banded together to keep AI companies from scraping their content without compensation.

They’re creating “Really Simple Licensing” (RSL), an open licensing standard that allows online publishers to set up machine-readable licensing terms for their content.

Huge AI companies have been getting in legal trouble for allegedly stealing massive amounts of data off the internet for years now. This new infrastructure hopes to give them a simple way to pay the people who are providing the future training data that AI companies everywhere will need to stay competitive.

What Is Really Simple Licensing?

The RSL Standard is an upgrade on the robots.txt protocol, which is what allows websites to determine which areas will or won’t accept the content-scraping bots that AI companies use to collect data, which they then feed to their AI models to create generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini.

With RSL, sites can embed licensing and royalty requirements directly in robots.txt files. They can do the same with books, videos, or other training datasets, too.

With the RSL Standard, online publishers can ask AI companies to pay an ongoing subscription or a one-time pay-per-crawl fee.

Currently, a few specific publications (like The Wall Street Journal’s owner or The New York Times) have set up licensing agreements with certain AI companies, as The Verge notes in its coverage. This new standard could let many other publishers streamline and speed up that type of process.

Content Publishers Hoping to Fight Back

The list of publishers who have thrown their weight behind this new standard are a murder’s row of the websites that stand to lose the most from the birth of AI-generated content.

Reddit, Yahoo, Medium, Quora, People Inc.: They’re all websites that many people turn to for answers to everything from niche hobbies to science homework to do-it-yourself home repairs.

Today’s chatbots need up-to-date versions of that type of data in order to deliver accurate responses — even if this sometimes leads to hallucinations too, as in the case of a Google AI overview that turned a sarcastic reddit post into a serious recommendation to put glue on a pizza.

Will This Stop AI Companies From Getting Sued Over and Over?

Back in 2023, OpenAI  dealt with one $3 billion class action lawsuit related to the “secret scraping” of data used to train ChatGPT models, in addition to a separate suit against both OpenAI and Meta, from authors accusing them of copyright infringement.

Today, similar cases are still making headlines. Anthropic just settled a class action lawsuit over hundreds of thousands of pirated books that were used to train AI chatbots. The $1.5 billion payout may still be subject to changes.

However, it’s easy to see why AI companies and online publishers are both interested in coming to a compromise.

If everyone wants to play ball, this new standard may be the best chance yet that AI-skeptical writers have of keeping their content from being scooped up by AI.

Anthropic’s Claude is the latest AI tool to roll out new functions: The chatbot will soon allow users to create and edit Excel spreadsheets, documents, PowerPoint slides, and PDFs.

Users will be able to create these new materials entirely with written prompts, sent through the Claude chat interface.

This new AI feature announcement comes soon after ChatGPT’s latest free feature debuted, allowing users to group their prompt conversations into folders, and right on the heels of Anthropic’s 1.5 billion settlement over a class action lawsuit from book authors upset over unauthorized data training.

Can You Access the New Features Yet?

The file creation feature is rolling out over the next few weeks to Pro users. It’s already available to Max, Team, and Enterprise plan users.

It’s an opt-in function currently: To find it and turn it on, you’ll need to head to Settings, look for the experimental section under Features, and look for “Upgraded file creation and analysis.”

According to ZDNet, Anthropic is positioning the tool as a way to avoid the chores that go into formatting and reformatting media like spreadsheets and slides:

“Some examples Anthropic provided included turning raw data into cleaner projects with analysis, charts, and written insights; building spreadsheets without having to worry about formulas; and transforming your content from one format to the other, for example, a PDF into Slides.”

Will These Tools Change Your Workflow?

The new tools will allow users to change up file formats, turning a doc file into a PDF with a single command. (Granted, that’s already possible with a dropdown menu button in Google Docs, too.)

Users might use the tool to reformat their school homework. However, the same tool can fully generate the writing prior to reformatting it, so it’s possible that this is just one more way for students to easily create an essay or other homework rather than writing it themselves. This just might be yet another AI nightmare for school teachers everywhere.

One word of warning from Anthropic’s press release: Claude requires internet access to create or edit your personal files, and this “may put your data at risk.”

AI Technology Continues Growth

The new functions from Claude aren’t the only evidence that AI tools are continuing their highly-hyped rapid growth.

Huge AI companies continue to cut new deals to further expand. Most recently, Oracle and OpenAI inked a truly huge $300 billion cloud computing deal that will sink 4.5 gigawatts of energy into AI over the next five years.

Plenty of concerns are still remaining on AI’s rocky road to long-term sustainability, and many experts are predicting a dot-com style bubble will pop before the technology truly settles into use. Until then, we’ll keep debuting new features while investing ever more energy and money into the tech.

Accounting firm PwC has admitted it will be lowering its entry-level recruitment this year in its UK branch, taking on 200 fewer graduates. PwC recently announced similar news across its US operations, too.

Marco Amitrano, the company’s UK chief, has said the company’s lowering numbers reflect a slowdown in investment, hiring, and deal-making across the country. However, he has also nodded to AI as a factor in reshaping current roles.

PwC will therefore join the ranks of companies looking towards AI, although what this looks like down the road for graduates and entry-level candidates, nobody seems completely sure.

PwC Reduces Entry-Level Hiring, Admits Graduate Roles “Under Pressure”

Big Four accounting firm PwC has confirmed it will be lowering entry-level recruitment this year to its UK branch, taking on 1,300 entrants to its graduate programs, compared to the 1,500 entrants it took on the year before.

While Marco Amitrano, PwC’s UK chief, has said that the company will “always be a large employer and training ground for young people,” its hiring habits have changed, based on the impact of AI and a sluggish economy.

Back in August, Business Insider reported that graduate hiring would also be slowing in PwC’s US branches, adding more uncertainty for entry-level candidates. The company plans to cut graduate hiring by a third over the next three years.

AI Is Reshaping Roles, But This May Not Be Forever

Amitrano, in an op-ed for The Times, said that AI is definitely reshaping roles, with the development of new tools and the investment in skills “offsetting more serious disruptions” to the market, but this disruption may not last forever.

“Our research shows that job postings for AI-exposed occupations are growing at a slower pace compared to those with lower exposure – and this gap is widening.” – Marco Amitrano, head of PwC’s UK practice.

However, Amitrano is optimistic about the future of AI. He wrote, “Most technologies, if not all, have boosted both productivity and wages. Indeed, the integration of AI with other technologies, products and services has the potential to create whole new industries. But potential doesn’t convert to progress on its own; it requires sustained and serious investment in tech, infrastructure and training — underpinned by progressive public policy.”

PwC Joins Amazon and Coinbase in AI Future

PwC is not the first business to look towards AI for the future of the working world, and to suggest that this will affect hiring patterns. Amazon CEO Andy Jessy said back in June that AI will lead to there being fewer workers at the company.

Some companies have taken on a more hardline approach. Coinbase recently admitted to firing engineers who failed to sign up for the company’s AI tools after a week of being asked to, a less than subtle way of saying it’s the AI way, or no way.

However, how much of this is in the best interest of these companies? A study from MIT recently found that 95% of generative AI enterprise pilots at companies fail. At the moment, Amitrano writes that he is doing what other businesses are doing, “watching and waiting.”

A recent study from cloud software company Fastly has found that senior developers are much more likely to use AI-generated code compared with junior developers, as well as deploy this code for use in production.

Senior developers also feel that using AI tools makes them work faster, more than junior developers do. However, senior engineers were more likely to spend time correcting AI code compared with their less-experienced counterparts.

AI has without a doubt changed the landscape for developers, shaking up the job market and altering the day-to-day tasks of the role. While evidence is mixed on whether AI improves efficiency, this study certainly suggests that developers want to keep AI around for the time being.

Study Finds Senior Developers Use More AI-Generated Code Than Juniors

A new study from Fastly has found that senior developers are using more AI-generated code than junior developers, and are deploying more of this code to be used in production.

Overall, nearly one third of the senior developers polled revealed that over half of the code they ship is AI-generated. This figure is more than double the rate of junior developers, with only 13% reporting the same thing.

Findings point to a higher rate of AI use among senior developers, and suggests there may be a higher level of trust in AI code for these experienced developers. Fastly’s study consisted of 791 professional developers, made up of senior developers (those with 10+ years of experience) and junior developers (those with less than two years’ experience).

Senior Developers Say AI Makes Them Faster, But Spend More Time Correcting Mistakes

AI is certainly good at taking over autonomous and repetitive tasks. However, the sectors and areas where it can save employees the most time is still not entirely clear. In the study, senior developers were more likely to view AI as a net time-saver.

In fact, senior developers had a stronger enthusiasm for AI as a tool to help them work faster, with 59% saying AI sped up their working process. Comparatively, only 49% of junior developers said the same.

However, these findings come hand-in-hand with the fact that senior developers were more likely to spend time correcting AI-generated code. This highlights a gap between how fast a developer believes they are working, and the reality of having to make changes.

Indeed, 28% of developers said they spent so much time editing AI code that any potential time-saving benefits were made void. Only 14% said they rarely needed to make big changes to work generated by AI.

Does AI Make Developers Faster and More Efficient?

Senior developers, the study points out, have plenty of experience to lean on when dealing with AI-generated code, compared with juniors. What may be the case is that senior developers are more capable of finding vulnerabilities or mistakes, and believe making these changes is more efficient than writing the code themselves from scratch.

However, it still may not be the case that tools such as Copilot or Claude make software engineers faster and more efficient. In another trial from Fastly, open-source developers took 19% longer to complete tasks when using code assistants. This suggests that what may feel fast to a developer — maybe because they are getting all of the work done, pretty much immediately — doesn’t equate to tangible productivity gains.

Another notable element of this study is its clear stance on job satisfaction. Roughly 80% of developers, across all experience levels, said coding felt more enjoyable when working with AI. Ultimately, while we may not have figured out yet how effective AI is for developers, they seem to want it to stay, for the time being.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has reported a drop of more than 80% in postal traffic to the US, following the formal end of the de minimis exemption at the end of August by the Trump administration.

The UPU has also reported that many of its members have suspended some or all postal services to the US, until a suitable solution is reached. The UPU is actively working on a solution, in the form of a landed-cost calculator available to operators.

The end of de minimis is already set to have an impact on businesses. However, the UPU is committed to encouraging operators to continue postal services in the US.

Postal Traffic Plunges Following End of De Minimis Rule

Postal traffic to the US has fallen by more than 80%, according to the Universal Postal Union (UPU). In a statement made September 6th, the UPU reported that information exchanged among postal operators through its network showed traffic had fallen 81%, compared with a week earlier.

This comes after the Trump administration ended the de minimis exemption for small packages on August 29th.

The UPU boasts a membership of 192 countries, nearly all the countries in the world, and said it had sent a letter to the US secretary of state Marco Rubio in order to express concerns about the impact of ending de minimis. The Trump administration has described the rule as a loophole for foreign businesses to evade tariffs and a way for criminals to get drugs into the US.

Postal Operators Seeking Solutions Before Continuing US Service

On top of the drop in postal traffic, the UPU also reported that 88 postal operators have suspended some or all postal services to the US, until a solution is found for the delivery of parcels valued at $800 or less. This was previously the cutoff for imported goods to escape customs charges.

“The global network saw postal traffic to the US come to a near-halt after the implementation of the new rules on August 29th 2025, which for the first time placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or US Customs and Border Protection agency-approved qualified parties.” – Universal Postal Union, in a statement

Furthermore, the UPU said they have seen “major operational disruptions,” and stated that their members had not been given enough time or guidance to comply with the procedures, outlined in Donald Trump’s July 30th executive order.

De minimis has existed since 1938. Now, purchases that previously entered the US without needing to clear customs are subject to vetting and their origin country’s tariff rate, ranging from 10% to 50%.

Universal Postal Union Deploys Potential Solution Post-De Minimis

Despite the drop, the UPU is exploring potential solutions for postal operators to resume delivery services in the US. This consists of equipping operators with a landed-cost calculator via an API that can be plugged into retail and counter solutions, so they’ll be able to calculate and collect the required duties from customers immediately before sending packages to the US.

“The UPU has in its mission the responsibility to guarantee the free circulation of postal items over a single postal territory.” – Masahiko Metoki, UPU Director, in a statement.

As a result of the ending of de minimis, ecommerce sellers have already started to hike up the prices of their products in order to comply with new rules. Consumers could also face delays in orders further down the line. With the new regulations now fully in effect, we’ll have to watch out for the longer-term consequences.

Cyberattacks at educational facilities have spiked in recent months, according to new research. A study from Check Point Research finds that between January and July 2025, there was a 41% year-on-year (YoY) increase in illicit cyber activity.

Looking at countries across APAC, Africa, Europe, Latin and North America, the study finds that institutions in the US recorded a 67% YoY increase in cyberattacks — the steepest rise across all countries surveyed. At the same time, it consolidates the education sector’s position as the most attacked across the globe.

Cybersecurity is one of the biggest issues in the business world today. Recently, it was revealed that 78% of companies had been targeted with ransomware in the last year. Successful breaches can be catastrophic, with multiple high-profile businesses paying a high price for failing to deter attacks in recent years.

Cyberattacks Spike As Students Return to School

With school and college terms starting up again, educational institutions around the world have borne witness to a huge spike in attempted cyberattacks. According to new research from Check Point Research, between January and July 2025, the sector averaged 4,356 attacks per organization each week, comprising a 41% YoY increase.

The hardest hit region is APAC, which averaged 7,869 attacks per organization, per week. North America came in at fifth place, with a 67% increase in attacks YoY — the largest yearly increase across every region surveyed.

Check Point Research used its ThreatCloud AI platform to gather the insights, which analyzes millions of indicators of compromise (IoC) daily to build up a picture of the global cyberthreat landscape.

Education Leads Worst Hit Industries Worldwide

The data finds that education is by far the worst affected industry across the world when it comes to cyberattacks. In second place is government, which records 2,716 attacks per organization, per week on average. After that, it’s telecommunications (2,636 per organization, per week) and healthcare and medical (2,468 per organization, per week).

It is not a surprise that education has become such a target in recent years. In the post-pandemic era, it has come to be defined by a huge dependence on online platforms, with login credentials and public networks proving tantalizing attack vectors for a cybercriminals.

Not only this, but educational facilities tend to have limited cybersecurity budgets, meaning that their infrastructure is easy to bypass and students and faculty are often not well-versed in how to identify different breaches.

Cybersecurity Is A Thorn in the Business World’s Side

Eagle-eyed observers will not be surprised by the new data. Cybersecurity has emerged as one of the most urgent concerns of the business world in recent times. Seemingly every week, a major global company suffers a wide-ranging cyberattack, the consequences of which are often severe.

With the rapid development of AI, these attacks are getting harder to detect and harder to stop. Nonetheless, companies are not doing enough to insulate themselves from harm.

Businesses should be increasing their cybersecurity budgets, as well as investing in new talent and upskilling their existing employees to spot different threats. According to our own research, a shocking 98% of bosses can’t identify all the signs of a phishing attack, indicating that this is a problem endemic across the workplace.

Without serious action to avert the crisis, companies will continue to fall victim to scams, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated in nature. At this point in time, the outlook for the future is pretty bleak.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Projects is now available at no cost to anyone with a free ChatGPT account.

This feature lets users group the various ChatGPT chats that they’ve had in the past, for faster future reference. This system of folders makes it easier to give the generative AI tool a set of custom instructions, and lets them upload project-specific files to reference.

Previously, the tool had only been available as a perk for those on paid plans.

What’s Changing for ChatGPT Users

Users can opt for three different ChatGPT pricing plans: The free plan, the ChatGPT Plus plan for $20 per month, and the ChatGPT Pro plan for $200 per month.

With the latest change, all three plans include the Projects feature, so conversations can be grouped and used together.

However, there’s still one difference between the three plans, Engadget reports: Free users will be able to upload up to five files per project for the Projects function. In contrast, Plus users can upload up to 25 and Pro users can upload up to 40.

OpenAI’s Evolving Approach to Free Features

OpenAI has been steadily increasing the premium features and model access that it offers for free users.

For example, this time two years ago, you needed to shell out for the $20 per month paid plan in order to access what was at the time OpenAI’s most advanced large language model, GPT-4. Today, you can get access to GPT-5 entirely for free (although the number of times you can use it will be limited).

Similarly, OpenAI has rolled out its Deep Research and ChatGPT Voice tools to all users, even though both of them started out as free.

Generative AI has so fully saturated culture at this point that OpenAI arguably needs to keep offering more new free abilities to keep earning headlines like the one at the top of this page.

Using ChatGPT in 2025

Granted, not all news has been good news for OpenAI.

Take one feature that they recently removed, for example: A check box that would make a users’ conversations discoverable in search engines. Many people had already accidentally enabled all their private conversations to be seen by anyone who searched for them, creating a crisis of privacy violations.

We’ve previously covered all the types of information that we strongly recommend not sharing with ChatGPT. The stuff to avoid ranges from sensitive company data to IP to financial information and passwords.

Needless to say, you should still avoid entering this data when using Projects: The newly available ability to upload and work on files might even make it easier than ever to accidentally overshare on the platform.

President Donald Trump has filed a petition asking for a review of a new federal appeals court ruling in Washington DC that found most of his trade tariffs to be illegal.

The Trump administration asked for the Supreme Court to make a new judgement by September 10th, a full month ahead of the October 14th deadline.

Without a shakeup from a new Supreme Court ruling, as much as $200 billion from Trump’s tariffs might be refunded to the importers who initially paid them, once that mid-October deadline passes.

The Current Legal Ruling

Why were the tariffs thrown out in the first place?

Because, according to both of the judges who have looked at the case so far, Trump overstepped his presidential powers when he incorrectly used a 1977 law aimed at combating national emergencies to justify issuing his tariffs. This law — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — was likely not intended to give the President unlimited authority over tariffs.

The specific tariffs that have been ruled illegal are the “liberation day” border taxes Trump introduced in early April.

Trump Says America Could Be “Unbelievably Poor” Again

During a press conference discussing this request, Trump highlighted his belief that a ruling against him would make the US “suffer,” according to a Reuters report.

“We made a deal with the European Union where they’re paying us almost a trillion dollars. And you know what? They’re happy. It’s done. These deals are all done. I guess we’d have to unwind them. […] Our country has a chance to be unbelievably rich again. It could also be unbelievably poor again. If we don’t win that case, our country is going to suffer so greatly, so greatly.” – President Trump

The accelerated schedule that Trump is asking for would allow arguments to be heard in November, with justices ruling by the end of the year.

How Is the Logistics Industry Impacted?

The beleaguered logistics industry is already dealing with additional new fees brought on by the trade war.

The de minimis exemption expired near the end of August, causing any imported packages that cost less than $800 to require duties. Major shipping companies are already passing some of these costs on to customers, with the UPS announcing recently that it would impose a new international processing fee of $2.50 per package for US imports.

Dozens of top US trade partners are already being tariffed, with countries like Brazil currently under a 50% tax. Many of these tariffs could be rolled back if the US Supreme Court agrees with the two other judges who have considered the case.

Not only are logistics professionals struggling with the ongoing driver shortage, but they are also dealing with an ageing workforce, as recent Tech.co data reveals. The industry could therefore turn to Gen Z – who are struggling to find work, in order to fill gaps behind the wheel.

The profession holds a lot of benefits for the generation, including giving them the opportunity to travel, use technology, and contribute to a purposeful and steady career path.

On top of increasing driver benefits and improving work-life balance for drivers, the logistics industry has employed a range of strategies to combat the shortage.

Why Trucking’s Ageing Workforce Needs Gen Z Drivers

According to Tech.co’s 2025 logistics report, Moving Goods With Fewer Hands, the trucking industry is currently dealing with a severe driver shortage. Not only have 63% of US freight businesses said driver recruitment and retention has stagnated or worsened in the past year, but a quarter say an ageing workforce is their biggest hiring challenge.

On the other hand, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 2.5 million Gen Z were unemployed in July, and 1.8 million were looking for full time work.

The driver shortage could therefore pose a great opportunity for Gen Z, as they take up roles as truck drivers that the industry is sorely lacking.

“There’s a real opportunity here to connect an industry in urgent need of new talent with a generation looking for meaningful, stable work. Trucking offers Gen Z more than just a job; it offers purpose, growth, and a real chance to shape the future of logistics.” Bianca Prieto, Editor of The Inside Lane trucking newsletter

Benefits of a Trucking Career for Gen Z

Not only would Gen Z contribute to minimizing the logistics driver shortage, but there are plenty of benefits on offer for young people joining the profession.

Travel opportunities

For Gen Z looking to travel and see the world, the trucking profession presents a great opportunity to take new journeys and see new places. In a recent webinar hosted by The Inside Lane newsletter, Lindsey Trent, President of Next Gen Trucking Association, said: “Gen Z wants to make a difference, use technology, and explore the world. Trucking checks all those boxes – we just have to tell that story better.”

Tech use

Technology is already a big part of many Gen Z lives, and being involved with the logistics industry will mean they’ll be able to use tech such as fleet management and route optimization software. Similarly, they may find working with technology more appealing than older generations who may be less tech-literate.

Trent also said: “Younger generations have tech as standard, and it has to be used to give them more of a voice – which should be encouraged by companies too.”

Purposeful and stable career

Our latest data shows that 91% of respondents agree that America’s economy depends on fast, affordable, reliable freight movement. Truck drivers are therefore critical in maintaining the US economy, and will certainly be needed in the future as freight demand increases. In fact, our data shows that 63% of freight professionals have reported an increase in demand over the past year. 

Trucking is therefore a good, stable career path for Gen Z. Likewise, Trent added that Gen Z “want to do work that matters, and they value experiences. Trucking offers that in spades. We just have to reach them early – in high schools, trade programs, and even on social media.”

How Are Trucking Companies Attracting New Talent?

According to our logistics report, increasing driver compensation and improving work-life balance (56%) are the most popular tactics being used by professionals to combat driver shortages.

Businesses are also taking on other strategies, too. This includes providing better training and development opportunities (44%), enhancing recruitment efforts (43%), and improving company culture (27%).

Ultimately, it doesn’t seem like the problem is going anywhere anytime soon. On top of tariff losses and the driver shortage, this will certainly be a defining year for the resilience of the logistics industry.

Good news! If you can’t be bothered to search the internet any more, soon you won’t have to. That’s right — there’s a new Claude Chrome extension in town.

Earlier this week, Anthropic announced that its flagship chatbot would soon be getting its own Chrome integration. This will enable users to relinquish control of the mouse and keyboard to Claude, which will be able to see everything that you’re doing in your browser and perform complex processes on your behalf.

If that’s of interest, we’ve put together a simple guide on how to get started with the new Chrome extension.

What Is the New Claude Chrome Extension?

Anthropic has revealed that a new Google Chrome extension of its Claude chatbot will soon be widely available. With the integration enabled, users can permit Claude to take over their browser and perform multistep tasks for them — with next to no human involvement required.

For example, if you’re short on time, you could ask Claude to find a restaurant in your neighborhood that serves Spanish cuisine at a reasonable price. Or alternatively, you could instruct it to find the nearest grocery store that is open. Rather than searching and cross-checking results by yourself, the extension will do it all for you.

Announcing the partnership, Anthropic issued a statement: “We’ve spent recent months connecting Claude to your calendar, documents, and many other pieces of software. The next logical step is letting Claude work directly in your browser.” In this respect, it resembles Manus AI, supposedly the world’s first fully autonomous chatbot that launched earlier this year.

How to Get the New Claude Chrome Extension

At this point, the extension is an initial test that is only available to 1,000 subscribers of Claude Max, which costs either $100 or $200 per month. Anthropic plans to gradually roll out the trial to more Max subscribers, but there’s no word on when it will be usable by customers at different tiers.

If you meet the above criteria, you can sign up for a waitlist. You’ll get taken to a signup form and asked to fill out some key details, which are as follows:

• Are you 18 years of age or older?
• What is the email address associated with your Claude account?
• Do you have a Max plan subscription?
• How do you plan to use Claude for Chrome? What workflows are you looking to automate with it?
• Can we contact you to learn more about your use cases and gather feedback on your experience?

Please note that this is the only way you can sign up for the extension pilot. Any publicly available extensions purporting to be Claude are imposters, and you should definitely avoid installing them.

Anthropic Warns of Existing Security Concerns

Part of the reason that the pilot is only available to a limited number of participants is that it has outstanding security vulnerabilities. In its press release, Anthropic noted that “prompt injection attacks” represented a genuinely possibility for people who signed up to take part in the trial.

To be specific, some of the inherent risks include malicious users accessing personal accounts and files, sharing private information, accessing financial information, and generally taking actions that the user never intended.

But if you’re prepared to take those risks, then why not sign up for the Claude extension waitlist now? Your findings will enable Anthropic to “take an important step towards a fundamentally new way to integrate AI into our lives.”

The logistics industry is preparing for a world filled with self-driving trucks, with recent data showing that professional expect autonomous vehicles to be the biggest disruptor in the coming years.

Managing the supply chain has become increasingly difficult over the last few years. The tariffs and the trucker shortage alone have put a strain on businesses, making it harder and harder to manage the ever-increasing freight across the country.

While some solution have helped, like route optimization software and fleet management systems, the logistics industry is clearly banking on self-driving trucks to solve the problem.

What Will Be the Most Disruptive Tech in a Few Years?

According to data from our monthly Logistics Pulse report, self-driving vehicles are expected to be the technology of the future for the industry, with 17% of professionals stating that autonomous trucks, ships, and drones are going to have the most disruptive impact over the next two to three years.

This was the highest percentage across our research, with fleet management and telematics optimization (11%), AI-driven route optimization (11%), and predictive maintenance and asset monitoring (8%) representing the rest of the top four in our research.

Our guide to the US states where self-driving trucks are already legal

Many have speculated about the impact of fully autonomous vehicles finally becoming a mainstream part of the industry, which could be sooner than many realize. In fact, 42% of professional believe that we can expect widespread use of self-driving trucks on public roads in the next 15 years, according to our Moving Goods With Fewer Hands report.

What Are Logistics Professionals Using AI for in 2025?

While autonomous vehicles may be the future, that doesn’t mean they are being used by the majority of logistics professional in 2025.

In fact, our research found that self-driving trucks, ships, and drones are one of the least used technologies being used by logistics professionals, with only 7% of businesses currently employing autonomous tech at their organization.

In comparison, 31% of businesses are using fleet management and telematic optimization, 29% of businesses are using AI-driven route optimization software, and 25% of businesses are using predictive maintenance and asset monitoring platforms.

Technology and the Trucker Shortage

The logistics industry has been notably unable to address the trucker shortage by hiring more people. In fact, 63% of respondents say their ability to recruit and retain drivers has either stagnated or worsened over the past year.

As a result, many businesses are turning to technology to solve the problem. An even larger 73% of professionals say that technology is already helping them address workplace challenges, like staffing and retention issues.

Suffice to say, technology — whether it be something simple like route optimizations tools or something groundbreaking like self-driving trucks — is going to be the answer, and you don’t want to be left behind.

FedEx is the latest freight firm to announce layoffs. This week, the logistics giant revealed that more than 600 FedEx Supply Chain employees in Memphis would be let go as part of a business transition. According to Commercial Appeal, the company is moving “a significant portion” of its business to a new third-party provider.

In 2022, the company announced “Network 2.0,” a multi-year initiative to streamline operations. It laid off over 480 employees and revealed that facilities in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Omaha, Nebraska, would be closing. Reportedly, these latest layoffs are unrelated to “Network 2.0.”

Against a backdrop of tariffs and an ongoing labor shortage, the logistics sector is struggling. In recent weeks, several firms have laid off employees in a bid to improve their fortunes. Many are turning to technology as a long-term solution to their woes, with self-driving trucks and drones touted as potential remedies in the near-future.

FedEx to Lay Off Over 600 Supply Chain Employees

FedEx plans to let go of more than 600 employees from two of its Memphis facilities. On August 27th, the company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Board, which will coordinate a response with FedEx and the affected employees.

As reported by Commercial Appeal, the decision forms part of a wider “business transition.” The company plans to relocate “a significant portion” of its operations to a new third-party provider, with the move expected to be completed in October 2025.

FedEx claimed that employees were made aware of the layoffs in advance, with many thought to be eligible for different roles in the company. In a statement, it said: “We are committed to supporting affected employees through job placement assistance, relocation aid, or severance, as applicable, including at other nearby FedEx facilities in the area.”

Layoffs Unrelated to “Network 2.0” Plans

“Network 2.0” is the multi-year initiative that FedEx announced in 2022 to streamline its operations and boost efficiency. Since then, the company has closed down over 100 shipping centers as it works towards a future in which driver routes do not overlap.

Most recently, the logistics giant laid off more than 480 employees and closed sites in North Carolina and Nebraska. Staff in Texas and Iowa were also subject to redundancies, but their sites remained open, albeit at reduced capacity.

The company has stated that the latest layoffs, however, do not form part of Network 2.0.

Technology Poses Solution to Logistics Industry Turmoil

It’s fair to say that it’s been a challenging year in the freight business. Between President Trump’s escalating tariff war and a mounting hiring crisis, logistics firms are in trouble. This is borne out by the sheer number that have been forced to let go of employees in 2025.

Companies are turning to technology to try and mitigate some of these issues. As revealed in our latest report, Moving Goods With Fewer Hands, 73% of surveyed respondents has already used technology to address “workforce challenges.”

While self-driving trucks are unlikely to enjoy a wide rollout in the near-future, businesses are already making use of fleet management software to optimize their route planning and delivery efficiency. What’s more, automation is bringing huge benefits to warehouses, with firms able to fulfil a higher volume of orders and enjoy a greater return on investment.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella this week shared five ChatGPT-5 prompts that he is using to better prepare for meetings. The tech boss revealed his AI habits via a thread on X.

The prompts in question shed light on how AI is being used by senior executives at the highest level. Among them, Nadella disclosed that he regularly asks the chatbot to draft project updates, assign probability scores, and prepare him for upcoming meetings.

Microsoft recently integrated its flagship AI model, Copilot, with ChatGPT-5. The partnership will enable Copilot users to switch between models depending on whether they require deep reasoning or a quick response.

Microsoft CEO Reveals Everyday AI Habits

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has shared five of his favorite AI hacks. Heralding the recent partnership between ChatGPT-5 and Microsoft, the tech boss took to X to detail some of the everyday tasks that he has been using AI for.

Among them, Nadella revealed that he uses AI to get status updates on ongoing projects, monthly breakdowns of how he has been spending his time, key insights ahead of specific meetings, and more.

Following the release of ChatGPT-5 earlier this month, Microsoft promptly revealed that it was integrating its suite of AI tools with the new model. Specifically, ChatGPT will be available with Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, GitHub Copilot, and more, as part of a wider “smart mode.”

Nadella Paints Picture of AI Use at Highest Level

The Microsoft boss’s posts on X offer a fascinating glance at how top-level executives are saving time and boosting efficiency with AI. Below, you’ll find the prompts in question.

1. Based on my prior interactions with [/person], give me 5 things likely top of mind for our next meeting.
2. Draft a project update based on emails, chats, and all meetings in [/series]: KPIs vs. targets, wins/losses, risks, competitive moves, plus likely tough questions and answers.
3. Are we on track for the [Product] launch in November? Check eng progress, pilot program results, risks. Give me a probability.
4. Review my calendar and email from the last month and create 5 to 7 buckets for projects I spend most time on, with % of time spent and short descriptions.
5. Review [/select email] + prep me for the next meeting in [/series], based on past manager and team discussions.

There’s bountiful evidence that people are using AI at work — sometimes even against their bosses’ wishes. Information on how top execs harness the technology, however, has been thin on the ground up to this point.

Latest Twist in Microsoft-Open AI Saga

Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI began in lucrative fashion in 2019, when the tech behemoth invested $1 billion in the fledgling AI startup. This came to the attention of antitrust watchdogs, and competition concerns have dogged the two companies ever since.

In June, it was reported that they were in dispute over a contractual provision, which essentially voided Microsoft’s exclusive access when OpenAI finally achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI). In a joint statement, the firms claimed: “We have a long-term, productive partnership that has delivered amazing AI tools for everyone. Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come.”

This latest announcement would seem to pour cold water on any nascent tensions that might have developed between Microsoft and OpenAI. Expect this partnership to be at the cutting-edge of the AI space for years to come.

More price increases are on the way for the logistics business, as UPS announces a new fee for international processing when it comes to packages entering the US.

It’s not secret that the logistics industry has been hit the hardest when it comes to tariffs. Many companies like General Motors have lost millions and even billions of dollars over the last few months because of these additional costs.

Well, it look like things are going to get worse before they get better, as UPS prepares for the end of the de minimis exemption by adding a new fee on international products coming into the US.

UPS Adds New International Processing Fee

UPS announced this week that it would be adding a new international processing fee for packages shipped into the US. The new fee will cost $2.50 per package and will only impact those that are shipped via one of three UPS services: UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Worldwide Express Plus, and UPS Worldwide Express NA1.

On top of that, UPS also announced that it would be adding an entry preparation charge for all low-cost shipments from Canada.

Items with a duty value up to $200 will now pay an additional $10 per shipment and items with a duty value of between $200.01 and $800 will pay an additional $20 per shipment, according to the UPS website.

The entry preparation charge will go into effect on August 29th, while the new international processing fee will go into effect on September 8th, just in time for the de minimis exemption to end.

What Is the De Minimis Exemption?

If you’re wondering why so many shipping companies have been increasing their prices as August comes to a close, it’s likely because the de minimis exemption is expiring.

The de minimis exemption is a US policy that allows for shipments under $800 in value to be exempt from taxes and tariffs. It provided a low-cost avenue for some businesses to shop products at a more affordable price.

However, President Trump signed an executive order that closed the exemption for China and Hong Kong on May 2nd of this year, with a global removal of the exemption set for this Friday, August 29th.

The Impact of De Minimis Exemption Removal

UPS certainly isn’t the only company that is increasing its prices due to President Trump’s executive order to get rid of the de minimis exemption. FedEx also increased its international processing fee from $1.50 to $2.50 in preparation for the change.

Increased prices aren’t the worst of it either. Some companies — like the Europe-based DHL — are so put off by the added cost of doing business that they’ve opted to completely pause shipping to the US entirely.

Even entire countries are opting to stop shipments to the US. Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy have all stopped shipping some products to the US, while companies like France, Austria, and the UK have plans to do the same.

With the impact of more fees and higher tariffs still yet to be realized, it’s safe to say that things could start getting a lot more expensive as the rest of Trump’s presidency unfolds.

The future of AI is safe for now, as Anthropic has reportedly prevented a cyber criminal from using its AI platform Claude to generate scams and hacks to infiltrate a variety of companies.

The evolution of AI over the last few years has made cybersecurity far more difficult in 2025. The technology is being used for a wide range of nefarious purposes, making it infinitely harder to spot scams and deter hacks.

Luckily, Anthropic was on top of this one, announcing that it had swiftly put a stop to a plan that could have had some seriously negative consequences for the companies in the crosshairs.

Anthropic Stops Hackers from Using Claude AI to Hack Companies

According to an announcement from Anthropic on Wednesday, the AI company “disrupted a sophisticated cybercriminal that used Claude Code to commit large-scale theft and extortion of personal data.”

“We’ve developed sophisticated safety and security measures to prevent the misuse of our AI models. But cybercriminals and other malicious actors are actively attempting to find ways around them.” – Anthropic announcement

The attack reportedly targeted as many as 17 different companies, in industries including “healthcare, the emergency services, and government and religious institutions.”

How Did the Hacker Use Claude AI?

This was no ordinary hack attempt. According to Anthropic, the hacker in question used the technology to “an unprecedented degree” to create “attacks that would otherwise have required a team of operators.” As for what that hacker actually used it for, the list was seemingly endless.

Here’s a list of some of the criminal actions that the hacker was attempting to perform with Claude AI, according to Anthropic:

• Automate reconnaissance
• Harvest victims’ credentials
• Penetrate networks
• Make both tactical and strategic decisions
• Decide which data to exfiltrate
• Craft psychologically targeted extortion demands
• Analyze financial data to determine appropriate ransom amounts
• Generated visually alarming ransom notes

Suffice to say, this hacker was on a mission to use AI in the worst possible way in an effort to hack these companies. Luckily, Anthropic was on the case.

How Did Anthropic Stop the Hacker?

Given the complicated nature of the attack and the industries that could have been impacted, it’s a good thing Anthropic was able to prevent this hack before it came to fruition. But how exactly did Anthropic stop these hackers in their tracks?

Well, for starters, Anthropic “banned the accounts in question as soon as we discovered this operation.”

“We have robust safeguards and multiple layers of defense for detecting this kind of misuse, but determined actors sometimes attempt to evade our systems through sophisticated techniques.” – Jacob Klein, head of threat intelligence for Anthropic to NBC News

On top of that, Anthropic has developed a new screening tool in hopes of spotting these kinds of nefarious actions earlier in the process, and the company also shared data with the authorities to help them prevent attacks in the future.

Research from Stanford University has reported a 13% drop in employment rates for entry-level candidates over the past three years, thanks to the development of AI within the workforce.

The picture looks the most bleak for entry-level candidates joining fields that are easily replaced by AI, such as software development and customer service, whereas older workers outside of these fields are not seeing similar patterns.

Crucially, the way that a company approaches deploying AI also makes a big impact. Instead of integrating AI to keep up with the trend, businesses should have a clear understanding of how AI can help its employees, rather than replace them altogether.

AI Threatens Entry-Level Jobseekers In New Study

A new study from researchers at Stanford University has found that AI is gnawing away at job prospects for entry-level candidates. The research analyzed payroll data from management services company Automatic Data Processing Inc.

It concluded that employment for younger workers, aged 22-25, in AI-impacted jobs such as software development and customer support, has dropped by 13% in the past three years.

Older workers, or those in fields outside of AI’s domain, aren’t seeing as much of a measurable hit to future job prospects. The researchers suggested that this is because AI has more book knowledge, rather than hands-on experience, like the typical entry-level candidate.

Certain Entry-Level Roles More Impacted Than Others

The researchers noted that it was only when they narrowed down their search to specific industries and roles that the impact AI became clear.

On top of junior roles in software development and customer service, roles in accounting, development, and administration had fallen also.

On the other hand, roles such as nursing technicians had seen an increase in employment over the same period of time. This suggests that the entry-level candidates joining fields that could see AI take over are most at risk.

How Companies Deploy AI Is Vital

This isn’t the first study to suggest that prospects for entry-level candidates are bleaker following the rapid deployment of AI. However, the Stanford researchers found that a company’s attitude towards AI implementation was a key factor in determining the number of opportunities available to candidates.

While businesses who view AI as a replacement for human workers are hiring less, those looking to use the technology to augment their human workforce are hiring more.

There is certainly evidence of companies taking a heavy-handed approach to AI — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently admitted to firing engineers who didn’t take on AI. However, an attitude that allows workers to use the technology to help them with their daily tasks, rather than replace them altogether, is surely the best way forward.