Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

As artificial intelligence gets smarter, a growing number of companies are increasing its implementation in their operations or more heavily promoting their own AI offerings. The buzzword for this is “AI first.” Duolingo is among the latest to adopt an AI-first approach. The company’s CEO, Luis von Ahn, announced the change in an all-hands email Monday, saying it would stop using contractors to do work AI can handle and only increase head count when teams have maximized all possible automation. “The way we work is fundamentally shifting. AI is becoming the default starting point,” said Duolingo’s Chief Engineering Officer Natalie Glance in an internal Slack messa…

Keeping our inboxes organized often feels like an overwhelming task. If you’re fortunate, yours contains only messages from people you wish to communicate with. Realistically, though, most are cluttered with newsletters, receipts, social media digests, and more. These emails aren’t necessarily spam, but they complicate the process of quickly sifting through to find the messages we want to see. This week, Apple introduced a feature to the Mac that aims to help cut through inbox clutter by automatically organizing messages into smart categories. The feature is new in the Mail app in macOS 15.4 and comes several months after Apple debuted the feature on the iPhone i…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. During December 2024, Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach and his leadership team, including cofounder and executive chairman Aneel Bhusri, arrived at a big decision: the software company would restructure itself to free up operating dollars for investment opportunities tied to artificial inte…

Some 10,000 grocery store workers across the greater Denver area went on strike Thursday, claiming unfair and illegal negotiating practices by King Soopers while their union has been negotiating a new contract with the store chain. Striking workers at 77 King Soopers stores in Denver and its suburbs, plus those in nearby Boulder and Louisville, Colorado, urged customers not to cross picket lines that began taking shape before dawn. “Stand together. Stay strong,” United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 President Kim Cordova wrote union members in a Monday letter announcing the strike. UFCW Local 7 members voted by 96% last week to authori…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National home prices have risen by 2.6% year-over-year from January 2024 to January 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, a slightly decelerated rate from the 4.6% year-over-year rate last spring. However, not every housing market is seeing rising home prices. Among the 300 largest metro area housing markets, 31 markets are seeing falling home prices on a year-over-year basis. While home prices continue to rise in regions with tight inventory—such as much of the Northeast, Midwest, and Southern California—some housing markets in states like…

Giving money away has never been so easy—thanks to AI. Daffy, a platform that facilitates charitable giving, is rolling out a suite of new AI-powered tools that’s making it easier than ever to donate to charity. So easy, in fact, that a Daffy user can feel like a billionaire making a quick donation to their chosen charity without having to fill out forms, mail checks, or any of the other tedium that can slow the giving process down—simply hit a button, or make a verbal command, and make a donation. Specifically, Daffy’s new tools include a Quick Donate feature, which converts free text or voice commands into an immediate donation. Daffy will need some direction (u…

Microplastics—the tiny particles of plastic shed when litter breaks down—are everywhere, from the deep sea to Mount Everest, and many researchers worry that they could harm human health. I am a machine learning researcher. With a team of scientists, I have developed a tool to make identification of microplastics using their unique chemical fingerprint more reliable. We hope that this work will help us learn about the types of microplastics floating through the air in our study area, Michigan. Microplastics—a global problem The term plastic refers to a wide variety of artificially created polymers. Polyethylene, or PET, is used for making bottles; polypropylene,…

Another day, another recall. It if seems like there have been a number of recalls recently, you’re not imagining it. In the last month alone, there has been a recall for particular brands of soup, sparkling water, and vegetables. This time, it’s for butter. What’s happened? Agri-Mark, the maker of Cabot Creamery dairy products, conducted a voluntary recall for a single lot of its Extra Creamy Premium Butter, Sea Salted, totaling 1,700 pounds in 189 cases. Testing revealed an elevated level of coliform bacteria. The recall was initiated on March 26. Coliform bacteria often are considered indicators of fecal contamination. The U.S. Food and Drug Administratio…

Scam calls are turning the world on its head. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates that scammers stole a staggering $1.03 trillion globally in 2023, including losses from online fraud and scam calls. Robocalls and phone scams have long been a frustrating—and often dangerous—problem for consumers. Now, artificial intelligence is elevating the threat, making scams more deceptive, efficient, and harder to detect. While Eric Priezkalns, an analyst and editor at Commsrisk, believes the impact of AI on scam calls is currently exaggerated, he notes that the use of AI by scammers is focused on producing fake content, which looks real or on varying the content in messages d…

Resilience is no longer just about grit or recovering from setbacks. It’s about anticipating change, staying agile in uncertainty, and continuously evolving. The most future-ready organizations build resilience not just at the leadership level, but across their entire workforce—equipping employees with the skills, mindsets, and support systems they need to turn disruption into momentum.  People today expect more—learning, development, well-being, and strong leadership—to help them navigate the future of work. Companies that invest in these areas don’t just retain top talent; they build workforces that are unstoppable. Here are four powerful strategies to embed r…

Yes, Spotify is down. Spotify users are reporting service outages on the music streaming desktop and mobile app. As of 8:50 a.m., U.S. users started experiencing technical issues with the app, with around 323 reports. By 9:05 a.m., reports had risen to more than 20,000 outages, and are about 40,000 outage reports at the time of publishing. Technical issues are mainly reported in the U.S. and Europe, with some additional reports in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Israel. “We are aware of the outage and working to resolve it as soon as possible,” a Spotify spokesperson told Fast Company in a statement. “The reports of this bein…

For the first time in over a decade, Coca-Cola is relaunching its iconic “Share a Coke” campaign. This time around, it’s targeting Gen Z. When “Share a Coke” first debuted in Australia in 2011, replacing the “Coca-Cola” logo on Coke bottles with 150 of the most popular names in the region, it sold 250 million named bottles and cans in a nation of just under 23 million people. The idea was so successful that, over time, Coca-Cola replicated it in 70 different countries. And this April 1, a new version of “Share a Coke” is rolling out globally. The bones of the concept are the same as when it debuted more than a decade ago: In each local market, a range of the most…

Home Depot broke a two-year slump in same store sales during the fourth quarter as customer demand improved in a housing market that has been buffeted by soaring mortgage rates and a scarcity of homes up for sale. Revenue for the Atlanta company climbed to $39.7 billion from $34.79 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were calling for $39.15 billion. Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday that the extra week in the quarter added approximately $2.5 billion in sales for the period. Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, edged up 0.8%. In the U.S., comparable store sales rose 1.3%. It is the first quarterly increase since January 2023 and much …

Few things are as quintessential Mexico as spotting a large, lab-coat-wearing mustachioed mascot dancing in the streets. This character—dubbed Dr. Simi—is one of Mexico’s most recognizable figures. Its life-size version can be found on social media riding a bike, dancing to regional music, breaking Guinness world records, and, on occasion, fighting other mascots like Duolingo’s Duo. Customized Dr. Simi plushies have made their way onstage with the world’s most celebrated artists, including Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, and Adele, and even into the hands of the late Pope Francis. AdeleX The playful, and sometimes mischievous, mascot is the face of Farmacias Similares, a c…

Sycamore Partners is planning a three-way split of Walgreens Boots Alliance if a deal to take the struggling pharmacy chain private is reached, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Walgreens’s three businesses—U.S. retail pharmacy, Boots UK, and U.S. healthcare—will be separated and have distinct capital structures, according to the report. Sycamore and Walgreens both declined to comment on the report. Shares of the Deerfield, Illionois-based company rose 5% to $11.62 in early trading. The report “marks another twist in the potential go-private story” for Walgreens, Leerink analyst Michael Cherny said. Walgreens…

YouTube is taking steps to crack down on gambling content. On Tuesday, the platform announced a new policy that bans creators from directing viewers to “unapproved” gambling websites through links, images, text, logos, or verbal mentions. According to YouTube, “unapproved” is defined as any site that doesn’t meet local legal requirements or hasn’t undergone review by YouTube or parent company Google. The new rules, which go into effect on March 19th, also include a new age restriction. Online gambling content will no longer be viewable by users who are signed out or signed in under the age of 18. YouTube has made two exceptions to the rule: content focused on onl…

The web is being swamped by AI slop—but the swamp is creeping closer to home. Your email inboxes, phone SMS apps, instant messaging, and social media services are all being overtaken by inauthentic content. From AI-generated footage of Hollywood actor Brad Pitt that conned a French woman out of $800,000, to phishing emails that direct victims to live chats with AI bots purporting to be from a legitimate business but which are actually criminals, AI scams are everywhere. Two in every three people tested by Vodafone failed to identify an AI-driven phishing attack. One of those people was George Wilson, the founder of a small business based in Marietta, Georgia. Wils…

Over the last month, Jamie Dimon has rapidly emerged as one of the most vocal proponents of the return-to-office movement. During a recent appearance at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, the J.P. Morgan Chase CEO could not help but complain—again—about workers who were pushing back on RTO policies. When fielding a question about his recent colorful remarks on RTO, Dimon noted that it was only “people in the middle” who were unhappy about going into the office. “If you work in a restaurant, you’ve got to be in. You all may not know this, but 60% of Americans worked the whole time,” he said, seemingly in reference to the pandemic. “Where did you get you…

For the past few years, “hybrid work” has meant splitting time between home and office. And for the most part, people like it—flexibility, fewer commutes, more balance. But there’s a new hybrid model on the rise, and it has nothing to do with geography. As Artificial Intelligence is woven into the fabric of business alongside humans and begins to help support human workloads, the future of hybrid work won’t only be defined by where we work, but by how we work together with our AI counterparts. As Agentic AI enters a more mature phase, organizations are moving beyond experimentation to ask deeper questions: How does AI complement human strengths? What does meaningful c…

Beverly Hills’ hottest club is California Pizza Kitchen. At least, that’s what someone unfamiliar with the brand might have taken away from its new “rebrand,” which debuted on Monday. On its website, California Pizza Kitchen replaced its friendly yellow logo and wordmark with a silver chrome logo and the shortened name “CPK.” [Photo: courtesy California Pizza Kitchen] Meanwhile, on socials, the brand posted several videos of its “new identity” that looked more fit for promoting a rave than a family friendly pizza restaurant. Shots of flashing lights, serious models, and slogans like “DEVOUR THE DOUBTERS” and “Fresh. To. Death” were cut with clips of harshly-li…

With the advent of generative AI and other advanced technologies like quantum computing, we are entering a period of massive innovation. It is likely we are about to see more future-facing products and services than we witnessed in the past 25 years. These companies will disrupt current industries and change the way we work, live, and play. This creates a new paradigm in how companies identify the best opportunities and how those ideas are developed, branded, and activated. For the past 40 years, I have had a front row seat to some of the world’s most valuable brands’ early days. Lexicon Branding played a role in developing names for hundreds of iconic brands and prod…

Two powerful forces are dramatically reshaping the current world of work—artificial intelligence and an aging workforce. While we can see that the way we work is changing, we need to move quickly to effectively cope with both. Currently, AI, machine learning, digitization, automation, and other technology shifts are continuing to drive big changes in how we work and evolving the skills we need. In fact, new Workday research into the AI skills revolution shows that 81% of workers globally recognize that AI is changing the skills needed for their jobs. At the same time, throughout most countries, midcareer and older workers (people aged 45-64) make up a growing po…

It’s a simple idea. Aside from its electrical components, the Hoop Table Lamp by Finnish furniture company Vaarnii is made completely from pine timber and pine veneer. The result is a warm, natural statement lamp without any fuss. Released last week, the lamp is available in two sizes. It retails for about $360 for the medium and about $260 for the small. The appropriately-named London designer John Tree designed the lamp, which has a solid wood base created from a knot-free block of solid pine timber. The Hoop table lamp is topped by a pine veneer shade that’s cut thin enough to allow a glow of light through. All in all, the lamp is made up of only two pieces, an…

Amid the ongoing evolution of digital privacy laws, one California proposal is drawing heightened attention from legal scholars, technologists, and privacy advocates. Assembly Bill 1355, while narrower in scope than landmark legislation like 2018’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)—which established sweeping rights for consumers to know, delete, and opt out of the sale of their personal information—could become a pivotal effort to rein in the unchecked collection and use of personal geolocation data. The premise of the bill (which is currently undergoing analysis within the appropriations committee) is straightforward yet bold in the American legal landscape: Com…

A few years ago, if you turned on the heat in an apartment in Helsinki, the energy typically came from coal. But the city’s power company shut down one coal plant in 2023, and the remaining one closed this week—four years earlier than a target set by the national government. “Within two years, we have completely phased out coal,” says Olli Sirkka, CEO of Helen, the power company, which is a subsidiary of the city. The city has one of the world’s biggest district heating systems, with a network of underground pipes filled with hot water that deliver heat to buildings. It takes a huge amount of energy to run. One large chunk of that now comes from wind power, which …