What's on Your Mind?

From the latest skyscraper in a Chinese megalopolis to a six‑foot‑tall yurt in Inner Mongolia, researchers at the Technical University of Munich claim they have created a map of all buildings worldwide: 2.75 billion building models set in high‑resolution 3D with a level of precision never before recorded. Made from years of satellite data analysis by machine‑learning algorithms, the model reflects a sustained effort to capture the built world in three dimensions. The result now provides a crucial basis for climate research and for tracking progress toward global sustainable development goals, according to the scientists behind it.​ Professor Xiaoxiang Zhu, who le…

A viral X post from late last year pitted images depicting two hustle-culture lifestyles side by side: tech bro hoodie and Notes app icon on one side, a business suit and a copy of Cal Newport’s Deep Work on the other side. “Left guy will most likely beat the right guy,” it concluded. “Guy on the left makes more money but guy on the right is happier,” one user commented. Whether it’s “grind mode,” “routine maxxing” or some other high-octane “sleep when you’re dead” approach to work, the right specific approach within that umbrella is unclear. It’s the question plaguing young founders and Silicon Valley types. Maybe some aim to lock in, grind away from 9 to 9 …

Since I was old enough to vote in presidential elections, I’ve heard plenty of grumbling across the political spectrum about moving to Canada if one candidate or another wins. And since I have been a full-time worker, I have also been party to a number of pie-in-the-sky conversations about the expat potential of retiring to Barcelona; Buenos Aires, Argentina; or Bangkok. But conversations about leaving the United States have felt a little different over the last couple of years. It started when several of my parents’ contemporaries actually retired abroad, rather than just thinking about it. Then multiple friends picked up stakes—which included selling houses and cars…

Recently, Grok AI faced criticism after users found it was creating explicit images of real people, including women and children. Although xAI has now implemented some restrictions, this incident revealed a serious weakness. Without safeguards and diverse perspectives, girls and women are put at greater risk. The dangers artificial intelligence poses to women and girls are real and happening now, affecting their mental health, safety, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Last fall, a mother discovered why her teenage daughter’s mental health had been deteriorating: It was a result of conversations with a Character.AI chatbot. She’s not alone. Aura’s State of Youth …

Figma burst into the public eye in 2022 after Adobe was blocked from buying the design startup for $20 billion. This chapter set the stage for an even bigger milestone at Figma: a splashy IPO this summer at nearly double that valuation. Cofounder and CEO Dylan Field shares what distinguishes Figma from competitors, and why design is increasingly at the center of every industry in today’s software-driven economy. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by Robert Safian, former editor-in-chief of Fast Company. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business lead…

Amazon is rolling out a new feature in hopes of retaining, or perhaps attracting, new Prime members. The tech giant announced Wednesday that Alexa+, its AI-powered assistant, is now available for free to all Prime members. Last March, Amazon began offering an “early access” preview for the new voice assistant that saw an “inspiring” response, with tens of millions of customers requesting access, according to a statement. The company has revamped its legacy Alexa product to handle more complex interactions—offering examples of how users can engage in “deep conversations” with Alexa+ that may be ongoing over the course of potentially several days, as the technology …

Time magazine has named the “Architects of AI” as its 2025 Person of the Year, a decision that has sparked significant backlash from gamblers who lost out on semantics. The companies behind AI tools and infrastructure aren’t “AI” in the literal sense, so prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket ruled that anyone betting on “AI” doesn’t win. As author Parker Molloy pointed out on Bluesky, gamblers on the site are not pleased. “Someone please explain to me how this is not a trick?” one user complained after betting on billionaire Elon Musk on Kalshi. “Person of the year is a singular title…” “ThE aRcHiTeCtS oF AI,” another user wrote. “Fuck you pay me.” Oth…

It’s been an unprecedented and brutal week for the advertising industry. The finalization of Omnicom Group’s $13 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) (the biggest takeover in advertising history) is affecting tens of thousands of workers—most immediately the 4,000 expected to be laid off by the end of the year. Both Omnicom and IPG own many different ad agency brands, all of which will be profoundly impacted by the merger. Omnicom is retaining only McCann from the IPG roster of agency networks, while folding FCB into BBDO, and both DDB and MullenLowe into TBWA, in order to achieve Omnicom Chairman and CEO John Wren’s goal of $750 million in synergies. Th…

Age really is just a number when it comes to social media, as new research from Ampere Analysis shows that more than half of users ages 55 to 64 now watch influencer content every week. This number is up by 10 percentage points since 2020. In the U.K., the figure has also risen over the past five years, from 30% to 38%. TikTok and YouTube, in particular, are behind the growth—proof that Boomers’ social media presence is no longer limited to Facebook. “The biggest surprise in our latest data wasn’t how popular influencer videos have become, it is how rapidly this trend has extended to older audiences,” Annabel Yeomans, senior research manager at Ampere Analysi…

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. With apologies to T.S. Eliot, some CEOs are finding that February, not April, may be the cruelest month. In recent weeks, Workday, PayPal, and The Washington Post parted ways with their chief executives, suggesting that high CEO turnover, which reached record levels in recent years, may con…