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Having previously declared bitcoin to be a ‘scam’, the US president now wants to add it to the Fed’s balance sheetView the full article

I love to eat. In fact, eating is one of my favorite activities, and also one of my favorite aspects of traveling. Food is such an integral part of so many cultures that to skip out on meals when you travel is to miss out on a part of the travel experience. I’m always disappointed when I meet travelers who cook all their meals in a hostel kitchen or spend so much of their time just getting food at grocery stores. I mean, don’t get me wrong, grocery stores and markets teach you a lot about a place. And you don’t need to eat out for every meal. But why come to Italy to cook pasta in your hostel? Or skip a sushi dinner in Japan or paella in Spain? Of course, eating out all the time is expensive. Imagine if you ate out every day while at home — your food budget would be astronomical! And, when you are traveling long term (or just on a tight budget), you have to think about making your money last. Additionally, many people have dietary concerns that prevent them from fully embracing new foods. And many travelers are vegan or vegetarian, as well, which might impact their options. To make sure I can eat out without breaking the bank, I have had to learn how to balance eating 99% of my meals out while still finding a way to save money. Here’s how to eat out on a budget while you travel the world: 1. Follow the Five Block Rule I live by what I call The Five Block Rule. I don’t eat within five blocks of a major tourist attraction or area. I simply walk in any direction and search for a place to eat when I hit five blocks. There’s an invisible line at this area: tourists don’t go past it. All of a sudden you notice that the crowds are gone, and that’s when you want to start looking. Sure, you might find a good meal in a tourist area, but you’ll find a better, cheaper meal outside it. Go where the menus aren’t in multiple languages. Go to those little tiny hole in the wall places that you are unsure about. The meal might not knock your socks off each time but it will be a memorable and more local experience. 2. Use Local Knowledge If you are unsure of where to eat (and don’t like the idea of randomly wandering into restaurants), try apps where locals post reviews. I use them often to find recommendations for food in the cities and towns I visit. You can also ask the tourist office or the staff at your hostel/hotel or taxi drivers, who tend to eat at cheaper food stalls. They will have good recommendations. After all, local workers aren’t going to eat in the tourist area! My two favorite apps are Yelp and The Fork. For vegan and vegetarian recommendations, check out Happy Cow. 3. Ask The Right Question Be sure to ask locals the question, “Where do you eat?” not “Where should I eat?” If you ask people the second question, most people will think to send you to the popular restaurants tourists visit because that will be what comes to mind. They’ll think, “Hmmm where do visitors go eat? What’s popular in town?” However, by asking where they eat, you will get recommendations for more local restaurants because they will tell you all the hole in the wall spots they eat at on a day-to-day basis. Small word change, much better results. 4. Eat Street Food In most places around the world (and especially in Asia), the streets are lined with little food stalls and areas where food is cooked openly on the street. You grab a plate, sit down in a little plastic chair, and enjoy a delicious meal. Street food is some of the best food in the world. Meals at street stalls and vendors cost just a few dollars (if that) most of the time and are a great way to really experience the local cuisine. While in Sweden, I lived off these types of vendors. In Amsterdam, FEBO and their croquettes kept my stomach full. In Costa Rica, the empanada seller filled me up for a dollar and I bought local food from vendors at markets for mere pennies in Madagascar. Many places, like Thailand and Vietnam, for example, wouldn’t be the same if the street food disappeared. (And yes, it’s safe. The locals wouldn’t eat it otherwise.) 5. Eat Fast Food (Sometimes) Fast food isn’t the best food, but it is another option if you want a cheap meal in inexpensive parts of the world. For as little as $5 USD (more in expensive countries like Norway, home of the $13 Whopper), you can get a filling (and hugely caloric) meal. Sure, it’s not the greatest food, and I am going to skip the philosophical debate about traveling around the world only to eat McDonald’s to say that it’s cheap and just another way to help you rein in your spending. 6. Stick to Local Ingredients When you’ve been traveling for a while, it’s only normal to crave a taste of home every now and then. That means that sure, sometimes I get sick of Greek food when I’ve been traveling there for a bit. Other times, I can’t eat any more Thai food and just want a burger. And that’s OK. However, non-local food is almost always more expensive than local cuisine. For example, in Vietnam, a bowl of pho is less than a dollar, but a burger is about three times as much (or more!). Try to stick to the local cuisine as much as possible and also try to avoid any food that is imported as that will increase the price of your meal too! 7. Find the Lunch Specials Many restaurants, especially in Europe, offer lunch specials, where items on the dinner menu are offered at a huge discount. You can get an amazing afternoon meal for a fraction of the cost you’d pay for the same meal in the evening. I usually tend to eat my “nice” meal during lunch, because lunch specials and plates of the day are about 30–40% off what I might pay at dinner. The options will usually be more limited, but the savings more than justify it. Sadly, there is no one website where you can find all the restaurants in the world that offer lunch specials. They vary from city to city and region to region. What you can do other than wander aimlessly around the city in hopes of finding a place (though I have done that) is to ask the tourist office or the staff at your hostel/hotel if they know where to find lunch specials. They are usually very aware of what places have specials. 8. Bring a Refillable Water Bottle As you walk around and sightsee, you need to stay hydrated. But buying a bottle of water every day is not only environmentally wasteful, it also makes foolish budget travel sense. Carry a refillable bottle of water (with a filter) with you instead and just use the tap water. I suggest a Lifestraw bottle. It ensures your water is always clean and safe — even if the tap water isn’t. 9. Cook 50% of Your Meals I don’t cook a lot on the road as I don’t like hostel kitchens. They never have everything I need, and I hate traveling with a portable kitchen so I can have all the ingredients I want. Yet when I am in one place for a while (or if I’m Couchsurfing), I cook a few meals. Cooking is one of the best ways to keep your travel costs down, and supermarkets are also great places to go see what the local people eat. The only place where cooking your own meals isn’t the most economical option is Asia, where street food is usually cheaper. As I mentioned, I’ll often go out for a nicer meal at lunch when I can find a good deal. That will usually mean for dinner I’ll be cooking my own food. That way, I’ll still get to try the local cuisine but I’ll also get to keep my budget intact. Double win! 10. Have a Picnic Another good option is to picnic. This is something I do a lot for lunch if I’m somewhere where the weather is nice. I usually head to a local food market, pick up a bunch of food, and go picnic in the park. Not only am I saving money (sandwiches aren’t expensive), but it affords me a good chance to watch the locals scurry about their daily lives. If you’re staying at a hostel, this is a great ice-breaker for meeting new people. Just invite everyone along to join you and you’ll be making new friends in no time! 11. Use Tourism Cards Most people think of tourist cards like the iAmsterdam card or the Oslo Pass as just a way to save money on transportation and attractions. But these cards also offer discounts at many restaurants. Typically, discounts are around 15–25%, but sometimes lunch specials can be up to 50% off. Visit the local tourism office when you arrive and ask what food discounts are included. Chances are you’ll be able to save even more money if you just take the time to learn about the tourism pass. It’s a worthwhile investment! 12. Get Free Breakfast If you can find hostels or hotels that include breakfast, you’ve already eliminated the cost of one meal. Plus, if you have a huge breakfast that fills you up for most of the day then you don’t need to eat as many meals out. Moreover, many hostels around the world also offer free dinners, free coffee and tea, and other food-related perks. Search them out to save money and lower your food costs. 13. Eat Where the Students Do Where there are universities, there are students, and since students are usually broke, that means there are likely cheap places to eat nearby. Check Google Maps for local post-secondary institutions and see what you can find in the nearby area. Many bars in the area will likely have cheap drinks and happy hours too, so you can save even more. Additionally, use Google to search for places. Type in “Student friendly restaurants in [X]” to get lots of suggestions on where to eat. You can also ask your hotel/hostel for information too. 14. Use Supermarket Deals In many countries, supermarkets offer lunchtime specials for workers in the surrounding areas. These usually entail fresh sandwiches or some soup or salads. Additionally, many supermarkets also discount food that expires soon, including bread, baked goods, meat, and produce. For example, pre-made meals in Japan are often 50% off right before the grocery store closes because they can’t keep it overnight. Tight food laws in Scandinavia also means that food that has “expired” is discounted too. (And, since food, especially imported meats, are so expensive in those countries, most locals buy the “expired” food). Buy groceries in the evening and you can likely find yourself some discounted (but still totally safe and edible) food. *** I love a nice restaurant. I don’t mind paying money for a good meal with a nice glass of wine. But doing that EVERY meal is simply too expensive. But, by using the tips above, I can afford to keep my costs down while still being able to afford a quality meal every so often. And that’s what is really important — finding the right balance. Because if you can manage to balance eating great food with saving money, both your wallet and your stomach will thank you. How to Travel the World on $75 a DayMy New York Times best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post How to Eat Cheap Around the World appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

Have you committed to a new habit—exercising, let’s say—but keep falling off the wagon? Do you give up when the going gets tough? Does this whole “pursuing goals” idea seem really daunting? You may have low self-efficacy. But don’t worry: Self-efficacy is something that you can build with practice. Here's how. What is self-efficacy?Self-efficacy, as psychologists understand it, is related to the idea of confidence, but it’s not just being cocky for no reason. It’s a feeling something like determination and related to discipline and motivation. When you have high self-efficacy, you believe that you can do the thing. Whatever that thing may be. Maybe you’re just getting started on a long journey, but you know you’ll make it to the end. You see the obstacles in your path as speed bumps, not barriers. If you run into a problem, you’ll find a way to solve it. You just know you will. These beliefs aren’t something you’re born with or something you get from luck or miracles. You build them over time, with practice and experience. At the heart of self-efficacy is the idea that you can control what you do, and that you can control at least some of the things around you in your life. If there’s a snowstorm on the day you were going to go to the gym, for example, you don’t just give up on exercise for the week. You might rearrange your schedule so you can go another day, or you might do a home workout, or you might just remind yourself that your routine will survive a missed day and that your long-term plan is still on track. Here are some of the ways that psychologists say we can build self-efficacy: Congratulate yourself for small winsPast successes are fuel for future success. This applies to tiny things like habits: If you managed to make it to the gym once, it’s a lot easier to show up on day two. It also applies to bigger projects. If you did a beginner running program and “graduated” by running a 5K race, that’s huge. You learned that you can follow a program. You learned that you can run farther than you ever thought you could. You learned what it feels like to go out for a run when you’re tired, but finish anyway. You learned what that finish-line glow of accomplishment really feels like. And you can harness all of that, all over again, when you start working on a new goal. Another thing I like to do, especially when I haven’t seen success in something lately, is to look for things I can be proud of in the process. I didn’t lift the 140-pound log at my last strongman meet, but I hit 127 pounds in training, which is a hell of a lot more than I could do when I started. Watch people doing the thing you want to doThe second-best thing to reflecting on your own past experiences is to vicariously experience others’ success. You’ll want to choose your role models carefully; pay attention to who really inspires you. For some people, looking up to a world-class athlete can inspire them in the gym. For others, it can be helpful to look at somebody who is closer to you in skill level or experience. When your buddy hits a new deadlift PR, you’ll cheer for them, right? Even though you weren’t the person walking up to the bar, you’ve still experienced a taste the whole rollercoaster of emotions from being nervous at the attempt to celebrating the success. Seek out people who encourage youBelieving in yourself doesn’t have to be a solo project. Just as you can cheer on a gym buddy, your buddy can cheer you on as well. Also, make an effort to seek out instructors, coaches, and mentors who make you feel unstoppable. If somebody you trust thinks that you can do something, you’ll start to believe it too. Visualize success (and failure)When you’re trying to stay on a path, it helps to know where that path leads. What will it look like to make it to your goal? How will you feel when you cross that finish line, when you lift that goal weight, when you’ve been eating vegetables with your meals for a whole year? While you’re at it—if you’re ready for this—also imagine scenarios where you’re trying to do the thing and you momentarily can’t. How will you feel if you get injured, if a vacation knocks you off track, or if your gym buddy stops being able to come with you on deadlift day? Your plan is big enough to survive these obstacles, but it will help to think them through ahead of time and plan out how you will handle them. Then, when the time comes, you won’t hesitate to execute your plan. View the full article

Meta ads are evolving, and understanding the right video formats can make a big difference in your ad performance. Here’s how 9:16 and 4:5 videos can help you get better results in Meta, and even across TikTok and YouTube Shorts. The power of Meta’s video innovation Many ecommerce brands have found success using Meta ads. However, many of these brands don’t understand the formatting details that, when used correctly, can drive better results. For context, Meta has undergone more changes than other platforms like Google Ads (which together form the digital advertising duopoly). While Google Ads is older, Meta continues to innovate. It first entered the vertical video space by launching Stories as a direct competitor to Snapchat. Today, Meta is in a similar competition with TikTok through Reels. Different placements work for different advertisers, so it’s important to understand where your brand performs best to succeed. Dig deeper: Why video is key to building brand identity and engagement Meta’s video advertising focus Over the past three months, I’ve spoken with Meta reps, agency owners, and clients to better understand where Meta is focusing its efforts. The answer? 9:16 and 4:5 video ad formats. These formats perform well on Meta’s platform and work as effective creative for TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Both vertical placements are key to getting the most out of your ad campaigns. The 9:16: Maximizes the area within the Story placement. The 4:5: Provides the largest creative space within the newsfeed and Reel placements – and more space means more opportunity. At our agency, we work with 30 brands, giving us a broad view of trends and patterns. And we’ve noticed one key thing: Reels (9:16) are more cost-efficient but convert less immediately for most brands. There is a clear difference between engagement, shareability, and research within Reels compared to In-Feed and Stories. Why does this matter to you as an advertiser? Because Meta is getting more expensive, you need to be more efficient. Instead of simply saying, “Jump on Reels, they’re cheap,” I want to share data-backed tactics you can use right away. 3 ways to get more from 9:16 and 4:5 Meta video ad formats With a million different tactics floating around on the internet, use these 3 to make a dent in your media buying: 1. Optimize Reel placement Start by creating varied content, then refine it through testing within the Reels placement to gather feedback and increase exposure at a lower cost. Next, identify which creative drives performance versus engagement. Focus on growing sales, top-funnel reach, and boosting engagement through shares and Google searches. 2. Pay attention to your ad’s safe zones In Meta advertising, “safe zones” are areas within Stories and Reels ads where key creative elements – such as text and logos – should be placed to prevent them from being obscured by interface features like profile icons or call-to-action buttons. Safe zones have become one of the biggest talking points with our clients heading into 2025. What makes safe zones complex is how primary placements (Stories, Reels, and In-Feed) interact with other placements (video feed, Explore, search, etc.). This complexity increases when you expand to other platforms like YouTube Shorts and TikTok, which present content differently to users. When optimizing safe zones, ensure clear communication between: Media buyer. Client. Creative team. A strong safe zone strategy is key to increasing click-through rates (CTR) and engagement (shares, saves, comments, and reactions). This improved engagement helps the algorithm lower costs (CPM) while collecting valuable data on how users respond – both positively and negatively – to your ads. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. 3. Embrace creative variation The most important factor in creative development is variation. Take one of our clients, for example – a company specializing in ergonomic home products. They’ve developed an unmatched product, and we’ve created personalized dashboards to track their ad account at the founder’s creative level. This helps us better understand their return on ad spend (ROAS) alongside engagement metrics like shares, saves, and comments. Data visualization allows us to quickly see how each creative performs: Some drive high shareability. Some generate more purchases and stronger ROAS. Others encourage comments. If you aren’t analyzing this information, you’re missing key insights that could improve your creative performance. By understanding how each founder-led creative performs, we can refine those assets and expand into new variations. For this brand, founder creative was the most impactful and engaging – but it shouldn’t be the only focus. We found that the “health” creative category drives both purchases and ROAS. This type of content is ideal for retargeting – potentially in a carousel format through the feed for users already familiar with the brand. But let’s dig a level deeper. Within the “health” category, we discovered that “spine-specific health” content is both engaging and high-performing. This makes it a strong candidate for evergreen ads in both prospecting and retargeting. This high-performing creative can now be iterated and repurposed in different ways, such as: Featuring a new UGC spine expert. Highlighting a target audience user. Using an overhead shot of the product with a voice-over about spine health. One successful ad can branch into multiple creative opportunities. When you combine these variations with 9:16, 4:5, and safe zones, you create ads that are optimized for lasting success. Dig deeper: Meta introduces generative AI video advertising tools View the full article

Google has posted some fresh data, saying they answer over 5 trillion searches per year. The last time we saw this data was in 2016, when Google was at 2 trillion searches per year and then 1.2 trillion in 2012.View the full article

What a difference two days makes. On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced his plans for the U.S. government to create a new “Crypto Strategic Reserve.” The news immediately sent crypt prices soaring—something the industry needed after weeks of declines. However, less than 48 hours after Trump announced the Crypto Strategic Reserve, cryptocurrency prices are plunging. And this price change is also due to Trump—or rather, the tariffs he’s now enacted. Here’s what you need to know about the latest crypto crash. Why are cryptocurrency prices plummeting? As of the time of this writing, many major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana, are down at or near double-digit percentages. Meme coin heavyweights like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are also plummeting. As a matter of fact, this most recent crypto crash has wiped $300 billion off the value of cryptocurrencies as a whole, notes CNBC TV18. But why? It all comes down to tariffs. In the past 24 hours, President Trump has confirmed that he will move ahead with his longstanding threat to implement tariffs on products from America’s neighbors and two of its largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico. Both countries will see the United States levy 25% tariffs on some of their goods. However, Trump didn’t stop by raising tariffs only against its neighbors. The president also levied 20% tariffs on select goods imported from China, Reuters notes. Yet, China, Mexico, and Canada haven’t taken Trump’s actions sitting down. All three countries will enact tariffs on U.S. goods coming into their countries. This means that it will be more expensive for Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian businesses to buy U.S. goods, which will likely reduce the demand for those goods, hurting the U.S. companies and individuals who supply them. It also means that a large part of the world likely just entered a trade war—including the countries behind its two largest economies. From an economic perspective, there is little benefit to trade wars. Prices of goods increase, demand drops, wages and jobs can be lost, and the resulting negative impact on economic activity can cause markets to drop. This is where today’s crypto crash comes in. Cryptocurrencies are already highly volatile assets. Their values can swing 10% or more on any given trading day. That volatility makes them one of the first assets that investors usually sell when there are signs that the economy at large may be entering into a potentially volatile phase. Investors hate volatility because it increases risk. And one way to protect yourself against both is to dump assets more susceptible to those kinds of scenarios. Bitcoin, ETH, XRP, DOGE all drop This morning, many of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies are down significantly due to concerns over Trump’s trade wars. As of the time of this writing: Bitcoin is down over 9.3% Ethereum is down over 10.4% XRP is down over 9.4% Solana is down over 14% DOGE is down over 11% Shiba Inu is down over 8.8% The most notable of these is Bitcoin, the world’s most well-known and popular cryptocurrency. Bitcoin surged to all-time highs after Trump won the election, topping out at nearly $110,000 per coin. But in the last month, the price of Bitcoin has sunk, losing over 14% of its value. Year to date, the coin is down over 10%. Despite Trump being largely seen as a positive force for the industry, his geopolitical maneuvers and his readiness to start trade wars have made many cryptocurrency investors nervous, and the crypto markets have reacted in kind. As of the time of this writing, Bitcoin currently sits below $84,000 per coin, wiping out all the gains it had seen on Sunday with Trump’s announcement. Where the price of cryptocurrencies goes from here is anyone’s guess. But one thing seems certain: Yesterday’s “Crypto Strategic Reserve” bump didn’t last long. View the full article

A new report released by Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro with the help of Datos' panel measure web browser activity showed that about 1/3rd of active web users don't use Google all that much, by that much it means they only do 1-20X searches per month.View the full article

Gen Z came of age in an environment that previous generations couldn’t have imagined when we entered the workforce. They’ve never known the world without the internet or cellphones. Their education and early career paths were disrupted by a global pandemic that kept them at home, learning and working over a screen. They’ve been learning digital skills their entire lives. It’s no wonder that their perspective on work is different than ours—and it’s time for us to pay attention. With the aging U.S. workforce, we need to attract and retain Gen Z talent for our companies to thrive—and this means a focus on skills-first hiring. Gen Z wants employers to value the skills they bring, not whether they have a college degree. This makes sense, given the impacts of the pandemic on many college careers and the rising costs of higher education. They also want employers to invest in their growth through mentorship, training, and upskilling programs to keep pace in a rapidly changing world. Whether through hands-on projects, portfolio work, or certifications, Gen Z wants clear pathways to prove themselves. And it is on us to find a new way of hiring that benefits us all. Change the way you think about qualifications Moving to a skills-first hiring model requires a major cultural shift, but one that unlocks productivity, creativity, and innovation. Indeed’s research shows hiring managers who embrace this approach find it twice as easy to find qualified candidates. With 52% of U.S. job postings now dropping formal education requirements, the shift is already underway. By removing these barriers that screen out over 70 million skilled workers, companies can tap into a vastly larger talent pool. And I can tell you firsthand, it works. Young workers today are unapologetically rejecting the system that once held people like me back. I started my career during the 1990s dot-com boom and landed a well-paying job in operations without a college degree. When the bubble burst, I found myself shut out of the job market—not because I lacked skills or experience, but because my résumé did not check the “college graduate” box. I went from making $90,000 a year to $11.75 an hour, forcing me to rebuild my career. That experience shaped my belief in hiring for skills and potential, not academic credentials. Degree requirements continue to serve as a gatekeeper, even though more than 62% of U.S. adults don’t have one, excluding highly qualified candidates from even being considered. Remember: For a multitude of reasons, not everyone has the ability to go to college. Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. Strict education requirements for new hires created a workforce that is less innovative, inclusive, and responsive to change. This slows down a company’s ability to adapt to an evolving economy. If you want to keep Gen Z, you have to invest in their skills. They expect opportunities to learn, evolve, and move up—and if they don’t see a clear path forward, they won’t stick around. Redesign job descriptions to focus on skills, not degrees Remove degree requirements where possible and instead list essential skills and competencies. For example, if you’re hiring a social media manager, why require a marketing degree when there are Gen Z creators who have built viral brands from scratch? Evaluate candidates based on real-world expertise. Build career progression paths that value ability over tenure Career progression should depend on ability, not tenure. Gen Z employees are motivated by growth opportunities and expect clear, merit-based career paths. Too often, companies prioritize years of experience over proven contributions, which can stall promising talent and push Gen Z workers to seek opportunities elsewhere. Instead, organizations should create structured yet flexible advancement paths that recognize impact and leadership potential early. Create assessment methods that effectively evaluate soft & hard skills Résumés often fail to capture a candidate’s true capabilities, which is particularly relevant for Gen Z. This generation has developed many skills through nontraditional pathways like self-directed learning, online certifications, and gig work. Consider implementing practical skills assessments, portfolio reviews, and behavioral interviews to evaluate problem-solving, creativity, and adaptability. Real-world skills assessments ensure hiring decisions are based on actual competencies, making it easier to identify high-potential Gen Z candidates who may not fit traditional hiring molds. Hire for the future, not the past Gen Z expects a smarter, fairer approach to hiring—one that values what they bring to the table. Companies that get this will thrive. Those that don’t? They’ll watch top talent walk away. Focusing on skills over degrees and clear career progression paths creates more engaged employees, better cultures, and stronger business outcomes. When I first lost my job, I had the skills to help any company grow and thrive—but I wasn’t given the chance. Now, I am in a place where I can give that chance to others, and I do not take it lightly. We can build a future where talent speaks louder than degrees. My final thoughts? Embrace a skills-first, inclusive approach or risk losing the next generation of top talent. It’s not a trend. It’s the future. View the full article

Google has made a number of updates to the product analytics section within Google Merchant Center Next. Organic conversions have been renamed to Purchases. Plus, Google lets you specify it's traffic to PDPsm instead of products, and labels.View the full article

Does PPC impact SEO? Find out if dwell time and user engagement from Google Ads influence search rankings—and what actually moves the needle. The post Ask An SEO: Does Dwell Time After Google Ad Clicks Impact Organic Rankings? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Google added QR codes that you can give your customers to quickly leave you a review for your business on Google Search and Google Maps. This can be accessed in your Google Business Profiles under the reviews section.View the full article

Trump’s Ukraine and tariffs moves: global reactionView the full article

Did you know that 10% of all searches on Google from a younger audience start with Google's new circle to search feature? That is what Roma Datta Chobey, the Managing Director at Google India, said last week.View the full article

The price of used Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles depreciated more than any other cars in 2024, according to a Fast Company analysis of CarGurus data. The average price of a Model Y for sale on the platform dropped by 25.5% between January of 2024 and January 2025, and the price of the Model 3 dropped by 25%. In that same time frame, the average price of a Nissan Maxima only dropped by 5.2% and a Ford Mustang by 5%. The analysis included only used cars for model years 2015 through 2023 and only examined the 200 most commonly occurring car models on the platform, which excludes the Model S and Model X. While electric cars made up four of the top 10 fastest depreciating cars (including Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Chevrolet Bolt EV), Tesla’s steep price drops are driven by brand-specific factors. Last year, the company slashed prices to help revive lagging demand for its autos, including cutting the cost of the base Model Y to $44,630, further dragging own the resale value of aftermarket cars. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Some of the same factors responsible for the company's hype-driven stock price—which, even after its recent downturn from its peak, still has a price-to-earnings ratio of more than 130—also accelerate the rapid depreciation of value. For example, the company's still speculative self-driving technology is only available in Model 3s released after 2017 and post-2019 Model Ys, one of a slew of changes that aligns the carmaker's products more closely with the depreciation timeline of typical consumer technology products than autos. The drop in prices doesn't seem to follow Elon Musk's heightened involvement in U.S. politics after the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in July 2024. Even by June, the Model Y and Model 3 had still dropped by more than any other car from January, at around 17% each. View the full article

Serendipitous adventure, carefree nights with newfound friends in foreign lands, delicious foods for bargain prices, and the luxury of time to enjoy it all. Welcome to the world of long-term travel. When it comes to this kind of travel, I get a lot of emails asking for my “secret.” How do you travel so often and for so long? How did you quit your job and escape the grind? You must have a trust fund to afford all that, right? Wrong. I’ve written about how I manage to travel in the past (over and over again), but people still wonder if I am holding something back. What am I leaving out? What, they ask, is my secret to escaping the cubicle and being a nomad? Did I win the lottery? Do my parents pay for everything? There must be something that makes me so special. Well, here it is! The big secret to traveling long-term is… Nothing. Absolutely nothing! There is no special secret. Vagabonds, nomads, and long-term travelers are nothing special. We have no superpowers or secret Swiss bank accounts. We don’t have a money tree or the ability to teleport everywhere. Of course, privilege will inevitably play its part, but we’re not unique or doing anything special. This kind of travel has been done for decades, by people from all parts of the world, with a variety of backgrounds. Long-term travelers are just like you. When I first discovered long-term travel, I thought the backpackers I had met in Chiang Mai had found some secret to life I didn’t know existed. But once I got on the road myself, I saw that there was no secret. I wasn’t unique or special. Millions of people every year did this. Even people with virtually no money were making it work. I had left home thinking I was going on an exciting adventure few people go on — then I went to Khao San Road and hung out in Amsterdam during the summer. In those places, I met travelers young and old doing exactly the same thing as me — and none of them were trust fund babies. These travelers just did what they wanted — a revolutionary idea for me at the time. But now, after years of travel, I realize that it’s not so revolutionary. If people really want something, they do it. If you want a big-screen TV or a new computer, you find a way to make it happen. If you really want to eat sushi for dinner, you are going to have sushi for dinner. If you really want to travel, you will do that, too. Because, just like you find a way to pay for that TV or your new car, these travelers simply arranged their life so that they could afford to travel. The only thing these people had that I didn’t have before was the desire to do what they wanted to do, free from the expectations of society, just because they enjoyed it. They simply said, “I want to travel” and then worked to make it happen. They saved more, they took second jobs, they stayed home instead of going out to eat or drink, they found work overseas. They did whatever it took. As the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. It is that simple. People ask me about whether I worry about bills, retirement, and my future. To be honest, not really. When you travel long-term, all those things disappear. You have no bills because you have no home. You just spend what you spend from day to day (which is usually less than $50 a day). My mother told me I should start saving more for my retirement so I could…wait for it…travel more. Then she stopped herself and said, “Well, I guess you do that already, so never mind!” I’m a big believer in the idea that we shouldn’t work our lives away and that we should take short breaks to pursue our passions. Why should I spend my best years in an office, saving money for an age I may not even see, or if I do see it, might be too sick to enjoy? Yeah, we long-term travelers save a bit for a rainy day, but we don’t worry about the future. We enjoy now. Take care of your present, and your future works itself out. When I stop traveling, I’ll figure out what is next. So, when you ask travelers how they do it, they aren’t lying when they say there is no secret. We simply made a conscious decision to do it and, after that, just worked toward our goal, saving money and making plans just like what you would do for any other goal or venture in your life. That’s the secret. So, know that you know it, go start making your travel dreams come true! How to Travel the World on $75 a DayMy New York Times best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post The Secret to Long Term Traveling appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

Starting today, if you call an Uber in Austin you can match with a self-driving Waymo vehicle. The launch in the Texas capital is part of an expanded partnership between the two tech companies. Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are already available on the Uber platform in Phoenix, and the companies plan to launch next in Atlanta. “With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re excited to introduce our customers to a future of transportation that is increasingly electric and autonomous,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. Austin riders who request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric can be matched with a Waymo all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicle at no additional cost. Riders will receive a notification each time they’re matched with an autonomous vehicle and have the option to accept or switch to a non-AV ride. Customers can then rate their experience in the app like with a traditional Uber ride, but will forgo the option to tip. [Photos: Uber] Curious Uber customers can boost their chances of getting matched with a Waymo by opting in through the “Ride Preferences” section of their Uber app under Settings. The Austin launch also conveniently comes just ahead of the popular SXSW festival, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area. Uber’s self-driving expansion is part of its play to get back into the autonomous vehicles space after selling off its AV unit in December 2020. Rather than building its own tech, which is time consuming and extremely expensive, it’s chosen to partner with third-party companies. Uber said Tuesday it had 14 AV partners to date. View the full article

Fast Company is heading to Austin, Texas March 8–10 for its 12th annual Fast Company Grill during South by Southwest. Hosted at the Cedar Door Patio Bar & Grill in downtown Austin, attendees can expect three days packed with engaging programming, networking opportunities, activations and raffles, delicious food and drinks, live musical performances, and exclusive parties. As usual, we’re bringing you a dynamic roster of speakers, including: Paul Feig, Founder, FeigCo; and Director and Producer, Another Simple Favor Carey Mulligan, Executive Producer, Actress, The Ballad of Wallis Island Tarana Burke, Author, Activist, Founder of the “Me Too” Movement Carla Vernón, CEO, The Honest Company Joon Choi, President, Weverse Daryl Lee, Global CEO, McCann Matthew Prince, Cofounder and CEO, Cloudflare Julie Haddon, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Andy Dunn, Founder and CEO, Pie Ev Williams, Cofounder, Mozi James Kuczynski, Senior Creative Director, Duolingo Fara Howard, CMO, GoDaddy Those speakers will lend their insights to a number of pressing topics including: How Business Leaders Are Navigating the Trump Administration Reconnect with Connection: Building Better Communities IRL The Business of Belonging: Tapping Into the Power of Fandom Inside the Fight for Your Digital Freedom Redefining the Next Generation’s Relationship to Tech The Pivot Playbook: How These CEOs Turned Their Companies Around Built to Boom: Secrets of Fast-Growing Companies Fair Play: Making Women’s Sports a Lasting Powerhouse More than a Moment: The Future of the Me Too Movement And it wouldn’t be the Fast Company Grill without live musical performances. Taking the stage this year will be Paravi, who was featured on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack of Elvis; and up-and-coming talent (and part-time rodeo cowboy) Garrett Talamantes. If you’re not yet a Fast Company Premium subscriber, now would be a great time to join! We have special offerings at the Fast Company Grill for our premium subscribers, including an exclusive after-party at Tecovas. The Western apparel brand is hosting a night of live music from country artist David Miner, signature drinks, a special discount on Tecovas items, and customized iron branding—including a Fast Company logo! Spots are limited, so be sure to register today. For a full lineup of speakers, sessions, and activities, visit our events page. A special thanks to Fast Company Grill’s presenting sponsor Canva, as well as our other sponsors Audible, Texas A&M University, Lumen, Williams, Purdue University, Huge, National Cryptocurrency Association, Novo Nordisk, PMI, Violife, Whalar Group, and Wise. View the full article

White House decision to halt military aid means Kyiv’s armoury will be depleted in ‘two to three months’View the full article

Remember the days when ‘likes’ were the gold star metric on Instagram? Now, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to the sheer volume of data available to help you measure the performance of your content. Impressions, views, comments, shares… It’s exciting — if a little overwhelming. Instagram analytics can be a goldmine of insights for you as a creator or small business owner. These numbers can shape your Instagram strategy, helping you pinpoint exactly what kind of content will boost your reach and help grow your audience. But how do you get these insights? How do you spot patterns, connect the dots, and use your performance numbers to inform your strategy? And — best question yet — are there handy tools that can do the work for you? In this article, I’ll take you through the most important Instagram analytics and share tool recommendations that can consolidate those goldmine insights for you. At a glance: The best Instagram analytics tools Tool name Best for Price starts at Instagram native insights Using free Instagram analytics tools Free Buffer Combining analytics tools with social media management Free plan available, paid plans begin at $6/month SocialBlade Getting basic analytics $3.99/month Mintor Instagram agencies $9/month Social Status Analyzing various kinds of campaigns using one tool $9/month Reportei Automated reporting $29/month Keyhole Combining social listening and social media analytics Not publicly available Which Instagram metrics should you care about?There are plenty of numbers in Instagram analytics tools. Should you be monitoring all of them? You can, but it’s not essential. Prioritize tracking a few key metrics that help you determine whether or not you’re achieving your social media goals. For most creators, and some brands, reaching as many people as possible is likely your primary goal. If that’s the case, Instagram head Adam Mosseri recommends keeping an eye on average watch time, like rate, and send rate. (embed post) But there is more nuance involved here if your social media strategy is concerned with more than eyeballs. For example, Instagram coach, Elise Darma, shared she pays attention to the metrics that have a direct impact on her business, including: How many people are moving from her content into meaningful conversations in DMsThe quality of comments and engagement on her postsHow many non-followers are discovering her contentHere’s a table to help you understand the key Instagram metrics and when you should prioritize tracking them. Metric What this metric signifies Prioritize tracking and improving this metric when Post-specific engagement metrics How many views, likes, comments, and shares your single Instagram post has When you want to grow your personal brand on Instagram and increase your followers Overall engagement metrics How many people you engaged over a period — divided by content type and type of interaction (like vs. saves vs. shares) When you want to understand which content type reaches the most new people and which gets the most engagement (and whether or not they overlap) Accounts reached How many followers and non-followers you have reached via your Instagram content When you want to increase your Instagram reach and build an audience on the platform Audience demographics Where your Instagram followers live, their gender, and age When you want to ensure you’re reaching your target audience on Instagram Accounts reached bifurcated via content types Which kinds of posts (Posts, Stories, Reels) helped you reach followers vs. non-followers When you want to determine your most successful content type to reach new people in your target audience Follower growth How many people have followed and unfollowed you over a specific duration When you want to evaluate how your followers are increasing or decreasing over time Most active times When your audience is online When you want to find the best time to post on Instagram for you Profile visits How many people visited your profile in a specific timeline When you want to increase brand awareness External link taps How many times someone clicked a link in your bio When you want to measure website visitors via Instagram These Instagram metrics are readily available in the app itself. All Instagram analytics tools have these insights and then some. Should you monitor Instagram analytics only for your hit posts? Or only for the posts that performed below average? Elise recommends monitoring every single post: “Here's the thing about metrics — every post is data, even the ones that seem to "flop." Instead of getting caught up in day-to-day numbers, use each post as an experiment. What's working? What's not? Then use those insights to refine your strategy.” How to view your Instagram analytics in the appAll core Instagram analytics are available in the app. You must have a business or creator account on Instagram to view your insights. There are two ways to view your Instagram analytics on the app: 1. View a single Instagram post’s insight 2. View your Instagram account’s performance as a whole To view a single post or reel’s highlight, click on ‘View insights’ attached at the bottom of every post. You’ll find likes, shares, comments, and saves for that post. You can also see how many accounts you’ve reached with a single post, where those accounts came from (home, explore, profile, etc.), and how many were new accounts. To view your Instagram account insights as a whole, follow these steps: 1. Go to your Instagram profile 2. Click on the three horizontal lines at the top right to go to ‘Setting and activity’ 3. Tap on ‘Insights’ to view Instagram insights Inside the analytics tab, you can find your Instagram’s key metrics in one of three categories: Views: To see your profile activity, audience demographics, top-performing posts, and ratio of followers vs. non-followers. Interactions: To see how many Instagram accounts you’ve engaged and the number of likes, saves, replies, and shares on your posts and Instagram Stories. Total followers: To see how your follower growth has fluctuated in a specific period (but no more than 90 days) and follower demographics. If you have an Instagram business account, you can also view insights for Instagram and Facebook side-by-side on the Meta Business Suite. Source: FacebookThe insights in Meta Business Suite are more comprehensive than Instagram’s app. You can add your competitors and do a thorough competitive analysis of your page vs. theirs, see all the content you’ve posted and how it performed, and get a detailed audience analysis. But still, viewing Instagram analytics natively over using an analytics tool has many disadvantages: You have to connect the dots: You have to slice and dice the data yourself to determine key Instagram insights like best times to post, ideal posting frequency, and best types of posts. You only get the surface-level analytics and have to do the math for the rest yourself.You can’t brand the reports you create from Instagram insights or Meta Business Suite. Most Instagram analytics tools allow you to create white-labeled reports in a few clicks and handpick the metrics you want to display.You can’t view Instagram insights beyond 90 days. This means you can’t evaluate year-long campaigns as a social media manager. Or if you're a creator experimenting with new kinds of posts every three months, you can't compare your experiments against each other.These cons become even sharper as your social media marketing strategy evolves. For example, if you’re pursuing influencer marketing on Instagram, you can’t manually evaluate a creator’s profile on how their paid posts perform, audience demographics, overall reach, etc. You’ll either need to ask for each Instagram influencer’s media kit (exhausting) or add Instagram analytics tools to help you get these insights. The gist of it: Use Instagram’s native capabilities when you need a free Instagram analytics tool. But as soon as you get some budget to work with, you’re probably going to be better off with one of the tools below. The 6 best Instagram analytics tools in 2025What should you look for in an Instagram analytics software? Evaluate your needs first. Do you need a strong reporting tool to create Instagram analytics reports? Social media managers might have an extra requirement for this feature, while creators can do without it. Are you a social media marketing agency? You might need a strong Instagram analytics dashboard to get your clients’ current metrics in a jiffy. Solo marketer working with a tight budget? You need flexible Instagram analytics tools that also double as a social media management platform. Creator building a personal brand? Look for more affordable Instagram analytics tools. Your reporting needs and budget should determine which Instagram analytics tool is right for you. I’ve tried to include at least one Instagram analytics software for every use case. 1. BufferBest Instagram analytics tool for those who need a social media management platformFree trial: Free plan available with few analytics Price: Starts at $6/month Buffer is the best Instagram analytics tool for people who need a one-stop shop for all the work that goes into social media. It’s a social media management platform, so not only does it give you detailed analytics about your Instagram account, but also helps you: Store content ideasRespond to commentsSchedule social media postsUse AI to refine social media captions…and a host of other things.I personally use Buffer to manage my social media efforts, and my favorite thing is how easy it is to use. There’s no ‘learning curve’ — you can just get right to work! In terms of Instagram analytics, you get a comprehensive analytics dashboard that won’t just show you the numbers. It will give you specific, personal recommendations based on your content performance: best time to post, type of post, and posting frequency. It does all the math, and then some. You can also create beautiful and customized reports and white-label them (really handy if you’re a social media manager presenting to a client, or a creator pitching a brand partnership) The best part? These social media analytics are available for most of the platforms Buffer supports, not just Instagram! There’s no better way to analyze your social media marketing strategy or creator presence as a whole. Try Buffer for free2. SocialBladeBest Instagram analytics tool for getting basic analyticsSource: SocialBladeFree trial: Analyze one Instagram profile for free every day Price: Starts at $3.99/month SocialBlade is one of the best Instagram analytics apps if you want something free and basic. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles — it only tells you follower fluctuation, average likes and comments, and engagement rate. It’s not an ideal software for someone looking for valuable insights to inform their Instagram marketing strategy. But it might be the right choice for social media managers handling influencer marketing campaigns, and to monitor an influencer’s follower growth. It’s worth remembering that Social Blade primarily only shows follower growth. It doesn’t have charts or numbers for how an Instagram profile’s engagement rate has gone up and down. What is particularly helpful, though, is that Social Blade has 30-day data on follower growth or decline — helping you pinpoint which post(s) exactly helped gain or lose followers. 3. MintorBest Instagram analytics tool for Instagram agenciesSource: MintorFree trial: 14 days Price: Starts at $9/month Mintor is a social media analytics tool that contains insights for Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, and LinkedIn. It’s a great analytics software for agencies managing multiple Instagram accounts. You can add multiple Instagram profiles in a single dashboard and switch between them easily to find the data you need. Mintor also stores insights on your Instagram Stories for longer than two weeks (unlike native Instagram insights). The Instagram analytics data isn’t anything out of the ordinary. You can find all these insights on your app directly, too, but Mintor collates them for you in a single analytics dashboard. It also tracks mentions of your account and benchmarks your analytics against similar accounts. You can also get a breakdown of your ad analytics and compare it to your organic performance if you’re running ads on Instagram. 4. Social StatusBest Instagram analytics tool for analyzing various kinds of campaignsSource: Social StatusFree trial: Free plan available but it only has Instagram profile analytics Price: Starts at $9/month Social Status is an excellent Instagram analytics tool for a small business doing Instagram marketing, influencer discovery, and running ads. It provides these insights for all major social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook Pages, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. It’s one of the affordable Instagram analytics tools for social media managers who have various types of campaigns running. It has influencer analytics for influencer marketing, ad analytics if you’re running Meta ads, and competitor analysis to benchmark your performance. All of this is in addition to the detailed Instagram analytics it already has. If you don’t want to use other Instagram analytics tools to track and monitor each campaign, Social Status is perfect. The free version has only the Instagram profile analyzer, which will give you insights into your Instagram posts, follower growth, and Instagram audience. 5. ReporteiBest Instagram analytics tool for automated reportingSource: ReporteiFree trial: 3 days Price: $29/month Reportei is a perfect reporting tool for creating customized and automated Instagram analytics reports. Social media managers have to do a lot to create customized reports and present their social media efforts in a distilled PPT. With Reportei, the work becomes a tad easier. It specializes as a reporting tool and is AI-powered — you can chat with the AI to derive detailed insights from your raw numbers. There are various ready-to-use templates available in the tool as well. The “timeline” feature is one of the most unique — you can record campaign milestones in a story format with dates and events. This can help you present a more accurate picture of your Instagram analytics. 6. KeyholeBest Instagram analytics tool for social listeningSource: KeyholeFree trial: Not available Price: Demo required Keyhole doubles as a social media analytics tool and a social listening tool. It has all the traditional insights: Instagram Story analyticsHistorical data on performanceInstagram audience demographic dataDetailed metrics on Instagram hashtags…and moreTracking key metrics like the one above will help you prove the impact of your Instagram presence to stakeholders. But the best part of Keyhole is it doubles as an excellent social listening tool. You can spot trends, monitor competitors, and stay connected to what people are talking about in your industry. If your social media strategy’s focus is deep in social listening, Keyhole is the perfect tool. How to use your Instagram analyticsInstagram analytics tools are great, but they can’t tell you what you should do with the raw data. Deeper insights are always contextual — so you have to find how Instagram analytics inform your strategy. If you’ve started out by setting goals, monitor how closely you achieved your objectives. Which metrics did you achieve easily? Which KPI did you struggle to hit? Once you’ve done this, zoom out and look at the performance data more broadly. What went unexpectedly? Maybe your Instagram audience analytics show a bigger market than you had anticipated. Perhaps the Instagram algorithm changed and your analytics shifted with it. Track engagement metrics to understand which types of Instagram posts did well. Spot patterns in what did well and why. Dissecting your social media analytics will not only help you create more well-informed Instagram analytics reports, but also help you move your overall social strategy in the right direction. View the full article

US vice-president says deal is unlikely to be secured by ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’View the full article

When it comes to airports, travelers tend to fall into two camps. There are the anxious types who show up four hours early, with plenty of time to leisurely peruse duty-free and enjoy the airport lounge. And then there are those who breeze into the airport with 45 minutes to spare, hoping for the best. But a viral trend on TikTok, dubbed “airport theory,” would put even that latter group’s nerves to the test. The theory suggests arriving at the airport just 15 minutes before your flight to clear security. The concept has taken off online, racking up 400 million views. Unsurprisingly, it’s already led to plenty of missed flights. “It is currently 9:24, and my flight started boarding four minutes ago,” said TikTok user, Lexi Smith, in a video testing the theory at LAX airport. “We’re in security right now; let’s see how fast we can get through this.” She claims to get through security in five minutes, despite getting randomly selected for additional screening. After transferring to her gate via bus, she informs viewers that she made it to the gate 15 minutes later, as the flight was “just now boarding.” “So. We made it; airport theory is true,” she declared, adding, “Yes, I was the first one to walk on the plane. Make that make sense.” Another TikTok creator tested the theory at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the world based on foot traffic. “If airport theory works here, I think it will work anywhere,” said Michael DiCostanzo in a clip with more than 3.6 million views. Breezing through security in just over seven minutes, DiCostanzo arrived at his gate in under 15 minutes from start to finish, calling it “a huge win for airport theory.” However, as one commenter pointed out, “So you had precheck, didn’t check a bag and were at the nearest terminal? Now let’s do it when it’s not all the optimal situations.” Not every traveler has been so lucky. In one clip with 17.4 million views, TikTok user Jenny Kurtz filmed herself sipping on an iced coffee, seemingly not in a rush to get to her gate. “For those of you thinking about testing out the airport theory, don’t do it,” she warns in the caption of her 14-second video, showing the closed gate sign. “Missed my flight.” Thanks to the “airport theory” trend, Google searches for “I missed my flight” have surged by 645% in the past month alone, according to experts at travel site Netflights. It’s clear many travelers are confused about just how early they should arrive at the airport. In fact, the question racks up an average of 63,870 online searches every month. For the record, most airlines still recommend arriving at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one. View the full article

Economists’ proposal for up to €800bn of funding under review as part of coalition talksView the full article

Discussions come as investors bet that Paris-based company could replace Elon Musk’s Starlink in Ukraine View the full article

When Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement in 2017, major companies—including tech giants Apple, Amazon, and Google—were quick to criticize the move. Elon Musk stepped down from his role on the president’s advisory committees in response. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the decision was “bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk.” What happened this year was very different: Trump ordered the U.S. to leave the Paris Agreement, again, on his first day in office. Zuckerberg, who was getting ready to co-host an inaugural ball for the president, didn’t comment on the news. (In an unrelated Facebook post that came shortly after Trump’s announcement about the Paris Agreement, Zuckerberg said he was “Optimistic and celebrating.”) Jeff Bezos, who previously criticized Trump and poured $10 billion into climate nonprofits, has now cozied up to the president. Other tech CEOs sat in support at the inauguration and donated millions to Trump’s inaugural committee. It’s one example of the business world’s reluctance to take any public stand against the current president. “In the first term, everyone was fighting me,” Trump said at a press conference in December when he talked about meeting with tech leaders. “In this term, everyone wants to be my friend.” Whether out of a fear of retribution and/or a belief that their companies could benefit directly from Trump, most business leaders are staying quiet. That’s true both for specific policy, like the Paris Agreement, and as the new administration veers toward authoritarianism. The muted response—not to mention the fact that some executives are embracing Trump and voluntarily ditching programs like diversity, equity, and inclusion—isn’t dissimilar to what happened when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. “The parallels of corporate conformity and subservience are quite strong,” says Peter Hayes, a professor emeritus of history at Northwestern University and the author of a new book, Profits & Persecution, about how companies responded to and collaborated with the Nazi party. When Hitler came to power in 1933, few took him seriously. As with Trump, people tended to underestimate the threat he posed. “A lot of people thought Hitler was a blowhard,” Hayes says. “He never had been to university. He’d never held a government position. He’d never had a real job in his life, aside from running messages behind enemy lines in World War I. They just didn’t take him seriously. And the antisemitism, only the worst people took that seriously—the people who believed in it took it totally seriously. Everybody else tended to sort of say, ‘Well, you know, if it comes, it’ll stop short of the kind of people I know.’” At the time, business leaders liked some aspects of the Nazi platform, including its willingness to dismantle labor unions. Those who objected to Hitler’s antisemitism thought that it could be moderated. (In the culture of the time, many Germans were antisemitic themselves—and had especially objectionable views about Jewish immigrants who had recently moved from Eastern Europe—but didn’t think that their Jewish colleagues should lose their jobs or, later, their lives.) But businesses quickly became participants in the “de-Jewification” (“Entjudung”) of their corporate boards. Some of that was driven by fear, after seeing examples of what the Nazis were willing to do. In one case, the new government arrested the editors of a newspaper in Munich and appointed Nazi replacements who fired Jewish employees. The Nazis intimidated Bosch’s CEO by arresting one of his friends. A cigarette magnate was threatened with the takeover of his property and a trial on corruption charges if he didn’t do what the government wanted. “They always were willing to use force, but they treated it as a last resort towards the corporate world,” Hayes says. “Because you can intimidate ordinary middle-class or upper-class people pretty easily. And they did. People conform.” After seeing what was happening to others, some companies started to practice “anticipatory compliance,” including Deutsche Bank, which fired Jewish members of its board before it was forced to. (In the long term, it didn’t help: Two of the bank’s directors were executed later in the war because they’d criticized Hitler.) As Hitler’s regime progressed, the corporate compliance became more horrific: seizing Jewish-owned businesses and property, using forced Jewish labor, and providing, in the case of a chemical company called IG Farben, the poison gas used to kill millions of people in concentration camps. Some companies fully embraced Nazi propaganda; others were just afraid to resist. Now, as corporate leaders fail to stand up for things they’ve advocated for in the past, such as climate action, what happened in Germany “is kind of a road map for what we’re experiencing,” Hayes says. The country is at a pivotal moment. The White House is seizing power in unprecedented ways, such as freezing funding that was already appropriated by Congress. Trump broke the law to fire inspectors general at federal agencies. Under Elon Musk, who was never elected to any office, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has started slashing jobs and funding at federal agencies, from the National Institutes of Health to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (The job cuts include accidentally firing workers responsible for nuclear security and researching the bird flu outbreak.) Musk and other Republicans have threatened judges with impeachment for blocking DOGE work that the judges say is illegal. When Musk sat in at a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump threatened to throw out anyone who objected to Musk. The White House is starting to control which journalists can be part of the press pool covering the president, something that used to happen through an independent committee. The list goes on. Hayes argues that American business leaders have caved to Trump even without the same type of intimidation that happened in Germany. But there has been some pressure: Trump threatened to jail Zuckerberg if he “interfered” with the 2024 election, for example, and then credited his own threats with forcing Zuckerberg to make changes to Meta, including ditching fact-checkers. Some of the pressure on CEOs, along with politicians and other public figures, now comes in other forms, including the fact that Trump can easily incite his online followers to violence. “We have on record Republican senators who’ve said to their Democratic colleagues, ‘I can’t speak up because I’m afraid for my family,’” Hayes says, adding that corporate leaders may also be afraid to talk because they’re worried about losing their jobs. “This is the normal form of human self-protection that dictatorial and authoritarian forces totally exploit.” Hayes points out other parallels to Nazi Germany. Hitler, like Trump, didn’t worry about long-term impacts to the economy. Hitler wanted Germany to be self-sufficient, and pushed for companies to make gasoline from coal, even though it was far more expensive than importing fuel from other countries. Similarly, Trump is trying to prop up fossil fuel companies in the U.S. at a time when the rest of the world is moving to electric vehicles—and EVs ultimately make more economic sense. “We’re giving up the future to serve the fossil fuel industry in the short term, and to try to make us an island in the world,” Hayes says. “It’s not going to work. The bill will come due. And as it starts to come due, everything that Trump has ever done indicates that he will blame someone else. And that’s when this government will become truly dangerous.” In Germany, Hayes says, the first year of Hitler’s rule was the critical moment that businesses could have made different choices. In theory, it’s not too late for companies—along with the rest of society—to become more vocal now. Hayes, however, doesn’t believe that salvation is likely to come from the corporate sector, warning, “Don’t expect them to stand up to this.” View the full article

Microsoft employees stream down a hallway by the dozen, smartphones and paper coffee cups in hand, many clad in heavy coats on this frigid February morning. The setting is idyllic—Lake Washington is in full view through floor-to-ceiling windows—but they stride purposefully. As they do, they pass a digital sign with a tersely worded call to action: All squads ship Competing/differentiating Growing work every sprint to double Successful Sessions ABS (Always Be Shipping) Despite the profusion of Microsofties on the premises, this isn’t Microsoft’s sprawling Redmond campus. Instead, these staffers have taken over a Hyatt hotel in Renton, another Seattle suburb. They work for a division known as Microsoft AI—MAI for short—and have traveled from corporate outposts as distant as the U.K., Switzerland, China, and India to attend a team off site. Mustafa Suleyman, MAI’s CEO, instituted these conclaves upon arriving at Microsoft just under a year ago—part of an unorthodox mass hiring in which the software behemoth absorbed most of the staff from Inflection AI, the startup Suleyman cofounded in 2022. The gatherings take place roughly once every seven weeks, and part of their purpose is unblinking self-assessment. Ahead of the meeting, around 80 squads of 6 to 15 people apiece have rated themselves on their success in hitting recent deadlines on a scale of red, amber, or green. The results aren’t great—but Suleyman sees that as progress in itself. “It’s taken a few cycles to get people to be basically honest in terms of their scoring,” he tells me shortly after presiding over the event’s keynote presentation. “And this time, there was lots of red—like almost 45% red. I think that was a really, really good moment; and we sort of stood up and owned it. I was very proud of the team.” Though being CEO of something called “Microsoft AI” sounds like a job of nearly unlimited purview, Suleyman does have a more specific remit. He’s charged with using AI to transform the company’s consumer properties, including the free Copilot chatbot app available on the web and in versions for Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android. The progress MAI measures in squad-size chunks all levels up to a much higher goal: building an AI companion that not only answers questions accurately but performs tasks based on a deep understanding of your needs. And not just an anodyne chatbot, but a warm and relatable persona you’ll enjoy spending time with. In its present form, Copilot has barely begun to hint at this wildly ambitious vision. But as Microsoft pushes forward, “You’ll start to see Copilot become a platform that enables a personalized AI companion for you,” promises Suleyman. “It’ll have its own name, have its own visual representation, have its own personality, and really be your sidekick. What we are building is your second brain, your aide, your consigliere, your reliable chief of staff in your pocket.” It’s lofty talk, but Suleyman—whose round, wire-frame glasses help give him the presence of a particularly glib owl—has a knack for explaining AI in a compelling fashion. His cautionary 2023 book on the subject, The Coming Wave, was a New York Times Best Seller; his 2024 TED talk, “What is an AI Anyway?” has been viewed 2.7 million times. More importantly, his bona fides include cofounding not just Inflection, but before that DeepMind in 2010. The London-based company made computing history when it created software that taught itself to play the famously complex Chinese board game, Go, better than any human. Then it developed an algorithm for predicting how proteins fold themselves, a transformative tool for drug discovery. Both of those landmark feats reached fruition after Google acquired DeepMind in 2014; Suleyman left DeepMind in 2019 and exited Google altogether in 2022, shortly before founding Inflecton. In 2023, Google merged the company with another AI arm, Google Brain, to form Google DeepMind, with Suleyman’s fellow cofounder Demis Hassabis as CEO. The combined operation is responsible for the Gemini large language model now used in many Google products, putting Suleyman in direct competition with his former colleagues. (Suleyman says he remains friendly with Hassabis, but argues that competition fuels creativity, noting that in February, he recruited the engineers responsible for one of Google’s best-received uses of AI: its uncanny “Audio Overview” synthetic podcasts.) In terms of raw users, Copilot has some catching up to do. According to data from intelligence company Similarweb, the consumer version—which is distinct from the one that’s part of the Microsoft 365 productivity suite—had a desktop and mobile web audience of just 15.6 million in January. That was far behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT (246 million), Chinese upstart DeepSeek (79.97 million), and Gemini (47.3 million), though ahead of Perplexity (10.6 million) and Anthropic’s Claude (8.2 million). This data doesn’t include people who use Microsoft’s free Copilot app, but market intelligence firm Sensor Tower says that ChatGPT currently has 30 times the monthly active users of consumer Copilot. Microsoft is not wholly dependent on Copilot to reach consumers. Bing, another part of Suleyman’s portfolio, may only have 4% of the search market to Google’s 90%, according to StatCounter, but with an audience of 174 million people in January, it’s larger than any AI bot except ChatGPT, per Similarweb. His group also oversees Microsoft’s Edge web browser, which comes bundled with Windows and could become a potent AI delivery system of its own. And over time, Suleyman’s AI companion vision might give Copilot more market traction by clearly differentiating it from ChatGPT. (The two products share many technical underpinnings thanks to the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership.) Still, the relative tininess of Copilot’s current user base shows that the vision of Microsoft’s signature consumer-AI effort has yet to transform into the kind of mass attention the company cares about. “For Copilot to be truly useful for you long term, it needs to not only be able to ingest all your long-form documents and your email and your calendar and your context, but it needs to not forget what you’ve talked about a couple of sessions ago. And we are getting really good at that now.” [Photo: Carlton Canary for Fast Company] Then again, it’s not like anyone else has truly figured out consumer AI. The industry’s often-clumsy stabs at it—such as Google’s gaffe-ridden AI Overviews and short-lived Meta bots personified by the likes of Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton—can feel like answers to questions nobody asked. “Every single company is trying to understand what the market wants at this point,” says Divya Kumar, Microsoft‘s general manager of search and AI marketing. “We’ve barely scratched the surface.” But Suleyman can’t depend on Microsoft’s rivals flailing forever; if MAI doesn’t create the first true AI consigliere, somebody else surely will. Hence, the intensity he brings to managing and motivating his team, a job he describes as “building the cultural flywheel that then builds the product.” That goal was apparent in a February email to his staff—written shortly after DeepSeek’s stunningly efficient LLM shocked the AI industry—in which Suleyman predicted more surprises ahead and called for a great hunkering down. “What MAI needs from everyone this year is extreme focus,” he wrote. “The competition will be unlike anything we’ve seen. This is for real. This is the time to do the best work of your lives.” The son of an English nurse mother and Syrian cab-driver father, Suleyman landed on AI as his life’s work not because he was in love with the technology for its own sake, but because he saw its potential to make the world a better place. At 19, he dropped out of the University of Oxford, where he studied philosophy and theology, to help start a telephone counseling service for Muslim youth. He then served as a human rights policy officer for London Mayor Ken Livingston and cofounded a consultancy dedicated to driving societal change on a global scale. Suleyman was only 25 when he and two friends, who had the training in computer science he lacked (Hassabis and Shane Legg), started DeepMind in 2010. The company was a bet on their conviction that evermore-powerful supercomputers would lead to an epoch-shifting moment when AI would surpass human cognitive ability across an array of disciplines. Legg called that phenomenon Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. Early on, their faith that AI‘s future would be extraordinary was so contrarian, Suleyman says, that “we never really talked openly about our ambition to build AGI—that was always something that we whispered in hushed tones to each other and among a very small group.” Eventually, though, the entire field adopted AGI as a concept—and a goal. DeepMind indeed made historic progress, putting Suleyman at the heart of the AI revolution just as it was taking off. But in a major career setback, he left DeepMind in 2019—reportedly not by choice but precipitated by complaints from employees that he had a bullying management style. In a 2022 podcast, he accepted the criticism—”I really screwed up”—and said that he’d since worked with an executive coach to become a better boss. By the end of his DeepMind tenure, Suleyman says, he was itching to get AI out of the lab and into the real world. Rather than leave Google altogether, he spent another two years at the company as VP of AI product management and AI policy. Among his responsibilities was working with the Google Brain team, which had developed an LLM called LaMDA. At the time, ChatGPT didn’t exist; even OpenAI‘s GPT LLM hadn’t proven itself capable of powering radically new AI experiences. LaMDA “was at GPT-3 level performance, at least a year earlier than GPT-3,” Suleyman remembers. Leveraging it into new Google features would have been a bold, attention-grabbing move. But it also would have been risky and required sign-off from many internal stakeholders. Suleyman struggled to rally support. “That was really on me,” he says. “I was the one trying to get this out the door—persuade the lawyers, persuade the policy people, persuade Google Search. And for some reason, there was just a series of mental blockers in the company.” Concluding that this effort had reached a standstill, Suleyman departed Google in January 2022. Officially, he was joining venture capital firm Greylock as a partner. Barely more than a month later, however, he returned to AI with the launch of Inflection. Suleyman and his cofounders, DeepMind principal research scientist Karén Simonyan—now MAI’s chief scientist—and LinkedIn cofounder and Greylock partner Reid Hoffman quickly lined up $225 million in funding. Suleyman didn’t spell out the startup’s exact plans beyond acknowledging they involved making it easier for humans to communicate with computers: “It feels like we’re on the cusp of being able to generate language to pretty much human-level performance,” he told CNBC. What that meant became clearer in May 2023, when Inflection introduced Pi, its chatbot. Short for “personal intelligence” and available on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as the web and as an iPhone app, Pi was a rough draft of Suleyman’s notion of an AI companion—optimized for engaging conversation rather than purely informational utility. “I chatted about philosophy with it for what turned out to be 2 hours,” wrote an impressed Reddit user. “I kept waiting for it to ‘break’ and say stupid random stuff like [ChatGPT does] but it kept going coherently.” As Pi was establishing itself, Suleyman found himself in an ongoing dialog with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about their companies’ respective futures. Microsoft had invested in Inflection and was providing the startup with cloud services, so it was only natural they’d talk. But by the winter of 2023—a period when Sam Altman’s brief ouster at OpenAI highlighted how vulnerable Microsoft had left itself by tethering its AI vision to an outside partner—Nadella was proposing scenarios involving Suleyman joining Microsoft in some capacity. Suleyman was willing to listen. Microsoft already had a deep technological platform, a large consumer footprint it knew how to monetize through advertising, and the ability to shovel its formidable resources to high-priority initiatives—assets Inflection couldn’t match on its own. Furthermore, Suleyman’s confidence in Inflection’s initial business plan, which involved building high-cost computing clusters to train its own in-house LLM, Inflection-1, had been shaken by new developments such as Meta’s open-sourcing of its Llama AI model, which made a world-class LLM available to any company that wanted to use it. “I just did not predict that a public company would make the crown jewels available to everybody,” he says, calling the realization of how that might impact the competitive landscape “painful.” Nadella, too, had reason to reassess Microsoft’s AI strategy, particularly on the consumer front. For all the benefits the company had reaped from its investment in OpenAI, the tantalizing sense that it might help Bing bite into Google’s dominance in sudden and dramatic fashion hadn’t panned out. Nor had Copilot become ChatGPT’s peer in traffic and name recognition, despite being based on some of the same underlying GPT technology. “As of right now, it feels to me as an outside observer that they haven’t gotten nearly the leverage that they would’ve wanted on the consumer side,” says tech investor and writer M.G. Siegler. Microsoft product manager for model personality Rachel Taylor: “The way that you show up for Gen Z versus my mom, who’s just turned 70, has differences in style and delivery, and it should feel different as time goes on.“ [Photo: Carlton Canary for Fast Company] Suleyman is quick to underline that he could have continued pursuing his AI vision at Inflection, which had raised a total of more than $1.5 billion from investors. On top of that, in November 2023 he met for eight hours with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who “made an enormous offer to raise a gigantic round at a huge price.” But over a January 2024 lunch at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Suleyman says, Nadella made an irresistible offer: “Come and drive Microsoft through the next decade.” ”One of the most compelling pieces of what he said to me was, ‘We completely missed mobile,’” referring to Microsoft’s Windows Phone being thrashed by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, Suleyman remembers. “‘If we completely miss AI in the way that we missed mobile, it’ll be existential for the future of the company.’” Suleyman says it was a wrenching decision: “We were 70 people. The product was growing like wildfire. We had an amazing roster of investors.” But a couple of months after Davos, a deal was announced. Acquiring Inflection would likely have raised antitrust concerns. Instead, Microsoft simply hired Suleyman, Simonyan, and most of the team they’d assembled. (LinkedIn currently lists 59 ex-Inflection staffers now at Microsoft.) Microsoft won’t say how much it spent on this gambit; reports put the price tag at $650 million—or maybe more—to license AI models, pay off investors, and compensate Suleyman and other new employees. Along with existing Microsoft employees and additional ones Suleyman would recruit, the Inflection alums are part of MAI—“a Russian doll of new teams,” he says. The company also declines to provide a current head count, but last November, Wired’s Steven Levy quoted Suleyman saying “about 14,000 people” reported up into his team. (Inflection still exists, under new management—Suleyman no longer has an ownership stake—and has pivoted from building an AI companion to selling technology to enterprise customers.) Microsoft general manager of search and AI marketing Divya Kumar: “One of the aspects of Mustafa that I really appreciate is his consumer ethos. Everything he thinks about, whether that is product engineering or marketing, he thinks about from the lens of the customer.” [Photo: Carlton Canary for Fast Company] Suleyman’s unsatisfying experience trying to commercialize Google’s LaMDA did leave him wary of big-company bureaucracy. “The most important thing was figuring out how, culturally, we kept some distance from some of the old patterns in Microsoft that we were worried would slow us down,” he says. “This was something Satya and I talked about a lot. He was adamant that we would have all the necessary freedoms to operate and we wouldn’t be impeded in any way.” The evidence that Nadella was good to his word includes the fact that Suleyman divided his team into small squads of employees who tackle their work in six- or seven-week cycles, an approach he brought with him from Inflection. MAI controls its own tech stack and is responsible for its own recruiting. Despite being part of the ultimate Microsoft shop, it even does some of its collaborating over Slack (“I would say we mostly use Teams,” Suleyman emphasizes when I ask). Nearly a year into his new job, Suleyman remains keen to shield MAI from certain Microsoftian tendencies. In a November email to staffers, he dutifully praised Microsoft’s consensus-driven culture—but stated that MAI’s objective should be “respectful disagreement, followed up by a complete commitment to the outcome.” That bias toward speedy decisiveness is tempered by the self-awareness Suleyman has carefully fostered since getting into trouble at DeepMind. In the lead-up to one team meeting, for instance, he asked his direct reports for examples of recent moves he’d made that proved problematic so that he could share them more broadly. Suleyman still doesn’t hesitate to describe himself as “relentless.” But he adds that he’s now “much more practical and more realistic. In some ways, I’m actually a lot more patient and balanced as well.” That’s not far from how MAI staffers describe him: “He’s a kind and empathetic person who still manages to have a tremendous level of urgency,” says Kya Sainsbury-Carter, corporate VP of Microsoft Advertising, a direct report, and an 18-year veteran of the company. Back at Microsoft AI’s off-site meeting, a standing-room-only crowd has assembled for a workshop on understanding Generation Z. The presentation includes TikTok videos in which young people rhapsodize about ChatGPT and excerpts from interviews with high schoolers talking about their busy lives. In an empathy-building exercise, participants discuss what they learned from this exposure to the next generation and how it might be applied to improving Copilot. Such anthropological inquiry is serious stuff at Microsoft, which turns 50 this year and is intent on forging a relationship with consumers who weren’t around for the glory days of the PC. Gen Z “demands more than real innovation and crisp aesthetics; they want authenticity, social responsibility, and seamless digital experiences,” wrote Suleyman in a January email to MAI staffers. “We need to create experiences that truly resonate with these users.” Copilot design director and Inflection AI alum Matt Pistachio: ”We still move quickly as a startup. We still meet together like we used to do. We still have the same vision. We’re just doing it at scale.“ [Photo: Carlton Canary for Fast Company] Of course, at the scale to which Microsoft is accustomed—and hopes Copilot will reach—even delighting an entire generation of consumers wouldn’t be enough. The company must consider the needs and desires of individual customers spanning a wide swath of humanity, a test that some on its Windows team have likened to ordering pizza for 1.5 billion people. Indeed, Copilot design director Matt Pistachio—one of the Inflection employees who joined Suleyman at MAI—gets most animated when telling me how AI can empower his mother, a Lebanese technophobe. “She can talk in Arabic,” he explains. “She can talk in her broken English. She can just say what she wants and she has access to computing.” As another Inflection alum, MAI’s product manager for model personality Rachel Taylor, puts it, “Your AI should feel different than mine.” So how can Microsoft even begin to attack the problem of creating an AI companion that teeming masses of people might find indispensable—but each in a slightly different way? Suleyman divvies the necessary elements into three buckets that he’s been talking about since the days of Inflection’s Pi: IQ, AQ, and EQ. IQ covers a companion’s raw skill at working with facts—“to answer any question accurately, superfast, be grounded in the real world, [and] provide evidence and citations,” he says. AQ references the power to take action on behalf of a user—or, using one of the tech industry’s favorite current buzzwords, to be agentic. And EQ is about the companion’s emotional intelligence—its ability to “make you feel empowered and make you feel supported and make you feel smarter and more capable.” Building out these elements could keep Suleyman’s team busy for years. “A lot of breakthroughs need to happen to be able to get to the vision that he’s got in his mind,” says S. Somasegar, Madrona Venture Group managing director (and, previously, a 27-year Microsoft veteran). But some ingredients are falling into place, at least as first drafts. Starting in October, MAI began rolling out the meatiest changes to Copilot since Suleyman’s arrival. Thanks to voice mode, you can talk to the AI rather than type, and it’ll talk back. A feature called Think Deeper, based on OpenAI’s “reasoning” o1 model, takes 30 seconds to generate its answers, but is optimized to deliver richer, more sophisticated explanations and advice than the stock model. Copilot Vision lets you carry on spoken conversations with the AI about web pages, say, so it can help suss out pertinent details in an Airbnb listing you’re skimming while planning a vacation. A key focus is memory: Copilot knowing you better the more you use it rather than every session being a Groundhog Day-like new start. In February, Microsoft quietly shipped an update that lets it weave topics and ideas from past sessions into new ones: “You have a sense that there’s a compounding value,” says Suleyman. Microsoft is also working on giving its AI companion enough social grace to master group chats, tailoring its responses to the interests and attitudes of each human in a session. The challenge of making all this work is not just technological. Any AI companion worth its salt will certainly need a world-class LLM under the hood. But the MAI employees at the Hyatt off-site include “educators, therapists, linguists, comedy writers, advertisers, designers,” Suleyman tells me. Instead of building on the tech industry’s past 20 years of consumer experiences—products such as Facebook and YouTube that aggregated massive amounts of user-generated content, with its rough edges often part of the appeal—he is aiming to tap AI to help attain a level of polish that software has rarely had. “We now have this new raw material to make beautiful experiences with, which is much closer to the raw material of Hollywood or game design,” he says. “We, as humans, love the feeling that arises when you listen to a beautiful piece of music or watch an epic movie or see a director of photography wash color over a scene.” Once again, Suleyman’s rarified description of his aims is running ahead of anything MAI has actually shipped. But some of his aspiration to engage on an emotional level was visible in a blobby, smiling onscreen animated character I glimpsed at MAI’s off-site meeting—an early, unannounced manifestation of what Copilot would look like if you could see it as well as chat with it. The character’s cartoony vibe also happens to scratch an itch Microsoft has had since at least 1992. That’s when the company became smitten with research by Stanford professors Clifford Nass and Byron Reeves, which showed that people attribute human qualities to computers and other forms of media. Taking their conclusions as an argument for making software interfaces more anthropomorphic, Microsoft released a quirky Windows add-on called Microsoft Bob. After that flopped, the company doubled down with Office 97’s Office Assistants, including that iconic pest Clippy. In the 1990s, Microsoft tried to add a dash of anthropomorphic companionship to software with Microsoft Bob (seen here) and Office Assistants such as Clippy. They went on to be among the company’s most famous failures. When it turned out Office users didn’t actually want productivity aid from cartoon characters, Microsoft deemphasized Clippy and company—and eventually removed them altogether. More recently, it has good-naturedly embraced the talking paper clip as a totem of failure. If consumers really do find an animated version of Copilot to be irresistible, Clippy can feel free to have a long-delayed last laugh. But applying AI to a synthetic persona also brings risks that were unimaginable in Clippy’s day. Much of the air went out of Microsoft’s triumphant reveal of the first version of its consumer Copilot in February 2023 when it turned out to be a slightly terrifying loose cannon, most famously telling New York Times writer Kevin Roose that it loved him and he should leave his wife. (The company moved swiftly to tamp down its new chatbot’s wild side.) More recently, and far more alarmingly, Google-backed Character AI has been sued by the mother of a teenager whose suicide, she claims, reflected his unhealthy emotional attachment to the startup’s bots. In another suit, families say their children’s conversations with Character AI bots went in dark directions involving self-harm, violence toward others, and sexualized content. Microsoft is hardly blithe about AI companions’ potential to go awry. ”We’re setting the standard for these things existing,” says Taylor. “And so we have to be totally sure that we’re comfortable with them existing in the world.” Her colleague Pistachio adds that the company is building its AI to calmly steer sessions in a responsible direction: “It’ll be like, ‘Okay, I think we’ve gone a bit too far—I don’t think we should be joshing around this much.‘“ Suleyman, whose book The Coming Wave takes AI’s perils at least as seriously as its promise, told me repeatedly that keeping it safe is not just vital but the whole point of his career. “The goal of the next 50 years,” he declares, “has to be to make sure that this technology remains subservient to humanity.” Yet that hasn’t led him away from high-stakes applications of the technology. Former DeepMinders are involved in a new MAI healthcare group, whose mandate he paints in only the broadest strokes for now: “Four billion or so people don’t have access to high-quality medical or health advice on a daily basis—I think it’s just an amazing opportunity.” Ultimately, Suleyman says, his mission “is to make sure that [AI] genuinely does always remain something that makes our lives healthier and happier. The goal of civilization, in my opinion, is to relieve people of the obligation and pressure to solve shelter, food, community, work, well-being.” Even now, as he builds a business at a titan of capitalism that’s older than he is, he’s still the 25-year-old enthralled by AI’s potential to do good. View the full article