Instagram’s decision to remove its end-to-end encrypted messaging option highlights the complicated balance between privacy and platform safety. The feature, which protected conversations so that only participants could read them, will disappear from the app in May 2026. End-to-end encryption is often praised as the strongest security available for online messaging. Yet it also prevents platforms from monitoring conversations, which…

Meta is reportedly considering large-scale layoffs that could affect up to 20% of its workforce as the company increases investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to sources familiar with the matter, executives have begun discussing potential workforce reductions internally as part of a broader effort to control rising costs tied to AI development. The layoffs have not been finalized and…

Duolingo is adjusting its growth strategy to prioritize a frictionless free user experience, after seeing daily active user growth slow in 2025, according to co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn. While monetization through ads and subscription upsells has boosted revenue, it has come at the cost of user expansion. Balancing monetization and growth Currently, only about 10% of Duolingo’s active…

Digital wallets from Apple and Google are no longer just tools for payments—they are becoming powerful platforms for brand engagement and marketing. Eric Senn, co-founder and CEO of Badge, a software startup, explains that wallets now allow companies to integrate loyalty programs, real-time offers, and interactive experiences directly into consumers’ mobile devices. Badge, founded in San Francisco in 2023, provides…

Binance is strengthening its commitment to European regulation as the implementation deadline for the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) approaches in July 2026. The exchange has already applied for a license that would allow it to continue operating legally across the European market once the framework becomes fully enforced. Richard Ting, co-CEO of Binance, said the company is actively…

German economist Moritz Schularick has highlighted a critical transformation in Europe’s automotive sector. According to his analysis, long-established brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen face intense pressure to adapt or risk losing relevance by 2030. The driving forces behind this shift are electrification, software-defined vehicles, and the integration of artificial intelligence into mobility solutions. Historically, these manufacturers thrived on…

Xiaomi has announced the open-source release of its first-generation Vision-Language-Action model, Xiaomi-Robotics-0, marking a notable step forward in embodied artificial intelligence. The model contains 4.7 billion parameters and is designed to combine high-level visual-language understanding with real-time robotic execution. Unlike earlier VLA systems that often struggle with latency and fragmented motion, Xiaomi-Robotics-0 focuses on real-time responsiveness in physical environments. The…

OpenAI has recalibrated its long-term strategy, now targeting $600 billion in compute spending through 2030. This marks a significant shift from earlier, more aggressive plans, signaling a more disciplined approach as the company scales its AI operations. The move comes after 2025, a year in which OpenAI exceeded revenue expectations, generating $13.1 billion against an internal target of $10 billion.…

Microsoft is investing at historic scale to position artificial intelligence as the next foundation of enterprise productivity. Yet adoption data around Copilot suggests that technological ambition alone does not guarantee commercial success. While hundreds of millions of Microsoft 365 users now have access to Copilot Chat, only a small fraction are converting into paying customers. This gap highlights a structural…

Gold’s transition into a high-volatility regime marks a structural break in how the metal functions within global portfolios. According to analysts at Heraeus, gold is no longer behaving as a defensive asset but increasingly resembles a speculative instrument, driven by leveraged positioning and momentum trading. The sharp rally of recent years, during which gold prices increased fivefold despite a largely…

Reddit’s push toward AI-powered search signals more than a product evolution — it points to a shift in how labor is allocated inside the company. As generative systems take on tasks like summarization, navigation and answer synthesis, fewer human resources may be required for manual content curation and moderation support. At the same time, demand is likely to grow for…

Alibaba has entered the global robotics race with the open-source release of RynnBrain, an embodied AI model designed to help robots interact with the physical world. Built by DAMO Academy and trained on Qwen3-VL, the model focuses on navigation, object manipulation and spatial reasoning — capabilities critical for robots operating outside controlled lab environments. By releasing multiple model sizes, including…

YouTube closed 2025 with over $60 billion in combined ad and subscription revenue, while Alphabet exceeded $400 billion in total sales. Growth was fueled by traditional advertising on Search and YouTube, but the platform is increasingly monetizing subscriptions like Premium and YouTube TV. AI tools like Google Gemini now power 70 million creative assets, enhancing ad relevance and campaign efficiency.…

Advertising has emerged as one of the most resilient engines inside Big Tech, and retail media is now driving that shift at scale. In 2025, advertising tied to commerce platforms crossed a new threshold, with Amazon’s ad business generating more than $68 billion in annual revenue. The momentum accelerated during Q4, when ad sales rose 22% year over year, fueled…

A new strategic partnership between Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA signals a shift in how artificial intelligence will be built and deployed across industrial sectors. The companies announced a shared industrial AI architecture that combines Virtual Twin technology with accelerated AI infrastructure to support mission-critical applications. At the core of the collaboration are science-validated “industry world models” that move AI beyond…