The reason Microsoft made Activision Blizzard its largest acquisition ever

Microsoft’s newly closed acquisition of Activision Blizzard isn’t just the software giant’s biggest deal ever. At a cost of $68.7 billion, it’s also the most expensive video game industry acquisition of all time. After the companies first announced their intent in January 2022, regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S., the European … Read moreThe reason Microsoft made Activision Blizzard its largest acquisition ever

What may be behind slumping growth for internet fact-checking

fact-checking political speech

The past decade saw a boom in fact-checking organizations across the internet, according to annual census results from the Duke Reporters’ Lab. The momentum seems to have trailed off in the 2020s, however, with the total number of active organizations dedicated to fact-checks staying roughly the same since 2021. The group counted 417 fact-checkers when … Read moreWhat may be behind slumping growth for internet fact-checking

Why Instacart and Klaviyo are set to test unicorn IPOs for tech this week

Public and private markets put valuations through intense valuation adjustments over the past two years, leading the volume of IPOs for unicorn companies valued at $1 billion or more to fall off a cliff. Tech company unicorns took an extended hiatus from IPO’ing altogether. This week, that dry spell is likely to change, with both … Read moreWhy Instacart and Klaviyo are set to test unicorn IPOs for tech this week

How much water AI is going to drink

water consumption by AI computing

It’s no big secret that generative AI is resource-intensive. In fact, making a query with AI can cost “at least four or five times more computing per search” compared to traditional searches, according to Martin Bouchard, co-founder of Canada-based data center company QScale, who shared the calculation in a February article at Wired. That extra … Read moreHow much water AI is going to drink

Is Gen Z really bringing an end to mainstream pop culture?

Gen Z believes in no mainstream pop culture

Gen Z surveys and new studies on emerging behaviors almost always ignite one of two questions for me within the first paragraphs: (1) Are these behaviors or preferences really different from Millennials and Boomers at similar ages? (2) What’s in here that’s really unique for this generation and not just an insight about teens and … Read moreIs Gen Z really bringing an end to mainstream pop culture?

Why AI still can’t copyright its art

Artificial intelligence may be able to synthesize and generate works of art, but it still can’t receive copyrights in the U.S. following a decision by District Judge Beryl A. Howell on Friday. Howell found that “human authorship is an essential part of a valid copyright claim,” meaning that computer scientist Stephen Thaler remains unable to … Read moreWhy AI still can’t copyright its art

What we know 3 years into the great remote work experiment

remote work

Back in 2020 (which feels like it was about a decade ago in COVID-19-era years), companies that never would have toyed with remote work previously decided to wade in — or even dive in — to minimize risk and potentially cut some expenses. At the time, I wrote on Medium that making employees feel safe … Read moreWhat we know 3 years into the great remote work experiment

Talking Elon Musk’s Twitter move and greenification in transportation

The fifth episode of the Inside Weekly Trends podcast dropped on Friday. Surprise: The Elon Musk Twitter saga entered a new phase, and it may be in yet another one by next weekend. Listen to the full episode and you’ll hear an interview with Inside Transportation‘s Nicolas Saravia about approaches to greenfication in the airline … Read moreTalking Elon Musk’s Twitter move and greenification in transportation

We launched a social network and podcast

Here’s a quick recap of first quarter of 2022: The new social news experience I mentioned previously launched last week, and is now up and running on Inside.com. We didn’t stop there, though. Gathering insights from the new social site, Inside.com’s daily newsletters, and the weekly virtual events, we launched a new podcast to highlight … Read moreWe launched a social network and podcast